Who doesnt want to look fit and perfect, right? I mean, almost all of us have been running in this... Prasanta Mazumdar By GUWAHATI: After years of relative stability and a push towards economic development, the Northeast is once again in the throes of insecurity and anxiety the reason being the updation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam. Over the past few months, Assam has been restive due to the exercise and different voices have expressed different concerns regarding the NRC. The NRC is being updated under the direct monitoring of the Supreme Court to detect the illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. As per the exercise, those who entered Assam after March 24, 1971, will be termed as illegal immigrants. The final draft will be published on Monday. People whose names will not figure in the draft will get a 30-day window to file claims and objections. Ironically, the entire exercise is being carried out without any guarantee that the Government of Bangladesh will accept any Bangladeshi immigrants. There is palpable fear among a section of applicants over possible harassment in case their names are not included in the document. Back in the 1950s or 1960s, who on earth knew they will require pre-1971 official documents 50 years later in 2018 to be able to stay in the country? I am sure the names of thousands of people will not be included in NRC despite their stay in the country from before March 24, 1971, an NRC applicant said. The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued several statements over the past few days to allay peoples fear. But people remain sceptical. If people are worried about whether or not their names will figure in the final NRC draft, the Sarbananda Sonowal government is fretting over possible violence in the wake of the documents publication. On the Assam governments request, the Centre had dispatched 50 additional companies of central paramilitary forces to the state. According to official sources, over 100 more companies will be in the state by the time the NRC complete draft is published. Assams Director General of Police, Kuladhar Saikia, said: We have taken all steps. The sectoral deployment of the forces is already in order. As people are supporting the process of NRC update, we are expecting a peaceful atmosphere post-publication of the complete draft. But if anyone is found trying to break the law, we will go very hard against him. We are ready to deal with any eventualities. The Army has also been asked to keep on a standby. Though the Army has not yet shifted its columns, it would do so if requisitioned. A senior Army official told The Sunday Standard that the forces perceived trouble in some areas of Lower and Central Assam districts. There could be two kinds of troubles. First, we are anticipating agitations against the civil administration. There is a possibility that NRC Seva Kendras will be targeted. We fear these incidents will take place in minority-majority areas, but they will not have any communal dynamics. Secondly, there could be riots between two communities, the official said. Publication of the NRC draft is creating ripples in some neighbouring states, too. At least four states Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh are closely monitoring the exercise as they feel they could be affected. Their worries are mainly over the possible influx of people whose names would not figure in the document. The Nagaland government has instructed state police to deploy additional forces in border areas to prevent the influx of immigrants. Additional India Reserve Battalion units are being deployed and flying squads will also be sent. The government is writing to village authorities to be vigilant and not allow illegal immigrants to enter. Instructions have also been issued to district authorities, said an official. The Naga Students Federation has urged house owners not to rent out rooms to the immigrants. In Arunachal, Meghalaya and Manipur, too, police in all districts sharing border with Assam have been directed to be on guard to prevent the possible influx of the immigrants. We started taking precautionary measures to check any infiltration of anti-national elements, said a senior police officer in Meghalaya. Sumi Sukanya Dutta By NEW DELHI: Leprosy eliminated from India 13 years ago might just be quietly re-growing to pose a fresh challenge to the health system. Over 1.35 lakh new cases were detected in 2016 higher than 2015 when it was 1.25 lakh. India is home to about 60 per cent of the worlds leprosy patients. We have come a long way from the nineties when leprosy prevalence rate was 26 per 10,000 people, Oommen C Kurian, fellow at think-tank Observer Research Foundation told The Sunday Standard. However, as we shifted a decade ago from active surveillance to passive, voluntary case registration, thus keeping the patient numbers down on paper the things on ground were not getting any better. Kurian believes there was pressure mounting on the country, and, possibly, the need to free up limited financial and manpower resources for HIV and other communicable diseases. He also points out how health workers stopped making household visits to identify undetected cases, shifting instead to voluntary patient registration. Between 2004 and 2007, new case detection dropped by 75 per cent. Sridhar Shandilya, a leprosy expert in Pune, said as India started deliberately under-reporting the disease in order to paint a good picture, it proved to be a self-goal. Statistically, we were being fed that the disease is on a decline but instances of disabilities was on a rise. The leprosy programme in the last couple of years realised what a blunder it was doing by not identifying hidden cases. He emphasised that the senior political leaders do not seem to have learnt from mistakes of the past referring to a statement by Union Health Minister J P Nadda that India was set to be free of leprosy in 2018 a promise that sounds even shallower than the 2005 declaration. Anil Kumar, head of the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry's National Leprosy Eradication Programme, stressed the government declared India leprosy-free when the cases came down to less than 1 per 10,000 in 2005 as per the WHO guidelines. Since last year, case detection campaigns are on in select districts. We realised that sending frontline workers to identify hidden cases was important. According to Nikita Sarah, head of advocacy and communications at the Leprosy Mission Trust India, it was important that the government had taken the required move of stepping up its efforts to send more and more patients for treatment rather than sticking to the rhetoric of elimination, more so when a drug resistant version of the disease is on the rise. Siddhanta Mishra By ALWAR: The Meos of Alwar are a worried lot. The traditional cow rearing community of the region faces increasing attacks by right-wing activists, who have lynched at least three people so far in the name of cow protection. The recent lynching of Rakbar Khan by gau rakshaks July 21 is but the tip of the iceberg, with locals saying several such cases go unreported. The friction between the Meos, who are Muslims, and the mushrooming Saffron brigade in the region has been intensifying over the past few years, with politicians gleefully describing the occasional interfaith marriages in the region as love jihad to add further fuel to the fire. Jawaharlal As a Hindu, it is our duty to save cows from slaughter we do not have any problem with someone rearing cattle for a living. If we do not do what we do, smuggling of cows for slaughter will increase manifold, says Jawaharlal, district head of Shiv Sena and the guide for the gau rakshaks in Ramgarh. We only help the police doing their work of stopping cow smuggling in the area, and now it is us who are being targeted under political pressure. The deceased was seen getting beaten up by the police on their way back, says Naval Kishore Sharma, in-charge of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Ramgarh, and one of the persons named in the FIR in the Rakbar lynching case. While the Meos say that the fear of being attacked during the day leaves them no option but to travel secretively with their cattle at night, Right-wingers say only smugglers need to move in the darkness. The traditional subjects like Ram Mandir construction and the state of Jammu and Kashmir which the BJP used to divide the population to garner votes are no more working from them, says Sher Mohammad, President of Meo Panchayat of Alwar region. On both sides majority of people, be it Hindus or Muslims do not attach themselves to this anymore. The BJP which has used such issues is now out to find a new line to create a divide in the society. The so-called Gau Raksha has emerged in such a manner only in last three years. One can see the political reactions and statements made by right-wingers be it in Jaipur or Delhi they all are indirectly justifying such acts, he points out. The Gau Rakshaks of Alwar mainly comprise Rajputs, Yadavs and Sikhs. The group leader, usually a community elder, coordinates with members and meets them face to face every week. Ninety percent of cows at the Gyan Sudha Sagar Gaushala, the biggest in Ramgarh, are from such seizures by Gau Rakshaks, who are in close touch with the Gaushala. Jawaharlal, a former truck driver who now runs a travel agency and has a dairy supply contract, joined the Shiv Sena in 1992. Before that, he was associated with the now disbanded Hindu Shakti Sena. During that time I quite closely saw the functioning of cow smugglers. They brutally load 5-6 cows in one jeep. Killing someone is wrong and should not happen, but some lesson is required to be taught as the police are the only slave to money. Whoever gives them money, the police favours them. It is upon us youngsters who have the responsibility to take care of our cows. The love jihad is being done deliberately. these are tactics to demotivate the Hindus of the area, he asserts. Harpreet Bajwa By CHANDIGARH: Raj Kumar Verka is likely to replace Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar in the state unit with the ruling party going all out to placate Dalits ahead of the 2019 general elections. Verka, the Dalit MLA from Amritsar (West), previously served as vice-chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes. Punjab has the highest percentage of Scheduled Caste (SC) population among the states, according to the 2011 Census. In addition with Backward Classes (BC), they constitute more than 50 per cent of the population in the northern state. Jakhar, a Hindu face and staunch supporter of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, was made the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) head in May last year, to balance community equations in the state. Sources in the party claim Jakhar may be replaced before the Lok Sabha elections. Punjab has three Dalit ministers and none from the backward class in the 18-member Cabinet. This is despite 22 SC and 11 BC legislators constituting 42 per cent of the Congress near two-thirds majority of 77 seats in the 117-member Assembly. It is no secret that the Dalit leaders are upset over their poor representation in the Amarinder Singh-led Congress government. In April, Congress MLAs Sangat Singh Khiljian, Surjit Singh Dhiman and Nathu Ram had resigned from all party posts. While Khiljian and Dhiman were PPCC vice-presidents, Nathu Ram was general secretary. Those in the Ministry nurse high ambitions. Technical Education Minister Charanjit Singh Channi wants the Deputy Chief Ministers post. Verkas name is almost finalised by the high command and, thus, no other names are doing the rounds, the sources assert. Another theory afloat in the political circles is Jakhar, who is also MP from Gurdaspur, may be fielded again the next year. In such a scenario, he will be unable to devote time to work as the Congress state head. Jakhars list of probable Congress office-bearers and district presidents is on hold, which, the party insiders say, is a signal of his impending replacement. When contacted about the possible change, Jakhar was non-committal. I have nothing to say on this topic. It is prerogative of the party high command. Express News Service By NEW DELHI: Growing saffron pressure led to the cancellation of an address by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee to students of St Stephens College, Delhi according to people familiar with the matter in Banerjees Trinamool Congress. Officially, the college cited protocol issues in the letter addressed to Mamata expressing regret for the cancellation of the talk scheduled for Wednesday, August 1, said TMC sources. The Bengali Literary Society of the college had invited Mamata Banerjee for the event. St Stephens principal John Varghese could not be reached for a comment. Mamata is expected in Delhi on Monday, and the event was part of her schedule before the college cancelled it. Her other plans include an address to a meeting of Christian priests on Tuesday, talks with opposition leaders and visit parliament a day later. This is the third event which the mercurial chief minister was expected to attend but cancelled in recent weeks. In June, she cancelled a visit to China saying she was not able to line up meetings with senior Chinese officials. Earlier, her plans to address a group of monks in Chicago in August to mark the anniversary of Swami Vivekanandas historic Chicago address was called off following the death of a senior monk. First, the Vivekananda event in Chicago. Then her China visit and now St Stephens! Mamata Banerjee is giving the BJP-RSS sleepless nights. Let them keep trying, she cannot be silenced. The Bengal CMs trip to Delhi is on schedule. She will be the chief guest at the "Love your Neighbour" conference organised by Indias largest Christian body, The Catholic Bishops Conference of India, on 31st July at 2.30 pm said a senior Trinamool MP. Manish Anand By NEW DELHI: With the Lok Sabha elections fast approaching, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked the NITI Aayog to immediately ensure that two islands get tourism facilities on par with Mauritius and Maldives. Incidentally, the NITI Aayog is still working out to chart a roadmap for the development of 26 islands so that they can offer services as seen in the tourist-friendly South-East Asian countries. The PM has asked that at least two islands be readied immediately... We understand that he wants two islands to be ready before the election dates are announced. Thus, the orders are to ensure that one island in Lakshadweep and another in Nicobar be readied with infrastructure facilities by February 2019, says a senior Niti Aayog official. The NITI Aayog has entrusted the task of coordinating the inter-ministerial fast-tracking of projects and their executions to senior official Tajamul Haque. In June, the PM had reviewed the progress of works on the development of these 26 islands during which he directed that there should be linkages with the South-East Asian countries. We have to ensure infrastructure status at par with Mauritius and Maldiveswe have already deliberated on various aspects including development of an airport at Lakshadweep, hotels, thematic parks, and so on. The PMs direction is that two islands should be ready so as to make the ambitious plan look realistic, adds the official. Instructions were given to other ministries that there was no delay in sanctioning approvals and extending support for execution of projects. In the last review meeting, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh informed his ministry had withdrawn the requirement of restricted area permit for Andaman and Nicobar. The PMs urgency to see at least two islands go off the block is also aimed at giving signals to entrepreneurs for joining the ambitious plan, besides taking up stakes in development of facilities, adds the official. Anand St Das By PATNA: A day before the first anniversary of Bihars NDA government that was formed with a dramatically renewed alliance between JD(U) and BJP, leaders of the two parties were unable to think of a token celebration. With the Opposition parties hammering the government over the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual assault scandal, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had to reluctantly recommend a CBI probe that day. The alleged sexual assaults on the minor girls at the government-funded shelter home have sparked widespread outrage. While the Opposition accuses the government of trying to hush up the matter and shield the perpetrators, the governments explanations have floundered. The government was forced to order a CBI probe, but it has to be monitored by the high court. We will keep the heat up till all the culprits are behind the bars, said RJDs Tejashwi Yadav. For the 42 girls lodged at the Balika Grih run by the NGO Seva Sankalp evam Vikas Samiti, days and nights in the past few years were filled with horror. The girls, aged between 7 and 18 years, were frequently subjected to sexual assaults and physical violence with the connivance of those managing the shelter home. READ| 34 minors raped in Bihar shelter home, say police Medical examinations conducted on the girls have confirmed that at least 29 of them had been raped, at least three underwent an abortion and three others were pregnant. A 10-year-old girl said she had scars on her private parts and that she was raped and tortured repeatedly. The assaults were so severe that she was unable to walk for several days, said a police officer, citing the statements given by the victims before a judicial magistrate. Several girls said they had injury marks on their private parts. They were beaten up and starved for days if they resisted the sexual assaults, added the officer. After some victims revealed that one girl was killed and swiftly buried after being raped some years ago, police dug up the ground on the shelter home premises but found no remains. The victims referred to their tormentors as tond wale unclejee (obese uncle) and much wale unclejee (uncle with moustaches). They have identified several accused after photographs were shown to them, added the officer. Brajesh Thakur, founder of the NGO, is among 10 people arrested. He is known to be close to the top leadership of both BJP and JD(U) in Bihar. A short stay home at Kaimur was shut down and its 20 woman inmates, who were kept in a single room in unhygienic conditions, were shifted to Ara and Patna. The inmates had complained of torture by the staff. An FIR has been lodged. Grim situation at other shelters Tata Institute of Social Sciences had conducted a social audit of shelter homes in Bihar and brought out the grim situation in its report, submitted to the government in April. Probe begins into the disappearance of two girls from a short stay home in Gopalganj on October 5 last. No action was taken by police even though the NGO running the shelter had informed about the girls disappearance. The manager and security guard of a shelter home for girls in Chapra was arrested after it was found that a mentally unstable inmate had become pregnant after being raped. The NGO running the shelter had failed to bring the matter before police. Police begin probe into allegations levelled by girl inmates at a shelter home in Hajipur that a district project officer had been harassing them sexually. SANSKRITI TALWAR By NEW DELHI: GD Agrawal, also known as Swami Gyan Swaroop Sanand, hasnt eaten since June 22. On July 10, about 20 people, including policemen, forcefully dragged him from Matri Sadan Ashram in Haridwar, where he was observing fast, into an ambulance to Dehradun-based Doon Hospital. Later, on July 12, he was shifted to AIIMS, Rishikesh. During his eleven-day stay at AIIMS, doctors attempted to feed him through the drip. However, they failed. Since 2008, Agrawal has been engaged in indefinite hunger strikes demanding the Central government to honour its promise to protect the river Ganges. This is his sixth strike, which the 86-year-old claims to be his last. This is a fast unto death, says Agrawal. Agrawals association with the river is since his childhood because of his grandmother. However, his devotion towards Ganges grew as its importance unfolded before him at various stages of life as a former chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at IIT, Kanpur, first member secretary to the Central Pollution Control Board and consultant on rivers health. The 2,525-km holy river is increasingly choked by dams, drained by irrigation canals, and fouled by industrial, agricultural, and human waste. The sorry state the river was progressing towards came alive to the engineer during his visit to Gangotri in 2006, after which save Ganges became sole purpose of his life. In a bid to prevent the construction of hydroelectric dams on the Bhagirathi river a headstream of Ganges Agrawal engaged in three hunger strikes between 2008 -2010. The promises, however, remained unfulfilled. In July 2010, when the Centre decided to resume work on several hydroelectric plants on the Bhagirathi River, Agrawal went without food for 34 days. The then minister for environment, forests and climate change Jairam Ramesh personally represented the government in dialogue with the environmentalist and agreed to cancel dam projects on the rivers upper reaches. However, the government continued construction of dams in certain areas and his fight continued. In 2012, he stepped down from his role as a board member of National Ganga River Basin Authority, calling it a sham. Over the years, Agrawal has grown as a national figure. However, he says, he opts to sit in for a hunger strike as the dont have masses with him. At present academia-turned-swami is pressing for four demands, including enactment of a Ganga Protection Management Act and halting hydropower projects along the tributaries of Ganga, Alakanda and Mandakini. If the draft is enacted by Parliament, most of the problems of Ganga ji would be resolved for a long time. The present government can use their brut majority and whip it. I will break my fast the day it is passed, Agrawal said and added, This is my last responsibility. If they are able to get it passed before the draft passed in the next session, then good. If not... many people die unhappy. Its time for the future generation to take responsibility for the holy river. Ejaz Kaiser By RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh dismissed any threat to the National Democratic Alliance in the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 as ambitious Opposition leaders would not be able to put up a united fight against the NDA. To what extent they (Opposition leaders) can put aside their differences and what convincing narrative of governance these cluster of parties have remains to be seen, said Singh, the Bharatiya Janata Partys longest-serving CM. The United Opposition is more a reflection of their panic owing to PM Narendra Modijis charismatic leadership, he added. Asked if former Congress leader Ajit Jogi, who has floated his own party, posed a challenge to him in the State Assembly elections due later this year, Singh said Jogi would damage the election prospects of the Congress more than the BJP. In an election, nobody can be ignored. Ajit Jogi was previously a member of the Congress party and now a rebel. So, his emergence as a separate regional force in the election fray is likely to dent the prospects of the Congress rather than the BJP, the CM said. He claimed that the Maoists had been more or less been contained to only a few regions. The north Sarguja region adjoining Jharkhand is now free from Naxal violence. Down south in Bastar, the situation has conspicuously improved with the rebels now confined to limited pockets, he said. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh, 65, is banking on his good governance and development record to seek a fourth consecutive term in the elections scheduled for later this year. Though he admits that every election is a challenge, the Ayurvedic doctor-turned-politician is confident that his governments people-centric initiatives will help the BJP beat anti-incumbency. The longest-serving BJP chief minister told Ejaz Kaiser that its going to be Advantage BJP in Chhattisgarh owing to the combined positive impact of BJP rule in the Centre as well as in the state. In an election year, whats biggest concern for your party? Is it anti-incumbency? Anti-incumbency is worrying when the government fails to identify the peoples wishes, their needs and expectations. Our state carries out the biggest social audit every year when the government proactively reaches out to the masses under the Lok Suraj Abhiyan to know the peoples grievances and fulfil their demands within a stipulated timeframe. Clean government with accountability and transparency is the idea behind such a campaign. How do you compare your third term with the one when you first came to power in 2003? The BJP has redefined good governance in the state during the last 15 years. When we took over in 2003, Chhattisgarh was largely neglected, undeveloped and financially weak. Through judicious focus and dedicated vision, Chhattisgarh is today one of the fastest growing states in the country. Compared to 2003, the statistics on various socio-economic indices show the state has made great strides. The per capita income, revenues, budgetary allocations for development, literacy rate all have significantly increased. There is a steep decline in malnutrition and maternal mortality rate. Strong infrastructure connectivity exists across the state. In 2017-18, the estimated growth was 2.89 per cent in agriculture sector, 5.84 per cent in industrial sector and 9.46 per cent in service sector. The states growth rate in 2017-18 was 6.65 per cent. After Lok Suraj Abhiyan, what was the need for launching Vikas Yatra? The Lok Suraj Abhiyan is aimed at understanding the peoples sentiments and perceptions about development, to get their feedbacks on the progress achieved and then engage them in the process of formulating the strategy on good governance practices. The Vikas Yatra elaborates upon the governments vision. Such yatras give us countless insights which result in policy intervention. The occasions are also to celebrate the growth and development achieved during the last 14-15 years. Will (Chhattisgarh Janata Congress chief) Ajit Jogi be an obstacle to achieving the target of 65 seats set by BJP chief Amit Shah? In an election, nobody can be ignored. Ajit Jogi was previously a member of the Congress party and now a rebel. So, his emergence as a separate regional force in the election fray is likely to dent the prospects of the Congress rather than the BJP which remains strong, streamlined and a people-centric party. We will create a new landmark by winning 65 seats this time. But arent the stakes higher for BJP in a small state with triangular contest? Chhattisgarh has largely witnessed bipolar politics between the BJP and the Congress... Regional parties have never been successful in offering any electoral competition owing to their hidden conflicts and lack of social cohesion and ideology. We take any election as a challenge and keep track of everything going on in the political theatre of the state. The BJPs achievements, clean and good governance, besides electoral strategy, will pave the way for the party to win for the fourth consecutive term. Your party workers were not happy with some of your ministers... Our party nurtures internal democracy and operational transparency. Every member is empowered and entitled to express his or her views, which is essential for healthy democracy that we promote and zealously guard. You have a strong bureaucratic team, but its believed that a politically weak Cabinet is casting a shadow on your governance... Chhattisgarh being a new state, we tried to ensure that everyone played their roles to the best of their capabilities. When it comes to administrative execution of various innovative ideas, plans and welfare programmes, its not just constructive political representation but also judicious and effective use of the bureaucracy thats the need of the hour. I always appreciate positive criticism. Will the Karnataka verdict have any impact on the BJPs prospects in Chhattisgarh? Not at all. Every state has its own political scenario, local issues, compulsions and agenda. With a galaxy of Opposition leaders coming together to counter the BJP, what challenges will the party face in 2019 general election? There are highly ambitious faces in the Opposition camp whose sole objective is to secure power at any cost. The united Opposition is more a reflection of their panic owing to PM Narendra Modijis charismatic leadership. There is no challenge for BJP-led NDA government to return to power in 2019. To what extent they (Opposition leaders) can put aside their differences and what convincing narrative of governance these cluster of parties have remains to be seen. After being acclaimed as chaur wale baba owing to your model PDS scheme, people are now seeing you as digital baba due to the extensive digital push by your government... I am humbled by whatever title people give me. Its always an honour. Its our endeavour that the people of my state become digitally empowered and have access to technology platforms and information highways. Will the farmers issue impact the elections? We proactively worked to address the problems faced by the farmers. Every year, there is a substantial increase in budgetary allocations for the agriculture sector. This year it was 29 per cent higher. Whether its online payment, minimum support price for paddy, subsidies or welfare schemes, there is no discontent or unrest among the agrarian community in the state. The Opposition has no genuine issue; they only want to provoke the farmers. You were the CM for two terms during the UPA rule, and now when NDA is in power. How do you find the approach of the two dispensations towards Chhattisgarh? Under the NDA rule at the Centre, the state is getting more attention and greater allocation of funds, which has helped achieve several goals. With the BJP at the Centre as well as in Chhattisgarh, our strength is not 1+1= 2, but it becomes 11. Our issues and needs have been promptly and patiently addressed by the Centre and the state is moving fast on a higher growth trajectory. Under the UPA rule, we felt ignored. But despite your being CM for over 14 years, the Maoist challenge still persists? We inherited the Maoist problem, which is over three-decade old. The north Sarguja region adjoining Jharkhand is now free from Naxal violence. Down south in Bastar, the situation has conspicuously improved with the rebels now confined to limited pockets. The three-pronged strategy aggressive anti-Maoist operations; major development initiatives, including greater connectivity; and winning the confidence of tribal villagers is making a whole lot of difference on the ground. The strength and morale of the Maoists have crumbled. The local tribal communities accessing public utility services feel empowered. How important is it to recognise social harmony as part of good governance? Social and communal harmony should be seen as an invaluable heritage of our nation. Unity and communal harmony remain our strength. How is competitive federalism, as espoused by the NITI Aayog, meaningful for states? The policy of one-size-fits-all has been replaced with different policies for different states based on their needs and priorities. Competitive federalism, which will be instrumental for integrated growth of the nation, follows the concept of bottom-up approach and will bring change within the states on the basis of ranking their performance on social indices. The states will also have the freedom to plan their expenditure based on their prime concerns and considerations. Debjani Dutta By PUDUCHERRY: Even as Pondicherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy leading a delegation of MLAs has intensified his efforts in Delhi to get statehood for the Union Territory of Puducherry and has mobilised political support from a vast chunk of major parties, the lack of a financial viability report to show that the UT has achieved self-sufficiency in finance could be an impediment to the prospect of achieving statehood. The CMs memorandum contains a proposal prepared by a secretary to the government, which he has been submitted to all concerned. Viable option Former Lok Sabha member and an economist M Ramadass, who published a comprehensive book on statehood a few years ago, says that the economy of UT has improved in the last few years and statehood is a viable option. The Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) outshines the national economy. The growth rate of the UTs GSDP in 2017-2018 was 11.4 per cent, whereas the GDP growth rate of the Union government was 7 per cent only. The per capita income of the UT is one of the highest in the country. The present impediments and handicap are due to the fact that Puducherry still continues as UT. To remove these obstacles, statehood is essential, he says. Lack of sound proposal However, the absence of a sound statehood proposal with facts and figures under the present conditions could pose problems, said Ramadass. The CM has gone to Delhi in a hurry without preparing such a document for the statehood proposal to be processed by the Centre. On earlier occasions, the then CMs, V Vaithilingam, R V Janakiraman and N Rangasamy had approached the Centre with a sound proposal based on a report on the merits, demerits and various aspects of statehood, prepared by a special committee. Meeting people without a viability report is unlikely to serve any purpose, he said. The exercise should have been undertaken by the government instead of submitting a memorandum prepared by a secretary to the government. The Chief Minister, however, disagrees, saying that when Puducherrys contribution to revenue was 60 per cent, there could be no doubt about the viability of being a state. Under the GST, Puducherry is recognised as a state. Moreover, it does not get a recommendation for grants, as Puducherry is not under the ambit of the Central Finance Commission. On the positive side, unlike in the past when government employees were opposed to statehood, now, for the first time, the Confederation of Government Employees Association, representing a majority of the government employees, has come out in support of Statehood. As in many states, Puducherry too can continue to provide Central pay-scales; financial issues would get settled once Puducherry becomes a state, said CH Balamohanan, honorary president of the confederation. On the other hand, P Lakshmanasamy, general secretary, Puducherry State Government Central Federation, representing some of the employees, as opposed to statehood on the grounds that employees of quasi-government organisations are not being paid salaries due to financial crunch. Politically almost all parties including the ruling Congress, its ally DMK, opposition parties AINRC and AIADMK, and Left parties have expressed their support for statehood. Even the BJP, which did not want to clarify its stand, however, has not opposed statehood either. BJP state president V Saminathan said that they were in favour of what is good for Puducherry and would abide by the decision of the BJP leadership. Even the MLAs of the Congress, AINRC, AIADMK and DMK from Karaikal region have supported the demand for statehood. The only opposition to statehood seems to have come from the two MLAs of the outlying regions of Mahe and Yanam, who have not joined the delegation led by the CM. Despite the statehood proposal submitted by the CM, including all four regions of the UT, the Mahe and Yanam MLAs do not favour statehood as it will lead to the merger of the two regions. However, there is a perception that the government is not serious about statehood. It is just to hide the deficiencies, detractors say. SIDON: Lebanese environmentalists on Saturday sank 10 old tanks and armoured vehicles to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea in a novel attempt to attract divers and create new habitats for marine life. Three kilometres off the coast of the city of Sidon, a huge crane on the back of a ship manoeuvred the military hardware into place over the water before dropping them down to the seabed one after the other. The initiative to create an "underwater park" is spearhead by a local group, Friends of the coast of Sidon, which got the Lebanese army to hand over some of it old vehicles for the project. "This will be a paradise for divers and a place where we can develop underwater life," said NGO representative Kamel Kozbar, who hopes seaweed will soon cover the vehicles. Lebanon boasts some 200 kilometres of Mediterranean coast but beaches have not been spared from a waste and garbage crisis that has plagued Lebanon for years. In Sidon, a mountain of smelly trash has scarred the shoreline, despite the presence of a new waste management facility. In a region fraught with tensions the latest project also has some political undertones. The tanks have been placed with their turrets facing towards Lebanon's southern for Israel "out of solidarity for the Palestinian people", Kozbar said. By AFP LOS ANGELES: Thousands of people in Southern California had fled a deliberately set blaze southeast of Los Angeles by Saturday morning after the state's governor requested federal aid to help battle a deadly fire elsewhere. A blaze known as the Cranston Fire, and the Northern California Carr Fire in which two firefighters have lost their lives, are among the most serious of several blazes burning in the most populous US state. A third major blaze, the Ferguson Fire, has encroached upon the Yosemite National Park in central California, forcing the partial closure of the popular attraction and leading to the death of a firefighter several days ago. More than 1,300 firefighters were battling the fast-moving Cranston Fire, which began on Wednesday and forced the evacuation of about 7,000 people, the US Forest Service said. It added that the hazards created by Cranston and another fire have caused the temporary closure of all US Forest Service lands within the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument. A 32-year-old man has been arrested and charged with 15 arson counts, including for the Cranston Fire. ALSO READ | California wildfire burns 500-plus structures "Fire dangers continue to rise throughout CA. Make sure your family and friends are prepared to evacuate. Be alert," warned California's Office of Emergency Services. Governor Jerry Brown on Friday asked for federal assistance "to save lives and to protect property," his office said in a statement. He asked for help including military aircraft, shelter supplies and water for 30,000 evacuated residents in Shasta County, in north-central California, where the Carr Fire has grown "uncontrollably," the statement said. Brown declared a state of emergency in Shasta and ordered National Guard forces to assist the 3,400 fire personnel already trying to contain the Carr Fire, which has destroyed 500 structures and more than 48,000 acres (19,400 hectares). On Friday an official announced the death of a firefighter battling the inferno. A couple stands in front of the charred remains of their home. (Photo | AP) "Two firefighters have been killed in the Carr Fire. A private contractor (operating) a bulldozer died yesterday and a Redding City firefighter was killed in the evening," a spokesman for Cal Fire, the state's Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, told AFP. Cal Fire had announced hours earlier the death of the bulldozer driver. The Carr Fire outside Redding swept across a river late Thursday and engulfed the western part of the city of 90,000 people, said Bret Gouvea, a Cal Fire commander. Scott McLean, a spokesman for the department, said law enforcement colleagues were "doing evacuations as fast as we can" because the fire was moving so fast. "There have been some injuries to civilians and firefighters," he said. Homes leveled by the Carr Fire line the Lake Keswick Estates area of Redding. (Photo | AP) "Continued hot dry weather is forecasted for the remainder of the weekend with triple-digit temperatures," Cal Fire said on its website. "The winds, high temperatures and dry vegetation still have the potential to fuel fire growth." Last year was the worst on record for wildfire devastation in California, with more than 40 deaths and around 9,000 structures destroyed, following fires that ravaged the Napa and Sonoma wine regions. By ANI FRANKFURT: Activists from the Baloch Republican Party (BRP)-Germany chapter recently held a protest against Pakistan over human rights violations and persecution of Baloch people in Balochistan province. The activists gathered in Germany's Frankfurt city and raised anti-Pakistan slogans, calling it a "terrorist state". The demonstrators also accused Pakistan Army and spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for supporting terrorist groups like Islamic State (IS), al Qaeda and Taliban, who are engaged in the enforced disappearances and killings of Baloch people. The protesters appealed to the European Parliament and the United Nations (UN) to take immediate note on the worsening human rights situation in Balochistan, which is the largest and resource-rich province of Pakistan. Baloch Republican Party #Germany held a protest to highlight massive human rights abuses and state atrocities in #Balochistan. pic.twitter.com/dN3wouNLYk Najeeb Baloch (@Najeeb_brp) July 29, 2018 A BRP Germany activist, Wasim Baloch said, "In Balochistan, the Pakistan Army has sped up human rights violations, which include the organised killing of Baloch leaders, political activists and civilians, who have been demanding justice for freedom." He added, "The Army, the ISI and other agencies are abducting and killing these activists far away in their torture cells and hoping that the Baloch people will forget about them. The UN should take immediate action against Pakistan Army." Thousands of Baloch political activists and intellectuals have been disappeared and many have been brutally killed, allegedly by Pakistan's secret services agencies and the Pakistan Army. Taking cognizance of the same, the Baloch people have been protesting across the world seeking help from the international community and human rights organisations. By AFP PHNOM PENH: Cambodia went to the polls early Sunday in an election set to be easily won by strongman premier Hun Sen after the only credible opposition was dissolved last year, effectively turning the country into a one-party state. More than eight million voters are registered to cast a ballot in the sixth general election since the United Nations first sponsored polls in 1993, as the country emerged from decades of war. "All polling stations opened at 7am," a spokesman for the National Election Commission told AFP. Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in office since 1985, was a former member of the hardline Khmer Rouge regime but defected and was installed as leader during the Vietnamese occupation of the 1980s. His Cambodian People's Party (CPP) has won every election since 1998 and the 65-year-old strongman has been in power for 33 years, trumpeting the peace, stability and economic growth of his years in power. Analysts will be watching for voter turnout on Sunday in what is essentially a referendum on Hun Sen's popularity, after the rival CNRP were dissolved by a Supreme Court decision last year. "This election is very important to me, I come to vote because I want happiness, development and peace for the country," said voter Im Chanthan, 54, who said she was "happy" to be casting a ballot in the same polling station as Hun Sen. Dissatisfaction with corruption and a growing youth population with no memory of the Khmer Rouge helped the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) win more than 44 percent of the 2013 vote and carve out a similar share in local elections last year. That success spurred a crackdown by Hun Sen, who accused the opposition CNRP of being involved in a plot to topple the government. Police last year arrested and charged one of the opposition leaders with treason and the Supreme Court later banned the party. In the lead-up to Sunday's vote authorities have also hemmed in independent media and NGOs while former opposition members have fled the country in fear. The US and EU have pulled funding and assistance for the vote, but Cambodia's staunch ally China has provided support. - 'Sham election' - The government says 19 other parties are contesting a democratic poll, but critics say the groups are obscure or newly created to give the poll a veneer of credibility. Rights groups have slammed the election as a farce and opposition figures have called for a boycott to send a message to the ruling party. But election authorities have vowed to take action against anyone who urges others not to vote, creating a climate of fear. Cambodia's leaders have faced international criticism for helping cement what is virtually a one-party state but only limited travel and financial sanctions have been passed by western governments. Sam Rainy, an opposition leader who lives in self-exile to avoid court cases he says are politically motivated, commended the US House of Representatives for passing the Cambodia Democracy Act earlier in the week. The act proposes sanctions for members of Hun Sen's inner circle, a tight-knit group of police, army and other officials who have been key to maintaining his long grip on power. "The timing comes just a few days before Hun Sen is crowned king in a sham election that will be easy to win after he cracked down on civil society, banned the CNRP, imprisoned its president and exiled its leaders, and destroyed the free press," Rainy said, urging the Senate to follow suit. By AFP PHNOM PENH (CAMBODIA): Cambodia voted Sunday in an election set to extend strongman premier Hun Sen's 33 years in power after the only credible opposition was dissolved, effectively turning the country into a one-party state. Hun Sen, who came to power in 1985, has cracked down on dissent in the run-up to the poll, squeezing out civil society, independent media, and his political opponents. Western governments have pulled their assistance from the poll citing its lack of credibility, with rights groups and the opposition describing it as knockout blow to the democratic process. Nineteen small -- or hitherto unknown -- parties are competing against Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) in the absence of the main opposition. But with the result a foregone conclusion, the focus will be on turnout in what has become a plebiscite on Prime Minister Hun Sen's popularity. The opposition, whose leaders are in jail, underground or in self-exile, has urged a "clean-finger" boycott as the only safe form of protest. But lines stretched out of many polling stations early Sunday, as voters showed up at schools and pagodas to cast ballots. "I came to vote because I want happiness, development and peace for the country," said Im Chanthan, 54, casting a ballot in the same station as Hun Sen in Kandal province, just outside the capital. The strongman leader smiled as he and his wife Bun Rany arrived to cast ballots, holding up an ink-stained finger for the bank of photographers. Hun Sen, 65, a one-time Khmer Rouge commander who defected as the hardline regime began to crumble, says stability and economic growth are gifts of his years in power -- a message that resonates with his base. The ruling CPP has won every election since 1998. - 'Fist of a dictator' - More than eight million voters are registered for the sixth general election since the United Nations first sponsored polls in 1993. At the time the country was edging out from decades of war, include the evisceration of the Khmer Rouge years (1975-79) which killed a quarter of the population. Hun Sen broke from the ultra-Maoist regime and was installed aged just 32 as leader during the Vietnamese occupation of the 1980s. But dissatisfaction with corruption among a growing youth population, with little memory of the horrors of the Khmer Rouge era and modern aspirations, put the ruling party's longevity in doubt. Their votes helped the rival Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) to rack up more than 44 percent of the 2013 vote and carved out a similar share in local elections last year. "The CNRP offered a promise of responsive and non-corrupt governance, and people wanted to give them a chance," said Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch. But Hun Sen snuffed out the looming electoral threat, accusing the CNRP of being involved in a treasonous plot to topple the government and arresting leader Kem Sokha. "This is a story of how democratic dreams die under the fist of a dictator," Robertson added. The Supreme Court dissolved the party in November 2017, clearing the way for a CPP whitewash on Sunday. Some voters have expressed resignation over Hun Sen's poll victory, but a climate of fear-driven through by local level ruling party members has led few to speak out publically. - Power and patronage - Hun Sen has maintained a tight grip on the country through a mix of political and family alliances in the police, military and media. With control over vast parts of the state, he has also placed his sons in key positions in what analysts see as an attempt to create a dynasty. The strongman portrays himself as a saviour of the country but glosses over his early membership in the Khmer Rouge. The United States and the European Union declined to send monitors but Cambodia's ally China has provided support. The CNRP appealed to Cambodians in a statement on Sunday to not vote in the "sham election that has no support and is not recognised by the international community." Authorities have vowed to take action against anyone who urges others to steer clear of the ballot box, although they insist voting is not compulsory. Cambodia's leaders have faced international criticism but only limited travel and financial sanctions have been imposed by western governments in response to actions taken against the opposition. The US House of Representatives passed the Cambodia Democracy Act last week, proposing sanctions against members of Hun Sen's inner circle. By PTI CAIRO: Egypt's president expressed his displeasure over recent online postings urging him to step down because of how he is handling the country's troubled economy, saying he is "upset" over the posts. President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said in angry, televised remarks yesterday that the postings were inappropriate and that he has been working hard to pluck Egypt out of its economic crisis. The #Sissi_leave hashtag surfaced this summer following steep price hikes for fuel, drinking water and electricity as part of austerity measures designed to overhaul the economy, still recovering from years of turmoil following the 2011 popular uprising against longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. El-Sissi was first elected in 2014, a year after he, as defense minister, led the military's ouster of Mohammed Morsi, an Islamist who was freely elected but whose one year in office proved divisive. The general-turned-president has since taking office launched multibillion-dollar infrastructure, development and housing projects that he says will transform the country of some 94 million people. He has also overseen the largest crackdown on dissent in Egypt's recent history, jailing thousands of Islamists as well as some secular pro-democracy activists, and rolled back many of the freedoms won following the 2011 uprising. In March, el-Sissi won a second, four-year term, after running virtually unopposed. "They have pushed us into being a nation of poverty, a nation of neediness, but when I begin working toward getting us out of this, I find the hashtag #Sissi leave," he said. "Should I have been upset or not? I was upset. I was upset." El-Sissi has in the past told Egyptians not to listen to anyone but him and repeated that he would only listen to viewpoints different from his if they are based on thorough research. In his latest remarks, el-Sissi also repeated his frequent assertions about unnamed parties tirelessly working to undermine and destabilize the country. Egypt, he warned, would not survive another "revolutionary" phase like that of 2011. "Everything is linked to stability and security. I want us to develop an acute fear of instability," he said. Along with the economic challenges, Egypt also faces an insurgency by Islamic militants in northern Sinai. Along with battling militants in the peninsula, security forces also struggle to secure the porous borders with neighbouring Libya and Sudan, used by militants to smuggle weapons and fighters into Egypt and for cross-border attacks. By Associated Press McALLEN: Glass cases being smashed during an attempted robbery Saturday at a jewelry store in a popular Texas mall were misconstrued as gunfire and sent people running for the exits, authorities and witnesses said. All known suspects in the attempted robbery at the La Plaza Mall in McAllen were taken into custody, the city's police chief, Victor Rodriguez, said in a statement that the city government posted on Twitter. Madeline Madden, a 17-year-old from McAllen, told The Monitor of McAllen that she was inside Glitz and Glamour, a boutique just across from the mall, when she saw people rush out of the mall and into the parking lot. She said one frightened couple ran into the boutique seeking safety. "The man and his wife came in with their kids and asked if they were going to lock the door, and they told us what happened ... that there had been a shooting," Madden said. "They were trying to get away. The wife was crying and the man looked really nervous. They had a newborn and a toddler with them, and the toddler was crying. Someone else came and had cuts all over them from falling. We had to lock the doors and wouldn't let anyone else into the store." Dozens of other people could be seen running from the mall while many others inside rushed to the exits or sought cover amid the confusion. Several law enforcement agencies responded to the scene, including officers from the McAllen Police Department, Hidalgo County sheriff's office and Texas Department of Public Safety. McAllen police Lt. Joel Morales declined to release any additional information, citing the ongoing investigation, but Rodriguez told The Monitor that seven people were taken into custody. It's not clear what charges may be pending against them. The mall was closed as authorities responded to the robbery, but it reopened later Saturday. The mall is one of the primary shopping centers in the Rio Grande Valley. McAllen is near the border with Mexico and about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of the Gulf Coast. By AFP WASHINGTON: The publisher of the New York Times said Sunday he warned Donald Trump in a White House meeting that the president's escalating attacks on the news media are "dangerous and harmful to our country" and "will lead to violence." But the meeting with A.G. Sulzberger, publisher of the prestigious newspaper since Jan. 1, appeared to do little to improve Trump's tense and testy relationship with the press. On Twitter, the president blasted what he called the "anti-Trump haters in the dying newspaper industry," calling them "very unpatriotic!" The president's meeting with Sulzberger took place July 20, following a request from the White House for what appeared to be a routine get-to-know-you session. The meeting, which also included Times editorial page editor James Bennet, had remained secret at the White House's request, according to Sulzberger, until Trump tweeted about it early Sunday. "Had a very good and interesting meeting at the White House with A.G. Sulzberger," Trump said. "Spent much time talking about the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, 'Enemy of the People.' Sad!" Had a very good and interesting meeting at the White House with A.G. Sulzberger, Publisher of the New York Times. Spent much time talking about the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, Enemy of the People. Sad! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018 Sulzberger, in a statement released hours later by the Times, said the president's tweet effectively "put the meeting on the record," and he described what appeared to be an unusually blunt session with the president. 'Dangerous' and 'inflammatory' "I told the president directly that I thought that his language was not just divisive but increasingly dangerous," Sulzberger said. "I told him that although the phrase 'fake news' is untrue and harmful, I am far more concerned about his labeling journalists 'the enemy of the people.' I warned that this inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence." With some foreign leaders using Trump's language "to justify sweeping crackdowns on journalists, I warned that it was putting lives at risk." Sulzberger concluded: "I implored him to reconsider his broader attacks on journalism, which I believe are dangerous and harmful to our country." President Donald Trump. (Photo | AP) Beyond confirming that the meeting took place, the White House has provided no details. But Trump issued a string of four tweets a few hours after reports of the meeting emerged. "When the media - driven insane by their Trump Derangement Syndrome - reveals internal deliberations of our government, it truly puts the lives of many, not just journalists, at risk! Very unpatriotic!" Trump tweeted. He added that "the failing New York Times and the Amazon Washington Post do nothing but write bad stories even on very positive achievements." The Post, which like the Times is a regular target of Trump's complaints, is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. When 37-year-old Sulzberger took over leadership of the Times from his father after several years as a reporter and editor, Trump tweeted that the young man's rise gave the paper a "last chance" to prove itself impartial and to report the news "without fear or FAVOR." But since then, as the Times and other news sources have chronicled Trump's personal and political problems and logged his frequent misstatements, the president has repeatedly lashed back. He has tweeted scores of times that the Times is "very dishonest," "failing and corrupt," and that it uses "phony and nonexistent sources." The Times has defended its reporters' work and noted that, far from "failing," it has enjoyed healthy growth, with 2017 revenue of $1.7 billion, up eight percent from the previous year. Love/hate relationship Observers say the president has a love/hate relationship with what was his hometown newspaper as he became one of New York's best-known figures, craving coverage but furious when it appeared critical of him. The exchange comes at a time of high tension between Trump and the news media, with the president regularly denouncing critical news reports as "fake news." Trump's latest raft of tweets raised doubts that the meeting with Sulzberger had done much to ease those tensions. As one former Times editor said on social media about the chances of any reconciliation, "don't hold your breath." If anything, Trump's relations with the press seem recently to have hit a new low. The White House barred CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins from a press event Wednesday after her persistent questioning at an earlier occasion was deemed "inappropriate." Olivier Knox, president of the White House Correspondents Association, deplored the action as a "wrong-headed" response to a reporter who, he said, was simply doing her job. And Sulzberger's warning of violence came only weeks after the June 28 shooting at a newspaper office in Annapolis, Maryland, in which an aggrieved local man shot and killed five of the paper's employees. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Columnist Tom Kacich is a columnist and the author of Tom's Mailbag at The News-Gazette. His column appears Sundays. His email is tkacich@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@tkacich). One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021 This Might Be the Most Expensive Thanksgiving Ever (Newser) A North Miami Beach Police officer has been relieved from duty and faces criminal charges after she allegedly kicked a pregnant woman in the stomach, causing her to go into early labor. Per ABC News, Officer Ambar Pacheco has been charged with aggravated battery following the Wednesday fight with 27-year-old Evoni Murray. According to a police arrest affidavit obtained by WPLG, Pacheco told officers the victim's boyfriend kicked Pacheco's sister in the face, after which she "saw red and beat the s--- out of her," Pacheco said. Pacheco would reportedly later tell cops she knew she kicked someone, but didn't know precisely who. story continues below According to the Miami New Times, Pacheco has been a uniformed patrol officer for one year. Following the alleged assault, Murray reportedly felt "severe pain" and then began to have contractions. She was taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center, where she soon gave birth to a healthy baby, according to the police report. In interview with WFOR, Murray denied that her boyfriend kicked Pacheco's sister. "He was just trying to restrain the young ladies from doing anything to me or his child," she said. (Read more police stories.) (Newser) "It opened a great wound inside of me. I pretended it didn't happen." So says a nun who claims an Italian priest sexually assaulted her while she was confessing to him about 20 years ago in Bologna. A new AP investigation finds she's not alone: Religious sisters are apparently being abused by bishops and priests in Asia, South America, Africa, and Europe, and usually keeping quiet about the assaults. That changed this week when five nuns appeared on national TV in Chile and told their stories of sexual abuse by priests and other nuns, Crux reports. It's an older story in Africa, where reports have emerged of priests abusing nuns and pressuring them into abortions; a six-year study and follow-up report for the Vatican found 29 nuns impregnated at one congregation. story continues below The National Catholic Reporter revealed that study in 2001, but what the Church did is unclear. Meanwhile, the Vatican remains quiet on the issue and lacks rules to probe and punish abusers, leaving it to local church leaders to take action. "Consecrated women have to be encouraged to speak up when they are molested," says a Vatican official on the condition of anonymity. "Bishops have to be encouraged to take them seriously, and make sure the priests are punished if guilty." But amid #MeToo and an ever-widening Catholic Church abuse scandal, more nuns may be speaking up for themselves. "I see it as two freedoms: freedom of the weight for a victim, and freedom of a lie and a violation by the priest," says the nun allegedly assaulted in Bologna. "I hope this helps other sisters free themselves of this weight." (Read more Catholic Church stories.) (Newser) "Fake news" is at it again, this time on a different continent, reports the AP. Zimbabwe's main opposition leader says the ruling party has conducted a "fake news" campaign against him with the help of foreign technicians ahead of Monday's elections. Nelson Chamisa, head of the Movement for Democratic Change party, says that "there is a lot of false news making the rounds" and that supporters of President Emmerson Mnangagwa hired "foreigners" to disparage his candidacy. story continues below "These foreigners are actually fake news mercenaries," Chamisa says. "Their duty is to concoct, manufacture, engineer, and produce fictitious and fallacious videos, news stories and then send them out to you, send them out to the world, to confuse the voters." Chamisa says he will reveal the names of foreign computer experts who worked for the ruling ZANU-PF party at an "appropriate time." (Read more Zimbabwe stories.) (Newser) The publisher of the New York Times has released a statement following President Trump's tweet about a meeting the two had together July 20. According to AG Sulzberger, the White House requested the meeting, which Trump said Sunday morning centered around the "vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media." In response, Sulzberger said he accepted the meeting "to raise concerns about the presidents deeply troubling anti-press rhetoric" and labeling of the media as an "enemy of the people." As CNN notes, Sulzberger said the Times chose to share details of the off-the-record meeting after Trump's tweet. story continues below "I warned that this inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence," Sulzberger said. While the president has frequently singled out the Times, often by calling it "failing," Sulzberger said he tasked himself with defending the press as a whole. "I was not asking for him to soften his attacks on The Times if he felt our coverage was unfair," Sulzberger said in his statement. "Instead, I implored him to reconsider his broader attacks on journalism, which I believe are dangerous and harmful to our country." (Read more New York Times stories.) Mumbai: The apex banking lobby Indian Banks Association (IBA) and bank unions will meet on Monday to negotiate on salary hikes for over three dozen banks. Close to 37 banks, including public, private and foreign banks, have mandated to IBA to decide on wage hikes for their employees. Bank unions under the banner of United Forum of Bank Unions will represent the employees. The current wage revision is due from November 2017, after the 10th bipartite settlement ended in October 2017. In the last round of the talks held on May 5, 2018, the IBA had offered a meagre 2 per cent wage hike, which had irked the unions and they went on a two-day strike starting May 30. We want banks to improve the previous offer of 2 per cent. Our demand is of 25 per cent, but we are open for negotiations, UFBU convener for Maharashtra, Devidas Tuljapurkar, said. Read | Kalyan Jewellers apologises to bankers, withdraws ad featuring Amitabh Bachchan and his daughter In the 10th bipartite wage settlement, which was signed in May 2015, for the period between November 2012 and October 2017, the IBA had offered a 15 per cent hike. So far, the wage revisions have always been in double-digits, which we are okay with, but 2 per cent is not acceptable to us, Tuljapurkar said. Banks management had justified the nominal hike citing huge losses incurred by in the past few quarters. The unions have said the fall in profit is on account of higher provisioning towards non-performing assets and the employees are not responsible for that as the employees have been tirelessly working towards implementing various government schemes such as Jan Dhan, demonetisation, Mudra and Atal Pension Yojana, among others. Read | LIC set to buy majority stake in debt-laden IDBI Bank In the May 2018 round of wage negotiations, IBA had also maintained that the talks on officers demand would be restricted up to scale III officers only. The settlement under the 10th bipartite agreement was concluded after 18 rounds. For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday held an emergency meeting after Haryana released around five lakh cusecs of water from the Hathni Kund Barrage into the Yamuna river. The water is likely to reach the national capital by Sunday evening. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal chaired an emergency meeting with all stakeholder depts after Haryana released 5 lakh cusecs of water from Hathni Kund Barrage. River Yamuna is currently flowing at 205.30 metres, 47 cm above danger level. Water is likely to reach Delhi by Sunday evening. pic.twitter.com/89wlDSSTiJ ANI (@ANI) July 28, 2018 The water level reached 205.30 metres at 7 pm today, prompting authorities here to evacuate people from low-lying areas, officials said. Also Read | Flood scare in Delhi as Yamuna water level crosses danger mark; evacuation begins Kejriwal said all departments have been put on high alert and provided control room number 1077 for any flood related emergency. This water likely to reach Del by tomo eve. Wherever administration evacuating people, they r requested to cooperate. All depts put on high alert. For any flood related emergency, control room no is 1077. https://t.co/JI2ADxACMW Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) July 28, 2018 The water level of the Yamuna river at the Old Delhi Railway Bridge rose to 205.30 metres by 7 pm and is expected to rise even further, an official said. Also Read | Uttar Pradesh: Heavy rains claim 58 lives, injure 53 On Friday, Delhi government had sounded a flood alert after the water level of the Yamuna river crossed the danger mark. All executive engineers/sector officers are directed to keep in close contact with the control room in relation to the discharge, water level at the Old Railway Bridge and the advisory or forecast from the Central Water Commission/MET, and requested to take appropriate measures/steps accordingly to avoid flood-like situation, an advisory from the authorities said. New Delhi: The Yamuna water level is likely to go up further on Sunday as Haryana released over six lakh cusecs of water from the Hathni Kund Barrage into the river and the Delhi government had ordered to close the traffic movement on Old Yamuna Bridge in Delhi as the water level in the Yamuna river continued to rise due to rains. The Yamuna water level was 205.5 on Sunday, which was still rising. District Magistrate of East Delhi, K Mahesh, issuing an order to ban the traffic movement on the bridge said there was an impending danger of floods due to the unprecedented rise in the water level and could also lead to loss of life and property. Delhi: District Magistrate (DM) of East Delhi, K. Mahesh, orders closure of traffic on the old Yamuna Bridge with immediate effect. pic.twitter.com/ZiIBge5BrQ ANI (@ANI) July 29, 2018 East Delhi ADM Ajay Kumar said people were being evacuated and had set up relief camps. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal held an emergency on Saturday and directed all departments to be on high alert. Danger level of Yamuna is 204.83 & current water level is 205.5 & is still rising & will continue to rise throughout the night. We're evacuating people & have also put relief camps which have all facilities. Till now, I think situation is under control: Ajay Kumar,ADM, East Delhi pic.twitter.com/N6MY0U6SQz ANI (@ANI) July 29, 2018 On Saturday, several people were evacuated from the low-lying areas. Also Read | Kejriwal holds emergency meeting as Haryana releases five cusecs of water Over 10,000 persons have been affected. People earlier living on the river bed and low-lying areas are being shifted out, IANS quoted Preet Vihar Nodal officer Arun Gupta as saying. Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Sunday took stock of the ongoing evacuation work in the low-lying areas of the city. Also Read | Yamuna water level crosses danger mark due to rains Sisodia took stock of the ongoing evacuation work in the low-lying areas around Akshardham and Pandav Nagar, an official said. Read More | Sisodia visits Yamuna belt area, urges people to move to safer places The deputy CM met the people and urged them to move to safer places, cautioning about the rising level of the Yamuna river. New Delhi: Social activist Anna Hazare on Sunday said he will launch a hunger strike from October 2 to protest the delay in appointing a Lokpal at the Centre. I will go on a hunger strike from October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, at my native Ralegan Siddhi village in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, Hazare told PTI. Also Read | PM Modi launches record 81 projects in Lucknow The anti-corruption crusader also appealed the people to join him in his campaign for a corruption-free country. Hazare criticized the NDA-led government saying it had earlier promised to appoint Lokpal and implement the Lokpal bill, which was passed by Parliament and signed by former President Pranab Mukherjee in 2014. Hazare alleged that there is a lack of will in the NDA-led government to curb corruption and added; Hence, it is giving a lot of reasons and delaying the appointment of the Lokpal. The Lokpal bill was passed in 2014 but is yet to implemented. Also Read | DMK chief M Karunanidhi's vital signs normalising: Kauvery Hospital Earlier this week, the Supreme Court expressed dissatisfaction over the Centres response in appointing the Lokpal. The Centre told the apex court that the Lokpal selection committee headed by the prime minister would meet to set up a search panel for recommending names for the appointment of Lokpal committee and its members. The Supreme Court in its verdict in 2017, had said the enforcement of Lokpal Act could not be suspended till the proposed amendments, including on the issue of the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, were cleared by Parliament. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Coal Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the recent decision of the Union Power Ministry to allow states to import coal is temporary in nature. We are constantly trying to ramp up production. Allowing states to import coal is temporary in nature, Goyal told PTI when asked about the Union Power Ministry asking states to import coal in the wake of coal shortage. Union Power Minister R K Singh has recently red flagged coal shortage for power plants for the next 2-3 years and allowed states to import the fuel. Goyal said there had been constant growth in coal production and dispatches by the Coal India and explained that at times imports might be needed as a stop-gap arrangement for states to meet sudden rise in demand. ALSO READ | Narendra Modi Lucknow visit LIVE updates: PM to interact with PMAY (U) beneficiaries via video link Goyal said coal production had registered a 15.2 per cent growth during the first quarter ended June 2018 to 136.87 million tonnes and supply to power plants also jumped by 15.4 per cent to 122.84 million tonnes during the quarter. This resulted in lower coal imports by the power industry by nearly 15 per cent during April-May this year. The Coal India is trying to rationalise coal supplies to power companies based on demand and stock lying with them in order to optimise power generation in the country, a company official said. The company is also planning to limit supplies with low PLF and high stock with utilities generating more with low stock, he said. ALSO READ | Maharashtra bus accident: NDRF rescues 30 bodies from the spot; search operation on For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on Sunday confirmed that all of the bodies have been recovered from the site of the Raigad bus accident, which left 30 passengers dead and one injured in Maharashtra on Saturday. "Raigad bus accident: NDRF calls off operation, total 30 bodies have been recovered from the site of the accident," the news agency ANI reported. 30 of the 31 Dapoli Agriculture University employees lost their lives, after a bus, on its way to Mahabaleshwar hill station, skidded off the road and rolled down a deep gorge in Maharashtra's Raigad district on Saturday afternoon. One of the passengers survived as he jumped while the vehicle was sliding along the steep slope of the gorge. Raigad bus accident: NDRF calls off operation, total 30 bodies have been recovered from the site of the accident. Total 31 people were travelling in the bus when it fell down a mountain road into a gorge in Ambenali Ghat. Only one person survived the accident. ANI (@ANI) July 29, 2018 Read | Infant dies of accidental strangulation in swing Following the tragic incident, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced some ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to the family of the deceased. He had also promised the medical expenses for those who were injured in the accident. Expressing his grief over the Raigad accident, PM Narendra Modi offered his condolences to the bereaved families of the dead. "Pained by the loss of lives due to a bus accident in Maharashtra's Raigad district. My condolences to those who lost their loved ones," the PMO tweeted quoting Modi. Taking to Twitter Congress president Rahul Gandhi said, "I'm sorry to hear about the terrible bus accident in Raigad, Maharashtra in which a large number of people have been killed and many others injured. I appeal to Congress party workers in the area to provide all possible assistance to the injured and families of those who have died". Read | Five killed after fire breaks out at residential complex in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi Prima facie, a diversion of the driver's attention is believed to be the reason behind this tragedy. However, a detailed probe is being conducted to ascertain the same. The passengers were on their way to Mahabaleshwar for a picnic trip when the driver lost control over the vehicle while negotiating a turn and fell into the gorge. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched 81 investment projects worth Rs 60, 000 crore in Lucknow and said that industrialists play key roles in the development of the country. The mega investment projects, including renewable energy, infrastructure, power, Information Technology, electronics and tourism, are expected to give a big boost to the industrialisation in the state, an official statement said. These projects have the potentials to create more than two lakh jobs in the state, says UP Industry Minister Satish Mahana. The investment projects also believe to have huge development goals to meet before next years Lok Sabha elections. The record breaking launching ceremony was attended by 80 leading industrialists, including major firms such as Reliance Jio, Adani, BSNL and Birla alongside Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minster Yogi Adityanath. Asserting that industrialists play an important role in developing the country, Modi said, Why should we shame them, call them thieves? He said, We are not the one who are scared of standing next to industrialists. Read More | All households to get electricity by March 2019: PM Modi The Opposition Congress party repeatedly attacked the Prime Minister over his alleged links with industrialists, accusing him of neglecting the farmers and the underprivileged. Modi said the investment projects will prove to be a big leap in giving a new direction to the Centres pet policies Make in India and Digital India. He also said that India was becoming a hub of mobile manufacturing for the world. And Uttar Pradesh is leading the manufacturing revolution. Be it setting up of fibre or establishment of IT center for internet service in Uttar Pradesh, digital infrastructure will give a new direction, new pace to the state," said Modi. At present, over 50 mobile manufacturing companies are based in Uttar Pradesh, making one of the largest mobile manufacturing units in the world. "Uttar Pradesh has been successful in attaining a position in top five states in the country in terms of ease of doing business," Adityanath had said at the event. Also Read | Amit Shah, Bhagwat meet in Mumbai amid Maratha quota stir While hitting back at his predecessors, Yogi said the BSP government in five years could only manage investment worth Rs 57, 000 crore while the SP could manage just Rs 50, 000 crore but in contrast his government has gone ahead to make investments of Rs 60, 000 crore in a span of one year. More proposals worth Rs 50, 000 crore are in the pipeline which will be started soon, Yogi said. (With inputs from agencies) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a two-day visit to Lucknow, on Sunday launched 81 investment projects worth over Rs 60,000 crore at a mega ground-breaking ceremony in the Uttar Pradesh capital. The key projects came to the state during an investment summit organised by the Yogi Adityanath government in February. The expenditure has given birth to a series of investment intent worth more than Rs 4.28 lakh crore across different sectors such as renewable energy, infrastructure, power, IT and tourism, according to a statement released by the PMO. Around 80 leading industrialists, including Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of Aditya Birla group, Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani group, Subhash Chandra, chairman of Essel group and Sanjeev Puri, MD, ITC, besides top magnates of other major business houses participated in the event. During his visit, PM Modi will also attend an exhibition on Flagship Missions of Urban Development on Sunday. He will interact and receive feedbacks from 35 PMAY (U) beneficiaries, via video conference, from different parts of Uttar Pradesh. After addressing a gathering at the Flagship Missions exhibition, the prime minister will leave for New Delhi on Sunday evening. Here are the highlight's of PM Modi's Lucknow visit: # 05: 38 pm: We are not the one who are scared of standing next to industrialists: PM Modi #WAICTH: PM Modi in Lucknow says, "we aren't the ones who are scared of standing next to industrialists. Jab niyat saaf ho,irade nek ho, to kisi ke saath khade hone se daag nahi lagte. People who don't meet industrialists in public but do everything behind curtains remain scared" pic.twitter.com/mpUfQxZLf0 ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) July 29, 2018 # 02:18 pm: When BSP was in power, RS 50,000 crore was invested in 5 years, while the BJP government has invested Rs 60,000 crore in just 1 year. Also, more proposals worth Rs 50,000 crore are in pipeline which will be started soon. When BSP was in power, Rs.50,000 Cr was invested in 5 years, while the BJP govt. has invested Rs.60,000 Cr in just 1 year. Also, more proposals worth Rs.50,000 Cr are in pipeline which will be started soon: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the ground-breaking ceremony #Lucknow pic.twitter.com/gbIAjLiwYu ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) July 29, 2018 # 02:17 pm: Uttar Pradesh has been successful in attaining a position in top 5 states in the country in terms of ease of doing business: CM Adityanath. # 02:14 pm: Former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee keeps saying that he wants to see an India that is prosperous, capable and thoughtful, where there is no gap between villages and cities, centre and states, labour and income, and administration and citizens: PM Narendra Modi. # 02:13 pm: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh assured on behalf of the Centre additional security for the ambitious projects in case of any requirement. # 02:12 pm: The climate was very favourable to set up the projects in Uttar Pradesh: CM Yogi Adityanath. # 02:11 pm: The investment projects will create over two lakh new jobs, says UP Minister for Industries Satish Mahana. # 02:10 pm: In the past three years, Rs 50,000 cr have been saved in electricity bills because of the LED bulbs were set up in households under Ujala scheme. If I had announced a concession of this amount, 'Wah Wah Modi' would have been the headlines for a week: PM Modi in Lucknow. In past three years, Rs 50,000 cr have been saved in electricity bills because of the LED bulbs were set up in households under Ujala scheme. If I had announced a concession of this amount, 'Wah Wah Modi' would have been the headlines for a week: PM Modi in Lucknow pic.twitter.com/0pvsxWm4u1 ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) July 29, 2018 # 02:02 pm: Today the nation is becoming a hub of mobile manufacturing for the world. Uttar Pradesh is leading this manufacturing revolution. More than 50 mobile manufacturing company are working in UP & the largest mobile manufacturing unit in the world has also been established here, says the prime minister. # 02:00 pm: These projects will prove to be a big step in giving a new direction to Digital India and Make in India. Be it setting up of fiber or establishment of IT centre for internet service in Uttar Pradesh, digital infrastructure will give a new direction, new pace to the state: Modi. # 01:47 pm: People are calling this event a ground-breaking ceremony. But I call this a record-breaking ceremony. The manner in which development works have been carried out in such a short span of time & old methods have been changed, was never seen before in Uttar Pradesh: Narendra Modi. # 01:42 pm: It is for the second time in the last 5 months that I am meeting my industrial friends in Lucknow. Last time we met for UP Investors Summit in February. I am elated that a huge step is being taken to deliver the promises made there on the ground, says PM Modi. It is for the second time in the last 5 months that I am meeting my industrial friends in Lucknow. Last time we met for UP Investors Summit in February. I am elated that a huge step is being taken to deliver the promises made there on the ground: PM Modi in Lucknow pic.twitter.com/qp9ahy6kOG ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) July 29, 2018 # 01:41 pm: PM Modi launched 81 investment projects worth over Rs 60,000 crore. # 01:33 pm: PM Narendra Modi speaks at the launch of various projects. #WATCH live from Lucknow: PM Modi speaks at the launch of various projects https://t.co/TEH1RQSlD4 ANI (@ANI) July 29, 2018 # 12:20 pm: Today, we welcomed Honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Indira Gandhi Foundation, Lucknow, where he will be laying the foundation stone for 81 projects worth over Rs 60,000 crore: Yogi Adityanath. # 12:33 pm: UP Governor Ram Naik, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and UP CM Yogi Adityanath also present at the event. Lucknow: PM Narendra Modi to launch projects worth Rs 60,000 crore at the ground-breaking ceremony. UP Governor Ram Naik, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and UP CM Yogi Adityanath also present at the event. pic.twitter.com/IhDK4ZejVC ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) July 29, 2018 # 12:09 pm: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reaches Lucknow airport to receive PM Narendra Modi. # 07:39 am: PM Narendra Modi to launch projects worth Rs 60,000 crore at the ground-breaking ceremony in Lucknow today. Earlier on Saturday, Modi promised "pakka makaan" to all the citizens of India by 2022 and put out a list of some key achievements by his government. Read | PM Modi misleading country over MSP hike, says Mamata Banerjee As the political ardour is gaining pace for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the ruling BJP has intensified its campaign across the country. Last week, PM Modi addressed a farmers rally in Shahjahanpur, while in recent past he paid visits to Varanasi, Azamgarh, Mirzapur and Sant Kabir Nagar as part of the BJPs strategy for 2019 general elections. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Pakistan Peoples Partys (PPP) Mahesh Kumar Malani has become the first Hindu candidate to win a National Assembly seat, 16 years after non-Muslim were granted the right to vote and contest elections in Pakistan. Mahesh Kumar Malani won the National Assembly (NA-222) Tharparkar-II seat in southern Sindh, after defeating a total of 14 candidates, as per reports. He defeated his closest opponent Arbab Zakaullah of the Grand Democratic Alliance, by 1,06,630 votes to 87,251 votes respectively. ALSO READ: Imran Khan's victory: India may do well to wait and watch Malani, who is a Pakistani Hindu Rajasthani Brahmin, was a member of parliament from 2003-08, nominated by the PPP on a reserved seat. In 2013, Malani became the first non-Muslim Member of the Provincial Assembly following his win of Tharparkar-III general seat of the Sindh Assembly. Earlier, he had served as the chairperson of the Sindh Assemblys Standing Committee on Food. Non-Muslims in Pakistan were granted the right to vote and contest general elections in 2002 after then-president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf made amendments in the Constitution. ALSO READ: How Pakistan gave Imran Khan and his PTI a chance Hindus in Pakistan also have reserved seats in the Senate, provincial and national assemblies. A total of ten seats are reserved for minorities in the National Assembly. Women and non-Muslims in Pakistan get two opportunities to become a lawmaker. In March 2018, PPPs Krishna Kumari became the first Hindu woman to be elected as a Senate. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Jailed former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was on Sunday admitted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad on the orders of Pakistan's caretaker government, after his health deteriorated in the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. Sharif, 68, is serving a 10-year jail term in connection with the Avenfield Apartments in the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi since July 13. Doctors conducted a check-up of Sharif after he complained of chest pain and advised that he immediately be shifted to a coronary care unit (CCU) in PIMs hospital, one of countrys top hospital, Geo news reported. Doctors had advised Sharif's transfer to hospital after an electrocardiogram had shown "variations", state-run PTV quoted Punjab home minister Shaukat Javed. Days of Sharifs staying at the hospital will be decide after doctors examine his health condition. "How many days he stays in hospital depends on doctors," Javed said. Also Read | Former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif 'on the verge of kidney failure' The decision to shift PML-N party leader to hospital was taken by the Punjab government which has administrative control of the Adiala jail after a team of doctors recommended that Sharif needed proper medication and care as he has been suffering from acute pain in both his arms, likely due to lack of adequate blood circulation. Last week, it was reported that Sharif is on the verge of a kidney failure. Doctors recommended to shift him to hospital immediately. However, Sharif refused to be moved to a hospital and insisted that medical treatment be provided to him in prison. Earlier Javed said that Sharif will be shifted to PIMS, where preparations have been made to keep the high-profile prisoner. Earlier, a team of doctors headed by Dr Ejaz Qadeer and comprising cardiologist Dr Naeem Malik, Medical Specialist Dr Shaji Siddiqui, neurologist Dr Sohail Tanvir and Dr Mashood carried out medical checkup of Sharif after he complained of pain in chest. Dr Malik, head of the PIMS cardiology department, suggested that authorities shift Sharif to the hospital as his blood tests showed clotting which, according to the doctor, was an alarming sign considering his medical history. His ECG and blood test reports were also not satisfactory. The PML-N party leader lives with diabetes and has also undergo heart surgery in 2016. He currently takes medication for his heart condition, cholestrol and diabetes. Read More | Nawaz Sharif demands medical facilities in jail Last week, PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif wrote a letter to caretaker Punjab government seeking better facilities for them at Adiala Jail. Shehbaz had asked the authorities to ensure continuous provision of medicines and medical examination to Sharif from his personal doctor. Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in and around the Adiala Jail. Security personnel have been deployed around its premises and also special arrangements have also been made at the PIMS. (With inputs from agencies) For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: A three-judge special court formed by Pakistans Supreme Court is set to resume hearing of a high treason case against former military ruler and dictator Pervez Musharraf next week. The trial may also be a big test for Imran Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, which is likely to form a government, a media report said on Sunday. Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Yawar Ali, who heads the special court, will visit Islamabad for three days from July 31 to August 2. We are also hearing that the case is fixed next week, a member of Musharraf legal team also informed about the development, a media report said. Pakistan-based daily English language newspaper The Express Tribune reported that the purpose of the LHC Chief Justices visit is to hear the high treason case lodged against the former president soon after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) came to power in 2013 for his role in the promulgation of emergency on November 3, 2007. Also Read | Want to return, contest elections: Pervez Musharraf However, the prosecution team has yet to get any intimidation regarding hearing of the case. The high treason case was planned to restarted earlier this month but the schedule was cancelled because of the LHC top judges foreign trip. The special court formed by the Pakistan Supreme Court on request of the former PML-N led government had to be reconstituted as its former head and Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice Yahya Afridi recused himself from hearing the case on 29 March. Now, it is to be seen whether the upcoming PTI government will pursue the treason case or keep Akram Sheikh, who was appointed as the prosecutor by the PML-N's government. The daily said Sheikh, who is regarded as being close to the PML-N, may himself withdraw from the case. The legal experts believe that the treason case is a test for the new government as one of the reasons of civil-military tussle was that the PML-N government had initiated the case against the former army chief. Read More | Pak court orders suspension of passport of 'absconder' Musharraf The PTI chief had vowed in November 2007 that his party would initiate proceedings against Musharraf over his unconstitutional acts but it has also been witnessed that the PTI has remained silent over the issue in the recent past. Most close aides of Musharraf have also joined the PTI. Interestingly, a key member of Musharraf's party, Amjad also withdrew his nomination papers in favour of Imran Khan in NA-53. It is also being observed as to how much the superior judiciary is interested to conclude the trial. Experts say the superior judiciary is still unable to end misperception that it leans towards the establishment. Since the disqualification of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, the PML-N has been propagating that the judiciary is part of a game plan. Read More | Pak court orders suspension of passport of 'absconder' Musharraf On April 7, the Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar proposed a fresh composition of the three-judge special bench, nominating Justice Yawar Ali as its head, but the federal government led by the PML-N did not issue a formal notification during its tenure. Later, the caretaker government issued a notification regarding the composition of the special bench, which also comprises Sindh High Court judge Nazar Akbar and Balochistan High Court judge Tahira Safdar. Justice Yawar Ali is set to retire on October 22 this year. It will be interesting whether the trial will be concluded before his retirement. Recently, the apex court summoned Musharraf in a matter regarding his disqualification but he did not show up. Musharraf, 74, who has been residing in Dubai since March 2016 after leaving the county on medical grounds. (With inputs from agencies) For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Pakistan general elections 2018, which have produced some stunning upset results with many of the political parties crying foul play, led people to streets in Banno and Mardan to protest against the Election Commission alleging a rigging. "Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal and Awami National Party held widespread protests in Banno and Mardan against Election Commission of Pakistan alleging election rigging," the news agency ANI reported. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan on Wednesday claimed victory in the general elections after his party emerged as the single largest party in the National Assembly with its candidates winning 98 seats and leading in 20 others, amid rival political parties' claim of "blatant" rigging. #Pakistan: Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal and Awami National Party held widespread protests in Banno & Mardan against Election Commission of Pakistan alleging election rigging. pic.twitter.com/0vO3n4qvKS ANI (@ANI) July 29, 2018 Read | Pakistan Election Results: Terrorist Hafiz Saeed stands rejected Meanwhile, in a different incident, scores of people in Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan have been staging a protest at Ghizer town denouncing the violation of Anti-Terrorism Act by the government. Earlier in July, Pakistani authorities opened a criminal investigation into leaders of jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharifs PML-N under an anti-terrorism law, 10 days before the election on July 25. However, amid this growing protest, Imran Khan has started reaching out to leaders to form the next government in Pakistan after his party won a majority of seats in Parliament. The PTI has bagged 115 of the 270 National Assembly (NA) seats, according to the Election Commission of Pakistan which has released results on 267 seats. Read | Pakistan Election Results: Imran Khan likely to become new Pak PM; promises wide-ranging reforms Khan led his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to victory in the parliamentary elections, amid a growing consensus among South Asia experts and Pakistan-observers that it was greatly influenced and meddled by the strong Pakistani Army. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Washington: The general election in Pakistan was engineered by the powerful Army in favour of Imran Khan and his party Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaaf, a Mohajir community leader in the US has alleged, demanding fresh polls under international supervision. Voice of Karachi chairman Nadeem Nusrat alleged that the army establishment heavily used Pakistani judiciary and anti-corruption body NAB against Khans political rivals and even jailed his main political foe Nawaz Sharif and his daughter just a few days before the polls. Pakistani military establishment made the whole electoral process highly dubious right from the beginning of election campaign. Khan and his party Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) were treated as the chosen one and were offered special privileges, whereas his political rivals were subjected to a systematic campaign of hurdles, intimidation and defamation, he alleged. ALSO READ: Imran Khan's victory: India may do well to wait and watch Barring PTI, he said, every other political party in Pakistan is complaining of massive and organised rigging and have categorically rejected the results. Media reports are also pointing out to electoral fraud and now the reports of international observers and foreign media are also endorsing claims of massive electoral fraud in Pakistan, he said. The report of the US State Department too has alluded to reports of widespread irregularities. Hundreds of thousands of angry voters are out in a number of areas protesting against this fraud but Pakistani media is not allowed to cover this mass agitation, Nusrat said. This is a clear mockery of democracy, law and the Constitution of Pakistan. International community must not accept results of this engineered election and should exert pressure on Pakistan to hold fresh election under the United Nations supervision, the US-based Mohajir leader said. The term Mohajir is used to describe the Urdu-speaking immigrants who left India in 1947 and came to Pakistan. A large chunk of them settled in the Sindh province. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Bahrain Opportunities Forum, an event aimed at attracting foreign direct investment to the Kingdom will be held in Bahrain later this year. An event similar to the one that was held at the Palace of Westminster in London a week ago would be held in Bahrain. The event was organised by Former Pakistani ambassador Javed Malik through Diplomat Business Club, to which he is the president of. The event was attended by a high-profile delegation from the Kingdom, including EDB chief executive Khalid Al Rumaihi and other Bahraini businessmen. It was also attended by Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Sameer Nass. The event was co-chaired by British MP Andrew Rosindell while former British minister Lord George Roberton, MPs, and other UK officials and businessmen were also in attendance. Mr Nass confirmed that the forum will be held in the third quarter of this year in Bahrain. He added the event would be held twice a year, once in Bahrain and once in another chosen venue. The Lower Criminal Court has sentenced an Asian driver to six months behind bars for accidentally causing the death of a man in a road accident. The incident occurred on Bahrain Bay Avenue, where the defendant was driving a construction truck. The truck hit the victim who was riding a bicycle and the man was announced dead at the scene after suffering injuries in the accident. I was heading to Bahrain Diyar. I saw three men on bicycles. Though I tried to avoid them, the suspension lift hit one of them, the Asian confessed to committing the act. The coroners report showed that the victim suffered broken bones in the left humerus and head injuries, which led to his death. The Lower Criminal Court termed the death as manslaughter rather than murder and sentenced the Asian man to six months for irresponsible driving. Some irate youths in Zurmi town, Zurmi local government area of Zamfara attacked the community police station demanding that officers sh... Some irate youths in Zurmi town, Zurmi local government area of Zamfara attacked the community police station demanding that officers should hand over the three suspected bandits arrested by the army to them.The Public Relations Officer of the state police command, SP Muhammad Shehu who confirmed the incident to newsmen in Gusau on Sunday said the police station was attacked on Saturday evening.Shehu said that the angry youths also burnt down a vehicle and some motorcycles at the station.He said the three suspects were among the bandits who attacked villages in Mashema District of Zurmi local government area on July 24.Shehu said when the news of the arrest of the suspects filtered into the town, some irate youths mobilised themselves to the Police station.He said the Divisional Police Officer of Zurmi local government area and other policemen at the police station escaped with the suspects through the back fence.Shehu said, normalcy has been restored, while the suspects have already been handed over to the state police command for further investigation.The command enjoined members of the public in the state to be law abiding and avoid taking laws into their hands.NAN reports that over 12,000 internally displaced from 18 communities in Zurmi local government area are currently camped by the state government at some government facilities in Zurmi town. A leader of the Peoples Democratic Party in Adamawa State, Ambassador Jameel Zubairu, has said politicians, who are returning to the PDP... A leader of the Peoples Democratic Party in Adamawa State, Ambassador Jameel Zubairu, has said politicians, who are returning to the PDP from the All Progressives Congress, will soon be faced with same problems they refused to solve before they fled the former ruling party.Zubairu, who is a former Chief of protocol to President Muhammadu Buhari when he was Head of State, also served in the same capacity under former President Goodluck Jonathan.He told newsmen in Yola that the APC was currently undergoing internal crisis because it was formed by strange bedfellows with different political ideologies.He said, When situation like that happens, you are bound to have a conflict of interest and this is what you are seeing now. Obviously, you can see that a lot of people, who came together and formed the APC, are not happy.The same people (defectors), who created the problem in the PDP, ran away and assembled somewhere else, without resolving the initial problem. They will still come back to meet that problem which they left unresolved.The PDP remains the best party you can ever belong to or serve in. The party is very big and experienced; it can accommodate diverse opinions. From all the happenings now, those who left the PDP should know that the party is the right place for them to return.The APC hasnt seen anything yet. Many of those who left the PDP for the APC will return. Its like a homecoming. I am sure they must have realised now that its better to return home and solve the problems together.Zubairu, who is contesting the Adamawa State governorship election in 2019 on the platform of the PDP, lamented the non-payment of salaries in many states.He attributed the development to the inability of governors to creatively devise means to generate internal revenue in addition to the monthly federal allocation.He said, I have been a civil servant all through my life. I know the problem associated with not being paid on time not to talk of being owed several months of salaries. Non-payment of salaries affects not only the employee, but the whole society.Adamawa for instance, is a civil service-based economy. In those days, public servants could go to the markets and take things on credit because there was a guarantee that their salaries would be paid.The ambassador pledged to use his wealth of experiences in the civil service and his international exposure, to attract both local and foreign investors to the state in order to boost its internal revenue, if elected governor next year. Three years ago, Indian-American prodigy Tanishq Abraham graduated from a California college when he was just 11, and made headlines g... Three years ago, Indian-American prodigy Tanishq Abraham graduated from a California college when he was just 11, and made headlines globally.Recently, he crossed another milestone: at 15, he has earned a biomedical engineering degree from the University of California, Davis, graduating with the highest honours."Of course I feel very happy, very excited, and I'm very proud of my accomplishments," Tanishq was quoted as saying by the FOX40."He's got a lot of passion and we have to keep up with him, pretty much," said his parents, Taji and Bijou Abraham, hailing from Kerala.Tanishq has also designed a device that could measure the heart rate of burn patients without touching them.As for the future, it's back into the lab at Davis for a PhD and eventually medical school. Tanishq has big dreams of finding solutions to problems, the report said."Yeah, of course, what everybody likes to say and what I am also interested in is, of course, cancer and developing new treatments for cancer, more effective treatments for cancer," he said.Tanishq has already been accepted into the University of California, Davis graduate programme where he plans to get his MD in the next four to five years. The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), has fined DAAR Communications (owner of AIT/Raypower) N500,000 for persistent violation of th... The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), has fined DAAR Communications (owner of AIT/Raypower) N500,000 for persistent violation of the provisions of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.NBCs Head of Public Affair, Maimuna Jimada, via a statement issued on Saturday in Abuja, said comments made on Raypowers programme Political Platform was against the broadcasting code.Mrs Jimada said that the organisation was sanctioned due to provocative, inflammatory and divisive comments by anchors of the political platform.She said the Commission on May 2, 2017, Aug. 15, 2017 and February 2018, held meetings with staff of DAAR Communications to caution them on unprofessional manner of anchors of the programme.She stated that the Commission had charged the team handling the programme to be fair, and balance their reportage.According to her, during the Feb. 7 meeting, the Commission stressed the need to comply with the broadcasting code to avoid sanctions.The Political Platform episode on July 24, was marked by sensational and heated expression of opinion by its anchors, who went on to make unproven and inciting allegations.For avoidance of doubt, the Director-General drew the attention of DAAR Communications to the following provisions of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code: (1) Section 1.9.3:A presenter/anchor shall not express his or her personal opinion in a programme.Also Section 5.2.7: A broadcaster shall, in using political material for news, avoid taking inflammatory and divisive matter in its provocative form and Section 5.2.5 stated that political broadcasts shall be in decent language, she said.Mrs Jimada reiterated that broadcasting stations should ensure that anchors of their programmes were properly informed and trained on the ethics of the profession as well as the provisions of the broadcasting code.Authorities at Ray Power told newsmen they will not comment until Monday. They said they needed to listen to a copy of the July 24 programme before giving a response.(NAN) Police were searching Sunday for two gunmen who opened fire on a crowd outside a New Orleans bar, killing three people and wounding seven... Police were searching Sunday for two gunmen who opened fire on a crowd outside a New Orleans bar, killing three people and wounding seven others.Police said they responded to reports of a shooting late Saturday at a daiquiri shop about three miles from the southern US citys famed French Quarter.Detectives determined that two unknown armed subjects believed to be wearing hooded sweatshirts allegedly approached a group of people standing outside of a business and opened fire, striking 10 of the individuals, then fled, a police statement said.Police superintendent Michael Harrison, speaking to reporters overnight at the scene of the crime, said one of the suspects was believed to be armed with a rifle, while the other carried a handgun.We believe they actually stood over one of the individuals and fired multiple rounds and then after that fled, Harrison told local media.This has to be personal, he said.Firing indiscriminately into a crowd? Shooting 10 people? Killing three? Thats personal, it doesnt get more personal and we take it personal, he said. Whoever did this, you should know that the law enforcement takes it personal and were coming for you.The victims two males and a female were pronounced dead at the scene, police spokesman Aaron Looney said a statement.Seven additional gunshot victims five males and two females were rushed to area hospitals either in private vehicles or aboard ambulances.The local NBC affiliate said that one of the victims believed to be in critical condition underwent surgery.The motive for the shooting was unknown.We will find that out during the investigation, Harrison said. It was very intentional but we dont know right now that its gang related.(AFP) On the eve of Zimbabwes first election since former president Robert Mugabe was ousted in a de facto coup, the 94-year-old said he hoped... On the eve of Zimbabwes first election since former president Robert Mugabe was ousted in a de facto coup, the 94-year-old said he hoped his former allies in the military government would be voted out of power.Mugabe, whose 37-year rule came to an end when he was forced to resign in November, told reporters at his mansion in Harare on Sunday that President Emmerson Mnangagwas government was unconstitutional and ruled by the gun.I hope the choice of voting tomorrow will throw, thrust away the military government and bring us back to constitutionality, said a frail looking Mugabe, in a rambling off the cuff speech that lasted almost an hour.Let tomorrow be the voice of the people to say never again shall we experience a period where the army is used to thrust one person into power.Mondays election will see 75-year-old Mnangagwa, a long-time Mugabe ally, face 40-year-old Nelson Chamisa, a lawyer and pastor who is vying to become Zimbabwes youngest head of state.Polls, which are unreliable, give former intelligence chief Mnangagwa a slim lead over Chamisa.Both candidates are due to address the media later on Sunday.Mugabe, one of the last Big Men of African politics, still looms large over Zimbabwean politics and he may yet influence the first vote without his name on the ballot paper since the country gained independence from Britain in 1980.Though he became increasingly unpopular with most Zimbabweans as mismanagement and corruption sent the economy into decline, he retains support in his rural heartland where supporters remain bitter about the manner of his removal. (Reuters/NAN|) A Fort Myers Police Department officer shot in the head while answering a call last Saturday has died. It is with a heavy heart that we inform our community that Fort Myers Police Officer Adam Jobbers-Miller has passed away as a result of the injuries sustained on Saturday, July 21st, the FMPD said in a press release issued shortly before 7 p.m. We ask that you continue to pray for Officer Jobbers-Millers family, friends and our entire Fort Myers Police Department Family. Source: FMPD 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. All major Nepali and English broadsheet dailies published from Kathmandu Valley on Sunday have given priority to a host of different issues from political, sociocultural and financial spheres. Some newspapers have highlighted that the Nepali Congress is preparing to launch a strong protest against the ruling Nepal Communist Party demanding that either the speaker or the deputy speaker of House of Representatives, and either the chair or the vice chair of National Assembly resign. Some other newspapers have given the top priority to the delay the Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee has made in deciding whether to endorse the name of Acting Chief Justice Deepak Raj Joshee for the vacant position of Chief Justice. The Meteorological Forecasting Divisions prediction that major parts of the country may receive rainfall till Monday has also been highlighed on the front pages of some newspapers. Important Deepak Raj Joshees certificate controversy Kantipur, Gorkhapatra and The Kathmandu Post report on their front pages that the Parliamentary Hearing Committee has delayed making decision on whether to endorse or reject the name of Acting Chief Justice Deepak Raj Joshee for the position of Chief Justice, apparently after different data were found on his academic certificates. According to Gorkhapatra, another person who passed the secondary level examination together with Joshee has claimed that his and Joshees symbol number is same. It reports that Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has also been informed about the controversy. Kantipur adds that the delay in decision making has given a space to people to play for or against Joshis name. The Kathmandu Post, however, has a different explanation for the delay. It says that the ruling parties have been delaying the decision looking for a strong commitment from Joshee that unwarranted interventions in various decisions of the government will stop. Nepali Congress to strongly demand resignation of speaker or deputy The Himalayan Times and The Kathmandu Post report on their front pages that the main opposition party Nepali Congress is preparing to launch a strong protest programme against the ruling Nepal Communist Party demanding that either the speaker or the deputy speaker of House of Representatives, and either the chair or the deputy chair of National Assembly resign at the earliest. The Kathmandu Post explains that Article 91(2) of the constitution has a provision that the two top positions of the House should be held by lawmakers of different parties. But now, such positions of both houses of the Federal Parliament and six of seven provincial assemblies are held by the NCP leaders. The ruling party, however, claims that they represented different partiesthe CPN-UML and the CPN-Maoist Centrewhen they were elected. The two parties had merged a couple of months ago. Meanwhile, Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba has stressed internal unity of the party against authoritarianism, reports Gorkhapatra from Nawalparasi. Ignored UN urges Nepal to shut down North Koreans businesses Karobar reports in its lead story that the United Nations has directed the government of Nepal to shut down all businesses operated by North Korean nationals in the country. The Coordinator of United Nations Security Council Panel of Experts has written a letter of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, requesting the government to shut down all business owned by North Korean nationals. The global organisation has strongly urged the government to compulsorily implement the directive. Jumla local leaders still practise untouchability The lead story in Rajdhani reports that officials of Tatopani Rural Municipality in Jumla district of Karnali Province have been found practising untouchability till now as they reportedly denied drinking water and other foods touched by their Dalit colleagues. Dalit leaders have complained that people from high-caste Bahun and Chhetri communities still discriminate against them. Dissatisfaction in NCP over statute Key leaders of the Nepal Communist Party have removed some old provisions from the new statute of the party related to tenure of office bearers and age bar and it has angered some leaders of the party including members of its secretariat and standing committee, according to the anchor story of The Himalayan Times. The report explains that the revised party statute has not fixed the tenure of leaders in the party structure, enabling top brass to retain their posts for as long as they want. Interesting PM preparing report cards of ministers Apparently alarmed by heavy public criticism from various corners, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has begun monitoring activities of all ministers. In this context, Olis team is evaluating performance of the Cabinet members and categorising them into red, yellow and green zones, reports Naya Patrika in its lead story. Those in the red zone are at the risk of losing jobs anytime whereas the Prime Minister has been closely looking at the performance of those at the yellow zone. Likewise, the Prime Minister is satisfied with the ministers who have been put in the green zone. Home Business Nepal Oil Corporation wants to run its own smart fuel stations in each province Kathmandu, July 29 The government-owned fuel monopoly Nepal Oil Corporation says it wants to run its own smart fuel stations in all seven provinces of the country. The Corporation has planned to operate such petrol pump of Kathmandu Valley round the clock. The Corporation argues that a petrol pump operating 24 hours is essential in the capital as there is no such pump so far though people may need the fuel anytime. It has been learned that the Corporation opted for its own stations as the private sector did not show any interest in the project. The Corporation had call for proposals to operate such stations in each of the province. However, very few entrepreneurs submitted applications. President of Nepal Petroleum Dealers Association, Lilendra Pradhan, says the businesspersons have little interest in the proposal because the process and criteria set up by the Corporation for smart petrol pumps are not satisfactory. Home Just In Two APF constables held for raping woman in Kathmandu Kathmandu, July 29 Nepal Police says it has arrested two constables of the Armed Police Force for their alleged involvement in the rape of a woman in Kalanki of Kathmandu last Thursday. Of the arrestees, Ram Sharan Pokharel is said to have been in relationship with the victim whereas Chandra Prasain was Pokharels workmate. They were deployed at the Balambu office of APF. The arrest was made based on a complaint the victim filed at the Women Cell of Kalimati-based Metropolitan Police Circle one day after the incident. The victim in her complaint told police that her relationship with Pokharel had ended around a year ago. However, the man approached her recently, citing he was improved. The woman said she easily believed and agreed for the reunion. Pokharel called the woman to see him at Aashirvad Guest House in Kalanki on Thursday. He then made her drink alcohol and convinced to spend the night there. But, at night, Pokharel and Prasain sexually assaulted her, according to the victim. Meanwhile, investigating police officials say the suspects will face a rape case. Further investigation is underway. Antwerp-based fashion brand Botter made a unique, environment-centric fashion statement at Berlin's Spring/Summer 2019 Fashion Week. The Dutch menswear label came up with a unisex collection, which used fish-shaped pool inflatables, nylon nets, and strips of plastic to accessorize their fashion-forward collection of boxy suits and streetwear. The designers behind Botter Rushemy Botter and Lisi Herrebrugh wanted to use their platform to draw attention to the Caribbean ocean's pollution, the waste washing on their shores, and how consumerism and oil exploration are destroying that region of the world. The duo also said that they also drew inspiration from the lotto houses in Curacao and the Dominican Republic. Botter told architecture and design magazine de zeen, "I see my grandma going to these lotto houses and spending her last money in hope she would win. But the reality is that most of these organizations are corrupt and will never give a prize away. They play with the hope of the poor for their own fortune and we wanted to translate this aspect into the garments." Photos via Getty Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story is going to be released on Netflix on Monday, July 30, 2018. So get ready with some tissues, and maybe a stress ball, because you are going to feel all the feelings. The series, produced by Jay-Z and Paramaount, will follow the story of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old high school student who was shot and killed by 28-year-old George Zimmerman, a watch captain in the suburban town of Sanford, Florida. Since the announcement of the docu-series, Zimmerman has also reportedly threatened Jay-Z, telling a local newspaper that "I would beat him as if I was Solange." He also said, "And he would find himself coming out of the south side of a gator if he comes to Florida and bothers my family." This is Jay-Z's second documentary that talks about the injustices against African-Americans, focusing on a single character. His first was Peabody Award-winning TIME: The Kalief Browder Story, which focused on Browder, a teenager imprisoned after allegedly stealing a backpack. Browder committed suicide at 22. As PAPER has reported before, the film "features interviews with activists, Martin's parents, and archival footage of protests." Make sure to catch this historically significant cinematic moment at 10pm on Monday. Iran's President Rohani: Resistance strongest response to US empty rhetoric 07/25/18 Source: Press TV Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says national integrity, unity and resistance provide the most powerful response to the United States' adversity and inappropriate rhetoric. "The Iranian nation has from the start stood up to the American rulers' intransigence, misconduct and breach of promises in all areas, and has chosen the path of resistance," President Rouhani told a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. Rohani-Trump duel of words Source: Iranian daily Shahrvand Rouhani dismissed the recent belligerent comments by American officials against the Iranian nation as "baseless and unfounded," noting that their "hollow threats" do not even warrant a response. Following its much-criticized withdrawal from an international nuclear deal with Iran in May, the administration of US President Donald Trump has ramped up its tough rhetoric against Iran. Recently, Trump threatened Iran with hardship "the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before" as Washington launched a new campaign meant to foment unrest in the Islamic Republic. Iran's President Rohani has warned Trump "not to play with the lio's tail" Source: Iranian daily Resalat Rouhani said domestic efforts directed towards increasing production and exports as well as closer public coordination with the government with an aim to stabilize the market would be a "decisive response" to enemy plots and White House officials. Confronting US in global arena President Rouhani further noted that Iran has undertaken legal international efforts to confront the United States' misdeeds. The chief executive pointed to the complaint filed with the International Court of Justice over Washington's decision to re-impose nuclear-related sanctions against Iran after quitting the 2015 multilateral nuclear deal. Rouhani said the proceedings have yielded their "first success" with the court announcing to the US that it was not allowed to take any action that would influence the tribunal's potential rulings before "Iran's complaint is addressed." The tribunal warned the US secretary of state about his actions and plans concerning the matter, Rouhani said. "This is a warning to the US by the world's most senior legal authority." "Today, an absolute majority of world states condemn or view US actions as wrong," said the president, describing it as proof that the Iranian nation's resistance has been fruitful. Mattis: U.S. Not Pursuing Regime Change In Iran 07/29/18 Source: RFE/RL The United States is not after regime change in Iran, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has said. Asked whether the U.S. administration had created a regime change or collapse policy, Mattis said on July 27, "There's none that's been instituted." He said the goal of the United States was to change Iran's behavior, as stated by other U.S. officials. Mattis denies report US is preparing for Iran strike https://t.co/DFTk1KxnBC pic.twitter.com/g93aj55GjB The Hill (@thehill) July 27, 2018 "We need them to change their behavior on a number of threats that they can pose with their military, with their secret services, with their surrogates, and with their proxies," Mattis said during an off-camera briefing at the Pentagon. Mattis's remarks followed high-level discussions at the White House that included the issue of Iran. They came amid increased tensions and an exchange of threats between Washington and Tehran, including a July 22 all-capital-letters post on Twitter by Donald Trump in which the U.S. president warned Iran not to "threaten the United States again or you will suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before." Trump's tweet came following comments by Iran's President Hassan Rohani, who said: "America should know peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars." Iran's Quds Force Chief Qassem Soleimani's Response to Trump's Threat In May, Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and announced that the United States is moving to reimpose tough sanctions. The move was harshly criticized by Iran. With reporting by Reuters French Carmaker Renault Likely To Halt Iran Operations As Other Companies Leave 07/29/18 Source: Radio Farda French car manufacturer Renault says it is likely to leave Iran to avoid renewed U.S. sanctions in spite of previous promises to remain. Several other major companies including Maersk, Total, Peugeot, General Electric, Boeing, Reliance, and Siemens have already left Iran to evade U..S sanctions, which economic experts in Iran say will hit Iranians even harder in about four months' time. Renault had signed a deal with Iran in August 2017 loomberg quoted Renault Chief Operating Officer Thierry Bolloree as saying on July 27, "Iran operations are likely to be put on hold to comply with U.S. sanctions."" "We are looking to new business opportunities, particularly in Africa, with strong growth to offset the missed opportunities in Iran," he said. Even in June this year, Renault was more or less certain it would not leave Iran. Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn said at the time that the carmaker would maintain its presence in Iran despite the risk of penalties for breaching renewed U.S. sanctions targeting Iran's auto and civil aviation sectors from August 4. "We will not abandon it, even if we have to downsize very strongly," Ghosn told shareholders at the annual shareholders' meeting in Paris, since this would give the company an advantage "when the market reopens." Ghosn had said previously that the company would seek new ways to avoid the sanctions and maintain its presence in Iran even if it had to seriously reduce the level of its activities. Reports from Iran say Renault has sold some 160,000 cars in Iran during the past year. Renault assembly line in Tehran Most French companies hoping to continue business in Iran after the U.S. sanctions will find it impossible, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on June 19. These companies "won't be able to stay because they need to be paid for the products they deliver to or build in Iran, and they cannot be paid because there is no sovereign and autonomous European financial institution" capable of shielding them, Le Maire told BFM television. Renault's rival, PSA, which manufactures Peugeot and Citroen cars, has also decided to leave Iran, according to reports from Iran. In late June, Tehran urged foreign firms working in Iran to resist U.S. "threats" of sanctions, adding it was in talks with French carmakers about remaining in the country. "Foreign companies working in Iran should not be intimidated by U.S. threats and should continue their activities in Iran," Industry Minister Mohammad Shariatmadari told a news conference in Tehran, adding, "All those who do not do this, we will replace them." The United States pulled out of the nuclear deal with Iran in May and announced it would impose renewed sanctions on Iran in August and November. Subsequently, European officials have been trying to pursue Washington to exempt European companies working with Iran, but Washington has refused to do so. Washington has also vowed to minimize Iran's oil exports. However, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said earlier this week that Washington would consider exempting some countries from U.S. sanctions on Iran's oil exports in order to prevent disruptions on the world oil market. French carmakers are not the only companies leaving Iran's automobile industry. Japan's Mazda and South Korean Hyundai also suspended contracts with Iran in June, according to a member of the parliamentary Industries and Mines Commission. In an interview with the parliament-affiliated website, Valiyollah Maleki said June 12, "Mazda and Hyundai's interests in the U.S. market are much more than in Iran, and they will not sacrifice their profit for the sake of Iran." Renault is not active on the U.S. market. However, Renault partner Nissan is a key player there, and Renault may have hesitations, fearing its activity in Iran might affect Nissan's business in the United States. Former President John Dramani Mahama Sunday morning met with the Commissioner General of the Zimbabwe Republic Police, TG Matanga and his team to discuss their preparations for the countrys elections slated for Monday, July 30. Mr Mahama is leading a Commonwealth Observer Group to monitor Zimbabwes harmonized Elections. The mission also included a former boss of Ghanas Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan. In a post on Facebook, the former president shared a group photographs with the security chiefs in Zimbabwe with the inscription: Met this morning, in Harare, with the Commissioner General of the #Zimbabwe Republic Police, TG Matanga, and his team to discuss their preparations for Mondays harmonized elections. Mr Mahama, who was in Zimbabwe as part of the Commonwealth Observer Groups activities returned to Ghana to pay his last respect to Mr Paa Kwesi Amissah Aurthur, a former Vice President of Ghana who was buried last Friday. Source: Graphic.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 Ivory Coasts Supreme Court has overturned an acquittal ruling handed down to former first lady Simone Gbagbo last year for crimes against humanity, her lawyer told AFP Friday without giving details.O Andre Blede Dohora also deplored that Simone Gbagbos defense had not been summoned to appear before the Court before giving its verdict. The wife of former president Laurent Gbagbo, in power from 2000 to 2010, was acquitted last March after being accused of implication in the shelling of Abobo market in a district of Abidjan. The district is broadly supportive of current President Alassane Ouattara, Gbagbos rival in the 2010 election. Simone Gbagbo was also accused of being a member of a crisis cell that allegedly coordinated attacks by the armed forces and militias in support of her husband. She was serving a 20-year sentence handed to her in 2015 for endangering state security. Source: AFP 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 Seeming animosity that existed between Bernard Antwi Boasiako, aka Wontumi, the Ashanti a regional New Patriotic Party (NPP) chairman, and the Mahama team, has been renewed. This follows Wontumis recent claims to the effect that former President, John Dramami Mahama was behind the Galamsey allegations, being leveled against him (Wontumi) in the media. Some chiefs in the Bekwai Traditional Area, in the Ashanti region, recently accused Wontumi and Lawyer Owusu Afriyie aka Sir John, another NPP guru, of engaging in illegal mining in the area. In his response, Wontumi, who sounded agitated, accused former President Mahama of being behind what he described as wild rumours to dent his image. I know that former President Mahama is creating all these falsehoods just to tarnish my image, but it will not work, Wontumi stated on Nhyira FM on Thursday morning. Previous Fight Wontumi and the Mahama family were constantly at each others throats long before the 2016 electioneering season. In fact, the tension between the camps reached its highest point in 2014 when Ibrahim Mahama, brother of ex-President Mahama, sued Wontumi in court for defamation. Observers have opined that, by this latest accusation, the Mahama family would surely fire more salvos at Wontumi in the coming days. Latest Fight According to Wontumi, Mr. Mahama is aware of the damage that he (Wontumi) did to the NDC during the 2016 presidential elections so he wants to start attacking him ahead of the 2020 polls. All the Mahama dirty works and tricks will not work because I am an intelligent politician and so I will always be ahead of them. I will surely repeat the dose on the NDC in 2020, he said, stressing that he was innocent of the galamsey allegations that have been levelled against him. Source: the publisher 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 President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has chided pessimists of the double track education system and gave the assurance that the policy would be implemented in September this year. He expressed confidence about the successful implementation of the policy and called on Ghanaians to embrace it saying I am confident that the end result of the system would lead to increase in quality of our Senior High School structure. The free Senior High School (SHS) policy has come to stay. Contrary to what the motivated propagandists and the professional naysayers would have you believe, free SHS is going to be a permanent feature of the educational architecture of our country, the President added. Speaking at the 70th Speech and Prize Giving Day Celebration of the Ghana National College in the central region on Saturday, July 28, 2018, the President said one of the objectives of the double track system was to create room to accommodate the increase in the free SHS enrolment. Why double track system He said the government could not wait to address all the issues of infrastructure before continuing with the free SHS policy adding that despite providing 96,403 mono desks, 33,171 pieces of dining hall furniture, 3,033 tables and chairs for teachers, 12,953 bunk beds, 4,335 student mattresses and 5,135 computer laboratory chairs to address the infrastructural deficit over the year, it has not been enough to address all issues of infrastructure. In the 2018/19 academic year which begins in September, 472,000 new students, that is an increase of 31 per cent that will be admitted into senior high schools, he added. Benefit President Akufo-Addo said with the existing infrastructure, the double track system would help reduce class sizes, increase contact hours between teachers and students and increase the number of holidays. He said the government would recruit over 8,000 more teachers in 2018 than it did in 2017 to ensure the success of the system. The president therefore, urged teachers, administrators, Parent-Teacher Associations (PTA) and all Regional and District Directors of Education across the country to embrace the system and work to ensure its success. Patriotism President Akufo-Addo said rekindling patriotism in the future leaders imposed a duty on all to embrace the essence of what it meant to be Ghanaian and to love Ghana. He said Ghanaians must believe that the nation could make its own contribution in the growth of world civilization and be able to generate wealth and prosperity for the masses of its people and build a Ghana beyond aid. All of us gathered here and millions out there inside our borders and outside must share this love for the place where all of us feel completely at home, the President said. Students and teachers The President called on students to cease the opportunities technology had to offer saying you live in more interesting times than your predecessors where technology has made life much easier." He implored them to study hard and refrain from doing anything that could hinder their prospects of a bright future. Under the same time try and make the best use of your recreation and leisure time in order to become well-rounded . President Akufo-Addo commended management and staff of the college for their efforts at ensuring the success of the school and implored them to rise to the challenge of rekindling the spirit of patriotism. The President said he would see to the regularization of the schools title to its land to prevent encroachment as it was long overdue. Source: Graphic.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 An Attorney General during the Mills administration, Betty Mould-Iddrisu has opened up about the actions of government on issues that caused public outrage. Betty Mould-Iddrisu admits the government sometimes acted erroneously and made mistakes in the manner it handled some issues that came up during her time as Attorney General under the Mills administration. Such errors, she was quick to add, were not criminally or fraudulently wrong but errors committed because they are human. Speaking to Kwabena Kyenkyenhene Boateng, host of '21minutes with KKB', Betty Mould Iddrisu clarified that though there were errors made, at no point did she or the government act unprofessionally in those instances. Betty Mould-Iddrisu who doubles as Vice Chairman of main opposition party NDC held the view that the bashing she received for her actions when in government were partially because she was a 'woman at the very top' "I think it is one of the hazards of politics, it's one of the hazards of putting yourself out there and it is one of the hazards unfortunately of being a woman at the very top. Sometimes you can't see that they are sharpening the knives for you, sometimes also we were wrong in some of our actions, erroneously wrong, not criminally wrong or fraudulently wrong but erroneously wrong. We are humans, we make mistakes" she disclosed on 21minutes with KKB. Source: Ghanaweb.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video President Nana Akufo-Addo, left Ghana on Sunday, 29th July, 2018, to lead the Ghanaian delegation to the 53rd Ordinary Session of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, which is being held in Lome, Togo. The meeting of the Heads of State will take place from 30th to 31stJuly, 2018, and will, amongst others, witness the election of a new Chairperson of ECOWAS. President Akufo-Addo was accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway and officials of the Presidency and the Foreign Ministry. The President will return to Ghana on Tuesday, 31stJuly, 2018, and, in his absence, the Vice President, Alhaji Dr MahamuduBawumia, shall, in accordance with Article 60(8) of the Constitution, act in his stead. 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 We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Defenceman Quinn Hughes dons a Vancouver Canucks jersey after the Canucks selected him during the NHL hockey draft in Dallas, Texas, Friday, June 22, 2018. Vancouver hockey fans will have to wait to see the Canucks' top pick in this year's NHL draft play with the team. Defenceman Quinn Hughes has decided to return to the University of Michigan this fall. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Michael Ainsworth In Don Henley's "The Boys of Summer," the ruminative vocalist and cool cofounder of the quintessential dark Californian band the Eagles sang of a man's aging process, reminiscing about friends lost and left behind. Henley's great loss, and that of Eagles Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit, was the death of bandmate Glenn Frey in 2016, leaving a creative hole akin to the Rolling Stones' Jagger losing Richards. "I don't see how we could go out and play without the guy who started the band," Henley told the Washington Post in 2016. Two summers later, the Eagles have seemingly healed and filled that void, bringing Frey's singing son Deacon into the fold along with smoldering country-blues guitarist Vince Gill and touring with genial, melodious James Taylor. Such California melancholy country/rock/soul and blissful, mellow pop was the perfect soundtrack to a breezy Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park. Opening with the opulent vocal harmonies of "Seven Bridges Road" might have seemed odd, as it came from a band outsider (outlaw composer Steve Young). But Saturday's finest moments radiated the plight of the insular outsider ("New Kid in Town" and dusky "Desperado"), and from songwriters J.D. Souther ("How Long"), Tom Waits (a noirish "Ol' 55"), and Jackson Browne ("Take It Easy," cowritten with the late Frey). Despite the inclusion (infusion?) of young Frey and Gill ("the new guy at 61," he announced), much was the same about the Eagles' live sound. Their harmonies were so clean you could operate on them. At 71, Henley's clarion rasp and cutting falsetto on groovers like "One of These Nights" sounded like that of a 20-year-old. Schmit's high voice on ballads like "I Can't Tell You Why" made him sound like a baby Barry Gibb (Schmit is also pop's most underrated bassist, with a signature fluidity that gives the Eagles their soulful heft). The group has been criticized for its live, rote, note-by-note perfection, but precision like that was to be applauded. Frey wearing a Phillies shirt, cheering Philadelphia's Eagles for the team's Super Bowl victory looked exactly like his old man on the cover of 1973's Desperado. Deacon's plaintive voice sounded like pop's as he warbled through the country-like "Take it Easy" and "Peaceful Easy Feeling." The surprise was how many Glenn Frey songs Gill sang (they were pals for 35 years), and how soulful and comfortable he sounded coursing through the louche "Tequila Sunrise" and "Lyin' Eyes." Where things were different was how expansive several of the Eagles' hits have become, such as the diabolical Morricone-esque take on "Hotel California." When it came to loosening rules, blame Walsh and country-jazz guitarist Steuart Smith for giving "Witchy Woman" its bluesy rattlesnake rumble, crafting a series of unbound, expressive solos, and adding massive doses of dusty funk to the proceedings. All that was topped with a surprising number of aggressive solo Walsh numbers ("Life's Been Good"), slide guitar, and talking, box-driven tracks from his James Gang days ("Funk #49"), and his disco-sounding Eagles hit, "In the City." It's weird to think the future of the Eagles could be in the hands of Walsh and Gill doing more of their thing within the legendary band's framework (Gill performed his own "Don't Let Our Love Start Slippin' Away"), but, to partially quote Henley at the show's start, "we'll keep playing these touchstones, because things are changing fast." While a vast understatement to the Eagles' big show, Taylor offered a lovely, lively and supple opening set. Filled with his unmistakably understated and vibratoless crooning on smartly literate and sweet ballads such as "Sweet Baby James," "Fire and Rain," and the quaintly tender "Carolina on My Mind," Taylor turned a huge stadium into a back porch on a quiet morning. Yet, he and his large ensemble didn't shy away from grooving, horny R&B as they tackled the dirty blues of "Steamroller" and the playful "Mexico." For a sound so intimate, Taylor's rich, gentlemanly tenor, his kind, cool demeanor, and the curvaceous chord changes of his memorably melodious songs filled up every inch of Citizens Bank Park. It was an elegant start to a perfect evening. President Woodrow Wilson denounced mob violence and lynching in a famous proclamation 100 years ago this week. He called on all Americans to "make an end of this disgraceful evil." Philadelphia wasn't really listening. White residents of Fitler Square had recently stoned the home of a Mrs. T. Lytle, an African American at 2504 Pine St. The same mob "burned two wagon loads of furniture" owned by African American tenants moving in at 2524-26 Pine Street." Lytle wanted to press charges but stayed silent when told that if she talked, her house would be torchedon Independence Day. Editors of the Philadelphia Tribune, the city's African American newspaper, drew a line in the sand: "We favor peace but we say to the colored people of the Pine Street war zone, stand your ground. If you are law abiding you need not fear. If you are attacked defend yourself like American citizens. When they tread upon your rights fight them to the bitter end." Something close to the bitter end took place a few weeks later the very same day as Wilson's speech on July 26. Adella Bond, a probation officer of the Municipal Court, had just moved into her newly purchased rowhouse at 2936 Ellsworth St. "The second time I went down that street, I was stoned," Bond told a reporter. "When movers arrived with her furniture," Bond "appeared in her doorway armed with a revolver. Her white neighbors claimed that by this action, she had invited conflict." "About 100 white men and boys gathered in front of my house" the evening of July 26, Bond later told reporters. "I heard them talk about having guns, and I saw the guns and cartridges. At last a man came along with a baby in his arms. He handed the baby to a woman, took a rock, and threw it. The rock went through my parlor window. I didn't know what the mob would do next, and I fired my revolver from my upper window. " The following night, violence erupted on 26th Street between Annin and Oakford. Jesse Butler shot and killed Hugh Lavery. The next day a mob at 27th and Titan Streets gave chase to Henry Huff, who lived nearby. Huff killed police officer Thomas McVay. Two others were shot and wounded. The entire neighborhood Washington Avenue to Dickinson Street, 23rd to 30th erupted. "In a series of street battles waged for twenty-four hours by more than five thousand white and colored men in a section covering about two square miles scores were seriously injured in the most terrific and bitter race riot that has ever taken place in this city. Half a hundred men were placed under arrest," reported the Inquirer, which listed 27 dead and wounded. And that was before the police beating of Preston Lewis and the station-house murder of Riley Bullock, two innocent African Americans. "We wish to deplore the fact that your police have not been able to protect our citizens from mob violence," read a protest letter to the mayor composed by African American leaders. "Your police have for a long time winked at disorder, such as the beating up of negroes, the stoning of their homes and the attacking of their churches." Bullock's family and friends buried him on Aug. 2. Saloons reopened the following day. Funeral Masses for Thomas McVay, Hugh Lavery, and Frank Donohue were held with police guards at the ready. In the following weeks, every last one of the officers assigned to the 17th District Station House at 20th and Federal were transferred. A judge rebuked the entire Police Department for "looseness in the investigation of the death of Riley Bullock." Murder charges against two officers, Robert Ramsey and John Schneider, made their way through the courts. In December 1920, a jury deliberated for 30 minutes and acquitted them. A century passed, allowing Philadelphians, and most historians, to bury this entire story in the deepest, dustiest recesses of public, and private, memory. Kenneth Finkel, professor of history at Temple University, blogs at PhillyHistory.org, where a version of this essay is posted. He is author of "Insight Philadelphia," published by Rutgers University Press. He can be reached at kfinkel@temple.edu. Jeremy Nowak, 66, a prominent civic investor, advocate, and commentator who founded the Philadelphia-based Reinvestment Fund, later led the William Penn Foundation, and chaired boards of organizations including the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Mastery Charter Schools, and Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, died Saturday at Lankenau Medical Center of complications from a heart attack. Mr. Nowak, of Lower Merion, suffered the heart attack July 11, said Jessica Cohen-Nowak, 31, his daughter. She was among the relatives with him when he died. A passionate and relentless advocate for Philadelphia, Mr. Nowak had most recently been serving as a distinguished visiting fellow at Drexel University's Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation and running a consulting business. Last year, he cowrote a book about urban development, titled The New Localism: How Cities Can Thrive in the Age of Populism, and had begun traveling the country to speak with mayors about the ideas it promoted a project his daughter said he considered his "new adventure." His coauthor, Bruce Katz, called Mr. Nowak "a giant in community development financing, known throughout the U.S. and the world." His dedication to solving complex community problems earned him recognition from some of the city's most important officials during his decades at the center of civic life. Ed Rendell, the former governor and Philadelphia mayor, said he spoke to Mr. Nowak almost weekly when he led the city, calling him a "brilliant adviser and trusted by everyone." "He understood what community development needed as well as anybody I ever met," Rendell said Saturday. Mayor Kenney tweeted Saturday night that Nowak "made this city a better place." John Fry, president of Drexel University, called Mr. Nowak "a ferocious advocate for the displaced and the disenfranchised." "His greatest contribution was the way he held everyone's feet to the fire," Fry said. "He was a moral conscience." Mr. Nowak was perhaps best known for his decades-long association with the Reinvestment Fund, which he founded with a $10,000 grant in 1985 to lend money to projects in struggling neighborhoods. By the time he left in 2011, the organization which provided access to capital along with private-sector expertise had allocated more than $1 billion toward housing, small businesses, and community facilities. "Our idea was that with technical help, regular people could organize money like a community organizer does with people," he told the Inquirer in 1995, when he was named winner of the Philadelphia Award, the city's highest civic honor. "The money could be the catalyst that makes things happen." Mr. Nowak was born in Strawberry Mansion in 1951, the son of Lillian Kovnat, a seamstress and human resources professional at the former Central Penn Bank, and Albert Nowak, a jeweler and grocer. He graduated from Central High School and, in 1973, from Pennsylvania State University, where he majored in philosophy, his daughter said. In 1986, he earned a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from the New School for Social Research in Manhattan. In the 1980s, Mr. Nowak worked as a community organizer in Logan, he told a PBS interviewer, but realized that "working in an inner-city neighborhood the issue of capital was critical." Armed with a $10,000 grant, he launched what became the Reinvestment Fund, a vehicle for trying to make life better in some of the region's poorest areas. Projects included providing loans to community groups to build housing, distributing money to struggling schools, and helping launch small businesses, such as a launderette started by Nueva Esperanza in North Philadelphia after it had been unable to find other funding to get off the ground. "The presence [of the Reinvestment Fund] has created a consciousness of the need to provide alternative financing in the region," the Rev. Luis Cortes Jr., executive director of Nueva Esperanza, told the Inquirer in 1995. "They make things work." After making his mark at the Reinvestment Fund, Mr. Nowak in 2011 was named executive director of the William Penn Foundation, the philanthropic powerhouse established by Otto Haas, a founder of the Rohm & Haas chemical-manufacturing company, and his wife, Phoebe, in 1945. Mr. Nowak's tenure there lasted just 18 months, with foundation officials citing "differences in approach" over the implementation of a new strategic plan for the organization. News stories at the time said Mr. Nowak was viewed as too outspoken and aggressive at an institution known for its reserve and caution. On his watch, the foundation also attracted controversy by funding a multimillion-dollar plan to restructure the ailing Philadelphia School District by adding charter schools. After he left the foundation, Mr. Nowak continued seeking out ways to impact the community, serving on a variety of boards in the region and, in his latest career turn, becoming a book author and consulting cities on attracting investments. He also wrote commentary for publications including the Inquirer, and chaired the Philadelphia Citizen, an online news outlet where he also served as a columnist. "Following his career has just been kind of breathtaking to watch," said Jano Cohen, his wife of 36 years. "I was just astonished the way he would grasp a concept and information and do problem-solving." His daughter, Jessica Cohen-Nowak, said that intellect even translated to fatherhood. "He was someone that we sort of relied on as our North Star, our conscience for things," she said. "He was an amazing father and an amazing mentor to everyone, not just us." In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Nowak is survived by his son, Adam Cohen-Nowak, 24; a brother, Edward Nowak; and a sister, Nancy Nowak. Fry said that services would be Friday, Aug. 3, at 10 a.m. at Drexel's Behrakis Grand Hall, Creese Student Center, 3210 Chestnut Street. A reception will be on campus afterward. Details were pending Saturday. Donations can be made to the Mastery Charter Foundation Jeremy Nowak Scholarship; Lankenau Hospital Fund #5121 for the Cardio-thoracic Intensive Care Unit; and Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation. The home of Daniel Burnside in Ulysses, Pennsylvania, displays Nazi and other white-supremacist symbology. NSM stands for the National Socialist Movement. The slogan "Free Tommy Robinson" refers to a British far-right figure jailed by a British judge in May for contempt of court. Read more ULYSSES, Pa. The traffic sign that greets visitors on the south side of Ulysses, a tiny town in rural far north-central Pennsylvania, is suitably quaint a silhouette of a horse-drawn cart reminding drivers that the Amish use the roads, too. But on the north side of town, along the main thoroughfare, is a far different display: a home dedicated to Adolf Hitler, where star-spangled banners and Nazi flags flutter side by side and wooden swastikas stand on poles. White supremacy has had a continuous presence in Ulysses and surrounding Potter County since the Ku Klux Klan arrived a century ago, giving the town with a population today of about 650 improbable national significance. In the mid-2000s, it hosted the World Aryan Congress, a gathering of neo-Nazis, skinheads and Klan members. This year, after a sting operation, federal prosecutors charged six members of an Aryan Strike Force cell with weapons and drug offenses, contending that they had plotted a suicide attack at an anti-racist protest. A terminally ill member was willing to hide a bomb in his oxygen tank and blow himself up, prosecutors said. The group had met and conducted weapons training in Ulysses. Neo-Nazis and their opponents here say that white extremists have grown more confident and confrontational since the rise of Donald Trump. Two months before the 2016 presidential election, the KKK established a "24 hour Klan Line" and sent goody bags containing lollipops and fliers to hundreds of homes. "You can sleep tonight knowing the Klan is awake," the message read. A regional newspaper ran Klan advertisements saying, "God bless the KKK." Local police said the group had not openly recruited in years. Two weeks later, the area's two neo-Nazi groups, the National Socialist Movement and Aryan Strike Force, held a "white unity meeting" in Ulysses to discuss their response to Trump and plan joint action. One organizer would not say when the groups had last met, simply commenting: "It's just a good time." Potter County is staunchly Republican and has voted Democratic once since 1888; Trump received 80 percent of the vote, tying with Herbert Hoover for the highest percentage won. "I can tell you with certainty that since November 2016, activity has doubled, whether it's feet on the street or money orders or people helping out," said Daniel Burnside, 43, a woodcarver who owns the Nazi-themed home and directs the state chapter of the National Socialist Movement, a far-right group that was founded in Detroit in the mid-1970s. It has a presence in many states, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist groups, and the NSM was among the groups taking part in the violent August 2017 rally in defense of Confederate statues in Charlottesville. "We have meetings every 30 days," he said. " There's more collaboration." Burnside, who declined to say how many local residents were involved in his group, was born in Ulysses and raised there by a grandfather who he said was a Nazi sympathizer who fought in the U.S. Army in Europe during World War II. Burnside said his beloved grandfather drank himself to death because of the war's impact on him. The younger Burnside said he joined NSM four years ago but has long harbored anti-Semitic views and is a practicing Odinist the pagan religion Odinism is popular among some neo-Nazis. Burnside does not see Trump as a leader of the NSM cause but as a politician who amplified long-standing white-nationalist views at the right time. "Personally, I don't know about Trump," he said. "You won't necessarily see MAGA hats at an NSM meeting. We're anti-Semitic. Something's off about Trump with the Jews. That said, we're strategically aligned. When Trump says something that aligns with us close the borders, build the wall, look after your own that's good: We've been saying this for 25 years, but he has made it mainstream." "We're still a white nation, and I respect that he supports that,' Burnside added. "He's also highlighted social problems. The kids who go to bed hungry, people who can't pay their bills, the damage being done to society." Joe Leschner, 38, a white restaurant manager, fled the county this year because of what he said was abuse aimed at him and his wife, Sashena, who is black, after Trump's election. After he discovered a KKK leaflet outside their home, Leschner organized an anti-racism gathering in Ulysses. "And these guys drove by us and gave the gun signal, like they're gonna shoot us," he said. One of those who Leschner said made a pistol gesture had previously been jailed for 10 years for an aggravated assault on a black man. This year he was convicted of possession of firearms he was not legally allowed to own and intent to sell drugs. Photographs of the Leschners were circulated on VK, a Russian-run social media site, with users posting death threats, he said. "A guy came up to us in a restaurant and said, 'You have got to be kidding me.' I wanted to say something, but just couldn't. This was where I grew up, at the restaurant where I got my first job. My wife was almost in tears," he recalled. "We had to leave," said Leschner, who now runs a restaurant in Frederick, Maryland. "Most people aren't racist, but there are enough that are and enough who let it happen." Kathleen Blee, a University of Pittsburgh sociology professor and expert on white extremism, said Ulysses came to be a nexus of such thinking as like-minded residents gravitated to one another. "Modern white extremism is different to the KKK in the 1920s or Nazi Germany in that it is exclusively produced through small networks. It is not a mass movement," she said. "It's just one person recruiting another. Somebody knowing somebody. . . . You get an extremist in an area, they attract other extremists." Ulysses' most famous resident may have been August Kreis III, 63, a neo-Nazi from New Jersey who moved to town in the 1990s and left about 10 years ago. Kreis made Ulysses the national headquarters of the Aryan Nations group and organized events such as the Aryan World Congress. In 2015, he was sentenced to 50 years in prison on a child-molestation conviction. Pennsylvania has 36 racial hate groups, more than Alabama, Arkansas or Kansas, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. "This area is well known for white supremacy. It's got a rich history and the right conditions to thrive," said Heidi Beirich of the SPLC. "It's as significant as many areas in the South usually associated with white supremacy." Rural Appalachia, which includes Ulysses's Potter County, has a wary attitude to outside forces especially the state that is often cited as a reason that anti-government militia groups and white extremists have prospered here. "There is also an extreme mind-your-own business approach and a belief in individual rights," Blee said. Months before the Leschners fled the area, another controversy erupted after a sheriff's deputy from a neighboring county entered Burnside's front yard and confiscated a Nazi flag. Burnside called his local police force, demanding that the deputy return the flag and record a video apology. When that did not happen, he went to state police and pursued a theft case. The 23-year-old deputy was forced to return the flag and pay damages. Local police confirmed that he was suspended and left his position shortly after the trial's conclusion. Many locals suggested that they were more upset by the deputy's actions than by the neo-Nazism. One man, an Army veteran who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of being branded a racist, said there was no comparison between World War II Nazis and Ulysses residents. "World War II was a totally different time period. It's part of history," he said. "He can do what he wants. . . . Everyone has their own thing." One day recently, Burnside, accompanied by a reporter, drove around town dressed in a shirt featuring Hitler's face as the main design. None of the locals he chatted with objected to his attire. City council president Roy Hunt insisted that this reflected the town's generous spirit. "We're a laid-back town, and we're gonna be nice to everybody," Hunt said. "I've known Danny for twenty years. If you were in town and you walked around with him, you're right, he'll be welcome in every store. . . . If you're nice, people will be nice to you 98 percent of the time." "If he were to put something up that said kill all members of a race, in my opinion that would be crossing the line, but he doesn't have that sign up," Hunt said. He added that the town's Nazi presence had been exaggerated by the news media and opposing groups. Burnside said he serves the community. "I do fundraisers for American Legion with my artwork. Boys and Girls Clubs, regardless of race or ethnicity, I do fundraisers. . . . The only way I can help white people is by helping everyone." Other residents disagree about the impact of the white supremacists' presence. As he shopped among Burnside's carved wooden bears and eagle sculptures, some of them signed with a swastika, Tom Lee, a road construction manager, said that he supports the First Amendment and that the Nazi presence "ain't nothing to do with me. It's a free country." "After a while, you're not what you were anymore," he added. "It is America out here, but not in the inner cities anymore." William Fish, a 72-year old carpenter, recalled as a child accompanying his mother as she delivered blankets and shoes to the shacks where black field workers lived. "We're not a racist town, but there are people who will turn a blind eye when they see racism happening. That's why we have this history," he said. "I think it has got worse since Trump, I honestly do. I also think our young people do not today share the same rotten values as older people." Belinda Empson, 59, said it pained her that veterans in the Memorial Day parade had to march past Nazi signs. "My grandson is 8 years old and he's already asking about the Nazi flags," said Empson, a retired waitress. "And I don't want to explain to my grandson what it means, what they're about. We should have settled this stuff years ago." Empson said Ulysses had been divided since Trump's victory: "I think Trump has opened the gate and said, 'It's OK.' It was not a license, but a subtle, 'It's OK.' I think we are seeing that now." "It bothers me," she added, "because we have good people in this town." Wanda Shirk, 68, an English teacher who worked at a Potter County school for 28 years, joked that the town had become LGBT "Liberty, Guns, Bible, Trump." "I don't think everyone here is racist, but I think a lot are racially insensitive," she said, "and Trump has allowed that to grow." Ralph Storti poses with an actual Vietnam War-era Bell UH-1 Iroquois "Huey" helicopter in Willow Grove's Veterans Memorial Park July 26, 2018. Storti, a Vietnam War veteran, spent fourteen years working to realize his vision the memorial to honor members of all branches of the armed services. Read more At 18, Ralph Storti traded in a comfortable family life in Warminster for the Vietnam War and two words: "Can Do!" A phrase coined by the Navy's Seabee construction battalion, "Can Do!" takes just a second to say but is weighted with implication. It can be a declaration, a response to a question or command, a promise to yourself. In Storti's case, it's all three. Storti will say without hesitation that as a Seabee and now as a Seabee veteran he gets any and all work done without hesitation. The catchphrase has become part of his personality. It bleeds into his passion for various projects one that, most notably, has consumed more than a decade of his life. In mid-July, the 69-year-old Willow Grove resident watched a crane assemble slabs of metal to bolt and weld the massive veterans memorial sculpture in Upper Moreland that he has dreamed of creating since 2004. "There's not enough words to tell anybody how good I feel," Storti said. "It's so rewarding." He had been waiting for that moment a crowning moment of "Can Do!" for 14 years. But the story behind the motto goes back further than that. Those two words saw him through duty in Da Nang at the height of the Vietnam War, where he was a heavy-equipment mechanic for the Seabees. It got Storti back to Warminster in 1970 after spending a year in Vietnam. And it's the motto that has kept him and a small team of friends, one of whom is an Upper Moreland commissioner, focused on their vision of crafting a memorial to honor veterans from all five branches of the U.S. military. The memorial, Storti imagined, would be topped with a helicopter, a symbol he sees as inclusive of all military branches. "The one thing that helicopters were able to provide everyone was support," said Storti, a former Peco employee who now owns a Willow Grove-based quality assurance consulting firm. "So whether it was mail that needed to be delivered to people, if there was a rescue mission, if you needed to replenish supplies to people the helicopter was the easiest way to do that." Storti, who suffers from health conditions as a result of exposure to Agent Orange during the war, did, however, have one stipulation: He wanted a helicopter used in the Vietnam War for the memorial. He ended up getting just that: a helicopter bought by the U.S. Army for use during the Vietnam War for a 1966 to 1967 tour, then a 1968 to 1970 tour. The helicopter, now stripped of its engine and transmission, weighs about 3,000 pounds. He remembers the first time he flew in a helicopter. It was 1969, and he was in Vietnam. He was 18 or 19. He recalls how the helicopter lurched straight up, the rotors spinning noisily above his head. "There's excitement, because you have the opportunity to fly in a helicopter," Storti said. "But there's danger associated with it that you had to worry about." For the memorial, Storti and his volunteer group friends working in commercial development, insurance sales, real estate, landscaping, and the steel industry got a ramshackle Bell helicopter, popularly nicknamed "Huey," after spending eight years on a military equipment surplus wait list. Using a lowboy trailer, they drove the helicopter from Niagara Falls to Pennsylvania, spent two more years rounding up parts for repairs, then bought a manual online to figure out how to put the vintage aircraft together. Despite more than a decade of setbacks, Storti was intent on finishing the project. (Chalk it up, he says, to the Seabee way.) "Ralph is the person who came up with the idea and dreamed it," said Kip McFatridge, Upper Moreland's Ward 5 commissioner, who purchased the helicopter manual and helped assemble the aircraft with Bob Mathers, a real estate agent in Willow Grove. In the last two weeks, a crane set the helicopter, recently repainted a shade of muddy green by Storti and his team, atop a 15-foot steel pole at Willow Grove's Veterans Memorial Park, 220 Mineral Ave. in Upper Moreland, which has served as a site to honor veterans since the mid-1940s. Storti's group had little money to fund the 30-foot memorial, which he estimated cost about $400,000 in private funds to complete. But it got done, he says, thanks to generous donors. Bruce Goodman, a developer who has owned Jenkintown-based Goodman Properties for 40 years, said he recommended some of his contractors, including electricians and landscapers, to work on the project at a steep discount. Goodman then footed a large portion of the bill. The steel company O'Rourke & Sons hauled the helicopter down from Niagara Falls, stored it on the firm's property for nearly two years, and helped assemble the memorial, Storti said. "It was definitely a team effort," said Caroline Young, office manager of Youngscape, a landscaping company in Willow Grove. "So I would love to try to give everyone credit." On a recent July afternoon, Storti gazed at the helicopter, its splayed feet bolted to a flat sheet of black steel tilted in such a way that made the helicopter look as if it were in mid-flight. Stuck to the inside of the helicopter's windshield were cut-out, blown-up photos of the people who helped the memorial come to life: Storti, McFatridge, Young, and Mathers. A photo of Storti sat in the pilot's seat. Storti says he has received countless calls and messages from local residents complimenting the memorial. He said with pride that the national headquarters of the Veterans of Foreign Wars is interested in learning how the project came together. He visits the memorial every day, and calls this hulking structure a dream that's finally come to life. "This is my legacy as a veteran to pass on for others," he said. "And I struggle with trying to find the right words. Maybe grateful is the most prominent word that comes to mind for me." Protesters are camped out on the eastern side of the Thomas Paine Plaza at the Municipal Services Building (near Broad & Arch Streets) July 29, 2018. They moved from the apron of City Hall Saturday, ahead of a city-imposed deadline, protesting the federal Immigration and Custom Enforcement agency (ICE). TOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer Read more Protesters who had camped on the concrete apron of Philadelphia City Hall for three weeks to protest the federal Immigration and Custom Enforcement agency (ICE) on Saturday removed their belongings, took down a makeshift wooden kitchen and beach umbrellas, hauled away metal filing cabinets, and swept up ahead of a city-imposed deadline for them to leave. Deborah Rose, 33, of West Philadelphia, one of the activists and organizers, said outside City Hall that the protesters were complying with the deadline because Mayor Kenney on Friday announced that Philadelphia will end a data-sharing agreement with ICE. But, she noted: "We have a long fight ahead of us." Rose would not specify where all the signs, filing cabinets, umbrellas, and other belongings would be taken. "They will probably be used for a variety of things as the 'Abolish ICE' campaign continues," she said. But on Sunday, @no_ice_PHL, the Twitter account that's been giving regular updates on the protest over the course of the past couple of weeks, said that the group moved just across the way to Broad and Arch Streets. "The struggle continues," the group wrote Saturday evening, sharing photos of protesters gathered near the Municipal Services Building. In addition to asking that the city end its database-sharing agreement with ICE, protesters have been demanding for ICE to be abolished, an end to stop-and-frisk in Philadelphia, and a closure of the Berks County family detention center, which holds parents and children who are awaiting immigration decisions or asylum hearings. Kenney on Friday said that he won't renew the controversial city contract that allows ICE agents to access the key law enforcement database, known as PARS, and use that information against undocumented but otherwise law-abiding immigrants in Philadelphia. "I cannot in good conscience allow the agreement to continue," the mayor said. The decision had no bearing on Saturday's deadline for protesters to vacate the City Hall encampment, city spokesperson Mike Dunn said in a Saturday email. PARS is an acronym for a real-time computer database of arrests, operated by the city and shared via contract with ICE, the federal agency responsible for finding and deporting people in the country without documentation. The contract expires Aug. 31. About 50 people had stayed at the City Hall "Occupy Ice" encampment overnight since July 6, Rose said. In total, the mini-village had attracted about 300 people over three weeks. Protesters were initially given a 2 p.m. deadline Saturday to vacate the encampment, but that was then pushed back to 3 p.m. The last protester who had been camped out at the site packed up her belongings and removed them in a red shopping cart just a few minutes before 3 p.m. Soon after she left, city crews began clearing away any remaining dust from the east side of City Hall. Dunn said that the protesters were told to decamp because of a planned construction project outside City Hall. "The notice to decamp is due to the construction project, which expands to that area starting Monday," he said. "Crews need time over the weekend to prepare that location for the work. The group has been aware of this deadline for two weeks. In fact, the original deadline was last weekend, and we agreed to extend and work around them." He said the project was part of planned reconstruction around City Hall that began in 2015. "It includes replacement of concrete on the northeast corner, replacement of a water-service line, new ramps for the north portal and new landscaping," he said. Anti-ICE protesters had first set up an encampment outside the local ICE office at Eighth and Cherry Streets on July 2, but were evicted from that location on July 5. The protesters then set up the encampment outside City Hall. On Saturday, the protesters were complying with the city's deadline to leave. In the morning and early-afternoon hours, about 40 people helped take down the makeshift encampment. Connor Ney, 29, of Wichita, Kan., packed away food and cleaning supplies from the makeshift kitchen that had been covered with a blue tarp. He said he had left Kansas because of the bad economy and came to Philadelphia on July 1 on a Greyhound bus. After arriving in the city, he decided to join the protesters, he said. Anthony Novotny, 58, of Havertown, said he had participated with the protesters during the day "to save our immigrants." "Immigrants have the right to be here. That's what the Statue of Liberty stands for," said Novotny, dressed in a red "Impeach Trump" T-shirt. Atena Jeretic, 25, watched solemnly Saturday as her fellow protesters removed the last remnants of the encampment and packed them onto a silver metal truck and private cars parked on the east side of City Hall as police and city workers oversaw the process. A native of Paris, she said she had lived in the Philadelphia area for six years, from 2011 to 2017, and attended Haverford College. Calling herself a homeless "traveler," she said she had been part of the Occupy ICE encampment for the last two weeks after coming to Philadelphia from the Occupy ICE protest in New York. Asked where she would go next, she said she didn't know. "Where the wind takes me," she said. Outreach workers with the One Day at a Time Recovery community organization, working with the city, were at City Hall on Saturday to see if anyone needed assistance finding housing. Before the 3 p.m. deadline, Philadelphia Police Inspector Roland Lee said he was overseeing the encampment removal "to see this comes through with a peaceful resolution." While there were police officers seen on standby in areas around City Hall, and several police vehicles were parked outside the Municipal Services Building across the north side of City Hall, police were not needed Saturday afternoon as protesters took down the encampment. Jane Slusser, Kenney's chief of staff, happened to walk outside City Hall close to the 3 p.m. deadline Saturday. "Everything's going fine," she said. "It's been a very smooth transition today." Kenney said he had grown concerned that ICE was using the database "in inappropriate ways," including to conduct investigations of undocumented immigrants who had not broken any other laws. That sows fear and distrust in immigrant communities, he said, with the effect of discouraging crime victims and witnesses from coming forward. The mayor has been outspoken in support of immigrants, including filing a federal "sanctuary city" lawsuit against the Trump administration over the right to limit police cooperation with ICE. Last month, a federal judge ruled for Philadelphia, saying the city's position was based on policies that were reasonable, rational, and equitable. Staff writer Patricia Madej contributed to this article. A customer uses her food bucks to pay for produce at the farmer's market at Devereaux United Methodist Church in North Philadelphia. A federal report says the war on poverty was a success. Read more Nearly 1 percent of all the people in poverty in the United States live in Philadelphia one out of every 100 impoverished Americans. Simple math explains that stark story: Nationwide, around 40 million people are at or below the poverty line, $21,000 annual salary for a family of three. Here, in a city of 1.5 million people where the poverty rate is 26 percent, the highest among the country's biggest cities, there are nearly 400,000 residents living in poverty. That's why it surprised people in Philadelphia to hear the Trump administration declare this month: "Our War on Poverty is largely over and a success." If you stood on North Sixth Street in Fairhill, which is the poorest neighborhood in the city with a poverty rate of 61 percent 75 percent for children you might be forgiven if you looked around and asked, If this is victory, what does defeat look like? "Up here," said social worker Sandra Marrero, who works on the street, "you don't see childhoods and you don't see the American dream. Parents cry in gratitude if I give their kids a cookie. "If I were a crier, I'd cry every minute of every day." Hardship has fallen President Ronald Reagan once famously said that the "federal government declared war on poverty, and poverty won." He used that as an argument to dismantle antipoverty programs. On July 12, the White House Council of Economic Advisers issued a report that said the opposite: Poverty has been mostly defeated. But its follow-up suggestion was essentially the same as Reagan's: We must therefore limit programs like food stamps that help people in poverty. The report added that the country should expand work requirements for people on Medicaid and food stamps, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. This would result in fewer people getting government help, and, the council added, higher levels of individual self-sufficiency. >> READ MORE: Changes in food stamps could deny benefits to thousands "The vast majority of Americans are currently able to meet their basic needs such as housing and food," the report found. The council also concluded that "homelessness is rare," not many people are hungry, and "hardship has fallen drastically." The report dovetails with contemporary conservative beliefs that many people in poverty are not bereft of material benefits. They own cellphones, air conditioners, and televisions, which means to some observers that low-income Americans don't appear to be suffering. Compared with the bloated-belly, Third World-type starvation many in the United States experienced in the 1960s before President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society programs elevated such Americans out of abject indigence people today are much better off, conservatives say. In praising the report, Robert Doar of the American Enterprise Institute wrote that increasing work requirements for SNAP and Medicaid would still allow the very poor to get aid, just less of it: Government agencies, he said, "can do the equivalent of walking and chewing gum: They can both provide financial aid and help people get to work." Angela Rachidi, a research fellow in poverty studies at the institute, said the people who receive government help "should be willing to give something back" by working for their benefits. She added that safety-net programs create "a disincentive for people to work." People who study, live with, or battle poverty found several problems with the White House report. >> READ MORE: Hunger in Philadelphia increases while declining nationwide "We laughed when we read it," said Glenn Bergman, executive director of Philabundance, the local hunger-relief agency. He denigrated the report as "a political document" meant to forward the conservative agenda, not a scientific finding on poverty. First of all, said social work professor Luke Shaefer, director of Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan, "the evidence is abundant that poverty is still with us." He and others said that imposing work requirements on people receiving Medicaid and SNAP benefits could benefit some but runs the risk of causing people who really need help to lose it. Besides, he said, it would cost millions to create a bureaucracy just to check whether people are working. Beyond that, most SNAP recipients who aren't children, disabled, or elderly do have jobs, experts say. And there are more Medicaid recipients with "significant health issues" who cannot work than the council report indicates, said Elizabeth Lower-Basch, a director of the nonprofit Center for Law and Social Policy. Echoing Bergman, David Elesh, emeritus sociology professor at Temple University, said: "This report is hilarious. It's absolute Republican rubbish justifying cutting programs to assist people in poverty. No, the war on poverty is not a success. Absolutely not." Elesh, who spent nearly a decade compiling statistical reports on poverty with Temple's Metropolitan Philadelphia Indicators Project, disputes the methodology used in the White House report. Others do, too. Every official federal or state program that measures poverty uses statistics compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau, according to Elesh and others. These come from surveys of 50,000 households, said Mark Rank, a poverty expert and sociologist at Washington University in St. Louis. The White House relied on information from 7,000 households for the report, Rank said. More important, the study followed a so-called consumption reporting model that Lower-Basch dismissed as "idiosyncratic" and virtually never used. To determine poverty, people are not asked how much money they made, as the Census Bureau does. They are instead asked how much they spent on food and rent. But Rank said people don't always remember accurately. And they often don't disclose that they may be paying for things with loans, which skews results. The report, Rank concluded, "cherry-picked facts that fit an ideological bent." One important result of using the consumption model is that the U.S. poverty rate comes out much lower just 3 percent as opposed to the official census figure of 12.7 percent, Rank said. (The Census Bureau has another way of expressing poverty, called the Supplemental Poverty Measure. It includes not only annual income but noncash government benefits people receive such as SNAP. That measure also differs significantly from the White House number, indicating that the U.S. poverty rate is 14.5 percent.) Rachidi of the American Enterprise Institute defended the consumption model, saying that it's a good way to learn whether people have decent shelter, money for basic necessities, and food to eat. By that measure, she said, "poverty is very low." The council report underscores the Republican notion that Americans should wean themselves off federal programs, experts said. But that thinking may be based on a fallacy. While those who receive federal largesse are often criticized for being lazy takers, it turns out that 96 percent of U.S. adults have received benefits from among 21 different social policies, including Social Security, Medicaid, the home mortgage interest deduction, and SNAP, according to the political scientist Suzanne Mettler in a new book, The Government-Citizen Disconnect. The Council of Economic Advisers' report underscored the wide gap between what the White House says about poverty, and what researchers know. "Anyone who believes what the Trump administration is saying about poverty is deluded," said Mariana Chilton, the area's leading hunger expert, whose recent research has shown that childhood hunger in North Philadelphia recently tripled. >> READ MORE: Childhood hunger in North Philadelphia more than triples "We should see this for what it is: a way to stigmatize people living in poverty, and to steal money from them." Post-traumatic stress In Fairhill, Sandra Marrero's husband, Pastor Juan Marrero, runs Crossroads Community Center, which serves the neighborhood in various ways, including fighting hunger. The other day, the couple were overseeing the feeding of 40 neighborhood children. The adults discussed the White House edict about the war on poverty's success. "Moms stretch those rice and beans meals, but it's hard," said Pastor Marrero, who once sold heroin to buy his mother a hot-water heater. He served five years' probation. "Need is growing here, and it never stops. Declaring a success against poverty is asinine. We got post-traumatic stress up here." A local parent, Camille McCalla-Muldor, 39, a school janitor, said she believes the White House goal "is to frustrate you, to get you off food stamps." What the Council of Economic Advisers doesn't know, and what President Trump doesn't know, she said, is a simple Fairhill fact: "You can't be happy in the daytime if you're focused on somehow finding food for the night. "People don't understand the hopelessness of being in this. How is the war on poverty over if people are going to bed hungry?" Philadelphia Media Network is one of 19 news organizations producing Broke in Philly, a collaborative reporting project on solutions to poverty and the city's push toward economic justice. Follow us at @BrokeInPhilly. MBALE When you ask Ugandans what their dream destination would be, the majority would cross not only the national borders but the oceans beyond to find their destinations. They will mention lands faraway, glorifying foreign beauty over their motherland because they have not ventured into discovering the beauty in their country. If you are in this category, visit Wanale Ridge just 6Km away from Mbale town. Any visitor to Mbale will see it, standing tall with pride and grandeur; it is such an imposing beauty from a distance. Wanale ridge has had a magical appeal for many who have been in Mbale, as it looks to be a stone throw away from the town. Many visitors to Mbale municipality gaze upon the imposing beauty from a distance. But a visit up close with Wanale will reveal just how much Uganda is gifted by nature. Rising majestically above the municipality, the 6,864 ft Wanale ridge has beckoned too many climbers who visited Mbale since Sir H. Hesketh Bell, then Her Majestys Commissioner made it a town on June 26, 1906 according to the Official Gazette of the East Africa and Uganda Protectorate Vol. VIII No 161. Standing at a height of 6,864 ft, Wanale ridge can be viewed from all areas in Mbale and neighbouring districts. It covers a huge portion of Bugisus land surface. This towering ridge adjacent to Mbale town has shimmering stony hills that look like a white sheet that is why Semei Kakungulu, the colonial agent described it as a white cock [Nkokonjeru]. Mbale town literally lies at the foot of this ridge. From town, one can discern three splendid looking waterfalls which all originate from the mountain top, many a visitor mistake it for Mt Elgon. Wanale or Nkokonjeru Mountain, as some people call it, is an impressive mountain replete with precipices, escarpments, deep valleys, water streaked cliffs, caves and rocks. Wanale is Bugisus temple of nature. From the days of old, many visitors were awed at the sight of this mountain. The waters that flow from Mt. Wanale spread to every river in Uganda, says William Madanda, 71, an elder in Wanale sub-county. Although little talked about Wanale, is worth visiting. The place has had unique happenings and history. For trekkers or climbers, Wanale should be a great attraction, the ascent to its peak is exhilarating. Wanale ridge or Nkokonjeru, is an impressive mountain replete with precipices, escarpments, deep valleys, water streaked cliffs, caves and rocks. According to Mr Madanda, Wanale Mountain is named after one of the sons of Masaba; the patriarch of the Bamasaba [Bagisu], Mt. Wanale is believed to be the place where Nabarwa, the Kalenjin woman who prevailed upon Masaba to get circumcised before they got married, came from, on her way from Kenya. Mr Madanda says that the Nkokonjeru name that the colonial agent Semei Kakungulus people used to refer to that mountain came from the legend that Wanale, son of Masaba, reared only white chicken. Wonders at Wanale Mountain Mr Erizafari Wambedde, an elder at Mukhuwa village in Wanale says many of the mountains earliest inhabitants lived in caves and that such caves still exist at the mountain. There are many caves on the mountain, though people know only one, the Khaukha cave. The early Bamasaba who called Wanale home dwelt in these caves, says Mr Wambedde. A hike through a trail at the western end of the ridge will lead one to Khaukha cave, which is the most prominent cave at this mountain, Mr Wambedde adds. Legend has it that Khaukha cave which has calligraphic inscriptions on its walls, has an ill-fated water stream and one such inscription reads, James Wambwa was here, remember me. Nature and simplicity The hike to the mountain will take you through breathtaking nature and forest walks over water streams as the trail painstakingly winds its way through numerous homesteads with coffee and banana plantations with barely-clothed and barefooted children among mud and wattle houses that stand proudly in the plantations. Caves and mystery Mr Wambedde says the cave has unsaturated salt locally known as magadi in Lumasaba and kisula in Luganda or rock salt commonly eaten by animals and people. Legend has it that Khaukha cave has an ill-fated water stream known as Mwausa, a tale supported by one of the residents. He adds that the other wonders that Wanale offers are its many cascading waterfalls; Namatsyo waterfall, for example, drops two miles down from the mountain top and makes deep tunnels in the rocky bottom. The waterfall disappears down in the rocks under. It is completely obscured and immersed then the water re-emerges and hits the surface from its underground pathway in villages of Bumboi and Mooni, Wambedde says. Wanale Ridge Water Falls is a spectacular waterfall where water cascades over 6864 feet, 2092 meters down the sheer cliff rock wall onto the valley. You will hear a clapping sound, a rumbling and roaring, a wave of white surging down the mountain side and a huge wall of mist crashing down. How to get there From Mbale town, one can walk approximately 16 Km to Wanales base. By taxi or personal car, it is a 30-40 minute ride. Take a left turn after the Mbale High Court and follow the road that goes down to Busamaga Primary School. From there take a right turn to Bumboi road for 15-20 minutes. Wanale Ridge is located about 6 kilometers from Mbale town in Eastern Uganda. Related 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 Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Bangladesh: Hyundai Rotem is to supply 10 diesel-electric locos to BR under a 41bn won contract announced on May 18, with an order for 20 more expected to follow. They are to be delivered from the Changwon plant from 2020, for mixed traffic use on the metre gauge Dhaka ... After a Rs 800 million makeover, Bombay House reopened on July 29. The earlier dull interior with low technology has given way to a lot more colour and vibrancy, reports Shally Seth Mohile. Photographs: Hitesh Harisinghani/Rediff.com. Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chairman of the Tata group, right, and Ratan Tata, emeritus chairman, at the opening of the newly-refurbished Bombay House at Fort, south Mumbai, on July 29, 2018. Photograph: Hitesh Harisinghani/ Rediff.com A Starbucks outlet and a Tata Experience Centre will welcome visitors to the newly refurbished Bombay House. The 94-year-old iconic building, the headquarters of Indias largest corporate house, the Tata group, reopened on Sunday, July 29, which also marks the 114th birth anniversary of JRD Tata and 150 years of the group. Bombay House building was first built by the then chairman Dorabji Tata, elder son of group founder Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata. Photograph: Hitesh Harisinghani/ Rediff.com Close to 600 employees of Bombay House will step into a hi-tech new office that promises to have more open spaces and fewer closed offices. The heritage building, which was shut in November 2017 for the first time, has undergone a thorough makeover of its interiors at an estimated cost of Rs 800 million, even as the facade retains the Edwardian neo-classical look. In 1924 Scottish architect George Wittet, who designed the Gateway of India, the Prince of Wales Museum and KEM, among other iconic buildings, designed the headquarters of the Tatas. Wittet died two years later of dysentery and is buried at the Sewri cemetery. Photograph: Hitesh Harisinghani/ Rediff.com Sources said the interiors boasted plenty of natural light and an open-seating arrangement -- a reflection of the cultural change that has been sweeping through the group under the leadership of Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran. Chandra, as he is popularly known, is a Tata-lifer who took over the reins of the salt-to-software group in February 2017. 600 employees work in Bombay House at Fort, south Mumbai. Photograph: Hitesh Harisinghani/ Rediff.com Another highlight of the new building will be the kennel on the side entrance meant for canines. The stray dogs have been indispensable to Bombay House for decades, according to a source. One of the special additions to the project to make Bombay House glow again and up-to-date, was the kennels for the legion of stray dogs, who were made as welcome as international businessman within these portals by Ratan Tata, former chairman of the Tata group. Photograph: Hitesh Harisinghani/ Rediff.com Overall, the earlier dull interior with low technology has given way to a lot more colour and vibrancy. For instance, the central spine of each floor has its own digitally-controlled, Wi-Fi-enabled meeting rooms, fitted with touch screens and other gadgets. The number of offices on each floor has been reduced, encouraging open space work culture in line with modern smart offices, said another source. The removal of ledges from top and bottom of the windows allows plenty of natural light to come on the floor, said the source. A Starbucks outlet and a Tata Experience Centre, which tells the Tata story from 1868, are a special feature of the sparkling new Bombay House. Photograph: Hitesh Harisinghani/ Rediff.com The whole Bombay House has been going through a cultural shift. The shift also comes from the way you work, said the source. The change is part of Chandras plan to give those working out of Bombay House a nicer and livelier workplace. Over the last 94 years since the building came into being, a lot of changes were made but most werent thought through, added the source. Bombay House is 94 years old and the re-opening is timed with the 114th birth anniversary of JRD Tata, another legendary chairman of the group. Photograph: Hitesh Harisinghani/ Rediff.com The renovation project has been executed by Brinda Somaya, founder of Somaya and Kalappa Consultant, who is no stranger to the Tata group, having designed Tata Consultancy Services Banyan Park campus as well as the groups housing project. Bombay House is the worldwide headquarters of the Tata group which had a revenue in 2017 of US$ 100.4 billion and 695,699 employees globally. Photograph: Hitesh Harisinghani/ Rediff.com The iconic Bombay House building was built by the then chairman Dorabji Tata, elder son of group founder Jamsetji Tata. The earlier dull interior, with low technology, has given way to a lot more colour and vibrancy, open-plan offices, with digitally-controlled, Wi-Fi-enabled meeting rooms, fitted with touch screens and other gadgets. This is Chandras plan to give those working out of Bombay House a nicer and livelier workplace. Tamil Nadu-born Chandra, 56, above right, took over from Ratan Tata, above left, in 2017. Photograph: Hitesh Harisinghani/ Rediff.com In 1921, he bought a 21,285-sq ft prime plot in south Mumbai from the municipal corporation for Rs 36 million as the group was not able to accommodate its growing ventures at its previous office at Navsari Chambers. The renovation project was run by Brinda Somaya, founder of Somaya and Kalappa Consultant, who has done several Tata group projects. Photograph: Hitesh Harisinghani/ Rediff.com At that time, the group comprised six businesses -- textiles, steel, power, hotel, cement and a bank. In 1924, Scottish architect George Wittet designed the three-storey Bombay House. In 1942, an additional floor was added when JRD Tata became the group chairman. IMAGE: Police personnel escort children out of a government-funded shelter in Muzaffarpur last week. Photograph: PTI Photo The number of minor girls allegedly sexually abused at a shelter home in Muzaffarpur has increased to 34, with fresh medical reports confirming rape of five more girls, a senior police officer said on Sunday. On July 24, Director General of Police K S Dwivedi had said 29 inmates of the state-funded home were raped. Muzaffarpur Senior Superintendent of Police Harpreet Kaur told PTI over phone on Sunday that fresh medical reports of 13 girl inmates have confirmed that five of them were sexually abused. Two of the 44 shelter home inmates were not presented before the medical board as one of them, a four-year-old mentally challenged girl, was at Madhubani, while the other, who had been shifted to Mokama in Patna, was unwell, the SSP said. The issue of the alleged sexual exploitation of girls at the shelter home, run by an NGO, was first highlighted in an audit report submitted by the Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS), Mumbai, to the state's Social Welfare Department in April. A first information report was lodged on May 31 against 11 people, including Brajesh Thakur, the owner of the NGO which ran the government-funded shelter home for destitute girls. On July 26, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the matter. The opposition -- Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress and Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist -- had sought a probe into the case by the CBI with the high court monitoring it. The CBI has taken over the investigation, an official said on Sunday. The SSP said a Forensic Science Laboratory team, which had already visited the place earlier, was called again to visit the shelter home on Saturday. A magistrate, videographers and a team of doctors accompanied the FSL team in light of allegations levelled by the inmates that they were administered drugs at the shelter home, Kaur said. The doctors have seized some drugs from the room where the girls had their weekly check ups. The doctors' team is likely to submit its report in this regard on Monday, she said, adding that Muzaffarpur Zone Inspector General Sunil Kumar and Muzaffarpur Range Deputy Inspector General Anil Kumar Singh also visited the place on Saturday. Police have already submitted a charge sheet against 10 accused persons on July 26 before a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Court, the SSP said. A proclamation notice issued by the special court has been pasted at the house of another accused, Dilip Kumar Verma, who has been evading arrest. 10 out of 11 accused people have been arrested till now. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi has made it clear that the state government, during the next hearing, would itself request the high court to monitor the CBI inquiry into the matter. Meanwhile, officials said on Sunday that the NGO which runs the Muzaffarpur shelter home was sanctioned another project by the Bihar welfare department for running a beggars' home in Patna. The NGO, however, was removed from the project after the allegations of sexual offences of the girls in Muzaffarpur became public, Social Welfare Department director Raj Kumar said. "The department neither gave any work order nor signed any agreement with 'Seva Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti' for the project. It had only issued a letter for carrying out inspection of the building which was to be used for running the beggars' home," Kumar told PTI. The order for inspection of the building to be used as the beggars' shelter home was issued on May 31, the day an FIR was lodged against 11 persons including Brajesh Thakur. "A selection committee had chosen some NGOs in April for running the beggars' shelter home under the Mukhya Mantri Bhikshavriti Niwaran Yojana. We removed the NGO from the project on June 6 after the allegations of sexual exploitation surfaced," Kumar said. The CBI has booked officers and employees of the shelter home. Imran Khan will be sworn in as Pakistan's new prime minister before the country's independence day on August 14, his party has announced as it is trying to reach out to smaller parties and independents to form the next government. The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, led by 65-year-old Khan, has emerged as the single largest party in the National Assembly (NA) after the July 25 elections, but it is still short of numbers to form the government on its own. PTI leader Naeenul Haq told media on Saturday night that consultations are on to complete the number game. "We have done our homework and he will take oath as Prime Minister before August 14," Haq said. According to the results announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the PTI has won 116 seats. Jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz with 64 seats and former president Asif Ali Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party with 43 seats are placed at number two and three respectively, it said. Pakistan's NA -- the lower house of Parliament -- comprises a total of 342 members, of which 272 are directly elected. A party can only form the government if it manages to secure 172 seats in total. Meanwhile, political activities are at full swing and parties are holding open meetings and secret parleys to arrange the political chessboard. Pakistan's two major parties -- the PPP and the PML-N -- are expected to meet in a couple of days to devise a joint strategy in a bid to give a tough time to the PTI in parliament, the Dawn reported. The Pakistani electronic media throughout the day on Saturday kept on mentioning names of possible candidates for key government offices and possible members of the federal cabinet. The PTI leaders who have won more than one seat will have to vacate additional seats as the law allows an individual to retain only one seat. PTI chairman Khan has won five seats and he will have to vacate four seats. Ghulam Sarwar Khan of Taxila has also won two NA seats by defeating former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and he will also have to vacate one seat. Former chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak has won both National Assembly and provincial assembly seats. If the PTI decides to nominate him again for the office of the chief minister, he will also have to vacate the NA seat which means that the party's seats will be reduced to 109. It was after these calculations that the PTI leadership has now decided to reach out to other smaller groups and independents since the party has already declared that it will not join hands with the PPP and the PML-N, the daily said. The Dawn reported that Former secretary general of the PTI Jahangir Tareen had established contacts with independents and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) which has won six seats. There are 13 independents who have won the NA seats. If the PTI obtains support of the GDA, MQM-P, PML-Q and the Awami Muslim League, the number of its seats will become 122 -- still 15 short of the required numbers, which is more than the independents who have won the elections. Other parties which will have representation in the NA are the Balochistan National Party-Mengal with three members, and Jamhoori Watan Party, Awami National Party and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaniyat with one seat each. Though the PPP and the PML-N have also rejected the elections results, sources in the two parties told Dawn that they would not support the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA)'s call for boycotting the oath-taking session of the National Assembly. "We have decided to play the role of an aggressive opposition in parliament," said a senior PML-N leader who had participated in the MMA-convened multiparty conference in Islamabad on Friday. A senior leader of the PPP said so far they had not finalised any strategy for the elections of key parliamentary offices. PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Saturday formed a committee to engage with political parties to discuss the way forward in the post-poll scenario. The sources said contact had been established between the PPP and the PML-N and the leaders of the two sides were expected to hold a meeting in a few days. IMAGE: Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu visits the ailing DMK president M Karunanidhi at Kauvery Hospital, in Chennai on Sunday. Tamil Nadu governor Banwarilal Purohit, DMK working president M K Stalin, DMK MP Kanimozhi and Karunanidhi's wife Rajathi Ammal are also seen. Photograph: PTI Photo Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Sudnay visited a private hospital in Chennai to inquire about the health condition of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi. The DMK, meanwhile, released a photograph,the first after Karunanidhi's hospitalisation early on Saturday, showing Naidu standing beside the 94-year-old leader in his hospital bed. Party cadres outside the hospital were enthused by the release of the image. They said the picture did not feature any 'life support system like a ventilator' and it was reassuring that their Thalaivar (leader) was recuperating well. The DMK had, during the hospitalisation of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in 2016, asked why no photograph of her in the hospital was released. The party had said that release of a picture would have helped put at rest speculations about her health status. Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, DMK working president M K Stalin, party Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi, the nonagenarian leader's wife Rajathi Ammal and Karunanidhi's personal physician Dr Gopal are also seen in the picture. Naidu said doctors informed him that Karunanidhi's condition was stable. 'Visited Kaveri Hospital and met former Chief Minister Thiru Kalaignar Karunanidhi. Met his family members and doctors and enquired about his health. Doctors said he is stable. Wish him a speedy recovery,' Naidu tweeted. On Saturday night, the hospital had said, "Karunanidhi's health condition continues to remain stable with ongoing active medical support. He is continuously being monitored and treated by the panel of expert doctors in the ICU." The 94-year-old DMK president, who is being treated for fever due to urinary tract infection, was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Kauvery Hospital following a dip in his blood pressure. IMAGE: CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury after visiting Karunanidhi in Chennai on Sunday. Photograph: PTI Photo Besides Naidu, Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Muralidhar Rao and the party's Tamil Nadu unit party president Tamilisai Soundararajan visited the hospital. "I came here on behalf of the TMC and Mamata Banerjee. I met M K Stalin and Kanimozhi and inquired about Karunanidhi's health," the TMC leader said. Other than Naidu and Purohit, all other leaders met Karunanidhi's family members in the hospital and enquired about his health. All of them lauded the nonagenarian leader and wished him a speedy recovery. Students of Tiruvarur based V S Boys Higher Secondary School, where Karunanidhi had studied, held an inter-faith prayer on Saturday for the recovery of their alumnus. Karunanidhi hails from Thirukkuvalai (Nagapattinam District) near the Cauvery delta town of Tiruvarur. #Roh Tae-woo Parties praise, criticize mixed legacy of late leader Roh South Korean political parties expressed condolences Tuesday over the death of former leader Roh Tae-woo, extending both praise and criticism over the mixed legacy of the general-t... Pilgrims leave for Amarnath. A batch of 663 pilgrims on Saturday left Jammu for the Kashmir Valley to perform the ongoing Amarnath Yatra, an official said. They left the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in an escorted convoy of 21 vehicles. Some of them would head along the Baltal, others towards the Pahalgam treks," police said. To regulate the rush at the Baltal and Pahalgam base camps, the yatris have been lodged in Mir Bazar transit camp in Anantnag district and Manigam transit camp in Ganderbal, the official said. The annual pilgrimage has been going on for the last 31 days and till Friday, 2,51,996 pilgrims have performed the yatra at the Himalayan Cave Shrine that houses an ice stalagmite structure believed to symbolise the mythical powers of Lord Shiva. The 60-day Amarnath Yatra will end on August 26, coinciding with the Shravan Purnima festival. Hitting back for the first time at critics who questioned his perceived friendly relations with corporates, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that unlike "some people" he was "not afraid of" publicly standing beside industrialists and business magnates because his intentions were "noble". In response, the Congress responded to his remarks saying he should not lend his legitimacy and respectability to "crony capitalists" while Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Adami Party leader Arvind Kejriwal called it "an unsuccessful try" as people were now raising questions. In his address at a government-industry interface in Lucknow as he inaugurated several development projects for Uttar Pradesh, Modi said industrialists too contribute to nation building and it was not right to label them all as thieves but those who do wrong "will have to leave the country" or live in jail. "We are not the people who will be afraid of standing beside industrialists. You would be knowing some people (who are such) that you would not find a single photo of them with an industrialist/businessman. But there is not a single businessman in this country who would not have gone to these people's places and bowed to them in reverence," he said. "If your intentions are noble, you won't be tainted no matter with whom you are standing," Modi said, adding that Mahatma Gandhi never had any qualms about living in the Birla household. The opposition has been targeting Modi over his picture at Davos economic forum in January this year with fugitive diamondaire Nirav Modi who is at the centre of multi-thousand crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam besides the Prime Minister's perceived closeness with another fugitive, Mehul Choksi, whom he once publicly addressed as "Mehul bhai". The opposition has also been critical of Modi government's inaction while persons like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, Choksi, Jatin Mehta and Lalit Modi easily flew out of the country after being accused of committing huge financial frauds. The Congress has of late also targeting Modi for allegedly giving the offset contract in the Rafale jet deal with France to "one of his corporate friends" at the expense of state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. "Mahatma Gandhi never hesitated standing beside (Ghanshyam Das) Birlaji because his intentions were right. But those who do things behind the curtain and wish not to be seen publicly (with corporates), they are afraid," Modi said. "Just as much as the labour of a farmer, an artisan, a banker, a government employee or a labourer goes into the making of the nation, the efforts of industrialists too have a role in nation building. Should we insult them, call them thieves and robbers? Is this the way? "But yes, whoever (among corporates) does the wrong, he will either have too leave the country or live in jail. This would not happen earlier because a lot happened behind the curtains then." Addressing a media conference in Delhi later, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said "If the Prime Minister feels alright to be photographed with such people, who allegedly ripped off the banking system, and run away to Antigua and London or probably disappear from the earth, then I leave it to the Prime Minister's wisdom to lend his legitimacy and respectability to such people." "The question is not the capitalists or industrialists. The question is what kind of capitalists or industrialists," he said, while stressing his party was not against industrialists and capitalists, but against "crony capitalists". Tewari also hit out at Modi for comparing himself with Mahatma Gandhi. Kejriwal questioned Modi's closeness with those who looted the country and all the investigating agencies failed to nab. "Giving a contract of the Air Force to a 10-day old company and whose owner is a friend of PM. All these are raising questions among the people. Sir, your clarification is unsuccessful try," he said in a tweet in Hindi. As the Yamuna river water hit danger mark, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday held a review meeting with officials concerned on the preparedness to tackle flood-like situation in low-lying areas of Delhi. The Delhi government also requested the Army to be on the stand-by for any emergency. The meeting was held after neighbouring Haryana released 5 lakh cusecs of water from the Hathnikund Barrage into the river. In a tweet, Kejriwal said that the water is likely to reach Delhi by Sunday evening. "Kejriwal, who met officials of Irrigation and Flood Control Department and other stakeholders, was informed by officials that they are prepared and on alert for any situation. They said that quick response teams have also been activated for emergency," an official statement said. The Chief Minister directed that Control Room Emergency Number 1077 must be advertised to make more and more people aware of it. "Departments concerned were asked to deploy officials at the flood control rooms round the clock for 3-4 days. All departments have been assigned respective duties and put on alert," a Delhi government statement said. The officials told the Chief Minister that evacuation of residents of vulnerable areas had begun and they have started putting up tents to accommodate them. "The supply of power, good food and drinking water to the people must be ensured and no stone left unturned to take care of them. Emergency medical teams will also be put on duty for evacuated people and to deal with any medical emergencies," Kejriwal told officials. Kejriwal ordered the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) to activate and place their mobile toilets around the tents being put up. He asked the Education Department and Municipal Corporations of Delhi to be ready to provide school premises in affected areas to house people if the situation so demanded. Furthermore, power companies were asked to deploy officials at the Flood Control Room round the clock. "All power companies have been asked to arrange power in these tents 24x7 once people are shifted there," Kejriwal asserted. In the meeting, the availability of motorboats was discussed and all agencies having motorboats were asked to keep them ready for evacuation from affected areas. The meeting was attended by the MLAs of vulnerable areas, Delhi Chief Secretary, officials of the Army, Delhi Police, DUSIB, Urban Development and Irrigation and Flood Control Departments, MCDs, and others. LONDON (AP) Dillian Whyte moved closer to a dream shot at the world heavyweight title after dramatically securing a career-best victory over Joseph Parker on Saturday. Whyte accepted the risky fight in an attempt to force a rematch with Anthony Joshua or a challenge at WBC champion Deontay Wilder. The British brawler may never be a more worthy challenger following his unanimous decision win in which he barely made the final bell. A heavy knockdown in the final round and his exhaustion left him struggling to defend himself against former WBO champion Parker. But after an earlier knockdown, the first of the New Zealander's career, Whyte received judges' scores of 115-112, 115-110 and 114-111. Whyte tried taking the initiative, and Parker was on the canvas in the second round after an apparent clash of heads. Whyte tried to dominate the inside but Parker would pick him off with jabs, though fail to follow up his infrequent good shots. Whyte built up a lead with his aggression, and unexpectedly knocked down Parker in the ninth round with a left counter. Knowing he needed a knockout at the end to win, Parker put down a tiring Whyte in the last round, but time ran out for him to press the advantage. Both fighters entered the ring with only one loss, both to Joshua; Whyte in 2015 before any world titles were on the line, and Parker in March, when he lost his WBO title. Whyte (24-1) has won eight successive fights since losing to Joshua. Meanwhile, Dereck Chisora, who lost to Whyte by split decision in 2016, revived his career by stopping French fighter Carlos Takam. Chisora was receiving significant punishment and was being outworked by Takam until a huge right hand by Chisora sent Takam to the canvas in the eighth round. Chisora (29-8, 21 KOs) lost his only world title challenge to Vladimir Klitschko in 2012, and other bouts to Tyson Fury (twice), and David Haye. Takam (35-5-1) lost for the third time in five fights, the previous two to Parker and Anthony Joshua. Also, Irish boxer Katie Taylor took less than three rounds to stop American challenger Kimberly Connor and retain her WBA lightweight title a third time, and the IBF version a second. Connor was struggling to defend herself after taking several powerful right hands, and was rescued on her feet by the referee as she fell to her fourth professional defeat. Taylor improved her record to 10-0. BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) Will Smith, Jordan Peele, Kirsten Dunst and Robert Downey Jr. are part of YouTube Original's new series line-up. YouTube said Friday that in "Will Smith: The Jump," the star will bungee jump from a helicopter over the Grand Canyon. The live broadcast will take place on Sept. 25, Smith's 50th birthday. Smith's bravado is in response to a challenge from the Yes Theory channel on YouTube. "Get Out" filmmaker Peele is the co-creator (with "Key & Peele" writer Charlie Sanders) of "Weird City," described by YouTube as a comedic sci-fi anthology series with six episodes. Guest stars will include Rosario Dawson, Michael Cera and LaVerne Cox. Dunst stars in "On Becoming a God in Central Florida," a dark comedy about a minimum-wage worker who schemes her way into a company that ruined her family. The 10-episode series, produced by Dunst, is set in the early 1990s. Downey will host and narrate a series that explores the world of artificial intelligence through the perspectives of researchers and experts. The still-untitled series will look at the impact of A.I. and how it's changing people's lives and the change yet to come. The 2019 debut dates for it and the other new series were not provided. This fall, YouTube Originals will debut "Origin," a sci-fi thriller about people struggling for survival on an abandoned spacecraft. The cast includes Natalia Tena ("Game of Thrones"), Tom Felton (of the "Harry Potter" film franchise) and Sen Mitsuji. The Treaty of Friendship between Samoa and New Zealand remains strong with Prime Minister of Samoa, Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi, saying the ties were above normal diplomatic relations. The celebration of 56 years of the Treaty coincided with the farewell of outgoing New Zealand High Commissioner David Nicholson, who has resigned as his countrys top diplomat to Samoa and is returning to New Zealand. The Prime Minister said the agreement between the two countries was special and Samoa always reminded New Zealand of its obligations under the Treaty. We are gathered here this evening to commemorate our Treaty of Friendship. Executed between the leaders of Samoa and also the leaders of the land of the long white clouds, Aotearoa, and it was signed 56 years ago. What our leaders of our two countries have signed was not an agreement it is a treaty which has carried with it a very special dignity, integrity, and depth of understanding between our two nations, he said. This treaty raises the relationship between our two nations, a little higher above the norm of ties between nations and when New Zealand is very forgetful, we are always quick to remind you of your obligation. When Jacinda (New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern) was in Apia earlier this year, I did remind your Prime Minister that the marriage vows between Samoa and New Zealand can only be separated by God in heaven so that is until the end of the world. Nicholson highlighted the shared history of Samoa and New Zealand spoke of how the people, events, culture and values were connected, before going on to thank the Prime Minister and senior Government officials for the camaraderie in the last 19 months of his posting. The warmth of your hospitality will endure with me, this has enabled me to develop a close understanding of Samoas ambitions and how things are done here, although I might this level of understanding can often be misinterpreted from those outside. I would also like to thank members of the private sector, the diplomatic core and other development partners of whom I have worked closely, he said. Nicholsons resignation last week surprised the Government, New Zealand High Commission staff and members of the diplomatic community, with the Prime Minister even making reference to the diplomats abrupt exit in his speech. And as for your early retirement, this is the first time in the history of kiwis high commissions in Apia that the appointee did not see his term through, said the Prime Minister. Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi has downplayed Cabinets decision to slash his salary from $187,500 to $182,070 per annum. He has also rejected concerns raised by Member of Parliament, Olo Fiti Vaai, about the decision saying Olo is just using the issue as a political tool. Its up to him if hes not happy, Tuilaepa said in response to Olos criticisms of the decision where he called it insulting. I know hes not genuine. You know in this life as a Parliamentarian, if you see somewhere firing an arrow towards the west, then you have to look east. Thats politics." If somebody tells you that what theyre talking about is white, then you know its not white but its actually black. Dont be fooled by it. Last week, a Cabinet paper published by the Samoa Observer revealed that while Cabinet approved a salary increase for Judges of the Court, the Prime Ministers salary was cut by $5,000 per annum. Asked for a comment, the Prime Minister said the reduction of his salary is not new. If we dont make a lot of money, then thats how it is, Tuilaepa said. Thats why we always emphasize the need for taxpayers to pay their taxes. Dont get tired of paying your taxes because the government has got developments to implement. He added that salaries and wages for public servants are determined by the revenues we collect. The Prime Minister went on to explain that his role in Cabinet is similar to a high chief in the village who is responsible for distributing cash received by the village council. You see a lot of our policies are based on our traditions and cultural values. So when it comes to budgeting from year to year, its my responsibility to allocate the money. According to the Prime Minister, in any village, there is an orator who starts the meeting, there is an orator who acts as the chief judge who dishes out penalties and then there are paramount chiefs who seek to pardon and lessen penalties for people who are being punished. There is also a matai who distributes food and monies received for one reason or another. So what happens is that an orator who wants to do the best for his village, quite often goes without (food or money), he gives everything away, Tuilaepa said. He said there are different ways some orators give out the money. Some only give out part of it when they keep the rest. These kind of people dont end up well, they always end up being sick. So dont distribute money like that." My point is that when it comes to distributing (monies), you dont put yourself first. And thats how it works. Tuilaepa smiled and said he is not grumpy about the decision. Last week, Olo appealed to the Government not to reduce the salary of the Prime Minister. This is where the Government should apply common sense, he said. The Prime Minister has been a public servant for many years and this is what he gets in return? A reduction on his salary?" This is an insult and this Tribunal recommendation should not be considered at all. He added: I am not speaking as a politician, rather I speak as a citizen of this great country, considering the accomplishments and how Samoa has come since independence if anything, his salary should at least be $300,000. The Samoa Observer Newspaper Group has welcomed the services of Alexander Rheeney as one of the Co-Editors. Mr. Rheeney brings with him a wealth of experience having dedicated over 11 years of his working life to mainstream media in his homeland, Papua New Guinea. He served as the Editor of one of P.N.G.s print media companies, Post Courier, for four years. Digital Manager, Jarrett Ieti Malifa, said the Samoa Observer is delighted to welcome Mr. Rheeney onboard to help take some of the load off Editor, Mataafa Keni Lesa. The newsroom is growing and will continue to grow, Mr. Malifa said. A big part of our 40th anniversary is investing in the newsroom of the future. Our readers faith and confidence rests on the journalism we produce and its important we continue with that in mind for the next 40 years. Mataafa echoed Mr. Malifas sentiments. Its wonderful to be able to welcome someone of Mr. Rheeneys calibre to the newsroom, who brings with him a lot of experience and knowledge in the running of a daily newspaper, Mataafa said. There is a lot that can be done to improve the work we are doing, especially in developing quality and investigative journalism, and that makes me excited. Mr. Rheeney started his career as a reporter at the Post Courier at the age of 27, fresh out of university with a Bachelor of Arts Degree, but it was mastering written and spoken English that made him adapt to the print media well, which eventually led to him achieving a Masters Degree in Cross-cultural Communication from the University of Sydney in 2012. This is my first overseas assignment working in a media organisation and I am here to learn as much as I can about the country and its people, Mr. Rheeney said. Ordinary Samoans need to identify with the content and thats why Mataafa is there to ensure that it happens, he drives the agenda and some of us are here to complement and support him and the team to achieve that goal. Its been a month with a dynamic news team at the Samoa Observer and he looks forward to spending the next two years learning from his colleagues. The P.N.G. media industry is different from the Samoa media industry, so when I flew into Samoa, I came with an open mind to learn as much as I could, he said. Each newspaper strives for content that promote balance, independent journalism, represent the views of the readers, keeps Government accountable. So those principles apply everywhere, regardless of whether youre in P.N.G. or Samoa, the foundation of journalism remains the same, its universal. So that was what connected me with the Samoa Observer because I knew the same principles apply, but the fact that the Samoa Observer is an award winning newspaper and to work with someone like Savea, to me, had the biggest appeal, so when the job came up I saw that as an opportunity because Ive always heard about Savea Malifa and the journalism he practiced and championed in this part of the Pacific Islands, so I said this is my chance to work with him, to get a feel of what its like. Having a vast experience mainly in print and television (having worked for Digicel-owned TVWAN as a current affairs program presenter), Mr. Rheeney knows the content, quality of news and the impact mainstream media and social media has had on sourcing news for the public. When I decided to apply for the job, I come in with more than 10 years experience working in a newsroom and different industries have gone through different phases of development, he said. Back in P.N.G., social media has had a great impact on news content put out by mainstream media, eventually that will happen here, when mobile phone penetration expands and more Samoans will have access to smartphones and they will be able to just log into the news page. I kind of know the sort of content readers want in my experience back in P.N.G. because thousands of Papua New Guineans have taken up social media and rely on Facebook and websites that provide news now and that is the way of the future and I want to bring that experience and share it with my colleagues here at the Samoa Observer so we can prepare this newspaper to move into this new world of technology. The 43-year-old acknowledged that there will always be challenges because the P.N.G. media industry is different from Samoa. P.N.G. and Samoa are two different markets because you have one of the Pacific Islands, maybe the Pacifics biggest market in P.N.G. in terms of media consumption, versus Samoa media industry where the market is much smaller where a lot of people know each other, he said. So sometimes, I have to say that I admire the work reporters do in this newsroom. Its a small operation, but the fact that its a small community it means that the pressure doubles on them to get it right. Reporters here know the sort of ideals that the Samoa Observer has always stood for and they are also compelled and they have an obligation to the masthead to be independent and objective in terms of reporting. The expectation of the newspaper is the same as in P.N.G. and especially for Samoa Observer where the owner of the paper has won a number of awards that recognises his work. Pressure is on the journalists to live up to those expectations as well, not only for Samoans, but even readers outside the region and the world. Speaking of the Samoa Observer newsroom team, Mr. Rheeney highlighted the enthusiasm that reporters have shown to possible changes in content and style of writing. At the end of the day, we are working towards trying to improve content, standardise and bring international quality journalism into the pages of the Samoa Observer. The feedback Ive got so far from colleagues in the newsroom is great, but I can say it will take time. Reading is power. This was the message promoted by Miss Samoa, Papalii Alexandra Iakopo, yesterday when she read to excited students at the S.S.A.B. conference room. The session was the conclusion of S.S.A.Bs 2018 Literacy Week campaign. The children had the opportunity to listen to stories read by Miss Samoa from renowned collection of childrens stories, fairy tales, fables and more. Papalii did not just focus on reading to the children but she also prepared some writing activities formulated from stories that were read out in the reading sessions. In addition, she incorporated a creative approach to making reading more fun and in doing so; the students were given papers and were asked to act out sentences on each paper. Papalii shared her excitement and experience about the reading sessions she has been a part of since the start of this year. I am all for the children of Samoa and I will do anything in my ability and strength to help them with their education. Being Miss Samoa has been very helpful especially using this platform as a vehicle to advocate on the importance of having good reading and writing skills, said Papalii. The Miss Samoa has fronted several reading sessions at S.S.A.B. since the start of this year. The sessions are part of the companys drive to encourage the children of Samoa to read. In doing so, it lives out the vision and dream of Tofilau Fiti Leung Wai, C.E.O. and President of S.S.A.B. I will always make sure reading sessions are carried out at S.S.A.B, Tofilau said. As a reader myself I have witnessed and experienced the benefits of reading. The major advantage of reading is that it enables the children to easily understand any subject in school whether it be basic science, social science, history and so forth Tofilau thanked Papalii and the Samoa Events Incorporated (S.E.I.) for the eagerness to partner with S.S.A.B. during its Literacy week campaign 2018. Samoa is tapping into the resources of the largest hospital group in Asia to improve health care and medical treatment services for local residents. A Memorandum of Understanding to this effect was signed in Apia recently between the Government of Samoa and the Apollo Group from India. Established in 1983, the Apollo Group has risen to become the largest hospital group in Asia, with 71 hospitals in India alone boasting a 10,000 bed count. The Group is not only present in hospital facilities, but also run multiple pharmacies, primary care and diagnostic clinics, medical colleges and a research foundation. And the first spin-offs from the M.O.U. will see a team of specialists from the Group heading to Motootua to provide new surgery procedures which have never been performed at the National Hospital. A recognisance team has just returned to India after scoping the resources available in preparations for the upcoming goodwill mission. And Health Minister, Tuitama Dr. Leao Tuitama, has high expectations noting that if pieces of the puzzle come together, it will greatly benefit the health sector and local medical practitioners but most importantly the people of Samoa. On top of referring Samoan patients to the Apollo Hospitals, the partnership primarily will see medical specialists from India sharing their know-how and expertise in the health care service with their local counterparts. They are also looking to the next level on how they can help in building capacity and training local doctors, surgeons and technicians. As we all know, the Governments vision is to build the capacity of our health system which will encourage a self-sustainable healthcare for the people of Samoa. Dr. Tuitama also acknowledged that the Apollo Group will be second Hospital Group to accept patients from Samoa under the Overseas Medical Treatment Scheme. The other hospital is the Fortis chain of hospitals which also operates in Singapore, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Australia and Hong Kong with an annual turnover of $US6.4 billion. The Apollo Group also supports the concept of maintaining a continuum of care, added the Health Minister. They are not looking at coming in as a one-off facility for treatment, but at patients getting seamless care after their return to Samoa. This will be done with the doctors here who will keep in touch with the doctors in India to track the development of the patients disease and the prognosis. In the last 10 years, the Apollo Group has also worked extensively with Developing countries in the African continent, the Middle East and Asia, sharing know-how and offering fellowship opportunities for local healthcare service providers. Think a minuteIn 1919, just after World War I, the cholera disease broke out all over Europe killing many thousands of people. The British government sent doctors all over the world to find a cure for cholera. These doctors later came back and said that the Chinese did not get cholera because they boiled their water before they used it. Soon all the radios and newspapers in England were telling everyone to boil their water before they drink it. They even sent this message to the Pacific Islands since they had British soldiers there. Yet later, they heard that the cholera disease had still broken out in the islands killing many thousands of Islanders. The British leaders questioned the people in the island villages and asked them if they were boiling their water? The Islanders answered yes, they definitely were boiling their water to drink. But this is how they did it. They boiled just a small amount of water and put it in a bottle. Then only once or twice a day, they would get the bottle and drink a small teaspoon of the boiled water, like taking medicine. Then they would put the bottle away again and the rest of the day they drank unboiled, dirty water. No wonder people still got cholera and died! Yet many of us do that with Jesus Christ. We dont want to live Jesus way every day, so we go to church one day a week to feel better about ourselves. Then we go back to living our own way the other 6 days of the week. Or, if were not religious church people, we think that if were a good, kind person, then God will accept us into heaven after we die. But just like 1 teaspoon of clean water a day will not keep you healthy, only 1 day a week of living for Jesus Christ, or just trying to be a good person, is not even close to our Makers standard of pure goodness. The only kind of goodness God can live together with is perfect, pure goodness of all our thoughts, motives, words, and actions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Think a Minute VATICAN CITY (AP) In a move seen as unprecedented, Pope Francis has effectively stripped U.S. prelate Theodore McCarrick of his cardinal's title following allegations of sexual abuse, including one involving an 11-year-old boy. The Vatican announced Saturday that Francis ordered McCarrick to conduct a "life of prayer and penance" before a church trial is held. Breaking with past practice, Francis decided to act swiftly on the resignation offered by the emeritus archbishop of Washington, D.C., even before the accusations are investigated by church officials. McCarrick was previously one of the highest, most visible Catholic church officials in the United States and was heavily involved in the church's yearslong response to allegations of priestly abuse there. Francis received McCarrick's letter offering to resign from the College of Cardinals on Friday evening, after a spate of allegations that the 88-year-old prelate had for years sexually abused boys and had sexual misconduct with adult seminarians. The pope then ordered McCarrick's "suspension from the exercise of any public ministry, together with the obligation to remain in a house yet to be indicated to him, for a life of prayer and penance until the accusations made against him are examined in a regular canonical trial," the Vatican said. The McCarrick case posed a test of the pontiff's recently declared resolve to battle what he called a "culture of cover-up" of similar abuses in the Catholic church's hierarchy. McCarrick had already been removed from public ministry since June 20, pending a full investigation into allegations that he fondled a teenager more than 40 years ago in New York City. McCarrick has denied these allegations. Another alleged victim, James , says McCarrick exposed himself to him when he was 11 and continued a sexually abusive relationship with him for more than two decades. McCarrick has not responded publicly to these accusations. Asking to be identified by only his first name to protect his family's privacy, James told The Associated Press on Saturday that he hopes the pope's approval of McCarrick's resignation will help other victims "become free." "Basically, truth always prevails," said James, who lives in Virginia. "Thankfully, everybody in today's world is more understanding of the harm done by individual priests, and now we can start to heal." McCarrick's alleged sexual misconduct with adults was reportedly brought to the Vatican's attention years ago, including before McCarrick was appointed to the prestigious archbishop post in the U.S. capital in 2000 by then-pontiff John Paul II. Two dioceses in New Jersey, Newark and Metuchen, say they have settled two of three complaints of misconduct by McCarrick toward adults. The Vatican on Saturday didn't say where McCarrick would be confined nor when a church trial might begin, and its brief statement did not even allude to the grave accusations against the prelate. McCarrick rose steadily and swiftly up the U.S. church's ranks, from auxiliary bishop in New York City, to bishop in Metuchen, to archbishop of Newark, and then to Archbishop of Washington, D.C. A Catholic University canon law expert, Kurt Martens, noted this was the first time an order of penance and prayer had been issued before a church trial. Other U.S. Catholics who follow sexual abuse scandals hailed stripping McCarrick of his cardinal's rank as an unprecedented shift in how the Vatican has dealt with allegations against top churchmen. "The Vatican almost never moves at this speed," said Terence McKiernan, of BishopAccountability.org.Inc., a Massachusetts-based group that tracks clergy sexual abuse cases. The pope appears to "understand the gravity of the situation and further harm to the Catholic church's status," he told the AP. McKiernan wondered if the church investigation will reveal who among its hierarchy knew about the sex allegations against McCarrick and whether the Vatican will move to punish those clerics as well. He noted that the Vatican statement didn't spell out why the pope was disciplining the cardinal. "We're still in the old world," McKiernan said, referring to the Vatican's avoidance of details about the abuse allegations against McCarrick. "(Still) it's a remarkable development." In the case of Scottish Cardinal Keith O'Brien, accused by former seminarians in 2013 of sexual misconduct, Francis only accepted his resignation after the Vatican's top abuse prosecutor conducted a full investigation, two years after the first revelations, and after the prelate himself relinquished the privileges that come with a cardinal's rank. O'Brien, who died earlier this year, still remained a cardinal, however. The Rev. James Martin, editor-at large at America Magazine, which covers church issues, noted in a tweet that Bernard Law was allowed to stay a cardinal after he resigned as Boston archbishop, following revelations that he had sanctioned the systematic cover-up of pedophile priests while presiding over that U.S. diocese. After resigning from his Boston post, Law was transferred to a prestigious job at a Rome basilica, an appointment that triggered outrage from many abuse survivors. That happened under Pope John Paul II, who was widely considered to have underestimated the scope of the sex abuse scandals worldwide. One of Francis' closest advisers, Cardinal George Pell, is the highest-ranking Catholic in the world to be charged in the church's global abuse scandal. The 77-year-old faces trial in his native Australia on decades-old child sex abuse allegations. Pell has denied wrongdoing. Details of the allegations haven't been made public. Bishops have been implicated in the sexual abuse scandals that have stained the Catholic church's reputation worldwide for decades, most often for their roles in covering up for pedophile priests by shuffling them from parish to parish and keeping the faithful in the dark about the allegations. Earlier this month, an Australia bishop became the most senior Roman Catholic cleric to be convicted of covering up child sex abuse. Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson was sentenced to 12 months in detention by an Australian court in a landmark case seen as a strong warning to institutions that fail to protect children. Critics of the Vatican's handling of abuse cases point out that despite recommendations from its advisory panel, the Holy See still hasn't set up a tribunal or other system to deal with accused bishops or cardinals. It still is unclear just what church tribunal would decide McCarrick's case. "That system is going to (have to) be created exactly for this most embarrassing and prominent case," McKiernan said. VATICAN CITY (AP) Revelations that a prominent U.S. cardinal sexually abused and harassed his adult seminarians have exposed an egregious abuse of power that has shocked Catholics on both sides of the Atlantic. But the Vatican has long been aware of its heterosexual equivalent the sexual abuse of nuns by priests and bishops and done little to stop it, an Associated Press analysis has found. An examination by the AP shows that cases of abused nuns have emerged in Europe, Africa, South America and Asia, demonstrating that the problem is global and pervasive, thanks to the sisters' second-class status in the church and their ingrained subservience to the men who run it. Yet some nuns are now finding their voices, buoyed by the #MeToo movement and the growing recognition that even adults can be victims of sexual abuse when there is an imbalance of power in a relationship. The sisters are going public in part to denounce years of inaction by church leaders, even after major studies on the problem in Africa were reported to the Vatican in the 1990s. "It opened a great wound inside of me," one nun told the AP. "I pretended it didn't happen." Wearing a full religious habit and clutching her rosary, the woman broke nearly two decades of silence to tell AP about the moment in 2000 when the priest to whom she was confessing her sins forced himself on her, mid-sacrament. The assault and a subsequent advance by a different priest a year later led her to stop going to confession with any priest other than her spiritual father, who lives in a different country. The extent of the abuse of nuns is unclear, at least outside the Vatican. However, this week, about half a dozen sisters in a small religious congregation in Chile went public on national television with their stories of abuse by priests and other nuns and how their superiors did nothing to stop it. A nun in India recently filed a formal police complaint accusing a bishop of rape, something that would have been unthinkable even a year ago. And cases in Africa have come up periodically; in 2013, for example, a well-known priest in Uganda wrote a letter to his superiors that mentioned "priests romantically involved with religious sisters" for which he was promptly suspended from the church until he apologized in May. "I am so sad that it took so long for this to come into the open, because there were reports long ago," Karlijn Demasure, one of the church's leading experts on clergy sexual abuse and abuse of power, told AP in an interview. The Vatican declined to comment on what measures, if any, it has taken to assess the scope of the problem globally, or to punish offenders and care for victims. A Vatican official said it is up to local church leaders to sanction priests who sexually abuse sisters. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak on the issue, said the church has focused much of its attention on protecting children, but that vulnerable adults "deserve the same protection." "Consecrated women have to be encouraged to speak up when they are molested," the official told AP. "Bishops have to be encouraged to take them seriously, and make sure the priests are punished if guilty." But being taken seriously is often the toughest obstacle for sisters who are sexually abused, said Demasure, until recently executive director of the church's Center for Child Protection at the Pontifical Gregorian University, the church's leading think tank on the issue. "They (the priests) can always say 'she wanted it,'" Demasure said. Demasure said many priests in Africa, for example, struggle with traditional and cultural beliefs in the importance of having children. Novices are particularly vulnerable because they often need a letter from their parish priest to be accepted into certain religious congregations. "And sometimes they have to pay for that," she said. And when these women become pregnant? "Mainly, she has an abortion. Even more than once. And he pays for that. A religious sister has no money. A priest, yes," she said. There can also be a price for blowing the whistle. In 2013, the Rev. Anthony Musaala in Kampala, Uganda, wrote a letter to members of the local Catholic establishment about "numerous cases" of alleged sex liaisons of priests, including with nuns. He was suspended until he issued an apology in May, even though Ugandan newspapers regularly report cases of priests caught in sex escapades. Archbishop John Baptist Odama, leader of the Ugandan conference of bishops, told the AP that allegations against individual priests should not be used to smear the whole church. "Individual cases must be treated as individual cases," he said. The reports in the 1990s were prepared by members of religious orders for top church officials. In 1994, the late Sr. Maura O'Donohue wrote about a six-year, 23-nation survey, in which she learned of 29 nuns who had been impregnated in a single congregation. Nuns, she reported, were considered "safe" sexual partners for priests fearing infection with HIV from prostitutes or other women. The reports were never meant to be made public, but the U.S. National Catholic Reporter put them online in 2001. To date, the Vatican hasn't said what, if anything, it ever did with the information. CITY COUNCILS CARLSBAD The Carlsbad City Council will hold a special meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday in council chambers, 1200 Carlsbad Village Drive, to discuss the draft airport environmental impact report. The city of Carlsbad wants to know what the community would like to see in a new city hall and civic center, which the city has been saving for and will be ready to start building in 2023. Take a survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JJFJ92D about the civic center portion of this project (en espanol https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/W5XCPLT). Advertisement ESCONDIDO The city of Escondido is updating its road map the Climate Action Plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting the environment. The plan will be used to guide future city decision-making. The community is asked to provide input at a workshop from 6-8 p.m. Monday in the Mitchell Room, Escondido City Hall, 201 North Broadway. Contact Assistant Planning Director Mike Strong at mstrong@escondido.org; visit www.escondido.org/climate-action-plan-documents.aspx. SCHOOL DISTRICTS OCEANSIDE The Oceanside Unified School District board will meet at 9 a.m. Monday at the San Luis Rey Water Reclamation Facility for a governance workshop, with topics including appropriate roles for the board and superintendent. laura.groch@sduniontribune.com CITY COUNCILS CARLSBAD The Carlsbad City Council met Tuesday and approved on first reading an ordinance clarifying and adding regulations on short-term vacation rentals. The amendments for the Village/Barrio Master Plan were given final approval. The council also heard reports on its park inventory, and discussed how to involve voters in the site location decision for a new City Hall and Civic Center. ENCINITAS Advertisement The Encinitas City Council canceled its scheduled meeting for Wednesday. SAN MARCOS The San Marcos City Council met Tuesday and approved the annual assessments and tax levy of the Vallecitos Town Center Street Maintenance District and the Landscape and Lighting District No. 1. The council then went into closed session to discuss litigation. SOLANA BEACH The Solana Beach City Council canceled its regularly scheduled meeting for Wednesday. SCHOOL DISTRICTS BONSALL The Bonsall Unified School District board met in closed session on July 12 to discuss personnel. In open session, the board approved revised board polices on bullying, nondiscrimination/harassment and response to immigration enforcement; and approved contracts for various services. An item on a student internship agreement with Arizona State University was moved to the next meeting agenda. Dr. Jason Fowler was hired as the new Bonsall High School principal. CARLSBAD The Carlsbad Unified School District board met in special session Wednesday to hear an update on its summer projects through the Proposition P Oversight Committee. The board also toured the Performing Arts Center at Sage Creek High School, and heard updates on the Lancer Arena re-roof and Cultural Arts Center code compliance upgrades. DEL MAR The Del Mar Union School District board met in closed session Wednesday to discuss labor negotiations and property negotiations. In regular session, the board revised its facilities master plan to reflect the decision from the July 16 meeting to build a new school in East Pacific Highlands Ranch and keep Del Mar Heights and Del Mar Hills Academy as operating traditional schools. The board also received information on a potential 2018 general obligation bond measure. OCEANSIDE The Oceanside Unified School District board met in closed session Tuesday to discuss litigation. In regular session, the board heard a presentation on student discipline and the expulsion process; reviewed and approved the revised job classification for its director of communication/public information; and accepted the Dominguez Dream Grant for $40,502 for Laurel Elementary to support STEM instruction. SAN DIEGUITO The San Dieguito Union High School District board met in closed session Thursday to discuss litigation and student discipline. In regular session, the board approved resolutions establishing and levying special taxes within several Community Facilities Districts for the 2018-19 fiscal year; and approved creating a School District Safety & Wellness Advisory Committee. VISTA The Vista Unified School District board met Thursday in closed session to discuss litigation and labor negotiations. In regular session, the board received a report on its P3 Continuum, a developmental program for preschool children through grade 3. laura.groch@sduniontribune.com Expect some divine artistic inspiration Saturday at the eighth annual Jazz in the Courtyard concert at First Presbyterian Church. Three of San Diegos most illustrious jazz artists flutist Holly Hofmann, pianist Mike Wofford and trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos head the multigenerational lineup. Hofmann will lead the latest iteration of her Four Women Only band. The group, whose other members are all in their teens, features guitarist Serena Geroe, bassist Angelica Pruitt and drummer Carmen Murray. All three are students at Castellanos Young Lions Jazz Conservatory at Liberty Station. Advertisement Saturdays concert will also feature Archie Thompson and The Archtones, with special guests Derek Cannon and Alex Ciavarelli. The concert is a benefit for Point Loma Nazarene Universitys Center for Justice & Reconciliation, which combats human trafficking. Summer Jazz in the Courtyard Concert 5:30 p.m. Saturday. First Presbyterian Church courtyard, 320 Date St., downtown San Diego. $10 at the door (unreserved seating; first come, first served). (619) 232-7513. fpcsd.org george.varga@sduniontribune.com Twitter @georgevarga Its been 34 years since Daryl Hall and John Oates surpassed the Everly Brothers and the Righteous Brothers as the top-selling duo in pop-music history, thanks to their 29 Top 40 singles, 16 Top 10 singles including six chart-toppers and series of hit albums. More recently, this blue-eyed soul duo from Philadelphia was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. But Hall cites none of these when asked what hes most proud of having achieved. Instead, he points to Live From Daryls House, which began as a web series in 2007 and was later picked up by MTV, where it aired until last year. A combination of live performances, interviews and cooking segments, all hosted by Hall, it gave him the opportunity to trade songs, thoughts and recipes with a broad array of artists. Over the course of 82 episodes, he collaborated with Smokey Robinson, Sammy Hagar, Aloe Blacc, K.T. Tunstall, San Diegos Jason Mraz and many more. My landmarks have had to do with my successful endeavors, but my biggest landmark was the creation and performance of Live From Daryls House, said Hall, who performs here Saturday, Aug. 4, with Oates at San Diego State Universitys Viejas Arena. Advertisement That matters more to me than anything, because its the real me. Its what I really care about. Its using my my music, things Ive created, in a very interesting way. To me, thats my landmark. In that case, his landmark is about to take on a new life. From left: Daryl Hall with David Macklovitch and Patrick Gemayel of Chromeo perform at the Bonnaroo Music Festival. Chromeo guested on an episode of Halls Live From Daryls House. (Photo by Kyle Dean Reinford) Live from Daryls House will be live again On July 16, Hall announced that he had signed a new partnership with BMG, which gives the company worldwide rights to all 82 episodes of Live From Daryls House, filmed between 2006 and 2016. And, he vowed, theres more on the way. Im going to start production again after this tour is over, so well start doing the show again. It took a hiatus, Hall said, speaking by phone from Charleston, S.C. The show is filmed in Pawling, a small town in eastern New York, at Daryls House Club. Owned by Hall, its a restaurant and live music venue whose concert calendar currently lists shows booked there through next March. The show as designed to capture the camaraderie between musicians hanging out together in an informal setting. It was originally filmed in Halls former home in Millerton, N.Y., a setting that ensured his comfort and enjoyment. I wouldnt call it like being a kid in a candy store, Hall stressed. Because I created that show, I control it and its my concept. So its not exactly like eating a Hersheys bar. Theres a lot of thought and planning that goes into it, in order to have it be as spontaneous and interesting as it can be. Hall and Oates teamed up in 1970. They met while performing in rival bands in Philadelphia, where both were students at Temple University. At the time, Hall was singing in The Temptones while Oates was a member of The Masters. The future musical partners were both steeped in soul music, to the point that they once described The Temptations as our Beatles. Their first three albums 1972s Whole Oats, 1973s Abandoned Luncheonette and 1974s War Babies landed with a thud, as the duo labored to find a cohesive sound and style. It was only with their fourth album, 1975s Daryl Hall & John Oates, that the two began to make commercial inroads, as Oates noted in a 2017 Union-Tribune interview. Whole Oats wasnt a coherent album, Oates said. It was mostly songs wed written separately and only a few together. It was really a lets get it out of our system move. Immediately upon making that record, we were in a different place. Abandoned Luncheonette was really more of the first album, because it was written during a compressed period of time with a point of view and more of a focus. If you look at our first three albums, each one was distinctly different. But if you synthesize the stylings of all three, you hear it coalesce into what became our fourth album and what we would do in the rest of the 1970s and 80s. Daryl Hall (left) and John Oates perform at the 2017 Hoagie Nation Festival in Philadelphia. (Photo by Stuart M. Berg) Covered by Nina Simone, Lake Street Dive, more The duos string of Top 40 hits began with Do What You Want, Be What You Are in 1976 and continued until 1990. Rich Girl, in 1976, gave them their first No. 1 song. It was subsequently recorded by such diverse acts as Everclear, Lake Street Dive, The Bird & The Bee, Lake (which in 2010 released the album Interpreting the Masters, Vol. 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall & John Oates), and especially memorably Nina Simone in 1978. That was a long time ago, and wow, it took me by surprise when she did it, Hall said. I liked it. I always like it when people do things with our songs, especially somebody I respect as much as Nina Simone. It was an interesting rendition. Although the Hall & Oates hit machine dried up in the early 1990s, the popularity of their many hits has enabled them to tour steadily through the years as a major concert attraction. They have done so despite the fact that Philly Forget Me Not, a collaboration with the band Train that was released in March, is the first new Hall & Oates song to come out since 2002s Do It for Love. But anyone hoping Philly Forget Me Not in essence, a promotional number for Hall & Oates ongoing tour with Train signals that a new album is in the works is likely to be disappointed. I never say never, but we dont have any plans, Hall said. Were not really a creative team. Were together for the songs weve already done. Thats what we do. We have the good problem of having too many songs to do (in a single concert). Were both very individualistic. As weve matured and grown and got older, were individual artists and have our own agendas. So that would probably preclude any more recordings together. But one never knows. Together, probably not. But separately is another matter. Earlier this year, Oates released his new album, a celebration of rootsy American music titled Arkansas. Hall, meanwhile, is at work on his new solo album. Ive been working on it for a while now, he said. I get to it when I can and its just about finished. I will release it, possibly sometime later this year. Its a very personal album. I just wrote about things that were happening to me. Its raw and has a lot of church feeling to it. Its also got a little hint of the South, because I spend a lot of time in the south. Album sales have plummeted dramatically in this current era of streaming and fleeting attention spans. For many music fans, individual songs have far greater currency and albums appear to have less and less value, artistically and commercially. Well, it isnt less and less to me, Hall said. If less people buy them, thats just the way it is. As an artist, it is albums that are important to me. Its a collection of songs that all come together, and I feel thats the format that best expresses that. Im not averse to occasionally doing a one-off single; thats cool. But I like the album format. My creative impetus really hasnt changed. I write from the heart. Im basically a soul singer, and the music I care about is heart music. It doesnt require lots of intellectual deconstruction. I write by myself. I dont collaborate much anymore, very seldom. My songs are observations straight from my head. So, in that respect, its gotten more and more essential for me to write them. When youre starting out, theres all the normal frustrations. When I was young, I didnt know what I was going to do. I tried doing everything, for experience, as well as money and to just pay bills, and it has never really changed. Thats still what I do its for the experience. I dont have a goal. I never did. I just took it as it came. Daryl Hall & John Oates, with Train and Kandace Springs When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 4 Where: Viejas Arena at Aztec Bowl, 5500 Canyon Crest Drive, San Diego State University Tickets: $89.50-$154.50, plus service charges Phone: (800) 745-3000 Online: ticketmaster.com george.varga@sduniontribune.com Twitter @georgevarga As a scorching heat wave engulfs large parts of Europe this summer, fires have torn through dozens of countries across the European Union. From Germany to France to Sweden, countries in Western Europe are set for another intense heat wave this week with temperatures soaring above 90 degrees, weather forecasters said. The risk of forest fires remains high as above normal heat is expected to continue into August. Some parts of eastern Germany have not had rain since April, according to weather forecasters. As firefighters continue to battle treacherous blazes that have killed scores of people, heres a look at what some European countries face as wildfires continue to scorch large swaths of land: Advertisement A property in the seaside resort of Mati on July 27, 2018, after the deadly wildfires east of Athens. (Louisa Gouliamaki / AFP/Getty Images) Greece More than 80 people died in a wildfire that swept through the seaside coastal town of Mati. Authorities suspect the cause of the fire was arson. The country is going through an unspeakable tragedy, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on July 24. The fire was the deadliest in a decade. About 200 firefighters were battling the blaze in Mati. Confused tourists and residents were forced to flee to the sea to escape the fast-moving blaze. Amid the chaos, some people got trapped on dead-end roads or cliffs and werent able to get away. Tsipras declared three days of national mourning to honor those who died. Smoke rises in Alvdalen field in Sarna, central Sweden. Several forest fires have been raging in the country during hot and dry weather. (Maja Suslin / Associated Press) Sweden As an unusual heat wave continues to engulf Sweden, with temperatures reaching above 90 degrees just north of the Arctic Circle, at least 40 wildfires are burning across the country home to more than 9 million people and an amazing array of wildlife. Some fires were sparked by thunderstorms officials said, with an estimated 62,000 acres burned so far. Italian planes and Norwegian helicopters have been fighting the fast-moving flames, according to local media and more help from other European countries, including France and Germany, is on the way. Strong winds will continue to push the fire, creating challenges for firefighters, according to weather forecasters with European Forest Fire Information System. No deaths or injuries have been reported, but officials warned thousands of people to be vigilant and stay indoors because of poor air quality caused by smoke and ash, local media reported. An aerial photo shows the advancing fire around Ljusdal, Finland, as the blaze sweeps through the large forest area on July 18, 2018. Dry weather has endangered large tracts of forest and many residential areas. (Maja Suslin / Associated Press) Finland Firefighters are still battling several wildfires in Finland as meteorologists with the Finnish Meteorological Institute warn that theres a high risk more blazes could ignite in the southern and central regions, where there was a brief reprieve because of rain and subsiding winds. Over the next five days, dry, warm weather with the chance of winds is forecast. Fires have scorched forested areas in Lapland, a northern province near the border with Russia. Dozens of people were evacuated from summer cottages in the south, according to local media. Firefighters use helicopters in the southern part of Norway in Sordal on July 13, 2018. (Tor Erik Schroder / AFP/Getty Images) Norway Firefighters have been battling wildfires in various parts of Norway since May. The fires, now mostly under control, became deadly when in late July, a firefighter died battling a blaze in southern Norway. Earlier this year, the country experienced record heat. Dry terrain in the Scandinavian country created ample fuel for the fires. It is extremely dry in the countryside and the forest fire index is sky-high, Mathias Drange, the head of the firefighting response unit, told local media in May. In this case the alarm was fortunately raised in good time so we have a good chance of controlling the fire. Although fires have been contained, the Norwegian Meteorological Institutes website said there was very high risk of forest fire in various parts of the country. Latvia Wildfires have scorched more than 1,600 acres since July 17, according to the European Forest Fire Information System. Officials requested foreign assistance about a week later to fight the large forest fires. The extreme heat has made it difficult for firefighters to put out the fires and the weather outlook looks grim. Warm weather is expected to continue, according to officials, and resources to battle the flames are stretched thin. Most of the affected areas are not accessible by ground capabilities and aerial firefighting is the only option, according to a recent North Atlantic Treaty Organization press release. melissa.etehad@latimes.com Follow me on Twitter @melissaetehad Brian Stoll faced a dilemma as his wedding day approached. For more than a year, he had been smoking marijuana to treat severe back pain, but to remain in good standing with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and get married in the temple, he had to stop using pot. Since marijuana was illegal under Utah law, church leaders told him, it was forbidden. Stoll turned to an opioid painkiller and has continued using it since his marriage three years ago, despite unpleasant side effects and its inability to match the soothing qualities of marijuana. This was devastating ... I had to choose between my health and my fiancee, Stoll said recently. It seemed asinine that if I lived in another state, I wouldnt have to make such a difficult decision. Perhaps soon, Stoll said, that could all change for him and his fellow Mormons in Utah. Advertisement In November, voters here will consider a ballot measure to legalize medical marijuana and possibly join 30 others states that allow its use. While opponents, including a group of Utah doctors, have characterized Proposition 2 as a clear and dangerous step on the path toward legalizing recreational pot in the state, supporters say the initiative is a move of compassion. Dozens of parents of children with severe illnesses, including epilepsy, who say they rely on marijuana for treatment, have become the public faces for the campaign. The initiative, supporters argue, is also a necessary response to the opioid epidemic. Every year between 2013 and 2016, roughly 600 Utahns have fatally overdosed on opioids, according to a recent report from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Were talking about medical marijuana, which science time and again has shown to have benefits for people in pain and suffering, said DJ Schanz, a Mormon and the director of the campaign supporting the measure. People are being prescribed pills but cant use something natural. Brian Stoll plays with his 5-month-old daughter, Everly, as his wife, Rachael, looks on while her mother, Michelle Bacca-Llamas, and stepfather, Hector Llamas, laugh from the love seat at their home in West Jordan, Utah. (Isaac Hale / For The Times) Among those gathering signatures to place the measure on the ballot was Stoll. The product of a devout Mormon home in the Salt Lake Valley, he started taking prescription opioids in 2012, after fracturing his back in a fall during his sophomore year at Brigham Young University. The pills helped somewhat, but he hated the possibility of growing addicted. So at 24, Stoll bought a mini bong and some pot, and soon his life changed. The pain faded, and he could sit through church services and go on hikes. Fears of addiction no longer flooded his mind, and his mood improved. But then came his engagement and his desire to be married in the temple. He now takes a tablet of Tramadol most mornings. The powerful opioid can cloud his mind and make him drowsy, but he said that without it, he couldnt sit through the four-hour service at his Mormon meeting house. The gnawing pain in his back would turn to a throb. One recent Sunday morning, Stoll gulped down the small, white pill as he rushed out the door and headed to his church. Stoll opens the car door for Rachael as he carries Everly before attending a church service at a LDS meeting house in West Jordan, Utah. (Isaac Hale / For The Times) Church leaders long remained silent on the marijuana initiative but eventually took a public stance, releasing a brief statement in April lauding a memo by the Utah Medical Assn., a group of doctors opposed to the measure. The church praised the association for cautioning that the proposed Utah marijuana initiative would compromise the health and safety of Utah communities. A month later, church leaders put out a document citing legal concerns, including significant challenges for law enforcement. According to a recent Salt Lake Tribune-Hinckley Institute of Politics poll, two-thirds of voters in Utah, where more than 60% of the population identifies as Mormon, support the medical marijuana proposal. The leaders of the church, whose membership tops 16 million worldwide, have enormous sway in Utah, said Philip Barlow, a professor of Mormon history at Utah State University. And yet, he noted, Mormon conclusions are not monolithic. Among the majority in the state who identify as LDS, a fair portion of these, as with all religions, are not robust or active in practicing their faith, Barlow said. They simply identify as Mormon, as opposed to Baptist or Muslim. The Mormon Church has a history of weighing in on social issues. In 2008, church members helped bankroll a successful campaign in California for Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in the state until it was struck down as unconstitutional. Last year in Utah, the church supported a successful effort by lawmakers to create the lowest blood-alcohol driving limit in the country 0.05% despite concerns from the states tourism industry. While the churchs doctrine regarding health, referred to as the Word of Wisdom, does not directly address medical marijuana, it does ask members to abstain from alcohol, tobacco, coffee, tea and illegal drugs. In recent years, some church members, including Stoll, have sought clarity on what classifies as an illegal drug, especially as more and more states legalize marijuana for medical or recreational use. The church declined to comment for this article. A semitrailer is parked at a Maverik gas station in Draper, Utah. (Isaac Hale / For The Times) Utah has a long history with pot. In the early 1900s, it was among the first states to ban cannabis, following the return of Mormon church members from missions in Mexico, where some historians have said they used pot, according to a reference handbook on marijuana by scholar David E. Newton. During the states current battle, Gov. Gary Herbert, a Republican and a member of the Mormon church, has voiced his reservations about Proposition 2. I am concerned about this initiative because of the lack of medical science on the safety, efficacy and proper dosage for compounds found in cannabis, Herbert said in an email. Referring to the Food and Drug Administration, he added, We should have clinical studies just like we do for any other FDA-approved medicine. We need to isolate what helps and heals from what harms. While traveling the state, Herbert said, he has met with Utahns recovering from addiction who have told him that marijuana was their gateway drug to other more dangerous and addictive drugs. To a person, Herbert said, they have argued against the legalization of marijuana. For Stoll, who works in digital marketing in this suburb south of Salt Lake City with views of the towering Wasatch Range, his pain has propelled his activism. Two years ago, he testified before lawmakers about a bill that would have legalized pot for medical purposes. The measure died in the Republican-controlled Legislature. But lawmakers have passed laws over the years that, among other things, allow oils and creams made from the non-psychoactive component of cannabis. Before Stoll, his wife and their infant daughter drove to the red-brick meeting house in West Jordan on a recent Sunday, he pulled out the green bong hes kept in a cardboard box in his closet since his marriage in 2015. He cant help but think about how much pot helped him about what his life would be like if he could give up the Tramadol. But he fears losing his good standing within the church a designation that allows him to attend temples, where Mormons marry, have baptisms and other major life ceremonies. At times, Stoll admits, he thinks about moving out of state to better treat his condition. Stoll said he knows Mormons in other states where pot is legal who use marijuana and are in good standing and have temple recommends with the church because sympathetic local church leaders have given their assent. He wants that for himself. Stoll holds a vial of Tramadol, one of the medications he takes to treat severe back pain. He had to stop using pot to remain in good standing with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and get married in the temple. (Isaac Hale / For The Times) This is something that if I drive east or west to Colorado or Nevada is 100% legal and helpful to my situation, he said. Were not talking about recreational. This is simply for medical. His wife, Rachael, said her husband seemed healthier when he used cannabis. As a family, we need this to become law, she said, holding their daughter, Everly. We pray for this. But her stepfather, Hector Llamas, 63, disagrees, saying he foresees medical pot being sold on the black market. People buy it with a card and then turn around and sell it elsewhere is going to be a problem, Llamas said as the family sat at the kitchen table before church. Moments later, as the family got ready to head to the meeting house one of several in this community where horses graze in backyards under the shade of pine trees Stoll read a passage from the Book of Mormon: And there were some who died with fevers, which at some seasons of the year were very frequent in the land but not so much so with fevers, because of the excellent qualities of the many plants and roots which God had prepared to remove the cause of diseases, to which men were subject by the nature of the climate. This, he said, reminded him of his current situation. Marijuana, he said, is a gift from God. kurtis.lee@latimes.com Twitter: @kurtisalee Like a lot of recent retirees, Martha Ranson misses some parts of the job. Heres one: Getting a delusional woman to take a shower, said Ranson, who worked with homeless and often addled ladies at Rachels Womens Center in San Diego. I really liked that part about working at Rachels. You had to be real creative. She also needed X-ray vision, the ability to look through the problem all the way to the person. In the heart of downtown, on Eighth Avenue, Rachels is a haven for solo women living on the streets. Many struggle daily against demons, real and imaginary: mental illness; drug and alcohol addiction; criminals who see them as easy prey. This group is large in the U.S., one out of every four homeless persons is an unaccompanied woman and challenging. Advertisement Rachels provides services to people who, in many instances, dont even know they need it, said Bob McElroy, executive director of the Alpha Project, a nonprofit serving the homeless. Martha served a highly unique population. Unaccompanied homeless women try to stay hidden, so they are less vulnerable, said Patricia Leslie, director of Point Loma Nazarene Universitys social work program. Martha really just loves and truly cares about them with the kind of the compassion that is both demanding and very compassionate. Martha is the paradigm of a woman who really has a heart, said Dr. James Dunford, the City of San Diegos former medical director. Shes going straight to heaven. Beached starfish A Santa Barbara native, Ranson studied child development at Whittier College, considering a career in teaching. Her life followed a different path, though, re-directed by two factors. 1. A post-graduate course on recovering women alcoholics struck some chords, as her family had a history of substance abuse. 2. She met and married Ron Ranson, who moved the family to San Diego County in 1979. When a friend serving on Rachels advisory board mentioned that the center was seeking a program coordinator, Ranson applied and was hired. That was in July 1986, when Rachels was two years old. Then as now, the storefront on 8th Avenue was open every day to homeless women but only during the day. (At the time, the YWCA provided overnight shelter; now, women seeking a place to sleep are directed to the old downtown post office.) Women line up every morning for the centers free services. They could shower, eat, read, sit quietly, talk with others, attend a 12-step meeting. But you werent forced to do anything, Ranson said. You could pick what you needed. Only, though, if you obeyed the rules: You couldnt come in drunk. You couldnt come in and scare people youd have to leave. Women also have to abide by minimal sanitary standards. Even the mentally impaired, floating above their own bodily odors and stained clothing, had to clean up or leave. During Ransons three decades at the helm, Rachels augmented those services with job training, mental health counseling, medical and psychiatric treatment. Over the years, she said, its become more complex. Faced with the ever-increasing homeless population and its ever-expanding needs, a cynic might wonder if this work was pointless. Ranson doubts that we will ever see the total elimination of homelessness, but recalls the fable of the starfish. A storm, the story goes, had flung ashore thousands of starfish. Days later, they were dying on the beach when a child picked up one and gently returned it to the sea. The others were still stranded, so the problem still existed. But... Maybe I cant impact the whole system, Ranson said, but I can certainly help this person and these people in this room. The room, though, is more crowded than ever. When Ranson began working at Rachels, the center averaged 35 women a day. Today, the average is about 120. Sweepstakes winners Divorced since 1991, Ranson, 69, has two married sons and one grandson, the latter a 2-year-old who lives in Del Mar. She enjoys spoiling that kid, attending the opera, dining out, reading for pleasure. (Now on her nightstand: Gilead, Marilynne Robinsons Pulitzer-winning novel.) Even before her fathers death last September at the age of 90, she had pondered retirement. I helped the people I could help, she said. Its time for other people to step in. She officially retired a month ago. (Her most recent boss, Robert Moser, announced plans to step down as executive director of Catholic Charities on Tuesday.) It didnt take long for Antoinette Fallon, her successor and a veteran of nine years at Rachels, to hear the panicky questions. Marthas gone? a client would say, alarmed. Does that mean youre closing? Fallon reassures everyone that Rachels remains open. Its mission remains the same, even if its target population is changing. This is an older crowd, with a median age between 55 and 60, dealing with everything from arthritis to dementia. As Alpha Projects McElroy noted, some of Fallons clients are too deeply mired in delusions to recognize their own problems. Rachels, an arm of Catholic Charities, also operates the House of Rachel, an apartment complex used as transitional housing. Occasionally, Fallon offers one of these spaces to a homeless woman, only to be turned down. Why? I dont need it, Fallon was told. My check from Publishers Clearing House is coming any day now. Theres no single solution to homelessness, Ranson said, just as there is no single homeless population. Occasionally, someone suggests shuttering Rachels and sending its clientele to centers that are open to men and women. In Dr. Dunfords view, those proposals dont make sense: Those women dont want to go to those other places. And they shouldnt be expected to go to places with a bunch of homeless men these are paranoid people, a lot of them are schizophrenic, bi-polar. In San Diego, Rachels staff battles long odds. Even mentally stable clients face significant challenges: avoiding or overcoming addictions; coping with constant exposure to the elements; dealing the regions high cost of housing. Try not to let stuff overwhelm you, Ranson advises. Being calm and flexible, thats the key that didnt work, so lets try this. Find the value in who they are. And remember the starfish. As a kid who spent a lot of time with his siblings exploring the nature that surrounded them, Paul Dayton learned to love natural history. When he found out that he could grow up and study nature for a living, his career path was set. A professor emeritus of marine ecology at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Dayton has not only spent a career fascinated by and studying life underwater, he also remains interested in, and committed to, preserving the desert ecology from his childhood in Arizona. Hes published a childrens book, Rabbits and Rats, Birds and Seeds, Cactus and Trees: Plants and Animals at Work in El Pinacate, Sonoran Desert, Mexico, which tells the story of the relationships between the plants and animals in the desert and how they rely on each other to survive. The book is bilingual and has been nominated as a finalist for the 2018 International Latino Book Awards, produced by Latino Literacy Now, a non-profit promoting literacy in the Latino community. Advertisement Dayton, 77, lives in Solana Beach with his wife, Linnea (whos the editor and publisher of his book), and they have two adult children. He took some time to talk about his book and, his passion for nature, and his hope for the children who read his book. Q: How did you go from a career in science that revolves around water to writing a childrens book about plants and animals in the desert? A: Good question. The book was written to inform the Mexican children that live in the area surrounding El Pinacate (y Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve), perhaps the most wonderful natural area I know. I hope that explaining the important relationships that structure the desert ecosystem will enable the citizens to understand the ecosystem, and that this understanding will also inspire a paternalistic love of the region so that they will want to protect these fragile relationships. Q: Your book, Rabbits and Rats, Birds and Seeds, Cactus and Trees: Plants and Animals at Work in El Pinacate, Sonoran Desert, Mexico, features a desert tortoise named Renaldo telling the story, through you. Where did Renaldo come from and what inspired this story? A: Renaldo is the name we gave to a real desert tortoise that lives on the top of a volcanic cinder cone that overlooks our favorite camp. This and one other found at the same location are the only living desert tortoises found in the Pinacate, so far as I know. Q: Why did you want to tell it with the tortoise as the narrator? A: First, I wanted to acknowledge the fact that this tough, old reptile is there watching over this ecosystem for many decades. Second, I did not want my message to the Mexican children to be a gringo lecturing to them about their park, and I thought that they would be more receptive to getting the information from a tortoise. One of the great childhood strengths lost to most adults is the ability to fantasize. I hope it works. What I love about Solana Beach ... I like the easy access to San Elijo Lagoon (Ecological Reserve) that I visit several times a week, and I really appreciate our neighbors who tolerate my chickens and neurotic little dog. Q: What did you want to convey with this story? A: A sense of tenderness for, and empathy with, nature. Ideally, this love is based on an understanding of important relationships that need to be protected. Too often, environmental protection focuses on individual species, when really it is the important relationships that need protection. These relationships are fractured long before a species becomes endangered. I hope that this is communicated to the parents as well as the children. Q: What did you want children to get from this story? A: I hope that the children will grow up with an ability to look at a natural situation and understand the natural history that resulted in the patterns they see, and perhaps more importantly, to be able to correctly fantasize other relationships that they can explore and study themselves. This is how a child grows into the future with a sense of place that then supports good human stewardship of nature. And, hopefully, some of the children will also grow into creative ecologists. Q: What were your initial thoughts when you learned youd been selected as a finalist for this years International Latino Book Awards? A: I was surprised and pleased as it means a lot to me because the organization has such worthy goals. My first thought was that the award and all the recognition should go to the translator, Barbara Ilizaliturri, and her husband, Exequiel Ezcurra, who helped with some technical aspects. The Spanish version was recognized, thus it was her brilliant translation that is responsible. Barbara deserves the recognition for her spectacular translation. Q: What does it mean to you be nominated for this award? A: Being recognized by an organization dedicated to enhancing literacy and good writing in the Spanish-speaking community is extremely satisfying. The world is full of wonderful books in Spanish, and it is very important that Latino children everywhere develop a cultural pride in their heritage. Q: Why do you think its important to have an organization dedicated to specifically recognizing Latino authors, illustrators, books and stories? A: As ecologists depend on a sense of place, people need a sense of self, and this organization does a wonderful job enhancing Latino pride that today, more than ever, we need to support. Q: What has your work writing this book taught you about yourself? A: Humility. I have always said that if you cannot explain something to an interested child, you do not understand it yourself. But when I tried to write something for kids, I found it really challenging, and my wife helped a lot. Q: What is the best advice youve ever received? A: Always imagine that you see the world through the eyes of the organism you study. This applies to plants and animals as it forces one to consider what is really most important to the organism. And this is also critical to healthy human relationships. Q: What is one thing people would be surprised to find out about you? A: I am a good cook with a Dutch oven in the field; and maybe not so good in the kitchen where the consumers are more critical. Q: Describe your ideal San Diego weekend. A: Taking my granddaughters to Balboa Park. It has to be one of the best parks in the country and there are always wonderful things to learn for young and old. Email: lisa.deaderick@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @lisadeaderick A new reporter took over the military beat this month. Hes fresh out of college, but hes got more life experience than most new graduates and importantly, that experience is in the military. Andrew Dyer answered a few questions about his life journey. Q. Tell us about your time in the Navy. I signed up for boot camp about two weeks after 9/11. By Christmas, I was in Great Lakes, Illinois. After nine months of school, I reported to the USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) in Yokosuka, Japan. Three days after arriving we deployed to the Persian Gulf. We were part of the first wave of airstrikes against Iraq in 2003. After four years on the Kitty Hawk, I went to Texas for a couple years for shore duty. While in Texas I became interested in craft beer, and in 2009, when I was up for orders, there was only one place I wanted to go San Diego. Advertisement I received orders to the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and spent two years on board, participating in RIMPAC in 2010 and Operation Tomadachi in 2011. We were off the coast of Japan about two days after the tsunami, and stayed there for more than a month supporting search and rescue and providing logistical support. Of everything I did in the Navy, the humanitarian mission in Japan in response to the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown is the thing Im most proud of. Q. What life skills did you learn when you served? Theres a lot to learn in the military, but the thing I came away with is an appreciation for working with people from a huge cross-section of society. I worked with people not only from across the country, but from countries around the world. It gave me a different perspective not just on myself, but on my country. Q. What brought an end to your service? I was caught up in an administrative force-shaping event in 2011, the Enlisted Retention Board. The Navy was downsizing certain job specialties, including mine. I was honorably discharged in May, 2012. Q. What did you learn from that experience? I think it gave me a different perspective on both the Navy itself and what my time in meant. It made me appreciate all I was able to do and the opportunities I had that most people in their 20s did not. Q. Why did you decide to get into journalism? Once I was out of the Navy and working in the private sector, I did not get the same satisfaction out of my work. Repairing radios and radars wasnt what was great about the Navy, it was the people I worked with and the sense of service from doing that work. It took me a couple years, but when I left the private sector and went back to school, I finally found that sense of service again, at my first college newspaper, the Southwestern Sun. When I transferred to San Diego State in 2016, I took an editorial position at the paper there. In 2017, I became the editor-in-chief. Q. What was the most controversial story you handled as editor of the Daily Aztec? The Aztec mascot controversy, easily. We covered many issues that affect students debt, housing and food insecurity but nothing stirred the emotions of readers, especially alumni, like stories about the effort to retire the mascot. Q. During school, you wrote a beer column for CityBeat. Do you have a favorite San Diego craft beer? Right now Im really enjoying the New England-style IPAs from Modern Times. Q. What approach or philisophy do you plan to follow in the military beat? Well, theres a couple different responsibilities to it. One, I have an obligation to report the goings-on of the local military to the general public in San Diego. However, the military and military veterans are also a large part of this community, so I want to find stories that are relevant to them. Q. You have a story in the Local section today about risk behaviors among service members, how did you find that study? I am in quite a few veterans and military groups online, and stuff like this usually finds its way there. Q. You have a beard, something that wasnt allowed in the military. How soon after leaving the service did you grow that? I shaved every day for 10 years. The last time was the day I signed my DD-214. Q. What do you think is the most serious issue facing military personnel today? People in the military face the same difficulties as anyone, only dialed-up to 100. Housing costs, education and workplace harassment are all issues the military deals with, only they do it while maintaining a high level of operational readiness and deploying for months at a time. Q. How can readers contact you with tips or ideas for military coverage? My email is andrew.dyer@sduniontribune.com and I can be reached via telephone at 619-293-1371. Im also on Twitter @SDUTdyer. Topics editor Ricky Young introduces our new miltiary reporter, Andrew Dyer. Follow me at @RickyWhy ricky.young@sduniontribune.com July 29, 1932 The San Diego Union The San Diego Union-Tribune will mark its 150th anniversary in 2018 by presenting a significant front page from the archives each day throughout the year. Friday, July 29, 1932 In 1932, federal troops and police forcibly dispersed the so-called Bonus Army" of unemployed World War I veterans who had marched on Washington, D.C., demanding immediate cash payouts of bonuses they weren't scheduled to receive until 1945. Congress and the president balked at bonuses, but did offer some emergency loans to get the destitute vets to leave town. Several thousand men stayed in makeshift camps until they were evicted, with fire, tear gas and some bloodshed, by troops led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Here are the first few paragraphs of the story: TROOPS DRIVE VETS FROM CAPITAL ONE DEAD, SCORES HURT AS BULLETS, BRICKBATS AND TEAR GAS ARE USED Bonus Army Retreats From Washington as Camps Set Fire by Soldiers; Hoover Calls Out Military After Civil Authorities Fail in Attempt to Evacuate Men From U.S. Property; B.E.F. to concentrate in Johnstown, Pa. WASHINGTON, July 28 (U.S.)The bonus army retreated tonight from the national capital. The veterans capitulated. They abandoned their chief camp in Anacostia flats, southeast, Washington, at 10:30 oclock tonight when federal troops advanced to gas the men out of their huts and shacks and makeshift shelters as three other downtown camps had been gassed and then razed by fire earlier in the day. Taking the veterans leaders words that the evacuation would be complete, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, army chief of staff, halted the major attack against the bonus expeditionary force. With Secretary of War Hurley he went to the White House to report to President Hoover. The President ordered use of the United States army to clear the veterans camps from federally-owned property in Washington in the afternoon after police had been unable to oust the former soldiers. One death a veteran, shot through the heart by a policeman resulted in clashes between the police and the bonus army on Pennsylvania avenue, three short blocks from the capitol. Scores of others police, soldiers, veterans, bystanders were gassed before hostilities ceased tonight. The veterans planned to concentrate in Johnstown, Pa. to which city the were invited by the mayor. They left Washington hurriedly as the federal troops prepared to gas them from their rude shelters and then apply the torch to everything inflammable. Skies Red As Soldiers Raze Camps Unprecedented scenes attended the clearing by the troops of three other bonus camps in downtown Washington by that method of warfare. The sundown skies were red as the troops razed the other camps. Never had Washington known such a day. The city was in a state of wild excitement. President Hoover, complying with the request of the civil authorities, ordered the troops to rout the veterans after an all-day battle in which the veterans scored over the police. The retreat from Washington was a colorful a picture as the clouds of gas and the flaming huts had provided a more exceptional one earlier. The Hells Kitchen and Connecticut companies of the B.E.F. inspired the burning of the Anacostia camp. They applied the torch as they departed. They beat the federal army to it. All others followed suit. the men were formed into companies. Their women and children had been sent ahead in trucks. Those veterans unable to find transportation began the 174-mile pilgrimage to Johnstown on foot. They were in orderly formations. FLAGS CARRIED American flags were carried at the head of the companies. some of the marchers, few of whom had anything to eat since a scant breakfast, sang as they marched away. They shouted and joked with the federal troops as they passed. Thus ended the bonus armys nine-week siege of Washington in a vain attempt to have the President or congress favor immediate cash payments in full of their bonus certificates. Federal troops began occupation of Camp Marks, chief concentration center of the B.E.F. soon after 10 oclock. General MacArthur had about 650 men. He had reserves of 3000 nearby. Facing him were several thousand veterans. View anniversary front pages online at sandiegouniontribune.com/150-years. For more from the Union-Tribune digital archives, go to newslibrary.com/sites/sdub. Searching is free, with registration. A fee is required to view full stories. Yefri Montero left Honduras last March with $75 in his pocket, fleeing poverty and gang violence in Tegucigalpa, dreaming of finding work and safe haven in the United States. But like growing numbers of Central Americans arriving in recent months at the Tijuana-San Diego border, the 19-year-old has decided that for now, hell stay in Mexico rather than try to cross. The door hasnt opened, I dont have family there, and I hear theyre deporting people, he said one day last week, as he prepared to start a factory job on Monday in Tijuana. Undeterred by the Trump administrations increasingly restrictive asylum policies, citizens of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala continue to arrive in Tijuana to seek admittance to the United States. But migrant advocates in the city are seeing scores of others now looking for ways to stay in Mexico. Advertisement Like Montero, many are doing so with humanitarian visas that allow them to work and live in Mexico for one year, with the possibility of extending. Many are qualifying for the status because they have been crime victims in Mexico. Mexicos National Migration Institute, INAMI, which issues the humanitarian visas, last week denied a request for an interview, and declined to provide numbers of how many of these visas had been issued, either nationally or at a local level. But migrant advocates say that dozens, if not hundreds, are staying in Tijuana, often legalizing their status through the visas and other means rather than attempt to enter the United States; others are remaining in the city and working without documents. Theyre saying, I dont want to go there just to be deported, so its better for me to stay in Mexico, and find a job, said Cristina Reyes, an attorney at the Casa del Migrante, a Tijuana migrant shelter run by Catholic Scalabrinian missionaries. Since May, the Casa has worked with 54 Central American migrants who are seeking to legalize their status. While Salvadorans often arrive with a document that allows them to be in the country, those from Honduras frequently do not, Reyes said. But in many cases Hondurans qualify for humanitarian visas, almost always because they have been victims of crime, she said. Also staying in the region are dozens of participants in the Pueblo Sin Fronteras Caravan that drew the ire of President Trump last spring as it made its way across Mexico. Of those who reached the Tijuana-San Diego border, 248 caravan participants sought asylum in the United States, while another 60 to 80 have opted remain behind, said Gina Garibo, the organizations special projects director. As of last week, 34 had pending applications with Mexicos National Migration Institute in Tijuana, she said. Several caravan members and others interviewed in Tijuana last week said earning dollars and connecting with family in the United States remained powerful lures to crossing the border. But staying in Mexico was preferable to the likelihood of detention and deportation at the hands of U.S. authorities. Gina Garibo of Pueblo Sin Fronteras speaks during a meeting with members of the caravan who have stayed behind in Tijuana. (David Maung) Despite Tijuanas high homicide rates, several Central American migrants said they they felt far safer in Tijuana than areas across from Texas such as Tamaulipas, where they can be targeted by criminal gangs who kidnap and extort them. Those with work permits have begun finding employment in the citys numerous maquiladora factories, while others have found jobs in bars and restaurants, on construction sites, in car washes and other places where employers dont always demand to see their documents. There are some places that take advantage of the situation, because they know these people are undocumented, and work extended hours for terrible pay, Garibo said. Zonia Alfaro was among several dozen Pueblo Sin Fronteras Caravan members granted humanitarian visas by the Mexican government in Hermosillo, and subsequently moved to Tijuana because she knew there was employment. Believe me, I have suffered, but here I am with a job, she said. Im not about to leave Tijuana. Though sad that she is separated from her teenage children, who remained behind with her mother in Escuintla, Guatemala, she was upbeat Wednesday. She now works at a company that manufactures cereal boxes, and has found a room to rent in the Lomas Taurinas neighborhood. Byron Hernandez Flores, 27, a farm worker from southern Honduras who also arrived with the Caravan, has been working two jobs washing dishes at a sushi restaurant and as a part-time school janitor. His reasons for leaving Honduras were economic, and he knows he stands no chance of remaining if he turns himself in to U.S. authorities. But as a crime victim in Tijuana an assailant took a weeks earnings he expects to soon receive a one-year humanitarian visa. Soraya Vazquez, a longtime migrant activist, says Central Americans have been coming to Tijuana for years, but typically did not remain in the city for long. But now more are staying in the city as U.S. immigration policies have been hardening under President Trump. People keep coming, they come in small numbers, said Vazquez, an attorney who is collaborating with the group Espacio Migrante. Because they look similar to Mexicans, and are for the most part Spanish-speaking, their presence often receives little notice, she said. How the tougher U.S. immigration policies will ultimately play out at the border is still being defined. Jeff Sessions, the U.S. Attorney General, recently has issued new restrictions on asylum applications that make it harder for Central Americans fleeing gangs and domestic violence to even submit petitions. At the same time, the United States has been pressing Mexico to sign a safe third country agreement that would allow U.S. authorities to turn back asylum seekers from Central America and other areas and require them to seek asylum in Mexico. Even without the agreement, asylum applications received by the Mexican Commission For Refugee Assistance has been skyrocketing from 1,292 petitions in 2013 to 14,596 last year, with applications expected to to rise even further this year. Safe third country or not, I think Mexico is going to be a place where more people are seeking protection regardless of whether there is an agreement with the United States, said Maureen Meyer, an immigration specialist at the Washington Office on Latin America. Given that there is such an anti-refugee climate in the United States, people may increasingly consider Mexico as the place to be at least for the medium to short term. Manuel Orellana, 37, said he tried to make a go of it in Honduras when he was deported from Florida in 2011 after overstaying his visa. With his savings, he opened a small grocery in San Pedro Sula, but soon became targeted by Mara gang members who demanded extortion payments. When he refused, leaders ordered him killed, and he went into hiding. In 2013, he tried to leave Honduras, but was deported by Mexican immigration officials after he sought their help for an eye injury. After two more years in hiding in Honduras, he returned to Mexico, this time asking for asylum. When his petition was granted last year, he bought a bus ticket for Tijuana. I came with the intention of crossing, hoping that someone in the United States would understand that my situation is delicate, he said. But then I understood, that I wouldnt be able to cross. The onetime university student is now working in a car wash, renting a room and volunteering at the Casa del Migrante. By living frugally, he manages to send money to support his seven-year-old daughter, his princesa who remains behind in Honduras. I trust in God that all will be well, but I dont feel completely safe, he said. Its not like being at home. sandra.dibble@sduniontribune.com @sandradibble When California voters approved construction of a bullet train in 2008, they had a legal promise that passengers would be able to speed from Los Angeles to San Francisco in two hours and 40 minutes. But over the next decade, the state rail authority made a series of political and financial compromises that slowed speeds on long stretches of the track. The authority says it can still meet its trip time commitments, though not by much. Computer simulations conducted earlier this year by the authority, obtained by The Times under a public records act request, show the bullet train is three minutes and 10 seconds inside the legal mandate. Advertisement Such a tight margin of error has some disputing whether the rail network will regularly hit that two-hour-40 minute time, in part because the assumptions that went into those simulations are highly optimistic and unproven. The premise hinges on trains operating at higher speeds than virtually all the systems in Asia and Europe; human train operators consistently performing with the precision of a computer model; favorable deals on the use of tracks that the state doesnt even own; and amicable decisions by federal safety regulators. Frank Vacca, chief of rail operations for the California High-Speed Rail Authority, says the system will be fully compliant with the law and able to make the trip within the time limit in regular operations. Speed is critical to the project not just because of the legal mandate. Fast trains will directly affect ridership and whether the operation can generate enough revenue to avoid red ink that must be covered by government subsidies. But speed doesnt come cheap. Faster trains require costly longer tunnels and more viaducts. The current price tag is $77 billion, up from $33 billion when the project was approved. Funding has become a problem for the rail authority, which cant afford to complete even a partial operational segment slow or fast. In its 2018 business plan, the authority deleted construction of a 13-mile tunnel under the Pacheco Pass from its first phase because it did not have enough money. The decision will leave about 80 miles of track in the Bay Area disconnected from 119 miles of track in the Central Valley. State law does not give the project much room to maneuver. The 2008 bond act approved by voters said the system had to be designed to achieve a trip time of two hours and 40 minutes. Rail authority officials have long contended that the legal fine print does not require them to actually operate trains on such a schedule. The interpretation raises the prospect that the state is spending billions of dollars on a capability it will never use. If they dont get two hours and 40 minutes, they are not going to get the predicted benefits of this very expensive system, said Daniel Brand, a retired ridership expert with Charles River Associates who conducted the early passenger studies for the project in the 1990s. Vacca says it nonetheless makes sense: You can have a car designed to go 150 miles per hour, but you dont drive that fast. By international standards, the California timetable is audacious. The Japanese Shinkansen, the inspiration for all of the worlds high speed trains, operates between Tokyo and Osaka, a distance of 344 miles. The fastest trip takes two hours and 22 minutes, yielding an average speed of 145 miles per hour, according to Japanese Railway schedules. The French Train a Grande Vitesse, or TGV, operates the Paris to Lyon line over 243 miles and takes one hour and 59 minutes, according to TGV schedules. The average speed is 121 miles per hour. But the Los Angeles to San Francisco route, which would traverse three mountain ranges and five of the 10 largest cities in the state, is supposed to travel 438 miles in 2 hours and 40 minutes requiring an average speed of 164 miles per hour. Californias high-speed rail system would need a quicker average speed than Japans Shinkansen. (Gavin Hellier / Getty Images) When the rail authority solicited international firms to help build and finance the system, the Spanish firm Sacyr Concesiones S.L., which has helped build 40 bullet train projects around the world, warned the state in a 2015 report that its speeds would push up costs. One of the main cost drivers is the requirement of 220 mph operating speed, the firm wrote. 220 mph is higher than most if not all standard commercial speed for HSR, since it goes beyond the operating speed of similar HSR currently operating anywhere in the world. Due to the high-tech nature of the system infrastructure, operation and maintenance costs also grow exponentially. One fundamental problem for the California system is that its at the upper end of the distance where bullet trains can compete effectively with airlines, so it has to be as fast as possible. Top speeds require precise track alignment straight and level. A curve that allows a train to operate at the max speed of 220 mph would have a circumference of more than 50 miles, were it to make a complete circle. Going over mountains requires deep tunnels to level out the climb so that the grades are half as steep as those on interstate freeways. Quentin Kopp, then chairman of the rail authority when the speed requirements were created in 2008, said the legislature erred in trying to dictate train speeds. It does not make sense to run at these speeds given the cost, but it is too late to change, said Kopp, a plaintiff in a suit alleging the state is violating the bond act. You would have to go back to voters and they would turn it down as a way of stopping the project. Former California Treasurer William Lockyer, who was chief of the state Senate in 2008 and remains a supporter, has a similar opinion. These details of trip times may have been too specific, but that is easy to say now, he said. The speed mandate was created by a small group of political staffers and bureaucrats huddled in a Senate conference room in spring 2008. They believed guaranteeing high speeds was critical to the future success of the system and to convince voters to back a $9-billion bond later that year. The main proponent of mandating the trip times was Mehdi Morshed, the longtime chief executive of the rail authority who believes rail speeds would be endlessly compromised were they not backed up by law. I am the one who insisted on putting the times in, he said. The purpose of the high speed train was to get people places fast. High speed doesnt mean much if you dont put in the law that you will have to get from one place to another in a certain amount of time. The law, however, has in some cases failed to prevent the kinds of compromises Morshed feared. In 2011, the rail authority faced growing opposition in wealthy Silicon Valley communities about an elevated viaduct that would carry 220-mph trains. In a deal with Bay Area elected officials, the state agreed to put the bullet train on ground-level tracks shared with much slower commuter trains between San Jose and San Francisco. A similar compromise was later made between Burbank and Los Angeles. The deals not only quelled opposition but helped reduce costs by billions of dollars. In 2016, the rail authority cut costs by reducing the planned diameter of roughly 50 miles of mountain tunnels, which reduced speeds to a maximum of 200 mph. And earlier this year, the rail authority gave up plans for dedicated tracks over 30 miles from Gilroy to San Jose, saying it would attempt to build track on a freight right of way that would limit speeds to 110 mph. Many transportation experts, including state staff and independent analysts, have long dismissed the probability that any operational California bullet train will meet the two-hour-40 minute timetable. A state-appointed peer review panel warned the legislature in 2013 that it is unlikely that trains would actually be scheduled to run during normal hours of operation within 2 hours 40 minute limits. Brand, the retired ridership expert, has similar concerns, saying, It is not that they could never achieve it, but it would be very difficult to do. The California rail would also outpace Frances TGV. (Ludovic Marin / AFP/Getty Images) The computer simulations that are supposed to prove the validity of the trip times are based on a lot of hope. One key assumption is that trains will move through the urban Bay Area and Los Angeles nonstop, even while sharing track with trains that make multiple stops at stations along the way. It would involve using parallel tracks, which only exist along limited segments of rail, to bypass commuter trains, Vacca said. During rush hour, the puzzle would require as many as four bullet trains to weave around six commuter trains per hour while relying on a sophisticated new signaling system. Caltrain commuter trains in the Bay Area may have to sit idle for up to seven minutes while bullet trains pass by, according to a 2016 rail authority planning document prepared by a Swiss consultant. Caltrain officials said there is no agreement on such future movements on the track, which Caltrain owns. The trains would also have to sail through Fresno, Bakersfield, Palmdale and other communities at 220 miles per hour, speeds that have triggered a public backlash in Europe, said Lisa Schweitzer, a USC professor who specializes in transportation. I cant imagine most communities would agree to trains operating at these speeds, she said. Vacca said any noise or vibration impacts on communities would be mitigated with such features as sound walls to reduce noise. Another key assumption is that trains on shared track would get federal approval to pass through at-grade crossings in dense urban areas at 110 mph, requiring sophisticated crossing gates to prevent crashes. While there are a few areas on the Amtraks Acela service along the East Coast that have such speeds, they are in rural areas. The rail authority has a plan to straighten out track and add passing tracks in the phases through Silicon Valley. Until those improvements are completed, trains would operate at 79 mph, Vacca said. Some day, the authority has hopes of even going 125 mph through the area. It is possible to do 110 mph on some of the [highway] crossings, but it is a real challenge on the Caltrain corridor, said Grady Cothen, a former Federal Railroad Administration safety chief and attorney. There are no safety issues, Vacca, formerly Amtraks chief engineer, said. I see no reason why we cant. The computer simulations also assumed that trains would stop and start in San Francisco at a station located at 4th and King streets, rather than the downtown Transbay terminal identified in the bond act as terminus of the system. The authority would need to dig a curvy 1.3-mile train tunnel under the city to reach Transbay. Vacca noted that the bond act does not specifically say the trip must go to Transbay. Through the years, the train authority has remained committed to competing with airlines. By 2040, it projects bullet trains will carry 40 million passengers, including 5 million captured from airlines and 32 million from cars. Robert Poole, a transportation expert at Reason Foundation, a libertarian nonprofit, said competing with airlines in California will be fraught with risk, since so many potential travelers live closer to airports than the future train stations and the air market is so highly developed. Poole notes that Florida is building its Brightline passenger rail system, which will be operational from Miami to Orlando by 2021, at much lower cost with 79 mph to 125 mph speeds. The aim is to divert motorists from crowded highways. It is a very clever design, he said. They figured three hours from Miami to Orlando was good enough. The Brightline train during its inaugural trip from Miami to West Palm Beach in May. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) ralph.vartabedian@latimes.com Follow me on Twitter @rvartabedian The body of another victim of a massive wildfire burning in Shasta County was recovered Sunday, bringing the total number of fatalities to six, including two firefighters, authorities said. The identity of the victim or any other details about how the person died were not immediately available, officials said during an afternoon news conference in Redding. The discovery came one day after a family member confirmed the deaths of a 70-year-old woman and her two great-grandchildren. Authorities said half a dozen other people are still reported missing. With the unyielding temperatures over 100 degrees and bone-dry vegetation, authorities said there was no end in sight to the Carr fire. Between Friday night and Saturday morning, the fire doubled in size to more than 80,000 acres, the largest of 17 fires burning across the state. Advertisement As of Sunday, the blaze had burned more than 89,000 acres and is now burning in a northwest direction away from homes. The fire is only 5% contained but authorities said Sunday they are optimistic that figure will rise by nightfall. Erratic winds and hot, dry conditions continue to hamper firefighting efforts. A red flag warning and heat advisory will remain in effect through Monday. Tom Dang, a meteorologist in the National Weather Services Sacramento office, said that over the next few days humidity levels will fall to around 10% or 15%, and wind gusts of up to 20 mph are still expected in the afternoons and evenings. The lone source of minor relief is the temperature, which is expected to reach an afternoon and evening high of about 100 degrees, Dang said. This fire has burned so intensely, an incredible amount of smoke has been put into the air, and thats helping to hold down temperatures a little bit, he said. If it werent for the smoke, we would be expecting temperatures upwards of 105 to 110. Daniel Potter, a spokesman with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said firefighters Sunday were focusing on protecting structures on the eastern and southeastern edge of the fire, which still poses some threat to the communities of Redding and Shasta Lake. He said hand crews aided by bulldozers were working furiously to establish more fire lines before winds start picking up from the east later in the afternoon. The winds so far have not been as bad as in previous days, he said, noting that such breaks in the weather help. If theres limited winds it gives us the chance to get on the fires edge and try to stop it, Potter said. Hand crews have been doing most of the firefighting because heavy smoke has made visibility a challenge for aircraft, he said. The blaze in Shasta County was one of 17 major wildfires burning across California on Sunday, consuming a combined 200,000 acres, said Jonathan Cox, battalion chief and information officer with Cal Fire. Weve had 17 fires before, Cox said. But these are impacting communities and theyre large fires, not small. With so many fires burning near populated areas, resources are obviously stretched thin, he said. By Sunday afternoon, about 12,000 firefighters from within the state had responded. Another 800 personnel soldiers and helicopter crews had been deployed by the California National Guard. And 150 fire engines were on the way from other parts of the country, Cox said. Theres a finite number of [firefighting] resources in California, and obviously were employing them at the highest-priority incidents where the threat to lives and structures is the highest, Cox said. On Twitter, officials with the states Office of Emergency Services said California will be receiving help from crews from at least a dozen other states, including Florida and New Jersey. The deaths of Melody Bledsoe, 70, and her great-grandchildren, Emily Roberts, 5, and James Roberts, 4, were announced Saturday by family members. The three were killed when their Redding home burned Thursday night. Bledsoes granddaughter Amanda Woodley confirmed the news about their deaths Saturday in a public Facebook post written just after she left the Shasta County Sheriffs Office. Woodley said Bledsoe did everything she could to save the children. She was hovered over them both with a wet blanket, she wrote. My heart is crushed, she said. I cant believe this is real. I just keep seeing all of their beautiful faces. RELATED: Redding was scorched by a fire so strong it created its own weather system Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said no bodies had been found yet, but his investigators are overwhelmingly sure that there are decedents at the scene. He said access to the home has been difficult as the walls collapsed during the fire. The fire, started Monday by a vehicle mechanical failure on California 299, previously claimed the lives of Redding fire inspector Jeremy Stoke and bulldozer operator Don Ray Smith. In addition to the human cost, at least 500 homes and other structures have succumbed to flames, authorities said. Sam Whites home of 30 years was destroyed in the fire. But seeing the fires destruction put his loss into perspective. (Los Angeles Times) Everything we had there was nice, but it was stuff, White, 74, said from Shasta Lake, where he is sheltering with family. We have our lives. Thats all that counts. Early Thursday morning, 16-year-old Hannalora Lewis of Redding was awakened by her mother. Authorities had ordered them to evacuate. The teenager grabbed an outfit, the new pair of sneakers she bought while back-to-school shopping, her camera and her phone. As she bent down to grab her favorite blanket, her eyes swept over a box filled with mementos ticket stubs from her favorite movies, rusty nails from the old railroad track she visited in Santa Cruz, rocks, trinkets and her old diaries. For a split second, she contemplated taking it, but she thought it would occupy too much room in the car. Her parents wrangled the dogs, grabbed photos and computers, and almost left her brothers diabetes medicine. She raced past the Honda Civic that her father had given her three days before and hopped in her moms van with her twin brother and sister. Tears started streaming down her brothers face. I told him to stop because I thought he was being ridiculous, she said. I thought it would be a one-day thing. 1 / 62 Cattle graze on the grassland near the Ranch fire outside of Lodoga. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 62 A man fishes in Clear Lake as the smoky haze shrouds visibility in Clearlake Oaks. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 62 A plume of smoke rises from the Mendocino Complex fire near Lodoga. The Mendocino Complex Fire, which is made up of the River Fire and Ranch Fire, has surpassed the Thomas Fire to become the largest wildfire in California state history with over 300,000 acres charred. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) 4 / 62 Firefighters battling the Mendocino Complex blaze monitor a burn operation on top of a ridge near the town of Ladoga on Aug. 7. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 62 Crews battling the Mendocino Complex fire supervise a burn operation near the town of Ladoga on Aug. 7. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 62 Firefighters keep an eye on a burn operation as part of the battle against the Mendocino Complex blaze on Aug. 7. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 62 Arnold Lasker looks over the remains of his girlfriends house in Spring Valley, near Clearlake Oaks, on Aug. 7. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 8 / 62 Evacuated during the Ranch fire, Jay Michael and Gretchen Fritsch rest in their car in the parking lot of the Moose Lodge in Clearlake Oaks on Aug. 7. This is the eighth time they have been evacuated since living in the area, and the third time this year. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 9 / 62 Burned out cars sit in the remains of a home that was destroyed by the Medocino Complex fire in Clearlake Oaks, Calif. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 62 A sign warns people to stay out of a burned area in Clearlake Oaks, Calif. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 62 Helicopters enroute to pick up water at the Mendocino Complex fire in Clearlake Oaks, Calif. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 62 A Buddha statue is seen at a burned home in Spring Valley, near Clearlake Oaks, Calif. (JOSH EDELSON / AFP/Getty Images) 13 / 62 Image taken from the International Space Station shows the wildfires burning in Calif. In the upper left portion of the image is the Carr and Mendocino Complex fires and to the right is the Ferguson fire. (ALEXANDER GERST / AFP/Getty Images) 14 / 62 Crystal Easter comforts her dogs in Spring Valley as they flee a wildfire. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat) 15 / 62 Crystal Easter uses a pot of water to put out spot fires around her home, as her neighbors home burns in the background in Spring Valley. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat) 16 / 62 Jim Bolander hoses down the roof of his home for the sixth time in eight years as the Ranch fire spreads in Spring Valley. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat) 17 / 62 The Ranch fire spots out ahead of the main fire in Spring Valley, burning two homes. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat) 18 / 62 Evacuees from Lucerne, from left, Ken Bennett with Ember Reynolds, 8, and Lisa Reynolds watch the sunset as smoke from the Ranch fire rises at Austin Park Beach in Californias Clearlake with Mt. Konocti in the background. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat) 19 / 62 Resident Lane Lawder carries a water bucket while fighting to save his home from the Ranch fire burning along New Long Valley Road near Clearlake Oaks. (Noah Berger / AFP/Getty Images) 20 / 62 A tree burns from the inside during the Ranch fire in Clearlake Oaks. (Josh Edelson / Associated Press) 21 / 62 An air tanker drops retardant on the Ranch Fire, part of the Mendocino Complex Fire, burning along High Valley Rd near Clearlake Oaks. (Noah Berger / AFP/Getty Images) 22 / 62 A fire truck passes a vineyard while battling the Ranch Fire, part of the Mendocino Complex Fire, near Clearlake Oaks. (NOAH BERGER / AFP/Getty Images) 23 / 62 Flames erupt from the River fire near Scotts Valley Road in Lake County. (Mark McKenna / TNS) 24 / 62 A hillside smolders after flames passed through during the Ranch fire in Clearlake Oaks. (Josh Edelson / Associated Press) 25 / 62 The Ranch fire burns a home on New Long Valley Road near Clearlake Oaks on Saturday. (Noah Berger / AFP/Getty Images) 26 / 62 A firefighter gathers water from a pool while battling the Ranch Fire near Clearlake Oaks on Saturday. (Noah Berger / AFP/Getty Images) 27 / 62 A deer flees as the Ranch fire tears down New Long Valley Road near Clearlake Oaks on Saturday. (Noah Berger / AFP/Getty Images) 28 / 62 Dan Kissick, 60, left, shown with his son Jeff Kissick, searches the remains of his home on Kellinger Street on Saturday after the Carr fire hit Redding. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 29 / 62 Maureen Kissick examines china from her wedding 36 years ago as she sits in what was once the dining room of her home on Kellinger Street in Redding. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 62 A Pacific Gas and Electric Co. crew repairs power lines Saturday near the damaged home of Jose Briones along Baker Road in Redding. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 31 / 62 Smoke clouds rise from the Ranch Fire portion of the Mendocino Complex Fire in Lakeport on Aug. 1. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 32 / 62 Buzz Craddock carries a pack tied with antlers covered in fire retardant as firefighters work to stop the progression of the River fire in Lakeport, Calif. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 33 / 62 The charred remains of a truck sit in the ash in Lakeport, Calif., on Aug. 1. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 34 / 62 Firefighters watch as air tankers drop fire retardant ahead of the River fire in Lakeport, Calif., on Aug. 1. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 35 / 62 Helicopters make water drops as flames from the River fire advance towards Lakeport, Calif. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 36 / 62 A West Covina firefighter works as a barn in the background is destroyed by the Mendocino complex fires near Lakeport, Calif., on July 31. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 37 / 62 A barn is engulfed in flames as the Mendocino complex fires spread with the wind near Hendricks Road in Lakeport, Calif., on July 31. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 38 / 62 Chickens near a home being destroyed by the Mendocino complex fires in a neighborhood near Lakeport, Calif., on July 31. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 39 / 62 Firefighters work to keep flames from the Mendocino complex fires from destroying a home as evening winds kick in near Lakeport, Calif., on July 31. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 40 / 62 A helicopter makes a water drop near the raging Mendocino complex fires west of Lakeport, Calif., on July 31. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 41 / 62 Firefighters work to keep flames from the Mendocino complex fires from destroying a home as evening winds kick in near Lakeport, Calif., on July 31. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 42 / 62 A firefighter monitors a controlled burn along California 20 in Upper Lake on July 31. The Ranch and River fires are burning together as the Mendocino complex fires. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 43 / 62 Firefighters from S&R Contracting in Oregon dig into the ground as they make sure all residual flames are put out near Redding, Calif., on July 30. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 44 / 62 The Carr fire destroyed and sunk boats docked at the marina in Whiskeytown, Calif. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 45 / 62 The Carr fire swept through and destroyed property and structures in Shasta, Calif. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 46 / 62 A Cal Fire firefighter waters down a back burn on Cloverdale Road near the town of Igo on Saturday, July 28, 2018. The back burn kept the fire from jumping toward the town. Scorching heat, winds and dry conditions complicated firefighting efforts. (Hector Amezcua / Associated Press) 47 / 62 A deer stands in the middle of a road covered in fire retardant as the Carr fire continues to threaten structures near Redding on Saturday, July 28, 2018. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 48 / 62 Mark Peterson, who lost his home in the Carr fire, gives water to goats that survived the blaze on Saturday, July 28, 2018, in Redding. (Noah Berger / AP) 49 / 62 Wildfire destroyed homes overnight in Lake Keswick Estates near Redding on July 27. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 50 / 62 A woman covers her face while viewing her grandmothers home, burned in the Carr fire in Redding, on July 27. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 51 / 62 A firefighter sprays water on whats left of a Redding home damaged by the Carr fire on July 27. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) 52 / 62 A firefighter lights backfires during the Carr fire near Redding on July 27. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 53 / 62 A burning home is reflected in a pool during the Carr fire in Redding on July 27. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 54 / 62 A home burns along Sunflower Road in Redding during the Carr fire on July 27. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) 55 / 62 A structure burns as the Carr fire races along State Route 299 near Redding on July 26. (Noah Berger / Associated Press) 56 / 62 Firefighters transport a Carr fire evacuee to the Mercy Medical Center emergency room on July 26. (Noah Berger / Associated Press) 57 / 62 Firefighters discuss plans while battling the Carr fire in Shasta County on July 26. (Noah Berger / Associated Press) 58 / 62 Firefighters regroup while battling the Carr cire in Shasta County on July 26. (Noah Berger / Associated Press) 59 / 62 A structure is engulfed in flames as the Carr fire burns along State Route 299 near Redding on July 26. (Noah Berger / Associated Press) 60 / 62 A water tender operator helping to battle the Carr fire drinks a beverage after trying to save a burning structure in Shasta on July 26. (Noah Berger / Associated Press) 61 / 62 The Carr fire burns near Shasta on July 26. (Noah Berger / Associated Press) 62 / 62 A historic schoolhouse burns as the Carr fire tears through Shasta on July 26. (Noah Berger / Associated Press) Hannaloras mom tried to reassure her brother, telling him that they were just going to visit their grandparents for a day and that the evacuation was a safety precaution. The next day, a neighbor sent a picture of their house, leveled by the fire. The walls of the two-story yellow house were crumpled as if a giant had stepped on them. The houses charred remains lay exposed. In the cul-de-sac was the shell of a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van that Hannaloras dad built bunk beds inside, where they slept when they went camping. I didnt think for a second that we would lose our home, Hannalora said. But in this tragedy, Hannalora said, she found community. She has leaned on friends who have also lost their homes. Everybody affected by the fires, she said, is trying to find some silver lining. The fire consumed her brothers Xbox, on which he spent hours playing video games. The family joked that that was OK now he can spend more time with them. Her parents said they plan to rebuild, and Hannalora, who aspires to be an architect, will get to help. We just list off the positives, she said. Thats all we have, is the silver lining right now. Vives reported from Redding and Ryan, Zahniser and Jennings from Los Angeles. Times staff writers Andrea Castillo, Marisa Gerber and Alejandra Reyes-Velarde contributed to this report. ruben.vives@latimes.com harriet.ryan@latimes.com david.zahniser@latimes.com angel.jennings@latimes.com UPDATES: 5:20 p.m.: This article was updated with new information from a resident whose home was destroyed in the fire. 4:00 p.m.: This article was updated with new information from fire officials. 3:05 p.m.: This article was updated with new information from officials about a sixth fire victim. 1:40 p.m.: This article was updated with new information from Cal Fire. 12:25 a.m.: This article was updated with new information from fire officials. 10:55 a.m.: This article was updated with new information from the National Weather Service. 9:05 a.m.: This article was updated with new information from fire officials. 8:40 a.m.: This article was updated with path of fire. 7:20 a.m.: This article was updated with new numbers. This article was originally published at 3 a.m. Seven months have passed since a program that feeds the homeless became homeless itself, but the founder of So Others May Eat is vowing to continue her mission. Its been a blessing in disguise, said Tresha Souza, looking over the park at Bonita Cove near the Bahia Resort on Mission Bay, where volunteers in her program set up tables just after noon on Tuesday as a long line of hungry people formed. She estimates about 120 people gather for the weekly meals at the park. For about a decade, she had organized meals at area churches where she worked with a large team of volunteers. Internal disagreements and concerns about the spread of hepatitis A during an outbreak last year resulted in the churches cutting the program. Souza has kept it going with about 10 core volunteers, operating one of the largest outdoor food-sharing programs in the county out of a truck that hauls a portable grill. Advertisement After the truck arrived Tuesday, volunteers set up tables and began laying out plates of chicken, slices of red velvet cake, salads and side dishes that Souza said were donated by a large company that wants to remain anonymous. I remember one time I came here and they were serving tri-tip steaks, said Jaime Garcia, 24, who has been homeless about two and a half years. Dude, it was beastly. Souza said she sees mostly positives in the move outdoors. God ended up opening this amazing door, she said. Were at the bay. Were outside. I dont have to clean up chairs or tables or bathrooms. We come in, we take off, and its all good. The roots of So Others May Eat date back to 2008, when Souza helped in a small program that served home-cooked dinners at Sacred Heart Church in Ocean Beach. She expanded the program by recruiting companies to donate food, and in 2009 she brought it to Mary Star of the Sea in La Jolla, where her son attended school. The program became an official nonprofit at the church. Souza recalled that the person who helped her with the paperwork asked why she was doing it, and she said, So others may eat, giving the program a name. The nonprofit had some ups and downs over the year. Souza said it expanded in 2010 to St. Brigid Parish in Pacific Beach, but ended a year later after a falling out with the church. It also was at a Baptist Church in Clairemont, but petered out after about two years. Souza said her relationship at Sacred Heart began to fall apart last October when she learned the church had an appreciation dinner for volunteers in the program without telling her or recognizing So Others May Eat. She said the church severed its relationship with the program after she complained the nonprofit was being slighted, which she felt could have jeopardized its ability to get grants. A more public division happened about two weeks later, when Mary Star of the Sea canceled dinners that had been held at the church for seven years. At the time, the Rev. Jim Rafferty at the church said the decision was made because of ongoing renovations at the church hall and concerns about the spread of hepatitis A, which had largely affected the homeless population. City officials, service providers and others have criticized food-sharing programs for enabling people to live on their own without connecting with agencies that could find them housing and help in overcoming issues related to their homelessness. Souza, however, said she does not judge the people she is feeding and does not believe they should be required to work with agencies just to eat. We shouldnt hold food as a hostage for services, she said. Not everyone here is looking for services. Not everybodys looking for housing. Im not here to judge. Im just here to give back what I can give back. She also said no one should assume that the people she feeds have not sought help from larger nonprofits or have no contact with them. Many of the people in the park have worked with other agencies, and representatives from the Alpha Project, Father Joes Villages, the Salvation Army and Veterans Village have come to the park to talk with people on meal days, she said. Several of the people in the park Tuesday, however, said theyre disillusioned with or have given up on some service providers. Ive been to Father Joes and Ive jumped through all of their hoops, said Michael Shiflett, 52, who has been homeless two years. I cant get the services I need. Shiflett is under treatment for colon cancer. He said his doctor told him he needs rest and cant work, but he also has been told his condition isnt serious enough to get disability benefits. He said he declined a bed at Father Joes because they would let him in with his dog, although a representative from the group said pets now are accepted. Shiflett said hes grateful for So Others May Eat and other feeding programs he frequents. I thank God every day that they do this, because if they didnt, were going to starve to death, he said. Mary Roiz-McArthy, 66, has lived in a van for one and a half years and occasionally relies on So Others May Eat for meals I do appreciate it this month, she said about the meals, adding that work on her van and new tires had set her back. Relying on food at the park, however, does not mean Roiz-McArthy has shunned help from other programs. She lived for more than 20 years in an apartment that was subsidized with a section eight housing voucher, but she moved into her van when her rent was raised and she couldnt find another place. She also has filled out a form known as the VI-SPDAT, or Vulnerability Index - Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool, which is used to access homeless people for placement into housing. So far, nothing has come of it, she siad. Souza said shes heard similar stories from people in the park. I cant tell you how many of my people go down there, she said, referring to agencies in downtown San Diego. Those services arent available. They say there all available. No, theyre not. Theyre very particular (about) who can get those services. Donald Allgood, 48, is homeless and said no one has ever told him about a VI-SPDAT, and he also had been turned down at Father Joes Villages, I heard theres a waiting list there, he said. Allgood moved to San Diego from Oklahoma in 2016 in search of construction work and better weather, but his eyes began to fail. Gary Knapp, a volunteer with So Others May Eat for five years, took Allgood to Father Joes Village in search of help, but said he found they focused only on people they were housing. He took Allgood under his wing, helped him get a California identification card and medical insurance that paid for eye surgery that restored his vision. Souza said she would like to see more cooperation among agencies that help the homeless. Homeless Playlist On Now San Diego hepatitis outbreak continues to grow: 481 cases On Now Homeless entrenched in booming tent city along Santa Ana River On Now San Diego mayor agreed to homeless hub, then delayed, advocates say On Now Homeless outreach in San Diego On Now Video: Street Art: Portraits of San Diego's Homeless #8 On Now In poverty himself, 'Water Man Dave,' is the fearless saint of San Diego's homeless 5:41 On Now Video: Homeless living in cars find safe havens 2:21 On Now Street Art: Portraits of San Diego's Homeless #7 On Now Pitching a tent plan for San Diego's homeless On Now Homeless efforts get $80M boost for various services gary.warth@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @GaryWarthUT 760-529-4939 Asylum seekers at the San Ysidro port of entry may find out more quickly whether theyll be allowed to pursue their cases in immigration court because of a new program being piloted at the border crossing. Through the program, people who are afraid to return to their home countries but do not have permission to enter the U.S. stay in the ports temporary holding cells until officials decide whether their stories have a chance at winning in court. The screening process, known as a credible fear interview, is run by asylum officers from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The program is meant to speed up processing of asylum seekers, letting them know more quickly whether theyll be able to pursue their cases in the U.S. Since at least December, the San Ysidro port of entry has had more arriving asylum seekers than it can process smoothly, causing long lines to form on the Mexican side of the border. Migrants from Central America, parts of Africa and even states across Mexico have waited for weeks for their turns to ask the U.S. for help. Advertisement Bardis Vakili, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union in San Diego, didnt think that the program would move the line of asylum seekers more quickly. This seems much more likely to back things up than speed things along, Vakili said. He also worried that paired with a recent decision from Attorney General Jeff Sessions that limits the ability of people fleeing domestic violence or gang violence to ask for asylum, the new program could quickly shuttle people needing protection out of the country. Normally, Customs and Border Protection officers transfer asylum seekers from the ports temporary holding cells to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency responsible for long-term immigration detention. Asylum officers interview the migrants while in ICE custody, often by phone. After each interview, the asylum officer makes a decision, and a supervisor at USCIS reviews the officers justification. The agencys goal is to get results back to waiting migrants within about a week. Under the pilot program, asylum officers stationed at the port conduct credible fear interviews, and arriving asylum seekers stay at the port of entry until they receive their results. USCIS deferred to CBP for comment on the pilot program. CBP declined to comment on specifics about the new process. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials at the San Ysidro port of entry are open to exploring alternatives that might be able to shorten the timeline for individuals, particularly families, who have entered the asylum/credible fear process, a spokeswoman for CBP said. At this time, it would be premature to discuss which possibilities may be tested or may end up working given our limitations, such as infrastructure, space, workloads, etc. The asylum officers union said that a couple of its members have been on rotating details to the San Ysidro port of entry for about a month. The union has opposed some of the Trump administrations recent changes to asylum policy, including a memo telling asylum officers to follow Sessions guidance on who qualifies for asylum. When it comes to the pilot program, however, the union has a more positive outlook. Union president Michael Knowles and other union officials said they hope that the program streamlines processing of asylum seekers and that migrants spend less time waiting in detention for decisions about whether their cases will move forward. Union officials said that conducting credible fear interviews at the port could shorten that wait time to two or three days. They said that ICE sometimes has delays when notifying USCIS about people needing interviews, so having officers on the ground at the port could also speed up that part of the process. We want to help people get out of that limbo as quickly as possible, a union official said. To do interviews at the port of entry, asylum officers need private interview rooms where migrants will feel safe enough to share some of their most traumatic experiences. Since the team detailed to the port is based out of an office in Arlington, Virginia, officers also have to work out time zone logistics to have their decisions reviewed by supervisors back on the east coast. Knowles and other union officials pointed out that the program is still in its beginning stages and is being tried with a subset of those coming through San Ysidro. It may or may not become a more permanent process that affects all asylum seekers coming through the port. The union hasnt yet gotten sufficient feedback from its members to take a position about how the pilot program is going. But it is adding more travel time to its already-strained members, the union said. Our workforce is feeling very taxed by the amount of cases and the work theyre being asked to do, Knowles said. The union said as a general rule, its members can most effectively complete about four cases per day. Some are currently being scheduled for five or six cases to account for potential cancellations or rescheduling, union officials said. Knowles said because of the workload and emotional nature of the testimony, union members experience burnout and high turnover rates. Asylum officers last, on average, between 18 and 24 months, he said. The subject matter, if you have a beating heart, it takes a toll, Knowles said. For those of us whose names are on the decisions, we want to make sure theyre the right decisions. Asylum seekers who do not pass credible fear interviews can request a judicial review of the asylum officers decision. Through the pilot program, migrants can also remain at the port of entry to speak with a judge over video conferencing. The National Association of Immigration Judges didnt have a stance on the pilot program in particular. The unions president Ashley Tabaddor said its members have concerns about the use of video conference technology in general in immigration court. Video conferencing has been used for years to connect judges to immigrants for various kinds of hearings. Any time you have a VTC connection, it certainly isnt the same thing as being in person, Tabaddor said, using the acronym for the video technology. Tabaddor said judges experience a lot of technical issues with the devices and that the technology complicates logistics. For example, almost all immigration court proceedings still happen on paper. Depending where the judge, attorneys and immigrant are physically located, passing paperwork between each party can be difficult, she said. Sometimes judges have a hard time seeing people appearing on the courtroom TV, Tabaddor said, which raises questions for the union about whether the televised immigrants surroundings make it possible for them to feel comfortable telling their stories. You need to make sure the person that is beaming in, that theyre in a setting where they feel comfortable enough and safe enough to share traumatic experiences, Tabaddor explained. Vakili, the ACLU attorney, said he worried about the implementation of the pilot program, and about its intent given the Trump administrations recent changes that restrict who is able to get asylum. Its very concerning that a secret pilot project is being used to implement a law without any public awareness, particularly when the Attorney General has unilaterally attempted to overhaul the asylum laws on his own, Vakili said. We worry about asylum applicants rights being protected, particularly the right to have someone present, including an attorney, at their credible fear interview, which is required by law. CBP does not generally allow attorneys to access people held in the port of entry, Vakili said. He worried about how long asylum seekers might end up staying at the port of entry, especially if they ask for judicial review of their cases in already-backlogged immigration courts. The holding area isnt meant to house people for long periods of time, Vakili said. CBPs own policy says that people should be moved out of its facilities within 72 hours. Attorneys who, under a court settlement, were recently allowed to review conditions at the San Ysidro port of entry found issues with overcrowding and lack of basic hygiene. The fact that immigration officials want to speed up the process did not bother him, Vakili said, and he urged officials to be more transparent about the program and about conditions at the port. Its not a problem to want to handle the cases of people youre incarcerating expeditiously, but you can never sacrifice due process when you do it, Vakili said. Immigration Videos On Now New developments in family separation case 9:53 On Now A San Diego woman volunteered as a medic in Texas helping migrant families 2:35 On Now Immigration policy protests in Carlsbad nearly cancelled after permit issue 1:38 On Now When children are separated from their parents at the border, here is where they go next On Now Prospects of a deal for 'Dreamers' may hinge on separating Trump from hard-liners on his staff On Now What is DACA? On Now Border wall prototype contractors selected On Now Video: Ukrainian boxer wins asylum in U.S. On Now 30 apprehended after Border Patrol agents discover tunnel On Now Video: Kurdish diaspora prepare to vote on independence Follow me on Facebook for live updates about immigration news kate.morrissey@sduniontribune.com, @bgirledukate on Twitter There was soon to be few chances for Evoni Murray to enjoy a carefree nighttime stroll in Miami Beach. Murray was eight months pregnant Wednesday. And her Aug. 4 due date loomed as she walked in the sweltering summer heat with the father-to-be. Then the couple encountered off-duty police officer Ambar Pacheco. A confrontation began, during which, Murray says, Pacheco kicked her in the stomach. Murray, 27, was in severe pain, a responding officer wrote in a report, and was possibly having contractions on the street. The baby was coming nine days early. Advertisement Murray was rushed to a hospital, and Joseph Predelus III came into the world after seven minutes of labor, his father Joseph, 40, told WSVN. Across town, Pacheco, 26, was arrested and charged for aggravated battery, according to a Miami Beach Police Department affidavit provided to The Washington Post. North Miami Beach Police Chief William Hernandez fired Pacheco from the force less than two days later. Due to Ms. Ambar Pachecos recent off-duty actions, her employment with the City of North Miami Beach has been terminated effective immediately, Hernandez said Friday in a brief statement. She had been with the force less than a year and was in a probationary period, the Miami Herald reported. Details surrounding the incident are unclear. The arrest affidavit does not say how or why the confrontation started. But Ambar Pacheco told police that Predelus kicked her sister in the face, which prompted her violent reaction. I saw red and beat the s- out of [Murray], Pacheco said, according to the affidavit. She later said she couldnt recall who she kicked, the document says. Murray is described in the affidavit as visibly pregnant. Predelus denied assaulting Pacheos younger sister, 21-year-old Mikaela Pacheco, and suggested that the women were intoxicated. I never did no kicking, nothing. I never touched nobody, Predelus told WSVN. All I did was defend my baby mother and a child. To me, I dont put my hands on women, and thats how it should be, especially a pregnant woman, too. In an interview with CBS Miami, Murray speculated that the confrontation with the sisters began from a misunderstanding. We were walking down the sidewalk enjoying the night and we saw them, she told the station. These girls were crying. Then they thought we were talking about them, which was not true. They got belligerent and tried to jump because they thought I said something. A conviction for assaulting a known pregnant woman carries a maximum of 15 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine in Florida, according to law firm Hussein & Webber. Murray and the Pacheco sisters could not be reached for comment. Predelus told The Post that his newborn son and Murray are doing well, but he declined to comment further. Mount Sinai Medical Center, where Murray delivered her baby, did not respond to a request seeking comment. It is unclear if the alleged assault caused the premature birth, but physical trauma or injuries can contribute to early labor, according to a Mayo Clinic fact sheet. Murray told CBS that she hopes Pacheco gets help as she enters the criminal justice system. It kind of troubles me to know that the people who are supposed to be serving and protecting us are hurting us, Murray she told the station. I know its not all of them and one apple doesnt spoil the bunch. Its just that sometimes you get a bad seed. A 25-year-old man died after being stabbed in El Cajon Saturday and police detained a man to question in the case after he broke into someones house. The victims name was not released. He was stabbed on the sidewalk in front of a 7-Eleven store at Jamacha Road and Washington Street shortly after 2 p.m, El Cajon police Lt. Jason Taub said. The wounded man walked toward the store, probably to get help, and collapsed. Medics took him to a trauma center, where he died, Taub said. Advertisement Police were told the assailant left in a white, four-door Oldsmobile. Sometime later, police got a report of a hot-prowl burglary on North Mollison Avenue. A man had broken into the home while a resident was inside, Taub said. He said officers took the burglary suspect into custody and saw that his description was similar to the man wanted in the stabbing. The investigation was continuing several hours later. pauline.repard@sduniontribune Twitter: @pdrepard Hours before Earl McNeil was taken off life support in June, his family joined by a handful of supporters held a news conference pleading for police to provide information that would explain his impending death. With help from a core group of organizers, their plea would become a rallying cry drawing dozens to their cause. The death of Earl McNeil, who suffered a heart attack on May 26 while in the custody of National City police officers, has not only prompted a series of escalating protests, but also a broader conversation about the development of social justice movements and the people that participate in them both in San Diego County and across the country. Earl McNeil (Courtesy of Tasha Williamson) Advertisement Who are these men and women behind the scenes? Protest participants characterize these leaders as compassionate people who sacrifice their time, and sometimes their well-being, to take a stand against injustices. But some city and police officials see what they called professional protestors serial demonstrators who are more concerned with making noise than coming to the table. What we know about Earl McNeils death Earl McNeil went into medical distress after being arrested by National City police on May 26. He died later at a hospital. His family said McNeil, who suffered from mental illness. Police said when officers approached him, McNeil seemed agitated and was making irrational statements, and became combative when police tried to detain him. McNeil was placed in a Wrap, a kind of restraining device. He was taken to county jail where he started exhibiting signs of medical distress. His family said he had signs of trauma on his face and head. Officials said preliminary information from McNeils autopsy indicated he had drugs in his system and suffered a heart attack. He was taken off life-support on June 11. His funeral was held June 27. McNeil was a paid police informant, a fact with unclear implications in his death. On Tuesday, a group of thirty to fifty people brought a fourth consecutive National City council meeting to a halt. Six people were handcuffed and dragged away and police in riot gear met the remaining participants as they spilled from the council chambers. The seemingly chaotic scene was anything but. Like those before it, Tuesdays protest was part of a carefully crafted strategy spearheaded by a team of organizers. While they are quick to stress the importance of the many people who have come together to assist the McNeil family, there are likely no two people more integral to the effort than Tasha Williamson and Aeiramique Blake, both of San Diego. Both women have worked together on numerous social justice issues across the county, and have built reputations as inclusive organizers who know how to get results. They learned about McNeil soon after his arrest the same way they often find out about situations they choose to become involved in: social media. A family member tagged both women in a Facebook post seeking help in getting answers about McNeils death, and the pair reached out soon after. It was decided that Williamson, who co-founded the San Diego Compassion Project, an organization that helps families who have lost loved ones to violence, would take the lead. They couldnt get justice on their own and had to reach out to the village, Williamson said. And the village stood up. When Williamson first met with the family she had two goals: to connect them with any resources they might need like counseling or assistance with funeral arrangements and to understand better what they hoped to achieve. Together, they came up with a list of demands that included an independent investigation by the FBI, the release of all video and audio recordings of the incident as well as the names of the officers involved and the resignation of National City police Chief Manuel Rodriguez, whose response to the incident they criticized. For us, the single focus was justice, Williamson said. This family, all along, has said they want to know, from beginning to end, what Earl went through, and that has been denied to them by law enforcement. The strategy was to just keep asking. Police officials and family members have twice met in person to discuss the case, but neither side left satisfied. At the last meeting, which took place Monday, police unsealed portions of McNeils autopsy report, saying he had been on drugs and had died of a heart attack, the familys lawyer confirmed. They also played portions of the call McNeil placed to dispatch from an after-hours phone at the department, prompting police officers to respond. At least one family member left early out of frustration that police seemed only to be releasing information that supported their position, Williamson and the familys lawyer said. Police have said many of the familys demands were unreasonable. What is the basis for the chief resigning? said Rodriguez, who was promoted to chief in in 2013. What is the basis for suspending my officers? He said he felt the family members list of demands indicated they werent interested in participating in meaningful dialogue or creating lasting change. If you want to create change, you need to do it in a way thats respectful, which is what theyre always asking for, the chief said. But theyre certainly not giving that respect back. Rodriguez said the department is waiting on the completed autopsy to verify what role, if any, his officers had in McNeils death. He added that there isnt any specific moment in the video footage of the two-hour interaction with McNeil that shows clearly what caused or contributed to his death. Rodriguezs department is waiting for the Medical Examiners Office to complete its investigation to understand what caused or contributed to McNeils death, which the chief said is one of the reasons he has chosen not to release the video. Police have released some information about McNeils visit to the department that morning. McNeil, who didnt live in National City, arrived shortly before 5:30 a.m. and used a telephone outside the station to speak with dispatchers. McNeils reason for being there was unclear, but he told them, among other things, that he had a warrant out for his arrest, was high and wanted to kill Jesus. Police said they suspected McNeil was under the influence of drugs, a fact that was later confirmed by his autopsy, the familys lawyer said. McNeils family said, and court records indicate, he suffered from mental illness. When officers met McNeil outside the police station, they said, he was agitated and made irrational statements. They said McNeil became combative as officers tried to detain him. McNeil was placed in a restraint called the Wrap, and was taken to county jail, where he went into what police termed medical distress. Police said he was being checked out by paramedics when he stopped breathing. Court records revealed later that McNeil was a paid police informant, a fact with unclear implications in his death. The family has long felt many of these details dont explain why McNeil went into medical distress, and as communication continued to deteriorate, organizers began exploring other strategies. They needed volunteers to continue to reach out to city and police officials and members of the media. Some were tasked with coming up with visuals, like painting the palms of protesters hands red, to drive their point home. Applying pressure constantly is the most important thing, said Mark Lane, a National City resident who helped assemble a legal team to assist the family. He is also a familiar face in social justice circles across the county. the pressure works, but you gotta keep it up. Keeping (the media) engaged is super important. Aeiramique Blake stressed that before organizers started staging sit-ins or other demonstrations, they tried meeting with city and law enforcement officials in an effort to help get answers for McNeils family. Only when that proved unsuccessful, Blake said, did their strategy escalate. There are so many things that happen behind the scenes that nobody sees, she said. By the time you see us shutting things down, a lot of other things have taken place. Although arrests werent a goal, organizers said every time someone got taken away in handcuffs, it put a spotlight on their cause. Several participants accused National City police officers of being unnecessarily rough while taking people into custody especially when handling a black or brown person resulting in a number of injures. We were handled as if we were hardened criminals, Williamson said. ...I was dragged by my cuffs. It was agonizing pain. Soon, social justice organizations from across San Diego were reaching out to help. What is so beautiful to me is that there are powerful leaders in this group but its really kind of a community thing where we are leading with justice and equality, said Blair Overstreet, of San Diego, who was one of the six people arrested at Tuesdays meeting. Its not about any one person. Its about a community of people who care about Earl McNeil and care about justice and care about transparency. Their efforts have forced some city leaders to confront the issue, pitting councilmembers against each other. Drama unfolded during the most recent City Council meeting as the mayor and every council member, for the first time, addressed the response to McNeils death. Mayor Ron Morrison did not shy away from lambasting protesters. Im not going to be the ally of the people who are doing their best to tear this town down for the sake of their own show, Morrison said. He noted that some of the same participants had disrupted a City Council meeting in the past on a separate issue. It didnt start with Earl McNeil, he said. The Earl McNeil (case) became a convenience for more yelling and screaming. Councilmen Albert Mendivil and Jerry Cano criticized Councilwomen Alejandra Sotelo-Solis and Mona Rios, who have called for transparency and a thorough investigation into McNeils death. Cano contended the councilwomen made the situation worse, saying they created a hostile environment. You brought all those extra police officers, the revenue wasted by bringing in sheriffs deputies, he added. Sotelo-Solis fired back, asking: We did that? Mendivil questioned whether Sotelo-Solis and Rios stood against the Police Department and City Council. Im very disappointed, he told the councilwomen. In response, an impassioned Sotelo-Solis said her calls for transparency were not an indication she did not back the Police Department. She noted she is a former police explorer a cadet of sorts and, as a councilwoman, has supported police training, recruitment and pensions. Im sticking to who I am and what I believe in, she said. Many of the sentiments expressed by organizers and participants echo those expressed by protesters across the country who have continued to call for police accountability and transparency. Earl McNeil may be the focus of these demonstrations, but for many participants, he represents a broader issue that social justice organizers are trying to address in cities across the nation. People are recognizing that a lot of people are being harmed when they theyre mentally ill or struggling with drug addiction or are a person of color when they are reaching out for help. They dont get the same response that other people get, Blake said. ...We cannot continue to operate or allow the people who are supposed to be protecting and serving us to continue to treat us this way. Organizers suspect it is this unifying effort that has attracted so much support to the McNeil movement, and is perhaps part of the reason social justice organizers are finding more success locally and elsewhere. What I saw in Earl McNeil and seeking justice for him, and anyone after him, is that people are putting their differences aside, Williamson said. Were able to reconcile our differences and move forward for a common goal. Everyone saw a common injustice and directed at a common system. Twitter: @LAWinkley (619) 293-1546 lyndsay.winkley@sduniontribune.com Ruth Wheeler, raised poor but proud in upper Manhattan, dreamed of being a career girl to help her widowed mother with the expenses of raising three daughters. So she followed her older sister Adelaides path and studied stenography at the Merchant and Bankers Business College, a Midtown trade school. She completed the steno program in 1910, at age 15, and then visited the placement office nearly every morning, hoping to find job leads. Young Ruth followed her familiar route on Thursday, March 24, 1910. She left her mothers apartment at Riverside Ave. and W. 134th St. and traveled to the Madison Ave. school, where she was thrilled to find a prospect. Advertisement One Albert Wolter had mailed a card asking the school to send a steno to his Yorkville flat. By 9:30 a.m., the industrious teen was climbing the steps of a dingy brownstone at 224 E. 74th St. She was directed to a fourth-floor rear apartment, where she knocked, entered and was never seen alive again. When Wheeler failed to return home, her oldest sister, Pearl, retraced her steps the next morning and knocked at the same door. When a sketchy Wolter brusquely turned her away, she shouted past him, Ruth, answer me if youre here, dear, and Ill help you! She got no reply. Wolter, just 18, was a German immigrant, like many in Yorkville. He and his girlfriend, a fellow Teuton named Katie Mueller, rented their rooms with the pittance she earned at Jugermans bakery. Wolter, inflicted with fondness for the society of women, could not be bothered to work. Albert Wolter (pictured) was found guilty of the murder of Ruth Wheeler and sentenced to die. (Obtained by Daily News) He had about as much legitimate use for a stenographer as Central Parks zoological cow would have, growled the Daily News. The Wheeler case predated the News, first published on June 26, 1919. But it was featured in an early installment of The Justice Story, which has run since 1923. Crime news is engraved in the DNA of this tabloid, which the high-collared New York Independent labeled bawdy, inane and contemptible when it first showed up in the inky hands of grubby newsboys. That sniveling broadsheet folded in 1928. The punchy little Daily News survives. Wheelers disappearance riveted both the press and the police. The brown-eyed girl was self-possessed, guided well by her seamstress mother after her father was killed in a railroad accident when she was toddler. She was of a quiet disposition, a News scribe wrote, and there is not so much as a whisper of rumor against her goodness. Wolter and Mueller suddenly abandoned their flat, scurrying uptown to E. 105th St. After they left, neighbor John Taggart found a bulky burlap bag on his fire escape. He shoved the bundle off its perch, and it dropped with a thud in the courtyard. He went to inspect the bag when it sat untouched after 36 hours. Inside he discovered the grotesquely charred remains of Ruth Wheeler. Police found that Wolters former flat stunk of kerosene, and the white marble fireplace was still sticky with a fresh coat of coal-black paint. The hasty coverup proved inadequate. The girls hatpins and signet ring were recovered from the fireplace ashes. Her burned remains in the bag told a grim story of rape and garroting. An autopsy found soot in her lungs, indicating she was still alive when doused with accelerant, stuffed into the fireplace and set afire. A judge later declared, The details of the crime are so horrible as to preclude any restatement of them here further than is absolutely necessary. Wolter was arrested and charged with murder. Prosecutors surmised from his diary that he was an aspiring pimp scheming to create a prostitute stable from women lured to his apartment. Pitiable Ruth Wheeler, after walking into his trap, had tried desperately to fight off ravishment. A forensic exam found mute evidences of her unyielding struggle to protect herself. Wolter claimed he was merely a recruiter for a man named Fred Ahner, who was planning his own steno school. No such man ever materialized, and Wolters girlfriend, Mueller pregnant with his child and unaware of his scheme became a key witness against him. The case was rushed to court by Manhattans crusading top prosecutor, Frank Moss, who framed the murder as a cornerstone example of the sexual exploitation of young innocents. The trial commenced on April 18, just 25 days after the murder. After five days, Wolter was convicted and sentenced to die a record in the state for speedy justice, officials crowed. But death came slowly. Wolter survived for a then-unheard-of 22 months on Death Row so long that he is said to have picked up considerable fluency in the language of the many Italians waiting their turn with Old Sparky. He went to his death with seemingly cheerful indifference on Jan. 29, 1912, although he left a not-so-jaunty note. I am innocent, he wrote. I hope the time may come when the conscience of the perpetrator will overpower and compel him to come to the front and acknowledge the crime. In an endearing postscript, prosecutor Moss took in Katie Mueller as a housemaid. After giving birth, she brought a gentleman by to see if I thought he was a proper husband for her, Moss later reported. He did. They are happily married, Moss said, and she is now a respectable member of society. Three people were killed and at least seven others were injured when two gunmen opened fire at a daiquiri shop in New Orleans on Saturday night. The suspects remain at large after they appeared to fire indiscriminately into a crowd, New Orleans Police Chief Michael Harrison said early Sunday. Two individuals clothed with what we believed to be hoods approached from behind, right in front of the daiquiri shop right behind us and opened fire one with, we believe, a rifle and one with a handgun on the crowd, Harrison said, according to NBC News. We believe they actually stood over one of the individuals and fired multiple rounds and then after that fled. Advertisement Two bodies could be seen in front of Chicken & Watermelon restaurant on Claiborne Ave., about 3 miles from the French Quarter, the Times-Picayune reported. The chaotic scene included a woman screaming, Thats my son! Someone please talk to me. Tell me what happened to my son! according to the newspaper. Thats my baby! a woman was heard shouting. Im going to kill them! Im going to kill them! They took my child, Im going to kill them! This has to be personal, the police chief said. Firing indiscriminately into a crowd, shooting 10 people, killing three thats personal. It doesnt get more personal, and we take it personal. So whoever did this, you should know that the law enforcement community takes it personal, so were coming for you. Mayor LaToya Cantrell said in a statement that there is no place in New Orleans for this kind of violence. I speak for everyone in our city when I say we are disgusted, we are infuriated, and we have had more than enough, the mayor said. Three more lives gone. It has to end. Its unacceptable anywhere. With News Wire Services Sean Spicer is threatening legal action against The Associated Press after being accused by a black man of using the N-word when he was in high school. A lawyer said Saturday night that the AP recklessly republished a categorically false accusation against the former White House press secretary, according to The Hill. The claim is a lie. Absent an immediate retraction, Mr. Spicer will take legal action Monday, Michael Bowe said in a statement. Advertisement A man claiming to be Spicers former classmate at Portsmouth Abbey School approached the former Trump staffer during a book signing in Middletown, R.I., on Friday. Spicer is promoting The Briefing: Politics, the Press and the President, about his time in the White House. Sean, I was a day student at (Portsmouth) Abbey, too, with you, said Alex Lombard, according to video obtained by NewportRI.com. Dont you remember? You dont remember that you tried to fight me? But you called me a (racial epithet) first. Security booted Lombard from the Barnes & Noble, but he added: I was 14 then. I was a scared kid then, Sean. Im not scared to fight you now. Regnery Publishing publicist Lauren McCue told The Hill that Spicer cant recall any incident like the one that Lombard alleged. We need to talk about a forbidden subject: the legitimacy of the current president. Theres been a code of silence around President Donald Trumps shady victory in 2016. Its one of those tiptoe-around-it things that the American family just doesnt talk about. And with good reason. Whatever your politics, its perilous to question the soundness of an American election. Raising the question of Trumps legitimacy risks detonating a full-blown crisis of faith kindling distrust not just in Trump, but also in the system that installed him. But fear of facing the legitimacy question has not stopped Americans from harboring profound doubts, if only deep down in places you dont talk about at parties, in Aaron Sorkins phrasing from A Few Good Men. Advertisement As more and more facts about Trumps incongruous victory emerge, the doubts gnaw harder and grow harder to ignore. A nation devoted to majority rule has a minority president. Who squeaked into office on an electoral college technicality. Against most data projections. Using dark money. Using voter suppression. Using Russian disinformation. As more and more facts about Trumps incongruous victory emerges, the doubts gnaw harder and grow harder to ignore. And, most chilling of all, with a massive assist from the Russian military, which not only hacked the Democrats, but also hacked voting software and a voting-system manufacturer. Some people were motivated to vote for Trump because they believed Russian lies about Hillary Clintons health or email. But at least they got to cast their votes, and have them counted. Others, many who planned to vote against Trump, were kept from the ballot entirely. In Wisconsin, as Mother Jones has reported, discriminatory ID laws prevented 45,000 eligible voters from participating in the election, including 23,000 in two heavily Democratic counties. Trump won Wisconsin by 22,000 votes. The attorney general of Wisconsin, Brad Schimel, even boasted recently that Trump won Wisconsin chiefly because tens of thousands of eligible voters were turned away. Weve long known that Russian hackers attempted to break into the nations voter databases. But NBC reported this year that they succeeded. Senior intelligence officials said that Russia compromised seven states, including California, Florida, Illinois and Texas. There are other good reasons to ask questions about the election. In Florida, exit polls on election day had Clinton winning by 1.3 % of the vote. When the votes were tallied, Trump beat her by 1.2%. None of this data is conclusive. But it absolutely does not suggest that American citizens should shut up, forget it, and will away all the evidence that somethings rotten in our electoral system. If it didnt hurt your candidate this time, next time it might. When, in 1974, President Gerald Ford pardoned former President Richard Nixon, he sounded noble. He claimed that to put Nixon on trial would cost the nation its newfound tranquility. Why rock the boat by bringing Nixon, whod already been subject to so much degradation, to trial? Why indeed. Ford was arguing for repression, when oh, say, maybe justice might have been the surer route to real tranquility. He was telling the nation what abuser apologists tell victims. Dont press charges. Think of all your abuser has suffered. Its classier to move on. Likewise, for years, Justice Antonin Scalia insisted that Americans must move on from Bush vs. Gore, the highly unusual 2000 Supreme Court decision that gave the presidency to George W. Bush. Scalia would get testy when asked questions, snapping at audiences: Come on, get over it. Bush vs. Gore became the case that must not be named. Dont interrupt Scalias tranquility. Those who kept asking were also called bad sports, still sulking about the election. A protester around the time of the Supreme Court decision mocked those whod voted the Gore-Lieberman ticket using Gores campaign logo. It read: Sore Loserman. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion Sound familiar? Trump has been desperately trying to get voters to move on from the 2016 presidential election and to get special counsel Robert S. Mueller III to move on from the Russia investigation. Hes also shouted into the wind that, against all evidence, the Russia investigation is a plot by sore-loser Democrats. Aw. Hasnt Trump suffered enough? No. Its the American people of every stripe who have suffered, seeing our democracy in such devastating disarray. And the remedy for that suffering is not to suck it up, pretend everythings fine, and let criminals hold on to ill-gotten power and money. The remedy is to keep speaking up, work for electoral reform to restore free and fair elections, and of course let justice run its course in the form of the investigations into Russian interference and Trumpland complicity. In the meantime, typesetters, cue up your asterisks. You might need them. 1919 World Series* 2016 presidential election* Twitter: @page88 Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook Re Trump claims Russia will try to aid Democrats (July 22): Lies, lies and more lies coming from the White House. While most Republican Congress members support Donald Trump in public, they do not have respect for him in private. On the other hand, polls indicate more than 80 percent of Republican voters support Trump. Could this scenario be a Catch 22? Congress members read the polls, and they continue to support Trump for fear of being voted out of office. It appears that many of the Republican voters support Trump because Republican congressional members support him. And there we have the gridlock of a Catch 22. Republican Congress members who believe Trump is unfit to be president need to demonstrate leadership. They should call out Trumps lies and false promises and stop the damage he is causing to our country. Advertisement Ronald Harris Scripps Ranch Why does Trump get a pass on his insults? Re Obama criticism of Trump is unpatriotic (July 22): Letter writer Dave Dowler wrote that Barack Obamas speech in South Africa was wrong because he was outspoken about Donald Trump. Perhaps Dowler needs to listen to regular news rather than Fox. President Obama called out those leaders who bully and lie to gain influence in their countries. Not once did he mention Donald Trumps name. However, our president constantly belittles and blames Obama for every wrong imagined against Trump. He belittles and calls out Hillary Clinton and many others who disagree with him. Dowler is correct in that no other predecessor has been outspoken about the current president, including Obama. Neither Bush nor Clinton talked badly about the men who followed. But leave it to Trump to daily bash anyone he pleases. And I would wish that Trump would talk as harshly to Putin as he does the leader of Iran. Bill Roan La Mesa Congress has to stand up for our democracy I predict the name Donald Trump will soon become synonymous with Benedict Arnold in the history of the United States. When will Congress act? Michael Lemieux Rancho San Diego The damage Trump is doing must be stopped Re Obama criticism of Trump is unpatriotic (July 22): Ironic that a Trump supporter says Obama is unpatriotic. Can the reader recall how many years the pathetically sophomoric septuagenarian lemming leader accused Barack Obama of being born in Africa? Obama didnt have time to fiddle for eight years as the dynamic duo of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney almost burnt this country down financially. America owes Russia nothing, apparently unlike Trump. The third version of The Manchurian Candidate was remade in 2016 by director V. Putin and retitled The Putinian Candidate. He chose the perfect B actor for the lead role. Dennis OBerry Oceanside So much irony in effort to impeach Rosenstein The article House conservatives move to impeach Rosenstein (July 26) quotes Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, as saying that it was very important for those of us who believe that norms have been violated to step out and say Rod Rosenstein needs to be impeached. If violating norms is grounds for impeachment, then surely President Trump should already have been impeached many times. David John Dick San Marcos Letters and commentary policy The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. You can email letters@sduniontribune.com or leave a comment below. Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook. Saudi-led coalition says destroyed Yemen rebel missile launch sites Riyadh, July 29 (AFP) Jul 29, 2018 A military coalition led by Saudi Arabia said Sunday it had destroyed sites used by Huthi rebels in neighbouring Yemen to launch missiles at the kingdom. In a statement reported by Saudi Arabia's government-run Al Ekhbariya TV, the coalition announced the "destruction of ballistic missile (launch) sites run by the Huthi militias in Saada", a northern Yemeni province bordering Saudi Arabia and controlled by the Huthis. Riyadh and its allies are fighting alongside Yemen's government against the Iran-backed Huthis in a war that has claimed nearly 10,000 lives and pushed impoverished Yemen to the brink of famine. Saudi Arabia has come under increasingly frequent missile attacks launched by the Huthis from northern Yemen this year. The kingdom's air defence forces say they intercepted all missiles, and only one casualty has been reported. Saudi Arabia, the biggest crude exporter in the world, last week announced it had temporarily suspended oil shipments through the Bab al-Mandab Strait after a Huthi missile attack on an Aramco vessel. The strait connects the Red Sea to the Arabian Sea and is a crucial passage for oil and trade. "The coalition will not allow the Huthi militias to build military capabilities that threaten regional waters," read Sunday's coalition statement. The Saudi-led alliance intervened in Yemen in 2015 to back the country's internationally recognised government after the Huthi rebels forced President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa. 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 Momentum builds toward 988 line, other mental health crisis advances It started when a young woman desperately sought help in a mental health crisis and her call went to voicemail. She then took her life. State Rep. Steve Eialson, R-Sandy, told the story Tuesday as a national group of experts discussed the growing challenges of communities effectively responding to life-or-death behavioral health situations without throwing people in jail or handing them off to overwhelmed hospital emergency rooms. A study released Tuesday by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that most states and communities are struggling to meet the demand and are ill-prepared to ... The first Chinese combat aircraft built specifically for aircraft carrier use, the J-15, has apparently been found inadequate as the main carrier warplane for the growing Chinese carrier fleet. Although the J-15 entered mass production in 2013 fewer than 30 have been built and the main reason for that is a growing list of reliability and capability problems the aircraft is having as those in service spend more time at sea and operating off carriers. China now has two carriers operational. The second one is still undergoing sea trials but that means the J-15s assigned to it are getting a workout as well. A third carrier, that will use a catapult instead of the current ski-jump design, will enter service in five or six years. Together these three carriers will require a total of about 200 J-15s to support operations and training (on land and at sea). The problems with the J-15 are not surprising when you realize that the J-15 is an illegal copy of the Russian Su-33 carrier aircraft. But the Russians themselves declared the Su-33 inadequate and replaced it with a navalized version of the MiG-29, which is now in use by Russia and India. China thought it could fix the flaws in the Su-33 where the Russians had failed but now it appears China is hustling to come up with a new aircraft design to replace the J-15 and get into production in time to equip their expanding carrier fleet with an adequate number of reliable jet warplanes. An alternative plan involves persisting in fixing the J-15 problems. China has been successful when doing that but their approach takes time, often more than a decade (as in the case of building Russian jet engines). The Chinese are now learning a lesson the Americans accepted back in the 1960s; for best results carrier warplanes should be designed and built for carrier operations. These aircraft can still be used as land-based warplanes but the carrier version begins as a carrier version. Thus the land and carrier-based American F-35s may look similar but both versions were designed and built for those two different missions. This decision to replace the J-15 comes after four years of Chinese efforts to tinker with the J-15 to turn it into a reliable carrier aircraft. For example, by early 2014 the J-15 was equipped with an in-air refueling pod. These pods contain additional fuel and the hose and drogue refueling gear for getting the fuel to other fighters. Thus when a carrier launches four fighters, two can be equipped with the refueling pod and transfer their fuel to the other two, providing those two with more range and time in the air. This reflects the fact that carrier aircraft can carry more weight in the air than they can when taking off. This refueling system is particularly useful for carriers (like the Chinese one) that use the STOBAR (short take-off but arrested recovery) system that substitutes a ski jump flight deck to replace the catapult. The CATOBAR (catapult) system is used by American carriers and allows aircraft to take off carrying more weight (of fuel or weapons) than STOBAR launched aircraft. The U.S. and Russia have such a pod system but it has never been seen on Chinese aircraft before. This is the reason why China finally decided to switch to CATOBOR starting with their third carrier. But that would mean more problems for the J-15 which was already considered a bit too heavy for a carrier-based jet fighter. Taking off heavier via CATOBAR would put more stress on the J-15 and it was becoming obvious that the J-15 would encounter more reliability problems because of that. China will have to keep using J-15s until the new aircraft appears. China could build a hundred more J-15s, while adjusting and tweaking the aircraft to fix flaws and be able to continue operations on the two STOBAR carriers while having five years to come up with a superior carrier fighter. The J-15 officially started mass production in late 2013, a year after some J-15s were seen making touch and go landings on the new carrier Liaoning. After that several J-15s have were seen at Navy air bases painted as combat (gray), not development (yellow), aircraft. By the end of 2013, about twenty J-15s had been built for testing. The first five were exclusively for testing while those built after that were apparently intended to become service aircraft once they had all the tweaks and modifications (for problems discovered during testing) applied. This allowed China to get moving with training pilots and deck crews to handle actual carrier operations. This process could take up to a decade in order to create a core of experienced officers and NCOs (petty officers) who can safely and efficiently supervise these inherently very dangerous operations. When the number of J-15s in service expanded very slowly after 2014 it was a sign that the Chinese were not happy with the J-15 and were tinkering with the existing ones in an effort to fix the problems. Its long been noted that the J-15 cant take off from the Liaoning carrying a lot of bombs or anti-ship missiles because of its STOBAR launching system. Ski jump decks are okay for fighters flying air defense missions but not anything requiring heavy loads. In contrast, the new second Chinese carrier under construction appears was designed for catapult (flat, not ski jump deck) operations. Moreover, the front wheel of the J-15 is of the type required to handle catapult launches. Meanwhile, the Liaoning J-15s can use the refueling pods if they have to carry out some long-range attack mission (with smart bombs or anti-ship missiles). For most of the last decade, China has been developing the J-15, which is a carrier version of the Russian Su-27. There was already a Russian version of this, called the Su-33. Russia refused to sell Su-33s to China, when it was noted that China was making illegal copies of the Su-27 (as the J-11) and did not want to place a big order for Su-33s but only wanted two, for "evaluation." China eventually got a Su-33 from Ukraine in 2001, which inherited some when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. Ukraine never used these Su-33s but put them in storage in anticipation of eventually finding a buyer. The first prototypes of the J-15 were under construction for two years, and the aircraft made its first flight in 2010. The Russians were not happy with this development. Russian aviation experts openly derided the J-15, casting doubt on the ability of Chinese engineers to replicate key features of the Su-33 much less improve on them. The Russian criticisms were not unwarranted, as the Chinese have screwed up copying Russian military tech in the past. But the Chinese have a lot of experience stealing foreign technology, so the J-15 was believed to have a chance of turning out to be at least as good as the Su-33. One could say the J-15 was as good as the Su-33 but then the Chinese discovered why the Russians eventually rejected the Su-33. China openly boasted of the J-15 being the equivalent of the 30 ton American F-18E. That seemed excessive the truth was that the 33 ton J-15 appeared more like the earlier 23 ton F-18A (a similar looking but quite different design from the F-18E). In the end, the J-15 failed to be as reliable or capable as the F-18A, which is why China concentrates on copying less Russian aircraft rather than American ones. Meanwhile, Russia itself has stopped using the Su-33 in favor of the cheaper MiG-29K (which is also being used by India). The 33 ton Su-33 and the 21 ton MiG-29K were both designed to operate from the three 65,000 ton Kuznetsovs the Soviet Union was building in the 1980s. But when the Cold War ended in 1991, only the Kuznetsov was near completion. The second ship in the class, the Varyag, was sold to China and was rebuilt as the Liaoning. The smaller Gorshkov was rebuilt and sold to India (who believed the smaller MiG-29K was more suitable for this carrier). The Russians still use the Kuznetsov, which never underwent much needed refurbishment, until recently, to keep it operational. Basic aircraft design is not the only problem he J-15, and Chinese warplanes in general have. China continues to have problems with its locally produced military jet engines. The biggest problems are with the WS-10 series, which was designed and produced in China and the government has been pressuring the aircraft manufacturers to use Chinese made engines like this instead of Russian imports. This has not been working out as the government wants. For example, the Chinese carrier fighter, the J-15, is supposed to have a more powerful Chinese made engine so that it can carry more weight using the ski jump deck on the first two new Chinese carriers. One disadvantage of the ski jump deck is that it cannot launch aircraft as heavy as a catapult can. China developed a more powerful version of their WS-10 engine (the WS-10H) for the J-15 but has only been seen in a few J-15s. Until recently J-15s were still using Russian AL-31Fs but apparently more are receiving WS-10s, but apparently not the more powerful H version. China keeps details of its WS-10 development secret, but they cannot hide which of their aircraft are using the WS-10 and which the Russian made AL-31s that the WS-10 is based on and is supposed to replace. It is obvious that WS-10s have been slow to show up and that indicates the quality control and reliability problems of the WS-10 persist despite government denials. The Chinese went ahead and built nearly 300 WS-10s for J-11 (which the J-15 is based on) type aircraft and found the engines reliable enough to keep using. The WS-10 is still a work in progress but it is still less reliable than the Russian ones and China is willing to undergo the hassle of maintaining and replacing the WS-10s more frequently as they learn how to design and build sturdier engines of this type. The first WS-10s began showing up in J-11s back in 2004. In 2010 China revealed that it was replacing the Russian engines in its J-10 fighter, installing Chinese made WS-10A in place of the Russian made AL-31FN. Shortly after that announcement China ordered another 123 AL-31FNs, to be delivered by 2012. More AL-31s have been ordered but at the same time, more Chinese fighters were being seen with WS-10s. Despite that, the demand for AL-31s, based on the number of modern jet fighters China wants to build, is exceeding the Russian engine building capacity. The Chinese claim the WS-10A is superior to the AL-31F, even though the WS-10A copied a lot of the Russian technology. The Chinese say they have improved on that. For example, as delivered from Russia, the original AL-31 was good for 900 hours of operation. The Chinese claim their engineers figured out how to tweak the design of the engine so that it would last for 1,500 hours. Russia has since improved their basic AL-31 lifetime to 1,500 hours, and, most recently, 2,000 hours. When pressed, the Chinese claim that they simply cannot produce enough WS-10As for all the new airframes they are building. But the reality is that the WS-10As have some serious, unpredictable and persistent reliability problems that limit the number of reliable (enough for regular use) engines available. Back in 2011, China believed it would be free from dependence on Russia for military jet engines by 2016, which implied that Chinese engine manufacturers still had a way to go. Now the most the Chinese will admit to is that there will be no need for Russian engines by the end of the decade, maybe. Meanwhile, China continues to import AL-31s and the RD-93 (a version of the MiG-29's RD-33) for the JF-17 (an F-16 type aircraft developed in cooperation with Pakistan) from Russia. These engines are expensive, with the RD-33 going for about $3 million each and the AL-31 for about a third more. Since the 1990s Chinese engineers have managed to master the manufacturing techniques needed to make a Chinese copy of the Russian AL-31 engine. This is part of a program that has also developed the WS-13, to replace the RD-93 as well. While the Chinese have been able to build engines that are durable, they are still having problems with reliability. Apparently, it is still worth buying more Russian engines because the Chinese models are out of action too often, which keeps the jets grounded for repairs or, worst of all, an engine change. China has long copied foreign technology, not always successfully. But since the 1990s China has poured much money into developing a jet engine manufacturing capability. The Chinese encountered many of the same problems the Russians did in the beginning. Developing the necessary engine design and construction skills is difficult. But China has several advantages. First, they knew of the mistakes the Russians had made, and so were able to avoid many of them. Then there was the fact that China had better access to Western manufacturing technology (both legally and illegally). Finally, China was, unlike the Soviets, able to develop their engine manufacturing capabilities in a market economy. This was much more efficient than the command economy that the Soviets were saddled with for seven decades. The Chinese consider all this part of the learning process and they do learn from their mistakes. Despite all that, every year more Chinese fighters are seen with the WS-10 and there does not appear to be any sharp increase in accidents (because of engine problems). China perseveres. Meanwhile, the Chinese can build more Su-27 clones than they can reliable engines for them, and they keep developing more Su-27 variants. The Chinese J-11 jet fighter is an illegal Chinese copy of the Russian Su-27. It all began legally in 1995 when China paid $2.5 billion for the right to build 200 Su-27s. Russia would supply engines and electronics, with China building the other components according to Russian plans and specifications. But after 95 of the Chinese built aircraft were built Russia canceled the agreement. Russia claimed that China was using the knowledge acquired with this Su-27 program to build their own copy of the Su-27, the J-11. The Chinese claimed that the J-11 was designed and built using only Chinese technology. China also has a stealthy version (J-17) of the Su-27. There is also an aircraft carrier version of the Su-30 (the Su-33, obtained from Ukraine) that became the J-15. In 2013 J-16s were spotted. This is a two-seat fighter-bomber similar to the American F-15E and nearly identical to the Russian Su-30MKK. China insists these are all Chinese designs that just happen to bear some resemblance to Russian fighters. A replacement for the J-15 will probably an existing fighter design, especially not obviously stolen. China has several of these designed in China designs, mainly the 19 ton J-10 (similar to the F-16) and the more recent 36 ton J-20 stealth fighter. In an ideal world, the J-20 would be the ideal candidate but the J-20 employs more new technique and has not been in use that long. There is another Chinese stealth fighter, the 28 ton J-31 that is supposed to enter service in 2019. So China has options, but not a lot of time to create a reliable and effective carrier fighter. That might encourage them to try unmanned combat aircraft. As the old saying goes, desperation is the mother of invention. In Iran the radical faction of the religious dictatorship (in power since the 1980s) is again seeking to regain power they lost in the 1990s. Back then an Israeli assassination campaign against Iranian agents in South America and exposure of Iranian illegal activities in South America, Europe and elsewhere was becoming a diplomatic liability for Iran. The Iranian radicals, largely from the IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps) were forced out of many high government jobs in order to make peace with European nations and achieve a ceasefire in the clandestine war the IRGC had been waging against Israel (and Jews worldwide) for nearly a decade. The more moderate members of the religious dictatorship also feared that the IRGC radicals would trigger another ruinous war which, given the decade long war with Iraq (that Iran, by Iranian standards, lost) in the 1980s the country could not afford. The IRGC had been created to protect the religious dictatorship, not put it in more danger. No IRGC were punished for 1990s wet work (assassinations) since the religious dictatorship still needed its own separate army to protect the 1980s religious revolution that mobilized the country to halt the Iraqi invasion. The war effort, especially when Iraq was on the defensive, was financed by the Gulf Arab oil states (led by Saudi Arabia). This Arab coalition had also played a major role in ending the 15 year Lebanese civil war in 1990, which halted Iranian efforts to expand the power of the Shia minority in Lebanon. Iran saw itself at war with the Sunni Arabs but could not publicize, or turn the IRGC loose on, that yet. In the 1990s the Iranian leaders sensed a more dangerous enemy closer to home, the growing number or radicalized Sunni Arabs. The 1980s also saw the Russian occupation of Afghanistan ended by an army of Sunni holy warriors who made no secret that they considered the Shia heretics and as much an enemy as the Russian infidels (non-Moslems). The Iranians were seen as heretics by this new wave of Sunni Moslem religious extremism but were considered too dangerous to mess with, yet. These Sunni radicals were on the offensive and Shia Moslems (which Iran considered itself the protector of) were ultimately a prime target. By 2018 the Iranian religious dictatorship still saw itself as on a Mission From God and any opposition was seen as un-Islamic and thus punishable by death. Once again, as in the 1990s, a growing number of senior Shia clerics were reluctant to sanction mass murder of fellow Iranians on religious grounds. In this case the IRGC was urging the use of lethal force against the growing number of anti-government demonstrators in Iran. But the opposition the IRGC hard liners was facing, as it did in the 1990s, proved to be useful in other ways. That meant obtaining permission to resume the overseas wet work. This was not a sudden development but one that has been developing for nearly a decade. One could see what was happening after Israel confirmed some of the clandestine actions undertaken in the 1990s. In 2013 a retired Israeli diplomat revealed that Israel had quietly tracked down and killed most of the Iranians or Iranian operatives involved in two terrorist attacks against Jews in Argentina in 1992 and 1994. The Israeli overseas intel and special operations organization (Mossad) had handled assignments like this for decades and making this public was a way of warning the Iranians that Israel still had the edge over the IRGC in this department. Back in the 1990s the two Argentine bombings killed 114 and wounded over 200. Most of the victims were not Jews but nearly all were Argentinians. Israel often quietly goes after those behind attacks like this and kills them. There is rarely any official admission of this activity or the results. But the terrorists do take notice. After the 1990s, as Iran moved forward with its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs the Israelis pushed back by killing key Iranian nuclear scientists inside Iran as well as successfully sabotaging Iran efforts to produce weapons grade uranium. The IRGC still wants some revenge. After the 1990s Iran continued to reward the survivors of the Israeli 1990s assassination program. In 2009 Iranian president Ahmadinejad nominated a wanted (by Interpol) terrorist, Ahmad Vahidi, to be Defense Minister. Vahidi was wanted in Argentina for involvement in a 1994 attack on a Jewish community center. Vahidi is believed to have helped carry out other terror attacks as well. This brought him much recognition and many rewards in Iran. Vahidi served as Defense Minister until mid-2013. Vahidi has long known that the Israelis are gunning for him and takes precautions. Iran and its professional terrorists are still active in South America. For a decade now Iran has been close with leftist Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez (recently deceased) and his successor (under pressure to flee). This led to hundreds of Iranian intelligence and special warfare (terrorism) operatives being dispatched to South America. The Argentine truck bomb attack in 1994 killed 85 Argentineans and this horrified people throughout the region but memories fade. The backlash caused Iranian diplomats and terrorism operatives to run for cover. But with Venezuela as a safe, and hospitable, base, Iranian death squads are again up and running in South America. Apparently Iran is not encouraging attacks, in order to maintain its espionage networks but wants to be ready just in case. The Venezuelan effort has been crippled by the economic collapse in Venezuela and popular opposition to the pro-Iran government. Most of the Iranian foreign terrorist operations are handled by the Quds Force, which is an intelligence and commando operation that supports Islamic terrorism overseas and is part of the IRGC. Quds has always attracted very bright and able people, but also recruited personnel possessing a wide range of views on just what constituted an "Islamic Republic" or the proper role for the Quds Force itself. For over two decades, one of the few things Quds officers could agree on was the need to remove Saddam Hussein from power. Many Quds officers actually warmed to the United States in 2003 for doing the deed for them. But most Quds operatives are still dedicated to Shia Islam becoming the dominant religion on the planet. Thus Al Quds can be found operating nearly everywhere, from South America (because of the new base in Venezuela) to wherever Iran has a diplomatic presence. But the big Quds operations are in southern Iraq, western Afghanistan and Gaza. Because of the success of wet work in neighboring countries Quds Force operatives have been turned loose to carry out assassinations in the West. Quds is at it again, accused of killing enemies of Iran in the Netherlands and attempting to do the same in France and Germany. Israel is believed to be the key source of information on these aborted attacks. The most recent targets have been outspoken members of Iranian minorities (Arabs and Kurds) living outside Iran and accused of responsibility for minority violence in Iran. Iran has used Hezbollah operatives more frequently, but as professional as those often are they cannot pass as Iranian diplomats and get diplomatic immunity. This has also been the case in other parts of the world. Quds Force has long worked with the Lebanese Shia Hezbollah in its South American operations. Iran helped create Hezbollah in the 1980s and has sustained it ever since. Hezbollah has long been involved in the drug business in South America. That gives these Iran backed Islamic terrorists access to the smuggling routes that Mexican gangs use to smuggle drugs and people into the United States. Hezbollah has also been active in narcotics and people smuggling in South America's tri-border (Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil) region. For over a century this area has been a hotbed of illicit activity, and too many politicians and police commanders are on the take from gangsters there to change this. Thus South America, in theory, makes an excellent refuge and base for Islamic terrorists. Particularly worrisome was the cooperation between leftist rebel movements there, and Islamic terrorist groups. But the leftist rebels in South America have been on the skids for over a decade and in no position to help terrorists. Islamic radicals are known to be working in the Arab-descended communities in many Latin American countries, aided by the porous frontiers. The Islamic radicals have been able to raise some money from Latin American Arabs, often through bogus "charities." But the extent to which they have been able to recruit active supporters is harder to gauge and has apparently been unsuccessful. In some countries, such as Bolivia and Paraguay, recruiting efforts have been reported to the police, who took action. One factor hampering the Islamic radicals down there was that many of the Arab immigrants to Latin America were Christians, and those who were Moslems often became secularized, in an environment where they found very few co-religionists. In addition to this resistance the Americans and Israelis have their own intelligence networks in South America and are believed, by Iran, as the unnamed source of so many tips to South American governments about Hezbollah and Quds operations especially which Iranian diplomats (with diplomatic immunity) are actually IRGC members. Africa was seen as a promising area for Quds to make some progress but that has backfired just about everywhere. For example Quds has long backed Polasario, a heavily armed separatist group in southern Morocco (a rare pro-Israel Arab country) that has long had sanctuaries next door in Algeria (an old friend of Iran and enemy of Morocco). Algeria was recently accused of ignoring Quds and Hezbollah efforts to ship weapons to Polasario. This is was generally seen as a hostile act as Polasario has evolved into a criminal gang that does business with local al Qaeda groups that controls most of the drug smuggling routes north and into Europe. Al Qaeda hates Shia and has a hard time doing business with Hezbollah under any circumstances (even of both groups can make a lot of money). Further south IRGC support for the Shia minority in Nigeria went badly. By 2018 Nigerian police managed to eliminate most armed members of the Shia IMN (Islamic Movement in Nigeria). There has not been much violent activity from the Shia since 2016 when the security forces cracked down hard. There are about seven million Shia in Nigeria and since the 1980s a growing number of them have joined IMN, a group founded and quietly supported by IRGC. While relations between Shia and Sunni Moslems have generally been good in Nigeria, local Sunni radical groups like Boko Haram practice the anti-Shia attitudes so common in Sunni terror groups like al Qaeda and the Taliban. IMN always proclaimed itself a peaceful group that welcomed all Moslems but over the years it has become all Shia and a lot more militant. Africa was provided more examples of how setting up religious schools to train fanatical Shia was no more popular than the Sunni version (long financed by Saudi Arabia). Iran made a major effort in Senegal (and Gaza) and in both cases it backfired. Afghanistan and Pakistan, both with Shia minorities under constant attacks by Sunni radicals, are handled many via diplomatic threats. Both nations share borders with Iran making it too easy for cross border operations, going in either direction, to take place. Iraq has a Shia majority, one of the two Arab nations (in addition to Bahrain) to have that advantage. But in Iraq most of the Arab Shia are anti-Iran because of ethnic differences and a long history of not getting along. The Iranians are Indo-European and have more in common culturally with India and Europe than with Arabs. This is reflected in the generally good relations between Hindu majority India and Iran. The same would be true of Europe except for the fact that is where Iranian political exiles (including the ones who returned to overthrow the Iranian monarchy in the late 1970s) prefer to seek asylum and operate from. In 2018 most of the Iranian exiles in Europe are opponents of the Iranian religious dictatorship and targets for Quds assassins. Israel has always been most dangerous to Iran for acts that got no publicity. Currently this consists of quietly providing evidence of which local Iranian diplomats were IRGC. These Iranian diplomats prefer to keep their IRGC affiliation secret and often succeed until the Israelis provide local governments with verifiable evidence that some Iranian diplomats have a decidedly undiplomatic job. While Israeli assassins or sabotage is greatly feared by Iran, its the damn intelligence leaks that hurt the most. The recent Israeli revelation of how Mossad stole huge quantities of Iranian documents in January 2018 and got them out of the country (literally overnight) was a rare event. Mossad could have kept quiet because Iran still insists the documents caper never took place. Iran would have preferred that Mossad had kept quiet about it, as Israel tends to do. But sometimes show and tell is the best approach and the best revenge. Nevertheless IRGC and Quds operatives worldwide have got their license to kill back and people are dying. At home on the range With hunting season now in full swing throughout the State of Iowa, a new business in the Tama-Toledo area looks to ... US government approves aid as California battles raging wildfires Redding, United States, July 29 (AFP) Jul 29, 2018 The US federal government approved aid Saturday for California as thousands of firefighters battled to contain a series of deadly raging wildfires that have killed six people, including two young children and their great grandmother, and destroyed hundreds of buildings. The largest of the fires menacing the state has nearly doubled in size, while another pushed thousands of people to flee and a third forced the partial closure of the popular Yosemite National Park. A huge column of smoke rotated rapidly above the massive Carr Fire with such strength it looked like a tornado in a fire whirl sometimes dubbed a "firenado." Melody Bledsoe, 70, and her two great-grandchildren James and Emily Roberts -- aged just five and four respectively -- died as the fire consumed their rural trailer home. The blaze also killed two fire workers, Cal Fire said. Another firefighter died in the Ferguson Fire. In declaring an emergency in California, President Donald Trump "ordered federal assistance to supplement state, tribal and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from a wildfire beginning on July 23," the White House said. The Federal Emergency Management Agency "is authorized to identify, mobilize and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency," it said. The Carr Fire in northern California -- which began on July 23 -- has consumed 80,906 acres (32,749 hectares), up from 48,312 on Friday, according to Cal Fire, the state's Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. "Winds, high temperatures and dry vegetation still have the potential to fuel fire growth. Fire spread has been active in all directions and has made significant runs," Cal Fire said. Governor Jerry Brown on Friday asked for federal assistance "to save lives and to protect property," his office said in a statement. - Thousands evacuated - He asked for help, including military aircraft, shelter supplies and water for 30,000 evacuated residents in Shasta County, in north-central California, where the Carr Fire has grown "uncontrollably," the statement said. Brown declared a state of emergency in Shasta and ordered National Guard forces to assist the 3,400 fire personnel already trying to contain the Carr Fire, which has destroyed 500 structures. More than 1,300 firefighters are battling the fast-moving Cranston Fire, which began on Wednesday and forced the evacuation of about 7,000 people, the US Forest Service said. It added that the hazards created by Cranston and another fire have caused the temporary closure of all US Forest Service lands within the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument. A 32-year-old man has been arrested and charged with 15 arson counts, including for the Cranston Fire. The Ferguson Fire has encroached upon the Yosemite National Park in central California, forcing the partial closure of the popular attraction. "Firefighters worked through the night extending and strengthening containment lines, while also monitoring a small fire that jumped a line Friday afternoon," according to InciWeb, the Forestry Service's incident information website. Last year was the worst on record for wildfire devastation in California, with more than 40 deaths and around 9,000 structures destroyed, following fires that ravaged the Napa and Sonoma wine regions. Avon, a company focusing on the direct selling of beauty and related products, recently announced its fragrance collaboration with Kenzo Takada. According to a statement, Avon Life Colour was the companys second joint project with the Japanese designer. The fragrance, for him and her, was created with the help of two world-renowned perfumers, Frank Voelkl and Olivier Cresp. It is the successor to Avon and Takadas 2016 fragrance named Avon Life, inspired by the vibrant personality of Kenzo himself. The launch of Avon Life Colour is expected to increase the standing of Avon in the fragrance market as the company is currently ranked in third place with a collective worth of US$18.963 million. The fragrance will be backed by extensive marketing, including advertising, innovative digital engagement and an activation with Kenzo during Paris Fashion Week. With marketing activation across 50-plus markets, this collaboration will be one of Avons biggest launches over the next 12 months. We know that our global network of nearly 6 million beauty entrepreneurs will love, share and be eager to sell this exciting new fragrance, said Jonathan Myers, Avons executive vice president and chief operating officer. Read also: Beauty giants are snapping up Silicon Valley startups Kenzo is reportedly pleased to partner with Avon. He said the company was doing the same with what he initially did in fashion -- democratize great products. This company is [] dealing with a business in a complex and competitive environment, looking to offer great products at an affordable price, such as the case with Avon Life Colour. (anm/mut) A Colombian cultural tour has made Jakarta one of its destinations. The tour, part of the Promotion Plan of Colombia Abroad, is part of the cultural diplomacy initiated by Colombias Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Its aim is to present Colombia to the world -- a country that excels in cultural expressions, art, music, dance, literature and gastronomy, among others. The cultural tour in conjunction with the Embassy of Colombia in Jakarta held a Swing Latino Colombian salsa show at Graha Bhakti Budaya (GBB) in Cikini, Central Jakarta, on Tuesday. It featured Swing Latino, a salsa dance school and academy hailing from Cali, Colombia. The school is represented by three couples. Swing Latino is more than just a touring company, it is also designed to empower underprivileged kids in Colombia. The dance squad truly embodies the popular quote dance like nobodys watching, showcasing flamboyance and high energy as they shift weight effortlessly, hips swinging in calculated moves. Female dancers were lifted and flung several meters in the air by their male partners, many times held upside down, while their facial expressions remained nonchalant. Truly a moments worth of Instagram stories. And the event organizer was pretty relaxed about the audience taping the show using smartphones, while encouraging them to clap and cheer. At some point, the dancers would lip-sync the songs they were dancing to, fully enjoying their moment on stage. Most of the audience could only dream of mastering such dance techniques or consider enrolling themselves in salsa classes after the show. However, the Colombians hosting the show and the dance squad were very approachable. A group of salsa dance students had their turn to perform while Swing Latino took a short break, as if sending a message that salsa is for everyone. Meanwhile, in between sequences, the host of the show came out to greet the audience, commented on the performance and reminded the audience that they were not to leave the seats except to dance along. Read also: 'Dekat': Discovering contemporary ballet As Swing Latino returned to perform their final dance sequences, they ended their performance by walking off the stage and asked the audience to dance. Everyone in the auditorium joined in and enjoyed the evening together. Beyonces a fan. So was Carrie Bradshaw on Sex and the City. Excitement for the return of Diors equestrian-inspired Saddle bag linewhich dominated the it bag era of the early 2000s alongside Balenciagas Lariat and the Fendi Baguette before being discontinuedhas been bubbling up since designer Maria Grazia Chiuri put them in her runway show in February. Trendsetting models Bella Hadid and Elsa Hosk were soon spotted carrying vintage Saddle bags, driving up demand on luxury resale sites like Vestiaire Collective. Then, earlier this month, just as Europes other fashion houses were winding down for their summer recess, Dior unleashed the bags in a marketing blitzkrieg that was hard to miss: Scores of Instagram influencers from around the world posted images modeling the $2,000-plus bags on the same day that Dior released its own campaigns, with models posing against vintage cars on the streets of Paris. Vogue and Marie Claire published dreamy videos from Diors ateliers of the bags being hammered into shape on wooden molds. On the Chinese social network Weibo, Dior took a more literal approach, posting a clip of Hong Kong fashion star Elle Lee posing as an elated client in front of a shop mirror. Some of the Instagrammers acknowledged that theyd been gifted the bags using hashtags like #SuppliedByDior. Making a splash with new product launches is becoming more important and more challenging for luxury brands as social networks become more saturated with fashion images than ever. The prestigious airs that top-end labels have spent decades cultivating are increasingly seen as a mere prerequisite. Read also: Large and comprehensive Christian Dior exhibition to run in UK For LVMH, whose brands including Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Celine are among the worlds most established, new product launches are essential to keep up growthand to maintain their lead on fast-growing challengers like Kerings revamped Gucci and Balenciaga divisions. Consumers are asking now for ongoing novelties, Equita SIM analyst Paola Carboni said of the move to push the bags in a big summer drop, outside the usual fashion calendar. Its consistent with the changes in creative direction at LVMHthe idea is to renew the offer on a constant basis. With retro logos and reissues of archival designs driving the fashion conversation by tapping into customers nostalgiaas in Versaces Tribute collectionits no surprise that many designers are feeding the hunger for new releases by reviving old standards rather than risking big ad dollars to promote an untested product. The Dior Saddle bag is a perfect product to relaunch today, said Katy Lubin, communications director at the fashion search engine Lyst. Its instantly recognizable on Instagram, plays into the logomania trend, and it comes with a serious dose of early-aughts nostalgia. LVMH said in May it would take a minority stake in Lyst. Since the campaign went live last week, web searches for Dior Saddle bags are up nearly 1,000 percent on Lyst, Lubin said. A Dior spokesman said the launch had generated "incredible store traffic" and cross-selling opportunities as clients rushed out to buy the bags.It will be interesting to see if such a big-bang launch campaign will speed up the products life cycleif its already everywhere then how long before its over? Lubin said. Second-quarter sales at LVMH grew 11 percent on an organic basis, the company said Tuesdayrapid growth for a company with more than 4,000 storesbut well short of the 40 percent growth analysts are predicting for Gucci, whose parent company Kering reports Thursday. In a bid to keep its edge, LVMH has reshuffled its management over the past yearputting a new CEO and menswear designer in place at Christian Dior Couture, moving Diors veteran chief Sidney Toledano to oversee LVMHs smaller labels, and expanding and revamping Celine under the star designer Hedi Slimane. Designer Virgil Abloh, who rose to prominence as creative consultant to Kanye West and runs the cult streetwear brand Off-White, showed his debut collection as head of Louis Vuittons menswear in June. The push for new products has gone beyond seasonal fashions and handbag launches: Last year LVMH went so far as to create a new make-up brand from scratch in partnership with Rihanna. LVMH Chairman Bernard Arnault has said that brand, Fenty Beauty, is on track to reach 500 million euros in sales this year. Arnault combined Christian Dior Couture with LVMH last year after owning it through a separate holding company for decades, and the fashion house has been pushing up reported sales for the luxury conglomerate this year, helping to offset a spike in the value of the euro that risked dragging down profits. Read also: Top 10 celebrities with highest-paid Instagram posts revealed The Saddle bag blitz is one of the first moves at Dior by CEO Pietro Beccari, who took the helm this year after previously running LVMHs Rome-based Fendi brand. At Fendi, Beccari won acclaim for his digital savvy. He tapped top Instagram stars Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid to star in campaigns, and also lesser-known artists and athletes. Instagram campaigns like Dior's aren't just about awareness, but about cultivating a more personalized relationship with consumers, said Jessica Michault, senior vice president of industry relations at digital marketing consultancy Launchmetrics. Celebrities and bloggers whom social media users have chosen to follow can act as a bridge between big brands and their consumers. When done correctly, it feels authentic and organic, Michault said. Lebanese environmentalists on Saturday sank 10 old tanks and armoured vehicles to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea in a novel attempt to attract divers and create new habitats for marine life. Three kilometres off the coast of the city of Sidon, a huge crane on the back of a ship manoeuvred the military hardware into place over the water before dropping them down to the seabed one after the other. The initiative to create an "underwater park" is spearhead by a local group, Friends of the coast of Sidon, which got the Lebanese army to hand over some of it old vehicles for the project. "This will be a paradise for divers and a place where we can develop underwater life," said NGO representative Kamel Kozbar, who hopes seaweed will soon cover the vehicles. Lebanon boasts some 200 kilometres of Mediterranean coast but beaches have not been spared from a waste and garbage crisis that has plagued Lebanon for years. In Sidon, a mountain of smelly trash has scarred the shoreline, despite the presence of a new waste management facility. Read also: Lebanon bans Spielberg film and Israeli adventurer biopic In a region fraught with tensions the latest project also has some political undertones. The tanks have been placed with their turrets facing towards Lebanon's southern foe Israel "out of solidarity for the Palestinian people", Kozbar said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, July 30, 2018 08:12 1185 b147f6715e2195e5246e701df5033254 4 City robbery,wedding,Banten,South-Tangerang Free A couple, Tri Wahyudi, 22 and Wiwin Winarsih, 19, have been arrested by the police for allegedly robbing a savings and loans cooperative on Jl. Villa Melati Mas, Jelupang, North Serpong, South Tangerang, Banten, to raise money for their wedding. On July 25, 2018, the Mandiri Perkasa Savings and Loans Cooperative lost Rp 37,858,000 in a robbery. The suspects are Tri and Wiwin, who are in a relationship, South Tangerang Police criminal investigation unit head Adj. Comr. Alexander Yurikho said on Sunday, Warta Kota reported. He said Tri is a former employee of the cooperative. The suspects took advantage of that because Tri knew where the money was stored. One of the suspects is a former employee of the cooperative and they took the money in the offices steel cabinet by prying it open using a screwdriver, he said. The cooperatives treasurer Rahmawati Safitri reported the incident to the Serpong Police when she found out the money in the cabinet was lost and she found scratch marks on the steel cabinet. Alexander said the police arrested the couple on July 27 in Bekasi, West Java and confiscated Rp 26.4 million (US$1,706) in cash from them. He said the couple had cancelled their wedding plans and they were charged under Article 363 of the Criminal Code for stealing, with a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. (ami) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sun, July 29, 2018 06:34 1186 b147f6715e2195e5246e701df5024b69 1 National KPK,prison,convicts,bribery,sukamiskin Free The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has requested access to the closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems in all prisons in Indonesia to monitor malpractice. The request was made following the recent discovery that a graft convict in Sukamiskin Penitentiary in Bandung, West Java, lived in an upgraded, air-conditioned prison cell We think giving us access to prison CCTVs would be an effective solution [to corruption within the prison system], said KPK deputy chairwoman Basaria Panjaitan on Friday as reported by tempo.co. She acknowledged that the KPK would need cooperation from other parties, such as the prisons and the Law and Human Rights Ministry, in agreeing upon funding and securing permission. The cost of such a project would be considerable as there are some 512 prisons throughout Indonesia but Basaria believes it is necessary and opportune to improve Indonesias prison system. This is a good opportunity to conduct a collective evaluation [of Indonesia's prisons], she said. (nor) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Michael Mathes (Agence France-Presse) Washington Sun, July 29, 2018 12:59 1185 b147f6715e2195e5246e701df5029407 2 World US,USA,Racism,racist,Bigotry Free Arthur Jones is an avowed Nazi. John Fitzgerald says the Holocaust is a myth. Rick Tyler wants to "make America white again." Their fringe ideas are reminiscent of another age, but the unapologetic men who espouse them are all on US election ballots in 2018. Extremism and bigotry, even outright white supremacy and anti-Semitism, have found new lives in 21st century US politics and the era of President Donald Trump, beyond just the toxic rhetoric of a few little-known cranks. They have received more exposure this year on the national stage than at any time in recent memory. And the mainly conservative proponents of hate running for office are proving to be a major embarrassment for the Republican Party. In Illinois, Jones, who called the Holocaust "the biggest, blackest lie in history" and once ran a newspaper ad with a large swastika in the middle, is the Republican candidate for Congress, after he won the party primary by running unopposed in a largely Democratic district. Russel Walker, running for a seat in North Carolina's state house, proclaims "there is nothing wrong with being a racist" and that Jews are "descendants of Satan." In Wisconsin, Paul Nehlen, the leading Republican running to fill the seat in Congress currently held by retiring Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, has emerged as a leader of the alt-right movement, someone who critics warn wants to provide white nationalists and anti-Semites a stronger foothold in US culture and politics. And the campaign website for Tyler, a Trump supporter running for Congress in Tennessee, depicts the Confederate flag flying atop the White House. One of his campaign billboards read: "Make America White Again." Experts say there is an unprecedented number of openly bigoted candidates this year, and that their chief enabler may well be the president of the United States himself. "Trump's unorthodox use of racism-related and anti-Muslim stuff -- all of that bigoted language -- has opened a door in politics that wasn't there before," Heidi Beirich, who as an expert at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has been tracking hate groups since 1999, told AFP. "We've always had a smattering of neo-Nazis... but this is ratcheting the situation up much higher than it was before." No more 'taboos'? Overt bigotry by a candidate would spell his or her "death knell" up until recently, Beirich said. But in today's hyper partisan political environment, such rhetoric may no longer be a deal breaker. "By blowing through those taboos, and winning the presidency, Trump has shown a path to electoral success that people assumed wouldn't work," she said. This bigotry has spread into public life. Several incidents caught on video showing white people calling the police on African-Americans going about their business have gone viral. One, which showed two young men dragged out of a Starbucks coffee shop in handcuffs, helped spark a national dialogue about race. The racial and ethnic divides are on clear political display in places like Virginia, where the Republican Senate nominee, the anti-immigration county supervisor Corey Stewart, is under fire for his provocative associations. Stewart has praised Nehlen as "one of my personal heroes," and has appeared with Jason Kessler, the man who organized a deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville last August. However Stewart has since disavowed both men, and the move may have swayed some voters. On June 20 he won the Republican Senate primary. Last week he found himself on the debate stage with Democratic Senator Tim Kaine -- Hillary Clinton's 2016 vice presidential nominee -- where Stewart insisted "there's not a racist bone in my body." But he maintained he is a vigorous defender of Virginia "heritage," and strongly opposes the removal of any Confederate monuments. Extremist candidates tend to flourish when they and their supporters feel unrepresented and ignored by the mainstream US parties, either the GOP or Democrats. In 2016 Trump appealed to millions of such blue collar voters, unemployed coal miners or factory workers or farmers whom Trump labeled the "forgotten man." They felt betrayed by globalization and US trade agreements, worried about illegal immigration, and mindful that their communities were changing. Stewart says Democrats had the chance to reach those voters. But their failure to do so helped contribute to a scenario where far-right candidates can thrive. Democrats "abandoned the working guy," Stewart told CNN. "They slammed the door in their face, and now it's president Trump and the new Republican Party that is supporting working Americans." The GOP has disavowed several extremist candidates, including Jones and Nehlen. But the SPLC's Beirich says Trump's embrace of controversial Republicans like former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, who ran concentration camp-like jails for undocumented immigrants and is now running for Senate after being pardoned by Trump, is dog-whistle messaging to his party's fringe elements that there is space for them in political discourse. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Oslo, Norway Sun, July 29, 2018 21:45 1185 b147f6715e2195e5246e701df5035eb2 2 World wildlife,bear-attack,shooting,Norway Free A polar bear was shot dead after attacking a German cruise ship worker on Norway's Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, the authorities said Sunday. The unnamed man in his 40's suffered head injuries shortly after landing on Spitzbergen island. He was accompanying a tourist expedition from the MS Bremen of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises on Saturday. "The bear was killed by another employee on the boat," police commissioner Ole Jakob Malmo told AFP. Hapag-Lloyd Cruises said it was "self-defence". "We greatly regret this incident," said company spokesman Moritz Krause. Why is it that humans life is more important than that bear...? it could have a cub somewhere in danger. Humans are constantly entering their habitat and expect them not to react? Killed in self defence you entered his home. https://t.co/2whtHzMJzc Helin (@MUnitedGirl) July 29, 2018 The injured employee was flown by helicopter to the local capital Longyearbyen and then on to Tromso on the mainland in the evening, Malmo said. Tromso hospital told AFP the man's life was not in danger and he was in a stable condition. Polar bears have been protected in Norway since 1973 and nearly 1,000 were counted on Svalbard during a 2015 census. The archipelago, roughly twice the size of Belgium, lies about 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) from the North Pole. Five fatal polar bear attacks have been recorded on Svalbard in the last 40 years. The most recent was in 2011 when a bear attacked a group of 14 people on a trip organised by a British schools association. A 17-year-old Briton died and four other members of the expedition were hurt before the bear was killed. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States Sun, July 29, 2018 21:15 1185 b147f6715e2195e5246e701df5035e6b 2 World shooting,US,New-Orleans,bar Free Police were searching Sunday for two gunmen who opened fire on a crowd outside a New Orleans bar, killing three people and wounding seven others. Police said they responded to reports of a shooting late Saturday at a "daiquiri shop" about three miles from the southern US city's famed French Quarter. Detectives "determined that two unknown armed subjects believed to be wearing hooded sweatshirts allegedly approached a group of people standing outside of a business and opened fire, striking 10 of the individuals," then fled, a police statement said. Police superintendent Michael Harrison, speaking to reporters overnight at the scene of the crime, said one of the suspects was believed to be armed with a rifle, while the other carried a handgun. "We believe they actually stood over one of the individuals and fired multiple rounds and then after that fled," Harrison told local media. "This has to be personal," he said. "Firing indiscriminately into a crowd? Shooting 10 people? Killing three? That's personal, it doesn't get more personal and we take it personal," he said. "Whoever did this, you should know that the law enforcement takes it personal and were coming for you." The victims -- two males and a female -- "were pronounced dead at the scene," police spokesman Aaron Looney said a statement. Seven additional gunshot victims -- five males and two females -- were rushed to area hospitals either in private vehicles or aboard ambulances. The local NBC affiliate said that one of the victims believed to be in critical condition underwent surgery. The motive for the shooting was unknown. "We will find that out during the investigation," Harrison said. "It was very intentional but we don't know right now that its gang related." Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Agnes Anya (The Jakarta Post) Phnom Penh Sun, July 29, 2018 11:17 1185 b147f6715e2195e5246e701df5027a83 1 SE Asia Cambodia,election Free The Cambodian government banned alcohol on Sunday to ensure the country's security amid its electoral election. "The prohibition will last only 24 hours," said Yara Suos, spokesperson for the ruling Cambodia's People Party, on Saturday. Yara said the measure had been taken to ensure no incidents took place that could disrupt the poll, which is set to choose lawmakers for 125 seats. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday the last day to campaign had urged the public to vote "to support democracy" ahead of the weekend election, which many experts have deemed an unfair ballot. Hun Sen, the world's longest ruling prime minister and also incumbent candidate from the Cambodian People's Party, told his supporters to vote in Sundays election as a form of contribution to their community. "Those who vote support democracy, while those who don't destroy democracy. Thus, if you don't vote, how can you still live in the community?" said Hun Sen, who has ruled the Southeast Asian country for over 32 years, during his speech on the last electoral campaign day on Friday. The campaign to vote was initiated following a "clean finger" boycott call from the unlawful main opposition party, Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). CNRP, through its exiled leaders, called on its supporters not to vote after Hun Sen's government disbanded the party last year and put its leader, Kem Sokha, in jail over accusations of plotting to overthrow the government. Hun Sen's administration said calls to boycott the vote were illegal, but rights groups argue the calls were not against the law. A source who requested anonymity told The Jakarta Post that there was also pressure to vote at the neighborhood level, with local leaders telling people that they would be denied public services should they abstain from voting. "The last time, we implemented law in order to crackdown on traitors who wanted to overthrow government and bring the country to war," Hun Sen said in Friday's speech. "We want to maintain peace. So, we punish those who destroy national security and the nation." Hun Sen said if his party won, he would prioritize attracting investment in human resource training and health facilities. Sunday's election will be Cambodia's sixth since it emerged from decades of war in 1993. Many fear the vote will be a sham following a crackdown by Hun Sen on critics, including civil society and independent media. (evi) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Suy Se and Joe Freeman (Agence France-Presse) Phnom Penh Sun, July 29, 2018 19:14 1185 b147f6715e2195e5246e701df5033cad 2 SE Asia Cambodia,election,Hun-Sen Free Cambodia's ruling party predicted a landslide win in Sunday's one-horse election, an expected outcome after the main opposition was banned, paving the way for its leader Hun Sen to prolong his 33 years in power. Hun Sen, who came to power in 1985 in a country still plagued by civil war, has cracked down on dissent in the run-up to the poll, pressuring civil society, independent media and his political opponents. The National Election Commission said voter turnout was 82 percent, surpassing the final figure in 2013 of roughly 69 percent. The 65-year-old prime minister, a one-time defector from the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, has pointed to stability and growth as the fruits of his rule -- a message that resonates with his base. "Compatriots have chosen the democratic path and used your rights," Hun Sen said on his official Facebook page in an apparent swipe at the opposition, which called for a boycott. A ruling party spokesperson forecast a huge victory. But there were also signs of despondency and indifference, and an expert on elections in Southeast Asia said the high turnout was misleading. "With one-party rule election turnout is generally higher, not lower, because the party, in this case the Cambodian People's Party, relies on voter intimidation more, relies on vote buying more, and turnout should be inflated that way," said Lee Morgenbesser from the school of government and international relations at Griffith University. Pictures of spoilt ballots circulated on social media though they could not be independently verified. AFP correspondents saw dozens of blank ballots set aside during counting. "I did not go to vote. I slept at home," said Khem Chan Vannak, a former commune chief elected with the now-banned opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). "A lot of my friends did not go to vote." Western governments have withdrawn their assistance from the election, citing its lack of credibility. Nineteen small -- or hitherto unknown -- parties competed against Hun Sen's ruling CPP in the absence of the CNRP. But analysts say they are too obscure or new to make a meaningful difference. The CPP has won every election since 1998. The opposition, whose leaders are in jail, underground or in self-exile, urged a "clean-finger" boycott of the vote as the only safe form of protest, a reference to the ink applied to people's hands after they vote. Preliminary results are expected later Sunday. 'Fist of a dictator' More than eight million voters are registered for the sixth general election since polls organised by the United Nations in 1993. At the time the country was slowly emerging from decades of war, including the Khmer Rouge years from 1975-79 which killed a quarter of the population. Hun Sen was installed aged just 32 as national leader during the Vietnamese occupation of 1979-89. But a youthful population angered by corruption and with little memory of the Khmer Rouge era put the ruling party's longevity in doubt. Their votes helped the CNRP to secure more than 44 percent of the vote in 2013 and a similar share in local elections last year. "The CNRP offered a promise of responsive and non-corrupt governance, and people wanted to give them a chance," said Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch. But Hun Sen snuffed out the looming electoral threat, accusing the rescue party of being involved in a plot to topple the government and arresting leader Kem Sokha. "This is a story of how democratic dreams die under the fist of a dictator," Robertson added. The Supreme Court dissolved the party in November 2017, clearing the way for a CPP whitewash on Sunday. A climate of fear driven by local-level ruling party members has made many reluctant openly to criticise the vote. The election committee, which has been accused of being biased towards the ruling party, claimed there was no voter intimidation. Power and patronage Hun Sen has maintained his grip on the country through political and family alliances in the police, military and media. With control over vast parts of the state, he has placed his sons in key positions in what analysts see as an attempt to create a dynasty. The United States and the European Union declined to send monitors for the election but Cambodia's ally China provided support. Sam Rainsy, an opposition figure who lives in self-exile in France, said the foregone election victory was a "hollow one". The CNRP appealed to Cambodians not to vote in the "sham election that has no support and is not recognised by the international community". Authorities have vowed to take action against anyone who urges a poll boycott even though they insist voting is not compulsory. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Agnes Anya (The Jakarta Post) Phnom Penh Sun, July 29, 2018 15:04 1185 b147f6715e2195e5246e701df502dda8 1 SE Asia Cambodia,polling-stations,vote,election Free Cambodians went to the polls on Sunday for their sixth general election to fill 125 lawmaker seats. Among international observers of the general election from Indonesia, constitutional law expert Jimly Asshiddiqie, said voting went "well and proper", showing "significant progress" in the democratic process of the Southeast Asia country. However, while the voting procedures were running "well and properly", Jimly did have some notes. He noted that the witnesses at the polling stations were all from the ruling party, the Cambodian People's Party (CPP). There are 19 other parties in the election, but they are small. Jimly said their lack of institutional capacity might explain the absence of ballot witnesses from those parties at the stations. The disbandment of the main opposition party, the Cambodian National Rescue Party, had marred the history of democracy in Cambodia, Jimly went on. Democracy, he said, is not just about elections. "Democracy is not only about formal elections. This is also about the reliability of constitutional courts and how fairly they uphold laws," he told a group of Indonesian journalists in Phnom Penh. United States-based World Justice Project (WJP) placed Cambodia at second to last place among 113 countries in its Rule of Law Index in late January. The study takes into account several factors, including constraints on government powers, corruption, open government, fundamental rights and access to criminal justice. Hours into the voting, Cambodia's National Election Committee (NEC) said Sunday that "the number of voters has increased dramatically." It released a press statement with preliminary figures on number of voters in 13 provinces. Participation in all 13 provinces was said to be above 50 percent, with Kep province at the top with 70.73 percent. Sunday's election has been deemed a sham by democracy groups, particularly international organizations, following a crackdown by Hun Sen, the world's longest serving prime minister, on critics, including civil society and independent media. (evi) Ahmad Yani International Airport in Semarang, Central Java, still facilitates only conventional and designated airport taxis, while it does not allow ride-hailing apps to operate, as a spokesperson has stressed the need for an official regulation. The airport, overseen by state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura I (AP I), which manages 13 airports in central and eastern Indonesia, currently only authorizes conventional and airport taxis to operate in its complex. "Regarding online taxis, we need to have a Perda [regional government regulation] to [discuss the matter]. It needs to be realized where this airport stands, and respect the Perda. If it is regulated, then go ahead," Devy Suradji, marketing and services director of AP I, said recently, as quoted by tempo.co. The decision to allow ride-hailing vehicles to operate at Ahmad Yani is still open for discussion. "There must first be a regulation," Devy stressed. Read also: Thai woman arrested for allegedly smuggling crystal meth into Semarang She further said ride-hailing vehicles are currently still a controversy. Passengers' safety remains the most important aspect, she added, beginning from a clear legal umbrella to the applicable service permits. It is necessary so as not to give a bad impact to airport services, Devy said. "[We need] to know what kind of taxi permit, fares and zones. All vehicles entering the airport must have clear permits and quality so that it can uphold its responsibilities over the lives of others and ensure safety to reach the destination," Devy said. She said the auction of airport taxi facilities at the Ahmad Yani Airport would be opened in August. The choice would be made through the necessary studies and suggestions from the Central Java Transportation Agency for the provision of sustainable services in accordance with the public needs. As reported by tempo.co, calls against monopolization of Ahmad Yani taxis by one company has surfaced following a story shared online by Nathalie, a customer who was forced to get out of a conventional taxi and get into a designated airport taxi. Nathalie's experience triggered conversations among netizens and eventually her story went viral. After entering a Blue Bird taxi, she said the vehicle was stopped by a man and she was forced to get out. "I couldn't get in the Blue Bird taxi because there was a rule that forbade us from taking any other taxi except the airport taxi," Nathalie said. The man who stopped her vehicle has reportedly been sanctioned by AP I. (liz) seem cannaceutical Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday's ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below. N.W. writes: I read your recent article regarding transfers from Barclays Smart Investor and hope you can help us. My wife and I requested the transfer of our stocks and shares ISA to Hargreaves Lansdown months ago since when nothing has happened. Barclays has had serious problems with the running of its investment offshoot ever since it switched customers from its former stockbroking service which seemed to have far fewer problems. Investors found the new scheme was less efficient to the point that it refused to let them buy or sell shares, rendering it pretty much useless and leading to a queue to leave. Issues: A backlog of investors leaving Barclays has made the problem worse That is one of the problems Smart Investor has had. The number of people exiting generated a backlog, putting pressure on staff and leading to even more problems. You have told me you rang Barclays many times, waiting half an hour or more for an answer, only to find you could not speak to anyone who actually handled requests to switch to rival firms. The closest Barclays came to giving a specific reason for the delay in handling transfers for you and your wife was when staff told you the National Insurance number it held for your wife was not the same as the number quoted by Hargreaves Lansdown. You checked and updated the details, but months later Barclays was still telling Hargreaves Lansdown the two records did not match. Letters from Barclays provided a fresh layer of frustration. One acknowledged a complaint from you and promised an update a few weeks later. But what arrived was a further letter, itself promising an update a month from then. I asked officials at the banks head office to look into all this. They accepted their systems had recorded an incorrect National Insurance number for your wife. They told me: The accounts have now been fully transferred and we have offered a gesture of goodwill. So far, so good. Except you told me you had received no such offer. You added: I will never deal with this company again. It turned out Barclays had sent 250 to your account, but nothing for your wife. You were told her complaint was being investigated separately. At this point Barclays tried to refuse to speak to me because your wife had complained to the Financial Ombudsman Service. I had to point out the complaint had been made months ago since when Barclays had certainly discussed it with me in some detail. The bank then changed its mind, saying your wifes ISA transfer had now been completed. The bottom line is that the Ombudsman awarded your wife 250 on top of the same amount the bank had already offered. The Ombudsman ruled that even if records showed an incorrect National Insurance number, this did not justify or explain a delay of six months in making the transfer which the banks own guidelines say should take six to eight weeks. Something went horribly wrong last year in this department of the bank. I have had more complaints about this than other well known issues such as Payment Protection Insurance. It will take a long time for Barclays to repair the damage to its reputation among customers who used its investment service. I got dates wrong, but still had to pay for villa T.M. writes: I booked a villa in Tenerife for my family of seven, paying 3,700 (about 3,100) via Booking.com. To my horror, I quickly realised I had got the dates wrong. I decided to cancel and rebook as Booking.com allows. The mistake was mine and I fully expected a cancellation fee, but the villa owner said he would not refund anything except for 100 for cleaning charges. He said the 3,700 rental was a special offer, though there was no mention of this on the website. I offered to accept a date later in the year, but he refused. I complained to Booking.com, but was told cancellation fees are applied at the owners discretion. This is true, but it was only made clear after I had paid. I am 73 and the holiday was to celebrate our Golden Wedding. Refusal: The owner of the Villa de Fanabe in Tenerife would not budge Booking.com told me that when you made your reservation for the Villa de Fanabe, it would have been clear at every stage of the booking process that the payment was non-refundable. Well, up to a point. I waded through about a dozen pages of photographs, information and small print about the villa. There is a section headed fine print where you might expect to find cancellation details there, but you would be wrong. Instead, there are the usual frequently asked questions, mainly about parking spaces and air conditioning. There is a sub-heading policies and if you click on this then some way down the page it does clearly say you will be charged the total price if you cancel your booking. You almost have to know it is there to find it. To give Booking.com its due, it did do its best to help. I was told: Booking.com has tried to persuade the property [owner] to modify dates or offer free cancellation, but unfortunately they are unwilling. As a gesture of goodwill, Booking.com itself has now refunded you 1,040 (about 920). The villa owner has done well out of this though. The villa has been booked again for the same dates so he is getting paid twice. If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned. British tourists could save themselves more than 60million in rip-off fees next month by wising up to the biggest currency trap used by overseas firms. A week ago, The Mail on Sunday highlighted how consumers routinely lose out on poor exchange rates before they have even left home. But today, we expose the trick that dupes millions of holidaymakers every year while abroad. It is known as 'dynamic currency conversion'. Foreign shops, restaurants and cashpoints offer to convert a bill or cash withdrawal into a customer's home currency so the sum charged can be seen in pounds straightaway. Currency trap: Say a big NO to paying in pounds at shops, hotels and restaurants abroad Those who accept this offer ditch the rate set by their bank card provider and accept whatever rate the business wants to charge. In some cases, the mark-up on conversion costs is as high as 12 per cent. It is a big profit-winner for businesses in popular holiday destinations such as Spain. Last year, it cheated British tourists out of 1.3million a day, according to currency provider FairFX. But our research shows that with tourism at its peak during the school holidays, the cost of the currency trap in the coming weeks will be running at far higher than the daily average. James Hickman, chief commercial officer at FairFX, says: 'When people are asked if they want to pay in sterling, their first reaction is to say yes. Many consumers are unaware that they are being charged handsomely for the privilege. 'It is an expensive mistake, especially if repeated throughout the course of a summer holiday. The simple solution is to always pay in the local currency.' The first place to look out for such traps is at cashpoint machines. Coded message: Jenifer Swallow says cashpoint wording is deliberately confusing TRAP 1: ABROAD Nasty traps await users of cashpoints abroad. Convoluted language about currency conversion is one tool used to bamboozle customers who feel under pressure to make a decision quickly, especially when there is a queue of people behind. There may be a choice to 'continue with or without conversion' with an asterisk and lengthy explanation about what this means. Hickman says it is like 'taking an exam without being able to read the questions properly'. It is also natural for tourists to gravitate to the currency they are most familiar with. Knowing this, cash machine providers have been clever about the wording they use. Jenifer Swallow, at money transfer and currency specialist TransferWise, says: 'The language you see at a cashpoint for dynamic currency conversion is deliberately confusing and worded in the bank's favour. For example, if you are in Spain and it says press 'yes for GBP' and 'no for EUR', you may assume selecting 'no' is the wrong choice. It is unfair but a common trap that many tourists fall into. I would urge anyone abroad to remember that selecting the local currency option is always best.' How to navigate the currency traps Say a big NO to paying in pounds at shops, hotels and restaurants abroad. Choose the local currency. Similarly, withdraw money from cashpoint machines without the dynamic currency conversion. Get the right plastic load a prepaid card or take a debit or credit card that is good for travel. For prepaid cards consider Revolut, WeSwap and FairFX. Accounts with travel-friendly debit cards include TransferWise, Monzo, Starling Bank and Metro Bank. Good credit cards to take with you include Halifax Clarity, Barclaycard Platinum, Tandem and Aqua Reward. Order cash before you go. Use websites such as TravelMoneyMax and Compare Holiday Money to find good currency deals on cash with no fee for home delivery or for collection in person. Otherwise, use a suitable card to withdraw money fee-free from a cashpoint abroad but be wary of ATMs that charge their own fees. TRAP 2: IN THE UK Another swindle is emerging on home soil and comes from the multi-currency cashpoints found at tourist hotspots, such as airports. Many Britons now travel with prepaid cards loaded with a foreign currency. But those who want some holiday money in cash before they land often use these cards at multi-currency machines in the UK. For example, a customer with a prepaid card who has already converted their pounds to euros might withdraw 100. However, they will find an extra sum is deducted from their card. This is because the ATM converts the sum twice from euros to sterling, then back to euros again. This means their money has been converted three times over. Hickman says: 'It is shocking. We have had customers contacting us to ask what is happening, but it is a charge from the ATM vendor, not the card provider.' WHY IS THIS ALLOWED? Dynamic currency conversion lets travellers choose who sets their exchange rate the merchant or cardholder's bank. It is also simpler for business travellers claiming expenses in pounds. But customers who choose this route lose out nearly every time and are not given fair and simple information about the costs. The European Consumer Organisation has called for a ban on the practice, saying 'there is very little added value to a dynamic currency conversion service'. It said: 'The evidence shows the price paid for this service is extortionate. All bodies dealing with consumer issues are unanimous consumers should never accept dynamic currency conversion.' In March, the European Commission proposed new rules for how the choice between exchange rates will be shown to customers. It should mean a customer knows instantly whether it is cheaper to pay in the local currency or their home currency which could effectively kill off the practice. These rules could be made law by January, but firms will have three years to comply. During that time a temporary cap on conversion rates may be introduced. Neil Woodford is one of the few investment managers that investors have ever heard of. He earned his reputation at asset manager Invesco Perpetual, protecting investors portfolios from the worst ravages of the bursting of the dotcom bubble in 2000. Four years ago and after more than 25 years at Invesco, he set up his own company Woodford Investment Management and has since launched four funds bearing his name. But it has not all been plain sailing and some investors are getting agitated. Long term vision: Neil Woodford has launched four funds since going it alone in 2014 On the 42nd floor of a skyscraper in the heart of the City of London, ambient lighting and sultry background music make it feel more like a trendy bar in the Balearics than just another office block. It is 10.30 on a midweek morning and the room is filled not with festival goers or holidaymakers, but professional investors. They have come to listen to Neil Woodford, the founder of Oxford- based asset manager Woodford Investment Management and an individual who in his time has been compared with the legendary Warren Buffett for his ability to pick winning stocks. What binds these investors is that they have all put money in Woodford Patient Capital Trust, one of four funds that Woodford has launched since going it alone in 2014. All three funds that are available to UK investors Woodford Equity Income Feeder is an offshore fund have got off to indifferent starts. Since launch in June 2014, Woodford Equity Income has returned a tad over 20 per cent, below that of both the average performance for rivals and the FTSE All Share. Nervous investors have pulled millions out of this fund which has seen its assets drop from more than 10billion to just 6.1billion. This is the most attractive asset class Ive ever analysed Woodford Income Focus, launched in April 2017, has similarly underperformed, albeit over a shorter period of time. But it is the performance of 750million investment trust Woodford Patient Capital that stands out like a sore thumb. Shares in the trust, which invests in early-stage businesses, are down 21 per cent in price since launch in May 2015. The slide in the trusts value has culminated in it being ignominiously relegated from the FTSE 250 Index. Many investors are disappointed. Extremely upset in fact, especially given some investors were prepared to pay a premium for shares in the immediate aftermath of the trusts launch. Patience is wearing thin. At the investor meeting in London, Woodford is nothing but defiant. He says: We never promised instant returns. We said to judge us on our three to five-year outcomes the clue is in the name, this is the Patient Capital Trust. While investors have lost money on paper at least Woodford has yet to draw a fee from the trust. The charging structure means he can only take one if the trust grows the value of its assets by ten per cent a year. He adds: We didnt expect to get paid at this stage. We said we would spend the first years building stakes in exciting businesses which is what we have done. What the experts think about Patient Capital... Laith Khalaf Analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown Clearly Patient Capitals share price performance has not been what investors had hoped for. But this is part and parcel of investing in early stage companies. Investors who bought into the trust at launch three years ago should be willing to ride out the dips and hold on for the long term. Patrick Connolly Financial planner, Chase de Vere We have never recommended this trust to clients. It has a big exposure to early stage healthcare and technology companies and so is unsuitable for most retail investors, except those who understand the risks. Of course, the trust could perform strongly in the future, but investors should expect a bumpy ride and periods when there are significant paper capital losses. ...and Woodford Equity Income Khalaf The fund has undoubtedly gone through a disappointing period of performance, but the manager has a successful track record of investing across three decades which should give investors some reassurance as to its prospects. All active managers can be prone to periods of underperformance, but it is what they deliver in the long term which should be of paramount importance to investors. Connolly Many investors have been left disappointed, especially if they believed the marketing hype at launch and were too over-exposed to this fund. It has the potential to have sustained periods of out-performance as well as under-performance. Investors need to ensure they fully understand and accept the risks involved. Brian Dennehy, Fund Expert The fund has underperformed. There are better opportunities for income and growth investors such as Schroder Income and JOHambro Capital Management UK Equity Income. The bad news emanating from some of the companies Patient Capital invested in has been relentless. Shares in American biotech firm Prothena of which he owns 29 per cent plunged 70 per cent after it decided to discontinue the development of its lead drug. Shares in intellectual property firm Allied Minds in which he has a 27.5 per cent stake are down more than 50 per cent since last November after it disposed of seven subsidiaries. Woodford says: We know not everything will work and there will be things we get wrong. But when it does go wrong that does not mean we abandon ship and run away from the investment. Every company has moments when they have to take stock and reshape the business. It is not the first time Woodford has fallen out of favour. He came close to being fired at Invesco Perpetual when he refused to buy fashionable internet companies in the run-up to the dotcom bubble of the late-1990s. When the bubble burst the manager was vindicated. Once more, he is sticking to his guns. Woodford says: I could not be more confident that we will deliver on what we said three years ago when we launched Patient Capital. There has been quite a lot of commentary and the focus of that has been misjudged. We said we would deliver over a three to five-year period and we have only just got to the three-year point. There have been a number of investment successes. They include DNA sequencing firm Oxford Nanopore which was founded out of the Oxford University chemistry department and now has thousands of customers across 70 countries. It used its technology to identify a new strain of the deadly disease Ebola during the 2014 outbreak and work out where it was emanating from (Africa). The trust has also backed Proton Partners which recently opened the UKs first ever Proton Therapy centre in Newport, South Wales. The firm uses innovative technology to treat cancer. It hopes to be able to diagnose the disease in 24 hours. The current average in Britain is more than 60 days. Woodford says: We are investing in businesses we think will change the world and this is the most attractive asset class I have ever looked at, analysed or invested in. The star investor accuses the UK fund management industry of treating early-stage science and technology companies like a leper colony. But he praises the Government for its recognition that there is a need for funding in the sector. In the November Budget, the Government promised to make funds available to technology firms looking to scale up their business operations. Certainly, Woodfords investees appreciate his long-term approach. Mike Moran, chief executive of Proton Partners, says: The investment from his trust let us start building a network of centres and the first patient in the UK has now been treated. While the firms technologies would require a PhD to understand, Woodford decides where to invest based on good old human relationships. He says: It is the same as when we invest in any other business. We do a lot of due diligence and we look for world-class people and world-class technologies. 'Proud': Stuart Rhodes is at the helm of M&G Global Dividend Few equity income investment funds have enjoyed more success over the past decade than M&G Global Dividend. Launched in the teeth of the 2008 financial crisis, the fund now has assets under its wing of 6billion a big sum compared to most investment funds. An investor who supported the fund from launch would have tripled the value of their outlay. Yet it is the relentless commitment to dividend growth that stands M&G Global Dividend apart from the crowd of dividend-friendly investment funds vying for investors' money. Every year it has managed to grow the dividends it hands over to investors. This is no mean feat given the fact investment funds do not have the flexibility of rival investment trusts that can squirrel away surplus income in good years to top up dividend payments when times get tough. All the income that the fund earns from its holdings must be paid to investors almost straightaway by way of quarterly dividends. The individual at the helm since launch has been Stuart Rhodes. He says: 'I am pleased and proud of what has been achieved on the income front. We have stayed constant in terms of what we do and never veered off course. Growing the fund's income is a key target.' More importantly, he believes that the fund's income payments can keep growing in light of a healthy dividend backdrop worldwide. Already this year, some 29 of the fund's 42 holdings have announced dividend uplifts, ranging from the one per cent increase declared by Swiss healthcare company Roche to the 43 per cent increase in the quarterly dividend just paid by American bank JPMorgan Chase. Not one of the fund's holdings has confirmed a cut while 11 have revealed dividend increases in excess of 15 per cent. Dividend hunting: Some 13 per cent of the fund is in UK companies with tobacco giant Imperial Brands being the largest holding 'It is a pretty healthy dividend outlook out there,' says Rhodes. 'Outside some of the mega stocks such as Amazon and Netflix, you can still find a multitude of stocks with yields in excess of three per cent, an ability to grow their dividends and sitting on attractive values.' American semiconductor business Broadcom is indicative of the companies Rhodes likes. It is cash generative and has rewarded the fund with a stream of increasing dividends since a stake was taken in the company five years ago. Whenever the shares dip in value, he likes to top up the holding. As a result, it remains one of the fund's five biggest positions. For the past couple of years, John Weavers has been helping Rhodes run the fund. Weavers, who also manages M&G North American Dividend, keeps an eye on Global Dividend's holdings in the United States that amount to more than half the fund. 'The United States has a big dividend culture,' says Rhodes, 'which many investors in the UK fail to recognise. There are companies out there such as Johnson & Johnson which have enjoyed 46 years of annual dividend growth. It is these companies we are seeking out.' Some 13 per cent of the fund is in UK companies with tobacco giant Imperial Brands being the largest holding. 'Yes, the UK remains a great market for dividend hunters,' says Rhodes, 'but there are plenty of other investment opportunities elsewhere in the world.' Investment trusts with a similar international remit to M&G Dividend Growth, but with annual income growth records extending beyond 50 years, include Alliance, Bankers, Brunner and Foreign & Colonial. The UK budget deficit the difference between how much the Government spends and how much it receives in taxes is expected to be more than 30billion for this financial year. The figure has been falling, but it is still too high for the Government's liking. Of course, Chancellor Philip Hammond does not want to increase taxes, but he is keen to collect more of them. One popular way of doing this is by making sure big companies pay the tax they owe. Tax Systems provides software to help large firms navigate the Government's increasingly complex demands. The shares are at 85p and should rise as chief executive Gavin Lyons is driven, able and determined to expand the firm. Happy returns: The company helps firms submit tax data to the Revenue Lyons ran cyber-security group Accumuli, which was recommended by Midas in 2013 at 12p and taken over two years later at 33p. In 2016, he turned his attention to Tax Systems, then owned by a couple in their 70s, who had put the business up for sale. Backed by supportive investors, Lyons bought the firm and listed it on Aim. The company was already highly attractive, with about a thousand customers, including more than 100 firms in the FTSE 250 index and all but one of the UK's top 20 accountancy groups. But turnover had been static for three years and Lyons was keen to grow. The environment is conducive. In recent years legislation has been introduced to force companies to produce tax filings that are more detailed than ever before. And in April, the Government's 'Making Tax Digital' policy comes on-stream, requiring firms to file VAT returns online in the first instance. Strategy: Boss Gavin Lyons Tax Systems helps customers collect the relevant data, ensure they comply with regulations and manage the taxation process so they pay the right amounts at the right time in the right way. Lyons has also introduced new incentives for Tax Systems' sales people and strengthened top management, with the appointment of several directors who have worked successfully with him in the past. Early results of Lyons' strategy are encouraging. The company said in a trading statement last week, that it expected sales for the first half of 2018 to be 14 per cent ahead of the same period last year and directors were confident about earnings for the full year. Analysts expect 2018 profits of at least 5.8million, an 18 per cent rise on the year before. There is no dividend, as the firm took on about 30million of debt to pay the former owners for the business. But that has come down to 17.5million and should continue to fall over two to three years, at which point the company may start to pay dividends. Midas verdict: As anyone paying tax on account this week will testify, the Revenue is increasingly demanding. Tax Systems alleviates the burden and works with some of the UK's biggest firms and accountants, many of whom have been customers for years. Lyons is a seasoned operator with a history of delivering results. At 85p, the shares are a buy. OptiBiotix Health is at the centre of one of the hottest topics in the medical world today gut health. Once overlooked, the bacteria in the gut also known as the microbiome are increasingly seen as playing an essential role in our wellbeing, affecting our weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, skin and even our mood. The microbiome market is estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of pounds per year and is growing at more than 20 per cent a year. OptiBiotix shares have tripled to 96p since July 2015 OptiBiotix is a minnow in the field, but it is making strides. First recommended by Midas in July 2015 at 33p, the shares have tripled to 96p, as the firm evolves from a researcher to a commercial business. Run by microbiologist-turned-entrepreneur Stephen OHara, it focuses on products that alter gut bacteria in such a way as to promote weight loss, reduce blood pressure and lower cholesterol. Trial results have been positive and the firm has signed 19 deals in the past two years with dairy groups, food producers and drug companies. Some firms are looking at putting OptiBiotix no-calorie sweetener in yogurts or muesli. Others intend to put its products into capsules or tablets for cholesterol reduction. Each transaction is different but all are set to boost sales at OptiBiotix in the next two years and beyond. OptiBiotix, which is valued at 88million, also owns 42 per cent of SkinBioTherapeutics, which listed on Aim last year and is valued at 25million. Midas verdict: OptiBiotix has come a long way in the past three years and shareholders have benefited. But the firm is still at an early stage and risks remain. Cautious investors may choose to sell down their holdings and take some profit. But they should not sell out completely as OHara is highly ambitious and a major shareholder. A mobile phone app that offers diners restaurant discounts at off-peak hours is to float on the London Stock Exchange this week. BigDish was founded by British entrepreneur Aidan Bishop in Manila, capital of the Philippines, and has expanded across Asia into Hong Kong and Indonesia to work with around 500 restaurants. As part of its float in London which is expected to value the company at up to 20million BigDish is also buying a similar British business called Table Pouncer, which was founded in Bournemouth. Service: The free app offers off-peak discounts After the London listing, Bishop intends to expand his business across the UK. He will compete with established brands such as Taste Card, which offers diners discounts at restaurants including Pizza Express and La Tasca. BigDish charges restaurants a fee to use the app to offer customers discount rates during quiet hours. The app is free for diners. 'A restaurant has fixed overheads regardless of whether people come in or not rent, utilities and staff,' Bishop told The Mail on Sunday. 'What we're looking to do with BigDish is to send people in during quieter periods or off-peak hours when the restaurants most need them.' Dividends: Steve Mogford The boss of United Utilities will receive a 29,000 windfall on Friday, two days before he imposes a hosepipe ban. Steve Mogford will receive the payment in dividends from the company, as he owns more than 100,000 shares in United Utilities worth 700,000. The chief executives payout is larger than the average income in the UK, around 28,000. It is part of a 180million payment to shareholders by the North West water firm, due to be paid on Friday. The hosepipe ban comes in next weekend with offenders facing a fine of up to 1,000. Water firms have been savagely criticised for making huge payments to shareholders rather than plugging the leaks that could prevent hosepipe bans. United Utilities hopes the ban will save 22million gallons of water daily. But more than four times that volume is lost to leaks each day in the area covered by the firm, figures from water regulator Ofwat show. United Utilities has already paid 1billion in dividends in the last four years. The nine major water utilities made 18.8billion in post-tax profits in the decade to 2016, but paid out almost all of that 18.1billion in dividends. Professor David Hall, a water industry expert at the University of Greenwich, said: The money is available but its not reaching the right places, which are the leaks. Its reaching the wrong places: the pockets of shareholders. A United Utilities spokeswoman said: Steve Mogford will be receiving a cash dividend of 26.49p on the 110,119 shares he holds. He is required to purchase and retain a shareholding in the business and as such he receives any dividend along with all other shareholders. A new investment firm backed by billionaire Brexit donor Peter Hargreaves has posted a near-500,000 loss as it reels in investors. Hargreaves, co-founder of investment giant Hargreaves Lansdown, invested 25million of his 3.2billion personal fortune into Blue Whale Capital, which focuses on major overseas markets. The company's 470,549 loss covers the seven months since the Blue Whale fund launched last September. Brexit backer: Peter Hargreaves gave 3.2million to the Leave campaign The maiden accounts, for the year to March 31, also show an 18,000 payment to Hargreaves' son, Robert, for 'consultancy services'. Blue Whale's chief investment officer, Stephen Yiu, said the fund has delivered a positive return of over 20 per cent since the launch on September 11th last year and has outperformed its peers by more than 10 per cent this year. The firm will break even by next March. As of this month, it has 70million of assets under management. Hargreaves was one of the UK's biggest financial Brexit backers, having given 3.2million to the Leave campaign. He started Blue Whale to help 'insular' British investors raise their exposure to international markets. More than 70 per cent of its investments are in the US, compared to around 15 per cent in the UK. Its top ten holdings include Facebook, Amazon, PayPal and Microsoft. Hargreaves, 71, remains a major shareholder in Hargreaves Lansdown after stepping down in 2015 due to a health scare. In May, he joined the space race by taking control of the Goonhilly satellite tracking station in Cornwall. Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg's firm has invested in a company that has subsequently been blamed for more than 180 deaths in South Africa's worst-ever listeria outbreak. The hardline Brexiteer owns nearly a fifth of Somerset Capital Management, which manages $8.4billion (6.4billion) for private investors and City institutions. Its latest report for investors reveals that SCM owns a 15.7million stake in Tiger Brands, a South African food packaging company that is facing legal claims totalling 425million rand (24million) after listeria was found at its Polokwane factory in Pretoria. The hardline Brexiteer owns nearly a fifth of Somerset Capital Management Edward Robertson, who co-founded SCM with Rees-Mogg and Dominic Johnson, says in the report: 'Tiger Brands in South Africa has been linked to a listeria outbreak which has caused over a hundred fatalities. We have started a formal engagement with the company on the issue.' Shares in Tiger Brands have dropped 20 per cent since the crisis deepened earlier this year, but Robertson insisted the market 'over-reacted'. He reassured investors that the fines and compensation are likely to be 'substantially less' than the drop in the company's value. Rees-Mogg stepped down from the day-to-day management of SCM's funds when he became an MP in 2010. However, he still earns around 180,000 a year for working 30 hours a month for the firm and he also receives dividends. The latest accounts show that he and SCM's 20 other partners shared profits of 21.9million. The MP has also been criticised for his company's multi-million pound investments in Russian companies with links to the Kremlin and Russian oligarchs. Rees-Mogg told The Mail on Sunday recently: 'It is not my money. It belongs to people who have contractually asked SCM to invest in emerging markets which is our field of expertise.' Ryanair is battling yet another public relations disaster following staff walkouts that have scuppered thousands of customers' travel plans and wiped more than 1billion off the company's stock market value in the past fortnight. The airline's customer service operation appeared to be in meltdown as it struggled to handle the latest round of industrial action set for Friday, the fourth day of strikes to hit the carrier this summer. Upset passengers complained they were unable to contact the firm, whose pugilistic boss Michael O'Leary had previously promised to be nicer to its customers. Strikes have wiped more than 1bn off the company's stock market value in the past fortnight One, Megan McDermott, said on social media: 'I can't get in contact with you via phone or the online chat either, I just want a definitive answer if my flight is going to be cancelled or delayed next Friday due to the strike?' Another, Mark Kavanagh, said the 'customer service agent I eventually got to speak to, conceded that the company was not prepared for the number of calls'. The company has clashed with pilots and cabin crew over contracts and last week axed 300 jobs at its Dublin headquarters that it says it will move to Poland. The company insisted: 'There have been no issues. Ryanair has added extra customer service staff to help reaccommodate and refund customers and we are assisting all affected customers as quickly as possible.' Its axing of more than 600 flights earlier in the month had already angered passengers, even more so after Ryanair claimed it was not obliged to offer the standard 250 compensation payment. Strikes: Airline chief Michael O'Leary has plans to move jobs out of Dublin Ryanair claimed that under EU law 'no compensation is payable when the union is acting unreasonably and totally beyond the airline's control'. But the Civil Aviation Authority which only has jurisdiction in the UK said Ryanair was required to pay compensation if it did not give at least two weeks notice of cancellation. Ryanair said the majority of passengers are being rebooked on alternative flights. It added that almost three quarters of pilots did not vote to strike on the initial day of action, that Irish captains can be paid up to 200,000 a year and fly no more than 75 hours a month. Ryanair said: 'Pilots and cabin crew enjoy industry-leading terms and conditions.' Trade union members in Ireland first walked out on July 12. Cabin crews in Italy, Portugal, Spain and Belgium have also taken action. Alex Paterson, an analyst at Investec, which has downgraded Ryanair from 'buy' to 'hold', said: 'The unions are playing a dangerous game. Ryanair is clearly trying to come to an agreement with staff to resolve this but it doesn't seem to have been reciprocated.' John Nelson, ex-chairman of the world-famous Lloyd's of London insurance market, doesn't want to say there will be 'civil unrest' in the event of a disorderly exit from the European Union, but it is clear that he thinks it. 'If the supermarket shelves don't have what you want, if you can't get the medicines you want, what are people going to think?' he asks. 'I don't think there's been any planning for logistics whatsoever of any consequence. You're not going to get it in place in time. 'There is a serious threat for the actual physical movement of goods, for manufacturing, food, pharmaceuticals, and this could lead to a very, very serious situation indeed.' Change: John Nelson believes a new political party could emerge For a City grandee of Nelson's stature, cautious by nature and careful never to overstate a case, these are strong words. With his wide experience of business he chaired property group Hammerson, was deputy chairman of retail giant Kingfisher and served on the board of BT following a glittering career in investment banking he knows what he is talking about. He has come out of semi-retirement to press his case on Brexit, and our interview is interrupting his birthday he turned 71 on Thursday. He wrote a letter to the Financial Times last week urging fellow business people to speak more openly about Brexit and the damage he feels it will do to Britain's economy. He says: 'I know many, many people are very concerned, particularly business people, but also politician friends of mine, and for some reason they seem to be holding their counsel. I think it's a great shame. 'They should be speaking up, because I think the population do not understand the consequences of what we're heading for at all.' Comments like that are likely to enrage those who voted for Brexit, who will say Nelson is a typical elitist Remainer patronising the British public. Many people are concerned... but they are holding their counsel. Its a great shame But his letter struck a chord and was shared widely on social media. Nelson has, he says, been inundated with messages of support. 'My email inbox and phone have been overheating. I haven't been able to get to all the messages, there are hundreds and hundreds of them.' He is braced for a backlash, saying: 'No doubt I will get some criticism for saying what I have. I haven't yet seen anything critical but I'm sure there is on social media, I don't tend to follow it.' If there is one thing that is certain in Britain's febrile political climate, it is that Nelson is making himself a target for angry Brexiteers. He wants a second referendum and feels that a new 'centrist' party could emerge, perhaps similar to Emmanuel Macron's En Marche in France. He says: 'There's a very large body of MPs, probably a majority, who actually do understand what's going on. Across the board, I think you'd find there's a majority who would have a lot of sympathy or share my views. Iconic: Lloyds Building in the City of London 'In the end what will happen is maybe something like in France where a new political party is formed, of the centre, because I don't see how this can go on. We've got extreme tails wagging the dog.' He wants a second referendum 'because the route we are going down bears very little resemblance to what the population was told during the first referendum'. Again, Brexiteers will say that is condescending, and everyone knew what they were voting for. The trade implications of Brexit are one of his biggest worries. He says: 'Forty-four per cent of our trade is with the European Union. You look at the way in which the UK has grown its service sector not just financial services and a large part has been helped by having freedom to trade within the EU, passporting rights. 'That is extraordinarily potent and strong. People who say it doesn't matter, we can do without that and negotiate our own free trade agreements it's fanciful, absolutely fanciful, the idea that we can do that.' The Government has made no progress 'not a jot' in reaching new trade agreements over the past two years, he says, adding: 'And I wouldn't expect them to. It takes years and years to do this.' He likens it to Lloyd's negotiating new arrangements to offer insurance in countries where it had hitherto been unable to operate. When Nelson joined Lloyd's in 2011 he was seen as a friendlier face than his pugnacious predecessor Lord Levene. Insiders say he was best known for pressing ahead with the market's attempts to extend its reach into new territories, and for providing a broader link between the market and the City, the banking world and the Government. If youre part of the EU, countries will sit up and talk to you because theres a lot more at stake 'If I take India as an example, how long did it take to negotiate our Indian licence about 15 years in total? I was lucky enough to be there when we signed it but it takes a long time,' he says. Brexiteers could argue that trade agreements are nothing like Lloyd's licences. Nelson says in some ways, because they are more political, they might be more difficult. 'People have strong views on them, both within parliaments if they are democracies, or within the administration, if you're in China. 'The other point is that the UK is a medium small economy. So the leverage we have the clout here is very limited. Whereas if you're part of the EU these countries will sit up and talk to you because there's a lot at stake. But there ain't much at stake with the UK.' He entered the fray after seeing international businesses raise their heads above the parapet, but it is time for UK business to make its voice known. 'I think they should be speaking up. Businesses are after all the providers of the tax revenue and the prosperity in the country.' A string of giant US corporations including American Airlines, Nike, Ford and FedEx have issued a volley of panicked warnings about Brexit as nerves fray across the Atlantic. The jittery statements lay bare growing fears of political chaos, uncertainty and major economic upheaval in Britain and will pile pressure on Theresa May's Government, which is already besieged by bosses at home. Several UK business leaders have spoken out in recent weeks to voice alarm over Westminster's handling of the split and the shape of a final deal. Warning: FedEx said it fears Brexit could result in a 'global economic downturn' But most big US firms have so far kept quiet. The fears raised by American companies such as Texas-based American Airlines and Nike, with headquarters in Oregon, are significant because they are warning only on the potential impact on profit. The firms are unlikely to have any significant political interest. American Airlines last week told its investors it is worried that Brexit could jeopardise its ability to fly passengers and cargo in and out of London's Heathrow Airport. The company said the implications of the withdrawal are 'unclear' and the impact on its business 'cannot be predicted'. Currently, the 'open skies' agreement between the US and EU provides airlines with unfettered access to each market. American Airlines said a new regulatory framework may need to be drawn up to allow it to continue operating. Global delivery firm FedEx said it fears Brexit could result in a 'global economic downturn'. It said the UK's trade with the EU and elsewhere could stall if it loses free trade agreements. Nike named 'uncertainty surrounding the effect of Brexit' as a key threat FedEx also warned that Brexit could create new regulatory costs in Britain. Car manufacturer Ford, which employs 13,000 people in the UK, raised the spectre of further political turmoil in Europe and expressed concerns over the 'stability' of the EU. It said these fears have been 'exacerbated by Brexit'. Ford also echoed FedEx's point that the UK could lose access to free trade agreements on imports and exports with the EU and other countries. Sportswear brand Nike named 'uncertainty surrounding the effect of Brexit' as a key threat in a statement to investors on the risks to 'global trade and doing business abroad'. PayPal, which is used by millions of internet shoppers to make payments online, voiced fears that Brexit could destabilise financial and foreign exchange markets across the world. American Airlines last week told its investors it is worried that Brexit could jeopardise its ability to fly passengers and cargo in and out of London's Heathrow Airport Several warnings have also been issued by US pharmaceuticals companies that sell medicines to Europe. They are worried that the UK may diverge from EU drug regulations, which would drive up costs if treatments had to be put through two sets of tests and checking. Catheter-maker Merit Medical warned that Brexit could 'affect our ability to sell products in certain EU countries and in the United Kingdom'. Tiziana Life Sciences, which specialises in the treatment of cancers and autoimmune diseases, condemned the 'lack of clarity' around Brexit. It told investors that Brexit could see a fall in foreign investment in the UK, increase costs and depress economic activity. Akari Therapeutics, which fights rare autoimmune diseases, said Brexit is a threat to the UK's status as a 'leading centre for business and commerce'. Software development firm Luxoft said it is 'unclear when exactly the UK will exit and on what terms' and blamed politicians for the uncertainty. Engineering firm Altra Industrial Motion, which has five UK factories, expressed fears that Scotland where the majority voted Remain could push for another independence referendum, potentially harming its business. Saudi railway authorities are all set to kick off the Makkah Light Rail Project operations next month following the successful testing of the system by the contractor China Railway Construction Corporation in June, said a report. In 2009, CRCC had won the bid for the construction of the 18.25-km-long rail network, which includes nine stations, reported China's Xinhua news agency. Impressed with the project work, the Saudi government also awarded CRCC with the operation contract worth SR350 million ($93 million) for the Makkah Light Rail in April, it stated. The company had operated the light rail, the first one in Saudi, during 2010-2014 after the construction work had been completed and successfully carrying out about 15 million trips with zero fatalities, it stated. The Al Mashaaer Al Mugaddassah is an exclusive metro line for Makkah which operates only during the Hajj season. Running 7 days a year, it operates as a shuttle train for pilgrims between Makkah, Mount Arafat, Muzdalifah and Mina to reduce congestion caused by thousand of buses and cars during the Hajj, it added. Inspired by the growth of digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) in boosting the economy, the annual World Green Economy Summit (WGES 2018) to be held in Dubai, UAE, will focus on developing the digital economy and integrating it with the green context. The event will take place on October 24 and 25 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre and will be held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The summit is organised by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) and the World Green Economy Organisation (WGEO) in collaboration with international partners under the theme Driving Innovation, Leading Change, said a statement from the organisers. WGES is a strategic platform to share and exchange knowledge and bring to focus new technologies that drive the growth for a green economy including improvements in energy efficiency, energy conservation and waste reduction. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, vice chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy in Dubai and chairman of WGES, said: The summit will keep abreast of the rapid changes in technology and its futuristic advancement especially the fourth industrial revolution and particularly digital and AI that are accelerating the pace of change. Serving as the new growth drivers, these new forms of technology will not only transform the world, but also make disruptive changes towards creating a more sustainable economy, he said. Al Tayer continued: Focusing on new mechanisms, including crypto currencies, blockchain technologies, robotics, machine learning and Internet of Things (IoT), WGES will discuss the role of technology and how it serves as an incentive to promote green economy. In addition, the summit will also focus on the interplay between the digital transformation and its embedded innovation in the green transition initiatives. WGES will not only discuss the latest smart technologies and digital breakthroughs that promise to accelerate green growth and sustainable development, but also encourage participants to reflect on the need for building up digital skills to transition smoothly to a green economy, he added. Al Tayer said: Digital technology is a major game changer that will empower the development of the world in terms of economic growth, environmental protection and public health. From drones to remote sensing machines and modern communication channels, these new forms of technologies not only improve efficiency of the resources, but also protect the environment. As advancements in technology continue, it is important that we tap these innovative mechanisms for a green future, which is a win-win for the environment and the economy, he continued. Al Tayer stated: While technology is an essential ingredient of green growth, private and public-sector involvement and financing is key to scale up these digital revolutions. By working together, these sectors can create a common platform for the exchange of ideas and expertise on green practices and technologies, generating greater prosperity for the environment. As such, the event will serve as a strategic platform for all stakeholders of the green industry to connect and cooperate, whilst formulating strategies to boost a green global landscape, he concluded. WGES 2018 will focus on three main pillars, green capital, digital transformation, and leadership and social engagement. The event will gather financial executives, investment professionals, and thought leaders to discuss ways to increase green capital flows into regional and global environment-friendly projects and how to de-risk those investments. While the summit will highlight emerging strategies along with innovative technologies, best practices and valuable insights, it will also offer participants an opportunity to learn and intensify knowledge from proven real-world case studies in the industry, it stated. TradeArabia News Service The Bahrain team of Swedish-founded furnishing giant Ikea has announced that the company has successfully created around 320 jobs in Bahrain, and has also hired a high number of locals. Ikea Bahrain Store human resources manager, Hanadi Alaali, stated that the company is working directly with the Ministry of Labour to hire Bahrainis, and has achieved 60 per cent Bahrainisation at the opening stage, said a statement from the company. The store, which is expected to open soon, is being launched in partnership with Saudi Arabias Ghassan Ahmed Al Sulaiman Furniture Trading Company, Ikea Saudi Arabia. The store, located in Salmabad, will have a total retail area of 37,000 sq m and an investment of BD47 million ($124.76 million). one of the biggest in the region, is expected to open soon. Alaali said: The company has built strong relations with the Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Commerce, Tamkeen, LMRA and EDB and has received a high level of support from all of these governmental institutes. As per government requirements, the targeted Bahrainisation for a company is set at 30 per cent. We have already exceeded this figure with Bahrainis now making up 60 per cent of our co-workers, Alaali said. The move comes as part of the companys aim to contribute to the kingdoms strategy to tackle unemployment. We also aim to achieve a gender balance within our team and have followed the companys value-based recruitment policy, she said. In addition, we will be hiring individuals with special needs and disabilities to provide equal work opportunities, she added. To date, 16 per cent of the Ikea Bahrain team comprises members with Ikea experience: some with international experience (particularly Swedish) and others with regional experience. We base our recruitment process on Ikea values, abilities and capabilities that is based on providing equal opportunities to all, and have hired people with education qualifications from secondary school to Master's degree, Alaali stated. The companys recruitment process started with a number of activations across the kingdom which targeted job fairs and universities. We have held activations at the Ministry of Labour Job Fair, Ahlia University Career Fair and Bahrain Training Institute Career Week in addition to group interviews, which were held at Bahrain Polytechnic University, Ahlia University, Bahrain Institute of Hospitality & Retail, explained Alaali. The company will also be working closely with Tamkeen in order to optimise training opportunities for Bahrainis. Our team also recently conducted a Product Safety and Compliance School Training workshop for the Ministry of Labour and Ministry of Industry & Commerce, she said. Ikea is a learning organisation, hence we will be creating learning and development plans for every co-worker and will be conducting training sessions at the organisation, she concluded. TradeArabia News Service Port of Duqm Company (PDC) said one of its subsidiaries, Duqm Industrial Land Company (DILC), has signed a 25-year usufruct agreement for the lease of a 50,000 sq m plot to Egypt-based engineering and pipeline group, The Petroleum Projects & Technical Consultations Company (Petrojet). A joint venture between the Omani government and the Consortium Antwerp Port, the PDC is fast becoming an important reality of the Middle East regions rapidly transforming maritime landscape. PDC also holds under its concession 50 million sq m of land space at its strategic location and a state-of-the-art port facility. Out of which 20 million sq m is industrial and petrochemical area that offers investors to operate medium to heavy industrial activities. As per the lease agreement, Petrojet will use the land to operate its steel works, moulding, fusion and welding metal structures besides installation and maintenance of pumps, said a statement from the Omani company. A leading contractor in Egypt, Petrojet has a major presence in the Middle East and North Africa region including in its key markets Oman, Libya, Jordan, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Yemen and Lebanon. The company operates with its fleet of cutting edge construction equipment and its 27,500- strong workforce, it added.-TradeArabia News Service Etihad Airways will introduce the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on its scheduled services from Abu Dhabi to Rabat, capital of Morocco, effective October 3, replacing the Airbus A330-300 currently serving the route. The introduction of the technologically advanced aircraft on Rabat services is a further boost to its presence in the Moroccan market. On May 1 this year, the airline placed the 787 Dreamliner on its daily flights to the kingdoms commercial hub, Casablanca. The move to place the aircraft on Rabat flights will provide customers travelling on Etihad Airways Moroccan routes with full product consistency, the latest inflight technology, and increased cargo capacity to further boost trade. Robin Kamark, chief commercial officer, Etihad Aviation Group, said: Morocco is a very important destination on the Etihad network, underscoring the close cultural and commercial ties between the kingdom and the UAE. Our flights to Rabat and Casablanca have proved tremendously popular with UAE and Moroccan nationals, and residents. Adding the 787 Dreamliner on all our Moroccan services will now provide our customers flying to both capitals with the same award-winning cabins, innovative seating and products. Etihad Airways three-class version of the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner features eight private First Suites, 28 Business Studios and 199 Economy Smart Seats. To meet summer peak travel demand, Etihad Airways recently added a third weekly service to Rabat, operating every Saturday until September 29. The extra flight provides more choice to the increasing number of point-to-point business and leisure travellers between both cities. Etihad Airways has been serving Rabat since January 2016, providing the only long-haul link from the city, and the only service operated by the 787 Dreamliner. Etihad Airways has had a codeshare partnership in place with Royal Air Maroc (RAM) since May 2007, with the Moroccan flag carrier placing its AT code on Etihad services from Abu Dhabi to both Rabat and Casablanca. Under the agreement, Etihad Airways places its EY code on Royal Air Marocs services from Casablanca to Agadir, Marrakech and Tangier, and pending government approvals, from Casablanca to Abidjan in Ivory Coast, Conakry in Guinea, and Dakar in Senegal. - TradeArabia News Service 19 more party and youth office bearers expelled by BJP 27 Oct 2021 | 3:09 AM Shimla, Oct 26(UNI) As many as 19 office bearers of ruling BJP and Yuva Morcha were expelled for the period of six years for indulging in anti party activities, party press releases issued here said. see more.. Chaudhary Charan Singhs birth anniversary to be celebrated as Kisan Samman Diwas in UP 27 Oct 2021 | 3:08 AM Lucknow, Oct 26(UNI) In honour of the Annadata, December 23, which is also the birth anniversary of the fifth Prime Minister of India, Chaudhary Charan Singh, will be observed as the Kisan Samman Diwas in Uttar Pradesh. see more.. LawSikho collaborates with ICFAI University to launch blended legal courses 27 Oct 2021 | 3:06 AM Lucknow, Oct 26(UNI) LawSikho, a leading ed-tech startup focused on legal education has collaborated with the ICFAI University through the ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education. see more.. Chamba to Kilar via Sach Pass road closed for vehicular movement 27 Oct 2021 | 3:06 AM Hamirpur/Chamba (HP) Oct 26(UNI) Deputy Commissioner, Chamba, DC Rana, in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 115 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 has issued an order to close the Chamba to Kilar via Sach Pass road for all types of vehicular movement with an immediate effect. see more.. A cargo ship docks at Da Nangs Tien Sa Port. - VNS Photo Cong Thanh General Director of Da Nang Port Joint Stock Company Nguyen Huu Sia told Vietnam News that the second stage at Tien Sa Port had cost more than VND1 trillion (US$44.2 million), of which 36 per cent was funded by the company. He said the second stage, which included two piers, would allow access to 70,000DWT (deadweight tonnage) ships, 4,000TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) container ships, and 150GT (gross tonnage) cruise ships. Sia said the port was a key hub in central Vietnam and met international logistics standards in the region connecting the East-West Economic Corridor that links Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam. According to the latest report, Tien Sa Port, 10km from the city centre, handled four million tonnes of cargo in the first six months this year, a 6.14 per cent increase in comparison with the same period last year. The port received on average 23 ships from 15 shipping agencies per week. The expanded port will help build it into a leading international commercial gateway in the ASEAN region by 2025. The Tien Sa upgrade is the citys second investment project which did not use Official Development Assistance (ODA) funds after the Hoa Lien Water refused non-refundable ODA funds from Japan. According to the Ministry of Transport, Da Nang Citys port system, including Tien Sa, Lien Chieu and Son Tra, would handle 29 million tonnes of cargo by 2030. The city and the port of Kawasaki in Japan have been planning to open a shipping route connecting the two ports. Tien Sa Port will become a valley of logistics, warehouses, transport and digital customer clearance services, besides housing representative offices of shipping companies and banks. The port has operated as a limited company under the ownership of Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) since 2008. About 4,000 owners of vehicles in the northern province of Hung Yen and Hai Phong City will receive a fee exemption or reduction when they travel through two Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) toll stations installed along the National Highway No 5 starting August 1. - VNA/VNS Photo According to a legal document issued on July 4, vehicles with less than 12 seats and trucks with capacity of less than two tonnes belonging to local residents for non-commercial purposes will receive the fee exemption. Public buses running on fixed routes in the two localities will also receive the fee exemption. Organisations and agencies located in areas of the province and the city near the toll stations will get a fee reduction of between 45 and 50 per cent. The areas in Hung Yen Province eligible for fee exemption and reduction include the communes of Lac Hong, Trung Trac, Dinh Du, Minh Hai and Nhu Quynh Town in Van Lam District; the communes of Giai Pham, Nghia Hiep, Dong Than and Ban Yen Nhan Town in My Hao District; and the communes of Nghia Tru and Vinh Khuc in Van Giang District. In Hai Phong, the areas include communes of Le Thien, An Hung, Dai Ban, Tan Tien, An Hong, Hong Phong, An Hoa, Nam Son, Bac Son and Le Loi in An Duong District and Quan Toan Ward in Hong Bang District. Nguyen Van Dieu, head of the BOT toll station in Hung Yen Provinces Nhu Quynh Town, said an additional 1,000 vehicle-owners in the province were finishing their files according to regulations to receive an exemption and reduction in the future. A representative of the company said the two toll stations operator was ordered to update the list of vehicles receiving the fee exemption and reduction every three months. The decision on the fee exemption and reduction came after many local drivers used small notes to pay the fee at the toll station in Hung Yen Province in order to slow traffic to a crawl and show their opposition to the tolls in late 2017. The drivers protested because they thought that the toll station was located on the National Highway No 5 to collect fees to pay for the HanoiHai Phong Expressway project was inappropriate. They also said the fee was too high, affecting the lives of local drivers and business activities of local transport companies. National Highway No 5, connecting Hanoi with the ports of the north-eastern coastal city of Hai Phong, is also a part of the Asian Highway AH14 passing through three countries Vietnam, China and Myanmar. Drivers have to pay a fee from VN40,000180,000 (US$1.7-7.7) each time they pass through the highway. It is estimated that about 15,000-16,000 vehicles run through the highway daily. Many areas of Laos suffer from severe floods after the dam collapse (Photo: Xinhua/VNA) A national ad hoc committee in charge of dealing with the disaster in Attapeu province released the warning after learning that some social media users both in Laos and abroad as well as media organisations had published reports containing many "incorrect" statements, online English-language newspaper Vientiane Times reported on July 29. These fake reports had been issued since the disaster occurred on July 23, it said. The committee called on everyone in Laos and other countries, media organisations and social media followers to pay attention only to accurate reports and photos published by the state-run media such as newspapers, national radio and TV, which regularly report on developments in the situation. The committee warned that false reports and the sharing of fake news and photos about the flooding in Attapeu province as well as fake news and photos about weather condition and storms across the country violate Lao laws and regulations. Taxi drivers blocked the Gran Via in Barcelona on July 27, 2018 during a strike. Taxi drivers in Madrid joined the action on July 28 protesting at "unfair competition" from Uber and Cabify. (Photo: AFP/Lluis Gene) The federation of Madrid taxis claimed all 15,000 drivers in the capital had joined the movement and that it would spread to other cities. "All taxis have spontaneously and progressively stopped work, paralysing services in the capital, at the airport, around bus and railway stations", federation secretary Santiago Simon Vicente told AFP. "The main problem is the proliferation of VTC licences," he said. "There are more and more of them, thousands, and it's unfair competition." The federation called on the authorities to enforce legislation under which there should be 30 traditional taxis for every VTC (Tourism Vehicle with Chauffeur). Today there are only five for every VTC, said Vicente. Taxi drivers cut access to central Barcelona on Friday after the Spanish government appealed a ruling approved by Barcelona authorities that limited the number of licences for Uber-style services. "Today everything is blocked in Barcelona, the airport, the stations, etc," the head of Taxis Companys, Luis Lopez, told AFP. "We will not move, all night, all day tomorrow ... (until) there is a solution," he warned. Violence erupted in Barcelona where the strike began on Wednesday. Drivers threw stones at the vehicles of Uber-style licensed private chauffeurs, with some ending up with flat tyres. The attacks prompted Uber and Cabify to suspend their services in Barcelona for as long as the taxi strike lasts. Unauto, which represents Uber and Cabify, on Saturday urged the Spanish government to "take back control of the streets saying "violent" taxi drivers were trying to defend a monopoly. The authorities called "for calm" on Saturday and for representatives from each side to meet next week to find a solution. A conference to promote investment from the RoK (Illustrative photo: VNA) Speaking before an audience of RoK businesspeople, Chairman of Vinh Phuc provincial Peoples Committee Nguyen Van Tri highlighted the provinces convenient location in Vietnams northern key economic zone and favourable natural conditions suitable for industry, tourism and hi-tech agriculture. He informed the Korean business circle that the province has made efforts to streamline its administrative procedures, upgrade infrastructure, especially at industrial zones, and train the local labour force. The provincial leader reported that Vinh Phuc is now home to more than 300 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects, including many run by RoK corporations such as Partron Vina, Haesung Vina, Bangjoo and Interflex. Several more RoK firms, namely Interflex, Young Poong Electronics and Korea Circuit, are planning investments worth close to 1 billion USD in the Dong Soc industrial cluster. He urged RoK firms consider investing in such fields as support industry for automobile and electronic part production, farm produce processing, urban areas, hotels, eco-tourism, education-training and health care. Vietnamese Ambassador to the RoK Nguyen Vu Tu briefed the conference on the growing strategic cooperative partnership between Vietnam and the RoK. The RoK is currently the top foreign investor in Vietnam with accumulated investment of more than 60 billion USD as of July this year. Bilateral trade topped 60 billion USD in 2017, making the RoK the second largest trade partner of Vietnam, while Vietnam is the fourth largest trade partner of the RoK. Each country has around 150,000 citizens living and working in the other country. The ambassador said sound political ties and close people-to-people exchange are factors that help boost economic cooperation between the two sides. He stressed that with a high GDP growth of 6.8 percent last year, Vietnam is an attractive destination for investors. Who is Alexandre Benalla ? Revealed by Le Monde, the Benalla affair has given us a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes in the Elysee. One of Emmanuel Macrons collaborators is a hooligan who, posing as a police officer and equipped with a police armband and a police radio, took to the streets on 1 May and beat up two demonstrators. He enjoyed unhealthy cronyism , to borrow the phrase from Prefect Michel Delpuech. This aspect of the affair is now the object of a judicial enquiry in which 5 people are indicted. This is doubled by an administrative investigation by the Inspection Generale de la Police Nationale (IGPN). It so happens that far from being a vague collaborator, this yobbo was none other than the Assistant Director of the cabinet of the President of the Republic . He escorted his boss on a great number of occasions, both public and private, and possessed a copy of the keys to the Presidents second home. He had been awarded a permanent license to carry a weapon because of his function (which was what exactly?) He had been provided with an official car equipped with flashing lights and sirens (by whom?) He owned an access card to the hemicycle of the National Assembly, a diplomatic passport, and Secret-Defense accreditation (why?) According to the police unions which gave testimony under oath before the Senatorial Information Mission, the Presidents street thug inspired terror in police officers. He would not hesitate to threaten and curse high-ranking officers of the Police and Gendarmerie to whom he would even issue orders. He went to meetings with the Minister of the Interior and the Prefecture of Police accompanied by barbouzes, or secret agents. He recruited security guards for the Elysee. All these charges are firmly denied by the cabinet of the President of the Republic. President Macron declared that he had been betrayed by Alexandre Benalla, and that he had sanctioned him with fifteen days of suspension without salary and reassignment to a less important position. However, for technical reasons, the financial sanction has not yet been applied. Besides this, a few days later, due to a lack of personnel , the same Benalla once again accompanied the President as if nothing had happened. None of the people tasked with the Presidents security, not even the Minister of the Interior, were troubled by this persistent proximity, although they all knew about the beatings of 1 May. This, of course, is why the parliamentarians of the Board of Enquiry asked the obvious question - was Alexandre Benalla part of a developing parallel police force under the unique command of President Macron? It is important to understand that in the French Constitutional system, the President of the Republic has no power over the administrations which are ruled by the government alone. His security is guaranteed by civil and military personnel [1]. If the President had a security service placed only under his orders, he could not be controlled, since he would benefit from the irresponsibility accorded to the President for the duration of his mandate. After six days of mutism, the President of the Republic addressed his faithful supporters, who were gathered for a private soiree. Forgetting that even these supporters were asking questions, he mobilised them against the enemies who were harassing him. He declared that he had been betrayed by the assistant director of his cabinet. He claimed that he was the only chief and thus the only person responsible for this casting error (in reality, the sole author of this error). His speech was quite graceful and touching. But it did not answer the question asked. Above all, it hindered the work of the parliamentarians by relieving the personalities questioned of the necessity to answer in detail, since only the President is - or rather, will be when his mandate ends - responsible . Move along, theres nothing to see here! The parliamentarians had already been destabilised by a statement made under oath by the Director of Public Order for the Prefecture de Police, Alain Gibelin, which contradicted the declarations from the Elysee until he corrected his statement the next day; then by the contradictions between the official description of Alexandre Benallas position and the motives figuring on the prefectorial order for his license to bear arms; or again, by the declaration from the Elysee that he did not enjoy the privilege of official accommodation, which was contradicted by the fiscal declaration concerning his change of address of 9 July at the barracks of Quai Branly. Not to mention the theft of the surveillance videos from the Prefecture de Police of Paris by police officers acting on behalf of Alexandre Benalla; videos which occupied an entire day at the Elysee, where they were watched by numerous collaborators. The Gladio B hypothesis We have published in these columns that the mission of Monsieur Benalla was to create a French equivalent of the US Secret Service which would integrate both the function of Presidential security and the fight against terrorism [2] ; information which has today been widely borrowed by our colleagues without mentioning us. The Minister of the Interior, who declared that he knew nothing of this affair, is convinced that the recasting of the Elysees security services was not aimed at keeping them sheltered from the control of the traditional hierarchies. We hope that he has not allowed himself to be led astray on this subject too. Nonetheless, we may remember that during the Cold War, the United States and the United Kingdom had created, in all of the allied states, a service designed to combat Soviet influence without the knowledge of the national institutions. This system is known to historians as the stay-behind, and to the public by the name of its Italian branch, Gladio. All over the world, it was under the joint command of the CIA and MI6, via the World Anti-Communist League (WACL) [3], except for Europe, where it was connected to NATO [4] The main operational officials of this stay-behind network (in other words, capable of becoming clandestine in the case of a Soviet invasion) were the ex-officials of the Nazi repression. While the French people know that SS captain and head of the Gestapo in Lyon, Klaus Barbie, became the official representative of the stay-behind network in Bolivia working against Che Guevara, they do not know, for example, that the Police Prefect for Paris, the collaborator Maurice Papon, who massacred a hundred Algerians on 17 October 1961, was one of the leaders of the network in France, working against the FLN [5]. Here in Damascus where I live, people remember another SS officer and director of the camp at Drancy, Alois Brunner, who was placed as an advisor to the Syrian secret services by the CIA and MI6 in order to prevent the country from swinging over into the Soviet camp. He was arrested by President Bachar el-Assad as soon as he came to power. In France, when the stay-behind turned against France, accused it of leaving Algeria to the Soviets, organised the coup detat in 1961 and financed the OAS (Organisation de lArmee Secrete), President De Gaulle recuperated certain of its agents in order to form a militia to work against the militia - the SAC (Service dAction Civique) [6]. Despite appearances, these stories are not as old as all that - the world of politics still hosts personalities who were part of the stay-behind network. For example, the current President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Junker, was the head of Gladio in Luxembourg [7]. Of course, in the 21st century, we no longer torture and assassinate people as we used to, we simply discredit trouble-makers by way of the Press. Above all, there is no more Soviet Union, and consequently no more stay-behind network. But the personnel we used and who were replaced have had to be recycled. A number of elements attest to the fact that these agents first of all led the jihad against the Soviets in Afghanistan, and then, today, against Russia [8], to the point where they are labelled by the FBI as Gladio B [9]. The efficiency of this network in the Greater Middle East over the last 17 years needs no further proof. Precisely, the question of the fight against terrorism or its manipulation - was handled by the United States secret service, which the Elysee was preparing to replicate. Oddly enough, the Elysees anti-terrorist task force, directed by Prefect Pierre de Bousquet de Florian, is already doubled by a cell entrusted to an executive of the Presidents chief of staff, Admiral Bernard Rogel. According to LOpinion, this executive, Ludovic Chaker who hired Benalla is a veteran agent of the Direction Generale de la Securite Exterieure (DGSE) [10] We are not attempting to compare Alexandre Benalla with Maurice Papon, but to enquire whether an element of an illegal force of repression is in the process of being (re)created in Europe. Who revealed the Benalla affair? It is extremely clear that in the absence of complaints by Monsieur Benallas victims, and given the difficulty of defining the nature of his acts of violence on the video, this affair did not spontaneously become public. The people who revealed the affair must have been really well informed, not only about Alexandre Benalla but also about the confusion that currently reigns in the Elysee. However, their official status apparently obliged them to remain discreet. This immediately makes us think of officials of the Direction Generale de la Securite Interieure (DGSI) or the Direction de la Protection du Renseignement and de la Securite de la Defense (DRSD). It is not impossible that certain police officers gave Alexandre Benalla the police equipment that he usurped on 1 May. In this case, it means that he fell into a trap [11]. We are no longer in the same situation as during the Cold War and the Algerian War. This affair has nothing to do with the SAC. President Macron was not seeking to protect the nation from a militia by breaking the law himself. On the contrary, we are in a situation of confrontation between, on the one hand, the Russia-United States alliance, and on the other, the Anglo-Saxon deep state which is on the rampage against President Trump. Photo: Amanda Seales/Instagram Each year, Variety selects ten of the best stand-up comedians in the country to showcase as Varietys 10 Comics to Watch. Among those chosen this year were Insecures Amanda Seales, The Daily Shows Dulce Sloan, and American Vandal writer Jaboukie Young-White. And then there was Darren Knight. Knights credits include a series of YouTube and Facebook videos of a character called Southern Momma and a documentary about himself called Southern Momma: The Darren Knight Story, in which he is billed as the fastest rising comedian in American history. The trouble seemed to begin even before the show started. Seales said in a statement to Vulture that Knight antagonized both her and Sloan while they were waiting for the preshow panel to begin, and then continued to do so during the panel. When Seales spoke of using her comedy to challenge racism and sexism, he said, comedy shouldnt be about attacking racists. That is ostracizing your audience. Things got more tense when Knight took the stage at the actual show, with his opening joke reportedly being To our wives and girlfriends, may they never meet. (If that sounds familiar, its because its commonly attributed to Groucho Marx.) According to the reaction on Twitter, things did not improve from there. Darren Knights set at @justforlaughs tonight led me to apologize to everyone around me that not all of us (Southern guys) are idiots, tweeted one audience member. Dude forgets the name of the festival HES PERFORMING AT, makes diarrhea jokes, & then insults minorities. Darren Knights set at @justforlaughs tonight led me to apologize to everyone around me that not all of us (southern guys) are idiots. Dude forgets the name of the festival HES PERFORMING AT, makes diarrhea jokes, & then insults minorities. TJMF84 (@tjmcf84) July 28, 2018 Other attendees tweeted similar sentiments about Knights performance, which he chose to end with a mini-lecture on how comedy should not be about sexism or race, because thats not what the audience wants. The audience booed him off. According to Seales, Knight also commented Looking good, Precious to Sloan as he exited the stage. Sloan tweeted about this exchange afterward. Called me Precious when he got offstage. He fat shamed me cuz he bombed. He had been verbally attacking me all day. @amandaseales and the other comics defended me before the panel. Dulce Sloan (@dulcesloan) July 28, 2018 this comic said, on stage, that comics shouldnt talk about race or sexuality and got booed by canadians do u kno how trash u gotta be to get booed by canadians jaboukie (@jaboukie) July 28, 2018 The host of the show, Saturday Night Lives Chris Redd, confronted Knight after the show, which is documented in a series of videos Seales posted to her Instagram Stories. In the videos, Redd can be seen having a heated conversation with Knight, who then storms off as Redd calls after him, Real comics write real jokes! The entire exchange can be viewed below. Knights performance and treatment of his fellow performers aside, its also unclear why someone known for making videos on social media, and not stand-up jokes, was selected for one of the worlds most prominent stand-up comedy shows in the first place. Seales has an idea, though. This speaks to a larger narrative about the misplaced pressure to include voices from the Trump right in spaces simply to appease a demographic that is problematic and damaging to the upward advancement of larger society, she said, pointing to posts on Knights Facebook critical of Maxine Waters, Roseannes cancellation, and the existence of BET. Redd, for his part, declined to comment for this article, but summed up his thoughts on Twitter. that bomb was coated with disrespect and all of a sudden it was trash day Chris Redd (@Reddsaidit) July 28, 2018 Since the show, tons of comedians have commented on Knights performance, or Variety choosing to feature him, on Twitter: Darren Knight. You fucked up at #JFL tonight big time. Big time. You suck. Alex Edelman (@AlexEdelman) July 28, 2018 I was there, and what we're not talking about re: the Variety Comics To Watch show is how hard every other comic crushed and how fucking terrible Southern Mama's blowout was. Southern Mama was racist, the blowout was homophobic. Matt Rogers (@MattRogersTho) July 28, 2018 Hey @Variety, YouTube stars arent comics. Laurie Kilmartin (@anylaurie16) July 28, 2018 Nothing makes me happier than watching @amandaseales @dulcesloan @chrisredd and chris reds stand up to a racist, sexist, homophobes, IN REAL TIME, IN REAL LIFE!!! Without the white supremacist trope of diplomacy!!! Fuck you white nigga and u glad @SamJayComic wasn't there. BET larry owens (@larryowenslive) July 28, 2018 And on the pedestal these words appear: 'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings; Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!' Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away. pic.twitter.com/xWxxRAnTHA Paul F. Tompkins (@PFTompkins) July 28, 2018 Darren Knight is gonna make history by being the first person to ever be silently scrubbed from @variety's Comics To Watch list. kai choyce (@kaichoyce) July 28, 2018 Weve reached out to Knights reps for comment and will update if we hear back. Update: Knight posted the below statement to his personal Facebook page over the weekend: Aziz Ansari. Photo: Christopher Polk/Getty Images for The Critics Choice Awards After the second season of Master of None was released on Netflix, co-creator and star Aziz Ansari told the press he wasnt sure if he would make more seasons of the comedy that earned him an Emmy for writing. A few months later, Ansari was accused of sexual misconduct, and the fate of his show at the network remained even more unclear. But at a TCA panel Sunday, Netflix Vice-President of Original Series Cindy Holland put the ball in Ansaris court, offering the streaming giants first public support of him. We certainly have given some thought to it and would be happy to make another season of Master of None whenever Aziz is ready, Holland said, noting that she has not yet spoken to Ansari about whether hed like to move forward. Netflix has also recently dealt with the fallout from sexual assault and harassment allegations against actor Kevin Spacey that led to his firing from House of Cards. During the TCA session, Holland was asked about what Netflix is doing to make the work environment on its sets safer. Our first priority is to make sure that every set is safe and happy and healthy for everyone involved, she said. Certainly, events of the past year have even created more heightened awareness around any potential issues that might happen on set. Selma Blair. Photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for Paramount Network Vocalizing her support for director James Gunn after he was fired by Disney from directing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Selma Blair has decided to quit Twitter as a further means of protest. Tweeting a farewell message on Saturday evening, Blair wrote that you can follow her on other, more photo-friendly social media platforms instead. So long. You can find me on Instagram, she said, per THR. #Istandwithjamesgunn. Since news of Gunns firing broke, Blair has used her Twitter account as a constant sounding board to get her followers to sign a petition to reinstate Gunn as Vol. 3s director Gunn was fired for his history of offensive tweets, a decision he fully accepted and took responsibility for. Because if people are punished despite changing, then what does that teach people about owning mistakes and evolving? Blair wrote, in part. This man is one of the good ones. Gunns Guardians family are taking the news of his dismissal pretty hard, with Dave Bautista the most vocal about seeing their leader go. Hes made mistakes. We all have, he wrote on Twitter. Im not ok with whats happening to him. Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana, meanwhile, were a little more coy with their words. Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters. Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. JAMES 1:19 chris pratt (@prattprattpratt) July 22, 2018 Its been a challenging weekend Im not gonna lie. Im pausing myself to take everything in before I speak out of term. I just want everyone to know I love ALL members of my GOTG family. Always will. Zoe Saldana (@zoesaldana) July 22, 2018 Community members in Limestone County are still in shock about Saturday's double murder-suicide and the homicides the county has had so far this month. At the end of June there was a murder suicide in Limestone County. Since then they have had a triple homicide, double homicide and a double murder suicide. People in the community tell WAAY 31 they're sad that family members and friends are shooting and killing one another. Ann Collier remembers when limestone county didn't have many homicides back to back. It's one of the reasons she moved back to the county. "I cannot believe it. It's scary" says Collier. "I lived in New York where you can expect stuff like that to happened. But down here you don't expect it." The whole community was shocked when they first heard about the triple murder in Elkmont on July first. Darwin Brazier shot and killed himself after killing his ex-wife, her new husband and their roommate.. On June 29th there was the murder suicide in Elkmont on Airfield street. Two brothers, Rigoberto Sanchez Ocampo and Adolfo Sanchez Ocampo were found dead. Investigators don't know who shot who first. Then on July 16th there was another murder suicide in Elkmont. Jason Woolridge shot and killed his roommate and friend John Few. Woolridge then shot himself. Athens police aren't releasing many details about the double murder suicide that happened on Saturday, but nearby neighbors told WAAY 31 family was involved. Ann Collier and others believe Limestone County is a bible based community, so they only pray it gets better. Many people said while they're glad the shootings aren't random targets, they hope family members seek help before deciding to take a life. WATERFORD is to get a world-class centre for training in Bicycle Engineering. It will be based in Ferrybank and will serve the South East. The Bicycle... CHANGES to the junction between New Street and Barrack Street have backfired, becoming yet another source of traffic chaos in the heart of the... . . . ... by Richard Coulson NO one can tell how many investors hold, directly or indirectly, an equity position in this BISX-listed company, but they all must have a headache after a quick glance at its recently published financial statements for the year 2017. Only 67 records appear on the shareholder register, representing a total of $2.4 million shares outstanding. But many of these 67 are pension funds holding for their beneficiaries, or broker-dealers holding as nominee for their customers. Royal Fidelity, for example, holds more than 1.3 million shares, 56 percent of the total, part of which is held for its own account but a larger portion for its many clients who invested in BPF. Thus there may be thousands of Bahamians who have money tied up in this enterprise. The recent financials reveal the startling news that the auditors restatement of the 2016 accounts required an abrupt write-down of about $10 million from the property values, reducing equity by over 30 percent from $32 million to $22 million. The auditors letter, from the venerable firm of PWC-Price Waterhouse, uses careful accountants language in Note 13 to explain that The fair values of investment properties recognised in prior years were misstated as a result of cash flow projections omitting cash outflows for maintenance cost of vacant rental space. Hence the massive reduction in shareholders00 equity. Thats a pretty blunt indictment by PWC of the way BPC reported the financial condition of its three investment properties, Financial Centre, One Marina Drive, and Providence House all of which have serious vacancy issues. When originally created and sold to investors by the Fidelity Group over ten years ago, BGF seemed a sound commercial venture. Bahamians had always liked real property investments; why not repackage them in small pieces for retail sale, similar to the hugely successful REITS (real investment trusts) marketed in the US? But REITS enjoy US tax advantages not available here, and always accumulate hundreds if not thousands of separate properties, giving true liquidity, while BPF never acquired more than three buildings. Then we were hit by 2008 recession, combined with the steady shift in business property away from central Nassau to the available real estate in the Western District. In hindsight, perhaps BPFs advisors Royal Fidelity and Morley Realty should have spotted this trend and adjusted BPFs acquisition policy towards joint ventures with property developers active in these areas, as well as in eastern areas outside downtown. In any event, BPFs business model has left it with several recent years of both operating losses and valuation write-offs, capped by the recent downward restatement of the 2016/2017 financials. No dividends have been paid and no shares have traded on BISX since October 2016 at the now meaningless price of $9.09, against thousands of unfilled sell orders. Shareholders are locked into an illiquid investment with no current return and no visible growth prospects. BPFs manager Royal Fidelity will soon produce the 2017 Annual Report that must address shareholder concerns. Unless it contains credible prospects of higher rental rates and reduced vacancy level - and possibly new investments properties - an attractive future for BPF seems doubtful. The present three properties will not vanish, but can they generate a reasonable rate of return while held in a fund structure? Perhaps the solution will be to liquidate BPF and sell the separate properties in the open market, distributing the proceeds to BPF shareholders. This will mirror the thousands of US companies who have closed because of changing economic or regional conditions, but realised some value from liquidating their assets. In an evolving world, not every business has the right formula for success. First published in The Tribune and posted here with the permission of the author. Mr. Coulson has had a long career in law, investment banking and private banking in New York, London, and Nassau, and now serves as director of several financial concerns and as a corporate financial consultant. He has recently released his autobiography, A Corkscrew Life: Adventures of a Travelling Financier. Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff Jul. 12, 2018 | PADUCAH By West Kentucky Star Staff Jul. 12, 2018 | 06:40 PM | PADUCAH To celebrate 60 years in business, the Pizza Inn chain of restaurants is giving away a 1958 Ford Fairlane Skyliner hard top convertible. On Friday, the car will be in Paducah. The car has been touring restaurant locations across the country since May. The winner of the car will be chosen on September 23 from Pizza Inn Rewards members. The rewards app is available for download from the iTunes and Google Play stores. See pizzainn.com/rewards for official rules. Paducah's Pizza Inn location on Joe Clifton Dr. has been owned and operated by Larry Rust for more than 25 years. Two Texas brothers opened the first Pizza Inn restaurant in Dallas in 1958. Denise Pedini, Executive Vice President of Pizza Inn, says they wanted to give back, "something special. Its our way of saying thank you for being a part of our family for 60 years. Pizza Inn will be giving away other prizes, such as 60th Anniversary commemorative items and free buffets on social media throughout the year. Stay in touch by following Pizza Inn on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Family holds onto hope 6 years after Kortne Stouffers disappearance A photo of Kortne Stouffer from the Kortne Stouffer Remember Me Facebook page. While the investigation into Kortne Stouffers disappearance is going into its sixth year, both her family and the investigators involved in the case are still holding onto hope that they will find the missing Palmyra woman. A lot of it is hope (that we will find her alive), so I focus on that part of it, but at the same time prepare to accept the other half of that, Scott Stouffer, Kortnes father, said. I think I always hang my hat more on hope than despair. Lebanon County District Attorney David Arnold is not giving up his hope of finding Kortne either, despite the impact the passage of time has on missing persons cases. In terms of the chances of finding Kortne becoming slimmer: generally speaking, the passage of time is not beneficial to an investigation, Arnold said via email. Evidence that is unknown (if there is any) may disappear, peoples memories fade, people move or pass away, etc. so we do not give up hope, but the passage of time always makes it more difficult. More: Listen to a Smart Talk show about Stouffers case and other missing adults Recep Tayyip Erdogan denied Sunday that Turkey had agreed to free a detained American pastor as part of a possible deal with the US and Israel, and warned that Turkey would not be bullied into releasing him by US President Donald Trump. The Turkish President's comments come after a senior US official told CNN last week that Erdogan and Trump had agreed to a deal that would see Israel release an imprisoned Turkish national in exchange for Turkey freeing Andrew Brunson, who has been held in Turkey since October 2016. The Turkish national, Ebru Ozkan, was allowed to leave Israel for Turkey in mid-July. Brunson, meanwhile, was released into house arrest on Wednesday but has not been permitted to leave Turkey. On Thursday, Trump threatened Turkey with retaliation, tweeting: "The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being. He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!" Erdogan insisted Sunday that no deal had taken place. "We told the Americans that they could help us with getting Ebru (Ozkan) ... but we never said 'and in exchange we will give you Brunson,'" Erdogan told state broadcaster TRT. "We never made Brunson a topic of negotiation. Instead of respecting the Turkish judiciary, they are turning this into talk of sanctions." Erdogan warned the US it risked losing a "strong and sincere partner" if it did not change its attitude. "You cannot make Turkey take a step back with sanctions," Erdogan added. "They need to know the following: we are not tied with an umbilical cord to the US." "The change in attitude is Trump's problem, not mine," Erdogan added. The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Sunday. Deal or no deal? The senior US official told CNN that the deal to free Brunson -- an evangelical Presbyterian pastor from North Carolina -- was agreed to by Trump and Erdogan during a meeting at the NATO summit in mid-July. Days after that meeting, Trump asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to assist in the pastor's release, an Israeli official told CNN. While the official would not divulge details of their conversation, or when the request took place, the two leaders spoke on the phone on July 14. Ozkan, a 27-year-old Turkish woman held in Israel on suspicion of aiding Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, was released from prison between July 11-12, her lawyer told CNN. She was able to leave Israel for Turkey on July 15, one day after Trump spoke with Netanyahu. In an extremely unusual move, Israeli prosecutors had permitted Ozkan -- who faces terror-related charges -- to leave the country two weeks before her trial, effectively freezing the case against her. But the charges against her were not dropped. Brunson was arrested in 2016 during the Turkish government's crackdown following an attempted coup. In March, he was formally charged with espionage and having links to terrorist organizations. If convicted, he faces up to 35 years in prison. He maintains his innocence. On July 18 -- three days after Ozkan flew back to Turkey -- a Turkish court rejected an appeal by Brunson's lawyers to have him freed. Then, on Wednesday, Brunson was released to house arrest and ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device. The following day, Trump launched his Twitter tirade against Turkey. Pence echoed Trump's stance during remarks at the State Department on Thursday. "If Turkey does not take immediate action to free this man of faith and send him home to America, the United States will impose significant sanctions on Turkey until Pastor Andrew Brunson is free," Pence said. "While he is out of jail he is still not free." Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has spoken to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu several times over the past few days in an effort to secure Brunson's freedom. A senior Turkish official denied Friday that there was any connection between the release of Ozkan and the case of Brunson, describing the claims as "completely baseless." Erdogan: Give us our F-35s Erdogan also said Sunday that Turkey would resort to international arbitration -- possibly referring to an international court -- if the US doesn't deliver the F-35 fighter jets it purchased. "Now they've started threatening us with one more thing. They say they may not give us the F-35s. We told them we'll go to international arbitration," Erdogan said. Although Turkey has long been a participant in the development of the F-35 program -- investing $1.25 billion in the project since 2002 -- US lawmakers have sought to block Turkey from receiving the stealth warplanes amid a deterioration of the US-Turkey relationship and concerns over Ankara's purchase of a Russian-made anti-aircraft system. Turkey technically took ownership of its first F-35s in June, but the US has retained custody of the jets while Turkish pilots and maintainers are being trained on the new planes at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. Turkey plans to eventually acquire 100 F-35s. ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - In New York state government news, more college students could soon head to Puerto Rico as part of Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo's effort to help the island recover from last year's hurricane. The Democrat traveled to Puerto Rico last week for the fifth time since Hurricane Maria devastated the Caribbean territory. So far 500 students from public universities in New York have volunteered on rebuilding projects. More than 3,000 students applied to help, and Cuomo says he believes the program will be expanded. Meanwhile, new numbers on the recently concluded tax season show that state auditors stopped more than 10,000 state tax refunds after finding mistakes. The errors included incorrect information or questionable Social Security numbers. (Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) FRANKFORT, NY After rain dampened the spirits of attendees to the Great American Irish Festival on Friday, Irish eyes were definitely smiling on Saturday. The 15th annual Great American Irish Festival once again took place at the Herkimer County Fair Grounds and featured everything Irish. From Irish music to Irish setters, there was something for everyone. Organizers for the festival say this event is important not only for the Irish community but economically for the local community as well. As people come through the gates were asking them where they come from, says Bill Barry, co-director of the Great American Irish Festival. Have they been here before, how did they hear about us? Of course, we expected people from the Mohawk Valley to join us, but were also seeing people from neighboring states. Weve also had people from Canada and California. So we really get a good mixture at the Irish Festival. On Sunday there will be an Irish mass featuring bagpipes. In the past, the mass was held at the fairgrounds, but this year it will be held in Utica at St. Joseph/St. Patrick Church. The church is located across from the Irish Cultural Center, which is expected to open this fall. LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) Students are ready to learn after Saturday's event for Tools For Schools. The Salvation Army and sponsors collected items to give children in Kindergarten through 12th-grade supplies. The event welcomed families at the Lafayette Adult Resource Academy building, where lines started up early to collect backpacks, clothes, and books. Salvation Army Lieutenant Rachel Johnson said this event gets kids excited for the year. "Our goal is to get kids off to a good start for the school year," said Johnson. "They get new clothes, some new shoes, some fresh school supplies, hoping that it gets kids off to a good start for a successful school year." If you missed your chance to pick up these items, you can still call the Salvation Army on Monday. Any leftover supplies can be picked up on Tuesday. CLINTON COUNTY A Camden woman died after a crash in Clinton County, Saturday morning. Officers from the Indiana State Police and the Clinton County Sheriff's Department responded to a two-vehicle crash on State Road 75, just before 9 a.m., near Clinton County Road 425 North. Police said Clinton County Reserve Sheriff's Deputy William Amsler was driving a police car northbound on State Road 75 and Amanda Grimes was headed southbound. Police said Grimes traveled off the west side of the road, and allegedly overcorrected, and drove across the center line, into the northbound lane. The police car hit the passenger side of Grimes' car and the two vehicles came to rest in a ditch. Preliminary evidence revealed the police car had emergency lights and sirens on, as Deputy Amsler was on an emergency call. Grimes was taken to a local hospital and later flown to an Indianapolis hospital where she died. Officer Amsler was taken to a local hospital with complaints of pain. This is an ongoing investigation. China News on Women Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page Ireland won out in a two-way jump-off against old rivals Great Britain in the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup of Great Britain at Hickstead today. Wild winds, and the first heavy rain to hit the region for more than 50 days, ensured conditions were seriously challenging in this penultimate qualifier of the Europe Division 1 series. But Rodrigo Pessoas side of Trevor Breen (39), Richie Moloney (36), Michael Duffy (23) and Anthony Condon (31) battled through, and Condon clinched it in a third-round showdown against Holly Smith. It was no day for the faint-hearted as the formidable Hickstead fences took their toll. The tall white gate at fence three was a real bogey, as was the 4-metre-wide open water which sealed the fate of the 2017 series champions from The Netherlands who retired in the closing stages. Only two weeks ago Johnny Pals and Chat Botte du Ruisseau Z (Casall x Darco) were the Dutch heroes when pinning the Irish into runner-up spot at Falsterbo (SWE) in a four-way jump-off against the clock. But today the lovely 10-year-old stallion found the Hickstead water very scary in both rounds, and, down to a three-man side following the withdrawal of Willem Greves Zypria S (Canturo x Lux Z), the pairs second-round tally of 23 faults was so expensive that Chef dEquipe, Rob Ehrens, decided his team should call it a day. But the British were also reduced to just three counting scores when former world no. 1 and 2012 Olympic gold medallist Scott Brash was eliminated at the open water both times out with Hello Shelby (Stolzenberg x For Pleasure). Team manager Di Lampard has tremendous talent at her disposal however, and Smith on Hearts Destiny (Heart Throb x Rabino), Amanda Derbyshire on Luibanta BH (Luidam x Abantos) and William Whitaker on Utamaro DEcaussines (Diamant de Semilly x Quidam de Revel) showed true grit to force the jump-off against the boys in green. Smith set the target with a lovely clear round from her big, quality, nine-year-old bay who broke the beam in 43.39 seconds. Condon, who has been based in England for the last 14 years, knew what he had to do when it came to his turn. Steering his 12-year-old stallion SFS Aristio (Arko III x Voltaire), which is owned by John and Pat Hales and their daughter Lisa whose names will always be intrinsically linked with the super-stallion Arko and rider Nick Skelton, he broke the beam more than two seconds sooner. As he raced through the finish his fellow-countrymen Duffy on EFS Top Contender (Lauriston x Continue), Breen on Bombay (Lord Z x Bon Ami) and Moloney on Freestyle de Muze (Lord Z x Cento), and the entire Irish contingent, exploded with delight. "Holly is a very fast rider and her horse has a huge stride so she can be deceptive - I just thought that if I could do the same and be a little quicker then I could catch her," Anthony Condon said following the victory. Irish Chef d'Equipe Rodrigo Pessoa sai: "We've been knocking at the door for the last few weeks so I knew this win was coming!" Ireland has now rocketed up to third on the Europe Division 1 leaderboard and, with 335 points, the reigning European champions look well-qualified for the Longines 2018 Final in Barcelona (ESP) in October. Brazil finished third today, Sweden fourth and the Belgians, long-time Europe Division 1 leaders, had to settle for fifth ahead of Italy who lined up sixth of the seven competing nations. And the Irish have another big day to look forward to when the Europe Division 1 series concludes on home ground in Dublin (IRL) in 12 days time where Britain and Italy will be desperate to move out of the danger-zone at the bottom of the league table, as only seven of the 10 competing nations will make the cut to the Barcelona final. TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - The Terre Haute community got to know some its local leaders a little better this weekend. People came out to meet their council person at Sheridan Park today. Members from the city and Vigo County Council hung out with the community for the afternoon. The goal is to strengthen relationships between local leaders and the people they serve. Organizers said it's about working together to improve our neighborhoods. "If we can get everybody together here, then we can help to build neighborhoods throughout the whole city of Terre Haute and throughout Vigo County," said Leah Myers, Precinct Committee Person for Sheridan Park Dist. 7G, "and then that helps to build involvement in what's going on in our communities." Myers said she hopes to work with local leaders again to host similiar events in different parks and neighborhoods in the future. Investigators in Alabama are looking into the death of 2-year-old in Sumter County. Sumter County Sheriff Brian Harris says it happened around 10:00 p.m. last night in the Morning Star community in Sumter County. Authorities say the 2-year-old was struck by a car on County Road 2 and pronounced dead at the scene. Sheriff Harris says the case has been handed over to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. These three millennial women have one thing in common: They're gunning for Democratic State House seats in the 2018 midterm elections in Pennsylvania. The political landscape under the Trump administration might have become more partisan than most can remember, even within the Democratic Party. But in times of polarization, Elizabeth Fiedler, 38, Sara Innamorato, 32, and Summer Lee, 30, say they can elevate one another by working side-by-side. First things first, like any millennials would, they started a group chat. On "The Van Jones Show," they talked to CNN's Van Jones about why they're running, the biggest issues facing the country today, and the changes they want to see in the Democratic Party. Elizabeth Fiedler, District 184 On what she wants the Democratic Party to be: "We need a Democratic Party that is in touch with people. And when I say people, I mean real people. The folks whose doors we knocked on, but also all of the people who are turning out in elections." On the current Democratic leadership: "I think we need more elected officials who are not backed by big money, who aren't counting on big corporate money to stay in office." On why she's running: "If I'm gonna sit here, and stay at my job ... who am I counting on to create the kind of world that I want my children to grow up in?" Sara Innamorato, District 21 On changing the current Democratic leadership: "I'm a state representative. I don't get to make a decision on who is leading the Democratic Party, but what I can do is push the agenda and make sure we're talking about things that actually impact real people's lives." On why she's running against a Democratic incumbent: "I wanted to talk about issues that really mattered to the community, and not vilify people or throw them away because of a choice that they made during the presidential year." On why she's helping her fellow nominees: "If we're willing to share, we can actually move an agenda, and we can actually bring more people to the table ... If it's a whole movement, then people start to believe that another world is possible." Summer Lee, District 34 On why she's running: "I'm not (running because of President Donald Trump). My community had the same issues whether it was Trump or Barack Obama ... These issues are timeless. It doesn't matter who is at the top; we're worried at who is at the bottom." On changing the current Democratic Party: "We need a more representative party, we need a more representative Congress ... we need younger, we need more color." On representation in her state and party: "We need a more representative party ... leadership should also reflect that. I'm the first black woman to come out of western Pennsylvania. We exist, and we should be represented wherever we go. United Nations Honor Guard members carry a box of remains thought to be of U.S. soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War, returned by NorthKorea to the U.S., at the Osan Air Base in South Korea, July 27, 2018. (Xinhua/U.S. Army/ Sgt. Quince Lanford/Handout via REUTERS) WASHINGTON, July 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis said Friday that his country is considering sending military personnel to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to search for the remains of U.S. soldiers who died in the 1950-1953 Korean War. Mattis struck a confirmative tone when asked by the media whether he foresees the possibility of sending military personnel to conduct additional search missions in the DPRK. "That is certainly under consideration. Absolutely," he said. Earlier on Thursday, the White House said a military aircraft carrying the remains of U.S. soldiers had left the DPRK and was transferring the remains to the U.S. Osan Air Base in South Korea, where a formal repatriation ceremony is scheduled for Aug. 1. Mattis said the move is a "coordination effort" over the past month. "Clearly what we have here is something that has been frozen for -- for years now, and so that's warmed up," he said, noting that returning the remains was agreed upon by President Donald Trump and the DPRK's top leader Kim Jong Un at the Singapore summit in June. "When you have that sort of communication going on, it sets a positive environment, a positive tone for other things, more important things in terms of international diplomacy," he added. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said earlier that he would travel to Hawaii to receive the remains. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 03:18:00|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close MOGADISHU, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Somali women have resolved to forge a united path on enhanced role in peace and reconciliation efforts in the Horn of Africa nation. The women's organizations in a joint statement issued on Saturday by the UN mission in Somalia also resolved to strengthen the fight against violent extremism which is impacting ongoing peace efforts. This, they said, is in line with the national priorities set out in the country's National Development Plan for 2017-2021, and in the national reconciliation processes launched by the Somali government. The Somali National Women's Organization (SNWO) was the main organizer of the two-day nationwide "peace forums" on enhanced women's roles in peace efforts, held simultaneously in the five administrative capitals of the Federal Member States of South West, Jubbaland, Puntland, HirShabelle and Galmudug states. One of the facilitators in Baidoa, Udbi Omar Ali, stressed that women were unanimous in wanting to play a more visible role in fighting violent extremism. "We agreed to unite against extremist ideologies; that women should pay attention to all activities happening in their households, to prevent their children from getting sucked into extremism," she said. "At the civil society level, at the security sector level, as women, we should have a network, a channel of communication to get to know each other, so that we can work towards peace and reconciliation," Ali added. The main aim of the forums was to consult wide-range of women stakeholders - peace advocates, activists and practitioners - to determine ways and strategies to improve women's role in promoting peace and prevent violent extremism in the country. Participants across the five states discussed women's empowerment and strategies that would enhance their participation in peace, security and reconciliation efforts. They also deliberated on ways to help preventing and countering violent extremism, in order to complement government efforts to de-radicalize youth. "Our aim is to encourage the women to pass what they learnt here to their families, their villages, their districts and divisions; and educate them on the effects of violent extremism so as to achieve total peace in the country," Madino Mohamed, the deputy chairperson of the SNWO, said at the meeting held in the southern city of Kismayo, the administrative capital of Jubbaland. The women said the longer-term aim of the consultations is to enhance women's roles in peace and reconciliation processes, in line with the national priorities set out in the country's National Development Plan for 2017-2021, and in the national reconciliation processes launched by the Federal Government of Somalia. In Kismayo, Badran Muhumed Abdulle, the chairperson of the Jubbaland Women's Organization, said the forum had given women the impetus to actively participate in reconciliation and peace-building activities. "If there is no peace there will be no progress. Peace is the only thing that can bring development to Somalia," said Abdulle. The UN Secretary-General's Special Representative to Somalia, Michael Keating, who attended the Garowe gathering said it's very obvious that Somalia's problems are not going to be solved unless women are at the front and centre. "That includes everything from health and education, to supporting families, through to business and the economy - but also security and, especially, conflict resolution," said Keating. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 05:53:23|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close TUNIS, July 28 (Xinhua) -- The appointment of Hichem Fourati as Tunisia's new interior minister was approved Saturday evening by Tunisian Assembly of People's Representatives (Parliament). Fourati received 148 votes in favor, 13 against and eight abstentions. A total of 109 votes are needed to pass the decision. According to Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, Tunisia's new interior minister will be responsible for executing a roadmap, starting with improving the country's security capacity in fighting against terrorism. Two other challenges in this roadmap include fighting against illegal immigration and crime, as well as improving the financial situation of security agents. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 06:23:26|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close RABAT, July 28 (Xinhua) -- French food group Danone has lost more than 50 percent of its market share of fresh milk in Morocco due to the ongoing consumer boycott, local media reported on Saturday. Citing official statement by Danone, the Moroccan news site Le360.ma said the boycott movement has contributed significantly in slowing its growth in the second quarter of 2018 to 3.3 percent from 4.9 percent in the first quarter. Last April, a consumer boycott was launched in Morocco over unfair prices set by large businesses linked to elite class, and foreign brands in monopoly position. Besides Danone, the boycott also targets two other brands, namely Afriquia fuel stations, owned by the Akwa group of Moroccan billionaire Agriculture Minister Aziz Akhannouch, and the Sidi Ali water brand. CHICAGO, July 28 (Xinhua) -- A mother and her five children were killed on Saturday as a fire swept through a motel in the midwestern U.S. state of Michigan. Kiarre Curtis, 26, and her five children aged from two to 10 likely succumbed to smoke inhalation, the Berrien County sheriff's office said. Curtis' husband and a one-year-old child survived, and all eight of the family were in the same room. Eight people were treated for smoke inhalation and released from a hospital. The cause of the fire was not immediately known. The Cosmo Extended Stay Motel in Sodus Township was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived shortly after receiving a 911 call at 1:45 a.m. local time. The two-story motel is described as a place for people with low incomes to "get back on their feet." The motel is off Interstate 94 in the southwestern corner of Michigan, roughly 160 kilometers from Chicago. Local media quoted authorities as saying that 27 rooms were occupied and 90 percent of the property was damaged by smoke, fire or water. LOS ANGELES, July 28 (Xinhua) -- At least five people have been killed, more than 500 structures have been destroyed, tens of thousands of people were evacuated and more than 80,000 acres have been burned by a destructive wildfire in the Shasta County in the western U.S. state of California. Two young children and their 70-year-old great-grandmother died in the wildfire that swept into the city of Redding with devastating speed, their family said Saturday. Their deaths brought the death count from the rapidly growing wildfire to five. Two firefighters were also killed by the monster fire earlier this week. The three were among more than a dozen people reported missing on Saturday as the wildfire spread. On Saturday morning, the fast-moving wildfire barreled toward the towns of Igo and Ono, prompting new evacuations, authorities said. "A RedFlagWarning is in effect for northern California and the vicinity of the CarrFire through Monday morning due to extreme heat and gusty winds," the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) said on Facebook. Northern California fires are starting to flare up Saturday afternoon as temperatures rise, according to the National Weather Service. Smoke from the Carr Fire could be seen from space. The fire, raging out of control, surged into the edges of the city of Redding Thursday night, forcing residents to flee. On Saturday, CalFire issued additional evacuation orders. About 38,000 residents in Redding and elsewhere in Shasta County have been ordered to leave their homes. U.S. president Donald Trump signed an emergency declaration making federal emergency aid available to supplement state, local and tribal efforts in battling California wildfires, the Department of Homeland Security said on Saturday. The Carr fire, now the largest of more than 20 fires burning in California, has so far burned more than 80,000 acres and was just 5 percent contained. Hundreds of structures have been destroyed as deadly Redding fire rages on. About 5,000 structures are threatened. California's Governor Jerry Brown has declared Thursday a state of emergency in Shasta County and in other counties where the state battled multiple raging fires. Redding, a city home to around 90,000 people, is about 260 kilometers north of Sacramento, the capital of California, and 190 km south of the border of the state of Oregon. The devastating wildfire also has compromised the integrity of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge, which spans Clear Creek in rural Igo, according to the California Highway Patrol. So far this year, wildfires have scorched almost 4.3 million acres across the United States, above the 3.7 million-acre average for the same period over the last decade. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 07:43:44|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close Motorbike courier Gesang Cering (L) chats with his senior workmate Cering Quba in Pumaqangtang Township of Nagarze County in Shannan, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, July 27, 2018. In Pumaqantang Township, the highest township in China, working as a postal service staff means delivering mails to addresses at altitudes of 5,000 meters and above. Gesang Cering, 29, is a motorbike courier with the local township branch of China Post. Twice a week, Gesang calls on the plateau villages under the township on a 160-km route, coping with extreme oxygen and temperature conditions. Despite its harsh geography, Tibet Autonomous Region has substantially improved the local postal service over the four decades since China's reform and opening up. By the end of 2017, the postal road network had managed to cover all towns and counties within the autonomous region. (Xinhua/Li He) Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 07:45:11|Editor: ZD Video Player Close Photo taken on July 28, 2018 shows a dog waiting to be adopted on the terrace outside the National Postal Museum in Washington D.C., the United States. The Smithsonian's National Postal Museum hosted local animal welfare organization City Dogs Rescue & City Kitties for adoption fairs on Saturday. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 08:28:39|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen gestures after casting his ballot at a polling station in Kandal province, about 15 km south of capital Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on July 29, 2018. The sixth general election kicked off in Cambodia on Sunday with a total of 20 political parties taking part in the race, a National Election Committee (NEC) spokesman said. (Xinhua/Mao Pengfei) KANDAL, Cambodia, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The sixth general election kicked off in Cambodia on Sunday with a total of 20 political parties taking part in the race, a National Election Committee (NEC) spokesman said. "Polling began at 7:00 a.m. local time (at 22,967 polling stations) and is due to close at 3:00 p.m.," NEC member and spokesman Dim Sovannarom told Xinhua. Some 8.38 million eligible voters are expected to cast their ballots in the election, which is held to elect the members of parliament for the 125-seat parliament. Sovannarom said it is forecast that "more than 60 percent" of the eligible voters will turn out to vote. In the last election in 2013, voter turnout was recorded at 69.6 percent. Active parties in the race are the ruling Cambodian People's Party of Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, the Funcinpec Party of Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the League for Democracy Party of former opposition lawmaker Khem Veasna, the Grassroots Democracy Party of agronomist Yang Saing Koma, and the Khmer Will Party of former opposition member Kong Monika. The preliminary results are expected to be announced on Sunday evening. The Southeast Asian country holds a general election once every five years. Source: Xinhuanet| 2018-07-29 09:47:16|Editor: ZD Video Player Close File photo: Xu Xinkai visits villagers in Gu Ronghu Village, Shuanglong Township, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of central Chinas Hunan Province on May 25, 2018. (Photo Provided by Xu Xinkai) by Miao Mingmei BEIJING, July 29 (Xinhuanet) -- While most Chinese college graduates would prefer to stay in big cities for their careers, Xu Xinkai, a college graduate of Chinese language and literature chose a different road. After finishing college in 2017, he became a public servant working in Shuanglong Township in Huayuan County, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of central China's Hunan Province where he was tasked with poverty alleviation work. Xu is mainly responsible for archiving documents and updating poverty alleviation data online in his routine work. He also visits villagers living in poverty and inquires about their difficulties and needs, making detailed records and plans out ways to help them. During his stay in Shuanglong Township, he has witnessed much progress made in the local poverty alleviation work. "People's housing security has been guaranteed through renovation of dilapidated houses and relocation. No children drop out of school because of poverty," Xu said in a written interview with Xinhuanet. Speaking of the measures taken by the local government, Xu said effective poverty alleviation projects have been brought in. "The village where I am based has cooperated with a medical company to develop herbs and orchard plantations which can increase villagers income, he said. "In addition, the vegetable plantation base built by the villagers has made initial success, he added. Science and technology are given priority in fulfilling the task. "Young cadres who are adept at computer skills and familiar with Internet technology are assigned here," said Xu. This is critical given that young people are creative, quick-minded and full of energy," he noted. I am confident winning the war against poverty in Shuanglong Township, and I feel very proud of contributing to the work, he said. JAKARTA, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Three people were killed and scores of buildings destroyed as an earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale jolted West Nusa Tenggara province of central Indonesia earlier Sunday, officials said. The quake's epicenter was located at 28 km northwest of Lombok Timur, with a depth of 10 km under-land, an official of the agency, Widyamotko, told Xinhua over phone. The earthquake left two persons dead in Lombok Timur and another in Lombok Utara, an official of the national disaster management agency, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, revealed. The quake was felt strong and scores of buildings in the province were damaged, he told Xinhua. The climbing activity at Mount Rinjani volcano was shut down as officials found cues heralding possible landslides, said Sutopo. Assessment on further downside risk of the quake is under way, Sutopo added. Two moderate aftershocks came following the main shock in the matter of minutes, according to Widyamotko. Indonesia is prone to quakes as it lies on vulnerable quake-affected areas called "the Pacific Ring of Fire." Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 10:18:52|Editor: ZD Video Player Close HAVANA, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Cuba is on track to meet its target of drawing 5 million foreign visitors by the end of 2018, with 2.5 million international tourists arriving in the first half of the year, local media reported on Saturday. The latest tourism figures were released during a cabinet meeting presided over by President Miguel Diaz-Canel, state daily Granma said. Cuba's Tourism Ministry was lauded for its efforts to recover tourism flows in the wake of the devastation caused by Hurricane Irma, which lashed northern Cuba in 2017. The strongest storm ever recorded in the Atlantic, Irma caused damage to some resorts, but officials moved quickly to rebuild and renovate them since tourism is one of Cuba's leading economic engines. In 2017, 4.7 million foreign visitors traveled to Cuba, an 11.6-percent increase from the year before. Considered a strategic industry for the Caribbean island nation, tourism generates annual revenues of more than 2.5 billion U.S. dollars, the second-biggest foreign revenue-earning industry after exports. The industry has contributed 10 percent of Cuba's national budget and provided half a million jobs. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 10:18:52|Editor: ZD Video Player Close BOGOTA, July 28 (Xinhua) -- The president of Colombia's Senate confirmed on Saturday that ex-president Alvaro Uribe has resigned from his Senate seat after the Supreme Court of Justice opened a criminal investigation against him. Senate President Ernesto Macias said in a post on Twitter that he had received Uribe's resignation letter. "We have asked him to reconsider his decision," Macias said. Uribe, who served as a two-term president of the South American country from 2002 to 2010, is the political mentor of President-elect Ivan Duque. He is currently being investigated on several charges, including obstructing justice, witness tampering and murder. In a Twitter post earlier this week, Uribe said he was quitting Senate because "I feel morally impeded to be senator" following the allegations. "I will hand in my resignation so my defense does not interfere with the tasks of the Senate," he said. The investigation was opened after Uribe accused leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda of witness tampering while the latter was researching Uribe's connections to paramilitary groups for a book. Media reports said while investigating that claim, the court found that witnesses had been threatened and possibly killed by Uribe's associates. In a statement, the court said that "apparently with his consent, people with ties to ex-president Uribe ... manipulated witnesses." The court found "evidence" to begin the investigation on Uribe, the statement added. TOKYO, July 29 (Xinhua) -- An airport in western Japan renamed after a popular comic and anime about a boy sleuth, "Detective Conan", has completed a revamp and looks to attract more tourists to Tottori Prefecture, local media reported. The Tottori Sand Dunes Conan Airport, unveiled Saturday, now offers more stores, with one shop stocked with goods on the theme "Detective Conan," a manga character created by Tottori native Gosho Aoyama. The airport, named after Conan in 2015 to capitalize on the popularity of the comic series in Asia, handles five flights a day to Tokyo's Haneda Airport, plus a few nonregular chartered flights from China, South Korea and Russia. Detective Conan is a genius investigator who was transformed into a young boy while probing a mysterious organization. He solved a multitude of tough cases while impersonating his friend's father and other characters. The manga has been serialized in a weekly magazine since 1994 and collected into over 90 volumes as of 2017. It has also been adapted into an animated series since 1996, as well as spawned films, video games and live action television specials. With a strong fan base overseas, the comic series has been translated into over 20 languages, including English, Chinese and Spanish. YANGON, July 29 (Xinhua) -- People living near rivers and low-lying areas in some states and regions have been urged to evacuate as the water level in rivers has exceeded the danger level, the Disaster Management Committee said Sunday. The rivers where the water level had risen to the danger level included Sittoung River, Shwegyin River, Bago River and Thanlwin River, and these levels would continue to rise over the next two days, the committee said. The flood has threatened the areas of Hpa-an, Toungoo, Bilin, Shwegyin and Madauk in Kayin state, Mon state and Bago region respectively. The water level of Sittoung River at Madauk and Bago River at Bago hit a record high of 2 feet above its danger level on Saturday, the first time in 54 years. Flood triggered by strong wind and heavy rainfall in recent days has also caused damage and losses across the country, including Nay Pyi Taw, Shan state, Kayin state, Bago region and Rakhine state, according to Myanmar News Agency. Meanwhile, the Myanmar National Airlines is increasing its flights from Yangon to Mawlayine and Dawei in Mon state and Tanintharyi region on Monday to facilitate transport links to the flood-hit areas. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 12:29:05|Editor: ZD Video Player Close RIO DE JANEIRO, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Former Brazil international center-back Leandro Castan is close to joining Vasco da Gama after parting ways with Roma. The 31-year-old confirmed his departure from the Italian Serie A side on social media on Saturday. Vasco will officially announce his signing in the coming days, according to Brazilian press reports. Castan, who has been capped twice for Brazil's national team, made 72 Serie A appearances for Roma after joining the club from Corinthians in 2012. In the past three years he has had loan spells at Sampdoria, Torino and Cagliari after falling out of favor with the Giallorossi. Vasco are currently 11th in Brazil's 20-team Serie A standings with 19 points from 13 matches, 12 points behind leaders Flamengo. VIENTIANE, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The reporting and sharing of fake news and photos on the dam collapse disaster in southern Laos violates the Lao laws, a national ad hoc committee in charge of dealing with the disaster warned. The committee issued the warning Saturday after learning that some social media users both in Laos and abroad as well as media organizations had published reports containing many "incorrect" statements, local state-run online newspaper Vientiane Times reported Sunday. These fake reports had been issued since the disaster occurred on July 23, it said. The committee called on everyone in Laos and other countries, media organizations and social media followers to pay attention only to accurate reports and photos published by the state-run media such as newspapers, radio and national TV, which regularly report on developments in the situation. After the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower reservoir's saddle dam D burst on Monday, flash floods swamped villages in Sanamxay district, Attapeu province, some 560 km southeast of capital Vientiane. The committee warned that false reports and the sharing of fake news and photos about the flooding in Attapeu province as well as fake news and photos about weather condition and storms across the country violate Lao laws and regulations. SANAMXAY, Laos, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The flood water came at about 9 p.m. at night on July 23 to South Thahin Village, Sanamxay district of southern Lao province of Attapeu, when 35-year-old Chanxay Phaivongthe was about to sleep. Suddenly he found water was pouring into his house, "I had no time to pick anything up and I just held my kids and ran," Chanxay told Xinhua in the Sanamxay District Middle School, which is now a makeshift shelter for victims after a dam collapse triggered flash flood. The under-construction Saddle Dam D of the Xe Pian-Xe Nam Noy hydropower project, which consists of two main dams and five saddle dams, burst late Monday, unleashing some 5 billion cubic meters of water from the mountain to villages of Sanamxay district downstream the Xe Pian River. Six villages were entirely submerged by the muddy flood. Woods were floated and pushed by the flood to knock down villagers' houses, Chanxay recalled, adding that he and his family managed to climb to the rooftop of a house. "It was a mess. People just gripped anything they could. Some houses were totally submerged and some were even flooded away," he said. The water was very muddy. Chanxay and his four family members found a small boat but it was overturned by the flood, so they had to stay on a nearby tree. "I shouted and burst into tears. The next morning, authorities, on their boats, came to rescue us," Chanxay said, adding that they had been stranded for seven to eight hours. He told Xinhua he was lucky that everyone in his family survived, and they got clothes and food in the middle school-turned shelter. "My house is gone, and also crops and motorcycle. My only property left is my underpants," Chanxay said miserably. Phetsamai Phuangmala, a 43-year-old female villager from Thahin Village, one of the most severely damaged villages in the disaster, also lost everything. "My house is gone and my buffaloes are dead. It is great that everyone in my family survived but I lost my properties," Phetsamai said, though she still has a piece of paddy field in Donbok village, now also as a temporary shelter for displaced villagers as it lies on a relatively high land. Khamlieng Outhakaisone, deputy director general of the General Staff Department (GSD) of the Lao People's Army and commander of the rescue operation, told a press conference Saturday night that the Donbok village sheltered some 1,086 affected villagers from other villages. Sok, a 29-year-old Thahin villager, has been staying in Donbok village for five days. She said she was stranded on a rooftop for the whole night with her family and were rescued by authorities the next morning. The survivor, who received a bag of rice from rescue teams on Friday, said she had rice and eggs as relief operation continued. Some 700 villagers from Thauan village took shelter in Donbok. One of their village leaders, 43-year-old Sengsawat Sengdayen, told Xinhua they had no idea that such a great amount of water poured into their village. "All of our villagers survived but our properties are all gone," he said. "We want enough food now so we can have enough strength to make our living again by ourselves." As the flood subsided on Saturday, some villagers returned to their houses, if they were still there, to clean the muds and check if there was anything left for them. A male villager from Kokkong, a village not far from the administrative center of Sanamxay district, went back to his house on Saturday afternoon. "Everything was washed away but I got these," he told Xinhua, referring to a pair of trousers and a pair of slippers, all very muddy. He and his friend also took some food to his friend's dog, which according to them, had been stranded there for a few days. After collecting their remaining properties, they went back to the shelter they stayed, along with their dog on the muddy road to town. Until late Saturday, the total number of villagers living in shelters reached 7,324, with 3,721 living in three shelters in Sanamxay district and 1,407 in shelters set up in Pathoumphone district and Paksong district of Champasak Province. Some 600 people were sheltered in Tammayoth village, 1,086 in Donbok village, and 500 in Pindong village, according to Khamlieng, the commander of the rescue work. HOUSTON, July 28 (Xinhua) -- At least three people were killed and seven others injured in a shooting incident in New Orleans, Louisiana, Saturday night, local police said. According to the New Orleans Police Department, the three victims died at the scene while the injured were rushed to hospital. Officers are still gathering information about the incident. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 13:49:17|Editor: ZD Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, July 28 (Xinhua) -- United Nations (UN) chief Antonio Guterres on Saturday called on Malians to maintain peace on the eve of the country's presidential election. Guterres said he is encouraged by the overall peaceful climate dominating Mali's electoral campaign, despite continued security challenges in the north and center of the country. He urged Malians to maintain "the peaceful course" so as to ensure that the election serves as "an important celebration of democracy." He also asked all Malian political actors to make the poll a peaceful, free and transparent process, and to resolve any possible disputes through appropriate institutions in accordance with the law. Guterres reiterated the UN's commitment to support the electoral process. More than 8 million Malians will cast their ballot Sunday to elect the next president. A total of 24 candidates, including President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, are bidding for the five-year presidency. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 16:14:38|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close BEIJING, July 29 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping returned to Beijing Sunday after state visits to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Senegal, Rwanda and South Africa. During his stay in South Africa, Xi attended the 10th BRICS summit in Johannesburg. He also paid a friendly visit to Mauritius during a stopover on his way back to Beijing. Xi's entourage included his wife Peng Liyuan; Ding Xuexiang, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee; Yang Jiechi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee; Wang Yi, State Councilor and Foreign Minister; and He Lifeng, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and head of the National Development and Reform Commission. When Xi left Port Louis for Beijing, Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, together with his wife and cabinet members, saw him off at the airport. Xi thanked the Mauritian side for its warm reception and thoughtful arrangements. He said the friendly visit to Mauritius has been a successful conclusion to his trip to Asia and Africa. Although the visit to Mauritius was brief, the results were fruitful and significant, which will surely consolidate and strengthen the friendly ties between China and Mauritius, said Xi. Jugnauth congratulated Xi on the success of his visit to Mauritius. He thanked China for its long-term assistance and support to Mauritius and looked forward to meeting Xi again during the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in September. by Nguon Sovan, Mao Pengfei KANDAL, Cambodia, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian voters said they wished for post-election continued peace and development as millions headed to polling stations to cast their ballots in the sixth general election on Sunday. Standing patiently in a long queue at a polling station in southern Kandal province's Takhmao town, voters said continued peace and more development are their "most desirable things" and hoped all parties would respect the election results. "I don't want to see any protests or conflicts after the election," Ngem Pheap told Xinhua after voting. "I hope that all political parties will accept the will of the people." The 48-year-old mother of three children said she was a supporter of the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) of Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, noting that the party has brought peace, political stability, and development to the country. "As you see, we enjoy peace, and the CPP has developed countless achievements - bridges, roads, schools, hospitals and irrigation system - for the nation," she said. "It's my conviction that under the leadership of the CPP, the country will continue to enjoy peace and more development." Another voter Sim Chanthan, 54, echoed Ngem Pheap's view, saying that peace is the prerequisite for development and believes that in the current situation, there is only the CPP that can continue to maintain the country's hard-earned peace. "I come to vote because I want our country to see continued peace and more development in all fields," she told Xinhua. "Previously, bridges and roads were poor, but now, wherever we go, bridges and roads are good," she said. A market vendor, Pov Dy, 59, said the Sunday's vote was fair and free. "I'm happy to vote because I can freely choose a leader I like, no one forces me to vote for this or that party," she said. "I like the CPP because Samdech (Hun Sen's honorific) leads the country well, bringing steady development to the nation, and people go everywhere without fears and concerns." Suon Chiva, a supporter for the opposition League for Democracy Party, agreed that peace is the most important factor for the development. A total of 20 political parties took part in the election. Among them are the CPP, the Funcinpec Party of Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the League for Democracy Party of former opposition lawmaker Khem Veasna, the Grassroots Democracy Party of agronomist Yang Saing Koma, and the Khmer Will Party of former opposition member Kong Monika. Hun Sen voted at a polling station in Kandal province, about 15 km south of capital Phnom Penh on Sunday. He declined to answer questions from the press after voting, saying that any comments at the polling station on the voting day are against the National Election Committee (NEC)'s rule. During an election campaign rally on Friday in Phnom Penh, the prime minister said the CPP is the only party that has enough capacity to govern Cambodia and to maintain peace and development. Some 8.38 million eligible voters are expected to cast their ballots in the election, which is held to elect the members of parliament for the 125-seat parliament. The Southeast Asian country holds a general election once every five years. The Sunday's election was the sixth of its kind since 1993. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 16:24:40|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BAGHDAD, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Sunday suspended the minister of electricity over deterioration in power supply amid protests against lack of jobs and basic services. A brief statement by Abadi's office said that Qasim al-Fahdawi has been suspended by Abadi "until the end of the investigation" into the reasons behind the deterioration of the power supply. The suspension came after about two weeks of demonstrations in many cities in Iraq's central and southern provinces despite a series of measures taken by Abadi aimed at quelling the street anger. The measures included allocating 3.5 trillion Iraqi dinars (about 2.9 billion U.S. dollars) to carry out several major projects for public services, such as electricity and water facilities, in addition to providing thousands of jobs in the government institutions. Meanwhile, Abadi, also the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi forces, issued an order of high alert for the security forces in the central and southern provinces in response to the protests. The demonstrators accused the influential political parties of being behind the widespread corruption that led to high rates of unemployment and failure in rehabilitation of the country's electricity, water and other basic services. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 16:34:42|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close The opening ceremony of the International Army Games 2018 is held in Moscow, Russia, July 28, 2018. The International Army Games 2018 kicked off at the Alabino training ground on the outskirts of Moscow on Saturday. (Xinhua/Bai Xueqi) MOSCOW, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The International Army Games 2018 kicked off at Russia's Alabino training ground in the Moscow region on Saturday with 189 teams from 32 countries taking part, the Russian Defense Ministry said. "It will certainly contribute to the development of international military technical cooperation and the promotion of military service," Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a welcome letter read out by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at the opening ceremony. A number of major war equipment in active service, including infantry fighting vehicles, battle tanks and helicopter gunships, conducted live-fire drills. Teams from China, Uganda, Kazakhstan and Kuwait participated in the opener of the Tank Biathlon contest, a key competition held annually at the event. This year, 28 contests will be held during the tournament underway till August 11, and in seven countries, including China, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Iran. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 16:34:42|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BEIRUT, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese exports lost 10 billion U.S. dollars in the past five years due to the Syrian war, said Caretaker Industry Minister Hussein Hajj Hassan. Hassan was quoted by Elnashra news agency during an event held in Baalbeck on Saturday to discuss economic challenges facing Lebanon. Lebanon's exports suffered heavily following the closure of the Nasib border. On April 1, 2015, Jordan closed its border with Syria following heavy clashes between rebels and Syrian government forces near the Nasib crossing. As the only functioning crossing between Jordan and Syria, Nasib is vital for the transport of goods from Lebanon and Syria to Jordan and Gulf states. However, after a three-year closure, Syrian government forces on July 6 took control over the major crossing point on the Nasib border with Jordan. Representatives of different economic sectors in Lebanon and Lebanese officials voiced their optimism regarding the reopening of Nasib border. Caretaker Agriculture Minister Ghazi Zeaiter said the Lebanese economy will improve following the reopening of Nasib border. "I am in contact with Syrian officials and I will be visiting Syria soon to discuss the need to take measures that would allow the Lebanese to export their products again through Nasib border," he said. Meanwhile, Hajj Hassan emphasized the need by the government to adopt a strategy to enhance the performance of different economic sectors such as agriculture and industry in Lebanon. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 17:24:49|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close JERUSALEM, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Israel's army said on Sunday it had raided the West Bank village of a Palestinian teen who perpetrated a deadly stabbing attack in a settlement on Thursday. A military statement said the raid took place in the village of Kauber, north of Ramallah city, during the weekend. "As part of the operation, the forces searched the area, questioned suspects and confiscated terror funds and inciting materials," the statement read. The troops also blocked all of the entrances and exits to the village and conducted security checks to anyone wishing to enter or leave the place. The raid triggered violent protest, during which local Palestinian youths hurled firebombs and large rocks at the forces and rolled burning tires at them, while the soldiers fired rubber-coated bullets and other "riot dispersal means," the military said. The military added that army forces "will continue to operate to protect" the settlers in the area. On Thursday, Mohammed Tareq Dar Yousef, a 17-year-old youth from Kauber, broke into the settlement of Adam and stabbed three Israeli settlers before he was shot dead. One of the injured, Yotam Ovadia, 31, later succumbed to his wounds and died in hospital. Israel has seen a wave of Palestinian attacks, mainly stabbing, on security forces and civilians over the past two years, although the number of these types of attacks had significantly dropped recently. The settlement of Adam, also known as Geva Binyamin, is located in a territory occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. Israel has controlled these lands ever since, despite international criticism. Palestinians wish to establish their future state in these territories. The settlements are considered illegal under international law. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 17:34:52|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close SHENZHEN, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Legal aid services across China handled 645,000 cases in the first half of the year, helping about 708,000 people, according to the Ministry of Justice. At a recent national workshop of justice department chiefs held in the city of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, the ministry said legal aid system in the criminal justice had been improved and a guideline strengthened quality control. Campaigns provided better aid services to the rural population and the disabled. More than 2,500 legal aid workstations were set up in detention centers and another 3,400 in courts, the ministry said, adding that the aim was to expand such workstations to cover all centers and courts. The ministry website directs people to the appropriate services they seek. College students work as volunteers at short staffed, grassroots offices in poor and remote regions. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 17:34:53|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close GAZA, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Two Palestinians were killed Sunday in an Israeli airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical sources said. Spokesman for the health ministry in Gaza Ashraf al-Qedra identified them as Ayman al-Najjar and Muhannad Hamouda, both at the age of 24. The spokesman said both were killed instantly in the Israeli strike that targeted them in northern Gaza Strip city of Jabaliya. However, the Israeli army denied the Gaza health ministry's reports that the two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli raid. The army said in a statement that the two activists were killed when the missile they were trying to launch into Israel went off due to a technical damage. Over the past few weeks, Israel carried out multiple airstrikes and artillery attacks on the Gaza Strip, killing and injuring dozens of Palestinians, while Palestinian factions fired barrages of rockets into southern Israel. These developments have pushed Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations to exert intense efforts to restore calm in the Israeli-blockaded territory. Tension in Gaza has been high since the Palestinians launched the ongoing "Great March of Return" on March 30, which demands the lift of the blockade Israel has imposed on Gaza since 2007. About 155 Palestinians have been killed and more than 17,000 others injured by Israeli gunfire during the rallies which peak every Friday. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 17:59:56|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BEIJING, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Smartphone shipments in China bounced back to above 100 million units in the second quarter of 2018 after a marked decline in the first three months, a new industry report showed. The recovery provides much needed relief to vendors and channel partners after shipments fell by more than 20 percent to 91 million units in the first quarter, according to the report released by tech industry analysis firm Canalys. On yearly basis, the Chinese market has shown signs of improvement as the rate of decline eased from 22 percent in the first quarter to 8 percent in the second quarter, the report said. Huawei, including its sub-brand Honor, saw its market share grow to a record 27 percent, the biggest share for any smartphone vendors in China since the second quarter of 2011, according to the report. Canalys noted that smaller vendors are finding it tougher to compete, as the top five vendors now account for 90 percent of shipments, against 73 percent a year ago. "The market is expected to decline in the following quarters as well, mainly owing to harsh declines in shipments from smaller vendors," said Canalys analyst Mo Jia. DHAKA, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Students were run over by a bus on a highway linking Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport with the center of Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on Sunday afternoon. Two students died on the spot, while another was critically injured and rushed to a military hospital in Dhaka, said a Dhaka Metropolitan Police official in condition of anonymity. Somoy TV, a leading Bangla 24-hour news television channel, put the number of injured students undergoing treatment at Dhaka's Combined Military Hospital (CMH) at six. Law enforcement personnel were deployed as a number of college students blocked a busy road to protest over the incident. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 18:40:01|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close ATHENS, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The first victims of Monday's wildfires near Athens, which claimed 88 lives, were laid to rest during the weekend, as suspected negligence emerged as the cause of the tragedy during investigations. An elderly resident of a settlement in the Penteli Mountain area, where the first flames broke out, may have started the blaze by burning branches while clearing his yard, the Kathimerini newspaper reported, citing the results of a preliminary probe by the Fire Brigade. As the government, local administration, experts and the public debated whether it was due to negligence, arson, late response by the authorities, or lack of an emergency evacuation plan, Greece was mourning its deadliest national tragedy in over a decade. As the search for a yet unclear number of missing persons continued and dozens were hospitalized, more heartbreaking personal stories of the victims who perished in the flames in coastal resort Mati, 30 kilometers east of Athens, or drowned in the sea began to surface. On Sunday, Varvara Fytrou bade farewell to her 13-year-old daughter Evita, who jumped to her death onto rocks, and her 11-year-old son Andreas, whose charred body was found inside their car next to that of his father, 54-year-old Grigoris. As coroners continued autopsies on the victims, more missing persons were identified among the dead. DNA tests showed two 9-year-old girls, Vassiliki and Sofia Filippopoulou, died next to their grandparents just a few meters from the sea inside a home yard, where at least 26 people died, many hugging one another. Thirteen-year-old Dimitris Alexopoulos was also confirmed dead after DNA tests. Through pictures posted on social media by survivors, his father had recognized the boy next to his grandmother, who is still missing. They were on the beach amid thick smoke, among dozens of other people waiting to be evacuated. Speaking to local reporters outside the coroner's office, his father, a doctor, wished that Greece would learn from the mistakes and such tragedies would not happen again. More than 1,000 people who rushed to the shore were evacuated by the Coast Guard, local fishermen and Greek Navy vessels. Some of those who made it to the shores died of smoke inhalation or drowned, according to the coroners. A 6-month-old baby died of smoke inhalation in his mother's arms, although she reached the waters, while his father, a fire fighter, was battling the flames. "Farewell, our little fish," read the message on a small piece of paper that the family left on the beach. KABUL, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Child marriage has been declined in war-torn Afghanistan, said a statement issued by UNICEF here Sunday, adding that "more is needed to end the practice." "Whilst there has been a reduction in child marriage in Afghanistan, it remains high. In fact, child marriage has dropped by 10 percent over a span of five years," UNICEF, or the United Nations Children's Fund, said in the statement. Also on Sunday, the Afghan Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled and UNICEF launched a first ever comprehensive study on child marriage. "This study is unique, it not only builds on previous studies, but looks at child marriage in Afghanistan from various angles, providing hence a comprehensive picture of this practice," Minister of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled Faizullah Zaki was quoted in the statement as saying. The report findings showed that the security situation, poverty, deeply embedded beliefs and social norms put Afghan girls at a disadvantage. "Child marriage is an appalling violation of human rights and it robs children of their education, health and childhood," the minister added. "Since all parents want the very best for their daughters and sons, we must work together to put an end to child marriage," he noted. "In general, there is a narrow understanding of the negative impact of child marriage on girls. Attention is often focused on the health-related impact of child marriage, with a limited understanding of the impact of child marriage on education, nutrition, and girls'/women's participation in economic development," the statement read. "Child marriage is slightly declining in Afghanistan, and we commend the relentless efforts of the government to reduce this practice and their strong commitment to child rights," Adele Khodr, UNICEF country representative, said in the statement. "Yet, further consolidated action is needed by the different actors in society to put an end to this practice and reach the goal of ending child marriage by 2030," she added. "The study was carried out in five provinces of Afghanistan - Bamyan, Kandahar, Paktia, Ghor and Badghis representing urban, semi-urban and rural areas. Using both qualitative and quantitative research methods, the study highlights multiple factors behind child marriage, complementing already existing studies," according to the statement. The report noted that in 78 percent of families, fathers are the main decision makers on issues related to marriage, while 55.7 percent of respondents agreed that those to be married must be consulted. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 18:50:03|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close GENEVA, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from Switzerland's four biggest power supply companies soared by more than a third in 2017, while more than two-thirds of their electricity came from fossil and nuclear sources, a new report shows. The report by Swiss Energy Foundation (SES), a privately-funded group, looks at power supplied by the four largest utility companies in the Alpine country, namely Alpiq, Axpo, BKW and Repower, and the energy goals of the country. In 2017, 41.3 percent of their electricity came from nuclear plants and 27.8 percent from coal or gas power plants, SES said on Friday. The rest of the firms' electricity was from renewable sources, mostly hydro (26.5 percent). Moritz Bandhauer, the SES project manager for "Electricity Mix 2017", said this is concerning as Switzerland has a ban on the construction of new nuclear plants and the end of nuclear power is only a matter of time. Wind power represented 3.7 percent of the four companies' power production, while solar power represented an "almost negligible" 0.1 percent. Other renewable sources like biomass (0.2 percent) and small hydro (0.5 percent) were also minimal, according to SES. Bandhauer said what is happening counters the goal of a major energy shift. "There is an urgent need for more investment in new renewable power plants," he said, calling for policy decisions to be made. It is urgent to ensure that nuclear power is not replaced by relatively cheap electricity from fossil fuel sources, said Bandhauer. All of the four firms' hydroelectric power plants are in Switzerland, but about half their nuclear power is produced in France and their gas power stations are in Italy. BANGKOK, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The elusive crocodile, spotted in several popular beaches in southern Thailand's Phuket, was caught on Sunday after 11 days of search. The public relations department of Phuket government said the female reptile, 2.5 meters in length, was scooped into a large trawl net off a beach on the west coast of Phuket on Sunday morning. The crocodile is now being taken to the Phuket Coastal Fisheries Research and Development Centre. The department said the crocodile has been illegally raised as the crocodile catching team failed to find any marks of registration. The seafaring crocodile was first spotted on July 18. Crocodile catching teams launched search operations, sightings and used drone photos, together with clues offered by local people to locate it. Owners of crocodiles in Phuket are required to register them with the Phuket Provincial Fisheries Office till August 10, 2018, or they will face imprisonment for a jail term not exceeding one year or a fine not exceeding 10,000 baht (about 303 U.S. dollars) , or both. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 19:45:18|Editor: zh Video Player Close Former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe(L) and his wife Grace Mugabe meet reporters after addressing in a press conference in his residence in Harare, Zimbabwe, July 29, 2018. Former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said Sunday he will not vote for incumbent president Emmerson Mnangagwa who replaced him after he resigned last November following a military intervention. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuliang) HARARE, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said Sunday he will not vote for incumbent president Emmerson Mnangagwa who replaced him after he resigned last November following a military intervention. Speaking at a press conference at his Harare mansion, he criticized Mnangagwa and the military for forcing him to resign and expressed hope that Monday's election will afford Zimbabweans the chance to correct the "illegal" government of Mnangagwa and help return the country back to constitutionalism. "Let tomorrow (Monday vote) decide that there should be a big no to guns directing our politics. Let tomorrow be the voice of the people where never again the country experiences a period where the army is used to thrust one person into power," he said. He also said: "I can not vote for those who tormented me. I will make my choice among the other 22 presidential candidates." He also refuted claims that he was backing opposition leader Nelson Chamisa in the polls. He said he would not vote for either of the four women presidential candidates because they did not have the support of the people. JAKARTA, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian President Joko Widodo issued an order on Sunday to deliver relief aid for people in areas affected by the strong earthquake in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) province, planning to visit the area on Monday, a president aide said. Fourteen people were reported dead and 162 injured from impacts of the 6.4-magnitude earthquake and aftershocks. Around 1,000 of houses were damaged in the disaster, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB). One Malaysian national was among the fatalities, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the spokesman of Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency told Xinhua in a text message. The presidential deputy officer for media affairs Bey Machmudin said that the order was issued shortly after the president landed in an NTB airport from his visit in Maros regency, South Sulawesi province. In a meeting after his landing, the president ordered the BNPB head, Social and Public Works ministers, military commander to immediately deliver relief aid for people affected by the strong earthquake which was followed by frequent aftershocks. "We expect that deliverance of relief aids can be organized this afternoon or tomorrow morning. All elements from the central, provincial and regency governments and related institutions can move together," the official said in a statement. The president was scheduled to visit people in the earthquake-affected areas on Monday, he said, adding that NTB was in the president's schedule during his current visit program in various provinces across the country before the earthquake struck the province. The president's current visit to NTB was initially purposed to inaugurate an Islamic boarding school building in the province's Sumbawa Besar regency. Head of Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Dwikorita Karnawati stated earlier in the day that at least 133 aftershocks with a magnitude of 5.7 have occurred until 3:00 p.m. since the earthquake took place 5:47 a.m. local time. She called on people to remain vigilant on possible more aftershocks which she said to come with lower magnitude. She added that the earthquake in the province's Lombok area was a shallow one. PHNOM PENH, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The voter turnout in Cambodia's sixth general election on Sunday was recorded at 80.49 percent, said Sik Bun Hok, chairman of the National Election Committee (NEC). Polls opened at 7:00 a.m. local time and closed at 3:00 p.m. at all 22,967 polling stations across the kingdom, he said. "Some 6,744,893, or 80.49 percent, of the 8,380,217 eligible voters cast their ballots in the election," he said at a press conference here. "This is the success of our election." The voter turnout was much higher than that in the 2013 election when the voter turnout was at 69.61 percent. Speaking about the situation during the election, Bun Hok said, "The election were conducted normally, there was no any disturbance, safety and security were good, and people voted with pleasure." The preliminary results are expected on Sunday evening, as the provisional results will be released on Aug. 11, and the official ones will be publicized on Aug. 15, according to a NEC timetable. A total of 20 political parties contested in the election, which was held to elect 125 lawmakers for the National Assembly. Among them are the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) of Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, the Funcinpec Party of Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the League for Democracy Party of former opposition lawmaker Khem Veasna. The Southeast Asian country holds a general election once every five years. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 19:50:19|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close TEHRAN, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Iranian foreign minister's special assistant for political affairs Hossein Jaberi Ansari and the outgoing French Ambassador to Iran Francois Senemaud discussed the latest developments in Syria, Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday. The Iranian official offered his congratulations to Senemaud for his new post as the French president's special envoy for Syria. In their meeting held in the capital Tehran on Saturday evening, the two sides reviewed efforts to politically resolve the protracted war in Syria. Jaberi Ansari said that since the beginning of the Syrian civil war, Tehran has insisted that the crisis has no military solution. He pointed to a number of key steps as means to settle the existing issues in Syria including facilitation of return of Syrian refugees, establishment of Syria's constitutional reform committee as well as the committee for exchanging prisoners and missing civilians. Senemaud hailed Iran as a major country and regional power that plays an important role in restoring stability to Syria and the political process to resolve the Arab country's crisis, according to the report. He expressed his country's readiness for cooperation with Iran in finding a political solution to the crisis. Israel has launched attacks against Iran to prevent it from establishing a presence in Syria. However, Iran has ruled out calls of Western countries to withdraw its military advisors from Syria. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 19:50:19|Editor: zh Video Player Close Rescue workers work at the site of a bus accident in Antalya Province, Turkey, July 29, 2018. Two Turkish citizens were killed and 30 other people injured, mostly Chinese, in a tour bus accident in Turkey's southern province of Antalya on Sunday, state-run Anadolu Agency reported. (Xinhua) ANKARA, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Two Turkish citizens were killed and 30 other people injured, mostly Chinese, in a tour bus accident in Turkey's southern province of Antalya on Sunday, state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Anadolu says the accident occurred on the outskirts of Akseki, a small town near Antalya. The Tour bus collided with two automobiles. The Demiroren News Agency (DHA) reported that the tour bus, carrying 31 Chinese tourists, plus a driver and his co-pilot, was on its way to Cappadocia, a city located in central Turkey and known for its distinctive topography. Cappadocia is one of the world's most active hot air ballon hubs. A number of ambulances and rescue teams were dispatched to the scene after the accident. The wounded, mostly Chinese, were taken to the local hospitals for treatment. One female Chinese tourist reportedly in critical condition was sent by helicopter to Antalya, said DHA. U.S. President Donald Trump makes a gesture during the Pledge to America's Workers event at the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States, on July 19, 2018. U.S. President Donald Trump hosted the Pledge to America's Workers event and signed an Executive Order that establishes a National Council for the American Worker. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) by Nathan Morley NICOSIA, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Observers remain cautious and skeptical after the European Union (EU) and the United States claim to have averted a trade war with an agreement to "work together towards zero tariffs." The reasons are mainly related to the U.S. President Donald Trump administration's unpredictability, the rough relationship endured by Brussels and Washington lately, and most importantly the fact that nothing concrete has been agreed on. On Wednesday, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Trump hailed a "new phase" in relations during their meeting at the White House. For his part, Trump shelved a threat to slap tariffs on European cars; whilst in return, Juncker promised that the EU would buy more liquefied natural gas and soybeans from America. But away from the back-slapping and smiles, caution and skepticism remain, as details of any firm agreement are glaringly short in supply. "Of course you have to have the caveat that the devil will be in the details," European parliamentarian Richard Corbett told Xinhua. "It's an agreement to start a process and with Trump you can never be sure whether that will be followed up properly." And given the Trump administration's unpredictable track-record, there are fears that any new talks could quickly unravel. Despite that, both Trump and Juncker vowed to address the steel and aluminum tariffs which kicked off the dispute earlier this year. "It was started unilaterally by Trump without foundation really and using the security argument on products that really have nothing to do with security. Taking unilateral action like that is not the proper way of doing things," Corbett said, adding that Brussels and Washington had endured an uncomfortable relationship lately. "I can understand people feeling uncomfortable when they are with Trump," Corbett added. Experts and commentators on both sides of the Atlantic urged caution after the talks, as Juncker arrived in Washington without a specific trade offer, nor was one agreed. "Some of the heat seems to have gone out of the situation for now, but unfortunately with this president what he says one week, might be contradicted by what he says the following week, so you can't really take anything for granted," Chris Horseman, a journalist specializing in agriculture and trade policy, told Xinhua. "I don't think anything concrete has been achieved, as of today the same tariffs are in place throughout -- it's basically an agreement to talk, but it's fairly loosely formulated. It's really just a promise to talk rather than a commitment to ultimately do anything," Horseman added. Over the last few weeks, Trump has faced increased domestic criticism as American agricultural goods such as soybeans, sugar and fruit become pricier in foreign markets due to retaliatory tariffs -- and thus less attractive to consumers. "The truism is that nobody wins from a trade war," Horseman said. "Certainly with the agricultural products, I think Trump has got himself into some problems domestically, with the knock-on effect of Chinese retaliatory tariffs on soybeans and some meat products, and this was starting to rebound on him," Horseman said. "I think that is certainly why soybeans were specifically mentioned in the context of his press conference with Juncker," Horseman said. Corbett said it is in the interests of all sides to avoid a spiral of retaliation, which would harm exporters and threaten jobs. "It is, at first sight, a welcome development because we were facing, indeed the world is facing, the big risk of an escalating trade war with tit-for-tat measures and countermeasures leading to a downward spiral," Corbett added. Palestinian activist and campaigner Ahed Tamimi (C) is seen upon her release from prison after an eight-month sentence for slapping two Israeli soldiers, on the outskirts of the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh on July 29, 2018. (AFP photo) JERUSALEM, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Israel's Prison Service said Sunday it released Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi jailed after she was captured on video slapping two Israeli soldiers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. A spokesperson for the Prison Service said Tamimi, 17, was released after she finished serving her eight-month sentence. The spokesperson said that Ahed Tamimi's mother, Nariman Tamimi, was released with her. The army was transferring both of them to the West Bank on Sunday morning, the spokesperson said. Tamimi became an "international icon" of the Palestinian protest against the Israeli control over their lands. On Dec. 15, Tamimi was caught on video footage kicking and slapping two soldiers outside her home in the West Bank village of Nabil Saleh. The footage went viral on social networks, triggering rage in Israel and calls to punish the girl. Meanwhile, Palestinians hailed Tamimi as a hero and an icon of the Palestinian struggle against the Israeli occupation. Her trial, which was held behind closed doors, triggered an international campaign to free the girl. Israel seized the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war and controlled it ever since, despite international criticism. MELBOURNE, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese young pianist Lv Jiaying has stood out from more than 130 contestants and won the grand award of the fourth Melbourne International Youth Music Competition. The 12-year-old Lv, who started learning piano at the age of three, received the highest score among all contestants. She was awarded the highest prize at the ceremony held in Melbourne's Federation Square on Sunday evening. Australian pianist and composer Benjamin Martin, who also serves as chairman of the judging panel, spoke highly of the performances of the contestants, saying they demonstrated excellence in technique and interpretation of musical understanding. The annual Melbourne International Youth Music Competition, hosted by the International Music and Art Guide of Australia, provides an opportunity for young aspiring musicians home and abroad to showcase their musical talents, and take part in master classes by some internationally acclaimed musicians. This year's competition attracted more than 130 contestants from Asia, Oceania and North America. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 20:20:25|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close JUBA, July 29 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan youth have resorted to dialogue geared towards promoting peace and addressing gender-based violence. Philip Malaal Chol, the Executive Director for Grand Debaters' Association (GDA), told Xinhua on Saturday evening in Juba that the initiative is to engage youth and local communities to end violence in the strife torn East African Nation. "The launching of the grand junior parliament has created a forum that allows young people and all the vulnerable groups to debate on issues that affect them," Chol said. The launch ceremony that brought more than 400 students from 16 secondary schools was organized by the Grand Debaters' Association and sponsored by the United Nations Women Organization. It was launched under the theme "Empowering youth to embrace peaceful coexistence, harmonized cultures and enhance their engagement on ending violence in South Sudan." Chol said the platform is helping young people become proactive in building peace and campaign to end gender based violence Lian Biar Kuolirot, speaker of the grand junior parliament, said that youth engagement on issues that matters to them and that of their country is the genesis of achieving sustainable peace. "It is the young people to work for peace, therefore, justice, liberty and prosperity we have to collectively dialogue to live in peace,"she added. John Gai Yoah, South Sudan's Presidential Advisor on Education Affairs, said the grand junior parliament forum is a unique way of engaging young people on how to participate in reconstruction of the country. "I believe all the secondary schools in the country will adopt the idea as a way to motivate more young people in the principle of peace and addressing girl-child education in the country," Yoah said. South Sudan's conflict that has now entered its fifth year erupted in 2013 after forces loyal to Kiir and his former deputy engaged in combat. The 2015 peace agreement to end the violence was again violated in July 2016 when 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. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 20:35:27|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BAGHDAD, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces on Sunday killed four Islamic state (IS) militants and captured a fifth during an operation in Iraq's central province of Salahudin, the Iraqi military said. Acting on intelligence reports, the troops carried out a preemptive operation against an IS hideout in a desert area in west of the city of Samarra, some 120 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Yahya Rasoul, spokesperson for the Iraqi Joint Operations Command, said in a statement. The troops opened fire on four IS militants and killed them all, three of them blown up after their explosive belts were detonated by the bullets, while another IS militant surrendered to the troops, the statement said. The key cities of Salahudin province, including the provincial capital Tikrit, some 170 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, were captured by IS militants in June 2014, but the Iraqi security forces have freed the province during major anti-IS offensives. On Dec. 9, 2017, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi officially declared full liberation of Iraq from IS militants after Iraqi forces recaptured all the areas once seized by the extremist group. However, small IS groups and individuals regrouped in desert and rugged areas and are carrying out attacks against security forces and civilians despite operations from time to time to hunt them down. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 21:15:35|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close HAIKOU, July 29 (Xinhua) -- An international arbitration court was launched on Sunday in the southern-most island province of Hainan. The Hainan Court of International Arbitration, the second after Shenzhen, came three and a half months after a decision to develop Hainan as a free trade zone. Shi Wen, head of the Hainan Arbitration Commission, said that no less than one third of the court's council members would be from overseas, to win confidence in the independence and fairness of the institution. The court in Hainan will establish two centers, one for maritime arbitration and the other for financial arbitration. The two centers will help promote sea trade and maritime resources development and utilization and tackle financial disputes and risks, Shi said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 21:25:36|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close TEHRAN, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Students at Tehran universities on Sunday held protests against recent UN nuclear agency's inspections of Iranian universities, state TV reported. At Shahid Beheshti University, they carried pictures of Iranian nuclear scientists assassinated over the past decade. A similar rally was held at Tehran's Sharif University of Technology, where students formed a symbolic human chain, Press TV said. They called on state officials to prevent such visits which have sparked a flurry of condemnation by some Iranian officials. Last week, former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) denounced as "unacceptable" the recent inspections of two Iranian universities by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors. Fereidoun Abbasi, warned against what he called free access to the country's sensitive sites. The IAEA inspections of Iranian academic centers were an inherently "wrong and unacceptable" move, Abbasi said. The IAEA is monitoring Iran's nuclear plan under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Under the plan, Iran agreed to implement the Additional Protocol to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 21:40:38|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close GAZA, July 29 (Xinhua) -- A United Nations official warned Sunday that schools for Palestinian refugees, run by the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA), may not reopen as scheduled due to its financial crisis. Director of UNRWA operations in the Gaza Strip Matthias Schmale said in a press statement that "there are political reasons behind the financial cuts in our budget." "I can't promise that schools will reopen on Aug. 22 and it might be postponed for one additional month due to our financial crisis," said Schmale. "The United States has clearly informed us that they won't give us the money for political reasons," Schmale added. Around 1,000 UNRWA employees have been going on a general strike at the agency's main headquarters in Gaza city in protest of the layoff measures recently declared by UNRWA. "We have 1,000 employees on the emergency program; 100 of them will complete lose their job on Sept. 1, while 300 will remain in their job and 500 will be moved to the part-time job system," said Schmale. Schmale was severely slammed by the employees who even threw shoes at him. "I reiterate that it is the right of UNRWA's employees to peacefully protest and demonstrate," Schmale said. "We are trying to keep the basic and important services of UNRWA in spite of not having enough money in our budget for our emergency program," said Schmale. Meanwhile, Amir al-Mesehal, head of UNRWA Employees Union announced Sunday that 1,000 UNRWA employees will go on a hunger strike within the coming few days in protests of UNRWA's financial cuts. "UNRWA will be fully responsible for the life and security of the striking employees," said al-Mesehal, adding that "our protests against UNRWA's decisions will go on until its goals are achieved." He warned that "no one could imagine the humanitarian catastrophe that would strike the Gaza Strip in case UNRWA insists on its measures against the Palestinian employees." UNRWA provides services to about 5 million registered Palestine refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to achieve their full potential in human development. The agency's services include education, health care, relief, social services, infrastructure, camp improvement and microcredit. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 21:45:39|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close CAIRO, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Nine people were killed on Sunday and 18 injured in a collision in Egypt's Suez Canal city of Port Said. A bus collided with a trailer near the toll station in southern Port Said, state-run MENA news agency reported. The wounded were all workers of one of the factories in city, MENA said. Ten ambulances rushed to the scene to carry the wounded and an investigation was launched into the accident. Egypt suffers a high rate of traffic accidents that kill thousands of people every year due to lack of highway monitoring systems, inadequate road maintenance and negligence of traffic rules. Traffic accidents in Egypt declined by 24.5 percent in 2017 to 11,100 cases compared to about 14,700 in 2016, according to a report from the country's Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics released in March. The report pointed out that road accidents left 3,700 people dead and 14,000 injured in 2017 while killing 5,300 and wounding 18,600 in 2016. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 21:55:43|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close RAMALLAH, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas received and rewarded Ahed Tamimi and her mother on Sunday hours after their release from Israeli jail. Abbas described the 17-year-old girl as a model for popular resistance and struggle for freedom, reiterating his support for non-violent resistance as a vital weapon in facing the Israeli occupation, according to the official Palestinian news agency. Tamimi and her mother, Nariman Tamimi, were released from Israeli jail Sunday morning after eight months. She was arrested on Dec. 19, four days after a video of her slapping an Israeli soldier at the entrance of her home emerged and went viral on the internet. Upon her release, Ahed Tamimi said her real happiness would be fulfilled once the remaining female inmates in Israeli jails are freed. Her father, Bassem Tamimi, told Xinhua that he "feels happy today" as a father, promising "that the message and actions of peaceful resistance against the occupation will continue despite what the Israelis are trying to do to destroy our happiness." Official Palestinian sources said that around 300 children are currently detained in Israeli jails, most of whom were trialed in military courts. Tamimi's case drew wide public attention, especially to procedures of the Israeli military court system, which is often described by right groups as discriminatory. Amnesty International, a global movement campaigning to end abuse of human rights, has called for Tamimi's release and accused Israel of "discriminatory treatment of Palestinian children." Tamimi's mother, who took the video of her daughter and her cousins slapping the soldier, was also arrested on Dec. 20, 2017 and accused of incitement. The Tamimi family and dozens of others from Nabil Saleh village near Ramallah have been engaged in weekly peaceful protests against Israeli settlement expansion and land seizure in their village. by Muhammad Tahir ISLAMABAD, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI), or Movement for Justice, said its chief Imran Khan will take oath as prime minister before August 14 as the party has emerged as the single largest party in the July 25 elections for the National Assembly, the lower house of the country's parliament. Pakistan celebrates its independence from British colonial rule on August 14. Imran Khan, in his victory speech on July 26, briefly outlined his plan for internal and foreign policies in line with his election slogan of a "Naya Pakistan" or new Pakistan. As Imran Khan delivered his address to the nation, almost all opposition parties rejected the election results as "massively rigged" and announced protest in and outside the parliament. An alliance of the religious parties, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal or MMA, even demanded fresh polls, which is considered as an unprecedented demand that came just two days after the elections for the lower house as well as for the four provincial assemblies. The Election Commission of Pakistan rejected the charges while Imran Khan promised probe if the opposition parties provide proofs about the alleged fraud in any constituency in the country. Opposition parties' stance reflects the possible tense environment the new prime minister might face as he will assume the office for the first time. Experts believed that political stability is a must, which will enable the new government to focus on the economy, foreign investment, reforms, internal security and foreign relations. "Political instability will have a negative impact on foreign-funded economic projects, security situation, and could hamper foreign investment. So the new government will have to work hard to deal with internal and external challenges," security and political affairs analyst Nazir Said Mohmand told Xinhua. "Internal strife and political instability will divide the focus of the government and it will not be able to achieve the objectives at regional and international level. There will be no unified front and the world community will also have doubts about the function of the government," Mohmand, a retired army brigadier, said. About PTI government's policies towards China and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), he referred to Imran Khan's victory speech in which he came up with positive statements about relations with China and CPEC. Imran Khan had announced that his government will strengthen and improve relations with China. "We want to work towards the success of CPEC. We also want to send teams to learn poverty alleviation from China to lift our most poor who can't even eat two meals a day," he said. Imran Khan faces a task to bring relations with arch-rival India back on track and to maintain the momentum of efforts to help Afghanistan in peace and reconciliation with Afghanistan. India suspended bilateral dialogue with Pakistan in April 2016 after an attack on Indian air base in Pathankot in January, which Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based militant Jaish-e-Mohammed group. Pakistan had denied any involvement and offered cooperation in the investigation. "The leadership of Pakistan and India now need to come to the table to resolve this and end the blame games. We are stuck at square one," Imran Khan said on July 26. Imran Khan faces another complex issue to improve relations with the United States, which are currently at the lowest ebb. The United States led a campaign in June to place Pakistan on the grey list by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for "failing to curb anti-terror financing" that could hurt Pakistan's economy as well as its international standing at a time when Imran Khan's government will face serious economic challenges. The United States suspended military aid to Pakistan after President Donald Trump in his new year tweet, accused Islamabad of being a "liar" and alleged that "They (Pakistan) give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help." Pakistan had angrily reacted to the remarks. Muhammad Zia-ur-Rehman, a professor at the National Defense University Islamabad, said the next ruling party has to go for a compromise and coalition orientation to run a smooth government. "For the neighboring countries like Afghanistan, Iran, India and China, they might expect a stable and friendly government to continue a good relationship," Rehman told Xinhua. "When it comes to foreign policies, it's also very important to maintain good relations with neighboring countries. PTI has been criticizing the foreign policies of the previous government, therefore, this time it will be a challenge for PTI to come up with better, more efficient and effective one," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 22:35:53|Editor: yan Video Player Close ST. PETERSBURG, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said here Sunday that Russia will continue to develop its naval forces and improve their equipment. Putin made the remarks at a reception following a grand military parade marking Navy Day on the Neva River in Russia's second largest city of St. Petersburg. "High combat readiness and effectiveness of the naval forces are the most important component to ensure the country's combat capability and its security," Putin said. He said the Russian navy will receive 26 new ships in 2018 and four of them will be armed with the Caliber missile system. In a speech at the start of the parade, Putin said that the Russian navy "makes a significant contribution to the fight against international terrorism and plays an important role in ensuring strategic parity." More than 4,000 naval troops, over 40 ships and boats of various classes and naval aviation aircraft from the Baltic, Northern, Black Sea Fleets and the Caspian Flotilla took part in the parade. Russia celebrates its Navy Day on the last Sunday of July. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 22:35:54|Editor: yan Video Player Close CAIRO, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said on Sunday that achieving the Palestinian internal reconciliation would help revive the stalled peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Sisi's remarks came during his meeting in Cairo with President of the U.S.-based World Jewish Congress Ronald Lauder. The Egyptian president stressed that restoring legitimacy in the Gaza Strip and ending the internal Palestinian division would help push forward efforts to revive the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks and reach a just solution to the Palestinian issue, presidential spokesman Bassam Radi said. Sisi also expressed support to all efforts aiming at resuming the peace process between the Palestinian and Israeli sides in accordance with international terms of reference. Meanwhile, President Sisi highlighted his country's keenness to develop strategic relations with the United States to clarify true challenges besetting the region. Sisi asserted Egypt's efforts to reach political solutions to current crises in a way that preserves the countries' sovereignty and integrity of their territories, the spokesman said. The deadlock of the peace process between Palestinians and Israelis is largely attributed to Israel's settlement expansion policy, which is rejected even by its strongest ally the United States. The United States recently moved its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem despite regional and international outcry, after President Donald Trump declared Jerusalem as the capital of Israel last December. The Palestinians seek to establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital along the pre-1967 borders in the light of the UN-proposed two-state solution. For his part, Lauder praised strong relations binding the United States and Egypt and efforts exerted by Egypt to face terrorism threatening security and stability in the Middle East and the entire world. He paid tribute to the progress Egypt managed to achieve in a short time in many domains, saying Egypt's economic development will help lure more foreign investments to the country. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 23:05:59|Editor: yan Video Player Close ISTANBUL, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Increasing number of awards Turkish olive oil has gotten in international competitions in recent years boosts hopes that Turkey's export of branded products may see a significant increase in the medium term. An increasing number of Turkey's olive oil brands have received awards in some leading competitions such as Italy's Biol, Oil China, Olive Japan and the New York International Olive Oil Competition in the past couple of years. "Turkey's branded olive oil exports tend to be on the rise," Atilla Totos, a member of the managing board of the Zeytindostu Association, told Xinhua. Olive growing and olive oil production have achieved a remarkable progress in Turkey particularly in the past 10 years or so. Quality has increasingly become a major focus as many startups flooded the sector in the same period. "Turkey is one of the fastest-developing high quality olive oil markets in the world," said Totos, who is in charge of training activities in the Izmir-based association. However, the rise in Turkey's export of branded and premium olive oil is not expected to be spectacular in a short term. With around 175 million olive trees, Turkey is among the top five producers of olive oil in the world. The country, which has on average a yearly olive oil production of 180,000 to 200,000 tons, expects to rank third in production after Spain and Italy in about five years. "In about 10 years' time, we should have around 200 million olive trees and a yearly oil production of 300,000 to 350,000 tons," Mustafa Tan, the executive director of Turkey's National Olive and Olive Oil Council, told Xinhua. Some estimated that Turkey may even achieve a production of 650,000 tons in less than 10 years. The United States, Saudi Arabia and Germany, where a sizable Turkish community lives, are among Turkey's leading export markets for branded products. China, Russia and Japan are among the countries where Turkish exporters have been trying to get a foothold. Based on figures of the last five years, Turkey's yearly average exportation of olive oil is nearly 40,000 tons. Turkey's figure roughly makes up just 4 to 5 percent of all olive oil exports in the world. However, the share of premium products in this figure is rather small as the Turkish olive oil lags behind Italian, Spanish and Greek olive oil in the global market in terms of recognition. The consumers at home are now aware of the high-quality of the Turkish products, but efforts are still needed for foreign markets to have a similar positive perception about the Turkish olive oil, Totos remarked. "Turkish olive oils have also stronger aromas that resemble a sort of spicy taste," he said. Anatolia, the geographical name of the piece of land on which Turkey lies, is widely accepted to be the homeland and gene center of olive. Turkey sells a major portion of its olive oil to Spanish and Italian companies in bulk, which means lower prices. Tan of Turkey's national council thinks that for the demand for high-quality Turkish olive oil to increase in the international markets, Turkish brands must aim to get an award at the Mario Solinas Quality Award of the International Olive Council. "Mario Solinas is the Oscar of the olive oil. When you get an award there, that would surely help boost export of branded products," he stated. Turkish olive oil companies need also to develop better marketing skills to penetrate niche markets. More importantly, Turkish producers and exporters of branded products need more government subsidies to be able to compete with their European rivals. Producers in the EU get around a euro in subsidy from the state for a kilogram of olive oil while the figure is no more than 0.14 euro in Turkey, Tan noted. "This negatively affects the Turkish producers' export capacity." Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 23:21:01|Editor: yan Video Player Close MOSCOW, July 29 (Xinhua) -- About 2,500 people took to the streets in Moscow on Sunday to protest against a proposal to raise the retirement age. The rally was authorized by Moscow authorities and police were present to ensure public order and security, the Moscow branch of the Russian Interior Ministry said in a press release. The Russian government earlier proposed to gradually extend the age of retirement to 65 from 60 for men and to 63 from 55 for women starting 2019 and completing the process by 2034. However, a recent poll conducted by Russia's independent market research company ROMIR showed that 92 percent of the 1,500 respondents did not support later retirement. On July 20, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he was not happy with the government's proposal to raise the retirement age, but recognized the necessity to reform the pension system. A day earlier, the Russian lower parliament house, the State Duma, gave its first-reading approval to a bill on later retirement. The Duma plans to pass the bill in autumn in the second reading, during which amendments to the bill can be introduced. For this, it will collect proposals on improving the highly unpopular bill. To become effective, a bill has to be passed in three readings by the Duma, among which the second is the most important, then to be endorsed by the upper parliament house, the Federation Council, and then signed into law by Putin. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 23:36:06|Editor: yan Video Player Close AMMAN, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank will provide 250 million U.S. dollars to Jordan in August to support the country's reforms, said Ferid Belhaj, World Bank vice president for Middle East and North Africa, on Sunday. He made the remarks during a meeting with the press in Amman, saying that the money is the second part of the 500 million dollars pledged to be given to Jordan in June. Jordan received the first 250 million dollars last week, he said. The financing seeks to improve the economy and business climate by reducing business costs, fostering competition and increasing exports, he said. The financing also seeks to support Jordan to promote inclusive economic growth, create more jobs, and expand the National Aid Fund cash transfer program to cover an additional 85,000 households. The program will have a specific focus on creating opportunities for young people and women, the World Bank said. Launched in 2016, the Global Concessional Financing Facility provides concessional financing to middle income countries hosting large numbers of refugees at rates usually reserved for the poorest countries. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-30 00:11:11|Editor: Liu Video Player Close TEHRAN, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The Iranians can pass through the current "critical" stage in the face of revamped U.S. sanctions, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Sunday. Washington is addicted to sanctions, and a review of "the history of U.S. foreign relations shows that this country has imposed the most sanctions on the majority of countries," Zarif was quoted as saying by Press TV. He drew upon the U.S. threat of sanctions snap-back against Iran, saying that Iran will be able to improve the situation as "the world stands with us and we should use this opportunity." "We can turn pressures into an increase in national production and non-oil exports and show the Americans that they should abandon" their approach of sanctioning, he said. U.S. sanctions on Iran will snap back in August and November, a move after American withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal on May 8. The first part of the sanctions will snap back on August 6. These sanctions will include targeting Iran's automotive sector, trade in gold, and other key metals. The remaining sanctions will snap back on November 4. These sanctions will include targeting Iran's energy sector and petroleum-related transactions, and transactions with the Central Bank of Iran. Washington's withdrawal from the landmark Iran nuclear deal was criticized across the world. Some of its major European allies have been working to prevent the 2015 deal from falling apart. Iran said that European countries will soon offer a package to protect Iran's interests in accordance with the 2015 deal. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-30 00:16:13|Editor: Liu Video Player Close MOGYOROD, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The defending world champion and four-time world champion Lewis Hamilton (GB, Mercedes) claimed victory of the 33rd Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix here on Sunday with a time of one hour 37 minutes and 16.427 seconds, before also four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel (Germany, Ferrari) and Kimi Raikonnen (Finland, Ferrari), who came at the second and third places respectively. This is the sixth win for the 33-year old Hamilton in Hungary, a record. And his Sunday victory was the 67th of his amazing career. With this victory, Hamilton increased his lead in the driver's standing to 24 points. After the Hungarian Grand Prix, Hamilton is leading by 213 points, followed by Vettel (189 points) and Raikonnnen (146 points). While in the constructor's standings, Mercedes is at the top with 345 points, followed by Ferrari (335 points) and Red Bull (223 points). The race took place under a heat wave, the air temperature was 33 degrees Celsius while the track 50. Before the race, there had been a one minute silence, in hommage to the recently deceased President of Ferrari: Segio Marchionne. The start was a good one for Hamilton, who launched from the first place, while Valterri Bottas (Finland, Mercedes) passed Kimi Raikkonnen. In the second turn, Sebastian Vettel also bypassed Raikkonen. In the second lap, Charles Leclerc (Monaco, Sauber) had to give up the race, with his Sauber. In lap number 6, the car of Max Verstappen (Red Bull) slowed down, showing lack of power and he gave up the race as well. Next year, the Red Bull cars will race with Honda engines, abandonning Renault. In lap number 10, the advantage of Hamilton grew to 4.4 seconds, while in lap 14, Raikonnen stopped to change tyres. At lap 22, Hamilton and Vettel were still leading, followed by Bottas and Raikonnen. The defending world champion was only five laps later on fresh tires, but Vettel, who was heading for the race, was still kept out on the track for a while to improve the difference. In lap 32 his lead was 14.5 seconds, but when he drove to the box in lap 39, it shrank to 7.8 seconds. Twenty laps before the end, it was clear that if there were no accident or technical defeat, only Vettel's third place could be realistic, or overtaking Bottas, since Hamilton's advantage grew steadily. In the end, Vettel attacked Bottas with great impetus, and although Bottas was slower, he kept on trying to keep his position. The German competitor eventually managed to overtake his Finnish rival, but the two cars collided during the maneuver, and the right edge of the Mercedes's first wing broke, but the left rim of Ferrari remained intact. The Sunday race was the 220th of Hamilton's, and the 210th of Vettel's career. The Formula One competition will return in one month, after a summer pause, in Belgium. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-30 00:16:14|Editor: yan Video Player Close ST. PETERSBURG, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Navy successfully tackles the tasks of the country's defense capability, makes a significant contribution to the fight against international terrorism, plays an important role in ensuring strategic parity, Russian President of Russia Vladimir Putin said on Sunday. The Russian president made the remarks at the Main Naval Parade in St. Petersburg on Sunday. More than 40 warships and submarines, about 40 aircraft, and more than 4,000 sailors participated in the naval parade on the Neva river and in Kronstadt, including frigate Admiral Makarov, the cruiser Marshal Ustinov, and the nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine Orel. The Main Naval Parade in St. Petersburg is the most important part of the Russian Navy Day celebration. Naval parades are also held in Baltiysk, Sevastopol, Astrakhan, Vladivostok and Severomorsk. (File photo)Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks during a meeting with a group of economists in the capital Tehran on July 16, 2018. (AFP photo) TEHRAN, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The Iranians can pass through the current "critical" stage in the face of revamped U.S. sanctions, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Sunday. Washington is addicted to sanctions, and a review of "the history of U.S. foreign relations shows that this country has imposed the most sanctions on the majority of countries," Zarif was quoted as saying by Press TV. He drew upon the U.S. threat of sanctions snap-back against Iran, saying that Iran will be able to improve the situation as "the world stands with us and we should use this opportunity." "We can turn pressures into an increase in national production and non-oil exports and show the Americans that they should abandon" their approach of sanctioning, he said. U.S. sanctions on Iran will snap back in August and November, a move after American withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal on May 8. The first part of the sanctions will snap back on August 6. These sanctions will include targeting Iran's automotive sector, trade in gold, and other key metals. The remaining sanctions will snap back on November 4. These sanctions will include targeting Iran's energy sector and petroleum-related transactions, and transactions with the Central Bank of Iran. Washington's withdrawal from the landmark Iran nuclear deal was criticized across the world. Some of its major European allies have been working to prevent the 2015 deal from falling apart. Iran said that European countries will soon offer a package to protect Iran's interests in accordance with the 2015 deal. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-30 00:36:16|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad(1st,L) meets with Guo Yezhou (2nd,R), vice minister of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), in Putrajaya, Malaysia, July 29, 2018.(Xinhua/Zhu Wei) PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia will continue to see China as a good friend and a good partner, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad told Guo Yezhou, a visiting senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Sunday. Mahathir said the Malaysian government is willing to deepen traditional friendship with China, strengthen exchanges between the ruling parties and expand pragmatic cooperation on all fronts. He is also looking forward to his upcoming official visit to China, said the prime minister. Guo, deputy head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, said China attaches great importance to the Sino-Malaysian relations and will continue to promote traditional friendship and close exchanges between the ruling parties to boost healthy and stable development of bilateral relations. KATHMANDU, July 30 (Xinhua) -- The Nepal-China trade through Rasuwagadhi-Kerung (Geelong) border point has been suspended since Friday after a rain-induced flood damaged a bridge over a stream close to Nepal-China border, local officials said. It is the only operating trade route between the two neighbors as another Tatopani-Khasa (Zhangmu) route in Sindhupalchowk district has remained closed since the deadly earthquake in April 2015, Krishna Poudel, chief district officer of Rasuwa, told Xinhua on Sunday. About 200 trucks carrying goods from China and those heading to border areas to receive goods have remained stranded following the bridge was damaged, said the official. "We halted the movement of large vehicles from Friday and halted all types of vehicles since Saturday after the flood damaged one of the pillars of the bridge," he said. According to Poudel, a technical team from the Department of Road assessed the status of the bridge on Sunday, saying a minor damage to the pillar was spotted and it could be renovated within a week. "Until then, there can be no movement of vehicles on the bridge and there is no suitable area to build temporary bridge too," he said. Nepali officials said that the bridge must be rebuilt soon as the time has come for Nepali traders to import goods in large scale targeting the upcoming Dashain and Tihar festivals, two of the biggest festivals celebrated in the Himalayan country in October-November period. Nepal-China border area has been seeing massive and minor landslides in recent days due to incessant rainfalls. On July 26, a rain-induced landslide killed nine people while injuring 12 around the same area. Palestinian activist and campaigner Ahed Tamimi (C) stands between her father (C-L) and mother (C-R), during a press conference in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh on July 29, 2018, upon her release from prison after an eight-month sentence. (AFP photo) RAMALLAH, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Ahed Tamimi, 17, urged Sunday that the campaigns organized for her would continue for all other Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and said that she will continue to advocate for their causes. "I hope that the campaigns continue and I will surely be with you in support of the prisoners," the young girl said, addressing journalists in her hometown, Nabi Saleh village. She said the only thing that caused her a lot of pressure during her imprisonment is that she thought she would miss her sitting for the high school diploma. "But contrary to my fear, in prison I sat for my examinations and we decided to name our class the class of challenge, because we were able to challenge the Israeli prison authorities that tried to stop us by several means including declaring an emergency case to make us return to our cells instead of studying," she added. She spoke about many female prisoners who gave her inspiration and power to continue to study and learn more about international law during their imprisonment despite consistent Israeli measures against them. Tamimi described the transfer from the prison facility to court as a very difficult ride with human rights violations, including insults and provocation during interrogation. When asked about her plans in the future, she said "I'm planning to pursue my education at university to study law in order to be able to raise my country's cause to all international platforms and to speak out for the plight of prisoners to the entire world and international tribunals." Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas received Tamimi and her mother hours after their release from Israeli jail, in his office in Ramallah. Abbas described the girl as a model for popular resistance and struggle for freedom, reiterating his support to non-violent resistance as a vital weapon facing the Israeli occupation, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA. The mother and the daughter were released from Israeli jail Sunday morning after spending eight months in jail. Upon her release, Tamimi said her real happiness would be fulfilled once the remaining female inmates in Israeli jails are freed. Her father told Xinhua that he "feels happy today" as a father, promising "that the message and actions of peaceful resistance against the occupation will continue despite what the Israelis are trying to do to destroy our happiness." Official Palestinian sources said that around 300 children are currently detained in Israeli jails, most of whom were trialed in military courts. Tamimi has been detained since Dec 19, 2017, in a night raid four days after a video of her slapping an Israeli soldier went viral on the internet. Tamimi's case drew wide public attention, especially to procedures of the Israeli military court system, which is often described by human rights groups as discriminatory. Amnesty International, a global movement campaigning to end abuse of human rights, has called for Tamimi's release and accused Israel of "discriminatory treatment of Palestinian children." Tamimi's mother, who took the video of her daughter and her cousins slapping the soldier, was also arrested on Dec. 20, 2017, and accused of incitement. The Tamimi family and dozens of others from Nabil Saleh village near Ramallah have been engaged in weekly peaceful protests against Israeli settlement expansion and land seizure in their village. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-30 02:01:23|Editor: yan Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of Ethiopians came out to the streets on Sunday in the capital to bid farewell to the slain chief engineer of the country's landmark mega hydro dam. Simegnew Bekele's flag-draped casket made a journey through the streets of Addis Ababa. The engineer, who was found dead in his car on Thursday morning in Addis Ababa with a gunshot wound to the head, was laid to rest in the Ethiopian Orthodox Trinity Cathedral. Scores of mourners, including Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome, paid their last respects. Bekele had been the chief engineer of the 6,450 MW Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) since its construction was started in April 2011 on the Blue Nile River. The project, which will be Africa's largest upon completion, is now 66 percent complete, according to the Ethiopian government. Ethiopian police have not yet given indications on whether Bekele's death was from a self-inflicted wound or murder, but Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said he believes the engineer was murdered. One of the mourners, Fanta Messele, a niece of Bekele's, said she came to the funeral to pay her last respects to a visionary and hardworking Ethiopian. "Simegnew was a kind, hardworking and popular guy, who doesn't have time for small things," she told Xinhua. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-30 03:31:33|Editor: yan Video Player Close TRIPOLI, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Libya has won an international lawsuit against a Turkish company demanding financial compensation of 80 million euros (93.3 million U.S. dollars), said Libya's Justice Ministry's lawsuit department on Sunday. Libya won a lawsuit, at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris, filed by the Turkish TAV Airports Holding Company, claiming financial compensation for damages due to alleged violation of the Libyan party's legal obligations by suspension of the construction of Sabha International Airport in southern Libya. The ICC ruled that the contract signed between Libya and the Turkish company has been terminated due to force majeure, granting the company 10.3 million euros for the completed works, loss of equipment and guarantees. The lawsuits department, established in 1971, represents the government and handles lawsuits filed against the country inside and abroad. Due to the insecurity and chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled former leader Gaddafi's regime, most foreign companies working in Libya left the country and their projects were suspended. The Libyan audit bureau in May said foreign companies abroad have filed 142 lawsuits against Libya since 2011, demanding compensation of nine billion euros. The team of China attends the opening ceremony of the International Army Games 2018 in Moscow, Russia, July 28, 2018. (Xinhua/Bai Xueqi) MOSCOW, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The International Army Games 2018 kicked off at Russia's Alabino training ground in the Moscow region on Saturday with 189 teams from 32 countries taking part, the Russian Defense Ministry said. "It will certainly contribute to the development of international military technical cooperation and the promotion of military service," Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a welcome letter read out by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at the opening ceremony. The opening ceremony of the International Army Games 2018 is held in Moscow, Russia, July 28, 2018. (Xinhua/Bai Xueqi) A number of major war equipment in active service, including infantry fighting vehicles, battle tanks and helicopter gunships, conducted live-fire drills. Teams from China, Uganda, Kazakhstan and Kuwait participated in the opener of the Tank Biathlon contest, a key competition held annually at the event. This year, 28 contests will be held during the tournament underway till August 11, and in seven countries, including China, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Iran. Russian Navy personnel attend the Main Naval Parade to mark Russian Navy Day in St. Petersburg, Russia on July 29, 2018. (Xinhua/Wu Zhuang) ST. PETERSBURG, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said here Sunday that Russia will continue to develop its naval forces and improve their equipment. Putin made the remarks at a reception following a grand military parade marking Navy Day on the Neva River in Russia's second largest city of St. Petersburg. "High combat readiness and effectiveness of the naval forces are the most important component to ensure the country's combat capability and its security," Putin said. He said the Russian navy will receive 26 new ships in 2018 and four of them will be armed with the Caliber missile system. In a speech at the start of the parade, Putin said that the Russian navy "makes a significant contribution to the fight against international terrorism and plays an important role in ensuring strategic parity." A warship is seen on Main Naval Parade to mark Russian Navy Day in St. Petersburg, Russia on July 29, 2018. (Xinhua/Wu Zhuang) More than 4,000 naval troops, over 40 ships and boats of various classes and naval aviation aircraft from the Baltic, Northern, Black Sea Fleets and the Caspian Flotilla took part in the parade. Russia celebrates its Navy Day on the last Sunday of July. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-30 03:56:36|Editor: yan Video Player Close DUBAI, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Agricultural producers from China's southwestern Yunnan Province sealed deals with import firms from Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), at a forum here on Sunday to expand bilateral trade. "Yunnan is also called the 'King Province of flowers,' and we are proud to serve the world with a range of high quality agricultural products," said Zhao Ruijun, head of the Yunnan Provincial Department of Commerce. The UAE, with 10 million inhabitants, must import 90 percent of its food needs, according to the UAE Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade in Abu Dhabi. According to global consultancy KPMG, the UAE food and beverage market is worth 13.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2018, because of the Gulf state's role as a travel and tourism destination. Therefore, public and private institutions are constantly seeking new source markets abroad to ensure food security in the mostly deserted Gulf Arab state, said Abdulla Saeed Salem Al Zaabi, director of External Branches at the Dubai Department of Economic Development. Al Zaabi said that the UAE is keen on raising China-Emirati relations to the next level and play a major part as a trade hub under the Belt and Road Initiative. A total of 15 agricultural firms from Yunnan exhibited on the sidelines of the forum. Over 100 local UAE businesspersons examined their products, such as fresh cut flowers, tea, corn, vegetables, fruits and potato chips. In the first half of 2018, trade exchange between China's Yunnan province and the UAE grew 3 times year on year and hit 280 million dollars, according to Zhao. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-30 04:06:38|Editor: yan Video Player Close TEHRAN, July 29 (Xinhua) -- UN nuclear watchdog carried out inspection programs in two Iranian universities last week which sparked reactions from the Iranian political groups. On Sunday, students at Tehran universities held protest rallies against recent UN nuclear agency's inspections of Iranian universities and demanded a ban for such visits in future, state TV reported. At Shahid Beheshti University, they carried pictures of Iranian nuclear scientists assassinated over the past decade. A similar rally was held at Tehran's Sharif University of Technology, where students formed a symbolic human chain, Press TV said. They called on state officials to prevent such visits which have sparked a flurry of condemnation by Iranian officials. Last week, Fereidoun Abbasi, former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, denounced as "unacceptable" the recent inspections of two Iranian universities by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors. The IAEA inspections of Iranian academic centers were an inherently "wrong and unacceptable" move, Abbasi said. Besides, there was no reason for the inspectors to visit the offices of professors at the universities either, he added. Abbasi also expressed doubts that future inspections of Iran's universities and scientific centers would be limited to specific time and places. He said that the inspections might go on as long as Iran's nuclear dossier is being considered as a "special case" by the IAEA. "Such visits and inspections may even spread to military sectors and to our military and research universities," Abbasi warned. The IAEA inspectors had visited Iran University of Science and Technology and Sharif University of Technology. Following the media releases, Science Minister Mansour Gholami said Iran's Supreme National Security Council had authorized the inspections. He denounced the claims that such visits would damage national interests, saying that the inspections by the IAEA did not go any further than "visiting the laboratories" and it was not followed by any problems. Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-30 04:31:41|Editor: yan Video Player Close TRIPOLI, July 29 (Xinhua) -- South Korean Ambassador to Libya Choi Sung-Soo on Sunday met with Libya's UN-backed government's Foreign Minister Mohamed Sayala in the Libyan capital Tripoli. According to the Libyan Foreign Ministry, the two officials discussed discussed bilateral relations and mutual cooperation, including the return of South Korean companies to Libya to complete construction and power projects suspended since the 2011 uprising in Libya. The meeting also discussed South Korean companies and investors implementing new projects of housing, construction, energy in Libya, as well as reconstruction of cities affected by the war on terrorism, the ministry said. Due to the insecurity and chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled former leader Gaddafi's regime, most foreign companies working in Libya left the country and their projects were suspended. Palestinians wave their national flag as they demonstrate in support of bedouin inhabitants near their village of Khan al-Ahmar, in the occupied West Bank July 18, 2018. (AFP photo) CAIRO, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi urged on Sunday the Israeli public opinion to make use of an available great chance for peace with the Palestinians. "I address the Israeli public opinion that there is a great chance for real peace and stability in the region by finding a solution to this issue," Sisi said while answering one of the questions at a two-day youth conference held in Cairo University. "This solution will not at all be against your security and stability," Sisi said through the televised event. With regards to circulating media reports about a U.S.-sponsored "Deal of the Century" for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Sisi reiterated Egypt's fixed position that supports the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital city based on the pre-1967 borders and the relevant UN resolutions. "The 'Deal of the Century' is a media term rather than a political one," Sisi continued, "we cannot accept anything the Palestinians do not accept and we support what they accept." The Egyptian president said that Egypt exerts efforts to achieve inter-Palestinian reconciliation "to have a united leadership for negotiations regarding the Palestinian cause." The decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict has been going on since the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the Western-backed creation of Israel in 1948. The international community holds Israel responsible for the deadlock of the peace process with the Palestinians due to its settlement expansion policy on occupied Palestinian territories. Israel is the regional number one ally of the United States. The U.S. President Donald Trump has recognized in late 2017 the debatable holy city of Jerusalem as Israel's capital city despite regional and international uproar. Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjen called on Romania to fulfil pledges the countrys first national assembly made in 1918, under which ethnic Hungarians should be granted autonomy. Speaking at the Baile Tusnad (Tusnadfurdo) Summer University, Semjen said that Romania should honour that pledge and stop seeing it as extremism if Hungarians demand self-determination. The answer to the Trianon Treaties, which severed Transylvania from Hungary, is national mourning, celebrating national unity and openly representing the Hungarian standpoint on such historical events, he said, criticising the call for holding a national consultation survey on the revision of Trianon. Hungary is open to cooperation with Romania, he said, citing the countrys historic reconciliation with Serbia as an example of good relations. Hungary provides economic support for ethnic Hungarian minorities in neighbouring countries, and such a cooperation is a win-win situation for both sides. Hungary and Romania are cooperation successfully in setting up Europes north-south infrastructural axis and opposing the Ukrainian public education law, which Hungary says curbs minority rights, Semjen said. The 1918 national assembly in Alba Iulia (Gyulafehervar) and the declaration signed there created present-day Romania by uniting Transylvania with Bessarabia and Bukovina. MTI photo: Veres Nandor Woodland Park Zoos three-week-old Red Panda cubs had their second neonatal exam this week and the female twins are healthy and thriving. The cubs were born on June 19 to two-year-old mom Hazel and 14-year-old dad Yukiko. The last successful birth of Red Pandas at the zoo was in 1989. Photo Credit: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo The exam was performed by the zoos veterinary team as a part of the zoos exemplary care program for its 1,200 animals. Born at about five ounces each, the cubs now weigh just over a pound. Were pleased with this weight gain, which means both cubs continue to nurse and have healthy appetites. Their eyes are not open yet but they are quite vocal as cubs should be, said Dr. Darin Collins, Woodland Park Zoos director of animal health. Hazel, a first-time mom, lives in a private indoor, climate-controlled habitat, which provides a quiet environment where she can bond with her cubs. Because Red Pandas normally live alone, except for mothers with cubs, the dad remains separated from the new family. We continue to monitor mom and cubs via a den cam to ensure they are thriving and we have minimal physical contact with the family, said Mark Myers, a curator at Woodland Park Zoo. The cubs are crawling and are capable of rolling over to upright positions. In another week or so, we should begin seeing continued motor skill development. This first month for newborn Red Pandas is an important time and our twins are on target with important developmental milestones. The zoo anticipates putting Hazel and her cubs on exhibit for guests to see by mid-October. Timing will depend on their ability to safely navigate elevated branches, trees and other exhibit features. Because Red Pandas live in high-altitude temperate forests with bamboo understories in the Himalayas and high mountains, they are very comfortable in the coldest of conditions throughout the winter, explained Myers. The community will be invited to participate in a public naming later this summer. Red Pandas share the name of Giant Pandas, but recent studies suggest they are closely related to Skunks, Weasels and Raccoons. An endangered species, fewer than 10,000 Red Pandas remain in their native habitat of bamboo forests in China, the Himalayas and Myanmar, and share part of their range with Giant Pandas. Their numbers are declining due to deforestation, increased agriculture and cattle grazing, and continuing pressure from growing human populations. Woodland Park Zoo supports the Red Panda Network, whose multi-prong approach aims to conserve this flagship species in Nepal. PATNA: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case in the Muzaffarpur rape case at a shelter home after the Bihar government requested the central agency to take over the case. The case has been registered against the officers and employees of Balika Grih in Muzaffarpur under section 120(B), 376, 34 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 4, 6, 8,10,12 of POCSO. It is alleged that officials and employees of Balika Grih run by Seva Sankalp Evam Vikash Samiti used to mentality, physically and sexually exploit girls residing there. CM Nitish Kumar had on Thursday issued the orders to the Chief Secretary, Principal Home Secretary and DGP to hand over the investigation into the case to the CBI. Meanwhile, secret stairs leading out of the Muzaffarpur shelter house to a press in the same building have been found. The secret stairs were found by a team of Muzaffarpur IG Sunil Kumar and DIG Anil Kumar on Saturday. Along with the stairs, the medicines administered to the girls have also been recovered from the shelter house. A team of State Forensic Laboratory (SFL) have been asked to inspect the beds and nursing room to look for any leads into the case. Medical examinations have revealed that five more girls had suffered sexual abuse at the shelter home, taking the total number of victims to 34 of 42. Bihars Director General of Police (DGP) KS Dwivedi had earlier said 10 of the 11 accused have been arrested. He also said four girls were reported missing from the shelter home since December 2013. The abuse at the shelter home came to light after a girl alleged that her fellow inmate had been beaten to death and buried on the premises. Following the complaint, a police team dug up the ground but did not found any body there. Muzaffarpur SSP Harpreet Kaur had said that the area of excavation might be enlarged after further examination of the girl who had levelled the allegation. More than 40 girls had been lodged at the shelter home and medical reports suggest that over half of them may have had sexual intercourse at some point of time. The NGO running the shelter home has been blacklisted and all the girls have been moved to shelter homes in other districts while the premises has been sealed. MUZAFFARPUR: Secret stairs leading out of the Muzaffarpur shelter house to a press in the same building have been found during the probe into allegations of rape of 42 girls at the complex. The secret stairs were found by a team of Muzaffarpur IG Sunil Kumar and DIG Anil Kumar on Saturday. Along with the stairs, the medicines administered to the girls have also been recovered from the shelter house. A team of State Forensic Laboratory (SFL) have been asked to inspect the beds and nursing room to look for any leads into the case. Meanwhile, medical examinations have revealed that five more girls had suffered sexual abuse at the shelter home, taking the total number of victims to 34 of 42. Bihars Director General of Police (DGP) KS Dwivedi had earlier said 10 of the 11 accused have been arrested. He also said four girls were reported missing from the shelter home since December 2013. The abuse at the shelter home came to light after a girl alleged that her fellow inmate had been beaten to death and buried on the premises. Following the complaint, a police team dug up the ground but did not found any body there. Muzaffarpur SSP Harpreet Kaur had said that the area of excavation might be enlarged after further examination of the girl who had levelled the allegation. More than 40 girls had been lodged at the shelter home and medical reports suggest that over half of them may have had sexual intercourse at some point of time. The NGO running the shelter home has been blacklisted and all the girls have been moved to shelter homes in other districts while the premises has been sealed. Under pressure from the opposition, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had on Thursday recommended a CBI probe. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav had on Saturday attacked the government alleging that they are staring at statelessness in Bihar. "Women are getting abducted akin to what Ravana did to Sita. Girls are getting raped, abducted. The state is now being ruled by Ravana," he said. The Congress too questioned of this case was an example of "good governance model" of the ruling JD(U)-BJP alliance. "We want to ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his partner in crime, Nitish Kumar when will they speak a word on this gruesome (Muzaffarpur) incident," he said. Gohil said he is termed as "sushan babu" (good governance man) and asked,"Is this the good governance model of the BJP-JDU?" BRENDAN O'NEILL Why is Irish PM Leo Varadkar a cheerleader for the EU? Its no friend of Ireland His Brexitphobia has made this nation, known for its rebellious spirit, into the pathetic patsy of the Brussels oligarchy CommentBy Brendan O'Neill26th July 2018The SunI NEVER thought Id say this, but I feel ashamed to be Irish.Its the fault of Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.His Brexitphobia his weird determination to scupper the UKs exit from the EU is draining Ireland of its best qualities. It has made this nation, known for its rebellious spirit, into the pathetic patsy of the Brussels oligarchy.This land of rebel hearts and independent minds now does the bidding of EU suits hell-bent on punishing Britain with a bad Brexit deal.With Varadkar at the helm, like the school dweeb sucking up to the bullies in order to protect his own hide, Ireland now plays the role of cheerleader to Brussels imperious sneering at Britain.What a tragic fall: From a plucky nation celebrated for its unruly streak to the sad bag-carrier for the Brussels machine. Well done, Leo.Varadkar has been kicking up a fuss about Brexit for months. He has been pushing the fact-free line that Brexit will be devastating for Ireland.Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith lashed out at Varadkar after he made that comment, telling him to quit strutting around and start behaving like an adult. Quite right, IDS: There is a squawking baby quality to Varadkars tantrums over Brexit Last week he warned that if the UK crashes out of the EU, it will also leave the Single European Sky programme, which coordinates flights over Europe.If they want their planes to fly over our skies, they would need to take that into account, he said.And now he is about to embark on a tour of European cities, where he plans to talk an awful lot about . . . you guessed it, Brexit. The man is obsessed.Europeans, brace yourselves: Irish moaner incoming.Varadkars blather about British planes being forbidden from Irish skies sums up his entire shtick on this issue.Like everything he says about Brexit, these comments were shrill and factually incorrect.The truth, as Downing Street pointed out, is that overflight rights are guaranteed by international treaties, not EU membership.So British jets will enjoy as much liberty in Irish clouds post-Brexit as they did pre-Brexit.There is no need or desire for a souped-up, boulders-and-fences border between northern and southern Ireland.Across the world, nations that are close neighbours but which have different trading rules have found ways to streamline the exchange of goods and transport of people.Theres no reason Ireland and the UK cannot do likewise. And yet fears of a hard border are still talked up by EU cynics and their sad lackeys in Varadkars circle . Why? Because Brussels is actively looking for a stumbling block to Brexit. For that technical glitch that might be whipped out as a way of saying: See? Brexit is a political folly and it must be stopped.This is a profoundly cynical exploitation of Irelands simple, practical border questions, with the aim of wounding or even killing Brexit.Brussels true and sinister aim is to keep Northern Ireland beholden to EU diktats so that it can say: Maybe all of Britain should stay in our imperial project.Shame on Varadkar for assisting it in this anti-democratic strike against Brexit.Former Brexit secretary David Davis caused an Anglo-Irish stink in April when he said Varadkars government was bowing to Sinn Fein Some are now wondering if Varadkar is too snug with Sinn Fein.Former Brexit secretary David Davis caused an Anglo-Irish stink in April when he said Varadkars government was bowing to Sinn Fein. This is inaccurate, huffed Varadkar.Yet Varadkar has encouraged Sinn Fein MPs to take their seats in Westminster which they have always refused to do in order to make things better by Ireland by voting against any attempt to get Britain out of the customs union. Varadkar and SF are singing from the same hymn sheet: Both want to bruise Britain and ensure it doesnt fully leave the EU, even though voters have said we must do this.David Trimble, former leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, summed it up when he said Varadkar is trying to out Sinn Fein Sinn Fein.The most perverse thing about Varadkars pom-pom waving for the EU is that he is siding with an institution that has treated Ireland like trash, while sneering at a nation Britain that has helped it a great deal in recent years.If Varadkar thinks the EU is a friend of Ireland, he is even dumber than he looks.In 2001, Irish voters rejected the Nice Treaty, which expanded the EU into Eastern Europe.In 2008 they voted against the Lisbon Treaty, which strengthened Brussels power over European affairs.These were Brexit-like revolts. And how did the EU respond to them?The same way they have responded to Brexit: By demonising Irish voters as dim and racist.The Irish were forced to vote again, on both Nice and Lisbon, and the second time round they gave what was considered the right answer: Yes to both treaties.And yet Varadkar creepily cosies up to the anti-Irish EU while insulting the pro-Irish UKThe UK has assisted Ireland in so many ways of late.We bailed it out when it was experiencing serious economic turbulence.Following the crash of the so-called Celtic Tiger economy, British taxpayers pumped 20billion into the Irish economy.Between 2009 and 2011, one in every four pounds that our Government spent on bailing out British banks found its way to Ireland.Ireland also relies on Britain for its oil and gas: It sources 90 per cent of both from the UK.The RAF keeps a close eye on Irish airspace. Earlier this year, RAF Typhoons intercepted Russian bomber planes that got close to Irish skies.And, as Ian Paisley Jnr of the Democratic Unionist Party has pointed out, after Brexit the waters used by Irish fishermen will become British waters.And Britain, of course, is keen to allow the Irish to continue fishing these waters.Why is Varadkar snuggling up to an oligarchy that has trampled all over the democratic wishes of Irish people, while ridiculing his next-door neighbour that has had Irelands back in recent years?Because he is being used.Ireland is being played like a fiddle. It is being exploited by the EU as part of its effort to demonise and weaken Brexit.Varadkar needs to wake up. He has got to realise that he has only fake friends in Brussels, but real friends here in the UK. New Delhi: The beautiful and incredibly talented Disha Patani is all set to win hearts with her upcoming film 'Bharat'. The movie has an ensemble star cast of Salman Khan, Sunil Grover, Tabu and popular television actor Aasif Sheikh to name a few. The shoot of the film began a few days ago and nothing has been revealed about the characters that each actor/actress will play. There are reports that Disha will most probably be playing the role of Salman Khan's sister in the film but we will have to await the official announcement of the same. While we don't know much about Disha's character in the movie, the actress took to Instagram to share something special. Disha's character in the film is named 'Radha'. Check out the actress's pic here: A post shared by disha patani (paatni) (@dishapatani) on Jul 27, 2018 at 8:46pm PDT The leading lady of 'Bharat', Priyanka Chopra stunned everyone as she backed out of the film on July 27. The reason behind this is speculated to be her engagement with beau Nick Jonas. Reports regarding Priyanka and Nick's engagement surfaced on the same day and buzzword is high that the two might tie the knot in October this year. Since Priyanka is no longer a part of the film, fans are curious to know who will replace the actress in the film. Addressing such queries, the director, Ali Abbas Zafar took to Twitter and wrote, Yes yes yes ... we will announce the leading lady of Bharat soon.. We have been shooting Non stop and the simultaneously preparing for international schedules .... The film will be set in the backdrop of India in 1947 and will take us through the events during the countrys partition. Not just that, the film will showcase significant events over a period of 70 years since partition. 'Bharat' is scheduled for an Eid 2019 release. New Delhi: Bollywood and Hollywood star Priyanka Chopra left the internet bewildered as reports of her backing out of the Salman Khan starrer 'Bharat' started surfacing. The report was then confirmed when the film's director Ali Abbas Zafar took to Twitter to share that Priyanka is indeed no longer a part of the project. Soon after this, the internet was flooded with news about Priyanka Chopra's alleged engagement with Nick Jonas. While the two have not yet confirmed engagement rumours, there is strong buzz suggesting that Priyanka and Nick are indeed engaged! As soon as reports of Priyanka backing out of 'Bharat' surfaced, everybody started wondering if Salman Khan is upset with the actress over her decision. Several reports claimed that Salman is indeed miffed with Priyanka quitting the project. However, in a telephonic interview to Spotboye, Salman's father Salim Khan has revealed the superstar's reaction to the entire incident. The Spotboye report quotes Salim, "It's okay whatever happened. Priyanka is not doing Bharat, let her be. Such things happen in our industry," "Has it happened for the first time that someone has left a film? Our very own Zanjeer went through so many ins and outs," the actor added as per the report. When Salim was asked that Priyanka's walkout had come at the nth hour, Salim told the portal, Nope, it's not the nth hour. And I repeat, such things happen- sometimes they happen for date issues, or the role, or even the money aspect. Aur kabhi aadmi ki kuch apni majbooriyan hoti hai. I haven't yet got into the details of why Priyanka left Bharat, but we shall soon cast someone else. We are not upset with Priyanka. Salman Khan is also not upset," Well, with that being said, we are glad that Bhaijaan is not miffed with our Desi Girl! New Delhi: The national capital is on high alert following a flood-like situation due to constant rainfall over the last three days. The water level in Yamuna River at Old Delhi Railway Bridge has been recorded at 205.50 on Sunday morning. "The water level in Yamuna river is at 205.46 m (above danger mark). Till now, 1500 people have moved from low-lying areas. 550 tents pitched across 10 locations in East district. If more people need to be evacuated and accommodated, we have schools and night shelters," said the District Magistrate, East Delhi. #Delhi: Yamuna river continues to flow above danger mark; Visuals from Old Iron Bridge pic.twitter.com/9i1rwqvyTt ANI (@ANI) July 29, 2018 Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had on Saturday held an emergency meeting with the Chief Secretary and the Flood Control Department on the possibility of flood in the city due to the release of 5 lakh cusecs water from Haryana's Hathnikund barrage. The water is likely to reach Delhi by Sunday evening and that people can call the control room at 1077 for any flood-related emergency, the Chief Minister had added. "This water likely to reach Delhi by tomorrow evening. Wherever administration evacuating people, they are requested to cooperate. All departments put on high alert. For any flood-related emergency, control room no is 1077," he tweeted on Saturday. The meeting was attended by MLAs of the vulnerable areas, officials of Delhi Police, Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), urban development, Irrigation and Flood Control, Army, MCDs, PWD, Delhi Jal Board, CATS, Health, Revenue, DDMA and other stakeholder departments. The authorities in Delhi have, meanwhile, begun to evacuate hundreds of people living in the Yamuna catchment area as a flood threat loomed following a sharp rise in the river's level. "Over 10,000 persons have been affected. People earlier living on the river bed and low-lying areas are being shifted out," Nodal Officer, Preet Vihar, Arun Gupta said. In the meeting, Kejriwal said that the supply of power, food and drinking water to the people must be ensured. Medical emergency teams will also be on duty for the people who are being evacuated. All power companies have been asked to arrange power in these tents 24*7 once people are shifted into them. The power companies have been asked to deploy their officials at the Flood Control Room round the clock. The availability of motorboats must be ensured, Kejriwal said in the meeting. All the agencies having motorboats were asked to keep them ready for evacuation. DUSIB, Power, Health and other departments have been asked to deploy their officials in the control rooms 24*7 for the next three to four days. The Chief Minister cautioned that the Yamuna water level is expected to go up further by Saturday night. "On Saturday morning, over 200,000 cusecs was released into the Yamuna from the barrage - which provides drinking water to New Delhi," an official said, adding villagers living along the river have been alerted on the release of excess water. The official said that water at the Hathnikund barrage along the Haryana-Uttarakhand border had risen to alarming levels owing to overnight downpour in catchment states, making authorities release the extra water. The Army has been put on alert along with a team from the National Disaster Management Authority. The Yamuna passes through Yamunanagar, Karnal and Panipat districts in Haryana before entering Delhi. (With inputs from agencies) Jaipur: A seven-year-old girl in Rajasthan was found dead in a field after being allegedly raped. Her body suffered injury marks on neck suggesting that she was strangulated after being raped. The incident took place in Jhalawar district's Mogiyabhiya village, SHO of Kamkheda police station Dharmaram said. Jhalawar: Body of a minor girl who went missing last evening found in a field. SP Anand Sharma says 'her body was sent for post-mortem & it has been established that she was raped & strangled to death. We have formed a team to nab the accused. #Rajasthan (28/7/2018) pic.twitter.com/8gBzhxVsm9 ANI (@ANI) July 28, 2018 The body of the minor, who had gone missing on Friday evening while playing outside her home, was found on Saturday. Police recovered her body at around 4.30 pm from the maize field, about 250 to 300 metres from her home, the SHO said. The police suspect the minor was strangulated to death after being raped sometime last night as her body bore injury marks on the neck. No injury marks were found anywhere else on her body, Dharmaram said. The victim's body has been sent for autopsy. The exact cause of her death and rape, however, will only be confirmed after the post-mortem report comes, the SHO added. No suspects have been identified so far and the deceased's family has also not named anyone, he said. A case will be registered under relevant sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and POCSO Act, the official said. The girl's body was handed over to her family on Saturday evening after a post-mortem examination, he added. The place falls under the constituency of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. This is the second incident of rape and murder of a minor reported in just five months. (With inputs from agencies) After Kerala Bishops body wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the recommendation by the National Commission for Women to ban confessions in churches, the National Commission for Minorities has strongly opposed the same. According to the National Commission for Minorities, confessions in churches are an integral part of Christianity and cannot be interfered with. NCM chairperson Syed Ghayorul Hasan Rizvi told PTI, The minority commission outrightly rejects the recommendation and is opposed to it. The assertions by the NCM came after the Kerala Catholic Bishops Conference on Friday severely criticised the proposal of the NCW and appealed Prime Minister Modi to reject the same. In their letter to the PM, the priests suspected a 'hidden agenda' by NCW chief Rekha Sharma and asked her to withdraw her statement. We have written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to reject the panels recommendations. This is the question of the existence of the minorities. On what basis has the panel made such a suggestion? What is its motive behind such an act? Father Varghese Vallikkatt, the spokesperson for the Kerala Catholic Bishops Conference, said. NCW chief Rekha Sharma had recommended abolition of the practice of "confessions" in churches, saying that it can lead to blackmailing of women. Sharma also pressed for a central agency to investigate the incidents of rape and sexual assault in the churches of Kerala. "The priests pressure women into telling their secrets and we have one such case in front of us, there must be many more such cases and what we have right now is just a tip of the iceberg," she said. The recommendation by the NCW was made in the backdrop of a rape case against four priests of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church who were accused of sexually exploiting a married woman by using her confession made before a clergyman. Reacting to it, Union Minister Alphons Kannanthanam also "outrightly rejected" the NCW's recommendation. A Kerala native and a Christian, Alphons insisted that the Modi government would never interfere in religious beliefs of people. "It is not the official stand of the government. The Union Government has no connection with the stand taken by the NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma. It is a personal opinion of Rekha Sharma," Kannanthanam, Union Minister of State for Tourism, wrote in a Facebook post. "The Narendra Modi government would never interfere in religious beliefs," he added. (With agency inputs) Srinagar: A CRPF jawan was shot dead by terrorists at his home in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, police said. Unidentified militants barged inside the house of a local CRPF constable Naseer Ahmad Rather in the Naira area of Pulwama in south Kashmir and fired upon him, a police official said. He said Rather received critical injuries and was rushed to a hospital but did not survive. The area has been cordoned off and a hunt has been launched to nab the assailants, the official said adding a case had been registered. Earlier, on July 21, Constable Mohammad Saleem Shah, who was on leave, was abducted and killed by militants from his residence in the Mutalhama area of Kulgam in south Kashmir. Policeman Javaid Dar was abducted by suspected militants from Shopian district and his body was found in Kulgam on July 6. Before that, Indian Army soldier Aurangzeb, who lived in Kashmir's Poonch district, was abducted by militants in Pulwama in broad daylight from a civilian vehicle while he was going to his hometown on leave. His bullet-ridden body was found at Gusoo Pulwama on June 14. Ahmedabad: The Gujarat government has declared a 9-day Navratri vacation for all schools and colleges across the state. The announcement, which came on Saturday, will be implemented across all boards. The state education department had last month announced a vacation for seven days to all government colleges in Gujarat from the coming academic session. The decision was taken by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, State Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama and Minister of State for Education (Primary and Higher Education) and Pilgrimage, Vibhavariben Dave in a meeting held in Bhavnagar. The meeting was also attended by several senior BJP leaders. Navaratri is a nine-day festival, celebrated twice a year. Each day of the Navratri is dedicated to a separate avatar of goddess Durga. People perform puja, observe fast and rejoice in the praises of the great goddess. Even though the Navratris is centered around the worship of the Goddess Durga, it actually marks the victory of Ram over Ravana. Navratri begins with the worshipping of Shailputri. Dusshera, the last day of Navatri, is celebrated by burning the effigy of Ravana, signalling the end of evil. Indore: Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia on Saturday asked the media to focus on issues like farmer suicides and rapes instead of being concerned about party chief Rahul Gandhi's 'wink' in Parliament. "Farmers are committing suicide, women are being raped, Dalits are being oppressed, lands of tribals are being snatched and unemployment is rising. In spite of all this, the fourth pillar of democracy (press) is more concerned about someone winking," he told reporters, while responding to questions about Gandhi's wink in the Lok Sabha during a discussion on the no-confidence motion on July 20. "Should the media focus on the issues raised by Rahul in Parliament or should winking be given priority? Was the wink such a big issue? Have you never winked in your life?" the Lok Sabha MP from Guna asked. Scindia termed the recent increase in the minimum support price (MSP) for paddy and other crops by the Centre an "election bluff". The MSP was arrived on the basis of an "improper" formula and, therefore, the farmers will not get the correct prices for their produce or labour, he alleged. Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government over fuel prices, Scindia said, "Before the last general elections, Modi had said Rs 15 lakh would be deposited in the accounts of every citizen by bringing back black money stashed abroad. The government has instead realised Rs 15 lakh crore from the public through costly petrol and diesel". Scindia, scion of the Gwalior royal family, also objected to being called "maharaja" by Madhya Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. "After Independence, the era of 'raja-maharajas' is over. As a politician, I should be assessed on the basis of my diligence in public life," Scindia said. Hitting out at Chouhan, the Congress leader said, "If Shivraj is using words like raja maharaja for me, he should also answer why he did not use these words for my late grandmother (senior BJP leader Vijaya Raje Scindia also referred to as 'Rajmata') when he was a BJP worker 30 years ago". He said Chouhan should be using these royal honorifics for Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia and Madhya Pradesh minister Yashodhara Raje Scindia as well. The two, both party colleagues of Chouhan, are paternal aunts of Jyotiraditya. "Shivraj, in his public statements, often describes himself as a backward. But he should know that there is no caste or religion for a chief minister. The Madhya Pradesh chief minister represents 7.5 crore people of the state," the Guna Lok Sabha MP said, taking a dig at Chouhan. Speaking on the Congress' face (for CM) in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls, slated for later this year, Scindia said, "7.5 crore people of Madhya Pradesh are the party's face". The Congress leader added that 30 tickets should be given to those party leaders who have never fought assembly polls, but have the experience of contesting local body polls. LUCKNOW: Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned Amar Singh's name during his speech at an event in Lucknow, the veteran politician reached the Chief Minister's house to meet Yogi Adityanath. Amar Singh was reportedly seated in the audience at the function on Sunday. During his speech after he inaugurated 81 projects worth Rs 60,000 in Uttar Pradesh, the PM slammed the opposition parties for targetting him for getting clicked with industrialists. "Public mey milna nahi, parde ke peeche sab kuch karna hai. Woh dartey rahtey hain, (Those who do not meet publicly and do everything behind curtains remain scared," he said. While making his point, he made a sly reference to Amar Singh who was seen sitting in the crowd and said: "Amar Singh, former SP leader, is sitting here and he can give you all the details." "Should we insult them (industrialists and businessmen) by labelling them as 'chor' and 'luterey'. What is this? Those who will do wrong will have to leave the country or spend life in the jail. This was not done earlier because everything was done behind curtains," he said. There have been rumours in the recent past of the veteran politician planning to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). His meeting with the CM earlier on Monday and on Sunday again have left political circles buzzing. There is no official word yet on why the two leaders met and what transpired in the meeting. Singh had recently said that he was not averse to joining the BJP, but had added that he had not received any invite from it, nor had he applied for it. "The BJP is a very big political party. I wont say that I will not join the BJP if I get a chance, but who is giving me the chance? I havent sent them any request letter either," Singh had said. Singh, who was a Rajya Sabha MP from the Samajwadi Party, was expelled from the Akhilesh Yadav-led outfit last year. Chennai: M Karunanidhi, veteran political leader and chief of DMK for over five decades, is in a serious medical condition at a city hospital which informed that his vital signs are normalising. Admitted in Kauvery Hospital, it has been learnt that Karunanidhi's health deteriorated on Sunday evening. "There was a transient setback in the clinical condition of Kalignar Dr M Karunanidhi, DMK President and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. With active medical support, his vital signs are normalising. He continues to be closely monitored and treated by the panel of expert doctors," a hospital bulletin at 2150hrs informed. (Also read: Karunanidhi in hospital: From PM Modi to Rahul Gandhi, wishes continue to pour in) Outside visuals of Chennai's Kauvery hospital, where DMK Chief M Karunanidhi is admitted. #TamilNadu pic.twitter.com/FVrWHrm8RD ANI (@ANI) July 29, 2018 DMK's A Raja, while addressing party workers, also said that Karunanidhi's health is improving and people should not believe in rumours. By 2330hrs, family members including MK Stalin and Kanimozhi had reportedly left the hospital. Stalin too issued a statement late at night and said Karunanidhi's health is normalising. Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi Palaniswami took an early flight back to Chennai from Salem but reportedly dropped the prospect of going to the hospital due to the prevailing crowd-management situation here. Security cover outside the hospital was tightened from the evening after the number of DMK workers and well-wishers had increased. Hundreds of well-wishers gathered outside the hospital and were praying for the veteran leader's recovery. The situation towards late evening turned chaotic with police officials resorting to lathi charge. #WATCH: Outside visuals of Chennai's Kauvery hospital, where DMK Chief M Karunanidhi is admitted. Police lathi charge crowd gathered outside. #TamilNadu pic.twitter.com/3fkR0LFlb1 ANI (@ANI) July 29, 2018 Stalin, in his statement, urged party workers to maintain law and order and not to indulge in violence or disturb police or public at large. Karunanidhi has been in and out of hospital in recent months and was admitted to Kauvery Hospital on July 18 where he underwent a procedure to replace his tracheostomy tube. He had the tube placed in December of 2016 to help improve his breathing. Hospital authorities said that Karunanidhi had to be brought back to the hospital because he was having breathing difficulties caused by a throat and lung infection. He has also reportedly suffering from a urinary tract infection. Black man accuses Sean Spicer of hurling racial slur at himAssociated PressMore from Associated PressPublished:July 28, 2018Updated:July 28, 2018 6:23 PM EDTFormer White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer speaks about his new book "The Briefing: Politics, The Press, and The President," at a book launch party in Washington, D.C., on July 24, 2018.Al Drago / Getty ImagesMIDDLETOWN, R.I. A black man yelled at former White House press secretary Sean Spicer in a bookstore and accused Spicer of calling him a racial slur when they were students at a prep school decades ago.Spicer was taken aback by the mans outrageous claim and had no recollection of him or of being in school with him, his publicist said on Saturday.Spicer was at a book signing in Middletown on Friday to promote his new book reflecting on his time at the press podium for President Donald Trump.Alex Lombard, who was standing behind a small group of people waiting in line to meet Spicer and get him to sign the book, called out Spicers name and said they went to Portsmouth Abbey School together. Spicer waved to him and said, Hey. Yeah. How are you?Lombard, a Newport native who now lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, then accused Spicer of calling him the N-word and trying to fight him when they were at school.You dont remember that you tried to fight me? Lombard asked. But you called me a (N-word) first.A security guard approached Lombard and led him away as he kept talking: I was 14 then. I was a scared kid then, Sean. Im not scared to fight you now.The Providence Journal reported Saturday that Lombard said he was a member of Portsmouth Abbeys class of 1990. It said Spicer was a member of the class of 1989.A Newport Daily News video of the encounter doesnt show how Spicer, who was seated at a table signing books, reacted to being accused of using the racial slur. But his publicist said he was shocked by the allegation.Spicer cant recall any incident like this happening and was not sure if this was just a stunt this man was pulling, Regnery Publishing publicist Lauren McCue said.She said Spicer has been in the news a lot the last couple of years and it was a very odd time for an accusation like this to be made.Spicer has been promoting The Briefing: Politics, the Press, and the President, which just came out. The book paints a rosy if sometimes thorny picture of Trump, describing him as a unicorn, riding a unicorn over a rainbow and a man to whom the regular rules of politics dont apply. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has confirmed that 25 bodies have been recovered till now from the site of the bus accident in Raigads Ambenali Ghat in Maharashtra. It is feared that at least 33 people had died in the accident as a bus carrying Dapoli Agriculture University students and teaching staff fell into a gorge in Raigad area near Mahabaleshwar. On Saturday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to the family of those who died in the accident. He had also said that the state government would take care of the medical expenses of those injured. "Administration taking all efforts to provide required assistance. Senior officials and emergency management systems in place. My thoughts are with families who lost loved ones and prayers for speedy recovery of injured" Fadnavis had tweeted. The bus slipped off the road as it was passing through the mountainous region in Ambenali Ghat near Mahabaleshwar in the Raigad district and fell into a 250-300 feet deep gorge. The bus was carrying at least 34 people who were going for a picnic when the mishap took place. NDRF teams carried out the relief and rescue work. The incident had occurred around 12.30 pm on Saturday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi were among those who expressed grief at the loss of lives of people in the mishap. Prime Minister Modi had said, "Pained by the loss of lives due to a bus accident in Maharashtra's Raigad district. My condolences to those who lost their loved ones." Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had also taken to Twitter to express grief saying, "I'm sorry to hear about the terrible bus accident in Raigad, Maharashtra in which a large number of people have been killed and many others injured. I appeal to Congress party workers in the area to provide all possible assistance to the injured & families of those who have died." KOLKATA: After about six years of peace in West Bengals Jangalmahal since the death of Maoist leader Mallojula Koteswara Rao also known as Kishenji, the spectre of Maoists seems to have come back to haunt the administration, as they are attempting to regroup in this region. Officers in central intelligence agencies said that activities of the armed squad led by state secretary Akash have recently increased in the villages along Bengal-Jharkhand border in the districts of Jhargram and Purulia in West Bengal. This squad, which comprises between 12 and 15 guerrillas, was based in the forests of Jharkhand over the past five years but was spotted along the Bengal-bordering villages of Jharkhand several times over the past couple of months. R R Bhatnagar, the DG of CRPF, recently confirmed this news during his visit to Kolkata to attend a meeting with the ADGs, DIGs and IGs of the state that falls within the central zone. Yes, there are reports of Maoists regrouping in Jhargram, which still falls under the worse affected districts, Bhatnagar when asked by DNA/ZEE NEWS on the preparedness to take on the Maoists head-on in Jhargram. Until recently, Bengal had four districts listed as worse affected by Left-wing Extremism. However, due to the past five-six years peace in this forested belt of southwestern West Bengal, only the district of Jhargram is now listed as LWE affected. Significantly, these renewed Maoist activities come at a time the districts of Jhargram and Purulia are heading for political turmoil with the ruling party, Trinamool Congress, starting to lose its grip. It was evident from the results of the recently-held rural polls that resentment against Trinamool Congress is growing among the people of Jhargram and Purulia, where people at some places supported BJP and independent tribal outfits at some other places to defeat the ruling party leaders. A senior police officer said that it was a similar period of political turmoil in the last 1990s that helped Maoists gain a foothold in West Bengal. During 2010-11, Maoists led by Kishanji had wrested control of significant parts of the districts of Jhargram, Purulia, West Midnapore and Bankura. However, the Maoists organisation broke down virtually overnight after the death of Kishanji. Presence in parts of Bengal: If intelligence inputs are to be believed, Akash along with his squad has been located in places like Belpahar in Jhargram district, Binpur in West Midnapore and Bandwan in Purulia. However, Akash and his squad members are not risking night stays in Bengal. Latest activity by Akashs squad across the Bengal-Jharkhand border: On July 11, a CRPF jawan was killed in Bengal-Jharkhand border in a fierce gun battle with Akashs squad comprising 12-15 rebels. A hot pursuit of this rebel group in Dalma of Jharkhand further pushed the group into the Bengal territory. Who is leading this rebellion? Akash alias Ashim Mandal, a native of Bengal's West Midnapore district, is the sole member of the state committee who is out and alive. After Kishenji was killed by joint forces in 2011, other members of the state committee have either been killed or jailed or surrendered. Akash, according to the last press note released in 2016, mentioned himself as the state secretary, Bengal. Squad members: The eastern regional bureau of CPI(Maoists) that comprises Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and Assam is headed by the politburo member Prasanta Bose alias Kishan da. The 70-year old Bose is based out of Jharkhand according to reports. Akash, state secretary reports to him. His squad reportedly comprises 12-15 members. The prominent faces in Akashs squad are Sachin alias Ramprasad Mardi, Dilip Singh Sardar, Kamal Maity, Madan Mahato and his wife Joba. The squad also consists of female members led by Joba. Vacuum created: After Kishenjis encounter in the year 2011, the state committee ceased to exist. Reports say that Akashs squad is in the preparatory stage for building the state committee. Bengal is no longer a guerrilla zone in Maoists parlance that it used to be just eight years back. Close to 500 guerrillas, more than 10 squads of the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) once existed. Purulia alone had a platoon of 34 guerrillas. Now, not a single such squad exists. Akashs squad is the sole existing squad and is presently trying to revive old contacts, develop a strong information network and regain lost hold. Governments proactiveness: Soon after the CRPF DG RR Bhatnagar held an internal conference on July 20, 2018, in Kolkata, a coordination meeting was held between Bengal police, Jharkhand police and CRPF officials discussing the activities of Akashs squad. Lucknow: Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Samajwadi Party on Sunday claimed he was trying to save his lost popularity and credibility bu laying foundations of various projects and building "castles of development in the air". In a statement issued in Lucknow, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said, "Prime Minister was seen making a futile effort to sell developmental dreams during his two-day visit to Lucknow. He wants to save his lost popularity and credibility through laying foundations of various projects." Modi was here to launch as many as 81 investment projects estimated to be worth over Rs 60,000 crore, according to officials. The prime minister is making numerous announcements, as they (BJP) have not been able to implement a single scheme, like the several schemes implemented during the tenure of Samajwadi Party, he said. In the last six months, there has been big talk about investment, but the truth is that in a state where there are law and order problems, how will the developmental schemes be successful, he added. Their speeches attack the SP since the SP is competent enough to take on the politics of hatred and division practised by the BJP, Yadav added. Meanwhile, the BJP also hit out at the SP claiming the Akhilesh Yadav led party had neither policy nor intention to do good work. In a statement, state BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey said, "During the SP regime, the only investments made in the state were by criminals and in crime. The SP neither had a policy nor intention." Taking a jibe at Yadav, he said, "While attempting to save the losing political ground and running from pillar to post in search of a coalition, the thought process of the prince of Saifai had become anti-developmental. Had the SP chief worked for the welfare of the people, they would not have been ousted." Earlier in the day, hours ahead of the launch of 81 investment projects worth over Rs 60,000 crore for Uttar Pradesh by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Samajwadi Party released a 40-second video clip ridiculing BJP's poll promises. The SP took to Twitter to counter the BJP by reminding it of the 10 points in its 'Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra' with background music of 'tumhara intezaar hai' (waiting for you)". Starting with "economic help to farmers" to reforms in the police system, ambulance services in 15 minutes and "police help in 15 minutes", the video sought to remind people of the ruling party's promises including "everyone has the right to work" and "free laptops and internet". Help to 'Shiksha mitras', 'women security', 'village-urban development' and 'cultural development' are still elusive and people are waiting, it claimed. Modi's Uttar Pradesh tour on Sunday was his sixth visit to the state this month and second to Lucknow in as many days. He was here on Saturday to attend a programme on "Transforming Urban Landscape", marking the third anniversary of three key government initiatives related to urban development -- Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), Atal Mission for Rejuvenation of Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and the Smart Cities Mission. Earlier this month, Modi visited his parliamentary Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi, Azamgarh and Mirzapur, besides Noida (Gautam Buddha Nagar). He had visited Sant Kabir Nagar on June 28. Describing Modi's event in Lucknow as an attempt to "mislead" the people by talking about development, the SP chief alleged the BJP 'excelled' in taking credit. "BJP is an expert when it comes to quoting unfounded statistics on development. The PM praises the CM for having done nothing for the development of the state and the CM praises him in return, which is laughable," Yadav, a former chief minister, alleged. He said though the prime minister "built castles of development in the air", he "conveniently skipped" mentioning the 302 km Lucknow-Agra Expressway, the Gomti Riverfront, Janeshwar Misra Park and Lucknow Metro, which were flagship projects of the SP government. Talking about investment and promising a better tomorrow is baseless when health services are in shambles and law and order situation in the state is at its worst, he said. Commenting on the frequent visits of the prime minister to Uttar Pradesh, senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav said, "This is just the beginning. As elections approach, he will have to come here on a daily basis." SP MLC Rajpal Kashyap alleged the Yogi government in UP and the Modi government at the Centre were engaged in propaganda before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to drum up support for the BJP. "The two governments have done nothing for the people and voters in UP are looking for a chance to bring about a change in governance," he claimed. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the 46th edition of his radio show 'Mann Ki Baat' on June 29, Sunday at 11 am. The monthly radio programme will be aired on All India Radio (AIR), Doordarshan and relayed on other channels. One can also listen to PM Modi's 'Mann Ki Baat' on their mobile phones by giving a missed call in 1922. The official YouTube channels of Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, AIR and DD News will also stream the Prime Minister's Mann ki Baat address at 11 am. The programme will be broadcasted in by Akashvani regional languages immediately after the Hindi broadcast. In the 45th edition of Mann ki Baat, the PM Modi said that violence and cruelty can never solve a problem and it is peace and non-violence which always win. Referring to Guru Nanak Dev and Kabir Das, he said they worked towards social harmony and fought against casteism. He also referred to Bharatiya Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee, saying he worked for the unity and integrity of India. Talking about the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, the Prime Minister said the lesson to be learned from the incident is that "violence and cruelty can never solve any problem. It is peace and non-violence, renunciation and martyrdom that is triumphant in the end". Lucknow: The opposition has relentlessly attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly having close ties with big industrialists of the country. Many like Congress President Rahul Gandhi have even accused him of working at their behest. On Sunday, PM Modi - for the first time - landed a strong counter punch and said that while there is nothing wrong in meeting businessmen in full public view, many of his political rivals who are now crying foul have done so behind closed doors. Claiming he has nothing to hide, PM Modi said that clean policies and an honest vision mean he can be seen with anyone without any fear. "We are not the ones who are scared of standing next to industrialists," he said. "You can stand next to anyone if your intentions are clear and good." PM Modi then took a jibe at leaders of rival parties. "People who don't meet industrialists in public but do everything behind curtains remain scared." He even gave an example of Mahatma Gandhi to drive in his point. "Gandhiji's (Father of the Nation) intentions were so pure that he never hesitated in staying with Birla family. Just as much as the labour of a farmer, an artisan, a banker, a government employee or a labourer goes into the making of the nation, the efforts of industrialists too have a role in nation building. Should we insult them, call them thieves and robbers? Is this the way?" The Prime Minister then said that economic offenders have no option now but to either flee the country or face jail terms - something that he claimed never happened before. He would go on to point at former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh who was a member in the audience and said that he could give 'details of such people and their deals.' India is proud of our industry and industrialists. They contribute greatly to national growth. Some people publicly abuse industrialists but privately expect industrialists to kowtow in front of them. I am happy to engage with industry and work with them for Indias prosperity. pic.twitter.com/COh7Htmjyq Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 29, 2018 In the past, PM Modi has been attacked on several occasions for being seen with influential industrialists and businessmen. The most scathing attack came when opposition parties highlighted a photo from Davos in which he was in the same frame as fugitive diamondtaire Nirav Modi. A month later, the PNB scam broke out and Nirav has been absconding since. PM Modi and his government has also been accused of having a soft approach towards bringing back other economic offenders who have fled the country like Vijay Mallya, Mehul Choksi and Jatin Mehta. Even in the aftermath of demonetisation, rivals had said that the government had already informed influential people - including industry tycoons and business magnets - of banning Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denominations before making an official announcement. It is a charge that has not been proven yet. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday spoke on the 46th edition of his radio show 'Mann Ki Baat'. Here are the highlights: # PM Modi recalls the contributions of Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak in the freedom struggle of the country ahead of his death anniversary. # A daughter of Rae Bareli has developed a mobile app to develop a smart village. It has all the details about a village, and is bringing a "digital revolution". # Recently, famous poet Neeraj ji passed away. He always exuded hope, faith, resolve confidence. We can draw a lot of inspiration from him. # Asharam from Madhya Pradesh battled against all odds and cracked AIIMS entrance. His father is a ragpicker. I wish him all the luck for his future, says PM Modi. # PM Modi addresses students who passed out of schools this year, says many will be leaving their villages and homes for the first time. "They should enjoy themselves," says PM Modi. # The whole world prayed for the well being of children stuck in Indonesia cave, it is a lesson on how to keep patience and tackle any crisis, says PM Modi. # Prime Minister Modi talks about Indonesia cave rescue mission, details the experience of the rescued children. Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday alleged that Indian taxpayers will pay Rs 1 lakh crore to friend of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the maintenance of Rafale fighter jets. Targeting Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over the issue, the Gandhi scion added that Raksha Mantri will address a Press CON to deny this. The Congress president alleged that the said amount would be paid by Indian taxpayers over the next 50 years. Over the next 50 years, Indian Tax Payers will pay Mr 56s friends JV, 100,000 Cr to maintain 36 #RafaleScam jets, India is buying Raksha Mantri will address a Press CON to deny this, as usual But the truth is in the presentation Im attaching pic.twitter.com/a90XNet7dU Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 28, 2018 Sharing part of an investor Presentation of Anil Ambanis Reliance Infrastructure Limited, the Gandhi scion tweeted, Over the next 50 years, Indian Tax Payers will pay Mr 56s friends JV, 100,000 Cr to maintain 36 #RafaleScam jets, India is buying. Raksha Mantri will address a Press CON to deny this, as usual. But the truth is in the presentation Im attaching. Rahul Gandhi has been attacking Prime Minister Modi-led NDA government at the Centre over the Rafale deal relentlessly since the no-confidence motion debate in Parliament wherein he had alleged that the Defence Minister had lied to the nation under pressure from the Prime Minister. Mr 56 does someone after all. 1. Must wear a suit 2. Must have 45,000CR debt 3. Must have a TEN day old company. 4. Must never have made an aircraft in his life. Rewards of up to $4 billion in off set contracts if you fulfil said criteria. https://t.co/243CSV1cep Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 25, 2018 Dear Trolls, I apologise for my earlier tweet in which I stated Mr 56s friends JV, received 4 Billion US$s of off set contracts. I forgot to add the 16 Billion US$ RAFALE lifecycle contract 20 BILLION US$, is the actual benefit. So Sorry!!#130000CroreRafaleScam Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 27, 2018 He had earlier tweeted, "Mr 56 does *love* someone after all. 1. Must wear a suit 2. Must have 45,000CR debt 3. Must have a TEN day old company. 4. Must never have made an aircraft in his life. Rewards of up to $4 billion in "off set" contracts if you fulfil said criteria." "Dear Trolls, I apologise for my earlier tweet in which I stated Mr 56's friend's JV, received 4 Billion US$'s of "off set" contracts. I forgot to add the 16 Billion US$ RAFALE "lifecycle" contract ?? 20 BILLION US$, is the actual benefit. So Sorry!! #130000CroreRafaleScam," he later said in another tweet. On July 24, the Congress president had alleged that the country had seen 4 revolving Raksha Mantris to give Prime Minister Modi space to personally re-negotiate Rafale deal with France. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) leadership on Saturday sniffed a BJP-RSS hand behind the cancellation of party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's engagement by St Stephen's College in New Delhi and said her voice "cannot be silenced". St Stephen's College has withdrawn an invite extended to Banerjee to attend an event and interact with the students of the famed institute. The event, planned by one of the societies of the college, is scheduled to be held on August 1. Banerjee was supposed to attend the event, but the principal denied permission and the invitation was withdrawn on Friday, a source said. Reacting to the development, TMC national spokesperson and leader of the party in the Rajya Sabha Derek O'Brien said, "First, the Vivekananda event in Chicago, then her China visit and now St Stephens. Mamata Banerjee is giving the BJP-RSS sleepless nights. Let them keep trying, she cannot be silenced." Banerjee will go to Delhi as scheduled. She will be the chief guest at the "Love your Neighbour" conference organised by the Catholic Bishops Conference of India on July 31, O'Brien said. Last month, Banerjee had cancelled a scheduled visit to China at the last moment over non-confirmation of "political meetings at an appropriate level" by the Chinese government. She was slated to visit Chicago in August to address a gathering of seers on the anniversary of Swami Vivekananda's historic Chicago address in 1893. That event too was cancelled. Chennai: MK Stalin said late on Sunday night that there had been an unexpected setback in Karunanidhi's health but that active medical attention ensured his condition began normalising. This after a massive health scare led to rumours and scenes of chaos outside the private hospital where the veteran DMK leader is currently receiving treatment. Karunanidhi was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Kauvery Hospital at around 0130hrs on Saturday after his blood pressure dropped. On Sunday evening, his health deteriorated. A medical bulletin issued at 2130hrs on Sunday night informed that while there was indeed a health setback, Karunanidhi responded to treatment. "There was a transient setback in the clinical condition of Kalignar Dr M Karunanidhi, DMK President and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. With active medical support, his vital signs are normalising. He continues to be closely monitored and treated by the panel of expert doctors," read the bulletin. Tamil Nadu: Latest visuals from outside Chennai's Kauvery hospital where DMK Chief M #Karunanidhi is admitted. Heavy security has been deployed as people gather outside. The DMK Chief continues to be closely monitored & treated by panel of doctors, his vital signs are normalising pic.twitter.com/PKeoLqlZjX ANI (@ANI) July 29, 2018 Family members, including Stalin and Kanimozhi were at the hospital till late at night on Sunday, before leaving. Stalin issued a statement in which he too confirmed that Karunanidhi's health is improving. MK Stalin issues statement over M Karunanidhi's health condition,states 'There was unexpected setback in his health but after intense medical care,he's normalising.Doctors' team is continuously monitoring him.Appeal to cadres to not indulge in violence or disturb police or public pic.twitter.com/1tsAoUF4mU ANI (@ANI) July 29, 2018 DMK General Secretary K. Anbazhagan, who is older than Karunanidhi, visited the hospital late in the night on hearing about the setback. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K.Palaniswami cut short his visit to Salem and took a flight back to Chennai. He however did not come to the hospital because of crowd management issues. Hundreds of supporters who have been camping outside the hospital were joined by many more on Sunday. Rumours about their 94-year-old leader's health led to chaotic scenes with police personnel resorting to lathi charge. Close to 500 security personnel have been deployed outside the hospital and even DMK officials were asked to leave the hospital building. It has been reported that even police personnel on leave have been asked to report back to duty. Thousands of well-wishers were joined by scores of political leaders in praying for the health of the five-time Tamil Nadu CM. Earlier on Sunday, Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu visited the hospital. He was accompanied by Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit. Visited Kaveri Hospital and met former Chief Minister Thiru Kalaignar Karunanidhi. Met his family members and doctors and enquired about his health. Doctors said he is stable. Wish him a speedy recovery. @kalaignar89 pic.twitter.com/Q7ay71txzT VicePresidentOfIndia (@VPSecretariat) July 29, 2018 Other leaders who called at the hospital where CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O`Brien and BJP General Secretary Muralidhar Rao. Still earlier, leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi had said they are praying for Karunanidhi's speedy recovery. Spoke to Thiru @mkstalin and Kanimozhi Ji. Enquired about the health of Kalaignar Karunanidhi Ji and offered any assistance required. I pray for his quick recovery and good health. @kalaignar89 Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 27, 2018 Bound to his wheelchair for the past couple of years, Karunanidhi has been the most multifaceted wily politician who strode Tamil Nadu`s literary and political scene leaving his mark in the socio-economic fabric of the state in the last seven decades. He, however, has been away from active politics for two years due to his health. Recently Karunanidhi was admitted to Kauvery Hospital for a change of the tracheostomy tube. He is now under the close watch of a team of doctors here. (With agency inputs) An all-out war erupted on Twitter after TRAI chairman RS Sharma on Saturday disclosed his Aadhaar number on the microblogging site and challenged everyone to show how mere knowledge of the unique number could be used to harm him, triggering a deluge of tweets that claimed to disclose his personal details from PAN to mobile number. The challenge by Sharma evoked an immediate response from the Twitterati, with some users claiming to have dug up his mobile number, photographs, residential address, date of birth and even chat threads using the information, while others warned him about the perils of throwing such a dare on the social media platform. While much of the information that was dug out may already be in the public domain, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) official did not verify whether the details pertaining to his PAN were indeed correct. When contacted by PTI earlier in the evening, Sharma declined to make any detailed comment on the matter by saying, "Let the challenge run for some time". Giving out his full Aadhaar number, the TRAI chairman had tweeted: "Now I give this challenge to you: Show me one concrete example where you can do any harm to me!" The challenge by Sharma has got over 2,850 retweets, and 3,364 likes, and the numbers continued to climb well into the night. Sharma himself continued to engage in the verbal duel with the Twitterati till late hours, dismissing much information being revealed as 'public information' and seeking to debunk the theory that "Aadhaar compromises the privacy of the person". "...Yeh details koi state scret nahin hain (These details are no state secret)...," retorted Sharma at one point, even chiding one of the users for disclosing an address that was old and asking if he (the user) would like to have his latest address. A French security expert who goes under the pseudonym Elliot Alderson, (@fs0c131y) wrote, "People managed to get your personal address, dob (date of birth) and your alternate phone number. I stop here, I hope you will understand why make your #Aadhaar number public is not a good idea." While many on Twitter claimed victory over 'leaking' Sharma's personal details post the challenge, the TRAI chief asserted through multiple tweets and replies that the challenge had never been about phone numbers and other information, but for causing harm using knowledge of his Aadhaar number. "No I did not challenge them for phone number and other info. I challenged them for causing me harm! So far no success. Wish them luck," Sharma wrote on Twitter. The high drama played out on the microblogging platform just a day after Justice Srikrishna committee came out with its report on data protection where it mooted changes in the Aadhaar Act and proposed new safeguards to protect information of Aadhaar holders. Sharma, former UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) director general, has been an ardent supporter of the Aadhaar program, vouching for the safety of the system, and dispelling privacy concerns surrounding Aadhaar even during his current tenure as TRAI Chief. "Data privacy is a big and very important issue in a digital world. I am one of the most vociferous supporter of that. However, the only thing I am saying is that Aadhaar does not violate privacy," Sharma tweeted on Saturday. Meanwhile, Justice Srikrishna panel on data protection has recommended that the Aadhaar Act be amended "significantly" to bolster privacy safeguards, and mooted that only public authorities discharging public functions approved by the UIDAI or entities mandated by law be given the right to request for identity authentication. The report, submitted yesterday, assumes significance given that public and private sectors are collecting and using personal data on an unprecedented scale and for various purposes, and instances of unregulated and arbitrary use, especially that of personal data, have raised concerns about privacy and autonomy of an individual. Over the last one year, there have also been reports of personal information being allegedly compromised with increasing use of biometric identifier Aadhaar in an array of services. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has reserved its judgement on a clutch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar Act. Voting for bye-elections for the Ranikor (ST) Assembly Constituency in Meghalaya will be held on August 23 while the counting will take place on August 27. The Model Code of Conduct has been enforced and is applicable to all candidates, political parties, state government as well as the Union Government. The date of issue of gazette notification is July 30 and last date for filing nominations is August 6. The Election Commission of India will be using EVMs and VVPATs in the bye-elections at all the polling stations. The Commission said that Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) will be the main document for identification. However, if the voters name figures in the Electoral Rolls but unable to produce the EPIC, a set of additional documents for identification will be announced separately so that no people can exercise their franchise. Bypolls will also be held in South Tura assembly constituency, from where Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma will contest on August 23. National People's Party MLA Agatha K Sangma, who represented South Tura seat, resigned on July 2 from the Assembly to pave way for her brother and the chief minister to contest from the seat. The notification for bypoll will be issued on July 30 while the last date of filing of nominations is August 6. Scrutiny of nomination papers will be taken up the next day. The last date of withdrawal of nominations is August 9 and results will be declared on August 27. Conrad K Sangma, who is the MP from Tura Lok Sabha seat, was sworn in as the chief minister in March after the NPP-led coalition came to power in the state. As he did not contest the February 27 assembly polls, his election to the Meghalaya Assembly is mandatory before September 6. Mumbai: In an industry where being a star is considered a career-high, Jimmy Sheirgill says he was never bothered about becoming the number one actor and always focused on giving his best as a performer. "I remember going to a gurudwara when I got "Maachis" and saying 'Lord, I am new to this place and I don't know about stardom but just make sure I am not a bad actor'. That is all I have always asked for. "All I want is whenever anyone talks about me they should talk in a respectful way," Jimmy told PTI. "Maachis", directed by Gulzar, won the actor a lot of critical acclaims and Jimmy says working with the noted director in his debut was a blessing. "I couldn't have asked for a better school than Gulzar Sahab. I got to learn every bit of filmmaking. Gulzar Sahab once told me, 'never let the fate of a film become your fate or get into depression if it fails, move on to next project and keep yourself busy'. "He also said, 'there is no worst thing for an actor than sitting at home, actors should keep working all the time'. These things are still in my mind," he added. Jimmy said post the release of "Maachis", he was offered similar parts till filmmaker Aditya Chopra's "Mohabbatein" happened, which he believes was a game changer in his career. "They (makers of "Mohabbatein") saw me and took me the way I was. Then I realised that I can't keep doing romantic or lover boy roles as I would not last for more than four-five years if I keep playing a romantic hero. "Luckily, 'Munna Bhai MBBS', 'A Wednesday' and 'Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster' happened. While doing these films I did not think I am moving towards character roles. Whatever leading roles I was getting were something I had already done. I am glad that I made this decision." Jimmy, 47, said he feels glad about the fact that he was never out of work. "There is lot of work for everyone. But many times you become overcautious or choosy about what you want to do. Whatever offers I get I chose the best from them. "...I had to keep working. I have also done guest roles for films of my friends. Then I have Punjabi films to do. I look to do something substantial and interesting with every film." The actor has an interesting line-up of films, including "Happy Phir Bhag Jayegi", an untitled film with Ajay Devgn and a sequel to "Tom Dick and Harry". New Delhi: Bollywood's most-loved couple Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma are painting the town red with their oh-so-adorable PDA. Virat, who keeps treating his fans with their 'couple-fies' posted yet another adorable picture with his wife Taking to Instagram, she wrote, "Just being able to walk around feels like the most joyous thing in the world." Addressed as Virushka by their fans, both Virat and Anushka have never shied away from public display of affection. The duo is often seen expressing their love for each other in their social media posts. For the unversed, Virat and Anushka had a dream wedding in Tuscany, Italy on December 11, 2017. The marriage ceremony was attended by close friends and family. The duo often shares their adorable pictures on social media sending the fans to a tizzy. On the work front, the actress will be seen in Aanand L Rai's ambitious project 'Zero' starring Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif. The trio was earlier seen in late legendary filmmaker Yash Chopra's last movie 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan'. Washington: After a successful launch in April this year, NASA`s newest planet hunter, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), has now started its search for planets around nearby stars. Officially beginning science operations on July 25, TESS is expected to transmit its first series of science data back to Earth in August, and thereafter periodically every 13.5 days, once per orbit, as the spacecraft makes it closest approach to Earth, NASA said in a statement. Its official! Our newest planet-hunter satellite, @NASA_TESS, started operations this week to find worlds beyond our solar system, including some that could support life. Find out when the first series of data will be transmitted back to Earth: https://t.co/1ij5c8kBXj pic.twitter.com/yVhhi623bF NASA (@NASA) July 27, 2018 "I`m thrilled that our new planet hunter mission is ready to start scouring our solar system`s neighborhood for new worlds," said NASA Astrophysics Division Director Paul Hertz. "Now that we know there are more planets than stars in our universe, I look forward to the strange, fantastic worlds we`re bound to discover," Hertz added. TESS is NASA`s latest satellite to search for planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. The mission will spend the next two years monitoring the nearest and brightest stars for periodic dips in their light. These events, called transits, suggest that a planet may be passing in front of its star. TESS is expected to find thousands of planets using this method, some of which could potentially support life. Chennai: DMK president Karunanidhi, who was shifted to a private hospital in Chennai due to dip in blood pressure, is stable. The 94-year-old leader was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of Kauvery Hospital at around 1:30 am on Saturday. Karunanidhi's condition has hogged attention over the past couple of days, with political leaders from across the spectrum lining up to visit him. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu will meet Karunanidhi at the hospital on Sunday. DMK leaders, including party working president and Karunanidhi's son M K Stalin, and other frontline leaders such as Duraimurugan, Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi and former Union minister A Raja were present at the hospital. The DMK veteran's estranged son and former DMK leader M K Alagiri, who was expelled from the party by the DMK chief in January 2014 after a prolonged struggle for power with his younger brother Stalin, also visited his father's house and the hospital. Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit visited the hospital and enquired about the health of Karunanidhi with hospital authorities, Stalin and other members of the DMK president's family. Chief Minister K Palaniswami said that the state government was ready to provide all possible medical assistance to the ailing Karunanidhi, who was a five-time CM if it was approached. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, wished Karunanidhi a speedy recovery and tweeted, "Kalaignar M Karunanidhi is a born fighter. I am sure he will fight back and return fast to good health. Wish him a speedy recovery." Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal took to Twitter and said, "My prayers for Sh Karunanidhi's fast recovery." State health minister C Vijayabaskar also wished the DMK supremo a speedy recovery. After receiving the news about Karunanidhi being admitted to the hospital, party cadre from various parts of the state poured in there chanting "long live Thalaivar" (leader) and "meendu vaa thalaiva," (come back, leader). Karunanidhi, who turned 94 last month, was admitted to hospital in Chennai on July 18. The hospital had said he had undergone a procedure to replace his tracheostomy tube. He had the tube placed in December 2016 to help improve his breathing. Karunanidhi had been discharged after the procedure on July 23. (With inputs from PTI) Jailed former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif needs to be immediately shifted to the intensive care unit of a hospital in Islamabad from Adiala Jail after suffering serious cardiac complications, an official said. Pakistan's caretaker government on Sunday decided to shift the jailed leader to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad after irregular ECG and blood reports. The decision was taken by the Punjab government which has administrative control of the Adiala jail after a team of doctors recommended that Sharif needed proper medication and care as he has been suffering from acute pain in both his arms, likely due to lack of adequate blood circulation. "Sharif will be shifted to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad where preparations have been made to keep the high-profile prisoner," Punjab Home Minister Shaukat Javed said. Earlier, a team of doctors headed by Dr Ejaz Qadeer and comprising cardiologist Dr Naeem Malik, Medical Specialist Dr Shaji Siddiqui, neurologist Dr Sohail Tanvir and Dr Mashood carried out medical checkup of Sharif after he complained of pain in the chest. Dr Malik, head of the PIMS cardiology department, suggested that authorities shift Sharif to the hospital as his blood tests showed clotting which, according to the doctor, was an alarming sign considering his medical history. His ECG was also not satisfactory. Sharif, 68, is serving a 10-year jail term in a corruption case over his family's purchase of luxury apartments in London. He has been lodged in the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi since July 13. Last week, it was reported that Sharif is on the verge of a kidney failure and doctors have recommended to shift him to a hospital immediately. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo lives with diabetes and has also undergone bypass surgery in 2016. He currently takes medication for his heart condition, cholesterol and diabetes. Last week, PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif wrote a letter to caretaker Punjab government seeking better facilities for them at Adiala Jail. Shehbaz had asked the authorities to ensure continuous provision of medicines and medical examination to Sharif from his personal doctor as he was suffering from dehydration and his blood urea content was 50 per cent higher than it should have been. A medical team also recommended that he be shifted to the hospital as his heartbeat was not normal and the presence of urea in the blood may affect his kidney. However, Sharif refused to be moved to a hospital and insisted that medical treatment is provided to him in the prison. Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in and around the Adiala Jail. Security personnel have been deployed around its premises and also special arrangements have also been made at PIMS. SEMBALUN, Indonesia: A powerful 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck the popular tourist destination of Lombok in Indonesia on Sunday, killing 10 people and damaging many buildings, authorities said. The quake hit Lombok island early in the morning when many people were still sleeping. Around 40 people were injured and many fled into open fields away from collapsed buildings. "We jumped out of our beds to avoid anything falling on our heads," said Jean-Paul Volckaert who was woken by the quake while sleeping in the Puncak Hotel near Senggigi on Lombok. "Ive been walking around but so far there is no damage. We were very surprised as the water in the pools was swaying like a wild sea. There were waves in the pools but only for 20 to 30 seconds," he said. "The people in the villages may have damages. Its still early morning here. The quake was centered 50 km (31 miles) northeast of the city of Mataram on the northern part of Lombok island, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said. A Malaysian tourist visiting the popular trekking destination of Mount Rinjani on Lombok was among those killed, according to East Lombok police M. Eka Fathurrahman. Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the disaster mitigation agency spokesman, posted on Twitter pictures of houses with collapsed roofs and walls. "People are gathering on the streets and empty fields to avoid collapsing buildings," he said. Dampak gempa 6.4 SR di 28 km barat laut Lombok Timur kedalaman 10 km pada 29/7/2018 pukul 05.47 WIB, beberapa bangunan dan rumah mengalami kerusakan di Sambelia Lombok Timur. BPBD masih melakukan pendataan. pic.twitter.com/NaaDmgrr43 Sutopo Purwo Nugroho (@Sutopo_PN) July 28, 2018 "The main focus now is evacuation and rescue. Some of the injured are still being treated at clinics." Around 66 quakes were recorded after the initial 6.4 magnitude tremor, with the largest aftershock recorded at 5.7 magnitude, said the disaster mitigation agency. The major quake was felt on the neighboring island of Bali, Indonesia`s top tourist destination. The quake forced authorities to close the Mount Rinjani national park. "Rinjani mountain climbing is closed temporarily because there is indication of landslide around the mountain," Nugroho, said in a statement. The earthquake struck at 6:47 a.m. on Sunday (2247 GMT on Saturday) and was only 4.35 miles deep (7 km), a shallow depth that would have amplified its effect. A magnitude 6.4 earthquake is considered strong and is capable of causing severe damage. The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), the European quake agency, put the magnitude at 6.5. The earthquake was on land and did not trigger any waves or tsunami. Lombok is the next island east of Bali. Quakes are common in Indonesia, which is located on the seismically active "Ring of Fire" that surrounds the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Beijing: Tibet has been an "inalienable part" of China since ancient times, Premier Li Keqiang has asserted as he hoped that religious groups in the sensitive region will continue to safeguard national unity and promote social harmony, the state media reported on Sunday. Disclosing details of Li's previously unannounced visit to the remote Himalayan region, Xinhua news agency reported that during his visit from July 25 to July 27 to Nyingchi, Shannan, and Lhasa, Li talked with officials and residents and visited the famed Jokhang Temple and the upcoming Lhasa-Nyingchi section of the Sichuan-Tibet railway. Li hoped that Tibet can stick to strategies and policies of the ruling Communist Party of China to achieve development and prosperity, safeguard national unity, enhance solidarity among ethnic groups, promote social and economic development, and maintain lasting peace and stability in Tibet. While visiting Jokhang Temple, a renowned temple for Tibetan Buddhism in Lhasa, Li said Tibet has been an "inalienable part of China ever since ancient times and he hoped that religious circles will continue to make contributions in safeguarding national unity and promoting ethnic solidarity as well as social harmony," apparently referring to the pro-Dalai Lama sentiments in the sensitive region. China views the Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Beijing's rule in the remote Himalayan region, as a separatist. Development is key to increasing people's wealth and achieving prosperity in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, the premier said, adding that people's livelihood should be improved through sustainable development, which should be based on actual conditions of Tibet. He said that the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the "water tower" of China and Asia, where ecological conservation should be strengthened to support sustainable development in the whole country. At the construction site of the Lhasa-Nyingchi section of the Sichuan-Tibet railway, Li stressed the importance of the project to the development of Tibet and to ecological protection. The railway project is beneficial for Tibet to cultivate new growth drivers, and it is the right thing that must be done. Full construction work should be accelerated, Li said. China has been building rail, road and air links in the remote Tibet, spending billions of dollars. A railway line linking the Chinese capital Beijing with Lhasa was put into operation in 2006. In 2014, another railway line linking Lhasa with Xigaze was opened. China and Nepal last month agreed to build a strategic railway link connecting Tibet with Kathmandu, which Nepalese government sees as an alternative trade route for supply of commodities to the landlocked Himalayan nation. At present, infrastructure development in the country's central and western regions is relatively weak, and promoting effective investments to improve weak links will not only narrow the gap in regional development but also helpful for the country to cope with economic downturn, he said. China should avoid strong stimulus and take targeted measures that are beneficial in both short and long terms, Li said. He said that the government will step up support to hospitals in Tibet and colleges for traditional Tibetan medicine to meet the needs of local residents. The premier said entrepreneurship and innovation in Tibet are very important to high-quality growth. The country will create better environment to support the education of skilled workers and train more talented workers that are in high demand, he said. Li said that the government will step up support for the research on precious documents and push cultural inheritance and exchanges. Diversion intelligence group of the militants gave a try to capture the positions of one of the units in the area of Krymske settlement Open source During the last day, on July 28, the illegal armed formations opened fire at the positions of Armed Forces of Ukraine 25 times, three of them from the banned weapons. Two soldiers of Joint Forces deceased and two wounded during the hostilities. The press office of JFO claims this on their Facebook page. 'Russian occupation forces have been conducting targeted fire from grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and small arms at the defenders of Krymske, Avdiivka, Svitlodarsk, Pisky, Mariinka, Lebedynske, Hruntove, Shyrokyne, Pavlopil, and Vodyane. Also, the occupants were using 82mm mortars near Krymske and Vodyane,' reads the message. Related: Militants try to take Ukrainian positions in Donbas conflict zone According to the of the headquarters, Diversion intelligence group of the militants gave a try to capture the positions of one of the units in the area of Krymske settlement. 'Joint Forces had to use firepower. The enemy backed off having incurred losses,' the press office reports. Four representatives of the bandit units died, six wounded. The militants opened fire at Ukrainian positions five times near Krymske, Opytne and Pavlopil settlements during the current day. Related: 24 hours in Donbas: One Ukrainian soldier dies A subversive and reconnaissance group of militants tried to seize the positions of Ukrainian servicemen in the Krymske region in Donbas and failed. In the course of the battle, two Ukrainian military were killed, two more were injured, according to the headquarters of the JFO. It is noted that the group of illegal armed formations numbered up to 15 militants. According to the headquarters, the defenders of Ukraine were on the observation post and responded in the fight with an almost fourfold superior enemy. They ensured the approach of the reserve group of army units headed by the company commander. "Having received a decisive rebuff, the enemy, under the fire of our defenders, resorted to withdrawal under the guise of his artillery. Their departure was cut off by the fire of the mortar unit of the Joint forces. Thanks to the clear and coordinated actions of the divisions, the enemy suffered significant losses - up to 4 killed and 6 wounded" says the message. During almost two-hour battle, two Ukrainian servicemen were killed, two more were injured. In general, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., 4 shellings from militants were reported. "The invaders opened aimed fire from grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and small arms at the positions of the United forces in the areas of settlements Krymske, Avdiivka, Pavlopil and Lebedinske", - notes the headquarters. Open source The Government of Canada has decided to grant Ukraine $ 50 million over the next five years. This was announced by the Ambassador of Ukraine in Canada, Andriy Shevchenko. "A new aid package for Ukraine in the amount of about 50 million has been decided to grant annually over the next 5 years (35 million - technical assistance, 5 million - humanitarian aid, 10-12 million - operations in the security sector.) This is not taking into account the large military mission UNIFIER, which is funded from the budget of the Canadian Defense Ministry," said Andriy Shevchenko. According to him, for Ukraine it is important that this is the first large-scale package approved by the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government. Russia violated international law by annexing Crimea. This is stated in a document published on the website of the Government of Canada. "Canada reaffirms its continued commitment to the territorial integrity of Ukraine and condemns the actions taken by Russia to forcibly integrate the Crimean Peninsula into Russia, including through the opening in May 2018 of a bridge across the Kerch Strait," the statement said. In Canada, they recalled the "serious violations of human rights" in the occupied Crimea. Including, it is a question of suppression of a freedom of speech, arrests, tortures and detention. In addition, the Canadian government called for the release of all illegally detained Ukrainian citizens. Earlier, Canadian Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan, Minister of National Defense of Canada claimed that Canada continues to support Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. He claimed this after his visit to Latvia, according to Ukrinform. 'Canadian support of Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression is unwavering,' the Minister noted. Harjit Sajjan added that together with the partners are working on the development of safe, successive and democratic Ukraine. He noted that Canada had provided the Ukrainian Armed Forces with non-lethal military equipment costing over 16 million dollars. 'Our commitment isn't limited only by training soldiers. As part of a comprehensive support of Ukraine, Canada provided the Armed Forces of Ukraine non-lethal military equipment costing over 16 million dollars, and more equipment will be provided by the of March of 2019,' he said. Related: Legalize in Canada: What about Ukraine? "With yesterday's action regarding Crimea, Russia demonstrates its weakness, snapping at the declarations of a number of civilized countries. It's a pity fact to dig a little in history to find a correction for today's crimes. The Russian Federation is looking for arguments in the past, and the civilized world finds them in international law," Klimkin said. As reported, Russia approved a law that "establishes a new memorable date for Russia - April 19, the Day of adoption of Crimea, Taman and Kuban in the Russian Empire (1783)." Earlier t he Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Pavlo Klimkin , condemned the Kremlin's intention to hold a referendum in the occupied Donbas because of the impossibility of free and fair expression of will in this region under current conditions. He wrote about this on July 20 on his Facebook page. 'Azarov will speak ten-twelve minutes in Russian. He has to criticize Tymoshenko for the mess she left behind and presentation of the electoral platform. Victor Yanukovych will speak five-seven minutes in Ukrainian where he should present his program "Ukraine for people",' allegedly Manafort said Open source The investigation team of Robert Mueller, Special Attorney of FBI revealed more than 300 documents in the case of Paul Manafort. In particular, the documents describe Manafort's cooperation with Ukrainian Party of Regions and Oppositional Bloc. Voice of America reports. In particular, the political campaign of Victor Yanukovych and Party of Regions are actively discussed in the email correspondence, details of his business trips are worked out, reads the message. The documents refer to different time periods. Related: Manafort taken into custody For instance, Paul Manafort describes in detail the performance of Mykola Azarov at the convention of Party of Regions in the message to Political Adviser Tad Devine. Manafort says: Azarov will speak ten-twelve minutes in Russian. He has to criticize Tymoshenko for the mess she left behind and presentation of the electoral platform. Victor Yanukovych will speak five-seven minutes in Ukrainian where he should present his program "Ukraine for people", - the outlet reports. The cost of the convention of Party of Regions is mentioned in the documents - 565 thousand dollars. Related: Yanukovych state treason case: Trial proceeded to debates, lawyers protest Also, according to the judicial documents, Manafort wrote Yanukovych that "we have been actively developing the concept of antisemitism, as part of [views] [of the Ukrainian] opposition. (...) It was the key part of our Washington strategy". The documents contain questions, which were asked at the press conference of Victor Yanukovych, dedicated to the hundred days of his tenure as president of Ukraine, and the answers that were given. Related: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK: JULY 23 - 27 Ukraine news on 112.international The Guardian Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia's navy in 2018 will receive 26 new ships and vessels, four of which will be equipped with the Caliber missile system, Gazeta.ru reports. "In total, in 2018 the fleet should receive 26 new ships, boats and vessels, including four ships with the Caliber missile system," Putin said. According to the president of the Russian Federation, in 2018 the Russian fleet has already received four surface ships, one anti-sabotage boat and three supply vessels. Earlier Kremlin offered the White House to consider a possibility of the referendum in the occupied Donbas. The idea is that local residents, who live in could the militant-controlled areas could vote for the status of this region. That was the offer of Russian president Vladimir Putin, which he voiced out during the recent meeting with his U.S. colleague Donald Trump in Helsinki, Bloomberg wrote. The outlet referred to two interlocutors who were present during the meeting, where Putin and Russian diplomats participated. According to one of them, Trump asked Putin not to discuss the idea at a press conference after the summit in Helsinki, so that Trump woud have enough time to consider it. The interlocutor added that, according to Putin, the said 'referendum' should take place under the supervision of the international community. The Kremlin's press secretary Dmitriy Peskov did not disclose much information about Putin's claims regarding Ukraine. 'They discussed some new ideas, and they will keep working on them,' the official said. Related: Canada decided to give Ukraine $ 50 million annually for 5 years, - ambassador The rating of the conservative bloc has reached record low rates since 2006 Reuters In Germany, the rating of the conservative bloc of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU), chaired by Chancellor Angela Merkel, fell to a minimum in 12 years, reaching 29%, Bild reports. According to the publication, for a week the Merkel bloc's rating fell by 1%. At the same time, the rating of the CDU / CSU block headed by Merkel still remains higher than that of its competitors. The Social Democratic Party of Germany's rating was 18%, while the Alternative for Germany rating was 15%. Earlier Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany met Sergey Lavrov, the Foreign Minister of Russia as the press service of the Federal authority reported. "The situation in the Middle East, especially Syria, was the main topic. Also, the Donbas Conflict was discussed," the message said. Also, Valery Gerasimov, the Head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia was at the meeting. As we reported Germanys Chancellor Angela Merkel was the one who mentioned Viktor Medvedchuk, the Leader of the Ukrainian Choice movement, in terms of Minsk talks. Answering the question whether it is necessary to involve Medvedchuk into the talks when the President Poroshenko has direct contact with Putin, it was said that some decisions were made without the participation of the Ukrainian President. It should be noted that earlier, Viktor Medvedchuk, the Ukrainian envoy in the humanitarian subdivision of Minsk group, in the interview for Znaj.ua said that Ukraine could exchange 174 prisoners for 43 Ukrainian captives militants keep. Related: Kyiv court appoints appeal in Martynenko case on August 1 112 Agency In Moscow, about 2.5 thousand people are protesting against raising the retirement age. This was reported in the press service of the Moscow police, informs Interfax. "On the Academician Sakharov avenue, a rally agreed by the Moscow authorities is held, involving about 2,500 people," the press service quotes. It is noted that the police and Rosguard provide protection of public order and security. We recall, yesterday in Russia, citizens also held rallies against pension reform. Then 6,5 thousand people took part in the protest in Moscow. On the streets came representatives of the Communist Party, the "Left Front", the union of the People's Patriotic Union of Russia, the Socialist Alternative movement. Representatives of the Communist Party faction applied for the action. Earlier, the government of the Russian Federation introduced a draft law to the State Duma on the gradual increase in the retirement age to 65 years for men (by 2028) and 63 for women (by 2034). The State Duma supported the document in the first reading. Related: Rating of Angela Merkel's bloc fell to 29% Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has already congratulated the representatives of the special services Open source Ukraine marks Day of Special Operations Forces of Armed Forces of Ukraine. President Petro Poroshenko signed the relevant decree in July of 2016. Poroshenko decided to annually celebrate the Day of Special Operations Forces on July 29. The president has already congratulated the representatives of the special services this year. He published the relevant post on Facebook. Related: Ukraine marks Constitution Day Victor Muzhenko, Chief of General Staff noted that Ukrainians have a secret weapon against the aggressor. Serhiy Naiev, Commander of Joint Forces also sent holiday greetings. The press office of JFO HQ shared the message. 'It is not customary to speak out loud of the heroism and feat of soldiers of the Special Operations Forces. However, I am sure that one day, Ukraine will know its heroes! As a commander of the Joint Forces, I know that the soldiers of the Special Operations Forces always ready to look into the enemy's eyes and deliberately pursue their goals. You prove your loyalty to the military oath, the military duty, to the honorable service to the homeland by your deed!,' Naiev noted. PLEASE NOTE! Due to the March 23, 2020 NM DOH Public Health Order, These Event Listings Are Not Accurate! All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited! (One day some of these events will be rescheduled or will resume, but they are not happening now!) I am offering the solution to a problem most Republicans don't know they have -- that they can be outmaneuvered and thrown on the defensive endlessly, on nearly any issue, because they accept as true Democrat lies about the Republican Party. To correct that misperception and to help the Republican Party get 'back to basics' is why I'm a man on a mission. A few years ago, after one of my speeches, a man told me "Do you know what your problem is? You're too far ahead of your time!" My efforts to show Republicans how they would benefit from celebrating the heritage of our Grand Old Party have been arduous, but if this were easy someone else would have already done it. Among my speech topics are Reconciling the Tea Party and the GOP; Barack Obama, the Worst President Ever; Socialism, the new Slavery; Appreciating the Heritage of our Grand Old Party; Returning to the Founding Principles of the United States; The Womens Rights Achievements of our Grand Old Party; Abraham Lincoln, Republican; Frederick Douglass, Republican; Martin Luther King and the Republican Civil Rights Legacy. Opinion UAE effectively harnesses AI potential The UAE just does not go all out for full-on care of its residents, it also maps new frontiers in futuristic technology. Artificial intelligence is the order of the day. The UAE is moving towards an artificial intelligence economy. Presidente @MartinVizcarraC: El Peru es grande, y somos nosotros los que debemos hacer que sea un pais, cada dia aun mas grande, mas prospero y mas justo. Mas que nunca orgullosos de ser peruanos El Peru se lo merece! #MensajeALaNacion pic.twitter.com/FhdE1GXAJp That the President of the United States is a Russian asset needs to be openly acknowledged. He may be a naive, negligent or unwitting asset, a coerced asset, or a willing and enthusiastic asset, or some combination thereof, but at this point there is no getting around that he is a Russian asset. My readers who have followed me from progressive blogs presumably have no trouble accepting this. But I know that I also have many readers from investment or economic sources, many of whom are probably Republicans. To them I ask two simple questions: (1) in what way has he acted in any way inconsistent with being a Russian asset? and (2) if you evaluated him the same way you evaluated SEC and other filings in order to determine whether or not to purchase a stock, to what conclusion would you come? What possible reason could there be for a President of the United States to insist on meeting the Russian President both without any witnesses in the room, and also no means to verify what was discussed? Why would a President who is known for bombastically unloading on just about everybody else on the planet, refuse to utter, over a period lasting years, a single negative word about one singular matter: the conduct of the Russian state? In the past week I have only heard three potential arguments against the fact posited by the title of this post. The first comes from a comment here , which in summary says: [H]e thinks hes doing great work; he thinks Putins terrific; he thinks this will all be justified as a brilliant move once the nation and the world catches up with his brillianceand, especially, he thinks hes enacting his supporters wishes, sticking it to the uppity European deadbeats and mending fences with the real leaders.. The fact that he concealed it all from his staff (nobody else in the meeting, etc.) [could just] mean [that] it was Putins idea: lets be alone so we can really talk (with some nods to the dangers of Fake News). But this just means that the President is a naive or negligent asset, in so deep over his head that he does not know he is being played. A little boy has miraculously survived being bitten twice by a venomous snake in the space of almost a week in Western Australia. Joel Canning, 6, who lives in Wongan Hills, in WAs Wheatbelt, northeast of Perth, kept telling himself, Im not going to die as he ran to his mum. Little Joel had been outside the family home when was bitten by one of the worlds most venomous snakes: a western brown. His mum, Pippa, said the boy came in quite calmly but had a question. Joel Canning, 6, who lives in Wongan Hills, in WAs Wheatbelt, northeast of Perth, has survived being bitten by a western brown snake twice in eight days. Source: 7 News (He) asked me, if you get bitten by a venomous snake in Australia do you go to heaven? And I said yes and then he went down. When Joel collapsed, Ms Canning realised she had to breathe for him. The six-year-old knew not to panic so as to not pump the venom faster. Little Joel said he tried to remain calm so the venom wouldnt spread. Source: 7 News Somehow I got the strength to pick him up (and) walk through the house with him while he was convulsing, the mum said. His eyes were rolling back. He was hissing and I knew he wasnt getting enough oxygen. So, every third step I stopped and did rescue breaths before being able to get him in the back seat of the car. The boys mum and dad rushed him to hospital before he was flown to Perth. The western brown is one of the worlds deadliest snakes. Source: 7 News/ Amy Wild Adventures Then eight days later, Joel was bitten again by the same species of snake on the same street. Joels mum thought again he was going to die but the boy was confident he would survive because he managed to the first time. I did, I prayed for that and my prayer came true, Joel said. Its possible he still had anti-venom in his body from the first bite. It also helped the hospital is located at the end of the Cannings street and stocks the anti-venom Joel needed. While the Wongan Hills boy has managed to survive two separate attacks from one of the worlds deadliest snakes hes not the same following the ordeals. Story continues His mum said he suffers anxiety attacks that a snake could bite him again. Theyve (anxiety attacks) been happening at school now, she said. So, when he did cross country because of his heart pounding and theyre running through the bush he thought it was the venom again. The Canning family is encouraging all families to learn first aid. Cambodia's ruling party said it had won a landslide in Sunday's one-horse election, an expected outcome after the main opposition was banned, paving the way for leader Hun Sen to prolong his 33 years in power. Hun Sen, who came to power in 1985 in a country still plagued by civil war, has cracked down on dissent in the run-up to this year's poll, pressuring civil society, independent media and political opponents. That left him with little competition and no serious challengers. Cambodian People's Party (CPP) spokesman Sok Eysan told AFP late Sunday they expected to win "over 100 seats" in the 125-seat parliament, citing preliminary figures from the National Election Committee. "The CPP will get more than 80 percent of the popular vote," he said. "This is a huge victory for us." Hun Sen, 65, a one-time defector from the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, has pointed to stability and growth as the fruits of his rule -- a message that resonates with his base. "Compatriots have chosen the democratic path and used your rights," he said on his Facebook page after polls closed in an apparent swipe at the opposition, which called for a boycott. Voter turnout was 82 percent, according to the election committee, surpassing the final figure in 2013 of roughly 69 percent when the opposition took part. - Spoiled ballots - But there were also signs of despondency and indifference, and an expert on elections in Southeast Asia said the high turnout was misleading. "With one-party rule election turnout is generally higher, not lower, because the party, in this case the Cambodian People's Party, relies on voter intimidation more, relies on vote buying more, and turnout should be inflated that way," said Lee Morgenbesser from the school of government and international relations at Griffith University. Pictures of spoiled ballots circulated on social media though they could not be independently verified. AFP correspondents saw dozens of blank ballots set aside during counting. "I did not go to vote. I slept at home," said Khem Chan Vannak, a former commune chief elected with the now-banned opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). "A lot of my friends did not go to vote." Western governments withdrew their assistance from the election, citing its lack of credibility. Canada's Foreign Ministry said in a statement after the vote that "the election campaign was widely recognized to have been marred by voter intimidation and manipulation of the polls". Canada "strongly supports their (Cambodians') right to freely choose their leaders," it added. Nineteen small -- or hitherto unknown -- parties competed against the ruling CPP in the absence of the CNRP. But analysts say they are too obscure or new to make a meaningful difference. The CPP has won every election since 1998. The opposition, whose leaders are in jail, underground or in self-exile, urged a "clean-finger" boycott as the only safe form of protest, a reference to the ink applied to people's hands after they vote. Official results are expected on August 15. - 'Fist of a dictator' - More than eight million voters registered for the sixth general election since polls were organised by the United Nations in 1993. At the time the country was emerging from decades of war, including the Khmer Rouge years from 1975-79 which killed a quarter of the population. Hun Sen was installed aged just 32 as national leader during the Vietnamese occupation of 1979-89. But a youthful population angered by corruption and with little memory of the Khmer Rouge era put the ruling party's longevity in doubt. Their votes helped the CNRP to secure more than 44 percent of the vote in 2013 and a similar share in local elections last year. But Hun Sen snuffed out the looming electoral threat, accusing the rescue party of being involved in a plot to topple the government and arresting leader Kem Sokha. The Supreme Court dissolved the party in November 2017. "This is a story of how democratic dreams die under the fist of a dictator," Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch, said. - Power and patronage - A climate of fear driven by local-level ruling party members has made many reluctant to openly criticise the vote. The election committee, which has been accused of being biased towards the ruling party, said there was no voter intimidation. Hun Sen has maintained his grip on the country through political and family alliances in the police, military and media. He has placed his sons in key positions in what analysts see as an attempt to create a dynasty. The United States and the European Union declined to send monitors for Sunday's election but Cambodia's ally China provided support. Sam Rainsy, an opposition figure who lives in self-exile in France, said the foregone election victory was a "hollow one". The CNRP appealed to Cambodians not to vote in the "sham election that has no support and is not recognised by the international community". Authorities have vowed to take action against anyone who urges a poll boycott even though they insist voting is not compulsory. With the result a foregone conclusion, Cambodia's election has turned into a test of premier Hun Sen's popularity While turnout appeared high, many opposition supporters refused to vote or spoilt their ballot papers Cambodian National Election Committee workers carry election material in Phnom Penh in the run-up to polling day An elephant transports materials for an election set to extend Hun Sen's rule A woman in South Australia has been caught drink driving after she was spotted driving on a shredded tyre. The female driver, 22, was pulled over at Littlehampton, 30km southeast of Adelaide, about 2am on Sunday. Mount Barker patrols noticed the Holden sedan on the Old Princes Highway driving with a blown front left tyre and being driven on its rim. Officers spotted the woman driving on a shredded tyre causing damage to the wheels rim. Source: SA Police The driver was breath tested and allegedly produced a blood alcohol reading of 0.209, more than four times the legal limit. The woman, of Westbourne Park, was reported for drink driving and aggravated due care. She was issued with a twelve month instant loss of licence and her car was impounded. She will be summoned to court at a later date. Ecuador is in talks with Britain over the fate of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been holed up at Ecuador's embassy in London since 2012 when he was granted political asylum, the country's president said in an interview published Sunday. "The issue of Mr. Assange is being treated with the British government and I understand that we have already established contact with Mr. Assange's lawyers so we can find a way out," Ecuador President Lenin Moreno told top-selling Spanish daily newspaper El Pais. "Mr. Assange has been in this situation for over five years and we have to find a way out for him. A way out that defends his rights, mainly his right to life, and which at the same time can give Ecuador the possibility to not have what, without a doubt, represents a problem for our country." Assange, 47, sought refuge in Ecuador's London embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden to face sexual assault allegations, which he denies. The Australian computer programmer claims the accusations were politically motivated and could lead to his extradition to the United States to face imprisonment over WikiLeaks's 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. 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 particularly drew the ire of Ecuador by angering the Spanish government with his support for separatist leaders in Spain's Catalonia region who sought to secede last year. Moreno, who visited Spain and Britain last week, said the "ideal" solution would involve Assange accepting a "penalty" for having breached British bail conditions and then be "extradited to a country where he does not face any danger." Assange sought refuge in Ecuador's London embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden Italy's far right deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini has accused the European Union of attempting to "swindle" the United Kingdom out of the Brexit people voted for in the landmark 2016 referendum, The Sunday Times reported. "My experience in the European parliament tells me you either impose yourself or they swindle you", Salvini told the weekly as he urged prime minister Theresa May to take a harder stance in negotiations to sever ties with the trading bloc. May and her ministers are scrambling to forge agreements with each of the EU's 27 member states after a week which saw her already fragile "Chequers plan" for Brexit knocked back by Brussels chief negotiator Michel Barnier. On Thursday Barnier rejected May's plan to keep the border between EU member Ireland and the UK province of Northern Ireland open, with a dual system of taxes levied by each side for the benefit of the other. But League party leader Salvini has urged May to consider taking a hard line, potentially leaving the EU without securing a deal. "Because on some principles there is no need to be flexible and you should not go backwards,? he told The Times. The paper said he also implied the EU is attempting to punish Britain for seeking to leave, claiming: "There is no objectivity or good faith from the European side." "I hope the negotiations end well for the UK to serve as an example of the people coming out on top of the EU," he added. "I remember the referendum stage as an example of participation and freedom; I hope it can be an opportunity for the British." Barnier has attempted to scupper May's plan to circumvent Brussels in striking a deal with the member states, insisting that there is not a "sliver of difference" between him and the 27 nation leaders. But according to The Times Salvini has said he would welcome one-on-one talks with May, undermining Barnier's authority as the head of talks. Italy's deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini has accused the European Union of trying to "swindle" the United Kingdom out of the Brexit people voted for When Tosya Gharibyan asked her husband to dig a basement under their house to store potatoes, she had little idea the underground labyrinth he would eventually produce would prove to be one of Armenia's major tourist draws. Their one-storey house in the village of Arinj outside the capital Yerevan may not look like much but today it brings in visitors from all over the globe after a 23-year labour of love by Tosya's late husband, Levon Arakelyan. They come to see a twisting network of subterranean caves and tunnels known as "Levon's divine underground." In the cold and quiet, Tosya leads tourists through corridors that connect seven chambers adorned with Romanesque columns and ornaments like those on the facades of mediaeval Armenian churches. "Once he started digging, it was impossible to stop him," she said of the project that began in 1995. "I wrangled with him a lot, but he became obsessed with his plan." A builder by training, Levon would toil for 18 hours a day -- only pausing to take a quick nap and then rush back to the cave, confident that he was being guided "by heaven". "He never drew up plans and used to tell us that he sees in his dreams what to do next," his widow told AFP. Over more than two decades he hammered out the 280-square-metre (3,000 square-foot) space, 21 metres deep into strata of volcanic rocks -- only using hand tools. "My primary childhood recollection is the loud knock of my father's hammer heard at night from the cave," said his 44-year-old daughter Araksya. At the start he had to break through a surface layer of black basalt, but at the depth of a few metres Levon reached much softer tufa stone and the work progressed. He pulled out 600 truckloads of rocks and earth, using only hand-held buckets. Levon died in 2008 at the age of 67 from a heart attack after destroying the last wall that separated two tunnels. - 'Amazing place' - A decade on from the project's completion, Tosya also runs a small museum commemorating her husband's work in the village of some 6,000 people. The underground complex has several analogues in the world. An eccentric man named William Henry "Burro" Schmidt spent more than three decades digging a half-a-mile tunnel to transport gold through a granite mountain in California, beginning his work in the early 1900s during the state's gold rush. In Ethiopia a man named Aba Defar began carving churches on a mountainside after claiming divine inspiration from years of dreams. Today the Armenian cave features prominently in travel brochures, regularly drawing busloads of visitors. Milad, a 29-year-old Iranian tourist, called the maze an "amazing place". He said it made him realise just "how boundless the spiritual and physical capabilities of a person can be". The underground network of tunnels is a major tourist attraction in Arinj, just outside Armenia's capital Levon's richly-decorated tunnels took 23 years to complete Visitors can light candles in the subterranean caves decorated in the style of mediaeval Armenian churches Cambodian leader Hun Sen has outlasted the murderous Khmer Rouge, sidelined the monarchy and crushed his opponents in a 33-year rule defined by patronage, political agility and repression and set to be prolonged by Sunday's election. The 65-year-old strongman smiled as he held up an inked finger at a polling booth on Sunday morning in an election devoid of his only serious opposition. Hun Sen is part of a small coterie of world leaders to hold power for three decades, adapting to the shifting political landscape in the poor Southeast Asian country since the Cold War. His ruling Cambodian People's Party is set to win big on Sunday after the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was dissolved by the Supreme Court in November 2017. In his final campaign speech days before the poll, Hun Sen was in typically bombastic form, bragging about the legal action to "eliminate traitors who attempted to topple the government". Critics say victory will be the culmination of years of state-sponsored violence, intimidation and deft legal footwork by Hun Sen to head off an opposition which emerged as a serious threat at the last election in 2013. It will also mark a nadir for Cambodian democracy. "Few of Hun Sen's opponents have had the combination of ruthlessness, guile, and political acuity that have carried him through repeated cycles of Cambodian history," said Sebastian Strangio, author of "Hun Sen's Cambodia". He was a cadre in the Khmer Rouge, an ultra-Maoist organisation that overthrew the US-backed government of Lon Nol and killed one quarter of the population from 1975 to 1979. But to escape ever-deeper purges he defected to Vietnam, returning as their army toppled the Khmer Rouge and taking credit as Cambodia's saviour from a group he once belonged to. The ambitious former fighter was installed as prime minister in 1985, aged just 32. - 'Uncle' wants your vote - Hun Sen lost the first election he ever ran for in 1993, the UN-sponsored vote meant to be the dawn of a new democratic era. But he seized control in a bloody 1997 coup, a year before the death of Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot. He's been accused of stacking the military with fiercely loyal allies, while handing key security roles to relatives and his sons in an attempt to build a dynasty. China has in recent years turned Cambodia's patron ladling out cash and soft loans for infrastructure that left Hun Sen less reliant on a critical West. A visible presence across the country, he travels frequently to the provinces, giving straight-talking speeches riddled with warnings that without him Cambodia will crumble. As times change he has remodelled his approach, spreading his message via a Facebook page with 10 million "likes" -- on a platform that could have served the opposition. He has even co-opted garment workers who once marched with the opposition, raising wages for the near three quarters of a million people employed in the key sector. "I love him the same as my parents," said garment worker Phoeung La during a recent visit by the premier to nearly 25,000 labourers in Kampong Chhnang province. Ever-attuned to populist opportunities, Hun Sen handed out $5 in envelopes, while pregnant employees were given $200 by a premier who called himself "uncle" to the crowd. "You ask for schools from uncle, you ask for roads from uncle, so uncle asks for votes back," he said. - Genius of survival - The ruling Cambodian People's Party has won every election from 1998 onwards. But frustration with corruption among a young population with little memory of the horrors of the Khmer Rouge era gave an opening to new challengers. Formed in 2012, the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) won more than 44 percent of the vote in 2013 and almost the same in local 2017 polls. But their emerging threat was snuffed out. Sam Rainsy, who co-founded the CNRP but now lives in self-exile in Paris, said Hun Sen's years in the Khmer Rouge were formative in creating a culture of violence and impunity which defines Cambodian power. A nemesis through endless thwarted years of opposition, Rainsy strikes a reluctant note of admiration for Cambodia's enduring strongman. "Hun Sen's strength, I would even say his genius, is to survive," he said. Hun Sen is part of a small coterie of world leaders to hold power for three decades, adapting to the shifting political landscape in the poor Southeast Asian country since the Cold War Hun Sen seized control in a bloody 1997 coup, a year before the death of Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot Critics say Hun Sen political endurance is based on years of state-sponsored violence, intimidation and deft legal footwork to head off an opposition, which emerged as a serious threat at the last election in 2013 Malians voted Sunday in a crucial presidential election as attacks disrupted polling in areas already beset by deadly ethnic and jihadist violence. Counting has started in some of the 23,000 polling stations which closed at 1800 GMT. First results are expected within 48 hours and the official outcome is set to follow on Friday at the latest. Despite the deployment of 30,000 security personnel throughout the country, several incidents were reported in the north and centre. Rockets were fired on the UN mission (MINUSMA) camp in Aguelhok, in the northeast, according to a UN security source who added that "there are no casualties and the rockets did not fall into the camp." Elsewhere, the burning of polling stations and violence against election officials halted the vote. In total, 105 polling stations stayed closed because of security concerns, according to state TV ORTM citing the ministry of security. President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, 73, leads a crowded field of 24 candidates -- including one woman -- bidding for re-election to the post he has held since 2013. He voted in Sebenicoro, near the capital Bamako, surrounded by journalists and supporters. Keita's record on security has been a dominant theme, with opponents, including several former ministers, accusing him of incompetence. The international community hopes the poll will strengthen a 2015 accord that Mali, a linchpin state in the troubled Sahel region, sees as the cornerstone for peace. On the campaign trail, Keita -- commonly known by his initials IBK -- highlighted the achievements of the peace agreement between the government, government-allied groups and Tuareg former rebels to fight jihadist fighters in the country's north. - Polling station, ballots burned - Armed groups severely disrupted voting in central Mali's Mopti region. In Fatoma village, voting was halted after election officials were assaulted, according to Malian observers and the regional governor. Violence also struck the village of Gandamia, further east, where polling stations were destroyed and staff were attacked, the sources said. "Four villages could not vote after armed groups banned state administrators" in the same region, the mayor of Bourema Napo town told AFP. And there was no voting in the village of Lafia, in the northern Timbuktu region, after the ballot boxes were set on fire, local authorities said. "Overnight Saturday, armed men arrived at the town hall where the ballot boxes and electoral material were held," a local official told AFP. The source added the boxes were burned after men he said were jihadists fired shots into the sky. "One of them said 'God does not like elections'." Violence also marred the lead-up to the vote, despite the presence of 15,000 UN peacekeepers and 4,500 French troops and a heralded five-nation anti-terror G5 Sahel force. A state of emergency will enter its fourth year in November. More than 300 civilians have died in ethnic clashes this year, according to UN figures and an AFP toll. Many deaths have occurred in the Mopti region involving the Fulani nomadic herder community and Bambara and Dogon farmers. Jihadist violence, meanwhile, has spread from northern Mali to the centre and south of the country and spilled over into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, often inflaming communal conflicts. The main Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist alliance made its presence felt on the final day of campaigning Friday, dubbing the election a "mirage" that would do nothing for the Malian people. In Mali's north, where the state is barely present, armed groups who signed the peace accord helped to ensure security. - Main challenger Cisse - Voter participation was low throughout the day, according to electoral observers and AFP journalists. Official participation figures are yet to be published. Turnout has never exceeded 50 percent in a presidential election first round since the advent of democracy in 1992. Observer teams are in place from the European Union, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the International Organisation of La Francophonie. "The European observer mission calls for the Malian authorities to publish the list of polling stations where voting did not take place," Cecile Kyenge, the mission's head, told reporters late Sunday. In Mbera, the world's biggest Malian refugee camp in southeastern Mauritania, more than 7,000 voters were registered at 28 polling stations, Ahmedou Ag Boukhary, a camp official, told AFP. Keita's challengers are led by Soumaila Cisse, 68, a former finance and economy minister, who lost by a wide margin in the second round of the 2013 election. Cisse urged all sectors of society to prioritise better health care and education as motors of development, while rejecting all-pervasive corruption. Cisse's team have warned of possible election fraud, claiming that there are two electoral lists and hundreds of fake polling stations. If no candidate gains more than 50 percent of the vote in Sunday's first round, a second round will take place on August 12. Despite the deployment of 30,000 security personnel throughout the country, several incidents were reported in the north and centre The incumbent Keita leads a crowded field of 24 candidates, including just one woman On the campaign trail, Keita highlighted the achievements of a 2015 peace agreement Violence Violence marred the lead-up to the vote. A suicide bomber attacked the G5 Sahel headquarters in central Sevare late last month On the stump: Opposition candidate Soumaila Cisse at a pre-election rally in Koulikoro More than eight million Malians will go to the polls on Sunday in a key electoral test for the fragile Sahel state, battling a wave of ethnic violence and jihadism. President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, 71, leads a crowded field of 24 candidates -- just one of them a woman -- bidding for the five-year presidency. His record on security has been a dominant theme, with opponents, including several former ministers, accusing him of incompetence. "He was elected with 77.6 percent of the vote, but he's been unable to resolve the country's main problems -- the restoration of peace and the issue of insecurity," said Abdoulaye Cisse, a supporter of candidate Modibo Sidibe, a former prime minister. On the campaign trail, Keita -- commonly known by his initials of IBK -- has highlighted the achievement of a 2015 peace agreement between the government, government-allied groups and former Tuareg rebels to fight jihadism in the country's north. Winding up his campaign Friday, having earlier accused jihadists of injecting "poison" by stirring up ethnic tensions, Keita told some 2,000 chanting supporters at his final rally that "my only crime is the love you bear me". One supporter attending, Cheickna Traore, a young entrepreneur, insisted as Keita spoke of the "unbreakable bond" between him and his camp that there was no real alternative. "Nobody can sort Mali out in five years. Nobody. If IBK goes then the next president will have to start again from square one. We don't want that, we want continuity." But violence continues to flare, even with the presence of 15,000 UN peacekeepers and 4,500 French troops and a heralded five-nation anti-terror force, the G5 Sahel. A state of emergency is set to enter its fourth year in November. More than 300 civilians have died in ethnic clashes this year, according to UN figures and an AFP toll. Many deaths have occurred in the central region of Mopti, involving the Fulani nomadic herder community and Bambara and Dogon farmers. Four days before polling day, armed men -- described as Dogon hunters -- killed 17 Fulani civilians in the village of Somena, Fulani representatives said Friday. Jihadist violence, meanwhile, has spread from northern Mali to the centre and south and spilled over into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, often inflaming communal conflicts. - Security and observers - Amid concerns that the vote could not be held in some restive areas, more than 30,000 personnel have been drafted to ensure security. The European Union, the African Union (AU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) are fielding election observers. Keita's challengers are headed by Soumaila Cisse, 68, a former finance and economy minister, who lost by a large margin in the second round of the 2013 election. His team have warned of possible fraud, claiming that there are two electoral lists and hundreds of fake polling stations. For Cisse, Mali "is dying". In the centre of the country, "there is no administration, more than 500 schools have closed, no more health centres, investment in water", he told AFP in an interview Friday. Cisse blamed recent bouts of inter-communal violence on "poverty, first of all, which has risen these past few years. That creates tension, difficulties, competition for resources". He also slammed "a real lack of state authority", meaning "some citizens end up meting out their own justice and that is very dangerous". Cisse urged all sectors of society to engage in dialogue and to prioritise better healthcare and education as motors of development, while rejecting all-pervasive corruption. He termed the continuing problem of jihadist violence as a global, rather than African problem and urged the next government to apply the 2015 peace accord. The government needed, he said, to show it had "the sincere desire" to do so. Jihadist leader Iyad Ag Ghaly, a Tuareg and leader of Mali's main Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist alliance, insisted in a message Friday that whatever the outcome the people would reap "nothing but illusions". Voting, starting at 0800 GMT, is scheduled to close at 1800 GMT. Turnout is typically below 50 percent in Mali during the first round of voting. The first results are expected within 48 hours, with official results following on Friday at the latest. If any candidate fails to secure more than half of the ballots, a second round will take place on August 12. Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita is bidding for a second five-year term A Malian soldier gestures next to a campaign billboard as Keita supporters attended a final campaign rally in Bamako at which the incumbent spoke of an "unbreakable bond" between him and his followers On the stump: Opposition candidate Soumaila Cisse at a pre-election rally in Koulikoro Map of Mali showing its main ethnic groups, locations where refugees and internally displaced people are, and sites of major inter-ethnic attacks along with zones where jihadist groups operate Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi left prison Sunday and was greeted by crowds of supporters after serving eight months for slapping Israeli soldiers, an episode that made her a symbol of resistance for Palestinians. Tamimi, 17, and her mother Nariman, who was also jailed over the incident, arrived in their village of Nabi Saleh in the occupied West Bank, where they were mobbed by journalists. Easily recognisable by her shock of reddish hair, Tamimi wore a Palestinian-style keffiyeh around her neck, at times appearing relaxed but at other moments overwhelmed as television cameras followed her. "The resistance continues until the fall of the occupation, and of course the (female) prisoners in jail are all strong," Ahed Tamimi said, her voice barely audible above the crowd. "I thank everyone who supported me in this sentence and supports all the prisoners." Her father Bassem put his arms around Ahed and her mother as they walked together along a road, while a crowd of around 100 chanted "we want to live in freedom". At a press conference later at a square in the village, Tamimi sat at a table behind a forest of microphones, a translator providing an English version of her remarks. She declined to take questions from journalists from the Israeli media because of what she said was unfair coverage of her and her family's cause. She said she planned to study law to hold Israel's occupation accountable. "Of course I am very happy that I came back to my family, but that happiness is partial because of the prisoners who are still in prison," she said. Tamimi also visited the tomb of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Ramallah and laid flowers there, before meeting Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. - 'Jailing of a child' - Israeli authorities appeared keen to avoid media coverage of the release as much as possible, and conflicting information had meant supporters and journalists scrambled to arrive on time at the correct location. Tamimi and her mother had been driven early on Sunday from Israel's Sharon prison into the West Bank, authorities said. But the location of the checkpoint where they were to cross into the territory was changed three times before it was finally announced they were being taken to a crossing at Rantis, about an hour's drive from the initial location. In a sign of the sensitivity of the case, Israeli authorities on Saturday arrested two Italians and a Palestinian for painting Tamimi's image on the Israeli separation wall cutting off the West Bank. The trio were released by Sunday evening, Italian and Israeli officials said. Both Tamimi and her mother were sentenced to eight months by an Israeli military court following a plea deal over the December incident, which the family said took place in their garden in Nabi Saleh. They were released some three weeks early, a common practice by Israeli authorities due to overcrowded prisons, Tamimi's lawyer Gaby Lasky said. Video filmed by Tamimi's mother of the December incident went viral, leading Palestinians to view the teenager as a hero standing up to Israel's occupation. But for Israelis, Tamimi is being used by her activist family as a pawn in staged provocations. They point to a series of previous incidents, with older pictures of her confronting soldiers shared widely online. Many Israelis also praised the restraint of the soldiers, who remained calm throughout, though others said her actions merited a tougher response. Rights activists condemned Tamimi's jailing. Omar Shakir of Human Rights Watch tweeted on Sunday that "Israel's jailing of a child for 8 months -- for calling for protests and slapping a soldier -- reflects endemic discrimination, absence of due process and ill-treatment of kids." "Ahed Tamimi is free, but 100s of Palestinian children remain locked up with little attention on their cases," he said. - Embassy protests - Tamimi was arrested in the early hours of December 19, four days after the incident in the video. She was 16 at the time. Her mother Nariman was also arrested, as was her cousin Nour, who was freed in March. Israel's military said the two soldiers had been in the area on the day of the incident to prevent Palestinians from throwing stones at Israeli motorists. The video shows the cousins approaching them and telling them to leave, before shoving, kicking and slapping them. Ahed Tamimi is the most aggressive of the two in the video. The heavily armed soldiers do not respond in the face of what appears to be an attempt to provoke rather than seriously harm them. They then move backwards after Nariman Tamimi becomes involved. The scuffle took place amid clashes and protests against US President Donald Trump's controversial recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Relatives say that a member of the Tamimi family was wounded in the head by a rubber bullet fired during those protests. sh-he-jod-mjs/dwo/del Palestinian activist and campaigner Ahed Tamimi (C) in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh on July 29, 2018, after her release from prison Palestinian activist and campaigner Ahed Tamimi (C) speaks, as she sits between her father (C-L) and mother (C-R), during a press conference in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh on July 29, 2018 Ahed Tamimi kisses the tombstone of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, on July 29, 2018 Palestinian activist and campaigner Ahed Tamimi (C) is welcomed in her West Bank village of Nabi Saleh on July 29, 2018 after being released from prison following an eight-month sentence for slapping two Israeli soldiers WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT A polar bear has been shot dead after it attacked a cruise ship employee guiding tourists off a vessel in Norway. Norwegian authorities said the animal advanced on the group as they disembarked the cruise ship on an Arctic archipelago between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The polar bear was shot dead by another employee as it attacked their colleague. The Joint Rescue Coordination for Northern Norway tweeted on Saturday the incident occurred when the tourists landed on the most northern island of Svalbard. The polar bears body lies on the island after being shot dead by another employee as it attacked their colleague.Source: Reuters It said the man was taken by helicopter to the town of Longyearbyen on Spitsbergen island and that he was in a stable condition after suffering head injuries. The attacked man was a crew member of the MS Bremen, operated by Germanys Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. The man was a crew member onboard MS Bremen operated by Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. Source: Hapag-Lloyd He was flown out, was responsive, and is currently undergoing medical treatment, spokeswoman Negar Etminan said of their employee, adding that the victim was not in a life-threatening condition. Etminan said the man was a polar bear guard traveling aboard the MS Bremen because all cruise ships traveling in the northern region are obliged to have polar bear guards on board. Arctic tourism to the region has risen sharply in the last few years and is now in high season. A Longyearbyen port schedule showed 18 cruise ships will dock at the port in the next week. With AP. A polar bear was shot dead after attacking a German cruise ship worker on Norway's Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, the authorities said Sunday. The unnamed man in his 40's suffered head injuries shortly after landing on Spitzbergen island. He was accompanying a tourist expedition from the MS Bremen of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises on Saturday. "The bear was killed by another employee on the boat," police commissioner Ole Jakob Malmo told AFP. Hapag-Lloyd Cruises said it was "self-defence". "We greatly regret this incident," said company spokesman Moritz Krause. The injured employee was flown by helicopter to the local capital Longyearbyen and then on to Tromso on the mainland in the evening, Malmo said. Tromso hospital told AFP the man's life was not in danger and he was in a stable condition. Hapag-Lloyd Cruises said it had permission from "local authorities" to dock. "Landings are only possible in a few places (in the archipelago)," said Krause, in remarks confirmed by Malmo. Usually "as soon as an animal approaches, the landing stops immediately," Krause added. The company said excursions of this nature required staff to check areas before landing and to protect those onboard against polar bear attacks. Polar bears have been protected in Norway since 1973 and nearly 1,000 were counted on Svalbard during a 2015 census. The archipelago, roughly twice the size of Belgium, lies about 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) from the North Pole. Five fatal polar bear attacks have been recorded on Svalbard in the last 40 years. The most recent was in 2011 when a bear attacked a group of 14 people on a trip organised by a British schools association. A 17-year-old Briton died and four other members of the expedition were hurt before the bear was killed. A polar bear lies dead after being gunned down following an attack on a cruise ship employee on Norway's Spitzbergen island Russia on Friday urged world powers to help Syria's economic recovery and the return of refugees as its Damascus ally pressed on with a campaign to re-take territory in the seven-year war. Russian Deputy Ambassador Dmitry Polyansky appealed for an end to unilateral sanctions against Syria and said countries should not link aid to political demands for changes to President Bashar al Assad's regime. Moscow's 2015 military intervention in support of Assad was widely seen as a turning point in the war, which has killed more than 350,000 people and displaced millions. Addressing the UN Security Council, Polyansky said the "revival of the Syrian economy" was a "critical challenge", with Syria facing an acute shortage of construction material, heavy equipment and fuel to rebuild areas destroyed by war. "It would be wise for all international partners to join assistance in Syrian recovery efforts, to eschew artificial linkages to political momentum," Polyansky told the council meeting on Syria. France, however, made clear there will be no reconstruction aid for Syria unless Assad agrees to a political transition that would include a new constitution and elections. - No EU aid - Eight rounds of UN-sponsored peace talks on Syria have failed to yield a breakthrough while a new Russian-backed committee to rewrite the Syrian constitution has yet to begin work. Since the last round of peace talks broke down in December, Assad's forces have retaken Eastern Ghouta, near the capital Damascus, and brought most of Daraa province in the south under their control. French Ambassador Francois Delattre told the council that Assad was scoring "victories without peace" and that political talks were needed on a final settlement. "We will not take part in the rebuilding of Syria unless a political transition is effectively carried out with constitutional and electoral processes" conducted "in a sincere and meaningful way," said Delattre. A political transition is a "sine qua non" condition for stability, he said, adding that without stability, "no reason can justify France and the European Union's financing of reconstruction efforts." Russia this month presented the United States with proposals for the return of refugees from Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt that would involve international financial support. New legislation, known as law number 10, would allow the Syrian government to confiscate the property of refugees and displaced Syrians unless they register ownership with the authorities in 30 days. Polyansky shot back at criticism of the new law, saying the measure was the target of an "information campaign" and that Syrian authorities were ready to hold talks with UN experts on the issue. Refugee return will be discussed at a meeting next week in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi between Russia, Iran and Turkey. Syrian Arab Red Crescent trucks carrying humanitarian aid enter the opposition-held southern Syrian city of Daraa, ahead of Russia's appeal at the UN for world powers to help Syria's economic recovery Swimming Australia has denied claims theyd told Emily Seebohm to stay home from the Australian Swim teams two-week training camp in Cairns so as not to disturb her ex-boyfriend Mitch Larkin. Two weeks ago, the 26-year-old announced she and fellow elite swimmer Mitch had broken up, saying only it was due to current events that have occurred the pair had decided to go our separate ways. An unnamed swim official told the Daily Telegraph that Emily was asked to stay away because they didnt want to upset Mitchs prep ahead of the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Japan next month. Seebohm has left the camp and will prepare for next months Pan Pacific championships in Brisbane before rejoining the team in Tokyo. Watch the full story above. On the slow overnight train from Johannesburg to the Zimbabwe border, the talk is all about whether the country's election on Monday could spring a surprise and topple the ZANU-PF government. Regular travellers carrying maize, blankets and washing powder sat beside voters heading home for Zimbabwe's first election since autocratic long-time leader Robert Mugabe was ousted eight months ago. The six-carriage train drew out of Johannesburg's central Park station in the early evening on Friday for a 15-hour, 600-kilometre (370-mile) journey through a cold winter night. "The people of Zimbabwe need a new life so they can forget about the hard times we had under that old man Mugabe," said passenger Emile Manyikunike, 36, wearing a black leather jacket and green Bob Marley t-shirt. "People were being beaten up by police for disagreeing with the government, and we could not even trust our neighbours because every other person was a spy for ZANU-PF," he told AFP. Manyikunike said he supports Nelson Chamisa, the young leader of the opposition MDC party who hopes to defeat Mugabe's former ally and successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa of the ZANU-PF party. Under Mugabe, Zimbabwe's economy collapsed and millions fled abroad -- often to neighbouring South Africa -- to seek work and escape the repressive regime. "Chamisa needs to ensure that all Zimbabweans have jobs so that even the ones that escaped can come back and we can rebuild the country," Manyikunike told AFP. "This train is taking me home so that I can vote and bring change." - 'We want a new country' - Fellow passenger Gertrude Tshabalala, 58, a domestic worker in South Africa, was heading back to visit her four grandchildren, carrying cooking pots, canned food and meat to supplement scarce supplies in Zimbabwe. She doubted whether Mnangagwa and ZANU-PF, which has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980, could be beaten in a country with a history of fraud-riddled elections. "ZANU-PF always wins -- no matter what," she said. "But my two grandkids are old enough to vote this year and I just hope their votes count unlike ours in the past." For one mother-of-two on board, who declined to give her name, the election is a chance to register her anger at the Mugabe years and try to throw out his ZANU-PF party. "We are going back home because we want a new country. It was 37 years with that old man ruling -- he was greedy and wanted everything for himself," said the nurse, who has worked in Johannesburg for six years. "I am going to vote for the young Chamisa. The old guys want the old days. Their brains are old too, they can't think straight." The recently-refurbished train, which came back into service in February after being shut for three years, only had about 100 passengers and was hit by regular power cuts inside the carriages. - Pap and a beer - A small dining car sold pap -- maize porridge -- steak and chicken, along with beer and cider to passengers who paid 190 rand ($14) for a seat or 310 rand for a bed in a cabin, plus 60 rand for a pillow, sheets and thin blanket. Some women sitting on the floor sang hymns before lying down to sleep in the dark after guards had checked their tickets. The train terminates at Musina, about 10 km short of the border, with travellers heading into Zimbabwe taking mini-bus taxis to the crossing point into Beitbridge. On the South African side of the border, Zimbabwean truck driver Andrew Kumalo, 45, disagreed with most voters on the train. "The country needs experience not an experiment," he said. "A new broom sweeps better, but an old blanket comforts better. We must keep our revolutionary party." The train drew out of Johannesburg's central Park station in the early evening for a 15-hour journey through a cold winter night The recently refurbished train came back into service in February after being shut for three years ZANU-PF has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980 Chronology of Zimbabwe since independence Many Zimbabweans who fled to South Africa under Robert Mugabe's rule take the overnight train back home to vote in Monday's national elections President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey is seeking to hold a summit in Istanbul with France, Germany and Russia on September 7 to discuss regional issues including the Syrian conflict, in comments published on Sunday. "We will discuss what we can do in the region together," Erdogan said, quoted by Hurriyet daily. He gave no further details on the issues on the agenda but said Turkey would continue dialogue with Russia, "outside of this foursome", in the remarks made to Turkish journalists during his South Africa visit on July 25-27. Erdogan met with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the visit on the sidelines of the Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa summit of leading emerging economies in Johannesburg. "We will separately have a summit in Istanbul on September 7 with Russia, Germany, France and Turkey", Erdogan was quoted as saying. There was no immediate confirmation from Moscow, Paris or Berlin. The seven-year conflict in Syria is likely to be high on the four countries' agenda as Russia, Iran and Turkey continue their efforts to end the war under the Astana peace process launched last year despite being on opposing sides. While Moscow and Tehran support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, Ankara has repeatedly called for his ouster and helped Syrian rebels. In April, Erdogan held a summit with Putin and Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani in Ankara. The three leaders are due to meet again in the near future in Tehran, Erdogan said without giving an exact date, while technical talks as part of the Astana process will take place on Monday and Tuesday in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in Russia. Erdogan (L) met with Putin on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg President Recep Tayyip Erdoganwarned the US in comments published Sunday that sanctions would not force Ankara to "step back" after Donald Trump threatened to punish Turkey if a US pastor was not freed. "You cannot make Turkey take a step back with sanctions," Erdogan said in his first comments since relations soured after Trump threatened the measures on Thursday if Pastor Andrew Brunson was not released. "The US should not forget that it could lose a strong and sincere partner like Turkey if it does not change its attitude," he was quoted as saying by Hurriyet daily. "The change of attitude is Trump's problem, not mine," he told journalists during a visit to South Africa, calling the US threats "psychological warfare". Relations between the NATO allies have worsened over the jailing of Brunson, who ran a Protestant church in the Aegean city of Izmir. He was held in a Turkish jail for almost two years on terror charges but was placed under house arrest on Wednesday. Trump on Thursday hit back at the move, calling for his immediate release and warning that the US would impose "large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment" of Brunson. Ties had already been strained over multiple issues including Washington's support of a Syrian Kurdish militia which Turkey views as a terrorist group and the failure to extradite the Pennsylvania-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen. Erdogan in September suggested Turkey could free Brunson if the US handed over Gulen -- an offer brushed off by Washington. - No 'bargaining chip' - Ankara accuses Gulen of ordering the 2016 failed overthrow of Erdogan, a claim he strongly denies. The Washington Post on Friday reported a deal between Ankara and Washington was made to secure the release of a Turkish woman imprisoned in Israel in exchange for the freedom of Brunson. Ebru Ozkan, 27, had been held for over a month by Israel on charges of passing hundreds of dollars to a "terrorist" group, but she returned to Turkey on July 16. The newspaper said the agreement was "personally sealed" by Trump but fell apart when Brunson was transferred to house arrest. Erdogan addressed the claims, stressing that Turkey had "never made Pastor Brunson a bargaining chip." However, he said Ankara had asked for Washington's help in securing Ozkan's return home. "But we didn't say: 'In return for this, we will give you Brunson'. Nothing like this was discussed," Erdogan insisted. Brunson risks up to 35 years in jail if found guilty of charges of carrying out activities on behalf of two groups deemed by Turkey to be terror organisations -- the Gulen movement and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Brunson rejects the accusations while US officials have repeatedly insisted the pastor is innocent. - International arbitration - Temperatures were further raised when the US threatened in June to block the delivery of F-35 stealth jets to Turkey if Ankara buys Russia's S-400 air defence system. But Erdogan suggested Turkey would not sit idly by if this happened. "We told (the US): 'If you don't give them, there is something called international arbitration. We will seek international arbitration'," he said. Another source of tension is the prison sentence of 32 months for deputy director general of Turkish lender Halkbank Mehmet Hakan Atilla convicted of plotting to help Iran evade US sanctions on billions of dollars of Iranian oil proceeds. Turkish officials insist Atilla is innocent but Halkbank still faces a penalty from the US Treasury. Brunson ran a Protestant church in the Aegean city of Izmir One of Diem Fuggersberger most vivid childhood memories is hiding under a table in terror while pirates stormed the refugee boat she was on while fleeing a war-torn country. The successful Sydney entrepreneur was just seven when she left Vietnam with 14 members of her family in 1979. They were travelling on a 25-metre long boat, called 0010, with 500 other refugees on the long and perilous journey to Australia. They family paid a total of 45 gold nuggets to the ships captain for the three-day voyage. Ms Fuggersberger, like many Vietnamese refugees, fled her home following the end of the Vietnam War. She had relatives already settled in Australia and her family hoped to join them. Diem Fuggersberger, 39, has revealed how her family survived a pirate attack and a wild storm as refugees on their way to Australia. Source: Diem Fuggersberger But not long into the harrowing trip the boat was boarded by gun-toting pirates who threatened to throw people overboard. Their boat was side by side with ours, and they took two of my cousins, both girls aged 17 and 19, with the intention to rape them, Ms Fuggersberger said. Ms Fuggersberger said her mother had prepared her and her two sisters in the event they ran into pirates by giving them short haircuts so they would look like boys so the pirates wouldnt recognise them as female and try to rape them. I was scared but calm and tried to remain quiet, she said. I hid under a table just listening to what the pirates were saying. Back then, lots of older men had gold teeth. One of the men on board had them and the pirates said they were going to pull his teeth out. Refugees board a barge in Da Nang, Vietnam. Ms Fuggerbergers family boarded a similar vessel in 1979. Source: Getty Images Luckily, the pirates had to flee the boat to escape an approaching storm. The armed men ended up taking off with about 1500 gold nuggets from the ships captain, and what little possessions the refugees had left. Thankfully, Ms Fuggerbergers two teenage cousins were released. The refugees on board then prayed for their survival for two hours as the 0010 nearly capsized in the fierce storm. Their prayers were answered as a ship, named the Bologna, came to their rescue and transported all the refugees to Galung Island, Indonesia for offshore processing where they would be tested for malaria and other diseases. Story continues The family were forced to share a home with five other families separated by just curtains. Red Cross gave them cans of Spam, dried fruit and sardines three foods she wont touch today. Ms Fuggerbergers mum sitting on a mattress donated by St Vincents in their Punchbowl home in NSW. Source: Diem Fuggersberger Such was the desperation for families to get into Australia, the Vietnamese woman witnessed one man take his own life. He had epilepsy and was concerned his family wouldnt be allowed into the country. It wasnt until 1980 Ms Fuggersberger and her family left the camp and arrived at Broadmeadows south of Sydney. Adjusting to a new life in Australia The family stayed for one month in the camp before settling in a house in Punchbowl, and Ms Fuggersberger said it was hard to adapt. There was new culture and new food, she said. And learning a new language. By this time Ms Fuggersberger was aged eight, but had only had one year of schooling. It took her six months to learn bits and pieces of English, she said, while also suffering bullying and racism. As a teen, she worked seven days a week earning $15 at her mums restaurant, Bac Lieu, in Marrickville. The family on Galung Island, Indonesia in 1979. Source: Diem Fuggersberger. It taught me how to work hard, and in a way how to be a perfectionist, she said. I had to waitress, clean toilets and manage money. I also had to make food. Mum would give me three days to make 1800 spring rolls. They had to be the exact same size and tightness. Business woes and a new start In 2009, now a mother-of-two and working two days a week at her husbands business, Quality Foods, she experienced more hardship. The Global Financial Crisis, coupled with what Ms Fuggersberger put down to poor business management and issues with invoices unpaid by clients, left the family $900,000 in debt. With her knowledge and passion for food gained from working for her mother, Ms Fuggersberger started her own business: Berger Ingredients making seasoning and food flavourings for meat, smallgoods and ready-made childrens meals. The couple earned $22,500 each a year and paid off their debts. She later expanded and started Coco and Lucas Kitchen, which now features in more than 900 Woolworths stores country-wide. A migrants gratitude Ms Fuggersberger says its important for her to give something back to the homeland which took her family in at their most desperate hour. My business is Australian owned and manufactured, uses local Australian ingredients and employs only Australian residents, she said. I dont import any ingredients and only export my products. I feel like I owe the country a debt of gratitude. These hardships have made me the person that I am today passionate about my work and giving back to Australia in any way I can. Ms Fuggersberger went on to co-found two food supply businesses, which source Australian ingredients. Source: Supplied/ TransferWise And shes not alone in that goal, a report from international money transfer service TransferWise revealed migrants are forecast to contribute $1.6 trillion to Australias GDP by 2050, adding 5.9 per cent in GDP per capita. Findings by The Treasury and Department of Home Affairs revealed recent migrants accounted for two-thirds (64.5 per cent) of the approximately 850,000 net jobs created over the past five years. For full-time employment, the impact is even more pronounced, with recent migrants accounting for 72.4 per cent of new jobs created. Ms Fuggersberger said her experiences have taught her a lot. She regrets nothing, but its also important for people to remember that refugees dont leave their country because they want to. No one ever wants to leave their home, she said. Theres sometimes no choice but to find a better living. We've detected that JavaScript is not enabled in your browser. You must enable JavaScript to use craigslist. Contact: White House White House Press Office The American economy continues its strong growth under President Donald J. Trump, with GDP growth reaching 4.1% in the second quarter. With GDP growth reaching 4.1% in Q2 of 2018, it's clear that President Trump is delivering on his promise to revitalize the American economy. GDP growth is one of the most important economic indicators and shows that America is continuing to grow more and more prosperous under President Trump. Average annual growth has been a strong 2.8% over the past four quarters. During President Obama's 8 years in office, GDP growth averaged just 1.9%. If our current pace continues, we are on track to see the economy grow over the course of a calendar year by more than 3% for the first time in 13 years.Under President Trump, the economy is achieving the kind of growth critics derided as unrealistic. The Administration has long maintained that implementing the President's pro-growth economic agenda would lead to at least 3% growth, a prediction met and exceeded in Q2. GDP is now on track for 3.1% growth in 2018, a level of growth that was previously dismissed by the media and economic "experts" as unrealistic. Larry Summers, said 3% annual growth was "fair enough if you believe in tooth-fairies." The Los Angeles Times' Michael Hiltzik called 3% annual growth a "pipe dream." Recent growth stands in stark contrast to the absurd claim by Paul Krugman in 2016 that President Trump's Presidency would lead to a "global recession."The latest GDP figures show President Trump's pro-growth economic agenda is delivering exactly what it promised. President Trump's historic tax cuts and deregulation have been key in making higher economic growth possible. Money held overseas is flooding back to the United States following President Trump's tax cuts and reforms, with companies repatriating a record $306 billion in Q1 of 2018. A stronger economy means more job creation, with more than 3.2 million nonfarm payroll jobs created since President Trump took office. Under President Trump, the number of job openings has surpassed the number of job seekers for the first time on record. Around two-thirds of Americans believe now is a good time to find a quality job, according to Gallup. At a Saturday bookstore signing, a black man "yelled at former White House press secretary Sean Spicer in a bookstore and accused Spicer of calling him a racial slur when they were students at a prep school decades ago," reports the AP. Spicer is now threatening to sue the AP for reporting Saturday's incident, which occurred in public and which was videotaped by local press. Video of the encounter published by NewportRI.com shows the man, identified as Alex Lombard, approaching Spicer at event. "Sean, I was a day student at [Portsmouth] Abbey, too, with you," Lombard said. "Hey," Spicer replies. "Yes, how are you?" You don't remember that you tried to fight me?" Lombard said. "But you called me a [n-word] first." The video then shows security escorting Lombard out of the event. "I was 14 then. I was a scared kid then, Sean. I'm not scared to fight you now," Lombard can be heard yelling. Spoiler alert: to steal from prisoners and their families. Jpay has signed a contract with the New York Department of corrections to supply tablets to 52,000 inmates, for free. Jpay is pursuing a platform strategy: give something away that locks in users, then charge over the odds for services built on the platform. Except in this case, the users are literally locked in, behind bars. How will Jpay make money on the carceral platform strategy? By charging $0.35 for "electronic postage stamps" to use the prisoners' messaging service, a fake, hobbled version of email that lets prisoners contact their loved ones. By gouging on financial fees jacking the cost of sending money to an incarcerated loved one from $0.10 to $3.15-$4.15. Prisoners who have a positive balance in their accounts when they get released don't get cash refunds they get predatory debit cards that charge outrageous fees (including a fee just to check the balance!). Also: gouging for ebooks, videos, and music. Jpay is a division of Securus, last seen around these parts as the notorious prison telephone monopolist that was gouging prisoners' families for phone calls. Needless to say: you are way more likely to be imprisoned if you are poor, and you are way more likely to be poor if you aren't white. Prisoners who are cut off from their families have a harder time reintegrating on release and are more likely to end up back behind bars. Access to media, family and the outside world are all fundamental to even the pretense of rehabilitation. There is a standard path that abusive technology takes through our society: first it is applied to prisoners and/or asylum seekers; then to people in mental institutions, then to people on benefits, then to students, then to blue-collar workers, then to white collar workers. The platform strategy which has emerged from a tiny racket for extracting rent from games companies and gamers by locking early consoles into proprietary media has emerged as the dominant form of rent-seeking in the 21st century. It's the strategy behind the printer ink racket, Audible's DRM for audiobooks, behind Apple's DRM for Iphone apps, for GM's lock-in for diagnostic info, and, more broadly, for any system that uses technological countermeasures and trade secrets, anti-hacking laws, and copyright laws to lock users into consumables, parts, service, or apps. Remember, if dishwashers were Iphones, you'd have to buy your dishes from the manufacturer's "approved partners," and anyone who modified their dishwashers to wash unauthorized dishes would be accused of tempting food-borne illnesses and a lack of respect for the "thoughtful design and engineering" that allowed a giant multinational to "revolutionize kitchen sanitation." These provisions explain how JPay expects to make almost $9 million in five years from a contract that is free to the state: by selling profitable, fee-laden services against "complementary" products like tablets. New York state legislators never bothered to solve this mystery, but it's ironic how close some of them got. Take Republican Assemblyman Steve Hawley, who demanded: "If it's this easy to encourage vendors to provide free tablets to inmates, why aren't they being provided to our students?" The answer, as columnist Erica Bryant points out, is that students would never purchase a fake "stamp" to send an email to their parents. Companies like JPay are offering "free" tablet programs to a growing number of states, and legislators should approach these offers with caution. You don't need an advanced degree to find the hidden costs in New York's "no-cost" contract. The trick is looking not only at taxpayer costs, but also at the exploitation of incarcerated people and their families. How to spot the hidden costs in a "no-cost" tablet contract [Wanda Bertram and Peter Wagner/Prison Policy] (via Naked Capitalism) Despite being home to millions of sensible people, including a large bloc of potentially progressive Latinx voters, Arizona keeps elevating billionaire-friendly (and billionaire backed) white supremacist authoritarians to high office. David Garcia is standing in the Democratic primaries for Arizona's upcoming gubernatorial race, refusing corporate money, and betting that he can overcome the plutocratic de facto rulers of the state and their well-funded water-carriers in the state government by campaigning for progressive policies, rather than against the state's (admittedly deplorable) Republicans. Garcia's platform is centered on better funding for public education (Arizona was a key state in this year's nationwide teachers' uprising and the 2018 ballot will feature a binding referendum on overruling state legislators to adequately fund state schools), but also includes the standard Warren/Ocasio-Cortez/Sanders slate of policies like Medicare for All, ending dark money in political fundraising, abolishing ICE, and more. Garcia served in the state senate's education committee, and worked for the Arizona Department of Education. I donated $25 to his campaign. It seems every election cycle anticipates an awakening of the so-called sleeping giant the massive chunk of eligible Latino voters who stay home on Election Day to end Republican reign. Garcia believes the Democratic party's Latino base has not yet been incited in part because the community has been asked to "play defense over and over and over again." Almost every call to bring out the Latino vote has been negative, he said, because Latinos have been asked to "vote against [former Sheriff Joe] Arpaio; vote against Russell Pearce; vote against those who implemented 1070; vote against those who got rid of Mexican-American studies in Tucson," which is a hard approach for voters to get behind. Pearce is a former state senator who was the primary sponsor of SB 1070, a controversial measure targeting undocumented immigrants. "I believe that you're going to see a change this time around," he added. "And I don't just believe it; we continue to see it in poll after poll and door-knock after door-knock. For the first time in a long time, we're going to give the Latino community something to vote for." His strategy, he said, is different from a typical Democratic approach of going "to the suburban parts of the state and say 'hey, I'm not so bad, you can vote for me for a change, the Republicans are knuckleheads'; and then sometime in August, hire a Latino vote outreach person to see if they can get a handful of Latinos to show up." Latinos voted in unprecedented numbers in 2016, Garcia noted, but there are hundreds of thousands of Latino voters who have yet to be tapped. In 2016, for example, Hillary Clinton lost the state by just 91,000 votes, while 600,000 eligible Latino voters did not vote. "Did You Hear Me Beat Up on Republicans Today?" A Progressive Democrat Running for Arizona Governor Promises to Revolutionize Education [Aida Chavez/The Intercept] News / National by Staff Reporter The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has said Fidelity Printers and Refiners was contracted to print ballot papers for tomorrow's Presidential and National Assembly elections, while Printflow was given the mandate to print ballot papers for local authority polls.The announcement was in line with Section 52A of the Electoral Act.A total 6 150 950 Presidential, 6 150 950 National Assembly and 5 036 250 local authority ballot papers were printed.There is an eight percent contingency in line with international best practices.The Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe gave Zec authority to contract the two companies through direct tender in order to guarantee the quality of the ballot paper and minimise security risks."Fidelity Printers and Refiners (Pvt) Ltd located at No 1 George Drive, Msasa, Harare was given the mandate to print ballot papers to be used for the Presidential and National Assembly elections."Printflow (Pvt) Ltd located at Corner George Silundika Avenue/Epton Street, Harare, was given the mandate to print ballot papers to be used for the local authority elections," said Zec."The Commission has printed a total of 455 244 ballot papers more than the total number of registered voters for the Presidential and National Assembly elections, respectively, and 446 206 more ballot papers for the local authority elections. This represents a total contingency of eight percent," the elections management body said.Zec said there were comparatively less local authority ballots because of the number of unopposed candidates in that aspect of the harmonised elections.In 46 wards, candidates are unopposed and thus there will be no local authority elections there, while a candidate in Chimanimani's ward 31 passed away and thus a poll for that seat will now be held at a later date.'Don't be discouraged'Separately, ZEC said voters should not be discouraged by false information circulating on social media that the election would be rigged, as there were inherent foolproof measures in place.Zec chief elections officer Mr Utoile Silaigwana said, "If voters are in doubt of the provided pens, they are free to bring their own blue or black pens. The Commission will be providing ordinary pens for use in the polling booth."Zec said it had transported ballot papers and security materials in the presence of representatives of contesting parties.Further, political party agents and observers will be allowed to verify serial numbers of ballot papers.The Presidential ballot paper is blue, the National Assembly one is peach, while that for local authorities is yellow. Ballot boxes have corresponding colours.A final batch of electoral officers finished training last Wednesday and were deployed to over 10 000 polling stations countrywide.In all, there are 131 000 polling officers.Voting material has been distributed to polling stations, and voting shall take place from 7am to 7pm tomorrow.Voters in a queue by the cut-off time will be allowed to cast their ballots."The voting process has not changed from previous years. People will still vote in the same manner they have voted before in the forthcoming elections. The only difference is that the voters' roll will have voters' photographs and voters will be expected to vote at only their designated polling stations," said Mr Silaigwana.Counting will be done immediately after close of polling at polling stations.The voting process and counting will happen in the presence of election agents, observers and/or the media. The results will be shared with election agents and posted outside polling stations.According to the Electoral Act, Zec has the mandate to announce election results.Mr Silaigwana encouraged citizens to observe peace during and after voting, with political parties advised to cease campaigning 24 hours before Election Day.Zec expressed confidence that the elections would proceed without hitches. News / National by Stephen Jakes Zimbabwe Communist Party secretary general Ngqabutho Mabhena has said former President Robert Mugabe must not feature in Zimbabwe's politics either through MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa or any way."The Mugabe's must not come back not even through Chamisa. For Chamisa to tell us that Mugabe represents the old ZANU that is responsible for our suffering and accepts his support is a betrayal of all those who marched against Mugabe in November 2017."As oberseved by the Imbizo Foram, the implication of his statement is that, ED leads a new ZANU(PF) which is not responsible for Gukurahundi, and other ills. This is sad," he said. News / National by Stephen Jakes Political analyst Alex Magaisa has promised to dig in on the ban of mobile phones at polling stations on Monday.Zimbabwe Electoral Commission banned the use of mobile phones inside the polling stations on Monday."People who have received messages from ZEC informing them that the use of cellphones inside the polling station is prohibited have been asking about the legality of this step. I will address it both from legal and political angles. Legally, as I have stated before, ZEC has wide powers under the Constitution, which it can use reasonably for purposes of fulfilling its functions. One of its critical functions is to run the election in a way that protects the severely of the vote and voter's right to exercise free will," said Magaisa."I'm not sure why someone would want to use a cellphone inside a polling station but if it is to capture images of what they do, such images of the ballot paper, this could actually be counter-productive. It can easily be abused by bullies who would demand that voters provide pictorial evidence of how they would have voted.This is a real danger. We already know that some voters, especially in rural areas are subjected to strategies designed to control how they vote."He said the risk of that happening would be minimised if cellphones are not allowed to be used inside the polling station."It shuts a gap that can be abused by those who wish to control the choices that other people make. Nevertheless, this prohibition only applies inside the polling station and does not extend outside, such as the grounds where the polling station is located. For example, a person should be able to use their cellphone while in the queue before they enter the actual polling station. More importantly, the Electoral Law allows members of the public to capture and record the contents of the polling station return once it is posted on the outside of the polling station. If one wants to use their cellphone to record the results, it is perfectly legal to do so. The ban only applies INSIDE the polling station not OUTSIDE on the walls of the polling station," Magaisa said."Finally, ZEC must use its administrative discretion in a reasonable manner so that there is flexibility in the case of polling agents who have to be in regular communication with their candidates and other authorities." News / National by Stephen Jakes Political commentator Dr Pedzisai Ruhanya has said the ruling Zanu PF is printing posters in which they purport are from MDC Alliance announcing their boycott of the polls on Monday."ZANU PF printing millions of fliers with forged Chamisa signature in Harare purporting to boycott elections. Watch out and disregard them. Massive propaganda and disinformation on way!" Ruhanya said. News / National by Fanuel Chinowaita MDC Alliance Youth Assembly National Chairperson Happymore Chidziva aka leader Cde Bvondo vowed to defend citizens' votes while addressing a sea of people at Freedom Square in Harare yesterday."As the commander of the youths, I assure you that we will vote and protect our vote."We will use all necessary means to make sure that we will not be denied our victory."We will not allow results where Chamisa is not a winner. This election is a must win for President Nelson Chamisa and MDC Alliance", declared Bvondo.Meanwhile, the National Youth leader urges every Youth to go out in numbers and vote for President Nelson Chamisa rather than Zanu pf which is well known of abductions and denying youths their rights for jobs.He said, "let us not go and vote for people who abducted Itai Dzamara and lied that it will give us 2.2 million jobs but we should go and vote for a youthful President who will give us jobs". News / National by Staff reporter State-controlled broadcaster Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) has refused to flight MDC Alliance presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa's political advertisement ahead of the crunch election tomorrow ostensibly because it breaches hate speech laws.The ad, which the MDC Alliance pitched for a provocative first run this week, is in the form of a powerful intercession and supplication prayer for Zimbabwe by Chamisa, who is also a pastor.ZBC said the ad was offensive and refused to run it until it was appropriately amended.The Daily News on Sunday heard that the ZBC Marketing Department advised the MDC Alliance on Friday that the prayer was peppered with unacceptable hate speech.The ZBC Review Board reportedly classified the prayer as a sly attack ad, raising objections to prayer lines where Chamisa says "torwa nevanoshandisa moto" and "torwa nemakarwe."Chamisa's main rival President Emerson Mnangagwa is known as "garwe" or "the crocodile", an animal famed in Zimbabwean lore for its stealth and ruthlessness.Chamisa's legal advisor advocate Thabani Mpofu said they were reworking the advert."ZBC said some lines constituted hate speech," he told the Daily News on Sunday."We are amending it."It remains to be seen if the ad will ever be flighted on ZTV, given that the Electoral Act decrees that political parties should wrap up their campaigns by midnight last night, or 48 hours before polling day.While Moses Banda, a top ZBC marketing official who has been handling political ads declined to comment saying he was not authorised to speak to the Press, a senior official at Pockets Hill who spoke on condition of anonymity said the Review Committee agreed that the MDC Alliance ad risked turning the public broadcaster into a forum for political attack ads.Chamisa's prayer ad was due to appear on both public television and radio stations.The MDC Alliance, which is grappling with a funding shortfall, was also accused of taking its time to bring in its political advertisements."Chamisa's prayer was simply subversive and disrespectful of Zimbabwe's leadership and we were unable to air it simply because it was offensive," said the senior ZBC official.Chamisa tendered his advert after ZBC chief executive officer Patrick Mavhura made a call to political parties to submit their political advertisements, warning them that airtime whichwas not utilised would be forfeited.ZBC is enjoined to allocate four hours of available purchasable time during an election period for election advertisements, which shall be distributed equitably to political parties and candidates.The national broadcaster has been airing Current Affairs election programmes The Candidate, The Manifesto and The Discussion on both radio and television.The ZBC News and Current Affairs department has also markedly ramped up its daily coverage of various political parties' activities which are broadcast on radio and television news bulletins,However, political parties and civic society groups have accused the ZBC of favouring Zanu-PF in its coverage of rallies. News / National by Staff reporter The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) has said election results will be posted outside polling stations after counting has been completed.This comes after MDC Alliance official David Coltart claimed he had "received reliable reports that civil servants who are conducting the poll are being told by Zec that they are not to post the presidential results outside polling stations."If this is true, it will be yet another serious breach of the law by Zec," Coltart said.But Zec commissioner Qhubani Moyo said political parties will have immediate access to individual results posted at polling stations."In all polling stations, after counting has been completed and results entered into V11 forms and signed by all party agents present, the results for the presidential, parliamentary and council elections will be displayed outside each polling station," Moyo clarified."Any information suggesting anything to the contrary is propaganda and must be thrown out of the window. It's coming from elements that are bent on disturbing the smooth flow of elections and those elements will not succeed in their agenda. We are not moved by the disinformation. We stay firm on the path of the truth and the electoral laws."The presidential election results will be announced within five days.The Election Situation Room (ESR) - a coalition of NGOs - called on Zec to ensure sufficient transparency is provided on the results aggregation, tabulation and publication processes."The ESR is calling for a verifiable method of results tabulation."Furthermore, Zec needs to create an independent results transmission method. Such a move will provide much needed assurance on the visibility and trust in the Zec results process," ESR said in a statement."In order to meet its legal obligation to present the Zimbabwean electorate with a transparent Presidential return and not simply a tabulated total figure, the Zec should publicly release the spreadsheet containing the Presidential election results from each polling station underpinning the aggregated total Presidential results from the July 30th election."Zec has a dedicated official website and there are no IT-related challenges to uploading such a spreadsheet to its website at the very same time as it announces the tabulated aggregated result to its citizens. This level of transparency is in compliance with Zimbabwean law and fully in line with Zimbabwe's regional and continental commitments to democratic elections."Political parties and observer organisations need to be able to check and verify that the tallied results match the results collected by their agents and observers at the polling centres in order to provide confidence in the results. There is a serious risk of non-acceptance of the results if stakeholders are unable to verify tallying."University of Kent law professor Alex Magaisa said after the close of voting at the polling station, the Electoral Act says all ballot boxes are sealed by the presiding officer in the presence of candidates agents and observers who are present."Soon thereafter the ballot boxes are opened and unsealed by the presiding officer for counting in the presence of candidates or agents and observers. Since the presidential, parliamentary and council elections are held concurrently, all those present can witness all the counting," he said, adding ballot papers in each box are counted separately and recorded."The polling station return must be affixed on the outside of the polling station so that it's visible to the public who can record and capture the contents."He said the important thing in all this is that the counting starts at the polling station, through to the ward and constituency centre and the results are posted outside each of these centres.He said to deviate from this would be a serious undermining of the electoral process."I hope Zec will comply with the law and not do anything that would affect the credibility of the process," he said. Opinion / Columnist Tomorrow we cast three ballots amidst a confetti of hope, despair, paranoia, suspicion, fear, confidence, hesitation and denial for some. We will either review these elections or perform a post mortem of our preparations, input and outcomes.This still draws us back to fundamentals of thinking principles: processes versus outcomes. This elementary philosophy will be an essential prescription to dealing with post-election trauma disorder. Processes versus outcomes will be the finest remedy post tomorrow in preparing for 2023.The discourse and dispensation we will be speaking of from next week will be on rebuilding Zimbabwe, forging ahead in re-engaging capital, creating opportunities for all and sundry, social policy analysis, reconstructing the education curriculum so forth and so on-all progressive discourses.Most interesting in this race is how "denial" has transcended from being a political characteristic to a suggestively medical ailment.The speeches and actions we have been treated to this past week are nothing short of an outstanding inquisition of our national intelligence: after these elections we need an enquiry into the state of intelligence of many of us who are prisoners of superstition and paranoia; those who believe in magical shifts of inks specifically from Nelson Chamisa to ED, those who claim that the elections are not free and fair only if they lose, those who mount a moral high horse of democratic electoral processes yet they were nowhere near credible in their primaries, those who proclaim that the barometer of credibility is of their preconceived result in a system they assert is not fair and those who are competing to be primitively violent if we do not vote for them (the old allegations of a very old Zanu-PF).These are clusters in the political parts whose imaginations precede elementary reasoning and logic, publicly curating sci-fi as a response to political and legal problems. One is left wondering if such a magnitude of mistrust in national institutions is a result of trend, evidence or an excuse for stubborn religiosity in superstition. There is an old (and corny) joke, which goes, "Q: What is 'Denial'? A: It's a river in Egypt."To scientifically explain this, "denial" as a psychological delinquent is the problem some quarters are indisposed from. They deny that there is a party which is well organised and servicing the interests of its constituency (even if you disagree with them) and its constituency is excited to exercise its democratic right.There is another meaning of "denial" in psychoanalytic theory, where it is a psychological defence we all use at times to reduce our anxiety when things feel particularly disturbing. Finally there is a peculiar type of "denial" we are witnessing nowadays, wherein seemingly intelligent and sane adults vehemently deny truths despite a body of irrefutable data.This denial is akin to Stephen Colbert's "Truthiness," in that these deniers adamantly refuse to accept verified scientific facts because they get in the way of their own rigid ideas.Truthiness is the belief or assertion that a particular statement is true based on the intuition or perceptions of some individual or individuals, without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or facts. Truthiness can range from ignorant assertions of falsehoods to deliberate duplicity or propaganda intended to sway opinions. Too much belief in superstition results in denial. When you're in denial, you: Will not acknowledge a difficult situation, try not to face the facts of a problem or even downplay possible consequences of the issue.This kind of closed-mindedness is prevalent in opposition politics and all its facilities. Call it zealotry, bigotry or fanaticism, these ultra-controlling beliefs are dangerous to our civic morale. Even worse, they give a quasi-intellectual rationale for a momentum towards control, misanthropy and hate.For Advocate-man-of-the-cloth, he alone, is refusing to acknowledge that something is wrong as a way of coping with emotional conflict, stress, painful thoughts, threatening information and anxiety. He is in denial about anything that makes him feel vulnerable or threatens sense of control. To him, this plebiscite is beyond the deliverables to the ordinary man on the street; it is about his political prospect which is in check. To him, a failed Presidency heralds a colossal inevitable possibility: His political expiry.He discerns that his Presidency in the Alliance is very much dubious. His battle for MDC-T with Thokozani Khupe is far from ending, only a name was won, what more will Khupe easily win after these elections: control of the properties - he thinks of Harvest House, the over a million dollars he has to pay back and a striking possibility of failing to control MPs in Parliament.When his rhetoric is pregnant with paranoia, superstition and confusion to an extent that he will not accept any result that is not his win, the man is singing for his supper which is under threat from those who do not trust him either. Professor Welshman Ncube is sure of Chamisa not acceding to his input after elections because Nelson constantly reminds him that he has brought nothing into this Alliance.He showed it when he imposed candidates in Matabeleland North and South, he attested it when he breached the Alliance agreements on sharing constituencies.However, Nelson knows that the witty Professor of law is not in it for the candidates but a stake in the little the party controls.He knows that Ncube is aiding his individual political interest of finding shelter in a party with political capital. Even if he knows Ncube's weakness, the Professor's loyalty to him is very much questionable.The Professor wants to right the 2005 wrongs which saw him losing grip of the most formidable opposition to one who had no law skill. Without the Presidency, Chamisa is vulnerable to the man who may help interpret the law to his disfavour. If the Alliance is to shudder after tomorrow, Chamisa has no party to hold on to. The enmity extends to another lawyer, Tendai Biti whose 2014 aspirations of rising in MDC-T were cut short by the party with the assistance of Chamisa. Biti's ouster in 2014 was not a pleasurable one and he had left a constituency in the party that was excited at his re-entrance.This time there isn't a Morgan Tsvangirai to bar him, he has to deal with a young man still in his pupilage, still fighting to grasp fundamental concepts of law which Biti has set precedence on. Among the top guns, Biti is the only one running for office. Should miracles happen and Biti does find his way into the August House, it would be a blow for Chamisa who will be a nonentity relegated to an activist who may make a statement that he is retiring from active politics and focus on a law firm after tomorrow.With Biti in Parliament and able to caucus the Alliance members in Parliament, he controls the engine of the coalition's interest. Chamisa is not ignorant of this, Biti is a huge threat to his political aspirations and the only way to control people like Biti is when you are the country's President, then you award them with ministerial posts to buy their loyalty (which is never a solution either).The rest of the members who are in the Alliance are minions, we shall not waste space discussing them. They will go back to their normal lives, in fact they are already leading their normal lives. So you have to understand Chamisa's behaviour from this angle of positionality, it is the immediate threats in the form of his Alliance partners who will determine his political future if he loses. It is an under-resourced campaign which he is sure of that has hammered his chances of appealing to the masses, it is the daily growing support the Zanu-PF candidate has amassed both domestically and internationally.It is the new audience Zanu-PF has attracted. It is the impending legal battle of party control Chamisa failed to deal with which he knows will haunt him after tomorrow. Opinion / Columnist Prof Jonathan Moyo characterises the 30th July 2018 elections as a transition from what he calls the first republic to the second republic. In his thesis, Prof Moyo argues correctly that, the 1980 elections ushered in not only a new administration but a new name for our country. Under the reactionary Abel Muzorewa administration, the country was known as Zimbabwe - Rhodesia, this name was changed on 18th April 1980 to become the Republic of Zimbabwe following the black majority rule. The MDC Alliance Presidential candidate Adv Nelson Chamisa is proposing to change the country's name from Republic of Zimbabwe to Republic of Great Zimbabwe. This is the second Republic that Prof Jonathan Moyo speaks about.In understanding Prof Moyo thesis, we need to ask ourselves , how we came to be in the First Republic in 1980? In his thesis, Prof Moyo forgets the revolutionary role played by the liberation armies , ZIPRA and ZANLA in weakening the Rhodesian army which gave practical support to the sellout Abel Muzorewa. Prof Moyo argues that , not withstanding the military support enjoyed by Muzorewa, the peoples will prevailed in ushering in a what he calls the First Republic in 1980. What Prof Moyo forgets is that, the liberation movement enjoyed not only overwhelming support from the masses, but it had the gun power to capture the State House something that the MDC Alliance does not have. While the MDC Alliance enjoys massive support, the lessons of June 2008 taught us that, the Zimbabwean masses are not yet organised in a way that they can crush the military but the military stand ready to reverse the will of the masses.In reality, the 30th July elections is not about a transition to a Second Republic, on the part of the MDC Alliance which Prof Moyo now supports, it is about restoring the comprador bourgeois class character of the Zimbabwean State. While the MDC Alliance enjoys massive support from the working class as the liberation movement did in 1980, it is pursuing a neo liberal agenda which does not advance the struggle of the working class.On the part of ZANU (PF), 30th July is about entrenching the Deep State class character of the Zimbabwean State and pursue militaristic capitalism in rebuilding our economy through cheap labour.It is naive for any political scientist to think that an election will cure the November 2017 Bond Coup. It is common cause that those who lost political battle inside ZANU (PF) in a bid to succeed former President Robert Mugabe rolled the military tanks in the streets of Harare. To expect that the military will just hand over power to the opposition that now enjoys the support of the "criminals" that surrounded President Mugabe ahead of the coup is unthinkable.One can not cure a coup by isolating the authors of the coup themselves. The expectations of the masses in November 2017 was that, the coup authors were to establish a National Transitional Authority as advocated by Dr Ibbo Mandaza and Prof Brain Raftopolus. This National Transitional Authority was to bring together ZANU (PF), the pro democracy movements, civil society to transit from a Bond Coup to constitutionalism. The global celebrations by ordinary Zimbabweans was in part, the endorsement of a transition from Mugabeism to a democratic Zimbabwe through a transition mechanism. The delay in the resignation of Mugabe forced the civilian ZANU (PF) political leadership to go it alone by convening the November Central Committee which fired the other faction in ZANU (PF). That Central Committee meeting and the utterances by Minister Chinamasa put paid to the National Transitional Authority.The visit by President Mnangagwa and Gen Chiwenga to the home of the late Morgan Tsvangirai before his death was seen by others as part of a mission to agree on the transition to constitutionalism. It was reported then that, Mnangagwa and Chiwenga were proposing the delay of holding elections for three years. This discussion happened in the presence of Adv Nelson Chamisa. Of course this proposal if its true, came a bit late when already a government had been established under Mnangagwa.While many in the opposition join Prof Jonathan Moyo in hoping for the end of the Junta on 30th July 2018, the reality though is that, the military will not let go. For us to cure the Coup as advocated by Prof Moyo, is for us to usher a Government of National Unity post the 30th July elections. This is what we need if we are to heal our nation. We need to win over the coup authors by working together as opposed to isolating them, a battle we will not win in the near future. The South African 1994 democratic breakthrough that brought together the party of apartheid and the liberation movement into forming a Government of National Unity can be used as our case study.Ngqabutho MabhenaMarxist - Leninist student. "Is he gonna blow us all up?" So inquired one of Elisabeth LaMotte's patients recently, fretting out loud about the volatility of U.S. President Donald Trump's actions during a therapy session at her Washington practice. It was a rhetorical question one that predated Trump's threats of a showdown with Iran this week. But if the question wasn't meant in earnest, the politically induced anxiety LaMotte is hearing about from her clients certainly is, says the founder of the D.C. Counselling and Psychotherapy Center. She refers to it as a "collective anxiety" among patients who feel on edge about how potentially dire the president's decisions could be. "There is a fear of the world ending," she said. "It's very disorienting and constantly unsettling." What's been called "Trump Anxiety Disorder" has been on the rise in the months following the election, according to mental-health professionals from across the country who report unusually high levels of politics-related stress in their practices. And it's maybe not surprising given the relentlessly negative headlines and politically divisive climate. This week, it was a menacing all-caps Trump tweet warning Iran about potentially historic "CONSEQUENCES." Previously, it was his Supreme Court picks and fears that the legal right to abortion could be overturned, or his immigration policies separating families at the border, or his apparent submission to Russian President Vladimir Putin before a global audience. From Trump supporters, LaMotte hears about the pain of "feeling socially or familially isolated" for supporting the president's agenda, "even if they don't support his tactics." From Trump's detractors, LaMotte has been struck by how much their anxieties resemble those of patients raised by a parent with a personality disorder someone who would display traits like "grandiosity, excessive attention-seeking and severe lack of empathy." Story continues "Whether it's conscious or not, I think we look to the president of the United States as a psychological parent," she said. The symptoms In a 2017 essay for a book co-edited by psychiatrists from Harvard Medical School and the Yale School of Medicine, clinical psychologist Jennifer Panning of Evanston, Ill., called the condition "Trump Anxiety Disorder," distinguishing it from a generalized anxiety disorder because "symptoms were specific to the election of Trump and the resultant unpredictable sociopolitical climate." Though not an official diagnosis, the symptoms include feeling a loss of control and helplessness, and fretting about what's happening in the country and spending excessive time on social media, she said. (Trump and his supporters, for their part, have their own term for a malady they see as afflicting only reactionary, anti-Trump progressives: "Trump Derangement Syndrome.") Panning said intense consumption of media coverage of this presidency is making some people's Trump-related anxiety worse. "They say they're wondering what's next," she said. Trump's appointment of one conservative justice to the Supreme Court and the recent nomination of another has left one of her married lesbian clients "significantly concerned about the legitimacy of their marriage in the future," she said. Connie Sherman, the manager of a dental practice in San Diego, said she's been sleeping fitfully post-election, constantly checking her phone for the latest headlines in the wee hours. "When [special counsel] Robert Mueller's indictments news dropped, I wound up staying up in the middle of the night when I should have been sleeping, just thinking about it, just worried for our country," she said. Stress of supporting Trump The American Psychological Association has recorded a rise in anxiety in the Trump era, with a five per cent increase (52 to 57 per cent) in politically induced stress levels over a six-month period before, during and after the 2016 election. Overall, stress levels were the highest they've been in a decade, according to the APA. In an online survey in February 2017, two-thirds of Americans including most Democrats as well as most Republicans said they were stressed about the future of the nation. Most of the more than 3,500 people polled blamed the extreme political polarization for their anxiety. There was a strong correlation between stress levels and electronic news consumption. Some Trump supporters also report feeling more stressed, confiding to therapists that uncivil discourse and attacks on the president were causing them anxiety. Washington therapist Steve Stosny recounted how an official with the Trump administration came to see him not long ago. At work, the official explained, he felt anxious about his high-pressure job in a highly scrutinized White House. At home, he faced a more personal turmoil: his liberal-leaning family grew to resent him for working for Trump. "His daughter was starting to hate him," Stosny said. "It was very hard on his spouse, too. The wife couldn't take it anymore. It's tough when one spouse is at war with the children." The patient eventually left his job, but the damage was already done. The couple began divorce proceedings, Stosny said. According to the APA, a person's political affiliation can affect their risk of anxiety. About 26 per cent of Republicans polled post-election considered "the political climate" to be a source of stress, compared to 72 per cent of Democrats who felt the same way. Jaime Gale, a Trump supporter in Avon Lake, Ohio, often shares her anxiety over politics with her therapist. "It reminds me of how I felt after 9/11," said Gale, 38, referencing the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S., a time when she felt "fear of the unknown and unfamiliar." "It scared the crap out of me. Now I'm scared of getting pounced on by somebody who doesn't like me because of Trump, just online." The internet marketing consultant, who has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder, backs the president as a champion of border security and a strong steward of the economy. But the at-times abusive attacks on Trump's leadership from liberals are hurtful and can make her blood boil. "I see that rage and anger in other people I feel it brought out in me, too." Gale said she once got so drawn into the "vitriol" from liberal critics online that she had an anxiety attack. Especially "disheartening" to Gale was being labelled a "racist" and "fascist" for supporting the president's policies. Therapists around the country told CBC they're seeing politically tinged anger and anxiety from patients no matter their political affiliation. In Columbus, Miss., John Hawkins's LGBTQ clients have opened up about their worries "that their marriages might be voided," while Trump supporters in his sessions worry that liberals are trying to thwart a president who is "doing the best he can." In Oklahoma City, Kevon Owen, who practises a type of scripture-based psychotherapy known as Christian counselling, said he's "seeing a lot of people anxious about the possibility of war," and has counselled clients to stop submerging themselves in clickbait articles. In Bardstown, Ky., clinical social worker Roland Gabbert said he's never seen such heavily politicized chatter in his office in his 40-year career. "Both from people feeling the president is being persecuted and people just beside themselves with worry about the direction of the country." 'In our faces' Maybe nowhere is the anxiety over politics more deeply felt than in the nation's capital, said Alison Howard, a clinical psychologist in D.C. She said she engages "on a daily basis" with patients "struggling to make sense of what's happening with this president." "It's in our faces all the time," she said. "People here are living and working in the same city where the pulse of the government is." In downtown Washington, a lawyer and immigrant from Uganda now working in the Department of Agriculture sat chain-smoking a pack of American Spirit cigarettes. His clinical depression was being "compounded" by a cascade of negative White House-related news, he said. So, he's started to tune it out completely. "I had to get off social media. I had to stop paying for cable. I started only reading fiction," said the federal employee, who only gave the name Kenneth because he was worried speaking publicly might cause problems for him at his job. "Maybe I should be talking to a therapist about this." Asked if he had heard about the president's latest tweet to Iran's leader, he shook his head. "Seriously, man don't even tell me." Amendola Family Cigar Company, a cigar company based out of Durham North Carolina, has announced it has entered into a partnership with Tabacalera G. Kafie y Ciia to handle its production. Tabacalera G. Kafie y Cia is located in Danli, Honduras and is owned by Dr. Gaby Kafie. We chose Tabacalera G. Kafie y Cia because we are quickly selling out of our current stocks and they have the ability to meet our substantially increased production demands. They are renowned for their ethical treatment of their workers and their commitment to quality control, said Jeffrey Amendola, founder and president of Amendola Family Cigars, in a press release. This is a unique opportunity for us to indirectly invest in the economy of Honduras by engaging in a long-term partnership with a debt-free business that shares our worldviews. The first production out of Tabacalera G. Kafie y Cia is being released this month. This production will go across the companys 11 lines. A driving force for searching for a new factory is that the company had goals to meet increased demand for its product without sacrificing quality. Amendola Family Cigar Company said it produced 30,000 cigars last year, and with the new factory move it plans on increasing that number by 30 percent to meet its demand. Kafie moved into the world of cigar production in early 2017 and launched Tabacalera G. Kafie y Cia, a 5,500 square foot facility that employs 20 staff members including 12 rollers, two master blenders, a leaf buyer, and a maestro. Prior to moving to Tabacalera G. Kafie y Cia, the company had been producing cigars in the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. One pre-announced release, one mystery release, one audible, one annual release, and the return of a popular industry personality all made the Alec Bradley booth one of the more interesting ones at the 2018 IPCPR Trade Show. One of the companys featured releases was Blind Faith. This is a project spearheaded by Alec Rubin and Bradley Rubin, the namesakes of the company and sons of company President Alan Rubin. While this was a product that was announced prior to the 2018 IPCPR Trade Show, it was at the booth that the packaging was unveiled for the first time. The 1960s/70s retro-look was one of the highlights for me at the trade show. Produced at Raices Cubanas in Honduras, Blind Faith uses a wrapper from the Trojes region of Honduras over a double binder from Trojes and the Jalapa region of Nicaragua over an all-Nicaraguan blend. The cigar is available in three sizes: Robusto (5 x 52), Toro (6 x 52), and Gordo (6 x 60). Each is packaged in 20-count boxes. As for the name, it pays homage to Alec Bradley consumers who have blind faith in the products Alec Bradley produces. Prior to IPCPR, the company told one media source of a mystery release. That cigar turned out to be Alec Bradley Magic Toast, a cigar that had been previously seen as a stealth release. The blend for Magic Toast features a dark Honduran leaf, a double binder from Nicaragua and Honduras as well as filler tobaccos from Honduras and Nicaragua. The cigar is available in three sizes: Robusto (5 x 52), Toro (6 x 52), and Gordo (6 x 60). Each is packaged in 20-count boxes. The packaging for this cigar also was quite striking. The audible was the Alec Bradley Bespoke. The company did not mention this release prior to IPCPR, and it seemed downplayed at the trade show itself. In fact, it was so low key that I didnt find out about it until I talked to a few of my media colleagues (thus no photos) and there were others I talked to who also missed this cigar. This is a Nicaraguan puro available in five sizes: Robusto (5 x 52), Toro (6 x 52), Torpedo (6 1/8 x 52), Gordo (6 x 60), and Churchill (7 x 50). For the eighth consecutive year, Alec Bradley had a Fine & Rare release. Fine & Rare is a limited edition release that consists of ten tobaccos. From year to year, the company rotates the blend and size. Alec Bradley calls the 2018 Fine & Rare the JRS 10=(86) Second Edition referring to the fact that this is the second release of the JRS 10=(86) blend in a 6 1/2 x 56 format. A total of 2500 boxes has been produced for 2018. This year Alec Bradley introduced very elegant zebra wood boxes for this release. Finally, if you were at the Alec Bradley booth, chances are you saw a familiar smiling face in Eddie Ortega. Ortega is best known as the former co-owner of EO Brands as well as the owner of Ortega Premium Cigars. Ortega is now working for Alec Bradley in a product development role. While this wasnt a complete shock, it was news to many. Ortega had actually been working for Alec Bradley since earlier this year, but the announcement was kept low key. 2018 Product Reports Photo Credits: Cigar Coop, except where noted. The execution of one prisoner was stopped, and there is no information regarding the fate of the two others yet. Iran Human Rights (Jul 27, 2018): Out of four prisoners who were transferred to the solitary confinement on July 25 for execution, at least one was executed at Urmia Central Prison on drug-related charges.The execution of one prisoner was stopped, and there is no information regarding the fate of the two others yet. According to a close source, on the morning of Friday, July 27, at least one prisoner was executed at Urmia Central Prison on drug-related charges. The prisoner was identified as Jahangir Nojavan from ward 15. A close source told IHR, Jahangir was arrested on the charge of five kilograms of drugs but he was also charged with being a drug kingpin, thats why the court reapproved his death sentence. Another prisoner, named Saeed Pourhamzeh, was also executed at Urmia Central Prison on the same charge last year. Jahangir Nojavan was transferred to the solitary confinement along with another prisoner on Thursday, July 25. The reports indicate that the execution of the other prisoner was stopped for unknown reasons and he returned to his cell. Moreover, some sources told IHR that two more prisoners with drug-related charges were also transferred to the solitary confinement from Salmas and Naghdeh prisons. These prisoners were also sentenced to death on drug-related charges but there is no information regarding their fate. Man Publicly Flogged In Dargaz, Razavi Khorasan Province In the video masked men are seen hitting a man wearing prison uniform with a whip, while a small crowd watches without protesting or intervening. The state security forces are present at the scene. Earlier this month a young man convicted of consuming alcohol when he was just 14 or 15 years old was publicly flogged 80 times in Niazmand Square, Kashmar, Razavi Khorasan province. The circumstances of this case are absolutely shocking, representing another horrific example of the Iranian authorities warped priorities. No one, regardless of age, should be subjected to flogging; that a child was prosecuted for consuming alcohol and sentenced to 80 lashes beggars belief, said Philip Luther, Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International. | 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 Arthur Jones is an avowed Nazi. John Fitzgerald says the Holocaust is a myth. Rick Tyler wants to "make America white again." Their fringe ideas are reminiscent of another age, but the unapologetic men who espouse them are all on US election ballots in 2018. Extremism and bigotry, even outright white supremacy and anti-Semitism, have found new lives in 21st century US politics and the era of President Donald Trump, beyond just the toxic rhetoric of a few little-known cranks. They have received more exposure this year on the national stage than at any time in recent memory. And the mainly conservative proponents of hate running for office are proving to be a major embarrassment for the Republican Party. In Illinois, Jones, who called the Holocaust "the biggest, blackest lie in history" and once ran a newspaper ad with a large swastika in the middle, is the Republican candidate for Congress, after he won the party primary by running unopposed in a largely Democratic district. Russel Walker, running for a seat in North Carolina's state house, proclaims "there is nothing wrong with being a racist" and that Jews are "descendants of Satan." In Wisconsin, Paul Nehlen, the leading Republican running to fill the seat in Congress currently held by retiring Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, has emerged as a leader of the alt-right movement, someone who critics warn wants to provide white nationalists and anti-Semites a stronger foothold in US culture and politics. And the campaign website for Tyler, a Trump supporter running for Congress in Tennessee, depicts the Confederate flag flying atop the White House. One of his campaign billboards read: "Make America White Again." Experts say there is an unprecedented number of openly bigoted candidates this year, and that their chief enabler may well be the president of the United States himself. "Trump's unorthodox use of racism-related and anti-Muslim stuff -- all of that bigoted language -- has opened a door in politics that wasn't there before," Heidi Beirich, who as an expert at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has been tracking hate groups since 1999, told AFP. "We've always had a smattering of neo-Nazis... but this is ratcheting the situation up much higher than it was before." No more 'taboos'? Overt bigotry by a candidate would spell his or her "death knell" up until recently, Beirich said. But in today's hyper partisan political environment, such rhetoric may no longer be a deal breaker. "By blowing through those taboos, and winning the presidency, Trump has shown a path to electoral success that people assumed wouldn't work," she said. This bigotry has spread into public life. Several incidents caught on video showing white people calling the police on African-Americans going about their business have gone viral. One, which showed two young men dragged out of a Starbucks coffee shop in handcuffs, helped spark a national dialogue about race. The racial and ethnic divides are on clear political display in places like Virginia, where the Republican Senate nominee, the anti-immigration county supervisor Corey Stewart, is under fire for his provocative associations. Stewart has praised Nehlen as "one of my personal heroes," and has appeared with Jason Kessler, the man who organized a deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville last August. However Stewart has since disavowed both men, and the move may have swayed some voters. On June 20 he won the Republican Senate primary. Last week he found himself on the debate stage with Democratic Senator Tim Kaine -- Hillary Clinton's 2016 vice presidential nominee -- where Stewart insisted "there's not a racist bone in my body." But he maintained he is a vigorous defender of Virginia "heritage," and strongly opposes the removal of any Confederate monuments. Extremist candidates tend to flourish when they and their supporters feel unrepresented and ignored by the mainstream US parties, either the GOP or Democrats. In 2016 Trump appealed to millions of such blue collar voters, unemployed coal miners or factory workers or farmers whom Trump labeled the "forgotten man." They felt betrayed by globalization and US trade agreements, worried about illegal immigration, and mindful that their communities were changing. Stewart says Democrats had the chance to reach those voters. But their failure to do so helped contribute to a scenario where far-right candidates can thrive. Democrats "abandoned the working guy," Stewart told CNN. "They slammed the door in their face, and now it's president Trump and the new Republican Party that is supporting working Americans." The GOP has disavowed several extremist candidates, including Jones and Nehlen. But the SPLC's Beirich says Trump's embrace of controversial Republicans like former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, who ran concentration camp-like jails for undocumented immigrants and is now running for Senate after being pardoned by Trump, is dog-whistle messaging to his party's fringe elements that there is space for them in political discourse. Trump administration confirm that they wont press African nations to repeal their anti-LGBTQ laws The reason they gave was because it would amount to religious persecution. Mick Mulvaney, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, has confirmed that the Trump administration will not be pressing African nations to repeal their anti-LGBTQ laws in a speech that he gave at the State Departments Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom. In the speech, Mulvaney lashed out at the Obama administration for pressing for the rights of the LGBTQ community to be protected worldwide. Our US taxpayer dollars [were] used to discourage Christian values in other democratic countries, Mulvaney said. It was stunning to me that my government under the previous administration would go to folks in sub-Saharan Africa and say, We know that you have a law against abortion, but if you enforce that law, youre not going to get any of our money. We know you have a law against gay marriage, but if you enforce that law, were not going to give you any money. Thats a different type of religious persecution. () That is a different type of religious persecution that I never expected to see. I never expected to see that as an American Christian, that we would be doing that to other folks. Mulvaney continued, saying: I am here to let you know there are many people in our government who care about [these issues]. There are a lot of people in this government who want to see things done differently. They want to do something. Mick Mulvaneys comments dont come as a surprise, given that he has a terrible track record when it comes to LGBTQ rights. He co-sponsored a bill which would have permitted anti-LGBTQ discrimination on the grounds of religion, and scored zero on the Human Rights Campaigns Congressional Scorecard for both of his terms. However, the news is disappointing, especially since homosexuality is illegal in the vast majority of Africa. In four of its countries, being gay is punishable by death. These countries are Somalia; the parts of Nigeria that have adopted Sharia law; Mauritania, although only if you are a Muslim; and Sudan if you are convicted for a third time. During the Obama administration the then President made a number of speeches condemning anti-LGBTQ violence, including dedicating a Fathers Day speech to the victims of the Pulse shooting. And in his final speech as President, Obama championed a global fight for LGBTQ rights. In the speech, he said: Thats why we cannot withdraw from global fights to expand democracy, and human rights, womens rights, and LGBT rights, no matter how imperfect our efforts, no matter how expedient ignoring such values may seem. Thats part of defending America. | 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 Agence France-Presse, Michael Mathes, July 29, 2018 Gay Times , Matt Moore, July 29, 2018 ABU DHABI tourism is rapidly increasing but due to very strict laws and customs UK tourists can easily fall on the wrong side of the law if not careful. These are the illegal activities to avoid in the emirate. Abu Dhabi visitors might be surprised at the number of activities that are completely innocuous in the UK but which could land you in jail in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) capital. From smoking electronic cigarettes and swearing to kissing in public and photographing military buildings, a whole array of things could see Britons imprisoned. The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) have highlighted the many laws and customs that must be abided by in Abu Dhabi. Tourists should be aware that videos, books, and magazines may be subject to scrutiny and may be censored. Bringing in any pornography is illegal, as is importing pork products. The emirate is particularly severe when it comes to drugs and there is zero tolerance for drug-related offences. The penalties for trafficking, smuggling and possession of drugs (even residual amounts) are severe, states the FCO website. Sentences for drug trafficking can include the death penalty and possession of even the smallest amount of illegal drugs can lead to a minimum four-year jail sentence. The Emirati authorities count the presence of drugs in the bloodstream as possession. Some herbal highs, like Spice, are illegal in the UAE. Alcohol is also a tricky matter in Abu Dhabi - drinking and being drunk in public is illegal. British nationals have been arrested and charged under this law, often in cases where they have come to the attention of the police for a related offence or matter, such as disorderly or offensive behaviour, writes the FCO. Hotels will only serve alcohol to those over 21 in Abu Dhabi but generally, the drinking age is 18. Electronic cigarettes are illegal in the emirate and will be confiscated at the border if brought in. Other equipment may require a licence. This includes: satellite phones, listening or recording devices, radio transmitters, powerful cameras or binoculars. You should seek advice from the UAE Embassy in London. Cross-dressing can land you in prison as can public displays of affection. There have been several arrests for kissing in public. You should also be careful to avoid swearing and making rude gestures (in public and online) as these are considered obscene acts and offenders can be jailed or deported. Take particular care when dealing with the police and other officials, cautions the FCO. Sharing a hotel room with someone of the opposite sex who you arent married to - and arent closely related to - is illegal. All sex outside marriage is illegal, irrespective of any relationship you may have with your partner in the UK, warns the Foreign Office. If the UAE authorities become aware that youre conducting a sexual relationship outside marriage (as recognised by them), you run the risk of prosecution, imprisonment and/or a fine and deportation. All homosexual sex is illegal and same-sex marriages are not recognised. Tourists should also be careful when taking photographs of government buildings and military installations. Hobbies like bird watching and plane spotting, may be misunderstood - particularly near military sites, government buildings and airports, says the FCO. In February 2015, three British nationals were arrested while plane spotting at UAE airports and were detained for two months. However, no matter how unfair you may consider the laws and customs, be careful not to vent your frustrations online. Posting material (including videos and photographs) online that is critical of the UAE government, companies or individuals, or related to incidents in the UAE, or appearing to abuse/ridicule/criticise the country or its authorities, or that is culturally insensitive, may be considered a crime punishable under UAE law, states the FCO. There have been cases of individuals being detained, prosecuted and/or convicted for posting this type of material. Abu Dhabi is now cheaper for UK tourists after bosses approved a proposal to reduce tourism fees in a drive to encourage tourism and investment in tourism in the emirate. | 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 Global growth would be impacted by just 9 bps from the trade measures which have been or are about to be implemented. New Delhi: Import tariffs will have far-reaching implications and though the impact is manageable for now, escalation in this aspect could mean significant downside to global growth, says a report. In recent months the intensity and scope of trade measures have broadened out significantly and against this backdrop, investors have been incrementally more concerned about the impact of trade tensions on global growth. According to global financial services major Morgan Stanley, global growth would be impacted by just 9 basis points (bps) from the trade measures which have been or are about to be implemented. "A meaningful impact of 21 bps on global growth could result if a 10 per cent tariff was imposed on USD 200 billion worth of China's imports and a 22.5 per cent tariff levied on EU car imports," the report said. Further, this impact would rise to 31 bps if all imports from China were affected and further to 81 bps in a scenario of a 25 per cent tariff hike across all imports from both China and the EU, the report added. The countries that would be most affected include China, US, Euro area and some major trade partners such as Taiwan, Canada, Korea, Mexico as well as some other smaller European economies. According to the report, significant escalation will impart material downside to global growth. "The starting point of strong global growth provides some buffer, but significant downside risks could emerge if things escalate significantly from here," it noted. Morgan Stanley used an input-output model to analyse various scenarios and identify the countries and sectors which are exposed. Hyderabad: Tollywood senior actor Ms Annapurnas daughter commited suicide at her residence in Banjara Hills early on Saturday. According to the Banjara Hills police, the deceased, identified as Keerthi, was under medication for the last six months and was suffering from psychological problems. She also complained of not getting proper sleep and depression due to these illnesses might have forced her to resort to the extreme step, police said. Keerthi, an adopted daughter of the senior actor, got married to Venkatakrishna, a software engineer three years ago and the couple did not have any babies. On Friday, Venkatakrishna was travelling from Bengaluru to Hyderabad and reached his house in Srinagar Colony around 2 am. He slept in the other room while his wife slept in the bedroom. On Saturday morning, on opening the door, he found Keerthi hanging from the ceiling fan, said the inspector of Banjara Hills, K. Srinivas, adding that he immediately called Annapurna, who resides in the Godavari block in the same vicinity, to inform her about this incident, who then called the police. My daughter was seeking medical help for the ill health for the past couple of months now, said Annapurna. Speaking to this newspaper, she said that Kirthi was consulting a medical professional for her depression. Unable to take it anymore, she killed herself on Saturday . The reason behind her suicide is unknown, though police are suspecting health issues. Her medical condition is suspected to be the reason behind her suicide, the police said. The body has been shifted to the Osmania General Hospital morgue for autopsy while a case has been booked under section 174 (suspicious death) of CrPC and investigation started. Here it comes again bay bay!! Fool me once, shame on you, fool me again ...oh never mind. The last street hustle Janesville residents fell for, the $3M w... 1 month ago Over a dozen investors of a cryptocurrency mining company have claimed to be victims of a fraud case after the company's director went missing, allegedly with their money. Investors and board members of the Ho Chi Minh City-based Sky Mining have not been able to reach Le Minh Tam, its CEO, since Monday. Investors seeking the company's main office in Phu Nhuan District found the building closed and the company nameplate removed. They also found that all 600 mining machines in the company's factory in the neighboring Dong Nai Province's Bien Hoa Town had been taken away by a group of people claiming to be maintenance workers. They suspected that Tam had run away with $35 million from investors. We are victims, too The deputy chairman of the company, Le Minh Hieu, said that he has formed a temporary board of 16 people to support investors and calculate the remaining asset of the company. Hieu said that Tam has gone to the U.S., taking all the money of the company and its investors. He said he was not clear about the details of the companys assets as Tam had directly managed the mining rigs and storage. [The board] has reported this to the police and showed evidence that we are not guilty, said Hieu, who said many investors have threatened to hurt his family. We are victims too, he told VnExpress. A group of 20 investors have filed a petition on the alleged fraud with the police of Ward 9 in Phu Nhuan District, where Sky Mining was located. Sky Mining organized several events to attract investors. Screenshot taken from Sky Mining's video on Youtube Largest in Vietnam On its website, Sky Mining claimed to specialize in purchasing computers to solve algorithms, a process known as cryptocurrency mining. It invited investors to buy a computer system that performs the necessary computations for mining, known as the mining rig. Investors need to pay $100 to $5,000 for each of these rigs, which will be kept at Sky Minings 26 storage spots all over the country for mining. Sky Mining promises that after 12 months, investors would earn back all their initial investment in addition to a profit of up to 300 percent. Investors will have to return the mining machines to Sky Mining after that period. Active since March, the company has acquired 7,000 mining rigs, investors said. It also promised to pay commission to investors who invite more people to join the company. The company hosted numerous events to attract investors in Hanoi and HCMC, where leaders of Sky Mining claimed that it was the largest cryptocurrency mining company in Vietnam. Last resort After two days of hiding, Sky Mining CEO Tam published a note on a Facebook group for investors on Wednesday, apologizing for the everything. Tam said that the market was unpredictable, mining rig value had dropped drastically and profitability had fallen. My last resort is to stay hidden from public to protect my life, he said. He also told investors to go to the company to recover the capital they have invested, and that after all the work is done, he would declare bankruptcy. But when investors reached the office, it was empty. Same story The Sky Mining fraud is similar to that of another tech company in Ho Chi Minh Citys District 1 that was stormed by investors demanding refunds in April. The investors said that the IT firm, Modern Tech, had cheated them of VND15 trillion ($650 million) with a cryptocurrency ponzi scheme. The modus operandi was similar to other scams. The company guaranteed that the lowest interest investors would receive was 48 percent per month, with a payback period of less than four months. The alleged $650 million loss is 150 times larger than Modern Techs initial equity of $4.4 million invested by a group of only eight people who founded the company in October 2017. Modern Tech representatives until now have not responded to the accusations, and its founders have remained incommunicado. Vietnam imported a total of 6,400 cryptocurrency mining systems in the first four months of the year, according to official data. The country has constantly been in the top five countries with the highest traffic to the Bitcoin trading platform and Bitcoin news site, CryptoCompare data shows. Despite proposals to legalize Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, authorities have asserted that they are not legitimate in Vietnam. A Vietnam Airlines plane deviates from the center of the runway when it lands at Noi Bai international airport in Hanoi on Saturday. Photo courtesy of Vietnam News Agency Aviation authorities are investigating why a Vietnam Airlines plane did not land in the middle of the runway at Hanois Noi Bai airport. The plane, VN1544, took off from Hue in central Vietnam at 7:50 p.m. on Saturday and landed at the Noi Bai Airport at 9 p.m. However, the plane made an error as it touched down, deviating from the center of the runway. No probable cause has been identified yet. Authorities have retrieved the plane's flight recorder and the results of the investigation are expected to be announced soon, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has said. A Vietnam Airlines representative blamed heavy rains in Hanoi on Saturday night for obstructing the pilots vision, causing the landing error. However, all passengers landed safely, the representative stressed. Last May, a Vietnam Airlines plane was caught landing on an unfinished runway at the Cam Ranh Airport in the central province of Khanh Hoa. The incident was deemed serious, second only to aviation accidents in Vietnam's classification of errors, prompting the CAAV to launch an investigation. Several people, including the American pilot and his Vietnamese copilot, were suspended. Vietnam's aviation industry has experienced rapid growth in recent years. The country served more than 53 million air passengers in the first half of this year, up 14 percent from a year ago. A current and a former deputy minister of Public Security have been dismissed from all Party positions and face demotion from their current ranks. They have been found violating rules on protecting state secrets and mismanaging public land and property. Lieutenant General Bui Van Thanh, Deputy Minister of Public Security, was dismissed from all Party positions at a Politburo meeting on Saturday. Thanh was member of the Executive Committee of Public Security Force's Party Unit for the term 2016-2021 and member of the Executive Committee of the Party unit of the ministry's General Department of Logistics-Engineering between 2010 and 2015. The Politburo, the highest decision-making body of the Communist Party of Vietnam, also dismissed Colonel General Tran Viet Tan, former Deputy Minister of Public Security, from his position as member of the Executive Committee of the Public Security Force's Party unit for the 2011-2016 term. It has tasked the government with carrying out further disciplinary actions against the two generals, including demotion in the police force. The decisions to punish Thanh and Tan came after the Party's Central Inspection Committee reported on their violations and recommended disciplinary actions at a three-day meeting that closed on Thursday. According to the inspectors, Thanh, as the deputy public security minister responsible for the ministry's General Department of Logistics-Engineering and as the department's former general director, had to be held responsible for violations committed by the Standing Committee of the department's Party unit. He was found to have violated the democratic centralism principle and shown irresponsibility in leading, managing, inspecting and supervising the department, enabling violations to take place at the unit. Additionally, Thanh had violated regulations on protecting state secret and the ministry's working regulations, and broken laws in signing documents proposing the sale of several properties and land lots that belonged to the ministry. He was also found to have signed a decision allowing Da Nang's real estate tycoon Phan Van Anh Vu to travel abroad and requested a diplomatic passport for him, although Vu was not qualified to get one. Vu left Vietnam to dodge an arrest warrant against him for revealing state secrets last December, before being deported by Singapore and arrested upon landing in Vietnam in January. He is scheduled to stand trial for revealing state secrets at a closed trial next Monday. Inspectors also found that Tan, during his time as member of the Executive Committee of the Public Security Force's Party unit, had shown irresponsibility in leading, managing, inspecting and supervising the force. He had also signed a number of documents that violated regulations on protecting state secrets. The Politburo concluded that Thanh and Tan's violations have caused "very serious" consequences, heavily damaged the reputations of the Party and the Public Security Force and angered the public. A series of dismissals and warnings against high-ranking officials are adding heat to Vietnam's corruption crackdown spearheaded by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. Scores of top officials and businesspeople have been investigated and/or sent to jail over the past couple years. Trong, 74, has repeatedly said that the momentum of the corruption fight would maintained and that it would continue to push ahead, sparing no one. Authorities are investigating how a Spanish family was cheated into booking a Ha Long Bay cruise on a vessel no longer in service. A Spanish couple and their three children were stranded at the Tuan Chau Wharf on Thursday after they found that the vessel theyd booked for an overnight cruise on the Ha Long Bay had not been in service for several years. The booking was made in March on Expedia.es, which collected $746 for a two-night tour on the Paragon Legend. Some cruise ship owners at the wharf said the Paragon Legend had stopped operating in the bay several years ago. The management board of the bay also confirmed that there was no ship with that name active in the bay. On learning of the familys plight, the owner of the Pelican cruise decided to offer the Spanish family a free two-day-one-night tour of the world famous bay. A local cruise ship owner offers a free two-day-one-night trip for the Spanish family on his Pelican cruise ship. Photo by Lighthouse Vu Ho Quang Huy, vice chairman of Ha Long City, said local authorities are investigating the incident. He said the probe was hampered by the fact that the online site where the tourists made the booking had no server in Vietnam. Ha Long Bay in Quang Ninh Province is one of Vietnam's biggest tourism magnets. The bay has been hailed by the U.S. travel guide site Smarter Travel as one of the best ecological spots in the world, while Business Insider has said that an overnight Ha Long cruise trip is a must-try travel experience in Asia. The bay welcomed more than 28,000 foreigners during the first four months this year, according to the Quang Ninh tourism department. Cambodian National Election Committee workers carry election material in Phnom Penh in the run-up to polling day. Photo by AFP Rights groups have slammed the election as a farce and opposition figures have called for a boycott to send a message to the ruling party. Cambodia went to the polls early Sunday in an election set to be easily won by strongman premier Hun Sen after the only credible opposition was dissolved last year, effectively turning the country into a one-party state. More than eight million voters are registered to cast a ballot in the sixth general election since the United Nations first sponsored polls in 1993, as the country emerged from decades of war. "All polling stations opened at 7 a.m.," a spokesman for the National Election Commission told AFP. Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in office since 1985, was a former member of the hardline Khmer Rouge regime but defected and was installed as leader during the Vietnamese occupation of the 1980s. His Cambodian People's Party (CPP) has won every election since 1998 and the 65-year-old strongman has been in power for 33 years, trumpeting the peace, stability and economic growth of his years in power. Analysts will be watching for voter turnout on Sunday in what is essentially a referendum on Hun Sen's popularity, after the rival CNRP were dissolved by a Supreme Court decision last year. "This election is very important to me, I come to vote because I want happiness, development and peace for the country," said voter Im Chanthan, 54, who said she was "happy" to be casting a ballot in the same polling station as Hun Sen. Dissatisfaction with corruption and a growing youth population with no memory of the Khmer Rouge helped the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) win more than 44 percent of the 2013 vote and carve out a similar share in local elections last year. That success spurred a crackdown by Hun Sen, who accused the opposition CNRP of being involved in a plot to topple the government. Police last year arrested and charged one of the opposition leaders with treason and the Supreme Court later banned the party. In the lead-up to Sunday's vote authorities have also hemmed in independent media and NGOs while former opposition members have fled the country in fear. The U.S. and EU have pulled funding and assistance for the vote, but Cambodia's staunch ally China has provided support. 'Sham election' The government says 19 other parties are contesting a democratic poll, but critics say the groups are obscure or newly created to give the poll a veneer of credibility. Rights groups have slammed the election as a farce and opposition figures have called for a boycott to send a message to the ruling party. But election authorities have vowed to take action against anyone who urges others not to vote, creating a climate of fear. Cambodia's leaders have faced international criticism for helping cement what is virtually a one-party state but only limited travel and financial sanctions have been passed by western governments. Ameriabank and HSBC Armenia to provide their customers access to each others ATMs without additional fees Ameriabank. 62.5% Growth in Taxes YOY Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans have provided 300 million AMD to overcome the infertility in Armenia UCOM has officially launched the sale of IPHONE 13 Six servicemen were wounded by the attack of the Azerbaijani armed forces in Artsakh, two of them in critical condition S&P Improved the Outlook on Ameriabank to Positive Ararat Mirzoyan to visit to Minsk Foreign Minister of India visits the Memorial of Armenian Genocide 1217 new cases Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia 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 Google Ad 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 "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 The chairman of Iran's National Center for Persian Carpets says she plans to file a complaint against the United States at international tribunals for the sanctions Washington has imposed on handwoven Persian carpets. Fereshteh Dastpak told Iran's official news agency, IRNA, on July 28 that "handwoven Persian carpets belong to the people of Iran," and described U.S. sanctions against buying and selling carpets around the world as "a mistake." The U.S. Treasury Department barred U.S. companies from importing Persian carpets from Iran on June 27 following the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), on May 8. "Based on international protocols, what belongs to a nation cannot be subjected to sanctions," IRNA quoted Dastpak as saying. She said that the National Center for Persian Carpets, along with carpet weavers and dealers' trade unions, are working to have Persian carpets removed from the list of U.S. sanctions against Iran based on international conventions and protocols. Persian carpets are the second-most important item on the list of Iran's exports. Iran exports Persian carpets to some 80 countries, but 30 percent of its carpet exports go to the United States, one of the biggest markets for handwoven carpets. Baku, Azerbaijan, July 29 Trend: Over the past 24 hours, Armenias armed forces have 83 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said July 29. Armenias armed forces were using large-caliber machine guns. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Baku, Azerbaijan, July 29 Trend: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed an order, providing funding for the construction of the Ojakaran-Tulakuvan-Tangarud road in Astara region. Under the presidential order, 3.4 million manats will be allocated to the Azerbaijan Highway State Agency for the construction of the road connecting three residential areas with a total population of 9,000 people. Baku, Azerbaijan, July 29 By Ilkin Shafiyev Trend: The multimodal route India-Iran-Azerbaijan-Russia-Latvia will be created in order to ensure regular container communication between the countries, the Ministry of Transport of Latvia told Trend. This route will operate within the framework of the North-South project. "The international transport corridor "North-South" is included in the list of priorities of the Latvian logistics industry represented by the "Latvian railway" JSC state company. A multimodal route India-Iran-Azerbaijan-Russia-Latvia is being created in order to ensure regular container traffic. It is envisaged that the proposed logistics solution will ensure an efficient, reliable and fast flow of goods from India to Europe. The access to the region of the Baltic countries and northern Europe, as well as to eastern and western Europe will be gained with the use of the advantages and logistics services of Latvia in the direction of the international transport corridor "North South", the ministry noted. Latvia sees Azerbaijan as a very important partner in the development of new transport routes in the Eurasian space, the ministry noted. "Two very important international transport corridors pass through Azerbaijan - the international North-South corridor connecting India, Iran, Azerbaijan, North-West Russia and the Baltic sea region, as well as the transport corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia TRACECA, which is a part of the new Silk Road and creates a strategic link between the Caspian and the Black seas. In this regard, we believe that Azerbaijan has excellent prospects for the development of freight transport. The development of railway communication with Iran will strengthen the North-South corridor, and the recently opened Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line will develop freight traffic in the East-West direction," the ministry said. The ministry noted that, the "One Belt, One Road" initiative of China can create new opportunities for the development of logistics supply chains, in particular between Azerbaijan and Latvia. "Latvia can offer Azerbaijan the opportunity to supplement its logistics routes in North-South and East-West directions with access to the market of northern and western Europe through our railway and ports Riga, Ventspils, Liepaja," the ministry noted. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @IlkinShafiyev Baku, Azerbaijan, July 29 Trend: An office within the Protecting Business and Investments project, created for the anti-corruption support of investors, has recently opened in Kazakhstans Aktobe region, the countrys Kazinform international news agency reported citing the Agency for Civil Service Affairs and Anti-Corruptions corruption prevention department on Aktobe region. The office opened as part of the meeting of the Investor Council, chaired by acting head of local government in Aktobe region Kayrat Bekenov. The main goal of the project is to protect investors from all kinds of corruption risks that an entrepreneur faces not only within the entrepreneurial activity, but also in everyday life when implementing an investment project. The office was created within the Memorandum of Cooperation between the countrys Agency for Civil Service Affairs and Anti-Corruption, the Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Investment and Development to simplify the process of investing in the countrys economy, as well as preventing bureaucratic procedures and corruption facts. In his welcoming speech, head of the department of the Agency for Civil Service Affairs and Anti-Corruption Rasul Medetov stressed that the agency guarantees full protection to interested investors against corruption risks in Kazakhstan. "The agency intends to react quickly to every fact of impeding the activity of investors, he said. Tehran, Iran, July 29 By A. Shirazi - Trend: Hossein Ashouri, deputy head of Islamic Republic of Iran Railroads, said impending US sanctions would not be able to affect the development of rail cooperation between Iran and Russia. US sanctions have never been able to influence the promotion of rail cooperation between Tehran and Moscow, Ashouri said on July 29, IRNA news agency reported. He added that the Islamic Republic would continue its cooperation with rail networks in east and west. The rail cooperation between Iran and Russia is growing, the official stressed, adding that the countrys rail network is waiting to join the 164-kilometer-long Qazvin-Rasht rail link and later to the Astara-Astara railroad, which is part of a bigger project to connect Iran and Azerbaijans rail system. In 2017, India sent a consignment to Russia through a much-awaited new intercontinental multi-modal corridor that connects its port city of Mumbai to Russias St Petersburg. The consignment departed for Irans Persian Gulf port of Bandar Abbas in mid-January and was thereon taken through the Iranian territory to Azerbaijans Baku through road and rail. It was then taken to Russia by train. The Astara-Astara railroad is part of the International North-South Transport Corridor that runs 8 kilometers in Azerbaijan up to the border from where it extends 2 km to Irans port city of Astara. Tehran, Iran, July 29 By A. Shirazi - Trend: Shahram Jazayeri, an Iranian tycoon who spent several years of his life in jail for being involved in a high-profile corruption case, has been arrested near Bazargan border crossing in West Azarbaijan Province while trying to flee across the border, an official said. Shahram Jazayeri was arrested while trying to illegally cross Bazargan crossing, Alireza Radfar, a senior official with Azarbaijans governorate, said on July 29, Tasnim news agency reported. Jazayeri, who had been hidden in a truck along with several Afghan refugees, intended to illegally cross the border and escape to Turkey, he added. They were detected by x-ray system, Radfar said. Jazayeri introduced himself as an Afghan man, but later came clean and is now under interrogation, he said. Jazayeri was taken into custody in 2001 at the age of 24 for a long list of criminal activities involving bribery, illegal exports, forgery and massive embezzlement of state money and assets and spent the next 13 years in prison. Illegal migration should be countered at all costs, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis told Novinky outlet following a meeting with the head of Germany's Bavaria region, Markus Soeder, according to Sputnik. "After the talks with the Bavarian minister president, I am even more convinced that illegal migration should be fought at all costs. The society in Germany is split," Babis told the outlet in an interview, published on Saturday. Babis said, regarding the European Commision's proposal to encourage member states to accept migrants, that the commission was wrong in its assessment of the situation. The migrants should be given help in their countries, the Czech prime minister said. Babis added that the Czech Republic had many other problems to solve, including the low income level of many of its citizens. In his June statement, the Czech prime minister hailed the step back from the quotas system under which each EU state was expected to take in a certain number of refugees. The system was the source of conflict in the bloc as several countries were unwilling to meet the requirements. Support for German Chancellor Angela Merkels conservative bloc has fallen to its lowest level since 2006, a poll showed on Sunday, Reuters reported. The Emnid poll published in Bild am Sonntag showed Merkels Christian Democrats and their sister party, Bavarias Christian Social Union (CSU), down one percentage point at 29 percent. That compares with 33 percent in the September election. The CSU faces a tough regional election in October with polls showing it could lose its absolute majority in Bavaria. The Social Democrats (SPD), who share power with the conservatives in Merkels coalition, failed to capitalize on those losses, also falling one point to 18 percent. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) was unchanged at 15 percent while the Greens rose 2 points to 14 percent, their best showing this year, according to Bild am Sonntag. Emnid gave no explanation for the changes. About a month ago, Merkels coalition came close to collapse due to fundamental differences on migrant policy with her Bavarian partners who wanted tighter national border controls, which she rejected. A face-saving compromise was reached in early July but underlying tensions linger. Senior government officials from Canada, the European Union, Japan, Mexico and South Korea will be meeting in Geneva on July 31 to discuss a response to President Donald Trumps threat to impose tariffs on US imports of autos and car parts, Reuters reported citing officials close to the upcoming talks. Washingtons threat to levy tariffs of up to 25 percent has invited the ire of foreign automakers and others who fear that the proposed measure will send vehicle costs sky-high, hampering sales and industry jobs worldwide. It is not yet clear exactly what this response will look like though. Earlier, Canada, Mexico and the EU retaliated with their own charges after the Trump administration slapped tariffs on steel and aluminum imports in March. Another option is to counteract US measures by bringing the matter before the World Trade Organization. Mexicos Deputy Economy Minister Juan Carlos Baker will be meeting with WTO chief Roberto Azevedo in Geneva on Monday to discuss the auto tariff issue, in consultations that will also include his Canadian colleague Timothy Sargent and Japans Senior Deputy Foreign Minister Kazuyuki Yanmazaki. US tariffs on auto imports could also hit Koreas Hyundai, Japans Toyota and Germanys BMW along with global factories of Americas very own General Motors and Ford. The Japanese economy relies heavily on exports to the US, particularly of automobiles, with cars making up around 30 percent of Japan's total exports to the United States. Even though Washingtons agreement on Wednesday not to impose tariffs on the EU in exchange for lowered trade barriers for US exports products has eased fears of a full-fledged trade war, Trumps decision will not be known until the end of an ongoing US probe into whether auto imports pose a threat to US national security. Although hopes of a breakthrough in US-EU trade talks buoyed carmakers spirits on Thursday, the upcoming meetings in Geneva mean that auto-producing nations are bracing for the worst. The defending world champion and four-time world champion Lewis Hamilton (GB, Mercedes) claimed victory of the 33rd Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix here on Sunday with a time of one hour 37 minutes and 16.427 seconds, before also four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel (Germany, Ferrari) and Kimi Raikonnen (Finland, Ferrari), who came at the second and third places respectively. This is the sixth win for the 33-year old Hamilton in Hungary, a record. And his Sunday victory was the 67th of his amazing career. With this victory, Hamilton increased his lead in the driver's standing to 24 points. After the Hungarian Grand Prix, Hamilton is leading by 213 points, followed by Vettel (189 points) and Raikonnnen (146 points). While in the constructor's standings, Mercedes is at the top with 345 points, followed by Ferrari (335 points) and Red Bull (223 points). The race took place under a heat wave, the air temperature was 33 degrees Celsius while the track 50. Before the race, there had been a one minute silence, in hommage to the recently deceased President of Ferrari: Segio Marchionne. The start was a good one for Hamilton, who launched from the first place, while Valterri Bottas (Finland, Mercedes) passed Kimi Raikkonnen. In the second turn, Sebastian Vettel also bypassed Raikkonen. In the second lap, Charles Leclerc (Monaco, Sauber) had to give up the race, with his Sauber. In lap number 6, the car of Max Verstappen (Red Bull) slowed down, showing lack of power and he gave up the race as well. Next year, the Red Bull cars will race with Honda engines, abandonning Renault. In lap number 10, the advantage of Hamilton grew to 4.4 seconds, while in lap 14, Raikonnen stopped to change tyres. At lap 22, Hamilton and Vettel were still leading, followed by Bottas and Raikonnen. The defending world champion was only five laps later on fresh tires, but Vettel, who was heading for the race, was still kept out on the track for a while to improve the difference. In lap 32 his lead was 14.5 seconds, but when he drove to the box in lap 39, it shrank to 7.8 seconds. Twenty laps before the end, it was clear that if there were no accident or technical defeat, only Vettel's third place could be realistic, or overtaking Bottas, since Hamilton's advantage grew steadily. In the end, Vettel attacked Bottas with great impetus, and although Bottas was slower, he kept on trying to keep his position. The German competitor eventually managed to overtake his Finnish rival, but the two cars collided during the maneuver, and the right edge of the Mercedes's first wing broke, but the left rim of Ferrari remained intact. The Sunday race was the 220th of Hamilton's, and the 210th of Vettel's career. The Formula One competition will return in one month, after a summer pause, in Belgium. Iraqi security forces Saturday killed two Islamic State (IS) militants during an operation in villages near Iraq's northern city of Kirkuk, the Iraqi military said, Xinhua reported. The federal police launched an operation to clear cluster of villages from remnants of IS militants in west of Kirkuk, some 250 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasoul, spokesperson of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command, said in a statement. The operation resulted in the killing of two IS militants, one was a local IS leader in the town of Hawijah before the Iraqi forces liberated the town in September 2017, the statement said. The troops destroyed two IS hideouts and defused three roadside bombs, along with arresting 10 IS suspects for interrogation, the statement added. During the past few months, dozens of IS militants fled their former urban strongholds in Mosul, Salahudin province and Hawijah area in the west of Kirkuk after the Iraqi forces cleared these areas through major anti-IS offensives. However, many IS remnants have resorted to hideouts in mountainous and rugged areas near the rivers of Tigris and Zab, as well as Himreen mountain range that extends to neighboring Diyala province in eastern Iraq. On Dec. 9, 2017, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi officially declared full liberation of Iraq from IS militants. But small groups of IS militants regrouped in the rugged areas and have been carrying out attacks against the security forces and civilians despite the repeated Iraqi military operations to hunt them down. So-called Islamic State claimed responsibility on Sunday for an attack on a midwife training center in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Saturday that killed three staff, Reuters reported. The ultra-hardline militant group, which cited no evidence for its claim in a statement issued via its Amaq news agency, said the attack was carried out by two gunmen. So-called Islamic State has a stronghold in the province of Nangarhar surrounding Jalalabad, bordering Pakistan. South Korean Ambassador to Libya Choi Sung-Soo on Sunday met with Libya's UN-backed government's Foreign Minister Mohamed Sayala in the Libyan capital Tripoli, Xinhua reported. According to the Libyan Foreign Ministry, the two officials discussed discussed bilateral relations and mutual cooperation, including the return of South Korean companies to Libya to complete construction and power projects suspended since the 2011 uprising in Libya. The meeting also discussed South Korean companies and investors implementing new projects of housing, construction, energy in Libya, as well as reconstruction of cities affected by the war on terrorism, the ministry said. Due to the insecurity and chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled former leader Gaddafi's regime, most foreign companies working in Libya left the country and their projects were suspended. Baku, Azerbaijan, July 29 Trend: Turkey will not change its position regarding the arrest of American pastor Andrew Brunson, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, Turkish media reported. Erdogan said he sees in the threats from the US "psychological warfare." "We will not back down with sanctions. We did not trade in the Brunson issue", Turkish leader said. Erdogan added that the US should not forget that they can lose a close ally. Trump promised earlier to impose "large sanctions" against Turkey for the detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson, who is accused of aiding the coup attempt in Turkey in 2016. "The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being. He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!" Trump tweeted. Vice President Mike Pence stated the possibility of imposition of sanctions previously. A court in the Turkish province of Izmir decided July 25 to transfer under house arrest American pastor Andrew Brunson, whom Ankara suspects aiding the coup attempt in 2016. Branson was prohibited to leave the territory of Turkey by a court decision dated July 25. The same court a week ago rejected the motion for release of the pastor. The next hearing on Brunsons case has been scheduled for October 12. KYODO NEWS - Jul 29, 2018 - 22:48 | World, All Preliminary results from Cambodia's national election Sunday indicated that the ruling party of Prime Minister Hun Sen won a landslide victory, a result widely expected given the forced absence of a viable opposition. The results tallied by Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party suggested that the CPP will likely get between 110 and 115 seats of the total 125-seat National Assembly. The remaining seats will likely be split among the royalist FUNCINPEC party, the League for Democracy Party and the Grassroots Democratic Party. The National Election Committee has yet to release its own results. It put the preliminary voter turnout at 80.49 percent, easily exceeding the 69.61 percent recorded in the last general election in 2013. Of the 8.3 million registered voters, 6.7 million cast their ballots on Sunday, the commission said. Besides the CPP, 19 small, mostly newly formed parties also contested the election. However, none of them won a seat in the 2013 election, in which the CPP won 68 seats and the remaining 55 seats were won by the main opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party. The CNRP was dissolved by a court order last year and its lawmakers banned from politics in a move seen by many as aimed at eliminating any real opposition ahead of the election. Sam Rainsy, a former leader of the CNRP now living in exile, on Sunday released a statement decrying the "hollow" victory of Hun Sen, saying "the result of this false election conducted in a climate of fear is a betrayal of the popular will." "This senseless victory does nothing to resolve the political crisis that Cambodia faces as a result of the regime's totalitarian drift over the last 12 months," said the statement posted on his Facebook page. Regarding the high participation rate, Sam Rainsy said it did not reflect reality because many citizens were forced to take part against their will through intimidation and threats. He also alleged manipulation of votes at polling stations "due to the complete control of the ruling CPP over voting operations from A to Z." Sam Rainsy had repeatedly called for a boycott of the election, for which the United States and the European Union decided to withdraw their backing after the CNRP's dissolution. Hun Sen, who has ruled the country with an iron fist for 33 years, vowed last year to serve two more terms. According to the Constitution, the king is to convene the first session of the National Assembly within 60 days after the election. Meanwhile, there is no clarity on the release date of big-budget Malayalam movies, including Mohanlal starrer, Marakkar. In this July 26, 2018, photo, President Donald Trump acknowledges the audience after speaking at the United States Steel Granite City Works plant in Granite City, Ill. Trump's trade policies are turning long-established Republican orthodoxy on its head. There are tariff fights, and theres now $12 billion in farm aid that represents the type of government intervention GOP voters railed against a decade ago. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson) WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump's trade policies are turning long-established Republican orthodoxy on its head, marked by tariff fights and now $12 billion in farm aid that represents the type of government intervention GOP voters railed against a decade ago. President George W. Bush increased the number of countries partnering with the United States on free trade agreements from three to 16. President Ronald Reagan signed a landmark trade deal with Canada that was later transformed into the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and expanded to include Mexico. Both those Republican presidents also enacted tariffs, but their comments on trade were overwhelmingly positive. "We should beware of the demagogues who are ready to declare a trade war against our friends, weakening our economy, our national security and the entire free world, all while cynically waiving the American flag," Reagan said in a 1988 radio address. Trump, by comparison, has called NAFTA "the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere," and his administration has opted to use tariffs as a tool intended to leverage more favorable agreements with virtually every major U.S. trading partner. He shredded the trade agreement the Obama administration tried to work out with Pacific Rim nations that had strong backing from farm groups and chief executives from major U.S. corporations. Republicans also have altered the priority of tackling the national debt, an issue the GOP hammered President Barack Obama on as the country struggled to recover from the 2008 economic crisis. "Our nation is approaching a tipping point," GOP Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, now the House speaker, said in January 2011 when the national debt hit $14 trillion. Story continues Today, the Congressional Budget Office projects the $21 trillion debt will rise to more than $33 trillion in 10 years. That estimate notes that the tax cut lawmakers passed in December would increase economic output but add $1.8 trillion to the deficit over the coming decade. The GOP's evolving priorities are not lost on some in the party. Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., who lost a close primary election this year after butting heads with Trump on some issues, said he finds it "perplexingly destructive" for the GOP brand. "It takes a long while to build a brand, but brands can be diminished or destroyed in relatively short order, and I think the administration is destroying bedrock cornerstones to what the party has historically stood for," Sanford said. "There is no conversation on the debt, deficit and government spending these days. That has been a cornerstone." Sanford made headlines as South Carolina governor when he said he would reject stimulus money approved during the financial crisis because he did not think the country should go into debt to fund recovery efforts. "Here we are now with a hypothetical $12 billion bailout package and you don't hear a word," Sanford said. "That is quite a transition in not so many years from decrying what the Obama administration had done with bailouts to now endorsing the idea of bailouts." Trump, in a Friday interview on Fox News' Sean Hannity's radio show, said the strong economy would help the U.S. reduce the deficit. "The economy, we can go a lot higher. ... We have $21 trillion in debt. When this really kicks in we'll start paying off that debt like water. We'll start paying that debt down." The administration's plan on the bailout announced last week would borrow money from the Treasury to pay producers of soybeans, sorghum, corn, wheat, cotton, dairy and hogs. Many farmers have criticized Trump's tariffs and the damage done to commodity prices and markets. Some GOP lawmakers are expressing concerns. "I didn't come up here to start new government programs," said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. But it's unlikely that the Republican-controlled Congress will try to block the administration's agricultural aid plan. "I'm looking at this and saying, 'You're going to single out one sector?' What about the manufacturing sector? What about the energy sector?" said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. "Where do you draw the line? I've got some real concerns." But others praised the move. GOP Rep. Mike Conaway of Texas, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, called it "welcome relief." "This is the right fight to have, but in the meantime, our producers have got to live as this fight is going on," Conaway said of a trade dispute with China that has prompted the imposition of tariffs by both nations. Conaway said the president has reshaped the way Republicans think about trade. "He's kind of changed the narrative of the conversation that it's really not OK to let other people take advantage of America," Conaway said. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., said it's clear the GOP has changed over the past two years with Trump in office. "This is the party of Trump. He calls the plays and they line up and they execute the play," Kildee said. But Kildee also opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal that the Obama administration was trying to work out with Japan, Vietnam, Singapore and others. He and many other Democrats described past trade deals such as NAFTA as hurting workers in their home districts. So why the criticism of Trump and the efforts he has undertaken on trade? Kildee said he would prefer a more deliberative approach and a multilateral approach that doesn't fray longstanding alliances. "Simply engaging on the issue of trade doesn't mean he's doing it right," Kildee said. The president's meetings with lawmakers in the past week and his trade advisers' visits to Capitol Hill are acknowledgements that many GOP lawmakers are worried about where Trump is headed and what it could mean in the November election as farmers, bourbon makers and manufacturers who use imported steel and aluminum deal with the fallout. A possible breakthrough with the European Union announced Wednesday at the White House appears to have eased their concerns and given the president more time to work out new deals. "The fact the EU was here today and good talks happened, I think that points to there's proof it's working," said Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash. "That's not just wishful thinking. I think we can see that." ___ Reach Kevin Freking at https://twitter.com/APKFreking President Donald Trump faces potential legal and political danger if its proven he knew in advance about a meeting his son and campaign aides had with Russians said to be promising dirt on Hillary Clinton, according to former federal prosecutors. The allegation reportedly made by Trumps former personal attorney Michael Cohen adds an explosive twist to the famous June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower, which has become a focus of Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigation into whether anyone in Trumps campaign conspired with Russia to interfere in the last U.S. presidential election. Trump and his current lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, deny that Trump knew about the meeting beforehand and say Cohen is lying. I did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don jr., the president tweeted Friday morning. Sounds to me like someone is trying to make up stories in order to get himself out of an unrelated jam. Trump has said he didnt know about the Trump Tower meeting until a year later, when he dictated a statement on behalf of his son that the discussion was primarily about a dispute over adoptions of Russian children. That turned out to be misleading at best after revelations that the meetings organizer had pledged damaging information from the Russians on Clinton but the participants ended up discussing relief from U.S. sanctions on Russia. While theres no crime in lying to the public, Trump could face fresh legal jeopardy in the cases Mueller is building alleging conspiracy with Russia to interfere in the election and on efforts to obstruct his investigation, said Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor who is now a partner at the Thompson Coburn LLP law firm in Chicago. Many Different Steps Dont think of crimes as something committed at a specific time and date, Mariotti said. Typically a white-collar crime is something that happens over a long period of time and it involves many different steps. Donald Trump Jr. could face charges of lying to Congress if Cohens allegation is proven true, as he testified under oath that his father didnt know about the meeting. Story continues Cohen is ready to testify that he and others were present when Trump was informed of an offer of material detrimental to Clinton ahead of the June 2016 meeting, CNN said Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Adding an element of mystery about the unnamed sources, Cohens lawyer, Lanny Davis, said in a a statement to MSNBC, I have to wonder why the Trump people would put that out. It was not from us. Cohen is under investigation by the U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, and FBI agents raided his office, home and hotel room in April. In an interview on CNN Thursday night, Giuliani labeled Cohen a pathological liar. That raises an important question about Cohens claims: Who has more credibility, the president, or his former lawyer? I would not place my faith in Michael Cohens credibility, said Mimi Rocah, a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan. The reason prosecutors win so many convictions is that they never rely on just one person. You need other evidence, she said. Cohens claim may be a smoking gun, but how do you back that up? You look at the surrounding evidence and circumstances. You see Trump saying, around the same day as the meeting, well have a major speech to discuss the Clintons. You look at the fact that he had a long-standing relationship with the Agalarovs, who helped set up the meeting. Prosecutors also ask juries to use their common sense, Rocah said. Does it make sense that Trump knew about the meeting? You look at all the circumstances together and use your common sense. Should Cohens claims turn out to be true, Rocah agreed that Trump could have legal exposure. If Trump knew in advance that the Russians had stolen information, and understood its importance, that puts him at risk, in legal jeopardy, of being part of the conspiracy that the Russians have been charged with to defraud the U.S., she said. Collusion, Obstruction There may be an obstruction charge as well, said Harry Sandick, a former federal prosecutor now at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler. If Cohens reported version is correct, it would make it very hard for Trump to say there was no collusion, he said. There would also be a potential obstruction charge, because he tried to prevent prosecutors from knowing what happened. While the most serious potential criminal charges relate to conspiracy and obstruction of justice, there are lesser offenses too. Its illegal to knowingly solicit political contributions from foreign nationals, and providing stolen emails could be viewed as an in-kind contribution. Enforcement of a violation depends on which agency would pursue it. If its the Federal Election Commission, its a civil matter, with the biggest penalty being a fine. The Justice Department can bring criminal charges for willful violations of federal election law, though its track record of winning convictions has been mixed. The maximum sentence for violating election laws is five years imprisonment, depending on the offense. If Cohen testifies that Trump lied repeatedly and often about his knowledge of the Trump Tower meeting, that could put Trump Jr. in legal jeopardy. The presidents son testified before Congress that he didnt tell his father, according to a transcript released by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Did you inform your father about the meeting or the underlying offer prior to the meeting? Trump Jr. was asked. No, I did not, he answered. Blocked Number Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, though, said Trump Jr. was in contact with a blocked number while he was in the midst of arranging the Trump Tower meeting with a Russian contact, Emin Agalarov. When asked about that, the younger Trump testified he didnt know whose blocked number that was. Trumps primary residence at the time Trump Tower had a blocked number, according to separate testimony to the committee from former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Lying to Congress is a crime punishable by as much as five years in prison. Cohen could face legal trouble of his own if he didnt tell the House and Senate Intelligence committees the truth when he was interviewed in their Russia probes. The larger problem for the president is political. His own long-time attorney portraying him as a liar about collusion with Russia would undercut the presidents narrative that the Russia investigation is a witch hunt concocted by Democrats as an excuse for losing the presidential election. With Democrats now favored by many analysts to win back the House of Representatives, Cohens reported allegations could move the needle closer to impeachment a possibility that Democratic leaders have downplayed so far and at minimum will reinvigorate efforts to investigate what happened. To date, the key figures in the Trump Tower meeting have all escaped the bright lights of a public hearing, while top Republicans have lately trained much of their fire on the Justice Department, not Trump. They can all expect very different treatment if Democrats are holding the gavel next year. If recent reports are true that President Trump knew in advance about the 2016 Trump Tower meeting, it would suggest that Donald Trump Jr. may have misled Judiciary Committee staff about the meeting when he was interviewed last fall, Senator Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Friday in a statement. It further demonstrates the need to bring him before the committee to answer our questions. ZHARKENT, Kazakhstan -- The trial of an ethnic-Kazakh Chinese citizen accused of illegally entering Kazakhstan has taken on implications far beyond whether she will be reunited with her family near Almaty or deported back to China. That's because 41-year-old Sayragul Sauytbay has testified about the existence of a network of "reeducation camps" in western China where she says thousands of ethnic Kazakhs are incarcerated for "political indoctrination." Unlike others who've fled abroad, saying they'd been forced to endure dehumanizing indoctrination at such camps, Sauytbay was not a camp detainee. She was a camp employee. Before crossing into Kazakhstan on April 5, Sauytbay had been the head administrator of a kindergarten -- a position that, together with her membership of the Communist Party, technically made her a Chinese state official. She says Chinese authorities had forced her to train "political ideology" instructors for reeducation camps in western China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. That, she says, gave her access to secret documents about China's state program to "reeducate" Muslims from indigenous minority communities across western China -- mainly Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, ethnic Kyrgyz, and Hui. She says she also witnessed the inner workings of the program while employed at a camp for ethnic Kazakhs in the region's Mongol-Kuro District. Insider's View "In China, they call it a 'political camp.' Officially, this is a training center where people study Chinese ideology. But inreality, it's a prison in the mountains," Sauytbay told the Panfilov District Court in eastern Kazakhstan, which will decide whether she is sent back to China. "They took me there to work at one camp in 2018," Sauytbay testified to the court in the border town of Zharkent on July 13. "It was a political camp for ethnic Kazakhs. There were only ethnic Kazakhs while I was there. " "I was told there were two other camps like this [for ethnic Kazakhs] in the area," she said. "There were 2,500 people where I was. And I know that in the region there are other camps" with Muslims from other minority communities. "The fact that I've arrived in Kazakhstan and am talking in court about the camps, the number of people there, and their ethnicities is considered a disclosure of state secrets" in China, she told the Kazakh court -- adding that she expects "the most extreme" punishment if she is deported there. Sauytbay also testified that ethnic Kazakhs are sentenced to death in western China on mere suspicion of a crime -- noting the execution of one ethnic Kazakh woman for the "illegal transfer of information to Kazakhstan" after she'd sent video of a flag-raising ceremony in China to her relatives in Kazakhstan. Two Chinese diplomats attending Sauytbay's trial refused to answer RFE/RL's questions about the case or respond to her testimony. Chinese officials deny the existence of "reeducation camps." But authorities in Beijing do say they are fighting against "three forces" within western China's minority Muslim communities separatism, Islamic extremism, and terrorism. Growing Evidence Laura Stone, the U.S. acting deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said in April that at least "tens of thousands" of people have been detained in western China and sent to the "reeducation" centers. Independent human rights groups have estimated that more than 1 million detainees are in or have passed through reeducation camps in the region. Most are thought to be from China's indigenous minority Muslim communities. A study in May by Adrian Zenz at the Germany-based European School of Culture and Theology found online advertisements by the Chinese government seeking contractors to build or upgrade facilities across Xinjiang that would fit with the reeducation campaign. Zenz's study concluded that China has spent well over $100 million to build new camps in the traditionally Muslim region since 2016, when a new regional party chief arrived from Tibet and expanded a decades-old crackdown on Uyghurs into draconian controls against all of Xinjing's minority Muslim communities. Meanwhile, the rights group China Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) said in a study this week that Chinese government data shows that nearly 228,000 people were arrested on criminal charges in 2017 in Xinjiang under the new restrictions on religion. The CHRD notes that China's legal system has a conviction rate of over 99.9 percent, which guarantees that almost all indictments end in a conviction. Radio Free Asia has reported on the incarceration of Xinjiang's ethnic Kazakhs at reeducation centers since 2017, as well as Kazakh citizens. "The authorities force the detainees to accept this so-called education, which is political indoctrination," Human Rights Watch China research Maya Wang told Radio Free Asia. "They are forced to study Chinese characters, and anyone who challenges this arbitrary detention is punished, some physically, some by being locked up in isolation with no food or water," Wang said. Precedent Setting The ruling expected by the Kazakh court after final arguments scheduled for August 1 will acknowledge how much credence Kazakh authorities are willing to officially give to growing evidence of the camps. Sauytbay's treatment also will set a precedent on whether Kazakhstan will comply with Beijing's demands to return ethnic Kazakh Chinese citizens, or whether Astana is prepared to challenge its giant neighbor in order to protect ethnic Kazakhs who flee China. So far, Astana's official response to complaints and the camps has appeared tepid, at best, with the Foreign Ministry saying in May that it had urgently requested "an objective and fair review of affairs and the release of those ethnic Kazakhs detained in China who have dual citizenship." Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said on May 29 that he had information about some 170 ethnic Kazakhs "experiencing difficulties" in China, including 12 who had become citizens of Kazakhstan under Astana's fast-track citizenship program for ethnic Kazakhs from other countries. Sauytbay's husband, Uali Islam, and their two children became Kazakh citizens under that program in 2017 after fleeing China the previous year when authorities expanded their crackdown on Muslim minorities. Sauytbay's lawer, Abzal Kuspan, noted that she was detained by agents from Kazakhstan's National Security Committee (KNB) only after a warrant had been issued for her arrest by China. Kuspan told RFE/RL after a July 23 hearing that the prosecutor did not reply to his request for a deal under which Sautybay would accept punishment under Kazakh law -- up to one year in prison and a fine of $6,000 -- as long as she is not deported. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev has also not responded to a letter from Sautbay's husband requesting that he grant her political asylum. Kuspan says that bodes ill for her future -- particularly since Sautybay is a citizen of China, and not Kazakhstan. But he said he is satisfied the judge in the case is considering the legal arguments of the defense and the trial is being conducted in accordance with the rule of law. "We are not saying that she has not committed a crime by violating state borders using false documents," Kuspan said. "We have admitted that to the court and we are prepared to accept punishment. What we are saying is 'Don't give her back to China.' If they do send her back, she will simply disappear." Kuspan also noted that Kazakhstan has signed international agreements on the protection of political rights and the prevention of torture that could keep her in Kazakhstan. "The death penalty is all that awaits her if she returns," he told RFE/RL. "In such a case, you absolutely cannot hand her over to a government on territory where what awaits her is death. These international agreements rank above our legal code and our national laws." Sauytbay told the court that she couldn't travel to Kazakhstan with her family in 2016 because, as a state official of ethnic Kazakh descent, her passport had been confiscated to prevent her from fleeing. She says her troubles in China began after authorities there learned her family had obtained Kazakh citizenship. She said that made it necessary for her to cross into Kazakhstan with falsified documents. "The Chinese police oppressed me, warning me: 'You won't go to Kazakhstan. Your husband and children need to renounce their Kazakh citizenship and come here. Otherwise, you'll be judged in court and sent to a camp.' But if they had returned, they would have gone to prison," Sauytbay said. Written in Prague by Ron Synovitz with additional reporting by RFE/RL Kazakh Service correspondents Asylkhan Mamashuly in Zharkent and Nurtay Lakhan in Almaty. 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. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bankers Cobalt Corp. (TSXV:BANC) (FSE:BC2) (OTCQB:NDENF) (the Corporation or Bankers) is pleased to announce it has entered an option with a private Namibian partner to acquire a 70% interest in a prospective base metals, precious metals and industrial metals license located in the country of Namibia. Namibia is situated north of South Africa and south of Zambia. The option is for a period of two years with no defined expenditure requirements and may be extended or converted into a 70/30 corporate joint venture within the two-year option timeline. Stephen Barley, Chairman and CEO stated: Bankers primary focus will remain on the exploration of our large property portfolio in the DRC. Based on key relationships, Bankers was presented with the opportunity to participate in a highly prospective substantial land package in Namibia and the potential was so compelling the Corporation determined to add this to the portfolio. This allows Bankers to provide diversification from the DRC with nominal cash consideration, no additional share or equity consideration and with no distraction from our primary DRC cobalt and copper focus. Grant Dempsey, President and COO of Bankers, stated: Namibia is a stable English speaking country with an independent judiciary and clearly defined mining laws. Namibia is underdeveloped from an exploration perspective. The unexplored Kamanjab project at 135 km in area has the size and appropriate geology to possess a tremendous amount of upside potential regarding copper, cobalt and other metals. Bankers will utilize the considerable expertise of the existing DRC exploration team to evaluate the prospect avoiding any duplication of costs while continuing unabated with all planned activities in the DRC. Kamanjab Project - Namibia The 135 km Kamanjab license is situated in the North of Namibia, approximately 500 km north west of Windhoek the capital city of Namibia, and 90 km north of the village of Kamanjab. The geology of this area is underlain by basement rocks of the Epupa/Nosib Group and alluvium sediments. Mineralization is widespread and variable in style, occurring in discrete sedimentary horizons, such as the Dolostone Ore Formation, where the copper-cobalt is associated with disseminations and veinlets of sulphide minerals, orogenic copper and strata bound zinc-lead mineralization. Existing regional geological data sets from the Geological Survey of Namibia as well as the known mineral occurrences within the vicinity indicate the property has a potential to host base metals, precious metals and industrial minerals deposits. The majority of the geology is dominated by Nosib/Epupa porphyritic gneiss that is known to host copper mineralization. The high resolution aero-magnetic data carried out in the area, shows moderate magnetic responses with two large magnetic anomalies in the western and eastern parts of the permit, indicating potential occurrence of magnetic bodies. There is visible copper staining in multiple out croppings on the permit. (click here for picture of outcropping). Copper minerals hosted by the Epupa/Nosib formation and Sandstone, are malachite, blue azurite, light blue chrysocolla, cuprite, bornite, and chalcopyrite. Zinc minerals are whitish willemite, brown limonite, and brown goethite. Lead minerals are anglesite, and galena. Tennantite (Cu, Fe, Zn, Ag) is also present. Qualified/competent person -- National Instrument 43-101 and JORC Code The geological information in this announcement has been reviewed by Mr. Adam Anderson, Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG), a competent person (as defined in the JORC code, 2012 edition) and (being a recognized professional organization for the purposes of the Australian Securities Exchange listing rules). Mr. Anderson is also the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 who has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release. Mr. Anderson is the DRC Exploration Manager for Bankers. He has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralization, the type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a competent person as defined in the JORC code and under National Instrument 43-101. About Bankers Bankers is a natural resource company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of cobalt and copper mineral properties in the DRC to world-class Canadian standards. As battery production for EVs surges, demand for cobalt will probably exceed supply for many years. According to a recent report by Transparency Market Research, global sales of lithium-ion batteries are expected to reach US$70B by 2024, for a compound growth rate of 11.6% over the years beginning in 2016. Bankers holds rights to 26 separate mineral concessions strategically located in the southern DRC Copperbelt and having a total area of more than 391 km. Bankers has the intention to acquire interests in additional concessions. All concessions were obtained as either new grants or through reputable DRC partners and have clean title with no government involvement, making Bankers one of the few, and perhaps only, junior public mining company in the DRC to have 26 concessions capable of being currently explored. Bankers has an experienced operations team operating in the southern CopperBelt of the DRC. Bankers believes it is the front runner in advancing cobalt and copper exploration by a junior mining company in the DRC. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF BANKERS COBALT CORP. Stephen Barley Chairman & CEO For further information: Phone: 604.684.6730 Email: info@bankerscobalt.com Website: www.bankerscobalt.com Reader Advisory Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws including statements relating to the option regarding the Kamanjab license, the Kamanjab license, the outlook of the business of the Corporation, the Corporations intention to acquire additional concession, the Corporations ability to explore and develop the concessions including Kamanjab license, the results of any development and exploration, the ability of the Corporation to meet standards for verifiable supply chain custody, and the Corporations status as a leader in the junior mining sector for cobalt and copper in the DRC. Although the Corporation believes considering the experience of its officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate, that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them as the Corporation can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. The statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release. The Corporation undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third-parties in respect of the Corporation its securities, or its financial or operating results. With the round two deadlines just around the corner (in early Jan. for many of the top US MBA programs) we'll talk about how to approach the process and what might be the same and different from round 1 to round 2. 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 India presents Rs 2.1 billion housing grant to Nepal On behalf of the Indian Government, Ambassador Manjeev Singh Puri on Friday presented a cheque of Rs 2.1 billion to the Ministry of Finance Secretary Dr Rajan Khanal. Kathmandu to host Nepal-India Think Tank Summit on Tuesday The Nepal-India Think Tank Summit 2018 is taking place in Kathmandu on Tuesday. Now, the VOA Learning English program Words and Their Stories. On this program we explore common expressions in American English. Today we are talking about two things that at first seem unrelated -- changing your mind, and shoes. Okay, first shoes. In the summertime, many people around the world wear a kind of casual shoe known as flip-flops. They are completely open. So, they keep feet cool in warm weather. They are also good to wear in the shower, at the beach or by a swimming pool anywhere wet. Word and shoe experts both agree that flip-flops come from Japan. An article in the New York Times explains that after the Second World War ended, Japan increased its production of rubber. Among other things, workers used rubber to make a version of a traditional Japanese sandal, called the zori. Japan exported these rubber zoris all over the world. But the public did not keep the name zori. The rubber sandals became known as flip-flops. Can you hear why? Flip-flop is the sound the shoes make when you walk in them. So, thats some information about the flip-flop we wear on our feet. But another way we use the word "flip-flop" in American English has nothing to do with shoes. When you flip-flop, you completely change your mind on an issue. Not only do you adjust your thinking, but you adopt the exact opposite position. For example, maybe one day you announce to your roommates that you have become a vegetarian. You plan to eat only vegetables, beans, rice and pasta. But at the end of the week, you make another announcement. You say you've changed your mind. And now, you will only eat meat. You have flip-flopped. Word historians say this usage of "flip-flop" began around 1930 and comes from the world of electronics. Flip-flop referred to switching circuits that alternate between two states. Today, we most commonly use the term flip-flop in politics. Being accused of flip-flopping is usually not good. Lets say you are running for a political office. Early in your political career perhaps you supported a popular issue such as tax breaks for businesses. But now supporting that issue is not popular. So, during the campaign, you tell voters that youve changed your mind. You are now against tax breaks for businesses. Your opponent could accuse you of being weak, of not knowing what you believe in, or of changing your position to get more votes. A candidate who flip-flops for political gain usually gives a bad impression. Voters come to know you as a flip-flopper. Another, more neutral expression that means about the same as "flip-flop" is to do a 180. (By the way, you can spell one-eighty with either numbers or letters. The pronunciation is the same.) If you turn 180 degrees around a circle, you will be facing in the opposite direction. So, you can use this term simply to mean turn around. For example, you could say that when your friend saw her ex-boyfriend coming toward her at a party, she did a 180 and quickly walked away. That is the literal meaning. Figuratively, doing a 180 means you completely change your opinion, or you make a big change in your lifestyle. In our earlier example about flip-flopping from being a vegetarian to eating meat, you could also say you did a 180. That expression sounds less critical than flip-flop. At work, you may not want to say that your boss flip-flopped on an important issue. Saying she did a 180 is more polite. You could also say that she reversed her earlier opinion. Better still, you can say her opinion evolved. Using the word evolved gives the impression that she changed her opinion over a long period of time and after thinking about it very carefully. In other words, if you do not want to offend someone, you might want to save your flip-flops for the beach. And thats the end of this Words and Their Stories. Im Anna Matteo. It's gonna be another flip flop summer Kick off your shoes and call up your lover Say, "Hey baby, the winter is over. Let's head South awhile We're going to take us a long vacation Mix us up some strong libations Do you use flip-flop the same way in your language? I mean, changing your mind not the shoes. Let us know in the Comments Section! Anna Matteo wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor. The song at the end is Kenny Chesney singing Flip Flop Summer. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story sandal n. a shoe consisting of a sole strapped to the foot switch v. to shift to another electrical circuit by means of a switch : to make a change from one thing to another by turning or pushing a button or moving a switch, lever, etc. circuit n. the complete path that an electric current travels along alternate v. to place or do (different things) so that one follows the other in a repeated series evolve v. to change or develop slowly often into a better, more complex, or more advanced state : to develop by a process of evolution literal adj. in a way that uses the ordinary and usual meaning of a word : Many words can be used both literally and figuratively. figurative adj. of words, language, etc. : used with a meaning that is different from the basic meaning and that expresses an idea in an interesting way by using language that usually describes something else : not literal impression n. the effect or influence that something or someone has on a person's thoughts or feelings neutral adj. not supporting either side of an argument, fight, war, etc. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law to give greater self-rule to Muslims living in the countrys south. The legislation received full congressional approval before Duterte signed the measure on July 26. The law aims to settle a nearly 50-year-old conflict between the Philippine government and Muslims fighting for an independent state. Negotiations on the deal began more than 20 years ago. The measure is called the Bangsamoro Organic Law. The law creates an autonomous area on the southern island of Mindanao. While the rest of the Philippines is mainly Catholic, an estimated five million Muslims live in the southern area. Fighting by Muslim rebels in the south has left more than 120,000 people dead since the 1970s. The area has traditionally suffered from lower rates of employment, income, education and economic development than the rest of the country. The law gives the new autonomous region expanded political and economic powers. A government payment of about $1.3 billion is to be set aside to support new development. The measure also permits the area to collect its own taxes. The agreement aims to enforce a historic, but uneasy, peace deal between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebel group. In that 2014 peace deal, the MILF promised to give up its fight for an independent homeland and surrender weapons. In return, the group would gain expanded self-rule for the area in the south. Last year, former MILF militants helped Islamic State-linked fighters from the Philippines and other countries take over the southern city of Marawi. Philippine troops, supported by U.S. and Australian surveillance and intelligence, recaptured the city. The fighting killed more than 1,200 people. Most were Islamic fighters, but the fighting left the city in ruins. Al Haj Murad Ebrahim is head of the MILF. He told reporters he was hopeful the new law would help bring together different rebel groups and prevent fighting like what took place in Marawi. He says the measure has widespread public backing. That will make it harder for foreign extremists to form local alliances and win support. Asec Felix Castro is the local manager of the government agency in charge of rebuilding Marawi. He told VOA he thinks the new autonomous area can help people in the Muslim south if they can find the right individuals to lead self-rule efforts. Id like to think that they could achieve their hope with the proper leadership from among themselves. Henelito Sevilla is an assistant professor of international relations at the University of the Philippines. He says a sense of autonomy for Muslims should make Mindanao safer. The self-determination that they are longing for in terms of practicing their own religious and cultural rights - as well as the exploitation of their own resources - that would bring growth and development, and of course, which follows is security in their Muslim areas. People in the southern area will get the chance to approve the new law during a referendum planned for this fall. After that, President Duterte is expected to appoint an 80-member group to discuss setting up an independent parliamentary system. Im Bryan Lynn. Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from VOA News, the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. Mario Ritter was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story autonomous adj. independent; having the power to make your own decisions region n. a particular area surveillance n. the careful watching of something or someone, especially by police or the government proper adj. correct or suitable self-determination n. the ability or power to make independent decisions exploitation n. using someone or something in an unfair way referendum n. election in which people in an area vote for or against an issue of public concern Young people graduating from colleges and universities in the United States face increasing amounts of debt. Some colleges however are now offering students another way to pay for their studies. They pay for a students education in return for a percentage of the students future salary. Norwich University in the state of Vermont announced Tuesday that it will become the latest school to offer this kind of contract. The contracts are called income share agreements. Norwichs program is starting out small. It is mostly for students who cannot get other loans or those who are taking longer than the traditional eight semesters to finish their degree. Lauren Wobby is the schools chief financial officer and treasurer. Wobby said, Norwich University is committed to offering this new way to help pay for college in a way that aligns incentives and helps reduce financial barriers to degree completion. With traditional loans, students pay back the amount they borrowed, with interest, until the loan is paid off. Students with income share agreements, however, pay the school a percentage of their salary for a period of time. Those who support income share agreements say they give colleges a reason to help students find jobs that pay well after graduation. If students earn a lot of money, they can pay the college back sooner. Income share agreements also seem less risky for students who get a lower-paying job or struggle to find work after graduation. If students are unemployed or earning below a set amount of money, they do not have to pay anything back. Clare McCann is deputy director for education policy at the research group New America. She said, Taking on the debt through a contract, where you dont take on a debt per se but instead will repay a portion of your future income, has a certain appeal to students when the concept is fully explained to them. Possible problems with the agreements McCann, however, said that providers of income share agreements need to be careful. They could face unexpected problems in how they choose students for the program. For example, schools could be accused of discriminating against students who choose lower-paying professions. This is one of the biggest differences between income share agreements and federal student loans, McCann said. Federal loans offer the same terms to all borrowers. Income share agreements are not a new idea. They were first proposed by Milton Friedman in 1955. Yale University experimented with the idea in the 1970s for a short time. In the past ten years, technical training programs, such as computer-coding programs, have used income share agreements because trainees cannot get federal student loans. In 2015, Vemo Education, in Oakton, Virginia, began working with colleges and universities to design financial programs based on income. The company works with nearly 30 public and private colleges and universities, including Norwich University. Vemos first partnership was with Purdue University. It began providing money for the schools Back a Boiler income share agreement program in 2016. Andrew Hoyler, 22, graduated from Purdue last year with a degree in professional flight with the goal of becoming a pilot. Now, he is working as a pilot for American Airlines regional company, PSA Airlines. One of the biggest pros for the income share agreement was the fact that out-of-college pilots do not make a lot of money, especially looking at the costs for an educational program, Hoyler said. The terms of the agreement, such as the length of the agreement and the salary percentage, can be different for each contract. Hoyler is currently paying eight percent of his income. Since it can be difficult to predict what a students future salary will be, it is also difficult to predict how much a student will pay back over time. However, most agreements do place a limit on the amount paid back. Hoyler took out federal loans but said the income share agreement helped him avoid working several jobs while starting out last year as a flight teacher. Hoyler said he might pay more for the income share agreement over a long period of time as his salary rises, but he considers the choice worth the cost. Im Phil Dierking. David Jordan reported this story for the Associated Press. Phil Dierking adapted the story for Learning English. Mario Ritter was the editor. Would you feel rather take out a loan to pay for college or give up a percentage of your future salary? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. ______________________________________________________________ Quiz Quiz - Some Colleges Ask for Part of Future Salary Instead of Loans Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story align - v. to change (something) so that it agrees with or matches something else incentive - n. something that encourages a person to do something or to work harder income - n. money that is earned from work, investments, business, etc. per se - adv. by, of, or in itself used to indicate that something is being considered by itself and not along with other things portion - n. a part of a larger amount, area, etc. pro - n. a reason to do something salary - n. an amount of money that an employee is paid each year semester - n. one of two usually 18-week periods that make up an academic year at a school or college The combined California ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are the largest in the United States. An estimated $417 billion worth of goods pass through the two ports each year. About $362 billion of that comes from trade with the Asia Pacific area. But businesses using the ports are expecting a sharp rise in shipping costs because of tariffs announced by the United States and China. Liang Liang owns an import company in Los Angeles that deals mainly with toys and clothes from China. He told VOA he has had concerns about his business in recent weeks after hearing about planned tariff increases. I have been watching the news every day. When will the tariffs be put in place? When are my goods arriving? Its a fight against time. Im trying to order all my products for the rest of the year. Liang said he expects a 10- to 20-percent increase in shipping costs if a trade war breaks out between the U.S. and China. He said if tariffs were to increase more than 20 percent, he would be forced to raise the prices of his goods. Stephen Cheung is president of the Los Angeles-based World Trade Center. The center provides assistance to international companies seeking to bring or expand operations in the area. He said that as tariffs from both countries increase the cost of goods, manufacturers and sellers may order fewer products. This, Cheung said, would result in a decrease in overall trade between the U.S. and China. Once that happens, youre going to see an increase in the rates for shipping. Because when you dont have the volume to justify the goods going back and forth, you are going to see a further increase in that shipping cost. Cheung said this rise in shipping costs would eventually result in higher prices for people buying the products. Other officials at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach say it is still too early to tell what effect additional trade tariffs will have. Duane Kenagy is currently deputy director of the Port of Long Beach. He told VOA that so far, the port has seen record container business this year. For now, Kenagy is waiting to see how different businesses change their supply operations to deal with the tariff environment. But he warned that a continuing trade war could be devastating to both the U.S. and Chinese economies. President Donald Trump and other U.S. officials have accused China of carrying out unfair trading practices. The officials say tariffs are needed to reduce a large trade imbalance. The United States imported more than $500 billion in Chinese goods last year, compared to $130 billion in U.S. products exported to China. Importer Liang Liang remains hopeful that a U.S.-China trade war can be avoided. He said he thought recent announcements on tariffs were made for political purposes and may not last. Stephen Cheung said he understands the reasons the United States decided to announce heavy tariffs on Chinese imports. But he urged administration officials to carefully consider how such changes will affect local importers. What are the steps youre going to use to mitigate some of these damages that will be happening to the local community? These are huge issues that have not been addressed yet, he said. Im Bryan Lynn. Elizabeth Lee reported this story for VOA News. Bryan Lynn adapted it for Learning English, with additional information from other sources. Ashley Thompson was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story tariff n. tax on goods coming into or leaving a country volume n. the number or amount of something justify v. to give a good enough reason to make something seem acceptable devastating adj. causing great damage or harm mitigate v. reduce the harmful effects of something eventually adv. at some later time toy n. object for children to play with In a new, two-level building near low-cost housing, more than 20 women, all covered in brightly colored clothing, listen to their teacher. He speaks to them in two languages, Hausa and Kanuri. He explains how the women can save money and use it together. He suggests they set up a cooperative an organization owned and operated by the people who use its services. For these women, this class is the answer to changing their lives. Some of the women are married to militants, members of Boko Haram. The group has terrorized northeastern Nigeria and nearby areas since 2009. Most of the women are widows. They are trying to provide for their children after their husbands were killed. Others say their husbands are being held by the government. All of the women say they face stigma in their communities. People are afraid. Some people, because of who they think my husband was, they wont even like to help me, said Aisha Ali, a mother of eight children. Seeking financial independence Her husband was killed by Nigerian security forces. She wants to separate herself from Boko Haram. Like the other women, Ali knows that she needs to have business skills because some of her neighbors are too afraid to give her financial help Ali has been coming to the Future Prowess womens skills training center to learn the art of weaving. All of her financial hopes lie in becoming an expert weaver. This training that I am receiving will help me and my children and, if possible, help me take them to school and end my suffering, Ali told VOA. The Future Prowess Islamic Foundation School teaches business and artisanal skills to women, while a local nongovernmental organization operates a nearby school for some of their children. Some of them, their parents were killed in their presence, says Suleiman Aliyu, the head of the school. We try to organize a trauma session for the new ones that will be enrolled plus their mothers. The school, which receives aid from nongovernment agencies, operates on trust and keeps personal information private. Teachers do not tell anyone which students are the children of Boko Haram members. The effects of the militant groups violence can be seen across the Borno State capital, which is where the group started. Some schools are still being re-built following Boko Haram attacks. Thousands of people whose homes and villages were destroyed still live in camps around the city. Since 2009, Boko Haram forces have destroyed homes, crops, bridges and other infrastructure. The World Bank and the Nigerian government estimate the group has caused about $9 billion worth of damage just in northern Nigeria. But there is no value that can be put on the damage and trauma done to the lives of people who call the area home. Support program for the women Back at the training center, widows of Boko Haram members work side-by-side with widows of men who were killed by Boko Haram. At first, getting the women to sit together was difficult. They were required to join in a support program to talk about the violence they experienced. Kamil Issa, the administration assistant for the Future Prowess training program for women, described the discussions. This one is not the one that killed you, this one is not the one that killed, she said. Hadiza Alis husband died of a heart attack four years ago. He once belonged to Boko Haram. Ali says she is seeing results after attending the training program. Even right now, Ive been making bags and I sold some four bags, Hazida Ali said. These women hope for a new start, away from a life of terror and violence, to a life of financial security and happiness. Im Susan Shand. VOAs Chika Oduah reported this story. Susan Shand adapted her story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. _________________________________________________________________ NOTICE: TO BE CLEAR: WE HAVE OUTLINED UNDER OUR RECORD MAINTENANCE POLICY WHAT WE BELIEVE TO BE A FAIR PROCESS FOR ALL. SIMPLY PUT: IF THE COURT SAW FIT TO EXPUNGE YOUR RECORD,SO WILL WE, FREE OF CHARGE. ARRESTS DO NOT IMPLY GUILT AND CRIMINAL CHARGES ARE MERELY ACCUSATIONS,EVERYONE IS PRESUMED INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY IN A COURT OF LAW AND CONVICTED. 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But taking no chances, the European Union is set to propose a tough new law anyway threatening internet platforms, big and small, with fines if they fail to take down terrorist material, according to people familiar with the proposals that could be unveiled as soon as September. While the details of the measures are still being thrashed out, they would likely be based on the EU guidance from earlier this year, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the details arent yet public. The EU in March issued guidelines giving internet companies an hour from notification by authorities to wipe material such as gruesome beheading videos and other terror content from their services, or face possible legislation if they fail to do so. Its true that the positive role that some of the big companies are playing today is incomparable to the situation three years ago, said Gilles de Kerchove, the EUs anti-terrorism czar. But so is the scale, breadth and complexity of the problem. An additional step in the response is essential, he said, given the diverse online aspects of the recent attacks in Europe. Big Strides Large tech firms say theyve been making big strides in the fight to wipe terror propaganda, videos and other messages from their sites, partly thanks to automated tools that in some cases can detect such content before users even see it. We havent had any major incidents to rush legislation, said Siada El Ramly, head of Edima, a European trade association representing online platforms including Google, Facebook and Twitter. Online services take the fight against terrorist content extremely seriously, said Maud Sacquet, senior manager for public policy at the Computer & Communications Industry Association, an industry group that includes Google and Facebook as members. This proposal seems rushed and its publication in the fall much too early to take into account the outcomes of already ongoing EU initiatives, she said. A commission spokeswoman declined to provide more details on the proposals. Violent Extremism In April, Google said more than half of the YouTube videos it removes for violent extremism have fewer than 10 views. Facebook said the same month that in the first quarter of this year it either removed, or in a small amount of cases flagged for informational purposes, a total of 1.9 million pieces of Islamic State and al-Qaeda content. Twitter says it has suspended a total of more than one million accounts, with 74 percent of accounts suspended before their first tweet. Some European member states have been vocal about the dangers of online radicalization and the spread of terror propaganda, particularly in the wake of deadly terror attacks in some European capitals in recent years. In a speech in April, French President Emmanuel Macron called on internet giants to speed up their process to remove terror content. Germany didnt wait around and last year pushed ahead with new rules that threaten social networks with fines of as much as 50 million euros ($58 million) if they fail to give users the option to complain about hate speech and fake news or refuse to remove illegal content. Gaming the Systems For companies, detecting harmful content is a constant battle as some groups continue to try to game their systems to spread their messages online as widely as possible. One tool thats helped: a shared industry database, among Google, Twitter, Facebook and other companies, of known terrorist videos and images so they can see what each others platforms have taken down and remove the same content on their own websites. Europol has said the cooperation with the big internet platforms on taking down terror content that they flag is excellent. The agency works with more than 70 internet and media companies and on average they remove more than 90 percent of the content thats flagged to them within two to three hours. While big platforms have been able to speed up their removals, any legislation could hit smaller companies with fewer tools disproportionately harder. And excluding them from the scope of the law could make them more attractive for terrorist groups and their fans to carry their communications over to those platforms. No Clarity For Edima, the concern is the threat of fines could force companies to err on the side of over-removal if there isnt sufficient clarity around when time-frames for removal begin or what groups are considered terror organizations, for instance. Were concerned that if we dont have clarity in the new rules that platforms could be forced to become the judge and jury as to how to classify that content, El Ramly said. Still, some critics say the big internet giants need to do more. The non-profit organization Counter Extremism Project, which aims to combat the threat of extremist ideologies, said in April that gaps remained in Facebook and others companies approaches to combating extremism. The group said Facebook has only emphasized the removal of Islamic State and al-Qaeda content and has provided insufficient transparency about its progress in removing content from other extremist groups. Facebook didnt respond to requests for comment. Google and Twitter didnt comment on the EUs legislation. Now read: Twitter plunges most in four years after monthly user drop Istanbul changes name of street named after famous Armenian engineer again US supports Taiwan's participation in the United Nations' system Armenia's economic activity indicator continues to decline Armenia President Armen Sarkissian pays historic visit to Saudi Arabia Turkey's Erdogan: If Armenia "solves problems with Baku", there will be no other obstacle for normalization of relations Honorary Citizen of Yerevan title bestowed upon cultural figures on occasion of city's 2,803rd birthday Yerevan Council of Elders decides to place memorial plaques for four famous people Mayor: There are three times more vaccinated citizens in Yerevan than in the whole country Yerevan mayor: There is no alternative to conservation of trash chutes in apartment buildings Latvia President recovers from COVID-19 Armenia Health Ministry: Foreigners and stateless persons can receive AstraZeneca and Sputnik V vaccines Tert.am: Resident of Armenia's Goris: Azerbaijanis stopped my car, hit it and used swear words Australian MP talks about Azerbaijan's aggression, calls for maintenance of ceasefire Yerevan mayor says he has never made exception for anyone since first day of office Armenia Deputy PM presents Government's Action Plan to ambassadors and representatives of international organizations Trade turnover between Eurasian Economic Union countries grows by 31.3% in eight months of 2021 armtimes.com: Armenia ruling party's candidate in Vedi is ex-governor of Ararat Province Garik Sargsyan MP says only 7% of Armenia's population is vaccinated Turkish FM threatens to resign due to scandal over ambassadors Armenia opposition MP: 11% increase of military budget is rather low indicator in post-war period Armenia removed from list of countries whose citizens are permitted to enter Italy Armenia emergency situations minister receives Poland Ambassador New generation business is founded in Armenia Ameriabank and HSBC Armenia to provide their customers access to each others ATMs without additional fees Armenian legislature speaker meets with Cyprus-Armenia parliamentary cooperation committee chair Aliyev, Erdogan attend groundbreaking of Zangezur corridor in occupied territories of Artsakh Driver of Armenia MOD truck runs over female pedestrian in Yerevan who dies at hospital China FM calls on US to lift sanctions against Afghanistan Armenia legislature concludes closed discussion of situation on line of contact with Azerbaijan Armenia former deputy PM, now MP Gevorgyan not ruling out petitioning to international courts to protect his rights Armenia Police: Criminal case is launched in regard to police beating citizen in front of his children's eyes Dollar stable in Armenia How 2 sisters died in Armenias Aragatsotn Province? Armenia opposition MP candidate not elected vice-chairman of parliamentary committee for ninth time Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan, ex-deputy PM and now MP Gevorgyan criminal case judge denies self-recusal motion Substitute for General Affairs of Holy See to visit Armenia Armenia PM sending deputy environment minister to Great Britain for 16 days Armenia Gegharkunik Province governor has new deputy Armenia PM dismisses head of one of divisions of Office of High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs Armen Sarkissian: Armenia-Uzbekistan cooperation will be further strengthened through joint efforts Fotis Fotiou: Armenia-Cyprus-Greece trilateral relations are one of Cyprus' priorities Armenia parliament holding closed discussion on situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani line of contact Aliyev, Erdogan launch international airport in Artsakhs occupied Varanda-Fizuli Tense situation in Armenia parliament Government proposes to reduce Armenia citizenship application review period World gold prices dropping Armenia ex-President Kocharyan, former deputy PM and now MP Gevorgyan criminal case court hearing resumes 2 more persons die of coronavirus in Artsakh Dead body of Armenia village girl, 11, taken to hospital Lawyer: Armenia military given time to either submit vaccination certificate or resignation from service World oil prices going up 1,517 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia State minister: It will be possible to reach final settlement of Karabakh conflict through long, difficult struggle Armenia official on reducing New Year holidays: I saw every day how unprepared we were for war Azerbaijan border issue to be discussed in Armenia National Assembly behind closed doors Russia MFA: Moscow is optimistic about prospects of investing in Armenia Armenia opposition MPs greet released fellow opposition lawmaker with applause in legislature 2 foreigners get lost in forest near Armenia lake 3 dead, 1 injured after SUV falls into gorge in Armenia Armenia parliament kicks off regular sessions Elephant tramples poacher to death in South Africa's famed Kruger National Park Newspaper: Amnesty to be declared in Armenia Newspaper: Opposition Armenia bloc to run in Vanadzor local elections? Famous Istanbul Armenian linguist is deported from Greece Erdogan renounces threats to expel ambassadors of 10 countries Official: Armenia universities to hold classes online, schools to extend autumn break for a week Commemorative fountain unveiled in memory of Armenia serviceman who fell in 44-day Karabakh war Armenia army's General Staff deputy chief's attorney on client's case over missiles, demands that they are fired Earthquake hits 8 km east from Armenia's Bavra, felt in Shirak and Lori Provinces China FM to meet with the Taliban in Qatar Armenia Parliament Speaker, Cyprus FM discuss issues on regional and bilateral agendas Armenia Parliament Council holds session, 18 items on agenda for plenary session on Oct. 26 Armenia Deputy Prosecutor General discusses nature protection rights in basin of Araks River and cooperation with Iran Armenia parliament sets up committee to lead probe into facts impeding fair trial Armenia Deputy PM Suren Papikyan visits Zangezur Copper-Molbydenum Combine Erdogan to leave for Azerbaijan to attend opening of airport in seized Varanda of Karabakh Armenia Parliament Speaker-led delegation meets with Cyprus defense minister Armenia Parliament Speaker holding meetings in Cyprus NATO Secretary General: Too early to comment on Turkey's decision to declare 10 countries' envoys 'persona non grata' Earthquake hits Armenia, felt in Gyumri, Spitak and Tashir Dollar goes up in Armenia Azerbaijan defense minister receives NATO delegation Iran, Armenia reach agreement on use of alternative routes for transport of goods EU is closely following situation created after Turkey decided to expel envoys Turkey offers Russia to join NATO Armenia National Security Service left several examinations incomplete in ex-defense minister case, says his lawyer Armenia Finance Ministry: Construction and industry might become main engine of economic growth in 2022 Finance minister: Armenia government national debt payment spending will continue to increase in 2022 Opposition 'Armenia' faction MP: Rallies and marches might be held sooner than Nov. 9 Azerbaijans levying of tolls from Iranian trucks is against trilateral agreement, says Iran ambassador to Armenia Direct passenger flights between Yerevan, Vilnius to kick off mid-December Artsakh offers to return Azerbaijani paintings in exchange for Armenian ones remaining in now-occupied Shushi Armenia ruling party, opposition ARF to run for post of Ijevan mayor One more person dies of coronavirus in Karabakh Artsakh state minister, US lawmaker discuss cooperation Armenia opposition MP, ex-defense minister: 'Unblocking of transport roads' will lead to deeper blockade Premier: Armenia has no intention to conquer territories Pashinyan: Border delimitation start to create favorable conditions for Azerbaijan army withdrawal from Armenia 1,184 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia PM: Projects launched to turn Armenia from raw material exporting country to developed metallurgical nation A US federal judge Friday rejected gun control groups; appeal to stop a local company from releasing gun designs online that will allow anyone to download them and print 3D guns, Xinhua reported quoting local media. District Judge Robert Pitman in Austin, Texas, said he was sympathetic to the groups' concerns but questioned their legal standing to intervene in the case. The emergency motion was filed by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Everytown for Gun Safety, and the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence after the Justice Department reached a settlement with Texas-based Defense Distributed, a gun rights activist group, to allow it to publish blueprints of firearms that can be 3D printed, and other information online. Cody Wilson, the group's founder, said the blueprints will be available on Aug. 1. "This legal victory is the formal beginning to the era of downloadable guns," Wilson told tech website TechCrunch. In 2013, the government had banned Wilson from publishing downloadable designs of a 3D-printed firearm, saying it violated the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, which are government regulations to control the export and import of defense-related articles and services. Wilson sued the authorities in 2015, saying the decision violated his constitutional rights to keep and bear arms, the Chicago Tribune reported. About 57 acres of usable land remains at Titan Industrial Park, to be sold in lots ranging from 6.5 to 16 acres. With the planned expansions, Environmental extremists are responsible for Californias chronic power shortages The summer of 2018 is shaping up to be historic as temperatures soar around the country to new highs, especially in the desert areas of the West and Southwest. One state that has been particularly hard-hit is California. On a recent day, temperatures climbed to 122 F in Palm Springs. Besides creating new drought conditions, the excessive heat in the Golden State is also causing another problem: Brownouts due to power shortages mostly tied to increased air conditioner use. As The Daily Caller reported Tuesday, the demand for power is outstripping the states ability to provide it by as much as 5,000 megawatts per day, leading Californias power grid operator to call on residents to cut electricity usage at peak times while temperatures remain elevated. Due to high temperatures in California and most of the western U.S., the California Independent System Operator Corporation (ISO) has issued a statewide Flex Alert that calls for voluntary electricity conservation from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday, July 24, and Wednesday, July 25, said a Flex Alert from the California Independent System Operator (CAISO). Consumers are urged to conserve electricity, especially during the late afternoon and evening when air conditioners typically are at peak use. Consumers can help avoid power interruptions by turning off all unnecessary lights, using major appliances before 5 p.m. and after 9 p.m., and setting air conditioners to 78 degrees or higher, the alert continued. Whats interesting to note is that state officials were warned about this eventuality in May. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) warned that both California and Texas faced significant risk of encountering operating conditions that could result in operating reserve shortfalls if summer heat was severe. And it is. But whats causing the problem in California? In a word, liberalism. Bad planning, bad policies Back in 2007, then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a RINO who allowed himself to be brainwashed by the Lefts human-caused global warming hoax, signed Democratic legislation mandating reductions in greenhouse gas emissions down to 1990s levels by 2020, and all but eliminating them by 2015. At the time he signed the bill, the Global Warming Solutions Act, Schwarzenegger chastised the rest of the country for failing to follow the environmental leadership of the Golden State. Blasting the Bush administration, the Governator lectured, It would not act, so California did. California has taken the leadership in moving the entire country beyond debate and denial to action. While Arnie and Democrats were patting themselves on the back, they forgot to factor in two things: Growth and reality. (Related: UN official actually ADMITS that global warming is a scam designed to change worlds economic model.) According to City Journal in 2008: In truth, however, the Golden States energy leadership is a mirage. Californias environmental policies have made it heavily dependent on other states for power; generated some of the highest, business-crippling energy costs in the country; and left it vulnerable to periodic electricity shortages. Its economic growth has occurred not because of, but despite, those policies, which would be disastrous if extended to the rest of the country. Through the years California Leftists in government and in environmental groups pushed for more clean energy solar panels, especially while deemphasizing statewide fossil fuel-driven energy production. The result: Not only is California a net power importer, as the states population has exploded thanks primarily to the tech industry, its dream of a completely clean-energy production grid has never been realized. At the same time, the brainiacs in Sacramento are also shutting down the one true emissions-free source that can generate sizable amounts of power: Nuclear plants. California has mandated that 50 percent of its electricity come from renewable energy by 2030, notes the Institute for Energy Research, calling the states power shortage self-inflicted. California has been designing through regulation and mandates an electricity system largely dependent on the weather. Time will tell how this experiment works out. Read more about junk environmental science at JunkScienceWatch.com. J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel. Sources include: DailyCaller.com NaturalNews.com City-Journal.org Geraint Thomas broke down in tears as he embraced his wife, realising he cant be beaten in the Tour de France. No longer merely a support rider for Chris Froome, the Welshman with Team Sky effectively sealed his first Tour de France title by protecting his lead in the time trial on the penultimate stage on Saturday. Thomas takes an advantage of 1 minute 51 seconds over Tom Dumoulin into the mostly ceremonial finish on the Champs-Elysees on Sunday. Its just overwhelming, Thomas said. I didnt think about it all race and now suddenly I won the Tour. Dumoulin won the 20th stage by one second from four-time champion Froome, who leapfrogged Primoz Roglic into third place overall. It was Dumoulins second career stage win in the Tour, having also won a time trial in 2016. Thomas finished third in the stage, 14 seconds behind. Beautiful scenes. Image: Getty That was more than enough with an advantage of more than two minutes at the start of the day. The strongest guy has won this Tour de France, Froome said. Tomorrow, to stand up on the podium with G, its going to be a really proud moment for me. Thomas, known as G, was a support rider during Froomes title rides but he became Skys undisputed leader when Froome cracked in the grueling 17th stage through the Pyrenees. Wearing an all-yellow skin suit on a bike in the red, white and blue colors of the British flag, Thomas was the last rider to start the time- trial and was fastest at two checkpoints before slowing in the final kilometres. At the finish, Thomas let out a loud scream and held his arms out wide in celebration. He embraced his wife, Sara Elen, as soon as he got off his bike. The last time I cried was when I got married, Thomas said as he teared up. Thomas is poised to become the third British rider and first from Wales to win the Tour after Bradley Wiggins and Froome. He will make it Skys sixth victory in the last seven years. Thomas claimed the yellow jersey by winning Stage 11 in the Alps, followed that up with another victory atop Alpe dHuez a day later, and defended his advantage through the Pyrenees. Story continues He was in the shape of his life, Dumoulin said. He didnt make any mistakes. He was never put into trouble by anyone, in the mountains or anywhere including by myself. Australias Michael Hepburn (Mitchelton-Scott) delivered a strong ride to finish 10th after laying down an early marker of 42:15. A screenshot showing the refund Telecommunications company, Airtel Uganda has started refunding customers who paid the 1% mobile money tax. This month, telecoms; Airtel, MTN and Africell Uganda started charging 1% on mobile money transactions including on withdrawals, sending, deposits and payments after the new tax regime passed by parliament and assented to by President Yoweri Museveni came into effect on July 1. However, the tax including the social media daily tax of Shs 200 triggered massive outcry in the country. On July 13, Museveni in a statement said that Ugandans who paid the 1% per cent mobile money tax be refunded as the the 1% levy was passed by parliament and signed by him in error. He ordered the tax be reduced to 0.5 per cent and be charged on only withdrawals. Government also brought an amendment bill currently before parliament to effect the changes. Following the president's directive, Airtel customers have started receiving the refund. Airtel public relations officer, Sumin Namaganda says that the refund process started yesterday Saturday, July 28. Namaganda however declined to reveal any further details, saying that Airtel will issue a formal communication soon. It is not yet immediately clear whether other telecoms; MTN and Africell have also adhered to the directive. Officials from both telecoms could not be reached for a comment. Ben Abaho an MTN and Airtel customer says that he is yet to receive the refund. He however welcomed the move to refund the money but urged government to always consult with the people before coming up such policies that he called anti-people and anti-developmental. Anthony Nuwagaba an Airtel customer confirmed receiving the refund but wondered how government let the 1% levy be charged in the first place if it was meant to be 0.5%. He says he's worried this could be a ploy to hoodwink the enraged public and ease the public pressure before reverting to the 1% charge. Two weeks ago, the tax body, Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) and the three telecoms were sued at the High court for orders that they immediately refund the one per cent tax that they illegally collected from mobile money depositors. The suit was filed by two concerned citizens; John Robert Tukyakira and Anthony Odur who accuse telecom companies and URA of illegally and erroneously collecting this tax. It is not clear how much tax has been collected by the telecoms much as the Finance State Minister David Bahati claimed that government had raised Shs 5bn from mobile money tax and Shs 2bn from the social media tax in less than two weeks after the new taxes were introduced. Uganda Revenue Authority spokesman Vincent Seruma told The Observer recently, We have no idea how much money has been collected since they started levying the two taxes as the telecom companies are yet to report back on how much money has been collected." Officials from the two major telecoms, MTN and Airtel have reportedly huge losses following a quiet public stay-away protest against both the mobile money tax and social media tax. Several mobile money agents have also reported significant drop in business while others have been forced to close shop altogether. Malians go to the polls on Sunday to determine whether to grant a second term to President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. Zimbabweans will cast votes Monday in the first election since longtime leader Robert Mugabe was forced to resign in November. Whether constituents have confidence in the results of these elections and those in at least two other sub-Saharan African countries in coming months [or: and those in Cameroon in October and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in December] depends on whether they perceive the vote as free and fair. Much of that responsibility falls to election organizers. In Mali, thats at least three separate entities. In Zimbabwe, its the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), a nominally independent body. The challenge many election bodies have is living up to the expectation of independence and the integrity with which they do their work, said Rushdi Nackerdien, African regional director for the International Foundation for Electoral Systems. The foundation, based just outside of Washington, D.C., provides technical support and guidance for democracies. Youve got a lot of cynicism that has crept into citizens belief about democracy, he added. Numerous countries have seen increasing attacks on core elements of democracies, including guarantees of free and fair elections, the international watchdog group Freedom House reported early this year. A Gallup poll shows that fewer than half of Zimbabweans (47 percent) are confident in the honesty of their countrys elections. While thats down nine points from two years ago, it is still the highest rating in any election year in the past decade, Gallup noted in a Twitter post on Friday. Nackerdien acknowledged the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has done some things to shore up confidence, such as allowing international observers including the first European Union team in 16 years and making voter rolls public. U.S. senator Jeff Flake, a Republican lawmaker, also will be among the observers. The United States has said lifting sanctions imposed on Mugabe and those close to him for allegedly rigging votes and violating human rights would depend in part on whether the southern African countrys elections are fair and transparent. But ZEC also has been dogged by controversies, including accusations that it favors the ruling Zanu-PF party and that its ballot paper design unfairly benefits incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa. The 75-year-olds chief rival, in a field of 22 presidential candidates, is Nelson Chamisa, a 40-year-old lawyer who leads the opposition Movement for Democratic Change Alliance. More than 5 million Zimbabweans are registered to vote Monday in the general elections and tightening presidential contest. A candidate must get at least 50 per cent of all votes to win the presidency, or it will be decided by a runoff on September 8. Fears persist about election-related attacks, which killed dozens in 2008. IFES Nackerdien said special electoral courts have been set up that will be looking at aggressive perpetrators of violence. Mali elections In Mali, the West African countrys 8 million registered voters can choose Sunday among 24 candidates for president. If no candidate wins a majority, the election will be decided in an August 12 runoff. The country has experienced persistent violence since a 2012 separatist uprising in the north, with terror attacks plaguing the northern and central regions. Voters neednt be fearful, according to the governments ministry of Territorial Administration, one of several entities in charge of the election. Souleymane Amadou Sangare, its director general, told VOA this week that the government will assume its responsibility when it comes to security. The IFES Nackerdien cited a challenge in holding elections in such an insecure environment, noting that in some parts of the Malian countryside ... you dont even have precinct administrators who are looking into preparations. Corruption also is an issue in Mali elections, prospective voters told VOAs Bambara Service earlier this week. In the capital city of Bamako, a woman said she was paid the equivalent of $3 to attend a campaign rally earlier this week, though she would not disclose for which candidate. If it is Gods will, if somebody give me money, I vote for him, she said, asking that her name be withheld. We dont trust politicians. They only come see us when we need us... Thats why we ask them to give us something. Nackerdien said the governments involvement in the election fosters some distrust among citizens. To improve the public trust and election coordination, theres a big need to look post election at reforms to organize into a single entity. He encouraged more transparency especially in political climates that have become so adversarial and polarized. We need electoral management bodies not only to stick to their technical work but to engage more with the public, Nackerdien said. .... They need to be letting voters know what they are doing, that their votes are not going to be stolen. In Zimbabwe, the ZEC said it is monitoring media to ensure balanced coverage. .... But an officer with the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe representing an assortment of journalists and educators complained in May of threats against media freedom, which pose a chilling effect on citizens right to free expression and access to information. ... Nickerdien called for more independent and professional media reporting...We need to know that theyll referee. With organizers, he added, the big question is how theyre going to stand up to scrutiny in the heat and pressure of the actual election. Wind energy in Europe is expanding, but it is not expanding evenly across the continent, a new report from Wind Europe has revealed. During the first half of the year, there were a total 4.4 GW in new additions, with 3.3 GW of these onshore and the rest offshore. Aside from the fact that this figure was 1.7 GW lower than the new wind farm additions for the first half of 2017, which was expected, the wind energy association seems concerned that in offshore installations the UK was the runaway leader with 911 MW installed during the first half. Belgium was a distant second with 175 MW, and Denmark an even more distant third with 28 MW. In offshore wind, Europe is too dependent on the UK, which is striding ahead in current installations and in committing to future volumes. By contrast, the rate of new installations has slowed down in Germany. Other countries also need to beef up and speed up their plans on offshore wind, WindEuropes CEO Pierre Tardieu said, commenting on the report. The concept that all European countries should strive for a more even share in total wind power capacity is a little eccentric: not all European countries have the kindand the lengthof coastline the UK has, which has been instrumental in its advance as a top offshore wind performer in Europe. There is also the question of individual priorities among European countries when it comes to renewable energy. Germany is a case in point: it was the leader in new onshore wind farm additions, with 1.626 GW added during the first half of the year. Yet at the same time, it added fewer offshore wind farms than the same time last year. According to Tardieu, this has to change. Related: Chinas CNPC To Invest $22 Billion In New Oil Frontier This attitude that requires constant growth in both onshore and offshore wind installations is, once again, a little eccentric. After all, while renewable power is, as the name clearly suggests, non-finite, the space where renewable power installations can be assembled is very finite, and with wind there are considerations such as proximity to populated areas because of the noise issue. But the uneven pace of new wind farms is not the only concern of Tardieu. The chief executive is also worried about the tardiness of Germanys government in confirming tenders for new wind power additions to the tune of 4 GW for 2019 and 2020. This visibility is key to the supply chain and to keep wind energy jobs and growth in Europe. Investments in manufacturing, skills and R&D only happen when governments give long-term visibility to the supply chain, Tardieu said, noting that this visibility will be among the tools that will help Europe meet its stated target of generating 32 percent of its energy from renewable resources by 2030 and not just meet it, but do it cost effectively. The European Union agreed last month to work for expanding the share of renewables in its energy mix to 32 percent from a more modest target of 27 percent tabled in 2016. The new target reflected the falling costs and growing competitiveness of renewables, Wind Energy reported at the time. Perhaps in this context of falling costs it is indeed worrying that new wind installations in a market such as Germany are slowing down: two industry groups said the new onshore additions for H1 2018 were down 29 percent on the year. Thats again because of the lack of certainty the government will tender all the new capacity planned as part of EU-wide efforts to expand renewables. Some believe the EU renewables target is too ambitious. Perhaps a slight consolation could come from the fact that wind additions have been on the rise in non-EU countries in the region as well: Turkey added 141 MW in the first half of the year, for example, ranking fourth on the onshore list of additions, ahead of Sweden, Spain, and Norway. All new wind farms should be good for the climate change fight, after all. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The suspension of oil shipments through the strait of Bab el-Mandeb this week by Saudi Arabia, coming shortly after a threat by Iran to shut the strait of Hormuz, raised a lot of questions about the vulnerability of the oil trade to just a handful of chokepoints around the world. But what are countries and oil producers doing to alleviate that risk? In a previous article, I detailed the top 4 chokepoints that pose a risk to oil supplies. Lets look now at some of the projects and schemes intended to work around those chokepoints. Strait of Hormuz Nearly a fifth of the oil trade, or nearly 19 million barrels per day (mb/d) of crude oil, passes through the Strait of Hormuz, combined with nearly a third of global LNG supplies. Saudi Arabia and the UAE each have pipelines that have the capability to ship oil outside of the Persian Gulf, circumventing the Strait of Hormuz, but by and large these options are operating way below capacity. Saudi Arabia has the nearly 750-mile Petroline (or East-West Pipeline), which runs across Saudi Arabia from the oil fields in the East to the Red Sea in the West at the Yanbu port. (The old Trans-Arabian Line, which ran from Saudi Arabia to Lebanon, has been out of service for decades). (Click to enlarge) Through the Petroline system, some Saudi oil can avoid having to pass through the Strait of Hormuz (or Bab el-Mandeb for that matter), linking up with tankers in the Red Sea and from there towards the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean. The pipeline system, consisting of two lines, has a capacity of 4.8 mb/d. According to S&P Global Platts, the system has a throughput of about 1.9 mb/d, which means that 2.9 mb/d of the systems capacity sits idle. According to the EIA, Saudi Aramco announced plans a while ago to boost capacity at the East-West pipeline to as much as 7 mb/d, with the intention of bringing the addition online by the end of this year, but has made little progress on that front. In addition, the UAE has the Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline, which has a capacity of 1.5 mb/d. The pipeline runs from the Habshan onshore field in Abu Dhabi to Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman, bypassing Hormuz. S&P Global Platts says about 0.5 mb/d is running through that line, with 1 mb/d of unused capacity. Related: Tight Oil Markets Are Ignoring Supply Risk (Click to enlarge) The Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline runs from Abu Dhabi to Fujairah, bypassing Strait of Hormuz Meanwhile, Iran has spent several decades mulling over plans to build out oil export capacity on its southeastern coast beyond the Strait of Hormuz, in the event of disruption at its main terminal at Kharg Island inside the Persian Gulf. Iran launched a tender last year to build a section of the pipeline, which it hopes will be online in the early 2020s. The pipeline would help move oil from the Caspian to the Gulf of Oman. (Click to enlarge) Jask, the proposed destination of a long distance pipeline that would allow Iranian oil to be exported outside of the Strait of Hormuz Strait of Malacca Over in Asia, the second largest chokepoint, the Strait of Malacca, is extremely narrow just 1.7 miles wide at its narrowest point. Through that Strait more than 16 mb/d of oil travels. China is overwhelmingly dependent on the Strait, and this vulnerability has led to several Chinese initiatives to find alternatives. Top of the list is the Myanmar-China pipeline, which started operations a little more than a year ago after years of delay. The pipeline was part of Chinas One Belt, One Road program, a massive infrastructure campaign across much of Asia. The pipeline loads oil shipments from the Bay of Bengal, and ships it to Chinas Yunnan province, where PetroChina has a refinery. The pipeline has a capacity of 440,000 bpd. There is also a natural gas pipeline that runs along the same route, with a capacity of 424 billion cubic feet per year. (Click to enlarge) China has also been considering a multi-billion-dollar pipeline that would carry crude oil from Pakistans coastal port of Gwadar to Western China. That initiative has not broken ground, although Gwadar figures into a much broader strategic plan for China, beyond oil shipments. Related: Oil Prices Slip As Rig Count Inches Higher (Click to enlarge) Suez Canal The Suez Canal is a third major chokepoint, although the upside of this one is that it is located in a single country, not between multiple countries, such as the Straits of Hormuz and Malacca. Still the canal cannot handle fully laden VLCCs, which means that some oil tankers have to offload their cargo onto the SUMED pipeline, which connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, bypassing the Canal. The SUMED pipeline is the only alternative route, otherwise tankers would have to travel around the southern tip of Africa, adding 2,700 miles to the trip for a tanker traveling from Saudi Arabia to the United States. There are not alternatives to the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb, expect for the aforementioned East-West pipeline in Saudi Arabia. A closure of the Strait would force tankers to travel around Africas southern coast. By and large, the alternative routes to these major chokepoints are only partial-solutions, if at all. The capacity to bypass some of the most vital bottlenecks remains relatively marginal. The oil trade is still highly dependent, and thus, highly vulnerable, to any lengthy outage. By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Amazon's controversial facial recognition program, Rekognition, falsely identified 28 members of Congress during a test of the program by the American Civil Liberties Union, the civil rights group said Thursday. In its test, the ACLU scanned photos of all members of Congress and had the system compare them with a public database of 25,000 mugshots. The group used the default "confidence threshold" setting of 80 percent for Rekognition, meaning the test counted a face match at 80 percent certainty or more. At that setting, the system misidentified 28 members of Congress, a disproportionate number of whom were people of color, tagging them instead as entirely different people who have been arrested for a crime. The faces of members of Congress used in the test include Republicans and Democrats, men and women and legislators of all ages. Amazon responded that when using facial recognition for law enforcement activities, it recommends setting the confidence threshold at 95 percent or higher. A spokesperson from Amazon Web Services said in a statement the test results could have been improved by increasing the confidence threshold. While 80 percent is an acceptable threshold for photos of everyday items and objects, it's not appropriate for identifying individuals with a "reasonable level of certainty." In its report on its findings, the ACLU said that the default setting for the program was 80 percent and that Amazon recommends that level for face-based user verification. The tool is used for facial recognition in arenas outside of law enforcement. For example, during the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May, British broadcaster Sky News used Rekognition to help it identify celebrities as they entered Windsor Castle. The software has also been used by Pinterest to match images, by stores to track people, to identify potentially unsafe or inappropriate content online and to find text in images. Privacy and policing Amazon has come under fire recently for selling the facial recognition service to law enforcement agencies because of concerns that it might be used to track people going about their daily lives, or at political protests or in other situations where most people now presume they are anonymous. Because of these concerns, civil rights groups, privacy advocates and even some Amazon employees and shareholders have asked CEO Jeff Bezos to stop allowing police and federal agencies to use the facial recognition technology. The results of the ACLU's test "demonstrate why Congress should join the ACLU in calling for a moratorium on law enforcement use of face surveillance," wrote Jacob Snow, a technology and civil liberties attorney for the ACLU of Northern California. Two years ago, Amazon built the facial and product recognition tool as a way for customers to quickly search a database of images and look for matches. Rekognition requires the user to have two sets of images. The first is generally a large database of known individuals. The user then submits images on individual which the software then compares with those in the large database to find what it believes are matches. Snow said the product has been "aggressively" marketed to police. At least two agencies, one in Orlando, Florida, and one in Washington County, Oregon, are testing Rekognition currently. The analyst in charge of Washington County's program says it would never rely on facial recognition software to so much as go up and talk to a potential suspect, much less arrest them. The department doesn't set a confidence threshold at all because all the decisions are made by humans, said Chris Adzima, the senior information systems analyst with the Washington County Sheriff's Office in Hillsboro, Oregon. "When we have an image from an active investigation, the investigator will put it into our system and the system will spit out the top five likely results. Then the investigator will look through those five to determine if any of those are possible leads," he said. Even then, the investigator has to do proper due diligence, running the name to see if the person had a record or known contact with potential victims. While Adzima said Washington County has good success in using facial recognition to help identify people who were eventually tied to crimes, "almost none of them were under a 95 percent confidence threshold," he said. Facial recognition technology was successfully used to identify the man arrested for the shooting at the Capital Gazette newsroom in Baltimore, Maryland. But the ACLU and other privacy advocates say the technology is an invasion of privacy. And they say it could be used to target and track immigrants or protesters. In May, 34 civil rights groups sent a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, saying people should be "free to walk down the street without being watched by the government." That same month, members of the Congressional Black Caucus, also sent a letter to Bezos, which said they were troubled by the "profound negative unintended consequences" this technology could have for African Americans, undocumented immigrants and protesters. "The race based 'blind spots' in artificial intelligence, especially those that are manifested in facial recognition technology, have been well documented," the letter said. These "blind spots" in facial recognition AI include an incident in 2015 where a Google photo application identified pictures of African American users as "gorillas" and a study released earlier this year from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that found facial recognition software, used to identify a person's gender, had an error rate of 0.8 percent for light-skinned men and 34.7 percent for dark-skinned women. The study used three different types of commercial facial recognition software. Six members of the Congressional Black Caucus were misidentified in the ACLU's test of Rekognition. Reps. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) and John Lewis (D-Ga.), who were both falsely identified during the test, sent a letter to Bezos on Thursday asking to meet immediately to address the "defects" of the technology "in order to prevent inaccurate outcomes." Explore further Amazon's controversial facial recognition program dropped by city of Orlando 2018 USA Today Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. In this June 1, 2018, file photo, journalists watch a giant screen as Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne speaks during the 'Capital market day' at the FCA headquarters in Balocco, Italy. Fiat Chrysler's late founding CEO Sergio Marchionne was a notorious workaholic who regularly slept on a corporate jet all the while landing in headlines for his shrewd deal-making. Despite his public profile, he kept a secret even from his board: he'd been seriously ill for more than a year. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) Fiat Chrysler's late founding CEO Sergio Marchionne was a notorious workaholic who regularly slept on a corporate jet while landing in the headlines for his shrewd deal-making. Despite his very public profile, he kept a secret even from his board: he'd been seriously ill for more than a year. Following his sudden death last week at 66, the revelation that Marchionne had kept his illness from his company and closest executives for so long has rekindled a debate over what information top executives should share about their personal life with their companies and shareholders. Most experts believe CEOs have a right to privacy, especially where their health is concerned. But some say that coming forward would help break taboos on workplace illness for other executives and workers. Top executives also need to take into account their role as a corporate officer when weighing what personal information they divulgefirst to their boards, then to their workers and the wider investing community. "I think it is classic stuff really. When you are a senior person, to be ill, there is a stigma to it," said Cary Cooper, an expert in organizational psychology and health at the Manchester Business School in Britain. "In this case, he might have thought it would adversely affect the company, or that he wouldn't be allowed to carry on." Cooper noted that the CEO of Lloyd's Bank, Antonio Horta-Osorio, had disclosed his struggle with depression, helping to open up a discussion about mental health. At the same time, many captains of industry are not willing to show their physical limits and see illness as just another obstacle to overcome. "The kind of people who get to the top are pretty resilient people, and they think they are going to overcome it anyway," Cooper said. Marchionne's case was unique because he was singularly identified with the automaker he created from two failing companies. Financial analysts, considering his plans to step down in the spring of 2019, had already expressed concern about whether any successor would be able to demonstrate his level of creativity and flexibility, most recently when Marchionne last month laid out the carmaker's five-year plan. In this Monday, Jan. 12, 2015, file photo, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne speaks at media previews for the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Fiat Chrysler's late founding CEO Sergio Marchionne was a notorious workaholic who regularly slept on a corporate jet all the while landing in headlines for his shrewd deal-making. Despite his public profile, he kept a secret even from his board: he'd been seriously ill for more than a year. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File) Jason Schloetzer, a business administration professor at Georgetown University, said he does not believe CEOs are under any legal obligation to disclose their health issues. But he added: "It would be nice for there to be an internal process through which not just the CEO, but any key member of the operating team can feel comfortable sharing personal issues that may be a risk factor to company performance." While the FCA board acted swiftly to replace Marchionne as CEO on July 21 after being told by his family that he could not return to work due to complications after shoulder surgery, the Swiss hospital where he died Wednesday later disclosed that he had been receiving cutting-edge treatment there for a serious illness for more than a year. Fiat Chrysler reacted to the disclosure with a statement saying the company had been unaware of the longer-standing state of Marchionne's health, having only been informed of the shoulder surgery last month. In the week from news of Marchionne's illness to his death, Fiat Chrysler shed nearly 11 percent on the Milan Stock Exchange amid volatile trading. The stock lost 9 percent in the same period the New York Stock Exchange. As far as Italy's market regulator, Consob, is concerned, the FCA board acted properly by replacing Marchionne as soon as it had word. He was also replaced that day as CEO of Ferrari and as chairman of CNH Industrial. Peter Henning, a former lawyer for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, said SEC action is unlikely, as there's no clear rule about what a company is supposed to disclose about a CEO's health. "It's an interesting question, about where do you draw the line between public disclosure and an individual's privacy? And the SEC has not weighed in on this, unless there is a misleading disclosure. Otherwise, the SEC is going to defer to the company," Henning said. In this June 1, 2018, file photo, John Elkann, president of the FCA Italy group, right, removes his necktie to give it to Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne prior to a press conference at the FCA headquarter, in Balocco, Italy. Giuseppe Berta, an industrial historian who has written books about Fiat and Fiat Chrysler and who personally knew Marchionne, expressed surprise that heir to the Fiat-founding Agnelli family, FCA Chairman John Elkann, had remained unaware of Marchionne's illness. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, file) At the same time, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, senior associate dean for leadership studies at Yale School of Management, said CEOs have "a moral, ethical and legal responsibility ... as an officer of the company to consider the material adverse consequences of this very important information. As an officer, you surrender some degree of privacy." Sonnenfeld said that includes not only disclosing who you do business and meet with but also health issues. He said it's up to corporate boards to have rules in place about health disclosures. He cited JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon and Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfeinboth of whom informed their boards and employees of their cancer diagnosis, continuing full duties after treatmentas two good models. Apple, on the other hand, knew about Steve Jobs' illness "but put out misinformation" when the founding CEO failed to show up at MacWorld in 2008, Sonnenfeld said. "That was worse than spins. It was falsehoods," he said. Doug Chia, executive director of the governance center at the Confidence Board think tank, said the lesson from the Marchionne case is that boards need to think about having "some kind of procedure where there is some periodic checkup on the CEO's health, or some kind of advanced agreement that the CEO will let them know about medical information." Giuseppe Berta, who has written books about Fiat and Fiat Chrysler and who knew Marchionne, expressed surprise that heir to the Fiat-founding Agnelli family, FCA Chairman John Elkann, had not known about Marchionne's illness. "Evidently, the ties between Marchionne the manager and John Elkann the shareholder were by now very deteriorated," Berta said. "Under normal circumstances, something of this sort would emerge." In this June 1, 2018, file photo, John Elkann, president of the FCA Italy group, right, holds a necktie to Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne prior to a press conference at the FCA headquarter, in Balocco, Italy. Giuseppe Berta, an industrial historian who has written books about Fiat and Fiat Chrysler and who personally knew Marchionne, expressed surprise that heir to the Fiat-founding Agnelli family, FCA Chairman John Elkann, had remained unaware of Marchionne's illness. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, file) While Marchionne had put Fiat Chrysler on a strong financial footing, having eliminated debt as long promised, Berta said hewing to that goal also meant that the carmaker did not make the investments in new products that competitors did, including for electric cars and looking ahead to greater automotive connectivity and autonomous driving. Berta speculated it was Marchionne's desire to put the company on firmer ground to meet the goals in the 5-year-plan he laid out on June 1 that led him to hide his illness. Such gestures, however, are useless hubris, experts say. "Nobodyand I mean nobodyis indispensable," Cooper said. "Everyone said 'What is going to happen to Apple after Steve Jobs?' Has it done badly?" Explore further Fiat Chrysler board meets in light of CEO's surgery 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Firefighters in Shasta County, northern California warn "erratic winds" have caused the Carr Fire to spread Around 12,000 firefighters battled Sunday to contain wildfires in California that have killed six peoplebut authorities warned "erratic" winds and dry conditions have caused the flames to grow and spread. "Very hot and dry conditions will continue over the West coast states through Sunday," the National Weather Service said early Sunday. "Conditions around the Carr wildfire near Redding, California will continue to be conducive to rapid wildfire growth and spread." Firefighters in Shasta County, in northern California, where the Carr Fire began on July 23, warned on Twitter that "erratic winds and hot, dry conditions on the #CarrFire resulted in greater growth and increased fire behavior last night." Two firefighters were killed fighting the blaze and three peoplea 70-year-old woman and her two great-grandchildren aged four and fiveperished when their Redding home was rapidly swallowed up by flames. "God almighty, I don't know what I done wrong," Melody Bledsoe's husband Ed told The Sacramento Bee, recalling how he tried to get back to the home in time. "I talked to them until the fire got them." The Carr Fireonly five percent containedhas scorched 89,194 acres (36,000 hectares), destroyed 517 buildings and damaged 135 more, according to the latest reports. By late Saturday, 38,000 people had been evacuated in Shasta County. California Governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency in the county, as well as in the counties of Lake, Napa and Mendocino. Map of the US state of California locating sites of major forest fires on July 29 He asked for federal assistance, including military aircraft, shelter supplies and water for evacuated residents in Shasta County, where he said the Carr Fire had grown "uncontrollably." US President Donald Trump signed an emergency declaration to make federal aid available to county authorities. Another northern California fire, the Mendocino Complexmade up of two fires has also burned more than 24,000 acres in total since Friday. Having rapidly spread, it was only 10 percent contained Sunday morning. Elsewhere, firefighters reported that the Ferguson fire, near Yosemite National Park, had grown only by around 1,980 acres overnightbringing the total damage to 53,646 acres since July 13and was 30 percent contained. A firefighter died battling that blaze, with seven people also injured. Meanwhile, the Cranston Fire forced the evacuation of over 7,000 people, although some were able to return to their homes early Sunday. The firesparked by humanshas destroyed 13,130 acres and is 29 percent contained. According to the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), 17 large-scale fires were burning, with 12,000 firefighters deployed across the state. Reinforcements from 13 states were already on the ground or en route from as far away as New Jersey, Florida and Maryland on the east coast. In the country as a whole, there were a total of 39 active fires, with over 239,000 acres up in flames, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Explore further Thousands flee new California blaze, governor asks aid 2018 AFP Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Until recently, few luxury houses had thought to venture out to Palo Alto Steve Jobs may have been a tech genius, but he clearly didn't care much for fashion. Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg has followed in his footsteps, sporting a plain grey T-shirt every day for yearsonly to swap it for a simple black suit to testify before Congress and the European Parliament. But Silicon Valley, whose billionaires have long stuck to basic, functional apparel, may finally be starting to get a taste for something more extravagant. Sensing an opportunity, French luxury titan Hermes has launched its 34th US store in Palo Alto, the ultra-rich beating heart of the world's technological behemoths. "We opened this new store after our San Francisco store reaped very strong results," Hermes CEO Axel Dumas told shareholders in June. "It's also a bet on the future. Right now, you can see how residents often invest more in their cars than in their clothes. We hope to be able to change that a little," Dumas added. Guillaume de Seynes, a top executive at Hermes, sees great potential in Silicon Valley. Palo Alto "isn't very far away from San Francisco, where luxury is everywhere. However, the environment is very different. People are very focused on their professional success, working very long hours", he said. Mark Zuckerberg has followed in Steve Jobs' sartorial footsteps, sporting a plain grey T-shirt every day for years For now, that potential has yet to blossom, with Silicon Valley's residents still mostly seen in jeans, T-shirts and trainers. 'Disastrous dress sense' "If you really think about it, Steve Jobs had a disastrous dress sense," Paris School of Luxury co-founder Eric Briones told AFP. "And even if it's starting to get a little better now, it's still very simplistic. But that doesn't stop (people) from earning billions!" he added. Startup business leaders have had such a huge cultural impact that firms around the world have become more casual about clothing, Briones said. "Nowadays, startup bosses are seen as the epitome of success. For them, clothing is utilitarian, functional and secondary," he added. "And if they wear a suit, they must be wrinkle-free, because they don't have the time to preen themselves. They live in the moment, zipping from one plane to the next," said Briones. Until recently, few luxury houses had thought to venture out to Palo Alto. Today, three French giantsHermes as well as Louis Vuitton and Cartierhave set up shop there. Sensing an opportunity, French luxury titan Hermes has launched its 34th US store in Palo Alto, the ultra-rich beating heart of the world's technological behemoths In neighbouring Santa Clara, high-end fashion addicts can find Christian Dior, Balenciaga and Yves Saint Laurent boutiques, all huddled together in a glitzy Californian shopping mall. But just because they don't necessarily wear designer clothing, the children of the digital revolution aren't by any means new to luxury. "This particular population segment... has already adopted luxurious lifestyle habits," said Elisabeth Ponsolle des Portes of the Comite Colbert, which groups together 82 French luxury houses specialising in fashion, gastronomy, hotels and culture. "They invest a lot in real estate, contemporary art, cars and charity. They also know a lot about wine and gastronomy," she added. 'Planting a seed' Comite Colbert has entered into a partnership with the prestigious Stanford University, located in Silicon Valley. From September, artisans will teach students the coveted techniques honed over centuries by French goldsmiths. In December, the group plans to welcome some 70 Californian industrialists and investors in Paris, where they will visit tailoring workshops and dine in Versailles"unique experiences that money can't buy", Ponsolle des Portes said. "We are planting a seed," she said, adding that it wasn't financial return that the firms were after. Silicon Valley's residents are still mostly seen in jeans, T-shirts and trainers Rather, her group wants to "to help (Silicon Valley residents) understand the difference between marketing-based luxury and the real thing". Beyond the beauty of the scarves and elegance of the bags and shoes, French luxury houses may also have another lesson in store for Silicon Valley giants. According to Ponsolle des Portes, tech companies are intrigued by "the longevity of our enterprises". Hermes was founded in Paris in 1837, Cartier in 1947, and Dior in 1946. Google was born in 1998, and Facebook in 2004. "In the Silicon Valley business model, companies are 'uberised' within five years," Ponsolle des Portes said. Explore further Yes, Mark Zuckerberg will wear a suit for Congress testimony 2018 AFP 1 hour ago Trump could get big 'bonus' shares in new social media firm NEW YORK (AP) Donald Trump's social media company will get tens of millions in special bonus shares in a new publicly traded entity if it performs well, handing the former president possibly billions Read Article Community Stories Government Confirms Blocking 15 Independent News Sites Over Poll Disruption The Cambodian government has ordered internet service providers (ISPs) to block the websites of 15 news websites of independent outlets including Voice of America for two days before and during the countrys election. The Cambodian government has ordered internet service providers (ISPs) to block at least 15 news websites of independent outlets, including Voice of America, for two days before and during the countrys election. An official Ministry of Information memo, obtained by VOA, orders the ISPs to block Voice of Americas Khmer service, Radio Free Asias Khmer service, Voice of Democracy, Vayo FM Radio, Monorom.info, and the news site of the Independent Network for Social Justice on July 28 and 29 the day of the election. A list of news outlets including Voice of America and Radio Free Asia whose sites are blocked ahead of the election. (Courtesy photo) Phos Sovann, chief of the Information Ministrys general department of information and broadcasting, confirmed the list of at least 15 websites had been ordered blocked. Frankly speaking, we cannot control the concerned media outlets. Thats it, Sovann told VOA Khmer on Saturday. Cambodian laws do not allow any kind of broadcasting on these two days including the White Day [and the Election Day], he said. Cambodias electoral law imposes a White Day in which parties are forbidden from campaigning during the 24 hours before the ballot. It apparently places no restriction on the media. Asked why these specific websites were selected for the blockage and not other, pro-government sites, Sovann said the content published and broadcast by those outlets concerned the obstructions as stated in the election law. The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), the only viable opposition to the ruling party, was dissolved by the Supreme Court in November for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government and has called on voters to boycott the election, which it says is consequently a sham. The government and the National Election Committee have argued this amounts to an obstruction of voters under the countrys election law in an interpretation rights groups have said is ridiculous. Cambodia does not enforce mandatory voting. Cnrp7.org, Khmerpolitical.com, Khmersharingnews.com, Camnews.com, Stubes.info, Pinterest.de, Vithyu.com, Freecambodia.org, and Akppure.com - most of which regularly relay the news contents and radio programs from the main news sites above round out the list of blocked sites. Sovann said the blocked outlets were citing sources who disrupted the election and were abroad referring to CNRP members who have fled into exile. Cambodian netizens began complaining on social media on Thursday night that they had lost access to numerous news websites that they routinely accessed, including RFA and VOA. Voice of Democracys media director Nop Vy confirmed that his website had been blocked since Friday. The independent media website block is an action to control all reporting about the election. It affects access to information about the election, Nop Vy said. Moeun Chhean Nariddh, director of the Cambodia Institute for Media Studies, expressed regrets about the independent media blackout. Ahead of the election, we want the public to access comprehensive information about the election process, policies of each party, and characteristics of party candidates, he said. Without the CNRP to compete, which almost defeated the government at the last national election and won close to half the popular vote in last years commune election, the long-ruling Cambodian Peoples Party is expected to win in a landslide on Sunday. We want our election environment to be calm so that the people are rightfully able to decide without consuming this kind of information [about the boycott], Sovann said. Im Vutha, spokesperson for the Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia - a semi-autonomous body that oversees all the countrys ISPs - confirmed the censorship of websites deemed to cause election disruption. Whatever activities that affect and disturb the election, we take actions [against], Im Vutha said. Any websites affecting and disturbing the election against the law, [we will] shut down. National Election Committee spokesman Hang Puthea said the NEC sent a letter yesterday to three related ministries - the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, the Ministry of Information and the Ministry of Interior - asking them to take action against any activities disturbing the election process. If those relevant ministries find out that any information from those websites [is disturbing the election], they will take actions, he said. He added that the NEC hadnt specified which websites were to be blocked. If any websites publish information and with the intention of preventing people from going to vote, that is against the law, he said. In late May the three ministries formed a joint working group to investigate fake news at the same time that the government released a new directive handing them powers to monitor and control online reporting. A letter dated April 18 from the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications to the Ministry of Information asked internet service providers to equip themselves with software which could easily filter or block any accounts and/or pages that publish content violating the law. Naly Pilorge, director of local human rights group Licadho told VOA the ISPs Cellcard and Opennet were also both blocking The Phnom Penh Post and The Cambodia Daily. Early this year, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications told all internet service providers (ISPs) in the country to block the website of The Cambodia Daily newspaper and its associated social media accounts, including Facebook and Twitter pages, according to documents obtained by VOA Khmer. The English-language Daily, which had reported critically inside Cambodia since 1993, was forced to close in September last year amid a standoff with the General Department of Taxation over an alleged bill of $6.3 million worth of back taxes. The government insisted that it was merely implementing the law and that the taxes being sought were unrelated to the Dailys critical reporting in the past. Since the papers closure in September, Cambodian internet users have complained that the Dailys website has been unavailable on certain ISPs, making it more difficult to access the newspapers extensive story archive. The Phnom Penh Post was bought by Malaysian investor in May and now under control of Cambodian lawyer Ly Tayseng, who also confirmed that the newspapers websites are also blocked though VOA Khmer could not find the outlet on the Ministrys list. Community Stories Cambodias Legal Framework Is Weaponized to Defeat the CPPs Enemies The U.S. group, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says that the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen has hindered the work local, international civil society groups prior to the July 29 vote. The government dismissed the reports findings. Local and international civil society groups operating in Cambodia face government-imposed restrictions on their operations and have been significantly hindered in their work in the lead up to Sundays general election, according to a recent report by a U.S.-based think tank. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in its report, titled Cambodia Civil Society at a Critical Juncture, found that the Cambodian courts were the main tool used by the authorities to clamp down on civil society groups the authorities saw as challenging. Other tactics used by the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen included arbitrary arrests of activists, violent responses to peaceful civil society activities, and pressure leading to the closure of several independent media outlets. Much of the government crackdown was framed around the Law on Associations and NGOs (LANGO), passed by the government in 2015. The government claimed that the LANGO protected the rights of civil society groups, but the CSIS report argues that the law provided legal justification for coercion of civil society groups. Sok Eysan, a ruling CPP spokesman, dismissed the CSIS report, saying the findings did not reflect the situation on the ground in Cambodia. Every report that does not portray the social reality in Cambodia, we [the government] do not accept it, Sok Eysan said. Our country is peaceful, politically stable and moving forward. But CSIS says the legal framework is weaponized to defeat the CPPs enemies. In addition to the LANGO, a new lese-majeste law was passed and new laws on fake news have been suggested, which the CSIS believes will further narrow the space for civil society and independent freedom of expression. In late 2017 and early 2018, the CSIS notes that the situation had worsened as international organizations were forced to leave the country and local NGOs closed, while independent media outlets and radio stations have closed or have had their licenses revoked. But Sok Eysan said that civil society had applauded and welcomed the LANGO and only about 10 percent were concerned by its implementation. He did not provide a source for his assertion. Soeung Saroeun Executive director, the Cooperation Committee for CambodiaSoeung Saroeun, executive director of the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia (CCC), an umbrella group representing some 170 NGOs in Cambodia, said the CSIS report was generally an accurate presentation of the situation in Cambodia. Cambodia ranked 132 out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index in 2017. A year later, it ranked 142. Lauren Mooney, co-author of the report and a CSIS researcher, said the report was based on in-depth interviews with a wide variety of stakeholders, including many civil society representatives. My sense is that the government may disregard the findings, Mooney told VOA by phone. The [government] emphasizes that true democracy is built on economic stability instead of political and civil rights or an open space for civil society, said Mooney. Human rights groups have reported at least 38 politically motivated, arbitrary arrests of rights workers in recent years in Cambodia, with the real number likely higher. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, in 2017 Hun Sens government was considered authoritarian, with the country ranked 124 out of 167 countries included in its Democracy Index. Soeung Saroeun of the CCC said its members organizations would continue to work to promote human rights, democracy and social progress, serving Cambodian citizens. What if German President Paul von Hindenburg would have made Hitler's consolidation of power (as in, the Enabling Act and the suspension of all other political parties in Germany) contingent on him (Hindenburg) being allowed to retire and replaced with someone of his own (Hindenburg's) choosing? Also, who would the new German President be in this TL? Can anyone think of any contenders? The logic behind this is to have someone younger but reliable (for German conservatives) at the helm of Germany for the foreseeable future (Hindenburg himself was extremely old and pretty close to death in 1933). Basically, German conservatives believed that they could control Hitler through their domination of the German Cabinet, but in this TL, Hindenburg is more cautious than that and thus decides to get a younger replacement as German President in order to have an additional insurance policy against Hitler. Would Hitler agree to this? Also, could Hindenburg and the German army make Hitler agree to this by threatening a military coup if Hitler doesn't agree with this and comply? Also, if there is a new, younger conservative German President starting from 1933, is Hitler much more cautious due to the risk of him getting fired as Chancellor if he does anything too brash and/or crazy? In addition to this, could this prevent World War II as we know it as well as the Holocaust? Any thoughts on all of this? Several U.S. state and local government agencies have reported receiving suspicious letters via snail mail containing malware-laden CD Crooks and cyberspies attempt to exploit any attack vector to compromise the targeted computers and the case we are going to discuss demonstrate it. The popular security expert Brian Krebs reported that several U.S. state and local government agencies have reported receiving suspicious letters via snail mail containing malware-laden compact discs (CDs). The list of recipients that received the malicious snail mail includes State Archives, State Historical Societies, and a State Department of Cultural Affairs. KrebsOnSecurity reported having learned that the strange mail is apparently sent from China. This particular ruse, while crude and simplistic, preys on the curiosity of recipients who may be enticed into popping the CD into a computer. According to a non-public alert shared with state and local government agencies by the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), the scam arrives in a Chinese postmarked envelope and includes a confusingly worded typed letter with occasional Chinese characters. reads the post published by Brian Krebs. The attackers clearly attempt to exploit the curiosity of the potential victims that may be enticed into seeing the content of the CD. According to the experts at MS-ISAC who analyzed the CDs, the media support contain Mandarin language Microsoft Word documents, some of which including malicious scripts. All the letters received by the organizations appear to be addressed specifically to them. Its not clear if anyone at these agencies was tricked into actually inserting the CD into a government computer. continues Krebs. Im sure many readers could think of clever ways that this apparent mail-based phishing campaign could be made more effective or believable, such as including tiny USB drives instead of CDs, or at least a more personalized letter that doesnt look like it was crafted by someone without a mastery of the English language. A similar attack technique has been already observed in the wild, in September 2016 the Police in the Australian State of Victoria issued a warning to the local population of malware-laden USB drives left in letterboxes. In August 2016, at Black Hat USA, the security researcher Elie Bursztein demonstrated the dangers of found USB drive and how to create a realistic one. The expert dropped 297 USB drives on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus in six different locations, the devices are able to take over the PC of the unaware user that will find the key. 48 percent of USB drives were picked up by passers and plugged into a computer, and the unaware users also tried to open the file within. Social engineering attacks demonstrate that humans are the weakest link in the security chain, and attacks leveraging malware-laden CD leverage bad habit. Pierluigi Paganini (Security Affairs Malware-Laden CD Sent, hacking) Share this... Linkedin Share this: Twitter Print LinkedIn Facebook More Tumblr Pocket Share On Migrant domestic workers and asylum seekers in Hong Kong are being tricked some through lovers they met online into delivering or receiving parcels filled with drugs, in the latest tactic used by dealers to recruit local mules. About a dozen domestic helpers and refugees were arrested between January and May this year after unwittingly following instructions from partners or friends, said Catholic priest Father John Wotherspoon, a prison chaplain. Theres been about a dozen people, most of them women, some men Filipinos, Indonesians, Africans [who] have been tricked to deliver or collect parcels of drugs and theyve all been arrested for that. Wotherspoon said those arrested had been charged but had pleaded not guilty and were awaiting a trial date. A barrister, Leung Chun-keung, said no bail was given since the charge is very serious, warranting a very long term of imprisonment. The cases come amid a steady increase in arrests of non-ethnic Chinese people in Hong Kong for drug offences in the last four years. Police arrested 377 non-ethnic Chinese people last year for serious drug offences, a 60 per cent increase from the 237 detained in 2014. The number was 327 in 2015 and 352 in 2016. This years figure could rise further as 158 people were already arrested between January and April. Hong Kong Customs, which deals with drug trafficking, said it arrested 109 non-Chinese people in major drug cases in the first half of this year, compared with 190 in the whole of last year. Eight of the arrests this year and last year were of asylum seekers with torture claims. Authorities did not give further details on the nationality of these arrested individuals. Another prison chaplain, who declined to be named, said it was rare for domestic workers in the city to be involved in drug trafficking within Hong Kong. Story continues It was more common to hear of Filipino women conned into being international drug mules, with Nigerians in the Philippines wooing them and offering them money to bring the drugs to Hong Kong, he said. Others were sent to some other country and then on their way home, they passed by Hong Kong where they dropped off the drugs, he said. Philippine consul Paul Saret said about 40 Filipinos some 30 of them women were serving long jail sentences in Hong Kongs prisons for drug trafficking. Many were tourists passing through the airport when they were caught. One Filipino man was arrested earlier this year carrying at least 1kg of cocaine at the airport, he said. Leung, who represented a Guangzhou woman who was on Thursday acquitted of drug trafficking after spending three years behind bars, said cases of people being tricked took many forms, bringing Ice or ketamine out of China to other countries or bringing in heroin or cocaine from Malaysia, Thailand or Brazil to Hong Kong. But Saret said he had visited one female domestic helper in prison earlier this year who received a parcel that was addressed to her and was arrested after that. The consulate regularly puts out reminders to our nationals: dont be lured by any suspicious transactions whether coming from the Philippines or in Hong Kong and if someone whom you do not know sends you something. Even if the post office or [courier company] DHL is calling you, you should ask whos the sender. Dont just pick up the parcel when you dont know the sender, he said. Hong Kong is home to 380,000 foreign domestic workers almost all are women and the majority are Filipinos, followed by Indonesians. As of September last year, there were just over 7,200 refugees waiting for resettlement to another place as Hong Kong does not grant asylum. In cases of drug dealers looking for local mules, Wotherspoon said he believed they were originally from the African continent and were now living in Hong Kong. They had several modus operandi. They would befriend domestic helpers and refugees in person or online, in some cases developing romances with them. Then they would ask the victims to help them receive or collect parcels at the post office or courier companies. The Filipino women and Indonesian women tell me they are so love-starved that if the men show them attention, their brains turn off, Wotherspoon said. The Filipino women and Indonesian women tell me they are so love-starved that if the men show them attention, their brains turn off John Wotherspoon, prison chaplain In other cases, the drug dealers who were in relationships with women from the same communities as the domestic helpers and asylum seekers would ask their partners to coordinate the activities. Wotherspoon said in conversations with inmates in prison, they would recount how a friend would ask them: Can you help me? Can you please collect something for me at the post office? They thought they were just helping a friend, he said. In a letter written to the priest and seen by the Post, a 34-year-old Filipino woman said her boyfriend of two years, whom she met on Facebook, asked her to pick up a parcel from Tai Kok Tsui post office. He told her it contained a hair straightener from Colombia. She was arrested after collecting the drug-filled package. Wotherspoon also related the story of a man who was asked by a friend to go with him to a courier collection place. The place was closed as it was a public holiday so the friend asked him to return alone the next day. The man was then arrested when he did so. Wotherspoon has since 2013 been working on a name and shame project, identifying and exposing drug lords operating through and in the city to help drug mules facing trial, including the Guangzhou woman. She had been caught at the airport on the way to Malaysia in 2015 with the drug, Ice, sewn into the lining of her backpack. The 71-year-old priest, a long-time resident of Hong Kong, said he had already warned the domestic helper and refugee community of the parcel scams but asked authorities to publicise the issue further. In Hong Kong, trafficking in a dangerous drug carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a HK$5 million (US$640,000) fine. The force said it was working closely with the consulates of different countries and NGOs to raise awareness of romance scams targeting domestic helpers. In most cases, fraudsters would get to know victims online and use various excuses to get them to transfer money. Police have also launched an anti-scam helpline for ethnic minority residents in the city. By dialling 18222, callers can report scams or get related information in seven languages, including Tagalog, Bahasa Indonesia and Hindi. Advice from police: - Be cautious when making friends in cyberspace - Do not casually disclose your personal information and photos online - Do not respond to suspicious requests online, such as borrowing money, meeting in private places or sending private photos - Adopt proper privacy measures to protect your personal information while online - If in doubt, call the anti-scam helpline 18222 immediately This article Beware drug lords targeting Hong Kong domestic helpers and asylum seekers as mules in narcotics trade 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: July 29 (Reuters) - China Life Insurance Co Ltd : * SAYS CENTRAL BANK FINES THE COMPANY 700,000 YUAN ($102,794.54) FOR DISCLOSURE ISSUES RELATED TO CLIENT AND TRANSACTION INFORMATION * SAYS THE PENALTY HAS NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON COMPANY'S OPERATIONS AND FINANCIAL POSITION * SAYS IT WILL CONTINUE TO IMPROVE RISK CONTROLS AND ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING ACTIVITIES Source text in Chinese: https://bit.ly/2mPxq6n Further company coverage: ($1 = 6.8097 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Hong Kong newsroom) Reuters BENGALURU (Reuters) -Indian shares rose on Tuesday in a volatile session, led by gains in metal and auto stocks, with investors focusing on commentaries from companies over the impact of higher input costs on margins in an earnings-heavy week. The metals index rose 2.9%, lifted by higher steel prices, while the auto index gained 2%. Markets took strength from some marginal profit-booking on Tuesday and managed to close higher, with support from strong corporate earnings and global cues, said Siddhartha Khemka, head of retail research at Motilal Oswal Securities in Mumbai. Cambodia's Prime Minister and President of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) Hun Sen prepares to cast his vote at a polling station during a general election in Takhmao, Kandal province, Cambodia July 29, 2018. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia's ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) said on Sunday that it won a general election that rights groups said was neither free nor fair. With no real opposition to speak of, Prime Minister Hun Sen was widely expected to win. But critics called the election a sham because of a campaign of intimidation by Hun Sen and his allies against critics and the dissolution of the main opposition party last year. CPP spokesman Sok Eysan said his party won an estimated 100 out of 125 parliamentary seats. "The CPP won 80 percent of all the votes and we estimate we will win not less than 100 seats," Sok Eysan told Reuters in a telephone interview. Results from across the country were still being announced by the National Election Commision on Sunday. Official results aren't expected until mid-August. (Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Writing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Editing by Philip McClellan) When the new school year starts in autumn, some 10,000 teachers will come out of retirement in China and return to the classroom, but in a new and mostly unfamiliar setting underfunded rural schools. Beijing is sending outstanding retired or retiring educators aged 65 or under to the remote areas under its Silver Age Lecture Plan, a new programme that is part of the governments campaign to alleviate poverty in the countryside, according to the Ministry of Education. The ministry said that those selected would spend at least one year working in schools in regions targeted by the poverty alleviation push, until the programme ends in 2020. It is the latest in a series of initiatives designed to boost education standards in poor rural areas, including ethnic minority-dominated regions and border provinces such as Xinjiang, home to the countrys Uygur Muslim population. While some education experts welcome expanding the rural teaching pool, they say the new policy is unlikely to ease Chinas greater educational problem the widening urban-rural education gap. That is because the programme fails to address the staggering inequity in economic well-being that is at the heart of the rural teacher shortage, they say. The living conditions in remote rural regions are improving, said Wang Dan, a professor of education at the University of Hong Kong. But despite this, the urban-rural gap not just in education but also living standards is getting wider because the problem is not being checked at the root. Ma Jun, who teaches at a village boarding school in Zizhou county, Shaanxi province, was pessimistic about the plan to use retired teachers, saying older teachers might not have the right mindset to teach rural children. Their values and thinking are often outdated, and their teaching methods would be unlikely to be innovative or flexible, said Ma, who acknowledged that she has no experience working with older teachers. Story continues Rural children are already lagging behind children from the cities due to economic and geographical constraints. This new move will definitely not benefit their development. But Wang Fei, who teaches at a school in Huantai county, Shandong province, said the governments poverty alleviation efforts had led to some improvements in rural teaching conditions, such as the introduction of live-streamed lessons. She welcomed the idea of outstanding retired teachers joining rural schools since it would expand the range of skill sets in the workforce, but was worried about the vague selection criteria. If the retired teachers are like traditional schoolmasters, will they meaningfully contribute to childrens development? And in choosing these teachers, how does the government define outstanding? They will need to teach with warmth and feeling, but at the same time they need high-level skills, she said. Chinas rapid urbanisation drive has had a huge impact on rural schools. In recent decades, millions of rural residents have migrated to booming cities in the more affluent eastern provinces in search of work, in many cases taking their children with them. As a result, enrolment rates at rural schools have plummeted and it has become increasingly tough for education authorities to find teachers for the remaining rural pupils especially since they would have to handle a punishing workload and receive a meagre salary of 1,000 to 2,000 yuan (US$146 to US$293) per month. Stories about remote village schools that have only a handful of pupils, or that pupils can reach only by making a long and difficult journey, regularly make the headlines in China. Rural conditions are falling behind and teachers have to take on huge responsibilities, said Ma, whose school includes more than 300 left-behind children of migrant workers. Most teachers at large establishments arent willing to come here, so in some places classes are taught by supply teachers who are poorly paid, unrecognised by the government and dont have training opportunities, she said. This disadvantaged social group is truly left behind. From 2000 to 2010, as the government implemented a campaign to centralise rural schools in townships, nearly 100 village schools and education centres shut down each day, according to statistics from the 21st Century Education Research Institute of China. After training, good rural teachers are sent to the towns, and then promoted to county-level, city-level and first-tier city positions, Wang said. So they have a tendency to move out of rural regions. The number of low-paid rural teachers in China dropped from 4.73 million in 2010 to 3.3 million in 2013, the last period for which figures are available, according to China News Service. Wang Dan said that even 10,000 extra rural teachers was a minuscule number measured against the hundreds of thousands of rural classrooms that needed extra teaching support. If these teachers are only focused on teaching their subject well, or improving the grades of their class, teaching conditions may well return to what they were previously once the teachers leave after a year or two, the education professor said. This isnt very meaningful. Instead, Wang wants policymakers to think of a way to keep the retired teachers specialist knowledge and values at the schools long after they have left, and to offer a clearer statement of the goals they would be expected to meet at their assigned schools. I think the mindset of the policy should change, so that it doesnt only put people in certain places, but also considers how people in these areas can effect systemic change, Wang said. This article China brings 10,000 teachers out of retirement to take up jobs in impoverished rural areas 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: BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese corruption suspect who was on the country's list of 100 most wanted overseas fugitives has returned to China from the United States after giving himself up, the anti-graft watchdog said late on Saturday. Zhang Yongguang, a former policeman in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, fled to the United States in 2010 and had been wanted on suspicion of taking bribes, according to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. Zhang "returned to the country of his own accord and returned the dirty funds," the commission said, without elaborating. It was not immediately possible to reach Zhang, his family, or a legal representative for comment. In April 2015, Chinese authorities published a list of 100 "most-wanted" suspects it believes to be hiding overseas, many living in the United States, Canada and Australia. Zhang is the 54th person on the list to have returned to China since the operation was launched, the commission said in a statement on its website. "We will make persistent efforts in fighting against corruption and recovering stolen assets, leaving no room for corrupt fugitives to hide and no hope for those who want to flee," it cited an unidentified official as saying. Many Western countries, however, have been reluctant to help with China's campaign, or to sign extradition treaties, unwilling to send people back to a country where rights groups say mistreatment of criminal suspects remains a problem. They also complain China is often unwilling to provide proof of the crimes that would be acceptable to a Western court. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; editing by Richard Pullin) Ecuador is in talks with Britain over the fate of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been holed up at Ecuador's embassy in London since 2012 when he was granted political asylum, the country's president said in an interview published Sunday. "The issue of Mr. Assange is being treated with the British government and I understand that we have already established contact with Mr. Assange's lawyers so we can find a way out," Ecuador President Lenin Moreno told top-selling Spanish daily newspaper El Pais. "Mr. Assange has been in this situation for over five years and we have to find a way out for him. A way out that defends his rights, mainly his right to life, and which at the same time can give Ecuador the possibility to not have what, without a doubt, represents a problem for our country." Assange, 47, sought refuge in Ecuador's London embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden to face sexual assault allegations, which he denies. The Australian computer programmer claims the accusations were politically motivated and could lead to his extradition to the United States to face imprisonment over WikiLeaks's 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. 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 particularly drew the ire of Ecuador by angering the Spanish government with his support for separatist leaders in Spain's Catalonia region who sought to secede last year. Moreno, who visited Spain and Britain last week, said the "ideal" solution would involve Assange accepting a "penalty" for having breached British bail conditions and then be "extradited to a country where he does not face any danger." This summer has been eerily quiet for video games, but the upcoming selection of Games with Gold for Xbox Live Gold members is one of the best weve ever seen. Seriously, if you pay for an Xbox Live subscription, you need to make sure that you log in and grab these games as soon as they become available next month. Forza Horizon 2 is the biggest name on the list, and also happened to be my favorite game of 2014. Even since Forza Horizon 3 has come out, I still go back to the second game on occasion just to explore the European countryside and listen to the unbeatable radio stations. And once youre done racing in Forza, you can go back in time and do battle with knights, vikings, and samurai in For Honor, one of the better melee combat games of the generation. Don't Miss: A simple $9 accessory has me using my AirPods again for the first time in months Here are the details on the availability of all the Xbox One and Xbox 360 Games with Gold for August: Forza Horizon 2 Standard 10 th Anniversary Edition ($19.99 ERP): August 1 to 31 on Xbox One For Honor Standard Edition ($59.99 ERP): August 16 to September 15 on Xbox One Dead Space 3 ($19.99 ERP): August 1 to 15 on Xbox One and Xbox 360 Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two ($19.99 ERP): August 16 to 31 on Xbox One and Xbox 360 Youll save over $119 if you pick up all four games and can add up to 4000 points to your gamerscore. Also, keep in mind that each of the Xbox 360 titles are backward compatible with the Xbox One, so even if you dont have an Xbox 360 on hand, you can still download all four games listed above. See them in action below: BGR Top Deals: Trending Right Now: See the original version of this article on BGR.com When Tosya Gharibyan asked her husband to dig a basement under their house to store potatoes, she had little idea the underground labyrinth he would eventually produce would prove to be one of Armenia's major tourist draws. Their one-storey house in the village of Arinj outside the capital Yerevan may not look like much but today it brings in visitors from all over the globe after a 23-year labour of love by Tosya's late husband, Levon Arakelyan. They come to see a twisting network of subterranean caves and tunnels known as "Levon's divine underground." In the cold and quiet, Tosya leads tourists through corridors that connect seven chambers adorned with Romanesque columns and ornaments like those on the facades of mediaeval Armenian churches. "Once he started digging, it was impossible to stop him," she said of the project that began in 1995. "I wrangled with him a lot, but he became obsessed with his plan." A builder by training, Levon would toil for 18 hours a day -- only pausing to take a quick nap and then rush back to the cave, confident that he was being guided "by heaven". "He never drew up plans and used to tell us that he sees in his dreams what to do next," his widow told AFP. Over more than two decades he hammered out the 280-square-metre (3,000 square-foot) space, 21 metres deep into strata of volcanic rocks -- only using hand tools. "My primary childhood recollection is the loud knock of my father's hammer heard at night from the cave," said his 44-year-old daughter Araksya. At the start he had to break through a surface layer of black basalt, but at the depth of a few metres Levon reached much softer tufa stone and the work progressed. He pulled out 600 truckloads of rocks and earth, using only hand-held buckets. Levon died in 2008 at the age of 67 from a heart attack after destroying the last wall that separated two tunnels. - 'Amazing place' - A decade on from the project's completion, Tosya also runs a small museum commemorating her husband's work in the village of some 6,000 people. The underground complex has several analogues in the world. An eccentric man named William Henry "Burro" Schmidt spent more than three decades digging a half-a-mile tunnel to transport gold through a granite mountain in California, beginning his work in the early 1900s during the state's gold rush. In Ethiopia a man named Aba Defar began carving churches on a mountainside after claiming divine inspiration from years of dreams. Today the Armenian cave features prominently in travel brochures, regularly drawing busloads of visitors. Milad, a 29-year-old Iranian tourist, called the maze an "amazing place". He said it made him realise just "how boundless the spiritual and physical capabilities of a person can be". Iran's top security body has approved the release of opposition figures Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, under house arrest for seven years for leading mass protests in 2009, a family member told local media. "I have heard that the decision to lift the house arrest was approved by the Supreme National Security Council," said Hossein Karroubi, son of the jailed reformist, according to the Kalameh news website which is close to the family. "This decision will be presented to the (supreme) leader so that this case can be concluded," he said, adding that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would have 10 days to veto the decision. There was no official confirmation of the decision, but the reports come at a time when Iran's leaders are keen to unite conservative and reformist factions to face down increasing pressure from the United States and a worsening economic crisis. Mousavi, 76, and Karroubi, 80, were reformist candidates in the controversial election of 2009, which was won by hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. They claimed the vote was rigged, triggering months of mass protests, particularly in Tehran. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets in the biggest challenge to the system since the Islamic revolution of 1979. The pair were placed under house arrest without trial in February 2011, along with Mousavi's high-profile wife, 66-year-old Zahra Rahnavard. Hossein Karroubi said the security council had also agreed to lift restrictions on reformist figurehead Mohammad Khatami, who was Iran's president from 1997 to 2005. The media had been banned from showing Khatami's face and strict limits were placed on his movements. President Hassan Rouhani repeatedly vowed to seek the release of Mousavi and Karroubi -- a major plank of his election in 2013 and re-election last year, with their names frequently chanted at his rallies. But despite Rouhani chairing the Supreme National Security Council, which is made up of government and military figures appointed by the president and supreme leader, there had been no sign of progress on their release. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Sunday sacked his minister of electricity after three weeks of protests against corruption and chronic power cuts in the energy-rich country. A statement from Abadi's office said the premier sacked Qassem al-Fahdawi -- whose departure was demanded by protesters -- "because of the deterioration in the electricity sector". Iraq has been gripped by protests over power outages, unemployment, state mismanagement and a lack of clean water. The demonstrations -- during which 14 people have been killed in clashes -- erupted in the neglected southern province of Basra, home to Iraq's only sea port, before spreading north including to Baghdad. On Sunday, protesters held sit-ins outside the governor's headquarters in Basra and Samawa, in neighbouring Muthana province, AFP correspondents said. Power shortages are chronic in Iraq, a country devastated by conflicts including the war against the Islamic State group which held a third of the country before Abadi declared victory over the jihadists in December. Hours-long electricity cuts are a source of deep discontent among Iraqis, especially during the scorching summer months when demand for air conditioning surges as temperatures soar past 50 degrees Celsius (120 Fahrenheit). Since the ouster of dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003, Iraq has allocated some $40 billion (35 billion euros) in state funds to rebuild its power network and meet the needs of a 38-million-strong population, official figures show. But much of that has been syphoned off by politicians and businessmen in a country listed by Transparency International as the world's 12th-most corrupt. - 'Fake contracts' - A government official told AFP on Sunday that Abadi had also ordered investigations launched into fake contracts. Fahdawi commended the premier's call for investigations and called on ministry staff to cooperate with the probes, one of his advisers said. Political analyst Hisham al-Hashemi did not expect Fahdawi's sacking to appease the protest movement. For that to happen, he said, "the managers of all ministries should be put on trial". Since 2003, more than 5,000 so-called "phantom contracts" have been signed in the public sector, according to Iraq's parliament. During the same period, $228 billion has gone up in smoke due to shell companies, it says. A lawyer, Tareq al-Maamuri, recently lodged a complaint against Fahdawi and his ministry for failing to provide electricity. He also demanded prosecutions over alleged "embezzlement of public funds". Since Saddam's toppling in 2003, successive electricity ministers have been sacked over corruption or forced to quit in the face of angry protests. One of them fled abroad after he was accused of embezzling $500 million. In 2010, one of Fahdawi's predecessors, Karim Wahid, resigned after a wave of protests across central and southern Iraq against draconian power rationing. Power shortages have forced Iraqis to buy electricity from private entrepreneurs who run generators visible on street corners across the country. Despite the shortages, electricity consumption has risen since 2003 as Iraqis make more use of household electronic equipment including computers and mobile phones. Iraq -- the second-largest oil producer within the OPEC cartel -- sits on some of the world's largest crude reserves, with the oil sector accounting for 89 percent of the state budget. Officials say the expensive war against IS and a slump in world crude prices have emptied state coffers of the funds desperately needed to rebuild infrastructure. They also blame Iraqis who they say are not paying their utility bills. Fahdawi's sacking comes amid political tensions as Iraq awaits the results of a partial recount of May 12 elections, while political factions jostle to cobble together a coalition. FILE PHOTO: Italy's Matteo Salvini attends a news conference about a trilateral meeting, during an informal meeting of EU Home Affairs Ministers in Innsbruck, Austria, July 12, 2018. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo LONDON (Reuters) - Italy's far-right interior minister, Matteo Salvini, has accused the European Union of trying to cheat Britain out of the Brexit it voted for, according to extracts from a newspaper interview published late on Saturday. "There is no objectivity or good faith from the European side," Salvini was quoted as saying in an interview with Britain's Sunday Times newspaper. "My experience in the European parliament tells me you either impose yourself or they swindle you," he added. Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29 next year, and Prime Minister Theresa May is struggling to agree a long-term trading relationship with the bloc or to finalise a transitional deal to cover the period immediately after Britain leaves. Salvini told May to stick to her principles and be prepared to walk away from the bloc without a deal - something many businesses fear could lead to chaos. "On some principles there is no need to be flexible and you should not go backwards," he said. Separately, the newspaper cited an unnamed government minister as saying that Britain's army would be ready to deliver food and medicine if there were delays at ports after Brexit. "There is a lot of civil contingency planning around the prospect of no deal. That's not frightening the horses, that's just being utterly realistic," the minister said. Supermarkets, including German-owned Aldi, were also asking some suppliers to hold extra stocks of goods such as tea and coffee, the newspaper reported, citing a supplier. Salvini has long had a hostile attitude to the EU, and has blamed the euro for Italy's prolonged economic malaise and said he expected it to collapse. More recently, he has pressed other EU countries to take more of the African migrants who try to land on Italy's shores. (Reporting by David Milliken; Editing by Sandra Maler) A leading lawyer who defended former Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic on charges of war crimes has been shot dead in Belgrade, police said Sunday. Dragoslav Ognjanovic, who was gunned down Saturday night outside the apartment block where he lived, also represented a senior underworld figure, Serbian media reported. "The police are searching for the person who killed... lawyer Dragoslav Ognjanovic and wounded his 26-year-old son in the arm," said Serbian police official Dejan Kovacevic. The authorities did not link the murder of the 56-year-old to his work for Milosevic or Luka Bojovic, who is reportedly serving 18 years in a Spanish prison for possessing weapons. The daily newspaper Vecernje Novosti said Bojovic is one of the main players in a battle between two gangs from Kotor in Montenegro that has left several dead. The war reportedly erupted after 300 kilogrammes (660 pounds) of cocaine disappeared from a Spanish port. Another Serbian lawyer, Vladimir Zrelec, who represented a top member of the rival gang, was murdered in December 2015 in Belgrade. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said police had several leads for the murder. "The security situation is good," he told reporters. "But there is something which concerns me greatly: it's this war between two gangs over the drugs market which is becoming ... something the state must confront in a much more brutal manner." Viktor Gostiljac, who heads the Serbian bar association said the entire profession" was "in shock after this murder". Lawyers would go on strike for a week, he said, calling for a meeting with the ministers of the interior and justice to protect the profession. "The shot fired at Dragoslav Ognjanovic is a shot fired at all lawyers," said a statement from the association which demanded that the killers be caught quickly. Ognjanovic served in Milosevic's team of legal advisers but the Serbian leader represented himself before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, a UN court that dealt with war crimes in the Balkans during the 1990s. Milosevic died on March 11, 2006, in his cell at the tribunal in The Hague facing charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the conflicts over the breakup of Yugoslavia that left 130,000 dead. Malians voted Sunday in a crucial presidential election as attacks disrupted polling in areas already beset by deadly ethnic and jihadist violence. Counting has started in some of the 23,000 polling stations which closed at 1800 GMT. First results are expected within 48 hours and the official outcome is set to follow on Friday at the latest. Despite the deployment of 30,000 security personnel throughout the country, several incidents were reported in the north and centre. Rockets were fired on the UN mission (MINUSMA) camp in Aguelhok, in the northeast, according to a UN security source who added that "there are no casualties and the rockets did not fall into the camp." Elsewhere, the burning of polling stations and violence against election officials halted the vote. In total, 105 polling stations stayed closed because of security concerns, according to state TV ORTM citing the ministry of security. President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, 73, leads a crowded field of 24 candidates -- including one woman -- bidding for re-election to the post he has held since 2013. He voted in Sebenicoro, near the capital Bamako, surrounded by journalists and supporters. Keita's record on security has been a dominant theme, with opponents, including several former ministers, accusing him of incompetence. The international community hopes the poll will strengthen a 2015 accord that Mali, a linchpin state in the troubled Sahel region, sees as the cornerstone for peace. On the campaign trail, Keita -- commonly known by his initials IBK -- highlighted the achievements of the peace agreement between the government, government-allied groups and Tuareg former rebels to fight jihadist fighters in the country's north. - Polling station, ballots burned - Armed groups severely disrupted voting in central Mali's Mopti region. In Fatoma village, voting was halted after election officials were assaulted, according to Malian observers and the regional governor. Violence also struck the village of Gandamia, further east, where polling stations were destroyed and staff were attacked, the sources said. "Four villages could not vote after armed groups banned state administrators" in the same region, the mayor of Bourema Napo town told AFP. And there was no voting in the village of Lafia, in the northern Timbuktu region, after the ballot boxes were set on fire, local authorities said. "Overnight Saturday, armed men arrived at the town hall where the ballot boxes and electoral material were held," a local official told AFP. The source added the boxes were burned after men he said were jihadists fired shots into the sky. "One of them said 'God does not like elections'." Violence also marred the lead-up to the vote, despite the presence of 15,000 UN peacekeepers and 4,500 French troops and a heralded five-nation anti-terror G5 Sahel force. A state of emergency will enter its fourth year in November. More than 300 civilians have died in ethnic clashes this year, according to UN figures and an AFP toll. Many deaths have occurred in the Mopti region involving the Fulani nomadic herder community and Bambara and Dogon farmers. Jihadist violence, meanwhile, has spread from northern Mali to the centre and south of the country and spilled over into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, often inflaming communal conflicts. The main Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist alliance made its presence felt on the final day of campaigning Friday, dubbing the election a "mirage" that would do nothing for the Malian people. In Mali's north, where the state is barely present, armed groups who signed the peace accord helped to ensure security. - Main challenger Cisse - Voter participation was low throughout the day, according to electoral observers and AFP journalists. Official participation figures are yet to be published. Turnout has never exceeded 50 percent in a presidential election first round since the advent of democracy in 1992. Observer teams are in place from the European Union, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the International Organisation of La Francophonie. "The European observer mission calls for the Malian authorities to publish the list of polling stations where voting did not take place," Cecile Kyenge, the mission's head, told reporters late Sunday. In Mbera, the world's biggest Malian refugee camp in southeastern Mauritania, more than 7,000 voters were registered at 28 polling stations, Ahmedou Ag Boukhary, a camp official, told AFP. Keita's challengers are led by Soumaila Cisse, 68, a former finance and economy minister, who lost by a wide margin in the second round of the 2013 election. Cisse urged all sectors of society to prioritise better health care and education as motors of development, while rejecting all-pervasive corruption. Cisse's team have warned of possible election fraud, claiming that there are two electoral lists and hundreds of fake polling stations. If no candidate gains more than 50 percent of the vote in Sunday's first round, a second round will take place on August 12. Former presidential candidate Tan Cheng Bock addresses reporters at a press conference on 11 March, 2016. PHOTO: Nicholas Yong/Yahoo News Singapore The opposition party representatives that he met with have guts and have put themselves out there because they care for the country, said former presidential candidate Tan Cheng Bock. In a Facebook post on Sunday (29 July), Dr Tan dismissed political commentator Derek Da Cunhas remarks that these 7 parties are 3rd, 4th and 5th rate politicians, and that if I mix with them, my reputation will be tarnished. Stressing that opposition figures such as the Singapore Democratic Partys (SDP) Paul Tambayah is a 1st rate human being and doctor who cares for the country, he added, I believe that the men and women I met yesterday, were more than willing to make way for better men and women who would stand in their place. They have guts. They have put themselves out there. That is sufficient for the moment. On Saturday, the former Member of Parliament for Ayer Rajah met with leaders and representatives from seven opposition parties: Singapore Democratic Party, the Peoples Power Party, the Democratic Progressive Party, the Reform Party, the National Solidarity Party, the Singaporeans First Party and the Peoples Voice Party. On the same day, SDP chief Chee Soon Juan revealed that Dr Tan, who attended the meeting as an observer, had been approached to lead a coalition of opposition parties. In response, Dr Tan told those in attendance, If you want me to lead, then we must think of (the) country first. If we go in, we must go in as a team. The Workers Party, the largest opposition party, was not in attendance. The Singapore Peoples Party, led by opposition veteran Chiam See Tong, was reportedly invited but did not attend the meeting. In his Facebook post, Dr Tan also acknowledged, To be fair, many from the 7 parties stood in past elections because they believed they acted in Singapores best interests. But I think some may also need to stand down and serve from the backroom if it is for the good of the country. And while he must help the seven opposition parties who have asked him to lead an opposition alliance, the father of two said that he has not decided in what capacity he will do so. Story continues Dr Tan admitted that at 78, he only has a short time to mentor a team to work for the good of the nation. He ended his post by saying, I want to pass all that I have acquired and learned in the political arena to the next generation. I would regret it if I had the chance to make a difference, but did nothing. Dr Tan was one of four men to contest Singapores presidential election in 2011, losing to eventual victor Dr Tony Tan by a mere 0.34 percentage points, or 7,382 votes. He attempted to run for the presidency again in 2017, but was unable to do so with the advent of constitutional amendments that meant the election was reserved for a minority candidate. President Halimah Yacob eventually won in a walkover as no other candidates were deemed eligible to run. Related stories Tan Cheng Bock open to leading proposed opposition coalition Tan Cheng Bock: Halimah Yacob to assume the most controversial presidency in Singapores history COMMENT: Is this the end of the road for Tan Cheng Bock? Presidential Election 2017: Tan Cheng Bocks appeal dismissed Members or supporters of the Philippines' largest Muslim rebel group gathered in their tens of thousands on Sunday to discuss a landmark law granting them autonomy, with one expressing hope it would make their "dream of peace" a reality. President Rodrigo Duterte last week signed the law, a key step to ending a Muslim rebellion in the south of the mainly Catholic Philippines that had claimed about 150,000 lives since the 1970s. Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members, supporters and local residents from various parts of the southern island of Mindanao, including women in headscarves and fighters carrying arms, trooped to the main MILF camp there for a consultation. Their leaders are seeking support for the law ahead of a referendum on the measure, which creates an expanded autonomous region and is aimed at ending one of Asia's longest and deadliest conflicts. "This is our dream. If we end this (fighting), hopefully we can live in peace," Nasser Samama, a 61-year-old veteran rebel fighter, told AFP inside MILF headquarters at Camp Darapanan. "Most people want peace and so do we in the MILF forces. What the MILF has achieved is not just for our group but for the whole of Mindanao." Muslim rebels have long been battling for independence or autonomy in Mindanao, which they regard as their ancestral homeland. The law aims to enforce a historic but fragile 2014 peace deal under which the MILF vowed to give up its quest for independence and lay down the weapons of its 30,000 fighters in return for self-rule. Under the law, a new political entity known as the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region would replace the current autonomous region created following a 1996 deal with another rebel group, the Moro National Liberation Front. The Bangsamoro is set to have more powers and cover a bigger area. MILF leaders approve of the measure but say its communities would need to back the law for it to pass a plebiscite. On Sunday many of the group's members, who have endured decades of conflict, said they supported the law. "This is the beginning of peace in Mindanao. This is the start of unity between Muslims and Christians," housewife Babaidi Budain told AFP. Some expressed fear the law would not bring development to the resource-rich but poverty-stricken south. "Everyone in Mindanao should avail themselves of the opportunity the region offers. If not, it would be the same, the Bangsamoro would not prosper," said community worker Nasser Sulaiman. MANILA (Reuters) - Leaders of the Philippines' mainstream separatist group on Sunday urged Muslims in the country's south to support a new autonomy law designed to tackle extremism and defuse a half-century of conflict in a referendum later this year. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which signed a peace deal with the government four years ago, gathered tens of thousands of supporters from all over the southern province of Mindanao to its base to begin a massive campaign for the law's approval. President Rodrigo Duterte last signed the new autonomy legislation, called Bangsamoro Organic Law, allowing self-rule for Muslims in 2022, hoping to end a conflict that has killed more than 120,000 people and displaced 2 million. "Our real journey towards self-determination is just starting," Mohagher Iqbal, the rebel group's chief negotiator, told Reuters by telephone, saying there are still challenges ahead that could stop the implementation of the law. Speaking earlier to thousands of supporters, including women and children, he asked them to vote for the approval of the law expanding the territories covered by the Muslim autonomous area in the south, although he warned of some potential obstacles. "We still don't know if there are groups or individuals who will question the new autonomy law before the Supreme Court," he told a cheering crowd in a speech livestreamed on social media. Supporters chanted "Allahu Akbar" and "Yes to BOL" in the rebel camp in the middle of coconut and banana groves. In 2008, close to a million people were displaced in central Mindanao region when violence erupted after the Supreme Court cancelled a deal on ancestral domain with the MILF. A small but more radical splinter rebel group has since emerged, and has aligned with pro-Islamic State militant forces. MILF leaders said they are trying to avoid a similar episode that could lead to extremist groups taking hold in the south. The rebel group is expected to dominate the 80-member Bangsamoro transition government that will be formed after the referendum. Story continues The Bangsamoro area includes part of the Philippines' second-largest island of Mindanao, and a chain of dozens of small islands to the west notorious for piracy and banditry. An estimated five million Muslims live in the region, which has the predominantly Catholic nation's lowest levels of employment, income, education and economic development. The United Nations, European Union, United States and Japan welcomed the passing of the new autonomy law, hoping for an end to violence and a start to the region's economic reconstruction. (Reporting By Manuel Mogato; editing by Richard Pullin) Polish jazz trumpeter Tomasz Stanko performs during the concert commemorating the 70th anniversary of Warsaw Uprising in Warsaw Polish jazz trumpeter Tomasz Stanko performs during the concert commemorating the 70th anniversary of Warsaw Uprising in Warsaw, Poland, July 26, 2014. Picture taken July 26, 2014. Agencja Gazeta/Przemek Wierzchowski via REUTERS WARSAW (Reuters) - Tomasz Stanko, a Polish trumpeter, composer and prominent figure in avant-garde and free jazz for decades, died on Sunday at the age of 76, the Polish Jazz Association said. Born in Rzeszow in southern Poland in 1942, Stanko made his debut in the late 1950s in Krakow. He later gained a global reputation playing alongside jazz luminaries such as drummer Jack deJohnette and bassist Dave Holland. Stanko's early influences came from jazz trumpet icons such as Miles Davis and Chet Baker, but he was soon drawn primarily to the free-form jazz of Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry, and often recorded for the ECM label. His first global bestseller was a 1997 album, Litania, a tribute to the music of Polish film music composer and jazz pianist Krzysztof Komeda, the record company ECM Records said. "I am in shock ... (Stanko) was an absolute prophet, a great musician, and a consistent one," said Michal Urbaniak, a Polish jazz violinist and saxophonist. (Reporting by Anna Koper and Justyna Pawlak; Editing by Mark Heinrich) Spain said it had plucked more than 200 migrants from the Mediterranean Sea on Sunday as the country's interior minister headed to Mauritania to try to boost cooperation in the fight against illegal immigration. Spain's maritime rescue service saved 211 migrants from 21 different boats in the Strait of Gibraltar which separates Spain from Morocco, a spokesman for the service said. They will be taken to the port of Algeciras in southwestern Spain, he added The latest arrivals come after the rescue service picked up more than 1,200 people attempting the perilous crossing from Morocco to Spain, which has now surpassed Italy as the number one destination for migrants crossing the Mediterranean by boat. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska will meet on Monday with his Mauritanian counterpart in Nouakchott, the capital of the West African country, to "strengthen cooperation in migration matters and the fight against terrorism", Spain's interior ministry said in a statement. During a fact-finding visit to Algeciras on Saturday to learn how police and the Red Cross were coping with the influx of migrants, Grande-Marlaska said it was "a European problem which requires a European solution". The minister said the government was working against the clock to open "a centre" in the port of Andalusia with room for 600 people. As a crackdown by Libyan authorities has made it more difficult for migrants to reach Italy, many are attempting the trip from Algeria and Morocco into Spain. More than 19,580 people have landed on Spanish shores so far this year, according to the International Organization for Migration. Estonia's Ott Tanak steered his Toyota to an impressive victory on the dirt-track forest roads at the Rally of Finland on Sunday, clinching his second win of the season after leading all weekend. Norway's Mads Ostberg in a Citroen and home hope Jari-Matti Latvala of Toyota were second and third in this eighth of 13 dates on the WRC calendar. The race was all but secured on Saturday with Tanak taking five of the eight specials. Tanak won a similar style of rally in Argentina in April and climbs to third in the world rankings albeit 46 points adrift of Belgian Thierry Neuville, who slumped to a ninth-place finish here. "We tried what we could," said Hyundai's Neuville. "But we knew coming here it would be rough." The winner, who celebrated wildly on the roof of his Toyota, had held a comfortable lead overnight of 39 and 44sec over his two closest rivals with Sunday's racing including just four specials raced over a total of 45.72km. Taking his foot off the gas after watching Esapekka Lappi roll his Toyota Sunday morning, Tanak eventually won by 32.7sec. "It was a perfect weekend for us, first day was tough but after that we just increased our gap," said Tanak, who thanked his Toyota team for their performance. "There is full support behind us, I think that's how it needs to be done - when we all work together," he said. "In terms of the championship let's see where we end up." Tanak's next chance will come at the Rally of Germany in three weeks time. Five-time world champion Sebastien Ogier ended the rally fifth at 2min 15sec but felt the performance was a step towards the world title as he currently sits second in the standings. "The whole weekend I gave everything. The most important is that we at least step in the right direction in the championship," said the Frenchman. Just three years ago, Vietnam was still a cipher in the global financial system. The Southeast Asian nation had only ten US$1 billion listed companies, while daily trading volume on the stock market came in at around US$100 million. That picture, however, is vastly different today. It is not quite Wall Street, but the countrys financial centre, Ho Chi Minh, is fast heating up. Last year, the countrys benchmark Vietnam Index soared to a 10-year high with a 47 per cent gain taking the crown as Asias top performer, and the third best in the world. The size of the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange surged 75.2 per cent over the year to hit US$115.46 billion, going by annual statistics from the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE). The number of listed companies valued at over US$1 billion as well as daily trading volume has tripled. Investors have been attracted by Vietnams combination of growth and stability, said Barry Weisblatt, head of research at Viet Capital Securities, adding that a privatisation drive has also helped to spur market activity. Vietnams phenomenal growth Maybank Kim Eng Research regional economist Chua Hak Bin has dubbed the economy a rock star is but a snapshot of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) surging capital markets. Growing in scale and sophistication, markets such as Indonesia and Thailand are challenging the status quo. A new order For the past two decades, Singapore has been the undisputed regional champion. Asean companies looking for a listing have viewed the Lion City as the first choice, especially given the republics exposure to international investors. But things are quickly changing, with economies such as Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines looking to dethrone Singapore from its lofty position. With a market capitalisation of US$787.28 billion last year, Singapore was the 16th largest equity market in the Asia Pacific. But its growth was insipid compared with others in the region. WFE data showed the Singapore Exchanges (SGX) market capitalisation grew 13.6 per cent from 2016, compared with Hong Kongs 37.3 per cent. Story continues In Southeast Asia, the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange clocked the biggest jump at 75.2 per cent, followed by Indonesia (22.6 per cent), the Philippines (22 per cent), Thailand (15.7 per cent) and Malaysia (14.5 per cent). The SGX in recent years has been plagued by a shrinking number of IPOs, delistings, and low liquidity levels. For the first quarter of 2018, the daily average value of the bourses securities was S$1.45 billion (US$1 billion), compared with the average daily trading value of US$2 billion in Thailand, Aseans most liquid market. Regional bourses have been more successful in attracting new listings, particularly of domestic companies. Vietnam had the biggest initial public offering (IPO) haul by proceeds in the first six months of this year, with three deals raising a combined US$2.5 billion, according to data compiled by EY. The communist country has more in tow; it has targeted IPOs for a total of 64 state companies this year, including telecoms firm MobiFone, and 18 others in 2019. Indonesia booked the most deals at 19, with proceeds of US$700 million. Meanwhile, the SGX attracted seven IPOs in the first half of 2018, with US$400 million raised in proceeds, thanks mainly to the listing of Chinese outlet mall operator Sasseur Reit. Max Loh, EYs managing partner for Asean and Singapore, notes it is natural for most listings outside Singapore to come from local names. There is familiarity with the brand, business and market. Everything else remaining equal, there is a propensity for companies to list on their home exchanges unlike before, when their capital markets were less developed and the SGX was the clear choice. In fact, Indonesia has already declared its intention to challenge Singapore. It has been trying to draw local companies listed in the Lion City to go public in Jakarta, as well as foreign firms operating in its country. The Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) also wants to increase its offerings, from local exchange-traded funds to derivatives, and replace the SGX as the top dog in Asean by 2020. Fighting back But Singapore is not giving up without a fight. The city states stock market still dwarfs other regional exchanges and remains an international financial hub. Robson Lee, a partner at law firm Gibson Dunn, notes that SGX also has an excellent reputation for its transparency, governance and enforcement of its securities laws and listing rules vis-a-vis the other Asean countries. But this would not be an insurmountable threshold for the other Asean stock markets to cross, and to give the SGX a run for its money in time to come. The SGX should not rest on its laurels, said Lee. That said, Singapore will, in the short-term, continue to play a key and relevant role even as the landscape shifts. It is also moving to head off the competition by focusing on technology stocks, which many see as the future of the economy. The SGX recently announced moves to allow a dual-class share structure, used by big tech firms such as Facebook and Alphabet, formerly known as Google. Singapore will continue to be the regional hub for some time, especially after allowing the new dual-class shares structure for some types of IPOs, said Romaine Jackson, Dealogics head of Southeast Asia. That could, in turn, attract entrepreneur-led Chinese names and Asean tech unicorns that have yet to list. It will be interesting where a name like Go-jek [a ride-sharing start-up comparable to Uber] in Indonesia decides to list in future, Jackson said. Long-term, market watchers believe the future could lie in collaboration rather than competition. On the economic front, Asean is trying to move towards a common market with a free flow of goods, capital and people, so it would make sense for markets to be integrated as well. Gibson Dunns Lee believes a more sustainable move would be to develop a pan-Asean stock market. This means installing a more unified capital market with comparable listing rules and regulations in each country that would allow international investors to trade across the region. An Asean combined entity would offer investors more than 3,000 listings, firmly placing Asean on the global map. Of course, such an idea may yet prove just a pipe dream. In 2013, the Asean Trading Link was set up to connect stock markets in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, but terminated without much fanfare last year amid lacklustre investor interest. But for average investors in Vietnam, that might not matter much. They may well be happy just raking in handsome gains from an economy with a long runway for growth. This article Can Vietnam take Singapores stock market crown? 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: Nothing would demonstrate that Zimbabwe has entered a new era since Robert Mugabe's ousting more than a clean election. But the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), which was synonymous with fraud, secrecy and bias under Mugabe, has again been engulfed by allegations of malpractice that threaten the credibility of Monday's vote. In the last elections in 2013, it was accused of allowing the ruling ZANU-PF party to oversee voter registration and of delaying the release of an electoral roll full of ghost names, dead people and duplicates. It also allegedly allowed ZANU-PF to assist many supposedly illiterate people to vote, rejected many legitimate votes and printed millions more ballot papers than needed. This year, it has struggled to present an image of the open, fair election that President Emmerson Mnangagwa has repeatedly promised to deliver since he succeeded long-time leader Mugabe in November. "The key tenets for a credible election are transparency and accountability -- and ZEC is averse to both," Tawanda Chimhini, head of Zimbabwe's Election Resource Centre monitoring body, told AFP. "Zimbabwe could have seen a departure from the old way, and ZEC could have been much more transparent -- that would have built public confidence. "But the commission is making the same mistakes. The credibility of the election will be in dispute regardless of who wins." - Chequered history - Back in 2008, ZEC also attracted international ridicule for declaring that year's election free and fair after then opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of the presidential run-off when more than 200 of his MDC supporters were killed. This time around, ZEC has dismissed criticism that its new biometric voters' roll is riddled with errors, that the ballot paper illegally puts Mnangagwa's name at the top of a column, and that it is running the election opaquely. Two weeks ago ZEC announced that the printing of ballot papers had been completed, and the following day furiously denied postal voting was already underway -- only to backtrack and admit that it had started. "From the voters' roll to ballot papers and postal voting, ZEC has been found wanting," said UK-based political analyst Alex Magaisa. "Regrettably, ZEC has so far failed to handle its enormous obligation as an impartial referee. "There is a broad perception of bias which owes much to history but is also cemented by current indiscretions." ZEC's failure to ensure balanced state media coverage has also been clear, with the state-run Herald newspaper and Zimbabwe television running fawning coverage of Mnangagwa and either ignoring or attacking Chamisa. - On 'Team ZANU-PF'? - The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has kept up a barrage of complaints about ZEC throughout the campaign, describing it as playing on ZANU-PF's "team". "ZEC has failed us in fundamental ways," party spokesman Douglas Mwonzora told AFP, alleging ZEC has been staffed with former military personnel close to the generals who ousted Mugabe in favour of Mnangagwa last year. "They have not released the exact copy of the voters' roll to us. They have not allowed us to observe the transportation, storage and safekeeping of the ballot papers," he added. Many Zimbabweans are looking to international monitors from the European Union, African Union and others to keep the election on track, but the observer missions stress that the process is entirely run by ZEC. ZEC commissioner Qhubani Moyo strongly defended its conduct to AFP, saying it has been following "the letter of the law". "Our job is cut out for us in the constitution and the electoral act and any deviation is unacceptable," he said. "We are an independent body and we are not going to lose sleep over some of the criticism we get." The ruling ZANU-PF party vouched its support for the commission. "We have confidence in ZEC and we have no doubt they will carry out their mandate as expected," party spokesman Paul Mangwana told AFP. The head of the ZEC Priscilla Chigumba is a respected high court judge but, with both parties promising certain victory, she may face tough days ahead with the election results due by August 4. 2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #30 Posted on 29 July 2018 by John Hartz Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... Graphic of the Week... SkS in the News... SkS Spotlights... Video of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Reviews... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... Extreme global weather is 'the face of climate change' says leading scientist Exclusive: Prof Michael Mann declares the impacts of global warming are now playing out in real-time Emergency workers among damaged vehicles in a open parking area of northern Athens after a flash flood struck the Greek capital. Photograph: Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP/Getty Images The extreme heatwaves and wildfires wreaking havoc around the globe are the face of climate change, one of the worlds leading climate scientists has declared, with the impacts of global warming now playing out in real time. Climate change has long been predicted to increase extreme weather incidents, and scientists are now confident these predictions are coming true. Scientists say the global warming has contributed to the scorching temperatures that have baked the UK and northern Europe for weeks. The hot spell was made more than twice as likely by climate change, a new analysis found, demonstrating an unambiguous link. Extreme weather has struck across Europe, from the Arctic Circle to Greece, and across the world, from North America to Japan. This is the face of climate change, said Prof Michael Mann, at Penn State University, and one the worlds most eminent climate scientists. We literally would not have seen these extremes in the absence of climate change. The impacts of climate change are no longer subtle, he told the Guardian. We are seeing them play out in real time and what is happening this summer is a perfect example of that. We are seeing our predictions come true, he said. As a scientist that is reassuring, but as a citizen of planet Earth, it is very distressing to see that as it means we have not taken the necessary action. Extreme global weather is 'the face of climate change' says leading scientist by Damian Carrington, Environment, Guardian, July 27, 2018 Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... Rising temperatures linked to human-caused climate change could lead to increasing suicide rates in the U.S. and Mexico, a study suggested Monday. By comparing historical temperature and suicide data going back decades, researchers found a strong correlation between warm weather and increased suicides, according to new research published in Nature Climate Change, a peer-reviewed British journal. Researchers have known for centuries that conflict and violence tend to peak during warmer months. "Now we see that in addition to hurting others, some individuals hurt themselves," said Solomon Hsiang, study co-author from the University of California-Berkeley. "It appears that heat profoundly affects the human mind and how we decide to inflict harm." Global warming risk: Rising temperatures from climate change linked to rise in suicides by Doyle Rice, USA Today, July 23, 2018 Graphic of the Week... Record-breaking summer marches on to the beat of climate change by Brandon Miller, CNN, July 24, 2018 SkS in the News... In her Yale Climate Connections article, Climate change science comeback strategies Karin Kirk wrote: Strategy #2 Expose the myth, misinformation, or fallacy Few may be surprised that most attempts to undermine climate science hinge on some type of misinformation. Cherry-picked data, fake experts, and conspiracy theories are well-worn hallmarks of contrarian rhetoric. John Cook, founder of Skeptical Science and now a research assistant professor at the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University, has extensive experience unraveling climate denial. Cooks work has found that a sort of inoculation can help with climate misinformation. In other words, if people are exposed to the techniques commonly used in misinformation, they become more resistant to being misled when in the future they encounter bogus information. So Cooks response to the example comment is simple. He points directly to the logical fallacy at the heart of the myth, and uses an easy example to illustrate that the statement cant be correct. SkS Spotlights... Our mission We use the power of law to protect people and the planet Our values We believe that societys relationship with the natural world can and must be changed, and that law is an appropriate and effective tool to do so. In delivering our mission, we value: Agility. The freedom, nimbleness and drive to seize strategic opportunities. Boldness. The audacity, passion and conviction to challenge the status quo and take risks. Creativity. The ability to innovate, learn and collaborate to find solutions. Climate Earth Video of the Week... The 5 Big Clite Unkowns by Climat State, July 27, 2018 Coming Soon on SkS... America spends over $20bn per year on fossil fuel subsidies. Abolish them (Dana) (Dana) Climate change made 2018 European heatwave up to five times more likely (Robert McSweeney) (Robert McSweeney) Coming full circle: from study to comedy sketch to study (BaerbelW, David Kirtley) (BaerbelW, David Kirtley) Guest Post (John Abraham) (John Abraham) New research this week (Ari) (Ari) 2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #31 (John Hartz) (John Hartz) 2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #31 (John Hartz) Climate Feedback Reviews... NPR story accurately describes ecological consequences of altered spring timings in a warming climate Climate Feedback asked a team of scientists to review the article, Spring Is Springing Sooner, Throwing Nature's Rhythms Out Of Whack by Nathan Rott, NPR, July 23, 2018 Two scientists analyzed the article and estimate its overall scientific credibility to be 'high' to 'very high'. A majority of reviewers tagged the article as: Accurate. Review Summary This article at NPR discusses what happens when warm spring weather arrives earlier because of climate change. Animals must adjust to changes in the timing of plant flowering, for example, leading to noticeable desynchrony in the ecosystem, e.g. Flowers are blooming before there are bees to pollinate them. Hard frosts are still occurring long after winters snow melts away, decimating fruit orchards and budding plants. Scientists who reviewed the story found that it accurately represented trends in data and research on the topic. They found only a few statements that could be improved, such as referencing snowpack in April rather than January to better relate to spring conditions. NPR story accurately describes ecological consequences of altered spring timings in a warming climate, Edited by Scott Johnson, Climate Feedback, July 27, 2018 SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Mission: ImpossibleFallout is drifting down into movie theaters this weekend, as Tom Cruise, Ving Rames, and the rest of the gang sprint their way across exotic locations for the sixth installment in the long-running, all-running film franchise. But as the Impossible Mission Force faces their toughest challenge yet, theyve given audiences a mission of their own, should they choose to accept it: remembering everything else thats happened in the Mission: Impossible movies. The series has spanned so many years that just keeping track of the plot details can be difficult, and it doesnt help that Cruises performance as Ethan Hunt seems to deliberately omit any defining character traitshe couldnt be more of a blank slate for audience members to project themselves onto if he were named Hiro Protagonist. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Still, they say no one knows you better than your spouse, and for most of the series, Ethan Hunt has one: Julia Meade (or Julia Meade-Hunt, depending on the installment), played by Michelle Monaghan. Its a bold move, in a genre defined by James Bonds philandering, to give Hunt a (living) wife or ex-wife, but Monaghans character grounds the series, simultaneously motivating Hunt while reminding him of everything he has given up to pursue impossible missions. So to make sure youre up to date on the last 22 years of Mission: Impossible movies before sitting down to watch the new oneand possibly, to gain a better understanding of the enigma that is Ethan Huntweve recapped the events of the previous movies from the perspective of the one woman he trusted with his secrets: his wife. Light the fuse! Mission: Impossible (1996) Advertisement Advertisement For the franchises inaugural outing, director Brian De Palma wasted no time breaking Mission: Impossible loose from the TV series it was based on. That starts with the unconventional way he handled the character of Julia Meade: De Palma keeps her completely off screen throughout the entire film, and doesnt even allude to her existence. It was probably a practical decision as much as an artistic one: assuming shes Michelle Monaghans age, Julia wouldnt have been old enough to drink yet, which would have made it difficult to infiltrate alcohol-heavy foreign embassy functions. Its possible that she saw TV news reports about the arrest of her future husbands parents on trumped-up drug charges, just like its possible she saw the news reports of a helicopter crash in Europe, if she was given to watching television news in her dorm common room or whatever. But for the most part, the details of Julia Meades adventures during the events of Mission: Impossible are still highly classified. Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nothing happens in Mission: Impossible 2. Mission: Impossible III (2006) Advertisement In director J.J. Abrams entry in the Mission: Impossible saga, Julia Meade finally gets the chance to participate in some of the series trademark stunts and exotic locations. First, she travels to New Zealand for a high-octane heliboarding adventure at Lake Wanaka (off-screen). There, she meets Ethan Hunt and one of cinemas sexiest romances hurtles at top speed from flirtation to true love (off-screen). Then she gets to hold an engagement party where her brother Rick gets drunk (on-screen). After her fiance abruptly leaves town to attend a transportation conference in Houston, Julia returns to her normal routine working as a nurse at a hospital with a killer view of the National Mall. Several days of getting up, driving to work, checking charts, talking to doctors, stealing AZT from Roy Cohn, driving home, making dinner, and going to sleep ensue off-screen, until Ethan unexpectedly shows up at Julias workplace with a cockamamie story about another work trip. In a scene that parallels the series other ruthless interrogations, Julia questions Hunt about his increasingly ridiculous excuses for disappearing, then drops the subject when he distracts her with a hospital chapel wedding. Then its back to work, off-screen, until she gets drugged, kidnapped, and taken to meet the series most formidable villain so far: Philip Seymour Hoffmans deliciously amoral arms dealer Owen Davian. Whatever conversations those two had took place off-screen, but she must have gotten a few cutting remarks in, because the next time we see Julia, someone has duct-taped her mouth shut. What follows is one of the series most brutal hand-to-hand combat scenes, as Davian and Hunt square off while Julia sits tied to a chair, saying things like Ethan! and Please! But its Julia who turns the tide of the battle, by gazing into Ethans eyes and motivating him to get up off the floor and kill Davian. Then Ethan teaches her how to use a handgun and makes her electrocute him, after which she gets to shoot Billy Crudup and take a romantic riverside stroll through Shanghai. The film ends with Julia visiting her husband at the office, embracing covert agent after covert agent in a heartwarming breach of national security. Mission: ImpossibleGhost Protocol (2011) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Brad Birds genius for action set-pieces is on full display in the fourth Mission: Impossible film, starting with the horrifying off-screen murder of Julia Meade-Hunt by a Serbian hit squad in Croatia. Ethan Hunts bloody, off-screen quest for revenge lands him in a Russian prison, setting into motion the events of Mission: ImpossibleGhost Protocol. Its not until the very end of the film that we learn that the off-screen murder was (spoiler!) actually an off-screen hoax: Julia was kidnapped but not murdered (off-screen) and Ethan helped her fake her own death and assume a new identity to stay safe (off-screen). Presumably shes carrying a lot of anger and sorrow, since her husband forced her to cut off all contact with her mom, her brother, her sister, and her former friends, but all that happens off-screen as she struggles to build a new life for herself over the course of the film. At the end of the movieeasily the best and most action-packed in the seriesshe goes out for coffee with her co-workers. Mission: ImpossibleRogue Nation (2015) Nothing happened in Mission: ImpossibleRogue Nation. Whatever thrilling adventures Julia Meade faces in Mission: ImpossibleFallout, the series has made one thing abundantly clear: No matter how impossible the mission, Julia chooses to accept it. Off-screen. As part of his Sunday morning tweetstorm, President Donald Trump revealed he had a private meeting with New York Times Publisher A.G. Sulzberger. But within two hours, Sulzberger issued his own statement on the meeting that disputed the presidents account of the sit-down and their discussions about journalism and the media. Had a very good and interesting meeting at the White House with A.G. Sulzberger, Publisher of the New York Times, Trump wrote. Spent much time talking about the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, Enemy of the People. Sad! Advertisement Sulzberger then released his own detailed statement through the Times about the meeting he attended with James Bennet, who is the papers editorial page editor. Although the meeting, as is usual for these types of sit-downs, was off the record, Trumps tweet put the meeting on the record, the Times said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Statement of A.G. Sulzberger, Publisher, The New York Times, in response to President Trumps tweet about their meeting https://t.co/N6soZfxQZ7 pic.twitter.com/W9mFxCF0tp NYTimes Communications (@NYTimesPR) July 29, 2018 Advertisement Sulzberger said he agreed to the meeting with Trump to raise concerns about the presidents deeply troubling anti-press rhetoric. The Times publisher also warned Trump that his language was not just divisive but increasingly dangerous. Although using the term fake news is untrue and harmful, Sulzberger said he is far more concerned with the commander in chief calling journalists the enemy of the people. That type of language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence, Sulzberger said. Sulzberger said he repeatedly emphasized throughout the meeting that he wasnt asking the president to take it easy on the Times. But rather for him to recognize that his language is having far-reaching effects, not just in the United States but also abroad, where the presidents rhetoric is being used by some regimes to justify sweeping crackdowns on journalists. Sulzberger gave a few more details of the meeting in an interview with the Times. At one point in the sit-down Sulzberger says he pointed out that some newspapers have started posting armed guards outside because of the increasing threats against journalists. The president was apparently surprised newspapers didnt already have armed guards. Spotted: Robert Mueller and Donald Trump Jr. both waiting for their flights this morning at the 35X gate at DCA. And yes, there is a photo. https://t.co/gKUSO7QhOU pic.twitter.com/tvcoyLMnDW POLITICO (@politico) July 27, 2018 On Friday, Politico published an intriguing picture of Donald Trump Jr. standing a few feet away from special counsel Robert Mueller at Washington National Airport. Could it really be a coincidence that the man tasked with investigating the alleged misdeeds of Donald Trumps campaign would wind up at gate 35X at the same time as the presidents son? A spokesperson for the special counsel told Washington Post reporter Matt Zapotosky that the man in the photo is, in fact, Robert Mueller, adding, If its accurate that the other person in the photo was Donald Trump Jr., Mr. Mueller was not aware of him and had no interaction with him. (And its definitely accurate that the other person in the photo was Don Jr.) Advertisement That statement seems to indicate that this picture is evidence of nothing more than a chance juxtaposition at a busy airport terminal in the nations capital. Or is it? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I consider myself something of an intrigue expert, as I find so many things intriguing. This photo fits the bill. Dont listen to the special counsels spokesperson. What we have here is a high-stakes game of cat and mouse, and I can prove it by zooming in on five peculiarities present in Politicos photo. 1. Mueller is reading a newspaper. Seems normal enough, but why would a man privy to more information than anyone else about the presidents alleged collusion with Russia be reading the news like a schmo? Our man Bob already has all the info. Id bet my lifes savings ($56.87) that there is a mirror on the other side of that paper, or perhaps a high-tech X-ray camera thats been bequeathed to the special counsel by a droll gadgets expert. He probably has an exploding pen, too. Advertisement 2. Don Jr. is wearing a camouflage hat. Oh, this is just a normal trip to the airport, is it? Then explain why the presidents son felt the need to make the top of his head completely invisible. Luckily Mueller has that X-ray camera to see through this clever disguise. Advertisement 3. Don Jr.s secret service agent and the special counsel are dressed alike. Muellers matching threads indicate the special counsel will likely engage in a Mission: Impossiblestyle latex mask switcheroo with the agent, probably once he gets up to use the lavatory at the rear of the plane (thats where all the intrigue usually happens). 4. A photo of the Jefferson Memorial is displayed prominently on the wall. According to the 2004 documentary National Treasure, the Declaration of Independence contains the secret location of priceless jewels. That document was written byyou guessed itThomas Jefferson. Forget Russia: Don Jr. is going to steal the Declaration of Independence. 5. Don Jr. has a rolling bag. Surely a man who Instagrams all his Crossfit workouts would be able to lift some measly luggage. That is, unless his bag is full of priceless jewels and gold doubloons Dear God, its happening. The country is counting on you, Mr. Mueller. Please capture the presidents son before he makes off with all that booty. President Donald Trump seems to have woken up Sunday morning itching to tweet. The president started firing off tweets at 7:31 a.m. and by 9:13 a.m. he had sent out 10 messages, including self-retweets. Trump left the most newsworthy item for last, threatening a shutdown if Congress doesnt fund the border wall with Mexico and change the countrys immigration laws. I would be willing to shut down government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall! Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country! Trump tweeted. Advertisement I would be willing to shut down government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall! Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Although Trump had previously said that he was willing to push the government into a shutdown to get what he wants on immigration, many had said the president wouldnt actually greenlight such a drastic move mere weeks before the midterm elections. I have to say, that tweet kind of shocks me. And not much actually shocks me from this president, Axios Jonathan Swan said on Fox News Sunday. Swan said the presidents advisers have been trying to get him to see that shutting down the government weeks before the election wouldnt be smart politics. Advertisement "I have to say, that tweet kind of shocks me. And not much actually shocks me from this president," says Axios' @jonathanvswan on Trump's threat to shut down the government over immigration. pic.twitter.com/7iMIYSyFnE Axios (@axios) July 29, 2018 Advertisement The shutdown threat came as something of a full circle as the president started off his Sunday tweetstorm talking about immigration. He started his string of tweets by quoting Tom Homan, the former director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), saying no one had done more for border security than Trump. On the issue of border security he also tweeted out a warning that sounded like a justification for family separation at the border. Please understand, there are consequences when people cross our Border illegally, whether they have children or notand many are just using children for their own sinister purposes, Trump wrote. Advertisement Advertisement Tom Homan, fmr ICE Director: There is nobody that has done more for border security & public safety than President Trump. Ive worked for six presidents, and I respect them all, but nobody has done more than this Administration & President Trump, thats just a stone cold fact! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018 Advertisement Please understand, there are consequences when people cross our Border illegally, whether they have children or not - and many are just using children for their own sinister purposes. Congress must act on fixing the DUMBEST & WORST immigration laws anywhere in the world! Vote R Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018 Advertisement The president also continued his attacks on his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen. Trump retweeted an old Cohen tweet in which he praises Donald Trump Jr. Do you think the Fake News Media will ever report on this tweet from Michael? Trump asked. Do you think the Fake News Media will ever report on this tweet from Michael? https://t.co/kXLCKZO5Fr Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018 Advertisement Advertisement At another point in the two-hour tweeting window, Trump also said he met with New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger at the White House. The president said the two chatted about the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, Enemy of the People. Sad! Sulzberger issued a statement responding to the presidents tweet: I told the president directly that I thought that his language was not just divisive but increasingly dangerous. Had a very good and interesting meeting at the White House with A.G. Sulzberger, Publisher of the New York Times. Spent much time talking about the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, Enemy of the People. Sad! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018 Advertisement The commander in chief also managed to do a bit of lying, claiming, as he has done before, that he is the most popular president in the history of the Republican Party. Wow, highest Poll Numbers in the history of the Republican Party, Trump wrote. That includes Honest Abe Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. Even ignoring the fact that widespread public polling didnt begin until the 1930s, the truth is Trump remains less popular among his party than a number of his recent predecessors, notes Politico. Advertisement Advertisement A polar bear was shot dead after attacking a German cruise ship worker on Norway's Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, the authorities said Sunday. The unnamed man in his 40's suffered head injuries shortly after landing on Spitzbergen island. He was accompanying a tourist expedition from the MS Bremen of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises on Saturday. "The bear was killed by another employee on the boat," police commissioner Ole Jakob Malmo told AFP. Hapag-Lloyd Cruises said it was "self-defence". "We greatly regret this incident," said company spokesman Moritz Krause. The injured employee was flown by helicopter to the local capital Longyearbyen and then on to Tromso on the mainland in the evening, Malmo said. Tromso hospital told AFP the man's life was not in danger and he was in a stable condition. Hapag-Lloyd Cruises said it had permission from "local authorities" to dock. "Landings are only possible in a few places (in the archipelago)," said Krause, in remarks confirmed by Malmo. Usually "as soon as an animal approaches, the landing stops immediately," Krause added. The company said excursions of this nature required staff to check areas before landing and to protect those onboard against polar bear attacks. Polar bears have been protected in Norway since 1973 and nearly 1,000 were counted on Svalbard during a 2015 census. The archipelago, roughly twice the size of Belgium, lies about 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) from the North Pole. Five fatal polar bear attacks have been recorded on Svalbard in the last 40 years. The most recent was in 2011 when a bear attacked a group of 14 people on a trip organised by a British schools association. A 17-year-old Briton died and four other members of the expedition were hurt before the bear was killed. Mountain Shadows in Wayanad is just the place for a dreamy vacation Sitting in a Melbourne cafe waiting to speak to an industry veteran, Im struck by the figure outside the window striding towards me. It is actor Terry Norris, 88, who has a decided spring in his step as he heads for his latest press interview. Ive asked to meet to discuss his body of work, the most recent of which is ABCs Jack Irish. As I discover, there is much to discuss and no sign of slowing down. Its been an interesting year for me, Norris begins. I turned 88 three weeks ago but at my age you cant go hustling. This year I did Peter Jacksons Mortal Engines in New Zealand which was very nice. Then I did a little bit in Romper Stomper, then Jack Irish and Ive just finished another film, Judy & Punch. It was a lovely crew, lovely cast with Mia Wasikowska playing Judy, and Damon Herriman playing Punch. A very interesting script and written and directed by Mirrah Foulkes. It was a very adventurous film, almost like a gothic take on the Punch & Judy legend. It was a joy, a pleasure to go to work. Norris is one of Australias most experienced character actors. His CV includes Power Without Glory, Blue Heelers, Changi, Stingers, Something in the Air, City Homicide, Killing Time, Miss Fishers Murder Mysteries, The Society Murders, Hawke, The Damnation of Harvey McHugh, Ryan, Consider Your Verdict, Hunter, The Last of the Australians, and films including Stork, Road to Nhill, Paper Planes and The Dressmaker. Work comes to him, as it rightly should after so many years, but as with most actors there is little pattern to it. At least that brings some spontaneity. You can sit around on your arse in this business and nothing happens and then suddenly you never know when the phones going to ring, he explains. Its something I suppose one could be cynical and I refuse to be. My main concern is that theyve got the right address to send the money! Ive had such a bloody, charmed life. But other than that, Ive had such a bloody, charmed life. Its a terrible business that you wouldnt want any of your children or your best friends ever to go into. Yet he has two daughters who did just that (one has since dropped out), and one son. Son-in-law Robert Connolly also happens to be the director of The Slap, Barracuda and Balibo. Family is precious to Norris, who has 4 grandchildren with veteran actress wife, Julia Blake (Bed of Roses, Prisoner, Travelling North). Melbourne-born Norris met British-born Blake in a theatre troupe after travelling to the UK as a young man. I went to England when I was 21 as one had to in those days. Nowadays its LA. The West End was ones Mecca and so I went to England and I spent the next 12 years bumming around in repertory theatre. It was fantastic. Every town of every size had its own professional theatre. England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, even the bloody Channel Islands I played. We got married between a matinee & evening performance We met in York, a lovely city, we were both in a company there. We got married between a matinee & evening performance of the show we were doing. A lot of performers you worked with in those days spent their entire lives in rep and I didnt want to finish up in a bloody bed sitting-room somewhere, down on my bean end, never going to get any further. We wanted to have a family so I persuaded Julia to come back to my hometown. They resettled in Melbourne in 1962 where Norris insists he enjoyed an enviable streak working in television, theatre, film and radio, including multiple guest roles on Crawford Productions. Hector had that great stable of shows: Homicide, Division 4, Matlock Police, The Sullivans (Norris was in all but the last). I was never, ever out of work. I had 20 years with the longest run of luck of any actor on the face of the earth! I was never, ever out of work. Sometimes doing two and three at the same time, because in those days there were lots of bits and pieces, he recalls. We did a radio play from Melbourne every week, so that was a little bit of jam on the bread, and at that same time you were doing a stage show or theatre restaurant, and two long-running soap operas. I did 20 years so bloody lucky, never out of work. Its amazing. So thats my story and Im sticking to it. In Bellbird he played mechanic Joe Turner, filmed at Ripponlea studios. After a days work he would jump on a train for evening performances at Tikki & Johns Theatre Restaurant or Brian Hannans Squizzys. Bellbird was a big soap hit for ABC, with Noris enjoying an 8 year run and even leading a campaign to save the show from a timeslot & format change. He followed it as the memorable Senior Sgt. Eric OReilly on Sevens hit police show, Cop Shop, providing levity to the crime of the week. It had comedy in it which is most unusual for a police show. It was a show that never took itself seriously. It had comedy in it which is most unusual for a police show. Gill Tucker (Constable Roy Baker) and I were the comedy relief, he smiles. They were a lovely, happy cast and another joy to go to work. I can never ever remember a moment in that show when anyone showed any temperament. In Cop Shop he played father to Claire, played by Louise Philip. She had also been a regular in Bellbird, prior to a life-changing accident. Norris still remembers the day they were doing fan appearances in Wagga Wagga. When we finished the presentation at one of the big department stores someone rushed in to say Louise had just been in a terrible accident outside of town, he recalls. I arrived at the Wagga Hospital in all my make-up as Joe Turner and just before I was about to go in and see her, one of the medical staff said Ive just told her, its a very serious accident. Shes broken her back and shell never walk again. Would you like to go in? What do you say to a young kid and when youre ushered into the room, she lying there having been told that she is going to be a paraplegic? Although he hasnt seen her in many years, Norris says she became a shopping centre manager in Queensland. Remembering her fondly as a lovely, lovely woman, he admits to little contact with either Bellbird or Cop Shop cast, or any casts for that matter. You know what this business is like. You have lots of acquaintances, but very few, what I would call, friends, he continues. Mocking a showbiz Hello darling! greeting he admits, But we havent worked together for years?Thats why this is a strange business. You can sit in your room waiting for the phone to ring and youre the loneliest person in the world, very isolated, very lonely, and get very depressed as many people in the business do. When Ive done something I dont want to revisit it Although he lives within walking distance of ABCs former Ripponlea studios, neither did he go to recent reunions and farewells. Im the sort of person that when Ive done something I dont want to revisit it. Ive never looked back. I dont like seeing anything Ive done, mainly because I think Oh my God I think I could have done that better. Youre never satisfied with what youve done. I didnt go to Ripponlea. I dont like revisiting the memories. Isnt it strange? Its like class reunions. Ive always been very reluctant. I want to remember it as it was. And when I die I wouldnt want any service, other than the family, sitting around saying Dads gone, blah blah blah. Id want nothing else. Im not a person that enjoys memorials or tributes. I always try to look ahead. You dont look back. Consequently someone said Have you seen The Dream Factory, you were in it a lot! I said, I dont particularly want to see it. You ask me why, I couldnt really tell you. I can understand people doing it because in a way its rather like having a good bowel movement. You feel a lot better for it. Youve got it out of your system. Ive got almost no close friends in the business Its possibly an odd aspect to me in that regard. Im not one for revisiting and going back which is possibly why Ive got almost no close friends in the business. Lots of acquaintances but no one I could sit down with and unburden myself. Ive got a solitary person in that regard, as has Julia. So we are sort of peas in a pod. In 1982 he detoured from acting to a 10 year term as a member of the Victorian Labor government, which he says emerged from union work for Actors Equity. Representing voters in Dandenong, he describes it as an experience, if not necessarily enjoyable. But one that gave him insight into humanity. I had the biggest ethnic group in the state and the biggest unemployment and drug problem. It was challenging but nevertheless interesting. I worked my arse off and kindly (thanks) to the people I increased my vote at every election so I was doing something right. But you never get what you want, totally so you come to some sort of agreement. But its like life anyway, isnt it? In his latest role for Jack Irish he is joined by veteran performer John Flaus as one of the barflies at the Prince of Prussia pub. This season, sadly, both are without their third partner in crime, the late Ronald Falk. Dear Ron, he smiles. In this particular series were almost auditioning someone to take Rons stool right at the bar. Its a beautiful cast, led by one of the greatest professionals I have ever worked with, Guy Pearce. What a pro. Delightful person, lovely actor. Walks on the set, knows his lines -and he has an enormous work load. Scene after scene after scene . Guy is a joy, no hassle, no problems. Charming. So that sets the tone I think, for the atmosphere. Weve struck a chord with a lot of viewers. Weve struck a chord with a lot of viewers. Oddly enough, they represent an era thats gone. These old Australian types sitting in a bar -not a lot of them left. It has just struck a chord with many viewers who come up and say I know that bar. Its fun to go to work. All John Ive got to do is sit there and say the words! But while he has two feature films yet to be released, Norris admits he doesnt know what his next job will be. Yet neither does it seem to faze him. Its all part of the tapestry. I must be one of the oldest actors still working. You wait for the next phone call, he adds pragmatically. I must be one of the oldest actors still working. Theyre all sort of dying off, poor bastards, or retiring. And yet while he is indeed one of Australias oldest working performers, Norris resists overselling his achievements, preferring to let the work speak for itself. Noel Cowards autobiography, after his great body of work, was called A Talent to Amuse, which is a sort of how most of my life has been, he insists. I call myself a jobbing actor. Ill do a reasonably professional job, and Ive been lucky enough to make a living from it. Jack Irish airs 8:30pm Sundays on ABC. Robert Mugabe, the deposed former president of Zimbabwe called a press conference at his mansion in Harare, Zimbabwe on the eve of the Zimbabwean elections. Reporters rushed to his home to hear what he had to say and it was live streamed on Facebook by Open Parly ZW. Mugabe looked very old and rambled on a lot, without making it clear initially what he was trying to say. He talked very slowly as he sat back in a chair with the backdrop of vegetation behind him and it was hard to follow his speech. The unconstitutional coup Mainly though, he talked about the coup and called it unconstitutional. "Illegal things happened," he said, "and decisions were taken on the basis of who is my friend and who is my relative." People who tuned into the site heard him say there were stories of "nonsense" like those who said that the "president wanted to leave his wife." He then said "all of that is nonsense" Mugabe said what was "happening on the ground, even in ZANU PF made him feel "sad." He reminded the reporters that he founded ZANU PF. He said he was regarded now, as an enemy. Referring to the armed people during the coup, he said that they supposedly protected him, but how come he is "treated as an opponent of those in government?" He added that people could not visit him. "One person came and was allowed to pass through the gate. But then he was asked what was discussed. Then relatives were harassed. "Why? It's completely absurd," he said. Mugabe's angry people are being arrested and detained for corruption Mugabe seems upset that some high-up members of his regime are being arrested or detained for corruption - though he never said the word. He rambled on a bit and mentioned that "some people in the party had to run away" after Mnangagwa took over "and they are temporary refugees." He added, "This is what we have. We have people still outside. People like Professor Jonathan Moyo and Kasukwere. People have been imprisoned and harassed." Mugabe said listeners would be "shocked" if they knew about the fact that there are terrorists in the country. "We had become a democratic country," he said. "But now they are undemocratic and it's all illegal and unconstitutional" Furious with Ed Mnangagwa Next Mugabe turned to the election and it was clear that he was very angry with Ed Mnangagwa, the current president of the country. "I am talking on the eve of the day I longed for," he said. "Let the people go and vote. Let them go and vote freely and I'm glad. People will be allowed to go and vote freely and the result will be recognised. Fine. We (using the multiple term of the queen) appreciate that. In his own words, the former dictator said "For the first time, we have now a long list of aspirants to power. I must say this clearly." Speaking of voting he added, "I cannot vote for those who have tormented me. I can't. I will make my choice among the other 22," - obviously referring to Mnangagwa. He mentioned Chamisa (MCD opposition) and denied he had ever worked with him. He did say he had met the previous MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai. Mugabe also wished "Chamisa well if he wins." Mugabe hopes for more personal freedom after the elections Mugabe seems to hope that the reform that comes will free him and his henchmen who are answerable for the corruption and abuse of power that drained the country and crashed the economy. Perhaps that's, why he said "the election coming up, is a great event" and he hopes that "reform will come." He hopes that the election will thrust away bad things and "bring back the constitution." He demanded a "democratic constitution" and perked up a bit then and reminded everyone "that was what we fought for." Mugabe said that people need to remember that "the people's voices and people's freedom comes first and foremost," adding "we waged our struggle for the freedom of Zimbabwe and we had that freedom." However, this was where he omitted to mention the Ghukurhandi massacres, even though he said people had been able to belong to any party of their own choice "and go about freely. To feel free," he said, "is important." Over 80 journalists turned up for the media conference currently underway at Robert Mugabe's residence in Harare, Zimbabwe pic.twitter.com/Zqrmd8eQV4 nbcnews (@newsonnbc) July 29, 2018 Obviously not enjoying his seclusion, he said that said his friends message him and "say they cannot visit me" as they are afraid. He was angry that this was being done by people who worked with him for the freedom of the country. "There should be a big no at guns directed at politics," he stated firmly "Tomorrow the people must say they will never again use guns to thrust one person into power. A number of people died. We shall investigate that after the election tomorrow. "So the election tomorrow I ask. Let it bring constitutionality, freedom and democracy, rather than the return of the same rules we have experienced since November. I say in advance, congratulations to whoever or whichsoever party wins the day. And let us accept that verdict. Let us all pray that tomorrow brings us good news." He added the people of Zimbabwe need to "say that what happened in November is now history" and let the women ululate. Feeling the seclusion Mugabe also said that he was sure the people would be happy to interact with him as he was not able to do so for the time being. "If you are put in a high place where you are a leader," he said, "you are the president of a country, you have rules that must guide you. You don't get the rules from those who come and sit next to you and say someone needs undoing. You must obey the rules. I say so." Mugabe complains about no money Next, Mugabe intimated he was broke and complained that after he resigned he had to "go to the pension office to say what am I entitled to?" He said, "They said they would tell me what my entitlements are. They said I was worth $460,000. That was the total amount. People talk about 10 million," he laughed. About his mansion, he said slowly they managed to build it, paying off a little year by year as he had no money. He had hoped to build it "Chinese style" to honour the Chinese for helping to train the soldiers. However, the Yugoslavs who built it messed up the roof. He said that now the roof is beginning to sag and in two years the house will be dangerous and they need to rebuild the roof. He said they wanted money to repair their house but the government will not give him an answer. They just don't give him an answer about his needs. "So there it is," he finally ended. "It's not a good life but the tomorrow that is coming will go well." Viewer reactions on Facebook live Meanwhile, viewers were hardly sobbing in their cups over his pleas of poverty and hardship. One commenter said, "We also lost our savings under your brutal rule." Another said, "This man deserves nothing. Zimbabwe doesn't owe you a thing." Yet another mentioned that "We can't access our cash from the bank." Another reminded everyone about Grace Mugabe, writing, "I thought Grace Mugabe was a business woman and a woman of means??? 1 million dollar ring?? How in the heck was she going to afford that? Not to forget that $60 000 watch his kids were flashing AND the millions they spent in South African night clubs." What was the purpose of Mugabe's press invite? People who lived in Zimbabwe recall the last time he tried to sound reasonable about an upcoming referendum. The result went the wrong way and kickstarted the seizure of farmland in a matter of months. 1.36m Indian tourists visited Nepal in 2017 More than 1.36 million Indian tourists visited Nepal in 2017, according to a latest study of the Tourism Ministry. The overland Indian visitors survey 2017 showed that 1.20 million Indian tourists travelled Nepal through the surface route while 160,132 travelled via air route. By Jane Ross TULARE, Calif. (Reuters) - Stephen Mancebo, a fourth-generation California dairy farmer with 2,300 cows, has battled ups and downs in his temperamental industry for a quarter-century only to find himself a casualty of a U.S trade war with one of his biggest customers - Mexico. Mancebo, 47, represents one of approximately 1,300 dairy farm families eking out a living in California on the narrow margins of an enterprise that increasingly relies on exports. For Mancebo and other U.S. dairy farmers and processors who turn milk into cheese, butter and other products, the trade war is threatening to snuff out a nascent rebound from three years of slumping prices that have driven nearly 140 California dairies out of business. In retaliation for tariffs that President Donald Trump imposed on imports of steel and aluminum, Mexico in late May announced duties on cheeses, other farm products and metals from the United States. Milk and cheese prices on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, a key part of the formula that determines what dairy producers are paid, faltered immediately on expectations Mexico's tariffs would translate into U.S. surpluses. The extent of export disruption has yet to be quantified. But sudden downturns in demand are challenging for dairy farmers, whose means of production need to be fed and milked on a daily basis. "Our product is perishable. I can't sit on my milk for a month or two months," Mancebo told Reuters outside his dairy in Tulare, in California's Central Valley. "These cows can't be shut off." After several years of showing little if any profit, Mancebo said he had been looking forward to a turnaround in prices that might have netted his operation $50,000 to $80,000 a month later this year, allowing him to break even for 2018. "Most months I don't make anything, so to take that, it's a considerable loss at this time," said Mancebo, whose support for Trump has been undiminished despite the effect of the trade policies. Story continues CALIFORNIA MOST VULNERABLE The United States is Mexico's leading foreign supplier of dairy goods, including nearly $400 million in cheese last year. Dairy operators in California, the nation's top milk-producing state, are especially vulnerable to Mexico's 25 percent cheese tariffs. California dairies, like Mancebo's, export 30 percent of all they produce, compared with 17 percent for U.S. dairies on average, and Mexico is their No. 1 buyer. California accounted for 35 percent of U.S. cheese exports to Mexico alone last year, estimated at 33,600 metric tons (74 million-plus pounds), said economist Annie AcMoody of the trade group Western United Dairymen. But beyond immediate price swings, U.S. dairy exporters worry about losing hard-earned market share to the European Union, which has just reached a free-trade accord with Mexico. In a letter sent to the White House last month, 65 dairy producers, processors and cooperatives from around the country urged Trump to reach an accommodation with Mexico. The $12 billion aid package Trump announced this week to offset damage to farmers from the trade war could potentially replace some short-term income losses, but it will do nothing to rebuild any market share seized by foreign competitors, said Bill Schiek, economist for the Dairy Institute of California. Concerns also are growing that China could retaliate against U.S. tariffs with a fresh set of duties on U.S. dairy. Schiek said anecdotal evidence shows orders are being canceled in anticipation of export demands softening as Mexico's duties add to the cost of made-in-America cheese, and buyers there turn elsewhere for supplies. AcMoody said that even minor fluctuations can undercut American dairy producers because international pricing is so competitive. Mancebo said that even as Trump's policies are hurting him, he backs the measures: "Our trade deficit needed to be addressed."And it was going to be a struggle whenever it happened," he said. "So it's kind of like holding our breath. Problem is, we're holding our breath underwater." (Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; editing by Bill Tarrant and Leslie Adler) Travis Perkins shares are best avoided, said the Sunday Times' Inside the City column, along with the short-sellers who have more than one in ten of the shares out on loan. Shares in the company are down almost 40% from their summer 2015 zenith, "and it may be some time before there is any meaningful lift". The builders merchant, which owns the Wickes and Toolstation chains, is very prone to blaming the weather for any dip in performance, like many in its industry. UK weather is all-important for this FTSE 250 group, as it has no international operations to counterbalance any sniffles in the UK. The health of the housing market is key for Travis Perkins, which is another explanation why the first half of the year has not been easy. February's full year figures sent some investors fleeing after a fall in the number of house moves that required repair, maintenance and improvement from builders. "As a result of all this, the company has had to carry out cost-cutting measures, including axing a third of its head-office jobs in May," the column noted. Interim numbers on Tuesday will give an update that followed indications of a possible slowdown from others in similar markets, such as Howdens Joinery's results, though planned stores closures at Homebase could be a boon. For the second quarter of the year, like-for-like sales are forecast to increase 3.8%, an improvement on 3% in the first quarter. Shares in Weir Group were a 'buy' for Questor in the Sunday Telegraph. The company provides conveyor belts and crushers to the world's miners and in June completed the $1.3bn acquisition of US-based Esco, the market leading maker of extraction equipment and other 'ground engagement tools'. Weir simultaneously put its low-margin flow control division on the block, which has hitherto accounted for a sixth of group revenues. A sale could generate 250m in time. "It is an opportune point in the cycle to be expanding," said Questor, pointing to predictions that the mining sector needs to bump up capital expenditure for many a year. UBS forecasts 18% compound annual growth of Weir's underlying earnings for the next five years, up from 8% in its previous model. Weir's shares have largely tracked sideways for the past year, with the potential from the Esco deal tempered by the tailing off of the US shale oil boom, as a lack of pipeline capacity had led to producers limiting production and deferring new fracking, hitting demand for Weirs pressure pumps and other kit that makes up around a fifth of group sales. Earnings estimates have been trimmed 4% for 2018 and 2019 but are seen by some analysts as jumping by 2020. Worldwide fracking activity is outpacing the equipment available, which Questor said is "a high-quality problem, arising in the midst of a modern-day gold rush" and shares that trade for 15 times next year's earnings look "undemanding". Tax Systems was tipped as a 'buy' by Midas in the Mail on Sunday. The company provides software to help large firms navigate increasingly complex demands, with a customer list that includes more than 100 firms in the FTSE 250 index and 19 out of the UK's top 20 accountants. Chief executive Gavin Lyons is determined to expand the firm after buying its from retiring owners in 2016 and listing it on AIM. In April, the new 'Making Tax Digital' policy comes into force, forcing firms to first file VAT returns online. Tax Systems helps customers collect data, helps them comply with regulations and manage the process so they pay the right amount of tax at the right time. A recent trading update revealed that revenues are expected to be up 14% in the first half of the year, with Lyons confident about full year earnings targets. For the full year, profits are estimated to grow at least 18% to 5.8m. Lauren Foster is best known for her role in the television show Real Housewives of Miami. A trans model, Lauren was featured in an issue of VOGUE/Mexico in 1980 which was quite innovative for the time. Since then, she has seen the trans movement grow and has even been awarded at a Woman of Empowerment brunch hosted by Variety Magazine. Lauren is also the proud Director of the LGBTQ Clinic at the respected University of Miami. Lauren uses this position to mentor youthsespecially trans girlsand is a noteworthy socialite in the Miami scene where she mingles with high-rollers on the beach, in nightclubs, and at private events. Soon to turn sixty and still stunningly beautiful, Lauren has a vital zest for life and is sharing her journey around the world. On July 26, Lauren discussed these achievements and more via an exclusive interview. Show business, modeling, honors, and advice Meagan Meehan (MM): How did you initially get into show business and do you consider acting to be your first career? Lauren Foster (LF): As a child, I was drawn to acting and dancing. I was in every theatrical production that was produced in my small town. I later studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute, under the tutelage of Sally Kirkland and Mark Mano. Yes, acting is my first love. MM: How did you land a photo shoot with Vogue in 1984? LF: I was a working model, living in Mexico City. My agent at the time sent me on an editorial go see. She called me two days later to tell me I got the job. We shot the next week. It ended up being five pages. I didnt tell a soul until it hit the stores. It didnt feel real until I held the hard copy in my hands. A dream come true and the pinnacle of my modeling career at the time. Discuss this news on Eunomia MM: How did you get into Real Housewives? LF: My good friend Marysol Patton, who was one of the cast members, asked me to film a scene with her and the girls at lunch at Lisa Pliners house on Star Island. A guest on the show was bullying her. I was brought in, basically, to handle the situation. There are a few funny memes, out in cyberspace, about the confrontation. My debut was well received, and I regularly filmed for Season 2 and 3. It was fun working with Matt Anderson and all the girls. Most of us are still good friends and hang out often. Marysol and I were just at the beach together last weekend. MM: You were also just honored as a Woman of Empowerment, so what was that like? LF: To receive this honor was mind blowing but very humbling at the same time. Its a great moment when a trans woman is honored as a woman of empowerment, and it is always my message that we are all normal. Nothing and no-one is different. MM: What was it like to come out as trans and how have you seen the community change over the course of thirty years? LF: I give the same answer every time Im asked this. I think it was easier for me. I transitioned at 18 and led my life as a woman. I never identified as trans. I was never hired for my gender identity. I lived my life as a woman. I loved as a woman. I had a career as a woman. The community has gotten so strong in the last five years, and its awesome to see the strides its given the trans community, but I would like to see us being offered cis roles. That would be real progress. There is part of me that thinks this is being treated as a trend. I feel strongly about this. I am not a trend or a fetish. MM: You now mentor young trans women, what advice do you give them? LF: My advice is to always surround yourself with loving friends and family that lift you up. Friends that have your back. This will take you through life and be a long-term blessing. As it is for any young person. Social events, Miami, and the future MM: You are a well-known socialite on the Miami scene, so what is it about the city that you most enjoy? LF: Miami is having a renaissance. Its exciting. People here are gorgeous. The food, the weather, the art scene and, of course, the beach. You can always find my friends and me at the beach or a pool party on the weekends. Day or night. I love being outdoors, under the stars or the sun. MM: You partake in many social and creative events, so which are the most fun and exciting and why? LF: Miami used to be fun only in season. That has changed. It is exciting all year round now. My favorite event is Art Basel. It is a week of art and parties, with people from all over the world visiting. Soho Beach House is always my go-to the venue. They do everything right, especially during Basel. Tents on the beach, exciting performers. Its just a great time. It also falls on the week of my birthday, so its a double celebration. MM: What are your biggest plans for your future and is there anything additional that you would like to mention? LF: I dont really plan for the future. I like things to happen organically. Thats how my life has always unraveled. I am in discussion with a well-known DJ to maybe record a track. Travel more. My position with the University of Miami is exciting, and the new leadership we have are very supportive of my future so they might have a few things in mind for me. North Korea has finally returned the remains of 55 US Soldiers who were killed in the 1950-53 Korean War. The matter was discussed by President Donald Trump and North Korea dictator Kim Jong-un when they met in Singapore. They discussed various issues relating to the hermit kingdom and its relations with the United States. The trouble with North Korea dates back to the 1950s. Thousands of US soldiers lost their lives in the war and many of their remains are held by the North even now. Return of the remains was one of the points discussed by the two leaders at the summit. BBC reports that North Korea has now returned some of the remains of US soldiers who were killed during the Korean War. American troops in South Korea formed an honor guard when the plane carrying the remains landed in the South. The remains will have to undergo forensic tests for proper identification which will be a long-drawn process. BBC confirmed that North Korea has now returned remains of 55 US soldiers who were killed during the Korean War. Veterans Advocate on Return of Korean War Remains: 'I Couldn't Be More Proud' https://t.co/3mPxwhjyo2 pic.twitter.com/P7jSEALYuH Fox News (@FoxNews) July 29, 2018 The process of return begins The Singapore summit held last month was described as a historic event. It was intended to ease the growing tension between North Korea and the United States. There were fears of a nuclear confrontation that had to be defused, and the summit helped to bring a new direction to the tense Korean peninsula. The two main topics discussed by Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un were denuclearization and the return of remains of the war dead. Discuss this news on Eunomia Those were the commitments made by Kim Jong-un to President Trump. North Korea has begun the process of returning the remains of the war dead as agreed. The first batch came in small wooden caskets draped with the UN flag. It was an emotional moment once the caskets landed. American soldiers and some of their families from the base were present to salute them. They also lined the route of their final journey. The remains will now be cataloged and sent for forensic tests. Regarding denuclearization, the North is believed to have taken up work to dismantle its main missile-engine test site. This is a positive sign for heralding in peace in the region and shows the change in perception of Kim Jong-un. Remains of the war dead The Guardian adds that President Donald Trump has hailed this action of North Korea as a great moment and has expressed his thanks to Kim Jong-un on Twitter. The Korean War of 1950-53 had killed more than 36,000 US troops and about 7,700 of them went missing. Remains of more than 5000 are still lying in the North. The raging wildfire in Yosemite National Park led to temperatures soaring to 120F, and people have been told to vacate all campsites and lodges and leave the area Yosemite Valley area immediately. This is the tourist season and they are a disappointed lot. Firefighters are struggling to contain the fire and smoke has affected visibility. Daily Mail UK reports that Yosemite Valley will be closed until at least Sunday. A park spokesman, Scott Gediman, has said that a 20-mile stretch of State Route 41 will also be closed to traffic. He added that this is the prime visitor season, so this wasn't an easy decision to make. The last time the 7.5-mile-long valley was closed was in 1990, also because of fire. Yosemite Valley is being closed due to wildfire for the first time in 28 years. At least 1000 camping & hotel reservations are cancelled for tomorrow thru Sunday. #FergusonFire #YosemiteFire Doug Sovern (@SovernNation) July 24, 2018 Business will suffer due to the wildfire Yosemite Valley is a tourists paradise attracting millions of visitors every year. It boasts many landmarks but, the glacial valley is covered by smoke from the Ferguson Fire. Officials said that there was no imminent danger from the fire as such, but the decision for closure was taken to allow crews to undertake protective measures. The fire has been burning for nearly two weeks, and more than 3,300 firefighters have been at the scene but hardly 25 percent has been contained. The closure of these areas of the Yosemite National Park will affect business because many campground and hotel bookings will be canceled. There will also be a loss of revenue from day visitors, for park workers and small businesses along the highway. Fire and heat are not confined to California at the moment. There are heatwaves in different parts of the world with England recording temperatures 90 degrees range while Sweden is facing the hottest summer in over a century. Discuss this news on Eunomia In Southern California, it is around 100 degrees in some parts and is near the 115-degree mark in Saudi Arabia. In Japan, heat stroke has taken many lives. Tokyo has recorded highs of 105 degrees. Checking the spread of wildfire is a priority According to the Huffington Post, Yosemite Valley is an important tourist destination in California and visitors arrive in large numbers to see the waterfalls and granite giants Half Dome and El Capitan. However, the wildfire has resulted in low visibility as the park is covered in smoke. The blaze has covered more than 36,000 acres and has been burning since July 13. In order to check the spread of the wildfire, it is necessary to create containment lines and get close to the source of the fire. However, the rugged terrain is believed to be posing problems for the firefighters. The cause of the fire is still not established. 456 staff withdraw from VRS The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration on Saturday said 456 civil servants who had applied for the governments Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) have withdrawn their applications, The scheme announced on January 12 by the previous government led by Sher Bahadur Deuba, 9,656 government employees including five secretaries and 38 joint secretaries had opted for VRS. Award-winning slam poet Marcial Delgado is turning away from competition for now, to find more of the words that feed his soul. I dont do competitive poetry anymore. For me, its all rehearsed and has no heart. Although some slam poets do make you cry, he says. I got burned out. I dont think poetry should be competitive. He says he wants his poetry to be less about performance and more about the emotion of the words. Delgado, 39, who held the Albuquerque Slam title in 2017, explains the philosophy behind his poetry and also behind the event he has organized and grown, Voices of the Barrio: Open Mic Poetry and Music. For the past three years Delgado and his wife, Stephanie, have organized the open mic poetry reading every second Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. at El Chante: Casa de Cultura, on Eighth and Central SW. Thats along with his full-time job of being a carpenter and home builder. They balance me. I guess construction is my macho side and poetry is my feminine side. People come together to laugh and cry together, he says of the open mic event. The support of the poetry community is amazing. Ive never seen poetry come together the way it has in Albuquerque. He says he wants Voices of the Barrio to be a safe place, where people can come and share. I just feel closer to open mic style. Its real. Its closer to the earth. When you feel the emotion, its a stronger poem. Still he knows that the polish of slam poetry helped him process some lifelong pain. Delgado first learned the healing language of poetry from an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher in his first year at East San Jose Elementary School. The teacher helped her students make poetry chapbooks. His mother, from Albuquerque, died when he was 5 years old. And his father, from Mexico, was a native Spanish speaker. My dad told me that my mother wrote poetry, he remembers. Delgados still bilingual and so are his poems. He says slam performance helped him write better, because he heard his poetry more often. It broadened the scope of his poetry, but most important it reassured him that he was heard and understood. Because he lost his mother so early, he always felt alone, like a piece of him was missing. When I performed, it took a lot off my chest. I guess I found closure, he says. My whole life Ive been depressed. I thought I was alone, but people were listening to me. They had been there, too. He says everyone is welcome to Voices of the Barrio. He usually has about 15 poets sign up to read. But whoever signs in can read. And its fine to come to listen. The poetry is uncensored and often adult material, but no hate speech is allowed, he says. Ill stay and listen to their poems all night, he says. He says its an honor when poets from the open mic want him to look at their work. He doesnt charge for his advice: Its awesome, because its so close to peoples hearts. He also features established poets. Published poet, novelist and editor Lisa Alvarado of Albuquerque, who read from her work in May, says Voices of the Barrio is a tool of community expression and art-making. There is love, leadership and respect, real respect, for the work of writing, for the word. His and Stephanies respect for the value of poetry is evident in every interaction. Most notably poets are paid for their work. As a working class poet myself, it means so much to have tangible and intangible support. Past Albuquerque Poet Laureate Manuel Gonzalez says Voices of the Barrio is as real as it gets. Its vital and alive. He started something the community really needed. Its a safe place for people of color to speak their truth. When we hear ourselves, we find our own truth. His students at Low Writing, which meets the first and third Tuesdays at 6 p.m. at El Chante often try out their work at Voices of the Barrio, he says. Low Writing is a free and open to everyone workshop, he adds. Bianca Encinias, owner and director of El Chante, says Low Writing and Voices of the Barrio fit the mission of El Chante, which is also home to art exhibits and other events. Both events open poetry to people, outside of academic institutions. We want El Chante to be a place of popular education, she says. A healthy space for people to express, where its OK to be angry, but where we can still be safe and constructive where we can express our sadness, tears and anger. I would rather have people write a very passionate poem than feel alone. Them Two Vatos By Marcial Delgado Why are those two vatos over there staring at me? With their blue bandanas covering their eyes, wife-beater style underwear and creased tan Dickies Tattoos cover the skin of their bodies and each wear a pair of Nike Cortez on their feet They just keep on looking my way If chingasos are what these two pendejos are looking for Pues, here I am and Im always ready to throw Ill show them what being a vato loco is really about Porque sabes que Yo tambien soy del barrio loco And believe me this crazy ass vato has been around But what if theyre packing heat? Then these two locos have got me beat I have always had that premonition that my fate was a puddle of my own blood out in the streets Why do them two vatos keep on dogging me? Its starting to piss me off and its really making me angry From the back of this bus their eyes are locked and penetrating I got my filero in my back pocket And if they want my feria theyre gonna have to try and take it Come on driver Press the gas and get this bus moving Let me be out of this bus before one of us gets knocked the f out But what am I so scared about? Theyre nothing but a pair of two-bit punks Wannabe cholos and fake-ass thugs Ill slap the smirk right off their filthy mugs Son of a b -! Theyre standing up If this is the end So be it I guess my life is short I guess my time is up These two vatos walk my way with dangerous grins A gangsters stride of pride and a dignified rhythm Protectors of their barrio fueled by a forgotten innocence They sit and rest their pinta-style tattooed bodies in vacant seats that surround me And quickly begin to converse with me My fist tightly clenched as the first vato began to speak I dont think you remember me homie Pero we saw you at my primas party You were standing behind a mic and spitting some firme poetry I just wanna say gracias carnal Because your words have inspired me You took my mind away from the gangs and the streets You helped me realize that my life belongs to my family I have enrolled in the community college and right now Im working on a degree in Chicano studies. He offered his grip to my hand I realized his eyes were not the eyes of a cholo or a punk Instead his eyes belong to a strong Chicano man Now we sit in unity and listen to each others stories and even engage in a few laughs As this city bus makes it through the asphalt paved land A few stops and these two vatos reach their destination We part ways and say adios I was ashamed of myself on that day I misjudged the reflection of the words I put out on display My spirit was burned by the spark of an overreacted surge I let myself be driven by fear and hurt Them two vatos have earned all of my respect I know that I dont deserve their respect in return Them two vatos are all I wish to be Kind, courageous and cool On that day, I let myself play the fool Prev 1 of 4 Next In 1946, Argentine writer Julio Cortazar penned a short story about two shut-in siblings caring for their ancestral home. A ghostly presence takes over the house, forcing the pair into the streets. Written in revolutionary Argentina in 1946, the story became a metaphor at a time when its people could not speak openly for fear of being jailed or killed. SITE Santa Fes 2018 biennial Casa tomada alludes to this tale by asking how boundaries dissolve in an era of personal and political polarization. The exhibition of 23 artists opens Aug. 3. Casa tomada can literally mean house taken over or drunken house, said Candice Hopkins, co-curator of the exhibition with Jose Luis Blondet (the Los Angeles County Museum of Art) and Ruba Katrib (New Yorks Museum of Modern Art PS1). Anxieties about identity and the other again take political form. Travel bans from specifically chosen countries swell into bias, injustice and unrest. They arise literally with the border wall prototypes installed near Otay Mesa, Calif. The wall has calcified into the divide between us and them. Middle ground slips away. We need to look at the root of the switch from refugees and migrants to illegals, Hopkins said. Its about conceptions of home and ideas of territory. Gallup artist Eric-Paul Riege created a hogan using looms in place of walls as the ancestral home of Spider Woman, the spiritual being who taught the Navajos how to weave. It is sacred, both sanctuary and womb. He is making one of the most ambitious works for the show, Hopkins said. Riege will perform in woven wool regalia as a dibe or sheep in a dance of both ritual and healing. In 1997, the Alcalde monument to the Spanish conquistador Juan de Onate lost its right foot, thanks to an amputation performed by a group calling itself the Friends of the Acoma. In 1599, in retaliation for the deaths of 13 Spaniards, Onate ordered Acoma Pueblo destroyed. He ordered his soldiers to cut off the right foot of all men over the age of 25. We have access to Onates foot, Hopkins said. The person who cut it off is in possession of it. Theyve given us the right to cast it from pueblo clay. We call him Mr. X. The ceramic cast will be on view. Native filmmaker Chris Eyre is producing a documentary about the incident, she added. Onate was immediately jailed when he went back to Mexico for crimes against humanity. Now the moment has been reframed to show all sides of history. Curtis Santiago, who grew up in Canada, created miniature dioramas inside of old ring jewelry boxes. One depicts a police shooting, another a traditional indigenous home. His idea was that this was something he could carry in his pocket, Hopkins said. Santiago will create a glass house at SITE to display a collection of his dioramas. Seventh-generation Dine (Navajo) weaver Melissa Cody is bringing a new collection of weavings incorporating text and word play. Cody came of age during the development of video games, and her weavings often feature variegated thread and pixel symbols. Some of them almost look like TV static, Hopkins said. A replica of NuMus (El Nuevo Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Guatemala) egg-shaped kiosk by artists Jessica Kaire and Stefan Benchoam will greet visitors at the entrance to SITE. The first thing youre going to see is another museum, Hopkins said. Guatemala has no museum of contemporary art, so the artists created one from an old kiosk used to sell eggs. Small exhibits will decorate the inside of the egg. Its a portable version, Hopkins said. Our hope is that the egg works as an ambassador for SITE in Santa Fe. None of the works scream politics, Hopkins said. Its about the erosion of the middle ground. I think we need to agree what it means when the middle ground erodes and when theres a lack of empathy and an inability for people to hear one another. The coming New Mexico Artisan Market highlights New Mexico artists. This new endeavor is a partnership with the CEO of Heritage Hotels, says Chris ODonnell, NMAM director. Its really just to help expand the creative economy of New Mexico artisans. The inaugural event will be held Nov. 23-25 at Hotel Albuquerque Old Town. The market has space for up to 126 vendors and will be taking submissions through mid-August online at nmartisanmarket.com. This unique market will showcase the best local New Mexican artisans and artisanal makers who are exceptional in their creative field, says Jim Long, CEO and founder of Heritage Hotels. Each exhibitor will be selected by a top-quality group of New Mexico tastemakers. The boutique shopping event will jury in artists all from New Mexico. ODonnell says the event will bring the best New Mexico has to offer in a high-quality, curated marketplace. The call is open to all New Mexico artisans, he says. Weve also put together a great team of tastemakers who are setting the bar during the jurying-in process. The tastemakers include Adriana Long, Tess Coats, Jamie Lewinger, Rhett Lynch, Lisa Samuel, Suzanne Sbarge, Lauren and Jason Greene. A few of the artisans taking part in the market are fashion designer Patricia Michaels, Jodie Herrera, David Santiago, Danny Hart Design, Chelsy Spicer, Beth Spencer, Lawrence Baca and Hanselmann Pottery. ODonnell says the market is replacing the Winter Spanish Market. The Winter Spanish Market was housed at Hotel Albuquerque and has since moved to the National Hispanic Cultural Center because it outgrew the space. Its a great opportunity for local artisans and artisanal makers to gain more exposure for themselves by the marketing efforts offered through the event, ODonnell says. Long describes the market as another Heritage Hotels endeavor to help local artisan communities continue to create and sell fine quality goods and products. Its these artisans, who add to our rich history through their craftsmanship and trade skills, that authentically preserve the creative culture that has thrived for generations, Long says. Supporting and expanding the creative economy of New Mexico through an exclusive artisan market is vital to maintaining the states intrinsic qualities. Just because the hikes are short doesnt mean Tamara Massongs book 60 Short Hikes in the Sandia foothills is skimpy on information with only pen-and-ink trail maps. The book is in fact a highly detailed, information-packed and readable guide. It takes in the foothills and more of the western slope of the Sandias. The trails are in three categories northern, central and south-central trails. As Massongs introduction says, These short excursions through the foothills, into canyons, and onto lower mountains create a perfect introduction for less-experienced hikers, for people who are new to high-desert hiking, and for hard-core hikers who havent yet taken the time to look around. Massong has been looking around hiking, actually the trails of the Sandias for many years. In the book, she willingly shares the extensive knowledge of the landscape shes absorbed. Clear, mostly author-created maps, compact narratives and sharp color photographs accompany each described hike. There are relevant hiking tips. For example, for El Rincon via Piedra Lisa Trail, the trail difficulty is three; the distance is four miles round trip; the hiking time 2-4 hours; elevation gain 1,300 feet (peak elevation 8,200 feet and low elevation 6,900 feet at parking lot); trail condition is excellent. It is U.S. Forest Service-owned and maintained; trail users, hikers and horses; best time to visit is early spring through fall, (winter can have snow); parking lot is at the Piedra Lisa Trailhead near Albuquerque; fees $3 per vehicle (National Parks pass or Sandia Mountains pass). In the narrative on El Rincon via Piedra Lisa Trail, Massong writes that its abundant shade makes it welcome to all hikers especially on a bright, sunny summer afternoon. She also advises that hikers can traverse the full six miles of the Piedra Lisa Trail or for those who want to explore the ridgeline, try El Rincon Spur Trail. The maps of the trails give distances traveled and intersectioning routes. Theres an appendix on how to access GPS data via a smartphone. In the introduction Massong also writes about the foothills geography, geology, natural history and history of land ownership. This information heightens the hikers awareness and appreciation of what the trails offer. Seven pages of the introduction stress the importance of being safe on the trail. Massong discusses several safety issues choosing a hike based on your skills and preparedness; acclimatizing to the altitude; concerns about sun, water and heat exhaustion/hyperthermia in the summer; thunderstorms and lightning and the quick-changing weather; snow and ice in winter; awareness of animals and their potential danger (All wildlife can be dangerous and should be viewed from a distance, the book warns); plant concerns, e.g. poison ivy and cactus; and unanticipated holes in the ground that may be abandoned mine shafts. Massong began working on the book in 2015. This was a dream project. I totally wanted to write a hiking book, she said. I live in the foothills just a few blocks from the citys open space. As our kids were growing up, I took them out there hiking all the time. It was really fun to write, and it gave me an excuse to go into all the nooks and crannies that I hadnt had time to go into before. Massong, a retired hydrologist, is a longtime Albuquerque resident. She grew up in Washington and attended college in Seattle. I started hiking around the state when I went to college. Its always nice to see different rocks and landscapes, said Massong, who has a masters degree in geology. Happy trails! See for yourself The Sandia foothills are close and easily accessible, yet theyre a different world Infobox hed I am writing in response to an article by Kevin Robinson-Avila in the July 17 edition SunZia Riles Environmentalists as a concerned Socorro County citizen, member of a three-generation New Mexico ranching family, executive director of Friends of Bosque del Apache, and member of several New Mexico tourism committees. While opposition to SunZia is partly due to its impact on the environment and migratory birds, its negative impact on our community is much bigger reduced land values, decreased ability to secure grants, declining tourism dollars, landowners pressured to give right of way and threatened by a private corporation with eminent domain, etc. We need New Mexicans to be truly informed. Some of the facts are: SunZias energy transmission is not required to be renewable; the Environmental Impact Statement did not consider the chosen Rio Grande crossing at Escondida, which is a critical migratory bird flyway, until very late in the EIS process; and there are 23 conservation easements on private land in the area whose values have helped secure millions of dollars in federal grants to our county and some of these easements are impacted by SunZias planned transmission lines. Other concerns have been raised of this project from the beginning with limited contact or information sharing from SunZia or BLM, the EIS lead. The article ends with a quote by Tom Wray of SunZia, saying, The BLM-approved plan is readily available to these groups, and wed be happy to meet with them if they have other ideas on mitigation. In truth, the Plan of Development, with limited detail on mitigation and avoidance designs or requirements, was finally publicly available in April. SunZia never contacted Rio Grande Agricultural Land Trust, Save Our Bosque Task Force, or Friends of Bosque del Apache, community groups interested in the Rio Grande ecosystem, with information or requesting assistance on mitigation options. The article also did not mention potential impact on tourism and economic development New Mexico is the fifth-most-visited state for birdwatching, with $500 million coming into our state yearly; $6.4 billion was the impact to tourism in 2016 and it continues to increase; $60 million was spent in Socorro County due to tourism in 2016 and of that, at least $14 million was visitors coming to Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge to see migratory birds. Last week at a New Mexico Tourism press conference, Gov. Susana Martinez asserted tourists are drawn here for unobstructed and beautiful views. Some SunZia towers will (be) 20-story buildings. I hope the Journal will write other articles sharing facts and issues (on) SunZia. Copyright 2018 Albuquerque Journal When nuclear fuel at a power plant is used up, the assemblies that hold it are placed in pools of circulating water and left to cool for years. But the fuel remains extremely hot several hundred degrees Fahrenheit extremely radioactive and extremely dangerous. After the fuel assemblies, each made up of multiple fuel rods filled with tiny pellets of uranium, cool to a required level, they are placed in a canister or cask while still underwater. The water is pumped out and helium, an inert gas, is injected. Then the canisters are taken to a temporary storage area, either above or slightly below ground and usually near the power plant, since theres still no permanent location to store spent nuclear fuel. Unfortunately, once the casks are sealed, its nearly impossible to see whats going on inside. Its not something that youre just going to put your head in and check, said Sam Durbin, a mechanical engineer at Sandia National Laboratories. You really have to have predictive capability to know whats happening inside. So those in the industry rely on complex models computational fluid dynamics modeling to indicate conditions inside the casks, including temperature, to ensure conditions remain safe. Durbins research at Sandia National Laboratories, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, aims to help mathematicians make current models even more accurate. Scientists there have built a simulated dry cask complete with a 14-foot-long mock nuclear fuel assembly hooked up to 700 thermocouples devices that measure temperature. While real-life casks are capable of holding 68 to 89 fuel assemblies, the Sandia simulation is just using one. Modelers can then extrapolate the data. No radioactive materials are being used in the research. New data collection is partly necessary because newer casks are designed to hold more fuel assemblies than the older models, and they use increased pressure inside. Durbin and his team have collected three years of data from the simulated cask through the project but will continue to use the setup for additional research. The real value was providing this quality data set for modeling, Durbin said. You have this snapshot of the truth which you can then model. In the first round of research, Sandia researchers simulated conditions inside of an aboveground cask, of which there are thousands of real-life examples throughout the country. Current work is simulating a dry cask system being stored underground, akin to the system used by Holtec International. Holtec is proposing an interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility in southeast New Mexico that would collect and house thousands of the casks just under the deserts surface until a permanent storage site is developed. I think this is very important work, said Edwin Lyman, a senior scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists Global Security Program. Lyman said storing spent fuel in dry casks is generally safer than storage in fuel pools. But there are still questions about the integrity of the fuel when its been in these casks for a long time, Lyman said. After a permanent site is developed for the nations spent nuclear fuel stockpile, which is around 80,000 metric tons, the fuel will likely need to be repackaged, he said. A lot of it (spent fuel in dry casks) has already been there for decades and probably many decades to come, Lyman said. So you need to make sure if youre storing fuel in the dry casks that it maintains its integrity so that when you have to move it eventually to take it to a repository it remains intact and doesnt cause problems when you try to repackage and transport it. The story of the Korean Wars one-man army began in 1932 in the tiny northwestern New Mexican town of Cabezon. Roy Tachias, 86, was born there on Jan. 25 of that year, the oldest of 10 children. Their home had an earthen floor and no electricity or indoor plumbing. The family moved to Bernalillo while Tachias was still young. When he was 16, Tachias hitchhiked to Albuquerque to enlist in the United States Army and was posted in Japan at just 17 years old. But when the U.S. military was to enter Korea in 1950, Tachias volunteered to be one of the first troops to deploy there, making him a member of Task Force Smith. They didnt pick me, Tachias said. So I went over there and I raised hell. I said, I want to go to Korea. They said, OK.' Conditions in Korea were rough; Tachias and the other men had been deployed at a moments notice at the behest of President Harry S. Truman. They thought as soon as the American troops got on the ground out there, just by the presence of the U.S. Army it would deter the North Koreans from engaging, said Brian Tachias Sr., one of Tachias four children and a retired Army colonel. And it did not. Task Force Smith suffered extremely high casualty rates; around 40 percent were killed. They were often ill-supplied and hungry. Tachias remembers coming across a field of sweet potatoes and cooking them up in their helmets. Wherever we were, that was the front line, he said. After the unit pushed the North Koreans across the Chinese border, the Chinese fought back. It was on a winter night in 1950 when Tachias was posted several thousand feet ahead of his unit on the front line to keep an eye out for any attacking troops. Soon, he heard something: the sound of approaching footsteps. He estimates there were around 50 Chinese troops heading straight for him. So I grabbed some hand grenades and started slinging them, he said. He also peppered the men with rifle fire. By the end of his singular assault, 33 were dead and hed even taken a prisoner. The remaining troops fled in disarray. Tachias was awarded the Silver Star for conspicuous gallantry and heroism after the incident. The Stars and Stripes newspaper proclaimed him the one man army, a title picked up by the Albuquerque Tribune upon his return to the states in September 1951. He was just 19 at the time and already a staff sergeant. Sgt. Tachias told his family how he routed the enemy single-handed, commenting that he didnt know any other way to get rid of them,' the article reads. Tachias also received a Bronze Star with Valor and the Purple Heart during the war. Tachias story is now an official part of U.S. history, as Rep. Ben Ray Lujan read a proclamation on the floor of the House of Representatives on April 16. Unfortunately, Tachias was unable attend the proclamation in person, but Lujan attended a small ceremony for Tachias in Albuquerque on Friday, when he presented him with a copy of the proclamation and a U.S. flag that flew over the Capitol in his honor. This is not only a story worth learning, its a story worth preserving, Lujan said. Today is a reflection of a great American hero we are here to honor. When the Spanish colonized New Mexico beginning in the late 16th century, they brought with them the artistic influences of their homeland. They had to improvise, though, when it came to materials: using tin instead of silver, straw instead of gold leaf. Today in New Mexico, there is much greater access to those more valued materials, but some continue working in the traditional media and methods of centuries ago. The work of these artists is featured each year at Santa Fes Traditional Spanish Market, now in its 67th year. Art forms like straw applique, weaving, furniture making, the retablo (painted pieces, generally of Catholic figures) and tinworking are among those represented at the two-day event. Josef Diaz, director of the Museum of Spanish Colonial Arts in Santa Fe, said the market typically draws around 70,000 people. Whats nice about this market, unlike Indian Market, is that these are all local artists from throughout the state. The money stays here, he said. So it really does boost our economy in New Mexico. A few artists at the market do hail from southern Colorado. Much of the work has Catholic and Christian influences, but straw applique artist Bernadette Rodriguez said its aesthetics can be enjoyed by all. It may be a religious thing to you, it may not be, she said. Sometimes you buy art just because you love the beauty of the product. For Rodriguez, a practicing Catholic, her faith helps her create the work itself. I almost feel like when I sit down to do my art, my hands are taken over. Im not really this artistic, she said, laughing. The traditional techniques used have often been passed down from generation to generation. Joaquin Rodriguez, 17, learned to create retablos from his grandfather, Jacobo Rodriguez. Using that skill, hes been participating in the youth category at the market since he was 5 years old. A few years ago, he changed things up a bit. Im a little bit avant-garde, he said. Rodriguezs retablos depict the typical saints, such as Francis, Cecilia and Raphael, but theyre illustrated in a distinctly comic book style. I introduced that into my Spanish Market art and it actually started looking better, he said. Marketgoer Margie Maestas of Corrales, who purchased several pieces throughout the day Saturday and has a house full of art, said she always makes an effort to buy from the youngsters, as they are the ones who will continue the traditions. I love the opportunity to showcase (Hispanics), their talent, their devotion and their commitment to carry on traditional art, she said. It makes me feel very proud. The event continues from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today. The Contemporary Hispanic Market, an unaffiliated event, is running concurrently on Lincoln Avenue off the Plaza. New Mexicos children win! The courts decision in Yazzie/Martinez v. State of New Mexico is a testament to the great potential of New Mexicos children. The court found what we all know to be true New Mexicos children have just as much capacity to learn and thrive as children anywhere. We dont have to be bottom in the nation for academic outcomes; we dont have to be bottom in the nation for childrens likelihood of success; we dont have to be bottom in the nation for child poverty. The way up is through education. The court recognized that education is the foundation of our democracy and our economy and that once the state meets its constitutional obligation and provides every child with a sufficient education one that offers our children the opportunities they need to be college and career ready we will all benefit, not just our children and families, but our economy and therefore the state overall. The Yazzie case rests on two main principles. The first is that New Mexicos children have just as much potential as children anywhere so there is no good reason for the appalling academic outcomes. The second is that we know what we need to do to provide our children with a decent education weve done the research, weve tried the programs, we know what programming and supports are necessary for all of New Mexicos children to succeed. The problem is that our state has made choices funding choices that have deprived our children from their constitutional right to an education that makes them college or career ready. Now, with this court decision, that is finally going to end. The state is going to have to meet its constitutional obligation to provide all students a sufficient education. The court has directed the state to put this constitutional obligation ahead of other funding concerns the state may have. In terms of state revenue, education must come first. And it cannot be short-changed. The court found that the New Mexico Public Education Department and Legislature know what works for the large majority of our students who are low-income, English language learner, or Native American: culturally and linguistically relevant instruction, extended learning opportunities, and full day pre-K education for three- and four-year-olds, smaller class sizes, and increased teacher pay adequate to recruit and retain teachers. To date, the state hasnt done enough on any of these fronts. With this decision, the court has said no more excuses and is holding the states feet to the fire to make the changes necessary. These changes must include addressing the historic and systemic discrimination that has plagued our states public education system since its inception. The court has directed the state to take immediate steps to ensure that New Mexico schools have the resources necessary to give at-risk students the opportunity to obtain a uniform and sufficient education that prepares them for college and career. When the state finally fulfills its constitutional obligation to our children, all of us will benefit because education is the basic tool we all need to lead a successful life. Rather than appealing, we implore the state to get to work on fixing our schools. Rather than spending millions more dollars on expensive out-of-state lawyers to fight against New Mexicos children, lets roll up our sleeves and get the resources and services to the schools and our children, just as the court has ordered. We stand ready to work with the state to implement the solutions that we all know work and that will benefit all of us. Birgunj traders take to streets against tax hike Traders in Birgunj have taken out a protest rally against the metropolis decision to hike tax rates. Improving student outcomes is not as simple as throwing more dollars at education. Ive witnessed this firsthand in visiting 77 districts and hundreds of schools across New Mexico this past year and have celebrated the outstanding work that is happening in classrooms and schools across the state. Just look at the progress weve seen since we raised the bar. Since 2015, 13,000 more students are on grade-level in reading and 11,000 more are doing math at grade level. Our Native American students have made unprecedented achievement gains in reading, up 8.2 percentage points. We also have more students than ever before graduating from high school, lower college remediation rates, and more students taking and passing AP exams so they can save money and earn college credit to further their education. Unfortunately, state District Court Judge Sarah Singleton was late to the party and overlooked this progress. Weve already responsibly increased education funding, and student improvement is on the rise. But special interest groups and the court have decided to ignore, or worse, disrespect, the remarkable achievements of our students and teachers in recent years in favor of advocating for more of the same calling for more money without a clear, consistent plan that measures student progress. I have seen right here in New Mexico that more targeted funding can make a difference in our students lives. In fact, I advocated for an additional $100 million this past legislative session, which included $60 million for teacher raises. Those investments were sound because they built upon programs that are proven to work, require consistent measurement of student progress, develop and reward great teachers, champion parental involvement and hold districts and schools accountable. As educational leaders we must spend time in the field, learn from the great work happening, and focus on what is actually working for our students and families then focus on those best practices. As a result of my time standing alongside students, families, teachers and school leaders, my educational advocacy focuses on what works, not on politics. The governor and the Legislature have increased public education funding over the last eight years by nearly half a billion dollars while rightfully demanding a return on investment. Now, we spend $3 billion annually on public education more per student than many of our neighboring states. Were investing this money in school turnaround, college access and teacher quality initiatives because they have positively impacted student achievement growth. And at each step along the way, there has been meaningful accountability for districts, schools and educators ensuring that any additional funding actually yields improved outcomes for kids. Now were seeing results and must move forward, not backward. It is irresponsible, and doesnt serve our students well, to demand more funding without a clear plan while asking for an accountability hiatus. We must have the courage to stay the course and strengthen efforts that have already been proven to help our students succeed. Then, in the years to come, we can look back and see the progress our students will have made. Just as Albuquerque is starting to see the first reduction of crime in years, the District Court is putting up a major hurdle to continued progress. The District Court announced that it is eliminating 70 percent of the grand jury time beginning October 1. For so many of us who are tired of crime and are fighting to improve public safety, the District Courts unilateral decision is troubling and signals that it is not factoring the needs of the community into its deliberations. For the last several months, highly skilled program evaluators for the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) have been studying the criminal justice system in Bernalillo County. They met with every criminal justice system agency from the Albuquerque Police Department to the District Attorneys Office to the courts. They analyzed Albuquerque crime data from 1985 to today. On July 19, they published their findings and identified key system failures that contributed to the crime spike we have experienced since 2014. The one critical system failure that repeatedly stood out was connection between the number of new felony indictments and crime when indictments are down, crime is up. The LFC reports good news is that indictments are currently up and climbing. Since last summer, the District Attorneys Office, working in close coordination with APD and the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office, has doubled the number of indictments per month. Not surprisingly, over the same period of time overall crime has decreased. This is the first decrease in overall crime in Bernalillo County since 2010. To continue this trend, the District Attorneys Office has been asking the District Court to increase grand jury availability. Instead, the District Court announced its intention to cut grand jury time from 20 days a month to 6 days, potentially crippling the current progress. As co-chair of the Criminal Justice Reform Subcommittee, I am concerned about how such a radical change at District Court will impact our community. The DA says this will dramatically reduce the number of felony cases initiated per month and will require more officers, witnesses and victims just to initiate a case. APD and BCSO say this will pull more officers into the courtroom and off the streets where they can be engaging in community policing strategies. But what about other costs? What are the costs to victims who may have to take time off work, travel Downtown, park, wait in court and not receive any reimbursement to testify at multiple hearings? How much officer overtime will be needed? Will we need more prosecutors? More public defenders? More judges? What other system resources will we need? Will this stop the hard-won progress we are making in fighting crime? Any change to the criminal justice system that raises these many questions and potential costs for taxpayers should be carefully and openly deliberated, especially at the Criminal Justice Reform Subcommittee and in front of the Legislature. The LFC report noted, Crime is expensive, and Albuquerque has among the highest crime rates in the nation. Victims pay the highest price, but taxpayers also bear the financial burden of enforcement, prosecution, incarceration, prevention and intervention. As New Mexicos appropriating body, the Legislature needs to have the opportunity to review the District Courts proposal, evaluate its costs and benefits, and determine whether to allocate funds to support the change. Radical changes in the middle of a funding cycle are risky and limit the ability of the Legislature and other agencies to adapt. I encourage the District Court to reconsider the decision to reduce grand jury time in order to preserve the current promising crime reduction trend. I invite the District Court to present its proposal to the Criminal Justice Reform Subcommittee at its next meeting and to the Legislature next year. An editorial published July 23 in the Albuquerque Journal completely mischaracterized and missed the point regarding the motivation behind the call to abolish the rogue federal agency known as ICE U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. While the editorial board focused on relaying the same Trump rhetoric weve been hearing since the campaign days pushing a mass deportation plan in the name of national security it seems members completely overlooked the reality being lived by immigrant and refugee families and the extensive evidence that has exposed the atrocities carried out by the very agency they are so eager to uplift and protect. According to a recently published article by The Intercept, the news agency obtained 1,224 complaints filed between January 2010 and September 2017, primarily about (sexual abuse) incidents that took place in ICE custody. This is only a small portion made public of the total 33,000 complaints filed from 2010 through 2016, according to officials with the Department of Homeland Securitys Office of Inspector General (OIG). Although the OIG is tasked with reviewing the different agencies found within DHS to ensure these agencies are functioning within federal guidelines and are held accountable only 43 out of the 1,224 complaints were investigated by the OIG. The reality is ICE continues to operate without regard for the law, human rights and the need for transparency. These points were raised in two recent reports by the OIG exposing concerns about ICEs treatment of detainees and their ongoing failure to meet federal guidelines for their detention services contracting. Hunting people of color In the Journals editorial the writers recognize the agency has had problems but assert ICE doesnt troll neighborhood streets demanding to see identification papers. While this perception may be misguided due to the oblivious reality lived by the authors of such an opinion piece, facts cannot be dismissed: immigrants and refugees are being hunted down. Just last month, ICE boasted about their largest workplace immigration raid in recent history, resulting in the arrest of 146 individuals at a major meat supplier in northeast Ohio. Here in the Land of Enchantment, ICE has been detaining dozens of people outside our courts. Such was the case for 19 year-old Miguel Castillo-Ortiz, who was arrested by immigration agents on Jan. 11 on his way out of Albuquerques Metropolitan Court after appearing for a speeding ticket. His arrest led to his transfer to Otero Processing Center, where he spent three months away from his family and then-expecting fiance, before being released on bond in May. He now awaits an immigration hearing early next year to decide his fate with no certainty he will remain in the only place he calls home and alongside his newborn baby. Deaths in custody According to a recent CNN article, a new report by the Human Rights Watch concluded half of recent immigrant detainee deaths are due to inadequate medical care provided by ICE. That includes the death of transgender detainee Roxsana Hernandez, who died while in custody of ICE in New Mexico after she was subjected to subhuman detention conditions and was denied medical care for her HIV condition. So while some extremist ICE sympathizers continue to try and shine a good light on this rogue and terrorizing agency, no matter how you twist it, this agency does not belong in our communities. The support for ICE only enables its abuse and acts of terror to continue, without regard to the real human suffering which this agency thrives on and perpetuates right here in New Mexico. WASHINGTON Looking at Russias competing spy services, their overlapping operations against the U.S. and their sometimes careless tradecraft, some CIA veterans are wondering if the Russian spooks actually want to get caught. The truth is, President Vladimir Putin probably doesnt mind that his intelligence activities are so blatant that theyre a subject of daily public debate. His goal isnt to steal secrets but to destabilize Americas political system. The more people obsess about the swarms of Russian spies, the better, from Putins perspective. Russian intelligence activities over the past several years have become not only more energetic, but more eclectic, explains former CIA Director John Brennan in an email. Its a diverse, entrepreneurial and frequently competitive ecosystem. Some of their work is really, really good, showing exquisite tradecraft. Other stuff, not so much. Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, a former CIA Russia specialist, sees a generational change in Russian intelligence. The price of the shift to a faster, quick-kill approach is an increase in sloppiness. Ill-advised decisions are common. Theres less oversight by older, more experienced cadre. The new freewheeling, anything-goes style is evident in Russias 2016 assault on the U.S. political system. The Kremlin attacked from three directions: GRU military intelligence, the FSB security service, and a social-media troll farm known as the Internet Research Agency, managed by one of Putins oligarch pals. The Russians floated their covert-action propaganda through Facebook, Twitter, WikiLeaks and other social-media outlets. Who knows whether there was collusion, but Russian officials maintained contact in 2016 with a string of Donald Trump associates, high and low, in ways the FBI couldnt miss. It was the opposite of a subtle campaign of manipulation. Operation Chaos might be a good name. Moscow monitored public speeches, not dead drops. According to the Justice Departments July 13 indictment of 12 GRU operatives, the Russian conspirators began hacking Hillary Clintons personal emails after hours on July 27, 2016. Earlier that day, Trump had proclaimed: Russia, if youre listening, I hope youre able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. Putin was shaped by the KGBs rigid bureaucracy and tight secrecy. But as Russias president, he has embraced a different operating model looser, more fragmented, with different services competing for the leaders favor. The old KGB was broken into two pieces starting in 1991: the SVR, which inherited the foreign spying mission Putin had served, and the FSB, which took over domestic security. The FSB has become increasingly involved in foreign operations and may now overshadow its twin, said Michael Sulick, a Russia expert and former CIA operations chief, in an interview. The FSB probably ran the Cozy Bear hack of the Democratic National Committee in 2015, and was indicted last year by the Justice Department for hacking 500 million Yahoo emails. To put it crudely, the FSB does the kinds of things everyone else thinks about doing but doesnt because theyre too risky, too politically inflammatory, or too likely to backfire, wrote Mark Galeotti, an expert on Russian intelligence, last year in The Atlantic. The GRU, traditionally the most adventurous wing of Russian intelligence, now appears to be resurgent after costly mistakes in the 2008 Georgia war. Ukraine has been the perfect showcase for the GRUs covert insurgency tactics, wrote Galeotti this month. He sees the GRUs hand in the 2014 annexation of Crimea and shootdown of a Malaysia Airlines jetliner; the 2016 intervention in U.S. politics; and the attempted assassination this March in Britain of Russian defector Sergei Skripal. The Skripal poisoning illustrates Russias willingness to take risks, and its lack of concern about getting caught. The Novichok nerve agent allegedly used could easily be traced to Russia. An intriguing example of Russias new generation of spycraft is the case of Maria Butina, who was indicted by the Justice Department this month for plotting a covert influence campaign that partly targeted the National Rifle Association. The indictment alleges that she was run secretly by a Russian official who had served in parliament and the Central Bank, and was bankrolled by a second Russian who was a billionaire oligarch. When Butina was photographed near the U.S. Capitol on Inauguration Day, her alleged Russian handler messaged approvingly: Youre a daredevil girl, according to court papers. Three months later, when Butinas American contacts were outed in the media, her alleged handler wrote: How are you faring there in the rays of the new fame? Are your admirers asking for your autographs yet? This is not your grandfathers KGB. Putin is running a multiplatform spy service for the internet era as quick, disposable and potentially devastating as a Snapchat image. Twitter: @IgnatiusPost. Email: davidignatius@washpost.com. Copyright, Washington Post Writers Group. State District Judge Sarah Singleton is absolutely right when she points out that the vast majority of New Mexicos at-risk children finish each school year without the basic literacy and math skills needed to pursue post-secondary education or a career. And shes right when she notes that the majority of this states children cant read or do math at grade level. Our states proficiency rates are downright appalling, and its unacceptable. Yes, we agree with her that education is vital to our democracy, and every child in this state can learn and deserves a solid education. But the landmark ruling Singleton issued July 20 that the state is violating the constitutional rights of at-risk students by failing to provide them with a sufficient education and ordering state lawmakers and the governor to pump more money into the system suffers from a fatal flaw and should be appealed. The harsh reality is that it takes a lot more than just increased funding to bring about success in the classroom. Just look at Rio Grande High School. Millions of dollars in extra funding have been poured into the Albuquerque South Valley school since 1987, when a U.S. Justice Department mediator helped hammer out an improvement plan for the chronically underperforming school. At the heart of the resulting Sambrano Agreement was the idea that students in the South Valley deserved the same quality education as their more affluent counterparts in the Northeast Heights. Over the ensuing three decades, Albuquerque Public Schools tried a dizzying array of reforms, everything from early childhood programs for South Valley children and summer programs to smaller class sizes and even $5,000 stipends for teachers. So 31 years later, how many Rio Grande students are doing math and reading at grade level? In math, fewer than 6 percent; in English, just 28 percent. Statewide, 22 percent of students can do math at grade level, and 31 percent can read. We must continue trying to improve educational outcomes, and attempting to address achievement gaps between minority, poor or disabled students and their white, middle-class counterparts. But it takes hard work and data-driven reform. Singleton gave the state until April 15 to find more funds for schools, although she doesnt say what would be deemed adequate. As for where that money would come from, she throws out several possibilities, including taking more money from the Land Grant Permanent Fund and increasing taxes. States public school spending New Mexico already spends 44 percent of its recurring appropriations on public schools, and lawmakers are continually pumping more money into education a total of $2.7 billion this year. Since 2011, New Mexico education spending has grown by about $450 million. Over the last seven years, lawmakers and the governor have doubled spending on programs aimed at helping young children and their families. In her ruling, Singleton cites testimony that New Mexico offers one of the lowest wages for teachers in the country and that New Mexico ranks 41st in state spending per student. But thats at odds with other studies. A study conducted by USA Today and published just this May shows New Mexico ranks 27th among the 50 states when it comes to teacher pay. The median salary for school teachers in New Mexico is $54,599 in a state where the median household income overall is close to $47,000. The USA Today study also finds that New Mexicos per pupil expenditure ranks 33rd among all states, spending $10,768 per student. Our state spends more on a per-student basis than Arizona, Colorado, Utah and Texas. Districts complaints Singletons ruling also notes many school district witnesses testified they do not have the funds to provide adequate services for English Language Learner students and they dont have the funding to hire the teachers they need to have manageable class sizes. Yet a bill that would have required school districts to allocate more money to classrooms instead of administration didnt even make it out of the Legislature this year. And then you have school districts dragging their feet on reforming schools that have failed their students multiple years running. Meanwhile, you have districts such as Farmington, with low income students, embracing programs offered by PED and improving their proficiency rates. In fact, Farmington had the highest reading proficiency rate this year among the 10 largest districts in the state. Singleton also takes aim at the teacher evaluation system, writing that, In general, punitive teacher evaluation systems that penalize teachers for working in high-need schools contribute to the problem. In fact, New Mexicos teacher evaluation system grades teachers, in part, on whether their students show growth on annual tests. And even then, that only accounts for at most 30 percent of their evaluation. It is, however, ironic the judge is criticizing this accountability measure in one breadth, while calling on the state Public Education Department to hold districts accountable in the next. Accountability A silver lining to this ruling is that Singleton makes it clear that beyond pumping more money into schools, PED must hold districts accountable. The new scheme should include a system of accountability to measure whether the programs and services actually provide the opportunity for a sound basic education and to assure that the local districts are spending the funds provided in a way that efficiently and effectively meets the needs of at-risk students, she wrote. If this ruling stands, PED must work hard to ensure that every penny of that extra money is spent in the classroom. And the agency should look at Texico and Gadsden which already work hard to allocate a greater percentage of their resources to the classroom as role models. That said, this ruling should be appealed because its bad law and bad public policy. State leaders can raise taxes and pump vast amounts of new money into schools but, a la Rio Grande High, thats not going to fix our low proficiency rates. What will work is data-driven programs and hard work from students, teachers, parents and state officials, but it has been and will continue to be a slow, incremental progress, something Singleton clearly has no patience for. This is such a significant case that Gov. Susana Martinez and the state Public Education Department should ask the state Supreme Court to take it up immediately. This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers. BELEN The sound of rapid, furious blows echoed across the Belen High Schools wrestling practice room. A Belen police officer on his back in the center of the room, a thick pad protecting his chest and stomach, shouted both encouragement and antagonism to the people lined up to beat on him. Come on. Is that the best you can do? Youve only been going a minute. If you dont keep me down, Im gonna get up. Im coming for you. Im gonna kill all your kids. Belen Police Chief Deputy Robert Miller taunted, instructed, cajoled and praised the nearly dozen Belen Consolidated Schools employees who turned out for his first training session of the day. For three hours, teachers, attendance clerks and nurses learned how to protect themselves and their students during a school violence scenario held earlier this month. Miller ran through exercises on how to disarm a gunman with a handgun and a long gun, someone armed with a knife, how to throw an elbow, a kick to the knee and then, once the threatening person was down, how to ground and pound until help arrived. Once theyre down, you dont stop. I had you guys go for two minutes and it was hard, he told them as they caught their breath. But what if youre down at La Promesa? You dont know how far away state police is. Socorro County. Valencia County. At almost 23 miles south of the city of Belen, La Promesa Elementary is by far more than two minutes away from help. Even the schools right here in town, its going to take us two or three minutes to respond, the deputy chief said. So once theyre down, you cant stop. Its you or them. The BCS staff who attended the training, provided free to anyone who wanted it, said it was an unfortunate necessity. At least this way youre a little better off protecting your kids, if you know how to fight, said BHS high school teacher Cathi Hilliard. A fourth- and fifth-grade teacher at La Merced Elementary, Matthew Loo said he wanted to be able to protect his students, no matter what. This lets my students know I care about them, Loo said. Charmaine Wheeler, a sixth-grade teacher at La Merced, said she came to the training to learn how to protect herself and her students. I want to go home to my family at the end of the day, Wheeler said. The next morning following the training, Miller and other BPD officers conducted a full-scale, active-shooter drill at Rio Grande Elementary. The drill included paramedics from AMR and the Belen Fire Department. Before the drill began, Miller gave the participants a brief overview of how law enforcement would handle the scene. The first priority is to clear the area of threats, which meant finding and neutralizing the shooter. We wont stop to help people who are hurt. Thats not our priority, Miller said. Once we see the threat is eliminated, paramedics are brought in with an armed escort to begin evaluating the wounded. Using a national, standardized color-coded tagging system, medical personal would begin bringing victims out of the building. With BCS employees in the classrooms, the shooting began. Walking across the small elementary school campus, Dwayne Pena, a code enforcement officer for the city of Belen, fired off blank rounds, the sound amplified by the brick buildings. Once inside the first building, the tiled hallways made the gunfire deafening. Victims screamed for mercy, for help and he kept shooting. Some doors he could open, others he couldnt. Pena was met with makeshift barricades at some entrances. He had time to go through two buildings before law enforcement responded. In the end, the shooter took 18 rounds and was killed. A team of four BPD officers swept both buildings, searching for other dangers, escorting out people able to run to an exit. When they gathered in the library after the exercise, several teachers said they felt completely unprepared for an active shooter. Our schools are not prepared, even the way the doors open, one woman said. In the two buildings at RGE used for the drill, the classroom doors open out, into the hallway, making it impossible for someone in the room to wedge the door closed against an assailant. District policy is for all classroom doors to be locked while classes are in session. BPD Lt. Joe Portio cautioned no matter how prepared you try to be for something like this, it will always change. You can spend millions of dollars on fences and cameras and locks. If a bad guy wants to get in, hes going to get in, Portio said. This is to get yourself mentally prepared people are going to get hurt, people are going to die. Detective Sgt. Adam Keck urged everyone who participated in the drill to take what they learned to other teachers and to their students. When you practice fire drills, they are just as important, because you have to figure out your exit routes. Can you get the students out safely? Keck asked. Practice your lock-down drills. Practice barricading the doors. Locks fail. BCS Max Perez thanked the department for working with the district on safety training and improvements. This training is valuable but the most important part of prevention is building relationships with students, Perez said. They know you, you know them, they really get to know the school resource officers. Were a small district, so we know each other. Miller announced that officer Marcos Hernandez would be the new SRO for BCS this year. He wont be just at the high school, Miller said. We want him to be everywhere, at all the schools so he can build that trust with all the kids. Christina Sanchez, a preschool teacher at Rio Grande, said when she and her fellow teachers heard the voices of the police officers, they felt safer, but the drill was a wake-up call for her. I was barricading the door and (the shooter) yanked it open and fired right next to my head, Sanchez said. If this had been real, I would have been dead and everyone else in the room too. She also said the people in the classroom expected to hear the shooting from outside the building. We were quiet and there were no kids, Sanchez said. We didnt hear anything until he shot at the first door. We wouldnt hear anything until he opened the door in real life. Fellow preschool teacher Amanda John said all the plans they had made for an active shooter would have to be rethought. Everything. We have to rethink everything, she said. Copyright 2018 Albuquerque Journal The end of two decades of fetal tissue research at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center has anti-abortion advocates applauding, while others lament the potential loss of medical advances the research might have yielded. The recent decision by Chancellor Dr. Paul Roth to permanently bar Dr. Robin Ohls, a Health Sciences Center pediatrics professor, from any research involving fetal tissue effectively eliminates the program at the center. As the sole fetal tissue researcher and neonatology division chief, Ohls has collaborated with various other research and academic institutions around the country since creating the program in 1995. In the past decade, Ohls research laboratory has relied on fetal tissue for studies involving brain, retina, intestine, lung, heart and blood problems that can afflict preterm infants. A Health Sciences Center spokeswoman told the Journal the action taken against Ohls would not affect other researchers who might someday propose using fetal tissue. Roths decision comes 18 months after the Health Sciences Center, and its fetal tissue supplier, Southwestern Womens Options clinic of Albuquerque, emerged from the scrutiny of a U.S. House panel investigating Planned Parenthood, research institutions, abortion providers and companies that prepare fetal tissue for research. State Attorney General Hector Balderas office cleared UNM of any violations of state law earlier this year, but the Republican-led House Select Panel on Infant Lives asked for a review from the U.S. Justice Department, which declines to comment on pending investigations. Ohls has contended that she never willfully disregarded Health Science Center human tissue policies, including one that was bolstered in April 2016 amid the 15-month-long congressional investigation that ended in early 2017. The New Mexico Alliance for Life applauds the closure of the research program, but says the findings of UNMs seven-month investigation into Ohls actions should now be turned over to federal authorities. We are pleased that UNM has finally decided to institute full compliance with all federal and state laws regulating human fetal tissue research, the Alliance stated in a news release. But the Alliance has questioned whether there has been possible misconduct involving the now-upended arrangement between Ohls and the Michigan-based Zietchick Research Institute for study of the developing eye. Why would an internal policy violation spur the closure of a 20 year program, that Dr. Roth once defiantly touted Elisa Martinez, Alliance executive director, told the Journal. The burden now lies on UNM to prove that Dr. Ohls and her research team did not profit from the fetal tissue transfer. To support its case, the Alliance released emails from Tammy Movsas, of Zietchick, to Ohls in 2017 stating in part, I can reimburse up to a total of $7500 or $150 per each sample. It also released an email from Ohls to Movsas stating, Our collaboration is really the only compensation we receive to cover the amount of time needed for tissue collection so it is important for us to be able to document ongoing research. Ohls said no one at Health Sciences was paid by Zietchick for their time and the only expenditures involved in the transfer were the costs of shipping the fetal eye material to the research institute. Under federal law, it is unlawful for any person to knowingly acquire, receive or otherwise transfer any human fetal tissue for valuable consideration if the transfer affects interstate commerce. Transportation costs are not considered valuable consideration. The Alliance news release concludes with the contention that there is an institution-wide problem under the leadership of Paul Roth at the UNM Health Sciences Center. Asked about the Alliances assertions, Health Sciences spokesman Michael Haederle said in an email, UNM has always followed all federal and state laws, regulations and guidelines pertaining to fetal tissue research, and we have been transparent and cooperative with every agency that has inquired into our work in this area. The plain fact is that UNM has never bought or sold fetal tissue. Additionally, the New Mexico Attorney General determined, following an investigation, that UNMs actions with respect to fetal tissue did not violate any state civil or criminal laws. We would respectfully request that any characterization of the findings from our investigation offered by an outside entity not be taken at face value. Joan Lamunyon Sanford, executive director of the New Mexico Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, told the Journal that in cases in which a pregnancy isnt healthy it can be very comforting when the parents have the option to donate the tissue for research. Moreover, she stated, I am grateful for all the hugely impactful medical advancements that have resulted because of caring women and families who made the compassionate decision to donate fetal tissue. Fetal tissue research enables medical advances that would otherwise be impossible; the researchers deserve the respect and gratitude of society. Copyright 2018 Albuquerque Journal University of New Mexico has permanently banned one of its faculty members from conducting fetal tissue research following two internal investigations into her working relationship with a Michigan company, putting an indefinite end to any such research at the states largest university. The investigations by separate UNM committees each found Dr. Robin Ohls had violated UNM Health Sciences Center policy by not having certain documentation governing her relationship with the Zietchick Research Institute, a Michigan company to which she had sent fetal tissue, and not seeking internal review of the related research project. HSCs chancellor, Dr. Paul Roth, forever barred Ohls from acquiring, transferring or performing research on fetal tissue, writing in a June 18 memo that he was disappointed that I have to impose these actions and remedies. Ohls had been the only researcher at UNM using fetal tissue. But Ohls who has used fetal tissue in her research even before coming to UNM in 1995 describes the penalty as too drastic for what she said amounts to a paperwork error. She said her UNM lab has used fetal tissue to explore various developmental questions, evaluating issues that affect premature infants, such as heart and eye disease and brain growth. She is also a practicing neonatologist, a doctor who specializes in caring for ill newborns. I dont think that what happened merits stopping fetal tissue research in our lab, Ohls said in an interview. Ohls also questioned the relevance of one committees findings, contending that it does not have oversight of her type of research. That body, the Human Tissue Oversight Committee, took a much harsher stance on her actions, determining that she was negligent and knowingly violated HSC policies and that her shipments to Zietchick could be considered a donation, given the policy lapses. The universitys Human Research Review Committee, meanwhile, felt Ohls did not intentionally commit violations and acknowledged some ambiguities within the policy, according to documents the Journal obtained through a public records request. Both investigations concluded that Ohls did not break any laws and she did not sell fetal tissue, a Health Sciences Center spokeswoman said. Federal law bans the sale of fetal tissue. Compliance with policy In issuing the permanent suspension, Roth emphasized the importance of adhering to UNM policy. As a faculty member in the School of Medicine, I expect our research faculty members to familiarize themselves with policies applicable to their research activities, to comply with those policies, and if they have any questions about those policies to seek out the advice of institutional leaders with content expertise with respect to those policies, Roth wrote. I also expect that our research faculty members will not ignore or by their actions marginalize or attempt to end run our research policies. Ohls attorney signaled a possible lawsuit via a tort notice sent to UNM in January. The doctor said last week that she had not determined whether to pursue a lawsuit, but said she may try appealing Roths decision to UNM President Garnett Stokes. Roth did determine that Ohls can resume clinical trial research if it does not involve fetal tissue. Ohls, chief of UNMs neonatology division, continues to treat patients. Roth had suspended Ohls from all research activity last October amid questions about her shipments to Zietchick of fetal tissue obtained from the Southwestern Womens Options abortion clinic in Albuquerque. Ohls, who said she was in the early stages of a research collaboration with Zietchick, had asked officials if it were allowable for Zietchick to reimburse UNM for a lab assistants time preparing the samples for shipment. HSC staff did not know about the shipments until that point, even though the transfers started about eight months prior, according to a memo Roth and a university attorney wrote to the UNM Board of Regents on Oct. 26, 2017. Ohls never executed an official material transfer agreement, or MTA, with Zietchick, and both UNM investigations noted that issue. Ohls told the Journal she sent Zietchick the wrong transfer agreement form to complete. Once Zietchick sent it back, Ohls also never submitted the form through the internal UNM process. She said she had executed only one such agreement previously and was not experienced in the process. I absolutely incorrectly filed the MTA, no doubt about it. Yes, I made a mistake with that MTA, Ohls said, though she contends UNMs policy only advises, but does not mandate, an MTA in such circumstances. Differing reports The two committees investigating Ohls came to different conclusions about why Ohls erred. The Human Research Review Committee felt that the MTA was not executed due to a misunderstanding of policy, according to a March 21 letter to Ohls from Dr. Walter Dehority, HRRC chairman. His letter also cites some ambiguities in the policy requiring an MTA. That committee ultimately determined that Ohls must in the future submit any and all research studies or collaborations involving human tissues to HRRC and other committees and also get institutional approval via a fully executed MTA before transferring human tissue to an external entity. The Human Tissue Oversight Committee, meanwhile, reached a different conclusion. After a thoughtful, considered discussion the HTOC agreed that Dr. Ohls was aware of HSC policies, knowingly violated these on multiple occasions, and intended to mislead the HTOC, according to a June 7 memo to Roth from Dr. Corey Ford, who chairs the committee. That committee said the terms of the arrangement should have been outlined in a collaboration agreement or material transfer agreement. It also ruled that she did not fulfill the HSC definition of collaboration with Zietchick, which Ohls disputes. A UNM spokesman declined to respond to Ohls specific statements about the two committees roles, but said the committees reviews considered different aspects and that Roth considered both reports when rendering his judgment. There are appropriate and required avenues for all research projects to be approved and processes that must be followed. Both the HTOC and the HRRC were asked to review Dr. Ohls actions because they were looking at specific aspects of the processes/approval/conduct in question, spokesman Michael Haederle said in a written statement. Dr. Roth took both committees reports into consideration, as each considered different questions regarding Dr. Ohls actions. UNM has moved all 72 fetal tissue from Ohls lab for storage in a central repository, and Roths memo said he has not yet decided whether to destroy it in accordance with HTOCs recommendations. Ohls, who called it a privilege to perform fetal tissue research, said she has always worked to follow the rules. There was no willful disregard for policy at all, she said. Ohls said she has asked that the tissue be spared. If someone else can use it for research, why would you destroy tissue people have donated with the thought they might be able to help babies? Why would you do that? she asked. No other UNM researcher is using fetal tissue, and its not clear if any will in the future, though a spokeswoman indicated it was possible. Research is a fundamental foundation for the advancement of medicine, HSC spokeswoman Alex Sanchez said in written answers to Journal questions. Research with fetal tissue is legal. Future research would need to be approved through the proper processes. A Chicago-area man who made a last-minute plea to Immigration and Customs Enforcement so he could remain in the U.S. to care for a young daughter with severe spina bifida has left the country, his lawyer said Saturday. Alejandro Medina Franco, 49, a native of Mexico who had been living in suburban Naperville, asked ICE for a stay of removal for humanitarian reasons so he could remain with daughter Joyce Medina, a U.S. citizen who turns 3 in October. Medina Franco checked in with ICE Saturday morning and boarded an afternoon flight to Mexico, said his immigration lawyer, Margaret ODonoghue. Medina Franco was made to board a flight after his final pleas with ICE and an immigration judge were exhausted Friday. If he had not appeared at OHare International Airport as agreed, he would have been subject to arrest and a removal while in ICE custody, ODonoghue said. It was devastating to watch Joyces father be taken away from her today. She will undoubtedly suffer trauma and irreparable hardship as a result, ODonoghue said. I just hope that by telling Alejandros story, we can begin to see immigrants in our communities as the fathers and mothers they are and not merely statistics. We need more compassion in our immigration system for people like Alejandro. Medina Franco, who is from the Mexican state of Michoacan, acknowledged in an interview with the Tribune this month that he had sneaked into the country three times and has a criminal record, but he had asked for forgiveness for his childs sake. He had been convicted of attempting to sell a fraudulent identification card in 2003 and with simple battery involving an argument with his wife, who stands by him. His problematic history had left him with few options except the plea for leniency, his lawyer said. A previous request to ICE was granted under the administration of President Barack Obama, but its renewal in October was rejected under the tougher policies of President Donald Trump. ICE officials in Chicago noted Medina Francos record and had said that such special stays of removal are not meant to provide a permanent route for someone without the proper paperwork to stay in the U.S. Joyces challenges range from the routine, such as needing to have her urine removed by a catheter every few hours, to the major, such as a recent surgery to replace a shunt in her brain. She has been diagnosed with spina bifida, myelomeningocele, in which a child is born with a spinal cord that is open along part of his or her spinal column, and hydrocephalus, or fluid on her brain. She has limited mobility and developmental challenges, and she sees several specialists at Lurie Childrens Hospital in Chicago. A clinical social worker who sees the family weekly said Medina Francos presence was key for Joyces security and progress. Medina Franco and his wife, Maria Teresa Medina, said they did not anticipate taking Joyce out of the country if her father left. Her medical care is expected to continue here with government assistance. There are laws for a reason. I know that. I understand, Medina Franco said in an interview. If theres any kind of forgiveness or I could just say Im sorry. This will be hard on her.RTED BRUSSELS A few months before his killing rampage, convicted robber and prison inmate Benjamin Herman had a jailhouse conversion of a sort. A white suburban teen and a nominal Catholic when he was first incarcerated, he emerged in late May as an avowed Islamist who would murder three people within hours of gaining freedom on a work-release program. Herman fatally stabbed two female police officers during his hour-long attack in the Belgian city of Liege, and then used one of their pistols to kill a passing motorist. Shouting Allahu akbar, he seized a hostage and wounded two more officers before being shot dead in a gun battle with police. Afterward, as the facts about the killings came to light, one biographical detail stood out: Herman, a product of Belgiums French-speaking middle class, had come under the sway of a group of radical Islamist inmates in prison. In a country that has acted aggressively to put extremists behind bars as a means of preventing terrorism, the attack stoked fears that Belgiums policy could be having the opposite effect, creating hotbeds of radicalism and sprouting new generations of would-be terrorists. Never have so many people been arrested on charges related to terrorism, and never have we seen so many of these guys in prison together, said Thomas Renard, a Belgian terrorism expert and researcher at the Egmont Royal Institute for International Relations in Brussels. In bringing them together, we are facilitating their ability to recruit. And that is something that will stay with us for a long time. Across Europe, prisons are the latest battleground in the evolving fight against Islamist-inspired terrorism. Beginning five years ago, Western countries saw thousands of their citizens migrate to Iraq and Syria to join the Islamic State or other Islamist groups. Since 2016, hundreds have returned, but the mood at home has changed. Traumatized by terrorist attacks and a swelling refugee crisis, European countries since 2016 have taken a hard line on returnees, enacting tough laws that require criminal charges and incarceration for anyone who traveled to the Middle East or sought to support Islamists groups abroad. Until 2016, many returnees were simply allowed to go home if there was no proof they had been fighters or involved in terrorist acts. Europe has seen fewer deaths from terrorist attacks since the policies went into effect. But now European officials are grappling with a new problem: how to prevent prisons from becoming training and recruitment centers for future terrorists. From Belgium and the Netherlands to Germany and France, law enforcement officials are experimenting with markedly different approaches to the problem, including reeducation programs and the near-total isolation of the most radicalized inmates. The efforts are a race against time, as many of the jailed returnees will regain their freedom in less than two years. They come to the end of their sentence, and we have no choice but to release them, said a Belgian official who helps supervise the treatment of Islamist inmates in that countrys largest prisons. The official, like several others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity out of concern that former inmates might target them. Some of them, the official said, could be human bombs. Ittre Prison, a walled, high-security complex southwest of Brussels, is one of Belgiums most notorious, one-time home to convicted child molester and murderer Marc Dutroux and a host of organized crime figures. In 2007, it was the site of a spectacular escape by Nordin Benallal, Belgiums jailbreak king, who used a helicopter crash on the prisons grounds as a diversion that allowed him to escape. Today, Ittre is known as one of two Belgian prisons with special isolation units for dealing with the most radical of the countrys jailed Islamists. Called DeRadex, the unit is home to men regarded by Belgian officials as particularly dangerous. As of last month, Ittres DeRadex section held 13. The inmates in the section are allowed to socialize with others within the isolation unit only during certain hours and under close supervision. Isolation is, in fact, the essential ingredient in Belgiums new approach for dealing with radicalized prisoners: Although they may not be able to separate inmates from their extremist ideas, prison officials can at least prevent them from contaminating others. Not all of DeRadexs inhabitants have been convicted on terrorism charges or even have a history of violence. But they are known and feared for their charismatic personalities and ability to draw others to the radical Islamist cause. Every time we put them with the rest of the detainees, they engage in recruitment activities, said Valerie Lebrun, a 49-year-old Belgian criminologist who is the head of Ittre. They become the imam. They push others to pray and change behavior. During a recent tour of the facility, the DeRadex prisoners sat in solitary cells or carried blue yoga mats to the exercise yard as makeshift prayer rugs. Some wore their prison pants cuffed above the ankle, in the jihadist style. In several cells, inmates had scratched Islamist graffiti onto walls and cell windows, including the name Bel Kacem, a reference to Fouad Belkacem, founder of the extremist organization Sharia4Belgium. Belkacem is serving a 12-year sentence in another Belgium prison. Many of his recruits traveled to Syria and joined the Islamic State. The inmates are allowed to go to the gym and exercise yard, and they practice their religion as they choose. But most of their time is spent in small cells equipped with a wooden bunk, toilet and sink. The cells include wall brackets for mounting a television, if the inmates want one and can afford to pay a monthly fee. Ittre officials offer counseling on nonviolence, but they make no effort to change the prisoners extremist views about religion. While controversial within criminal justice circles, the lack of emphasis on deradicalization, as the tactic is called, reflects a deliberate choice, explained Valerie Lebrun, a 49-year-old Belgian criminologist who is the head of Ittre. Within the regular prison populations, officials watch for changes in behavior that suggest radicalization is underway, such as when inmates modify their prison uniforms in jihadist style, or insist on wearing underwear when taking a shower, a reflection of conservative Islamist views about covering the body. In such cases, officials encourage inmates to meet with moderate imams and counselors who work with the prisons on a voluntary basis. But nonviolence, not deradicalization, remains the primary goal, Lebrun said. The reality is, prisons are ill-equipped to offer religious instruction, she said, and when they try, the efforts dont often work. Its extremely difficult to change someones ideas, she said. However, trying to convince them not to resort to weapons in order to defend their ideas is much more attainable. Some in Belgium argue that the prison officials simply arent trying hard enough. The prisons are trying to quarantine the virus, but they dont really address the problem, said Ilyas Zarhoni, a Brussels imam who runs community programs that seek to counter extremist ideology. We need experts in ideology, experts in psychology. The costs will be high, but its nothing compared to what we could be dealing with when these people get out. Already, Zarhoni said, juvenile detainees who spent time in Iraq or Syria are being released to schools and neighborhoods while still loyal to the radical Islamist cause. Among their peers, they are more likely to be viewed with admiration than with reproach. Theyre seen as heroes, Zarhoni said. Theyve used weapons how cool is that? A few hours drive to the southeast, prison officials in the central German state of Hesse are trying a different approach, a kind of experiment in behavior modification that is playing out in real time. At the JVA Frankfurt prison, there are no isolation units where extremist inmates are kept together. Instead, all prisoners share the same space, under a regimen of unusually close surveillance and intervention by a cadre of guards newly trained in spotting signs of radicalization. German officials, blessed with bigger budgets and larger professional staffs compared with their smaller neighbors, are seeking to neutralize the radicalization threat one inmate at a time, with intense and occasionally aggressive management of each individual case. Visitors to the prison in June observed as a manager demonstrated how guards are taught to look for warning signs in inmates appearance, behavior and personal belongings. Poking through one prisoners duffel bag, the officer set aside a strand of prayer beads and a mat both regarded as acceptable items for a practicing Muslim but then paused to examine a copy of the Quran. Here we have a Quran, which is normally not an issue at all, said the official, who requested anonymity as a condition of the interview. However, this is a Lies Stiftung edition, which has been banned and we can therefore not allow it. Lies Stiftung qurans contain commentary associated with Salafism, a conservative form of Sunni Islam. As the visitors watched, the problematic Quran was removed and replaced with a plain one. A CD was also confiscated, because, as the official explained, it contained sermons by a cleric regarded by the prison staff as radical. A green Saudi flag in the prisoners belongings was seen as a problem. Prison officials worry that nationalist symbols could trigger conflicts. Because of its religious symbolism, a Saudi flag in the possession of a non-Saudi also could suggest ties to the Salafist movement. Followers of the Islamic State adhere to an extreme variation of Salafism. This suggests that the prisoner may have been radicalized, the officer said. We have to observe him carefully his contacts, what he reads and try and get as much information on him as possible. The Hessian program, called Network for Deradicalization in the Penal System, or NeDiS, seeks to change inmates thinking. Those who are labeled as radical whether they are Islamists or members of right-wing extremist groups find themselves under intensive scrutiny. They are offered different kinds of counseling or therapy, including meetings with an imam or chaplain while in prison, and outreach programs after their release. Every radical Islamist convict will be released from the correctional facilities some day, Eva Kuhne-Hormann, the Hessian minister of justice, said in an interview. If we do not use the terms of imprisonment to influence this group of persons by taking the corresponding actions for deradicalization, we run the risk of releasing radical Islamists, who are devoid of any personal perspective, into German society. Inmates can still choose to either accept or reject the moderate messages they are given, and some Islamist inmates no doubt will leave prison with the same views, or perhaps with even more extreme ones, officials acknowledged. Among inmates, there is grumbling about the newly intense scrutiny and skepticism about its effectiveness. One Hesse inmate, an avowed admirer of former al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, said he was harassed by prison officials after leading a prayer group inside the prison. The inmate, who identified himself by his nom de guerre Abu Shaheed, was convicted of robbery in 2014, a crime he acknowledges was part of a foiled attempt to obtain money for a move to Syria to join the Islamic State. The inmate was interviewed with permission of prison authorities. My mistake was not asking the officer beforehand, he said about the prayer group. Then an officer arrived and said I should stop. I was almost done, and others said to him that he should wait. But hed already pressed the alarm buzzer. Beep, beep, beep. Several officers then scuffled with him in a corridor, injuring his shoulder, he said. Abu Shaheed said he opposes violence and thinks his decision to join the Islamic State was a mistake. But he clings to the same ideology, now infused with anger about what happened to him after the prayer meeting. They put me in the special lockup, the entire night and the next day, he said. For what? Because I wanted to pray? Will either of the approaches make a difference? Across Europe, criminal justice officials acknowledge that they are seeking to engineer solutions to a problem for which there is scant scientific data, and no guarantees of success. What is known is that previous approaches failed, disastrously. And the scale of the problem in recent years has only gotten worse. Since the founding of the Islamic State in 2014, several of Europes biggest terrorist attacks were led by former prison inmates, some of whom became radicalized while behind bars. Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the leader of the deadly attacks on Paris in November 2015, grew up in an immigrant neighborhood in central Brussels and was jailed multiple times for assault, burglary and receiving stolen goods. In prison, the onetime street hustler and partyer became an acolyte of an older inmate, an Islamist who the prisoners dubbed Papa Noel because of his bushy gray beard. Abaaoud adopted the older mans religious dogma and, after his release from prison, left for Syria to join the terrorists. Months later, some of Abaaouds Belgian friends and former prison mates would participate in the March 2016 attack on the Brussels airport, the act that awakened Belgians to the scale of the countrys Islamist problem. It was that event that prompted Belgium to join Germany and other European countries in adopting stricter laws that made it a crime to travel to Islamic State territory or offer support to Islamist militant groups. Since then, returnees from Iraq and Syria have been systematically arrested and put behind bars. Thus, while the Islamic States self-proclaimed caliphate no longer exists, the number of arrests related to jihadist terrorism continues to climb, from 395 in 2014, to 705 last year, according to statics released in June by Europol. But many who are now in prison will be soon be free. According to last months Europol report, the average prison sentence in Belgium for inmates convicted of supporting terrorist groups is five years. We had a problem: Young people were going to the caliphate. And now we have a different problem: They are coming back, said Brahim Laytouss, an Antwerp, Belgium, imam and director of the Islamic Development and Research Academy, a nonprofit group that seeks to reeducate radicalized inmates. There are hundreds in our prisons here in Belgium, and probably 150 that could be considered dangerous. And my organization only has the resources to deal with 10 at a time. The Washington Posts Quentin Aries contributed to this report. Mekhennet reported from Brussels, Antwerp and Frankfurt. Warrick reported from Brussels and Antwerp. Video Embed Code Video: The Posts Souad Mekhennet visited four prisons in Belgium and Germany to see how officials are trying to stop Islamic State fighters returned from Syria and Iraq from recruiting fellow inmates.(Michael Pohl, Souad Mekhennet, Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post) Central jail to boost CCTV surveillance The central jail has started installing more closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in order to keep better vigil over inmates mainly during the night time. One week until the fourth season of Better Call Saul premieres and the series has already been renewed for a fifth season. The announcement came on Saturday, July 28, at the Television Critics Association Press Tour. Joining Better Call Saul for a fifth season is Fear the Walking Dead. The AMC series, McMafia, was renewed for its second. In an environment where viewer choice is almost unlimited, the success of these shows is especially meaningful, with characters and stories that our viewers connect with and return to season after season, said David Madden, president of original programming for AMC, SundanceTV and AMC Studios. Its a privilege to continue collaborating with and sharing the vision of the talented creatives behind these series, and were excited to start exploring the next chapter in the lives of these unique and complex characters. The New Mexico-filmed Better Call Saul pick up comes ahead of its highly-anticipated season four premiere on Monday, Aug. 6. The third season ranked as the No. 5 cable drama among adults 25-54. It hovers between 1.5 and 2 million viewers per episode. Better Call Saul is a Breaking Bad prequel, focusing on the evolution of the popular Saul Goodman before he became Walter Whites lawyer. The acclaimed series has been nominated for 23 Emmy Awards over the course of its run. According to the New Mexico Film Office, the production employed 150 New Mexico crew members, 50 to 100 principal actors and about 1,500 people for background talent, the film office said. It is also housed at Albuquerque Studios. The show is executive produced by Peter Gould, Vince Gilligan, Mark Johnson, Melissa Bernstein, Thomas Schnauz and Gennifer Hutchison. The series recently garnered a 2018 Peabody Award, and, over three seasons, has earned two Writers Guild Awards, three Critics Choice Awards, a Television Critics Association Award and two AFI Awards for TV Programs of the Year, among many other Guild nominations. Created by Gilligan and Gould, the series stars Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, Rhea Seehorn, Patrick Fabian, Michael Mando and Giancarlo Esposito. CAIRO On July 24, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated Egypts giant sustainable wind farm, which is the "largest in the world" of its kind, according to the presidency spokesperson. The new $670 million wind farm has 290 turbines with a 580-megawatt (MW) capacity. The wind installations are located off Gabal el-Zeit along the Red Sea coast and are clustered on 100 square kilometers (38.6 square miles). Egypt is taking active steps toward boosting the countrys electrical power, environmental researcher Ragia el-Gerzawy told Al-Monitor. However, the renewable energy from wind and solar make up 1-2% of electricity generation in Egypt, Gerzawy added. The construction of the wind farm began in 2015 and was set up in three phases. Phase one included 120 turbines to produce an average output of 240 MW. Phase two featured an output of 220 MW with 110 turbines, and phase three included 60 turbines to produce 120 MW. The wind farm is not yet working fully, as it is operating at nearly 52% of its final capacity. The wind speed at the site is 12-33 meters per second (27-73 mph). Meanwhile, the farm is equipped with an automated bird monitoring system to prevent migratory birds from flying into the turbines, a system costing 2 million euros ($2.3 million). Sisi also inaugurated on July 24 three combined-cycle power plants that use natural gas to increase the electric power supply by 50% after connecting 14.4 MW to the national grid, according to the presidency. The three plants, built by Siemens, are located in the administrative capital east of Cairo, Kafr el-Sheikh on the Nile delta and Beni Suef south of Cairo. They are powered by 24 Siemens H-class gas turbines, 12 steam turbines, 36 generators, 24 heat recovery generators and three 500-kilovolt gas-insulated switchgear systems. In June 2015, the German company had clinched its single biggest order with the Egyptian government to expand the power supply, Siemens said in January 2017, with a total cost of $8 billion. Emad Ghaly, the CEO of Siemens Egypt, stated that the newly installed plants will result in significant fuel savings of $1.3 billion annually, Siemenss 2017 release read, adding they will provide power for 45 million people. The company added that it has trained 600 Egyptian engineers and technicians, while more than 20,000 workers were engaged in the work. Meanwhile, it has worked with local partners to construct the plants, using over 1.6 million tons of material. Gerzawy pointed out that Egypt now has a stable electric supply thanks to the reliance on the recent offshore gas discoveries. Egypt relies heavily on gas to generate electricity for homes and factories. The most populated country in the region produces about 4.8 billion cubic feet of gas per day, and the power plants dominate 70% of the total quantities of gas. Egypt needs a gradual transition from using natural gas to renewable sources, she added. According to remarks made July 26 by Ayman Hamza, the spokesman for the Ministry of Electricity, Egypts power reserves reach 7,000 MW, while the daily consumption is 31,000 MW. Egypt is on its way to being a regional renewable energy center, but what matters is the power source, Gerzawy added. Gerzawy is not in favor of Egypts latest agreement of setting up a nuclear power station with Russia, which is supposed to be up and running by 2026 with a total capacity of 4,800 MW at a cost of $21.3 billion. In May, the Electricity Ministry inked an agreement with a Chinese consortium to build a new coal-fired power plant on the Red Sea using the clean coal technology with a capacity of 6,000 MW and a total cost of $4.4 billion to be fully operational within six years. The world is now turning away from coal and nuclear power, Gerzawy added. Egypt has suffered from unplanned and scattered power outages for years, and this problem is being addressed with the new power plants. Egypt aims to shore up its relatively deteriorating economy by pumping new investments into energy. Prominent Iranian Sunni leader Molavi Abdul Hamid sent a letter July 21 to Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Ali al-Sistani, regarding the unequal status of Sunnis in Iran. Abdul Hamid asked Sistani to act as a mediator between Iranian authorities and Iran's Sunni community, with the goal of encouraging the government to adopt fairer policies toward Sunnis in Iran. Abdul Hamid is based in the southeastern city of Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province, which borders Pakistan. His political and social activities seek to promote equal citizenship rights for the Sunnis of Iran. He pursues a moderate approach and encourages dialogue that shuns the use of violence. In his letter, Abdul Hamid wrote that Sunnis in Iran are facing extreme sectarian discrimination amid the absence of religious freedom, the lack of Sunni elites in public positions and imbalances between Shiites and Sunnis in Sunni areas. Sunnis are prevented from building mosques in Tehran, he wrote, and holding Friday and Eid prayers in Tehran and other major cities. For decades now, Sunnis have been calling for the construction of a Sunni mosque in Tehran. However, Iranian authorities are impeding such a move, as they fear a Sunni mosque would turn into a political center opposed to the Shiite-led Islamic republic. The Iranian authorities also fear that such a religious center in Tehran would be exploited by Irans regional opponents, namely Saudi Arabia. Abdul Hamid called on Sistani to use his influence to help end the suffering of Sunnis in Iran, which his letter indicated has been occurring for four decades. The Sunni leader wrote that Sistani's mediation with Iranian authorities would "be an important step toward establishing lasting security and stability in the Muslim world. This would allow the world to see that when Shiites rule a country, justice will prevail because Shiites do not discriminate against specific doctrines, and this will go down in history. Although Abdul Hamid holds a formal position as a Friday prayer leader for Sunnis in Zahedan, he does not enjoy full freedom when it comes to religious activities. Iranian authorities recently banned him from traveling to both the United Arab Emirates and Turkey to visit his parents and participate in religious activities. He has also been banned from traveling to some areas inside Iran as well. In an interview with the Iranian newspaper Etemad related to the topic of discrimination against Sunnis in Iran, Abdul Hamid said that in Sistan-Baluchistan province, where Sunnis make up 75% of the population, barely 6% of government positions are held by Sunnis. A source close to Sistani's office told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that Sistani is avoiding wading into the issue because it involves controversial political dimensions and because his involvement in such a public action would not improve the conditions plaguing the people in question. Sistani has maintained a similar approach to the persecution of Shiite minorities in predominantly Sunni countries. When Saudi Arabia executed Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr in 2016, Sistani did not criticize Saudi Arabia for the execution. He just settled on sending a condolence letter to his relatives. When it comes to dealing with religious minorities, Sistani seeks to introduce an approach that differs from the region's religious political regimes, namely Iran and Saudi Arabia. To avoid leaving a negative impression among Sunnis, he avoids directly addressing Shiites in his letters and the speeches delivered by his spokesmen. He has issued several fatwas to prevent radical Shiites from offending Sunnis. Sistani's directives assisted in preventing Shiite militias from attacking Sunnis in Iraq's sectarian conflict in 2006 and 2007, as well as during the liberation of the territories that fell in the hands of the Islamic State. Iran's Sunnis make up about 15% of the total population, with most of them living in in Kurdistan province in western Iran and in Sistan-Baluchistan. Abdul Hamid is their most prominent religious and political leader. Abdul Hamid has called for reforms to the Iranian political system and for religious freedom and equality for Sunnis. In his sermon during Eid al-Fitr in June, he called for amending and modernizing the Iranian Constitution, which was drafted more than four decades ago. Article 12 of the Iranian Constitution stipulates that the official religion of Iran is Islam, specifically, the Twelver or Jaafari school of Shiism. The document says, "This principle shall remain eternally unchangeable," even as other Islamic schools of thought are free to perform their own religious practices. Abdul Hamid and other Sunni leaders have also called on Iran to stop supporting Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria, as it targets civilian areas with bombs. Abdul Hamid's letter to Sistani provides a contrast between Sistani's secular discourse and the rival Shiite discourse of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as Sistani calls for equal citizenship for all while keeping religion separate from the state. In the week when hundreds of people from the Druze community were massacred in Syria by Islamic State terrorists on July 25, their Israeli peers are struggling for their status in the state following the passage of the Nationality Law. According to the Druze, the Nationality Law, anchoring the Jewish character of the state, hurts them. And they feel particularly hurt because many members of the community are loyal citizens who serve in the army. The Nationality Law that passed in the Knesset July 19 is a basic law. It has greater legal standing than a regular law, as Israel has no constitution, and it enshrines the State of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. The legislation was intended, among other things, to act as a counterweight to the basic law of Human Dignity and Liberty, which is the main basis for the defense of the rights of citizens, including minorities. "Israel is the best country in the world for the Druze. It's best to be Druze here, but the Nationality Law turns us into second-class citizens. However, I love the country as a Jewish and democratic state, and despite the law, I'll continue to be a loyal citizen," former member of Knesset Shachiv Shnaan (Labor) told Al-Monitor. Shnaan lost his son, border policeman Sgt. Maj. Kamil Shnaan, in a terrorist attack at the Temple Mount in July 2017. When the Nationality Law was being written, Druze representatives were angry at the discrimination it would create against them. In September 2017, Shnaan participated in a debate of a special Knesset committee that formulated the law and called on members of the Knesset to not accept the Nationality Law without including the word 'equality' in it." The Druze are a religious group that separated from Shiite Islam in the 11th century and has kept its distinction since. They are spread throughout several countries, including Syria, Lebanon and Israel, and their political-diplomatic behavior is based on a principle of loyalty to the state in which they live. This principle has forged their alliance with the State of Israel. In 1957, the Druze in Israel were officially recognized as a religious community, and at the same time, their military service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) became mandatory by law. The rate of enlistment among the Druze is very high. According to IDF data, about 80% of Druze youth of enlistment age join the military, compared with 72% of all Jewish men, and only 20% amid ultra-Orthodox men. More than 400 Druze have been killed along the years during their military service, and this is the source of the oft-repeated phrase "blood covenant" between the Druze and the Jews. This covenant is the basis of the Druzes great frustration at the legislation of the Nationality Law. Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Muafik Tarif said in an interview on July 26, "We [the Druze] give the State of Israel everything, we show the whole world that whoever goes with the Jewish people gets equality. Sadly, this is not happening right now." Brig. Gen. (Res.) Amel Asad has been working to change the law along with about 100 Druze officers in the reserves. "I built my home here many years before the founding of the state and fought shoulder to shoulder with you," he told Al-Monitor. "I support only Jewish rule in Israel, but on the other hand, the Nationality Law defines you [the Jews] and leaves us out of the equation." As he sees it, the main problem is the lack of a clause that establishes equal rights for all citizens of the state, including the Druze. Asad warned that the law could have ramifications on the motivation for enlistment on the part of young Druze. On July 22, Druze leaders, headed by Knesset member Akram Hasoon (Kulanu), petitioned the High Court against the law. In the course of the week, Druze members of the Knesset, incluing Salah Saad (Zionist Camp) and Hamad Amar (Yisrael Beitenu), joined the petition. Hasoon and Amar voted against the law in the Knesset plenum, despite each being members of the coalition, as they received license to vote their conscience. Minister Ayoob Kara, who is also Druze, actually supports the law. Kara said he's proud to be Israeli and happy that Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people. In a press release he explained that "thanks to the Jews, we have freedom of worship here, equal opportunity and a flourishing and prosperous state. The minority has rights, how lucky that this is not Syria or Iran." Following growing protest from the Druze, coalition leaders have started to understand that there's a problem with the Nationality Law. Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon said that the law was legislated hastily and that he is attempting to change it. Kahlon even backed fellow party member Hasoon in his petition to the High Court. Education Minister Naftali Bennett (HaBayit HaYehudi) tweeted that he understood that the law hurts the Druze and clarified: "As the government of Israel, we have the responsibility of finding a way to heal this rift." Knesset member Benny Begin of the liberal faction of the Likud said he would present a suggestion to amend the law to include a clause that would guarantee equality for all citizens. Talking to Al-Monitor, journalist Yoaz Hendel, the chairman of the Institute for Zionist Strategies, a conservative research institute, said that the Nationality Law is a step toward a constitution "and the waves it has set off stem from this fact and show the great difficulty in forging a constitution in a country with different streams of Judaism as well as non-Jewish minorities." One of the leaders of the Druze protest told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that "one could perhaps understand the emphasis on nationality in the law, but the fact that the Druze are partners in defending Jewish nationality in contrast to Arab citizens who don't do so should have been mentioned." The paradox is that the Druze struggle for equality of all citizens in the Nationality Law is actually in the name of all non-Jews in Israel, including Muslim and Christian Arabs. The emphasis on military service helps the Druze gain support from the Jewish public, also from the right-wing side of the political map, and that's the reason they have a chance to change the law or pass another law that would guarantee equal rights for all citizens, even if they are not Jews or do not serve in the military. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeks to isolate the Druze from other minorities on the basis of the principle of rights in exchange for service. On July 26, Netanyahu met with Hasoon and Amar and clarified that he would not change the law, but he promised to act to prepare a comprehensive plan that would "reflect the deep commitment of the State of Israel to the Druze community," according to the announcement following the meeting. Netanyahu is also slated to meet with other leaders of the community and representatives of Druze military officers. A senior member of his staff stressed that there is no intention of changing the law, which is not connected, according to him, to the rights of minorities but to the national status of the Jewish state. The Druze, on their part, do not intend to give in "until this wrong is righted." Libermans surprise "no" to Russian offer on Hezbollah Russian President Vladimir Putin intensified his already frantic diplomatic pace on Syria, his own version of the art of the deal, following the Helsinki summit, as we wrote here last week. A high-level Russian delegation landed in Israel July 23, Ben Caspit reports. The delegation was headed by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and included Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Gen. Valery Gerasimov, who was paying his first visit to Israel. It was a rushed almost an emergency visit after Putins last meeting with Netanyahu in Moscow on July 11. It was later learned that the Russians offered Israel a deal, which they promised to enforce. They would guarantee that Iranian forces, Hezbollah and the Shiite militias would be kept 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the Syrian border with Israel, while Israel would commit to accepting Assads return to power in Syria and stop its attacks on Syrian territory. Surprisingly, Israel said no. It was a polite but firm refusal. Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot told the Russians that Israel could not accept an Iranian or Hezbollah presence anywhere in Syria, and that it reserves the right to continue dealing with that presence themselves. The Russians listened carefully and returned home empty-handed." The day after the Russians were gone, Israeli Patriot missiles shot down a Syrian air force Sukhoi Su-24 fighter jet that penetrated 2 kilometers into Israeli territory, writes Caspit. It happened a day after two missiles fired by Assads forces set off Israels multilayered missile defense system, the Magic Wand (or Davids Sling), for the first time. This was the first operational test of the missile interception system, and it failed. Regardless, the Russians protested the shooting down of the Sukhoi. An investigation by Israel later found that the Syrian pilot and navigator made a navigation error and did not intend to attack Israel. Nevertheless, the most senior Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officials made it clear to their Russian counterparts that Israel had no choice, and that any aircraft that crosses its border will be shot down. Tensions between Israel and Russia have been escalating over the past few weeks as a result of the intense attacks against Iranian targets in Syrian territory, which are attributed to Israel, Caspit continues. Similarly, the IDFs nighttime operation July 22 to evacuate hundreds of White Helmets from southern Syria to Jordan from where they will be relocated to the West did not make Russia very happy. Shortly after the dramatic evacuation effort, the Russian Embassy in Israel tweeted a cynical barb critical of the Israeli operation. This forced Netanyahu himself to announce personally that Israel evacuated the White Helmets a group that Putin and Assad both regard as a strategic enemy dedicated to toppling the Assad regime and that it did this in response to an explicit request from Trump and countries such as France. What Netanyahu was actually insinuating to Putin was that he had no choice and it was not an Israeli initiative. Commenting on Israels evacuation of the White Helmets, Akiva Eldar writes, As the forces of President Bashar al-Assad and their allied militias advance toward the Golan, based on new understandings reached with Russia, they will be looking first for collaborators with Israel. According to a June 18 Wall Street Journal report, for years, Israel has been regularly funneling cash to anti-government rebels in the border area to create and maintain a buffer zone populated by friendly forces. Syrian fighters told the paper that the IDF funds their wages and the purchase of weapons and ammunition. While serving as defense minister (2015), Moshe Ya'alon confirmed that in return for Israeli humanitarian aid, the rebels kept radical anti-Israel militias like Hezbollah and Jabhat al-Nusra away from the border. To repeat, evacuation is called for, not rescuing activists and providing humanitarian aid, though admirable. Taking in refugees from Syria, including those who have stood by Israel's side in recent years, is the very least the nation-state of a persecuted people owes itself. Irans post-Helsinki pivot Hamidreza Azizi points out that Putins diplomacy has compelled Iran to adjust its approach to maintain its role in Syria. With the prospect of US-Russia collaboration ahead as indicated by Trump and Putin and as Israeli airstrikes in Syria continue, Iran appears to have devised a dual-aspect precautionary strategy to preserve its interests in Syria. The Islamic Republic believes that although Russia is neither able nor willing to expel it from Syria for now, possible political pressure on Assad as collateral damage of a US-Russian agreement together with Israels military pressures may change the viewpoint of the Syrian government toward cooperation with Iran. As such, by sending special envoys to Moscow and Damascus, Iran is seeking to keep Russia committed to its partnership while also moving to prevent Assad from giving in to the pressures. Syrian government and PYD open to expanded talks Mohammad Bassiki reports that signs indicate that there is rapprochement between Damascus and the opposition's political and military components in northern and eastern Syria (east of the Euphrates River), where the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are in control. Readers of Al-Monitor have been following this trend for at least the past year, including the mediation efforts of Russia and Iran to broker a deal between the Syrian government and the Kurds. We wrote in August 2017, Turkeys preoccupation with beating back Syrian Kurdish control in northern Syria could open the door to some type of accommodation with Damascus. Assad said May 31, We started opening doors for negotiations [with the SDF] because the majority of them are Syrians and supposedly they like their country; they dont like being puppets to any foreigners. Thats what we suppose. Bassiki writes, At its third conference in Tabqa city in the northern province of Raqqa on July 16, the Syrian Democratic Council announced the establishment of a comprehensive platform labeled the Democratic Autonomous Administrations.' The platform will represent the autonomous administrations of the SDF-controlled areas in potential future talks with the Syrian regime. Contacts between Damascus and local Syrian Kurdish authorities are already taking place. On July 13, a co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council, Ilham Ahmed, told the local Hawar news agency that there are talks between the local council of SDF-controlled Tabqa and the regime to improve services and to restore the regimes powers over the Tabqa dam, adds Bassiki. On the sidelines of the Syrian Democratic Council conference, former [Democratic Union Party] PYD co-chair Salih Muslim stressed July 16 a willingness to negotiate with the Syrian government, provided that there is an international guarantor to implement the results of the agreement between the parties." It is no surprise then that Turkey is preoccupied by the low-profile talks between the Kurdish [PYD] and Damascus that may result in the PYD maintaining its power in northern Syria, as Kirill Semenov reports, and that this trend was the topic of a side conversation between Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, on July 26. Turkey considers the PYD a terrorist group because of its affiliation with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). A source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry who spoke with Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity said that during the meeting with Putin, Erdogan drew Putins attention to the need to inform him of such contacts with Kurdish representatives and to coordinate any moves on the Kurdish issues in Syria with Turkey as a guarantor state, writes Semenov. The PYD is also allegedly discussing with Damascus the possibility of opening its branch offices in other Syrian regions and integrating its fighters into the regime forces. To make matters for Ankara worse, the PYD appears to be prepared to join the Syrian state army in a possible regime offensive on Idlib. In return, the Kurds expect Damascus to return control over Afrin and Manbij the two areas the Kurds conceded to Turkish forces. PYD representatives have maintained a presence in the area. The Tel Rifaat region, which still hosts some PYD units, is under protection by the regime and allied Russian forces and is seen in Turkey as a potential foothold for a joint Kurdish-Syrian army offensive against the groups that are under Turkeys patronage. That said, Semenov continues, Moscow fully realizes that without diplomatic preparation, the military offensive in Idlib runs serious risks. With all its desire to end the Syrian conflict, Russia remains interested in continuing bilateral cooperation with Turkey that goes far beyond the Syrian settlement. Thus, it can be presumed that Putin was more flexible on Erdogans requests and is open to work toward decreasing tensions over Idlib. Putin is intent on coordinating each step with and through Ankara and Tehran, his Astana partners. Maxim Suchkov adds that another track Putin mentioned in Helsinki that Russia was open to pursuing is coordination of the Astana process and small group activities. While its not clear whether the latter is ready for such engagement, representatives of the former are scheduled to meet in Sochi July 30-31 to discuss the issue of refugees. In parallel, a new meeting between the heads of Russia, Iran and Turkey is also being prepared. Putins foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said the exact date has not been set as of yet, but diplomatic sources have it the trilateral summit will most likely occur at the end of the summer or in early fall. This will be the third meeting between Putin, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan: Previously, the trio met first in Sochi in November 2017 and then in Ankara this past April. Al-Monitor breaks story on costs of US Embassy in Jerusalem Bryant Harris was the first to report on July 12 that the price of the US Embassy in Jerusalem exceeded, by a multiple of more than a hundred, the $250,000 US President Donald Trump had claimed the move would cost. Documents uploaded this week to the official database of federal spending show that Maryland-based joint venture Desbuild Limak D&K has been awarded a $21.2 million award to design and build addition and compound security upgrades to the embassy in Jerusalems Arnona neighborhood. Thats in addition to the $335,000 spent to get the facility, formerly a US consulate, ready for its ritzy grand opening as an embassy back in May, Harris writes. This story was picked up by other media outlets days later, but you read it here in Al-Monitor first. Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh visited Moscow on July 23 for talks with his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak. For Moscow, the meeting was intended, among other reasons, to demonstrate that the Kremlin had taken a strategic decision to keep its energy majors in Iran. The two ministers also discussed their cooperation at the Gas Exporting Countries Forum and Russias plans to turn the OPEC+ deal into a permanent agreement. The visit is critical when analyzed against the backdrop of the bigger picture. Despite frustrations with European leaders, Iran still hasn't given up on the idea that the EU might help the country evade US sanctions or, at least, ease their burden. Tehran, however, is actively developing its plan B: If Brussels ultimately fails to be helpful in this regard, the Islamic Republic can always try to intensify its contacts with Russia, which has demonstrated a clear desire to retain its presence in Irans economy in spite of economic sanctions. At a first glance, Tehran finds Europe more appealing. It is more economically and politically capable than Russia, and, in the historical memory of Iranians, Iran's past relations with Europe contain far fewer awkward and unpleasant moments than between Moscow and Tehran. In practice, however, its more complicated. Indeed, there are at least two European initiatives to help Iran dodge further sanctions pressure. The first is purely political: The EU wants to secure the remnants of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and defuse the political situation around Iran. This will be achieved by conducting negotiations with Iran on different regional issues to show the international community that Tehran can be a team player. It will, thus, deprive the United States of opportunities to call this country a troublemaker. Negotiations between the EU and Iran on Yemen that were launched in February are part of this initiative. The second set of steps designed by the EU to protect Iran is purely economic. While unable to prevent its large businesses from withdrawing from Iran, the EU plans to encourage the mid- and small-sized businesses with few connections to the American market to go to Iran. These two initiatives will inevitably face a number of problems. First, each initiative is time-consuming and will not bring immediate relief to Iran. In the short run, the Europeans can do nothing about Iranian sanctions but make bold political statements to support Tehran morally and to keep it a member of the JCPOA while the Europeans think about what to do next. Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhanis own time in office is limited, and the longer he waits for European help, the more diminished are his chances to arrange the victory of a successor during the next presidential election. Second, Tehran is clearly declaring its readiness to discuss regional issues with the EU, but it is not clear how far it is ready to go to reach final agreements and whether its concessions will satisfy the other players in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia and Israel. It is also unclear whether the US administration under Donald Trump will accept them. Third, the economic measures represent the last resort solution. The mid- and small-sized business will be able to help Iran survive but not develop under the sanctions. Moreover, this plan might work unless the United States uses tougher secondary sanctions against Iran and its counterparts that would create additional problems for facilitating financial and transport logistics of EU-Iran economic ties. Finally, the measures adopted by the EU to help Iran will be implemented as a joint European action. In other words, the EU members should first come to an internal consensus on these measures. However, there are clear differences in motivations and stances between European players vis-a-vis Iran that will not help the EU quickly work out the united plan. Thus, there are countries such as Italy, Spain, Greece and Denmark that are genuinely interested in saving ties with Iran due to, first of all, economic motivations. For Germany, France, Austria and the UK, political drivers are no less or even more important in determining their approaches to Tehran. Then there are even EU members such as Poland that support Trump's decision. Warsaw not only wants to demonstrate its loyalty to the United States but also believes that by helping the Americans pressure Iran, Poland will be bashing Iran's ally, Russia, in the Middle East. All in all, the Europeans have a long way ahead before they will be able to work out an effective plan of action. These calculations help Moscow create its own options for closer cooperation with Tehran. This month's Moscow visit of Ali Akbar Velayati, the top foreign policy adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, not only imparted political messages but also was intended to discuss the situation around the JCPOA, the options available to help Iran develop its oil sector and ensure oil exports. Velayati's statements on Russias alleged readiness to invest $50 billion in Irans oil and gas industry spurred controversy at home. Russian officials later denied commenting on the issue due to Russia's unwillingness to draw much attention to the activities of its companies in Iran, since this would defy US sanctions. In return, Russian officials commented on their readiness to continue the oil-for-goods deal. This, in turn, was received negatively in Iran. For a number of Irans politicians, such a deal symbolizes a violation of Irans independence. As a result, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had to deny that this deal would be implemented, though he pointed at other and bigger options for Russian-Iranian cooperation. This incident did not affect Moscow and Tehran's plans to cooperate in the oil and gas sphere. Even before Velayatis visit, Gazprom had already launched a new round of negotiations with Iranian authorities on its participation in the development of four gas fields: Kish, North Pars, Farzad-A and Farzad-B. Apart from that, Gazprom continued to negotiate with the Iranian party on the joint construction of the Iran LNG plant. The talks also involved discussions on the establishment of a joint Russian-Iranian company to construct and operate an Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline. The latest visit by the Iranian oil minister to Moscow is yet another indication that Russia and Iran are steadily exploring mutually beneficial options in this field. Russia remains of a strong opinion that it is important to ensure Irans capabilities to export at least some portion of its oil. Moscow is thus sending a clear signal to Tehran and others that it is not going to support Trumps proposals to OPEC and other producers to compensate for the withdrawal of Iran from the oil market. All in all, while the economic and political capacities of the EU are objectively stronger than those of Russia, Moscow might be more prepared to help Tehran live under the US sanctions. The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels are escalating their threats against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The rebels do not appear intimidated by the Saudi coalition. The Yemeni war is increasingly entangled in the American conflict with Iran, which doesnt augur well for the Yemenis. The Zaydi Shiite Houthis attacked Saudi vessels in the Red Sea on July 25. The Houthis claimed that they struck a Saudi warship; the Saudis say it was two oil tankers and announced that they were temporarily halting oil shipments via the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Their announcement was not followed by others. Oil prices did not jump. The rebels also claimed that they launched a drone that targeted Abu Dhabi airport. The Emiratis denied this. The Houthis said Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Riyadh should be evacuated immediately before the rebels fire more missiles and drones at them. The Iranian media gleefully repeated the dire warnings on the front page of newspapers. The Houthis justify their behavior as an appropriate response to the four years of Saudi-led coalition airstrikes on Yemens cities and the blockade that has led to mass malnutrition. The Houthis' missile and drone strikes have so far had limited results. The Red Sea shipping attacks have probably had the most impact but have not shut down the strategic chokepoint at the Bab el-Mandeb. Both the Saudis and Emiratis try to downplay the attacks on their capitals. They hype the sea attacks, hoping to get more outside support, especially from the United States. But the persistence of the rebels' campaign and their escalating threats this month are a clear indicator that the Houthis are still not intimidated by the coalition. The Houthis still control Sanaa and other major cities. The coalition campaign to seize the major port of Hodeidah has not materialized as a lightning or golden victory as the coalition promised. It may still turn into a bloody urban battle that grinds down both sides. The Saudis and Emiratis are not eager for a house-to-house battle with the Houthis, which could exact a large number of casualties. The missile attacks inherently carry the risk of catastrophic success. A missile hit against a major civilian target in Riyadh or Abu Dhabi killing dozens would place enormous pressure on the Saudi and Emirati leadership to retaliate against not only Sanaa but also Tehran. Iran appears to be encouraging Houthi intransigence. Iran and Hezbollah provide expertise and resources for the Houthis' missile capabilities. As noted above, Iran's media like to portray the Saudis as under strain and weak. Tehran is well aware that the Saudi war effort in Yemen is a very expensive drain on Riyadh but a small cost for Tehran. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is a favorite target of abuse; the Iranians heap sarcasm on the Saudi defense minister. The Yemeni war has always been a front, not only in the Saudi-Iranian regional power conflict but also a factor in Washingtons relationship with Tehran. The Trump administration's violation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was a big step in heightening US frictions with Iran. The administration has significantly increased tensions with Iran this month with the president tweeting catastrophic military action may be considered if Iran threatens America and the secretary of state calling for regime change in a major speech in California. The administration says regime change is not its policy but few in the Iranian regime are persuaded by the disclaimer. The Pompeo speech was choreographed carefully with the Saudis. The Saudi ambassador in Washington published an editorial reinforcing the secretarys message. Riyadh, which broke ties with Tehran in 2016, is all in for regime change. Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, gave a retort to the United States with the chilling line that Iran is ready to hit Americans: We are near you, where you cant even imagine. It is a clear threat to hit US interests asymmetrically in unexpected locations. Soleimani made explicit reference to the Red Sea. As Al-Monitor has previously reported, Soleimanis speech is the authoritative statement of the Revolutionary Guard. As always, the Yemeni people are the victims of the conspiracies and plots of the Houthis, Iran, the Saudis and their allies, the other Yemeni factions and the Americans. Millions are suffering. The CEO of Save the Children has been saying that Yemen is the worst place in the world to be a child because of the shortages of food and medicine, the collapse of infrastructure and the breakdown in education. Lucy Berry Debuty For AL.com When Torch Technologies embarked on a multi-million expansion project three years ago, the employee-owned technology services and solutions company had to make a decision. Remain in south Huntsville or relocate to a growing area like Cummings Research Park? Torch decided to keep the lights on at Chris Drive Southwest, jump starting a major construction project that included renovating existing facilities and developing a new headquarters and conference center. Since then, Freedom Real Estate & Capital, Torch's sister company, has acquired and is renovating a nearby building on 2001 Nichols Drive. In April, Torch broke ground on another significant project a new 35,000-square-foot solutions building and lab at the corner of Chris Drive and Vermont Road. An architect's rendering of the new solutions building and lab on Nichols Drive. The multi-year south Huntsville expansion has been a good decision for the company and the community, said CEO Bill Roark, who opened Torch Technologies in a modest suite with co-founder Don Holder in 2002. "We have always valued serving our community and trying to be a good corporate citizen, so it seemed like a natural fit when the mayor asked us to consider staying in south Huntsville and developing this property," Roark said. "Additionally, it has been more cost effective to renovate, which is money that we save for our employee-owners and pass on to our customers." It's this way of doing business that helped Torch become one of the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce's Best Places to Work for 2018, an award determined through employee surveys. It was the fifth time the company was recognized by the chamber as a best place to work in the area. "We know that great people make up the core of every great company, so we appreciate and recognize all of our employee-owners for their continued contributions to Torch that made this recognition possible," said Torch President John Watson. Shortly after receiving the Chamber's bronze-level award, Torch was named one of the best workplaces in consulting and professional services by Fortune and Great Place to Work. The rankings considered input from more than 51,000 employees in the consulting and professional services sector. Torch Technologies, which took the No. 3 spot on the small and medium companies list, earned the ranking based on anonymous employee survey responses. "We have participated in that survey program now for 10 consecutive years, and it gives us terrific information to analyze, giving our employee-owners an opportunity to provide candid feedback that allows us to continue to improve as a company and become an even better workplace," Watson said. "Everyone obviously likes to win and our employee-owners are proud of these awards." Great Place to Work and Fortune also named Torch Technologies a best workplace for millennials in June. Watson said they've worked hard to attract and retain talent from every generation and create a culture that is inclusive to all employees. During the same month, Torch announced it ranked No. 61 on Washington Technology's Top 100 list of the largest government contractors by prime contract dollars. Torch, which was the highest-ranked Huntsville company on the list, closed 2017 with more than $348 million in total revenue. "National awards of this nature greatly aid in business development and recruitment at our 14 locations outside of Huntsville where Torch is not as well known," Watson said. Torch's annual revenue has grown from $165 million to a projected $380 million since 2015. Torch was also awarded $1.7 billion in new contracts supporting the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy and Missile Defense Agency, most of which are being worked on in Huntsville. With so much development in such a short amount of time, Watson said Torch will continue to be a growth company both in Huntsville and other markets in the Northeast region, New Mexico, Colorado and Florida. "We are focused on growing smartly and intentionally, staying in the high-value engineering services and solutions business that has made us successful, maintaining our employee-centric culture and staying an employee-owned company," he said. Watson expects the new solutions building and lab will be complete in 2019, with employees moving to the building by the end of March. The facility will allow Torch to take on more complex projects, ranging from developing instruments for warhead testing to re-engineering products that protect the U.S. Since 2015, Torch has increased its workforce from 400 to 800 employee-owners, about 70 percent of whom are in the Huntsville area. Because Torch is an employee-owned company, it offers benefits that are atypical for the industry, such as free access to a certified financial planner, the ability to borrow up to 40 hours of paid time off, and the option donate their own PTO to co-workers in times of need. The company has numerous open positions and expects to grow its workforce even more as opportunities become available. Watson said Huntsville's reputation as a growing technology hub will continue to help Torch recruit new employees. "Whether they come to Huntsville to join Torch or another company, it is a boom for Huntsville/Madison County to have and enjoy the reputation as a tech center," he said. "When we are recruiting, particularly new grads outside of the Huntsville market, it is very beneficial that they have heard of Huntsville's reputation and realize its growth as a high-tech center." Damage to bridge halts traffic on Rasuwagadhi, Syaphrubesi road Transportation has come to a halt along Rasuwagadhi-Syaphrubesi road sectionthe only Nepal-China link road in operationafter rain-triggered floods damaged a bridge over Timure Ghattekhola in Rasuwa. The Hop City Craft Beer and Wine inaugural Rose Wine Dinner is this evening at 5:00 p.m. The sold-out dining event is Hop City's second wine dinner party featuring Chef Fiona Marshall of The Hot Tag food truck, who has also prepared the menu for Hop City's wildly successful beer dinners. The five-course meal will feature a selection of six rose wines paired with a variety of fare, from white fish and shrimp ceviche with cured chorizo and chimichurri, to slow roasted pork belly with bruleed brioche. Any Winck, a level-one sommelier, and on-site rep for Alabama Crown combed through hundreds of wines in the Alabama Crown portfolio to narrow down the choices. Tonight's selections will feature a variety of flavor profiles and grape varietals--from an Oregon Pinot Noir Rose to sparkling brut rose. "We're really trying to show that the grapes and be anywhere to be made into rose," says Winck. "You can pair it with anything. It doesn't have to be something you're drinking by itself. You can have it with bigger dishes. You can have it with dessert. It can really look any way you want it to." Tasting Notes: Rose 101 New to tasting rose? Winck says there are some common terms for novices to think about. "Fruit forward, so you might think about strawberries. That's always a really big one. In some style, you're going to think of a little sweeter. More of a honeysuckle." Trying to distinguish the flavor profiles as you drink? Try licking the inside of your checks, says Winck. "That's where I get the flavor. Even when you smell it, kind of open your mouth and really take a big whiff of what it is. Let the senses get going like you're smelling a candle." Developing a Menu for Rose Chef Fiona Marshall who cut her teeth at Muss and Turner's in Smyrna, Georgia, has a background in fine dining. The menu at The Hot Tag boasts a rotating selection of gastropub and comfort food. This evening, guests will start with a reception wine, or palate cleanser, Lucien Albrecht Brut Rose. As the evening progresses, each course will get a little more complex. "Roses, they behave in a really fun way. They can be dry. They can have notes of floral, fruity notes. Strawberries and cherries and those kinds of fruits in that same family," says Marshall. "So how can we bump that up. Not with strawberry, but with other foods that compliment the flavor. So that's just kind of where the construction comes from in terms of putting a menu together." We sat down with Winck and Marshall to talk about Sunday evening's menu will progress, course by course The reception wine: Lucien Albrecht Brut Rose Lucien Albrecht Brut Rose (Credit: Shauna Stuart for Al.com) Amy Winck: This wine is the palate cleanser. It's going to get the juices going so people can ease their way into the first course. The Lucien Albrecht is a Brut Rose which is basically bubbles, so it goes through a similar style of a champagne process. Lucien Albrecht has been making bubbles since the 1400s. This is truly a vineyard and a family that's sort of perfected the art of bubble making. Very crisp. It's going to be served in a flute. Very beautiful, light-pink color. A drop of strawberry. You can sort of enjoy yourself that way. First Course The Wine: Fair La Fete Cremant de Limoux Brut Rose The Dish: Toasted rosemary crostini, lemon zest goat cheese spread, quick-pickled apple cider strawberries, lavender, toasted almond, sea salt Fair La Fete Cremant de Limoux Brut Rose (Credit: Shauna Stuart for AL.com) Amy Winck: This is also going to be a sparkling rose. It has Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Chenin Blanc. So it has three various types of wines. Faire la Fete actually means to create a party. So it's very celebratory, sparking to drink. It's from the Limoux region which is the birthplace of bubbles. This is going to be a true, classic, delicious bubble. We're excited to showcase that. So the richness of the goat cheese and the sweetness of the dish. It's going to get a kick from the bubbles and a little bit of the sweetness. It's going to be fantastic. Chef Fiona Marshall: In terms of the brut rose that's in that first course, we wanted to highlight that strawberry flavor that is very prominent in it. But other things that compliment that strawberry are the lemon zest that's on here and the goat cheese that it's mixed with. I loved the idea of doing kind of a quick pickle on the strawberries because that kind of a vinegar, sweet flavor is just so wonderful with rose. And having the almonds and lavender in there and the rosemary, you get those herbal notes in there to kind of compliment the texture of the bubbles that come with it. Second Course The Wine: Chateau Val Joanis Cuvee Josephine Rose The Dish: Red endive, arugula, radicchio, julienne pink lady apples, roasted mushroom and shallot vinaigrette, cracked peppercorns, shaved asiago cheese Chateau Val Joanis Cuvee Josephine Rose (Credit: Shauna Stuart for Al.com) Amy Winck: I like the description of this. It was called a luscious fruit bowl. When you're sitting in 300-degree temperatures and a lot of heat, you think about the honeydew and the strawberries and the cantaloupe and all of these beautiful fruits on a sunny day. This is going to be from the Rhone Valley region, so it's going to be a little bit drier. It's crisp, clean, delicious. Chef Fiona Marshall: So, as we go into the second course, things are going to start ramping up a bit. With this one, I kind of wanted to work with bitter greens. Radicchio lettuce and kind of clean greens like endive, peppery things like arugula. They are all kind of in there to kind of complement what is going on with the Cuvee. The pink lady apples keep it sweet and kind of tart. And the roasted mushroom and the shallot and the peppercorns highlight kind of an earthiness that's in that Cuvee and then the asiago is a little bit of salt to round it out. Third Course The Wine: Amalie Robert 'The Uncarved Block' Willamette Valley Rose of Pinot Noir The Dish: Whitefish and shrimp ceviche, cured chorizo, chimichurri, Chicharron, pickled radish and tajin Amalie Robert 'The Uncarved Block' Willamette Valley Rose of Pinot Noir (Credit: Shauna Stuart for Al.com) Amy Winck: Willamette Valley in Oregon is known for its Pinot Noir. Birmingham is one of the top Oregon Pinot Noir drinking cities in the country. We love out Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. It's very very popular here. Amalie Vineyard is a very small vineyard. It's a husband and wife team. They are so smart and so smart, careful and so cautions with all of the wines that they do. And this one was sort of a pretty rare get for us. It's absolutely delicious. It's all pinot noir. It's fuller bodied. More than something you would expect from a Pinot. It is a very limited quantity. Hop City has the only cases right now. So, we're really excited about that. Chef Fiona Marshall: Especially since it's summer, we really wanted to keep things light. Just because having these heavy, hardcore dishes in the middle of the summer is just exhausting. So we wanted to keep having things that would keep the palate really excited. It seemed kind of like a no-brainer on that one. Any ceviche is going to be kind of cooked by the citrus that's in it. So that citrus comes back into play to start playing with the rose to keep that citrus note going throughout the meal and keep that rose popping out. The chimichurri and the chorizo highlight more of that Pinot Noir that you're going to get in the rose. So, playing with that tannin that will be present in there. That feeling you get on the inside of your cheeks when you eat a red grape. That tannin feeling. So those things will kind of play with that in that course. Fourth Course The Wine: Buoncristiani Napa Valley Rosato The Dish: Slow roasted pork belly, beet and rhubarb preserve, bruleed brioche, pureed potato soup shot Buoncristiani Napa Valley Rosato (Credit: Shauna Stuart for Al.com) Amy Winck: So this is going to be four brothers out of Napa. This is going to be a blend of Syrah and Malbec. It's going to be a little bit richer, a little bit deeper. You'll see it in the color how it's a very red rose. It's got a little bit of oak in it. It has some nice acidity in it. It is the-- for lack of a better word-- kind of that blow your hair back kind of surprising, kind of what you'd want to be looking for in a rose. It goes a little bit deeper. Even what she's pairing it with... the slow roasted pork belly. All of these things are sort of richer and fuller. This is going to be that counterpart to such a decadent dish. Dark, smooth bold. It's a real breadwinner. It's one of those ways you can show that a rose isn't just light pink and super pretty. That a rose can look any way you want it to, much like any other kind of wine you're going to be drinking. Chef Fiona Marshall: On that one. It was really earthy and kind of screaming for a little bit of fat to play with. So on that one, that's why we went with the pork belly and the bruleed brioche. There's just such a great butteriness to that bread that I love playing with. And when you brulee it, you get this kind of nice char and toastiness out of it. And the beet in the rhubarb preserve is supposed to bring that earthy kind of note back into it. Same with the pureed potato soup shot. That'll chase whatever bite people are feeling included to do. But the slow roasted pork belly is going to be the queen of that entire dish. Especially with the preserves.It'll be really good. Fifth Course The Wine: Maison Alain de la Treille Le Rose The Dish: Mascarpone quenelle, shortbread crumble, pine nut caramel, berry medley, shaved dark chocolate Maison Alain de la Treille Le Rose (Photo Credit: Shauna Stuart for Al.com) Amy Winck: This is going to be a rose that's new to our came into our portfolio. It just came into the state. So, we're excited to show this on a bigger stage like a rose dinner instead of just putting it on a shelf somewhere. This is going to be French of the Loire Valley. It's got - Gamay Cab, Pinot Noir. It has a little bit of oak aging. The vines are 25 years old, which is kind of amazing. This one is going to have that summer fruit. That watermelon.That bold strawberry. It's kind of like when you have pound cake and you have a little bit of fruit to go with it. It brings out the touch of sweetness in the dessert and this one too. I think that's what Fiona got out of it. It's got this touch of real sweetness to it. And it will sort of really expand on the palate. Chef Fiona Marshall: So, with the fifth course, I wanted to keep it really simple. My thing with dessert is, I don't have much of a sweet tooth. For desserts, I really like something that cleans everything up if you're having a really big meal. So I wanted to keep it really really simple. But still really playful. Which is why I'm really excited about the pine-nut caramel I'm going to be making for that. But there's also the shaved dark chocolate and the berry medley and the shortbread crumble. Those are still things that keep your palate kind of moving and grooving. Dark chocolate is very exciting to the palate. There's bitterness and sweetness all at the same time. The berry medley keeps it sweet and the mascarpone cannelle keeps it really creamy and delightful. It's kind of a buffer for the bitterness you can find in shortbread. Hop City Craft Beer and Wine will host its first Summer Rose Wine Dinner on Sunday, July 29. This evening's five-course dinner will feature a selection of six rose wines paired with dishes by Chef Fiona Marshall of The Hot Tag. Tonight's sold-out repast is Hop City and the Hot Tag's second wine and dinner party collaboration. Their inaugural wine dinner, featuring French wine, was in April. That dinner was also Stacey Chappel's first event as General Manager of Hop City. Chappel, who started as the store's wine buyer, came to Hop City in October 2017 from the bar at the now James Beard Award-winning Highlands Bar and Grill. Chappel is no stranger to wine dinners. He's done hundreds in his life while working in distribution and during his time at Highlands. But the wine dinners at Hop City are a different style of gathering. Modeled after their highly successful beer dinners, the events bring guests together to enjoy wine in a relaxed, highly social environment for feasting and fellowship. "There tends to be an atmosphere in a wine dinner that is more...kind of stuffy. You feel like you have to be on your best behavior. Everything is kind of watched," says Chappel. "I mean, there is a niche for that. But for us, we had an incredibly casual fun time. And I had people who came from Highlands to see this wine dinner. And they were like.. 'Oh my gosh, we had such a blast. The food was awesome, but the atmosphere. We just loved being able to relax and have a dinner on a Sunday'." Hop City General Manager, Stacey Chappel (Credit: Shauna Stuart for Al.com) Sunday evening's event will also be a career highlight for Chappel, a long-time admirer of the flavor variety of rose. "I've always, in my time in the wine industry, wanted to play around with a rose wine dinner. It has such a huge range that it would be a lot of fun to see a great chef-- my girl Fiona-- play around with a lot of the different grapes that come in that rose style. " Another goal of the dinner: dispel the myth that rose is a spring and summer wine. "It's a great warm climate wine, but it doesn't have to be," says Chappel. "It really has no season. There are roses for the winter. There are roses for the summer. There are sparking roses if you need something more aperitif-like." If you let the internet tell it, America is in midst of a rose revolution, led by women and millennials. Instagram is overrun with images of young people cheerfully drinking rose, holding wine glasses and bottles filled with rosy pink essence (usually from Provence) and living their best lives (perhaps the term and hashtag #roseallday rings a bell?). In 2015, Vanity Fair asked, albeit snarkily, when rose became "like, a thing," transcending "basic" to become a symbol of summer. But their primary focus pool: young, affluent New Yorkers. "And that became the marketable thing," says Chappel. " But rose around the world-- excluding the United States-- is huge at all times of the year." And yes, while there has been a resurgence in the sale of rose in America, there are still a lot of misconceptions about the wine, particularly the range of sweetness. "We've run into a lot of people who think rose is sweet," says Angela Richter, Hop City's social media and events manager. "And there certainly are sweet roses in the market. But, the majority of them are actually going to be more dry. And people don't realize that rose is not a narrow category." Richter says their goal was to show people that rose, like red wine and white wine, has a lot of different varieties and flavors. "It's a huge category with a lot of variation. That's why we wanted to do this rose dinner." Choosing the wines When Angela and Stacey started planning the rose dinner, they brought the concept to Amy Winck, an on-site sales rep for Alabama Crown. They gave her the range of profiles they wanted to include: sparkling, fruit, darker colors, and intense flavors. That's when Winck, a level-one sommelier, and her colleagues combed through hundreds of wines in their portfolio. "We're actually going to pair stuff from all over the world. Which is a little exciting," says Winck. "We'll have France. We'll have some cool bubbles. There's an Oregon pinot noir rose that's pretty exciting. We've got a Nappa rose that we're going to do as well. We're trying to expose people to the idea, hopefully, that rose can grow anywhere. Can taste any way. And go with anything. So we're going all over the board with that." Next, Winck brought the selections-- 15 to be exact-- to Chapel, Richter, and Chef Fiona Marshall to start the perfect storm of choosing the right wines. Developing the Menu Chef Fiona Marshall, who cut her teeth at Muss and Turner's in Smyrna, Georgia, has a background in fine dining. The Hot Tag boasts a rotating menu of gastropub and comfort food with a special emphasis on supporting the local food scene. So when she and her partner David Woods started the food truck menu of burgers, sweet-tea fried chicken sandwiches, and french fries-- all from scratch-- they incorporated local beer into the ingredients. "We had a Cuban special we would run for a while and we would braise the pork loin in Phase Three Pilsner once RedHills came along, but we also did it in the Bearded Lady from Good People. And so whether we were braising or making sauces, we would use the beer as the ingredient." David Woods and Chef Fiona Marshall of The Hot Tag (Courtesy: The Hot Tag) Chef Marshall will bring that same affable aspect to the wine dinner. While this evening's menu will include dishes such as slow roasted pork belly with bruleed brioche and beet and rhubarb preserve, Marshall will take the time between each course to present and explain the food and wine pairing, inviting guests to explore their palates. "I think that fine dining is extremely approachable. I like to try to keep it that way. I think that cooking is definitely something that's meant to be shared," says Marshall. " And I don't ever want anyone to sit down to something I've made and feel 'oh.. this is above me.' I want someone to be really happy and feel welcomed when they are eating." Marshall's style of presenting and presentation is exactly in line with Chappel and Richter's vision of showcasing how food and the flavors of the rose play together and compliment each other. "You will never see a wine more differently than you will from sitting down with a chef and drinking a wine," says Chappel. " Because the chef has a way of thinking food first no matter what." The challenge for Chef Marshall was crafting a five-course meal that played up the flavor profiles of the wine without overwhelming the palate and paring the dishes together so guests would be able to note the different tastes with the progression of each course. "That's a little more challenging with rose. Because the progression is more minuscule. You don't have any big jumps from like a chardonnay to a cab," says Chapel. "For the most part, the wines that spoke to us the most were 'oh my God...I need food with this.' " The Lay of the Land Tonight's rose dinner will be a social and relaxed environment from the time guests walk through the door at Hop City. "We'll have the table set up. We'll have candles lit," says Richter. "They'll be seated. They'll get their first glass of wine." That first glass of wine-- Lucien Albrecht Brut rose-- will be a sparkling wine to cleanse and warm up the palate. Once guests are settled in, there will be a short introduction to rose. Then, the food and wine will start flowing. With each new course, Chef Marshall will present each dish. The dinner will progress through the evening, starting with lighter fare such as toasted rosemary crostini, and progressing to the richer dishes such as cured chorizo and chimichurri. The evening will end with dessert-- a mascarpone quenelle-- to once again, cleanse the palate. The initial concept was a hard sell Good food and a social atmosphere sound like a great concept. But as it turns out, the drink and dinner concept was initially a hard sell. Hop City doesn't have a kitchen, and throwing a 60-person sit-down dinner party in Hop City was a far cry from the usual model of guests buying libations and ordering accompanying fare from a food truck parked near the premises. But after the success of the beer dinners, Richter was eager to try the concept with wine. The hook? Again, approachability. And for Highlands alum Chappel, that was the point. Breaking the model of the traditional sit-down wine dinner. "The first time I sat down at a wine dinner, the hardest part was to remind myself where I was and what we were going for. Picking apart every detail because that's the Highlands way. The precision. Every portion looks exactly the same. Silverware is set like this. Well, that's not our thing. It's never going to be our thing." says Chappel. "We're never meant to be spoken about in the same breath as Highlands Bar and Grill. Except for the fact that we're going to give you an equivalent value, hopefully. You're going to get food that way over-delivers. You're going to get service that is very good for casual service. That's what we're going for." Hop City has built a friendly reputation thanks, in no small part, to Richter, the beverage store's resident "socialite sommelier." She points to the ambiance of the store: huge but inviting. Angela Richter, social and events manager for Hop City Craft Wine and Beer (Credit: Shauna Stuart for Al.com) "I mean, look around the store. We have over 1200 different beers in stock. We have over 1,000 different wines. We have 66 beers on draft. That's pretty overwhelming to somebody. Especially if they've never been in here before," she says. "We make people instantly comfortable and that's what we do with our dinners too". Now, Richter and Chappel plan to make the dinners, both beer and wine, quarterly events. And Richter says Hop CIty's beverage suppliers are all clamoring to get on the calendar. "Maybe next year's calendar," she laughs. We're already booked" The Progression It's no secret that Birmingham is a beer city. So, for Hop City, that means finding a way of talking to people that doesn't demean them and also invites them to try something new. "So what has happened in the wine industry is that it took a little while because the people that were knowledgeable about wine came into it talking over people's heads," says Chappel. "And the parallel with both wine and beer is... you just don't naturally jump from light beer to a stout without anyone working you up to that process. And so, you need someone from both wine and beer to progress you to into a stout. Or from a rose into a chardonnay or whatever your preference." And that's a sentiment with which Chef Fiona Marshall can agree. "When you're sharing a drink with someone, whether its beer or wine or anything or beer with someone, that's like a time of revelry and connection and family. Why make anyone feel like its anything else?" The Future Examining how food and wine play together is also a glimpse into Birmingham's evolving food scene. Chappel says as Birmingham gets more awards and recognition for its food, that can push the beverage scene, especially if they work in tandem. "People don't tend to drink with as much pretension here as in other cities. I'm from a place that is arguably one of the most hipster cities in the world-- Portland, Oregon. If you go into a bar and you go and sit down at a beer bar and you're like "I'm not really into sours, the response might be 'oh.. well here's this light beer.' That's going to turn a lot of people away. You cannot have that same approach here in the South." That inclusivity is especially beneficial to culinary artists like Marshall, who are looking to explore next steps. "I think that's because there's a certain contract of trust that's been drawn up between people getting more and more curious and breweries and food trucks and restaurants who are reinventing themselves and rewarding that curiosity." That curiosity translates into more support for food trucks. Marshall and Woods have plans to settle the Hot Tag truck into a permanent space, similarly to hotbox, the outdoor Asian-fusion food trailer behind Parkside bar in Avondale. Hop City also has plans to expand its wine selection, including options for wine on tap. That's good news for reps like Winck, who say Birmingham is a great place to showcase new wines. "That's what I hope. That people really start to pick up on 'when we go for it, we go all out," she says. "We can really move a trendsetting wine. I want people to see how successful wines can be in Birmingham. I think we've proven that." MORE: Here's a guide to tonight's full menu. A man was killed late Saturday in Birmingham's Pratt City community, the most recent victim in a day of violence in the city. A West Precinct officer on patrol spotted a vehicle on a curb on busy Avenue W in Pratt City about 11 p.m. Saturday. Once he took a closer look, he notice bullet holes in the windows and found the victim unresponsive in the driver's seat. The victim - a 43-year-old black male - had gunshot wounds to both legs. It appears, police said, that the victim was struck by one bullet that went through both legs and hit his femoral artery. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service tried to revive the man, but their efforts were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead on the scene. Lt. Frank Majors said once police canvassed the area, they learned residents had heard gunshots about 10 p.m. and later noticed a vehicle had been parked in front of their home for about an hour. No one, however, had called police. The investigation is ongoing. The man is one of at least five people shot in Birmingham on Saturday, two of them fatally. Earlier Saturday, an 18-year-old Huffman High School graduate and new father was shot to death while driving on Elton B. Stephens Expressway. He exited the road and stopped at the intersection of First Avenue North and Carraway Boulevard, where he was pronounced dead. Hours before that, a 14-year-old girl was wounded when rifle fire rang out in Baby Kingston in the 900 block of 47th Street North. She was shot in the arm and the back but is expected to be OK. At least two other shootings were investigated by Birmingham police Saturday but they were not life-threatening. The Pratt City victim is Birmingham's 63rd homicide victim so far this year, and the 95th in all of Jefferson County, including the 63 in Birmingham. Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. Family and friends are mourning the slaying of a 43-year-old man found shot to death in his vehicle on a busy Pratt City roadway Saturday night. Birmingham police on Sunday identified the victim as Brian Hill. He was a 1993 graduate of Minor High School, and just two weeks ago attended his 25-year reunion. He had moved to Georgia where he was the owner of Asset Automotive Group but had moved back to Birmingham. Friends said he was detailed-oriented and the life of the party. Those who knew him said they are shocked he would become a victim of violence. West Precinct officers responded shortly before 11 p.m. Saturday to the 400 block of Avenue W. Authorities said they were dispatched to the scene after residents reported a suspicious vehicle across the street from their home. When police arrived on the scene, they found a vehicle up on a curb. Inside was Hill, who was suffering from gunshot wounds to both legs. It appears, they said, that the victim was struck by one bullet struck that went through both legs and hit his femoral artery. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service tried to revive the man, but their efforts were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead on the scene. Lt. Frank Majors said neighbors told police they heard gunshots about 10 p.m. and later noticed the vehicle had been parked in front of their home for about an hour. That's when police were called. Police radios indicated Hill was in a vehicle that a Georgia dealer tag. No arrests have been made and police have not determined a motive in the slaying. Hill is Birmingham's 63rd homicide victim so far this year, and the 95 in all of Jefferson County, including the 63 in Birmingham. Of the city's 63 homicides, five have been ruled justifiable and therefore BPD does not include them in their year-end numbers. Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. The investigation into the deaths of three family members inside an Athens home is pointing to a murder-suicide, police said Saturday. "Three bodies were found at a residence on West Market Street" in Athens, Limestone County Coroner Mike West told AL.com. "All three bodies have been taken to forensic lab in Huntsville for autopsy." Athens Police Capt. Trevor Harris said a preliminary investigation into the Saturday morning incident "suggest two deaths were homicides and one death was a suicide." This is an opinion piece. Every so often, my Well-Connect Republican Friend and I get together to share stories of our respective journeys and discuss, digest--and solve, of course--the problems of the world. Or, more specifically, Alabama. We talk about poverty, education, economic development, sports, restaurants and beaches. And, of course, politics. Our chats are civil, too, even when we disparately disagree. Yes, even then. Recently, the 2020 race for the Alabama U.S. Senate seat now held by Doug Jones came up. The Democrat snatched it, of course, from Republicans in a special call election/circus against former Judge Roy Moore last December. The losing party is still steamed up about it. "Let's face it," WCRF said. "Jones didn't really win, Moore lost." I chuckled. A 'W' is a 'W', whether the victor makes a game-winning play or the loser fumbles in their own end zone. Logic says all those Republican voters who stayed home rather than hold-their-noses, cover their eyes and protect their daughters to vote for Moore--guess that makes them non-voters--will dance to the polls in droves in two years and vote for almost any fill-in-the-blank Republican. A lot can happen, of course, between now and then. We'll learn a lot about ourselves, and the nation, with the mid-term elections this fall. In Alabama, we'll either have a new governor, a Democrat, or retain a Republican who belittles us all by saying we do not care to see her articulate her policies and visions for the state in a debate with opponent Walt Maddox. Sadly, too many of us don't. The state 2020 U.S. Senate race, however, has already begun. U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne has already stepped to the head of what will surely be a conga line Republicans vying for the seat--at least, he says, he's "thinking about it." That's what concerns WCRF, the conga line--or, more likely, the cage match of Republicans pummeling each other for the right to battle Jones. That's why he believes, and hopes, former U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions tries to get his old seat back. The U.S. attorney general, the scenario might go, grows weary of being 45's whipping boy and resigns. Or gets fired. Either way, he returns home to reclaim the seat he gave up to join the president's cabinet. Bring it on. I'm obviously not a fan of Sessions. His policies and actions as attorney general have been abhorrent, dragging us back to a time of "reefer madness", mass incarceration and inhumanity for anyone who doesn't look like him. That's why I'm actually intrigued by the narrative that would unfold should Sessions decide to hit the reset button. His presence on the ballot would certainly galvanize Alabama Republicans--baggage and all. It should also light a bonfire under Jones and the state's still-dysfunctional Democratic party to prove last December was moore than a fluke. WCRF is almost giddy at the possibility of Sessions vs. Jones. "It would eliminate a potentially damaging primary with multiple viable candidates," he said, "and, as a by-product, eliminate the loss of two or more experienced Congressmen who would run for the seat. It's obvious that most, if not all, Republican House members are seriously considering a run. If Sessions decided to run, I believe [Byrne] would stand down until Senator [Richard] Shelby's rumored retirement in 2022. "Many Republicans feel Sessions would have more impact as a Senator since he is the target of ongoing criticism from a President--the life's-too-short argument." Dr. Angela Lewis, professor and interim chair of the University of Alabama at Birmingham's department of political science and public administration says the scenario is "not far-fetched". As the former U.S. Senator and long-timer in Washington, Lewis says, Sessions could mitigate Jones' incumbency advantage and "give Republicans some comfort, or relief, that there is a well-known name- although with baggage--is running on their side." How a Senate run is perceived, though, could depend on how Sessions exists his current gig. "If he's fired," she says, "that's a different scenario from him deciding to go back to doing the job of 'representing the great state of Alabama'." Since she was on the other end of the phone line, I couldn't tell whether Terry Lathan, who heads the state Republican party, was smiling when I mentioned the prospect of a Sessions representing Republicans in 2020. "Hmmm," was all I heard. "It's really difficult to comment on pure speculation," she finally said. "But it logically makes sense. We're every hungry when it comes to taking that seat back." WCRF knows how I feel about Sessions. Just last week, he laughed and joined in when high-school students began chanting "lock her up"--presidential candidate Donald Trump's obnoxious reference to opponent Hillary Clinton--during his speech at a "leadership" event in Washington, D.C. (God help us if those chanting students actually become leaders of anything.) The response was "beneath him," WCRF told me. It was certainly beneath the office of U.S. attorney general but beneath the man?I'm not so sure. But that's a topic for our next chat. Roy S. Johnson's column appears in The Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register and AL.com. Hit me up at rjohnson@al.com or/and follow me at twitter.com/roysj. A man sought by Prattville police in the Friday night murder of his ex-wife was found dead, authorities said Saturday. Police canceled a be-on-the-lookout alert for Derico Houser, 39, was found dead of a "self-inflicted wound," the Prattville mayor's office said. Houser allegedly broke into his ex-wife's home and fatally shot her around 6:03 p.m. Friday. He was believed to have left the home in a black 2018 Toyota Camry with disabled veteran plates. He was considered "armed and dangerous" by authorities. As students across Alabama prepare to head back to school, activists with the March for Our Lives anti-gun violence organization plan to make stops in Birmingham, Montgomery and Selma. March For Our Lives was created by students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. after a school shooter gunned down 17 students and teachers there in February. The Florida-based tour was recently adjusted to incorporate "the path blazed by the freedom riders of the 1960s," according to a tweet from March For Our Lives. BREAKING: #RoadToChangeFL has extended to follow the path blazed by the freedom riders of the 1960s. pic.twitter.com/ec2jKTSYWv March For Our Lives (@AMarch4OurLives) July 28, 2018 The Road to Change tour is scheduled to stop in Birmingham on July 31 and in Montgomery and Selma on August 1. It's a nationwide bus tour aimed at encouraging young people to register to vote and to be educated on gun violence issues. The Freedom Riders were groups of black and white civil rights activists who rode interstate busses throughout the segregated South in 1961 to protest segregated buses and bus terminals. Riders were attacked and brutally beaten by white mobs and arrested by local police. Some of the worst violence occurred in Alabama. The riders drew national attention to their cause during the Civil Rights movement. Cities across Alabama held student-led March For Our Lives events last spring, including one in Birmingham's Railroad Park that saw an estimated crowd of 5,000. This is an opinion column. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin sent a letter to his counterpart in Arnold, Pa., this week. It was earnest and diplomatic. Compelling. So I'm sure it missed the mark when it fell on the desk of Mayor Karen Peconi. She stands, right there in Arnold, the "Proud City of Proud People,"- as a living monument to what happens when people revel in ignorance. She skimmed history, looked at the picture book when she couldn't comprehend the words, and decided whose side she was on. She chose Bull Connor. Mayor Peconi watched residents plan protests after police shot an unarmed 17-year-old in Pittsburgh. She posted one of those famous pictures from 1963 Birmingham on social media, of firefighters battering young demonstrators with fire hoses. "I'm posting this so the authorities every where (sic) sees (sic) this... I agree with Tom... bring the hoses." I don't know who Tom is, but I'm pretty sure I've met him on the internet. That wasn't enough for the mayor of Proud Town - which was 85 percent white at last look, and losing young people faster than ICE agents at the border. She went on to post that protesters "don't care about jobs" because "none of them work now. That's how they can do this at 7 am (sic)." Talk about Bull. Arnold, Pa., Mayor Karen Peconi. (PennLive) The thing is, people like Peconi, those who misrepresent the events of 1963 or forget the import and meaning of peaceful protest throughout history, are monumental reminders of why we should remember. There's a concerted effort to forget. Look at every story about the civil rights movement or racial inequity of any kind, and you'll see comments that might have come from that mayor. Why dredge up the past? Why look back? Race-baiter. It's Bull. Or it sounds like him. My colleague Mike Oliver wrote a column recently that mentioned the 1956 beating of Nat King Cole in Birmingham. "Way to go," one indignant commenter wrote. "Stir the pot with things that people alive today had nothing to do with AND then sit back and wonder why racial tension continues to exist!." That was just one of many. I picked it because it was blessedly short. We remember the past not only so we won't repeat it, but so we have context for our future, so we can understand our place in it and maintain the ability to see that all of us did not take the same journey to wind up here. If we ignore that history, we can't understand each other. It's hard not to think of Martin Luther King at times like these. When Connor's boys were out with batons and fire hoses he was in the Birmingham Jail, writing a letter Peconi and so many others still need to read. Just replace the word "Birmingham" with "Arnold" or "Pittsburgh" or "America." "You deplore the demonstrations taking place in (America). But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in (America), but it is even more unfortunate that the (country's) white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative." Dr. King, like Woodfin, was polite. Diplomatic. I'm not. So I'll come right out and say the world would be better off, Mayor Peconi, if you were more like those protesters. You, know, jobless. Tomorrow, at 7 a.m., go find something productive to do. John Archibald is a columnist for Reckon by AL.com. His column appears in The Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register and AL.com. Write him at jarchibald@al.com. Bear Walker's mission is simple: to build a company producing "bad-ass, creative, innovative pieces of art that people can ride." The Baldwin County craftsman and skateboard entrepreneur seems to be off to a good start, considering that the Flash and Aquaman already have his work in hand, and he's got a limited-edition showpiece officially commemorating Netflix's "Lost in Space" reboot. The heady stuff of celebrity connections is balanced out by long hours filled with hand tools and sawdust. His workbench may be place where fantasy and craftsmanship collide, but it also gives him an open-air view out at a farm landscape south of Fairhope. It's green and beautiful and seething hot out there, and it's not filtered through any air-conditioning. It has taken a while to get to this point. Walker was halfway through a graphic design degree at Clemson when the recession hit home in 2009. His parents, then based in Hilton Head, S.C., had a construction business, but there was no construction. The business crashed. "All of a sudden I went from a pretty spoiled little brat to completely on my own," he said. He finished college and worked a variety of jobs. He was working at a sign company when he had an epiphany: Sandblasting wood produced a novel texture that would be perfect for skateboards. He'd always been more of a surfer than a skater. But skateboards offered a chance to put everything together: The woodworking skills that he'd picked up in the family business, his desire for an independent canvas and a graphic designer's love of innovative techniques. An early East Coast venture, Locomotiv, didn't pan out. His parents had moved back to Baldwin County, where the Walker family owned land and there was a communal barn/workshop where he could get started. He moved to Lower Alabama and worked a day job for a couple of years, saving up to buy tools including a CNC (computer numerical control) router, and to cover living expenses while he launched. There were some lessons to learn along the way. He started out with solid wood, switched to plywood and now commissions custom plywood from a California supplier. It has to be able to take his three-dimensional designs and the strain of being used. He also started out using the company name Kodiak Boards, before an investor pushed him to change it to the more personal Bear Walker Boards. Three things Bear Walker does not like: 1. The fact that most skateboards are topped with sandpaper-like grip tape, to keep shoes from sliding off. 2. The way that most boards, if decorated, have all the artwork on the underside. 3. The notion that his boards are suitable mainly for framing. He builds plenty of texture into his designs, ridges and grooves that make grip tape unnecessary. He's big on texture. Texture means the artwork is part of the function of the board, not an afterthought. "A lot of people think that 90 percent of my boards go on the wall," he said. "But I make these so at least half my clients ride these things. ... They have to look cool, but I don't make anything that won't be rideable." While the "Lost in Space" board is an official collaboration with the production company Legendary, Walker has an affinity for designs that reference superheroes and other pop-culture references -- usually in an indirect way that won't inflame trademark concerns. For a friend with connections in the comic-book world, he did a couple of boards inspired by Flash and Aquaman. The friend posted images online, they got around, and the next thing Walker knew, Jason Momoa (Aquaman in the recent "Justice League" film) and Grant Gustin (Barry Allen in "The Flash" TV series) were expressing interest. Both have since showed off custom Bear Walker boards. Walker says they were gifts, and that the celebrity exposure has raised his profile significantly. It's easy to give boards flash, but functionality requires some field-testing. "The Dire," one of a number of eye-catching models that can be seen at www.bearwalker.com, looks like the gaping maw of a wolf or a bear. The silhouette of bristling fur forms a jagged perimeter that is visually impressive. But it might not be something you want raking across your inner thigh during a high-speed mishap, so The Dire v2 has a smooth frame around those sawteeth. The elaborate features of the J2 Beacon, named for the Jupiter Two spaceship in Lost in Space, required extensive prototype testing to ensure they could take the beating that a well-used board has to withstand. He even commissioned a line of custom wheels, Hyberium, suited to the uses he thinks his board are best for. "These are cruisers, hill bombers, sliders," he said. Meaning: boards you use to flow from place to place, not to do the most technical tricks and stunts. Walker has two lines these days, his stock boards and his customs. They all start out on the CNC machine, which is a far cry from an assembly line. Walker says it takes hours to develop a pattern and convert it into something the machine can handle. He likes pushing the limits with designs such as the layered grids of the J2. "A lot of this stuff too, is not meant to be done on a CNC," he said. "I kind of have to trick the CNC to do what I want it to do." Even a stock design requires a couple hours' work after coming off the CNC. Walker uses common handheld power tools to rout and sand. Before airbrushing on the paint job and protective clearcoat he gets down into the details, touching up the machine work with little files. "As far as the boards, I'm the only person touching them," he said of his mania for detail. A custom board takes hours more. Aside from its intricate pattern, the J2 Beacon has a plexiglass panel that flashes "Danger," right above a nameplate reading "W. Robinson." On the underside it has front and rear lights. Prices don't seem exorbitant. Stock boards currently list in the $170-$230 range, with limited editions running from $275 up to $425 for the J2 Beacon. Custom boards start at $475. By the standards of, say, custom guitars or custom bicycles, that's chicken feed. Especially when you figure the cost of materials include all the hardware that make it a skateboard rather than just a board. "In the skate community, it is a bit of a crazy price," Walker said. "People are always asking, why are they so expensive. My knee-jerk reaction is, these are cheap if you saw what goes into them." But he's going to keep putting it in. In addition to his boards, he's coming out with a line of wooden pads to fit on Onewheel motorized skateboards -- which, as the name indicates, have one big wheel with footrests on either side. They're sophisticated machines that list for up to $1,800, and Walker reckons there's a market for custom footpads and skidplates. Aside from being a business opportunity, "it's a new canvas for me to work on," he said. For now, his hands are the only ones touching the boards as they're made. He'd like business to build to the point where he can hire someone to handle the stock boards while he focuses on customs. He'd like for Bear Walker Boards to become the skater equivalent of Orange County Choppers, the motorcycle shop made famous in a reality show. He'd like to be the go-to guy for people who have an idea for a custom skateboard and need somebody to make it happen. In the meantime, he spends a lot of hours picking away at details with those little files, cleaning up tiny flaws. He knows that most customers might never spot them, let alone care. But he does. "Most people won't notice this s---, but the 10 percent of people that do, is what I do this for," he said. Dubai-bound flight delayed after captain fails alcohol test A pilot-in-command of Fly Dubai scheduled to fly the Kathmandu-Dubai flight on Sunday morning was denied permission after he tested positive for alcohol. Every year at this time, hordes of gigantic silver fish show up along the Alabama coast, setting off the brief but spectacular reign of the Silver King. Schools of mighty tarpon, typically five to six feet long and weighing in at up to 200 pounds, arrive along our beaches just as summer is at its hottest. While the timing of their annual migration is well documented by scientists, fishermen, and historic records, there is much we don't know about these giant and ancient fish, in. cluding where they go after they leave the Alabama coast Happily, we've learned a few new things about the annual migration of the tarpon in just the handful of days since last weekend's Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo. That's thanks to a joint effort by scientists with the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Mississippi State, and some of the area's best tarpon anglers, eight tarpon were fitted with satellite tags that report their locations every time the fish swim near the surface. With the tarpon, which often feed at the surface, and can actually breath air through a sort of primitive lung while at the surface, the tags have already beamed dozens of locations to scientists. Those locations track the precise spots the individual tarpon surface, making a sort of road map of their travels through the Gulf. All of the fish were caught near the Gulf State Pier. "The tracks are incredible. These fish are really moving. Within three days of being caught off Alabama, seven of the eight tarpon were already in Louisiana," said Marcus Drymon, with Mississippi State University. Drymon is partnering with the University of South Alabama's Sean Powers on the tarpon research. "To the avid tarpon fisherman in the area, it is nothing surprising that they were headed for Louisiana. They know they are moving east to west as part of their migration. What I'm surprised about is how fast they are moving. With so many of these fish we tagged, they are already in Louisiana. They are cruising through here. They are cooking." Just one of the tarpon caught last weekend is still swimming in Alabama waters. That fish, which was five and a half feet long and caught by Tom Eberly, moved along Fort Morgan, then took a right into Mobile Bay. It traveled up the west side of the bay, then crossed over toward the eastern shore near Montrose. Then it headed south and is now around Fort Morgan. The research is designed to unlock some of the mysteries surrounding tarpon. Most of what is known comes from anecdotal reports of fishermen, who track the annual migrations. "Tomorrow, I might know a whole lot more than I did today, based on the information from the tags," Drymon said. The tags, which cost $2,000 each, are a little larger than a ping pong ball and are designed to report locations for a year. The tags are attached to short metal spear points, which are jabbed into the tarpon's back, just behind the dorsal fin. Drymon said he's hoping to get at least six months of data from some of the tags. That, he said, would be a major victory. With such big fish in the rough and tumble world of the Gulf, the tags often quit transmitting for various reasons. "In the last couple of years, another half a dozen or so tags have been put out. None of them have worked as well as this new batch we just put out," Drymon said. Indeed, two fish tagged back in 2016 died shortly after being tagged, meaning they yielded essentially no data. Other tags came loose from the fish they were attached to after the spear point pulled out of their flesh. "We've had some really bad luck, with tags pulling out early and going missing. They have battery to transmit for a year, but there's little chance they will do that. They will either malfunction or there will be biofouling (meaning algae growing on them), which will block the transmission," Drymon said. "We use special anti-fouling paint on them, but they are in productive waters, there's going to be a lot of fouling. Other fish will also pick at them and nibble the antennae off. If we can get data for six months from some of them, I'd be ecstatic. I really want to thank the fishermen for being willing to let us tag their fish, and to revealing where they caught them." The big hope for the tagging program is to figure out when and where tarpon spawn. Right now, scientists theorize that they behave like many of the Gulf's pelagic species, which have annual migrations. Cobia, wahoo, mackerel (kings and Spanish), tuna, tarpon, marlin and swordfish are the big predator species that migrate. They are often following the migrations of a world of smaller fish, such as round scad, short-scale sardines, menhaden, Atlantic bumper, blue runners, and anchovies. All the migratory fish listed above winter in two places, the edge of the Caribbean, down around the Florida Keys, or the area around the Texas/Mexico border and points south. Think of those two groups as a western group and an eastern group for each species in the Gulf of Mexico. As the water warms in the spring, the eastern group travels up from the Keys along the west coast of Florida, past Tampa Bay, then through the Big Bend region of Florida, along the Panhandle through to Alabama. Meanwhile, the fish in the western group travel up the Texas coast, all the way around to the bottom of Louisiana's boot. This is where the species mix and most of them spawn. Think of the waters around Louisiana as a great big dating pool for fish, with the eastern and western groups spending the warm summer months gorging and fornicating together. Then, as water temperatures begin to cool in the fall, the two groups split apart, and work their way back around the coastline to their respective wintering grounds. It is believed this is what tarpon do too, but no one is quite sure. First, no one has found a big spawning aggregation of tarpon, whereas other species, like redfish are quite obvious in their spawning. Second, University of Southern Mississippi scientist Jim Franks has shown tantalizing evidence that some tarpon actually overwinter in deep water off the Louisiana coast, and don't migrate at all. Local fishing guide Chris Tew, Brad Caban, and tarpon gurus Hayden Olds and Tom and Larry Eberle, landed the eight fish that were tagged during the rodeo. All were fishing near the Gulf state pier. Olds, who has placed first, second, or third in the tarpon category at the rodeo seven times. He's been catching tarpon along the Alabama coast for 25 years. In this year's rodeo, he landed seven tarpon, which was good enough for first place in the new cash division and a $2,000 payday. "It all happens in about a month's span. Things have actually slowed down quite a bit even since the weekend. I'm hoping we are going to get another push. The moon has something to do with it. The tarpon fishermen I keep up with along the panhandle say they have had a slow week, but there are a lot of fish in Pensacola Bay," Olds said. "My rule of thumb is I start fishing around June 15. Usually the migration, the way it is timed, they show up around early to mid-June. You get a big push of fish through the month of July, but it tapers down in August." Olds said the fish he encounters along the Gulf beaches do not linger. "They are all moving about six miles an hour toward Louisiana. They won't swim out of their way to take a bait. If you put it right on their nose, they might eat it, but they aren't going to go out of their way to get it," Olds said. "Then they migrate back through in October, but you can't get them to eat." Tom and Larry Eberly are two of Olds' main rivals in the tarpon contests, and have been at it for about 40 years. "Two of my brothers and their friend David Thornton, who is called Pier Pounder, they caught the first tarpon I remember seeing. They caught three tarpon off the Gulf Coast pier and won first, second, and third in the 1978 rodeo," Tom said. "We caught four Friday and lost two early Saturday. They both jumped once and threw the hook... They were about average for us. The average tarpon we catch has always been 80 to 100 pounds. This year, I would say, they are catching a lot of tarpon this year. The numbers may be up." Of working with the scientists, Tom said, "That was blast. I just looked at the tracks. It's amazing how fast those fish have moved on. The scientists were very professional. They did their thing very skillfully, which is hard in a boat out on the Gulf with those big fish." Tom later sent me a note asking that I mention his "fishing partner and wife of 34 years, Laurie Eberly. "She is an integral part of my tarpon fishing. She handles the boat, the backing of the boat trailer, catching bait, etc., better than any man I know!" Tom said. Larry Eberly said he was excited to have played a part in adding to the scientific knowledge. "It is really cool. This is the kind of information we've been curious about ever since we started tarpon fishing many years ago. Pepole speculated that a lot of them go in to Mobile Bay, and then back to Florida, or maybe on to Louisiana. We've all wondered. It's going to be exciting to see where our fish go." Capt. Chris Tew, a Mobile Bay fishing guide, said he'd like to add "a huge thanks" to Marcus Drymon and Crystal Hightower, with the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. He also singled out Cain and Cam Roberts with Chandeleur Brewing Co., who have donated a portion of profits from their beer company to pay for some of the tarpon tags. Twelve packs of Chandeleur Beer sold in boxes emblazoned with a drawing of a tarpon go toward the research. "And not to forget the man who we've looked up to for all these years, Dr. Bob Shipp," Tew said, thanking Shipp for decades of research along the Gulf Coast. "What an epic weekend!!!" As an update, two more fish were tagged Saturday, making a total of ten tarpon whose movements are now being revealed. Ben Raines specializes in investigations and natural wonders. You can follow him via Facebook, Twitter at BenHRaines, and on Instagram. You can reach him via email at braines@al.com. You can watch Ben's most recent documentary, The Underwater Forest, here on Youtube. Its the last ex-British colony to not ratify a treaty with its First Nations people, but that may be changing. Less than three centuries ago, the British discovered modern-day Australia, declaring it terra nullius no ones land. It didnt matter that an estimated 750,000 people lived across the island in some 400 distinct nations having arrived at least 50,000 years prior. While Australian governments have since acknowledged the catastrophic outcomes massacres, cultural alienation, and mass displacement these people would face as a result of European settlement, a growing chorus of their descendants, including Gunnai-Gunditjmara woman Lidia Thorpe, have called for governments to redress Australias founding myth as a matter of urgency. They want a treaty. Treaty is [an agreement] between two sovereigns and to be asking the government to at least acknowledge that Aboriginal people maintain their sovereignty [supreme authority], I dont think thats too much to ask, says Thorpe, a Greens member of parliament in Victoria state. You know theres this tokenistic gesture all the time to blackfellas in this country. If you want true reconciliation and true healing then lets be real about it and stop these tokenistic gestures. Indeed, a treaty was the only thing indigenous leaders from Australias Yolngu nation brought up with Prince Charles on his most recent visit. {articleGUID} We have many difficulties with the Australian governments because they do not recognise our sovereignty. We are the only indigenous people of a Commonwealth country that does not have the respect or dignity of a treaty with our people, they told him. It seems non-indigenous Australians may finally be listening. In June, the first tentative steps towards a treaty were legislated to much jubilation in the southeastern state of Victoria. What is a treaty? A treaty defined as an international agreement concluded between two states in 1969s Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties would require the government to legitimise Aboriginal nations as separate to the nation of Australia. From there, they must negotiate decisions that affect them as equals and on equal terms. Associate Professor Dominic OSullivan, whose work centres on indigenous governance, says unlike neighbouring New Zealand, treaties were never a part of Australias settler history. Gunnai-Gunditjmara MP Lidia Thorpe was part of the negotiations for new legislation [John Englart/Flickr] Terra nullius was used to justify the British claim to sovereignty. Britain couldnt identify an organised political or social order among the indigenous population, and under international law, these were required for a people to hold sovereignty, OSullivan says. One could argue that it suited [the colonys first Governor] Philip not to look too hard. Treaties are seen by many as a step towards self-determination for Australias First Nations people who once they became a significant minority of the settler population had very little political voice. While the treaty idea has been around a long time, it has been difficult for its advocates to gain the necessary political support, says OSullivan. Indigenous people have long resisted the colonisation of their land [David Gray/Reuters] Notwithstanding the moral argument, the Victorian government has admitted that empowering communities to run their own affairs creates positive outcomes. Its recent legislation cites longitudinal Harvard research showing that when native nations make their own decisions about what development approaches to take, they consistently outperform external decision-makers on matters as diverse as governmental form, natural resource management, economic development, healthcare, and social service provision. Our people are really struggling out there and youve gotta keep fighting for the betterment of Aboriginal people, Thorpe says. The new laws say negotiated treaties could include recognising wrongs against Aboriginal communities, acknowledging their unique position, official apologies, reconciliation, truth-telling, autonomy and funding for Aboriginal communities. Theyre also deliberately vague, refusing to stipulate any set form for what a treaty with indigenous peoples should contain. Its hoped this will abdicate decisions to the formal negotiation process, which could take many years. The provision of funding for indigenous leaders throughout the negotiation process is another centrepiece of the legislation. Its hoped the money will ensure Aboriginal Victorians have equal standing with the state in treaty negotiations. Whether its enough to redress the historical power imbalance, however, remains to be seen. Many of the historic Canadian treaties were signed under duress and were incredibly one-sided in favour of the British Crown, OSullivan says. Treaties are seen by many as a step towards self-determination for Australias First Nations people [Will Burgess/Reuters] Modern Canadian treaties have been negotiated in a more measured spirit where indigenous nations have had legal representation, a clear sense of what colonialism means and how it might be mitigated. They have provided significant economic benefits and important restorations of political authority, though also requiring compromises. OSullivan adds its also important to remember indigenous Australia is not and never has been a single homogenous political entity. This is why it is not yet clear in Victoria whether there will be a single treaty or a series of treaties with each indigenous nation as has been the case in Canada for example, he says. Vexed questions as to how negotiations represent those displaced from their traditional kin by colonial forces remain unresolved. Quite fearful Thorpe says theres also a lot of misunderstanding about treaties, especially in the non-indigenous community. The first treaty legislation passed in the state of Victoria in June [David Gray/Reuters] [Reuters] Non-aboriginal people, particularly non-aboriginal elders, are quite fearful of treaty because they dont understand. Ive had non-aboriginal elders come into my office and tell me about some of their fears and Ive been able to sit down and have a cup of tea and go through that, and theyve walked out saying oh, this is great,' says Thorpe. Its hoped by many that if the process is successful in Victoria, it may form the basis for treaties across the country, which could then build towards some form of national agreement with the federal government. Obstacles remain, however, on a national level. The current federal government has not addressed the call for an indigenous process similar to a treaty, makarrata, which after two years of consultation was presented in an open letter, the Uluru Statement of the Heart. [Prime Minister] Turnbulls government has been completely inactive in this space and really quite offensive I think, particularly on the Uluru Statement, says Victorian Ged Kearney, whose opposition party supports Makaratta. But Thorpe insists that communities shouldnt stay idle in the absence of government support. I dont think we have to wait for governments to make a decision on treaty. And if you look at what treaty is about, its about coming together and negotiating an outcome. Lets talk about what happened here. Lets make sure all our children grow up and know what happened in this country, she says. Lets learn about what happened so that were all proud of where we come from and that were all connected. Because thats the only thing thats going to actually connect us, is the people. Warsaw, Poland An alarm clock with the letters SS on the face, a necklace of dozens of little silver swastikas forming a chain, a coffee grinder with the SS symbol and a flask with an engraved swastika are just some of the items that Polish internet users could have found and purchased with a few clicks. Allegro, the largest e-commerce website in Central and Eastern Europe with more than 20 million users, has long been used by Nazi sympathisers to trade products bearing the symbols of the Third Reich. But on March 21 the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Allegro teamed up with Polands anti-racist Never Again association to remove items promoting racism, fascism and the Nazi totalitarian system from the platform. By the end of June, a team of Never Again volunteers had helped to take down more than 1,000 auctions. While both Polish law and Allegros terms of use forbid the promotion of racism, fascism and totalitarian systems, the platforms users for years were virtually free to sell and buy products bearing Nazi symbols. This necklace chain formed of small swastikas was up for sale [Screenshot from Allegro] Never Again had pressured Allegro for a decade to take down the auctions. We had not managed to initiate this cooperation for years, but we decided to change that, Pawe Klimiuk, Allegros spokesperson, told Al Jazeera. The talks began in the autumn last year and the reason was simple. The media reported on various controversial offers which appeared on our platform and this raised our attention. Within the framework of the project, Never Again advises Allegro about auctions of items that bear the forbidden symbols, which are then inspected and taken down by the website administrators. These include not only items which carry Nazi and fascist iconography, but also music and publications promoting fascism, racism and the alleged superiority of the white race. The disappearance of basic sensitivity The team does not take down historical items with a value for collectors and researchers, such as items produced in the Third Reich. The majority of items [taken down] were medals and pins that could be attached to uniforms, but also fictitious honours which did not exist back in the day, such as a medal with an image of Adolf Hitler, said Anna Tatar, a Never Again activist. There were a lot of contemporarily-produced items stylised to look like historical ones, but having no value for collectors. Tatar is pleased that several CDs and cassettes with neo-fascist music, including by such bands as Konkwista 88 and Honor the stars of the neo-Nazi scene have been removed. This music is played on festivals, such as Orle Gniazdo (Eagles Nest) which have been organised in Poland for years now by far-right groups, Tatar said. Poland has become a place which hosts bands praising Nazi criminals, glorifying the superiority of the white race and singing about pulling out the Hebrew root. This music [carries] ideology and is not only popular but, as we can see, also widely available. According to Rafa Pankowski, a sociologist from Collegium Civitas and a cofounder of Never Again, racism has risen among the young generation born after the fall of communism those who grew up in democratic Poland. Poland has become a place which hosts bands praising Nazi criminals, glorifying the superiority of the white race, and singing about pulling out the Hebrew root. Anna Tatar, anti-racist activist If we want to talk about trends, what we are facing is the disappearance of basic sensitivity, which was something obvious for the generations that lived through World War II and those growing up in the post-war decades, Pankowski told Al Jazeera. Back then, fascist symbols constituted a taboo, they were received with an unequivocal condemnation and it would not occur to anyone to produce such products. This social norm has shifted, he added. According to Pankowski, young people socialise on the internet and therefore distribution channels like Allegro need to be closely monitored. Taking down auction pages, however, does not solve the problem immediately, as users can re-advertise the product on the platform. To enforce the new rules, Allegro can temporarily or permanently block users. Our cooperation has a preventive and educational aim. Such sales can of course eventually move to another place on the internet or and this is what we hope for stop, Klimiuk told Al Jazeera. Never Again is convinced that users selling such items are ideologically motivated and seek to promote racism and fascism. In theory, therefore, sellers could be charged under the Polish criminal code. However, the realities of the countrys judicial system make it a difficult, if not an impossible, task. The initiative is aimed at preventing the spread of fascist ideology [Screenshot from Allegro] According to lawyer Adam Kuczynski, proving an ideological motivation would require extra effort by police and the prosecutor. Everything depends on the prosecutors approach and how they understand promoting totalitarian systems, Kuczynski said. There was a famous case of a prosecutor in Bialystok, who claimed that the swastika was a Hindu symbol of happiness and did not see anything wrong in painting them on the walls. The swastika predates Nazism and carries religious importance for a number of Indian religions, including Hinduism. Further, users can avoid punishment by claiming that their contemporary products are sold as reconstructions or for collection purposes. But for those fighting against racism and fascism, the Allegro-Never Again initiative is a positive development. We can see that in our society and companies like Allegro there is a growing need to do something about the problem, said Pankowski. And we now know that we have to and are able to confront it. Cucuta, Colombia Insecurity, instability and violence have forced more 1.5 million Venezuelans to flee the country since 2014, according to conservative government figures. Over half that population have sought refuge in neighbouring Colombia. Colombia is a lifeline for western Venezuela, said Rafael Velasquez Garcia, the International Rescue Committees (IRC) head of mission in Colombia. Every day more than 35,000 Venezuelans cross the Simon Bolivar bridge alone to purchase food and receive vital medical assistance, among other services which are not available in Venezuela. Of that number around 4,000 do not return Venezuela many of whom are without official documentation or status. This number does not include those who cross through the trochas or trails that are often controlled by Colombian armed groups and/or organised crime groups, which charge migrants and refugees fees and expose them to the risks of recruitment and robbery. An assessment of Venezuelans in Cucuta and Villa del Rosario conducted by the International Rescue Committee in March 2018 showed that among respondents who spent the last month in Colombia, their self-reported highest priority need was to find a job (89 percent), followed by food (80 percent), and then shelter (58 percent). The assessment also found evidence of significant family separation, recruitment of children into gangs and armed groups, sexual violence and exploitation, including transactional sex of Venezuelan women, girls and boys, and due to the lack of education opportunities, more children living and working on the streets. Venezuelans who remain in Colombia invariably have few possessions, very little or no money, and no immediate, formal and safe opportunities to earn income, Garcia said. As a result, many work in the informal sectors, increasing their exposure to violence, exploitation and other dangers. Women and children are often the most vulnerable during transit and they face significant protection risks when travelling alone to a new location. The IRC noted that the sheer number of Venezuelans remaining in Colombia has meant that needs are far outstripping available services. *Names changed to protect identity This photo gallery was provided by the International Rescue Committee. In the #MeToo era, its high time for Japan to change its archaic and sexist approach to sexual assault. Mika Kobayashi was on her way home one day when men forced her into a van and raped her. She went public about the sexual assault eight years later, in 2008, in a book that chronicled the incident, and the nightmare that followed. Catherine Jane Fisher, an Australian, was raped in Japan in 2002 by a member of the US military. Dismayed by the police handling of the case, which she said made her feel like a criminal, Fisher took matters into her own hands by filing a lawsuit against the rapist and going public about what happened to her. These are two brave women who broke Japans silence on rape. More recently, another woman, 28-year-old Shiori Ito, did the same. Japans Secret Shame, a documentary aired last month by the BBC, focuses on Itos allegation that an acquaintance raped her in 2015. Although Kobayashi, Fisher and Itos experiences span 15 years, their stories are alarmingly similar. All three describe abusive police investigation techniques, failure to take sexual violence seriously, lack of support for victims, and at times, societys unwillingness to understand their pain. {articleGUID} A particularly horrifying detail is that Japanese police, as part of their investigation, sometimes force victims to reenact the assault with a life-size doll, while being observed and questioned by officers. This investigation technique is abusive, unnecessary, and retraumatising for victims. Over 95 percent of incidents of sexual violence in Japan are not reported to the police according to government figures, and for good reason. Discussing rape is perceived as embarrassing in Japan and public opinion often sways towards blaming the victim rather than the attacker. Until last years legal reforms, Japanese law defined rape solely as involving violent penetration of a womans vagina by a mans penis. This prevented many female rape victims and all men and boys who had been raped from seeking justice. In 2017, Japans parliament passed reforms to the rape law, expanding the definition to include forced oral and anal penetration, lengthening sentences, and permitting prosecutions to move forward without the victims consent. These were positive steps, but major problems remain, both with the law and with how it is carried out. The Japanese government shouldnt wait for victims to come forth demanding change, but should move ahead now to reform what is still, despite the recent improvements, a hopelessly antiquated and sexist system for dealing with sexual violence. The law still permits rape charges to be raised only when violence or intimidation was used, except in cases of guardians abusing children. This requirement ignores the fact that rape often occurs without the use of obvious force or threat for example, when someone is too afraid or shocked to resist, is incapacitated due to drugs or alcohol, or there is a lopsided power dynamic. Requiring proof of violence or intimidation excludes many cases that should be treated as rape and forces prosecutors to prove an element that should not be required and is more difficult to prove than lack of consent. Countries around the world, prompted by evolving societal perceptions of sexual violence, are changing legal definitions to reflect an understanding of rape that is based on lack of consent, not the use of force. The Japanese government should also remove this requirement and take further measures to train police officers and prosecutors to handle rape cases in appropriate and humane ways, including ending all use of re-enactments involving the victim. The government should also guarantee all victims have access to 24-hour hotlines and one-stop-centres across Japan and ensure immediate and compassionate collection of forensic evidence based on professional standards and procedures. The government also needs to ensure all victims have access to female police officers with special training to deal with sexual violence who work in partnership with social workers. The government should also continue to improve its victim assistance services such as screening and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, HIV prevention medications, pregnancy testing, and abortion services. Victims also need legal assistance and longer-term access to counselling and peer support. These are neither big nor new demands. Some have been made for years by the United Nations expert committee on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), an international treaty Japan ratified in 1985. Some have been recommended by the Japan Federation of Bar Associations. Some have even been raised by the research committee of the Japanese governments Gender Equality Bureau Cabinet Office. The Japanese government should show these brave women, and the world, that their voices wont go unheard. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. Raffat Abu Hashim was working in his office at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) branch in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, when he received the dreaded email from the staff portal. His contract will not be renewed when it ends in December. I never imagined this would happen to me, the 53-year-old father of six told Al Jazeera. Ive served in UNRWA for 32 years, when I was hired in January 1987 as an emergency clerk. Im deeply shocked, he said, mopping up beads of sweat on his forehead. Abu Hashim didnt tell his family who depend on him as the sole breadwinner that he was facing impending unemployment. I think of them, of my children who are in school and university, and about the loans I owe the bank, and other financial commitments, he said. How can I tell them that I wont have a job anymore? My work is the backbone in their life. Suspension of UNRWA contracts The US government announced at the beginning of the year it would slash its funding of $365m to $65m, after President Donald Trump accused the Palestinians of being ungrateful for the millions of dollars in aid. We pay the Palestinians HUNDRED OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect, Trump tweeted, a month after his controversial recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a move that led the Palestinian Authority to condemn the US as no longer being an impartial peace broker. With the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them? More than half of Gazas two million population is dependent on aid from UNRWA, which offered support for seven decades in food supply, healthcare, social services, employment and access to education. Currently, the blockaded strip suffers from a 44 percent unemployment rate. Last Wednesday, the agency fired a further 113 employees, all because of the United States 80 percent budget cut. Furthermore, UNRWA announced the contracts of 1,000 of its employees in the Gaza Strip Abu Hashim among them will not have their contracts renewed. This includes the termination of the mental health programme, which employs 430 people. More than half of Gazas two million population is dependent on aid from UNRWA [Maram Humaid/Al Jazeera] An open-ended protest has been held since that day at the agencys headquarters in Gaza City to protest the job cuts. This is a massacre against the employees, Amal al-Batsh, deputy chairman of the UNRWAS staff union, told Al Jazeera. The solution to the crisis should not be at the expense of the staff providing services to the tens of thousands of refugees in the Gaza Strip. Batsh said the unjust decisions will negatively impact all services provided to refugees and badly affect employees and their families, including their psychological state, adding to the deteriorating living conditions in Gaza. Its a political issue rather than a financial one, Batsh said. Weve suggested a number of solutions but they were rejected by the UNRWA administration. This evidence of a threat to the whole refugees issue and the presence of UNRWA and its services in the Gaza Strip. We will escalate our protests until UNRWA reverses its decision, she added. Pain and sadness Gazas UNRWA employees, who number about 13,000, were stunned upon hearing of the job suspensions, many of whom are the sole providers for their families. One man attempted to set himself on fire outside the headquarters in Gaza City, but was stopped by his colleagues. Mona al-Qishawi, 52, has worked as a mental health counsellor in a UNRWA medical centre for the past two years in Gaza City, and was among the protesters at the sit-in. During the past months, there were assurances from the agencys administration that they would offer us fixed contracts by January. Instead, we received letters putting us on part-time jobs with half of the salary, before ending our service by December, she told Al Jazeera. Qishawi paused, trying to fight back tears. Im a widow my husband died eight years ago. Who is responsible for my six children, she said. Two of them are studying in Greece and I have to send them money on a regular basis. We live in a rented apartment and I have many other expenses that I can barely cover with a full salary, so how can I deal now with the new job cuts? Her colleague Huwaida al-Ghoul heaved a big sigh. I cant express the amount of pain and sadness in my heart, the 43-year-old told Al Jazeera. I spent 16 years working and gave my best to my job. Ghoul, who has five children, is the main source of income for her family as her husband, who used to work as a labourer in Israel, has been unemployed since the beginning of the second Intifada in 2000. Huwaida al-Ghoul holds up her medical report during a protest at UNRWAs headquarters in Gaza [Maram Humaid/Al Jazeera] One of her children has asthma and a lung ailment, which has resulted in medical expenses. She is also paying off a bank loan. With the new decision, Im going to be put in prison for not being able to pay for the rest of the loan, she said, sobbing. She then took a medical report out of her bag. Upon hearing the news on Wednesday, I had a breakdown and transferred to hospital. I spent the whole day crying at home with my kids around trying to comfort me. How could I tell my six-year-old child that I would not be able to make a living for him anymore? Replacing the Palestinian cause Mohsen Abu Ramadan, an economic analyst in Gaza, said UNRWA launched a new policy that only entrenches the worsening situation in the Gaza Strip, including the 11-year siege, extreme poverty, and high unemployment. UNRWA and many international organisations, especially those funded by the US in Gaza, are moving towards one direction, which is to replace the Palestinian cause an end to the Israeli occupation and siege and the right of return for refugees with a humanitarian agenda, Abu Mohsen said. It is an attempt to apply the economic peace theory instead of the Palestinian national solutions, he continued. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu first called for this policy in the 1990s, Abu Mohsen said, and it is backed by the Trump administration, spearheaded by his special adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushners deal of the century or Middle East peace plan. Abu Mohsen explained the Gaza Strip is the target of economic peace as it represents the essence of the Palestinian cause, and hence fertile ground to implement Kushners plan through the launch of alleged humanitarian projects. What is a point of concern is why the UNRWAs administration chose to implement these desperate decisions, which adapts to the direction of the deal of the century, instead of resisting it, he said. UNRWA is supposed to make a greater effort to counter the budget cuts by holding more donor conferences, and not choosing to sacrifice its staff and services. Raffat Abu Hashim vowed the protests will continue until UNRWA retracts its moves, and to review these unfair measures against the agencys staff in Gaza. He has not informed his family that he will be out of a job in December, and even assured them his name was not among the 1,000 employees who received the termination letter. Is it reasonable for a humanitarian aid agency to treat us this way? he asked. Death toll in Redding climbs to five, as firefighters struggle to contain raging fire now into its fourth day. Two children and their 70-year-old great-grandmother have died in northern California as a fast-moving wildfire raged into its fourth day, raising the death toll from the blaze to five. Their bodies were found at a home destroyed on the outskirts of Redding in Shasta County, officials said on Saturday, as some 3,500 firefighters struggled to contain the erratic flames stoked by high winds and soaring temperatures. Police say at least 17 people have been missing in the city of Redding since the blaze exploded into a firestorm on Thursday night, killing two firefighters, destroying more than 500 structures and forcing 38,000 people to be evacuated. A vehicle problem ignited the blaze on Monday, but it wasnt until Thursday that the fire exploded and raced into communities west of Redding before entering city limits. On Saturday, it pushed southwest of Redding, the largest city in the region, towards smaller communities where scorching heat, winds and bone-dry conditions complicated firefighting efforts. The Redding blaze is the largest fire currently burning in California and one of about a dozen major wildfires currently raging across the state. Toys stand untouched near a home destroyed by the fire west of Redding, California [Bob Strong/Reuters] With daytime temperatures expected to rise above 42 degrees Celsius over the next few days, there appears to be no relief in sight, said Al Jazeeras Gabriel Elizondo, reporting from Redding. Under normal circumstances, the overnight hours serve as a reprieve, lowering the heat, giving fire crews a chance to get the upper hand, but this is no normal fire, he said. Strong winds after sunset have caused this fire to increase in size overnight, which is highly unusual. My kids are deceased The local Sacramento Bee newspaper said family members identified the dead as 70-year-old Melody Bledsoe, and her two great-grandchildren, James Roberts, four, and Emily Roberts, five. The three were among more than a dozen people reported missing after the furious wind-driven blaze took residents by surprise and leveled several neighbourhoods. The childrens mother, Sherry Bledsoe, was quoted by the newspaper as saying: My kids are deceased, thats all I can say, as she left the sheriffs office on Saturday. Authorities also issued evacuation orders in Napa County when several structures caught fire, the Napa Valley Register reported. The blaze had blackened 60 hectares (150 acres) and was at 10 percent containment. Throughout the state, Cal Fire officials said more than 10,000 firefighters were on the line, making progress on 14 large wildfires. So far this year, wildfires have scorched almost 1.7 million hectares (4.3 million acres) across the country less than last year but still higher than the 1.5 million-hectare (3.7 million-acre ) average for the same period over the last decade. Cambodias long-time Prime Minister Hun Sen has claimed victory in a controversial election that was overshadowed by the forced absence of a viable opposition candidate. The countrys chief government spokesman confirmed the results on Sunday evening, saying the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) had won an estimated 100 out of 125 parliamentary seats. The CPP won 80 percent of all the votes and we estimate we will win not less than 100 seats, Sok Eysan told Reuters news agency. Results are still being counted, with the official result not expected until mid-August. Hun Sen, who has led Cambodia for 33 years and said he wants to hold office for at least another 10, campaigned on promises of continued economic development, peace and stability. But critics have condemned the vote as illegitimate and called for a boycott following the dissolution of the largest opposition political force the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) and a government crackdown against dissent. The ballot included 19 small, lesser-known parties that observers said do not present a meaningful challenge to Hun Sens CPP. {articleGUID} However, officials said the number of parties in the race shows Cambodia has a multi-party democracy. Uncharacteristically quiet Sundays election was the countrys sixth since 1993 when it emerged from decades of war. The CNRP, which almost won five years ago, was dissolved in November 2017 by court order at the governments request. This followed the jailing of party leader Kem Sokha on widely criticised treason charges that he denies. In Phnom Penh, polling stations were uncharacteristically quiet on Sunday. In past elections, long lines and an atmosphere of excitement pervaded. The national election agency reported voter turnout at about 80 percent. In the 2013 election, 69 percent of eligible voters participated, and in local elections last year, turnout was nearly 90 percent. I vote because its our mission. I think its very important, said Sok Vattanak, accompanying his wife at a polling station in the capital. I vote for a different party year to year to see which one is better. One voter, who asked to remain anonymous fearing reprisals, said there was an atmosphere of fear surrounding the polls. I cant talk, theres too many problems Its not secure, people get killed. Even journalists have problems. I want to have change, but how can we? I want to have liberty like the US, like other countries, he said. Fund for Reconciliation and Development NGO Executive Director John McCauliff, an election observer with experience dating back to 1993, said between 20-35 percent of votes were spoiled at polling stations his group observed. That is a challenge now for the CPP, he told Al Jazeera. The second largest party is the spoiled ballot party. Prime Minister Hun Sen says he wants to rule for 10 more years [Samrang Pring/Reuters] Officials said people advocating against voting could be prosecuted with fines up to $5,000. Brian Eyler, director of the Southeast Asia programme at the Stimson Center, said the vote will result in a continuation of Hun Sens authoritarian grip over Cambodia, which continues to deepen, so its no surprise that the exiled CNRP opposition party is calling this a sham and calling for a boycott. Speaking to Al Jazeera from Washington, DC, Eyler added: Hun Sens CPP is saying. if you do not vote, you are against democracy, instead of promoting multiparty democracy and robust participation of opposition parties. Election observers A number of countries, including Russia, China and Indonesia, sent hundreds of observers to watch polling but Japan, a long-time supporter of the Cambodian government, refused to do so. {articleGUID} The United States and European Union, meanwhile, withdrew funding for the election. Professor Hassan Ghafoori Fard, a former vice president of Iran, was part of the delegation of international election observers. I think its going OK, smoothly, its a very free election, Fard told Al Jazeera. The reason that they have invited so many people to observe that means they are confident about what they are doing. Everything is clear and transparent. Preliminary results are expected to be announced at 6pm (11:00 GMT). Official results will not be available until mid-August. Abby Seiff and Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon contributed to this report from Phnom Penh Thousands of people have gathered in Addis Ababa to pay their respects to the project manager of a controversial dam being built by Ethiopia along the Nile river, according to state media. Semegnew Bekele, 53, was found dead in his car in Ethiopias capital on Thursday. Police said a gunshot took the life of the engineer but have not given any other details. An investigation is under way and no arrests have been made. A state funeral for Semegnew was held in Addis Ababa on Sunday, with a requiem-playing brass band leading a solemn procession that included people carrying wreaths of flower and a long motorcade following the undertaker van. There were tearful tributes to Semegnew, whose coffin was draped in an Ethiopian flag at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in the presence of President Mulatu Teshome and many other high-profile personalities. Thousands of people also gathered in central Addis Ababa to pay their respects to the fallen engineer. Images posted on social media showed police firing tear gas after the crowd attempted to push past them to reach the funeral. Addis Ababa residents paying their respects to the engineer [Tiksa Negeri/Reuters] Controversial project Currently about half completed, the the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam which is expected to more than double Ethiopias current electricity production has caused a long-standing dispute with neighbouring Egypt, which fears the dam could reduce its share of the Nile waters. A bone of contention for Ethiopia and Egypt is the speed at which the dams reservoir would be filled, with Cairo fearing the rivers flow will be significantly reduced. Under a new 2015-2020 development plan, Addis Ababa wants to raise power generation to 17,346MW from a current capacity of just over 4,300MW from hydropower, wind and geothermal sources. In June, the leaders of Ethiopia and Egypt vowed to iron out their differences peacefully. They also agreed to take steps to put into effect an agreement, which includes Sudan, to set up a fund for investing in infrastructure in the three countries. The draft National Register of Citizens will be released on Monday amid fears tens of thousands might not be included. Guwahati, India Authorities in India are set to announce the final draft list of citizens in the border state of Assam, amid fear tens of thousands of Bengali-origin Muslims might be excluded from the tally. The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is being updated after nearly seven decades as part of a campaign to identify undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh, but critics say those not finding their names in the list might be effectively rendered stateless. The NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela told Al Jazeera that the list will be published at around 10am (04:30 GMT) on Monday. People will be able to check their names through online and offline methods at 2,500 NRC Seva Kendras (service centres) set up across the state, Hajela said. The results can also be accessed via SMS on request, he said. The final list will decide the fate of the 13.9 million people not included in the first draft that was published on December 31 last year, designating only some 19 million people, out of Assams 32.9 million population, as legal citizens. The countrys Supreme Court which is supervising the entire process had initially set June 30 as the deadline to publish the final list. But this was postponed to July 30, as the massive exercise could not be completed in time. No need to worry Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said that the Indian citizens whose names are not included in Mondays list need not worry. {articleGUID} They will get adequate opportunities to file claims and objections pertaining to their rights, Sonowal wrote in a post on Twitter. Sonowal said that no one would be treated as a foreigner until the final updating of the NRC. He called upon the political parties to work as a team, adding that the government would provide genuine applicants with all the necessary support in filing claims and objections. Coordinator Hajela said that people can apply for these claims, objections and corrections from August 30 to September 28. If their names are not in the final draft, it doesnt mean that these people are illegal, Hajela told Al Jazeera. This is just a draft and Im telling you that these people will be given ample opportunities for claims and objections. So, there is no reason to fear. Panic Still, people of Bengali origin, including both Muslims and Hindus, are in panic mode. Several members of the community have taken their own lives in advance of the July 30 deadline for the lists publication. We are uncertain. We had to struggle a lot to get our names cleared as Indian citizens. We have submitted all the documents needed, Jaymati Das, a villager in Assams Udalguri district bordering Bhutan, told Al Jazeera. Now, I dont know if our names will feature in the final draft or not, said Das, 53. A few weeks back, Jaymatis husband Gopal Das, 65, had taken his own life after he was also served notice to prove his citizenship. Their two sons were also asked to prove their citizenships by the Foreigners Tribunal a specialised court that handles cases of undocumented immigrants. High alert Authorities put Assam on high alert, with section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code imposed in seven of the states 33 districts. Under section 144, assembly of more than four people is prohibited. Some 300 NRC Seva Kendras (service centres) across Assam have also been marked as sensitive, while 55,000 members of the police forces have been called into action. More than 22,000 additional paramilitary personnel have also been deployed across the northeastern state. {articleGUID} We appreciate the support of the people, said Assam Director General of Police Kuladhar Saikia. So far it has been smooth We have taken all the measures to avert all kind of untoward situation, he told reporters in the state capital, Guwahati. Authorities are also keeping a strict eye on online posts to check rumours and fake news. Unique to Assam Unique to Assam state, the NRC document was prepared in 1951 to distinguish Indian citizens from undocumented immigrants from what was then East Pakistan (which later became Bangladesh in 1971). The cutoff date to be eligible for Indian citizenship is March 24, 1971, as per the Assam Accord signed in 1985. The people or their descendants whose names appeared in the NRC 1951, or in any of the electoral rolls up to March 24, 1971, or in any of the other recognised official documents issued up until midnight of the same period should be included in the final draft. Assam has witnessed prolonged protests against so-called foreigners, which includes both Hindus and Muslims. The arrival of millions of refugees in 1971 when Bangladesh seceded from Pakistan after a bloody civil war brought the issue of these so-called foreigners in national focus. Student leaders appeal for peace All Assam Minority Students Union (AAMSU), a students body, stated its suspicion that at least two million people will be left off the final list. However, authorities have released no information on the matter. The AAMSU leadership has also requested the NRC coordinator to help resolve the dropped cases so that genuine Indian citizens are not harassed. The NRC authorities should be careful in checking the documents properly. Its ridiculous to see them saying that 1.5 lakh [150,000] names will be dropped as anomalies were found in the submitted documents, said AAMSU President Rezaul Sarkar Karim. We want these cases to be dealt with properly without harassing the citizens and at the earliest, he told Al Jazeera. Karim also appealed to people in the state to maintain peace and harmony after the publication of the final draft. All Assam Students Union (AASU), the largest students body in the state, issued a similar appeal. Finally, we are on the verge of getting a list of genuine citizens after a long demand. We are hopeful. If anyone whoever has come here before the cutoff date of March 25 of 1971, is left out from the final draft, we will help them in getting their names cleared, said Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharyya, AASU adviser. Five involved in kidney racket held from Chitwan Chitwan Police have arrested five people for their alleged involvement in a Kidney racket apparently operating from India. Israel-Gaza tensions: UN envoy in Egypt for ceasefire talks UN special Coordinator for Middle East Peace is leading efforts along with the Egyptian government to forge a lasting ceasefire. Vessel carrying some 23 people is redirected to the Israeli port of Ashdod, a week after setting off from Italy. A boat loaded with aid for residents in the besieged Gaza Strip has been intercepted by Israeli naval forces. The Awda, carrying at least 23 people, was meant to reach the Gaza port approximately at noon local time on Sunday, but was redirected instead to the Israeli port of Ashdod. It was part of a flotilla attempting to break a 12-year-old blockade imposed by Israel and neighbouring Egypt. With 16 different nationalities on board, including some Israeli citizens, The Awda set off from the coast of Palermo in Italy a week ago. Al Jazeeras Charles Stratford, reporting from Ashdod, said the Israeli army confirmed intercepting a boat that departed from Europe in order to violate the legal naval blockade that is imposed on the Gaza Strip. Although they expected the interception to happen, those on board noted they sailed as a symbolic means of drawing international attention to the plight of 1.8 million people living in Gaza under that siege, Stratford said. We know the boat was carrying around $15,000 worth of medical equipment, he added. The organisers of the voyage, called Break the Siege committee, condemned in a statement Israels interception, demanding that the governments of the people on board take immediate action. The Israeli army said in a statement it had monitored and intercepted the vessel in accordance with international law, and that any humanitarian assistance that the boat was carrying would be delivered to Gaza. Attempts to break the siege The journey by the Awda was the latest in a series of bids aimed at reaching Gaza. In 2010, an attempt turned deadly when Israeli soldiers stormed the Turkish Mavi Marmara flotilla, killing 10 Turkish nationals. And in 2015, a flotilla of four boats bound for Gaza was redirected to Ashdod. It was only in 2008 that two boats carrying 40 people successfully managed to reach the coast of Gaza. At the time, Israels foreign ministry said it had provided the flotilla with permission. Earlier this month, Israel sealed off the Karam Shalom border crossing (known to Palestinians as Karem Abu Salem) the primary passageway that transfers necessities to residents of Gaza, saying it was in retaliation over Palestinians setting fire to Israeli land. {articleGUID} The move has only allowed for the transfer of humanitarian needs such as cooking gas, as well as wheat and flour into Gaza, an official responsible for coordinating the movement of cargo through the border confirmed to Al Jazeera on July 9. Additionally, Gazas 4,000 registered fishermen are prohibited by Israel from fishing past six nautical miles off the coast of the Strip, which they say is not enough space to serve some 1,000 boats. The land, air, and naval blockade has led thousands in Gaza to protest near the fence with Israel in recent weeks. It also prompted residents to set sail from the coast of Gaza in May in a bid to break Israels imposed boundary. For the first time in more than a decade, that boat, which carried at least 25 patients, students and activists, managed to cross nine nautical miles (16km) before four Israeli warships flanked it and redirected it to Ashdod. Laos struggles to find missing after dam collapse Thousands are also displaced in Cambodia as the cause of the dams collapse remains a mystery. More than two million people remain displaced inside Iraq since January 2014, the UNHCR refugee agency says. Baghdad, Iraq For Hend Ali, there was no other option but to stay put. The 36-year-old mother of six has been living for three years now at al-Khadra, a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) tucked behind blocks of dilapidated apartment buildings in Iraqs capital, Baghdad. Like many others across the country, Hend was forced to flee her home in 2015 as military operations and ISIL attacks escalated after the armed groups fighters swept through Iraq, occupying one-third of its territory. Following Baghdads victory over ISIL last year, the families in the camp, which numbered in the hundreds in 2016, were expected to return to their homes. But dozens of them, including Alis, had nothing to go back to. I visited my home three months ago, but everything was destroyed, says Hend, recalling her trip to al-Qaim town in Anbar province. The walls and windows are gone. The foundations [of the house] are gone. Its just part of the roof that remains. The devastation, poverty and a lack of services in the recaptured areas forced Hend, like many other displaced Iraqis, to choose the lesser of two evils and stay in the camp. I came back to the camp because there was nothing [in Anbar], she says. [Theres] no water, no electricity, and no work. 18 year old Nada from Anbar had both her children Hajar and Mohamed at the camp in Al-Khadra camp [Arwa Ibrahim/Al Jazeera] Over two million Iraqis remain displaced The about 100 residents of al-Khadra camp are among the 2.14 million Iraqis who have been displaced since January 2014, according to the UNs refugee agency, the UNHCR. Inside the camp, which offers residents little more than shelter from the scorching summer heat, children run up and down its arid walkways and play in the sand between rows of neatly set tents. As women hang their childrens washed clothes to dry in the sun, while others cook meals on bunsen burners inside the tents that have housed them for years, there is no sign of this camp closing down any time soon. {articleGUID} Hend says that if the government provided the IDPs with the most basic needs in Anbar, which lies 400km northwest of the capital Baghdad, she would go back immediately. If there were basic services, wed return [home] from tomorrow, even if it means that we sustain ourselves by eating grass. For Dalya Ali, just like Like Hend, heading home to Fallujah, another city in Anbar province, is not a viable option. I went back to Fallujah a few months ago. I was forced to live in a tent for three months because everything is gone, says Dalya, a 31-year-old mother of five. It was too much to bear with no water and no place to live, so I came back. Dalya Ali is one of more than two million IDPs spread throughout Iraq [Arwa Ibrahim/Al Jazeera] Families who live at al-Khadra are given a tent and a monthly salary of 20,000 Iraqi dinars ($18) per individual to cover the cost of food and other basic items. Life, however, is still difficult. With electricity shortages across the country, people have to buy fuel or pay privately owned generators to get by. For the camps residents, this is not an option. According to Dahaa al-Rawi, the camp founder and manager who is also a member of the Baghdad local government, donations by local charities and funds from international organisations, including the World Food Programme, are becoming depleted. We dont have enough money to pay for the electricity, says al-Rawi. They (residents) have to pay for that themselves. Dalya, who says her life was simple but settled back home, wonders how long she will have to remain at the camp. We can barely get by but we have nowhere else to go. Until when our situation will remain like this? Life has become too hard. Children at Al-Khadra IDP camp with Leen,12 holding a photo of her sister who died when they first arrived in Baghdad [Arwa Ibrahim/Al Jazeera] Our life is hell For the Iraqi government, the challenging situation for IDPs will not be resolved until the recaptured areas are rebuilt. Yet, this is a mammoth task, one that is tied to Baghdad receiving more support from the international community. {articleGUID} Sattar Nawroz, a spokesperson for the migration and displacement ministry, says authorities are hoping to achieve this goal. He admits, however, that this is becoming increasingly difficult. The ideal situation is for displaced families is that they return voluntarily to their homes but this requires for these areas to be become ready to receive them, says Nawroz. This requires for us to rebuild the infrastructure and provide basic services including water, electricity and education. With so many crises in the region, funds from regional and international donors have shrunk, he adds, explaining that delays in government formation are further delaying this process. With the final results of the May 12 elections yet to be approved by a federal court, and despite the last parliaments term ending on June 31, a new government has yet to be formed. But, for Hend, waiting any longer is becoming too much. Our life is hell no matter what, she says. We came here [to the camp] and its hell. And if we were to go home it would still be hell. I wish I never had to go through all this. Follow Arwa Ibrahim on Twitter: @arwaIb With more than 300 civilians killed this year, some voters say peace and stability will influence their decision. Malians have voted in a crucial presidential election as attacks disrupted polling in areas already beset by deadly ethnic violence. Despite the deployment of 30,000 security personnel throughout the country, several incidents were reported on Sunday in the countrys northern and central regions. Voting was briefly suspended at a polling station in a village in the northern region of Kidal after the firing of about 10 mortar shells, according to Olivier Salgado, spokesperson for the United Nations mission in Mali, MINUSMA. No one was killed in the attack, which a Mali-based al-Qaeda affiliate later claimed responsibility for. Separately, unidentified gunmen burned polling stations and ballot boxes in the village of Lafia, in the northern Timbuktu region. As a result, voting could not take place, according to local authorities. Overnight Saturday, armed men arrived at the town hall where the ballot boxes and electoral material were held, a local official told AFP news agency. The official added the boxes were burned after shots were fired into the sky. One of them said God does not like elections. Al Jazeeras Mohamed Vall, reporting from the capital, Bamako, said armed groups linked to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb had issued threats of violence in recent weeks. They warned that they will try to disrupt this election, particularly in those areas in the north. Vall said, however, that voting in Bamako went smoothly throughout the day. There were also no reports of major incidents in the south, he added. Insecurity has taken the shine off Keitas achievements in the economy [Luc Gnago/Reuters] Eight million voters were registered for Sundays election, a total of 23,000 polling stations opened at 08:00 GMT and closed at 18:00 GMT. I have my voting card, I am going to vote for my country and for my favourite president, said Moriba Camara, a 35-year-old teacher, in the Sebenicoro district of Bamako. In a message on UN radio, Mahamat Saleh Anadif, head of MINUSMA, urged Malians to use their right to vote. Dear Malians, do not add another crisis into the current crisis. Use this day to vote peacefully and respect the outcome, Anadif said. Malis national broadcaster ORTM reported a large turnout of voters in the capital. The first poll results are expected within 48 hours, with official results following on Friday at the latest. If no candidate gains more than 50 percent of the vote, a second round will take place on August 12. Voting for peace More than 300 civilians have died in ethnic clashes this year, according to UN figures. Al Jazeeras Vall said voters in Bamako told him they were casting their ballots for peace. It is a keyword now, here in Mali. People are fed up. This is what they have been telling us. The incumbent President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has miserably failed in stabilising the country, he said. The main rival of 73-year-old Keita is Soumaila Cisse, 68. However, no sitting president in the history of Mali has been dislodged from power by an opposition leader in any election, said Vall. Keita suggested during his campaign that peace had already been restored, saying he toured all over Mali and nowhere did I feel afraid. But insecurity is such, that in some parts of the country, the vote will simply not happen, and the European Union observer mission urged the government on Saturday to publish a list of places that will be unable to vote, so as to quell suspicions by candidates of fictitious polling stations. In the past three years, attacks have tripled and violent deaths have doubled, according to civil society website Malilink. Mali has been fractured by armed groups across its north and central zones [Luc Gnago/Reuters] Rebels have spread from the north to the centre and even targeted Bamako. In 2015, gunmen killed 20 people in a raid on the Radisson Blu hotel. Last month, a suicide bomber drove a vehicle laden with explosives into the headquarters of the regional G5 Sahel anti-terrorism force in Severe, central Mali, killing three people. The UNs peacekeeping mission to Mali has suffered more fatalities than any throughout history, with about 170 peacekeepers killed, and human rights groups have raised the alarm over alleged executions by security forces. The defence ministry promised to investigate evidence linking them to mass graves. Insecurity has taken the shine off Keitas achievements in the economy: average growth of around five percent during his leadership, and Malis important exports, gold and cotton, have flourished as have agricultural staples, such as rice. NASA turns 60: The space race continues Space exploration has always been a matter of geopolitical prestige for the United States ever since President Dwight D Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958. Tamimi was arrested after a video of her slapping and hitting two Israeli soldiers went viral. Nabi Saleh, occupied West Bank Palestinian teen activist Ahed Tamimi, whose eight-month sentence for slapping and hitting Israeli soldiers sparked international condemnation, has been released from Israeli prison . Tamimi broke down in tears as an emotional crowd welcomed her in the village of Nabi Saleh on Sunday. She was released with her mother, Nariman, who was also sentenced to eight months but, like her daughter, served three weeks short of that in line with remission policy. Addressing the crowd, Tamimi thanked activists and the media for their support during her prison stay. She said she was extremely happy to be in the arms and embrace of my family but added that her happiness is not full when others are still behind Israeli bars. My happiness is not complete without my sisters [Palestinian female prisoners], who are not with me. I hope that they will also be free, she said. Leave occupation The 17-year-old also relayed messages delivered to her by Palestinian female political prisoners, saying that they call for national unity inside Palestine; for the people of Palestine to remain strong and united in their resistance; and for everyone to stand with the rights of political prisoners and work for their release. {articleGUID} Tamimi said she was planning to pursue a career in law in order to hold the occupation accountable. In the end I want to say that the power is with the people, and the people will and can decide their destiny and decide the future. Women are a key part of the Palestinian struggle for freedom, and the womens role will continue to expand, not only in the struggle but by producing new generations that can continue the struggle. We say: Leave, leave occupation.' For her part, Nariman Tamimi said: As a parent, I want to say that we shouldnt be afraid of our children and we should support them in whatever they choose to do. They are being killed whether in our homes or resisting in the streets, so support them in resistance. Speaking to Al Jazeera prior to the release of his daughter and wife, Bassem Tamimi described their release as a very happy moment. He added: We have missed them a lot. But I am also worried because the [Israeli] occupation is continuing and still in our lives. Bassems happiness, however, was overshadowed by a heavy heart, as his 21-year-old son, Waed, remains in Israeli detention since being arrested in an overnight raid on his home in May. International condemnation Tamimi and her mother were arrested by Israeli forces in December 2017 after a video went viral showing the young woman, then 16, hitting and slapping two armed Israeli soldiers outside her home in Nabi Saleh. At the time, the teen was reacting to news that her 15-year-old cousin Mohammed had been shot in the face by Israeli forces with a rubber-coated steel bullet earlier in the day, leaving him in critical condition. Ahed Tamimi and her mother were arrested in December 2017 [Abbas Momani/AFP] The teens arrest drew international condemnation and again put the spotlight on Israels treatment of Palestinians, especially Palestinian youth. Tamimi was indicted on 12 charges in Israels Ofer military court in Ramallah two weeks after her arrest. In March, Tamimi and her mother accepted plea deals that would see them serve eight months in prison, including time served, in exchange for pleading guilty to some of the charges. Israeli forces initiated a crackdown on Nabi Saleh after the video went viral, arresting residents and shooting dead Aheds 21-year-old relative Izz al-Din Tamimi during a raid on the village last month. Tamimis cousin Mohammed, who is still healing from his injuries, has also been detained by Israeli forces twice since Israeli forces shot the teen in the face. Tamimis case drew international condemnation [Nasser Shiyoukhi/AP Photo] According to Tamimis aunt, Manal, who is also a prominent activist in the village, 15 Nabi Saleh residents are still in Israeli custody, four of whom are minors. Meanwhile, Bassem said he was worried about the safety of his daughter after her release, noting that she had been threatened by right-wing Israeli politicians and settlers. {articleGUID} Earlier this year, Nabi Saleh residents woke up to Hebrew graffiti splashed around the village, some of which read Death to Ahed Tamimi and Theres no place in this world for Ahed Tamimi. Residents believe it was the act of Israeli settlers from the adjacent Halamish settlement, which was built on top of Nabi Salehs lands. In another incident, settlers from Halamish demonstrated on a road that divides the village and the settlement, carrying makeshift coffins and chanting Death to Ahed Tamimi. As of June 1, there are more than 290 minors in Israeli custody, according to rights groups [Nasser Shiyoukhi/AP Photo] Manal, whose two sons Mohammad, 19, and Osama, 23, have continued to be held in Israeli detention since their arrests in January, said she is also worried about how Tamimi will cope with her experience in Israeli prison. We are worried about the experiences that shes been through, Manal said. In the end, Ahed is a child and what she went through is very difficult. I think she will need some time to be a child again. Inform the world about Israeli prison Manal said Aheds imprisonment has made it so the name Nabi Saleh and the name Tamimi have become global. {articleGUID} However, she hopes that Tamimis release can shift the international conversation from Nabi Saleh to the experiences of Palestinians in Israeli prisons. Now the whole world knows about whats happening here [in Nabi Saleh], she told Al Jazeera. But whats important now is for Ahed to inform the whole world about the experiences and treatment of [Palestinian] women and minors in Israeli prison. According to Dawoud Yusef, advocacy coordinator for Palestinian prisoners rights group Addameer, Palestinian women experience severe mistreatment in Israeli prisons, noting that Israeli guards are commonly involved in the sexual abuse of female prisoners, whether verbally or physically. Palestinian women also face extreme forms of neglect in the prisons, such as Israeli prison authorities refusing to provide necessary sanitary products to Palestinian female prisoners, Yusef said. In the case of female minors being held in Israeli prisons, the things that stand out are the mental effects of such abuses, combined with a sense of shame over the whole ordeal, Yusef added. According to Addameer, of the 5,900 Palestinians who were being held in Israeli prisons as of June 1, 60 were women and 291 were minors 49 of whom were under the age of 16. About 150,000 people have been killed in the Muslim-dominated south since the 1970s one of Asias longest conflicts. Supporters of the Philippines largest Muslim rebel group gathered in their tens of thousands on Sunday to discuss a landmark law granting them autonomy, with one expressing hope it would make their dream of peace a reality. President Rodrigo Duterte last week signed the law, a key step to ending a Muslim rebellion in the south of the mainly Catholic Philippines that had claimed about 150,000 lives since the 1970s. Moro Islamic Liberation Front members, supporters and local residents from various parts of the southern island of Mindanao, including women in headscarves and fighters carrying arms, trooped to the main rebel camp there for a consultation. Their leaders are seeking support for the law in advance of a referendum on the measure, which creates an expanded autonomous region and is aimed at ending one of Asias longest and deadliest conflicts. This is our dream. If we end this [fighting], hopefully, we can live in peace, Nasser Samama, a 61-year-old veteran rebel fighter, told AFP news agency at Camp Darapanan. Most people want peace and so do we in [the Front] forces. What [the Front] has achieved is not just for our group but for the whole of Mindanao. Fight for self-rule Muslim rebels have long battled for independence or autonomy in Mindanao, which they regard as their ancestral homeland. The law aims to enforce an historic but fragile 2014 peace deal under which the Front vowed to give up its quest for independence and lay down the weapons of its 30,000 fighters in return for self-rule. Under the law, a new political entity known as the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region would replace the current autonomous region created following a 1996 deal with another rebel group, the Moro National Liberation Front. The Bangsamoro is set to have more powers and cover a bigger area. Rebel leaders approve of the measure but say its communities would need to back the law for it to pass a plebiscite. Beginning of peace On Sunday, many of the groups members, who have endured decades of conflict, said they supported the law. This is the beginning of peace in Mindanao. This is the start of unity between Muslims and Christians, housewife Babaidi Budain said. Some expressed fear the law would not bring development to the resource-rich, but poverty-stricken south. Everyone in Mindanao should avail themselves of the opportunity the region offers. If not, it would be the same, the Bangsamoro would not prosper, said community worker Nasser Sulaiman. Rival rallies of supporters and opponents of President Ortega in Managua take place without incident. Thousands of Nicaraguans participated in rival marches in the capital Managua without incident amid a period of relative calm in the countrys deadly political unrest. Protesters on Saturday expressed their support for the Roman Catholic Church and its bishops who have attempted to mediate in the more than 100 days of anti-government protests, and called on President Daniel Ortega to bring forward elections. Bishop, friend, the people are with you! thousands of demonstrators chanted amid a sea of blue-and-white Nicaraguan flags. In a speech on July 19, the anniversary of Nicaraguas revolution, Ortega accused the Catholic Church of aiding coup plotters seeking to overthrow him. Earlier in July, a pro-government mob punched and scratched at cardinal Leopoldo Brenes and other Catholic leaders. In a smaller protest, Ortega supporters waved red-and-black Sandinista Front flags, marching behind trucks broadcasting songs in praise of the embattled leader. Ortega supporters waved red-and-black Sandinista Front flags [Arnulfo Franco/AP] Hundreds killed Hundreds have been killed in political unrest that first gripped Nicaragua in mid-April, with one human rights group setting the death toll at 448 as of last Thursday. Another 2,800 people were wounded and nearly 600 disappeared, according to the Nicaraguan Association for Human Rights. Saturdays marches came amid a period of relative calm, after police and pro-government armed groups violently took control of opposition strongholds in Managua and the southern city of Masaya. Two students were killed when pro-government forces raided a church in which students had taken shelter after being pushed from the Managua university campus where they had barricaded themselves in. Four deaths were reported since those operations ended. Last week, Ortega denied responsbility for the paramilitary groups that have carried out much of the violence. Rights groups including the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights have reported a high degree of collaboration between pro-government gangs and Nicaraguas national police, and accused them of coordinating actions to perpetrate violence, repress, harass and persecute civilians. Nicaraguas unrest began on April 18 with protests against a pension reform plan, which has since been dropped. But violent repression has led opposition anger to mushroom into a broad campaign against Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, who are accused of running a corrupt dictatorship. Protesters have demanded Ortegas resignation and early elections, but the embattled president has said he will not bring polls scheduled for 2021 forward. Yemen: Three years of war takes its toll on Hodeidah fishermen Yemeni fishermen from the port city of Hodeidah are increasingly desperate as severe restrictions on sailing cuts them off from their livelihoods. Malaysia requests Nepal to resume worker departures Malaysia has requested the Nepal government to relax its decision of stopping Nepalis from going to work in the country. There is a long list of rules one must currently follow before one can be admitted into the club known as modern day liberalism, and a stringent philosophy each member of the club must subscribe to before becoming part of this leftist cult. A cult which is now deeply committed to illogic, virtue signaling and group thought. Entry into this socialist club is now dependent upon all of its members making a solemn pledge to exist within a state of perpetual childhood. Subscribing to this liberal ideology involves placing the group's feelings above everything else. Shunning personal responsibility and hoping big government can fill the void is the spiritual quest of modern day liberalism. Being part of the collective and forsaking one's individualism has become vital. For most liberals, personal liberty is now something which is to be scorned and forgotten. Liberal ideologues must now totally place their faith in false narratives and illusion while rejecting truth and reality. The current political agenda of the left now includes: Promoting illegal immigration. Embracing open borders. Calling for the abolition of ICE. Bashing law enforcement without pause. Promising "free" college tuition for everybody. Eliminating the Trump tax-cuts. Using the climate change theory and EPA regulations to destroy the US economy. Creating and implementing a government run single-payer health care system. Unleashing more leftist indoctrination/brainwashing methods within the classrooms. Installing more liberal anti-Constitutional judges within our judicial system -- ideological leftist activist judges who wish to create law rather than interpret it. Cracking down on freedom of speech everywhere, especially on college campuses and on the internet, making it increasingly more difficult for conservative opinions to be expressed or viewed. Doing away with the Second Amendment. Making private property rights a thing of the past. Calling anybody who dares to oppose any type of leftist view a racist or xenophobe. Installing a new Democrat voting bloc of willfully ignorant and impoverished citizens which will become beholden to cradle to grave big government hand-outs. Oh, and of course we can't forget: hating President Trump every single second of each waking day. The liberals are now making it their mission to replace our Constitutional Republic with a leftist fascist tyranny. They wish to fundamentally change this country into a socialist hell hole, where the people who actually dare to think for themselves become obsolete. Ushering in a dystopia fueled by a society committed to leftist group think is the modern day left's ultimate goal. For most on the left, it has now become all about the good "old college try," results and accountability simply don't matter much to these people anymore. Existing in a country that hands out an infinite number of participation trophies and an endless amount of government freebies is now what drives the liberal agenda. It now has become far too common for the leftist media to advance a false narrative rather than to seek the truth or report on the news fairly. Most liberals in the media have now unabashedly deemed themselves the all-knowing arbiters of truth and the unbiased administrators of justice. The leftist media is currently ushering in a new court/justice system within the United States, a trial-by-media system. A system which now has the media acting as judge, jury and executioner. A heavily biased leftist media which thrives upon indicting the innocent and exonerating the guilty. Selective justice now reigns supreme. President Trump has become the Left's biggest foe today. Whenever Trump succeeds, the left goes crazy -- mainly because each Trump success highlights the previous administration's failures. The reality-based Trump economy is awakening millions of people who were once under the spell of the Left. The asleep citizens who once naively embraced the Obama administration's hope and change mantra are now suddenly waking up. Many people are finally coming to an epiphany regarding the disastrous policies of the previous eight years of Obama and the destructive economic policies of Obama, which put the climate change myth, foreign globalist interests and a Marxist ideology above the safety and welfare of the American people. President Trump has installed basic common sense tax cuts in order to jump start our economy. His plan is working and this is terrible news for the left. It has become obvious that most citizens prefer to spend more of their own money rather than have the federal government waste it. All this positive economic news is an ominous sign for leftist politicians. Right now liberals are actually rooting for economic destruction. For this is the only way for them to actually win big in the November mid-term elections. For the Left it has become all about staying in power, no matter what the cost. Hating Trump is the only thing the liberals have remaining in their playbook. Time is running out on the leftists lifelong quest to impose socialism on this country. More people are awakening to the Left's Saul Alinsky tactics every day. Dividing people based upon race and class warfare is getting old. Disrespecting our flag is turning many people off. Liberal politicians promising people endless "free" stuff is no longer a promise rational people are willing to take seriously. Calling upon Congress to impeach Trump every single day without any legitimate reason is now showing the whole country how truly unhinged the left has currently become. Sixty years of leftist propaganda is now backfiring on liberals. Blaming President Trump for every ill in the world is actually pushing more support in his direction and helping the conservative cause. A great awakening within this nation is occurring and most of the people within the liberal media and Democratic Party are refusing to acknowledge it. It is useless for conservatives to hope laws against political corruption and violating national security information and colluding with unsavory types will ever apply to leftists. When is the last time any leftist in Washington faced any successful prosecution for committing crimes of this sort? The infinitesimal peccadilloes Democrats allege that Trump and his campaign staff may have engaged in with an essentially harmless Russian Federation a nation with multiparty elections and many parties represented in the Duma, freedom of worship and speech, and no plans of world conquest are nothing, even if true. Russia, one third the size of the old Soviet Empire, is no real threat to America at all and is, in many respects, a natural ally of our nation in many areas. The Clintons' utter disregard for both the law and ethical behavior stretches back to Bill's ghastly reign of depravity and dishonesty in Arkansas and Bill's term as president was perhaps the most lawless in American history. The left was utterly indifferent to his crimes and sins and all he got was a slap on the wrist for lying under oath before a federal judge and a largely symbolic impeachment that gutless Republicans in the Senate tried as best they could to ignore. JFK was a rat and a scoundrel who, we have learned in the last decade, not only had extramarital affairs, but seduced underage interns and offered these girls illegal drugs. His family was closely tied to organized crime, and JFK likely shared a mistress with a Mafia kingpin. JFK doubtless avoided many problems by the simple expedient of appointing his own brother as attorney general. The left, whose many cadres surely knew of many of his rotten deeds, completely hid those from America and elevated JFK into the wholly undeserved status of martyr. FDR, JFK, and Clinton all did things much, much worse than Richard Nixon, but because the left cares only about power and never about ethical behavior, the misdeeds of Nixon were raised to ridiculous heights. As the hypocritical left kept reminding us during Nixon's trials, the Constitution itself, the left claimed, was in jeopardy. Nixon did resign not because of the left, but rather because the right, led by truly honorable and decent men like Barry Goldwater, cared about good government. Conservatives cannot win a game of who behaved worse and who broke what laws because the left is entirely immune to any real sanction for bad behavior, patent dishonesty, and violation of laws and regulations. The Establishment not just the media, but all the agencies of government and particularly the criminal justice system is either hopelessly myopic or purely cynical about the enforcement of laws dealing with government, national security, and the like. This has nothing to do with the letter of the law but rather the much more important enforcement of the law. Federal agents, prosecutors, and judges determine who will be left alone and who will be hounded and perhaps imprisoned. The unspeakable miscarriage of justice against a good and honorable man like Scooter Libby is a perfect example. His "crime" was so trivial, so problematic, and so ambiguous that it is impossible to doubt that he was like a black in Mississippi seventy years ago being tried before the Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, which trumpeted its interest in enforcing the law. Even worse than the left's control of the instruments of investigation, prosecution, and trial is the fact that the venue for nearly all of these cases is in the District Court for the District of Columbia, a place as intolerant of conservatives and fawning toward leftists as anywhere in America. What can be done? President Trump could, and should, institute a robust investigation with indictment by a grand jury in mind of every potential crime of a political nature committed by leftists and he should fire any prosecutor or FBI agent who drags his feet or obstructs this action. Then, once a number of leftists face indictment and trial, Trump ought to issue a blanket presidential pardon for everyone who may have committed these "crimes," putting conservatives and leftists on the same level of forgiveness. Then Trump ought to convene a commission to review all the laws and regulations with recommendations of repeal of as many laws as possible and the creation of a special counsel law for the investigation and prosecution of all of these "crimes" which remain on the books. The system for regulating the sorts of "crimes" Trump and his aides are accused of committing is more than just broken it has never worked. About once a year the Society of Old Prosecutors meets in a private libation spot the name of which I am honor bound not to disclose. We met to discuss the weeks events and, as long as I dont name the participants, I was given permission to share some of the talk. (Given the mad-dog operations of the Special Counsel some feared that to publicly state their views theyd be subject to midnight FBI raids with their nightgown-garbed wives rousted from bed and felt up by armed agents, or all their assets seized and their private correspondence unrelated to anything handed over to Democratic spinners like Lanny Davis to be megaphoned on CNN.) Lawyer 1: The President is denying his former lawyer Cohens claim that he approved the meeting in Trump Tower. Funny that meeting, isnt it? I mean, why did Loretta Lynch allow Natasha Veselnitskaya to have a special visa to enter the country and why did Natasha choose as her translator Anatoli Samochornov, who for over a decade was a U.S. State Department Translator? Ive handled far weaker entrapment cases. Lawyer 2: Funnier yet, the meeting was ostensibly to discuss Russian orphan adoption issues. But even if it had been to hear the dirt Russia had on Hillary, when and why and how would it be unusual or illegal for a campaign to want to hear dirt on a competitor? I mean, get real -- Hillary paid for the Dossier which was confected by an anti-Trump former UK spy whose sources were all Russian. Not since I read Alice in Wonderland as a kid, have I seen such an upside down universe. Lawyer 3: Now speaking of the Dossier, how much longer will the FISC continue in operation after having rubberstamped over and again widespread spying on a political campaign based on the most idiotic of warrants? I cannot imagine a regular court granting these and FISC was, we were told by most (but not the late Robert Bork) that it would provide greater protections for citizens against unwarranted privacy intrusions. Lawyer 1: DOJ and the FBI did some audacious tap dancing in those applications, didnt they? Didnt tell the Court they were relying on an unverified piece of campaign dirt gathering; didnt tell the court it didnt even know who the sources were that the author of the Dossier relied on. Used newspaper articles to justify the warrant! And then didnt note that the articles were themselves part of Christopher Steeles propaganda effort for Hillary. Id have been disbarred had I ever tried such stunts. Lawyer 2: And thats not all -- they twisted Carter Pages history. For three years he acted as an informant and witness for the FBI and they reframed his history to make it seem he was an agent of a foreign power who knowingly engaged in clandestine intelligence activity that may have involved criminal violations." We took a short break while we nibbled on some fine cheese with crackers and mango chutney. After the drinks were refreshed and the waiter left, the conversation continued. Lawyer 4: Its not only the lies in the warrant applications and the brutish search techniques that fully explain how Stalinist this whole business is. Look at the latest indictments. He indicts some Russian companies thinking theyd never appear and thered be no trial, One enters an appearance, denied the charges, notes how idiotic the indictment was, as among other things, it names a nonexistent corporation, and demands discovery. He indicts 12 Russian officials knowing he has no jurisdiction over them, they wont appear and the case will never go to trial and as an extra bit of partisan play tosses into the indictment claim that an unidentified candidate for U.S. Congress requested and received dirt from a hack, allegedly by these Russians, from Guccifer to whom theyd given the hacked material. Lawyer 3: Trey Gowdy has demanded that Sessions hand over all the documentation respecting the identity of this person. I doubt he exists except in the imagination of the prosecution, or his name surely would have been leaked by now. And its indisputable that the government has never examined the hacked servers and technical experts insist that the speed of downloaded material makes certain it was not removed by a hack, but was an inside job by someone using a thumb drive. Lawyer1: Dont forget the spying charge and arrest against Maria Butina. And we all roared. Were in D.C., and know what you might have missed, the Washington Post article about this gal -- who was most certainly no undercover spy -- republished in the Chicago Tribune but pretty much ignored elsewhere. He pulled out his copy of the article about the alleged undercover spy and read excerpts aloud to roars of laughter. Butinas cellphone case was emblazoned with a famous photograph of Russia President Vladimir Putin riding shirtless on a horse. She would buy friends shots of vodka at Russia House, the Dupont Circle restaurant popular with the Russian diplomatic set, sometimes challenging male friends to down horseradish-infused shots, She bragged to classmates that she had worked for the Russian government. In November 2016, just three months after arriving, she hosted a stars and Tsars-themes costume party at Cafe Deluxe Butina went as Empress Alexandra, the wife of the last emperor of Russia Lawyer2: Thats a new definition of Covert agent isnt it? Obviously the crack prosecution thought that because she was working with some gun advocates to help her campaign for a Second Amendment type shift in Russian gun laws, they could wrap the NRA into the Russian collusion ball of wax. I guess the tipoff she was an undercover spy was her attendance at the National Prayer Breakfast. I piped in my two cents: Luckily for us, we have defense counsels, civil lawsuits, and congressmen like Nunes to chip away at the DOJ/FBI wall of obfuscation and cover-up. This week, Judge Ungaro ordered GPS Fusion to disclose details of its Dossier work -- how did they create it, conduct the investigation for it, and disseminate the dossier. That case comes about in a lawsuit against left-wing BuzzFeed that falsely reported that Aleksey Gubarevs viruses and malware infiltrated the DNC networks. The source of the claim was the 17th memo in the Dossier, which made those claims and stated he had been working with Russian intelligence, claims Gubarev vehemently denies. And then there are the indefatigable guys at Judicial Watch. The FBI ordered Comey to preserve his records. This week they sought a court order requiring these records be preserved. Judicial Watch argues that there is reason to be concerned that the responsive records could be lost or destroyed. Judicial Watch points out that in June 2018, the DOJs Inspector General stated, We identified numerous instances in which Comey used a personal email account (a Gmail account) to conduct FBI business. The filing comes in an April 2018 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed after the DOJ failed to respond to Judicial Watchs May 2017 request and DCNFs February 2018 request (Judicial Watch and The Daily Caller News Foundation v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:18-cv-00967)). The lawsuit is seeking: All records written or ordered written by Comey summarizing his conversations with any of the following individuals: Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Senator Chuck Schumer, Representative Nancy Pelosi, and Senator John McCain. All records that identify and describe all meetings between former FBI Director James Comey and President Barack Obama. It is incredible that it took Judicial Watchs prodding of the FBI for it to ask Mr. Comey to return federal records over a year after he was fired, said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. Mr. Comey continues to be protected by the FBI and DOJ. It is outrageous that the agencies oppose a simple preservation order to make sure no Comey records are lost or destroyed. It asked the FISC for transcripts of all the hearings before it on the DOJ warrants against Carter Page. If successful, this will further document the corrupt, dishonest way the warrants were obtained. Judicial watch details the reasons for the request: Last week, in response to a Judicial Watch FOIA lawsuit, the Department of Justice released 412 pages of heavily redacted documents relating to FISA warrants targeting Page. The warrants provide evidence that the FISA court was never told that the key information justifying the requests came from a minimally-corroborated dossier that was created by Fusion GPS, a paid agent of the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee. Judicial Watch initially sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the DOJ and then filed suit seeking the FISA transcripts (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:18-cv-01050)). In a June 2018 letter, the Justice Department told Judicial Watch it had no Page FISA court hearing transcripts.[snip] In February, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee released a memo criticizing the FISA targeting of Carter Page. The memo details how the minimally corroborated Clinton-DNC dossier was an essential part of the FBI and DOJs applications for surveillance warrants to spy on Page. On February 7, 2018, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes wrote a letter to Judge Rosemary M. Collyer, the presiding judge at the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) requesting transcripts of any relevant FISC hearings associated with the initial FISA application or subsequent renewals related to electronic surveillance of Carter Page. On February 15, Judge Collyer replied that the FBI and DOJ possess most, if not all, of the responsive materials the Court might possess, and we have previously made clear to the Department, both formally and informally, that we do not object to any decision by the Executive Branch to release any such FISA materials to Congress. The Committee also asked the court to confirm the existence of transcripts of hearings regarding applications for or renewal of FISA warrants related to Page. Judicial Watch points out that Presiding Judge Rosemary M. Collyer did so, stating: [Y]ou may note that the Department of Justice possesses (or can easily obtain) the same responsive information the Court might possess, and because of separation of powers considerations, is better positioned than the Court to respond quickly. (We have previously made clear to the Department, both formally and informally, that we do not object to any decision by the Executive Branch to convey to Congress any such information.) In its motion, Judicial Watch points out to date, no transcripts of hearings regarding applications for or renewal of FISA warrants related to Page have been released to the public. And, it argues that potential concerns about classified information are likely unwarranted, since the president has declassified the congressional memo, and the FBI has released the FISA warrant applications, application renewals, and court orders related to Page: Therefore, most -- if not all -- of the information contained in the transcripts likely has been declassified. Lawyer 1: No doubt the FBI and DOJ have been working furiously to cover up malfeasance on the part of their former (and perhaps some present) officials and of the flaws in these agencie's procedures. We have to await the next report from the Inspector General to learn more about the misuse of FISA and the skullduggery involved in getting the warrant. Lawyer 2: Still nothing from Sessions designated U.S. Attorney Huber. Lawyer 3: I think the president will eventually simply declassify the still redacted warrant applications. I think the last three indictments -- of the Russia corporations, the intelligence officials, and the alleged spy -- will not survive much longer. I added, "these three seem to be a futile attempt to persuade the public that theres a reason to continue this farce. There isnt, of course. Its been a means of harassing the new administration for the crime of beating Hillary and her Deep State enablers." At this point the club lights started to flicker and we had to leave, but its likely it wont be our last meeting. America has undergone enormous change during the nearly eight decades of my life. Today, America is a bitterly divided, poorly educated and morally fragile society with so-called mainstream politicians pushing cynical identity politics, socialism and open borders. The president of the United States is threatened with impeachment because the other side doesnt like him. The once reasonably unbiased American media has evolved into a hysterical left wing mob. How could the stable and reasonably cohesive America of the 1950s have reached this point in just one lifetime? Who are the main culprits? Heres my list of the 10 most destructive Americans of the last 80 years. 10) Mark Felt Deputy director of the FBI, aka Deep Throat during the Watergate scandal. This was the first public instance of a senior FBI officially directly interfering in Americas political affairs. Forerunner of James Comey, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page and Andrew McCabe. 9) Bill Ayers Represents the deep and ongoing leftist ideological damage to our education system. An unrepentant American terrorist who evaded punishment, he devoted his career to radicalizing American education and pushing leftist causes. Ghost wrote Obamas book, Dreams of My Father. 8) Teddy Kennedy Most folks remember Teddy as the guy who left Mary Joe Kopechne to die in his car at Chappaquiddick. The real damage came after he avoided punishment for her death and became a major Democrat force in the US Senate, pushing through transformative liberal policies in health care and education. The real damage was the 1965 Hart-Cellar immigration bill he pushed hard for that changed the quota system to increase the flow of third world people without skills into the US and essentially ended large-scale immigration from Europe. 7) Walter Cronkite Cronkite was a much beloved network anchor who began the politicalization of Americas news media with his infamous broadcast from Vietnam that described the Tet Offensive as a major victory for the Communists and significantly turned the gullible American public against the Vietnam War. In fact, the Tet offensive was a military disaster for the NVA and Viet Cong, later admitted by North Vietnamese military leaders. Decades later Cronkite admitted he got the story wrong. But it was too late. The damage was done. 6) Bill and Hillary ClintonIts difficult to separate Team Clinton. Bills presidency was largely benign as he was a relative fiscal conservative who rode the remaining benefits of the Reagan era. But his sexual exploits badly stained the Oval Office and negatively affected Americas perception of the presidency. In exchange for financial support, he facilitated the transfer of sensitive military technology to the Chinese. Hillary, a Saul Alinsky acolyte, is one of the most vicious politicians of my lifetime, covering up Bills sexual assaults by harassing and insulting the exploited women and peddling influence around the globe in exchange for funds for the corrupt Clinton Foundation. She signed off on the sale of 20% of the US uranium reserve to the Russians after Bill received a $500,000 speaking fee in Moscow and the foundation (which supported the Clintons regal lifestyle) received hundreds of millions of dollars from those who benefited from the deal. Between them, they killed any honor that might have existed in the dark halls of DC. 5) Valerie Jarrett - The Rasputin of the Obama administration. A Red Diaper baby, her father, maternal grandfather and father-in-law (Vernon Jarrett who was a close friend and ally of Obama mentor Frank Marshall Davis) were hardcore Communists under investigation by the U.S. government. She has been in Obamas ear for his entire political career pushing a strong anti-American, Islamist, anti-Israeli, socialist/communist, cling-to-power agenda. 4) Jimmy Carter - Carter ignited modern day radical Islam by abandoning the Shah and paving the way for Ayatollah Khomeini to take power in Tehran. Iran subsequently became the main state sponsor and promoter of international Islamic terrorism. When Islamists took over our embassy in Tehran, Carter was too weak to effectively respond thus strengthening the rule of the radical Islamic mullahs. 3) Lyndon Johnson Johnson turned the Vietnam conflict into a major war for America. It could have ended early if he had listened to the generals instead of automaker Robert McNamara. The ultimate result was: 1) 58,000 American military deaths and collaterally tens of thousands of American lives damaged; and 2) a war that badly divided America and created left wing groups that evaded the draft and eventually gained control of our education system. Even worse, his so-called War on Poverty led to the destruction of American black families with a significant escalation of welfare and policies designed to keep poor families dependent on the government (and voting Democrat) for their well-being. He deliberately created a racial holocaust that is still burning today. A strong case could be made for putting him at the top of this list. 2) Barack Hussein Obama - Obama set up America for a final defeat and stealth conversion from a free market society to socialism/communism. As we get deeper into the Trump presidency, we learn more each day about how Obama politicized and compromised key government agencies, most prominently the FBI, the CIA and the IRS, thus thoroughly shaking the publics confidence in the federal government to be fair and unbiased in its activities. He significantly set back race and other relations between Americans by stoking black grievances and pushing radical identity politics. Obamas open support for the Iranian mullahs and his apologetic lead from behind foreign policy seriously weakened America abroad. His blatant attempt to interfere in Israels election trying to unseat Netanyahu is one of the most shameful things ever done by an American president. 1) John Kerry Some readers will likely say Kerry does not deserve to be number one on this list. I have him here because I regard him as the most despicable American who ever lived. After his three faked Purple Hearts during his cowardly service in Vietnam, he was able to leave the US Navy early. As a reserve naval officer and in clear violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, he traveled to Paris and met privately with the NVA and the Viet Cong. He returned to the United States parroting the Soviet party line about the war and testified before Congress comparing American soldiers to the hordes of Genghis Khan. It was a clear case of treason, giving aid and comfort to the enemy in a time of war. We got a second bite of the bitter Kerry apple when as Obamas secretary of state, he fell into bed with the Iranian (Death to America) mullahs giving them the ultimate green light to develop nuclear weapons along with billions of dollars that further supported their terrorist activities. Only the heroic Swift Vets saved us from a Manchurian Candidate Kerry presidency. Ultimately we got Obama. Dishonorable Mentions! (Just missed the list) John Brennan Obamas CIA director who once voted for Communist Gus Hall for president. A key member of the Deep State who severely politicized the CIA. Called President Trump treasonous for meeting with the president of Russia. Jane Fonda movie actress who made the infamous trip to Vietnam during the war in support of the Communists. She represents hard left Hollywood that has done so much damage to our culture. Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin Both revered entertainers helped usher in the prevailing drug culture. Joplin personally suffered the consequences. Karmas a bitch. Robert Johnson /BET Helped popularize hos, bitches and pimps while making millions on great hits such as Jigga my Nigga, Big Pimpin, Niggas in Paris and Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. Many scholars within the African American community maintain that BET perpetuates and justifies racism by adopting the stereotypes held about African Americans, affecting the psyche of young viewers through the bombardment of negative images of African Americans. Who can disagree? Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr./The New York Times Once the gold standard of American journalism, the paper always had a liberal tilt and occasionally made bad mistakes. As the years have gone along, the paper has slid further and further left and today is virtually the primary propaganda arm of the increasingly radical Democrat Party. Still retains influence in Washington and New York. George Soros Jewish former Nazi collaborator in his native Hungary who as a self-made billionaire has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into left wing groups and causes. The damage he has caused is difficult to measure, but its certainly large. He has funded much of the effort to kill the Trump presidency. Frank Marshall Davis - Anti-white, black Bolshevik, card-carrying Soviet agent. Probable birth father and admitted primary mentor of young Barak Hussein Obama. Frank Hawkins is a former US Army intelligence officer, Associated Press foreign correspondent, international businessman, senior newspaper company executive, founder and owner of several marketing companies and published novelist. He is currently retired in North Carolina. fhawk852@gmail.com Editor's note: the original version of this piece misspelled the names of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, and also implied that Hendrix was a drug addict, which the coroner's autopsy after his death clearly stated was not the case. AT regrets these errors. Another federal court has ruled that the government cannot punish sanctuary cities by withholding police grant money. U.S. District Judge Harry D. Leinenweber, a Reagan appointee, said that the government could track down and deport illegal aliens but could not force cities to help them. Washington Times: His ruling follows similar defeats for the Trump administration in California and Philadelphia, where judges have also ruled against the administrations attempts to condition Byrne Justice Assistance Grant money on better cooperation on immigration. Chicagos compliance with the conditions would damage local law enforcements relationship with immigrant communities and decrease the cooperation essential to prevent and solve crimes both within those communities and Chicago at large, the judge wrote. Trust once lost is not easily restored. The ruling confirms an earlier, preliminary decision that had found the government overstepped its powers. Sanctuary cities have exploded in number since President Trump took office, as states and localities competed with each other to try to protect illegal immigrants from a stepped-up enforcement policy at the national level. While the policies vary, at root they attempt to shield illegal immigrants from coming into the purview of federal authorities by restricting cooperation between local police and federal officers and agents. Attorney General Jeff Sessions had sought to push back, saying certain government grants would now depend on jurisdictions agreeing to share information on illegal immigrants in their care, and to give deportation officers access to local prisons and jails to be able to safely take custody of criminal migrants. Judges have ruled that those conditions go beyond what Congress set in law, and that the executive branch cannot add them. Sessions will no doubt appeal the issue all the way to the Supreme Court. But I think what these rulings show is that Congress is going to have to change the eligibility requirements for states and cities to tap into those law enforcement funds. The executive branch can't do it by "the stroke of a pen." Legislation must be introduced and passed that legally require cities to cooperate with ICE in enforcing the nation's immigration laws. That, too, would be challenged but at least the courts would have to rule on the broad constitutionality of the federal government requiring state cooperation in enforcing immigration law. Currently, the courts have ruled that the executive branch is overstepping its authority in punishing states for non compliance. But if Congress mandates it, then the courts would have to rule on who makes immigration law; the courts or Congress? Sessions bid to punish sanctuary cities was always a legal longshot, but an effort worth making. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported, and we passed along on Friday, that Australian government officials had been informed of US plans at attack Iran in August. But Secretary of Defense General James Mattis has completely dismissed this as fiction. The Australian Associated Press described him as looking bewildered when asked about it at the start of a press conference Friday: A bewildered Mattis was quizzed by US reporters in Washington DC on Friday about the ABC report. The 'exclusive' report quoted unnamed senior Australian government figures and claimed Australian defence facilities would likely play a role in identifying targets in Iran. 'I have no idea where the Australian news people got that information,' Mattis told reporters. 'I'm confident it is not something that's being considered right now, and I think it's a complete - frankly, it's - it's fiction. 'It's the best I can give you.' Of course, if the report were true, hed have to dismiss it. But I am not certain that General Mattis is such a capable actor as to be able to fake looking bewildered in front of a group of reporters. More likely, the report is false. Which raises awkward questions for the ABC, a state-owned broadcaster that has a duty higher than ratings. No doubt, it had its sources within the Australian defense establishment. It is generally regarded as rather leftist in orientation. So, was this a psy-ops maneuver, intended to heighten the anxiety of the mullahs, and perhaps inspire troop movements? Or, was it an effort of leftists in Australia to pre-empt the possibility of a US attack they might have feared? Its impossible to know any of this. One thing is certain: there is some fake news flying around the worlds media. But I guess thats not news. Hat tip: John McMahon George Soros must be really worried by all the progress President Trump is making. Soross Open Society Policy Center, the 501 (c)(4) nonprofit organization[i] that he sponsors spent more money lobbying the federal government last quarter than it has ever spent in its history. Joe Shoffstall reports in The Free Beacon that the Open Society Policy Center: ...reported spending $10.37 million between April 1 and June 30an increase of nearly $8 million from the first quarter of the year when the center reported spending $2.52 million on its lobbying efforts. That is an increase of 412%. And it is concentrated on foreign affairs: The increase in its lobbying activities can be attributed to the group adding a number of issues related to the nomination of Donald Lu as the U.S. Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan and the nomination of David B. Cornstein as U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, where Soros was born. The group's three in-house lobbyists additionally focused on a handful of issues related to North Korea such as the Preventing Preemptive Action in North Korea Act of 2017, the No Unconstitutional Strike against North Korea Act, the North Korea Nuclear Baseline Act, and issues related to security sector assistance, North Korea, and Defense in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019. Soross organization has effectively been expelled by Hungary: Hungary's parliament approved a law that targeted foreign-funded NGOs last year saying that they could "threaten the country's political and economic interests and interfere with the functioning of its institutions." While the bill did not mention Soros directly by name, many Hungarian politicians have said they wanted to sweep Soros-tied organizations from the country. Following the stepped up pressure, Soros's organizations said in May that it had become impossible for the Open Society Foundations to operate in Hungary and announced that they would be leaving. The group said that their operations would be moved to Berlin. Soros had made some of his billions of dollars with currency speculation, and has inflicted serious harm on nations like Thailand and the UK through his activities. No wonder his efforts are regarded with deep suspicion. He obviously is deeply concerned by Trump: Soros's lobbying arm spent more ($16.2 million) during Trump's first year in office than it had any previous year. (snip) Between 2002 and 2012, the policy center reported spending $19,120,000 total on lobbying expenses, which averages to $1.9 million per year. Soros's lobbying budget shot up to $11 million in 2013. The most Soros had spent prior to last was $12.4 million in 2014. In an anonymous piece in the New York Post titled: "Inside my nightmare working in de Blasio's government," a social justice warrior got a whiff of what it's like to work for the tsentral planners of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's socialist government. Welcome to socialism, comrade. The female lawyer who wrote this contrasted her good experience working for Mayor Michael Bloomberg's lefty corporatist government, where she said she felt she "made a difference" ordering citizens around, and who knows, stealing the salt shakers off their restaurant tables, with the far more commissar-like experience of working for Bill DeBlasio, a man she voted for, who had more comradely ideas about how things should be done. When Bill de Blasio became mayor of New York in 2014, things changed drastically. I started to hear rumblings early on. My former colleagues who were dedicated public servants were concerned by a large-scale rollback of Bloombergs strategic initiatives. These seemed to be based on partisan politics and black-and-white thinking as opposed to critical analysis. It was very disappointing for me since I had also voted for de Blasio. Although I was still working in the same social-services agency where I had remained at the end of Bloombergs term, my job changed radically. I had no contact with the new commissioner who appeared to be disengaged from substantive discussions about social-services programs for an extremely vulnerable population. In fact, she was much more preoccupied with renovating her office I heard her new desk alone cost thousands of dollars. She even requested that a private bathroom be built for her. She had the attitude of an oligarch and was disturbed that she had to vet invitations to galas through legal and City Hall. She wanted carte blanche to attend expensive events. She also refused to meet with the lawyers in her department and she kept the door to her office closed and didnt know the names of the people who worked in her agency. Under my commissioner, there were no benchmarks, no goals and she did not hold regular meetings with her general counsel. Under her tenure, the legal unit was gutted. And there were no consequences for failing to meet performance goals because there were no performance goals. Oligarch? No, comrade, that's what Bill's Soviet mentors called the "nomenklatura." The Soviet nomenklatura got special shops and access to hard currency as rewards for their loyalty. De Blasio's New York comrades have extended that to special desks and bathrooms. To put it in more recognizable terms, go to Animal Farm, and note that all pigs are equal but "some pigs are more equal than others." Then there's this: Bloomberg didnt solve the homeless issue by any means, but his track record was much better than de Blasios. By the time Bloomberg left office in December 2013, there were about 51,000 homeless people in New York. Under de Blasio, the homeless population has ballooned to 59,638. Today, I cant go into the subway without seeing mentally unstable homeless people. I also feel that the demographic of the New York subway is changing rapidly as more and more of my friends take Ubers because they cannot guarantee they will get to work on time. Nevertheless, the budget for the Department of Homeless Services under de Blasio is set to double from $1.17 billion spent in 2015 to $2.15 billion for fiscal 2018. Comrade, comrade, comrade... Don't you know that it's the intentions that count? Forget about the results. What matters is the virtue-signalling, not getting the homeless of the streets. In fact, more homeless, more bureaucrats. This explains the budget balloon, paying for bureaucrat-hiring. For perspective, see Venezuela to see how far this thing can go. And this: In more than four years in power, de Blasio has yet to veto a single City Council resolution. As a result, the citys lawyers are drowning under masses of paperwork, compelled to write rules for legislation that comes with an influx of new City Council laws. The collective reigns supreme, comrade. All power to the Soviets, as de Blasio would say. Then there's this: This is what happens when there are no clear or transparent conversations between political leaders. Well-intentioned politicians create work and dont actually create proactive change. The underlying concerns that drove the legislation in the first place massive fraud and lack of oversight remained unaddressed. Welcome to Cuba. And every other socialist place, where stealing from The Man is a way of survival. After that, our intrepid social justice warrior says she observed this: In addition to massive amounts of paperwork, I was restricted in how I could carry out my duties under de Blasio. Comrade, comrade, do you understand your place? You became a worker-ant when you went to work for Comrade de Blasio. Then there's this: When two city workers, who were each under a protected class, approached me with workplace discrimination complaints, I escalated their concerns. Both employees alleged discrimination and retaliation by their immediate supervisor. I thought it was my job to mitigate risk within my city agency, and it was met with contempt. The commissioner began to retaliate against me, and I was told in no uncertain terms that I was not allowed to talk to the employees who were alleging discrimination. As far as I know, their complaints were never investigated by the city. The sum of socialism in a nutshell. Obviously, these workers had crossed someone who was politically, not ethnically, protected. The political reigns supreme in socialism, not the rule of law. And after that, the bad socialists, the traitors, wreckers, hoarders and counterrevolutionaries are purged. You got purged. You poor naive, naive, thing. So sorry you had to learn this the hard way, but a little study of socialism and how it works worldwide might have given you a warning. Comrade Bill de Blasio knows all about that, given his proclivities and past. He actually likes it this way. Too bad for you. Has anyone ever called the Chinese 'stupid'? Not those guys. So now they're reading President Trump, and unlike the childish Eurotrash of western Europe, they see a shrewd, wily, chess-playing, Sun Tzu-grade genius, who could easily checkmate them, and they've got a lot of reasons for thinking so. That's the report from a European policy-domo, who actually went to Beijing and asked the local leaders what they were seeing. The report that European Council of Foreign Relations President Mark Leonard gives, in the Financial Times, is well worth the subscription or trial subscription to read it. Some of his thoughts from the piece can be read on Instapundit, however. Here's a bit of what Glenn Reynolds posted: I have just spent a week in Beijing talking to officials and intellectuals, many of whom are awed by his skill as a strategist and tactician. . . . Few Chinese think that Mr Trumps primary concern is to rebalance the bilateral trade deficit. If it were, they say, he would have aligned with the EU, Japan and Canada against China rather than scooping up Americas allies in his tariff dragnet. They think the US presidents goal is nothing less than remaking the global order. They think Mr Trump feels he is presiding over the relative decline of his great nation. It is not that the current order does not benefit the US. The problem is that it benefits others more in relative terms. To make things worse the US is investing billions of dollars and a fair amount of blood in supporting the very alliances and international institutions that are constraining America and facilitating Chinas rise. In Chinese eyes, Mr Trumps response is a form of creative destruction. He is systematically destroying the existing institutions from the World Trade Organization and the North American Free Trade Agreement to Nato and the Iran nuclear deal as a first step towards renegotiating the world order on terms more favourable to Washington. Once the order is destroyed, the Chinese elite believes, Mr Trump will move to stage two: renegotiating Americas relationship with other powers. Because the US is still the most powerful country in the world, it will be able to negotiate with other countries from a position of strength if it deals with them one at a time rather than through multilateral institutions that empower the weak at the expense of the strong. My interlocutors say that Mr Trump is the US first president for more than 40 years to bash China on three fronts simultaneously: trade, military and ideology. They describe him as a master tactician, focusing on one issue at a time, and extracting as many concessions as he can. They speak of the skilful way Mr Trump has treated President Xi Jinping. Look at how he handled North Korea, one says. He got Xi Jinping to agree to UN sanctions [half a dozen] times, creating an economic stranglehold on the country. China almost turned North Korea into a sworn enemy of the country. But they also see him as a strategist, willing to declare a truce in each area when there are no more concessions to be had, and then start again with a new front. Wow. So the Chinese watched the Trump dramas in Quebec and Singapore and Brussels and Helsinki closely, and drew their own conclusions as to what was going on from them. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, as Sun Tzu used to say. The slaparound of Justin Trudeau in Canada, the rapprochement with North Korea's dictator Kim Jong Un in Singapore, the second slaparound at NATO headquarters in Belgium and the lovefest with Vladimir Putin in Finland had quite an effect in China, where the locals recognized the dictum in action. What a coincidence, Trump just happens to be a student of Sun Tzu, the famous Chinese strategist, who wrote "The Art of War." Apparently, the Chinese didn't see a madman (and being pals with Kim, don't think the Chinese aren't well-experienced with so-called madmen) the way the Europeans and the U.S. left did. They saw a power player, someone intent on taking down the world order that the U.S. pays full freight on, yet gets very little from. After all, who cleaned up after the Iraq War was fought, (with U.S. blood and treasure, along with its dragged-along, unwilling allies), and then got all the oil? The Chinese, of course. Naturally, that means that up until now, they've considered the U.S. a sucker. Note that the Chinese guy Leonard quotes is the very Chicom, now-former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs He Yafei, who had fun browbeating President Obama openly in Copenhagen a few years ago, and Obama just took it. He's not talking the same way about Trump. They see Trump as breaking up the multilateral institutions of the post-war order that so stiff the Americans, and then holding out for a better deal for the U.S. on them, which does kind of make sense. After all, Trump is saying that's his idea in the trade war back and forths, over tariffs and pacts. Maybe President Trump is doing this instinctively, or maybe he's doing it with a plan in mind, something that makes the Trump-haters laugh. (Recall though, that his earlier policy guru, Steve Bannon, did focus intently on China.) What's clear though, is that the Chinese have a healthy respect for the U.S. now, and don't focus on mannerisms the way the Eurotrash and their mannerist leftist U.S. allies do, just the actual substance of Dealing with Trump. Was it Sun Tzu or someone who noted the importance of persuading your adversaries that you are more powerful than you may appear to be? Actually Trump himself did, in this Sun Tzu tweet here. Trump, after all, is a big fan of Sun Tzu. Several weeks ago, Russians tried unsuccessfully to hack my computer, and Trump did nothing. When I went into my emails, there was an official-looking email from Microsoft telling me that my service was going to be canceled if I didn't click a link. The thing is, it wasn't a service I ever signed up for, and there was an identical email right after it. As a reasonably competent user of most things internet, I did not click open the emails and immediately sent them both into the email dust bin. This happens millions of times a day, yet Trump does nothing. Where is the government when you need it? Am I right? This incident was probably the exact thing that Claire McCaskill's Senate office experienced, but instead of deleting the suspicious emails somebody in her office probably opened the email and clicked on the link. We know this because McCaskill admitted that the link took them to one of Vladimir Putin's personal Donald Trump-approved hacking operations. The problem is that once you click on the link, the phish is hooked, Comrade. She claimed in the interview that the Russians didn't get anything because the Senate's anti-virus software protected her computers, but I'm skeptical, because if it had been doing its job, it would have blocked the email or the subsequent attempt to connect to the nefarious website. The computer likely had to be scrubbed once it started acting funny. At that point, the computer nerds probably were able to trace it back to somewhere in Ukraine. Being the swamp creature that McCaskill is, she took this highly damaging screw-up in her Senate office, which her opponents could have used as yet another example of her incompetence, and turned it into another chance to blame Trump for letting his Kremlin bestie attack her election. This is a brilliant strategy by a candidate scrambling to find a lifeline for her drowning campaign. By putting whipped cream on manure, she is taking a page from Trump's playbook by getting millions of dollars of free airtime from all the lefty news and talk shows spending countless hours discussing how this is all Trump's fault and somehow proves his election collusion with Vladdy. The question is, can a Senate staffer falling for obvious phish bait turn around McCaskill's campaign? Not likely. This one smells like week-old phish. I predict that it's more likely to be her jump the shark moment. Or is it jump the phish? NC demands action against Prasai in Parliament The main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) has registered a motion of public importance demanding action against medical entrepreneur Durga Prasad Prasai for his derogatory remarks on an issue related to the Nepali female students in Bangladesh. The Canadian Broadcasting Company is reporting that therapists are seeing increasing numbers of patients who say they are suffering from anxiety as a result of Donald Trump's policies and rhetoric. The therapists are referring to the condition as "Trump anxiety disorder." The Hill reports: Elisabeth LaMotte, the founder of the D.C. Counseling and Psychotherapy Center in Washington, D.C., told CBC that there is a collective anxiety among her patients related to President Trumps rhetoric and policies. "There is a fear of the world ending," she said. "It's very disorienting and constantly unsettling." She said that Trump critics whom she treats exhibit similar behavior to patients who have a parent with a personality disorder. "Whether it's conscious or not, I think we look to the president of the United States as a psychological parent," LaMotte said. LaMotte told CBC that the condition is also common among Trump supporters, who often say they feel isolated by friends and family for aligning with the president or pulled into angry conversations. Steve Stosny, another D.C. therapist, told CBC that he worked with a Trump administration official whose liberal-leaning wife and daughter were starting to hate him. The couple eventually decided to divorce, even though the husband left his post. The wife couldn't take it anymore, Stosny said. It's tough when one spouse is at war with the children." Multiple therapists told CBC that they observed symptoms, including lack of sleep, excessive use of social media, feelings of losing control and helplessness, in their patients that they attributed to Trump-related anxiety. "[L]ack of sleep, excessive use of social media, feelings of losing control and helplessness" describes about 10,000 psychological conditions. Who is the CBC trying to kid? Indeed, note that the report quotes only a couple of therapists and then describes what "multiple therapists" indicated as "Trump related anxiety." How many of those "multiple therapists" are virtulent Trump haters? Could it be that a bit of "transference" is underway where the biases of the therapists are transferred to the patient? Nah. Can't happen. There's nothing like an appeal to authority for a reporter to buttress their case. In this instance, the CBC cites an "online poll" which, as you can imagine, is about as inaccurate a true measurement of sentiment as there is in the polling biz. The American Psychological Association (APA) found in a recent online survey that stress levels following the election are the highest theyve been in a decade. And the majority of respondents reported stress over the 2016 election and the future of the nation as factors. The APA also found a correlation between stress levels and electronic news consumption. "Stress over the 2016" election could also mean that people were terrified of Hillary Clinton becoming president. Not one word that indicates Trump would be the sole cause of the stress. Rather than "Trump anxiety disorder" what we have here is "Trump Derangement Syndrome." TDS is running rampant in the media so it's no surprise that hysterical reporting by the press would generate hysteria in the public. Sounds like the therapists themselves need a little therapy to overcome their own hysteria against Trump. Cue the worlds smallest violin. Member states at the United Nations are delinquent on their payments to the body, and as a result, it is contemplating cutting expenses. Leah Barkoukis reports at Townhall.com: United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres is sounding the alarm to members about the world bodys troubling financial situation, urging them to pay up. Our cash flow has never been this low so early in the calendar year, and the broader trend is also concerning; we are running out of cash sooner and staying in the red longer, he said in a letter to staff, reports FoxNews.com. Guterres went on to say that the organization will be taking measures to look at reducing costs, in a way that wont affect their mission. He said he also will be proposing to states various steps to strengthen financial stability at the U.N. Why the UN is spending money that doesnt affect its mission is a question that deserves, but will not receive, consideration by the UNs management. Needless to say, even though the United States is paying up, and accounts for almost a quarter of the revenue the UN receives, President Trump is being blamed by an anonymous source cited in the article. (Source: CNN) One former U.S. diplomat at the U.N. suggested other member states may be dragging their feet on payments over the perception that the U.S. has backed away from its commitments. A look at the record shows that Trump has continued to fund it at historic levels, chose it to sanction North Korea, and uses it as a platform to defend Israel. However, there is a wide misperception fed by Trump detractors and a combative media that his Administration has walked away from the U.N., Hugh Dugan told FoxNews.com. Other countries mimic the U.S., and what they hear has led them to go slow on support and check writing, he added. Its always Trumps fault! An old friend of mine recently retired after a long career at the UN, and over the years in no uncertain terms denounced it as corrupt, ineffective, and generally pointless. But the tax-free income enjoyed in New York City was just great! With the Mueller probe investigating obstruction of justice charges in the Trump campaign, it might be interesting to see what would happen if Congress set in motion obstruction of Congress investigations. We have heard a great deal about fruitless contempt of congress complaints, such as that against former attorney general Eric Holder. But has there been any effort to pursue obstruction charges? They are covered by different statutes. Pursuing contempt of Congress has failed. There is an informative discussion of the topic here. Obstruction of Congress is covered by "18 U.S. Code 1505 Obstruction of proceedings before departments, agencies, and committees." It is rarely pursued, but the statute is simple and to the point. 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 and proper administration of the law under which any pending proceeding is being had before any department or agency of the United States, or the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which any inquiry or investigation is being had by either House, or any committee of either House or any joint committee of the Congress [emphasis added] Shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both. Having corrupt FBI and DOJ officials given their own day in court does have a strong appeal. And eight years in the federal penitentiary for the guilty would be a satisfying outcome. The intent of such a course of action would be to get the Judicial Branch involved in the dispute between the Legislative and Executive Branches. Since this is a new "matter" (or should that be "investigation"?), the existing management at the FBI and DOJ would be forced to recuse themselves. There already exists a U.S. attorney available, with the authority to take matters to a grand jury: John R. Lausch, Jr. Have House and Senate leaders file a criminal referral asking him to pursue obstruction of Congress charges before the grand jury. If he succeeds in obtaining an indictment, bring the likes of Rod Rosenstein before the bar. Let a judge weigh in on the dispute between to other two branches. He would act as a referee. There was one recent attempt at getting a conviction on such charges, which is informative. During the BP oil spill, then-representative Ed Markey and his aides tried to get a BP executive, David Rainey, charged with obstruction of Congress. Mr. Rainey was acquitted. Given how reviled his employer, BP, was at the time, that is remarkable. The charge was that Mr. Rainey had lied to Rep. Markey's subcommittee about the size of the oil spill. One defect in the case against him was that the information was supplied to a subcommittee, whereas the statute was found to require testimony before a full or joint committee. With all the recent televised joint committee hearings, that should not be a problem now. A fuller report appeared on AT on May 16, 2013. For political theater, it would be hard to top the question asked by U.S. district judge Stanwood Duval during a hearing regarding the government withholding Brady material in a related trial against another BP employee Kurt Mix (emphasis added): "The facts make it abundantly clear that these prosecutors have violated Brady," court orders and ethics rules, Joan McPhee, an attorney for Mix, told Duval yesterday. "They have done so by knowingly and intentionally suppressing evidence in their direct personal possession" that contradicts their obstruction charges against Mix, McPhee said. The U.S. hasn't suppressed evidence, prosecutor Derek Cohen told Duval yesterday. ... Duval said he would take the defense motion for sanctions "under advisement," while ordering the government to provide the defense with Federal Bureau of Investigation interviews of witnesses and 400 civil depositions. Duval asked McPhee what remedies she would like for Mix, "other than hanging and pillorying" the prosecutors. "Hanging and pillorying"? Maybe eight years in the pen is enough for corrupt law enforcement officials. Democratic socialism has been much in the news lately what with the primary victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York and Bernie Sanders running around the country preaching that it's "Time for socialism." But what do real socialists think of their ideas? Authors Anthony Davies and James Harrigan point out that Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders don't have a clue what real socialism is all about. In Denmark, he said, there is a very different understanding of what freedom means. Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen disagreed, pointing out in a speech delivered at Harvard that Sanders missed some important details in his attempt to make America Danish. I would like to make one thing clear, Rasmussen said. Denmark is far from a socialist planned economy. Denmark is a market economy. Sanders has a solid track record for ignoring evidence, and Ocasio-Cortez is following in his footsteps. She recently declared herself not the expert on geopolitics while appearing on national television to discuss geopolitics. And despite studying economics, she remains confused as to how something as simple as unemployment is measured. What neither seems to realize is that they inadvertently make the case not for socialism, but for economic freedom. Economic freedom, the ability to engage in transactions free from government interference while simultaneously being protected from fraud, theft, breach of contract and other malfeasance, is at once a measure of limited and of effective government. While there is no perfect way to measure economic freedom, competing methods yield consistently similar results. The most recent of these, the Heritage Foundations 2018 Index of Economic Freedom, lists the United States as the 18th (out of 180) most economically free country in the world. This is far short of the No. 4 ranking the United States held in 2007, the decline from which coincided with a dramatic increase in the scope of the federal governments power and spending following the housing crash. The US has no "Five year plan." There is no total government control of labor and capital as there is in real socialists countries like North Korea or Cuba. There is, indeed, interference in markets by government in the US. But "interference" is not "control" and for either the left or the right to refer to what is being espoused by Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez as "socialism" is just plain wrong. The so-called Scandanavian Model isn't socialism either: Democratic socialists in the United States call for us to be more like Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Yet two of those countries, Denmark and Sweden, are more economically free than the United States, sitting at 12th and 15th in the Heritage rankings. Though at the bottom of the list for freedom from taxes (180th and 179th), Denmark and Sweden score much higher than the United States for freedom from government spending (13th and 3rd), effectiveness of their judiciary (9th and 5th), and business freedom (3rd and 11th). Socialism has a consistent track record for any who care to take a sober look. The Soviet Union and Venezuela tried it and disintegrated. China and North Korea tried it and suffered mass starvation. Every country that has ever tried socialism has either retreated toward economic freedom, or has employed mass violence to force its people to remain socialist. All of this should be perfectly obvious to American socialists, but they are as resistant to history as they are to economics. Consequently, they learn from neither. Words matter. Definitions matter. Using the term "socialist" as a political attack on Democrats might be convenient shorthand but it's as irrelevant as when the left calls those on the right "fascists" or "Nazis." Without a general agreement on what these terms mean, there can be no intelligent conversation or debate about the direction the US should take. Editor-in-chiefEndurance is about keeping a clear head while in prison. If you are just visiting, a prison is noise. The slow, dull, low-pitched noise of doors closing behind you. First they let you in and then they eject you, as an afterword to a rushed conversation through a glass partition. The Lledoners prison is different from Soto del Real, or Soto, as those who have spent time there refer to it. Jordi Sanchez is grateful to be near his family; he is grateful that, rather than grey, Lledoners is an earth-coloured building; that people are not hostile to him; that visits are allowed instead of always being under consideration; that dinner time is later and his daily activities keep him busy longer. We walk into the visiting room with the families of regular inmates and the friends of Jordi Turull and Oriol Junqueras. The former have had to wait months to be able see him, whereas the latter visited him three times while he was held in Estremera. We talk about the effects of prison on families and the unreal feeling that overcomes you when you walk across that silent courtyard. A female warden has given us a booth number and we rush to locate it so as not to waste one moment of the time we have been given to speak to Jordi Sanchez. We are still not sure whether we have remembered the right number and found the right booth when Sanchez turns up wearing a black jumper and a closely-trimmed beard, smiling and seemingly calm. We instinctively touch the glass partition to shake hands and Sanchez is quick to pick up the phone that will allow us to communicate with him from our side. He wastes no time. We discuss politics and he cuts straight to the chase. There doesnt seem to be any sadness, but the obligation to build a lucid narrative that will save the independence process, avert a violent outbreak and avoid making the same mistakes again. He is concerned about how the penalty requested by the public prosecutor will be explained he takes it for granted that it will be very harsh and what the reaction in the streets will be. Sanchez does not expect to get a fair trial and has begun to picture it today: his lawyer has just told him that the most likely date will be during the first two weeks of November. Its not good news to know that the Catalan political prisoners will be moved back to a facility near Madrid and it will be Christmas again during their trial. According to Sanchez, some political actors are emotionally blocked and he is determined to write, read and help to draft the pro-independence camps new strategy. He states that the subject is rarely broached by the political prisoners; avoiding it helps them to keep their sanity, and Sanchez says he only gets upset when there are signs of division, which the people do not deserve. In prison he gets the physical exercise he didnt use to get, he is learning about photography and reluctantly admits to writing less now that he has a tv set. He hopes the new socialist administration led by Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez will not muddle up the judicial situation further and will engage in talks so that a mutually-agreed referendum can be held in the long term. At one point he wonders whether everyone understands what it means to build a republic and he emphasises that any strategy must first be deemed useful. The former leader of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) is hopeful that Puigdemonts new political movement, Crida, will be able to interpret the new political culture which Sanchez believes has taken hold in Catalonia and he thinks that it will only be effective provided it is a truly new movement. He and Carles Puigdemont write to each other and exchange messages through a third party. Sanchez recognises that Puigdemont is a charismatic leader and this allows them to resolve their differences when they arise. We are interrupted by the sort of chime that precedes an airport tannoy announcement, followed by someones voice. Sanchez explains that in five minutes the audio will be cut off and we wont be able to hear each other anymore. It turns out it is less than two minutes. Suddenly we cannot hear his words. He stays calm, seated and smiling. We shout out the end of our conversation and say our good-byes. A warden approaches and knocks on the door. The inmates start leaving their booths and walk towards a central corridor where we spot Jordi Turull walking towards us. He is thinner and is wearing Bermuda shorts. We greet him through the glass partition and then Oriol Junqueras arrives but he stays by the door, discreetly. I recall that the last time I interviewed him we met at the Ministry of Economy, in the vice presidents office. He is thinner and I crack a joke to defuse the absurdity of it all. He replies by showing off his biceps and calves and, from my side of the partition, I can hear him quip: I ask them: what would you like me to beat you at?. We are the last ones to leave. Some visitors wipe off their tears. It is unbearably hot on the courtyard. For some stupid reason, I recall the last text message that Jordi Sanchez sent his family: Are you off to bed, yet? Abril, brush your teeth. COP26 may be a cop-out in the making COP26 is just about a month away. Delayed for a year by the Covid-19 pandemic, the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference has built up even more expectations and momentum during the intervening months NCs next issue: Speaker, deputy from same party The Nepali Congress is preparing to raise the issue of Speaker and Deputy Speaker coming from the same party as its major agenda after Dr Govinda KC ended his 15th hunger strike on Thursday night, whose agenda was supported by the opposition party. road-trip A post shared by lumber21 (@lumber21) on Jul 27, 2018 at 11:49am PDT A post shared by lumber21 (@lumber21) on Jul 28, 2018 at 6:23am PDT A post shared by lumber21 (@lumber21) on Jun 13, 2018 at 7:13pm PDT This is one of the first examples of the Rennsport Neunelfer to have landed in the US and its spec can keep up gazing at it for hours.The machine is dressed in Guards Red, which happened to be the launch color for the (non-RS) 991.2-generation GT3. Then we have the golden wheels of the car, which give the spec an elevated appearance.Zoom in on the rims and you'll notice the banana-colored calipers, which mean this puppy is gifted with PCCB (Porsche Carbon Ceramic Brakes) hardware. These make for an expensive option and we can say the same about the all-LED headlights, which comes with black inner graphics.Note that this machine doesn't come with the Weissach Package. Then again, this only seems fitting, if we take into account the fact that the driver seems to treat the thing like a daily.In fact, the real-world (read: non-dealership) photos at the bottom of the page, which come from the aficionado's Instagram account, come to prove this.The man seems to own multiple Neunelfers, with one of the others being the 700 hp GT2 RS.Speaking of the Porsche 911, we'll remind you that the German automotive producer is about to deliver the final edition of the current 991.2 generation.The introduction of the 2019 911 Speedster is a certainty, with this basically coming as a GT3 Cabriolet with a fancier roof and rear deck.Nevertheless, Porsche might also bring us an actual GT3 Cabrio , which would come in (slightly) larger numbers - the rumor mill talks about 70 units of the first and 1948 units of the latter (that's right, the two mark the brand's 70-year anniversary). If flying 1000-plus C-47s to France was a logistical challenge in 1944, its no less so in 2019. The Daks Over Normandy project, which will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, showed up at AirVenture this week to talk about its extensive planning. The D-Day Squadron will fly more than 20 C-47s from the U.S. to Normandy in late May 2019, culminating with a mass formation on June 5 to commemorate the invasion of northwestern Europe by allied forces in 1944. As did the original airplanes, the C-47s will follow a route from the northeastern U.S., to Goosebay, Greenland, Iceland, Scotland and into Duxford, England, where a couple of days of events are planned. What were doing is putting staff in place. Weve got some dispatch and flight planning organizations that have offered their services. Were going to pre-stage a team of people at every stop, said Eric Zipkin, head of the D-Day Squadron organization. Zipkin said the logistics are daunting, especially since the event will be funded largely by private donations. Most of the 20-plus aircraft making the trip are actual C-47s, some used in wartime service. Many were converted to DC-3s for airline use after the war. Zipkin said following the Normandy event, some of the airplanes will continue on to Germany to mark the beginning of the Berlin Airlift in 1948. For more on this event, see this AVweb podcast recorded at AirVenture and the organizations website. In its ongoing investigation into a midair collision that killed four people in Florida on July 17, the NTSB has reported that the two airplanes converged nearly straight on. The Piper PA-34-200 Seneca twin and Cessna 172N both were owned by the Dean International flight school, based at Miami Executive Airport (TMB). A private pilot was flying the twin, with a designated pilot examiner on board, and a student pilot and flight instructor were aboard the Skyhawk. Citing preliminary information from the FAA, the NTSB reported the Piper was en route to a nearby training area at an altitude about 1,500 feet MSL, flying northwest, and no longer communicating with the TMB tower, as it was outside the Class D airspace. The Cessna was returning from the training area at an altitude about 1,500 feet MSL, flying southeast, and had contacted the TMB tower just prior to the collision. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, the NTSB said, with visibility recorded as 10 statute miles. FAA and NTSB records show this was the third fatal crash for the flight school since 2013. Last week, the schools owner, Robert Dean, said he would be closing down the school. About 200 students were enrolled there, most of them from Saudi Arabia, India and Latin America. The school has been in operation since 1995. But that's not the same thing as saying the runway turnback is always a good idea. EAA is taking another run at it and let's see what the data shows. If flying 1000-plus C-47s to France was a logistical challenge in 1944, its no less so in 2019. The Daks Over Normandy project, which will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, showed up at AirVenture this week to talk about its extensive planning. In this AVweb podcast, we talked to Eric Zipkin about how the event is shaping up. State and local officials from Illinois and Chicago released a plan on Friday for a far-reaching police department reform under federal court supervision, reports NBC News. The big picture: The plan's announcement comes more than a year after an investigation by the Justice Department revealed that the Chicago Police Department had a deep-rooted history of civil rights violations. The report found that the department uses force nearly 10 times as often against black citizens than they did white citizens. The details: Among the requirements, officers must issue a verbal warning before using force as well as provide life-saving aid after force is used. The plan also issues a 180-day deadline for investigations by the police department's internal affairs bureau and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. An investigation from the Obama administration's Justice Department that began after the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald prompted many of the proposed reforms. The backdrop: Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan sued Chicago last year seeking court oversight of Chicago's police department, reports NBC. The lawsuit requested an independent court-appointed monitor who would regularly report to a judge about whether the city is meeting reform benchmarks. What to watch: Though the plan has been released to the public, it is not a done deal. A judge will hold hearings and gather opinions of stakeholders involved before approving the final consent decree. Police union president Kevin Graham blasted the reform plan calling it "illegal and invalid." Nepal keen to gift second pair of rhinoceros to China soon The Government of Nepal plans to gift the second pair of one-horned rhinos to China at the earliest because the threat of floods looms in Chitwan. "The Trump administration is urging American-backed Afghan troops to retreat from sparsely populated areas of the country, ... all but ensuring the Taliban will remain in control of vast stretches of the country," N.Y. Times Pentagon correspondents Thomas "T.M." Gibbons-Neff (who was deployed twice to Afghanistan as a Marine infrantryman) and Helene Cooper report. Why it matters: "The retreat to the cities is a searing acknowledgment that the American-installed government in Afghanistan remains unable to lead and protect the countrys sprawling rural population." The details: "The approach is outlined in a previously undisclosed part of the war strategy that President Trump announced last year...It is meant to protect military forces from attacks at isolated and vulnerable outposts, and focuses on protecting cities such as Kabul, the capital, and other population centers." "The withdrawal resembles strategies embraced by both the Bush and Obama administrations that have started and stuttered over the nearly 17-year war." strategies embraced by both the Bush and Obama administrations that have started and stuttered over the nearly 17-year war." "It will effectively ensure that the Taliban and other insurgent groups will hold on to territory that they have already seized, leaving the government in Kabul to safeguard the capital and cities such as Kandahar, Kunduz, Mazar-i-Sharif and Jalalabad." The big picture: "Over the years, as waves of American and NATO troops have come and left in repeated cycles, the government has slowly retrenched and ceded chunks of territory to the Taliban, cleaving Afghanistan into disparate parts and ensuring a conflict with no end in sight." President Trump tweeted Sunday morning that he is "willing to 'shut down'" the government this fall if congressional Democrats don't help to pass his preferred immigration reform. "I would be willing to 'shut down' government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall! Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country!" The big picture: I must confess to being surprised by Trumps tweet even if hes made and bailed on such threats in the past. As recently as a month ago, senior White House officials with direct knowledge of the presidents private conversations told me they were convinced hed been persuaded that it was not in his political interests to shut down the government a month before the midterm elections. Ive yet to speak to a Republican member who believes leadership can deliver the wall funding Trump wants by the end of September. The bottom line: Todays threat could turn out to be bluster; but if he doesnt follow through Republican members will fear him less the next time he threatens them. More from Swan during an appearance on Fox News Sunday: President Trump tweeted Sunday morning that he had met with A.G. Sulzberger, the publisher of The New York Times which the White House confirmed occurred on July 20, per The Washington Post. "Had a very good and interesting meeting at the White House with A.G. Sulzberger, Publisher of the New York Times. Spent much time talking about the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, 'Enemy of the People.' Sad!" The response: Sulzberger issued a statement that he accepted the meeting "to raise concerns about the presidents deeply troubling anti-press rhetoric," adding that he "told the president directly that I thought that his language was not just divisive but increasingly dangerous." Sulzberger's full statement about the meeting: "My main purpose for accepting the meeting was to raise concerns about the presidents deeply troubling anti-press rhetoric. I told the president directly that I thought that his language was not just divisive but increasingly dangerous. I told him that although the phrase fake news is untrue and harmful, I am far more concerned about his labeling journalists the enemy of the people. I warned that this inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence. I repeatedly stressed that this is particularly true abroad, where the presidents rhetoric is being used by some regimes to justify sweeping crackdowns on journalists. I warned that it was putting lives at risk, that it was undermining the democratic ideals of our nation, and that it was eroding one of our countrys greatest exports: a commitment to free speech and a free press. Throughout the conversation I emphasized that if President Trump, like previous presidents, was upset with coverage of his administration he was of course free to tell the world. I made clear repeatedly hat I was not asking for him to soften his attacks on The Times if he felt our coverage was unfair. Instead, I implored him to reconsider his broader attacks on journalism, which I believe are dangerous and harmful to our country." Trump tweeted about Sulzberger when he was named publisher back in January: A tweet previously embedded here has been deleted or was tweeted from an account that has been suspended or deleted. By Trend Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to King of Morocco Mohammed VI. "Dear brother, On behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I extend my sincerest congratulations to you and through you to all the people of your country on the occasion of the national holiday of the Kingdom of Morocco, the Day of Throne. I believe that we will continue our joint efforts to comprehensively develop and strengthen Azerbaijan-Morocco bilateral relations and deepen our bilateral cooperation in accordance with the best interests of our peoples. On this joyous day, I wish you the best of health and happiness, and the brotherly people of Morocco everlasting peace and prosperity", Ilham Aliyev said in his letter. By Trend A telephone conversation took place between Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Turkish media reported. The conversation took place on the initiative of the Turkish Foreign Minister. The details of the conversation were not disclosed. US sanctions against Turkey Trump promised earlier to impose "large sanctions" against Turkey for the detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson, who is accused of aiding the coup attempt in Turkey in 2016. "The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being. He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!" Trump tweeted. Vice President Mike Pence stated the possibility of imposition of sanctions previously. A court in the Turkish province of Izmir decided July 25 to transfer under house arrest American pastor Andrew Brunson, whom Ankara suspects aiding the coup attempt in 2016. Branson was prohibited to leave the territory of Turkey by a court decision dated July 25. The same court a week ago rejected the motion for release of the pastor. The next hearing on Brunsons case has been scheduled for October 12. Walking Lincoln City's Siletz Bay and Its Oddities: Oregon Coast Video Published 07/27/2018 at 9:52 PM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff (Lincoln City, Oregon) Much is going on at Lincoln Citys Siletz Bay, often in ways you cant always see. Or at least you have to look hard in some circumstances. Sure, its known as the crabbing and clamming hotspot in this bustling central Oregon coast town. Of course, its excellent for sun bathing, sea gazing and even star gazing. But the bay has its surprises. Stuff just below the surface literally. This video takes you on a brief walk around the bays famed dock and some of the driftwood-laden beach, letting you stroll around the more obvious delights. Theres more than meets the eye to this intriguing and calming bit of Oregon coast, and that you can read about below. Odd Colored Rocks at the Bend. As you round the bend from Siletz Bay to the beaches of Lincoln City, some unique objects may present themselves just beneath the waves. Its rarely seen, and it will depend greatly on how far the tide is out and how low sand levels have become, but its a puzzling yet wondrous sight. Brightly colored rocks sometimes show up in this section of Lincoln City. And theyre not just bright colors theyre unusual forms of greens and reds. Theyre like streaks in these intertidal slabs, appearing in a way thats almost crystal-like. As if you might be able to see through them. But you cant. Theyre simply either sea life thats clinging to these rocks or they could be veins of rock material that help create the agates you find in the area. There is one such jasper vein near the SW 35th St. access, buried deep beneath the sands. Seals and Sea Lions in Siletz Bay. Sometimes as youre gazing out into the soft splash of this central Oregon coast pleasant spot, you might see little heads bobbing up and down in the water watching you. Yes, sometimes the wildlife here checks out the humans. Seals and sea lions like to haul out on the edge of the Salishan Spit across the bay here mostly harbor seals. You can see gobs of the slovenly creatures lounging around the sand on the other side and sometimes even hear them barking and carrying on. At times, they frolic in the water, splashing and diving and flopping around again in the current. Its then when you might spot one looking back at you. Ghost Ship Legend. There have long been legends here of a ghost ship that appears in Siletz Bay, poking briefly out of a fog bank and then disappearing again. These paranormal legends have gone on for generations. There was even a documentary made around 2000 about the ghost legends of Lincoln City which had some purported witnesses to these spooky sights. Even stranger: there is a ghost of a shipwreck here. A large sailing ship crashed in these waters more than 150 years ago and parts of it managed to lodge in the middle of the bay for a long time. Then chunks of it disappeared in the mid-century, however. Shipwreck of the Blanco. Buried in the mud and muck of the bay is a brig named the Blanco, which wrecked in presumably sometime in 1864. It was bound for Coos Bay after leaving San Francisco late that year, but it was another year before a newspaper story in Salem recounted the wreckage in the bay. The masts were gone and its hull was essentially split in two. Its cargo vanished. Its crew were missing as well. There are not even really legends about what happened to them. Its possible some local tribesmen might have killed them for their goods: some natives around the time were seen with clothing and equipment clearly salvaged from the wreckage in one way or the other. What local tribes are left on the central Oregon coast are not usually direct descendants of the indigenous peoples at the time because of forced movement elsewhere. More than likely they were killed in the wreck mishap itself. What happened to the ship after its skeleton sank was a bit of a mystery still to this day. Its remains have popped up now and again, but apparently not since the '80s. Continue here to see the Lincoln City virtual tour and even more wild details. Lodgings in Lincoln City - Where to eat - Maps and 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 Rethinking organic farming Natural farming is not just about cultivating without the use of chemicals The Drug Enforcement Administration's Miami office and Miami-Dade police arrested and charged Armando Falcon, MD, and two of his office managers for operating a pill mill July 24, according to the Miami Herald. Here are six things to know: 1. Dr. Falcon owned and operated the Pain Center of Cutler Bay in Miami. 2. The investigation alleges Dr. Falcon met with patients for less than two minutes on average before writing and filling prescriptions for approximately 150/30 milligram oxycodone pills. According to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, Dr. Falcon only accepted cash payments. 3. The attorney general's office alleges Dr. Falcon saw between 20 to 25 patients per day and took in more than $1dollars per year from this scheme. 4. According to bank records obtained during the investigation, Dr. Falcon allegedly used the proceeds to purchase beach apartments, boats, cars and homes. 5. The clinic's office managers Claudia Centeno and Reveka Karagianni were also arrested and charged with two counts of racketeering and oxycodone trafficking. 6. The DEA conducted 16 undercover visits to the clinic, according to Ms. Bondi. More articles on practice management: Stillwater Medical Center to buy 50% of orthopedic group: 5 insights Southern Joint Replacement Institute opens new clinic: 4 insights Hospital for Special Surgery to work with South Korean hospitals on quality improvement: 5 key notes Danny Dyer attending the British Soap Awards 2016 at the Hackney Empire, 291 Mare St, London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Saturday May 28, 2016. See PA Story SHOWBIZ Soap. Photo credit should read: Matt Crossick/PA Wire Soap star Danny Dyer has praised his daughter for being a role model as he spoke of his relief that she has not had sex during her time in the Love Island villa. The EastEnders actor also said it would be lovely if Dani and stationery salesman Jack Fincham walked down the aisle but added: Who knows, lets meet the f****** geezer first. Dani, 22, and Jack are the bookies favourites to win the ITV2 reality series and the 50,000 prize on Monday night, having been a couple since the beginning. Dyer told the Sunday Mirror: She has spun it on its head and she has not f***** about under the quilts once. Expand Close Danny Dyer has spoken of his pride at his daughters behaviour (Jonathan Brady/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Danny Dyer has spoken of his pride at his daughters behaviour (Jonathan Brady/PA) She is a role model for young kids. She doesnt need to do that. The soap star also complimented Dani for taking his advice to be kind at all costs. He and wife Joanne Mas were childhood sweethearts and Dyer proudly told the paper: With all our faults we definitely got it right with Dani. The actor, known for playing hard man Mick Carter on the BBC One soap, also said he had been wrong to have doubts about Dani appearing on Love Island. He told the paper: I got it wrong. She was so right. What shes done is incredible. She is real, like her dad. We cant wait to tell her how great she is. Following Friday nights episode of Love Island, viewers expressed their disappointment on social media as it emerged Danis parents will not enter the villa on Sunday night to meet Jack. Expand Close Jack and Dani are favourites to win Love Island (ITV) ITV / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jack and Dani are favourites to win Love Island (ITV) The Dyer family are on holiday in Florida, and viewers were shown a glimpse of them speaking to Dani and Jack by video link. The family and friends of the remaining contestants will enter the villa and get to know their partners parents in person. During Thursday nights episode, Jack asked Dani to move in with him, saying it was the next logical step for us. She gleefully accepted, telling him: Of course I will. The Love Island finale airs at 9pm on July 30 on ITV2. The Royal Albert Halls artistic director has warned that children could stop taking up classical instruments such as the oboe unless more effort is made to bring them to their attention. Research commissioned by the London concert hall, which has hosted the Proms classical concerts annually since 1941, suggested around 1% of children identified the French horn, English horn, bassoon or contrabassoon as instruments they either play or would like to play. In comparison, the poll of 1,000 children found that a third wanted to try their hand at either classical or electric guitar while 15% expressed a desire to play the keyboard. Expand Close Lucy Noble cited video streaming sites and Government education policy as reasons for the decline in children learning classical instruments. (Doug Peters/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Lucy Noble cited video streaming sites and Government education policy as reasons for the decline in children learning classical instruments. (Doug Peters/PA) Artistic and commercial director Lucy Noble told The Sunday Telegraph: Encouraging the next generation to take more of an interest in classical instruments is crucial to their survival. If more is not done to promote the playing of these instruments we risk seeing them disappear from schools, stages, studios and screen. The future of any instrument is only as strong as the next generation of people willing to learn it. It would be a huge shame if any of these fantastic instruments were to become extinct. Ms Noble cited the popularity of video streaming sites such as YouTube as one of the main causes of a decline in young people expressing an interest in learning orchestral instruments. She said: It used to be the case that to experience music one had to see it live. However, the advent of online video means that many are watching music videos without being exposed to the production behind the music, which dramatically reduces the exposure of some lesser-known instruments. She criticised the Government policy which makes it compulsory for children to take at least one science subject up to GCSE level, while music and other arts disciplines can be dropped by the age of 14. Ms Noble, who plays the flute, described the situation as shocking and very biased towards a certain area of the curriculum. DUP MLA Jim Wells has branded an LGBTQ event held at Stormont on Saturday night as an "utter disgrace". Alternative Queer Ulster hosted the event which allowed members of the LGBTQ community to share their stories as part of Pride Week 2018. Read More Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph Mr Wells said that "no MLA should have sponsored or attended the event." The DUP MLA had the party whip withdrawn in May after claiming the DUP leadership broke promises to reinstate him as Health Minister, a claim the DUP deny. While Health Minister Mr Wells was persistent in his belief that gay men should not be allowed to donate blood. His DUP party colleague Paula Bradley was one of those sponsoring the event at Parliament Buildings but, Mr Wells said that all sponsors should have withdrawn their support for the event regardless of which party they represented. "There's levels of decency in public life and I think it's important that public representatives maintain those," the South Down MLA said. Mr Wells particularly objected to drag queen Electra La C**** taking part in the event, the performer once wore a tiara coated with HIV positive blood. "I believe that once it became apparent the background, the views and the utterances of one of those taking part the sponsors of the event should have withdrawn their support immediately. "I have had alot of people who think that this went too far and that this event should not have been held at the seat of the Government of Northern Ireland, it would have been more appropriate in a private venue. "I believe that once it became apparent on Thursday the nature of the event then sponsorship should have been immediately pulled. The event should have been cancelled." Alternative Queer Ulster at Parliament Buildings. A bit more colour and energy that anyones seen in the Great Hall for a while. Good to see Stormont is a venue for all @belfastpride pic.twitter.com/vsKSHaAkPR Mike Nesbitt (@mikenesbittni) July 28, 2018 Drag Queen Rose of Tralee compares Northern Ireland to Republic of Gilead from the Handmaid's Tale at Alternative Queer Ulster #Stormont #LGBTQ #NI pic.twitter.com/jluVsoNtfW Victoria Leonard (@Bel_Tel_VL) July 28, 2018 Three MLAs must sponsor an event before it can be held at Stormont. The Alternative Queer Ulster event was sponsored by the DUP's North Belfast MLA Paula Bradley, Sinn Fein's Newry and Armagh MLA Megan Fearon and South Belfast Green Party MLA Clare Bailey. "Sponsors vouch for the conduct of those present, and it's a reflection on you," Mr Wells said. "The event has brought embarrassment and ridicule to the Northern Ireland Assembly. "This event was tasteless and has brought the Northern Ireland Assembly and Stormont into disrepute. "Steps must be taken to prevent a similar type of event taking place in Parliament Buildings again." Green Party MLA Claire Bailey attended the event on Saturday evening and said it was important to give LGBTQ people a voice. "This was an important event because we heard from LGBTQ people on the issues that matter most to them," the South Belfast MLA said. We have had a really impressive and engaging mix of discourse, activism and advocacy. The speakers were colourful, candid and compelling." Police are treating vandalism at a Co Antrim Orange Hall as a "sectarian hate crime". Rasharkin Orange Hall on Main Street was daubed with republican graffiti between 9 and 11pm on Saturday. The hall has frequently been targeted over the years but has not seen an attack since 2016. UUP leader Robin Swann said that he was not surprised by the attack. "I am disgusted and disappointed though not surprised that Rasharkin Orange Hall has been attacked again and painted with pro-IRA graffiti," the North Antrim MLA said. "The members of the lodge had recently painted the outside of the hall themselves but those who are driven by hatred and the need for division couldn't let it alone. "It is not surprising as there is a small group within the village who are hell bent on raising tension at this time of year while the majority of the village just want to live and let live." Police have appealed for information in relation to the criminal damage at the hall. Sergeant Craig has appealed for anyone who has information about this incident, which is being treated as a sectarian hate crime, to contact Police at Coleraine on the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference 1593 28/07/18. Alternatively, information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime. The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) led a rescue team which saved over 72 pigs from a slurry tank on a farm in Co Antrim on Sunday. It was the largest animal rescue operation in the history of Northern Ireland and lasted nearly seven hours on the farm on the Ballinderry Road in Aghalee. Six NIFRS appliances attended the incident along with a specialist rescue team and a large animal rescue team. The pigs, weighing over 100 kilos each, fell into the slurry tank when concrete slots gave way. Unfortunately two pigs died during the operation. 70 pigs trapped in slurry tank near Aghalee @NIFRSOFFICIAL launches major operation in attempt to save them. pic.twitter.com/o0RPxzF5cm Q Radio News (@qnewsdesk) July 29, 2018 Aghalee farmer Nigel Grant thanked the Fire Service for their work in rescuing his pigs. "We had a good outcome, out of all the pigs in the tank we lost two. I can't praise the fire brigade enough," he told Q Radio. "There's an old saying in this country, whoever owns the cows in the drain will pull hardest on the rope, well today I saw the fire brigade men pull hardest on the rope. "They didn't own the stock, but they pulled very hard today on the rope." NIFRS Group Commander Geoff Somerville paid tribute to the work of those involved in the operation. "It was very arduous conditions, firefighters were working using breathing apparatuses and immersion suits, they worked in teams of three to rescue the pigs and then. "I would like to pay tribute to the work of the crews and everyone in attendance, it was a great result. We thought we were going to be dealing with a much worse situation." Commander Somerville asked that the public be mindful when working on slurry farms due to the dangers posed. Local SDLP councillor Mairia Cahill said that the rescue was a real good news story. "Fair play to the Northern Ireland Fire Service who worked very hard in difficult conditions to rescue these pigs. "It has been a significant operation and a very successful one. We all know the dangers of slurry fumes and they put themselves at risk to rescue the pigs. "I'd like to pay tribute to them for all their hard work and I hope all the rescued pigs are ok." DUP MP Sammy Wilson has become the latest senior unionist figure to criticise his former party leader Peter Robinson for saying Northern Ireland should prepare for a united Ireland. TUV leader Jim Allister and former UUP leader Lord Empey had previously condemned the comments. Read More In a speech at the MacGill Summer School in Glentines, Co Donegal on Friday Mr Robinson said that he believed Northern Ireland should prepare for the possibility, though he does not think Northern Ireland will want to leave. I dont expect my own house to burn down but I still insure it because it could happen, Mr Robinson said. East Antrim MP Wilson said comments were "an invitation to republican arsonists to come in and burn our house down". Mr Allister said that the speech was "beyond crass" while Lord Empey said that the DUP founding member's comments would be "music to the ears of Irish republicans" and the Irish Government. Mr Robinson said that he believed unionists would accept the results of a border poll that led to a united Ireland. As soon as that decision is taken every democrat will have to accept that decision, he said. Earlier this year Mr Robinson said that border polls should be held at fixed dates to avoid destabilising Northern Ireland politics. Mr Wilson called the comments "dangerous and demoralising" but acknowledged his former party leader was a "committed unionist". Expand Close Peter Robinson was speaking at the MacGill summer school in Glenties (PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Peter Robinson was speaking at the MacGill summer school in Glenties (PA) "I don't prepare to go to the moon in Richard Branson's space shuttle because I have no intention of ending up there," he said. "Preparing for a possible united Ireland is not an insurance policy against something unpleasant happening, it is an invitation to republican arsonists to come in and burn our house down." "I want to preach the reasons why we should keep the union, not prepare for its destruction". North Antrim MLA Allister said that no unionist should do anything to encourage those campaigning for a border poll. "Little wonder social media lit up with welcome from Sinn Fein disciples singing his praises as they enjoyed the music he had brought to their ears. By his crass comments he fed the republican myth of the inevitability of Irish unity." Mr Allister said that the former DUP leader was "yesteday's man" and called on Arlene Foster to clarify her position. "Mr Robinson did not indicate what preparations should be made, but to even talk about preparations for leaving the UK is to encourage such an eventuality, as it anticipates the facilitation of such. Maybe we are all to start learning Irish - he didn't say," the TUV leader said. "You'd wait a long time for Sinn Fein to advise preparing for Direct Rule, but here we have the former leader of unionism urging preparation for fulfilment of the republican dream. What self-evident folly!" Lord Empey accused the former DUP leader of becoming a "Sinn Fein echo chamber". "This is not strategic thinking, rather it's the latest in a long line of proposals from Peter Robinson that are detrimental to Northern Ireland whether that be the St Andrews Agreement, the terrorist shrine at the Maze or the DUP inspired HIU, cooked up under the Stormont House Agreement, which will be a parallel police force," he said. He said the focus should be on Brexit rather than "nonsense" comments from his old political advesary Peter Robinson. His house insurance analogy is facile, Lord Empey said. The DUP has declined to comment on Mr Robinson's speech or the reaction to it. Ruling MPs seek word from Joshee before his pick The ruling parties, which suspect that the judiciary is making unwarranted interventions in various decisions of the government, are looking for strong commitment from chief justice nominee Deepak Raj Joshee for a change of tack before endorsing his pick from the Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee. Yacht sailors have been warned to be vigilant as high winds and heavy rain hits the UK (Danny Lawson/PA) Heavy rain and strong winds have affected festivals and events across Scotland. The Aberdeen Mela festival due to take place in the citys Westburn Park on Sunday was cancelled as a result of the poor weather. In a statement, the Aberdeen Multicultural Centre said: Due to the weather forecasts for the day and current conditions at Westburn Park, we unfortunately will not be able to proceed with this years Mela festival. The weather forecasts present potential risks and the safety of everyone who would have been here today is of paramount importance to us. Thank you all for your help and support in preparing for this years event and we know this is disappointing news for us all. Good morning everyone, _Cancellation Notice_ Due to the weather forecasts for the day and current conditions at #WestburnPark, we unfortunately will not be able to proceed with this years Mela Festival... https://t.co/d8GdxIVN05 AMC (@abmcuk) July 29, 2018 On the island of Bute the annual Bute Fest music festival was also affected, with high winds forcing the closure of the site on Saturday night. Organisers posted on Twitter: Unfortunately the very strong winds have caused us to close the site for safety reasons. If you are in the campsite and have tent related issues / no where to stay please come to the welfare or staff catering tent in the campsite and we will look after you. Unfortunately the very strong winds have caused us to close the site for safety reasons. If you are in the campsite and have tent related issues / no where to stay please come to the welfare or staff catering tent and we will look after you ButeFest (@ButeFest) July 28, 2018 The site reopened and the festival got under way again on Sunday. Meanwhile, yacht owners have been warned to take care after four vessels ran into trouble in poor weather near Oban. Coastguards warned of challenging conditions including strong winds and big tides in the area, which is currently hosting the West Highland Yachting Week event. In the first incident on Saturday, three people were rescued by the Oban RNLI lifeboat after their yacht ran aground at Puilladobhrain Anchorage, just south of Oban, at about 10.30pm. Half an hour later Oban Coastguard Rescue Team attended after another yacht with one person on board reported dragging its anchor in Loch Feochan, also south of Oban. We advise yacht owners to take care when anchoring to ensure they have good holding, a number were caught out by stronger winds and big tidesGraham Cay, HM Coastguard The team was stood down after an improvement in the weather allowed the yacht to regain its anchor. A third yacht with one person and a dog on board made a mayday call at midnight after running aground at the island of Lismore. The Oban lifeboat was again called out but the vessel refloated on the rising tide. Another yacht reported dragging its anchor at about 1.15am on Sunday at Loch Aline with the Tobermory lifeboat dispatched to tow it back to shore. Graham Cay, senior maritime operations officer with HM Coastguard, said: Its been a challenging night for yacht owners. The weathers not been great and looks to continue like this today. We advise yacht owners to take care when anchoring to ensure they have good holding, a number were caught out by stronger winds and big tides. Also make sure youve got a means of contacting us if you get into trouble and adequate provisions and safety equipment. All the yachts which got into trouble last night were able to call us and did have all the things they needed. Our advice is as always to make sure you have personal locator beacons and other safety equipment to alert us if things do go wrong. Theresa May has reportedly been warned by the chairman of her local Conservative association not to make any further concessions on her Brexit White Paper. Richard Kellaway said that if the plan agreed at Chequers were to be diluted it would ultimately not be acceptable, according to the Sunday Telegraph. He is one of seven chairmen of associations in constituencies held by Cabinet ministers who, the paper claims, either oppose the plan or would withdraw their backing for the Prime Minister if she ceded any more ground. It adds more pressure to the Prime Minister as she starts her summer holiday apparently stuck between a rock and a hard place over the attempt to strike a Brexit deal with the EU. Today PM @theresa_may met Austrian Chancellor @sebastiankurz and Czech PM Andrej Babis in Salzburg. pic.twitter.com/5xGC7M97Ej UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) July 27, 2018 Mrs May was dealt a blow by Brussels on Thursday as its chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, rejected the customs proposals that form a key plank of her White Paper. She had received a boost on Friday after Austria agreed that Brexit would be among topics for discussion at an informal meeting of EU leaders. Downing Street said Chancellor Sebastian Kurz agreed that Britains departure from the EU would be on the agenda for the European Council being hosted by his country which currently holds the EU presidency on September 20. It means that the Prime Minister has an extra gathering of leaders of the EU 27 in which to convince them to support her Brexit plan after a week in which ministers have been deployed to various capitals to woo senior politicians. The next meeting is a gathering of EU leaders in Brussels in October by which time it has been hoped a Brexit deal will be hammered out. In Sundays paper, Mr Kellaway, the Maidenhead Tory chief and local councillor, said he backed Mrs May and that a Downing Street briefing on the White Paper went down very well. He told the paper: At some stage weve got to do a deal, and a deal by definition is a compromise. But he added: I think we have reached the stage that if we dont get a deal around these terms, then well have to break away. A leading Brexit-backing lawyer has also questioned the White Paper, saying it meant UK courts will continue to be ruled by the EU. Martin Howe QC, chairman of Lawyers for Britain, said the Prime Ministers claim that Brexit would end the European Court of Justices jurisdiction in the UK was sophistry at best. He said: It is clear that the Prime Minister has now broken the pledges she made in the manifesto and in the Lancaster House speech. Within the common rulebook areas at least, it is quite clear that the interpretation of the laws applying within the UK will continue to be carried out by judges in Luxembourg, with judges in the UK having only a subservient role. On Saturday the head of a pan-European dairy co-operative warned that a no-deal Brexit would risk soaring prices and supply problems getting products to consumers. Ash Amirahmardi, UK managing director of Arla Foods, spoke after ministers last week raised the spectre of foods and medicines being stockpiled as part of contingency planning in case the UK leaves the EU without a deal in place on customs. He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme that 16% of UK dairy products are imported, and of those 98% were from Europe, saying: If we have barriers at our ports then that is what is going to lead to increased prices and potentially supply issues. A Labour MP has accused party leader Jeremy Corbyn of supporting and defending extremists and anti-Semites. Ian Austin lashed out at the opposition leader after it was revealed he is facing possible disciplinary action for clashing with the party chairman over the National Executive Committees failure to fully adopt a widely-backed definition of anti-Semitism. Dudley North MP Mr Austin, the son of adoptive Jewish parents who lost relatives in the Holocaust, said the row that has seen Labour castigated by a string of Jewish groups had left him deeply ashamed of the party. Somebody with views and history like his isn't really suited to the leadership of a mainstream political partyIan Austin MP on Jeremy Corbyn He accused Mr Corbyn of introducing to Labour a more extreme brand of politics, telling BBC Radio 4s The World This Weekend: Somebody with views and history like his isnt really suited to the leadership of a mainstream political party. Asked whether he was speaking out just because he did not want Corbyn to lead the party, Mr Austin said: He was never my choice to lead the Labour party thats true, but what do people think? That Im so worried about his plans to nationalise the railways or something that I would invent all this stuff? Its actually the other way around. Its because he has spent his entire time in politics on the extreme fringes of the Labour Party, supporting and defending all sorts of extremists and in some cases frankly, anti-Semites. Labours governing body, the National Executive Committee (NEC), did not include within its new code of conduct the full definition of anti-Semitism including illustrative examples set out by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). Labours code explicitly endorses the IHRAs working definition of anti-Semitism and includes a list of behaviours likely to be regarded as anti-Semitic copied word-for-word from the international organisations own document. But it omits four examples from the IHRA list: Accusing Jewish people of being more loyal to Israel than their home country; Claiming that Israels existence as a state is a racist endeavour; Requiring higher standards of behaviour from Israel than other nations; and Comparing contemporary Israeli policies to those of the Nazis. Labour insisted that while the examples are not reproduced word for word, they are covered in the new code. As a bare minimum, just as a first step, we must adopt the standard IHRA definition of antisemitism in full, including all the examples, then we have to respond properly to the Jewish community's reasonable requests and then we must boot the racists out. Boot them out. Ian Austin (@LordIanAustin) July 25, 2018 Mr Austin, who has represented the West Midlands seat since 2005, said allegations he had screamed abuse at chairman Ian Lavery, sparking the disciplinary proceedings, were false, but admitted there had been a heated discussion. Mr Austin said: I said that I thought the NECs decision was a disgrace. Am I upset about anti-Semitism? Yes I am. I am upset about that and Im upset as well about the leaderships failure, I think refusal really, to deal with this properly. I grew up listening to my dad tell me how hed escaped from the Holocaust and how his mum and sisters were murdered in Treblinka (concentration camp) and that led to me joining the Labour Party as a teenager determined to fight racism. Last week Jewish Labour MP Margaret Hodge called in lawyers after being told she faced disciplinary action for confronting Mr Corbyn in person over the issue of the IHRA definition. Many other leading Labour MPs, including shadow cabinet members, have called on the party to adopt the full definition. The UKs three leading Jewish newspapers also took the unprecedented step of publishing a joint front page message warning that a Corbyn-led government would pose an existential threat to Jewish life in this country. Under the headline United We Stand, the Jewish Chronicle, Jewish Telegraph and Jewish News described Labours refusal to adopt in full the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism as sinister. Marie van der Zyl, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said the last few days had been utterly shameful for the party. Jeremy Corbyn is leading the Labour Party into a dark place of ugly conspiracy theories and it has become a home for overt anti-Semites and anti-Semitism, she said. In 2018, Labour is not only a party with extravagant levels of tolerance for anti-Semitism but one which deliberately obstructs measures to counter hatred and punishes those who speak out against it. A Labour spokesman said that Mr Corbyn had made clear he is a militant opponent of anti-Semitism and is absolutely committed to tackling it. The party is fully committed to the support, defence and celebration of the Jewish community and its organisation, he added. He went on: The NEC has concerns about one half of one of the IHRAs 11 examples, which could be used to deny Palestinians, including Palestinian citizens of Israel and their supporters, their rights and freedoms to describe the discrimination and injustices they face in the language they deem appropriate. We understand the strong concerns raised in the Jewish community and are seeking to engage with communal organisations to build trust and confidence in our party. Theresa May has been urged to play hardball with the EU by Italys rightwing populist deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini (Dominic Lipinski/PA) Theresa May should take a hard line with the EU over Brexit negotiations or risk being cheated, Italys deputy prime minister has said. Right-wing populist Matteo Salvini told the Sunday Times that Mrs May should be prepared to walk away without a deal, saying: On some principles there is no need to be flexible and you should not go backwards. Mr Salvini, a former MEP who has clashed with the EU since entering government earlier this year, spoke as the Prime Minister faced pressure from Conservative Party figures not to cede any more ground to Brussels. My experience in the European parliament tells me you either impose yourself or they swindle youMatteo Salvini Her white paper sparked the resignation of foreign secretary Boris Johnson and Brexit secretary David Davis, and while party figures have supported it some have warned it should be a line in the sand rather than a flexible starting point for negotiations. Mr Salvini, leader of hardline anti-immigrant party the League, told the Sunday Times there is no objectivity or good faith from the European side, adding: My experience in the European parliament tells me you either impose yourself or they swindle you. His hardline comments come after Mrs May and senior ministers embarked on a series of visits to EU27 countries in an attempt to get backing for her Brexit plan. The plan was dealt a blow by Brussels on Thursday as its chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, rejected the customs proposals that form a key plank of her white paper. She had received a welcome boost on Friday after Austria agreed that Brexit would be among topics for discussion at an informal meeting of EU leaders. Expand Close Theresa May with Sebastian Kurz (Kerstin Joensson/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Theresa May with Sebastian Kurz (Kerstin Joensson/AP) Downing Street said Chancellor Sebastian Kurz agreed that Britains departure from the EU would be on the agenda for the European Council being hosted by his country which currently holds the EU presidency on September 20. It means the Prime Minister has an extra gathering of leaders to try to convince them to support her Brexit plan after a week in which ministers have been deployed to various capitals to woo senior politicians. The next meeting is a gathering of EU leaders in Brussels in October, by which time it is hoped a Brexit deal will have been hammered out. Mrs May has been backed by her local Conservative Association chairman. Richard Kellaway said the Maidenhead branch fully supported Mrs Mays plan and he had been impressed by a briefing on it for association heads in Downing Street by her chief of staff Gavin Barwell. Mr Kellaway told the Press Association: Most of us found it quite persuasive and convincing. We have received little criticism from our members. Im of the group of people who feel that it is not a great deal, but it is not bad. We have to actually have a deal. Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip visit Desenzano del Garda in Italy, during their summer holiday (Pier Marco Tacca/PA) Theresa May swapped kitten heels for comfortable Converse trainers as she took an Italian lakeside stroll with husband Philip at the start of their summer holiday. The Prime Minister, well known for her stylish footwear, stepped out in the 50 white canvas flats for the walk on the shore of fashionable Lake Garda. The photograph taken in Desenzano del Garda continued the less posed style she has adopted since being in Number 10, in contrast to images released by her predecessor David Cameron when he went away. Expand Close Mrs May and husband Philip strolled though Desenzano del Garda in northern Italy at the start of their summer break (Pier Marco Tacca/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mrs May and husband Philip strolled though Desenzano del Garda in northern Italy at the start of their summer break (Pier Marco Tacca/PA) She paired her trainers with beige three-quarter length trousers, a white short-sleeved shirt and large square sunglasses for a low-key look as they took in the small resort town that the couple visited last year. Philip walked beside her wearing dark blue trousers and loafers, with a short-sleeved blue checked shirt and smaller sunglasses. The couple will spend around a week in Italy before she returns to work in her constituency and Downing Street. Expand Close The Mays will be in Italy for a week and will visit Switzerland later in the summer (Pier Marco Tacca/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Mays will be in Italy for a week and will visit Switzerland later in the summer (Pier Marco Tacca/PA) Mrs May is also due to attend a First World War memorial event to mark the battle of Amiens, which began on August 8 1918 and helped to secure victory. They will then jet off for two weeks in Switzerland. The holiday plans are a repeat of last years getaway for the couple. Although the PM remains in charge, a number of Cabinet ministers are expected to deputise for her while she is away. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is not expected to reveal his holiday plans. Homes in Redding were levelled by the fire (Noah Berger/AP) Two young children and their great-grandmother have died in a wildfire that has devastated parts of northern California. Sherry Bledsoe confirmed the deaths of her grandmother, Melody Bledsoe, and her children, James Roberts, five, and Emily Roberts, four, after the fire swept into the city of Redding. A bulldozer operator who died working to contain the fire was identified as an 81-year-old man from a small community east of Sacramento. Expand Close Sherry Bledsoe, left, cries next to her sister, Carla, after hearing news that her children died (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sherry Bledsoe, left, cries next to her sister, Carla, after hearing news that her children died (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP) The fatalities brought the death toll to five since the so-called Carr Fire started burning on Monday. It exploded on Thursday, jumped the Sacramento River and then entered Redding city. The bulldozer operator was identified by the Shasta County Sheriffs Department as Don Ray Smith of Pollock Pines. He was overtaken by flames while working and his body was found on Thursday. Authorities previously identified another dead firefighter as Redding Fire Department Inspector Jeremy Stoke, who was killed on Thursday night. Expand Close A firefighter monitors flames from the advancing wildfire (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A firefighter monitors flames from the advancing wildfire (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP) The Bledsoes lived near the Keswick Estates neighbourhood and their home, like many around it, was reduced to ashes. The tragedy leaves Ed Bledsoe without his wife and the great-grandchildren he doted on. He lost everything. Everything. You cant lose more than family. And then you lose everything on top of that? said Don Kewley, whose girlfriend is one of the Bledsoes granddaughters. The mans got the shirt on his back and the pants on his waist. Like thats it. Ed Bledsoe had headed out for supplies on Thursday thinking the flames were far away, but while shopping he received a desperate call from his great-grandson. The boy said he had to come back to the home. We need your help, the boy said, according to Jason Decker, who is the boyfriend of another Bledsoe granddaughter. Armed Response officers perform a hard-stop on the M2 off slip at Fortwilliam before deploying a taser on July 26th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) This is the trio accused of running a cocaine factory who were dramatically scooped after a high-speed motorway chase. Mark McPhillips, Sean Rooney and Fionin Killian were arrested by specialist firearms officers on the M2 in Belfast on Thursday night. All three appeared in Belfast Magistrates Court yesterday on a raft of drugs charges as a result of searches following the operation. A police officer told the court that around 11pm a Vauxhall car with three men inside was stopped at Fortwilliam roundabout in the north of the city. Rooney was driving the car with McPhillips sitting in the passenger seat and Killian in the back of the vehicle. He said when McPhillips (39) was asked to get out of the vehicle, he failed to comply with instructions and an officer used a stun gun to subdue him. A search of the car revealed a small amount of cocaine and seven tablets of the opium-based painkiller trapentadol. A list of what the officer said seemed to be drugs payments and five mobile phones were also discovered in the car. The officer explained that three searches were carried out the following morning at McPhillips' house in Holywood, Co Down, Rooney's home in Oceanic Avenue in north Belfast, and at an industrial unit in Ballymena. In the lock-up police found scales, a cocaine press with some white powder on it and 10 one kilogram bags of what they suspect is a mixing agent along with 160 grams of suspected high purity cocaine and around 100 diazepam tablets. The officer said it is the police case that it is a facility for producing cocaine with forensic tests on the substances underway. Further searches were carried out on a Ford Transit van parked outside which revealed a small amount of herbal cannabis. McPhillips was charged with nine offences including possession of cocaine, conspiring with others to supply cocaine and possession of criminal property. Rooney faces nine charges which include possession of cocaine with intent to supply and conspiring with others to supply cocaine. Killian (22) was charged with possession of cocaine and possession of trapentadol. Under questioning, Rooney (39) told police that they had been to Dublin that day and were heading to Derry but came off the motorway in Belfast to buy cocaine. He later said they were going to the lock-up to get two grams of cocaine. A search of Rooney's house turned up a small amount of cannabis, 1,300 in cash and a passport in McPhillips' name. Rooney told police the money belonged to McPhillips. The officer told the court that Killian did not answer any questions during interview at Musgrave police station. Objecting to them being released on bail, the officer said there is a risk they may reoffend given the substantial amount of money the men owed as part of the alleged drugs factory operation. Rooney's solicitor told the court that he denied being part of a criminal gang and he had no drugs offences on his record. He said Rooney was merely acting as a driver for McPhillips and did not have the lavish lifestyle associated with a drug dealer. Also acting for Killian, he said there was no issue of him contacting the other two men as he is planning to return to his native Kilkenny. No bail application was made for McPhillips but his solicitor told the court that Killian was his son and he had no knowledge of his father's alleged drugs operation. He added that McPhillips was tasered by police as he couldn't stand when he got out of the car due a broken leg. District Judge Harry McKibben refused bail for Rooney due to the likelihood of reoffending but granted bail for Killian with a surety of 500. All three are due to appear in court again on August 23. Speak your mind Freedom of speech depends on the concept of diversity of opinions and tolerance For Immediate Release, July 28, 2018 Contact: Amaroq Weiss, (707) 779-9613, aweiss@biologicaldiversity.org Californias Lassen Wolf Pack Has Pups Second Straight Year Births Comes as Trump Administration Plans End to Federal Protections SAN FRANCISCO Californias only known existing wolf family, the Lassen pack, has produced its second litter of pups. An article published by the Plumas County News yesterday reported that California Department of Fish and Wildlife wolf biologist Kent Laudon told Plumas County officials at a July 17th meeting that the pack has up to five new pups this year. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently signaled its intention to strip legal protections from wolves across the country, including California and Oregon, which houses the source population for Californias wolves. That would place any future wolf recovery in grave danger. Were thrilled the Lassen pack had these adorable pups, who will breathe new life into wolf recovery in the Golden State, said Amaroq Weiss, West Coast wolf advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity. These little ones are hopeful symbols at a time when the Trump administration is about to strip wolves across the country of protections that are crucial to their survival. The Lassen pack was first confirmed a year ago, when a Forest Service trail camera captured images of the adult mother wolf playing with several pups. At the Plumas County meeting, Laudon reported that in addition to having up to five new pups, the pack also consists of the three yearlings from last year plus the adult male and female wolf, bringing the packs number up to 10 individuals. Wolves tend to stay with their birth-pack the first few years of their lives before dispersing to seek mates and their own territory. The Lassen pack is only Californias second confirmed pack in nearly 100 years. The Shasta pack, a family of seven wolves, was confirmed in 2015 but by 2016 had mysteriously disappeared. Wolves started recovering in West Coast states only because they were protected, said Weiss. With the Fish and Wildlife Service about to remove federal safeguards, the inspiring story of wolf recovery in California could tragically be cut short. The breeding male of the Lassen pack is the son of famous Oregon wolf OR-7, who came to California in 2011, the first confirmed wild wolf in the state in 87 years. OR-7 spent 15 consecutive months in the Golden State before returning to southwestern Oregon where he eventually found a mate, and has sired pups each year since 2014. The Lassen pack male, born into the 2014 litter, made his way into California on his own. His mate is radio-collared, and her collar signals show that the Lassen packs territory includes parts of Lassen and Plumas Counties. At least two female offspring of OR-7 also have ventured into California, including OR-54, whose travels recently landed her almost at Lake Tahoe. Shravan 2020: Sawan Somvaar Vrat Vidhi Festivals oi-Renu Sawan Somwaar Puja Vidhi: , | Boldsky Shiva is the destroyer of the evil, the transformer, the Supreme being who has immense power, yet the one who is the easiest to please. Lord Shiva can be pleased with minimal offerings, more so in the month of Shravana. In North India, it starts from today and it is called as Sawan Month. In South India, it starts from 21 July and it is called as Shravana Masa in Karnataka, Shravana Masam in Telugu. Shravana is the fourth month in the Hindu calendar, most popular because of the number of festivals which are celebrated during the month. Among these festivals, the most popular one is Sawan Somvaar. Sawan Somvaar, originally a fasting day, is one of the most awaited festivals among the Hindus. Somvaar (Monday) is the Indian name for Monday. All the four Mondays of the month of Shravana are observed as fasting days. Though the whole month is dedicated to Lord Shiva only, these Mondays are more significant. Here, we have brought to you the puja vidhi for Sawan Somvaar. Sawan Somvaar Puja Samagri A Shivalinga, tray, any five fruits, pushpamala (a garland of flowers), paan patta (betel leaves), belpatra (bilva leaves), Datura, some flowers, cotton wicks, earthen lamp as diya, vermilion, some grains of rice for adding in vermilion as tilak to Shivalinga, a bowl, honey, gangajal, sugar, cow's milk, curd, cow ghee for lighting the lamp, moli (the sacred red thread), and a shringaar box which should be offered to Goddess Parvati while worshipping Lord Shiva. Sawan Somvaar Puja Vidhi 1. Take the Shivalinga and place it in a tray. Since we will be offering abhishekam to Lord Shiva in it, make sure the tray or plate is such that the water does not overflow. 2. Now place the Shivalinga in it. Give a water bath to the Shivalinga. You can add flower petals and gangajal in it. 3. Prepare the panchamrit. Take a teaspoonful curd in a bowl, add two teaspoons of milk in it. Add a teaspoon of sugar, along with half a spoon of honey and one spoon of gangajal. Stir it well and the panchamrit is ready. 4. Give a panchamrit bath to Shivalinga, chanting the mantra- Om Namoh Shivaay. 5. Thereafter give a gangajal bath. 6. When all these baths are done, place the five fruits in the tray offering them to Shivalinga. 7. Now offer the paan patta, then the belpatra, and thereafter offer Datura to Shivalinga and place them inside the tray. 8. After that you can offer supari and clove, then the pushpamala and thereafter the flowers to Lord Shiva. 9. Next is the moli (the sacred red thread). The length of the thread is such that you should be able to whirl it five times around all the four fingers taken together, as explained in the video. Offer this to the Shivalinga. 10. Do not forget to keep the shringaar box in the tray as an offering to Goddess Parvati. 11. Now take another plate and place a diya (earthen lamp) in it. Take some vermilion in the plate, and add a few drops of water to it, and some grains of rice. 12. Light the diya using ghee and offer the tilak to Shivalinga, with rice grains. Now perform the arti, concluding the puja. Sawan Somvaar: Worship Lord Shiva As Per Your Zodiac Sawan Somvaar Vrat Benefits Sawan Somvaar vrat is generally observed by women, majorly by the girls, to get their desired husband. Married women perform the fast for the well-being of the family and the long life of their husbands. Many men too perform this fast for professional success along with the well-being of the family. Tea for global market As Nepal has increasingly been exporting tea, it must strive to develop it as a brand Benjamin Jumbe. Human Rights defenders have welcomed recommendations by the constitutional court in regard to public order management Delivering its final judgement of the age limit case, the court recommended that the attorney general comes up with guidelines for implementation of the public order management act. This was after the police force was faulted for blocking legislators from holding consultative meetings with their electorate during the age limit debate. Now speaking to Kfm the executive director of Foundation for Human rights initiative Dr Livingstone Sewanyana said this is a step in the right direction. He however expressed skepticism over governments willingness to comply and implement the recommendations. The Constitutional Court in a majority ruling upheld the removal of the 75-age ceiling for president but quashed the extension of the term of the current Parliament. Army-owned land at Cathal Brugha Barracks in south Dublin is being considered for social and affordable housing. The 42-acre site is one of the largest of its kind in the country. The Coastguard has renewed its appeal for water safety after difficulties in Counties Wexford and Waterford earlier today. A Jet-ski user got into trouble off the Wexford coast and a number of people in the sea in Tramore needed assistance. Businessman Gavin Duffy has announced a potential run for President. The Irish Dragons Den entrepreneur is seeking the backing of four local councils before he can enter his name on the ballot paper. He has accepted an invitation to speak at Waterford City and County Council on Tuesday. If I get the required 4 Council nominations I will run the most modern, dynamic, interactive election campaign possible. If you want to be on the rollercoaster, make history, elect a President that is not just above but is not of politics email info@gavinduffy.ie Gavin Duffy (@GavinDuffy) July 29, 2018 He said: If I get the required four council nominations, I will run the most modern, dynamic, interactive election campaign possible. If you want to be on the rollercoaster, make history, elect a President that is not just above but is not of politics. Michael D Higgins will be running against a Sinn Fein candidate to be announced in September, six weeks before Ireland goes to the polls. While Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Labour have all backed the current president, a number of others have expressed an interest in running for the presidency. Michael D Higgins has the backing of Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Labour (Niall Carson/PA) Another possible candidate was former GAA president Liam ONeill but he also ruled himself out, saying he did not have the logistical group to support a campaign. Independent senators Padraig O Ceidigh and Joan Freeman have also expressed an interest in contesting the election. - Press Association Ireland's smallest county is also it's luckiest when it comes to Lotto wins. Louth boasts the most Lotto millionaires per head of population than any other county, with an incredible 76 jackpot winners, winning in excess of 89m. Police in Australia have said they have grave concerns over a pregnant Irish teenager who has been missing for over two weeks. 18 year old Katie Cash was last seen walking barefoot, away from a hospital in Sydney. Members of the public are being asked not to swim at Balbriggan Beach on Dublin's northside. Fingal County Council has put a temporary 'Do Not Swim' notice in place. Fianna Fail says the viability of the National Broadband Plan is now under threat. It is after reports last night that SSE has pulled out of the tendering process for the project. SSE is reportedly withdrawing from the consortium with eNet who were the last remaining bidders for the tender after Eir withdrew from the process. The party's TD Timmy Dooley says it is likely no contract will be signed this side of 2020 after the ESB, Vodafone and Eir already withdrew from the plan. Deputy Dooley said it is rural communities who will be hit hard by this: "Obviously that has a very significant consequence for the 540,000 home and business owners throughout Ireland who have been waiting for this project, which was promised by the Government since 2012." He also claimed that the process has to date been so convoluted and bureaucratic, that every major commercial player has not felt comfortable continuing. The viability of the National Broadband Plan is now under threat to such an extent that it is conceivable that no contract will be signed this side of 2020," he said. "With ESB, Vodafone, Eir and now SSE all out, what hope is there for the 520,000 households in isolated and rural communities that they will see their homes and businesses connected in the next six to eight years?," asked Mr Dooley. One has to question why e-Net has not to date been announced as the preferred bidder by the Department? They have been the sole remaining bidder since the spring? Minister Naughten must confirm when he became aware of SSE's decision, and what his plans are into the future?" he said. "Naughten has questions to answer on future of National Broadband Plan as SSE pulls out from e-Net consortium," says Communications Spokesperson @timmydooley https://t.co/pUa7sX4gpq Fianna Fail (@fiannafailparty) July 28, 2018 Labour spokesperson on Communications Sean Sherlock TD also slammed the Government's response to the National Broadband Plan. Deputy Sherlock said: "We've known since February that there is only one bidder left in this project. Public trust is shot to pieces and the broadband plan is in shambles, and citizens will bear the brunt of this latest failure. "The Minister now has serious questions to answer. Weve had a litany of withdrawals from the process on his watch. "The next moves from Government on this will be critical," he said. Digital Desk Amy Ayres has travelled the world to learn new teaching methods. Amy Ayres has travelled to the US, Europe and several cities in Australia to investigate best practice teaching and learning in high schools. What she has found may surprise many educators. Ayres, the learning leader of science at Northern Beaches Christian School, sees the future of education as one in which students own their learning, uncovering gems of knowledge through highly engaging adventures in the classroom that impact the wider community. Ayres says the study of science allows us to know more about the world in which we interact every day. It gives us tools needed now and in the future to problem solve, to analyse and make sense of patterns. Science should be relevant to the learner; it should be fun, challenging and engaging for the student, Ayres says. Science is adventurous, and so should be learning about science. Earlier this month the University of Sydney Business School called its new findings - that Australian women felt like they had enough energy only four out of 10 days, and Australian men five out of 10 - the new energy crisis. A recent survey found inadequate sleep cost the Australian economy $66 billion in 2016/17. Lack of sleep, skipped meals and lack of exercise are basically sapping our will to live, the research found. While University of Sydney senior lecturer Dr Stefan Volk described the findings as depressing, the rest of us who skipped breakfast to make up for the fact we didnt get out of bed early for exercise because we stayed up late watching The Handmaids Tale on Netflix would probably call it a lifestyle choice. With almost 40 per cent of us estimated to be getting inadequate sleep, Australia is apparently a society of the chronically tired, and our elected representatives are reflecting us in all our exhausted, cantankerous glory. Ive seen it most actively [in] the inherent stupidities of the Australian parliamentary democracy, where this false macho culture of sitting late into the night in the Parliament or into the early morning to pass such critical legislation [means] that we had to threaten each other with a Mexican standoff, revolvers pointed to each others heads, in a rolling game of Russian roulette, where the real leverage is sleep. And you just want to get out of there, former prime minister Kevin Rudd observes. No wonder Australian politics has become increasingly associated with bad behaviour and questionable decisions. Sydney-based sleep expert Dr Carmel Harrington frequently advises blue-chip chief executives, law firms, accounting groups and health providers, where risk management is core business. And the cost of the dodgy decisions we make while chronically tired is increasingly considered a business risk. With almost 40 per cent of us estimated to be getting inadequate sleep, Australia is apparently a society of the chronically tired. Harrington relates a recent experiment which compared the effects of sleep deprivation in two groups: one group was permitted to sleep only six hours a night for two weeks, and another group was kept awake for three nights. The no-sleep-for-three-nights group naturally reported feeling very tired and miserable. The restricted sleep group reported feeling fairly tired for the first couple of days, but then not that bad after the two weeks. Heres the worrying thing for those of us who think were coping with our rotten sleep: both groups showed almost the same level of impairment in physical, working memory and cognitive performance. Whats more, the acute sleep deprivation group knew they couldnt perform to standard, but the six-hours-a-night group were unaware they were so impaired. In fact, another study of financial decision-making by the chronically and acutely tired showed that people whod had their sleep restricted by only a couple of hours a night were more likely to engage in risky behaviour, compared with people who stayed up all night and knew they were tired. Essentially, we can be out of our minds with tiredness and not even know it. Away from the hothouse of political combat, its with surprising honesty that many current and former politicians, including Kevin Rudd, John Howard, Julie Bishop, Bob Brown and Jacqui Lambie, reveal the pressures on sleep that public life brings. Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop, whose life over the past five years has been dominated by almost constant travel and fending off jet lag, reveals the only time sleeplessness and exhaustion nearly got the better of her was in the aftermath of the downing of the MH17, when Bishop contracted pneumonia in London. Back in Australia, we were none the wiser. The Foreign Affairs Minister was merely in transit. Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop's life over the past five years has been dominated by almost constant travel. Credit:AAP Former Greens leader Bob Brown battled insomnia throughout his parliamentary career and believes an overhaul of the sitting hours of federal parliament - five days a week, 9 to 5 - could encourage a healthier democracy. Hed likely find an ally in former Tasmanian independent Lambie, who told ABCs The Drum earlier this month that the Parliament-wide fatigue was most noticeable on Thursday afternoons, at the end of a long sitting fortnight. I wouldnt do a presser or anything like that because I was brain dead, she said. In fact, the nights leading up to Australias involvement in overseas conflicts in East Timor, Afghanistan and Iraq gave him the most sleepless periods of his prime ministership. Former prime minister John Howard says inevitably there are nights when sleep will elude a leader. Credit:AAP You are very conscious you have taken a decision that might end up in death for your soldiers, he says. That weighs a lot more heavily than anything else, as it should. His worry was not about the rights or wrongs of Australias involvement in overseas wars because those decisions were made in the daylight hours over the months and weeks before. The midnight anxiety was "what happens next?". His successor Rudd almost rolls his eyes when asked if it is true that he only sleeps three or four hours a night. That particular story, he says, arose from a light-hearted throwaway line by his wife, Therese Rein. Elliena Escott is only 15 years old, but already she can play 12 instruments, has won a top award as part of the Queensland Music Festival and hopes to travel to the US for a rare learning opportunity. The Gold Coast year 10 student has mastered the trumpet, piano, guitar, ukulele, french horn, drums, violin, cello, bass guitar, trombone, saxophone and vocals. Elliena Escott is juggling her music passion with her course work at Trinity College. Credit:Facebook - Elliena Escott Music Elliena said she has been playing the piano since she can remember, picked up a violin in year 3 and her musical passion snowballed from there. "My main two instruments are the french horn and trumpet so I practise those more than others," she said. It took the encouragement of two mentors for Indigenous university student Graham Akhurst to even consider the possibility of enrolling in a higher degree by research. Now a master of philosophy student at the University of Queensland, Mr Akhurst said without that encouragement, it would never have crossed his mind to keep studying it just wasn't an option. More Indigenous students should be encouraged into higher research degrees, experts say. Credit:Andrew Quilty. Mr Akhurst's story is representative of what a new report says is needed to boost the small participation rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in academic research. University of Queensland researcher Katelyn Barney recently studied the low rates of Indigenous retention in universities, finding there was a critical need for universities to continue developing Indigenous postgraduate enrolments. A Brisbane-based charity wants to grow an Australia-wide network of spare rooms in private homes to help people escape domestic problems before they explode into violence. Safe Haven Community began operating in Brisbane in September 2017 and already has 150 spare rooms volunteered around south-east Queensland. Advertising worker Paul Ferry spoke at a disappointingly small rally in Brisbanes Queen's Park next to Treasury Casino in George Street on Sunday where he explained the fledgling idea from Denise Hunter, which now houses more than 50 people. Men speak out against domestic violence on women at a rally in Queens Park. Paul Ferry from Safe Haven Community. Credit:Tony Moore Mr Ferry is the executive director of Save Haven Community and he was one of the speakers where men rallied to support women. Staff from "Pyongyang Dog Meat House," a popular restaurant in Pyongyang, cook dog meat at an annual contest held in Ryomyong Street. From Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) By Jung Da-min North Korea held its annual dog meat cooking contest in Pyongyang from Wednesday to Thursday as part of efforts to promote the meat's health benefits and taste. Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of North Korea's Workers' Party, reported Saturday that reputable restaurants across the country competed in the contest in popular Ryomyong Street. A restaurant named "Pyongyang Dog Meat House" won the grand prize with its signature dog meat soup for the second straight year. The restaurant is often featured in North Korean media as a "must-visit place." Various dog meat dishes on displayed at the fourth national dog meat cooking contest. From KCNA Dog meat soup has long been considered as a healthy food in North Korea, especially during summer. North Korea's state-run Korean Central Television (KCTV) recently ran a program showing North Koreans eating dog meat to "fight the heat." North Koreans eat dog meat to "fight the heat" at Pyongyang Dog Meat House. Screenshot from KCTV Malcolm Turnbull will come under internal pressure to ditch his company tax cuts plan in the wake of "super" Saturday's Longman byelection result, where the Liberal National Party primary vote crashed by 10 per cent. With a slew of Queensland's 30 federal electorates forming the major battleground in the general election next year, some prominent LNP MPs went to ground on Sunday, but a number privately conceded the electoral hammering in Longman had sent shockwaves through the party at a state and national level. Federal Immigration minister Peter Dutton campaigns with Trevor Ruthenberg in Longman on Super Saturday. "It's a byelection true, but it was also real voters putting real votes in real ballot boxes," one shocked MP said. He said the message from voters was clearly that the company tax cuts for the top end was "unwinnable", and that this was particularly the case for electors in the mid-to-low incomes range. So Ross Vasta in Bonner may be taking a bit more comfort than Peter Dutton in Dickson. Peter Dutton has a real problem on his hands. Dr Williams agreed the conventional wisdom was that byelection results are not good indicators for results at a full federal election. But it is very difficult comparing a byelection in one state with a byelection in another, he said. So the story in Braddon is very different to the story in Longman. Professor Clive Bean, professor in politics and voting trends at Queensland University of Technology, agreed Mr Dutton could lose his seat, but said it was part of a long voting trend against the government. "He may very well, but I don't think the byelection is a very good pointer towards that," Professor Bean said. "Byelections nearly always go against the government and in this seat there was a local candidate issue with the service medal and I suspect that counted against the government." Professor Bean said voters in all five byelections - originally triggered by the 2017-18 citizenship crisis - may well have felt that it was a"technical hitch" and MPs had done nothing wrong and were simply returned. "I think there was fair bit of thought that it was the constitution itself that was 'at fault', or outdated, and I think that has been lost from the debate, but not necessarily from voters' minds," he said. Professor Bean said long-term voting trends clearly showed the government was vulnerable in Queensland's marginal seats and that the outcome of the byelection itself did not necessarily relate to this. "What it probably does do is reinforce a notion that Labor is ahead of the Coalition ... and there are seats that may fall to Labor as a result of the general political trend," he said. Loading "But to say the byelection result is a pointer to any of that is probably a little bit optimistic." There were five byelections held on Super Saturday; one in Queensland (Longman), two in West Australia (Perth and Fremantle), one in South Australia (Mayo) and one in Tasmania (Braddon). Dr Williams said One Nations strong vote in the regions on the edges of big cities continued in Longman. One Nations Longman candidate Michael Stephen received 15.9 per cent of primary votes. They will be buoyed by that 16 per cent, Dr Williams said. Getting a (6.5 per cent) swing to them in a Melbourne Cup field. They will not be unhappy with that result." The Greens received 4.8 per cent of the byelection vote, similar to their result at the 2016 federal election. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Sunday. Credit:Brook Mitchell Mr Turnbull said the result in Longman was an average-sized swing against the government at a byelection. There is nothing remarkable about it at all," he said. Mr Turnbull said the LNP would "look very seriously and thoughtfully and humbly at the way in which the voters have responded". The seven Queensland Coalition seats under the microscope are: Dawson Central Queensland seat north of Mackay, held by George Christensen with a margin of 3.3 per cent. Bonner Brisbane bayside-based seat held by Ross Vasta with a margin of 3.4 per cent. Dickson north Brisbane seat held by Mr Dutton with a margin of 1.6 per cent. Petrie Redcliffe-based seat, held by Luke Howarth, with a margin of 1.6 per cent. Flynn a Gladstone-based seat held by Ken ODowd with a margin of 1 per cent. Phnom Penh: Polls in Cambodia have opened amid criticism of a crackdown against his dissenters by long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen, who is set to hold on to power after nearly 33 years in office. Hun Sen, President of the Cambodian Peoples Party, moments after he voted in the Cambodian general election at Kandal Provincial Teacher Training School in Hun Sens hometown of Takhmao on Sunday. Credit:Kate Geraghty Surrounded by a heaving crowd of bodyguards, election officials and media, Hun Sen and his wife Bun Rany entered the polling station to cast their vote at Kandal Provincial Teacher Training School in Takhmao town, 15 kilometres south of Phnom Penh. Hun Sen, smiling after voting, paused outside to greet election observers, then said: By law I cannot make any comment. The general election is the country's sixth since 1993 when it emerged from decades of war marked by death and destruction at the hands of Pol Pot's genocidal regime. Brussels: For four centuries, the opulent, exuberant nudes of Peter Paul Rubens have been known to shock and delight in sometimes equal measure. And now, even in 2018, his Baroque paintings are still jolting the internet. Belgian museums are uniting in protest against Facebook because they cannot promote Flemish Masters including Rubens at will for fear of falling foul of the social media site's adult content rules and automatic censorship. "The bare breasts and buttocks painted by our artist are considered by you to be inappropriate. We have noticed that Facebook consistently rejects works of art by our beloved Peter Paul Rubens," over a dozen top Belgian art officials wrote to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Latest News NAB hikes fixed interest rates while lowering variable The last Big Four fixed hold out has gone, but flagship variable slashed Meet the mortgage belt, the new battleground area for home lending With APRA rules set to change, a key market segment is about to be squeezed out Damien Simonfi, CEO of DJ Partners, reveals how brokers can help their customers face debt head on Figures from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics confirm that agriculture was the largest contributor to GDP growth between 2016 and 2017, contributing 0.5% of the 1.9% increase in Australias GDP. Further, gross production values reached a record $62.8bn over the same period, and agricultural exports accounted for more than 13% of the countrys total export revenue. However, despite strength in the industry, cash flow requirements mean that those who own agriculture businesses often find themselves needing financial assistance. Each year around 30% of businesses in agriculture, forestry and fishing seek debt or equity finance, with demand second only to SMEs in the mining sector. Data from the Australian Banking Association cites the main reasons for this as business survival (44.4%), maintenance of short-term cash flow or liquidity (42.3%), the replacement of equipment or machinery (35.7%), and operational expansion (24.9%). Cash cant solve all problems though. Agriculture businesses operate under the continued threat of adverse and extreme weather, unforeseen natural disasters and variations in commodity prices. When these hit, things can go badly wrong, and a growing number of agriculture business owners have found themselves out of favour with the banks as a result. This very issue took centre stage during round four hearings of the royal commission, which saw major lenders hauled before Commissioner Hayne last month to answer questions about their conduct when dealing with farm loans and agri-clients. From claims of farmers being effectively gagged to being put out of business altogether by heavy-handed bank tactics, the farm finance round specifically focused on issues relating to support, non-monetary defaults through revaluation, and changes to lending conditions. For one CEO and former banker, the hearings brought few surprises. Damien Simonfi, CEO of DJ Partners and Capital Bridging Finance, grew up on a dairy farm and has first-hand understanding of the pride that underpins financial solvency in farming communities. Like many of us who have debts, farmers also dont like to talk about their financial issues. One thing I can tell you is that if you dont talk to your family, friends, business partners, accountant or lawyer about financial issues, they are going to find out anyway, Simonfi says. There is a stigma attached to having financial issues, which as a society we need to rid ourselves of if you have a broken car you go to a mechanic; its no different, he continues. Agriculture businesses arent the only ones who turn to DJ Partners when overburdened with debt. With a success rate of 84.6%, DJ Partners has represented agriculture portfolios worth more than $2.2bn and also operates with corporate clients who have typical debts in excess of $10m, as well as high-net-worth individuals. According to Simonfi, theres a fine line between financial hardship and unaffordability. For example, a person earning $300,000 a year in mining who now has to work as a barista for $50,000 will be classed as experiencing affordability issues. A person who has a short-term problem, such as job loss, but who can bounce back within six to 12 months is experiencing financial hardship. He adds, We want to keep people in the banks good books by negotiating as early as possible, restructuring and making a real coordinated and targeted strategy to manage debt long term, with all lenders on the same page and in agreement, working with a professional strategy consulting firm to achieve a successful outcome. To do that, Simonfi thinks like a banker. Drawing on years of front-line experience with the big four, subprime lenders and within the bridging finance sector, he and the DJ Partners team hold combined experience exceeding 124 years. There is a stigma attached to having financial issues, which as a society we need to rid ourselves of - Damien Simonfi, CEO of DJ Partners and Capital Bridging Financeto Recalling how the company was established in 2011, he says, I was working in asset management for a large financial institution, and somebody rang a bell to signal a new receiver had just been appointed. I asked why they were ringing a bell and the colleague responded with, Well, its another successful outcome. I was mortified and quite disgusted by that approach. I had an epiphany and realised I could actually help more people with their financial problems by acting for them than I could by acting at an executive level within an institution where, by the time an issue reached me, it would be too late. While the royal commission has provided a business boost for DJ Partners, it also highlights the lack of places a distressed borrower can turn to when faced with mounting debt and dwindling options. I have seen first-hand what banks can do to borrowers, says Simonfi. There is no compassion and they can do irreparable damage, but I have also seen the opposite where banks have exercised discretion and worked with our clients for successful outcomes. The royal commission has generated enquiries for us because there is nobody, that we are aware of, who specialises in negotiating bank debts and restructuring outside insolvency. Power of persuasion For those who face their debts head-on and take an active role in debt management, support and advice exist throughout the marketplace, but both borrowers and brokers remain largely unaware of this. For brokers, there are several reasons a client may require the services of DJ Partners. From refinancing to capital bridging, the firm negotiates with banks and other lending institutions to create workable terms and repayment schedules that are realistic for every party, while avoiding bankruptcy and loss of assets. We have never not been able to improve a borrowers situation; that said, the earlier we get involved the easier it is for us to complete our work, Simonfi says. The DJ Partners team recruited from institutional and commercial banking, the Ombudsmans office and the wider financial industry work closely with brokers to get their clients fighting fit, financially speaking. We have restructured countless deals. We have had clients with debts exceeding $30m and value of property at approximately $10m. We have had banks hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars to the client in order for them to cooperate and allow a sale to go through. We have had debts reduced to 30% of the total balance in order for the borrower to leave. On 300% LVR a bank can be haemorrhaging around $200,000 a month, so these are exceptional outcomes, exceeding client expectations, Simonfi says. Other clients, whether referred by lawyers or accountants or picked up through direct enquiries, are later paired with brokers to secure the finance they need to move forward with their lives after debt negotiation. More than 90% of the firms business originates from brokers, who receive a referral fee for each client they engage. A strategy-building and negotiating process takes place, and the borrower is then returned to the brokers books for finance. Simonfi explains, Our solutions dont put the bank at further risk; in fact we derisk the banks profile. Our solutions create a platform for the borrower to refinance, sell, repatriate or a combination of all of the above, as opposed to just giving a situation time. With responsible lending measures, enhanced credit reporting and open banking all scheduled for introduction over the coming months, Australias financial landscape is in for some drastic changes. However, as long as debt the good, the bad and the ugly remains central to daily life and business, DJ Partners will continue to fight the corner of the cash-strapped consumer. By looking at a banks credit policy, credit risk appetite and discretionary powers, we understand what they can and cant do. Its about knowing what the banks restrictions are and how to work in their guidelines with a little discretion, a little negotiation, and the understanding that banks have the power to make decisions favourably, but they wont unless a robust credit risk strategy is presented, says Simonfi. Latest News NAB hikes fixed interest rates while lowering variable The last Big Four fixed hold out has gone, but flagship variable slashed Meet the mortgage belt, the new battleground area for home lending With APRA rules set to change, a key market segment is about to be squeezed out Finance brokers and organisations attended an awards night last week to celebrate the industry's best. The Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia's (MFAA) National Excellence Awards was held at the Crown in Melbourne on Thursday 26 July. The industry association also chose to award three key industry leaders with Life Member status in recognition of their dedication, contribution and service to our industry and the MFAA. The awards are the culmination of the MFAA's National Roadshow conferences and State Excellence Awards ceremonies, which were held across five capital cities over the last two months. They are designed to reward excellence in customer service, professionalism, innovation and ethics. MFAA CEO, Mike Felton, said it was an exciting year for the awards with a record number of submissions, 650-plus, and the opportunity to publicly acknowledge people who had helped shape a successful industry with Life Membership of the Association. He said, "Thank you to all our members who took the time to create a submission in a period where the industry is experiencing ongoing reviews and continuing scrutiny. "It is a positive sign for the industry to see so many of our members commit their time to write a submission and seek to be awarded as national winners in all of the categories after competing for this recognition in each state. "It is also important to acknowledge and thank three key leaders of our industry who have worked tirelessly over decades to develop and support our industry and Association. On behalf of the entire industry, Id like to acknowledge Mark Lewis of Bernie Lewis Home Loans, James Symond of Aussie and Joe Sirianni of Smartline, and congratulate them on being awarded MFAA Life Membership. Symond, Aussie CEO, said he was "extremely honoured" to receive the recognition. He was former president of the MFAA between 2007 and 2009, overseeing the group during the global financial crisis. He said, "When I think back over the last 27 years Ive really grown up in this business, and I love it. While there may be some headwinds that well face over the next few years, we cant forget that we have a really great industry that drives competition in home lending and delivers exceptional outcomes for customers. Together with the MFAA, Im confident our industry will continue to thrive. The 20 individual awards handed out during the ceremony, audited by Hall Chadwick, recognised the high levels of expertise and professionalism that members of the MFAA provide when servicing customers across the country. The awards are judged by industry experienced professionals based on selected criteria, and not on revenues alone, to ensure that brokers in all locations can be winners, including those in regional and rural Australia. Felton added, "These individual awards also acknowledge the diversity of our membership, and represent a great opportunity for individuals and businesses to be recognised for their achievements and innovation in what is unquestionably a highly competitive environment. I would like to thank the many industry professionals who provided their expertise and valuable time to judge the awards to help recognise the best in our industry. Award winners: Suncorp Loan Administrator Award Hume Leow Entourage Finance Commonwealth Bank Customer Service Award (joint winners) Holly Bundy, Bundy Financial Services and Rise High Financial Solutions RateSetter Motor Vehicle and Equipment Finance Broker Award Josh Egan, Astute Melbourne City South/Gippsland ANZ Commercial Finance Broker Award Kevin Wheatley, Bayside Residential and Commercial Mortgages Teachers Mutual Bank Community Champion Award Mhairi MacLeod, Astute Ability Group Prospa Diversified Business Award Rise High Financial Solutions Pepper Money Newcomer Award Renee Tocco, Loanezi Connective Young Professional Award Aaron Christie-David, Atelier Wealth Bluestone Mortgages Business Development Manager Award Aggregator Andrew Stone, Astute Financial Management NextGen.Net Business Development Manager Award Lender/Support Service Provider Roberto Sanz, Prospa Macquarie Bank Aggregator Award FAST Finance & Systems Technology PEXA Support Service Provider Award - ALI Group Australian Broker Fintech Lender Award Prospa MPA Magazine Mutual/Specialty Lender Award Pepper Money QBE Non Major Lender Award Bankwest Genworth Major Lender Award ANZ ANZ Finance Broker Business Award: 2-5 Loan Writers Astute Ability Group AMP Bank Finance Broker Business Award: 6+ Loan Writers The Australian Lending & Investment Centre Nodifi Regional Finance Broker Award Julian Collins, Mortgage Choice Toowoomba & Darling Downs Commonwealth Bank Residential Finance Broker Award Mark Davis, The Australian Lending & Investment Centre Related stories: Report shows value of mortgage brokers AFL star supports broker association MFAA launches star-studded ad campaign Images | paryz.kz According to Kazhydromet, Nur-Sultan city is to expect 15-20mps southwesterly wind turning northwestward during the day on October 26. The north of Akmola region is to see fog, ice slick, and ground blizzard. Southwesterly wind turning northwestward is to reach 15-20mps at night in the north and during the day. It is predicted to gust up to 23mps in the north. Kokshetau city is to see southwesterly wind turning northwest with gusts of up to 15-20mps at daytime. The southwest and east of East Kazakhstan region is to expect 15-20mps southeasterly wind. West Kazakhstan region is to expect fog in the northwest. Fog and ice slick are in store for the northwest of Kostanay region at night and in the morning. Northwesterly wind at 15-20mps is predicted for the north of the region. Kostanay city is to brace for northwesterly wind with gusts of up to 15-20mps. Southerly wind turning northwest is to reach 15-20mps in the north of Pavlodar region during the day. The greater part of North Kazakhstan region is to see precipitation as snow and rain. The northern and western sections of the region are to brace for ice slick and ground blizzard. Northwesterly, westerly wind is to gust up to 15-20mps in the north, west at night and blow 15-20mps in the greater part of the region, gusting up to 23-28mps. Petropavlovsk city is to see precipitation, ice slick, and ground blizzard. Northwesterly, westerly wind at 15-20mps is to gust up to 23-28mps during the day. 15-20mps southwesterly wind is forecast for the mountain passes of Turkestan region during the day on October 26. POGROM Kishinev and the Tilt of History Steven J Zipperstein Liveright Publishing 261 pages; $27.95 In Kishinev, a provincial city of the Russian Empire (now Chisinau, Moldova), on April 19-20, 1903, 49 Jews were murdered, several among them children; as many (or more) were serially raped; very many more were injured. Synagogues were desecrated, shops were looted, and homes were destroyed or damaged. The victims knew their assailants, many crying out their names while being beaten or raped. They were not protected by the civil authorities. In response to calls for ... 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 Speculations and comparisons have been rife following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's three-nation tour of Africa July 23-27 since it overlapped with Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to a continent on the rise, but experts here say that India's engagement with the 54-nation continent simply cannot be compared to that of China given Beijing's deep pockets. While China roped in Senegal and Rwanda for Xi's pet Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), gifted a stadium to Senegal, signed 15 mega-deals with Rwanda the value of which is not known, and committed $14.7 billion in investments in South Africa, India gifted 200 cows to Rwanda under a economic development scheme, extended $200 million worth of credit lines each to Rwanda and Uganda and signed four deals each with Rwanda and Uganda, including in the area of defence cooperation, and three with South Africa. "Regardless of what China is doing in Africa, India will continue to pursue its interests there within the framework of its capabilities," former Indian Ambassador to South Africa and Kenya Rajiv Bhatia told IANS. "It is wrong to judge India's actions in Africa from the Chinese prism," Bhatia said. According to an article in the China Daily, Beijing has helped Africa build more than 6,500 km of railways, over 6,000 km of highways, more than 200 schools, 80 stadiums, dozens of government office building and a large number of airports and ports. In his address to the Ugandan Parliament on July 25, the first by an Indian Prime Minister, Modi said: "Our development partnership currently includes implementation of 180 lines of credit worth about $11 billion in over 40 African countries. At the last India Africa Forum Summit (in New Delhi in 2015), we had committed a concessional line of credit of $10 billion and $600 million in grant assistance." According to C. Uday Bhaskar, strategic analyst and Director of the Society for Policy Studies (SPS) think tank, "compete" is not the appropriate word when one looks at the engagements of India and China with Africa. "India can and should engage with Africa notwithstanding what China is doing," Bhaskar said. "New Delhi may not be able to compete or match the kind of financial support or gifts that Beijing offers since China has much deeper pockets but most nations are aware that more often than not, there are strings, conditional clauses, expectations with Chinese gifts." Stating that India is still evolving its Africa strategy, Bhaskar said: "My sense is that most of Africa 'trusts' India more than they do China through the deeply entrenched Indian racist trait is shameful." He was alluding to a series of attacks on Africans in India in recent years which African diplomats here have seriously taken note of. According to Malancha Chakraborty, Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation think tank and an expert on India-Africa relations, India just cannot compete in terms of trade and investment in Africa with China at all. "The scale of China's engagement with Africa is many times more than India," Chakraborty said. She also pointed out that India's trade with Africa has also been going down since 2015 despite a dramatic upsurge from 2005. While India's trade with Africa is over $62 billion, the continent's trade with China, its largest trading partner, is around $170 billion. According to Bhatia, however, there is no doubt about India's commitment of developmental support to Africa. "Now we have to focus on the implementation of projects and then only the impact will be felt," he said. But Chakraborty is of the opinion that though India's extension of credit lines to African nations sounds good, the implementation of projects has a poor record. "From identification of projects to approval to disbursal of funds and actual implementation of projects, the story is very poor," she said. To a question about Modi's statement at the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Summit in Johannesburg that India has been extending financial aid to African nations despite being a developing country itself, Bhaskar said that it is "factually correct. "India, despite its domestic challenges and large-scale poverty, does provide reasonably substantive aid to some nations, for example, Afghanistan," he said. "India needs to increase its funding to Africa in a calibrated manner but the allocation of fiscal resources by New Delhi for non-vote bank purposes is an uphill task." Modi reached Rwanda on July 23 just after Xi left that East African country and Beijing said that India and China can work together in Africa. "As the two largest developing countries and emerging markets in the world, both China and India are willing to help Africa within the South-South cooperation framework to accelerate its industrialization and achieve self-driven development," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a media briefing in Beijing. The comments came after India and China agreed to work jointly on projects in Afghanistan following the informal meeting between Modi and Xi in Wuhan in April at the latter's initiative. According to Bhatia, this has been China's view for quite sometime and now more so given the improving ties between the two Asian giants. "The Indian government will now have to reflect on this and develop a response," he said. Sunday, July 29, 2018 Disciplinary charges have been filed by the Illinois Administrator for an associate attorney's thefts from her law firm. On April 21, 2017, Respondent entered into a plea agreement and pled guilty to the first count of the indictment, which charged her with the theft of over $10,000 and less than $100,000 of the "property of Youman, being trust and partnership funds" in violation of Chapter 720, Section 5/16-1(a)(1)(A) of the Illinois Compiled Statutes. Pursuant to the plea agreement, the remaining counts against Respondent were dismissed on the motion of the McHenry County States Attorneys Office. The Honorable Sharon Prather entered a judgment of conviction and sentenced Respondent to 36 months conditional discharge. The conviction and sentence required Respondent to report to the Probation Division and comply with requirements of the Probation Division. Additionally, Respondent was ordered to pay $11,229.50 in restitution to "Rupp & Youman trust account" as well as a $500 fine and court costs. The restitution was to be paid by April 17, 2020. The Chicago Tribune reported on the criminal charges A former McHenry County assistant state's attorney faced a judge Tuesday morning on charges she stole thousands of dollars from an ex-boss. Robin L. Perry, 51, of Spring Grove, is accused of felony theft of funds, according to court records. She was arraigned Tuesday on an indictment alleging that, on multiple occasions between 2012 and 2015, she "exerted unauthorized control" over accounts held by Guy Youman, a civil attorney in McHenry who employed Perry for less than a year. Perry pleaded not guilty and was appointed a public defender. Youman, reached by phone, said he "discovered things" about a year ago that led to the investigation. He emphasized the money allegedly stolen was from his not his clients' accounts. "Everyone ... I hire is by word of mouth," Youman said. "I don't place ads, I get referrals and try to do a good job in judging character." Prosecutors have not outlined how much money Perry is accused of stealing. Two counts against her allege she stole $10,000 to $100,000; four other counts are for alleged thefts of $500 to $10,000, records show. Perry was taken into custody Friday and was released on a $5,000 bond Saturday, according to officials and records. Perry worked as an assistant state's attorney in the civil division in McHenry County in the 1990s, officials said. The bar charges that Between November 2014 and March 2015, without the knowledge or authorization of any representative of Rupp & Youman, Respondent drew...nine checks on a Rupp & Youman account, totaling $21,742. Respondent made each check payable to herself or to her husband, Sam Kentopian ("Kentopian") and endorsed and deposited each of the nine checks in a personal account... (Mike Frisch) https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2018/07/disciplinary-charges-have-been-filed-by-the-illinois-administrator-for-an-associate-attorneys-thefts-from-her-law-firm-the.html The government has said it is considering the possibility of hiking import duty on consumer durables, following a slash in the goods and services tax (GST) rate last week. An appeal for an import duty hike has come mainly from organised television manufacturers, who argue that grey market operators import TV sets, passing it off as parts, and thereby taking advantage of lower customs duty on it. The matter assumes significance since GST on TV sets, up to a screen size of 68 cm (or 26 inches), has been slashed from 28 per cent to 18 per cent in the last round of ... The amount of compensation for misusing or unauthorisedly using data has not been specified in the draft personal data protection Bill, which, however, has provisions for stiff penalties. The amount will be decided by the adjudicating officer probing a complaint by an individual. As the amount awarded will be subjective, some of the privacy advocates say not many people may lodge a complaint because the amount awarded may not be big enough. The Justice B N Srikrishna-led panel, which had submitted its report and draft Bill to the government a couple of days ago, proposes that in ... India is working on a mega defence project to make the airspace over almost all its major cities, including Delhi and Mumbai, virtually impregnable, sources in the military establishment said. The government is procuring a variety of systems, including missiles, launchers and command-and-control units from the US, Russia and Israel, besides deploying indigenously developed missiles as part of the project, they said. In the last few years, China has significantly ramped up its air power and the sources said that the government was determined to equip the with capabilities on par with its adversaries. ALSO READ: Govt to unveil new policy to make India defence manufacturing hub in 10 yrs "Missile shield over the national capital and many other cities are being strengthened considering the evolving security scenario. Procurement of missile systems, radars and weaponry is part of the initiative," a senior military official said. India is engaged in talks with the US for procuring components of systems, including missiles, radars and drones, and attack helicopters. The US has already approved sale of 22 Sea Guardian to India at an estimated cost of USD 2 billion. It is for the first time, the US is selling the to a country which is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The sources said India is also looking at the US' National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System-II to bolster its own missile shield. India is also procuring the S-400 Triumf missile systems from Russia at a cost of nearly Rs 400 billion to boost its air defence mechanism. The deal is likely to be signed by the two countries later this year. "The aim of the project is to make our skyline impregnable," the official said. As part of efforts to strengthen the country's aerial security, India is in the process of inducting the first batch of its intercontinental ballistic missile system -- Agni V -- which is expected to significantly bolster the country's air defence system. The missile, with a strike range of 5,000 km, is capable of carrying nuclear warhead. A very few countries, including the US, China, Russia, France and North Korea, have intercontinental In its missile armoury, India currently has Agni-1 with a 700 km range, Agni-2 with a 2,000-km range, Agni-3 and Agni-4 with 2,500 km to more than 3,500-km range. In November last, India successfully test fired air-launched variant of the Brahmos, the world's fastest supersonic cruise missile, from a Sukhoi-30 combat jet. The missile will be also be part of the project to make the country's airspace impregnable, the sources said. The Defence Ministry is now expediting the process to integrate the with 40 Sukhoi combat aircraft. Executives and heads of companies that are caught knowingly or "recklessly" engaging in data theft and the illegal processing of your sensitive personal information could be jailed for up to five years if the recommendations of a recently-submitted draft Bill on data protection are accepted by the government. While submitting its recommendations for a data protection law to the Centre on Friday, the panel led by Justice B N Srikrishna has proposed ... 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 fears that the Justice Srikrishna panel report would give importance to individual privacy over the fundamental right to information and disturb the RTI (Right to Information) framework do not seem to have been allayed. The report on data protection, along with a draft privacy bill, was submitted to the government on Friday, and seeks to strengthen Indias data protection laws and provide for individuals right to privacy. 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 Even before elections in Pakistan had taken place, the media which articulates the Western establishment point of view, like the Economist, had already declared it a "flawed election"; it even screamed "foul play" which the "khaki umpire" (read the Army) had rigged. If you will stand for a mixed metaphor, the "khaki umpire" is these days, playing the monkey between two cats - the US and With Donald Trump and his Deep State apparently engaged in a savage fight to the finish, the balance of advantage must be seen to be with But the Chinese themselves are keeping their fingers on the ALSO READ: Imran Khan to be sworn in as new Prime Minister of Pakistan before Aug 14 Imran Khan has expressed reservations on transparency issues. On the other hand, there have been reports that thousands of Pakistani students, who in the past would have been westward bound, have entered Chinese schools of learning. Who knows, this may be the thin end of the wedge. If the Chinese can decolonize the Pakistani mind to this extent, it must be time for the West to take note. But a sketch that sections of the Army and Imran Khan might be innately anti-West can be overdrawn. Yes, Pakistan has choices other than the US which includes Russia, but this does not mean the Army will bite the hand that has fed it since its inception. These are complex times and a durable phenomena like the "West" manifests itself in many forms. After all retired Pakistan armymen, like retirees elsewhere, do keep a steady gaze on post-retirement sinecures. A huge opportunity beckons Pakistan retired Army officers in Saudi Arabia. ALSO READ: Military is behind Imran Khan's dubious win in Pak polls: Nadeem Nusrat The new prime minister will be pragmatic. He will not seek to impose a moral code on his armed forces. But he will draw some very firm red lines and these red lines will stretch from Pakhtunkhwa right through Afghanistan, the arena of his political baptism and purgatory. That is where he cannot be seen to be striking deals. His political turf will turn to ash if he does. He should not be seen in the traditional Pathan-Punjabi balance. The brunt of the blowback from the Afghan war was borne by the Pathan region, true, but it was a national catastrophe. Washington twisted Pervez Musharraf's arm to turn upon those Mujahideen in Afghanistan whom Riyadh, Washington and Islamabad had reared to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan. The blowback from the Afghan war singed Pakistan. The Lal Masjid fiasco in Islamabad aggravated an uncontrollable situation. The reverberations from that blowback have not ended yet. Remember, the public outcry was against Musharraf fighting "America's war" against terrorism. It became all the more shrill when the two brothers controlling Lal Masjid, Ghazi Rashid and Maulana Aziz, led the chorus. ALSO READ: Pakistan is ready to improve its ties with India, says Imran Khan Let me fast forward to the latest American debacle in Syria and its possible impact on the Af-Pak region. When almost all the mercenary Islamists had been caught with their trousers down, the existential question arose: what to do with trained terrorists? When animal lovers in Britain forced an end to the traditional foxhunt, the impulse reached India's southern hill station of Ootacamund also. The same question arose: what to do with hundreds of pedigree hounds? Good sense dawned and the canines were kept in a deluxe kennel, then distributed among dog lovers. But what do the trainers do with terrorists, trained and tested in action, who have not only tasted blood but have begun to love it? Trained terrorists can only have one use: as assets against any Muslim society the "trainer" wishes to destabilize - Afghanistan, Xinxiang, the Caucasus and so on. ALSO READ: With Imran Khan set to become Pakistan PM, India hopes for better ties At least two recent US Presidents can be quoted to the point. In an interview to Thomas Friedman in August 2014, President Barack Obama made a startling admission. Asked why he had not ordered air attacks against the Islamic State when it first reared its head, Obama said: "that would have taken the pressure off Nouri al Maliki", Iraq's stubbornly anti-American, Shia Prime Minister. In other words, the IS advance from Mosul to Baghdad was facilitated to oust Nouri al Maliki, an outcome the US was excitedly waiting for. Maliki had to be punished for the affront of not signing the "Status of Forces agreement" with the US. Eventually, Maliki was shown the door. After having been briefed by the intelligence agencies, candidate Donald Trump told Jake Tapper of the CNN: "Where do you think have billions of dollars worth of arms - and cash - gone in the course of our involvement in Syria? To the extremists, of course, I believe so." He has not budged from this position. What should worry Imran Khan is the next stage: the transfer of trained terrorists from Syria to Northern Afghanistan. Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatullah Ali Khamenei, told a Friday congregation in Tehran on January 30: "The US transfer of IS terrorists to Afghanistan is aimed at creating a justification for its (US') continued presence in the region." More recently, Russia's Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Morgulov Igor Vladimirovich, told a high powered assembly at the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi: "IS fighters were being flown to northern Afghanistan." The Afghan airspace is under the control of the US and the government in "So who is responsible?" Vladimirovich asked. Islamabad, Beijing, Moscow are all persuaded that Taliban will have to be part of the solution in Afghanistan. Americans have been marking time with the good Taliban, bad Taliban mantra because they clearly do not have a policy. The moment is laden with irony for President in The emergence of a Pathan in Islamabad should have provided him with comfort. Instead, he is having kittens: the Pathan on the other side has an agenda which is totally at cross purposes with Ghani's. Imran's agenda would boost his popularity in the country where Ghani, alas, has none. The moral is simple: no sidekick to a foreign power has ever been respected at home. Canada, the European Union, Japan, Mexico and South Korea will meet in Geneva next week to discuss how to respond to threats by US President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on US imports of autos and car parts, officials familiar with the talks said. The Trump administration has come under heavy criticism from automakers, foreign governments and others as it considers tariffs of up to 25 per cent, a levy critics warn will hike vehicle costs, hurting auto sales and global industry jobs. Several auto manufacturing powers have been talking to each other in recent days about their ... Tech firms like Facebook should be made liable for "harmful and misleading" material on their websites and pay a levy so they can be regulated, British lawmakers said, warning of a crisis in democracy due to misuse of personal data. Facebook has increasingly become a focus of the media committee's inquiry into "fake news" after the data of 87 million users was improperly accessed by British-headquartered consultancy Cambridge Analytica. Facebook executives said on Wednesday its profit margins would plummet for several years due to the cost of improving ... Username: Password: or Register Thread Rating: 2 Vote(s) - 3 Average 1 2 3 4 5 Page: 1 2 Israel just "freed" crisis actress Ahed Tamimi. And the Oscars goes to... lop guest User ID: 443102 07-29-2018 01:39 PM Post: #1 Israel just "freed" crisis actress Ahed Tamimi. Advertisement Did you ever hear of Israel treating Palestinian prisoners as VIP guests? Just look at her lovely hair and magnificent skin after being "freed". Where did they keep her, in a SPA? They built a huge billboard with her face with an "eye-of-ra" effect on it. She looks like a young Nicole Kidman's clone. You got duped again. How do I know she's an actress? She's alive and kicking - pun intended.Did you ever hear of Israel treating Palestinian prisoners as VIP guests?Just look at her lovely hair and magnificent skin after being "freed". Where did they keep her, in a SPA?They built a huge billboard with her face with an "eye-of-ra" effect on it.She looks like a young Nicole Kidman's clone. You got duped again. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 443102 07-29-2018 01:40 PM Post: #2 RE: Israel just "freed" crisis actress Ahed Tamimi. Totally staged. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 453417 07-29-2018 01:56 PM Post: #3 RE: Israel just "freed" crisis actress Ahed Tamimi. She is a Heroine ! Archangel Michael User ID: 441975 07-29-2018 02:01 PM Posts: 14,103 Post: #4 RE: Israel just "freed" crisis actress Ahed Tamimi. [ ] Palestinian teen should be shot in knee: Israeli MP on jailed protester Ahed Tamimi [/size] An Israeli legislator says Palestinian teenage girl Ahed Tamimi, who is currently serving an eight-month prison term for slapping an Israeli trooper, should be at least shot in the knee and put under house arrest for life, lamenting that she has not been wounded yet. I am actually sad that she is in jail. She should have gotten a bullet, at least in her kneecap. I would have put her under house arrest for the rest of her life, said Deputy Knesset Speaker Bezalel Smotrich in a tweet on Sunday, referring to now 17-year-old Tamimi, who has a long record of protesting as a youngster against Israeli atrocities and policies in the occupied Palestinian territories. The teenage girl, recognizable since young age by her blond curly hair as well as her courageous posture, became the latest face of Palestinian resistance when a video emerged of her slapping one and then another Israeli officer in the face during a protest in her home village of Nabi Saleh, near the Palestinian city of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank on December 15 last year. The confrontation reportedly erupted after Israeli forces shot Tamimis cousin in the face with rubber bullet earlier that day leading to her anger. Israels Deputy Knesset Speaker Bezalel Smotrich Faced with embarrassment as that video went viral, the Israelis decided to arrest the courageous teenager. They took her into custody on December 19. According to some accounts, 20 Israeli army Jeeps arrived at Ahed's house before dawn to arrest her. Thirteen days later, she was charged with alleged assault, incitement, and throwing stones at the Israeli soldiers. Smotrichs tweet, which came two days after the killing of 15-year-old Muhammed Ibrahim Ayyub by the gunfire of Israeli soldiers in the besieged Gaza Strip, drew criticisms for inciting violence against minors. However, the lawmaker, who is a staunch supporter of a shoot-to-kill policy towards stone-throwing Palestinian teens, remained adamant in his highly controversial position. In this January 15, 2018 file photo, Ahed Tamimi is brought to a courtroom inside the Ofer military prison near Jerusalem al-Quds. (Photo by AFP) In a follow-up Facebook post, he tried to defend his contentious stance, branding Palestinian children involved in anti-Israeli demonstrations as terrorists. Ahed Tamimi is not an innocent girl I want to be shot. She is a terrorist , I care about the lives of people of Israel, not the lives of my enemies, further claimed Smotrich, who on a number of occasions has proposed segregation of Jews and Arabs in the occupied territories. With these posts on social media, Smotrich, a member of the Israeli Knesset from the right-wing Tkuma party, which is part of the regimes ruling coalition, appeared to give a signal to police authorities to deal with the Palestinian children involved in protests against the occupying regime in the harshest possible manner. more That Israel held her for an extended period of time, denied her defense arguments, and now is continuing to ramp up things in this case, show what they're about, Supremacism.[ ][/size]An Israeli legislator says Palestinian teenage girl Ahed Tamimi, who is currently serving an eight-month prison term for slapping an Israeli trooper, should be at least shot in the knee and put under house arrest for life, lamenting that she has not been wounded yet.I am actually sad that she is in jail. She should have gotten a bullet, at least in her kneecap. I would have put her under house arrest for the rest of her life, said Deputy Knesset Speaker Bezalel Smotrich in a tweet on Sunday, referring to now 17-year-old Tamimi, who has a long record of protesting as a youngster against Israeli atrocities and policies in the occupied Palestinian territories.The teenage girl, recognizable since young age by her blond curly hair as well as her courageous posture, became the latest face of Palestinian resistance when a video emerged of her slapping one and then another Israeli officer in the face during a protest in her home village of Nabi Saleh, near the Palestinian city of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank on December 15 last year.The confrontation reportedly erupted after Israeli forces shot Tamimis cousin in the face with rubber bullet earlier that day leading to her anger.Faced with embarrassment as that video went viral, the Israelis decided to arrest the courageous teenager. They took her into custody on December 19. According to some accounts, 20 Israeli army Jeeps arrived at Ahed's house before dawn to arrest her. Thirteen days later, she was charged with alleged assault, incitement, and throwing stones at the Israeli soldiers.Smotrichs tweet, which came two days after the killing of 15-year-old Muhammed Ibrahim Ayyub by the gunfire of Israeli soldiers in the besieged Gaza Strip, drew criticisms for inciting violence against minors. However, the lawmaker, who is a staunch supporter of a shoot-to-kill policy towards stone-throwing Palestinian teens, remained adamant in his highly controversial position.In a follow-up Facebook post, he tried to defend his contentious stance, branding Palestinian children involved in anti-Israeli demonstrations as terrorists.Ahed Tamimi is not an innocent girl I want to be shot. She is a terrorist , I care about the lives of people of Israel, not the lives of my enemies, further claimed Smotrich, who on a number of occasions has proposed segregation of Jews and Arabs in the occupied territories.With these posts on social media, Smotrich, a member of the Israeli Knesset from the right-wing Tkuma party, which is part of the regimes ruling coalition, appeared to give a signal to police authorities to deal with the Palestinian children involved in protests against the occupying regime in the harshest possible manner. Archangel Michael User ID: 441975 07-29-2018 02:10 PM Posts: 14,103 Post: #5 RE: Israel just "freed" crisis actress Ahed Tamimi. [ ] Ahed Tamimi lawyer accuses Israeli interrogator of sexual harassment [/size] Details [ ] Israel arrests relatives of soldier-slapping teenager Ahed Tamimi [/size] Details And the US Congress wants to GIVE Israel $38 BILLION of our taxpayers money to continue their reign of UNHOLY TERROR IN THE HOLY LAND? More theft of land and more extinguishing non Jewish lives is what it will buy. All for our 'leaders' public agrandizement, so they can hold public office and give Israel even more of our money, and more of the blood of our own children fighting Israel's wars against non-Jews and stealing their land. And the US Congress wants to GIVE Israel $38 BILLION of our taxpayers money to continue their reign of UNHOLY TERROR IN THE HOLY LAND?More theft of land and more extinguishing non Jewish lives is what it will buy. All for our 'leaders' public agrandizement, so they can hold public office and give Israel even more of our money, and more of the blood of our own children fighting Israel's wars against non-Jews and stealing their land. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 447953 07-29-2018 02:25 PM Post: #6 RE: Israel just "freed" crisis actress Ahed Tamimi. Archangel Wrote: (07-29-2018 02:01 PM) That Israel held her for an extended period of time, denied her defense arguments, and now is continuing to ramp up things in this case, show what they're about, Supremacism. Don't be silly, IDF goons shoot Palestinian kids on sight or beat the living sh*t out of them, let alone one who supposedly slapped an Israeli soldier. That's 100% staged, and she's an actress. They didn't pick a nordic-looking chick to play "Palestine heroine" by accident, it's all conditioning, indoctrination and mind games with the sheep. Now she'll be catapulted to goddess status, have a pedowood movie about her life, meet Queen Elizardbeth, be a Time Magazine cover with the usual devil horns formed by the M letter behind her head, get a chair at UN and start advocating some Illuminati agenda for children. Just another day in the most f**ked up planet of the galaxy. Don't be silly, IDF goons shoot Palestinian kids on sight or beat the living sh*t out of them, let alone one who supposedly slapped an Israeli soldier.That's 100% staged, and she's an actress. They didn't pick a nordic-looking chick to play "Palestine heroine" by accident, it's all conditioning, indoctrination and mind games with the sheep.Now she'll be catapulted to goddess status, have a pedowood movie about her life, meet Queen Elizardbeth, be a Time Magazine cover with the usual devil horns formed by the M letter behind her head, get a chair at UN and start advocating some Illuminati agenda for children.Just another day in the most f**ked up planet of the galaxy. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 453417 07-29-2018 02:40 PM Post: #7 RE: Israel just "freed" crisis actress Ahed Tamimi. And the Oscars goes to... Wrote: (07-29-2018 01:39 PM) How do I know she's an actress? She's alive and kicking - pun intended. Did you ever hear of Israel treating Palestinian prisoners as VIP guests? Just look at her lovely hair and magnificent skin after being "freed". Where did they keep her, in a SPA? They built a huge billboard with her face with an "eye-of-ra" effect on it. She looks like a young Nicole Kidman's clone. You got duped again. You are full of shiit OP ! The artists who did the mural of her have been arrested ! ''Israeli forces have detained two Italian graffiti artists who were working on a mural of a jailed Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi. According to Palestinian officials on Saturday, the two Italian artists and a Palestinian who was accompanying them were detained while they were working on a painting on the controversial Israeli separation barrier in Bethlehem in the West Bank. Tamimi was sent to prison for assault after a film of her kicking and slapping an Israeli soldier in the West Bank went viral on December 15 last year.'' https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/07/2...l-graffiti You are full of shiit OP !The artists who did the mural of her have been arrested !''Israeli forces have detained two Italian graffiti artists who were working on a mural of a jailed Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi.According to Palestinian officials on Saturday, the two Italian artists and a Palestinian who was accompanying them were detained while they were working on a painting on the controversial Israeli separation barrier in Bethlehem in the West Bank.Tamimi was sent to prison for assault after a film of her kicking and slapping an Israeli soldier in the West Bank went viral on December 15 last year.'' GrimShaw Asinus Asinum Fricat User ID: 447734 07-29-2018 02:46 PM Posts: 32,483 Post: #8 RE: Israel just "freed" crisis actress Ahed Tamimi. Here's an example of "pro-Palestinian propaganda", you know, like she's being called by some people. The word "subjugation" Just that word alone. That's pro-Palestinian propaganda. Strike it from the dictionary guys. It's not fair guys. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 451726 07-29-2018 03:01 PM Post: #9 RE: Israel just "freed" crisis actress Ahed Tamimi. LoP Guest Wrote: (07-29-2018 02:40 PM) And the Oscars goes to... Wrote: (07-29-2018 01:39 PM) How do I know she's an actress? She's alive and kicking - pun intended. Did you ever hear of Israel treating Palestinian prisoners as VIP guests? Just look at her lovely hair and magnificent skin after being "freed". Where did they keep her, in a SPA? They built a huge billboard with her face with an "eye-of-ra" effect on it. She looks like a young Nicole Kidman's clone. You got duped again. You are full of shiit OP ! The artists who did the mural of her have been arrested ! ''Israeli forces have detained two Italian graffiti artists who were working on a mural of a jailed Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi. According to Palestinian officials on Saturday, the two Italian artists and a Palestinian who was accompanying them were detained while they were working on a painting on the controversial Israeli separation barrier in Bethlehem in the West Bank. Tamimi was sent to prison for assault after a film of her kicking and slapping an Israeli soldier in the West Bank went viral on December 15 last year.'' https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/07/2...l-graffiti You believe everything you see on MSM. PressTV is controlled opposition, Mahmoud Abbas is a secret chosenite, look how cute he and Sarah Netanyahu having some quality time at Shimon Peres funeral. They are all in bed together and they play Illuminati games in which the sheep die and they stay in power forever. Wake the f*#k up moron! [video=youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN8Jl4bNZPs[/video] Malala Yousafzai is not sexy nor commercial enough, so they went with a teenage that suits more hollywood stereotypes. You people are so f*cking gullible that hurts. You believe everything you see on MSM. PressTV is controlled opposition, Mahmoud Abbas is a secret chosenite, look how cute he and Sarah Netanyahu having some quality time at Shimon Peres funeral. They are all in bed together and they play Illuminati games in which the sheep die and they stay in power forever. Wake the f*#k up moron![video=youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN8Jl4bNZPs[/video]Malala Yousafzai is not sexy nor commercial enough, so they went with a teenage that suits more hollywood stereotypes. You people are so f*cking gullible that hurts. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 451726 07-29-2018 03:02 PM Post: #10 RE: Israel just "freed" crisis actress Ahed Tamimi. LoP Guest Wrote: (07-29-2018 03:01 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (07-29-2018 02:40 PM) You are full of shiit OP ! The artists who did the mural of her have been arrested ! ''Israeli forces have detained two Italian graffiti artists who were working on a mural of a jailed Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi. According to Palestinian officials on Saturday, the two Italian artists and a Palestinian who was accompanying them were detained while they were working on a painting on the controversial Israeli separation barrier in Bethlehem in the West Bank. Tamimi was sent to prison for assault after a film of her kicking and slapping an Israeli soldier in the West Bank went viral on December 15 last year.'' https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/07/2...l-graffiti You believe everything you see on MSM. PressTV is controlled opposition, Mahmoud Abbas is a secret chosenite, look how cute he and Sarah Netanyahu having some quality time at Shimon Peres funeral. They are all in bed together and they play Illuminati games in which the sheep die and they stay in power forever. Wake the f*#k up moron! Malala Yousafzai is not sexy nor commercial enough, so they went with a teenage that suits more hollywood stereotypes. You people are so f*cking gullible that hurts. Link fixed. Link fixed. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 449124 07-29-2018 03:06 PM Post: #11 RE: Israel just "freed" crisis actress Ahed Tamimi. You are an actor, and you don't even know it. PioneerSpirit Registered User User ID: 441578 07-29-2018 03:11 PM Posts: 15,196 Post: #12 RE: Israel just "freed" crisis actress Ahed Tamimi. And the Oscars goes to... Wrote: (07-29-2018 01:39 PM) Just look at her lovely hair and magnificent skin after being "freed". Where did they keep her, in a SPA? Beauty must be in the eye of the beholder. I'm not seeing anything special here. LoP Guest Wrote: (07-29-2018 03:01 PM) PressTV is controlled opposition, Press TV is Iranian government controlled propaganda. And like any government controlled propaganda .. it can't be believed. Beauty must be in the eye of the beholder. I'm not seeing anything special here.Press TV is Iranian government controlled propaganda.And like any government controlled propaganda .. it can't be believed. "They notice that you notice" - Mothman Prophecies A tradition cannot make an historical claim and then refuse to have it evaluated by history GrimShaw Asinus Asinum Fricat User ID: 447734 07-29-2018 03:13 PM Posts: 32,483 Post: #13 RE: Israel just "freed" crisis actress Ahed Tamimi. PioneerSpirit Wrote: (07-29-2018 03:11 PM) And the Oscars goes to... Wrote: (07-29-2018 01:39 PM) Just look at her lovely hair and magnificent skin after being "freed". Where did they keep her, in a SPA? Beauty must be in the eye of the beholder. I'm not seeing anything special here. LoP Guest Wrote: (07-29-2018 03:01 PM) PressTV is controlled opposition, Press TV is Iranian government controlled propaganda. And like any government controlled propaganda .. it can't be believed. Just like Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, etc. Just like Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, etc. PioneerSpirit Registered User User ID: 441578 07-29-2018 03:14 PM Posts: 15,196 Post: #14 RE: Israel just "freed" crisis actress Ahed Tamimi. GrimShaw Wrote: (07-29-2018 03:13 PM) PioneerSpirit Wrote: (07-29-2018 03:11 PM) Beauty must be in the eye of the beholder. I'm not seeing anything special here. Press TV is Iranian government controlled propaganda. And like any government controlled propaganda .. it can't be believed. Just like Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, etc. Those aren't government controlled .. they are political party controlled. But yeah ... they aren't reliable either. Those aren't government controlled .. they are political party controlled.But yeah ... they aren't reliable either. "They notice that you notice" - Mothman Prophecies A tradition cannot make an historical claim and then refuse to have it evaluated by history LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 451726 07-29-2018 03:39 PM Post: #15 RE: Israel just "freed" crisis actress Ahed Tamimi. PioneerSpirit Wrote: (07-29-2018 03:11 PM) And the Oscars goes to... Wrote: (07-29-2018 01:39 PM) Just look at her lovely hair and magnificent skin after being "freed". Where did they keep her, in a SPA? Beauty must be in the eye of the beholder. I'm not seeing anything special here. That's because you are not comparing her with ACTUAL prisoners held captive by the apartheid Israeli regime, who actually survive their hate and brutality. They don't look like they just had their hair and skin done in some beauty shop in West Beverly Hills. PioneerSpirit Wrote: (07-29-2018 03:11 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (07-29-2018 03:01 PM) PressTV is controlled opposition, Press TV is Iranian government controlled propaganda. And like any government controlled propaganda .. it can't be believed. Iran is just another anunnaki/archon/illuminati proxy used for social engineering and war games. That's because you are not comparing her with ACTUAL prisoners held captive by the apartheid Israeli regime, who actually survive their hate and brutality. They don't look like they just had their hair and skin done in some beauty shop in West Beverly Hills.Iran is just another anunnaki/archon/illuminati proxy used for social engineering and war games. Advertisement NASA's latest planet-hunting probe - the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) - has started its search for new worlds around nearby stars, the US Space agency said. TESS is expected to transmit its first series of science data back to Earth in August, and thereafter periodically every 13.5 days, once per orbit, as the spacecraft makes it closest approach to Earth. The TESS Science Team will begin searching the data for new planets immediately after the first series arrives. "I'm thrilled that our planet hunter is ready to start combing the backyard of our solar system for new worlds," said Paul Hertz, NASA Astrophysics division director at Headquarters, Washington. "With possibly more planets than stars in our universe, I look forward to the strange, fantastic worlds we're bound to discover," said Hertz. TESS is NASA's latest satellite to search for planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. The mission will spend the next two years monitoring the nearest and brightest stars for periodic dips in their light. These events, called transits, suggest that a planet may be passing in front of its star. TESS is expected to find thousands of planets using this method, some of which could potentially support life. Doctors conducted a check-up of Sharif after he complained of chest pain and advised that he immediately be shifted to a coronary care unit (CCU) of the Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad, Geo news reported. Pakistan's caretaker government on Sunday ordered prison authorities to immediately shift former prime minister to the country's top hospital after his health deteriorated in the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. Sharif, 68, is serving a 10-year jail term in a corruption case over his family's purchase of luxury apartments in London. He has been lodged in the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi since July 13. Last week, it was reported that Sharif is on the verge of a kidney failure. Doctors recommended to shift him to hospital immediately. The decision to shift Sharif to hospital was taken by the Punjab government which has administrative control of the Adiala jail after a team of doctors recommended that Sharif needed proper medication and care as he has been suffering from acute pain in both his arms, likely due to lack of adequate blood circulation. "Sharif will be shifted to Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad where preparations have been made to keep the high-profile prisoner," Punjab Home Minister Shaukat Javed said. Earlier, a team of doctors headed by Dr Ejaz Qadeer and comprising cardiologist Dr Naeem Malik, Medical Specialist Dr Shaji Siddiqui, neurologist Dr Sohail Tanvir and Dr Mashood carried out medical checkup of Sharif after he complained of pain in chest. Dr Malik, head of the PIMS cardiology department, suggested that authorities shift Sharif to the hospital as his blood tests showed clotting which, according to the doctor, was an alarming sign considering his medical history. His ECG was also not satisfactory. The Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo has diabetes and undergone bypass surgery in 2016. He currently takes medication for his heart condition, cholestrol and diabetes. Last week, PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif wrote a letter to caretaker Punjab government seeking better facilities for them at Adiala Jail. Shehbaz had asked the authorities to ensure continuous provision of medicines and medical examination to Sharif from his personal doctor as he was suffering from dehydration and his blood urea content was 50 per cent higher than it should have been. Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in and around the Adiala Jail. Security personnel have been deployed around its premises and also special arrangements have also been made at the PIMS. A special court in Pakistan is all set to resume hearing of a high treason case against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, which may also be a big test for Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which is likely to form a government, a media report said on Sunday. Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Yawar Ali, who is heading the three-judge special tribunal, will visit Islamabad for three days from July 31 to August 2. The Express Tribune reported that the purpose of his visit is to hear the high treason case lodged against the former president soon after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) came to power in 2013 for his role in the promulgation of emergency on November 3, 2007. However, the prosecution team has yet to get any information regarding fixation of the case. The matter was also fixed at the start of this month but the schedule was cancelled because of the LHC top judge's foreign trip. We are also hearing that the case is fixed next week, a member of Musharraf legal team also informed about the development, said the daily. Now, it is to be seen whether the upcoming government will pursue the treason case or keep Akram Sheikh, who was appointed as the prosecutor by the PML-N's government. Sheikh, who is regarded as being close to the PML-N, may himself withdraw from the case, the daily said The legal experts believe that the treason case is a test for the new government as one of the reasons of civil-military tussle was that the PML-N government had initiated the case against the former army chief. The chief had vowed in November 2007 that his party would initiate proceedings against Musharraf over his unconstitutional acts but it has also been witnessed that the has remained silent over the issue in the recent past. Most close aides of Musharraf have also joined the PTI. Interestingly, a key member of Musharraf's party, Amjad also withdrew his nomination papers in favour of Imran Khan in NA-53. It is also being observed as to how much the superior judiciary is interested to conclude the trial. Experts say the superior judiciary is still unable to end misperception that it leans towards the establishment. Since the disqualification of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, the PML-N has been propagating that the judiciary is part of a game plan. On April 7, the Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar proposed fresh composition of the special bench, led by Justice Yawar Ali, but the federal government led by the PML-N did not issue a formal notification during its tenure. Later, the caretaker government issued a notification regarding the composition of the special tribunal, which also comprises Sindh High Court judge Nazar Akbar and Balochistan High Court judge Tahira Safdar. Justice Yawar Ali is set to retire on October 22 this year. It will be interesting whether the trial will be concluded before his retirement. Recently, the apex court summoned Musharraf, who has been living in Dubai since 2016, in a matter regarding his disqualification but he did not show up. The workers' union of Minera Escondida, the Chilean copper mine that is the highest-producing in the world, threatened an "imminent" strike after rejecting the latest proposal from controlling firm "The strike is imminent, we have not been able to meet with the company," Carlos Allendes, a union spokesman, told AFP Saturday. The stoppage would affect production at a mine where 5 per cent of the world's copper is produced. After nearly six weeks of negotiations with Anglo-Australian company BHP, the nearly 2,500 members of the mine's largest union on Saturday began voting on whether to reject or approve the firm's latest proposal. Balloting is to continue until August 1, but union leaders have recommended rejecting it. If the workers do reject the offer, mediation will begin. If an agreement is still not reached, the union could strike again, as happened last year, paralysing the company for 44 days. "We have made an effort as a company and we are confident that our workers will consider it," Patricio Vilaplana, Escondida's vice president for corporate affairs, said after the company delivered its latest proposal. The union is calling for a five per cent salary increase and a conflict termination bonus of four per cent of dividends received by shareholders last year, or about USD 34,000 per worker. The company has increased its initial offer of 13.5 million Chilean pesos to 15 million (USD 23,000) per worker as a bonus for ending the negotiation. The mine is located in the Atacama desert at an altitude of about 3,100 metres (10,100 feet). A total of twenty-five bodies have been recovered so far after a bus fell into a 500-feet deep gorge, killing more than 30 people in Ambenali Ghat of Raigad district on Saturday. A team of Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been deployed to help in the rescue operations. "Search operation will continue as we have spotted few more bodies. We need to check if there are bodies underneath the bus," NDRF, Deputy Commandant, Vairavanathan told ANI. Giving out further details of the accident, Raigad guardian minister Ravindra Chavan had earlier said that bus fell down into gorge due to the driver's fault and only one passenger survived the accident. "Bus fell in a 500-feet gorge due to the fault of the driver. Only one passenger has survived. We are trying to recover the bodies," Chavan had said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who is currently lodged in Rawalpindi's Adiala jail in a corruption case, is likely to be shifted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad after his health condition worsened. Sources told Geo News on Sunday that the doctors conducted a medical check-up after Sharif complained of chest pain and then referred him to a coronary care unit (CCU). Taking cognizance of the same, the jail superintendent notified to the additional chief secretary. Geo News quoted Pakistan's Interior Ministry as saying, "In light of the additional chief secretary's report, the caretaker government decided to shift Sharif to PIMS. Sharif's electrocardiogram (ECG) was conducted and showed changes as per the medical report." Sources added that all preparations have been done to shift the three-time Pakistan prime minister to PIMS. On July 23, a medical board had urged for his immediate transfer to a hospital after Sharif was reportedly "on the verge of a kidney failure". Following this a four-member medical team, formed by PIMS, reached the jail to check the health condition of Sharif. The Express Tribune, attributing to sources, reported that the urea nitrogen in Sharif's blood had climbed up to dangerous levels. The sources further said that Sharif's heartbeat was irregular and he was suffering from dehydration and excessive sweating. A caretaker government source, however, told the English daily that Sharif was being medically examined on a regular basis in the jail, where his prognosis appeared to be normal. On July 13, Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz, who were convicted in the Avenfield reference case by the National Accountability Court, were sent to the Adiala jail. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Activists from the Baloch Republican Party (BRP)-Germany chapter recently held a protest against Pakistan over human rights violations and persecution of Baloch people in Balochistan province. The activists gathered in Germany's Frankfurt city and raised anti-Pakistan slogans, calling it a "terrorist state". The demonstrators also accused Pakistan Army and spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for supporting terrorist groups like Islamic State (IS), al Qaeda and Taliban, who are engaged in the enforced disappearances and killings of Baloch people. The protesters appealed to the European Parliament and the United Nations (UN) to take immediate note on the worsening human rights situation in Balochistan, which is the largest and resource-rich province of Pakistan. A BRP Germany activist, Wasim Baloch said, "In Balochistan, the Pakistan Army has sped up human rights violations, which include the organised killing of Baloch leaders, political activists and civilians, who have been demanding justice for freedom." He added, "The Army, the ISI and other agencies are abducting and killing these activists far away in their torture cells and hoping that the Baloch people will forget about them. The UN should take immediate action against Pakistan Army." Thousands of Baloch political activists and intellectuals have been disappeared and many have been brutally killed, allegedly by Pakistan's secret services agencies and the Pakistan Army. Taking cognizance of the same, the Baloch people have been protesting across the seeking help from the international community and human rights organisations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Saturday said that the in-power Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will stand united in the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections against the Opposition. "An ideological battle is going on the country. At one side of this fight is BJP and on the other are all those parties who are fighting in different parts of the country for their existence. Their only motive is to push the BJP at the back in 2019 elections," Singh said after chairing a BJP leaders' meeting here. "As the government schemes are getting implemented, these forces are in fear. We have to unite our BJP cadres against the impure grand alliance. We will stand united for 2019 elections against grand alliance," he added. Meanwhile, Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah earlier on Saturday urged the regional parties to come together to defeat the BJP in the forthcoming 2019 general elections. "The question you asked about Mamata didi's proposal, is what we are discussing- how best can regional parties come together to take on BJP in general elections," Abdullah said in Kolkata. His statement came a day after he met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Howrah to discuss the prevailing situation in the country. On a related note, the general elections are due to be held in April or May 2019 to constitute the seventeenth Lok Sabha. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Remembering freedom fighter Chandra Shekhar Azad, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that the former's valour and passion for freedom inspired youth. While addressing the 46th episode of his monthly radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat', the Prime Minister said, "The valour of Chandra Shekhar Azad and his passion for freedom has inspired many youths. Azad sacrificed his life, but did not bow down before foreign rule". The revolutionary freedom fighter's 112th birth anniversary was celebrated on July 23. Known for his zeal to fight against the British government in India, Azad was the one, who in August 1925, pulled the emergency chain of train from Shahjahanpur to Lucknow and looted the cash which was being transported. He was famous for his new phases of revolutionary activism against the British authorities. Born in Madhya Pradesh on July 23, 1906, Azad was killed in Allahabad on February 27, 1931 following a police encounter. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he was not afraid of being clicked with the industrialists, the Congress took a dig at him and said that he should lend his legitimacy and respectability to such corporates. Addressing a press conference, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari, said, "If the Prime Minister feels alright to be photographed with such people, who allegedly ripped off the banking system, and run away to Antigua and London or they disappear from the earth, then I leave it to the Prime Minister's wisdom to lend his legitimacy and respectability to such people." Tewari further underlined that the Congress was not against industrialists and capitalists, but against "crony capitalists." "The Congress feels that private enterprises and private capital have a legitimate place in the developmental trajectory of the country. But what we are against are crony capitalists, which is the nexus between suit and boot. This 'suit-boot ki sarkar' functions for the benefit of few at the cost of many," he added. Prime Minister Modi, while speaking at a launch of 81 projects worth Rs 60,000 crore at a ceremony in Lucknow said that he "was not afraid" of standing with the industrialists as his intentions are "clear". The Prime Minister also gave an example of Mahatma Gandhi and said that he also had friendly relations with industrialists. "There are people who don't want to get themselves photographed with any industrialist but there is hardly any who didn't meet them on the sly. Mahatma Gandhi never hesitated in meeting businessman Birla. There is no problem in meeting anyone as long as the intentions are clear. I am not the kind who is scared of being seen with industrialists. There are those who don't want to meet them in public, but only behind curtains," the Prime Minister said. Tewari also hit out at the Prime Minister for comparing himself with Mahatma Gandhi and said, "It is surprising to say that the Prime Minister compared himself to Gandhiji. No political leaders should compare themselves with the Father of the Nation. The Prime Minister said Gandhiji had industrialists with himself. But the question is which types of industrialists?" He also said that the industrialists, who used to be in touch with Mahatma Gandhi, did not break any banking system or ran away from the country with thousands of crores of public money. The Congress has time and again attacked Prime Minister Modi for his "close relations" with business magnets and also accused him of favouring them, overlooking the plights of poor and farmers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Username: Password: or Register Thread Rating: 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average 1 2 3 4 5 Video released of deadly semi-truck crash in Nevada silversides The bare necessities of life User ID: 148291 07-29-2018 08:54 PM Posts: 30,354 Post: #1 Video released of deadly semi-truck crash in Nevada Advertisement https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_ArLyqsTX4 Nevada Highway Patrol has released dramatic video from a deadly crash that happened on US 93 on July 18. ----------------------------- Video released of deadly semi-truck crash in Nevada that killed 2 By Travis Fedschun | Fox News Dashcam video show deadly Nevada semi-truck collision Nevada Highway Patrol releases dashcam footage of fatal semi-truck collision. Authorities in Nevada released dramatic video on Wednesday from a deadly crash earlier this month involving a semi-truck that's being blamed on "drowsy driving." The Nevada Highway patrol told FOX5 Las Vegas the crash was reported just after 6 a.m. on July 18 on U.S. 93 approaching Interstate 15. Motorists were stopped for a flagger in a construction zone at the time when the semi-truck hit the vehicles in a moment that was captured on a dashcam video. ... http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/07/29/vid...+-+Text%29 Voodoo'd VIDEO: Dashcam video captures deadly semi-truck crash on US 93Nevada Highway Patrol has released dramatic video from a deadly crash that happened on US 93 on July 18.-----------------------------Video released of deadly semi-truck crash in Nevada that killed 2By Travis Fedschun | Fox NewsDashcam video show deadly Nevada semi-truck collisionNevada Highway Patrol releases dashcam footage of fatal semi-truck collision.Authorities in Nevada released dramatic video on Wednesday from a deadly crash earlier this month involving a semi-truck that's being blamed on "drowsy driving."The Nevada Highway patrol told FOX5 Las Vegas the crash was reported just after 6 a.m. on July 18 on U.S. 93 approaching Interstate 15.Motorists were stopped for a flagger in a construction zone at the time when the semi-truck hit the vehicles in a moment that was captured on a dashcam video.... Uppity Me Registered User User ID: 449159 07-29-2018 09:32 PM Posts: 37,535 Post: #2 RE: Video released of deadly semi-truck crash in Nevada and then he keeps on going he was aiiming Quote: Les pauvres n'ont-ils des Euros ? Alors laissez les pauvres 'sh*t' dans les rues Sarah Registered User User ID: 257528 07-29-2018 09:52 PM Posts: 3,993 Post: #3 RE: Video released of deadly semi-truck crash in Nevada It says he fell asleep at the wheel. Sad. RIP. GrimShaw Asinus Asinum Fricat User ID: 447734 07-29-2018 09:55 PM Posts: 32,483 Post: #4 RE: Video released of deadly semi-truck crash in Nevada shiiiiiiiit damnshiiiiiiiit (This post was last modified: 07-29-2018 09:57 PM by GrimShaw .) LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 451845 07-29-2018 09:56 PM Post: #5 RE: Video released of deadly semi-truck crash in Nevada If you have ever driven through Nevada then you know why he was sleepy and probably well over the posted speed limit. It's just that kind of state. 1110.00) lop guest User ID: 198896 07-30-2018 01:11 AM Post: #6 RE: Video released of deadly semi-truck crash in Nevada Guy in yellow is suspicious as a possible vampire: "What possessed him?" Vampires work to precipitate things in a coordinated fashion, using distractions and what have you (woman only becomes visible as you mount an escalator, so you don't identify the honey trap threat ahead of time, or whatever they need of you, so you will look at her on your way up while initially identifying the threat). Truck might not have swerved right in the last moment otherwise, even if the driver was wrong leading up to the incident ("drowsy" or whatever, so missing signs, or "missing signs"). Everything is cam appearances with their system now. 1110.00) lop guest User ID: 198896 07-30-2018 01:16 AM Post: #7 RE: Video released of deadly semi-truck crash in Nevada You notice the obvious booty going by the street window they know you occupy regularly (to keep your backside safe from vampire gaze/presence), so you only covert your eyes after the first obvious booty passes by, because threat assessment takes a second or two. They only need you to look at one booty, even for a split second. They need regular, accumulated activity they can use in court at some future point. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 432080 07-30-2018 01:19 AM Post: #8 RE: Video released of deadly semi-truck crash in Nevada I'll pay the toll on your ignorance the next trip through. Silly retards.I'll pay the toll on your ignorance the next trip through. stentor Registered User User ID: 449324 07-30-2018 01:23 AM Posts: 1,804 Post: #9 RE: Video released of deadly semi-truck crash in Nevada People in that red truck died? ? LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 352770 07-30-2018 01:25 AM Post: #10 RE: Video released of deadly semi-truck crash in Nevada The real sad part is, the guy standing the road could have moved over allowing the truck to continue without striking the sitting vehicle very messed up, what was the guy thinking, i'll make him stop with my magic powers and my sign LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 453618 07-30-2018 01:28 AM Post: #11 RE: Video released of deadly semi-truck crash in Nevada LoP Guest Wrote: (07-30-2018 01:25 AM) The real sad part is, the guy standing the road could have moved over allowing the truck to continue without striking the sitting vehicle very messed up, what was the guy thinking, i'll make him stop with my magic powers and my sign if dude was nap-jerking or in a microsleep nothing would have prevented it. if dude was nap-jerking or in a microsleep nothing would have prevented it. 1110.00) lop guest User ID: 198896 07-30-2018 01:34 AM Post: #12 RE: Video released of deadly semi-truck crash in Nevada The truck driver was awake enough to try and pass the stopped semi truck at speed. The sign guy was following radio-head instructions in my book, otherwise the truck driver would simply have passed very irresponsibly at speed and not hit anyone: "No! Run back towards the speeding semi!." Scores of people residing in Gilgit-Baltistan launched a protest on the streets of Ghizer town on Sunday, denouncing the flagrant violation of Anti-Terrorism Act by Islamabad. It is believed that this act, which was introduced to expeditiously bring the perpetrators of terror to justice, has gradually become a tool of extrajudicial killing and repression. Local leaders residing in the region are blaming Islamabad for orchestrating similar circumstances to what it has done previously in Balochistan and Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA). Speaking to ANI, one of the nationalist leaders, Ghizer said that the Islamabad forces are deliberately slapping Anti- Terrorism Act against the innocent civilians in order to satisfy their personal egos. The leader also said that they are making all efforts to seek rights within the limits of law and order. "You all know that who have been placed under schedule IV. Someone is a teacher, other is a businessman. We are peace-loving people. They have slapped the Anti- Terrorism Act against just to satisfy their personal ego. This is not justice, this is an atrocity. We want to live in peace. We want to do our work peacefully. We are seeking our rights within the limits of law and order. If an establishment doesn't want this then we'll be forced to choose a different path," said Ghizer. "If laws will continue to be misused like this then Gilgit Baltistan will also see what Balochistan and FATA are going through. If this continues and the unlawful step is not taken back then, let me remind you, especially the military commander, establishment, and administration that if they fail to stop this spate of violence, it will have severe consequences and will rise, and there will; also come a day when you will plead and we will not listen," he added. Ghizer further said that the Pakistan army and spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has been systematically targeting the political activists, traders and other intellectuals as it deems them a potential threat to their suppressive rule. Venting anger over the Islamabad for providing safe haven to terrorists, another national leader Shafqat Inqlabi said, "Answer me as to which explosion had taken place. How many people have lost their lives due to the struggle of Yawar Ali, How many have become terrorists because of Noor Akbar Doha's teaching in school? Which school of Inayat Tabdir is a terrorist headquarters? Which terrorist organisation does Engineer Manzoor Parwana is a member of? Which terrorist organisation does Agha Ali Rizwi associated with? What kind of terrorist is Shabir Mayar? Which terror act was Yawar Abbas involved in? You have designed schedule IV to instill a sense of fear in us." "The residents in Gilgit Baltistan have issued an ultimatum to the government stating they will use an alternate path of protest if further atrocities were meted out on them," he concluded. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani has invited Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan to pay a visit to Kabul, PTI leader Naeemul Haque said on Sunday. Addressing media here, Haque was quoted by Geo News as saying, "The Afghan president telephoned Imran and congratulated him over his victory in the 2018 General Election. Ghani told Imran that Pakistan and Afghanistan have historic relations and invited him for a tour of the country." He underlined that Imran would visit Kabul once he was sworn in as the new Pakistan Prime Minister. The PTI leader asserted that the party had the mandate to form the government both in the centre and in Punjab province, adding that talks were being held with various political parties for support in forming the government. Furthermore, Haque demanded Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), President Fazlur Rehman, to take back its decision of boycotting the Pakistan Parliament. "Maulana Fazlur Rehman should take back his decision that his elected candidates will not take the parliamentary oath in light of Imran's vow to aid in probing opposition parties' rigging allegations," he stated. Earlier on Saturday, Haque tweeted that Imran may choose D-Chowk in Islamabad as the "right place" to take the oath. He wrote on the micro-blogging site, "IK (Imran Khan) would prefer a People's ceremony of oath taking where thousands can watch him take the oath as PM of Pakistan. Perhaps D Chowk area may be the right place to do it. Let's hope so. Will keep on updating on this." D-Chowk earned nationwide attention, when in August 2014, Imran and his supporters led a long march from Lahore to Islamabad to protest against alleged rigging in the 2013 general elections. On reaching Islamabad, the demonstrators asserted that they would stay put at D-Chowk till their demands were accepted. However, the agitation was cut short after a powerful terror attack in Peshawar's Army Public School claimed over 140 lives, with most casualties being children. Haque previously said on the same day that Imran will be sworn-in as the new Prime Minister of Pakistan before August 14. While asserting that PTI would form the government at the Centre, he claimed that the party would form the government in Punjab province also. He said, "Imran Khan is working day and night for this. We are in contact with independent candidates and today or until tomorrow the nation will hear a good news." The PTI emerged as the single largest party with 115 seats, after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Saturday released the complete preliminary results for 270 of 272 National Assembly (NA) constituencies. The ECP completed the process after almost three days when the general elections were held. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) which won 64 seats came second, while the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) bagged 43 seats and finished third. Pakistan went to polls on Wednesday and the counting of votes began soon thereafter in the evening, which was marred by tedious counting and allegations of rigging by major political parties, including the PML-N and PPP. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) working president MK Stalin on Friday asserted that party president and his father M Karunanidhi's condition is stable and he is responding to treatment. "There was unexpected setback in his (Karunanidhi) health but after intense medical care, he's normalising," Stalin said in a statement. Stalin further said that his father's health is being continuously monitored by a team of doctors. Stalin also appealed to the party workers and supporters to not create any inconvenience for the public. He urged cadres to cooperate with the security personnel deployed outside the Kauvery Hospital and not indulge in any violence. According to reports, DMK leaders including Stalin, MK Alagiri, Durai Murugan, A Raja, Kanimozhi, TR Baalu and TKS Elangovan have left the hospital. The Kauvery Hospital, where ailing DMK chief is admitted had said that the health of the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu is normalising. Meanwhile, DMK supporters who have gathered outside the hospital said that will stay there till their chief is discharged. The crowd, who was trying to barge inside the hospital was lathi-charged by the police deployed to avoid or control any unwelcome situation. DMK cadres clashed with police personnel outside the hospital. The crowd has also gathered outside DMK chief 's Gopalapuram resident. Heavy security has beefed up both at hospital and Karunanidhi's residence. Before entering the Kauvery hospital, DMK's east district unit in-charge A Raja urged people not to believe in rumours. In a statement, Executive Director of Kauvery Hospital, Dr Aravindaran Selvaraj said, "There was a transient setback in the clinical condition of Kalaignar M Karunanidhi, DMK President and Former CM of Tamil Nadu. With active medical support, his vital signs are normalising. He continues to be closely monitored and treated by a panel of expert doctors." Karunanidhi was admitted to hospital on Saturday following a drop in his blood pressure. The DMK stalwart, who is suffering from fever due to urinary tract infection, was earlier undergoing treatment at his Gopalapuram residence in Chennai. He is on intravenous antibiotics. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Kauvery Hospital on Sunday said that with an active medical support, condition of ailing Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president M Karunanidhi is normalising. In a statement, Executive Director of Kauvery Hospital, Dr Aravindaran Selvaraj said, "There was a transient setback in the clinical condition of Kalaignar M Karunanidhi, DMK President and Former CM of Tamil Nadu. With active medical support, his vital signs are normalising. He continues to be closely monitored and treated by panel of expert doctors." Karunanidhi was admitted to hospital on Saturday following a drop in his blood pressure. The DMK stalwart, who is suffering from fever due to urinary tract infection, was earlier undergoing treatment at his Gopalapuram residence in Chennai. He is on intravenous antibiotics. Earlier in the day, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu met Karunanidhi at Kauvery hospital. On July 27, Prime Minister Narendra Modi enquired about the ill health of Karunanidhi and prayed for his quick recovery. The Prime Minister also spoke to Karunanidhi's son MK Stalin and daughter Kanimozhi regarding the same. Many political leaders, including Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam along with the other state ministers on late Thursday night met Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) working President M.K Stalin to inquire about the health of his ailing father M. Karunanidhi at his residence here. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amid the ongoing tussle between Lietuenant Governor (LG) Anil Baijal and the Delhi government, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a symbolic gesture tore a report of the LG committee on installing CCTV cameras in Delhi. Addressing an interactive session comprising Residents Welfare Associations (RWAs) and market associations of the city on Sunday, Kejriwal, on flashing the report in front of the public said, "It is the will of the people that this report should be torn apart. The public is God in a democracy." As soon as he made the statement, he ripped the LG's report on CCTV cameras, inviting huge cheers and applause from the public. Slamming the report, Kejriwal said, "The report of LG's committee whose members are police personnel, says if someone installs CCTV cameras in Delhi, even with their own money, they will have to get the license from the police. License means 'paisa chadhao, license le jaao' (give money and take license)." Taking on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the centre, Kejriwal alleged that the ruling party through the LG was not letting the Delhi government work and was constantly hindering in the administrative control over the city-state. He further stated that with the installation of CCTVs all over Delhi, crimes against women would come down to at least 50 per cent. Earlier on July 4, the Supreme Court in its judgment said that the Lieutenant Governor must work harmoniously with the state, adding that Delhi cannot be granted statehood, citing an earlier judgment. Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, who headed the five-judge bench comprising A.K. Sikri, A.M. Khanwilkar, D.Y. Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan, said, "LG cannot act independently unless where the Constitution allows. LG cannot be an obstructionist." "LG cannot act independently unless where the Constitution allows. LG cannot be an obstructionist, he must take advice from the Council of Ministers. The Council has to inform the LG of its decisions. The LG must work harmoniously with the state, the L-G and council of ministers have to be constantly aligned. There is no space for anarchy," CJI Misra said. Later, Kejriwal questioned LG Anil Baijal as to why he was "selective" in accepting the Supreme Court's judgment on the power tussle between him and the Delhi government. The power tussle between the Delhi government and the LG has been on since the formation of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday acknowledged young achievers and lauded them for contributing towards creating a "New India". Addressing the 46th edition of his monthly radio programme 'Mann ki Baat', the Prime Minister said, "July is the month when the focus shifts from question paper to cutoffs. Attention is shifted from home to hostel. From the protection of parents, they move under the guidance of professors. I am sure my young friends would be excited to start their college life". Further advising the youth, the Prime Minister stated that old friends are of great value but choosing new friends and keeping new friendship requires a lot of wisdom. Prime Minister Modi also acknowledged the efforts of two young IIT professionals from Rae Bareilly, who used their skills and technology to develop the 'Smart Gaon' App. "Through the strong will and spirit, all of them overcame hurdles and achieved success. We can get more such examples around us. Every Indian has the spirit of doing something for his or her roots. We all have this innate bond with our roots, which is influenced by certain factors," Prime Minister Modi noted. "There are many examples like, Prince Kumar from Delhi whose father is a DTC bus driver, also Abhay Gupta from Kolkata who studied under street lights and Afreen Sheikh from Ahmedabad whose father is an auto driver, all of them with their strong will and determination overcame hurdles and achieved success," the Prime Minister stated. Recounting the successful stories of youth from across the country, the Prime Minister said that "such good stories from any part of the country give him energy". "Slightest of spark rekindles the fire within. Let us examine ourselves whether external conditions have clouded our love for our roots," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Dadarao Bilhore, a Mumbai resident, who lost his 16-year-old son to a pothole on a road three years ago, filled up 556th pothole in the city on Sunday. Bilhore' son Prakash died on July 28, 2015, after his bike fell into a deep pothole on a rainwater clogged Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR) in Mumbai. Following his death, Bilhore started filling up potholes in the city to avert such accidents. Speaking to ANI in this regard, Bilhore said, "I don't want people to face the same fate as my son, Prakash.. I will keep working till India becomes pothole-free. Our nation has a huge population. If even one lakh people start filling potholes, India will become pothole-free." Talking about the conflict between Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), etc over taking the responsibility of resolving the crisis, Bilhore said, "If people start filling the potholes, they will be inspired to take up the work and solve the problem." Around six persons have lost their lives in and around Mumbai due to potholes this monsoon season. Earlier this month, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena workers protested against the chronic issue of potholes-related deaths in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday continued his tirade against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the Muzaffarpur shelter home scandal. Tejashwi questioned the chief minister that why did his government award the main accused, Brijesh Thakur with another project of a shelter home the same day an FIR was lodged against latter's NGO in connection with the case. "Nitish Kumar sanctioned another tender for a short stay under 'Chief Minister Bhikshavatra Nirvana Yojna' to main accused in Muzaffarpur rapes case Brijesh Thakur, the same day police lodged an FIR against his NGO. What is this relationship called? #Muzaffarpur," Tejashwi tweeted. According to reports, a Mumbai-based Social Sciences Institute, who revealed about the alleged sexual exploitation of inmates at the short stay home for girls in Muzaffarpur, submitted its report in April, and the Bihar social welfare department approved another project to Thakur on May 31 for beggars' shelter in Patna. Earlier as well, Tejashwi Yadav had alleged that Thakur was using his political connections to press down on this case. "I want to ask Nitish Kumar why the main accused Brijesh Thakur has not been arrested yet? I ask CM to make his call details public, Brijesh Thakur is using his political connections to press down on this case, we demand CBI probe," he said. On a related note, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today took over the matter and registered a case against the officers and employees of the shelter home. The probe agency took over the investigation from Muzaffarpur's Mahila Police Station where the case was registered on May 31, under Section 120(B) (criminal conspiracy), 376 (outraging the modesty of a woman), 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 4, 6, 8,10,12 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POSCO). The CBI registered the case on the request of the Bihar Government and following the notification of the Central Government. On July 28, the police claimed that 34 of 40 girls, who were rescued from the state-funded shelter home, were raped or molested. 11 employees of the shelter home were also arrested in this regard. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday took over the Muzaffarpur shelter home rape case and registered a case against the officers and employees of the shelter home. The CBI registered the case on the request of the Bihar Government, and following the notification of the Central Government. The probe agency took over the investigation from Muzaffarpur's Mahila Police Station where the case was registered on May 31, under Section 120(B) (criminal conspiracy), 376 (outraging the modesty of a woman), 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 4, 6, 8,10,12 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POSCO). On July 28, the police claimed that 34 of 40 girls, who were rescued from the state-funded shelter home, were raped or molested. 11employees of the shelter home were also arrested in this regard. Taking cognizance of the matter, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had earlier directed the state officials to conduct a CBI inquiry in the matter. The alleged sexual exploitation of the girls was uncovered more than a month ago by a Mumbai-based social science institute. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a scathing attack on the Opposition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that unlike others, he is not at all afraid of being seen with industrialists. Speaking at a launch of 81 projects worth Rs 60,000 crore at a ceremony here, the Prime Minister further reiterated that as long as intentions are clear, there is no issue in meeting with the industrialists, who play a significant role in the country's development. Citing the example of Mahatma Gandhi, who reportedly used to stay at the Birla House, the Prime Minister said, "My conscience is clear." "There are people who don't want to get themselves photographed with any industrialist but there is hardly any who didn't meet them on the sly. Mahatma Gandhi never hesitated in meeting businessman Birla. There is no problem in meeting anyone as long as the intentions are clear," Prime Minister Modi said. "I am not the kind who is scared of being seen with industrialists. There are those who don't want to meet them in public, but only behind curtains... there is not one industrialist who has not done a 'shashwat pranaam' (deferential respects) at their homes... Doesn't everyone know whose aircraft these people travel in?" he added. Pointing out that industrialists "play an important part in developing the country", the Prime Minister added, "Why should we shame them, call them thieves?" The hit back from Prime Minister Modi comes after the Opposition's allegations about his closeness with corrupt and absconding industrialist Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi. The Congress has time and again attacked Prime Minister Modi over his alleged links with industrialists while also accusing him of ignoring the farmers and the underprivileged of the nation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Username: Password: or Register Thread Rating: 2 Vote(s) - 3 Average 1 2 3 4 5 Page: 1 2 Want to elimate hunger in the United States - easy LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 453581 07-29-2018 11:25 PM Post: #1 Want to elimate hunger in the United States - easy Advertisement Instead, have the food be inspected and donated to help solve hunger issues. But, of course this might actually solve a problem, so in reality nobody would be for it. There are tons of volunteers everywhere who would help cook, transport, serve and whatever else goes with feeding the hungry. Grocery stores throw away ton, upon tons of perfectly good food, presumably to write off as a loss.Instead, have the food be inspected and donated to help solve hunger issues. But, of course this might actually solve a problem, so in reality nobody would be for it.There are tons of volunteers everywhere who would help cook, transport, serve and whatever else goes with feeding the hungry. CyberDan Registered User User ID: 192030 07-29-2018 11:37 PM Posts: 3,414 Post: #2 RE: Want to elimate hunger in the United States - easy LoP Guest Wrote: (07-29-2018 11:25 PM) Grocery stores throw away ton, upon tons of perfectly good food, presumably to write off as a loss. Instead, have the food be inspected and donated to help solve hunger issues. But, of course this might actually solve a problem, so in reality nobody would be for it. There are tons of volunteers everywhere who would help cook, transport, serve and whatever else goes with feeding the hungry. Wal-Mart throws away TONS of food! They won't even give it to anyone even if it is still good: Wal-Mart throws away TONS of food! They won't even give it to anyone even if it is still good: LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 453581 07-29-2018 11:45 PM Post: #3 RE: Want to elimate hunger in the United States - easy CyberDan Wrote: (07-29-2018 11:37 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (07-29-2018 11:25 PM) Grocery stores throw away ton, upon tons of perfectly good food, presumably to write off as a loss. Instead, have the food be inspected and donated to help solve hunger issues. But, of course this might actually solve a problem, so in reality nobody would be for it. There are tons of volunteers everywhere who would help cook, transport, serve and whatever else goes with feeding the hungry. Wal-Mart throws away TONS of food! They won't even give it to anyone even if it is still good: Everyone of them do... There is even tons of perfectly good fruits and vegetables left on farms to rot all because they have a blemish or something small that prohibits them from going to market. Everyone of them do...There is even tons of perfectly good fruits and vegetables left on farms to rot all because they have a blemish or something small that prohibits them from going to market. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 453353 07-29-2018 11:50 PM Post: #4 RE: Want to elimate hunger in the United States - easy LoP Guest Wrote: (07-29-2018 11:25 PM) Grocery stores throw away ton, upon tons of perfectly good food, presumably to write off as a loss. Instead, have the food be inspected and donated to help solve hunger issues. But, of course this might actually solve a problem, so in reality nobody would be for it. There are tons of volunteers everywhere who would help cook, transport, serve and whatever else goes with feeding the hungry. They have been doing this since Clinton was POTUS They call it food banks They have been doing this since Clinton was POTUSThey call it food banks LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 453581 07-29-2018 11:52 PM Post: #5 RE: Want to elimate hunger in the United States - easy LoP Guest Wrote: (07-29-2018 11:50 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (07-29-2018 11:25 PM) Grocery stores throw away ton, upon tons of perfectly good food, presumably to write off as a loss. Instead, have the food be inspected and donated to help solve hunger issues. But, of course this might actually solve a problem, so in reality nobody would be for it. There are tons of volunteers everywhere who would help cook, transport, serve and whatever else goes with feeding the hungry. They have been doing this since Clinton was POTUS They call it food banks No they haven't, they made it illegal. Food banks are donated canned/boxed goods. No they haven't, they made it illegal.Food banks are donated canned/boxed goods. CyberDan Registered User User ID: 192030 07-29-2018 11:52 PM Posts: 3,414 Post: #6 RE: Want to elimate hunger in the United States - easy CyberDan Registered User User ID: 192030 07-29-2018 11:58 PM Posts: 3,414 Post: #7 RE: Want to elimate hunger in the United States - easy Wal-Mart could have just asked them to sign a waiver that they could not sue them if they take the food. Or take a video of them stating they they will be unable to sue them. It really is that simple. DeaCsah Registered User User ID: 431520 07-30-2018 12:01 AM Posts: 466 Post: #8 RE: Want to elimate hunger in the United States - easy how many tons have you donated? LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 453611 07-30-2018 12:02 AM Post: #9 RE: Want to elimate hunger in the United States - easy CyberDan Wrote: (07-29-2018 11:58 PM) Wal-Mart could have just asked them to sign a waiver that they could not sue them if they take the food. Or take a video of them stating they they will be unable to sue them. It really is that simple. Apparently the new laws won't allow for that... ...thats why I said have some sort of state food inspector do it before making thier way wherever. Apparently the new laws won't allow for that......thats why I said have some sort of state food inspector do it before making thier way wherever. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 453609 07-30-2018 12:05 AM Post: #10 RE: Want to elimate hunger in the United States - easy I just broke four days of no food stint With a tasty as fuc feta+spinach roll Im still far from farking dying So ill start attempt again Its all rubbish LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 453611 07-30-2018 12:06 AM Post: #11 RE: Want to elimate hunger in the United States - easy DeaCsah Wrote: (07-30-2018 12:01 AM) how many tons have you donated? I don't own a grocery store I don't own a grocery store DeaCsah Registered User User ID: 431520 07-30-2018 12:07 AM Posts: 466 Post: #12 RE: Want to elimate hunger in the United States - easy LoP Guest Wrote: (07-30-2018 12:06 AM) DeaCsah Wrote: (07-30-2018 12:01 AM) how many tons have you donated? I don't own a grocery store fuckall then fuckall then Spiddy Registered User User ID: 411278 07-30-2018 12:08 AM Posts: 18,541 Post: #13 RE: Want to elimate hunger in the United States - easy Eat the poor, nobody will miss them and they tend to vote Democrat anyway. As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron. H.L. Mencken 1920. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 453353 07-30-2018 12:13 AM Post: #14 RE: Want to elimate hunger in the United States - easy LoP Guest Wrote: (07-29-2018 11:52 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (07-29-2018 11:50 PM) They have been doing this since Clinton was POTUS They call it food banks No they haven't, they made it illegal. Food banks are donated canned/boxed goods. Clinton made it legal google Good Samaritan law Clinton made it legal google Good Samaritan law LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 453353 07-30-2018 12:15 AM Post: #15 RE: Want to elimate hunger in the United States - easy Spiddy Wrote: (07-30-2018 12:08 AM) Eat the poor, nobody will miss them and they tend to vote Democrat anyway. Yeah but they taste like jack ass Yeah but they taste like jack ass Advertisement The Naxals have threatened three families consisting around 24 villagers to leave a village in Chhattisgarh's Kondagaon or face the consequences. The villagers sought help from the police on Saturday night in the regard. Abhishek Pallav, Superintendent of Police of Kondagaon district, said, "The complainants are Naxal supporters but now with help of our rehabilitation policies, they are coming back to the mainstream. This has left the Naxals baffled and desperate and that they are now threatening their supporters to leave their house. FIR will be registered," said SP, Kondagaon. The police official also said that the villagers were fed up and tired of Naxalism and, therefore, they are now coming out and fighting against Naxals. "It is a big thing that people from Becha and Kilam have come out to fight against Naxals, it is a positive sign. Even today, we nabbed a Naxal and 5-10 Naxals are ready to surrender who have around 10-15 warrants issued against them," he added. The villagers told that the Naxals have threatened to kill them if they don't leave their houses. "Naxals threatened to kill us and asked us to leave the village. We trust the police so we have come here," said one of the villagers. On Saturday, a group of armed Naxals reached the village and attacked some families before threatening them to leave. The villagers are afraid to return to their village as they support the Naxals, but the Superintendent of Police assured that they have already sent their team to the village. The people, who came to seek help, are kept in police custody. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People's Party (PPP) have taken the unanimous decision of taking part in the Parliament, rejecting the boycott call given by Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Geo News reported on Sunday. "Despite their reservations, both the PML-N and PPP have decided that their elected candidates will take the parliamentary oath," Geo News quoted sources as saying. The sources further added that both the political parties will soon hold a protest in the Parliament over the matter of rigged votes in the recently concluded Pakistan General Elections."The two parties have agreed to lodge a protest against alleged rigging in the 2018 General Election in the Parliament," said the sources. A formal announcement in this regard will be made after advisory committees of PML-N and PPP will meet each other and leaders of other political parties today, reported Geo News. The development came a day after former leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah informed PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif that the PPP will not boycott the Parliament. Several political outfits and organisation based in Pakistan are accusing the military of rigging elections and falsely making Imran Khan's political outfit Pakistan Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) the winner. The PTI emerged as the single largest party with 115 seats, after the Election Commission of Pakistan on Saturday released the complete preliminary results for 270 of 272 National Assembly constituencies. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Maharashtra government on Sunday announced that it will provide jobs to one dependent from each victim's family killed in a bus accident that took place at Raigad district and claimed 30 lives. Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena also announced compensation of Rs. 1 lakh to each victim's family killed in the incident. On Saturday, the bus was carrying 31 passengers when it fell into a 500-feet deep gorge in Ambenali Ghat in Maharashtra's Raigad district. Only one of the passengers survived the accident. Raigad guardian minister Ravindra Chavan had said that bus fell down into the gorge due to the driver's fault. On Sunday, the Disaster Response Force (NDRF) called off the rescue operation in Ambenali Ghat after recovering all 30 bodies from the site of the accident. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hollywood actress Selma Blair deleted her account from Twitter after she defended 'Guardian of Galaxy' director James Gunn who was recently fired from the superhero franchise. "So long. You can find me on Instagram. #Istandwithjamesgunn," Hollywood reporter quoted Blair saying. Earlier this month, after Disney Studios severed business ties with Hollywood director James Gunn over his controversial tweets, 'Legally Blonde' actress Selma Blair has initiated a petition urging Disney to rehire Gunn. The 46-year-old extended support to Gunn on Twitter, hailing the latter to be "one of the good ones." She undertook this drastic move after a heartfelt tweet to the ousted director. "@JamesGunn I thank you for your talent, your decency, and your evolution as a man. You propped me up when I was in a scary place, and guided me towards the decent and right thing to do. You have shown strength of character more than most anyone I know. You understood," she wrote. On Thursday, when she was about to leave the social media platform, she further questioned her followers, "Was James Gunn the first undeserving victim of Hollywood's new zero-tolerance policy?". She also wrote whether anyone else had thoughts about leaving Twitter. Blair and Gunn are close friends for many years now. Apart from Blair, 'Guardians of Galaxy' star Dave Bautista defended the director after he was fired. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Condemning People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig's recent remark over lynching, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Sunday questioned if the former is accusing the government of these incidents. Baig drew wrath from various political parties after he warned that the killings of Muslims in the name of cows and buffaloes should be stopped otherwise there would be another partition in India. Speaking to ANI, Swamy said, "What is the use of this warning when he could not stop anything in Kashmir despite being the former deputy chief minister of the valley. Today, he is talking as if he is discussing Pakistan propaganda. What is the basis for all this?." "Is he accusing the government of doing these things? He should not be a coward. He should rather have said openly. We should condemn such kinds of statements that spoil the atmosphere," Swamy added. While addressing a gathering in Srinagar on Saturday, Baig had said, "The killings of Muslims in the name of cows and buffaloes should be stopped otherwise the outcome will not be good. There has already been a partition in 1947." Baig was reacting to various incidents of mob lynching and killings in the name of cow vigilantism. On a related note on July 21, a 28-year-old man Akbar Khan was allegedly beaten to death in Rajasthan's Alwar district by an agitated mob on suspicion of cow smuggling. He was taking some cows to his village through a forest near Lalawandi area when the locals thrashed him brutally. The incidents of mob lynching have been on a rise in the country. As per data compiled by the Ministry of Home Affairs, 45 persons were killed in 40 cases of mob lynching across nine states between 2014 and March 3, 2018. The Supreme Court on July 17 asked the Centre to enact a law to deal with incidents of lynching and take action on mob violence. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An first investigation report (FIR) was registered against him at the Majhila police station in Uttar Pradesh's Hardoi district on Saturday. "A woman has alleged that she was sexually assaulted by the sub-inspector while she was studying here. She has given birth to their child and now she is demanding the status of a wife. FIR has been registered against the sub-inspector, who has been suspended," Superintendent of Police (SP) Vipin Mishra told ANI. The sub-inspector is absconding for the last six days, while the search operation is on, Mishra added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) leader, Upendra Kushwaha on Sunday said that former Supreme Court judge Justice A.K. Goel's appointment as the new chairman of Green Tribunal (NGT) has sent a very wrong message across the country. Talking to ANI, Kushwaha said "The decision taken by Justice Goel was severely opposed at many parts of India especially by the SC and ST's. We are assuring people that we won't let them suffer because of the decision on SC/ST Act, but his appointment as NGT chairman has sent a very wrong message. I support the demand of his removal from the post of NGT chairman." Earlier, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Ramdas Athawale had also echoed similar views as he had said that Justice Goel had given a wrong judgment on the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and, therefore, his appointment as NGT chairman is not appropriate. The retired apex court judge was on July 6 appointed as the chairperson of the NGT for five years. On March 20, the Supreme Court bench led by Justice Goel and Uday Lalit introduced the provision of anticipatory bail in the SC/ST Atrocities Act and also directed that there will be no automatic arrest on any complaint filed under the Act. Many political parties and people belonging to Dalit community opposed the judgment, perceiving it as the dilution of the Act. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Karunanidhi was admitted to hospital on Saturday following a drop in his blood pressure. The former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister is currently stable with ongoing medical support. In a statement, Executive Director of Kauvery Hospital, Dr Aravindaran Selvaraj said that the 94-year-old leader is "being continuously monitored and treated by the panel of expert doctors in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU)." Earlier on Saturday, Karunanidhi's daughter and Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) Kanimozhi informed that her father's health condition is now better. Addressing the media outside Kauvery Hospital, Kanimozhi said, "Karunanidhi's health condition is now better and his blood pressure is also stable." Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad also visited the DMK chief at the hospital. The DMK stalwart, who is suffering from fever due to urinary tract infection, was earlier undergoing treatment at his Gopalapuram residence in Chennai. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Taking note of the Yamuna river overflow, the District Magistrate (DM) of East Delhi, K. Mahesh on Sunday said that the situation is under control and the government is fully prepared to combat the situation. The Yamuna water level has crossed the danger mark prompting the Delhi Government to be on high alert. The water level touched 205.46 metres on Sunday, reaching beyond the danger mark of 204.83 metres. "Everything is under control, this is not a panic situation. The situation is not all that dangerous. We are prepared; we have a standard operating procedure. The departments know what they are supposed to do," the DM said. He further dwelled on the details of the preparations and rescue operations that are being carried on. "Till now 1500 people have shifted from low-lying areas and 1500 are yet to move. 550 tents have been pitched across 10 locations in the east district. We have made arrangements for food," he added. Mahesh further explained the arrangements made for any untoward situation, saying, "In case the situation does not improve, and more people turn up than expected, we have schools and night shelters to accommodate them. We have ordered a total of 650 tents. If needed then we will take the help of Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team," he added. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, earlier on Saturday called an emergency meeting to discuss the situation. The Delhi Government have also issued flood warning and asked the people living in low-lying areas to evacuate. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) All eight accused involved in the elopement of a teenager and her subsequent rape and confinement have been arrested, including her boyfriend and two human traffickers, police said on Sunday. Accused Abhishek, 18, Ravi, 32, Rinki, 30, Rohit, 22, Mukesh, 25, Intezar, 33, Heena, 27, and Ashok Goyal, 38, were arrested from Delhi, Gurugram and Ghaziabad during raids on Saturday and Sunday. They had sexually assaulted her, confined her at various places in the National Capital Region and later sold her to a spa owner here over a period of one month. "The 16-year-old girl had eloped with her friend Abhishek on June 30 from west Delhi's Sultanpuri area. He took her to Haridwar where he raped her. They returned to Delhi four days later and stayed at the Old Delhi railway station where they met Ravi," Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajender Singh Sagar told IANS. "Ravi promised Abhishek help to land a job and sheltered them at his house in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad. Ravi left Abhishek at Gurugram the next day and returned home to rape the girl in the absence of his live-in partner Rinki," Sagar said. "Ravi and Rinki later sold the girl to two traffickers Heena and Intezar, who contacted spa owner Ashok Goyal and sold her to him in Rohini," the ADCP said. Ashok Goyal allegedly confined her at his spa and sexually assaulted her and forced her to sleep with his clients. "Dissatisfied with Ravi's response on whereabouts of the girl, Abhishek approached police on Friday, following which a case was registered at the Sultanpuri police station," he added. The girl, rescued from the spa, is undergoing counselling. Police is trying to ascertain the involvement of more persons in the crime. --IANS sp/tsb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Do more. Thats what people demand of their presidents and political leaders these days. A real president, regardless of his or her political persuasion, knows how to use the office. A real president makes things happen. Or so goes the conventional wisdom. But, actually, there is another model. A president can succeed through inaction, by doing as little as possible. One such president was Americas Calvin Coolidge. Calvin who? Yes, Coolidge. The best president nobody knows. From the time he took office in 1923 to the time he left in 1929, Coolidge served a philosophy that was simple and powerful: Dont do. Coolidge was the great refrainer. The leadership style matched his personal style. Coolidge did not waste words. Hence his nickname, Silent Cal. He did not grandstand. For these quiet ways, the thirtieth president of the United States absorbed much abuse. A Washington socialite, Alice Longworth, said that Coolidge looked like he had been weaned on a picklea sour, disagreeable, or unpleasant look on ones face. Coolidge cut a sharp contrast to Alices father, Theodore Roosevelt, who had served a decade and a half earlier. And what a contrast Coolidge provided with another Roosevelt, Franklin, who came just a few years later. The great refrainer is worth getting to know because he got the kind of results men and women of action long for today. Especially economic results. He reduced government debt by one-third, cut the tax rate by half, and reduced unemployment by half. He kept unemployment low, often below five percent. Wages increased and strikes were few. Americans (and Filipinos) got electricity, Ford Model Ts, and then Ford Model As, and radios. And most remarkable of all, a shrinking federal budget. In 1926, for instance, the federal budget included $14.5 million (about $200 million today) for the upkeep of the US army, navy, and other services in the Philippines. If you have to remember just one fact about Coolidges presidency, let it be this: Coolidge achieved a budget surplus every year of his presidency and left the federal budget lower than he had found it. How did Coolidge do it? First he resisted taking unnecessary action himself. Second, he imposed the same discipline on Congress. That wasnt easy. In the early 1920s, the progressive movement was on the march. Their impulse, then and now, was always to do something. Progressive plans included more aid for agriculture, encouraging unions, increasing taxes, and nationalizing important industries, such as railroads and utilities. Coolidge abhorred perpetual activity by government. Dont hurry to legislate, he said. He blocked the progressives, and thereby blocked their expansion of government. He vetoed farm subsidies twice, even though he personally came from an area of poor farmersrural Vermont. Coolidge was sympathetic to farmers, but helping them wasnt the governments function. Coolidge also vetoed aggressive versions of the great entitlement proposal of his day, an entitlement that would have expanded the budget by billionspension for veterans. And, he blocked the rise of militant labor unions wherever and whenever he could, a habit he had begun while still governor of Massachusetts.Coolidge made especially good use of the pocket veto, which is the ability of the president to veto a bill by simply not returning it to congress. It is much more important to kill bad bills, he said, than to pass good ones. In total, Coolidge vetoed 50 times. The legislation Coolidge did endorse was designed to meet the same minimalist end: restrain the government. Together with his Treasury Secretary, Andrew Mellon, Coolidge lowered the top tax rate from 58 percent to 25 percent, and eliminated nuisance taxes (which are like todays VAT and sin taxes). Their goal was to shrink the public sector, so that the private sector could expand. And the policy worked. The economy more than doubled and tax revenue increased. By 1927, 98 percent of the population paid no income tax. The final example of the great refrainers philosophy involves political sacrifice. The country liked Coolidges thrift. The progressives won 17 percent of the vote in 1924, but Coolidge won the presidential election with more votes than the Democrats and progressives combined. So everyone, including the Republican Party, thought Coolidge would surely run a second time in 1928. But he declined. Typical of Coolidge, he thought he had done enough. Yes, its possible to criticize Coolidge. As much as he tried to avoid it, Coolidge in the end signed bills he would have preferred not to. And, the president showed a misguided penchant for protectionism, which was never a sound economic policy then and now. Some suggest that Coolidge was responsible for the stock market crash and the decade-long depression that followed after he left office. But research suggests that claim is inaccurate. In the book, The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression by Amity Shales, there is evidence that too much action by Presidents Hoover and Roosevelt put the Great in the phrase, the Great Depression, through increased government intervention and erratic policies. It is ironic that a man of such personal modesty presided over the era known as the Roaring Twentiesthe era of The Great Gatsby and the unprecedented prosperity of the Philippines old sugar and landed families. But that was the paradox: Coolidge was a scrooge who begat plenty. Perhaps the day has come for todays politicians to follow the great refrainers guiding rule. Where others do, dont. And if you have to do, do less. You might just end up with a prosperous nation. [email protected] DMK President M. Karunanidhi on Sunday night suffered a "transient setback" in his health but his vital signs are normalising, said the hospital where he was admitted early on Saturday following a dip in his blood pressure. "There was a transient setback in the clinical condition of Karuanidhi, DMK President and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. With active medical support, his vital signs are normalising. He continues to be closely monitored and treated by the panel of expert doctors," Kauvery Hospital, where he was admitted, said in a bulletin around 10 p.m. The medical bulletin was issued as anxiety spread late in the evening over the health of 94-year-old five-time Chief Minister following rumours and thousands of DMK cadres from the city and districts started surrounding the hospital. Karunanidhi's son M.K. Stalin, daughter Kanimozhi and other members of the family also rushed to the hospital and senior Congress leaders P. Chidambaram and S. Thirunavukkarasar called the hospital and left without talking to the media. Earlier on Saturday and thoughout Sunday, leaders from various political parties who had visited the hospital, had talked to the media after the visit, expressing their hopes that Karunanidhi would returned to normal health. DMK General Secretary K. Anbazhagan, who is older than Karunanidhi, visited the hospital late in the night on hearing about the setback. Even after the late night bulletin, the DMK cadres who had thronged the hospital appeared still unconvinced and it was left to former Union Minister A. Raja to address them in Tamil to convince them of the latest health condition of Karunanidhi. Raja said: "It was true that there was a setback in the health of Karunanidhi for sometime. But with active medical support the setback was set right. He is in a good condition and being continuously monitored and treated by expert doctors. Don't believe rumours." The cadres received this bit of news with a round of applause but still were not ready to leave the hospital area and police had a tough time keeping the crowd under control. Police also carried out a baton charge to disperse a section of the crowd which was uprooting the barricades. Meanwhile, Chief Minister K.Palaniswami cut short his visit to Salem and was returning to Chennai. Earlier on Sunday, party leaders said Karunanidhi's condition continued to be stable and doctors are confident of his recovery. The 94-year-old veteran politician was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of Kauvery Hospital here at 1.30 a.m. on Saturday after his blood pressure dropped. Following treatment, Karunanidhi's blood pressure has stabilized but he continues to be in ICU. On Sunday, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu visited him in hospital and enquired about his health from his family members. Naidu later tweeted: "Met his family members and doctors and enquired about his health. Doctors said he is stable. Wish him a speedy recovery." Accompanied by Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Naidu also met Stalin at the hospital. The party also released a picture of the dignitaries visiting the ailing leader. Other leaders who called at the hospital where CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien and BJP General Secretary Murlidhar Rao. On Saturday night too, the hospital said Karunanidhi's condition was stable with active medical support. For the past two years, Karunanidhi was away from active owing to his health condition. Recently Karunanidhi was admitted to Kauvery Hospital for change of the tracheostomy tube. With a large number of party cadres assembled outside the hospital for second day in succession, a large police contingent was deployed near the hospital. Policemen who are on leave have been asked to rejoin duty and leave is granted only in exceptional cases. Bound to his wheelchair for the past couple of years, Karunanidhi, an atheist, was the most multifaceted wily politician who strode Tamil Nadu's literary and political scene leaving his mark in the socio-economic fabric of the state in the last seven decades. --IANS vj/rak/vsc/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Italy's Matteo Berrettini, World No. 84, upset second seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 7-6 (11-9), 6-4 on Sunday to win the Swiss Open, his first career title. Berrettini, who was playing his first-ever ATP final, needed one hour and 45 minutes to defeat Bautista Agut, world No. 17, and deprive the Spaniard of his third title this season, after his wins in Dubai and Auckland, reports Efe. "I'm really happy, I have to stay focused because of the doubles (final) and not think about this, but I am really happy," Berrettini, 22, said after the match. Bautista Agut lost his big chance in the first set, when he needed just two points to beat Berrettini, who has not dropped his serve during the whole tournament. Unseeded Berrettini defeated three seeded opponents in this tournament, although he had previously never reached a quarterfinal round. Following his loss, Agut said: "I want to congratulate Matteo. He played a great week and he has a great future in front of him. He deserved to win today." Later Sunday, Berrettini is to play alongside fellow Italian Daniele Bracciali in the Swiss Open men's doubles final against Igor Zelenay of Slovakia and Denys Molchanov of Ukraine. --IANS gau/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) If immunity and a bit of boost is what you are looking for, look no further than your kitchen where you can experiment with easy to prepare nutritional dishes that can uplift your mood. Chef Manish Kusumwal, Corporate Chef at Keys Hotels, tells how to make Curried Carrot and Pumpkin Soup with Coconut Milk, which is high on nutrition value and low on calorie content: Ingredients 1 tablespoon Coconut oil 1 onion, diced 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 teaspoon minced ginger 1 teaspoon Madras Curry Powder 200 gm Pumpkin 100 gm Carrots 3 cups vegetable stock/ Chicken Stock (as per preference) 1 can coconut milk Garnishes: Extra coconut milk and pumpkin seeds Instructions In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute for 4 minutes until softened. Add garlic, ginger and curry powder and cook for 1 to 2 minutes until fragrant. Stir in the roughly cut pumpkin and carrots for 5 minutes add broth. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Put heat to low, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Using an immersion blender, puree soup until smooth. Alternatively, transfer to a traditional blender and puree in batches until smooth. Put it back on flame and add coconut milk. (check for consistency as it should not be too watery) Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot, garnished with a drizzle of coconut milk and roasted pumpkin seeds. Recipe Notes: The soup is meant to have a rich consistency, but if it is too thick for you, just add more broth or some water to thin it out. -*- Chef Rakesh Pawar, Sous Chef (Chef De Cuisine), Taj Santacruz, Mumbai, suggests how to make Za'atar Macaroon & Beetroot Hummus: Sieve Almond Flour and Icing Sugar Now add 110 gm of Egg white in the dry mix and Set Aside. Take a saucepan. Add 100 gm of water and 300 gm of castor sugar and boil to a soft ball consistency. Set aside and let it come to room temperature. In a mixer, add another 110 gm of egg white and 20 gm of castor sugar and whip it into a meringue consistency. Once the egg white is formed peak, pour in the sugar water mix of step 3. Let it beat for more time till the Italian Meringue is formed. At this stage, remove the mix and gently fold in the dry mix of step 1 and 2, and Za'atar Spice powder. Place a Silpat on a baking tray. Pipe the mix and sprinkle Za'atar Spice powder. Bake it in preheated oven at 140 degree celsius for 13-15 minutes. For Beetroot Hummus: In a Blender, add boiled chickpeas, garlic cloves, citrus salt and extra virgin olive oil. Blend it till smooth consistency. Add tahini paste, boiled beetroot puree and lemon juice. For Finishing: On a platter, place the macaroon and pipe beetroot hummus on it. Place the second one leaning on the hummus and drizzle olive oil too. Garnish with edible flowers and Za'atar Powder. --IANS rb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken over the probe into the alleged rape of minors at a government-run shelter home in Bihar's Muzaffarpur, an official said on Sunday. According to police, as many as 34 girls housed in the Balika Grih shelter home have been subjected to repeated mental, physical and sexual exploitation. A CBI spokesperson in a statement in Delhi said the agency has registered a case on the request of the Bihar government and taken over the investigation of the FIR of women's police station in Muzaffarpur "related to mental, physical and sexual exploitation of girl children residing at (the) children home at Sahu Road". "The case has been registered against officers and employees of Balika Grih. It is alleged that officials and employees of (the) children home run by Seva Sankalp Evam Vikash Samiti used to mentality, physically and sexually exploit girl children residing at the childrens' home." Muzaffarpur police chief Harpreet Kaur said Bihar Police will hand over the case failes to the CBI team that has arrived in the district. Under pressure from opposition, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday recommended a CBI probe into the series of rapes that he described as "a heinous crime". The shelter home was sealed after the alleged sexual abuse of the girls was reported during a social audit conducted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. The report of the audit was submitted to the state Social Welfare Department, which directed officials to lodge a complaint. A medical examination of 44 girls of the home revealed that 21 of them were raped. The district police has arrested some officials of the home. --IANS ik-sar/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The CBI on Sunday took over the case of rapes in a shelter home in Bihar's Muzaffarpur and filed an FIR to probe the crime in which at least 34 minor girls were victimised, the agency said. The move comes a day after the Congress demanded a Supreme Court-monitored Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the incident and sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's attention towards such crimes. A CBI official said the agency registered a case on the request of Bihar government and a further notification from Central government. Under pressure from opposition, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday recommended a CBI probe into the series of rapes that he described as "a heinous crime". The agency official said: "The CBI has taken over the investigation of the FIR (First Information Report) of Mahila Police Station, Muzaffarpur registered on May 31 related to mental, physical and sexual exploitation of girl children residing at Children Home at Sahu Road in the town. "The case has been registered against officers and employees of Balika Grih Sahu Road, Muzaffarpur." It is alleged that officials and employees of Girl's Children Home run by Seva Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti had been mentally, physically and sexually exploiting girl children residing there, said the official. Muzaffarpur police chief Harpreet Kaur said that they will hand over the case files to the CBI team probing the case. The shelter home was sealed after the sexual abuse of girl inmates came to light during a social audit by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. The report was submitted to the state Social Welfare Department, which directed officials to lodge a complaint. A medical examination of 44 girls of the home revealed that 21 of them were raped. The district police has arrested some officials of the home. --IANS rak/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The rate of child marriages in Afghanistan has declined by 10 per cent in the last decade but continues to be a challenge which needs multilateral policy intervention, according to a report published by UNICEF on Sunday. According to the joint study by UNICEF and the Afghan labour ministry in both urban and rural areas of five of the 34 Afghan provinces, 42 per cent of families have at least one member who was married before the age of 18, although the figure varies widely from region to region, Efe news agency reported. "Child marriage is slightly declining in Afghanistan, and we commend the relentless efforts of the Government to reduce this practice and their strong commitment to child rights," Adele Khodr, UNICEF representative in Afghanistan, said in a statement. "Yet, further consolidated action is needed by the different actors in society to put an end to this practice and reach the goal of ending child marriage by 2030," Khodr added. In 78 percent of cases, the father makes the decisions regarding marriage, while 56 percent of respondents agreed that the bride and groom should be consulted about the marriage. There remains a lack of understanding about the negative impacts of child marriage on girls, particularly in areas such as education, nutrition and economic development. Khodr said that convincing parents to send their daughters to school was key in reducing child marriage. "Ending child marriage will break the inter-generational cycle of poverty and will give girls and women opportunities to engage and participate fully in their society," the UNICEF representative said. --IANS ahm/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Chinese Premier visited the autonomous region of Tibet in a three-day tour, although the news was not officially revealed until on Sunday, two days after the trip ended. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited Tibet's capital Lhasa, the Yarlung Zangbo (Brahmaputra) river and the cities of Nyingchi and Shannan between July 25-27, Efe news agency cited a Xinhua report. Li said he hoped that Tibet could "achieve development and prosperity, safeguard national unity" and "enhance solidarity among ethnic groups". In Lhasa, Li visited the famous Potala Palace, traditional residence of the Dalai Lamas, and said that government would protect and promote cultural heritage. Human rights organisations and Tibetans in exile have frequently accused China of suppressing Tibetan religion and culture. The Premier also visited the Jokhang monastery in Lhasa, considered one of the holiest shrines in Tibet, which was hit by a fire this year; the extent of damage was unknown due to the lack of information on the incident as authorities maintain strict censorship on news related to Tibet. Li began his visit in Nyingchi, where he visited communities supported by the government's poverty alleviation programme, meeting residents and leaders of the area and stressing the need to promote sustainable development and improve Tibetans' quality of life, the report said. He inspected efforts for the conservation of water and the local ecosystem in the Yarlung Zangbo river and said ecological conservation should be strengthened further. Tibet has been closed to the foreign press since 2008, when dozens of Tibetans died after setting themselves on fire in protests against Beijing. Tibetan monasteries in western China, even outside the government-declared autonomous region, have been flashpoints of protests against Beijing's policies, with more than 100 monks and sympathizers immolating themselves in the last decade. --IANS ahm/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A day after the CBI stand in the Supreme Court that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan should face trial in the SNC Lavlin case, his party (CPI-M) on Sunday maintained he was innocent while he himself remained tightlipped. An agreement was inked with Canadian firm SNC Lavalin in 1997, when Vijayan was the Kerala Power Minister, for the renovation and modernisation of Pallivasai, Sengulam and Panniar hydroelectric projects in Idukki district, which allegedly caused a loss of Rs 266 crore to the exchequer. Communist Party of India-Marxist State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan told the media on Sunday that "it (development) is nothing but the handiwork of both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party". "... these two parties have raised it yet again to make it a campaign issue in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Vijayan is innocent. Just as he came out unscathed in the Kerala High Court, he will come clean in the Supreme Court too," said Balakrishnan. The CBI on Saturday filed an affidavit and questioned the discharge of Vijayan and two others, saying the High Court orders in this regard was "not correct". The CBI had moved the apex court to challenge the High Court's August 23, 2017, order discharging Vijayan, K. Mohanachandran, former Principal Secretary in Department of Power, and A. Francis, then department Joint Secretary. The High Court had given the go-ahead for the trial of the remaining three accused, who are Kerala State Electricity Board officials. State Congress President M.M. Hassan told the media on Sunday that in 2006, the then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had referred the case to the CBI, describing it as "one of the biggest corruption scams." "With Saturday's development, it has now turned true what the Congress and the United Democratic Front leaders had always said -- it is a corrupt deal and is one of the biggest setbacks for Vijayan. When Vijayan was discharged by the High Court, there was a huge celebration. But now, things will change for him," said Hassan. Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly and Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said that what happened in the Supreme Court is a legal matter and it's amusing to say that the Congress has any role in the development. The case will now come up for hearing on August 17. --IANS sg/tsb/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) King Mohammed VI delivered Sunday an address on Throne Day from the northern city of Al Hoceima in which he stressed the need for social and economic reforms that would guarantee better living conditions for Moroccans in a climate of unity, security and stability. From the beginning, the King made it clear that True patriotism enhances unity and solidarity, especially in testing circumstances. He said hardships enhance the faith of Moroccan patriots and increase their resolve to tackle difficulties and rise to challenges. I am confident that Moroccans will not allow the advocates of chaos and nihilism or the peddlers of misconceptions to exploit certain deficiencies in order to encroach upon Moroccos security and stability and belittle its gains and achievements, the Monarch said on the occasion of the 19th anniversay of his coming to power. Social reforms The King urged coordination and convergence between different government agencies and the multi-billion social development programs. We can be satisfied with and take pride in what Morocco has achieved and what Moroccans have accomplished over the last two decades. Yet, I cannot but feel that something has been missing in the social domain, the King said. After calling for joint action in addressing shortcomings, the King commended the new initiative to set up a consolidated social register as a promising start for the gradual improvement of social welfare programs over the short and medium terms. In the same vein, the King called on the Government and all the stakeholders concerned to undertake an in-depth, thorough restructuring of national social welfare programs and policies and to submit proposals for their evaluation. Economic Reforms King Mohammed VI recommended provisional social measures to be taken by the government in the field of school enrollment programs and combating school drop-out, launching the third phase of the national initiative for human development, tackling dysfunctions in the health coverage program RAMED and facilitating social dialogue with labor unions with a view to promoting the competitiveness of Moroccan companies and the interests of workers. The King also called for adoption of legislation that aims at facilitating investments through the simplification of administrative procedures. I hope these crucial measures will provide a strong, unprecedented incentive to boost investment, create job opportunities, improve the quality of services offered to citizens and reduce foot-dragging which, as all Moroccans know, leads to corruption, the King added. The King also stressed the need to preserve Moroccos water resources. He said the national water plan should address the various issues relating to water resources for the next 30 years. Because I have keenly sought to continue with that policy, we have managed to build thirty dams of various sizes in the country during the last 18 years, underscored the King. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserting that he was "not afraid of" publicly standing beside industrialists because his intentions were "noble", the Congress hit out at him, saying he should not lend his legitimacy and respectability to such corporates. "If the Prime Minister feels alright to be photographed with such people, who allegedly ripped off the banking system, and run away to Antigua and London or probably disappear from the earth, then I leave it to the Prime Minister's wisdom to lend his legitimacy and respectability to such people," Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said at a press conference. "The question is not the capitalists or industrialists. The question is what kind of capitalists or industrialists," he said, while stressing his party was not against industrialists and capitalists, but against "crony capitalists". "The Congress feels that private enterprise has a legitimate place in the developmental trajectory of the country. But what we are against is crony capitalism and the nexus between the suit and the boot. 'The Suit Boot ki Sarkar', when the government functions for the benefit of a few at the cost of many," he said. Tewari also hit out at Modi for comparing himself with Mahatma Gandhi, saying: "What is even more astonishing is that the Prime Minister went and compared himself to Mahatma Gandhi. "Its unfortunate because no politician should compare himself to the father of the nation. He said that even Mahatma Gandhi used to carry industrialists with him. Again the question is what kind of industrialists. They were those people who in the teeth of British tyranny, British imperialism, in the teeth of persecution were ready to stake in sacrifice everything they had for the freedom of India." These industrialists stood with Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress because their goal was the freedom of India, and were "not those industrialists who had gamed the banking system and runaway with thousands of crores of public money," he said. Slammed Modi over development issues, Tewari said that "the Prime Minister patted himself on the back saying that the country is developing splendidly", but this is not borne out by facts. "The facts are that farmers are forced to sell their crop below the minimum support price. The fact is that small and medium industry is closing down rapidly across the country." On Modi's visit to Uttar Pradesh, Tewari said when any Prime Minister visits a state seven times, six or nine months before the Lok Sabha elections, it is possibly the most "potent barometer of the nervousness" of both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Prime Minister of India. "This is perhaps the seventh trip that the Prime Minister is making to Uttar Pradesh in less than a month." He also criticised BJP President Amit Shah's interview to a newspaper where he mentioned the Rs 12 crore Mudra loans for youth, saying the question was "how many sustainable livelihoods have those loans created". Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala meanwhile tweeted: "Dear PM, your political career reeks of a culture of cronyism! From giving land to your crony friends at throwaway prices in Guj to GSCPC scam, from promoting select mobile wallets in DeMo to gifting largest defence contracts in Rafale! So spare us the lecture!" --IANS rak/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A CRPF trooper on leave was killed when militants attacked him at his home in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Sunday, police said. Militants entered the house of Naseer Ahmad Rather in Naira village of Pulwama and fired at him. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper was taken to hospital in a critical condition, where he succumbed to his injuries. "The CRPF trooper posted with the 182 Battalion had come home on leave," police said. --IANS sq/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi's Tara Prasad and Nisha Rasaily, who hails from Sikkim, have emerged as the winners of dance-based show "High FeveraDance Ka Naya Tevar". "I was a martial artist before I started dancing and that gave me the confidence to pursue my career in dancing. Competing with the best on the national television was always my dream," Tara, 25, told IANS. "I started giving solo auditions, but my options were limited. Nisha and I were keen on competing in a reality show. As luck would have it, we met through a common friend and paired up to audition for 'High Fever...' which marked the beginning of our career." Nisha, on the other hand, had joined the Kingdom of Dreams in Gurugram which taught her many things in life. She admitted that "High Fever..." also taught her many things about the industry, life and dance. "Being in the show gave us an opportunity to work with the best judges and choreography team," said the 26-year-old. The show that gave a platform to dancing 'jodis' (pairs) from across the nation was judged by actress Esha Gupta, choreographer and director Ahmed Khan and dancer Salman Yusuff Khan. Tara and Nisha were announced as the winners during the show's grand finale, which was aired on A&TV onASunday. They received the prize money of Rs 10 lakh along with the trophy. "The best memory for us on the show was during the Mother's Day special, when my mom and Nisha's sister were invited to take a seat in the judge's panel," recalled Tara. "That moment brought Nisha and her sister even closer, making it even more special for us. Also, we met our idols - Saroj Khan, Madhuri Dixit and our mentor Puneet Pathak here which made our 'High Fever...' journey extremely memorable," he added. The winners are planning to shift to Mumbai to establish their careers in Bollywood as choreographers. "We plan to start by assisting choreographers and work hard to climb up the ladder and survive in this competitive industry," said Tara. --IANS nn/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi High Court has slammed Delhi Police for forcibly separating an inter-faith couple despite knowing well that the Muslim woman is above 21 years and had married the Hindu man of her own free will. A bench of Justice S. Muralidhar and Justice Vinod Goel has sought an explanation from Delhi Police over allegations that they kept the husband in the police lock-up from July 3 to 5 without presenting him in any court. The court order came while hearing a habeas corpus filed by the man who was seeking the wife's whereabouts. The couple got married in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, on June 28, 2018 and then started residing at the man's residence at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus in New Delhi. On July 3, at around 8 p.m., policemen accompanied by JNU security personnel and others in civilian clothes forcibly took away the woman and handed over the man to police, who was taken to Loni police station in Ghaziabad and kept in the lock-up for three days. The man alleged that he was abused and beaten in custody and threatened he would be implicated in a false case of rape if he tried to reunite with his wife. The police action came after a complaint was lodged at Loni police station by the woman's brother that his sister was missing. The court has asked the police to explain how it proceeded to act on the complaint received from the woman's brother despite knowing that she was an adult and entitled to take her own decisions. The bench met the young woman in the chamber. She told the judges that she had married the man of her own choice and the marriage was registered at Ghaziabad. To ensure that there was no untoward or unpleasant incident hereafter, the court has directed the police to provide security to the couple as well as their family and listed the matter for further hearing on August 7. The bench spoke to the young woman's mother and explained to her that although she may have reservations about her daughter's marriage to someone from a different religion, the latter is entitled to make her choices as she was an adult. The girl's mother told the court that it would be up to her daughter to decide what she wanted to do with her life. As the young woman wished to return to her husband, the bench gave her the permission to unite with her husband who was also present in the courtroom. (Amiya Kumar Kushwaha can be reached at amiya.k@ians.in) --IANS akk/mr/ahm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The DMK party on Sunday released the picture of its President M.Karunanidhi in an intensive care unit (ICU) in Kauvery Hospital here soon after Vice President M.Venkaiah Naidu met him. The party released the photo for the first time after the 94-year old Karunanidhi was shifted to the hospital on Saturday at 1.30 am after his blood pressure dipped. The picture released by DMK shows Karunanidhi in the ICU bed, Vice President Naidu, Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Karunanidhi's son M.K.Stalin, his sister Kanimozhi and her mother Rajathi, a doctor and nurses. The DMK had vociferously demanded release of late Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa's picture when she was admitted to Apollo Hospital for 75 days in 2016. However, the then AIADMK government or the AIADMK party refused to release a picture of hers in the hospital which aggravated the speculations about her health condition. But the DMK's release of Karunanidhi's picture is expected to put to rest the speculations and rumours about his health condition in the social media. "The party has released the picture to put an end to rumours about his condition," a party official told IANS. --IANS vj/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday called an emergency meeting at his residence here to take stock of the situation arising from floods in villages around Yamunanagar town following the release of excess water from the Hathnikund barrage. The Yamuna river continued to flow above the danger mark even after the release of over 600,000 cusecs of water that inundated at least 10 villages. The villagers were seen camping on rooftops of their houses. "There is no help from the government as all our ration and households were damaged with the sudden increase in water level last (Saturday) night," Zubair Khan, a resident of Mandi village, located on the outskirts of Yamunanagar town, told a news channel. There was no fodder for the livestock. "We were told by the government to leave the village, but we can't go because of our livestock," an aggrieved Khan added. The government on Saturday sounded a high alert in the districts of Yamunanagar, Karnal, Panipat and Sonipat. Yamunanagar Deputy Commissioner Girish Arora said the Indian Army and the National Disaster Response Force have been put on alert for rescue and relief operations. The authorities began to evacuate hundreds of people living in the Yamuna catchment area following a sharp rise in the river's level, officials said. Heavy rains continued to lash many parts of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, while authorities released more water at the Hathnikund barrage during the day. The Yamunanagar administration has set up a flood control office at the district headquarters and at all blocks for an immediate response. There was no report of any loss of life in the state. The Met Department in Chandigarh predicted that the hill states in Haryana's neighbourhood will continue to experience heavy rains. --IANS vg/ahm/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that "Suraaj" (good governance), like "Swaraj" (self rule), is the "birthright" of every Indian and they should have it. Remembering freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak -- who was born on July 23, 1856 and died on August 1, 1920 -- Modi said: "Lokmanya Tilak evoked self-confidence amongst our countrymen and gave the slogan 'Swaraj is our birth right and I shall have it'. Today is the time to say that good governance is our birth right and we will have it." "Every Indian should have access to good governance and positive results of development. It is the factoring in of this outreach that will create a new India," he said in his monthly radio show "Mann Ki Baat". During his election campaign in 2014, Modi had frequently promised the people that he would ensure "good governance." The Prime Minister also remembered revolutionary freedom fighters Chandra Shekhar Azad, Ashfaqullah Khan and Bhagat Singh. Azad was born on July 23, 1906. "After 50 years of Tilak's birth, on the same day, that is, July 23, another son of Mother India was born who sacrificed his life so that his countrymen could breathe freely in an atmosphere of freedom. I am talking about none other than Chandra Shekhar Azad," Modi said. He said couplets like Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil mein hai/ Dekhna hai zor kitna baazu-e-qaatil mein hai (The desire to lay down our lives is burning in our hearts/ Let's see the strength of our executioner's arms) inspired the youth like Azad, Ashfaqullah Khan, Bhagat Singh and many others did. "Azad's courage and passion for freedom inspired the youth of the day. He put his life at stake, but never bowed in front of the foreign rule," Modi said. Azad famously shot himself with the last bullet in his pistol during an encounter with the police on February 27, 1931 at a park in Allahabad, to keep his vow to never surrender to the British. "Once again, I bow and pay tributes to the two great sons of Bharat Mata - Lokmanya Tilak and Chandra Shekhar Azad," Modi said. --IANS mak/ahm/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A gunrunner, who is a member of a gang selling illegal firearms, has been arrested from the city's Tiljala area and a countrymade firearm, two cartridges and a magazine seized from him, police said on Sunday. Acting on a tip-off, police kept a vigil near Gulmath area on Saturday evening and intercepted Mohammad Wahid, 28, a resident of Kolkata's Topsia Road. He was caught along with an improvised firearm and ammunition around 7.25 p.m. but his two accomplices managed to flee. His questioning revealed that the gang had come to the spot to sell firearms to some unknown buyers. "A case under the Arms Act was lodged at Tiljala police station against all three gang members. A hunt is on for the absconding two accomplices," a police officer said. --IANS mgr/tsb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which emerged as the single largest party but short of simple majority in the National Assembly elections, was yet to seek formal support from smaller parties or Independents to form the next government. Earlier, the party leaders had maintained that they will not need support of any other party, the final preliminary results issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan on Saturday showed that the party was short of 22 seats to form government on its own. On the other hand, two other major parties, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), are expected to meet in a couple of days to devise a joint strategy in a bid to give a tough time to the PTI in parliament, Dawn reported. According to various TV reports, senior PPP leader Syed Khursheed Shah will meet PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif in Islamabad on Sunday. The Pakistani media throughout the day on Saturday kept on mentioning names of possible candidates for key government offices and possible members of the federal cabinet, however, the PTI sources told Dawn that no names were discussed in meetings held in Banigala, residence of Imran Khan, as the party was still busy in making calculations. When contacted, the PTI's Shafqat Mehmood claimed that no formal meeting had taken place in Banigala and that they (PTI leaders) had a general discussion on the challenges the party could face after formation of the government, but no names of federal ministers or chief ministers were discussed. According to the complete preliminary results announced by the ECP, the PTI has obtained 115 seats - 22 short of a simple majority -- while the PML-N and PPP have won 64 and 43 seats, respectively. The PTI leaders who have won more than one seat will have to vacate additional seats as the law allows an individual to retain only one seat. The Prime Minister-in-waiting Imran Khan has won five seats and he will have to vacate four. Ghulam Sarwar Khan of Taxila has also won two NA seats by defeating former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and he will also have to vacate one seat. Former Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has won both National Assembly and provincial assembly seats. If the PTI decides to nominate him again for the previous office, he will also have to vacate the NA seat which means that the party's seats will be reduced to 109. It was after these calculations that the PTI leadership has now decided to reach out to other smaller groups and independents since the party has already declared that it will not join hands with the PPP and the PML-N. It was also reported by various outlets that PTI leader Jahangir Tareen had established contacts with independents and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) which has won six seats. There are 13 independents who emmerged winners in July 25 polls. The sources said Khan had himself contacted Mumtaz Bhutto of the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) to formally invite the alliance to join the coalition government. If the PTI obtains support of the GDA, MQM-P, PML-Q and the Awami Muslim League, the number of its seats will become 122 - still 15 short of the required numbers, which is more than the independents who have won the elections. --IANS ahm/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Students at Tehran universities on Sunday held protest rallies against recent UN nuclear agency's inspections of Iranian universities and demanded a ban for such visits in future, media reports said. UN nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) carried out inspection programmes in two Iranian universities last week which sparked reactions from the Iranian political groups. At Shahid Beheshti University, the students carried pictures of Iranian nuclear scientists assassinated over the past decade, Xinhua reported. A similar rally was held at Tehran's Sharif University of Technology, where students formed a symbolic human chain. They called on state officials to prevent such visits which have sparked a flurry of condemnation by Iranian officials. Last week, Fereidoun Abbasi, former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, denounced as "unacceptable" the recent inspections of two Iranian universities by IAEA inspectors. The IAEA inspections of Iranian academic centers were an inherently "wrong and unacceptable" move, Abbasi said. Besides, there was no reason for the inspectors to visit the offices of professors at the universities either, he added. Abbasi also expressed doubts that future inspections of Iran's universities and scientific centers would be limited to specific time and places. He said that the inspections might go on as long as Iran's nuclear dossier is being considered as a "special case" by the IAEA. "Such visits and inspections may even spread to military sectors and to our military and research universities," Abbasi warned. The IAEA inspectors had visited Iran University of Science and Technology and Sharif University of Technology. Following the media releases, Science Minister Mansour Gholami said Iran's Supreme National Security Council had authorized the inspections. He denounced the claims that such visits would damage national interests, saying that the inspections by the IAEA did not go any further than "visiting the laboratories" and it was not followed by any problems. --IANS qd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For picture posts from 2010 and earlier, see the Earlier Picture Posts Page DMK President M. Karunanidhi's condition continues to be stable on Sunday and doctors are confident of his recovery, said a senior party official. The 94-year-old veteran politician was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of Kauvery Hospital here at 1.30 a.m. on Saturday after his blood pressure dropped. Following treatment, Karunanidhi's blood pressure has stabilized but he continues to be in ICU. "His condition continues to be stable. The doctors are confident that he would recover and go home," a party official told IANS on the condition of anonymity. Meanwhile, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu visited him in hospital and enquired about his health from his family members. Naidu tweeted: "Met his family members and doctors and enquired about his health. Doctors said he is stable. Wish him a speedy recovery." The DMK said in a statement that Naidu was accompanied by Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit. Naidu also met Karunanidhi's son and DMK leader M.K. Stalin at the hospital. The party also released a picture of the dignitaries visiting the ailing leader. On Saturday night too, the hospital said Karunanidhi's condition was stable with active medical support. DMK spokesperson T.K.S. Elangovan on Saturday said that Karunanidhi would be in the hospital for two more days. For the past two years, Karunanidhi was away from active owing to his health condition. Recently Karunanidhi was admitted to Kauvery Hospital for change of the tracheostomy tube. A large number of party cadres were assembled outside the hospital for second day in succession, and to prevent any untoward incidents, a large police contingent has been deployed near the hospital. Policemen who are on leave have been asked to rejoin duty and leave is granted only in exceptional cases. Bound to his wheelchair for the past couple of years, Karunanidhi, an atheist, was the most multifaceted wily politician who strode Tamil Nadu's literary and political scene leaving his mark in the socio-economic fabric of the state in the last seven decades. --IANS vj/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With the death of two devotees in flashfloods, the Himachal Pradesh government on Sunday temporarily halted the Kinner Kailash pilgrimage, dedicated to Lord Shiva's 79-foot vertical rock Shiva Lingam at a height of around 6,050 metres above average sea level. "The Kinner Kailash yatra has been stopped till further order due to heavy rainfall and flashfloods in Kinnaur district," an official statement quoting officiating Deputy Commissioner Avninder Kumar said. He said a flashflood on Thursday night in the Kangrang rivulet on the way to Kinner Kailash washed away two devotees and left several stranded. "As the pilgrims are still arriving to pay obeisance, the administration is urging them not to come to Kinnaur for Kinner Kailash till it is safe," said the statement. It said pilgrims from neighbouring states reached the base camp but were stopped by the police. A control room has been set up at the base camp to stop the pilgrims from trekking. As many as 251 persons were rescued from different locations en route to Kinner Kailash on Saturday. Most of the pilgrims were trapped in the Ganesh park area near Kinner Kailash. The pilgrimage is yet to start officially. --IANS vg/ahm/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), led by super star Mohanlal, will meet here on August 7 to take up issues that have riled some of its members in the recent past, including a section of actresses. AMMA has directed all its members not to issue any more public statements and instead raise their issues and grievances only within the association, an office-bearer told IANS. "All members want that whatever issues faced at present are settled quickly. As a first step, two rounds of meetings are planned for August 7," he said on the condition of anonymity. Actresses Revathy, Padmapriya and Parvathy will be called to discuss issues raised by them. Actor-Director Joy Mathew and Shammi Thilakan will also be called," he said. Mathew was critical of the manner in which AMMA was being run, while Shammi, son of late actor Thilakan, expressed displeasure over alleged mistreatment of his father by AMMA. An AMMA brochure contained a list of late actors, with no mention of Thilakan senior. Trouble stared soon after Mohanlal took over as AMMA President last month, as he took back into the AMMA fold actor Dileep, an accused in the actress kidnap case. Four leading actresses, including the victim, quit AMMA in protest whereas another 14 announced their decision to quit citing lack of fairness. Revathy, Padmapriya and Parvathy had sought an emergency meeting to discuss the revocation of the suspension. AMMA has 484 members, including 248 men. It gives monthly pensions of Rs 5,000 each to 143 members and a medical insurance cover to all its members. --IANS sg/tsb/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said festivals like Ganesh Utsav are a great unifier and should be celebrated with enthusiasm, but in an "eco-friendly" way. "Celebrate Ganesh Utsav with great enthusiasm and fervour whole heartedly but insist on keeping these celebrations eco-friendly," Modi said in his monthly radio address "Mann Ki Baat," underlining that the festival is an opportunity for the youngsters to acquire leadership and organisational skills. "Right from Ganesh idol to all decorative material everything ought to be eco-friendly and I will appreciate that separate competitions be organised in each city and prizes be awarded for these." Ganesh Utsav or the birthday of Lord Ganesha, is scheduled to be celebrated on September 12 this year. The 11-day festival ends with the immersion of the Ganesha idols into the sea or water bodies. The bodies and activists have been advocating the use of eco-friendly materials for making these idols, instead of toxic substances that badly harm the aquatic eco-system. Modi also remembered freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak who had promoted the community celebration of Ganesh Utsav to mobilize people against the colonial rule. In the same spirit, Modi earlier said that the man himself was wreaking havoc with the that resulted in natural calamities such as droughts, floods and landslides. "We are receiving news of good rain from some parts of the country. At some places, the torrential rains have caused floods while some other regions are still waiting for the rain," Modi said. "The fault is not with the rain gods, the fault lies at our end. We are wreaking havoc with the nature by our own deeds and this makes nature angry sometimes," he added. --IANS mak/ahm/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's clarification over his closeness and association with industrialists an "unsuccessful try" as people are now raising questions. "The closeness of the PM with those who looted the country and all the investigating agencies failed to nab them. Giving a contract of the Air Force to a 10-day old company and whose owner is a friend of PM. All these are raising questions among the people. Sir, your clarification is unsuccessful try," Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi. Modi on Sunday said he was not afraid of being seen with industrialists playing a key role in the nation's development because his intentions were "noble". --IANS nks/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Over 150 undocumented immigrants have been detained in Malaysia after a series of overnight police raids outside Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. The operations were conducted under the code name "Op Mega 3.0" by the Immigration Department and the National Registration Department in Subang Jaya, about 10 km from here, Efe news reported. "A total of 157 illegal immigrants were detained for various offences and a total of 380 were screened," national media quoted Deputy Home Minister Datuk Mohd Azis Jamman as saying after the operation. The migrants were mostly from neighbouring Indonesia, as well as from the Philippines, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Among the items seized during the raids was a sword, media reported. The Deputy Minister added that 4,476 undocumented immigrants had been detained under "Op Mega" since it began on July 1 and over 1,500 police raids have been conducted over the past four weeks. In 2014, Deputy Director-General of Immigration Control Sakib Kusmi pledged to rid Malaysia of its estimated 2.5 million undocumented immigrants by 2020. --IANS mag/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi, convicted for assaulting Israeli soldiers, was released on Sunday morning after serving an eight-month jail term, prison officials said. Palestinian activists had described Ahed, 17, as a "symbol of resistance against Israeli occupation". The teenager and her mother were arrested together in December 2017 with another relative -- 20-year-old Nour Tamimi -- after they were filmed slapping and kicking Israel Defence Forces (IDF) soldiers in their village of Nabi Saleh in the West Bank. Ahed was sentenced in March to eight months in prison after a plea bargain, under which she pleaded guilty to one account of assault, one account of incitement, and two accounts -- unrelated to the December incident -- of obstructing soldiers. She also agreed to pay fine. The Tamimi family and Palestinian activists are preparing a hero's welcome for Ahed and her mother in Nabi Saleh, Arab News reported. Dozens of family members and supporters are expected to receive the two upon their release at an IDF checkpoint near Tulkarm and go in a convoy to Ramallah to place a wreath on the late President Yasser Arafat's grave. Afterwards, the convoy will head to Nabi Salah where there will be a festive reception and in the evening a press conference will be held at their house. --IANS mag/ahm/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A large of part of a road in Patna caved in on Sunday following heavy rains that pounded the state capital round the clock, officials said. The Bailey road, considered the life line of Patna, caved in due to heavy rains continuing since Saturday. Several areas are water-logged, a district administration official said. According to police officials, traffic was badly disrupted between Hartali More and Sheikhpura, after the road was closed following the incident. Taking serious notice of the incident, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar visited the site along with his Cabinet colleagues and top officials. "Nitish Kumar inspected the site where the road had caved in and instructed the officials to resume traffic as soon as possible," officials said. The Road Construction Department has started the repair work. In Patna, water-logging is common after heavy rains as most of the drains are choked with plastic waste. --IANS ik/mag/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A staggering amount of Rs 15,167 crore amount belonging to policyholders is lying unclaimed with 23 life insurance companies, according to latest regulatory data. On the basis of this information, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has asked the companies to disburse old insurance claims after identifying the concerned policyholders or beneficiaries. As per the data released, of the total unclaimed amount of Rs 15,166.47 crore as on March 31, 2018, state-run Life Insurance Corporation towers over other companies in the unclaimed list with Rs 10,509 crore, while the 22 private sector insurers account for the remaining Rs 4,657.45 crore. Among private companies, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has Rs 807.4 crore of unclaimed insurance claims, followed by Reliance Nippon Life Insurance (Rs 696.12 crore), SBI Life Insurance (Rs 678.59 crore) and HDFC Standard Life Insurance (Rs 659.3 crore). Insurance companies are required to update information regarding unclaimed amounts on their websites on six-monthly basis. IRDAI has earlier asked the life insurance companies to provide a search facility on their website to enable policyholders or beneficiaries ascertain any unclaimed amounts due to them that are still lying with the firms. --IANS bc/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Trinamool Congress leader from West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district was brutally murdered and his body thrown into a septic tank inside a factory here, police said on Sunday. The body of Sudhir Das, who was missing since Saturday afternoon, was recovered on Sunday morning from inside a factory premises in North 24 Parganas's Madhyamgram, where he used to work as a watchman. "The body of Das, 68, a Trinamool Congress ward president in Madhyamgram aream was found from inside a septic tank, with his hands and legs tied together. There was a grievous injury mark on the deceased's head," an officer from Madhyamgram police station said. Police have detained one person so far after thoroughly examining the CCTV footage at the factory gate. The family members claimed that Das could have been murdered due to "political reasons". "He never used to discuss with me at length but I could feel that he was tense about the political situation here. Lot of people did not like him because used to protest against the wrongdoings of the syndicates," said Das' wife. Police said they have sent the body for autopsy and are interrogating the fellow workers of Das at the factory to find out the possible motive behind the murder. State Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim, expressing grief in the death of the veteran party activist, said Trinamool workers are sacrificing their life at many places while trying to fight against the corrupt. State BJP President Dilip Ghosh, however, claimed that such incidents are the proof of massive infighting that exists within the state ruling party. He also took a dig at the state government claiming there is no law and order in Bengal. --IANS mgr/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Lelectricite est devenue, de nos jours, un besoin dune importance majeure, et cela, dans tous les domaines dactivite. Que ce soit dans les maisons ou [] US President Donald Trump on Sunday said that crossing the US border illegally has consequences whether accompanied by children or not, and urged Congress to change the current migratory law, which he referred to as the world's "dumbest and worst". "Please understand, there are consequences when people cross our Border illegally -- whether they have children or not -- and many are just using children for their own sinister purposes," the President said on Twitter. The Trump administration has come under heavy criticism since the enforcement of its "zero tolerance" policy against immigrants entering the country illegally through Mexico, which was suspended last month after a fierce backlash, Efe reported. Several government officials have said that the president is using zero tolerance as a bargaining chip to garner support for the border wall, as well as the tightening of immigration laws -- such as catch and release and the visa lottery -- despite the fact that Republicans control both houses of Congress. In a later tweet, Trump said that he is "willing to shut down" government if Democrats refuse to vote for changes in the immigration system, including funding for the wall. --IANS qd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump declared on Saturday a state of emergency in California and ordered the federal government to provide additional assistance due to the wildfires that since July 23 have devastated the region and forced authorities to evacuate close to 38,000 people. By means of this order, Trump authorized the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate disaster relief efforts, Efe quoted the White House as saying in a statement. "This action will help alleviate the hardship and suffering that the emergency may inflict on the local population, and provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the counties of Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura," the White House said. Firefighters have been unable to halt the spread of a northern California wildfire that has already destroyed 32,700 hectares (some 82,000 acres) and has killed at least two people. According to figures provided Saturday by CalFire, the state's forestry and forest fire protection department, the Carr fire has only been brought 5 per cent under control. The fire began last Monday in Shasta County, whose main city, Redding, lies some 350 km north of San Francisco. Authorities said that about 38,000 people have had to be evacuated from the region as a precaution. The flames have destroyed 500 buildings and damaged another 75. In addition, at least two people - one firefighter and a bulldozer operator - have died in the area battling the blaze. More than 3,400 emergency services workers are currently trying to put out the Carr fire. It is expected that high temperatures will continue in the coming days in the area, where dry conditions and high winds have fostered the rapid spread of several blazes. Given the seriousness of the situation, California Governor Jerry Brown last Thursday declared a state of emergency in Shasta County. Meanwhile, the Ferguson Fire, which broke out two weeks ago and forced the closure of parts of Yosemite National Park, is 29 per cent controlled, CalFire said on Friday. More than 3,800 personnel are involved in the battle against the Ferguson Fire, with aerial support from 16 helicopters. Authorities in southeastern California's Riverside County announced on Friday the arrest of a man accused of starting the Cranston Fire, which has destroyed 4,700 hectares. Brandon McGlover, 32, faces 15 criminal charges and is being held on $1 million bail, the county prosecutor's office said. --IANS qd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ousted Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was on Sunday shifted to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) after his health deteriorated in Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, the media reported. Doctors conducted a check-up of the former Prime Minister after he complained of chest pain and advised that he be shifted to a coronary care unit (CCU) immediately, Geo News quoted jail sourcres as saying. Following this, the jail Superintendent contacted the caretaker government, which decided to shift Sharif to PIMS. On July 24, a medical board formed to ascertain Sharif's health said the three-time Prime Minister was in need of constant medical care and attention. A five-member medical board formed by PIMS had conducted a medical check-up of Nawaz Shairf on Monday, where the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief is serving his sentence for corruption. Nawaz Sharif, who flew from London to Lahore alongside his daughter Maryam Nawaz on July 13, was arrested on arrival at the Allama Iqbal International Airport, flown to Islamabad via a helicopter, and shifted to jail, where he is serving the sentence awarded to him in the Avenfield properties case along with his daughter and son-in-law Mohammad Safdar. --IANS ahm/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As the Yamuna river continued to flow above the danger mark in Delhi on Sunday, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia took stock of the ongoing evacuation in low-lying areas. Over 1,000 families had been evacuated till Sunday morning. Sisodia also visited low- lying areas around Akshardham and Pandav Nagar and urged people to move to safer places. The river's water level rose to 205.50 meters on Sunday due to water discharge from Haryana's Hathnikund Barrage amid continuous rain in the catchment areas. It is expected to rise to 206.60 meters on July 31. Haryana had released six lakh cusecs of water at 6 p.m. on Saturday. The water released at Hathnikund barrage, which provides drinking water to New Delhi, normally takes 72 hours to reach the city. "More water is being released from the barrage every hour, which will have an impact on the Yamuna level in Delhi. We are keeping a close watch," a Flood and Control Department official told IANS. East Delhi's District Magistrate K. Mahesh also visited the low-lying areas and said that the situation is under control and the government is fully prepared to tackle emergency. "As many as 67 boats have been deployed at 23 locations. We have made arrangements to shift the affected persons to school campuses and night shelters," the official told the media. He said that although the river level was above the danger mark, the situation, as of now, is not worrisome. Quick response teams have been activated, the official said. The National Disaster Relief Force too is on a standby. "We have set up over 750 tents for about 1,000 families in East zone alone, apart from arrangements of food. We are shifting people living on the river bed to the nearest higher areas," Nodal officer (Preet Vihar) Arun Gupta told IANS. The evacuation started on Saturday following a rise in the water level. Heavy rains continued to lash many parts of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, forcing authorities to release more water from Haryana's Hathnikund barrage on Sunday. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday held a review meeting with officials concerned on the preparedness to tackle the flood-like situation in low-lying areas of Delhi. The Delhi government also requested the Army to be on standby for any emergency. --IANS nks/tsb/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) AICC general secretary Saturday criticised Prime Minister for the alleged starvation death of three children in Delhi and accused the BJP of attempting to use the updated Register of Citizens (NRC) for divisive purposes. "Earlier, there were reports of people dying of starvation and malnourishment in far off areas like Jharkhand or Chhattisgarh. But now, three children have died right under the nose of the PM in the capital. But the PM is unconcerned," he told reporters. For the BJP, all issues are "only for votes", alleged Rawat, who has been recently appointed party in-charge of Assam. "There have been reports claiming that the BJP is trying to use the NRC for divisive purposes. There are apprehensions that names of genuine Indian citizens would be kept out for political purposes," he said. Stating that the will provide assistance to all genuine citizens to enrol in the NRC in the event of their names being left out from the final draft, Rawat said helplines will be opened by the party to assist people. A panel of eminent lawyers will also be formed to extend legal aid to the genuine citizens, he said. Rawat said president Rahul Gandhi's speech in the during the recent No-Confidence Motion, against the Central government, "laid the narrative for a for 2019 general elections and also exposed the failures of the Modi-led government". The three minor sisters had died allegedly due to starvation in east Delhi on July 24. A preliminary magisterial probe report had on Friday sought "deeper investigation" into the conduct of the father of girls, and said he had given them some "unknown medicine". He has been untraceable since the sisters were found dead. The Supreme Court recently ordered that Parliament create a special law against lynching, asserting that fear of law and veneration for the command of law constitute the foundation of a civilised society. The court said: "We think it appropriate to recommend to the legislature, that is, Parliament, to create a separate offence for lynching and provide adequate punishment for the same. We have said so as a special law in this field would instil a sense of fear for law amongst the people who involve themselves in such kinds of activities. Last year, the ... Local youths joining terror groups in the Kashmir Valley this year stood at 110 till July 15, with the worst militancy-hit district of Shopian in south Kashmir accounting for the maximum of 28 recruits, officials said. The number of locals recruited was 126 last year and officials said they expected the figure to be higher this year. Reports of missing people have come down after Governor's rule was imposed in the state last month, they said, but added that some youths continue to join militant ranks. Security agency officials said highly volatile south Kashmir, comprising Shopian, Pulwama, Anantnag and Kulgam districts, besides Awantipora, remained a region accounting for a higher number of youths joining militant groups, including the ISIS-Kashmir and the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, an outfit which claims support of the al-Qaida. From these five areas, 91 youths joined various terror groups operating in the Valley, they said. The disappearance and subsequent joining of militant ranks by Ganderbal youth Rouf, who was in his fourth semester of a diploma course at a government polytechnic institute, was confirmed after his picture was seen on social media in military fatigues, the officials said. If this trend continues, 2018 may end up as the worst year in terms of number of youths joining various militant groups, according to the officials. Last year, a total of 126 youths had picked up the gun. It was the highest number since 2010, according to a recent data presented in the state Assembly and Parliament. There has been a steady rise in the number of youths taking up arms in the Valley since 2014 as compared to the period from 2010 to 2013 when the figures stood at 54, 23, 21 and 6 respectively. In 2014, the number shot up to 53 and in 2015, it reached 66 while in 2016, the figure was 88, the data showed. This year, youths who joined militancy included Junaid Ashraf Sehrai, 26, an MBA degree holder from Kashmir University, and son of Mohammed Ashraf Sehrai, who took over as chairman of the Tehrek-e-Hurriyat from Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Teherik-e-Hurriyat is a pro-Pakistan amalgam of separatist groups. The list also included 26-year-old PhD scholar Mannan Bashir Wani, hailing from Kupwara, the officials said. Wani was studying in Aligarh Muslim University. They said infiltration was on the rise and some of the terrorists had managed to sneak into the Valley from across the border in Poonch and Rajouri districts of the Jammu region as well as through the LoC in Kashmir. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) by Joseph Nguyen Van Caritas got 30 seminarians involved in its initiatives. The Church has 22 mission centres, whose activities are aimed at assisting and supporting poor families and abandoned children in the hardest-to-reach areas of the city. Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews) Saint Joseph Major Seminary in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) has dedicated this years summer pastoral programme to disabled people, abandoned children, orphans, senior citizens and migrant families. The event is organised in cooperation with the archdiocesan Caritas. "We try to put into practice the apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium of Pope Francis", some of the students told AsiaNews. The diocese has 336 diocesan priests and 288 religious priests who serve about 640,000 people, almost 8 per cent of the local population. According to 2016 statistics, Ho Chi Minh City has 8.3 million residents, plus another 4.5 million migrants. The latter include some 300,000 Catholics. The city is one of Vietnams most important economic hubs. However, there are many social problems that the Church has to cope with in her mission. The Archdiocese of Saigon has 22 mission centres, whose activities are aimed at assisting and supporting poor families and abandoned children in the hardest-to-reach areas of the city. At a difficult time for the Vietnamese economy, many parishes are also engaged in pastoral outreach towards all those in need, Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Since 2 July, Caritas Saigon has involved 30 seminarians in its initiatives. This gives the students an opportunity to improve their approach to the care of the poor, as well as orphaned or disabled children. At the same time, the future priests can help the elderly and sick people. Through the programme, they come into contact with the spirituality, the method and the communication skills deployed by Caritas in the archdioceses parishes and communities, planning and implementing social and charity work. "After taking part in the social project, I felt Gods love through the poor, the disabled and the children who live in situations of great poverty. I learnt to listen to them," said Brother John Thai, speaking about his experience in the training course. For his part, Vincent Khanh said I worked with the Binh Trieu Social Centre, dedicating myself to teaching. From the children I learnt their spirit of optimism and their innocence." Joseph Martino Vinh took part in the activities of the Thien Phuoc Social Centre, home to hundreds of disabled children. "They have great difficulty speaking and expressing their thoughts, the seminarian explained. However, through fun games and practical stories, our group has taught them 'basic humanity and the Gospel'. I must learn from my experience to bring the Good News to these disadvantaged children." Joseph Dung also worked with disabled children at the Hoang Mai Warm Shelter. "These children are limited in intellect and communication. So, I tried to teach some of them some music and how to play the organ." Peter Khoa "followed Sister Elisabeth Maria Tuyet for a week". The nun is responsible for helping the disabled in the archdiocese. "We visited families and children with cerebral palsy who live in some parishes in the city," the student said. "We have admired the volunteers, simple parishioners who engage in these apostolates, said Dominique Nguyen. We have admired the parents, who silently sacrifice everything to help their children. They have prayed, worked with social workers, with Caritas staff to take care of unfortunate children with true love." Torrential rains continued to batter parts of north India today, with worst-hit Uttar Pradesh recording 12 rain-related deaths and waters of the Yamuna flowing above the danger mark in the national capital. Seventy people have died and 77 suffered injuries in rain-related incidents in UP since Thursday, officials said today. The maximum of 11 deaths were reported from Saharanpur. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed officials of all districts to alert people and asked them to undertake extensive tours in the affected areas and identify dilapidated buildings and get them vacated, a government spokesperson said here. He has also directed officials to give financial and medical assistance to people severely affected by rains. "As many as 70 persons have lost their lives in rain-related incidents across the state. The number of injured persons stand at 77, while 408 houses were damaged," an official posted at the relief commissioner's office said here. The meteorological (Met) department said heavy to very heavy rain is very likely at a few places with extremely heavy rain over east Uttar Pradesh tomorrow. In Delhi, the Yamuna's water level remained above the danger mark, even as authorities set up a flood control room and a round-the-clock emergency operation centre to monitor the situation. Traffic movement on Old Yamuna Bridge in Delhi was also closed due to rising water levels in the river, officials said. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia took stock of the ongoing evacuation work in the low-lying areas and appealed to the people to move to safer areas. The water level had reached 205.30 metres at 7 pm yesterday, prompting authorities to rescue people from the low-lying areas. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal held an emergency meeting with top officials of his government. "The government has established a flood control room in the office of the District Magistrate, District (East) at L M Bund, Geeta Colony. A 24x7 emergency operation centre has also been set up for monitoring the flood situation," a senior official said. Discharge from Hathanikund Barrage at 5 pm was 1,12,540 cusecs, with water level expected to rise further. "Executive engineers/sector officers are directed to keep in close contact with the control room in relation to the discharge, water level at the Old Railway Bridge and the advisory or forecast from the Central Water Commission/Met, and requested to take appropriate measures/steps accordingly to avoid flood-like situation," an advisory from the authorities said. The minimum temperature settled at 26 degrees Celsius in Delhi, a day after the city received a downpour. The weatherman has forecast light rains later in the day as well. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar held an emergency meeting with senior officials to review situation in Yamunanagar district following the rise in water level in the Yamuna after heavy rains. He also conducted an aerial survey of the Hathnikund barrage on the river in the district. The chief minister was informed by the officials of Panipat, Sonepat and Palwal district administration that though the river in these districts was flowing close to the danger mark, the situation, however, was under control and there were no reports of loss to life or damage to property. In Himachal Pradesh, the Kinner Kailash pilgrimage was suspended till furthers orders due to heavy rains and flash floods in the state's Kinnaur district. The move came a day after two pilgrims were swept away by flash floods in Kangrang Nullah. The highest rainfall was recorded at 45.1 mmin Nahan, followed by 42.4 mm in Dharamshala, 38 mm in Paonta Sahib of Sirmaur district, 27.2 mm in Mandi and 23 mm in Kufri of Shimla district during the last 24 hours, the Met said. Rain is likely to continue for a couple of days in several parts of the state, it said. Meanwhile, the rainfall deficiency over east and northeast India has come down in last one week but the country-wide monsoon deficiency remains at five per cent, according to IMD data. Nearly 74 per cent of the country has received normal rainfall until now this season, the data said. The southern peninsula and central India have been witnessing good rains, but east and northeast India have been witnessing deficient rainfall and a negative precipitation of 29 per cent. Rainfall deficiency in states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir is minus one per cent. "The rainfall deficiency over east and northeast India has come down due to good rainfall. States like Jharkhand that recorded monsoon deficiency have been witnessing good rainfall over the past one week. "On other hand, central India, which had been witnessing heavy rainfall, is seeing a decline in precipitation, thereby lowering the chances of flood," Additional Director General of IMD Mritunjay Mohapatra said. Rainfall occurred at most places over Kerala, coastal Karnataka, at a few places over coastal Andhra Pradesh, interior Karnataka and at isolated places over Telangana and Tamilnadu, according to the Met. Heavy to very heavy rain at isolated places very likely over Assam and Meghalaya, Bihar and east Uttar Pradesh, it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 12-year-old boy died and his 10-year-old sister sustained injuries after a railing of their house collapsed in southwest Delhi's Dabri extension today, police said. A railing of their house collapsed when the two kids were playing on the roof of the building, said Devendra Arya, deputy commissioner of police (southwest). The duo were taken to a hospital where the boy succumbed to injuries, he said. A senior officer from the Delhi fire service said they received a call about the incident at 11:38 am. Two fire tenders and rescue vehicle was immediately rushed to the spot. By then, the kids were rushed to a hospital. The house is owned by a person named Lila Ram, who had rented it to Rohit's father, Amar, eight years ago, he said. Further details are awaited. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 15-year-old Indian-American child prodigy has reached a milestone in his academic journey and is all set to start his doctorate after completing his graduation in biomedical engineering, according to a media report. Tanishq Abraham, graduated from the University of California, Davis with the highest honours of summa cum laude. "Of course I feel very happy, very excited, and I'm very proud of my accomplishments," Tanishq was quoted as saying by the FOX40. "He's got a lot of passion and we have to keep up with him, pretty much," said his parents, Taji and Bijou Abraham, hailing from Kerala. Tanishq has also designed a device that could measure the heart rate of burn patients without touching them. As for the future, it's back into the lab at Davis for a Ph.D. and eventually medical school. Tanishq has big dreams of finding solutions to problems, the report said. "Yeah, of course, what everybody likes to say and what I am also interested in is, of course, cancer and developing new treatments for cancer, more effective treatments for cancer," he said. Tanishq has already been accepted into the University of California, Davis graduate programme where he plans to get his MD in the next four to five years. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two brothers were killed due to snake bites in Bharkhara village in Sukhpura area here, police said today. The incident took place last night when Ravi (10) and Akshay (13) were sleeping and a snake bit them, they said. Both of them were rushed to a nearby hospital, where they died during treatment. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Special Task Force of Uttar Pradesh police has arrested two people for allegedly duping many medical-course aspirants after promising them admission in state medical colleges, an official said today. Ashish Kumar and Sudhir Singh were arrested from the Link road in Ghaziabad yesterday, he said. The arrests were made on complaints lodged by some students. During interrogation, it was found that the accused took about Rs 1.23 crore from 92 candidates in the past six months after promising them admissions in medical colleges, the official said. A probe into the matter is underway, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Border Security Force (BSF) troops averted a major tragedy by defusing two mortar shells found in a border hamlet in Jammu district, officials said today. A farmer stumbled upon the shells in Channa village in Bishnah tehsil of the district last evening and immediately informed the BSF, they added. Troops of the border guarding force reached the site and defused the shells safely, the official said further. On July 27, a person died and six others were injured when a mortar shell exploded in Jabowal in Jammu's Arnia sector. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Three people, including a minor, were killed and four others injured in rain-related incidents in Uttar Pradesh, police said today. Two people of a family were killed and three others injured when a portion of their house collapsed due to heavy rainfall here, police said today. The incident took place last night in Nara village which comes under the jurisdiction of Mansurpur police station. The injured persons were rushed to a nearby hospital. In a similar incident, a six-year-old boy was killed and his sister was injured when the roof of their house collapsed due to heavy rains in Shamli district. Subdivisional Magistrate Surjit Singh announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh for the victim's family. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Five persons including three children were killed today in two separate incidents of lightning strikes in Bihar's Begusarai and Kaimur district, police said. In the first incident, three minor boys were killed when lightning struck them in Begusarai district. Bhagwanpur police station SHO Dipak Kumar said the incident occurred at Raghunandanpur village under Bhagwanpur police station when they were playing under a tree. The deceased have been identified as Dataram Kumar (11), Shubham Kumar (10) and Anand Kumar(10), Kumar said adding that villagers took all the three injured children to a nearby hospital where doctors declared them "brought dead". The bodies have been sent to Begusarai Sadar hospital for post-mortem, the SHO said. In Kaimur district, two persons were killed when ligtning struck them while they were working in a field. The incident occurred at Mansurpur village of Durgawati police station of the district, Durgawati police station SHO Uday Bhanu Singh said. The deceased have been as Pappu Yadav (35), a resident of Mansurpur village and Ramjanam Yadav (72), a resident of Asudha village of the district, SHO said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As many as 51 people were arrested by the UP Police from different parts of the state for facilitating cheating during a recruitment examination for assistant teachers, officials said today. Rs 84,850 cash, 43 mobile phones, 4 Aadhaar cards, 38 question papers and 25 admits cards were recovered from the accused, a statement issued by the Special Task Force said. "During interrogation, it was revealed that the gang used to gather the admit cards of examinees from various sources. The gang members used to assure the aspirants of clearing the exam and would take post-date cheques and original educational certificates from the purpose. Once the cheques were cleared after the examination, the certificates were returned," the release said. Apart from this, the gang used to leak question papers as well, the STF said. "Prime accused Om Sahay, on being interrogated, said he has been carrying out these activities since the past several days, with solvers being called from Bihar to appear in different competitive examinations," the statement added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Altogether 52 Bangladeshi nationals who were in detention camps in Assam were handed over to the Bangladesh authorities today at the international border, officials said. The 52 Hindus and Muslims, who had been detained since 2012, included five women and four children, officials of South Salmara-Mankachar district said. The Bangladeshis were sent through Sahapara BSF Border Outpost at Mankachar in the presence of Assam Police DIG (Border) Rounak Ali Hazarika, South Salmara-Mankachar district Deputy Commissioner Ateka Sultana and other officials. Officials of Bangladesh government was also present at the spot. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Maharashtra traders have urged the government to abolish the APMC cess and professional tax under the goods and services tax (GST). The Chamber of Associations of Maharashtra Industry and Trade (CAMIT) along with the Poona Merchant Chamber and Federation of Associations of Traders Pune also noted that the plastic ban in Maharashtra was ill-timed. They appealed to the state government to postpone the ban unless viable and durable alternate to plastic is identified. "We are in favour of protecting the environment but without viable and durable alternative of plastics - specifically plastic for packaging - the blanket ban on plastic is creating more hassle to general public, traders and Industries of Maharashtra," they said in a statement. The traders also strongly opposed FDI in retail and objected to the back-door entry of Wall Mart in India via domestic e-commerce player Flipkart. ************************* Tata Group HQ Bombay House reopens post-renovation Salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group said today it has re-opened its global headquarters Bombay House, marking the 114th birth anniversary of its former chairman J R D Tata. Built in 1924, the 94-year-old heritage building has undergone refurbishment and restoration for the first time in its history. The entire exercise took nine months. Tata Sons Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata inaugurated it in the presence of group Chairman N Chandrasekaran and other employees. "The new office space wears a modern look with well- designed common and collaborative spaces to meet the requirements of business today," it said in a statement. Bombay House was built on two plots of land bought by Sir Dorabji Tata, the group's second Chairman and Jamsetji Tata's elder son, from the civic body of Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1920. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Palestinian teen Ahed Tamimi, who became an international symbol of resistance to Israeli occupation after slapping two soldiers, walked out of an Israeli prison today and told throngs of journalists and well-wishers that she now wants to study law to defend her people. In a conference in the courtyard of her family home, the curly haired 17-year-old briefly raised her fist and said the "occupation must leave," speaking against the backdrop of a large model of a slingshot meant to symbolize Palestinian stone-throwing protests. However, the once feisty teen appeared to be subdued, stopping short of committing to continued acts of protests and saying her eight-month prison stint had taught her to appreciate life. Underlying her case are clashing narratives about Israel's half-century rule over the Palestinians, the extent of permissible Palestinian resistance to it and the battle for global public opinion. Tamimi's supporters see a brave girl who struck two armed soldiers in frustration after having just learned that Israeli troops seriously wounded a 15-year-old cousin, shooting him in the head from close range with a rubber bullet during nearby stone-throwing clashes. In Israel, she is seen by many either as a provocateur, an irritation or a threat to the military's deterrence policy even as a "terrorist." Israel has treated her actions as a criminal offense, indicting her on charges of assault and incitement. In liberal circles, the hard-charging prosecution of Tamimi was criticized as a public relations disaster because it turned her into an international icon. Her release comes at a time when Palestinian hopes for an independent state appear dimmer than ever. Israeli-Palestinian talks on setting up a state in lands captured by Israel in 1967 the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem have been deadlocked since hard-line Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to power in 2009. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas suspended contacts with the US after President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December in what Palestinians denounced as a display of blatant pro-Israel bias. Abbas, meanwhile, has stepped up financial pressure on Gaza, controlled since 2007 by his bitter domestic rival, the Islamic militant Hamas. Many Palestinians are disillusioned by their leaders in both political camps and feel exhausted after years of conflict with Israel. Alternatives have arisen, including calling for a single state for both peoples between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, but haven't gained a mass following. In this context, the idea of so-called popular resistance regular demonstrations, including stone-throwing by unarmed protesters has only caught on in a few West Bank villages, including Nabi Saleh, home to the extended Tamimi clan. Since 2009, residents of Nabi Salah have staged regular anti-occupation protests that often ended with stone-throwing clashes. Ahed has participated in such marches from a young age and has had several highly publicized run-ins with soldiers. One photo shows the then 12-year-old raising a clenched fist toward a soldier towering over her. In a sign of her popularity, a pair of Italian artists painted a large mural of her on Israel's West Bank separation barrier ahead of her release. Israeli police say they were caught in the act along with another Palestinian and arrested for vandalism. Ahed and her mother Nariman also arrested in December in connection with the same incident were released Sunday morning from a prison in northern Israel. They were driven by bus to the West Bank and were given a hero's welcome in Nabi Saleh. "The resistance continues until the occupation is removed," Ahed said upon her return. "All the female prisoners are steadfast. I salute everyone who supported me and my case." From her home, Ahed headed to a visit to the grave of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. She laid a wreath, kissed the headstone twice at the request of photographers and recited a prayer from the Quran, the Muslim holy book. She was then taken with her family to a meeting with Abbas at his headquarters in Ramallah. The 83-year-old Abbas praised her as a symbol of resistance to occupation even as he faces growing domestic criticism for not walking away from continued security coordination between his forces and Israeli troops against Hamas, a shared foe. In an afternoon conference in the courtyard of the family home, Ahed said that she completed her high school exams in prison, with the help of other prisoners. Palestinian inmates typically organize study courses to complete high school and even university degrees. "I will study law to defend my people and defend my Palestinian cause in international forums," she said. She said her prison experience was tough, and that she missed her old life in the village and her friends. She said she underwent three lengthy interrogations without a female officer present, in violation of Israel's own rules. At one point Sunday, Ahed received a call from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who congratulated her on her release, said her father. Tamimi's scuffle with the two soldiers took place December 15 in Nabi Saleh. At the time, protests had erupted in several parts of the West Bank over Trump's recognition 10 days earlier of the contested city of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. She was arrested at her home four days later, in the middle of the night. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Agriculture Ministry has suggested several measures including setting up of a system for forecasting demand, green logistics corridor for perishables, and use of e-commerce, to boost shipments of agri commodities to USD 60 billion by 2022. Other steps suggested to Commerce Ministry in this regard include strengthening of domestic regulatory authority, review of Essential Commodity Act and involving Indian missions abroad. Besides, measures like protecting farmers through appropriate duty instruments, and special safeguard mechanism have been suggested, a senior government official said. The commerce ministry has floated a draft agriculture export policy and is seeking views of all stakeholders including different ministries and departments on the same. In the draft, it has recommended stable trade policy regime, reforms in the APMC Act, streamlining of Mandi fee and liberalisation of land leasing norms. The policy seeks to increase the shipments to over USD 60 billion by 2022 from about USD 38 billion. The agri ministry has also suggested setting up of an administrative machinery for regular monitoring of the progress and to ensure that the goal is achieved by 2022. For this, it has asked for a board of agriculture trade, to be headed by the commerce minister, and a centre for agriculture trade which could consist of experts and data analysts. As part of short and long-term measures, it has recommended modernising export infrastructure across value chain. Moreover, the agri ministry has suggested to work towards ease of logistics, storage hubs, establishing traceability systems, and market intelligence for imports, promotion of crops where imports are large and superfoods, and brand promotion in global markets. The draft policy aims at addressing a whole range of issues which could potentially propel India into the top bracket of agricultural exports. According to a WTO report in 2017, India is the 10th largest exporter of agricultural products in the world with a share of 2.1 per cent. However, exports of agri commodities, as a percentage of the total production are too low. The main export destinations include Vietnam, the US, UAE, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Iran, China, the Netherland, Malaysia, Nepal and the UK. In 2017-18, the exports increased to USD 38.2 billion from USD 33.3 billion in the previous fiscal. Indian agri exports mainly include marine products, basmati and non-basmati rice, buffalo meat, spices, oil meals and coffee. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh is gearing up to fight the upcoming assembly elections on development plank and is also alleging "misrule" by the Congress when it was in power in the state for 10 years. However, the main opposition party has pooh-poohed the development claims of the BJP and maintained "winds of change" are blowing in the state, where the saffron outfit is in power since 2003. The BJP is specifically targeting senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh, who headed the party government from 1993 to 2003, reminding people about the days when Madhya Pradesh was regarded as a "BIMARU" (laggard) state. The BJP has brought out a lot of written material, including two booklets, to underline its development credentials and list welfare programmes launched by the government in the last 15 years. The two booklets are titled "Dabe Nahin Pramaan" (proof can't be suppressed) and "15 Saal Vikas Ke, Jan-Jan Ke Vishwas Ke" (15 years of development). Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who embarked on his 73-day long 'Jan Ashirwad Yatra' from Ujjain on July 14, has often targeted Singh. Addressing a press conference at Panna on July 26, Chouhan attacked Singh for once addressing slain Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden as "Osama-ji". "Those who have remarked against martyred police official Mahesh Chandra Sharma (during the 2008 Batla House encounter) and termed dreaded terrorist Osama Bin Laden as Osamaji should think on their own that who is a patriot and who is a terrorist," the CM had said. Speaking last week in Satna district, Chouhan had sought to know if adding the honorific 'Ji' for a terrorist was not an "anti-national" act. Singh, apparently responding to Chouhan's "anti- national" jibe, had on July 26 presented himself before the police here and dared them to arrest him. The police, however, told the 71-year-old former chief minister that he could not be arrested as there was no case registered against him. Madhya Pradesh BJP IT Cell in-charge Shivraj Singh Dabi said the 10-year-long Digvijay government had brought "ruination" to the state, while the BJP put it on path of development. "The people of the state have not yet forgotten the misrule of Digvijay," Dabi said, adding Chouhan has got Madhya Pradesh rid of the "BIMARU" tag. "The BJP government has provided ample electricity, roads and other facilities to the people in last 15 years," said another party leader. Newly-appointed state Congress media department vice- president Bhupendra Gupta said, however, has dismissed the BJP's development claims. "The BJP has not done anything worthwhile in the state in its 15 years of rule. It is facing strong anti-incumbency sentiments and winds of change are blowing across Madhya Pradesh," he said. Gupta said the ruling party has hardly done anything for the people and maintained that a large number of farmers have committed suicide in Madhya Pradesh under the BJP rule. The BJP is deliberately trying to project that the Congress is a faction-ridden party, but this notion is totally wrong, he said. "It (the BJP) wants to divert the people's mind from core issues like unemployment. It won't succeed in its design," he added. "There are no differencesin the party. Kamal Nath ji (MP Congress chief), Scindia ji (Jyotiraditya Scindia) and Digvijay ji are unitedin their fight against the BJP," Gupta said. In April this year, Scindia, the Lok Sabha MP from Guna, was appointed the MP Congress Election Campaign Committee Chairman. Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh are due by the year- end. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Veteran politician and former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh today attended an event addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here, dropping hints of joining the saffron party. Modi launched as many as 81 investment projects worth over Rs 60,000 crore in the capital city of Uttar Pradesh. The prime minister today said he was not afraid of being seen with industrialists playing a key role in the nation's development, as he slammed the opposition parties for the "mistakes" made during 70 years after India's independence. "You cannot have blot on you simply by standing with anyone if your intentions are good and clear. Gandhiji's intentions were so pure that he never hesitated in staying with Birla family," he said. "Public mey milna nahi, parde ke peeche sab kuch karna hai. Woh dartey rahtey hain. (Those who do not meet publicly and do everything behind curtains remain scared)," he said. Amar Singh, former SP leader, is sitting here and he can give you all the details, Modi said with a laughter. Singh was also seen at the inauguration and flagging-off of electric buses by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at his official residence later in the day. On July 23, Singh had met Adityanath, triggering speculation in political circles that he might be planning to join the BJP. Though the meeting was confirmed by official sources, it was not immediately known what transpired between them. Rumour is rife that Singh, who was a Rajya Sabha MP from the Samajwadi Party but was expelled from the outfit last year, has been toying with the idea of embracing the saffron party. Singh had recently said that he was not averse to joining the BJP, but he had not got any invite from it, nor had he applied to it. "The BJP is a very big political party. I won't say that I will not join the BJP if I get a chance, but who is giving me the chance? I have not sent them any request letter either," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Security and other arrangements for the ongoing Amarnath Yatra will be "suitably rationalised" by this month-end in view of the "progressive decline" in the number of pilgrims visiting the south Kashmir Himalayas' cave shrine, an official said. This was informed during a meeting chaired by Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra today. "Following the progressive decline in the strength of the Shri Amarnathji Yatra, the governor, who is also the chairman of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB), visited the Nunwan Yatra base camp, in south Kashmir's Anantnag district, today," a Raj Bhavan spokesman said. Issues arising from the steady decrease in the daily number of pilgrims were discussed with Camp Director Surinder Mohan Sharma, Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag, Mohammad Younis Malik, and other officers concerned, he said. The governor was informed that a good number of 'pony-wallahs' and 'palki wallahs' had stopped their services, the official said. Seven out of the 10 'langar' organisations at the base camp would also be leaving in a phased-manner as the daily arrival at the camp had reduced "considerably", the spokesman said. He said Vohra observed that the existing arrangements would be "suitably rationalised after July 31 in consultation with authorities involved in organising the daily convoys of yatris from Jammu". The governor noted that this matter had already been discussed with the security forces, the spokesman said. He said after the conclusion of discussions with the camp's officers, the governor went around the camp, visited the medical aid centre, 'langars', shops and the area in which toilets and baths are located. The governor inspected a newly-commissioned capacity sewage treatment plant (STP). He directed the additional CEO of the SASB to ensure that sample tests of the STP's final discharge were regularly taken and the test results shown to him, the spokesman said. The governor also visited the garbage dump and the solid waste management plant at Sarbal, Pahalgam, and appreciated efforts of officials to establish a mechanical segregator, an auto-composter and a capacity electromagnetic disintegrator for the scientific disposal of solid waste. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vice Admiral Anil Kumar Chawla has been appointed as the next Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Southern Naval Command. He is presently the Chief of Personnel at the Integrated Headquarters of the Ministry of Defence (Navy), at Delhi. He would be taking over from Vice Admiral AR Karve, who would be superannuating on July 31, a Defence release said here today. The Admiral is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, who was commissioned in the Navy on January 1, 1982. Chawla, a Navigation & Direction specialist has commanded five ships in his illustrious career, including the now decommissioned aircraft carrier INS Viraat. He has also been the Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet. The admiral, as the Director General of Naval Operations oversaw "Op-Rahat," which involved the evacuation of Indian as well as foreign nationals from war-torn Yemen in April 2015, it said. The officer is a graduate of the Royal Naval Staff College, Greenwich, UK, the College of Naval Warfare, and the National Defence College, New Delhi, the release added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The UK government has drawn up plans to draft the Army to deliver essential food and medical supplies in case of shortages triggered by a no-deal Brexit, according to a media report. Blueprints for the UK armed forces to assist civilian authorities, drafted for use in civil emergencies, are set to be dusted down as part of "no-deal" planning in the event of Britain and the European Union (EU) failing to reach an agreement over its future relationship in ongoing negotiations, 'The Sunday Times' reported. Helicopters and army trucks would be used to ferry supplies to vulnerable people, who may struggle to obtain the medicines they needed. A minister told the newspaper that the military would be called in if blockages at ports led to shortages of food, fuel and medicines, warning, "there is a lot of civil contingency planning around the prospect of no deal. That's not frightening the horses, that's just being utterly realistic". A UK Ministry of Defence source was quoted as saying that while there had been "no formal request" to supply aid, a blueprint exists for supporting the civilian authorities which can be "dusted off". The report comes as it emerged that the UK government plans to publish reports throughout the coming weeks on no-deal planning having been dropped to prevent overly alarming the public. They will now reportedly be released all on the same day in late August. Meanwhile, there are reports of a brewing grassroots rebellion against British Prime Minister Theresa May within her own Conservative party over what is being seen as her move towards a soft Brexit. The Tory grassroots upheaval is prompted by the high-profile resignations of May's Brexit minister David Davis and foreign minister Boris Johnson earlier this month and has set the stage for a face-off when MPs return to Parliament from their summer recess in September. "If it were to be diluted it would ultimately not be acceptable," said Richard Kellaway, the chairman of Theresa May's Maidenhead Constituency Conservative Party Association. He is joined by six other Tory constituency representatives who have issued similar warnings against May's proposals, known as the Chequers plan of an alternative customs arrangement with the EU post-Brexit. Before beginning her summer holiday in Italy and Switzerland, the British PM held talks in Austria on Friday with the country's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, both seen as potentially more sympathetic to the UK's views than the EU's Brexit team. The talks followed EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier dismissing May's Chequers proposal, saying it was not possible for the UK to collect EU tariffs as a non-member. With the House of Commons now in recess until September 4, May will be gearing up for her return to Parliament as well as the lead up to the Conservative party's annual conference at the end of September during her summer break. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union minister Ramdas Athawale has demanded removal of Justice (retd) A K Goel from the post of National Green Tribunal (NGT) chairperson, alleging that the Supreme Court bench, he was a part of, had given "wrong judgment" related to the SC/ST Act. Athawale, who is the president of the Republican Party of India, said, "Goel should be removed from the post of NGT chairperson. The Dalit community is not happy with this appointment as he was part of a bench which had given a wrong judgment," he said. The retired apex court judge was appointed as the chairperson of the NGT for five years on July 6. The minister of state for social justice and empowerment said he would raise the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A Supreme Court bench led by Justices Goel and U U Lalit had on March 20 "diluted" the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, ruling that government servants should not be arrested without prior sanction and private citizens too, can be arrested only after an inquiry. Before arresting a public servant under the SC/ST Act, a preliminary probe by an officer not below the rank of deputy superintendent is a must, the court had said. Many political parties and the people belonging to Dalit communities had opposed the judgement and held protests across the country perceiving it as the dilution of the Act. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An auditor should give a disclaimer saying that it cannot express an opinion if accounts of the company are incorrect, instead of leaving the audit work halfway, IT veteran T V Mohandas Pai said. In recent times, scores of auditors have left audit work of companies, mostly listed ones, citing various reasons. The former Infosys director said now the instances of auditors quitting listed firms "is happening more because Sebi banned Price Waterhouse for two years after the Satyam thing". "Earlier, the auditors were not afraid. But now, they fear that if they are caught, Sebi would ban them," Pai told PTI in an interview. Earlier this year, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had barred Price Waterhouse network firms from issuing audit certificates to any listed company in India for two years after finding the audit major guilty in the multi-crore Satyam Computer Services scam that came to light in January 2009. "If an auditor is taking up an audit, the auditor must have courage to stand up, qualify the accounts or give a disclaimer to say that it can't express an opinion because they are cooked up. They should not just chicken out and go. "If they chicken out and go, the regulator should prosecute them," Pai said. In recent weeks, Price Waterhouse quit audit mandate of Vakrangee and Atlanta, while Deloitte resigned as statutory auditor of Manpasand Beverages. All three are listed companies. According to Pai, it is not correct if the auditors go halfway and then quit the audit work of the firm, as then "nobody will touch that company". He said that once the auditors take up an audit work, they must complete it and give a disclaimer saying that the books cannot give a true and fair view and so we are unable to give a true and fair view. "The regulator... must pass a rule to say that once you (auditor) take up an audit, until you complete the work you can't go," Pai said. Last month, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs P P Chaudhary had said that the ministry is examining recent cases of resignation of auditors from companies. The Companies Act, 2013 contains elaborate provisions regarding liability of statutory auditors in case an auditor has contravened the provisions knowingly or wilfully with the intention to deceive the company or its shareholders or creditors or tax authorities. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A renowned Bangladesh photographer today said he has been the victim of "unwanted cruelty" after being sacked over an image of a couple kissing that raised a social media storm in the conservative Muslim-majority country. The Purboposhchimbd portal said Jibon Ahmed was "not fit" to work for the company because of doubts about whether the kiss image was staged. Ahmed protested his innocence, insisted he has proof the image was spontaneous and said he has been roughed up by other photographers because of the image. In a Facebook post, Ahmed said he had been "exposed to unwanted cruelty" due to the "powerful" photo. "I never ever believed that one click would create so many stories. Today due to this photo, the social and mainstream media media are flooded with false and true stories about me," he said of the divisions. The couple were snapped kissing in monsoon rain on the steps of the Dhaka University campus. He posted it -- with the caption "Songs of rains -- let love be free" -- on his Facebook page while the portal also used it. The photo quickly went viral in Bangladesh. It drew social media praise for bringing a hint of social freedom. But conservatives questioned whether the photo had breached Bangladesh's public decency mores. Media commenters asked whether Ahmed sought the couple's permission to publish the photo. Ahmed -- who captured the harrowing aftermath of an attack on a Bangladesh-born US writer hacked to death by Islamist extremists on the Dhaka campus three years ago -- said other photographers confronted him over the kiss image. "They asked me why did I shoot the photo. One of them slapped me during the quarrel," he said. "I said it was a symbol of pure love." After publishing the photo, Purboposhchimbd later wrote an article saying it believed the photo was "preplanned" and the photographer had "apologised". The editor, Khujista Nur-e-Naharin, said the company asked Ahmed to take legal action against the photographers who allegedly beat him but he did not turn up for a meeting to discuss the issue. She also said there were suspicions the photo was staged with "models" and that Ahmed was not "fit" to work for the portal. "We have asked him many times to come and explain why he was roughed up and why he had said sorry to the photographers and whether models were used for the photo. He did not communicate with me. He dented our honour," she said. Ahmed, who said he was sacked, rejected the employer's criticism, and insisted he has proof that that the image was "natural". He said his conscience would not let him sue his fellow journalists. The couple in the photo have not made any public comment. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The BJP is treading with caution as it prepares its response to a host of demands of Dalit activists ahead of their proposed Bharat Bandh on August 9. While a number of its Dalit MPs and allies, including Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, want it to respond positively to their demands, several BJP leaders are advising caution, as an overzealous response from the party-led government may not go down well with its core support base. Sources within the BJP have termed the party's silence on the demand of removing National Green Tribunal Chairman Justice A K Goel "strategic", as supporting or openly opposing such a call is fraught with risks. Several party MPs said on the condition of anonymity that their traditional voters -- from upper castes and sections of Other Backward Castes -- have firmly backed the party so far despite their reservations about issues such as quota for Dalits in promotions and alleged misuse of a law on atrocities against Dalits and tribals. "We want the party to respond fairly to the issues of Dalit interests. But it should not be seen going out of the way to meet every demand of Dalit groups, as the BJP draws its support from most sections of Hindu society and should take into account their concerns too," a party MP from Uttar Pradesh said. He said seeking removal of Goel, a former Supreme Court judge who was on a bench that introduced several safeguards in the Schedules Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, for "one verdict is politically motivated". LJP chief Paswan has said that Goel's appointment sent out a wrong message and his son and party MP Chirag Paswan has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking for his removal. Dalit BJP MPs like Udit Raj have also backed the demand. The BJP has lent support to the opposition on the apex court's order which "diluted" the Dalit atrocities law, with the Union government filing a review plea in the court. The government has also moved the court seeking resumption of reservation in promotion for Dalit and tribal government officials. However, it has not yet responded to the demand that it bring a fresh bill in Parliament or an ordinance to overturn the court order and restore the original version of the Act. "It is the Modi government which had amended the Act and made it more stringent. We have nothing to hide, but we will not fall into the trap of our rivals," a party leader said. Dalit groups under the banner of All India Ambedkar Mahasabha (AIAM) have given a call for 'Bharat Bandh' on August 9 to press for their demands. While the government has kept its communication channels open to the organisers, AIAM, it wants that the day pass off incident-free if they go ahead with the 'bandh' call. Violence during a similar 'Bharat Bandh' on April 2 had left over 12 protestors dead. It is believed that the 'bandh' and accompanying violence, including police firing, was a setback to the saffron party's assiduous wooing of Dalits ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Boko Haram fighters killed 11 troops and seized weapons in a raid on a military post in the latest such attack in northeast Nigeria, residents and a military source said today. Gunmen in five trucks and on motorcycles stormed the checkpoint in Bunari village near the garrison town of Monguno in Borno state late Friday, leading to a fierce battle. "They came around 6:30 pm (6000 IST) and attacked the military checkpoint and soldiers responded with fire," resident Amadu Sheriff told AFP. "The attackers overpowered the soldiers who took up positions in the trenches dug round the checkpoint from where they fought the Boko Haram gunmen," he said. Three civilians, including a woman and her child, from a nearby settlement, were killed by stray bullets, he said. He said residents of the nearby settlement evacuated yesterday and moved to Monguno for fear of renewed attacks. Sheriff had no idea of military casualties but saw "two ambulances carrying dead soldiers" being taken to Monguno, eight kilometres (five miles) away. A military source who confirmed the attack said 11 troops were killed. "Four (military) vehicles including an APC (armoured personnel carrier) and a gun truck were carted away by the terrorists," said the military source who asked not to be identified because he was not authorised to speak on the incident. The attackers were repelled with the help of reinforcements from Monguno, he added. of the attack was slow to emerge due to poor communication in the area where Boko Haram has destroyed telecoms infrastructure in the last three years. Boko Haram has launched repeated attacks recently. The Islamists late Thursday stormed a base on the outskirts of Jakana, a village 30 kilometres (18 miles) from Maiduguri, firing guns and rocket-propelled grenades before sacking and burning down a police station. Two weeks ago, the jihadists overran a military base in nearby Yobe state. On July 14, jihadists believed to be loyal to Boko Haram factional leader Abu Mus'ab Al-Barnawi, raided a base in Jilli village. Dozens of troops were said to have been killed or missing. The day before the attack, 23 troops went missing after a military convoy was ambushed by fighters in the Bama area of Borno state, where the Abubakar Shekau faction of Boko Haram is strong. The attacks underline the threat Boko Haram still poses despite repeated military claims the group is spent force. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Maoists in Chhattisgarh may have been procuring sophisticated foreign weapons by smuggling them through the North East, the state police suspect. The police are investigating this aspect in the wake of the recovery of two hi-tech 'foreign made' firearms for the first time from Maoists in the Naxal hotbed of Bastar region. A rifle with a 'Made in Germany' mark was recovered on May 2 after a gun-battle with naxals in Sukma district, while a sub-machine gun of the US make was seized from them in Narayanpur district on July 4, a police official said. "The possibility that Maoists got foreign-made weapons smuggled via the North East side cannot be ruled out as there were intelligence inputs in this connection," Deputy Inspector General of Police (anti-naxal operations) Sundarraj P told PTI. "An investigation is on to trace sources of these weapons, which were earlier never found with ultras in Bastar region," he said. Earlier in December 2011 and April 2014, two 7.65 mm automatic pistols with the 'Made in USA' mark were recovered after encounters with Maoists in Raoghat and Bhanupratappur areas of Kanker district, he said. The questioning of Maoists who were arrested and those who surrendered revealed that they were getting weapons and advanced devices, like direction finders and China-made binoculars, from abroad. But naxals had also looted such weapons and gadgets from security forces, the DIG said. Maoist spokesperson Abhay Devdas Nayak, who was arrested last month, revealed during his interrogation that naxals had bought arms and ammunition from abroad till 2011 before the death of their top leader Koteswara Rao alias Kishenji, he said. Kishenji was gunned down in an encounter with security forces in West Bengal in 2011. The DIG said Nayak told the police that the extremist groups like LTTE (from Sri Lanka) and ULFA (in Assam) had also earlier supplied weapons, including AK-47, Insas and M15 rifles, to Maoists. He said weapons generally reach ultras in Bastar from North Eastern states like Assam via Jungle Mahal (West Bengal) and Malkangiri (Odisha). But for the past couple of years, the supply chain of Maoists was choked by joint efforts of security forces from all these states, he added. "Even some documents recovered recently from naxal camps and hideouts revealed that they were running short of arms, ammunition as well as cadres," the official said. Since 2001, security forces have recovered about 2,600 weapons, including 92 automatic guns, from naxals after encounters and busting their camps, particularly from Bastar region. In the last five years, around 1,007 weapons, including some hi-tech ones, were seized from them, he said. A senior state intelligence branch official said though naxals mostly use country-made weapons looted from security forces during attacks, they have also tried to get arms smuggled through their links to foreign militants. The recovery of foreign made arms and ammunition from the extremists is an indication that they are getting weapons from external sources, he said. "As per the interrogation report of surrendered and arrested cadres, there are around 2,500 weapons in the possession of Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee - the deadliest formation of Maoists operating in south Chhattisgarh and parts of Telangana, Odisha and Maharashtra," he said. Professor Girish Kant Pandey, head of the department of defence studies in the Government Science College here, said some manufacturers of illegal weapons in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh make replicas of international models in which names of foreign gun makers are inscribed. He did not rule out the possibility of naxals possessing foreign-made weapons, but said only their top ranking cadres enjoy the privilege of carrying such firearms. "The foreign-made weapons recovered in the two recent encounters, wherein middle-rung cadres were killed, could be replicas of the international models. A thorough investigation into it will reveal the actual origin of these weapons," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Only 18 of 74 state PSUs in Bihar have finalised their accounts in the last three years and 65 of them have arrears in accounts from 1977-78 onwards, according to the CAG report of the year ended on March 31, 2017. The CAG report tabled in the state legislature has cautioned that delay in finalisation of accounts or their non-preparation are fraught with the risk of misrepresentation of facts, fraud and misappropriation. As regards the performance of those 18 PSUs out of 30 in working condition, the report said ten earned profit of Rs 278.18 crore, seven incurred a loss of Rs 1437.93 crore while the remaining one is a holding company working on no profit no loss basis. These 18 PSUs generated an average negative return on investment of 6.14 per cent, well below the average cost of borrowing at 8.49 per cent during 2014-15 to 2016-17. Thus the loss to the public exchequer as a result of investment in these 18 PSUs in the past three years amounted to Rs 1159.75 crore. The loss by the remaining 56 PSUs could not be assessed owing to non-finalisation of their accounts, the report said. Out of 30 working PSUs only nine had finalised their accounts for 2016-17. And yet the state government had extended budgetary support of Rs 4476.54 crore to 10 working PSUs during the period their accounts were in arrears. This included Rs 2467.06 crore to seven PSUs whose accounts were in arrears for more than three years. The lack of financial accountability in the Bihar State Road Transport Corporation is "so serious that the CAG has refused to provide an opinion" on their accounts for 2003-04 to 2005-06 when finalised during May 2014 to September 2015. The state government provided loans of Rs 775.01 crore to the corporation during 2006-17 when its accounts were in arrears. It has neither paid back the loan amount nor interest dues of Rs 407.63 crore from 2010-11, the report said. The CAG has recommended that the finance and the administrative departments concerned should initiate steps to ensure that the budgetary support is extended only to those PSUs whose accounts are current. The total profit of a major PSU, Bihar State Education Infrastructure Development Corporation increased significantly during 2012-13 to 2015-16 from Rs 5.24 crore to Rs 70.51 crore, but declined to Rs 22.96 crore in 2016-17 mainly because of slow execution of work and reduction in certain rates by the state government. Besides, the corporation failed to safeguard its financial interests by keeping its large surplus funds ranging from Rs 293.84 crore to Rs 866.32 crore in savings accounts, which resulted in loss of interest income of Rs.62.30 crore to the project fund during 2012-17. It also suffered from poor planning. It failed to include furniture and other essential amenities in the estimates of 297 model schools and construction could not be initiated in case of 71 model schools because of non-availability of land. As a result, the Model School Scheme failed in its entirety even after incurring an expenditure of Rs 555.69 crore. The report has also pointed out that inappropriate action on the part of the Bihar State Power (Holding) Company in revision of power purchase agreement has resulted in loss of Rs 61.70 crore. The Bihar State Text Book Publishing Corporation unnecessarily renewed services of consultant for three years paying Rs 1.08 crore even though the consultant had already given its report. Besides, failure to act on the recommendations of the consultant resulted in avoidable penalty payment of Rs 50.27 crore. The report is also critical of an expenditure of Rs 2.06 crore by some PSUs on purchase of gift items for legislators, press reporters, senior officers and other dignitaries. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Catalonia's deposed president Carles Puigdemont vowed today to "defend the just cause of the Catalan people" as he returned to Belgium. Four months after he was detained in Germany at Madrid's request, Puigdemont was able to travel to Belgium after a Spanish court dropped a European arrest warrant for him. "This is not the end of my journey. I will travel to the last corner of our continent to defend the just cause of the Catalan people," he said at the offices of Catalonia's delegation in Brussels. He was joined at the conference by his designated successor Quim Torra, who still considers him the "legitimate president" of Catalonia. Puigdemont was later greeted by around 300 supporters when he travelled south of the Belgian capital to the town of Waterloo, known for another battle -- French emperor Napoleon's defeat by a mix of European forces in 1815. The 55-year-old former regional leader intends to set up a "Republican council" at his Waterloo base to continue to fight for Catalan independence, as well as an assembly composed of local officials to work in parallel with the Catalan government. "My political activity will be based in Belgium, of course with the aim of pursuing the mandate by the people" for an independent Catalonia, Puigdemont said in Berlin when he announced his return earlier this week. Sacked as Catalan president after a failed secession bid on October 27, Puigdemont and several members of his executive fled to Brussels several days later. He was then arrested in Germany at the end of March on his return from a trip to Finland. Puigdemont was freed on bail and a German court ruled that he could be extradited only on possible corruption charges and not for "rebellion" as sought by Madrid. Following that decision, Spain's Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena, in charge of the case against separatist leaders, dropped the international arrest warrant. From Belgium, Puigdemont will be able to travel where he likes, except to Spain where he is still wanted for rebellion, which carries up to 25 years in jail, and for misuse of public funds. In theory, he could remain in self-exile for 20 years, which in Spain's legal system is the time limit after which the rebellion charge would no longer be valid. Although power is now officially in Torra's hands, Puigdemont continues to exert strong influence in the region. "In Brussels, we will continue... to develop activities linked to that which the people of Catalonia approved on October 1," Puigdemont said in Germany, in reference to the referendum banned by Spain's courts and marred by police violence. Five other leading members of the pro-independence movement are in Belgium, Switzerland and Scotland. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The CBI has taken over investigation into the alleged abuse of minor girls at a shelter home in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, an official said today. The case relates to mental, physical and sexual exploitation of the girls residing at Balika Grih, Muzaffarpur. The CBI has booked officers and employees of the shelter home. "It is alleged that officials/employees of girl's children home run by Seva Sankalp Evam Vikash Samiti used to mentality, physically and sexually exploit the children residing there," a CBI spokesperson said. The matter had come to light earlier this year when the Bihar Social Welfare Department filed an FIR based on a social audit of the shelter home conducted by a Mumbai-based institute. The audit report stated that many girls at the shelter home had complained of sexual abuse. A special investigation team was formed to probe the complaints. The NGO running the shelter home in Muzaffarpur was blacklisted and the girls were shifted to shelter homes in Patna and Madhubani. Women staff members of the shelter home and Brajesh Thakur, who ran the NGO, were among those who were arrested by the local police in connection with the case. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As he turns a year older tomorrow, Sonu Sood recalls how his parents made sure to throw him a huge party on his birthday. Sonu, who was born in Moga, Punjab, in 1974, said he stopped celebrating his birthday after his parents' death and now prefers being surrounded by his close ones every year. "I have not been celebrating my birthday since a couple of years. I just spend time with my family. Since I lost my parents, the whole zeal of celebrating birthday fizzled out. I believe celebrations will always be incomplete without them. "They used to throw great parties on my birthdays, but now I mostly spend my birthdays working. Only few of my close friends come over with a cake and we have dinner together. But otherwise I am not into big celebrations," Sonu told PTI. The actor said his mother used to take him to the temple on every birthday and he still follows the tradition. Apart from it, Sonu who has been contributing for the welfare of acid attack survivors, tries to do as much as he can for the society on his birthday. "I am associated with charities working for acid attack survivors. I am very closely associated with them. We take care of their treatment and surgeries. Doing this gives me a great high on my birthday." On the work front, Sonu is looking forward to the release of his films "Paltan", "Manikarnika: The Queen Jhansi" and "Simmba". "I am excited that the audience will get to see me in three completely different roles," he said. The actor, who recently wrapped up the first schedule of Rohit Shetty's "Simmba", said working with the director was a dream come true. "It is so much fun to be on Rohit's set. We enjoy every minute. Ranveer is a great guy. We workout together. He brings a lot of positive energy on the sets. "It's a great script and I remember when I read it for the first time I knew this was that one role I have been waiting for so long," Sonu said. The team of the movie, which also features Sara Ali Khan, will soon start filming the second schedule in Mumbai. "Simmba" is slated to release in December. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla today said the Centre is committed to double the income of farmers by 2022. The government has taken concrete steps as per the recommendations of the Swaminathan committee reports, he said at a function organised by a bank here in Uttar Pradesh. "The Modi government will double the income of the farmers by 2022. After coming to power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appealed to people from the downtrodden section of society to open bank accounts. This was ridiculed by the opposition parties. Today, in those 36,000 Jandhan accounts, nearly Rs 87,000 crore have been deposited. This has proved to be an important step in strengthening the economy," Shukla said. He also said in the future Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate of some necessary products will be reviewed, and may be reduced. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Bombay High Court has asked the Maharashtra government and the Directorate of Education to call for compliance reports from all educational institutes and universities in the state on facilities provided to disabled students. In an order passed earlier this week, a bench of Justices Naresh Patil and G S Kulkarni said the state must inform the court whether or not all educational institutes across Maharashtra were providing barrier-free access in their buildings to disabled students and staff members. The bench was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Pune resident Akanksha Kale. In her plea filed through advocate Satyavrat Joshi, Kale sought that all educational institutes provide barrier-free access and other facilities to disabled students and staff, as mandated in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act. Kale, who is confined to a wheelchair, had first approached the high court in 2016 against a Pune college after she was unable to attend classes and appear for her exams as the institute did not have disabled-friendly infrastructure. At that time, another bench of the high court had passed necessary directions to the college concerned, and also directed the state to ensure that all schools and colleges extend appropriate facilities to the disabled. However, Kale approached the high court again earlier this year, saying that despite provisions of the act and the high court order, not all educational institutes had complied with the requirements. The Mumbai University's counsel, advocate Rui Rodrigues, informed the court that there already existed statutory rules mandating that professional colleges, such as medical and engineering institutes, provide barrier-free environment in their buildings. The professional institutes that did not comply were denied completion and occupation certificates for their buildings, Rodrigues said. The high court, however, observed that such a requirement must be made mandatory for all educational institutes and not just those providing professional courses. "The state and the Directorate of Education shall issue instructions to all universities to call for compliance report from all the educational institutions," the bench said. "In case any institute already has the occupation certificate but does not provide the mandatory facilities, then the authorities should take necessary steps for creating basic facilities such as ramps, washrooms and barrier-free access for handicapped people in such buildings," it said. The high court has sought a report from the state on the compliance reports from educational institutes by August 2. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Marginal farmers in Jashpur district of Chhattisgarh, who were hardly able to make their ends meet two years back, are now reaping profits by cultivating horticulture crops, particularly chilly. The farmers, mostly tribals, say that the chilly cultivation has significantly increased in the district in the last two years after the introduction of the state government's 'Saur Sujala Yojna'. Under the scheme, they are being provided solar water pumps at nominal costs for irrigation at their farms, where power supply is not available. Gajnath Ram, a tribal farmer in Kopa village, was struggling to fetch good returns by cultivating the traditional paddy crop till last year. But now, he has been growing chilly and other horticulture crops like tomato, and hopes to earn a profit of Rs 80,000 to Rs 1 lakh per acre this year. "So far, I have sold chilly worth Rs 70,000 to Rs 80,000 after harvesting started in June...and it will continue till August-September," Ram told PTI. He has installed a solar water pump at his five-acre farm where he is primarily growing chilly, and also cultivating tomato and paddy on some part of the field. "It was hard to manage a family of seven, including my parents, wife and three children, with the traditional farming, but now life has changed a bit," the farmer said. Ram is among 500 farmers from 50 villages under the Manora and Bagicha development blocks, located in a hilly area around 400 km from here, who have taken up the cultivation of horticulture crops, mostly chilly. The chilly cultivation area, which was limited to around 200 to 300 acre in the district till 2016, has expanded to 1,500 to 2,000 acres, thereby economically empowering the farmers, Jashpur collector Priyanka Shukla told PTI. After the introduction of the Saur Sujala scheme, the agriculture department encouraged marginal farmers to install solar pumps at their fields and take up horticulture farming, especially chilly, in view of the region's moderate climate conducive for the crop, she said. So far, 2,613 solar pumps have been installed under the scheme in the district, she added. Despite the district having abundant natural water resources, farmers were earlier mostly dependent on rainfall for their crops as they did not have resources to utilise the water properly, she said. The farmers who are now cultivating horticulture crops are earning profits of around Rs 80,000 per acre in a year, which was around Rs 15,000 per acre earlier, Shukla said. "It seems the region will soon turn into a chilly cultivation hub," she said. The cultivation of chilly has also created employment opportunities for women. During the peak harvesting season, the women earn Rs 400 to Rs 500 per day by plucking 80 to 100 kg chilly in just four to five hours, Shukla said. The farmers have also set up a society, named Harit Kranti Adivasi Sahkari Samiti, through which they sell their produce in Ambikapur market, located 100 km from Jashpur, she added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 45 year-old Chinese national was ordered to be deported back to Singapore by the Immigration officials after he arrived at the airport here early today, airport officials said. The man arrived from Singapore by a private carrier but was "refused immigration clearance" to enter the country, they said. Immigration officials directed the private carrier to fly him back to Singapore in the flight's return journey or the next available flight, they said. The officials, however, did not disclose the reason for deporting the Chinese, who possessed a tourist visa. The man has been detained in the airport was likely to be sent back to Singapore tonight, they added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A total of 167 students were today conferred with different degrees at the 5th Convocation ceremony of National Law University of Odisha, here. Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra gave the the certificates to the students. He congratulated them and wished that they attend greater heights in the field of law. While 49 students received LLM degrees, 57 received BA LLB and 59 students received BBA LLB degrees. Retired High Court judge of Australia Michael Kirby, who delivered the convocation address, was conferred with Honoris Causa by the university on the occasion. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Leader of Opposition in the Assam Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, today criticised the AGP, a coalition partner of the ruling BJP, for having "misguided" the people of the state by using the illegal migrants issue for achieving their political objectives for over 30 years. After the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) had formed the government in Assam in 1985 following signing of the Assam Accord, an 'intensive revision' of the electoral rolls of Assam was undertaken under the supervision of the Election Commission, Saikia said in a press release. The EC enumerators recorded every adult member in two separate lists, List-I for those whose names could be traced directly or by parentage to the 1971 electoral rolls and List-II for the rest, he said in the release on the eve of publication of the final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The state election authorities carried out a second 'special revision' of the electoral rolls in 1990 under EC guidelines and the then AGP Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta said in 1990 that he was "satisfied" with the corrected electoral rolls. Despite Mahanta's "satisfaction" with the electoral rolls of 1990, in 1997 it was deemed necessary by the United Front government at the Centre and the AGP government in the state to undertake yet another 'intensive revision' of the electoral rolls of Assam, Saikia said. This was when the concept of 'D' (dubious or doubtful) voters was introduced and this concept of 'doubtful voter' exists in no other state or Union territory in India, Saikia said. Initially, about 3,70,000 'D' voter cases had been referred to the Foreigners Tribunals, but the number came down to 1,45,227 by 2014, he said. Saikia pointed out that according to the White Paper published by the Home and Political Department of the Assam government in 2012, 61,774 people, including 6,590 'D' voters, were declared as foreigners by several Foreigners Tribunals between 1985 and 2012. More than half of these persons who were declared as foreigners were those who came to Assam between 1966 and 1971 and according to provisions of the Assam Accord, such people are eligible for registration as Indian citizens after a stipulated waiting period. "The AGP pretends to be oblivious to such facts and data and instead, prefers to misguide the people of Assam by highlighting the alleged threat posed by illegal migrants," Saikia said. He said that the concept of 'D' voters which started during the AGP's tenure has now become a source of misery for not only bona-fide citizens belonging to the linguistic and religious minority communities but also to groups such as the Koch-Rajbongshis. Saikia appealed to the people not to panic if their names did not appear in the final draft of the NRC and urged them to maintain peace and harmony in the coming days. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah said the Congress has to be the "backbone" of the opposition unity with its chief Rahul Gandhi at the forefront of the campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls to oust the BJP from power at the Centre. This, however, does not minimise the responsibility of regional leaders who are strong in their own states, Abdullah told PTI here in an interview. "The Congress has to be the backbone as the lion's share of seats of the opposition in one particular party will have to be from it as there are a number of states where there will be direct contest between the Congress and the BJP," he said. "At the end of the day to form a government at the Centre you need 272 seats, which the regional outfits are not going to get. You will be looking towards the Congress to come close to the 100-seat mark, if not cross it to form a non-BJP government," he said. Abdullah met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee here on Friday and held talks on the probable opposition front. Efforts to cobble up an opposition front is gaining momentum, but a section of leaders of regional parties are not keen on letting the Congress lead it and are propagating a non-BJP and non-Congress front. On the issue of Rahul Gandhi being the face of the opposition, Abdullah said he being the president of the single largest opposition party was expected to be at the forefront of the election campaign. "Obviously, one will expect Rahul Gandhi to be at the forefront of leading the election campaign in 2019 but at the same time Sonia Gandhi is the leader of the UPA. Therefore to the best possible extent one will hope Sonia Gandhi will also be part of the campaign," he said. Refuting aspersions on Rahul Gandhi's leadership capabilities, Abdullah cited the example of Congress' role in forming the government in Karnataka and said he had shown a lot of maturity on how the party was orienting itself. "He is president of the Congress party. If anybody has any doubt about his leadership quality then it has to be from his party. His party has absolutely no problem with him, then why should anybody else have objections?" Abdullah said. "Rahul Gandhi has shown a lot of maturity on how the Congress is orienting. He is a leader in his own right and he has every right to be there," the NC leader said. He, however, maintained that the issue of the "face of opposition" is being brought up to divide the opposition unity. "Individual regional parties are strong in their own states." Mamata Banerjee will lead the fight against the BJP in West Bengal, while in Bihar, the anti-BJP face will be that of Lalu Prasad (RJD) supported by the Congress. In UP, the faces will be Aklhilesh Yadav (SP) and Mayawati (BSP) and in Tamil Nadu, it will be Karunanidhi (DMK) and his son M K Stalin, he said. "The Congress by virtue of its pan-India presence will have greater responsibility, but that's not to minimise the responsibility of other (regional) leaders. They would play a vital role. It's very important that we fight tactfully and tactically and this is the way forward," he said. Abdullah, who was in the city to take part in 'Think Federal Conclave', said NC was very much a part of the grouping of regional parties opposed to the BJP. "I would like them (grouping) to have clear a agenda regarding all the issues that matter to the country ranging from creation of jobs, demonetisation, the way economy has been handled. And obviously they have to look at both facets of Jammu and Kashmir. One is Pakistan as our (India) relations with it impact the situation in J&K and secondly, internally all the problems that have happened in the state after 2014 should be addressed by it," he said. Speaking on the present situation in Kashmir, Abdullah said the dismissal of the Mehbooba Mufti government by the Centre showed how the state was "mishandled" since 2015. "The present situation in the valley is not at all conducive for holding elections," he said. Listing steps that needed to be taken to restore peace in Kashmir, he said the alleged efforts of horse trading of PDP MLAs should immediately stop. "The J&K Assembly needs to be dissolved rather than simply suspended. Then the governor needs to work towards reducing the levels of violence so that some semblance of peace is restored. Speaking on the prevailing situation in the country, he said attempts were being made to vitiate the atmosphere of communal harmony. The way the entire community, particularly the Muslim community, was sought to be vilified is a matter of "grave concern," he said, adding that when these were stray voices from the people who didn't matter it was understandable to an extent. "But now you have elected representatives from the ruling party (BJP) who are espousing very strong anti-Muslim sentiments and trying to spread that in the country, which is a matter of grave concern," Abdullah said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The invitation to a Pakistani cleric to an anti-terror meet in the UK earlier this month has triggered controversy as it emerged that he had praised the actions of an Islamist extremist in the past. Hassan Haseeb ur Rehman attended the 'Counter Terrorism Conference' on July 12 in Manchester alongside UK police chiefs and family members of a victim of the ISIS-claimed terror attack on an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena last year, which had claimed 23 lives. According to The Sunday Times, Rehman led a "high-profile campaign" in Pakistan in praise of Mumtaz Qadri, who had killed Punjab governor Salman Taseer in 2011 for wanting a dialogue on the country's strict blasphemy laws. Qadri, who shot Taseer 28 times saying it was his religious duty, was executed in 2016. Sara Khan, the UK's lead Commissioner for Countering Extremism, told the newspaper: "Rehman attended and spoke at the funeral of Qadri and described him as a martyr. "There is no defence or justification for celebrating an ideologically motivated assassination. It is clear that many of those at the conference... would not have known about his vile views." Fiyaz Mughal, founder of the interfaith group Faith Matters said: "The speaker being feted in the 'counter-extremism' conference has been on record as maligning Ahmadi Muslims and in supporting the memory of the murderer of Punjab governor Salman Taseer." The conference in a Manchester hotel was hosted by the Ramadhan Foundation, which denied its Pakistani guest's links to extremism. Mohammed Shafiq, the chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation said: "He (Rehman) is not a supporter of terrorism. He is an opponent of terrorism. Any insinuation that he is an extremist is frankly absurd and an insult." Russ Jackson, Head of the Northwest Counter-Terrorism Unit, was presented with an award by Rehman and Shafiq at the event, which was also attended by Sharon Goodman, grandmother of the Manchester Arena attack victim Olivia Campbell-Hardy, and Andrew Hardy, Olivia's father. Greater Manchester police said: "The Sunday Times has now brought to our attention some concerns about one of the speakers, which we will now consider. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A couple allegedly committed suicide by hanging from a ceiling fan at their residence in southeast Delhi's Tughlakabad Extension today, the police said. The deceased have been identified as Deepak (40), and his wife Mamta (28), they added. Police were informed about the incident at 2:45 pm today. "On reaching the spot, it was learnt that the door was locked from inside and the light in one of the rooms was on. Through the ventilator, police observed that two people were seen hanging from fans in two rooms," Deputy Commissioner of Police (southeast) Chinmoy Biswal said. Police said that they broke the house door and found that Deepak was hanging from a ceiling fan using a 'gamcha' in the outer room and his wife Mamta was found hanging from a ceiling fan using a 'chunni'. "A suicide note written by Deepak was recovered from the spot. It stated that he was committing suicide and does not blame anyone. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem," the DCP said. Police investigation is underway to ascertain the reason behind the suicide. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A court here has directed the Delhi Police to register an FIR in a case of alleged grabbing of a property donated to ISKCON trust in Greater Kailash here. Metropolitan Magistrate Harun Pratap, who had earlier sought an action taken report (ATR) in the matter, directed the SHO concerned to register an FIR after noting that the report was "highly dubious and raised serious doubts over the veracity of the events". The court noted from the ATR that an information about the house break and attempt to theft at the property by the representatives of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) trust was given to police by some persons. However, it said, "The claim of proposed accused number 1 being in the possession of ground floor of the property previously and even after the alleged breaking of lock by the representatives of the complainant trust as alleged in the ATR, becomes highly dubious and raised serious doubts over the veracity of the events brought to the notice of the court in the ATR furnished by the police." "The allegations of complainant (trust) regarding police being in collusion with the proposed accused also assumes significance in the background of the fact that the police is claiming an attempt of alleged breaking of locks in a property, which is apparently left unattended at present by the death of late Hemraj Thukral," the court said. The DCP concerned is directing maintenance of status quo by the parties and thus, assuming the powers of the civil court to decide over the factum of possession in such disputes, it said. The court also noted the submission made by advocate Shanker Chhabra, appearing for the trust, that the police did not collect any CCTV footage from the spot and the facts mentioned in the ATR were either contradictory or suppressive of various facts and appeared to be only a version of the accused persons. "The court, hereby, directs registration of an FIR in the present case and the SHO concerned is directed to initiate investigation at the earliest as per law," the court said. Following the court's order, an FIR was registered under Indian Penal Code (IPC)sections 448 (house-trespass), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc.), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 34 (common intention) and 506 (criminal intimidation). According to the complaint filed by ISKCON, the property was donated to the trust in the Greater Kailash area of south Delhi through a will executed by Thukral. However, the accused persons forcefully dispossessed the complainant as well as the care taker and guard of the property and threatened them in an alleged collusion with police officials. The care taker and the people associated with the trust were allegedly taken to the police station and were threatened with dire consequences, the complaint said, adding that the police had refused to register an FIR in this regard. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court has said that courts need to pass a reasoned order in every case which would enable the parties involved in the litigation to understand as to "why one party has won and other has lost". The top court remanded back to the Madhya Pradesh High Court at Indore, a matter related to provident fund contribution for deciding it afresh. A bench of justices A M Sapre and Navin Sinha said that the order of the court should highlight the legal principles applicable to the issues involved. "Time and again, this court has emphasised on the courts the need to pass reasoned order in every case which must contain the narration of the bare facts of the case of the parties to the lis, the issues arising in the case, the submissions urged by the parties, the legal principles applicable to the issues involved and the reasons in support of the findings on all the issues arising in the case and urged by the learned counsel for the parties in support of its conclusion," the bench said. The court said it is really unfortunate that the division bench (of high court) failed to keep in mind these principles while disposing of the writ petition. "Such order, in our view, has undoubtedly caused prejudice to the parties because it deprived them to know the reasons as to why one party has won and other has lost," the bench said. It said that the top court can never countenance the manner in which such order was passed by the high court which has compelled it to remand the matter for deciding the writ petition afresh on merits. The bench, after perusing the order of the high court said, "Indeed, in the absence of any application of judicial mind to the factual and legal controversy involved in the appeal and without there being any discussion, appreciation, reasoning and categorical findings on the issues... It is difficult for this court to sustain such order of the division bench." It said that the only expression used by the division bench in disposing of the appeal is "on due consideration" and it is not clear to the court as to what was that due consideration, which persuaded the high court to dispose of the writ petition because in the earlier paragraphs only facts are set out. The court set aside the order of the high court and remanded back the matter to it to decide it afresh on merits and in accordance with law while keeping in mind its observations. Advocate Dushyant Parashar, appearing for Central Board of Trustees, said that on May 19, 2008, it had issued summons under provisions of Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act to M/s Indore Composite Pvt. Ltd. for non-payment of the provident fund contribution in the year 2005-06 on the wages lesser than the minimum wages prescribed for the employees under the category of semi-skilled. He said that the company in its response submitted that the department has not considered non-working days of the employees already furnished in Form 3A for year 2005-06 and there were some unskilled employees but the department has treated all of them as semi-skilled. The board, after considering the reply of the company, directed the company to deposit Rs 87,204 within 15 days from the receipt of that order. Further, the board on January 21, 2015, directed the company to pay damages and allied dues of Rs 91,585 for the delayed payments. The order of the board was challenged by the company before the Employees Provident Fund Appellate Tribunal, New Delhi and the tribunal set aside the order of the board. The board, thereafter, challenged the order before the high court but it dismissed the petition and upheld the order of appellate tribunal. Thereafter, the board challenged the order of high court before the apex court. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With the Lok Sabha polls just months away, the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh is set be a key election issue for both the ruling BJP and the opposition in the state. Chief Minister Adityanath recently told PTI that the eagerness being shown by big firms to invest in the state indicated that the situation has improved. Police officers have cited figures that back the claim. But human rights organisations and the opposition parties disagree. The NGOs also express concern over the increasing number of police encounters and the cases of police brutality which surface on social media. Opposition parties claim that the law and order situation has only worsened since the BJP government took over in UP about 16 months ago. Cases like the alleged rape of a 17-year-old girl by BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar make the ruling party vulnerable to the opposition charge. The rape victim's father later died, allegedly after being beaten up in police custody. The CBI has now stepped in, arresting the MLA's brother and four others in connection with the death. Opposition leaders also cite the shooting in Baghpat jail where gangster Munna Bajrangi was killed by another inmate. They say this indicates that people are not safe even in prison. "Though the governor has been saying time and again that the law and order situation needs to be improved, the state government is not heeding his directive," Samajwadi Party chief and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav told a meeting of SP workers here. The apparent reference was to an observation by Governor Ram Naik, who praised Adityanath for improvement in the situation but also said there was scope to do more. UP Congress chief Raj Babbar has also attacked the police, saying they harass the poor and act as "bouncers" for the state government. "The first responsibility of any elected government is to ensure the security of the citizens, but an atmosphere of fear prevailing across the state suggests that there is no government in the state," he told Congress workers. Vandana Misra, general secretary of People's Union for Civil Liberties (UP unit), claimed that the crime situation has worsened and atrocities against the Dalits and the Muslims are increasing. Even crime against women has increased, she claimed. Voluntary organisation Rihai Manch's general secretary Rajiv Yadav said the behaviour of the state police is no different from that of the goons. A large section of society, especially the Dalits, the minorties and the backwards, are frightened," he said. But Director General of Police O P Singh claimed there has been a drastic fall in cases of crime under categories like murder, rape and dacoity in the past six months. Cases of dacoity have come down by 37 per cent, looting 19 per cent, murder 1 per cent, burglary 13 per cent and rioting 7 per cent, kidnapping for ransom 9 per cent and rape 7 per cent between January 1 and July 15 over the corresponding period in the previous year, according to police figures. The state police have arrested 5,677 criminals, including 2,068 reward-carrying offenders during the period, he told reporters recently. According to police figures, 62 criminals have been killed in police encounters between March 2017 and July 15, 2018 roughly the period the Adityanath government has been in power. The encounter deaths worry human rights organisations. Encounters damage the rule of law and criminal justice system. This also leads to the politicisation of criminals as fearing police action, they join the ruling party," said Lenin Raghuvanshi, founder of People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights. More important, many of those killed or injured in such encounters might not be criminals at all, he said. After one such encounter, in which alleged gangster Sumit Gurjar was shot dead by the police in Noida, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) sent a notice to the UP government. Recently, the Supreme Court also sought a response from the state government on a plea seeking a court-monitored CBI or SIT probe into the recent deaths in police encounters. Lawyer Sanjay Parikh, appearing for the PUCL in the apex court, alleged that about 1,100 encounters have taken place in the past year, killing 49 people and injuring 370 others. In its plea, the NGO referred to reports quoting the chief minister, his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya and Additional Director General (law and order) Anand Kumar and claimed that they had justified the encounter killings of criminals. The plea recalled that the chief minister had on November 19, 2017 said criminals will be jailed or killed in encounters". It also quoted an observation by the NHRC, which said that it seemed that "the police personnel in the state of Uttar Pradesh are feeling free, misusing their power in the light of an undeclared endorsement given by the higher-ups. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Some Dalit women from a village in Gujarat's Botad district have alleged they were denied entry inside a Lord Shiva temple by villagers, police said today. However, local police said that women in general are not allowed entry into the newly-constructed temple in the district, around 160 kms away from here. The incident occurred yesterday when some Dalit women had gone to the temple to offer prayers to the deity on the occasion of the Hindu month of Shravan, considered auspicious by devotees of Lord Shiva, a police official said. A woman who was part of the group of devotees said, "We were not allowed entry into the temple because we are Dalits". However, Ranpur police sub-inspector S N Ramani said the villagers had banned entry of women inside the temple irrespective of the caste affiliation. The women could only pray from outside but cannot enter the temple, he said, adding that a board has also been put up banning the entry of women. However, Dalit women alleged that villagers singled them out because of their caste. "When the Dalit women went to perform worship at the temple, they were stopped by villagers as women from no community are allowed entry into the temple," said Ramani. He said a team of police officials discussed the issue with village elders. On intervention of police, the villagers assured us that they will allow the entry of all women inside the temple, Ramani said. Botad Superintendent of Police Sajansinh Parmar said a team of police personnel was sent to the spot to resolve the matter. "Some Dalit women said they were being denied entry inside the village temple. However, the temple bans entry to women from all communities. Police were sent to talk to the villagers and resolve the matter," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das today announced Rs 1 lakh for Ramesh Sahu, a poor boy who topped the Intermediate examination in Gumla district, an official release said here. The money would be given to Sahu, whose father is a brick kiln worker, so that he can continue his studies. Hailing from Navni village in extremist-hit Gumla district, Sahu sells toys at fairs and dreams of becoming an IAS officer one day, the release said. Sahu topped Intermediate examination in Gumla district this year. In his "Maan ki Baat" programme today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed Sahu saying he is an example to others. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi High Court has slapped a cost of Rs 1 lakh on a man for filing a frivolous appeal against his mother in a property dispute, saying it was classic case of an aged parent being harassed by their children and a copy of the storyline of recent Bollywood movie "102 Not Out". The court dismissed the appeal against a trial court order as completely frivolous, meritless and an abuse of the process of law and directed the man to pay the amount to his mother within six weeks. "The present is a classic case of aged parent/mother being harassed by her children for property. Obviously, it is not unexpected any longer in this age that we are living in, and which is vividly depicted in a Hindi movie 102 Not Out'. Obviously this case is nothing else but a copy of the movie 102 Not Out'," Justice Valmiki J Mehta said. In the suit, the widow has two children -- a son and a daughter. The daughter had filed a partition suit of their Chitranjan Park property here which was supported by mother. In May, the trial court decreed the suit and the son challenged it in the high court. The high court said it failed to understand as to how a son could dispute the grant of half ownership rights in a property by the husband to his wife. "Even on merits, I fail to understand as to how a son can dispute the grant of half ownership rights in a property by the husband to his wife, because even for the sake of argument we take that the suit property was allotted to the husband because of being a displaced person on account of his having left a property in East Pakistan, surely a husband can take an ownership of a property jointly in his name with his wife and which will have the effect that he having gifted his half ownership rights in the suit property to his wife in this case," it said. The court said there does not arise any issue of the son challenging the lease deed, once the father in his life time got the lease deed executed jointly in his favour and his wife. The court noted that the counsel for the mother stated that the son left no stone unturned to harass and trouble her, and said the court should pass a judgment and clarify the ownership rights otherwise he will keep on harassing her. The court had also asked the son whether he wanted to press the appeal as the parties could repair their relationship, but he sought for a judgement to be passed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) 'Dignity kits'--containing basic toiletries, a pair of clothes and hygiene items-- sleeping bags, mats, and portable handpumps are some of the latest first response items that will be provided by the NDRF to ensure quick relief to victims of major calamities in the country. The disaster contingency force has gone in for a first-time mega procurement of items as part of arming itself with goods for the national distaster response reserve (NDRR) that is meant to be provided as the primary survival kit for victims. This is to sustain themselves during a calamity, much on the lines of international disaster relief protocols. The National Disaster Response Force(NDRF), in the first go, has decided to procure about 17,000 'dignity kits' for both men and women, 2 lakh synthetic sleeping mats, 75,000 sleeping bags, 1,200 portable handpumps and 4,800 dead body or casualty bags. "These items are being procured as part of the NDRR protocol. World over, the best disaster response procedures mandate that the victims are provided basic sanitation and surviving items so that they can sustain themselves for some time in the aftermath of a calamity. "These procurements are being made for the first time," NDRF Director General Sanjay Kumar told PTI. As part of the standard 'dignity kit' for women, that will be packed in a plastic bucket, the victims of a disaster like earthquake, flash floods or similar events will be provided a small toothpaste, brush, bathing and washing soaps, 2 pairs of undergarments, towel, oil, comb, 2 pairs of salwar suits of different sizes, nail cutter, mirror, a packet having 10 sanitary pads, anti-septic cream and a mug. A similar relief packet or 'dignity kit' for men will have similar items except that it will have 2 pairs of 'pyjama-kurta' instead of the women attire, and a shaving pack. "Till now relief teams used to carry food, water and medicines as part of their first response mechanism to a disaster struck site. "But, it is very essential to immediately provide these items to a disaster victim that will enable him or her to sustain for sometime till further rehabilitation steps are taken. These items will be procured by us and distributed with the help of local administration where a disaster strikes," the Director General said. Sleeping mats and bags will also be provided to those people who are shifted to temporary safety shelters when disasters force people to abandon their homes, he said. The portable handpumps, an NDRF procurement document said, will be used to fetch fresh water from borewells present in the vicinity of a disaster spot and the machines proposed to be procured can draw 17 litres of water in a minute with the help of about 40 strokes. The force is also procuring thousands of body bags, also called casualty bags, for better transport and ensuring dignity to the dead. All these items are expected to be procured shortly and they will be distributed amongst the 12 battalions of the force that are based in various parts of the country for quick response, Kumar said. As per latest data, the force has undertaken over 2,095 operations till now and has evacuated or rescued about 8 lakh disaster/accident affected people besides retrieving over 3,300 bodies. The NDRF, a federal disaster contingency force raised in 2006 under the Union home ministry, has a strength of over 13,000 personnel with at least four more fresh battalions under consideration of the Centre. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pharma major Dr Reddys Laboratories, which has significant presence in the US, is hopeful of the lingering price erosion in that market to end in the near future. The US, which is the worlds largest drug market, accounts for 52 per cent of Dr Reddys global generics sales and 42 per cent of its total sales, has been witnessing a significant price correction during the past three years impacting it bottomline and topline. Over the past three years, the average price decline for generic drugs in the US has not only been high but has also been going up significantly annually due to channel consolidation forcing suppliers to cut prices generic product, chairman K Satish Reddy said in the annual report. Another reason for the price cuts is the growing competition from various international suppliers. These factors have negatively affected all major pharma companies exporting to the US. "The fiscal 2018 was challenging due to a significant price erosion in the US market. While, price competitiveness will remain the leitmotif in the US, we believe the rate of price erosion has already peaked and ought to taper down now," he said added. In FY18, its consolidated revenue just inched up 1 per cent at Rs 14,200 crore, due to the significant price cuts in the US market and lower contribution from India due to GST transition. This massively pulled down its net income to Rs 980 crore from Rs 1,200 crore in FY17. "It is difficult to predict how long the US pricing pressure will last. We need to have a strong pipeline of difficult-to-manufacture complex formulations that address key therapeutic needs. This will allow us to introduce several value-added products each year and help combat price erosion, Reddy said. In FY18, it filed 19 new abbreviated new drug applications (Andas) and one new drug application (NDA) in the US. It now has 110 generic filings pending approval from the FDA, comprising 107 Andas and three NDAs, he said. Dr Reddys operations have been hit by regulatory interventions, especially by the US which has issued warning letters regarding its three plants--an API manufacturing facility at Miryalaguda in Telangana, an API plant at Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh, and an oncology formulation facility at Duvvada, near Visakhapatnam. Consequently, launches of key molecules, injectables, as well as certain APIs from these sites have been delayed. Although it has successfully secured regulatory and customer approvals to transfer production of some of these products to alternative facilities, it led to a significant revenue loss from the US for both FY17 and FY18, he said. Bu he sounded optimistic about emerging markets. "We should be able to increase revenue from these geographies through simple and complex generics as well as hospital and institutional sales of oncological biosimilars," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A total of 225 people have been arrested and 134 cases registered since the launch of a special campaign against drug peddlers in Sirsa district three months ago, police said here today. 'Prabal Prahaar', a campaign to crack down on narcotics smuggling in Sirsa district, especially in the areas bordering Rajasthan and Punjab, was launched on April 26, a spokesperson of the police department said, adding that the drive would continue in future as well. The official said a large quantity of narcotic substances, including 13.84 kg opium, nearly 3.51 kg heroin, 14.68 quintals poppy husk, 1,54,448 prohibited pharma pills, 265 bottles of prohibited medicines, 596 injections and 20.22 kg ganja were seized from the accused. Sirsa Superintendent of Police Hamid Akhtar has been taking strict action against those involved in smuggling of narcotic substances, he added. He said the police would soon convene a meeting with sarpanches of all villages in the district to urge them to participate in the campaign against drug peddlers. Police will also honour the panchayats of villages completely free from the menace of illegal drugs, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Egypt's president zealously defended his economic policies today, saying he was left with no choice but to embrace painful austerity measures to revive an economy mauled by years of political turmoil and violence. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi was speaking at a youth conference a day after he expressed his displeasure over recent online postings urging him to step down over the economy. He said he was "upset" over the posts, which he said were inappropriate. The #Sissi_leave hashtag surfaced this summer following steep price hikes for fuel, drinking water and electricity as part of austerity measures designed to overhaul the economy, still recovering from years of turmoil following the 2011 popular uprising. "They have pushed us into being a nation of poverty, a nation of neediness, but when I begin working toward getting us out of this, I find the hashtag #Sissi leave," he said. "Should I have been upset or not? I was upset. I was upset." El-Sissi was first elected in 2014, a year after, as defense minister, he led the military's ouster of Mohammed Morsi, an Islamist who was freely elected but whose one year in office proved divisive. He has since taking office launched multibillion-dollar infrastructure, development and housing projects that he says will transform the country of some 96 million people. He has also overseen the largest crackdown on dissent in Egypt's recent history, jailing thousands of Islamists as well as some secular pro-democracy activists, and rolling back many of the freedoms won following the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. In March, el-Sissi won a second, four-year term after running virtually unopposed. The economic reform program has won el-Sissi lavish praise from Cairo's western backers and bankers and showed him as a leader who was prepared to adopt painful measures, like lifting state subsidies on basic items, regardless of the political cost, something his predecessors had not been able to do for fear of unrest or losing power. El-Sissi's policies, however, have made more difficult the plight of a majority of Egyptians who are now forced to cope with steep hikes in the price of everything from utilities and fuel to food and transportation. El-Sissi has in the past told Egyptians not to listen to anyone but him and repeated that he would only listen to viewpoints different from his if they are based on thorough research. In his latest remarks, he repeated his frequent assertions about unnamed parties tirelessly working to undermine and destabilize the country. Egypt, he warned today, would not survive another "revolutionary" phase like that of 2011. "Everything is linked to stability and security. I want us to develop an acute fear of instability," he said. Addressing the same youth conference today, el-Sissi warned that economic reform was open-ended and that he intended to continue down the same route. "I will press on because I don't have another path," declared the general-turned-president who routinely calls on Egyptians to endure hardships for the sake of their country and declares that only God will judge his actions. With a touch of populism, el-Sissi said Sunday he was prepared to join Egyptian youths and go out to clean the streets. Yesterday, he had said he was prepared to eat one meal a day for the rest of his life if that would help Egypt be strong and prosperous. Seeking to assure Egyptians that his policies would soon bear fruit, he said Egypt will by June 2020 have a surplus of natural gas, complete a network of roads crisscrossing the country, finish the first phase of construction of nearly a dozen new cities and overhaul the railway network. Along with the economic challenges, Egypt also faces an insurgency by Islamic militants in northern Sinai. El-Sissi said today his security forces have made significant progress in the fight against insurgents but warned that future terror attacks could not be ruled out. Along with battling militants in the peninsula bordering Gaza and Israel, security forces also struggle to secure the porous borders with neighboring Libya and Sudan, used by militants to smuggle weapons and fighters into Egypt and for cross-border attacks. He said security forces have over the past 18 months intercepted or destroyed some 2,000 vehicles carrying arms, ammunition or militants. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Egypt's president says he is "upset" over recent online postings calling on him to step down over the country's troubled economy. An angry Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said in televised remarks aired yesterday that the postings are inappropriate since he has been working hard to pluck Egypt out of its economic crisis. The #Sissi_leave hashtag followed steep price hikes for fuel, drinking water and electricity as part of austerity measures designed to overhaul the economy, still recovering from years of turmoil following the 2011 popular uprising against longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak. El-Sissi was first elected in 2014, after the military's ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. The general-turned-president has since launched multi billion infrastructure, development and housing projects. He won a second term in March, following a harsh crackdown on dissent. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Bombay High Court has asked the Maharashtra government to encourage private doctors to assist in civil hospitals across the state by way of charity so that poor patients can be benefited. The government's exercise of getting such doctors to serve at the Malegaon civil hospital (in Nashik district) should be followed as a 'model' in other districts, it said. A division bench of Justices N H Patil and G S Kulkarni was hearing a PIL last week filed by a resident of Malegaon town, alleging inaction on part of the public health department and the local civic body in filling vacancies for doctors and assistant medical staff at the Malegaon civic hospital for years. The petitioner, Rakesh Bhamare, cited replies to his Right to Information (RTI) queries to inform the court that authorities had failed to sanction and fill such vacancies since 2012. Earlier this month, Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni submitted a report to the court showing work carried out by medical experts attached to the Malegaon civil hospital and doctors practising privately in June this year. As per the report, apart from three gynaecologists working with the Malegaon civil hospital, 12 gynaecologists and as many anaesthetists working with private hospitals have also contributed there. "The report is encouraging. It has informed that private doctors have shown their willingness to extend co-operation as and when required by the administration," the court said. "We appreciate the gesture. We further expect the administration to encourage private doctors to get them involved in such an exercise, which would be a step in the larger public interest," the bench said. "We expect the administration would continue the work in the same manner so that poor patients are benefited and this could be a model exercise to be followed in the rest of Maharashtra," the court said. The government should take necessary steps to protect all civil hospitals' premises in Maharashtra by erecting boundary walls, necessary fencing and by appointing appropriate agencies to safeguard them, it said. The court asked Kumbhakoni to discuss the issue with the state department's secretary concerned and take necessary steps. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President N Uttam Kumar Reddy today advised party workers to enter into campaign mode for next elections and expose the "failures" of the ruling TRS government in the state and BJP government at the Centre. Addressing a meeting here, Reddy said the Congress party was organisationally very strong across Telangana. He said so far, more than one lakh Congress workers have registered themselves with 'Shakti' programme and the number is likely to increase by three-four folds. Shakti programme is an initiative conceived by Congress President Rahul Gandhi to strengthen the organisation at grassroot level. Stating that the party would intensify Shakti enrolments further, he advised the Congress workers to enter the campaign mode and said the "failures" of TRS government in Telangana and BJP government at the Centre should be explained to the people. "With his attractive talk and lucrative promises, KCR (Chief Minister and TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao) has cheated all sections of the society. Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rao did nothing for Hyderabad in the last four years. TRS government even failed to maintain the infrastructure which was created by previous Congress regime," a party release quoted Reddy as saying. Reddy alleged that KCR's only focus was on accumulation of illegal wealth and welfare of his family. "Except for four members of KCR family, no one gained from the formation of Telangana," he said. He accused the TRS government of executing only those works from where it could get 'commissions' from contractors. Reddy exuded confidence that the Congress party was all set to win the next elections, whenever they were held. He claimed that all recent surveys have clearly indicated a landslide victory for the Congress. At another event, a Round Table Conference on 'Kaleshwaram Project', he said the entire project was wrapped in several "mysteries" which include viability, exact project cost, operational cost, and the basis on which "short-term-high-cost" bank loans of thousands of crores were taken. Reddy alleged that the "secrecy being maintained around various aspects of the project clearly point towards a major scam which needs to be exposed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Turkey's president said his government would not back down and was willing to "go its own way" if the United States imposes sanctions over an American pastor who is being tried on espionage and terror-related charges. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ended his silence yesterday on the escalating diplomatic dispute involving Andrew Craig Brunson, 50. The evangelical pastor was arrested in December 2016 and jailed until he was released to home detention last week. "They cannot make Turkey back down with sanctions," Turkish media quoted Erdogan saying during an official visit to southern Africa. "The US should not forget that unless it changes its attitude, it will lose a strong and sincere partner like Turkey," he warned. On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced possible sanctions against Turkey, a crucial NATO ally, for its treatment of Brunson. The pastor, who is originally from Black Mountain, North Carolina, has lived in Turkey for 23 years and led Izmir Resurrection Church. Brunson was detained in the aftermath of a failed 2016 coup on charges of "committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member" and espionage. He faces a prison sentence of up to 35 years if he is convicted on both counts at the end of his ongoing trial. In an interview that aired today, US Vice President Mike Pence reiterated that there would be consequences if Erdogan's government did not free Brunson and drop the charges. "Transferring Pastor Andrew Brunson to home arrest is just not good enough, and the United States of America is prepared to bring sanctions against Turkey until Pastor Andrew Brunson is free," Pence said in the interview on Fox's "Sunday Morning Futures." Erdogan denied speculation that there had been an agreement to swap Brunson for Turkish citizens being held abroad, particularly 27-year-old Ebru Ozkan. Ozkan had been detained by Israel on terror-related charges, but was deported this month. The Turkish leader previously linked Brunson's return to the U.S. to the extradition of Fethullah Gulen. Ankara blames Gulen for the coup attempt, while the cleric denies involvement. Erdogan also warned that Turkey would seek international arbitration if the United States refused to deliver F-35 fighter jets in retaliation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Essel Infraprojects today said it is planning to invest Rs 1,750 crore in phased manner to set up electric vehicle charging and battery swapping infrastructure. "In a massive boost to the electric vehicle segment in the country, Essel Infraprojects Ltd, (EIL) an enterprise of Subhash Chandra led Essel Group, launches its Electric Vehicle Charging and Battery Swapping Infrastructure initiative under Essel Green Mobility Limited in Lucknow today," the company said in a statement. Under the project, EIL will invest Rs 1,750 crore in phased manner with the launch of 250 charging stations, 1,000 battery swapping stations in 20 cities of Uttar Pradesh. The announcement was made during the foundation stone laying ceremony by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lucknow. Speaking on the occasion, Essel Group Chairman Subhash Chandra said: "With the launch of this initiative, we have enhanced our association with the state and look forward to doing our bit in the government's vision of clean mobility. The launch of EVs in holistic manner will augment the state's transport infrastructure and also create job opportunities". EIL project will kick-start the electric vehicle ecosystem in effective manner as EIL will also invest in simultaneous deployment of 25,000 e-rickshaws, which will generate 50,000 jobs in the state. EIL's electric vehicle launch was among different industrial projects announced in the state capital, the company said in a release. It will reduce the cost of battery charging and will bring down the running cost per km at par with CNG or any other alternative fuel. The project will also address the issue of last mile connectivity, which has been a major stumbling block in local transport infrastructure, the company said. Through this project, the company aims to improve driver's living standard by raising their income. Also, it will provide battery swapping options at every 2 sq kms which will be supported by digital app to enable drivers locate the nearby swapping station. The battery can be swapped in 2-3 minutes, increasing vehicle productivity for plying. The operations will start from Ghaziabad and cover other cities, including Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Noida, Meerut and Varanasi. The project will revolutionise the electric vehicle industry in the country, especially the e-rickshaw segment as the drivers would not need to own vehicles or batteries and they can start their business without much investment and without any complicated documentation or collateral. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Italy's far right deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini has accused the European Union of attempting to "swindle" the United Kingdom out of the Brexit people voted for in the landmark 2016 referendum, The Sunday Times reported. "My experience in the European parliament tells me you either impose yourself or they swindle you", Salvini told the weekly as he urged prime minister Theresa May to take a harder stance in negotiations to sever ties with the trading bloc. May and her ministers are scrambling to forge agreements with each of the EU's 27 member states after a week which saw her already fragile "Chequers plan" for Brexit knocked back by Brussels chief negotiator Michel Barnier. On Thursday Barnier rejected May's plan to keep the border between EU member Ireland and the UK province of Northern Ireland open, with a dual system of taxes levied by each side for the benefit of the other. But League party leader Salvini has urged May to consider taking a hard line, potentially leaving the EU without securing a deal. "Because on some principles there is no need to be flexible and you should not go backwards," he told The Times. The paper said he also implied the EU is attempting to punish Britain for seeking to leave, claiming: "There is no objectivity or good faith from the European side." "I hope the negotiations end well for the UK to serve as an example of the people coming out on top of the EU," he added. "I remember the referendum stage as an example of participation and freedom; I hope it can be an opportunity for the British." Barnier has attempted to scupper May's plan to circumvent Brussels in striking a deal with the member states, insisting that there is not a "sliver of difference" between him and the 27 nation leaders. But according to The Times Salvini has said he would welcome one-on-one talks with May, undermining Barnier's authority as the head of talks. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Evangeline Lilly says she was not a fan of superhero films when Marvel Studios offered her "Ant-Man". The 38-year-old actor reprised her role of Hope van Dyne, who becomes The Wasp in the film's recent released sequel. Lilly said she changed her mind after her agent persuaded her to consider the project, which had a "really cool" script. "I didn't like superhero movies when I got offered this job. So, my initial reaction - do not tell Marvel - was 'I don't want to do a stupid superhero movie'. And my manager said, 'Well, just hear me out' - because he knows me quite well - 'Paul Rudd will be starring.' What? So I thought, 'This is really cool. Whatever they are doing is not the superhero movie I have previously seen' and it intrigued me. "So then I did my homework... I went back and watched some 'Avengers' films and some other Marvel films and I just thought what they were doing was so unique and fun," the actor told SFX magazine. Lilly, who has a seven-year-old son and a two-year-old daughter with partner Norman Kali, said her little boy is a huge fan of her superhero alter ego. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Export and Import Bank (EXIM) of India has suggested to the Madhya Pradesh government to seek Geographical Indication (GI) tags for Indori Poha and the Burhanpuri delicacy, Mawa Jalebi. After carrying out a study titled "Export Strategy for Madhya Pradesh", the Exim Bank has suggested the government to seek GI tags for the Poha and Mawa Jalebi, as per a press release issued by the state government. Besides Poha and Mawa Jalebi, the EXIM Bank report has also asked the state to seek a GI tag for Chanderi saree of Chanderi and Jali work of Gwalior, it stated. A Geographical Indication is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin. In order to function as a GI, a sign must identify a product as originating in a given place. So far, 14 products of Andhra Pradesh and 30 products of Karnataka have received the maximum G.I. tags in the country, it said. State Women and Child Development Minister and Burhanpur MLA Archana Chitnis said, "We are going to get details to file application for claiming GI tag for Mawa Jalebi". The EXIM study revealed that the international trade of Madhya Pradesh had touched 2.4 billion dollars mark in 2016-17, stated the release. Madhya Pradesh ranked 15th in the country among the states, with the export trade contributing 1.6 per cent of the total international exports of the country, it said. The study report said that obtaining the GI tag for new products would help the central state in achieving the goal of 10 billion dollars export by 2022, it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Seeking to scotch rumours and identify on social media platform WhatsApp, a team of experts at a city-based institution is working on developing an application that may be able to tell you whether a message is fake or not. Ponnurangam Kumaraguru, associate professor of computer science at the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi, (IIIT-D) is heading the team which is developing the app that seeks to determine the authenticity of a message circulated on this platform. Rumours on WhatsApp have sparked off a spate of incidents involving mob fury, including one where five men were lynched on the suspicion of being child-lifters in Maharashtra's Rainpada village. Recently, a man was beaten to death and three others were injured after a mob attack them suspecting them to be child-lifters, near Bidar in Karnataka. ALSO READ: Fake news and its dimensions The professor feels that the application will be a useful tool in the current scenario where a number of such incidents have been reported in which people were killed in violence, triggered on the basis of rumours circulated on WhatsApp. "We are collecting a large number of data and have asked people to forward us messages on the number 9354325700. These messages will be analysed and accordingly, we will develop a model for putting a wrapper on such messages," he added. For example, if a message is received, there will be colour codes that will indicate the authenticity. A green might indicate that it is a legitimate content, yellow colour might indicate that the system is not able to decode it while red might indicate that it is definitely fake content, he said. "Through the messages received, we will study the common factors in such messages. The commonality might be an image, a URL or some words. If it is a forwarded message, it is a high probability that it is a fake message," said the professor. He said the app is likely to be ready in a couple of months. Five Nepali nationals have been arrested for allegedly coercing gullible villagers to sell their kidneys, which they used to smuggle into India, police said today. Chitwan district police arrested the accused from Chitwan, Kathmandu and Rasuwa districts, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Prabhu Prasad Dhakal said. They used to target gullible villagers and take them in confidence with fake promises before extracting their kidneys and sending it to various hospitals in India, he said. "They used to charge a commission of Rs 50,000 to Rs 1,00,000 for finding people willing to sell their kidney in exchange of monetary gains and establishing their contact with smugglers," Dhakal said. Earlier, District Police Office Chitwan had formed a seven-member team of Medical Response Team (MRT) to look crimes related to health. Following which this racket was busted. They will be charged under the Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act, 2007, the police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Over 1.08 lakh passengers were affected because of the large-scale flight cancellations by IndiGo, government data has revealed. During the first five months of the year, up to May, the no-frills carrier cancelled 1,824 flights, impacting 1,08,549 passengers, the highest among the domestic carriers. The figures were shared by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. However, the reasons for the flight cancellations were not given in his reply. Asked for its response, an IndiGo spokesperson said, "A significant reason for flight cancellations from January to May was grounding of neo planes, delivery delays and bad weather conditions in different parts of the country at different times." Most of the cancellations, the spokesperson said, are planned in advance. The carrier, with a domestic market share of more than 40 per cent, grounded as many as 11 of its A320 neo aircraft in February and March this year due to Pratt & Whitney engine issues. In March alone, it grounded eight aircraft following a directive from aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The grounding of the aircraft dealt a blow to the airline's schedule, as one plane is used for operating around 8 to 9 flights on an average. IndiGo operates around 1,000 flights every day. In the 2017 June quarter, IndiGo grounded nine A320 neo planes due to engine issues. It also resulted in the airline cancelling 84 flights on a particular day last year. GoAir, the other airline, which also has a fleet of A320 neo planes, grounded three of its aircraft in March this year following the DGCA directive. According to the data, 986 of its passengers were affected because of the cancellation of its flights -- 204. The overall number of passengers who were affected till May stood at 1,52,069, with 3,843 flights being cancelled by the domestic carriers. Last year, 52,489 passengers of IndiGo were hit due to over 1,934 flight cancellations. The government data showed that Rs 223.21 lakh were paid as compensation to passengers by the airlines till May this year. Though it had the highest number of cancellations, compensation paid by IndiGo was only Rs 4.55 lakh. SpiceJet, which saw only 11,754 passenger affected because of the cancellations, paid 72.62 lakh. The IndiGo spokesperson said, IndiGo's compensation policy is in compliance with the civil aviation requirement rule. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Four tribal families left their homes in Chhattisgarh's Kondagaon district allegedly after naxals threatened them with dire consequences, police said today. The villagers approached the police yesterday after escaping from Becha village, located deep inside the Abujhmad area (a Maoist stronghold), Kondagaon Superintendent of Police (SP) Abhishek Pallava told PTI. He said as per preliminary information, around 24 adult members of these families left the village along with their children, whose exact number is not yet known. In their statements, the victims said Maoists had been accusing them of acting as police informers as a few of their relatives joined the police force, the SP said. They were allegedly being pressured to support the outlaws, but when they denied, naxals threatened to kill them, Pallava said quoting the victims. On Friday night, the victims came to know that naxals were planning to hold a 'jan adalat' (people's court) to convict their family members following which they escaped from the village yesterday morning. The victims contacted the Chhote Dongar police station, located around 300 km from state capital Raipur, he said. Later, heads of these families were brought to the Kondagaon district headquarters, Pallava said. The other members of their families are still at the premises of the Chhote Dongar police station as public transport was suspended in the area as 'Martyrs' Week' is being observed by the ultras, the SP said. The remaining family members will be brought to Kondagaon soon, he said. Based on complaints of each family, separate cases will be registered, the SP added. Pallava said about three to four members of these families allegedly acted as naxal supporters in the past and now they will be asked to formally surrender before the police. The victims who have left their homes will be given compensation as per the government's policy, he added. Maoists are losing their support base and hence, are "terrorising" othervillagersto support them or quit their native place, according to police. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The West Bengal CID has arrested one person from a five-star hotel in the city for allegedly duping several people of crores of rupees posing as an officer of state owned steel major SAIL, a senior officer said today. State CID sleuths along with Puducherry Police arrested Shyam Maitra yesterday, for allegedly posing as the AGM of SAIL in a website and asking people to buy the products of SAIL. As per a complaint lodged by the owner of a Puducherry-based organisation, Maitra failed to deliver an order of 35 mt of steel through a website operated by the accused, the officer said. "The victim made a payment of Rs 58,32,000 through RTGS. The case was registered in Puducherry on July 26. Initial probe revealed that accused had been introducing himself as Bholanath Biswas working as the AGM Marketing of SAIL and used to ask customers to purchase SAIL products," he said. The Puducherry Police approached West Bengal CID and the two conducted raids and nabbed the accused, staying at a five-star hotel in the city. Initial investigation revealed that the accused has duped several people across the country since 2014 and earned crores of rupees by cheating them, he said. "The accused, who is a resident of Durgapur, has admitted his crime. Puducherry police are looking into the matter," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United Nations today said air raids struck Yemen's Red Sea province of Hodeida for three days, damaging a water plant and placing civilians at "extreme risk". "On 26, 27 and 28 July, air strikes occurred near a reproductive health centre and public laboratory in Hodeida and hit and damaged a sanitation facility in Zabid and a water station, which supplies the majority of the water to Hodeida City," the office of the UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen said in a statement. "These air strikes are putting innocent civilians at extreme risk," the statement said. The UN office said that "damage to sanitation, water and health facilities jeopardises everything we are trying to do" and warned "we could be one air strike away from an unstoppable epidemic". The strikes comes less than one month after the United Arab Emirates, part of a Saudi-led coalition backing the Yemeni government, said it had suspended an offensive to take the port city to give UN mediation efforts a chance. Speaking on condition of anonymity, Yemeni military sources contacted by AFP confirmed that air raids had resumed after the coalition said a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea was attacked on Wednesday. On June 13, Saudi Arabia and its allies in a pro-government coalition launched a major offensive to retake Hodeida, through which 70 percent of Yemen's food imports flow. The fighting around Hodeida has raised UN fears of a new humanitarian catastrophe in a country already standing at the brink of famine and gripped by a deadly cholera epidemic. The Red Sea port has been controlled by Iran-backed Huthi rebels since 2014, when they drove the government out of the capital Sanaa and much of the country. Earlier this year, the coalition imposed a near-total blockade on the port alleging it was being used as a conduit for arms smuggling to the rebels by its regional arch rival Iran. The UN envoy to Yemen has reportedly been pushing for a deal to end the violence in which the rebels cede control of the port to a UN-supervised committee. The UAE has rejected the Huthi's offer, demanding an unconditional withdrawal from the port and city. Nearly 10,000 people have been killed in the war between Yemen's government and Huthi insurgents, including 2,200 children. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Embattled Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's grip on power ahead of upcoming national polls was under renewed scrutiny today after disappointing by-election results. Five seats were up for grabs after four opposition politicians and one from a minor party fell foul of a constitutional rule barring dual citizens from serving in parliament. Yesterday's by-elections were billed as a key test for Turnbull and Labor opposition leader Bill Shorten, with the governing Liberal-National coalition hoping to win a seat to double its wafer-thin parliamentary majority of one. With Labor tipped to retain all four of its seats, including two that had been seen as too close to call -- Longman in Queensland state and Braddon in Tasmania state -- Shorten emerged as the clear winner. "These by-elections were a very simple question -- did people want more of the same or did they want better from their government," Shorten told reporters in Queensland on Sunday. "I think, in large numbers, they said we want better from the government... We had the better candidates (and) the better policies." Turnbull spent Sunday downplaying suggestions the results, particularly in Longman where there was a 10 percent swing against the coalition's candidate, placed his leadership in peril ahead of national polls. Turnbull, a moderate Liberal, has battled disquiet from right-wingers in the coalition after he ousted former PM Tony Abbott in a party-room vote in September 2015. "This was a conventional swing in one electorate," Turnbull told reporters in Sydney. "I assure you, when we come to the federal campaign, Australians will see there is a very clear choice then... We will look very seriously and thoughtfully and humbly at the way in which the voters have responded." National upper-house elections have to be called by mid-May and lower-house polls by early November next year, though they are usually held on the same day. Turnbull has said he would call an election in the first half of 2019. Following the by-elections, analysts said the government could lose power and its hold on marginal seats in the critical state of Queensland at the next national election. The results also raised questions over whether key coalition policy proposals, including tax cuts for large companies, should be changed or shelved. The tax cuts were heavily criticised by Labor during their by-election campaigns as handouts for big business at the expense of the average worker. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With half a dozen camera-fitted drones and a helicopter, Ghaziabad Police will keep a strict aerial vigil on the Kanwar Yatra in the city from August 6 to 9, an official said today. The annual event, undertaken by Lord Shiva's devotees also known as Kanwariyas, commenced yesterday and will conclude on August 9 when the devouts will pour holy Ganga water on Shiva Lingas at prominent temples on the occasion of 'Mahashivratri'. Anticipating a heavy rush of Kanwariyas, the state government has consented to provide one helicopter to the Ghaziabad Police, the official said. Keeping in view previous incidents of petty conflicts between Kanwariyas and locals, six camera fitted drones will be deployed to keep a watch on the sensitive areas, senior superintendent of police Vaibhav Krishna said. A total of 150 CCTV cameras will be installed on the entire stretch in the city that will be traversed by Kanwariyas. They will be guarded by over 2500 policemen, he added. SP (City) Akash Tomar and SP (Rural) Arvind Kumar Maurya have been designated as nodal officers for the city and rural area respectively, the SSP said. From all the entry points on Delhi-UP borders to all exit points, 29 watch towers will be erected. On every such tower, two police constables equipped with binoculars, flash lights and automatic weapons will be deployed, he added. Some traffic restrictions will be imposed for heavy vehicles while, unregistered vehicles like tractors will not be permitted to ply on NH-58-- Delhi-Dehradun road, Krishna said. Police will keep extra vigil on the movement of anti-social elements dressed as Kanwariyas so that no unpleasant incident takes place. Safety and security of female Kanwariyas will be ensured, said Krishna. Keeping in view the drowning incidents at Ganga canal at Murad Nagar a team of NDRF divers have been deputed there, the SSP added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Goa Legislative Assembly is expected to take up for discussion tomorrow the Town and Country Planning (Amendment) Bill 2018, cabinet minister Vijai Sardesai said today. The bill seeks to incorporate three "innovative tools" of planning, which the minister said would "retain the ethos of Goa for posterity". "Accommodation Reservation (AR), Transferable Development Rights (TDR) and the TDR for posterity are the path-breaking concepts in the bill," the TCP minister told PTI. He said the concept of "TDR for posterity" will be implemented for the first time in the country to incentivise preservation of eco-sensitive areas and heritage houses in the coastal state. He said AR tool is meant specifically for acquiring landalong with the constructed amenity. "This accommodation reservation tool will ensurethat only public amenities will be created in areas which are high priced where land acquisition is an expensive proposition," the minister said. The facilities for public would be created without any cost to the public exchequer, and the land owner would be compensated by way of the built-up area or FAR (Floor Area Ratio) in the same plot, he explained. The minister said the state government was also looking forward to introduce the concept of Transfer of Developmental Rights (TDR) in the Act. "TDR is a planning tool that wouldfacilitate acquiring private land for public purpose like road widening or any other land required for public purpose without cost to public exchequer, with the land owner being compensated by FAR in the same plot, or other plot owned by the owner, or the owner would be able to trade the FAR in the market either in part or whole," the minister said. Both AR and TDR are the planning tools that are already in use in states like Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnatakaand others. Explaining TDR for Posterity, the minister said it was derived from the concept that every property, including a agricultural land,has a development right/construction right. "....for instance, farm houses are permitted in agricultural landlike orchards," the minister said. Sardesai said many landlords/owners are disillusioned by seeing that their land is getting classified /zoned as the agricultural land. He said the landlords get deprived of developing this land for non-agricultural use, merely because of zoning in the Regional Plan or Outline Development Plan (land use plans). "In order to motivate and incentivise the land owners to maintain their land green for posterity, they also need tobegiven incentives in the form of TDR," Sardesai said. Sardesai hoped that the three planning tools would ensure planned development in such a way that it goes in sync with preservation of the scenic beauty and cultural heritage of Goa andmaintain he environmental and ecological balance of sensitive areas. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Gold biscuits weighing over 5 kg and valued at Rs 1.60 crore was today seized from a passenger who arrived here from a gulf nation, a top customs official said. The customs sleuths recovered 44 gold biscuits totally weighing more than five kg from the passenger who arrived at Thiruvananthapuram Airport from Dubai early this morning, Customs Commissioner Sumit Kumar said in a release here. He said the passenger attempted to smuggle the yellow metal by hiding it in a secret pocket inside his trousers. The passenger has been arrested and investigation is in progress, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amid a row over proposed changes in the RTI Act, the government has invited applications from eligible candidates to fill vacant posts of Information Commissioners in transparency watchdog "It is proposed to appoint Information Commissioners in the Central Information Commission. Persons fulfilling the criteria and interested for appointment to the post of may send their particulars in the enclosed proforma," the advertisement says. There are six Information Commissioners (ICs) working in the against a sanctioned strength of 10. The Central Information Commission is headed by Radha Krishna Mathur is the incumbent Many RTI activists and the government are at loggerheads over the proposed changes in the transparency law. The activists have claimed that the proposed changes will dilute the law. According to the proposed amendment, the salaries, allowances and other terms and conditions of service of the and ICs "shall be such as may be prescribed by the central government. The tenure of information commissioners at the Centre and the states is proposed to be amended from "a term of five years" to "terms as may be prescribed by the central government. The salary, allowances and other terms and conditions of service of the Information Commissioners shall be as may be specified at the time of appointment of the selected candidate/s, the advert reads. "The latest advertisement seeking applications for the post of ICs make the government intent clear that the proposed changes in the Act may get the nod of the Parliament," RTI activist Ajay Dubey said. "We shall fight any attempt by the authorities concerned to dilute the RTI Act," Dubey said. An Information Commissioner shall be a person of eminence in public life with wide knowledge and experience in law, science and technology, social service, management, journalism, mass-media or administration and governance, according to the advertisement. Persons who have attained the age of 65 years shall not be eligible for appointment, it said. India has taken several measures, including bringing out guidelines for tiger safaris, to reduce the pressure of eco-tourism, protect habitats of the big cats and conserve its population, Union Minister Harsh Vardhan said today. Noting that India is one of the few countries, where tigers have their natural habitat, he said the big cats were part of the country's heritage and "their protection is our responsibility towards the world and future generations". "#InternationalTigerDay India has taken several measures to protect tiger habitats & conserve its population like Guidelines for Tiger Safaris to reduce pressures of Ecotourism, SOP to strengthen interstate coordination in bordering tiger reserves. @PMOIndia, @moefcc, @NTCAtiger," he tweeted on International Tiger Day. There are an estimated 2,226 tigers in the country and India has 70 per cent of the world's tiger population, according to the last tiger census. "#InternationalTigerDay @NCTAtiger issues advisories to deal with emergent situation of tiger & sympatric species mortality due to electrocution in tiger reserves; strengthen tiger conservation concerns in intl sphere thro' bilateral consultations. @PMOIndia, @moefcc," he said on Twitter. The minister said smart patrolling and notification of five more tiger reserves are some of the other measures undertaken by his government to protect the big cats. ""#InternationalTigerDay Smart patrolling, notification for five more tiger reserves, aerial surveillance, Economic Valuation of Tiger Reserves are part of the measures being undertaken to protect tiger habitats & conserve its population. @PMOIndia, @moefcc, @NTCAtiger," he tweeted. Vardhan a few days back had said the government has set a target of doubling the tiger population in the country. The preliminary census data of the ongoing tiger census has shown a rise in the population of the big cats in the country, which is a "big thing", he had said. In the run-up to International Tiger Day this year, several events had been organised to raise awareness among the younger generation, an official statement had earlier said. In 2010, at St Petersburg, Russia, the heads of governments of Tiger Range states, which includes India, resolved to strive to double the number of wild tigers (T X 2) across their global range by 2022. They had signed the St.Petersburg Declaration on Tiger Conservation, which also decided to celebrate July 29 as Global Tiger Day. India has significantly contributed to this target and has resolved to safeguard tiger habitat and source populations to foster viable tiger population during the Global Stock Taking meeting held in 2012 at New Delhi to review progress in terms of the St Petersburg Declaration. India had launched Project Tiger in 1973 to conserve tigers. Till now, the coverage of Project Tiger has increased from nine reserves to 50 tiger reserves spread across 18 states. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The BJP today organised a workshop in Gandhinagar to prepare a roadmap to win all 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat in the general elections slated for next year. Powerpoint presentations were made at the workshop and teams have been assigned LS constituencies to visit over three days next month to discuss booth management with local workers, a BJP release informed. "Winning a war is easy if preparations are made in advance during times of peace," said state unit chief Jitu Vaghani at the party's state headquarters in Gandhinagar. The party's in charge for Gujarat, Bhupendra Yadav, said that people have faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and confidence in his government. BJP vice-president I K Jadeja told reporters that the workshop discussed steps to ensure the party repeated its "best result" in 2014 when it won all 26 Lok Sabha seats in the state. He said the booth-level performance during the 2014 general elections as well as the Assembly polls of 2017 were analysed and ways to make the organisation strong at this level were discussed. The BJP had got a tough fight from the Congress in the Assembly polls held in 2017. Its tally was restricted to 99 out of the 182 Assembly seats and the party failed to open its account in districts like Morbi, Amreli and Gir Somnath. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and national joint general secretary V Satish were also present at the workshop. The workshop saw the participation of the BJP's state core team, Lok Sabha election organising committee members, the in charges of 26 parliamentary seats as well as its units in cities and districts apart from functionaries of various morchas of the party. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A woman was injured and her four-month-old son snatched, for a brief while, by a leopard which attacked them in Gujarat's tribal-dominated Chhotaudepur district, about 100 kilometres from here. "Vikram Rathwa, wife Sapna and their four-month-old son were travelling on a motorcycle when the leopard attacked them yesterday near Raipur village in Pavi Jetpur tehsil in Chhotaudepur," said an official. "Around dusk yesterday, the leopard, which emerged from a nearby field, attacked us, injured Sapna on her knees and snatched our infant son Ayush," Rathwa told PTI. He claimed that his cries for help alerted villagers who assembled at the spot and managed to scare the leopard into releasing the child from its grip. An official said that the three were taken to the state-run Shri Sayajirao General Hospital in Vadodara. Doctors there said that the infant had received injuries to his back and legs. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The task of creating a digitised database of over thirty million people -the backbone for the much-awaited Register of Citizens (NRC) - was no mean feat, but a Guwahati-based IT company has accomplished the mission in stipulated time with its software solutions. Assam is the first Indian state where the NRC is being updated after 1951 with March 24, 1971 as the cut-off date to include the names of genuine Indian citizens. The first draft of the ongoing NRC process was released on the midnight of December 31, 2017 and it comprised 19 million names out of the total application of 32.9 million. The final draft is scheduled for release on Monday. An exercise of this magnitude for identifying the genuine Indian citizens in Assam, under the supervision of the Supreme Court, was a mammoth task, said Abhijit Bhuyan, the managing director (MD) of IT firm "The challenges were daunting with myriad problems along the way during the last three-and-a-half years, beginning from September 2014, but we managed to create the database, which formed the basis of NRC," Bhuyan said.. Over 30 million people, almost 95 per cent population of Assam, used "legacy data" while applying for the current NRC, he said. The legacy data are a combination of the 1951 NRC and electoral rolls of Assam from 1951 till March 24, 1971 "Each of these data sets was given a unique code. These unique legacy data code has also become the base for family tree, as it accounted for three crore people and almost 6.5 million families," she explained. The NRC Seva Kendras (NSKs) delivered 7.5 million Legacy Data Code (LDC) while 6.9 million LDCs were delivered online, he said. "The need to create a searchable legacy database was first felt during the pilot NRC process in 2010. The entire process was, however, derailed due to non-availability of legacy data in a comprehendible format," he said. After the NRC authorities, who had called for tenders, accorded the work of digitization to Bohniman systems, the IT team set out to work with great zeal, Bhuyan said. "The professionals, however, faced the initial challenge of collecting legacy data of 1951 NRC (handwritten) and electoral role (printed and handwritten) between 1951 NRC and March 24, 1971, which were in the lockers of the offices of deputy commissioner and district superintendent," he said. In 1951, there were only eight districts in Assam, which increased to 27 by 2014. At present there are 33 districts. People have migrated over the years and it would have been very difficult for them to go search for certified copies of their legacy data in their places of origin, the MD stated. "Even if people knew their origin, mapping the original eight districts to the current day 27 or 33 districts would not have been possible. The Bohniman systems team had to create multiple filtering options for zone-wise search and all legacy data were mapped with the present districts," he said. The second challenge was to translate the legacy data from Assamese and Bengali to English. "We developed a software to transliterate these Assamese and Bengali data to English. The entire database was then made available in all three languages," Bhuyan said. The third challenge was that most of the people were not sure about the spellings of their forefathers' names. "A phonetic-based search engine was designed by us to search these legacy records that will display all similar sounding names. Also, additional mechanisms were designed to search with the name of villages or neighbours," he added. Another major issue was that most of the legacy documents were in fragile condition and flat scanning was not possible under any circumstances. "We had to use photo scanners for these records. Each and every image was linked with the data through special tools developed by us," he added. After the legacy data phase was over, next came the challenge of digitization of applicant's data submitted in physical form at NSKs. "Every NSK had two operators, which meant 5000 operators in 2500 NSKs with two laptops and these people were experienced in computers. The original idea was to digitize the data centrally but we developed an application which was easy to install," he said. The final step was to develop the 'Family Tree Application' to map the manual inputs of 6.5 million families with the computerized data, Bhuyan added. Parallely, 65 million documents submitted by the applicants were also handled by an app developed by Wipro by creating a metadata and sending it to the place of origin for verification. "The results that returned were entered into the system and the final family tree information was merged with field verification results. The authorities took the decision for each applicant based on these results," he pointed out. In addition, Bohniman Systems also digitised the 27,000 village boundaries of Assam and plotted all data in layers for monitoring the project in a graphical view, together with an integrated view on Google maps, Bhuyan added. 11:03 National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said the Congress has to be the "backbone" of the opposition unity with its chief Rahul Gandhi at the forefront of the campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls to oust the Bharatiya Janata Party from power at the Centre. This, however, does not minimise the responsibility of regional leaders who are strong in their own states, Abdullah told PTI in an interview. "The Congress has to be the backbone as the lion's share of seats of the opposition in one particular party will have to be from it as there are a number of states where there will be direct contest between the Congress and the BJP," he said. "At the end of the day to form a government at the Centre you need 272 seats, which the regional outfits are not going to get. You will be looking towards the Congress to come close to the 100-seat mark, if not cross it to form a non-BJP government," he said. Abdullah met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata on Friday and held talks on the probable opposition front. Efforts to cobble up an opposition front is gaining momentum, but a section of leaders of regional parties are not keen on letting the Congress lead it and are propagating a non-BJP and non-Congress front. On the issue of Rahul Gandhi being the face of the opposition, Abdullah said he being the president of the single largest opposition party was expected to be at the forefront of the election campaign. "Obviously, one will expect Rahul Gandhi to be at the forefront of leading the election campaign in 2019 but at the same time Sonia Gandhi is the leader of the UPA. Therefore to the best possible extent one will hope Sonia Gandhi will also be part of the campaign," he said. Refuting aspersions on Rahul Gandhi's leadership capabilities, Abdullah cited the example of Congress' role in forming the government in Karnataka and said he had shown a lot of maturity on how the party was orienting itself. "He is president of the Congress party. If anybody has any doubt about his leadership quality then it has to be from his party. His party has absolutely no problem with him, then why should anybody else have objections?" Abdullah said. "Rahul Gandhi has shown a lot of maturity on how the Congress is orienting. He is a leader in his own right and he has every right to be there," the NC leader said. He, however, maintained that the issue of the "face of opposition" is being brought up to divide the opposition unity. "Individual regional parties are strong in their own states." Mamata Banerjee will lead the fight against the BJP in West Bengal, while in Bihar, the anti-BJP face will be that of Lalu Prasad (RJD) supported by the Congress. In UP, the faces will be Aklhilesh Yadav (SP) and Mayawati (BSP) and in Tamil Nadu, it will be Karunanidhi (DMK) and his son M K Stalin, he said. "The Congress by virtue of its pan-India presence will have greater responsibility, but that's not to minimise the responsibility of other (regional) leaders. They would play a vital role. It's very important that we fight tactfully and tactically and this is the way forward," he said.-- PTI Fully operations research robots are often left unsecured on the internet, making it possible for hackers to remotely command these machines to move around and even spy on camera feeds. Researchers from Brown University in the US ran a worldwide scan in search of hosts running the Robot Operating System (ROS), a popular research robotics platform. During the scans, which were performed over three different periods in 2017 and 2018, they found as many as 100 exposed systems running ROS, up to 19 of which were considered to be fully operational robots. The researchers showed that it is possible to control these robots remotely - to spy on camera feeds and even send commands to move the robots around. "Though a few unsecured robots might not seem like a critical issue, our study has shown that a number of research robots is accessible and controllable from the public internet," researchers said. "It is likely these robots can be remotely actuated in ways that are dangerous to both the robot and the human operators," they said. The findings are a reminder that everyone needs to be mindful of security in an increasingly connected digital world, researchers said. ROS is the dominant platform used in research robotics. It can be thought of like a robot's central nervous system. The platform aggregates all of a robot's various components - its cameras, sensors and actuators - and ties them to a central computing node. Through an external computer and a network connection, an operator connects to the central node to give commands to the robot. "ROS is a great tool for robotics research, but the designers explicitly left security to the end users," said Stefanie Tellex, a roboticist at Brown. "It doesn't require any authentication to connect to a ROS master, which means if you're running ROS and it's not behind a firewall, anyone can connect to your robot," said Tellex. Researchers set to find out how many robots running ROS might be out there and accessible via the internet. They performed the scan on three different occasions and found around 100 exposed systems running ROS. One of the robots detected turned out to be in the lab of one of Tellex's collaborators, Siddhartha Srinivasa, a computer science professor at the University of Washington. To find out if it were actually possible to take control of a robot remotely, Tellex contacted Srinivasa and asked his team to leave some of the robot's functions online for a test. Tellex showed that she could access the robot's camera, move its neck and even make the robot speak using a ROS speech function. That kind of access can be dangerous, researchers said. "These robots can potentially be moved in ways endangers to the robot, as well as to the people operating the robot," Tellex said. Securing these robots is not particularly difficult, researchers said. They just need to be running behind a firewall or on a virtual private network. However, that requires users to be mindful of security, and the researchers hope this study will encourage people to be just that. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Social activist said on Sunday he will launch a hunger strike from October 2 against the Union government for the delay in appointment of a at the Centre. He also appealed people to join him in his campaign for a corruption-free country. "I will go on a hunger strike from October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, at my native Ralegan Siddhi village in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra," the anti-corruption crusader told He criticised the NDA government, saying it had earlier assured it will appoint the and implement the Bill, passed by Parliament and signed by the then in January 2014. "But there is a lack of will in this government to curb corruption and hence, it is giving a lot of reasons and delaying the appointment of the Lokpal," Hazare said. Hazare, who has been the face of the Lokpal movement, went on a 12-day hunger strike in 2011. He later launched a fast, which enjoyed a huge popular support across the country. The UPA government later passed the Lokpal bill. The had earlier this week expressed dissatisfaction over the Centre's response on the appointment of search committee members for a Lokpal. The Centre had earlier told the apex court that the Lokpal selection committee, headed by the prime minister, was scheduled to meet to set up a search panel for recommending a panel of names for the appointment of the anti-graft ombudsman and its members. The government had said the search panel would lay down its procedures, following which the selection committee would fix the time frame within which the names for selecting the chairman and members of the Lokpal would be recommended. The committee comprises the prime minister, the chief justice of India, Lok Sabha speaker, the leader of the largest opposition party and an eminent jurist. The apex court, in its last year's verdict, had said there was no justification to keep the enforcement of Lokpal Act suspended till the proposed amendments, including on the issue of the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, were cleared by Parliament. The Delhi High Court has agreed to hear a PIL for giving directions to the Centre and the LG to fill the post of a judge at the Saket district courts lying vacant since January this year. The petition said that hearings related to several family conflicts were getting adjourned as the post of principal judge responsible for family disputes from Delhi's south east district was unoccupied. A bench of acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar said it will hear the petition in October. Filed by two law students, Yashasavi Singh and Sharique Firoz, the plea said that access to speedy justice would be denied if the position was not filled up soon. The law students told the court that they came to know about the situation from one of the clients of the law firm where they were interns. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A young woman tourist from Netherlands, who was in the city along with her mother, was allegedly molested by A hospital staff. The 20-year-old woman in a statement told the police that she was staying in a hotel here. After complaining of severe stomach pain, she visited the hospital, Deputy Commissioner of Police Lakhbir Singh said. There a male staffer allegedly molested her, Singh said, adding that CCTV footage of the incident has been procured from the hospital and the accused, Ashish Rai, arrested. A case under relevant provisions of law has been registered, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The apex banking lobby Indian Banks Association (IBA) and bank unions will meet tomorrow to negotiate on salary hikes for over three dozen banks. Close to 37 banks, including public, private and foreign banks, have mandated to IBA to decide on wage hikes for their employees. Bank unions under the banner of United Forum of Bank Unions will represent the employees. The current wage revision is due from November 2017, after the 10th bipartite settlement ended in October 2017. In the last round of the talks held on May 5, 2018, the IBA had offered a meagre 2 per cent wage hike, which had irked the unions and they went on a two-day strike starting May 30. "We want banks to improve the previous offer of 2 per cent. Our demand is of 25 per cent, but we are open for negotiations," UFBU convener for Maharashtra, Devidas Tuljapurkar, said. In the 10th bipartite wage settlement, which was signed in May 2015, for the period between November 2012 and October 2017, the IBA had offered a 15 per cent hike. "So far, the wage revisions have always been in double-digits, which we are okay with, but 2 per cent is not acceptable to us," Tuljapurkar said. Banks management had justified the nominal hike citing huge losses incurred by in the past few quarters. The unions have said the fall in profit are on account of higher provisioning towards non-performing assets and the employees are not responsible for that as the employees have been tirelessly working towards implementing various government schemes such as Jan Dhan, demonetisation, Mudra and Atal Pension Yojana, among others. In the May 2018 round of wage negotiations, IBA had also maintained that the talks on officers demand would be restricted up to scale III officers only. The settlement under the 10th bipartite agreement was concluded after 18 rounds. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A little over 1,000 'fast track special courts' need to be set up across India as part of a new scheme to try cases related to rape of children and women, the Law Ministry has estimated. These courts are to be set up as part of a larger scheme to strengthen infrastructure for better investigation and swift prosecution in such cases. The Department of Justice in the Law Ministry has estimated an expenditure of Rs 767.25 to set up these special courts. The Centre will have to shell out Rs 474 crore as central funding, the department has told the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). " ... It is estimated that a total of 1,023 FTSCs (fast track special courts) are required to be set up for disposing of rape and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act cases with an estimated expenditure of Rs 767.25 crore out of which Rs 464 crore as central funding on the pattern of centrally sonsored scheme," said a Law Ministry document. The details worked out by it have been forwarded to the MHA. The new scheme is part of an ordinance recently promulgated to allow courts to award death penalty to those convicted of raping children aged up to 12 years. The Criminal Laws (Amendment) Ordinance amended the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), the Evidence Act and the POCSO Act. While bringing out the ordinance, the government had decided to frame a scheme to set up an "appropriate" number of fast track courts to try rape cases in the states. The scheme will include components, including strengthening of the physical infrastructure and prosecution machinery, provision of the required number of judicial officers for lower courts, additional posts of public prosecutors, dedicated investigators and special forensic kits. A senior government functionary said as many as 524 fast-track courts are already functional in the country to try cases related to women, SCs and STs, the marginalised and senior citizens. Quoting a written response of Law Minster Ravi Shankar Prasad in Parliament in March 2017, the functionary pointed out that of the 524 fast track courts, 100 are in Maharashtra, 83 in Uttar Pradesh, 39 in Tamil Nadu, 38 in Andhra Pradesh and 34 in Telangana. The special fast track courts proposed now as part of the ordinance would specifically deal with rape and child rape cases, the functionary said. In April, the government had issued an ordinance to provide stringent punishment, including death, for those convicted of raping minors up to the age of 12 years, amid a nationwide outrage over cases of sexual assault and the murder of minors in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua and Gujarat's Surat, and the rape of a girl in Unnao in Uttar Pradesh. New fast-track courts will be set up to deal with such cases and special forensic kits for rape cases will be given to all police stations and hospitals in the long term, according to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance. It stipulates stringent punishment for perpetrators of rape, particularly of girls below 16 and 12 years. The death sentence has been provided for rapists of girls under 12 years. The measure also provides for speedy investigation and trial. The time limit for investigation of all cases of rape has been prescribed and has to be now completed within two months. The deadline for the completion of trial in all rape cases will be two months, officials said. A six-month time limit for the disposal of appeals in rape cases has also been prescribed. New posts of public prosecutors will be created and special forensic kits for rape cases given to all police stations and hospitals in the long term, the officials said. Dedicated manpower will be provided for investigation of rape cases in a time-bound manner. Special forensic labs exclusively for rape cases would also come up in each state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Indian abducted in Malaysia has been rescued by the police there and three Pakistani nationals have been arrested in connection with the case, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said today. The Indian national, identified as Sanjeev from Madhya Pradesh, was rescued by the Royal Malaysian Police yesterday. "Abducted Sanjeev has been rescued. The Royal Malaysian Police has arrested three Pakistani abductors in the case. Indian ambassador Mridul (Kumar) and his team deserve praise," the minister tweeted. The Indian High Commission in Malaysia, in a tweet, said, "Abducted boy Sanjeev got released from the abductors by the Royal Malaysian Police from Johor state on 28 July. Indian High Commission was in constant touch with police during the operation. Heartiest congratulations to the police authorities for speedy action". Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also expressed his happiness over the rescue of Sanjeev and thanked the Ministry of External Affairs, Indian High Commission in Malaysia and the Royal Malaysian Police for their speedy action. "Under the leadership of @SushmaSwaraj, safety & security of Indians living abroad is the topmost priority of our govt," he said on Twitter. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India's second largest software services firm on Sunday said will invest approximately Rs 7.5 billion in the first phase of its upcoming facility in Noida, The company on Sunday announced the expansion of its presence in with the commencement of work on its new software development centre, said in a statement. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, felicitated Infosys' upcoming facility, as part of the 'Rising UP, Powering New India' event in Lucknow, aimed at boosting infrastructural capabilities in "As part of this project, will invest approx Rs 7.5 billion in the first phase of construction to build a 2.7 million square feet facility that can accommodate a total staff strength of 5,000," the company said in a statement. The project, for which the government has allocated 27.5 acres of land in sector-85, Noida, will be one the most sustainable projects in the region, with extensive efforts to minimise the facility's carbon footprint by leveraging innovation and technology in the construction process. "The facility is a critical part of our effort to enhance our presence in the national capital region and leverage the talent pool available in this market," the company said. Israeli forces have arrested two Italians for drawing a giant mural of a Palestinian teenager, seen as a symbol of resistance, on the separation wall in the occupied West Bank, police said. The roughly four-metre image near Bethlehem in the West Bank depicts Ahed Tamimi (17) who was released from prison today after an eight-month sentence for slapping two Israeli soldiers, an episode captured on video. Yesterday, Israeli border police arrested two Italians and a Palestinian "on suspicion of damaging and vandalising the security fence in the Bethlehem area," a statement said. The three, whose faces were masked, "illegally drew on the wall, and when border policemen took action to arrest them, they tried to escape in their car, which was stopped by the forces," it said. On Wednesday, a man drawing the mural had identified himself as Italian street artist Jorit Agoch. A message was posted to a Facebook page under his name saying he had been arrested and pleading for help. The Italian foreign ministry today said it was in contact with Israeli authorities and following the arrests "with great attention". The Italian consul and a lawyer visited the two at their place of detention in Jerusalem late Saturday and offered "all possible assistance," the ministry said. This afternoon the three were still being held by Israeli forces. At the same time, Tamimi and her mother Nariman were taken from the Sharon prison inside Israel to their home village of Nabi Saleh in the occupied West Bank after serving their sentences. Palestinians see Tamimi as a symbol of resistance to Israeli occupation of the West Bank and she was greeted by a crowd of supporters. For Israelis, Tamimi is being used by her activist family as a pawn in staged provocations. The separation wall, cutting the West Bank off from Israel, is filled with graffiti in support of the Palestinian cause. Secretive British street artist Banksy is among those who have painted on the wall. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Jammu and Kashmir government has called a massive crackdown on illegal constructions and encroachments here. Divisional Commissioner Sanjeev Verma asked the senior functionaries of the Jammu Development Authority (JDA), JMC, Revenue, Tourism, Geology and Mining, Flood Control, police and other departments to initiate joint action against illegal structures and encroachments on state land. The government in the state Assembly had said that 1,510 acres of land in the city has been encroached as it admitted that the JDA is yet to demarcate 6,818 acres of land meant for development. The J&K government transferred 9,479 acres of land to the JDA since 1973, out of which 6,818 acres of land has not been demarcated, Minister of State for Housing & Urban Development Asiea Naqash told the Legislative Assembly during budget session this year. The state government had also told the Assembly that 243 hectares of forest land has been encroached in Jammu city where seven cases have been registered and 52 cases lodged in courts. Over 379 acres of state land has been encroached by land grabbers in four villages in the outskirts of Jammu city, it said. The Divisional Commissioner asked the Geology and Mining Department to properly demarcate the auction beds and initiate an stern action against illegal mining. He further directed the department to take action against illegal stone crushers not following the set norms and guidelines. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) "Sacred Games" screenwriter Varun Grover says Jitendra Joshi is among those actors who "surprised" him the most with his stellar performance in the Netflix's first India Original series. The 38-year-old writer and series' co-director, Vikramaditya Motwane engaged in an Ask Me Anything session on Reddit India in which the duo were asked a number of questions about the popular show. One of the Redditors asked Grover to name a particular actor who surprised him the most with the performance in terms of taking his writing to another level. He named Joshi, who played Mumbai Police Constable Katekar, a loyal sidekick to Saif Ali Khan's Inspector Sartaj Singh and Neha Shitole, who played Katekar's loving wife, nagging him for placing duty above his family. "So many of them actually, if not ALL of them took the script to the next level. The kind of response the show is getting is only because EVERY department has done way better job than they were expected to do at their best. "In terms of improvisations, Jitendra Joshi added the most to the lines and Neha Shitole (Shalini Katekar) completely improvised those heartbreaking lines to Sartaj after Katekar's death," Grover replied. When Motwane was asked to choose a character he wished did not die in the first season, he answered, "Katekar obviously. But that's the whole point of killing him off. You miss him a lot." On the other hand, Grover said he would have saved RAW agent Anjali Mathur, played by Radhika Apte, had it not been for the story arc. A Redditor when asked "Could there be a separate Netflix special of Katekar", the director said, "I would sign up for that." "Sacred Games" has been co-directed by Motwane who shot with Khan, while Anurag Kashyap helmed Nawazuddin Siddiqui's portions. The series, based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Vikram Chandra, premiered on Netflix from July 6. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Jammu and Kashmir government today ordered a probe into circumstances that led to the failure of Pawan Hans helicopter to airlift Buddhist spiritual guru Gwlang Drupka from Padder in Kishtwar district to here. District Commissioner Angrez Singh Rana has ordered the inquiry into the circumstances which led to law and order problem during the visit of Drupka at Gulabgarh, Padder on July 25, an official spokesman said today. "A large number of Buddhist people including women gathered at a place and started raising anti-administration slogans. Some angry people resorted to stone pelting at Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Office building Padder thus causing loss to government property" he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For the family members of 30-year-old Kumar Ajitabh, who has gone missing since December last year, it has been an agonising wait. The family members, who were in Delhi recently, is now demanding a CBI probe into his disappearance. Ajitabh, originally from Bihar, was working in Whitefield, Bengaluru for the last seven years. He had secured admission in IIM Calcutta for an executive MBA course, for which he needed funds and as he had to relocate, he had decided to sell his newly-bought car. He had posted an advertisement on online shopping platform OLX on November 29, 2017, using which criminals abducted him and took away his car on December 18, 2017, his family said. Ajitabh's sister Pragya Sinha told reporters in Delhi that they had been running from pillar to post. The case was first investigated by the Whitefield police station in Bengaluru. On January 2, ?Ajitabh's father filed a writ petition in the Karnataka High Court, seeking a CBI investigation into his son's disappearance. The high court ordered the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) on January 16 and later, transferred the case to the CID on February 26. Till date, the Karnataka CID is probing the matter with no fruitful results, Sinha said. She added that they wanted a CBI probe in the case that was 222 days old now. Sinha wondered if something as important as the WhatsApp data was still not procured under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT), how could anyone be satisfied with the investigation. "What are they (the CID) waiting for? Do they want WhatsApp to come back to them with the reply that 'we delete our records after a year and we do not have the data anymore'?," she asked. Ajitabh had checked his WhatsApp messages 10 minutes before his location was last traced. But neither Ajitabh nor his red Maruti Suzuki Ciaz car or phone or SIM card was found so far, Sinha said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least 30 bodies have been retrieved from a gorge where a bus packed with picnickers fell in Raigad district of Maharashtra yesterday, killing 33 people, the police said today. The rescue operation was underway at Ambenali Ghat near Poladpur town, located around 180 km from here. The police, fire brigade, teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and local trekkers were making efforts to pull out all bodies from the accident spot, a senior police official said. So far, 30 bodies have been recovered and handed over to the relatives after completion of the due formalities, he said. As the gorge is over 500-feet deep and located off a slippery road, the rescue teams are finding it difficult to retrieve the bodies, he said. The rescue teams had initially managed to trace 14 bodies, but it took nearly six hours to pull out the other corpses because of the difficult terrain of the area which is surrounded by dense vegetation, the official said. Senior police officials, including Raigad's superintendent of police, were at the spot, he said. The private bus was carrying 34 staff members of the Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth at Dapoli on a picnic when it fell into the 500-feet deep gorge at Ambenali Ghat yesterday afternoon. Earlier, SP Anil Paraskar had said the passengers were on their way to Mahabaleshwar, a hill station in Satara district in Western Maharashtra, when the driver lost control over the vehicle while negotiating a turn and it fell into the gorge. The lone survivor, Prakash Sawant, had said mud and loose stones on that particular stretch of the ghat road caused the bus tyres to skid. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The bodies of all the 30 victims of yesterday's bus accident in Maharashtra's Raigad district were retrieved from a gorge, police said today. As all the bodies were retrieved, the police called off the rescue operation at Ambenali Ghat near Poladpur town, located around 180 km from here, Kundan Gawde, PRO, Raigad Police, said. Asked about the death toll, he said, "We have received information from the Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth in Dapoli that only 31 staff members were travelling in the ill-fated bus and not 34 (as reported earlier)." Of the 31 persons, including the driver, only one -- Prakash Sawant-Desai -- survived the accident as he jumped out of the bus, he added. Gawde said all the victims were identified and the bodies handed over to their family members after completing the formalities. The victims were staffers of the Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, located at Dapoli in Ratnagiri district, the police said. They had hired the private bus for a picnic and were headed towards Mahabaleshwar, a popular hill station in Satara district in Western Maharashtra, last afternoon when the tragedy struck at Ambenali Ghat, the police added. The bus skidded off the road and tumbled into the 500-foot-deep gorge, while the driver was negotiating a turn. The police, fire brigade, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams and local trekkers were involved in the operation to pull out the bodies from the accident spot, a senior police official said. Those involved in the operation came across difficulties in retrieving the bodies as the gorge was over 500 feet deep and located off a slippery road, he added. They had initially managed to trace 14 bodies, but it took nearly six hours to pull out the other bodies because of the difficult terrain, which was surrounded by dense vegetation, the official said. Senior police officials, including Raigad's superintendent of police, are stationed at the spot. Sawant-Desai, the lone survivor in the incident, had said mud and loose stones on that particular stretch of the ghat road had caused the bus to skid. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi police today claimed to have apprehended a criminal accused in a dacoity case four years ago. The 29-year-old accused was identified as Pawan Kumar, a resident of Badayun, Uttar Pradesh. A Delhi court had in February 2015 declared him a proclaimed offender in a case of dacoity which had taken place in August 2014. "Kumar was apprehended on a tip-off from Noida. During interrogation, he disclosed his involvement in various other criminal cases," DCP (southeast) Chinmoy Biswal said. The police said that the accused was involved in the cases of murder and auto-lifting, besides others. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A man was arrested here today for allegedly posting abusive messages on social media against a 21-year old college student, whose story of selling fish to raise money for her studies and to take care of her family went viral, police said. Viswanathan was arrested for launching an abusive propaganda on social media platforms against Hanan, they said. He has been charged under various sections of the IT Act and Indian Penal Code (IPC), police said. Police said they got more details from one Nooruddin Sheikh from Wayanad, who was questioned yesterday and later let off, about the people who subjected Hanan to vicious trolling on social media. More arrests will be made in the case, they said. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had directed the police to initiate action against those who targeted the woman in the virtual space after a Malayalam daily reported about her struggles. He had told reporters here yesterday that those engaged in cyber space should be cautious and try to understand things. Facts should be presented before the people, he had said. CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan had also condemned the cyber bullying of Hanan and said those who had attacked her should be punished. A final year B Sc (Chemistry) student at a private college in Thodupuzha, Hanan's touching story was widely shared on social media by several people, including film artistes and politicians. But a section of netizens expressed doubt on her story and termed it as "fake", after which she was viciously trolled. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 38-year-old man was arrested today from Dadar railway station in Central Mumbai for allegedly abducting a 16-year-old girl from Goa, police said. The accused, identified as Abdul Amin Mia, was nabbed from the platform no. 5 with the help of the RPF officials, before he could board a local train with the girl, a police official said. Mia hails from Pernem in the coastal state. An offence of kidnapping was registered against Mia at Pernem police station on the complaint filed by the parents of the girl yesterday. The Goa Police had forwarded photos of Mia and the teenager to RPF officials on Whatsapp, after Mia's mobile phone location was traced to Dadar, the official said. The accused was handed over to the Goa Police team and the girl to her parents, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A woman along with her four-year-old son was killed allegedly by her husband in Haryana's Fatehabad district, a police official said today. The man, a plumber, aged around 26 years, used a hammer to kill his wife and then killed his son using a cutter, he said. The incident took place last evening in Haripura village. "According to preliminary investigation, the man committed the crime on suspicion of his wife's character. They were married for the last seven years," the official said, adding that a case was registered against the accused on the complaint of the deceased's brother. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A man was beaten to death and another injured when a mob attacked them on suspicion of robbery in Gujarat's Dahod district, police said today. Ajmal Mohaniya became the latest casualty in the recent spate of mob violence across the country. A group of over a dozen people went to Kali Mahudi village in Jhalod administrative division -- 35 km from here -- with an aim to "commit robbery" late last night, said Limdi police station inspector P M Judal. "When the villagers came to know about their movements, they gathered at a place. As soon as they saw the 'robbers', the mob chased them and caught hold of two of them, while the others managed to flee," the inspector said. The agitated villagers allegedly thrashed the two men, injuring both of them seriously by the time the police arrived, Judal said. The police then took both the men to Dahod government hospital, where Mohaniya was declared "brought dead". The injured person, Bharu Mathur Palas, was undergoing treatment, the official said. Both the men were recently released from the Dahod sub-jail after serving sentences in different criminal cases, he said. In a statement to the police, Palas said he had met Mohaniya in the jail where they were earlier lodged, an police official said. Both of them had decided to meet at the village when they were attacked by a mob of around 100 villagers wielding sharp weapons, the official said quoting Palas. Police have lodged an FIR against around 100 villagers, he said. Earlier this month, 28-year-old Rakbar Khan was lynched in Rajasthan's Alwar district on suspicion of cow smuggling. A few weeks back, five nomads were beaten to death in Maharashtra's Dhule village on suspicion of child-lifting. A fortnight ago, a woman was lynched by a mob in Madhya Pradesh on suspicion that she was a child-lifter. The Supreme Court had recently took a strong view of such incidents, asking the Centre to frame a separate law to tackle this menace. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Barely three days after Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik urged the rebels in the state to join mainstream, a Maoist couple today laid down their arms before police in Malkangiri district, official sources said. The couple's surrender comes at a time when Maoist outfits in the country are observing Martyrs' Week. The two rebels, who surrendered before Malkangiri district SP Jagmohan Meena, were identified as Mukesh, an area committee member of the outlawed CPI(Maoist)'s local squad Kalimela Dalam, and Ratna, another armed cadre, a police officer said. Both Mukesh and Ratna were working at a military platoon and carried a cash reward of Rs 4 lakh and Rs 1 lakh respectively, he said. They were allegedly involved in nearly 40 cases of Maoist violence, the officer added. District SP Meena said the couple will be rehabilitated as per the provisions of the state government's surrender policy for the Maoists. Meanwhile, sources said that a group of Maoist cadres yesterday organised a camp on Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border to register their protest against the recently inaugurated Gurupriya Bridge, which connects the cut-off areas of the district with the mainland. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ten persons, including two minors, allegedly took turns to rape a 13-year-old mentally-challenged girl over a period of two months in Meghalaya's North Garo Hills district, police said today. The incident came to light after an FIR was lodged by the girl's family at the Resubelpara police station yesterday. Police arrested nine of the accused today, while one is absconding. The mentally-challenged girl was repeatedly raped over the last two months, the police said, adding that the wife of one of the accused had witnessed the dastardly act and informed the village elders about it. The village heads called the family members of the girl to a meeting on July 25 to arrive at a compromise. However, the girl's family did not relent and lodged the FIR, the police said. They added that two of the accused were minors, while most of the others were married and hailed from the same village of Haluapara under Resubelpara police station. "It appears that they took turns to rape the girl at various times and at various locations in the village. The accused even confessed to their crime at the meeting held in the village," Circle Inspector of Resubelpara police station G K Sangma said. Social activists flayed the villagers for trying to suppress the incident. "The villagers also need to be docked for trying to hide the heinous crime committed against a 13-year-old girl. There cannot be a compromise for what the culprits have done and for attempting to do so, the elders should be taken to task for trying to circumvent the law," social activist Dardy G C Marak said. It may be noted that kangaroo courts decide the fate of most criminals in the remote parts of Meghalaya. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Meo community today demanded the arrest of BJP MLA Gyan Dev Ahuja, accusing him of being involved in a conspiracy of lynching of Rakbar alias Akbar Khan by a mob in Alwar. The demand was made at a Meo community's mahapanchayat in the victim's village in Haryana's Nuh district, which is close to the Rajasthan border, said Alwar's Mev Panchayat leader Sher Mohammad. Mohammad demanded that the MLA be booked for hatching the lynching conspiracy and be arrested, saying that he "gave provocative statements after the lynching and supported the accused." The Mev panchayat leader also demanded that Naval Kishore Sharma, who, he said, was present at the spot during the lynching and had informed the police, be made the main accused in the case. Other demands which were raised in the mahapanchayt included a compensation of Rs 50 lakh to the victim's family, a government job to his wife and a probe by the SIT in the case, said Mohammad. Those who attended the mahapanchayat held today in Haryana, included farmer leader Yogendra Yadav. On the other hand, MLA Ahuja today visited Lalawandi village in Alwar where the lynching had taken place on the intervening night of 20-21 July. The MLA demanded the release of the three accused, arrested in the case, saying that the victim had died due to dereliction of duty by the police. I visited the village and held a meeting with the people at a temple in Lalawandi. The victim died due to dereliction of duty by the police. The three accused who have been arrested should be released now. I told the villagers that I would assist the families of those, who have been arrested, in fighting the legal battle, the MLA said. The BJP MLA represents Alwar's Ramgarh assembly constituency where the incident occurred. Asked about the Meo panchayat's demand for his arrest, the MLA said he was not bothered about that. Akbar and Aslam were smuggling cows. Aslam too should be arrested now for smuggling the cow, Ahuja said. The legislator said he was out of Alwar for the last two months. 28-year old Akbar and his friend Aslam, both hailing from Nuh in Haryana, were taking two cows through forest during the night when a group of villagers caught them in Lalawandi village in Ramgarh area and allegedly beat them up on suspicion of being cow smugglers. Though Aslam managed to escape from there, Akbar succumbed to his injuries before the police could take him to the hospital. The police later suspended ASI Mohan Singh of Ramgarh police station and transferred three constables to the police lines on grounds of laxity in discharging their duty. Home Minister Gulabchand Kataria too had visited the spot in Alwar on July 24 and ordered a judicial probe. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendar Modi, the Samajwadi Party today claimed he was trying to save his lost popularity and credibility bu laying foundations of various projects and building "castles of development in the air". In a statement issued here, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said, "Prime Minister was seen making a futile effort to sell developmental dreams during his two-day visit to Lucknow. He wants to save his lost popularity and credibility through laying foundations of various projects." Modi was here to launch as many as 81 investment projects estimated to be worth over Rs 60,000 crore, according to officials. The prime minister is making numerous announcements, as they (BJP) have not been able to implement a single scheme, like the several schemes implemented during the tenure of Samajwadi Party, he said. In the last six months there has been big talk about investment, but the truth is that in a state where there are law and order problems, how will the developmental schemes be successful, he added. Their speeches attack the SP, since the SP is competent enough to take on the of hatred and division practised by the BJP, Yadav added. Meanwhile, the BJP also hit out at the SP claiming the Akhilesh Yadav led party had neither policy nor intention to do good work. In a statement, state BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey said, "During the SP regime, the only investments made in the state were by criminals and in crime. The SP neither had a policy nor intention." Taking a jibe at Yadav, he said, "While attempting to save the losing political ground and running from pillar to post in search of a coalition, the thought process of the prince of Saifai had become anti-developmental. Had the SP chief worked for the welfare of the people, they would not have been ousted."Earlier in the day, hours ahead of the launch of 81 investment projects worth over Rs 60,000 crore for Uttar Pradesh by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Samajwadi Party released a 40-second video clip ridiculing BJP's poll promises. The SP took to Twitter to counter the BJP by reminding it of the 10 points in its 'Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra' with background music of 'tumhara intezaar hai' (waiting for you)". Starting with "economic help to farmers" to reforms in police system, ambulance services in 15 minutes and "police help in 15 minutes", the video sought to remind people of the ruling party's promises including "every one has the right to work" and "free laptops and internet". Help to 'Shiksha mitras', 'women security', 'village-urban development' and 'cultural development' are still elusive and people are waiting, it claimed. Modi's Uttar Pradesh tour today was his sixth visit to the state this month and second to Lucknow in as many days. He was here yesterday to attend a programme on "Transforming Urban Landscape", marking the third anniversary of three key government initiatives related to urban development -- Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), Atal Mission for Rejuvenation of Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and the Smart Cities Mission. Earlier this month, Modi visited his parliamentary Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi, Azamgarh and Mirzapur, besides Noida (Gautam Buddha Nagar). He had visited Sant Kabir Nagar on June 28. Describing Modi's event in Lucknow as an attempt to "mislead" the people by talking about development, the SP chief alleged the BJP 'excelled' in taking credit. "BJP is an expert when it comes to quoting unfounded statistics on development. The PM praises the CM for having done nothing for the development of the state and the CM praises him in return, which is laughable," Yadav, a former chief minister, alleged. He said though the prime minister "built castles of development in air", he "conveniently skipped" mentioning the 302 km Lucknow-Agra Expressway, the Gomti Riverfront, Janeshwar Misra Park and Lucknow Metro, which were flagship projects of the SP government. Talking about investment and promising a better tomorrow is baseless when health services are in shambles and law and order situation in the state is at its worst, he said. Commenting on the frequent visits of the prime minister to Uttar Pradesh, senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav said, "This is just the beginning. As elections approach, he will have to come here on a daily basis." SP MLC Rajpal Kashyap alleged the Yogi government in UP and the Modi government at the Centre were engaged in propaganda before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to drum up support for the BJP. "The two governments have done nothing for the people and voters in UP are looking for a chance to bring about a change in governance," he claimed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) More than four vehicles are stolen every hour in the national capital with motorcycles being the prime target, according to statistics shared by the Delhi Police. This year, till June 30, 21,298 cases of motor vehicle thefts were reported. As many as 12,689 motorcycles have been stolen, accounting for 60 per cent of thefts. As many as 3,871 cars and 3,237 scooters were stolen during this time, while other vehicles accounted for seven per cent of the thefts, the data said. According to a senior police officer, motorcycles are used frequently for street crimes like snatching and robberies. "The accused use stolen motorcycles to carry out snatching and robberies so that even if the registration number is captured in the CCTV footage, they cannot be traced," he said. "Many of the auto-lifters steal motorcycles on demand from snatchers," the officer said. The number of motor vehicle thefts reported last year was 40,972. In 2016, a total of 38,644 vehicles were lifted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In view of the monsoon season, Union Health Minister J P Nadda has written to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, stressing on the need for initiating actions to implement preventive and control measures to check spread of dengue and other vector-borne diseases. Nadda has called for strengthening of vector-control activities with deployment of trained personnel and availability of logistics in municipal corporations. He has also asked the Delhi government to ensure that all identified laboratories are equipped with diagnostic facilities for testing of dengue, chikungunya and malaria. Nadda asked him to ensure adequate number of beds, drugs and other relevant logistics in hospitals and that "nobody is denied treatment at the health facilities". The Delhi government can also utilise the services of master trainers from the ministry for training of clinicians on case management. He also emphasised on carrying out Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaign with involvement of the community, including local bodies, RWAs and schools to ensure people's participation in preventing mosquito breeding and taking precaution. "It has been observed from the reports received by us that the number of dengue and malaria cases in Delhi is on the rise in recent times," Nadda said in his letter. He had reviewed the reparatory activities with the principal secretaries of 20 high-burden states, including Delhi, on April 27. Again on May 12, the minister held a discussion with senior officials of the Delhi government and municipal corporations on the situation and the way forward for preventing dengue and other vector-borne diseases in Delhi. At least 29 cases of malaria have been reported in the first three weeks of July in Delhi, taking the total number of people affected by the vector-borne disease in the national capital this season to 75, according to a municipal report. Two cases of malaria were reported in February, one each in April and March, 17 in May, 25 in June and 29 till July 21, according to a recent report released by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), which tabulates data on vector-borne diseases for the city. Of the total 43 dengue cases this season, 13 were reported in July, six in January, three in February, one in March, two in April, 10 in May and eight in June. At least 18 cases of chikungunya have also been reported this month, taking total of this season to 34. "Both dengue and malaria have different carriers. Therefore, it is not unusual for malaria cases to be reported in larger number compared to dengue," a senior doctor at a government-run hospital said. The people must take all precautions, like wearing full-sleeve clothes and not allowing breeding of mosquito larvae inside homes, she said. "Water coolers should be dried up when not in use as dengue infection carrying mosquitoes breed there a lot. Mosquito nets should be used at home," the doctor said. Cases of vector-borne diseases are usually reported between July and November, but the period may stretch to mid-December. No vector-borne disease case was reported till January 13. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) by Sumon Corraya The minority lives in constant fear of forced expropriations. Some 1,500 Christians have been displaced following a land dispute in Dinajpur. In Dhaka, a Catholic man continues to pay the bills of his house, even after it was illegally occupied by a Muslim. For clergyman, "the government and the expropriators consider us weak. Dhaka (AsiaNews) Thousands of Christians, mostly of tribal and humble origins, are being persecuted in Bangladesh over land. AsiaNews has collected the stories of some of them, whose daily life is one of fear, threats or homelessness. In 2016 in Gaibandha, in the Diocese of Dinajpur, a land dispute sparked violence by Muslims against members of a tribal minority with police complicity. Four Christians, most of them ethnic Santal Catholics, were killed and some 30 people were wounded, including nine agents. "Last week I visited families in a Santal village whose houses were expropriated by government agents, Fr Samson Marandy, parish priest of Our Lady of Sorrow Church, told AsiaNews. In all about 1,500 Christians live in inhumane conditions, he explained. Some NGOs have provided them with metal sheeting to build makeshift shelters. "Even though the victims formally complained about it and called on the government [to intervene], they have been abandoned and the administration has been silent. I do not know whats behind it. I think they should protest more and file written complaints to get justice." One of the Christians, Joseph Murmu, said that "the government has behaved badly [with the people]. We want to get our land back." There is a similar story in Dhaka, that of the Abraham Cruze, a 65-year-old Catholic who lost his small four-room house near the Catholic church in Tejgaon. A local Muslim named Md Saifulla occupied his land on 15 October 2015, escorted by fifty armed people. They broke into the house and evicted his family. When he speaks about what happened, he gets emotional. "For two years, I have been asking for help from important people such as the archbishop of Dhaka and other Christian leaders. But so far, all my efforts have been in vain," he said. "I had a small house and now I am a homeless person; I live with some of my relatives," added a teary Abraham. The Catholic man, who is now retired, shows the utility bills (gas and light) that, paradoxically, he still has to pay. "My house is occupied, I do not live there anymore, yet I keep paying my bills. He tried to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and wrote to her twice but received no reply. "I doubt my letters ever got to the Prime Minister's Office," he laments. "If she knew about my situation, he is convinced, she would have taken appropriate action immediately and Id have my house back." Jumur Gomes, a Catholic woman, lives in Kafrul Quasi parish, also in Dhaka. She said that a few years ago she sold her house to a construction company that was supposed to give her a flat in exchange. Instead of the house, she only got death threats. Together with her widowed mother and sister, she now lives in a rented house in the same neighbourhood. "We are Christians and for this reason we are persecuted, she bemoans, Even police do not protect us." Babaly Talang, a young Catholic woman from the Diocese of Sylhet, said that hundreds of tribal Khasia families live in fear of eviction by those who have seized lands in the parish of Srimangal to grow tea. She said that "the Khasia are a mountain tribal people, who grow betel leaves, but local influential people want to drive us from our land." Fr Liton Hubert Gomes, coordinator of the Justice and Peace Commission for the Archdiocese of Dhaka, said that "in the Diocese of Mymensingh several thousand Catholics fear for their land. The government plans to create a nature park in Madhopur, Netrakona District. If this were the case, Christians would become victims of expropriations." "Bangladeshs religious minorities, above all Christians, are victims of forced expropriations precisely because they are Christians. The government and the expropriators consider us weak." The number of minor girls allegedly sexually abused at a shelter home in Muzaffarpur has increased to 34, with fresh medical reports confirming rape of five more girls, a senior police officer said today. On July 24, Director General of Police K S Dwivedi had said 29 inmates of the state-funded home were raped. Muzaffarpur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Harpreet Kaur told PTI over phone today that fresh medical reports of 13 girl inmates have confirmed that five of them were sexually abused. Two of the 44 shelter home inmates were not presented before the medical board as one of them, a four-year-old mentally challenged girl, was at Madhubani, while the other, who had been shifted to Mokama in Patna, was unwell, the SSP said. The issue of the alleged sexual exploitation of girls at the shelter home, run by an NGO, was first highlighted in an audit report submitted by the Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS), Mumbai, to the state's Social Welfare Department in April. An FIR was lodged on May 31 against 11 people, including Brajesh Thakur, the owner of the NGO which ran the government-funded shelter home for destitute girls. On July 26, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar recommended a CBI inquiry into the matter. The opposition - RJD, Congress and CPI(ML) - had sought a probe into the case by the CBI with the high court monitoring it. The CBI has taken over the investigation, an official said today. The SSP said a Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team, which had already visited the place earlier, was called again to visit the shelter home yesterday. A magistrate, videographers and a team of doctors accompanied the FSL team in light of allegations levelled by the inmates that they were administered drugs at the shelter home, Kaur said. The doctors have seized some drugs from the room where the girls had their weekly check ups. The doctors' team is likely to submit its report in this regard tomorrow, she said, adding that Muzaffarpur Zone Inspector General Sunil Kumar and Muzaffarpur Range Deputy Inspector General Anil Kumar Singh also visited the place yesterday. Police have already submitted a charge sheet against 10 accused persons on July 26 before a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Court, the SSP said. A proclamation notice issued by the special court has been pasted at the house of another accused, Dilip Kumar Verma, who has been evading arrest. Ten out of 11 accused people have been arrested till now. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi has made it clear that the state government, during the next hearing, would itself request the high court to monitor the CBI inquiry into the matter. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The National Green Tribunal is scheduled to hear tomorrow a plea by mining major Vedanta, which has challenged the Tamil Nadu government's order to permanently shut down its Sterlite copper plant in Tuticorin. The matter will come up before a bench headed by NGT chairperson A K Goel. On July 5, the tribunal had issued notices to the state government and the pollution board seeking their responses after Tamil Nadu raised preliminary objection with regard to the maintainability of Vedanta's plea. The Tamil Nadu government had on May 28 ordered the state pollution control board to seal and "permanently" close the mining group's copper plant following violent protests over pollution concerns. Earlier in April, the Tamil Nadu pollution control board had rejected Sterlite's plea to renew the Consent To Operate certification, saying the company had not complied with the stipulated conditions. Following this, the government had issued a permanent closure notice to the plant. Vedanta's plea in the NGT seeks permission to operate the unit and a direction to declare as unlawful and illegal the exercise of powers by the Tamil Nadu government in passing the closure order under section 18(1)(b) of the Water Act. Sterlite's factory had made headlines in March, 2013 when a gas leak led to the death of one person and several others were injured, after which then chief minister J Jayalalithaa had ordered its closure. The company had then appealed to the NGT, which had overturned the government order. The state had then moved the Supreme Court against it and the case is still pending. Following the latest protests and police firing, the plant was closed on March 27. The Supreme Court has also ordered the company to pay a fine of Rs 100 crore. After Sterlite announced its plans to expand the Tuticorin plant, villagers around it started fresh protests that continued for over 100 days, culminating in the May 22 police firing on protestors that claimed 13 lives and left scores injured. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) : State-owned NMDC Limited has emerged as the highest bidder for a gold mine in Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh through e-auction, pushing behind big players including Adani and Vedanta, a senior official said. "This is first time that the NMDC is going to take up gold mining in India. We are the highest bidder in the e-auction for the gold mine located in Andhra Pradesh. Now the state government will call us to fulfil other formalities," National Mineral Development Corporation Director (production) P K Satpathy told PTI. Timelines will be decided after the government formally announces the decision, he said adding the mine development will require about Rs 450 crore investment in different phases. A senior official of the miner said the Chigargunta-Bisanatham gold block for mining lease located in Chittoor district has an area of 263.01 hectares and the resources are expected to be 1.83 million tonnes containing 5.15 grams of gold per tonne. "The total gold content recoverable would 8.5 tonnes approximately with potential for upside. The mine will be operated as underground mine which is first of its kind for us. NMDC offered 38.25 per cent revenge sharing to the government on sale value," another official said. The official also said NMDC and the state government will enter into Mine Development and Production Agreement once all the necessary permissions such as environmental clearances are obtained. According to the official, it may take up to two years for mining to start for the extraction of gold. NMDC is currently developing a gold mine in Tanzania and is planning to set up gold refining facility there. Currently tendering process is going on, the official added. "We are planning to set up a pilot scale plant to understand the ore characteristics, in Tanzania. We expect that the tendering process would be completed by the end this calendar year," the official said. NMDC's Australian subsidiary Legacy Iron Ore is currently in the process of testing as many as 17 gold tenements in the Western Australian region. The official said there are chances that in a couple of tenements they may strike gold with commercial viability. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A mother at just 17, Seema* went back to her village in Jharkhand with her two-month-old baby last week, five years after she had been sold to a family in Gurgaon where she was raped by a co-domestic worker. As another World Day Against Trafficking in Persons comes around on Monday, Seema's life story is a stark reminder of the millions of people who are trafficked each year, sold into prostitution, forced labour or domestic work, either forcefully or on the pretext of a better life. Activists say even a small hint from the public could play a very big role in busting human trafficking rackets, appealing to people to stay alert and report if they see anything unusual. Trafficking victims like Seema are often hiding in plain sight, working in upscale homes but overlooked by all those who visit them. Her sexual assault last year was preceded by years of servitude in the corporate suburb of Gurgaon with 19-hour workdays and barely enough food for the young girl who once dreamt of becoming a painter. Working hours were from 4am to 11pm every day and I was made to do all household chores. I was the same age as the children in the family. While they would be preparing for their exams, I would be scrubbing floors, Seema told PTI. She was given food left over in the plates of her employers. If the plates were empty, she would sleep hungry. She found her peace in painting on newspapers but her world was shattered again when she was raped by another domestic worker. I did not understand what was happening to me when my stomach started bloating. My employers took me to a doctor who said I was pregnant. They tried to get the child aborted but it was too late, Seema said. Seema gave birth to a baby girl in May this year and has been in severe depression since then. A case has been registered against the accused but Seema's life will never be the same again, said anti-trafficking activist Ashok Rawat. All I want is that no other person goes through the trauma I did," said Seema. But that is a wish that is not about to be fulfilled anytime soon. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), almost 20,000 women and children were victims of human trafficking in India in 2016, a rise of nearly 25 per cent compared to 2015. Srimoyee* is two years older than Seema but her story of exploitation and servitude is the same. Tired of being a farm worker in her village in West Bengal's Asansol disrict, she wanted to become a model but got trapped in the trafficking ring and was forced to become a sex worker in Delhi. She was rescued during a raid but says she is too ashamed to return home. I can't face my family and have nothing to look forward to. I am looking for alternative means of livelihood but without proper education there is nothing really that I can do, she said. The stories are many, including not just girl children and young women but also young boys. Twins Satram* and Raveesh* left their homes in Siliguri to escape their abusive father when they were just eight. They made their way to Delhi and started living at the Delhi railway station, eking out a living reselling used mineral water bottles. Then, eight months ago, Raveesh came into contact with a trafficker and has been missing since then. Satram, 14, said he has been looking frantically for him but to no avail. Seema, Srimoyee and Raveesh are the tragedies unfolding behind the numbers. Such people face so much discrimination at home that they think life in cities would be better but once they come to cities they are caught in the vicious circle of trafficking, Rawat rued. Statistics from the Ministry of Women and Child Development state that 19,223 women and children were trafficked in 2016 against 15,448 in 2015, with the highest number of victims being recorded in West Bengal. In a bid to make stricter laws against trafficking, the Lok Sabha last week passed an anti-trafficking bill. Said to be India's first comprehensive anti-trafficking bill, it seeks to deal with the crime from the point of prevention, protection and rehabilitation. Besides taking up prevention, rescue and rehabilitation, it covers aggravated forms of trafficking such as forced labour, begging and marriage. P M Nair, professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, said the bill brings in accountability. So far, a duty was cast upon police to rescue and there was no accountability on agencies of the government concerned with rehabilitation. By endorsing the new provision of bringing in accountability of the government agencies concerned on matters of rehabilitation, it is not only the victim who will benefit the entire justice delivery process stands to gain, Nair said. Rekha Sharma, chairperson of the National Commission for Women, has said people can play a very important role in rescuing trafficking victims. She advised people to keep their eyes open. Often, it gets very difficult to identify victims who many a times are walking among us but are not able to ask for help. In 2013, UN member states adopted a resolution designating July 30 as the World Day against Trafficking in Persons to raise awareness of the situation of victims of human trafficking and for the promotion and protection of their rights. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) "Sacred Games" co-director Vikramaditya Motwane has said actor Saif Ali Khan was the first choice to essay the role of Mumbai Police cop Sartaj Singh in the Netflix Original Series. Motwane, who co-directed the series with Anurag Kashyap, and screenwriter Varun Grover engaged in an Ask Me Anything session on Reddit India in which the duo were asked a number of questions about the popular show. One of the Reddit users questioned the mediocrity of Sartaj's character in the show, in response to which Motwane said "not everyone can or should be a hero from the first frame". "Would be extremely boring to see that. The world is full of mediocre people trying to do the right thing or heroic things. That's what makes him special," he added. Motwane said the team did not make any compromises with the casting of the project and every actor went through a proper audition process for their respective parts. The "Udaan" helmer shot with Saif, while Kashyap directed Nawazuddin Siddiqui's portions. But in a recent interview with a TV channel, Saif had hinted that Motwane may not return as director on the second season of the series. When asked about the same, Motwane quipped, he will leave the show if Netflix brings in "David Fincher/James Watkins" to direct the next season. "Sacred Games" is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Vikram Chandra, premiered on Netflix from July 6. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said he was not afraid of being seen with industrialists playing a key role in the nation's development, as he slammed the opposition parties for the "mistakes" made during 70 years after India's independence. Attacking them for calling industrialists "chor and luterey", Modi said that he did not hesitate in standing with the business community as his "intentions" are clear. "We are not those who are scared of standing next to businessmen," he said, adding like farmers, bankers, government employees and labourers, industrialists also contributed to the development of the country. Modi's retort came against the backdrop of the repeated attacks by the Congress, which has been alleging that the prime minister had links with "corrupt" industrialists and has been accusing him of neglecting the farmers and the underprivileged. The prime minister said those who used to look for issues to criticise him, should note that whatever mistake they find dates back to 70 years. "Please note, whatever you find will be dating back to 70 years (of their rule) and not from my four years. I have only four years in my account and you have 70 years," he said. Modi, who launched as many as 81 investment projects worth over Rs 60,000 crore here, said even Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi stayed with the Birla family but his intentions were pure. "You cannot have blot on you simply by standing with anyone if your intentions are good and clear. Gandhiji's intentions were so pure that he never hesitated in staying with Birla family," he said. "Public mey milna nahi, parde ke peeche sab kuch karna hai. Woh dartey rahtey hain. (Those who do not meet publicly and do everything behind curtains remain scared)," he said. Amar Singh, former SP leader, is sitting here and he can give you all the details, Modi said with a laughter. "Should we insult them (industrialists and businessmen) by labelling them as 'chor' and 'luterey'. What is this? Those who will do wrong will have to leave the country or spend life in the jail. This was not done earlier because everything was done behind the curtains..." "Kiskey jahaj me log ghoomtey pata nahi kya," (Are you not aware on whose aircraft they used to travel)," he said without naming anyone. He said there was a time when coal brought a bad name, apparently referring to the coal block allocation scam. The mega event today was attended by captains of the industry, including Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of Aditya Birla group, Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani group, Subhash Chandra, chairman of Essel group and Sanjeev Puri, MD, ITC. Besides top magnates of other major business houses like Walmart participated in the event. "Some persons are calling it ground breaking ceremony but its a record breaking ceremony. In such a less time, old ways have been changed and trust of industrialists has been gathered. I am happy that in Yogi Adityanath's leadership atmosphere is being created for investment by changing work culture," the prime minister said. Modi said India has become the world's second largest producer of mobile phones, and Uttar Pradesh is leading this manufacturing revolution. India is being recognised as mobile manufacturing hub, he said. He said all households will get electricity by March next year. The prime minister said the government is giving prime importance to the energy sector, especially green energy and solar energy. The projects the PM launched today are expected to hugely boost industrialisation in the state, which has big development goals to meet before next year's Lok Sabha elections. State's industry minister Satish Mahana said the projects have the potential to create more than two lakh jobs. The prime minister also took the opportunity to attack his political rivals who have been ridiculing his frequent visits to the state and saying that it smacked of his nervousness ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. "As an MP from the state, I will come twice, five times, ten times... I am your MP and will keep visiting (the state)," he said. His remarks come against the backdrop of opposition Samajwadi Party mocking at the prime minister for visiting the state six times in a month. Modi's Uttar Pradesh tour today marked his sixth visit to the state this month and second to Lucknow in as many days. Without naming the Samajwadi Party, Modi said the tube in a 'cycle' (its party symbol) tyre can take only a limited pressure of air. "Beyond that limit, the same air hampers its movement," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The publisher of the New York Times has warned Donald Trump in a White House meeting that the president's escalating attacks on the media are "inflammatory" and "dangerous and harmful to our country." Trump's meeting with AG Sulzberger, who took the reins of the prestigious newspaper on January 1, took place July 20, following a request from the White House for what appeared to be a routine get-to-know-you session. The session, which also included Times editorial page editor James Bennet, had remained secret under mutual agreement until Trump tweeted about it early today. "Had a very good and interesting meeting at the White House with A G Sulzberger, Publisher of the New York Times," Trump said on Twitter. "Spent much time talking about the vast amounts of Fake being put out by the media & how that Fake has morphed into phrase, 'Enemy of the People.' Sad!" Sulzberger, in a statement released by the Times, said the president's tweet effectively "put the meeting on the record," and he described what appeared to be an unusually tough and blunt session with the president. "I told the president directly that I thought that his language was not just divisive but increasingly dangerous," Sulzberger said. "I told him that although the phrase 'fake news' is untrue and harmful, I am far more concerned about his labelling journalists 'the enemy of the people.' I warned that this inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence." With some foreign leaders using Trump's language "to justify sweeping crackdowns on journalists, I warned that it was putting lives at risk."Sulzberger concluded: "I implored him to reconsider his broader attacks on journalism, which I believe are dangerous and harmful to our country."But the exchange comes at a time of high tension between Trump and the US news media, with Trump regularly denouncing critical news reports as "fake news."The 37-year-old Sulzberger is the latest in a long line of Sulzbergers to lead the Times. When he took over leadership of the "Gray Lady" after several years as a reporter or editor, Trump tweeted that the young man's rise gave the paper a "last chance" to prove itself impartial and to report the news "without fear or FAVOR."But since then, as the Times and other news sources have chronicled Trump's personal and political problems and logged his frequent misstatements, the president has repeatedly lashed back. He has tweeted scores of times that the Times is "very dishonest," "failing and corrupt," and that it uses "phony and nonexistent sources." The Times has defended its reporters' work and pointed out that, far from "failing," it has enjoyed healthy growth. Last year's revenue hit USD 1.7 billion, 8 per cent above the previous year. Observers say the president has a love/hate relationship with what was his hometown newspaper as he grew up in New York and became one of the city's best-known figures, craving space in its columns but furious when it appeared critical of him. Whether the Trump-Sulzberger meeting will lead to any easing of White House tensions with the press remained unclear, though Trump's tweet did not seem to suggest so. As one former Times editor said today on social media about the chances of any reconciliation, "Don't hold your breath." If anything, Trump's relations with the press seem recently to have hit a new low. The White House on Wednesday barred CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins from a press event after her persistent questioning at an earlier event was deemed "inappropriate." Olivier Knox, president of the White House Correspondents Association, deplored the action as a "wrong-headed and weak" response to a reporter who, he said, was simply doing her job. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Over 2,000 Tamil Nadu fishermen were chased away by Sri Lanka Navy personnel for allegedly fishing near Katchatheevu, a fishermen association leader said here today. The fishermen from this island town had ventured into the sea in 300 boats and were fishing off Katchatheevu islet when the Lankan Naval personnel came to the spot past midnight and chased them away, Tamil Nadu Mechanised Boats Fishermen Association President P Sesuraja alleged. He also said the naval personnel snapped fishing nets of 50 boats. Following this, all the fishermen were forced to return to the shore without a catch, he said. Sesuraja said repeated attacks by the island's Navy on Tamil Nadu fishermen have affected their livelihood. He also appealed to the Central and state governments to take steps to find a solution to the long-pending problem. On July 22, over 3,000 Tamil Nadu fishermen were allegedly chased away by the Lankan Navy while they were fishing near Katchatheevu. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Over 470 Indians, including 418 fishermen, are detained in Pakistani jails, according to a government report submitted before the country's Supreme Court today. In its report furnished before the apex court, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said about 357 Pakistanis were confined in the Indian jails. The ministry also disclosed that due to escalation and unilateral suspension of talks between the two countries, the Pakistan-India Judicial Committee on Prisoners had not met since October 2013. "As per the information shared with us by the Ministry of Interior, there are 53 Indian civilians and 418 fishermen (total 471) confined in Pakistani jails," The Express Tribune reported. The ministry told the apex court that as per information provided by the Indian High Commissioner and the most recent list of prisoners exchanged between Pakistan and India on July 1, there are 249 Pakistani civilian prisoners and 108 fishermen in Indian jails, it said. The report also stated that since 2016 India had released a total of 114 Pakistani prisoners, 83 civilians and 31 fishermen, whereas Pakistan had released 951 Indians, 941 fishermen and 10 civilians, in the same period. A three-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar will take up the joint petition moved by the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) and the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler) highlighting the alleged ordeal of Pakistani fishermen in Indian jails, the media report said. According to the report, whenever an arrest of fisherman is brought to notice of Pakistan authorities, they immediately request the ministry of external affairs in India for consular access to collect information for establishing the Pakistani citizenship of the detained fisherman. The Pakistan-India Judicial Committee on Prisoners, comprising four eminent retired judges from each side, was established in January 2007. The mandate of the committee included visits to prisoners in each other's jails and recommend measures for their expeditious release. During its last meeting, the committee had asked the bar council in India that the courts in both countries may conduct expeditious trial of all under-trial prisoners. It highlighted that the authorities of both countries will have to provide legal assistance to such prisoners by appointing lawyers of good repute. Fishermen from India and Pakistan are arrested by the maritime security agencies of both the countries for illegal fishing. They often stray into illegal waters due to absence of any proper technology to confirm the coastline border between Pakistan and India near Sir Creek in the Arabian Sea. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) James Bond star Pierce Brosnan hopes #MeToo will bring "more respect" between the genders but he does not think the movement will change Agent 007's character. The 65-year-old actor, who has played the casanova British spy in four films of the franchise, said he is unaware if the new Bond films will incorporate the tectonic shift brought about by the post Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal, Metro.com reported. Asked if he thought Bond can survive #MeToo, Brosnan said, "Well, I have no idea if the new films are going to address these social issues. I think Bond will continue in the same vein. "I would suspect so, because men will continue to be men and women likewise. One hopes there will be more respect between the genders. You hope that good things will come out of this #MeToo movement." He starred in four Bond films from 1995 to 2002 - "GoldenEye", "Tomorrow Never Dies", "The World Is Not Enough" and "Die Another Day". Brosnan, who has four grown-up children, said playing the fictional character created by Ian Fleming was "never really a big issue" for them. "It was never really a big issue. Dad played James Bond I think they just accepted it. It was probably a little abstract to them. Now that they're older and they've seen the movies, I think they look back at it with greater interest," he said. Daniel Craig replaced Brosnan as Bond in 2006's "Casino Royale". Craig is set to appear in his fifth and final film as the British spy, which is set to be released on October 25, 2019. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Scientists have discovered chemical substances antibiotic propertied on the leaf of a common field weed, paving the way for development of new drugs. Many of the antibiotics used today were developed from natural products made by bacteria themselves in order to ward off other bacteria. These products used to be sought and found primarily in soil. Scientists from ETH Zurich in Switzerland are investigating bacterial strains from the leaf surface of Arabidopsis thaliana, or thale cress, which grows in the wild. This microcosm, known as the phyllosphere, is poor in nutrients. "That gives rise to intense competitive pressure. As a result, bacteria produce a diversity of substances that allow them to defend their habitat," said Julia Vorholt, from ETH Zurich. Despite the scarce food supply, the phyllosphere is populated by a large number of organisms. Researchers investigated more than 200 bacterial strains that occur in the widespread thale cresses. The genomes of the strains have been decoded, but have hardly been analysed in any targeted way until now. "We applied bioinformatics techniques to investigate gene clusters that are able to control the production of substances and could thus have an effect on other bacteria," said Vorholt. To find out exactly what those effects are, the researchers ran parallel tests in the laboratory: they found 725 antibiotic interactions between various strains that prevent some of the bacteria from multiplying. "The big question was obviously whether we had simply found natural products that are known from other habitats, or whether we had stumbled onto compounds with totally new characteristics," said Jorn Piel from ETH Zurich. This has important implications for antibiotic research, which is seeking new antibiotics with mechanisms of action that are very different from those of today's drugs and thus could overcome existing antibiotic resistance. To determine whether they were dealing with new antibiotics, researchers had to study the chemical compositions in detail. They did this for gene clusters and compounds of a single strain of bacteria - Brevibacillus sp Leaf182 - which was particularly productive. They discovered several antibiotically active chemical substances. One of them, which the researchers named macrobrevin, exhibited a completely novel chemical structure. "Now we need to clarify whether macrobrevin and other newly discovered substances are also effective against bacteria that cause disease in humans," said Piel. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi today laid the foundation of India's first Mobile Open Exchange Zone (MOX) at World Trade Centre, Noida, at a ground breaking ceremony here which saw the launch of 81 investment projects worth over Rs 60,000 crore in Uttar Pradesh. The Uttar Pradesh government had earlier this year signed an MoU with World Trade Center, Noida, to develop a 'tech zone' as a nucleus of the Mobile Open Exchange Zone (MOX). The prime minister in his address said India was being recognised as a mobile phone manufacturing hub. The country had become the second largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world. Earlier this month, Modi had inaugurated a 35-acre Samsung Electronics expanded facility in Noida, which is touted to be the world's largest mobile phone production unit in terms of a number of devices rolled out every month. MoX@Techzone is a dedicated ecosystem for the mobile industry that will provide an integrated platform to manufacturers, research and other allied industries, the company said in a press release. "We are delighted that the World Trade Center, Noida, will facilitate Mobile Open Exchange Zone (MOX). This unique zone will be monumental in attracting investment and the area will reap huge benefits from it," it quoted Advisor to World Trade Centre PK Alok as saying. Alok said MoX will harness the potential of Greater Noida and will make it the preferred destination for electronics and mobile industry, the release added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A clash broke out between police and agitating Village Defence Force (VDF) personnel in Imphal West district but no one was injured in the incident, police today said. The VDF personnel, numbering around 500, took out a protest rally along the Tiddim Road in Imphal West district yesterday under the aegis of All Manipur VDF Welfare Association demanding service security and pay hike, among others. The rally was taken out despite the imposition of Section 144 of CrPC (Criminal Procedure Code) in the district which prohibits assembly of more than four persons. VDFs were raised by the state government in 2009 to fight against militants but were later incorporated to maintain law and order situation in the state. All Manipur VDF Welfare Association spokesperson Amuthoi said that VDF personnel have been on strike from July 11 to express resentment over unfulfilled demands prompting them to take out the Saturdays rally. The agitating VDF members proceeded towards the Chief Minister's bungalow but were prevented by the police. A clash broke out as the VDF personnel tried to overpower the police who retaliated with tear gas shells to disperse the protesters. During the confrontation, one 9mm pistol, two magazines and a radio set were snatched by the protesting VDF personnel from police but were returned in the evening, a top police officer said. Later, to placate the highly agitated VDF personnel, some of their leaders were allowed to meet the DGP. The Association, representing 10,050 personnel had earlier warned the government that they would intensify their agitation if their demands were not met. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After picking up over 9,000 beggars from the city as part of its 'beggar-free' drive, the Telangana Prisons department has decided to extend the project by establishing rehabilitation centres for them in all districts. The department had last year set up 'Anand Ashrams' (special homes) for rehabilitation of beggars in Chanchalguda and Cherlapalli (central prisons premises) in the city after launching a drive in coordination with police and municipal authorities to curb 'begging menace.' So far 5,725 male beggars and 3,470 female beggars from various localities of the city have been admitted to 'Anand Ashrams'. Out of them 5,500 male beggars and 3,401 female beggars were released on their personal undertaking not to resort to begging again. However, over 200 persons were again caught begging and shifted to the ashrams, Prisons department officials said. As on date, 225 male beggars and 69 female beggars are in 'Anand Ashrams', he noted. "We wanted to extend this programme from Hyderabad to all other districts and have sent a proposal to the government in this regard. The government is considering our proposal very positively," Director General (Prisons and Correctional Services) Vinoy Kumar Singh told PTI. Singh claimed that Hyderabad has been made 'beggar-free,' but certain beggars were commuting from different districts to this city and again going back in the night which is making it difficult to control the menace. "Unless we extend the facility to different districts, it will not be possible to totally sanitise Hyderabad. This (rehabilitating beggars) is a big and highly praiseworthy social intervention programme of the Prisons Department and we may soon get orders from the government to extend it to other districts of Telangana. As indications have been given, it (orders) should come soon," Singh hoped. 'Anand Ashram' is the first step of the Prisons Department, which has taken up the task of social service to humanity, he said adding the objectives include serving people at the lowest rung of the society and to safeguard the public order and law in the society by eradicating begging. Beggars are brought to 'Anand Ashrams' through regular drives and five buses ply round-the-clock covering entire Hyderabad. During admission of the beggars, biometric details like finger prints and photographs are captured through scans and uploaded into the system to identify repeat beggars. Inmates of the ashrams are provided food, accommodation, education facilities to learn basic education and these centres also have facilities to impart or upgrade skills, and the willing beggars are provided employment in prison industries or outside in private firms, officials said. The Department with a view to involve the public in this project and create public awareness offers reward of Rs 1,000 to those who give information about the beggars. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Calling the right-wing Sanatan Sanstha an "extra-constitutional authority" and a "cancer" whose spread should be stopped, prominent activists from Goa have demanded a ban on it. The latest catalyst for the demand comes after inputs of a threat to the life of progressive writer Damodar Mauzo. A special investigation team (SIT) of the Karnataka police, which is probing the murder of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru last September, had told the Goa police about the threat to Mauzo's life. The Goa-based right-wing organisation, which has a pan-India presence, however, maintained that the allegations were "baseless", claiming to have worked in the field of "spirituality" to spread "religious wisdom" about Hinduism. Mauzo has told PTI that the organisation was a "cancer" which should be stopped from spreading in Goa. Stressing on the need for such a move, Prashant Naik, a social activist, told PTI that legal luminaries should be roped in by the state government to place before the court the need for a ban. "We lost an 'open-and-shut' 2009 Margao blast case due to poor legal support during the trial," he pointed out. Two men, including one allegedly from the Sanatan Sanstha, died in 2009 while they were transporting explosives to be reportedly planted in a crowded area in Margao. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had charge-sheeted half-a- dozen activists of the Sanstha, but the accused were acquitted by a local court due to lack of evidence. "The way the Sanatan Sanstha is going about spreading hatred in the society, it should be banned," Naik added. The demand echoed in state Congress president Girish Chodankar. "The Sanatan Sanstha or any organisation that behaves like an extra-constitutional authority should be banned," he said, highlighting that it had been named in the murder of progressive intellectuals like M M Kalburgi, Govind Pansare, Narendra Dabholkar and Lankesh. "When its name figures in all these murder cases, there is no reason why it should be allowed to continue functioning," the Congress leader said. Among the prominent institutions of Goa that have demanded a ban on the Sanstha is the Konkani Bhasha Mandal (KBM) -- the state's leading literary institution. Referring to the threat to Mauzo's life, the KBM president, Chetan Acharya, said it was the first time that a writer had been threatened in the coastal state. "Goa is known for its peaceful co-existence and we dont want institutions like the Sanatan Sanstha which work like extra-constitutional bodies," Acharya said. "We strongly demand a ban on it so that it can't spread hatred in Goa any further." However, when contacted, the Sanstha's spokesperson, Chetan Rajhans, refuted the allegations, claiming that there was no threat to Mauzo's life, at least from his organisation. "Is there any official confirmation to the claims that his life is threatened due to the Sanatan Sanstha?" he asked. "These are baseless allegations against us by some of the anti-religion writers from Maharashtra and Karnataka who are facing flak after the Sanatan Sanstha started spreading religious awareness and wisdom across India," Rajhans asserted. "Our institution works in the field of spirituality and spreads religious wisdom among the people. All attempts are being made to stop us from doing that," the spokesperson said, ruling out any involvement of the Sanstha in the killings of Kalburgi, Pansare, Dabholkar and Lankesh. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Serbian police say a prominent lawyer who was on the defense team of former strongman Slobodan Milosevic at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal has been shot and killed. A police statement says Dragoslav Ognjanovic was killed late yesterday outside his home in the new part of Belgrade, the Serbian capital. The statement said Ognjanovic's 26-year-old son was wounded in his right arm. Ognjanovic was part of the legal team that defended Milosevic at the U.N. tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, where he was tried for war crimes of the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Milosevic died of a heart attack in 2006 before the end of the court proceedings. Ognjanovic has also defended well-known crime figures in Serbia. Serbian police say they are searching for the attacker. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The proposed "Mahagathbandhan" (grand alliance) against the BJP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls looks like a "band, baja, barat" without a groom, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Monday. There would be no vacancy for the prime minister's post in 2019, the senior BJP leader told PTI in an interview. "The 'Mahagathbandhan' is like the 'band, baja, barat' are ready but the groom is absent. There are nearly two dozen candidates who are staking claim for the post of prime minister," he said. Several parties such as the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), along with other outfits, are planning to form a front to counter the BJP in the 2019 general election. Naqvi took a dig at the Congress for projecting Rahul Gandhi as its prime ministerial candidate after the recent extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting and later withdrawing his name, apparently due to reservations expressed by other parties. "The Congress first announced that its prime ministerial candidate was Rahul Gandhi. However, within 12 hours, they withdrew it. This could be the first such incident, wherein the Congress withdrew it (Gandhi's name) within 12 hours. It was withdrawal even before nomination. This is how the 'Mahagathbandhan' looks like," the minority affairs minister said. Naqvi also sought to blame the Congress over Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's recent emotional outburst, when the JD(S) leader said he was swallowing the pains of running a coalition government like Lord Shiva, who had drunk poison. The JD(S) shares power with the Congress in the southern state. "The country has seen Kumaraswamy's statement and the people know that he is sharing power with the Congress," Naqvi said. He dubbed Rahul Gandhi's speech in Parliament during the no-confidence motion against the BJP-led government as one full of "confusion, contradiction and comedy". "He (Gandhi) has become a mixture of these three aspects. He himself has dented his own image, instead of projecting himself as a serious politician or public figure. Our wishes are with the Congress under his leadership," Naqvi said. In an unprecedented gesture, the Congress chief had hugged Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha after the speech. Gandhi was later seen winking at a party colleague after coming back to his seat. Responding to a query, the minister said there was no permanent friendship or disappointment in politics. "The BJP has not put up a no-entry board," he said, responding to criticism of the party by the TDP, a former NDA constituent, and the Shiv Sena. Naqvi said incidents of lynching should not be given a communal colour. "Lynching is a heinous crime. Unfortunately, when such things get politicised, a criminal incident is made to look like a communal incident...then criminals involved in such acts get a social shield," he added. "We believe that a crime is a crime. Do not mix crime with communalism and do not project such heinous crimes as a communal thing. There is a criminal mindset behind it...crimes do not have a religion or caste," Naqvi said, deprecating the efforts of certain sections to project such incidents as a crime against a minority community. Asked why lynching over cows would not qualify as an organised crime as most of the victims belonged to a particular community, while the attackers were from the majority community, the minister said he did not think it was an organised crime. "These people (perpetrators of such incidents) have a criminal mindset. When such incidents take place, it is not that only one particular community is involved. It is not that only Hindus are behind it. Whatever it is, a crime is a crime. I cannot see it linked to a community," he said. Advocating a tough law to curb such incidents if needed, Naqvi said things that divided the society should not happen. "Even the Muslim community has understood that Modi is the name of development," he said. Dubbing "triple talaq" as a "bad tradition", Naqvi said at least 1,000 such cases were reported to various agencies in the country, even after a Supreme Court verdict held the practice unconstitutional. The apex court had last year ruled that the practice of triple talaq followed by Muslim men was unconstitutional and void. "We will mostly pass the legislation concerning triple talaq in this (Monsoon) session (of Parliament)," Naqvi said. The "triple talaq" bill, which proposes to criminalise the practice, has been passed in the Lok Sabha, where the BJP enjoys a majority, but is pending in the Rajya Sabha. A section of the AAP legislators from Punjab met senior party leader and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia here tonight amid a crisis over Sukhpal Singh Khaira's removal as the leader of opposition in the state Assembly. After the meeting, Sisodia expressed regret over the fact that certain AAP legislators were opposed to replacing Khaira with Harpal Singh Cheema, a Dalit MLA from the party. The AAP had acknowledged the rights of the Dalit community by appointing Cheema as the leader of opposition in the Punjab Assembly, he said. "I am deeply hurt that some of our friends are opposing it. I explained to them today that the Aam Aadmi Party was formed to lend a voice to the Dalits and the poor. The Congress, the Akalis and the BJP are opposed to the Dalits and the poor," Sisodia tweeted. The MLAs urged Sisodia to reinstate Khaira but the demand was declined, a party leader said. Sisodia is in-charge of the AAP affairs in Punjab. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Punjab Police today cracked down on the suspects allegedly involved in the trafficking of an 18-year-old woman from Tarn Taran district in the state to Dubai, officials said. Gurjit Kaur, the conduit who had allegedly lured the victim, has been arrested, they claimed. A hunt has been launched for the travel agent, identified as Ibrahim Palam Yusuf from Kerala, who is suspected to be in Dubai, DGP Suresh Arora said, adding a look-out notice was being issued in this regard. An FIR under IPC section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and section 13 of the Punjab Prevention of Human Smuggling Act 2012 has been lodged at Police Station Sadar Tarn Taran against Yusuf and Gurjit Kaur, according to the officials. Gurjit Kaur hails from Pandori Gola village in Tarn Taran district. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had last night, in a tweet, requested Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to take stringent action against the agent responsible for the the 18-year-old's agony. She had urged him to call the woman and listen to her traumatic experience. "She should be able to reveal the whole racket of human trafficking in Punjab," Swaraj tweeted. "Reg the case of the woman, I had asked top @PunjabPolice officers to meet her on arrival in Amritsar @SushmaSwaraj ji. They have taken all details from her and a case has been registered against Gurjit Kaur, who has been arrested, & Ibrahim Palam Yusuf, currently in Dubai," Amarinder wrote on Twitter today. IG Amritsar Zone SPS Parmar said the woman was received at the Amritsar airport today by the commissioner of police, Amritsar, and other civil and police officials. She told the police that a month ago Gurjit Kaur came to her house and suggested to her mother to send her to Dubai. She subsequently arranged a meeting of the woman with the agent at Chaar Khamba Chowk in Tarn-Taran. The woman was told by the agent that she would have to work as a child caretaker in Dubai. He also told her mother that all expenses would be adjusted from her pay in Dubai, the officials said. A few days later, the mother and daughter met the agent in Amritsar and he introduced himself as Ibrahim Palam Yusuf of Kerala and gave his mobile number to them. He soon sent her the visa and air ticket for a July 26 flight, they said. The girl was received by the agent at the Dubai Airport and later taken to a Sheikh. According to the woman, the person did not provide her any work and also took her passport and mobile phone, which made her suspicious. She somehow called her mother, who then contacted Sarwan Singh Randhawa, a resident of Jhabal in Tarn Taran, who, in turn, got in touch with Roop Sidhu, who runs an NGO in Dubai. The woman was rescued by Sidhu yesterday. In her statement to the police here, she claimed that she had also been molested by the agent. Initial investigations have revealed that the phone number of the agent was registered in the name of a man, a resident of Kerala. Yusuf is working for two UAE-based recruitment agencies, DGP Arora said. Earlier, on July 27, Swaraj had said the agent responsible for trafficking 39 Indians to Iraq was still operating his business in Punjab and sending people abroad. Swaraj had then requested Amarinder to take action against illegal travel agents in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today assured partial withdrawal of police cases filed against the Maratha youths for vandalising properties during recent protests for the quota demand. "However, the criminal charges like assaulting police officials will not be withdrawn," the CM told reporters at Sahyadri Guest House here. The announcement came after Fadnavis held a meeting with BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Narayan Rane and his MLA son Nitesh Rane, along with some leaders of the Maratha community who are pro-reservation. However, the names of the pro-reservation groups were not revealed by the state government. These groups had organised a bandh in Mumbai region and some parts of Maharashtra last week which had turned violent, with the incidents of arson reported from various cities. Today's meeting was held in the wake of the Maratha bodies demanding withdrawal of the criminal cases registered against the protesters who had organised the shutdowns. "The criminal charges involving attacks on police will not be withdrawn but others will be taken back. The community needs to resort to peace," the chief minister said. When asked about the date on which the State Backward Class Commission will submit its report to the government, Fadnavis said, "The report will be submitted within a month. Once it is received, we will discuss in the special session of the state legislature and take further action". He said the BJP government is supporting the expectations of the Maratha community on quota demand. "We will also ensure that no injustice is done (to Marathas) during the ongoing mega recruitment drive of the state government," the CM said. The commission is currently conducting a survey on the socio-economic backwardness of the Marathas who have been demanding 16 per cent reservation in government jobs and education. Under the recruitment drive, the government has advertised 72,000 posts to be filled up for various departments. Meanwhile, the Maratha leaders who have been steering the quota stir for the last two years have distanced themselves from today's meeting. "None of us who participated in the bandh was present at the meeting with the chief minister. Our primary demand is of reservation in education and government jobs, and we don't want to lose our focus from it," said Virendra Pawar, one of the leaders of the Maratha Kranti Morcha (MKM), an umbrella organisation of various pro-quota groups. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena and Congress have called for separate meetings in Mumbai tomorrow to discuss the issues related to Maratha reservation. The Maratha community has been demanding quota under the OBC category. The community had held violent protests across the state last week for this demand. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The kin of Raigad bus accident victims will get jobs in the Maharashtra government on compassionate ground, state minister Ravindra Waikar announced today. All the 30 people killed in the accident yesterday were staffers of the Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, located at Dapoli in Ratnagiri district. The state government has already announced a financial assistance of Rs four lakh to the kin of each deceased person. "One legal heir from the family of each victim will get a government job. 23 heirs of 30 people who died in the accident would get job, as the deceased were full time staffers. The state government will consider rest seven as the special case and see they will also get some government job," said Waikar, who is Guardian Minister of Ratnagiri district. The minister today visited Dapoli to take stock of the situation. Thirty staffers died after the bus they were travelling in fell into a 500-foot deep gorge in Ambenali ghat, which has sharp curves, near Poladpur town in Raigad district yesterday. The minister underlined a need to put up barricades in all the 'ghat' sections in the state to avoid recurrence of such accidents. Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena today announced an aid of Rs one lakh to family members of each of the deceased. The announcement was made by Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Sena MP Anant Gite. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Recognising that the rampant shooting of tigers would lead to their extermination, the legendary Jim Corbett had in late 1920s decided to give up hunting, says conservationist-author Valmik Thapar. Edward James Corbett, famous as Jim Corbett, is known for his hunting exploits. Between 1907 and 1938, Corbett tracked and shot a documented 19 tigers and 14 leopards -- a total of 33 recorded and documented man-eaters. It is estimated that these big cats had killed over 1,200 men, women and children. But the 1875-born Corbett had turned an environmentalist and naturalist by late 1920s, becoming one of the first generation conservationists in India. "Corbett had to track down and shoot these animals at great risk to his own life. While he did so as a form of public service, he never hesitated to point out that many of these tigers became man-eaters because of bullet injuries," Thapar says in the introduction of "Just Tigers: The Very Best of Jim Corbett", a new anthology of Corbett's stories. "Let us never forget that between 1875 and 1925, 80,000 tigers were killed and many thousands were injured. Despite this massacre, tigers continued to coexist peacefully, by and large, with man. "By the late 1920s, Corbett was fed up with the rampant hunting of tigers during the days of the Raj. He tried his best to persuade the powers-that-be to control the shooting because it would lead to the extermination of the "finest of (India's) fauna," Thapar adds. He says, Corbett was most vocal about controlling hunting at a wildlife conference held in Delhi in 1939. As with tigers, Corbett fought for the protection of the forest and started a journal dedicated to the preservation of Indian wildlife and forests, and became one of the leading voices of conservation, he says. "For his part, he gave up shooting tigers and other animals with the gun, and shot them with the camera instead - he writes about this very evocatively in the piece 'Just Tigers', which gives its name to this book," he says. "Just Tigers", published by Aleph, is a collection of 14 stories by Corbett about shooting tigers, many of whom were man-eaters, including the very first one in Champawat. Thapar says, "In part due to Corbett's efforts and the people he inspired to carry on his work after him, a hundred years after he walked our tiger forests, we still have over 2,000 tigers left in India, the largest population of wild tigers in the world." And most of them live in the Corbett Tiger Reserve, a fitting memorial to a man who will forever be associated with the tiger. After 1947, Corbett along with his sister, Maggi, retired to Nyeri in Kenya, where he continued to write and sound the alarm about the declining number of jungle cats and other wildlife. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister Alphons Kannanthanam has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reject the National Commission for Women's recommendation that confessions in churches be banned over fears they could lead to blackmailing of women. Observing that confession is the fundamental belief of Christian churches, the Minister of State for Tourism, in a letter to Modi, termed the NCW's recommendation to the government, seeking a ban on confession in churches, "immature". "I have written to the prime minister and also to the home minister. I met the home minister and had a discussion with him. I told him this must be rejected", Alphons said here yesterday. He said Home Minister Rajnath Singh has assured him that he would look into the matter. Alphons said NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma's remarks, while submitting a recommendation to ban confession, was her personal view and she has no mandate to give it. Sharma, while referring to incidents of rape and sexual assault in churches in Kerala, had alleged that priests pressure women into revealing their secrets and exploit them. The NCW's recommendation came following an allegation by the husband of a homemaker that four priests of an Orthodox Syrian Church in Kerala used her confession to blackmail and sexually exploit her. The case is being investigated by the local police. The minister said confession is the fundamental belief of Christian churches and it has been there for 2,000 years. "Now we have an allegation which is being investigated by the Kerala Police and I am sure that they will investigate that seriously. The Kerala Police is very very efficient. I am sure they will arrive at the truth," Alphons said. He said police should take action if there is a violation of secrecy. "And therefore to take up one allegation and then submit a report saying that confession which is fundamental belief of the Christian churches should be abolished, it should be banned, I think that is absolutely unacceptable. "This is beyond the mandate of the National Womens Commission. Its immature", he said. Alphons, a Christian, said interfering in religious beliefs is not the policy of the Modi government. "Prime Minister Modi has made it very clear in Parliament and outside... You believe in whatever religion you want to believe in and we will ensure that allowed to lead that life. We will protect you. And he has stood by that word. Therefore, there is no question of anybody ever accepting this recommendation", he said. The Kerala Catholic Bishop's Council (KCBC) had termed as "shocking" the NCW's recommendation to the Union Home Ministry to ban the "Sacrament of Confession" among Christians. "The chairperson has ventured into something which is totally out of her prerogative, and without any consultation with Christian churches, and communities and without considering the moral, theological or psychological aspects of confession among Christians," KCBC had said in a statement in Kochi. The church in Kerala is facing a string of sleaze allegations. In a complaint to the Kottayam district police chief last month, a nun had alleged that Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal raped her and had unnatural sex with her multiple times at a small town near Kottayam between 2014 and 2016. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar held an emergency meeting with senior officials today to review situation in Yamunanagar district following rise in water level in Yamuna river after heavy rains. Khattar also conducted an aerial survey of the Hathnikund barrage located on Yamuna river in the district. The chief minister was informed by the officials of Panipat, Sonepat and Palwal district administration that though the river in these districts was flowing close to the danger mark, the situation, however, was under control and there were no reports of loss to life or damage to property. After holding a meeting with officials here, Khattar said that 'special girdawari' (revenue survey) would be conducted to assess the damage caused to crops by floods and rains. He said due compensation would be given to the affected farmers. Such affected farmers who have got their crops insured would be given compensation through the 'Fasal Bima Yojana' while those who had not opted for it, would be paid compensation by the government, an official statement quoting Khattar said. Others present at the meeting included Chief Secretary D S Dhesi, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Rajesh Khullar, Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue and Disaster Management Department) Keshni Anand Arora, Principal Secretary (Irrigation and Water Resources Department) Anurag Rastogi and other senior officers. The district administration of Yamunanagar in Haryana had sounded a high alert yesterday following the water level in Yamuna river crossing the five lakh cusecs mark. It also cautioned the Delhi administration about the rise in water level. Insisting that the situation was under control, the Yamunanagar administration, however, has said all the necessary arrangements have been made to tackle the flood-like situation. The water level rose in the wake of continuous rains in catchment areas in Himachal Pradesh. The administration has also issued warning to people living near Yamuna river. A team of state disaster management force has already been put on alert. A flood control room has already been set up at the district level for fast response to deal with any flood-like situation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russia's navy will deploy a total of 26 new ships this year including four carrying Kalibr cruise missiles, President Vladimir Putin said today as the country celebrated Navy Day with a show of strength. In total in 2018 the navy should get 26 new warships, motor boats and vessels including four warships with Kalibr cruise missiles," Putin said in the northwestern city of Saint Petersburg, Interfax agency reported. Kalibr missiles fired from Russian ships in the Mediterranean and the Caspian have been used as part of Moscow's military intervention in the conflict in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad. The navy has already this year taken in eight new ships, Putin added. he commander of the Black Sea fleet, which is based in Crimea's port of Sevastopol, Vice-Admiral Alexander Moiseyev said six new vessels including missile ships would be inducted by the end of the year, Interfax added. Putin reviewed a spectacular annual naval display on the Neva River in Saint Petersburg with 39 warships carrying out manoeuvres. He told the 4,000 servicemen taking part that the navy "is making a weighty contribution to the fight with international terrorism". "Of course we will continue measures aimed at strengthening and developing the navy, boosting equipment," Putin said. The Navy Day celebrations also included a parade in Russia's Syrian base of Tartus in the Mediterranean for the second time, involving five ships and the Kolpino diesel submarine, the defence ministry said on Facebook. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Goa-based Sahitya writer Damodar Mauzo, who has been provided security cover following intelligence inputs about a threat to his life, says right-wing outfits such as Sanatan Sanstha should be banned as they are like "cancer" for the state. Asserting that he would continue writing and speaking against such outfits, Mauzo said bullet cannot kill a thought. The Goa Police recently provided security cover to the 73-year-old Sahitya Akademi award winner following intelligence inputs from the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Karnataka Police, probing the murder of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh, about a threat to his life. Mauzo said if action was taken against the Sanatan Sanstha in 2009, when involvement of its activists in a bomb blast in Margao was established, then people like Gauri Lankesh, and rationalists Narendra Dabholkar, M M Kalburgi and Govind Pansare would not have been killed. Two Sanatan Sanstha workers - Malgonda Patil and Yogesh Naik - had died when the bomb they were ferrying to Margao city in Goa accidentally exploded in November 2009. The National Investigation Agency, which was probing the case, had arrested some people having links to the Sanatan Sanstha, a right-wing outfit with its headquarters at Ramnathi village in North Goa district, about 40 km from here. "I have always been saying that Sanatan Sanstha is a rogue institution. All suspects in the four cases (Lankesh, Kalburgi, Pansare, Dabholkar) belong to this institution, which means that it is a training ground, it is a breeding ground," Mauzo alleged while talking to PTI. After the bomb blast at Margao in 2009, the outfit should have been banned. If action was taken at that time, people like Kalburgi, Pansare, Lankesh and Dabholkar would not have died, he said. "Why do we need such a rogue institution in our peaceful state? I can say bluntly...this is a cancer, which is curable, just remove it and Goa will be free from any fears," he said, referring to the organisation. If action is taken against the Sanatan Sanstha, then its sister organisations will also be afraid, he opined. "For us Goans, peaceful coexistence is so much dear to us and we know its worth. The trust between communities living in Goa has to remain," he said. Asked about his ideology, the writer, who won the Sahitya Akademi award for his novel "Karmelin" in 1983, said, "Let others decide what ideology I belong to. I am a humanist and I will always remain a humanist." Mauzo, who played an important role in the 1967 Opinion Poll, a referendum on whether Goa should merge with neighbouring Maharashtra, said the prevailing situation in the state was concerning. "It is a worrisome situation. For the first time a writer has been threatened in Goa. All Goans should come together and demand that institutions which are against our harmony be banned," he said. Mauzo said though the Sanatan Sanstha has not committed any crime in Goa so far, he is not sure about the future. Alleging that the outfit is a "breeding ground for murderers", he said action should be taken against it immediately. This is the time that the government should prove it is working in the interest of Goa and Goans. "Bullet is not an answer, no bullet can kill a thought," he said. Asked why he is on the radar of right-wing outfits, Mauzo, who has written several novels and is also a regular contributor to newspaper columns, said he had closely worked with Kalburgi on 'Vachana' literature (about sacred texts) for nearly two years. "But I am not on the radar because of Kalburgi. I am on their radar because I am outspoken and I had pointedly mentioned about the Sanatan Sanstha during the Guwahati Literary Festival (last year) in the presence of the Assam chief minister and also Union minister Prakash Javadekar," he said. Mauzo said at the festival, he had expressed apprehensions about multi-culturalism "which is being thrust upon by perpetrators of mono-cultaralism". "I have been vocal about such things." He said he had also delivered a hard-hitting speech at a writers' forum in New Delhi, which might have disturbed some people. "When I spoke against the Sanatan Sanstha, they felt pinched and somebody somewhere felt that I should be eliminated," he claimed. Mauzo, however, said he would continue writing and speaking against them. "If I stop writing or going out fearing the threat, that means they have succeeded. When the police gave me protection,I said give me protection but my freedom should not suffer, there should not be any curbs," he added. The writer is the co-founder and co-curator of the Goa Art and Literary Festival, an annual event that started here in 2010. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Selma Blair today quit Twitter after she used the social media platform to defend "Guardians of the Galaxy" director James Gunn, who was fired from the third installment of the franchise over a series of old offensive tweets. The 46-year-old actor's last tweet reads: "So long. You can find me on Instagram. #Istandwithjamesgunn." Blair's account, however, continues to be active. The actor may have dropped a hint about staying away from the microblogging site on Thursday when she shared a story with title "Was James Gunn the first undeserving victim of Hollywood's new zero-tolerance policy?" She captioned the article: "Does anyone else have feelings about leaving Twitter?"Blair was one of the first Hollywood stars to support Gunn after his shock sacking from the "GOTG" threequel and also shared a Change.org petition asking Marvel to rehire him. The actor, who has been longtime friends with the director, tweeted last week that Gunn was instrumental in encouraging her to come forward with allegations of sexual harassment against director James Toback. "@JamesGunn I thank you for your talent, your decency and your evolution as a man. You propped me up when I was in a scary place, and guided me towards the decent and right thing to do. You have shown strength of character more than most anyone I know. You understood. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP president Amit Shah held a meeting with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat here in the backdrop of the ongoing agitation by the Maratha community seeking job reservation in Maharashtra. The duo held talks at Yashwant Bhavan, the RSS office here but what transpired between them was not known. However, a BJP source said Shah and Bhagwat discussed ways to strengthen the ruling party in the state, which will see both Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in 2019, but did not touch upon the quota issue. He said the meeting was scheduled long back and it had nothing to do with the ongoing stir by Marathas demanding 16 per cent reservation in government jobs and education. "The meeting was decided months ago and it barely lasted for an hour. It was just a coincidence that it happened in the backdrop of an all-party meet called by the chief minister," the BJP source said. Incidentally, an all-party meeting was also convened yesterday by the state government to discuss the quota issue. The BJP-led government has faced criticism over its handling of the state-wide agitation, which turned violent in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and parts of Marathwada this week. Early this week, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut had claimed that there were "talks within the BJP" to replace Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, a claim denied by senior party ministers. There were no discussions within the BJP on replacing Fadnavis, the source said, adding that the CM was "adequately capable" of handling the ongoing protests. Shah was on a day-long visit to the city yesterday, during which he met Bhagwat, who was also in Mumbai. As part of his visit, Shah also attended a special preview screening of "Chalo Jeete Hain", (Come, let's live), a film based on Modi's early life. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Following the Shahberi building collapse that killed nine people, the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) has registered a case against 74 builders for allegedly constructing 58 illegal buildings in the village under Bisrakh police station, an official said today. In the complaint filed by GNIDA official D P Srivastava, it was alleged that the builders were constructing the structures on the notified land of the authority without any permit, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Greater Noida Avneesh Kumar said. The complainant further said the illegal buildings being built in the village did not adhere to the standard norms set by the authority and were unsafe. The crackdown by GNIDA is part of a drive to rein in illegal constructions in the village after a six-floor under-construction building crashed on to a five-storey building next to it on July 17. A magisterial inquiry was ordered in the incident the next day and an Officer on Special Duty in GNIDA was removed from her post. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had ordered the suspension of two other officials -- project manager V P Singh and assistant project manager Akhtar Abbas Zaidi -- for dereliction of duty. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jailed former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was today admitted to the country's top hospital on the orders of Pakistan's caretaker government, after his health deteriorated in the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. Sharif, 68, is serving a 10-year jail term in a corruption case over his family's purchase of luxury apartments in London. He has been lodged in the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi since July 13. Doctors conducted a check-up of Sharif after he complained of chest pain and advised that he immediately be shifted to a coronary care unit (CCU) of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad, Geo reported. The decision to shift Sharif to hospital was taken by the Punjab government which has administrative control of the Adiala jail after a team of doctors recommended that Sharif needed proper medication and care as he has been suffering from acute pain in both his arms, likely due to lack of adequate blood circulation. Last week, it was reported that Sharif is on the verge of a kidney failure. Doctors recommended to shift him to hospital immediately. Doctors had advised Sharif's transfer to hospital after an electrocardiogram had shown "variations", Punjab home minister Shaukat Javed told state-run PTV. "How many days he stays in hospital depends on doctors," Javed said. He had earlier said that Sharif will be shifted to PIMS, where preparations have been made to keep the high-profile prisoner. Earlier, a team of doctors headed by Dr Ejaz Qadeer and comprising cardiologist Dr Naeem Malik, Medical Specialist Dr Shaji Siddiqui, neurologist Dr Sohail Tanvir and Dr Mashood carried out medical checkup of Sharif after he complained of pain in chest. Dr Malik, head of the PIMS cardiology department, suggested that authorities shift Sharif to the hospital as his blood tests showed clotting which, according to the doctor, was an alarming sign considering his medical history. His ECG was also not satisfactory. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo has diabetes and undergone bypass surgery in 2016. He currently takes medication for his heart condition, cholestrol and diabetes. Last week, PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif wrote a letter to caretaker Punjab government seeking better facilities for them at Adiala Jail. Shehbaz had asked the authorities to ensure continuous provision of medicines and medical examination to Sharif from his personal doctor as he was suffering from dehydration and his blood urea content was 50 per cent higher than it should have been. Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in and around the Adiala Jail. Security personnel have been deployed around its premises and also special arrangements have also been made at the PIMS. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jailed former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif needs to be immediately shifted to the intensive care unit of a hospital from Adiala Jail after suffering heart issues, an official said. Sharif, 68, is serving a 10-year jail term in a corruption case over his family's purchase of luxury apartments in London. He has been lodged in the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi since July 13. Last week, it was reported that Sharif is on the verge of a kidney failure and doctors have recommended to shift him to a hospital immediately. Pakistan's caretaker government today decided to shift jailed former prime minister to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad after irregular ECG and blood reports. The decision was taken by the Punjab government which has administrative control of the Adiala jail after a team of doctors recommended that Sharif needed proper medication and care. "Sharif will be shifted to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad where preparations have been made to keep the high-profile prisoner," Punjab Home Minister Shaukat Javed said. Earlier, a team of doctors headed by Dr Ejaz Qadeer and comprising cardiologist Dr Naeem Malik, Medical Specialist Dr Shaji Siddiqui, neurologist Dr Sohail Tanvir and Dr Mashood carried out medical checkup of Sharif after he complained of pain in chest. Apparently, his ECG was not satisfactory, which prompted the doctors to advise shifting to the hospital. Sharif had open heart surgery in 2016 and has been also suffering from hypertension and diabetes. Last week, PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif wrote a letter to caretaker Punjab government seeking better facilities for them at Adiala Jail. Shehbaz had asked the authorities to ensure continuous provision of medicines and medical examination to Nawaz Sharif from his personal doctor. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Shoppers Stop expects to grow around 8 per cent this fiscal, as the K Raheja Group retail chain is expanding its sales network by adding new cities and strengthening its e-commerce presence, following omni-channel strategy, said a top company official. The company will continue to add 2-3 cities in its network every year to broader its footprints, besides adding more Amazon kiosks, selling the exclusive products of US-based e-retail major. The company expects that online sales, which contributes around 1.5 per of its revenue, will double this year as it is eyeing to have at least 10 per of its total sales coming from this channel in next three years. "The growth would be about 8 per cent (total)," Shoppers Stop Customer Care Associate Managing Director and CEO Rajiv Suri told PTI. "We expect to be stronger in Q2 and we are looking for 7.5 per cent growth. We are looking next three quarters in this range," he added. Shoppers Stop had registered a consolidated total income of Rs 3,713.25 for financial year 2017-18, and for the first quarter this fiscal it has reported a total income of Rs 833.72 crore last week. The company is presently operating 83 Shopper Stop in 38 cities and 13 HomeStop stores in 9 cities. It will continue to focus on tier I and II cities. "Currently we are present in 38 cities and each year we would add 2 to 3 cities in our network. This year we are opening five new department store and 10 to 12 beauty stores," Suri added. US-based online retail giant Amazon had picked up 5 per cent stake in Shoppers Stop last year by investing Rs 179.25 crore. Shoppers Stop now has an exclusive flagship store on the Amazon marketplace listing the company's portfolio of 400-plus brands. "We have introduced three Amazon Kiosks in Mumbai and Banagalore, which displays and sells Amazon's exclusive products such as Kindle, Fire stick, alexa etc," said Suri. "We have noticed considerable traction and now we are planning to rolled out across our stores in a phased manners," he added. On being asked as how much Amazon kiosk, Shortstop will add this fiscal, he said that the company is waiting for the outcome and would take a decision by end of this quarter. "The idea is that we would roll it out strategically along with Amazon what's the best location for them to open and for us too," he said. In its recent annual reports, Shopper Stop had said that this alliance with Amazon.in will give a significant fillip to the growth of its omni-channel business and help achieve target of 10 per cent of overall sales from digital touch-points, much quicker than the company had anticipated. Besides Amazon, Shoppers Stop is also investing in its own e-commerce platform as per its omni-channel drive. "In the last two years we have witnessed almost 2X growth. Currently, online sales contributes around 1.5 per cent of our revenue and we target to double the sales every year through various digital touch points," he said, adding that the company has invested around Rs 60 crore to expand online presence and is expanding its digital capabilities. While organic traffic continues to grow, the company has also scaled its marketing efforts online, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia today took stock of the ongoing evacuation work in the low-lying areas of the city, a day after the water level of the Yamuna river breached the danger mark. The water level reached 205.30 metres at 7 pm yesterday, prompting authorities to rescue people from the low-lying areas, even as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal held an emergency meeting with top officials of his government. "Sisodia took stock of the ongoing evacuation work in the low-lying areas around Akshardham and Pandav Nagar," an official said. In a meeting here, Kejriwal had said that all departments have been put on high alert. "Haryana has released 5 lakh cusec water. Called an emergency meeting to discuss the situation. This water likely to reach Del by tomo eve. Wherever administration evacuating people, they r requested to cooperate. All depts put on high alert. For any flood related emergency, control room no is 1077 (sic)," he had tweeted yesterday. The Yamuna water level at the Hathinikund barrage had crossed the danger mark of 90,000 cusec and till 7 pm yesterday, 5,63,186 cusec of water was released, an official had said. Sisodia met the people living in the vicinity of the river and urged them to move to safer places, cautioning about the rising level of the Yamuna river. Many people have started moving to higher planes, another official said. An alert was sounded yesterday by the Delhi government after the water level of the Yamuna river crossed the danger mark. "All executive engineers/sector officers are directed to keep in close contact with the control room in relation to the discharge, water level at the Old Railway Bridge and the advisory or forecast from the Central Water Commission/MeT, and requested to take appropriate measures/steps accordingly to avoid flood-like situation," an advisory from the authorities said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hitting out at the Samajwadi Party (SP), the BJP today alleged that it had neither any policy nor intention to do good work and allowed a "jungle raj" to prevail in Uttar Pradesh when it was in power. In a statement issued here, state BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey said, "During the SP regime, the only investments made in the state were by criminals and in (the field of) crime. The SP neither had a policy (neeti) nor an intention (niyat)." Taking a jibe at SP chief and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, he said, "While attempting to save the losing political ground and running from pillar to post in search of a coalition, the thought process of the prince of Saifai has become anti-developmental. Had the SP chief worked for the welfare of the people, they would not have been ousted from power." Pandey claimed that there was an atmosphere of fear in the state during the rule of the SP and the BSP before that. "Extortion, administrative corruption had not allowed any industry or trade to flourish in the state and had led to a closure of investments. Akhilesh Yadav and his bua (BSP chief Mayawati) are culprits for the 22 crore people of the state for making Uttar Pradesh a 'Bimaru' state," he said. There was no sense of fear in Uttar Pradesh during the BJP rule thanks to the commitment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the state was ready to take off on the trajectory of economic prosperity, the BJP leader said. "Investments worth crores are being made in Uttar Pradesh," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hours ahead of launch of 81 investment projects worth more than Rs 60,000 crore for Uttar Pradesh by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Samajwadi Party today released a 40-second video clip ridiculing BJP's poll promises. The SP took to Twitter to counter the BJP by reminding it of the 10 points in its "Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra" (2017 assembly manifesto) with a background music "tumhara intezaar hai (waiting for you)", even as party chief Akhilesh Yadav charged the prime minister with misleading the people of the state by talking about development. The video, which plays a line "intezar hai, tumhara intezaar hai..." raises 10 points, which the party claims people of the state were still awaiting. Starting with "economic help to farmers" as point number one to "reforms in police system", "ambulance services in 15 minutes" and "police help in 15 minutes", the video seeks to remind people of the promise of "every hand has right to work" and also "free laptop and internet". "Help to Siksha mitra", "women security", "village, urban development" and "cultural development" are still elusive and people are waiting for it, it says. Modi's Uttar Pradesh tour today would mark his sixth visit to the state this month and second to Lucknow in as many days. He was here yesterday to attend a programme on "Transforming Urban Landscape", marking the third anniversary of three key government initiatives related to urban development -- Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), Atal Mission for Rejuvenation of Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and the Smart Cities Mission. Earlier this month, Modi visited his parliamentary Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi, Azamgarh and Mirzapur, besides Noida (Gamtam Buddha Nagar). He had visited Sant Kabir Nagar on June 28. Describing Modi's event in Lucknow as a successful attempt to "mislead" the people by talking about development, the SP chief alleged the BJP 'excels' in taking credit for not doing anything in the interest of the people. "BJP is an expert when it comes to quoting unfounded statistics on development. The PM praises the CM for having done nothing for the development of the state and the CM praises him in return, which is laughable," he said. The former chief minister said though the prime minister "built castles of development in air", he "conveniently skipped" mentioning the 302 km Lucknow-Agra Expressway, the Gomti Riverfront, Janeshwar Misra Park and Lucknow Metro, which were flagship projects of the SP government. "Talking about investment and promising a better tomorrow is baseless when health services are in shambles and law and order situation in the state is at its worst," he said. Commenting on the frequent visits of the prime minister to Uttar Pradesh, senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav said, "This is just the beginning. As elections approach, he will have to come here on a daily basis." SP MLC Rajpal Kashyap alleged the Yogi government in UP and the Modi government at the Centre are engaged in a propaganda before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to drum up support for the BJP. "The two governments have done nothing for the people and voters in UP are looking for a chance to bring about a change in governance," he claimed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Spain's maritime rescue service says it has saved 123 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa. The service says it pulled the migrants from 12 different boats intercepted by rescue craft today morning in the Strait of Gibraltar. The latest arrivals come after Spain rescued nearly 1,000 people attempting the perilous journey from African to European shores on Friday and Saturday. Spain has received over 20,000 migrants by sea in 2018. A crackdown by Libyan authorities and Italy's refusal to let rescue boats dock has made it more difficult for migrants to reach Italy. Human trafficking mafias pack the migrants into small craft unfit for open waters. Over 1,500 people have died so far this year trying to cross the Mediterranean. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Spain said it had plucked more than 200 migrants from the Mediterranean Sea today as the country's interior minister headed to Mauritania to try to boost cooperation in the fight against illegal immigration. Spain's maritime rescue service saved 211 migrants from 21 different boats in the Strait of Gibraltar which separates Spain from Morocco, a spokesman for the service said. They will be taken to the port of Algeciras in southwestern Spain, he added The latest arrivals come after the rescue service picked up more than 1,200 people attempting the perilous crossing from Morocco to Spain, which has now surpassed Italy as the number one destination for migrants crossing the Mediterranean by boat. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska will meet tomorrow with his Mauritanian counterpart in Nouakchott, the capital of the West African country, to "strengthen cooperation in migration matters and the fight against terrorism", Spain's interior ministry said in a statement. During a fact-finding visit to Algeciras yesterday to learn how police and the Red Cross were coping with the influx of migrants, Grande-Marlaska said it was "a European problem which requires a European solution". The minister said the government was working against the clock to open "a centre" in the port of Andalusia with room for 600 people. As a crackdown by Libyan authorities has made it more difficult for migrants to reach Italy, many are attempting the trip from Algeria and Morocco into Spain. More than 19,580 people have landed on Spanish shores so far this year, according to the International Organization for Migration. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A special police officer (SPO), who was abducted by militants from his residence in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, has returned home, police said today. SPO Mudasir Ahmad Lone was abducted by militants from his house at Chainattar village in south Kashmir's Tral area on Friday night, a police officer said. He returned to his family late last night, the officer said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The stage is set for the release of the second and final draft of Assam's National Register of Citizens (NRC) tomorrow amid tight security. The NRC will be released online and in all the NRC Sewa Kendras (NSK) across the state at 10 am (instead of noon as announced earlier), NRC State Coordinator Prateek Hajela said here today. The NRC will feature the names, addresses and photographs of all Indian citizens, who have been residing in the north eastern state before March 25, 1971, he said. Security has been beefed up across the state to prevent any law and order situation following the publication of the draft, with deputy commissioners and SPs being directed to maintain a strict vigil, a senior police official said here. Prohibitory order under Section 144 of CrPC has been imposed in seven districts-- Barpeta, Darrang, Dima Hasao, Sonitpur, Karimganj, Golaghat and Dhubri. Vulnerable areas have been identified by the SPs in their respective districts and the situation is being monitored closely to prevent any untoward incident, particularly those arising due to rumour-mongering, the official said. The Centre has despatched 220 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces to gear up security in Assam and neighbouring states. Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal had held a high-level meeting recently on the NRC draft release and directed the officers to remain alert and help and explain the process of claims and objections to people whose names do not appear in the draft. Sonowal had also directed the officials not to refer any case to the Foreigners' Tribunal based on the NRC draft list. Hajela thanked the people for extending their help and co-operation along with all the officers and employees involved in updating the NRC for their hard work and dedication. He too pointed out that there would be enough scope for claims by people whose names do not appear in the draft, adding "genuine citizens should not panic if their names fail to figure in the document". If a person's name does not appear in the draft, they have to apply in prescribed forms in their respective NSKs. These forms will be available from August 7 to September 28 and the authorities will then inform them the reason for their names being left out. The next step will be to file the claim in another prescribed form which will be available from August 30 to September 28 and these claims will be finally disposed of after proper hearings. The All Assam Students' Union (AASU) has taken a special initiative to set up a 24-hour control room at its central office here to help people. The applicants can also call 24x7 toll free numbers--15107 from Assam and 18003453762 from outside Assam-- by referring to their 21-digit Application Receipt Number (ARN). The applicants can also check their names by visiting the NRC website and through SMSs. The NRC is being updated under the Supreme Court supervision with March 24, 1971 as the cut-off date for genuine Indian citizens in Assam. The first draft of the ongoing NRC process was released at the midnight of December 31, 2017. It comprised 1.9 crore names out of the total application of 3.29 crore people in Assam. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) "You just stay at home, do not come out, stone-pelting is going on. I will come, along with appa and daji" -- this was the last conversation 21-year-old Rohan Todkar had with his cousin Shital Shinde, before the violence during the Maratha quota stir in neighbouring Navi Mumbai claimed his life. Todkar, who was caught in the violence on July 25 at Kopar Khairane, was assaulted by a mob. He later succumbed to his injuries in the state-run JJ Hospital at Byculla here on July 27. The youngster worked in a private mobile phone firm and was out that day with a group of friends, Shital told PTI today. The family originally hailed from Khonavali village in Patan tehsil in Satara district and Todkar was staying at the residence of his uncle Shankar Shinde in Sector 15 of Kopar Khairane, she said. "He had come home at around 6:15 pm, had something to eat and gone out to see the incidents unfolding on the street below. At around 7 pm, I called him and asked him to come home. My husband Sandip and my father-in-law had also gone out. It is then that he told me not to venture out of the house as stones were being pelted. "He said he would come, along with appa (uncle) and daji (brother-in-law). This was his last call and there was no word from Rohan after that," Shital added. Calls made on Todkar's phone by both Sandip and uncle Shankar Shinde went unanswered, she added. "We had told him not to go out during the protest. But he went out with his friends and reached Kopar Khairane, where he was beaten up by a local mob," Shankar Shinde recounted over phone from Satara. He was at Khonavali in Satara to attend Todkar's last rites, the family said. "Unaware about what had happened to him, we looked for Rohan for two days, but the Navi Mumbai police was unable to give us proper information. They did not take cognisance of our complaint about Rohan being missing either," the deceased's uncle alleged. He said the family looked for Todkar at the police station, assuming he might have been detained during the protests, and at hospitals, fearing he might have been injured in the violence. "On the night of July 27, we got a call from the police, informing us that Rohan was in JJ Hospital. We rushed there and identified the body. He was the only son to his parents, who are farmers back in Satara," Shankar Shinde said. The couple, he said, was distraught on losing their son and had demanded compensation as well as action against the members of the mob that beat him to death. "The government should take stern action against Rohan's killers. They should give compensation to his parents as they have lost the family's sole breadwinner," the uncle said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Visiting Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said "Canada very much believes in NAFTA as a trilateral agreement". The nations will work to land an agreement before USA mid-term elections in early November, Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said Wednesday as he and Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray hosted their Canadian counterpart Chrystia Freeland in Mexico City. Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto said in Mexico City on Friday that he hoped the accelerated talks would allow for a deal in August. Lighthizer, the U.S. Trade Representative, on Thursday said it could take some time before the administration achieves its desired goals from an escalating standoff over tariffs with China. However, the report notes Lighthizer fears Canada may be the sticking point in reaching a new deal. A number of issues remain unresolved in the talks, including USA demands for changes to rules of origin for automobiles, a five-year sunset clause for a new pact and demands for Mexico to quickly hike wages. At a meeting between Canadian officials and their Mexican counterparts in Mexico City, the two countries also rejected the Trump administration's calls for a sunset clause, which would see NAFTA subjected to review every five years. In a possible dig at Ottawa, Mr Lighthizer also said Mexican authorities had been more cooperative than the Canadians. "I don't believe that they've compromised in the same way the United States has or Mexico has". "It should and can be modernized but we're not thinking about it having a different nature to that of today", Ebrard said, speaking after a meeting between Freeland and President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Lopez Obrador, who won the nation's July 1 election, has said he wants to accelerate the negotiations. Known as "AMLO", the president-elect wrote Trump a seven-page letter earlier this month, signing off that both men had managed to "displace the establishment". "Then Canada will hopefully follow suit quickly and we can reassemble that trifecta then", Perdue said at the Agriculture Transportation Summit in Arlington, Virginia. He has received signals from both Lopez Obrador and United States officials, which he interprets to mean that NAFTA negotiations will be done before the end of Pena Nieto's presidential term. October 16, 2021, Saturday It is too early to conclude on the lessons that India learnt from the Covid-19 crisis, Sitharaman said as she stressed that the ... Thousands of Nicaraguans marched through their capital in a show of support for the country's bishops whom President Daniel Ortega has accused of aiding an attempted "coup" against him. The rally brought together Catholics, evangelicals and non-Christians under images of the Virgin Mary and Nicaraguan flags, and cries of "freedom" and "Bishop, buddy, the people are with you." It was another display of popular opposition to Ortega, who has become reviled by large sections of Nicaragua's population of six million for a brutal three-month crackdown on anti-government protests in which more than 300 people have been killed. The president has been able to impose a period of relative calm on the country after police and loyalist paramilitaries firing weapons crushed opposition hubs in Managua and the nearby city of Masaya this month. One of the raids targeted youths taking shelter in a church in the capital, killing two. After those operations, Ortega this week declared "the turmoil is over." He also accused the country's bishops, who have been trying to bring about a peaceful solution by mediating talks between the government and the opposition, of helping those challenging him, whom he called "coup-mongers" and "terrorists." "Given this supremely critical situation, (the church) has, yesterday, today and forever, given life and voice to those who have no voice," said one priest taking part in yesterday's march, Silvio Fonseca. An evangelical, Henry Aguilar, 55, told AFP that non-Catholic churches had joined the "pilgrimage" demonstration in support of the Catholic bishops "because we are Nicaraguans, and the same system attacking them is also attacking us." Daily protests continue against Ortega, demanding he step down and early elections be held. While the violence has diminished, at least four deaths have been reported since the security blitzes. Rights groups say state-sponsored persecution of people suspected of taking part in the protests, or of helping them, has been stepped up, forcing thousands to flee over the southern border into Costa Rica. Doctors at a state-run hospital in the northwest city of Leon told AFP on Friday that more than a dozen medics, nurses and technical personnel have been fired for treating wounded protesters and, in some cases, voicing opinions that "freedom" and dialogue was needed in the country. The bishops, through their Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua, support elections being brought forward from 2021 to next year. The US and the Organization of American States back that call, with Washington warning of further sanctions on Nicaragua if Ortega does not yield to the demand. But Ortega, 72, has rejected early polls, saying they would only increase insecurity. He accuses the United States of financing opposition militia he says are intent on toppling the government he leads with his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo. The leftwing leader, who first came to power in 1979 after his Sandinista guerrillas swept aside a US-backed dictatorship, has ruled Nicaragua for 22 of the past 39 years. The unrest is posing the biggest challenge to his authority since he returned to office in 2007, not least because the business sector that had underpinned previous economic stability is now spurning him over the violence. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tibet has been an "inalienable part" of China since ancient times, Premier Li Keqiang has asserted as he hoped that religious groups in the sensitive region will continue to safeguard national unity and promote social harmony, the state media reported today. Disclosing details of Li's previously unannounced visit to the remote Himalayan region, Xinhua agency reported that during his visit from July 25 to July 27 to Nyingchi, Shannan, and Lhasa, Li talked with officials and residents and visited the famed Jokhang Temple and the upcoming Lhasa-Nyingchi section of the Sichuan-Tibet railway. Li hoped that Tibet can stick to strategies and policies of the ruling Communist Party of China to achieve development and prosperity, safeguard national unity, enhance solidarity among ethnic groups, promote social and economic development, and maintain lasting peace and stability in Tibet. While visiting Jokhang Temple, a renowned temple for Tibetan Buddhism in Lhasa, Li said Tibet has been an "inalienable part of China ever since ancient times and he hoped that religious circles will continue to make contributions in safeguarding national unity and promoting ethnic solidarity as well as social harmony," apparently referring to the pro-Dalai Lama sentiments in the sensitive region. China views the Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Beijing's rule in the remote Himalayan region, as a separatist. Development is key to increasing people's wealth and achieving prosperity in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, the premier said, adding that people's livelihood should be improved through sustainable development, which should be based on actual conditions of Tibet. He said that the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the "water tower" of China and Asia, where ecological conservation should be strengthened to support sustainable development in the whole country. At the construction site of the Lhasa-Nyingchi section of the Sichuan-Tibet railway, Li stressed the importance of the project to the development of Tibet and to ecological protection. The railway project is beneficial for Tibet to cultivate new growth drivers, and it is the right thing that must be done. Full construction work should be accelerated, Li said. China has been building rail, road and air links in the remote Tibet, spending billions of dollars. A railway line linking the Chinese capital Beijing with Lhasa was put into operation in 2006. In 2014, another railway line linking Lhasa with Xigaze was opened. China and Nepal last month agreed to build a strategic railway link connecting Tibet with Kathmandu, which Nepalese government sees as an alternative trade route for supply of commodities to the landlocked Himalayan nation. At present, infrastructure development in the country's central and western regions is relatively weak, and promoting effective investments to improve weak links will not only narrow the gap in regional development but also helpful for the country to cope with economic downturn, he said. China should avoid strong stimulus and take targeted measures that are beneficial in both short and long terms, Li said. He said that the government will step up support to hospitals in Tibet and colleges for traditional Tibetan medicine to meet the needs of local residents. The premier said entrepreneurship and innovation in Tibet are very important to high-quality growth. The country will create better environment to support the education of skilled workers and train more talented workers that are in high demand, he said. Li said that the government will step up support for the research on precious documents and push cultural inheritance and exchanges. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Trump administration is all set to roll out its major policy initiatives to address the massive infrastructural and energy needs of the Indo-Pacific region where India is seen as one of the anchor countries for greater connectivity and trade. President Donald Trump has lined up his top Cabinet members Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Energy Secretary Rick Perry -- at US Chambers of Commerce which is hosting the first Indo-Pacific Business Forum meeting tomorrow. The Forum will introduce the economic and commercial elements of the US' whole-of-government Indo-Pacific strategy and will include participation from senior administration officials, private sector and officials representing Indo-Pacific nations. The move comes nine months after the Trump administration openly spoke against the "predatory economic policies of an Asian giant" that threatens to eat into sovereignty of countries in Indo-Pacific, which has now emerged as a critical engine for growth. Asian economies are now projected to create 50 per cent of global GDP in coming decades. To realise that potential, countries of the Indo-Pacific will need to attract nearly USD 26 trillion in capital from the private sector and not the government to fund their energy and infrastructure needs, Nisha Desai Biswal, president of the US India Business Council (USIBC) said. She said American companies will be a critical player in both investing the capital and building the technology and infrastructure that the region requires. "It's an event that brings together business, private sector and many of our partners from the region to kind of have a conversation about how we boost engagement investment across the Indo Pacific, Biswal, a key player in this initiative, told PTI ahead of the first Forum. In addition to Pompeo, Ross and Perry envisioning the administration's policies for the Indo-Pacific region, other top administration officials include USAID Administrator Mark Green, OPIC President Ray Washburne, Acting Ex-Im Bank Chairman Jeffrey Gerrish, and US Chamber President and CEO Thomas J Donohue. "All would be making announcements or sharing key investment opportunities that they are advancing in the Indo-Pacific region, Desai said. The Indian Ambassador to the US, Navtej Singh Sarna, is among the few diplomats from the region who have been invited to speak during the forum event. Senator Mark Warner, co-chair of the Senate India Caucus, would provide Congressional perspective on how it's important for the US public and private sector to be engaged in the Indo-Pacific region. What we hope that there will be a lot of outcomes that come from this Indo Pacific Business Forum, said Biswal, who served as the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia in the second term of the Obama administration. The forum will highlight US Government initiatives to advance economic engagement in the region, particularly on key sectors including energy and infrastructure and the digital economy, State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said. The forum will also emphasise the importance of public-private partnerships, the benefits of transparency and good governance, and unlocking the power of markets for sustainable development, and the need for US collaboration with regional partners, she said. Immediately after the event, Pompeo would leave for Singapore to attend the ASEAN ministerial. He will have an opportunity to engage with his counterparts in the region and be able to take the business strategy and the economic strategy for the Indo-Pacific that has been articulated in this event and be able to engage with his counterparts from the region to further have conversations and discuss next steps, Biswal said. Responding to a question, the former State Department official asserted that the USD 26 trillion infrastructure gap across the Indo-Pacific region would come from the private sector and not from the government. It's largely going to be how we leverage private investment into the region to build the infrastructure and the connectivity, whether it's the energy infrastructure or the transport infrastructure, or the digital infrastructure where India is such a leader for the region, Biswal said. India is a critically important player in the entire scheme of things, she argued, noting that over the years it has emerged as a much more consequential actor in South east Asia. We really do see that India is one of the anchor countries in how we bring this whole region into greater connectivity and really boost a boost commerce and trade across the region, she said. We also know that in many areas, including in the digital economy, India is a leader and a pioneer that has a lot of knowledge to share. We know that India is a very important market for the countries of Asia and we want to support that greater collaboration in the region, she said. The US has a strong interest in also supporting all of the trading connectivity and being part of it, she said adding that American business, technology and capital has an important role to play. So, the Chamber is a hosting this gathering as an effort to really bring together a lot of these different actors and different perspective and create some opportunities for that connections to be made, she said. Biswal refuted the notion that the forum is intended against China. I don't think that this is intended to be in any way a message to any particular country. This is meant to be an articulation of a robust policy and engagement from the US, from the government and from the business community and desire to do so in a way that is collaborative and consultative with our partners and counterparts across the region, she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed is allowing 40 migrants who have been kept at sea for two weeks to enter the country "for humanitarian reasons." Chahed authorised a Tunisian-flagged commercial boat that has been carrying the migrants since July 16 to dock at the southern Tunisian port of Zarzis yesterday. The migrants reportedly were stranded in the Mediterranean Sea for five days before a Maltese ship picked them up and then transferred them to the commercial boat. Italy, Malta and France all refused to let the vessel disembark. Ali Hajji, the captain of the Sarost 5, told the Associated Press today that "everyone... is still waiting for the order to be given for the boat to enter the port." The Tunisian Red Crescent says it has been providing the migrants, who include two pregnant women, with food and medical assistance. Spain's maritime rescue service said it has saved 123 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa. The service said it pulled the migrants from 12 different boats intercepted by rescue craft this morning in the Strait of Gibraltar. The latest arrivals come after Spain rescued nearly 1,000 people attempting the perilous journey from African to European shores yesterday and the day before. Spain has received over 20,000 migrants by sea in 2018. A crackdown by Libyan authorities and Italy's refusal to let rescue boats dock has made it more difficult for migrants to reach Italy. Human trafficking mafias pack migrants into small craft unfit for open waters. Over 1,500 people have died so far this year trying to cross the Mediterranean. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two journalists were today injured after being allegedly attacked by the sand mafia in Jalalabad sub-division here, while reporting on illegal mining, police said. The scribes of a private channel had received information that illegal mining was active in village Tharewala, they said. As the duo reached the site and began recording the illegal activity, a group of unidentified people thrashed them and broke their video camera, they added. Bleeding profusely, the scribes managed to escape the spot and got themselves admitted to a private hospital for treatment. They later lodged a complaint at the office of the deputy superintendent of police. Senior officials including Amarjit Singh Sidhu, DSP Jalalabad reached the spot and took stock of the situation. Sidhu said police had recorded the statement of the media persons and "will nab the accused soon". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister Radha Mohan Singh today visited an organic farm at Lawsohtun area of the city and assured all possible help to the farmers. The minister, who was here on a two-day visit, interacted with members of around 20 families who practice organic farming here and encouraged them to expand their activities in other parts of the state. The Union agriculture minister also asked the state government officials to extend possible assistance to farmers in this regard and promised to support the promotion of organic farming in the state. Last evening, Singh reviewed the activities of the departments of agriculture, animal husbandry and allied sectors at Raj Bhawan here. He instructed the department officials to ensure that schemes meant for the welfare of the farmers are delivered to them on time. "If the farmers receive their dues on time, the government will be able to achieve the goal of doubling their income by 2022," he said. The minister also asked the officials to submit utilisation certificate of funds to the Centre on time to avoid delay in the flow of resources. In response, the state government officials told the minister that the state has provided 40,000 hectares for organic farming, covering all districts of Meghalaya. The yield from these plots would vie for necessary certification as organic products, they said. The review meet at the governor's house yesterday was attended by Additional Chief Secretary K N Kumar, Commissioner and Secretary of Agriculture Department, Sampath Kumar and Agriculture secretary M N Nampui among others. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu today mooted diversification of food production and pressed the need to encourage farmers to cultivate nutrition-rich crops and create a market for the products. Promoting nutrition-rich cereals and pulses through the public distribution system can be a good option, he said at the inauguration of the "National Consultation on Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition", organised by the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation here. "We need to create awareness among the people about the importance of nutritional value of food products. I would like to call upon institutions like the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Krishi Vigyan Kendras to take the lead in educating our farmers," he said. Naidu said there was a need to build greater consumer awareness about the nutritional value of different foods so they were able to make informed decisions. "It is time that we diversify our food production by moving away from mono-cropping of major cereals to a system that integrates a variety of food items including small millets, pulses, fruits and vegetables," he said. The vice-president stressed the need for in-house cultivation of food and said food security based on home grown food rather than importing food items. On the economic side, it will reduce the country's import burden as nearly six million tonnes of pulses were coming from overseas, he said. The vice-president said the government, civil society, scientists and researchers must share knowledge and expertise with farmers to make agriculture sustainable and nutrition-rich. He also said it was quite distressing to note that in spite of the efforts taken by successive governments at the centre and in various states, the problem of mal-nutrition persisted in the country at unacceptable levels. Some of the major contributory factors of mal-nutrition were the quantitative and qualitative deficits in food intake, environmental conditions and access to health, he added. Later, Naidu participated in the valedictory of 'OSKON2018', a ocular surface and keratoprosthesis conference organised by the Sankara Nethralaya, a premier eyecare institute here. In his address, he pitched for increase in facilities to treat cataract, glaucoma and other ophthalmological problems. "Since 80-90 per cent blindness is avoidable, we need to increase eye care facilities to treat cataract, glaucoma and other ophthalmological problems. Blindness from glaucoma can be prevented if diagnosed and treated early," he added. He said the union government and various state governments as also the private sector were working shoulder-to-shoulder in reducing blindness through comprehensive eye care services. The need of the hour was to ensure that these services were available in rural areas, particularly the remote parts of the country, Naidu added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu today visited a private hospital here to inquire about the health condition of DMK chief M Karunanidhi. Naidu said doctors informed that Karunanidhi's condition was stable. "Visited Kaveri Hospital and met former Chief Minister Thiru Kalaignar Karunanidhi. Met his family members and doctors and enquired about his health. Doctors said he is stable. Wish him a speedy recovery," Naidu tweeted. Last night, the hospital had said, "Karunanidhi's health condition continues to remain stable with ongoing active medical support. He is continuously being monitored and treated by the panel of expert doctors in the ICU." The 94-year-old DMK president, who is being treated for fever due to urinary tract infection, was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Kauvery Hospital yesterday following a dip in his blood pressure. Besides Naidu, TMC leader Derek O'Brien also visited the hospital. "I came here on behalf of the TMC and Mamata Banerjee. I met M K Stalin and Kanimozhi and inquired about Karunanidhi's health," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu today visited a private hospital here to inquire about the health condition of DMK chief M Karunanidhi. The DMK, meanwhile, released a photograph,the first after Karunanidhi's hospitalisation early yesterday, showing Naidu standing beside the 94-year-old leader in his hospital bed. Party cadres outside the hospital were enthused by the release of the image. They said the picture did not feature any "life support system like a ventilator" and it was reassuring that their Thalaivar (leader) was recuperating well. DMK had, during the hospitalisation of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in 2016, asked why no photograph of her in the hospital was released. The party had said that release of a picture would have helped put at rest speculations about her health status. Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, DMK working president M K Stalin, party Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi, the nonagenarian leader's wife Rajathi Ammal and Karunanidhi's personal physician Dr Gopal are also seen in the picture. Naidu said doctors informed him that Karunanidhi's condition was stable. "Visited Kaveri Hospital and met former Chief Minister Thiru Kalaignar Karunanidhi. Met his family members and doctors and enquired about his health. Doctors said he is stable. Wish him a speedy recovery," Naidu tweeted. Last night, the hospital had said, "Karunanidhi's health condition continues to remain stable with ongoing active medical support. He is continuously being monitored and treated by the panel of expert doctors in the ICU." The 94-year-old DMK president, who is being treated for fever due to urinary tract infection, was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Kauvery Hospital following a dip in his blood pressure. Besides Naidu, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, TMC leader Derek O'Brien, BJP leader Muralidhar Rao and the party's Tamil Nadu unit party president Tamilisai Soundararajan visited the hospital. "I came here on behalf of the TMC and Mamata Banerjee. I met M K Stalin and Kanimozhi and inquired about Karunanidhi's health," the TMC leader said. Other than Naidu and Purohit, all other leaders met Karunanidhi's family members in the hospital and enquired about his health. All of them lauded the nonagenarian leader and wished him a speedy recovery. Students of Tiruvarur based V S Boys Higher Secondary School, where Karunanidhi had studied, held an inter-faith prayer yesterday for the recovery of their alumnus. Karunanidhi hails from Thirukkuvalai (Nagapattinam District) near the Cauvery delta town of Tiruvarur. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ahed, now 17, and her mother Nariman were arrested in December, after Ahed slapped two Israeli soldiers outside the family home and Nariman filmed the incident and posted it on Facebook. A Palestinian teenager jailed for slapping and kicking Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank has been freed. Tamimi's family arrived at a checkpoint in the West Bank, where they spoke briefly to reporters before heading to their home village of Nebi Saleh. She was 16 at the time and originally faced 12 charges, but pleaded guilty in March to four charges including assault. Her face has appeared on street murals and posters, while an online petition organised by her father calling for her release gathered 1.7m signatures. The incident came just after Tamimi learned her cousin had been gravely wounded by an Israeli soldier who shot him in the head using a rubber-coated steel bullet. In Israel, she is seen by many as either a provocateur, an irritation or a threat to the military's deterrence. She was sentenced to eight months in jail. Bassem Tamimi said that his daughter completed her high school exams in prison, with the help of other prisoners who taught the required material. The girl, praised by many as a symbol of the Palestinian resistance, has returned to the West Bank. Palestinian teen Ahed Tamimi enters a military courtroom escorted by Israeli Prison Service personnel. On Saturday, Israeli border police arrested two Italians and a Palestinian "on suspicion of damaging and vandalising the security fence in the Bethlehem area", a statement said. Her sentence drew widespread condemnation from global rights groups including Amnesty worldwide. Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. Her case sparked an outpouring of worldwide criticism against Israel and a renewed focus on the treatment of Palestinian youths in Israeli military courts. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today held an emergency meeting with senior officials in the wake of rising level of Yamuna river due to heavy rains in the catchment areas, and directed them to stay alert to deal with any untoward situation. He also conducted an aerial survey of the Hathnikund barrage located on Yamuna river in Yamunanagar district. The minister was told that 6,05,949 cusecs of water flowing from the Hathnikund barrage was passing through Karnal and would reach Delhi by tomorrow. With Yamuna flowing close to the danger mark, several villages were flooded leading to crop losses, officials said. In some villages in Yamunanagar district, the flood waters entered ouses and buildings. The administration has deployed boats at various places for people to commute from one village to other and to evacuate them, if the water level rises further, they said. The water level rose in the wake of continuous rains in catchment areas in Himachal Pradesh. Khattar sought information on the water level from the deputy commissioners of Yamunanagar, Karnal, Panipat, Sonipat and Palwal, and other officers through video-conferencing. He also reviewed the arrangements made by them, an official spokesperson said here. The officers informed the chief minister that 6,05,949 cusecs of water was flowing from the Hathnikund Barrage in Yamunanagar till 6 pm yesterday. Earlier in 2010, 8.05 lakh cusecs of water passed through this barrage, and in 2013, 7.5 lakh cusecs had passed, they said. "The 6,05,949 cusecs of water flowing from the barrage is passing through Karnal and would reach Delhi by tomorrow. It is gathered that water is flowing at a speed of four kilometers per hour. "Canals in Haryana are closed when the water level crosses 70,000 cusecs at Hathnikund Barrage, and the water is passing through 18 doors," the spokesperson said. The Karnal deputy commissioner informed the chief minister that about six lakh cusecs of water was passing from Hathnikund barrage last evening, and its effect could be seen later during the day. The officers said the water level was gradually decreasing. A sub-divisional officer and three junior engineers have been deputed at every 20 kilometers in Karnal. Heavy earth moving machines and 20,000 sand bags have been kept ready to deal with any untoward situation. Arrangements have also been made for evacuating people to safer places as the situation demands, the officers added. The officers of Yamunanagar district administration informed the chief minister that 1.18 lakh cusecs of water was flowing in Yamuna river. Medical teams have been arranged and officers of the animal husbandry department have been alerted to deal with the flood-like situation, the officers said. The officers of Panipat district said Yamuna river passed through 14 villages of the district, adding that Army has visited and checked the areas adjoining the river. The Sonipat district administration informed Khattar that the water of Yamuna was flowing one kilometer away from Asadpur village where officers of the irrigation department have been deputed. An SDM-level officer has been made in-charge to keep a check on the situation. Also, arrangements of sand bags, JCB machines and other machinery have been made, they said. The administration has also issued a warning to people living in the areas surrounding Yamuna river. A team of State Disaster Management force has already been put on alert. A flood control room has been set up at the district level for fast response to deal with any flood-like situation, the officials said. The chief minister directed the officers that the administration in the vulnerable districts should remain ready to deal with diseases which may break out after the water level of Yamuna recedes. The officers should ensure that fogging is done in the affected areas from time to time, he added. After holding a meeting with officials here, Khattar said 'special girdawari' (revenue survey) would be conducted to assess the damage to the crops caused by floods and rains. He added that due compensation would be given to the affected farmers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Zimbabwe's former leader Robert Mugabe today emerged to address the nation for the first time since stepping down in November and just hours before tomorrow's historic election, declaring that "I will not vote for those who have illegally taken power." In a slow and rambling address, the 94-year-old Mugabe spoke to reporters about the circumstances of his dramatic removal under military pressure and after a ruling party feud. He was coy about endorsing a candidate ahead of the election in which the former deputy that he fired, President Emmerson Mnangagawa, faces a 40-year-old lawyer and pastor, Nelson Chamisa. "I cannot vote for those who have tormented me," Mugabe said, in a reference to Mnangagwa, who took office with the military's support. "I cannot vote for ZANU-PF," the ruling party he long controlled. Mugabe, who has backed a new political party that is part of a coalition supporting Chamisa, said of him: "He seems to be doing well at his rallies ... I wish to meet him if he wins." And Mugabe added: "Whoever wins, we wish him well ... And let us accept the verdict." Many in Zimbabwe knew no other leader but Mugabe, who led the country for 37 years and since independence from white minority rule in 1980. What began with optimism crumbled into repression, alleged vote-rigging, intimidation of the opposition, violent land seizures from white farmers and years of international sanctions. The country hopes that a credible vote tomorrow could get those sanctions lifted and bring badly needed investment for a collapsed economy. Mnangagwa, a former Mugabe confidante, has tried to recast himself as a voice for reform, inviting back Western dozens of election observers and pledging a free and fair vote. "I have during all this time liked our return to conditionality, our return to legality, an environment in which our people are free," Mugabe told reporters. In a breathtaking statement, he asserted that his stay in power had been free from meddling: "It was not the army that ensured I remained in power." He blamed "evil and malicious characters" for his removal from office, which was met with a joyous outpouring in the capital, Harare, by thousands. He said he resigned to avoid "bloodshed" and defended his wife, Grace, who just months ago appeared to be positioning herself for the presidency: "Leave, leave, leave my wife alone." While Mugabe, who has largely remained quiet in his Harare home since leaving power, spoke largely of the past, Zimbabweans are already impatient for the future and tomorrow's vote. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) GENEVA (Reuters) - Swiss watchmaker Swatch Group is quitting the annual Baselworld watch and jewellery trade fair, the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper reported on Sunday, calling time on an event that has been a fixture of the luxury industry calendar for a century. Omega maker Swatch is the most important exhibitor at Baselworld, which traces its history back to 1917, but more and more brands are deserting the fair held every March, blaming high costs and insufficient returns."The Swatch Group has decided not to be present at Baselworld from 2019," the newspaper quoted Swatch chief executive Nick ... By Hugh BronsteinBUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - U.S. farmers could receive cash payments from a planned $12 billion aid package as soon as late September, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told Reuters on Saturday, warning that the program will not make tariff-hit farmers whole.Perdue said in an interview on the sidelines of the G20 meeting of agriculture ministers in Buenos Aires that the plan would include between $7 billion and $8 billion in direct cash relief. U.S. growers are expected to take an $11 billion hit due to retaliatory tariffs after Washington placed duties on Chinese goods. ... Google, Twitter Inc. and Facebook Inc. have taken significant steps to expunge Islamic State propaganda and other terrorist content from their platforms. But taking no chances, the European Union is set to propose a tough new law anyway -- threatening internet platforms, big and small, with fines if they fail to take down terrorist material, according to people familiar with the proposals that could be unveiled as soon as September. While the details of the measures are still being thrashed out, they would likely be based on the EU guidance from earlier this year, said the ... When Zhang Zhenhuis plane landed in Dubai on April 16 and his phone lit up with a dozen missed calls, he knew that something terrible had happened. While Zhang was in the air, the U.S. government had issued a seven-year denial order against Chinese telecom equipment-maker ZTE, preventing the company from buying crucial components from American chip companies. The ban, which has since been lifted, threatened ZTEs survival and caused it to report a net loss in the first quarter of the year. The ban also dealt a major personal blow to Zhang, then an executive vice president at ZTE. He was dismissed from ZTE alongside many other company executives as part of the corporate overhaul required by the U.S. government before the ban could be lifted. It was a truly unwilling and deeply humiliating departure after 18 years at the company, Zhang said in a farewell letter. The effect of the 88-day ban against ZTE, one of the worlds largest communications equipment manufacturers, was a serious wake-up call for Chinas chip industry, and drew renewed attention to its years-long struggle to catch up with global chip leaders. Reliance on chip imports Chinese companies currently rely heavily on chip imports due to a lack of advanced chip production technology in the country combined with high demand from increasingly telecommunications-dependent industries. When it comes to higher-end central processing units (CPU), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), and electronic design automation tools, imports account for as much as 95% of the components used in China, according to Zhu Jing, research director at the Beijing Semiconductor Industry Association. The lag between chips produced by domestic companies and foreign companies is significant, Zhu said, with domestic CPUs only 30% to 50% as efficient as equivalents produced by U.S. industry leader Intel. That lag is actually small compared to other parts of the chip industry, since CPUs are considered more important and receive more government funding than other types of chips. China is catching up when it comes to CPUs, but for areas like graphics processing units and FPGAs, it hasnt begun to close the gap, Huang Bowen, an engineer at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Computing Technology, told Caixin. Chinese companies biggest weakness is in chip manufacturing, rather than design. International players Intel Corp., TSMC Ltd., and Samsung Group have already begun to develop a 7-nanometer process for manufacturing chips, while Chinas leading foundry, the Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), has just mastered the 28-nanometer process. The lower the number of the process, the smaller, faster, and more efficient the chips they can produce. SMIC is at least five to ten years behind its overseas counterparts. A ZTE booth at the 2018 Mobile World Congress exhibition in Spain in February. An 88-day U.S. ban against the company was a serious wake-up call for Chinas chip industry. Photo: VCG Chinese-led ecosystem Some of Chinas chip companies and policymakers believe establishing a Chinese-led hardware and software ecosystem is the only way to guarantee that domestic companies will be self-sufficient and able to withstand threats from foreign interests and governments. Loongson Technology, incubated by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is one such domestic player. Loongson is one of the few chip-makers in the world that has independently developed its CPUs, on the basis of abstract models developed by American chip designer MIPS. Loongsons products are used mainly in defense science and technology. Zhao Weiguo, president of Tsinghua University-controlled chip company Tsinghua Unigroup, originally hoped to build domestic integrated circuit companies from the ground up, but gradually found that this would require huge investment, and expose the countrys nascent chip-makers to overpowering competition from far stronger foreign counterparts. So Zhao decided to use mergers and acquisitions to consolidate resources and quickly gain new capabilities. Between 2013 and 2014, Tsinghua Unigroup acquired Shanghai-based fabless chip-makers Spreadtrum and RDA Microelectronics for $1.78 billion and $907 million, respectively. In 2015, Hewlett-Packard sold a controlling stake in its China-based H3C Technologies to Tsinghua Unigroup for around $2.5 billion. Zhao compared succeeding in the chip industry to a dangerous river crossing, telling Caixin the acquisitions of Spreadtrum and RDA Microelectronics in particular were equivalent to buying the bridgehead on the opposite bank of the river. But growing through acquisitions has its downside. As Chinese companies look abroad for new assets, foreign governments are growing increasingly wary of high-tech acquisitions, citing security concerns. Tsinghua Unigroups reported recent deal to buy French components-maker Linxens for around $2.6 billion is expected to be a test of French and German regulators tolerance for Chinese investment. Controversial partnerships Foreign companies are an important source of direct access to technology for many Chinese companies, whether through mergers or joint ventures. But some foreign-Chinese chip partnerships have attracted controversy. In May 2017, U.S. chip giant Qualcomm announced a joint venture with Chinese state-owned company Datang Telecom Technology, which would focus on the low-end mobile phone chip market. But many in the Chinese chip industry, including Tsinghua Unigroups President Zhao, fear that Qualcomms ability to produce chips on a large scale and at low cost could threaten domestic companies unable to match Qualcomms capacity a fear that delayed approval of the joint venture until May this year. Another Chinese partnership involving Qualcomm, this time involving the government of remote Guizhou province, has also raised questions over how beneficial foreign partnerships really are for domestic chip-makers. Qualcomm established Guizhou Huaxintong Semiconductor Technology Co., its joint venture with Guizhou, in January 2016, to produce chips for data servers. But after a protracted hostile takeover attempt by Singapore-based Broadcom that ended in March, Qualcomm found itself weakened and forced to cut expenditure in the server chip sector in order to meet shareholders demands causing worry that it would withdraw support from Huaxintong. There are two major risks for Chinese companies acquiring technology through foreign joint ventures, according to Gu Wenjun, chief analyst at industry research company ICWise. Firstly, foreign companies are not interested in cultivating competitors, so they will never transfer core technologies to Chinese joint ventures. Some companies are actually forbidden by other governments from handing their most advanced technologies over to China. Secondly, while many Chinese companies may be able to master existing technologies through joint ventures, they may have the ability to independently progress onto next generation processes, and may also be dependent on authorization from their foreign partners to use new technologies, Gu said. Wake-up call Industry observers expect a flood of capital into the domestic chip industry in response to the shock of the recent ZTE ban. The government-led China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund is in the process of a massive 150 billion yuan ($22 billion) fundraising round, while private companies like internet giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and even household appliances maker Gree Electric Appliances Inc. pledging their support for and willingness to invest billions of yuan in the chip industry. The Chinese government has offered policy support to the chip industry from as early as 2000, with the aim of helping Chinese companies catch up despite chip technology transfer restrictions put into place by many developed countries. But, in the past, the government believed that we could develop the integrated circuit industry through the market allocation of resources, but that is actually not feasible, said Wei Shaojun, the director of Tsinghua Universitys Institute of Microelectronics. Chips are a high-risk industry, compared to internet companies, and as long as all other things are more likely to generate returns and higher profits than chips, investors will be few or mainly government-led, Zhang Suyang, a partner at Volcanic Venture, a fund investing in smart technologies, said at a forum in April. The Chinese government should continue to provide extensive support for areas like memory chips, which involve high technical standards and large capital input, as well as long investment cycles, Zhu Jing from the Beijing Semiconductor Industry Association said. At the same time, Chinas educational institutions should elevate microelectronics to the status of a top-level discipline, and increase enrollment through scholarships in order to provide a larger talent pool for the domestic chip industry, ICWises Gu said. Contact reporter Teng Jing Xuan (jingxuanteng@caixin.com) Pope Francis on Saturday accepted the resignation as a cardinal of Theodore McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington, D.C. and one of the U.S. Catholic Church's most prominent figures, who has been at the center of allegations of sex abuse with minors and young seminarians. Avoid becoming a victim of Fake News. Mr McCarrick has not commented on the more recent allegations. James says he's thankful that "everybody in today's world is more understanding of the harm done by individual priests, and now we can start to heal". U.S. Catholics who have followed sexual abuse scandals hailed stripping McCarrick of cardinal's rank as an unprecedented shift in how the Vatican has dealt with allegations against top churchmen. One priest who said that he received unwanted touching and harassment from the archbishop, Father Desmond Rossi, has asked for a "total inquiry" to discover "who knew what" about Archbishop McCarrick and to discover why measures were not taken to protect seminarians from harassment. A Vatican statement said the pope, acting only hours after McCarrick offered his resignation on Friday night, ordered his suspension from the exercise of any public ministry. DiNardo said Francis was prioritizing "the need for protection and care for all our people" and aware of how "failures in this area affect the life of the church in the United States". McCarrick, 88, becomes the first cardinal to resign his red hat since 1927 when French Jesuit Louis Billot gave up being a cardinal in a row with the Holy See over the right-wing political movement Action Francaise. Breaking with past practice, Francis chose to act swiftly on the resignation offered by the emeritus archbishop of Washington, D.C., even before the accusations are investigated by church officials. Ciolek, who said McCarrick never kissed him or touched him below the waist, but did give and demand unwanted back rubs, reached an $80,000 settlement with the New Jersey dioceses for McCarrick's conduct and the abuse he also suffered at the hands of a high school teacher when he was a teenager in Catholic school. Mr McCarrick is alleged to have assaulted the teenager while working as a priest in NY in the early 1970s. The McCarrick case posed a test of the pontiff's recently declared resolve to battle what he called a "culture of cover-up" of similar abuses in the Catholic church's hierarchy. Ciolek said the church imposed an agreement that he not speak to the media about McCarrick's abuse, which it released him from this year. Theodore McCarrick, as well as the pope's order that he spend his time in prayer and penance until the canonical investigation of his conduct is finalized. "The Vatican nearly never moves at this speed", said Terence McKiernan, of BishopAccountability.org.Inc., a Massachusetts-based nonprofit group that tracks clergy sexual abuse cases. My sadness was deepened when I was informed that the allegations had been determined credible and substantiated. news, latest-news While you'd expect to find alpacas on farms and properties, a pair of them are helping to bring smiles and joy to those who need it most in Canberra. Mimosa and Hercules are therapy alpacas, who make regular visits to hospitals, palliative care facilities, retirement villages and even streets around Civic. The alpacas are owned by Nils Lantzke. He and Stephanie Dean have been using therapy alpacas to bring much needed relief to Canberrans for more than 15 years. While therapy animals such as dogs are more common in hospitals, Mr Lantzke said there were many benefits to using alpacas. "They're very sensitive and they're very intuitive animals," Mr Lantzke said. "They just bring out delight and big smiles in people. In a very short time, you can create more than 200 smiles, which is hard to do otherwise." The pair of alpacas make visits to the mental health unit at Canberra Hospital and weekly trips to Clare Holland House. Ms Dean said while many people hadn't regularly interacted with alpacas, they brought much relief to patients. "Most people have alpacas on farm protecting the herd, so when they see people at the hospice when the patients are in the final stages of their life, [the alpacas] don't want to leave them," Ms Dean said. "The alpacas are very comfortable in going to most places." Hercules, 2, and Mimosa, 8, aren't the first therapy alpacas to be seen in Canberra, with the pair's predecessor Honeycomb providing visits to hospitals and hospices for several years before he died in 2016, aged 13. Ms Dean said many of the patients become more engaged following a visit from the alpacas. "It's a good bonding experience for people at the hospital and they become a lot more responsive," she said. "We find that after people have a talk and a pat with the alpaca, they become more relaxed and it makes the environment a lot happier for everyone." Clare Holland House clinical nurse consultant Brad Smith said the alpacas had been making regular visits to the hospice for more than decade, and for many patients and their carers, it can be the highlight of their week. "They all smile when they seen them, and the alpacas sit with them for a little while, and it just brightens up their day," Mr Smith said. "The patients look forward to their visits, but for their carers as well, the alpacas is a big release for them as well. Animals have a calming effect on people." While most of the visits by the alpacas is to hospitals and hospices, Mr Lantzke said Mimosa and Hercules are making more visits out into the city and on university campuses. "We're out to show lots of people love," he said. "We're on a mission to get as many smiles as possible." /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/5406d2b4-c890-4aab-9a3c-b7a577c993fc/r0_246_4500_2788_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg "I must say clearly I can not vote for those who have tormented me". Deposed Zimbabwean leader, nonagenarian Robert Mugabe (94), on Sunday said he cannot vote for those "who have tormented me". "Definitely not. I wish to meet him if he wins", he told reporters. In a rambling, one-hour speech on Sunday, he said: "I can't vote for ZANU-PF, what is left?" Mugabe was reported to have received a US$10 million package so that he could retire after the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) took power in November 2017. He faces opposition from challenger Nelson Chamisa, 40, and his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party. Mugabe said he was forced to resign last November at a time he had already planned to voluntarily step down at Zanu-PF's congress the following month and hand-over power to former defence minister Sydney Sekeramayi. The ex-ZANU-PF leader said he was removed through a coup. President Emmerson Mnangagwa, 75, is the front-runner with his party ZANU-PF, which he took over in 2014 after Mr Mugabe was expelled. Many in Zimbabwe knew no other leader but Mugabe, who led the country for 37 years and since independence from white minority rule in 1980. Elections under Mugabe were marred by fraud and violence, and this year's campaign has been dominated by accusations that the vote will be rigged. Mr Chamisa has launched blistering attacks on President Mnangagwa and accused the much-criticised Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) of trying to fix the election. Campaigning has been relatively unrestricted and peaceful compared with previous elections, and some analysts point to pressure for the vote to be judged credible to draw a line under the worldwide isolation of the Mugabe era. Mr Mnangagwa, a former Mugabe confidante, has tried to recast himself as a voice for reform, inviting back dozens of election observers and pledging a free and fair vote. "Together we will unlock the potential for our beloved homeland", Mnangagwa told his party supporters. Mnangagwa has welcomed in foreign media and global observers from the EU, United States and the Commonwealth, while opposition parties have been freely allowed to campaign. Yes, we worked together under the government of national unity. The media briefing by the former Zimbabwean leader was attended by both local and global media. The results of the presidential elections are due by August 4. If no presidential candidate wins 50% of the vote, a runoff will be held September 8. news, latest-news The pneumatic actress Scarlett Johansson has decided, after all, not to accept the film role that would have had her portray Dante 'Tex' Gill. Tex was a real-life transgender man who ran a string of massage parlours in 1970s Pittsburgh. The proposal that Johansson portray Tex was (and remains, even after her withdrawal from the film) highly controversial in ways that those of us who live sheltered lives might never have imagined. Those offended by her proposed casting seem outraged that Johansson, who is not transgender, should burgle a role that really ought to belong to a transgender actress. Just a few days ahead of Johanssons retreat some of us who listen to a lot of ABC Radio National the ideas network received a cascade of ideas on this topic. It came from a passionate edition of the Stop Everything! program. The show invites us to tune in for a savvy, critical look at pop culture and what's in the zeitgeist On this occasion the panel and its zeitgeisty guests turned to the Johansson outrage. Transgender folk and their champions were well-represented in the panel and in the studio there was outraged unanimity that, yes, this casting of Johansson was wickedly, wilfully wrong. It was not only, everyone seethed, that a transgender actress should have got the role but also that no one but a transgender actor could possibly be sensitive enough to properly portray transgender peoples feelings and plights. Because ABC Radio National is the self-styled ideas network those of us who spend a lot of time listening to it do sometimes hear ideas so exasperating that they leave us clawing at the wallpaper. My studys wallpaper looked as if lions and tigers had mauled it by the end of this edition of Stop Everything! I wanted at least one of these youthful-sounding zeitgeistmongers to pipe up something like But hey guys, wait a cotton-pickin minute. Havent actors always portrayed people and things that arent a bit like their own real-life selves? Isnt that a fine actors actual craft? If we insist that a character can only be played by someone of that characters exact sex, sexuality and life experience then wont all drama becomes less theatrical? Is it an affront to true zombies that in horror films zombies are only ever portrayed by non-zombie actors only pretending to be zombies? But no one in the studio offered such a contrary, common-sense, balance-imparting voice. Coincidentally in these very days in which the Johansson controversy has been raging the online Open Culture magazine has just posted a story Sarah Bernhardt becomes the first woman to play Hamlet (1899). I would have liked to challenge the luvvy chums in the Stop Everything! studio to tell us where they stand on the matter of women, women like Sarah Bernhardt, taking acting roles traditionally given to men. The great Bernhardt was the first female Hamlet but she paved a way and now there is often considerable mixing of the genders when fine companies stage Shakespeares plays. I have just been to a performance of Hamlet at The Globe in London in which male and female actors took roles of sexes other than their own. So for example Prince Hamlet was sensitively portrayed by a woman while the tragic damsel Ophelia was played by a toweringly tall Pakistani-looking man, who, in spite of his stubble, somehow looked ravishingly feminine in his long dress that dangled down to his dark and hairy ankles. Do the Stop Everything! trendies feel any feminist outrage that this production didnt give the role of a tragic damsel to a female actor? For this thrilled member of the audience the male and female actors seemed to bring something different and special to the female and male characters they played. This should never come as a surprise since we are all, men and women, not just male and female but blends of all the sexes there are. How wrong, how fuddy-duddy the sound, today, of a criticism made at the time of Bernhardts donning of trousers to play a man, Hamlet. Critic Max Beerbohm saw her Hamlet and grumbled that Creative power is an attribute of virility; women are denied it, in so far as they practice art at all, they are aping virility, exceeding their natural sphere. Never does one understand so well the failure of women in art as when one sees them deliberately impersonating men upon the stage. What Im trying to say, I think, as I choose a new wallpaper (something exquisitely feminine) is that film and theatre are mediums of make-believe in which the roles should go, on merit, to those best equipped by talent, acting talent, to make us believe in what they are saying and doing. In a few weeks time I am going to the pop-up Globe (it is popping up in Sydneys Moore Park) to see Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream. Major and minor characters in the literally spellbinding play are fairies. Must we brace ourselves for the indignant outrage of the ABCs Stop Everything! when and if these parts are not given to actual, deserving, but shamefully-discriminated- against fairies but instead to mortals? /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/1319ce75-69c0-4b4c-8093-4fd940cddd6e/r0_127_1211_811_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg news, latest-news A citizen's panel of more than 30 Canberrans has handed down their list of recommendations to the government on the future of housing in the nation's capital. The final consultation session - the last of five which took place over three months - over was held on Saturday, with 38 residents presenting their findings of what Canberra's planning strategy should look like. It's expected the full list of recommendations will be made public in coming days. Among the items discussed as part of the collaboration hub sessions were how Canberra's housing should be integrated with public transport, whether there should be more trees around planned areas and issues such as housing affordability. ACT Planning Minister Mick Gentleman said the sessions were part of the government's plan to democratise city planning. "This has been a new and bespoke engagement process that provided genuine opportunity for a wide cross section of the community to bring their own perspectives and ideas to the table," Mr Gentleman said. "Their input will now influence the options the government takes forward for future planning and development." The territory government will examine the findings of the panel and present a formal response later this year. The panel of 38 was chosen out of more than 15,000 randomly selected households, with residents then selected by independent consultants. Among those was Forde resident Margaret Burkett, who has lived in Canberra for three decades. She said more community consultation would be needed as Canberra's population expands in coming years. "What the group has focused in is what we think is important as a community, and how we would like Canberra to look in the future in terms of housing and what sort of houses and dwellings there would be," Ms Burkett said. "With the Canberra population growing, we only have a limited amount of space to move into, and these sorts of urban issues were under discussion." In the more than 30 years she has lived in Canberra, Ms Burkett said the biggest change in the ACT has been the demographics. She said while Canberra is catering for more young people and students, there has also been an increase in the number of older people. "You have a lot more older people seeing Canberra as a place to come here and have a family, where in previous times the age range was more limited. We need to cater for a range of people," she said. "The whole idea of deliberative democracy I'm hoping will increase in frequency because it's really important that the community as a whole has representation in these sorts of processes. Once you vote in a government, that's where lots of people leave [planning decisions]." Mr Gentleman said he was looking forward to seeing what recommendations the panel has presented. "There is no one right answer to the question of how we meet our future housing needs," he said. "This has been a genuine opportunity for the citizens of Canberra to influence future housing choices and planning and development in our city." /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/cfa8323e-1d5f-4fb5-bdd8-ebe6457b81b1/r0_220_4059_2513_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg comment, editorial This week, the ACT government will publish draft laws to create an anti-corruption agency to watch over the conduct of territory officials. It has taken some time to reach this point. All three main parties in the ACT pledged support for such a body before the 2016 election, though the governing Labor Party was the last to agree to back it. Labor's coalition partner, the Greens, were the first to commit to an independent "anti-corruption and integrity commission" (as it's likely to be called). And, judging by what the government has put in the legislation, the Greens will receive most of what they sought. Notably, the body will have strong, royal commission-like powers to investigate covertly any ACT officials (including parliamentarians and their advisers) suspected of corrupt behaviour. The government has also agreed, in principle at least, that the commission should be able to investigate allegations of serious misconduct by ACT Policing officers. This is perhaps the most important aspect of the debate over the future agency's powers. ACT Policing is part of the Australian Federal Police, over which the ACT government has neither ministerial control nor oversight. Rather, Canberra ratepayers buy community policing from the Commonwealth. There is, of course, a contract of sorts the purchase agreement but weaknesses and a lack of clarity in this agreement have, for many years, created frustration and tension between ACT officials (including ministers) and the AFP. The federal police opposes strongly the creation of any ACT body that is authorised to investigate its staff or activities. It points out that there are already two means of investigating suspect conduct among its officers: its own professional standards unit and the separate Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity. With due respect to the law-enforcement commission, it is a tiny watchdog with a massive jurisdiction: the commission's 50-odd staff oversee well over 15,000 people working in policing, intelligence, border control and biosecurity. It also acknowledges that it tends to work alongside the agencies it oversees including during investigations in part because of its limited resources. No one suggests ACT Policing, or the AFP more broadly, is a hotbed of corruption or other types of misconduct. But the critical lesson from scandals in Queensland, NSW and Victoria is that only independent watchdogs with strong powers catch bent cops; internal investigatory units just don't cut it. The AFP faces no such oversight. At present, the draft legislation is just that: a draft. It may be strengthened or weakened before it becomes law. The ACT government says it will take at least an extra year to negotiate with the Commonwealth over how to deal with allegations of police corruption. It is also yet to decide whether its commission will be able to investigate private-sector workers who are engaged to do government work. Labor's intent will be judged on whether it yields ground on either of these fronts. The ACT's anti-corruption watchdog must have the ability to investigate both police and contractors. Anything less will ensure that this body is hobbled from the start. /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/d1f7a1f5-6c66-43be-aa74-4644d090fe9c/r0_46_900_554_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact. Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here. Care2 Stands With: humanitarians, animal lovers, feminists, rabble-rousers, nature-buffs, creatives, the naturally curious, and people who really love to do the right thing. You are our people. You Care. We Care2. Photo: Sophie Hatoc-Isaac A helicopter drops water on the Range Road Fire north of Vernon. UPDATE 9 p.m. BC Wildfire crews are in the mop up stage of a fire north of Vernon. Fire Information Officer Brenna Ward said the Range Road fire is 75 per cent mopped up and was only 0.1 of a hectare in size. UPDATE 4:41 p.m. Witnesses tell Castanet it appears fire crews have the upper hand on the blaze that started at approximately noon. Helicopters knocked it down pretty quick, said Tim Isaac who operates Tim's by the River Campsite which is roughly two kilometres from the fire. It looks like it's contained. There is a lot less smoke now. Isaac said he notified the campers of the fire but it's looking good so there is no imminent evacuation. Isaac confirmed the Okanagan Indian Band fire department has responded to the fire as well. There are roads up there. It's just this side of Swanson Mountain, he said. BC Wildfire crews are responding to a small wild fire north of Vernon. Fire Information Officer Brenna Ward said the Range Road fire is 0.1 of a ha and two initial attack crews are responding. We have six firefighters responding and there is a helicopter bucketing, she said. Ward said there are acreages in the area, but the fire is not threatening any homes at this time. There are unconfirmed reports the Spallumcheen and Okanagan Indian Band fire departments have also responded to the fire. Castanet will have more information as soon as it becomes available. Photo: Contributed An Egyptian court sentenced 75 people to death on Saturday, including top figures of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, for their involvement in a 2013 sit-in, state media reported. The Cairo Criminal Court referred the sentences to the Grand Mufti the country's top theological authority for his non-binding opinion as is the norm in capital cases. Though non-binding, the formality gives a window of opportunity for a judge to reverse an initial sentence. The sentences are subject to appeal. Sentencing for more than 660 others involved in the case was scheduled for Sept. 8, the Al-Ahram news website reported. Those sentences, too, are subject to appeal. Of the 75 defendants referred to the Mufti, 44 are jailed and 31 are at large. The court normally hands down the maximum sentence for fugitives but a re-retrial is typically held after they are caught. The case involves a total 739 defendants, including the Muslim Brotherhood's Supreme Guide Mohammed Badie and photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid. The charges range from murder to damaging public property. Neither Badie nor Abu Zeid were sentenced to death in this case. The 2013 sit-in, in Rabaa al-Adawiya Square in Cairo, supported former Islamist President Mohammed Morsi who was militarily ousted following mass protests against his divisive one-year rule. Morsi hailed from the Brotherhood. The sit-in was violently dispersed on Aug. 14, 2013. More than 600 people were killed. Months later, Egypt designated the Brotherhood a terrorist organization. Egyptian authorities have since launched a severe crackdown on Brotherhood members and supporters, arresting many and trying them on terror-related charges. Egyptian courts have held mass trials and handed down death sentences for hundreds of people, drawing international condemnation. In 2014, an Egyptian judge sentenced 529 of Morsi's supporters to death. A retrial was later ordered after several proceedings. Rights groups have repeatedly criticized such mass sentencings in Egypt and called on authorities to ensure fair trials. International rights groups also denounced the mass trial of the 2013 sit-in. Amnesty International described it in a statement last month as a "grotesque parody of justice" and called on authorities to drop all charges against those arrested for protesting peacefully. Photo: Contributed A shallow, magnitude 6.4 earthquake early Sunday killed at least 10 people and injured 40 on Indonesia's Lombok Island, a popular tourist destination next to Bali, officials said. The quake damaged dozens of single-story houses and taller buildings and was felt in a wider area, including in Bali, where no damage or casualties were reported. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck at a depth of 7 kilometres (4.4 miles). East Lombok district was the hardest hit with eight deaths, including a Malaysian national, said a spokesman for Indonesia's Disaster Mitigation Agency, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. The number of casualties could increase as data was still being collected from other locations on the island, he said. The quake also triggered a large landslide from Mount Rinjani. Authorities were still monitoring its impact. In East Lombok and the provincial capital of Mataram, it lasted about 10 seconds, sending residents to flee their homes onto streets and fields, Nugroho said. He said most of the fatalities and injuries were caused by falling slabs of concrete. Photos released by the agency showed damaged houses and the entrance to the popular Mount Rinjani National Park, which was immediately closed for fear of landslides. Like Bali, Lombok is known for pristine beaches and mountains. Hotels and other buildings in both locations are not allowed to exceed the height of coconut trees. Indonesia is prone to earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin. In December 2004, a massive magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries. Chinese workers at GAEA construction company staged a sit-in in Oran to demand the payment of their wages and urged President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to intervene. GAEA has been doing business in Algeria since 2008. It has asked the Algerian development company Chaabane Belazzoug to pay up to $1.6 million, but the company has ignored the request. There are about 30,000 Chinese workers in the country where Chinese firms have been building mega structures. In Algeria, most Chinese firms employ Chinese people instead of the local population. Over 10,000 Chinese workers are employed by China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) in building Algiers Great Mosque. The Chinese community also includes merchants in the eastern suburb of the Algerian capital. Photo: The Canadian Press FILE - In this Nov. 14, 2011 file photo, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick prays during the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' annual fall assembly in Baltimore. Pope Francis has accepted U.S. prelate Theodore McCarrick's offer to resign from the College of Cardinals following allegations of sexual abuse, including one involving an 11-year-old boy, and ordered him to conduct a "life of prayer and penance" in a home to be designated by the pontiff until a church trial is held, the Vatican said Saturday, July 28, 2018. In a move seen as unprecedented, Pope Francis has effectively stripped U.S. prelate Theodore McCarrick of his cardinal's title following allegations of sexual abuse, including one involving an 11-year-old boy. The Vatican announced Saturday that Francis ordered McCarrick to conduct a "life of prayer and penance" before a church trial is held. Breaking with past practice, Francis decided to act swiftly on the resignation offered by the emeritus archbishop of Washington, D.C., even before the accusations are investigated by church officials. McCarrick was previously one of the highest, most visible Catholic church officials in the United States and was heavily involved in the church's yearslong response to allegations of priestly abuse there. Francis received McCarrick's letter offering to resign from the College of Cardinals on Friday evening, after a spate of allegations that the 88-year-old prelate had for years sexually abused boys and had sexual misconduct with adult seminarians. The pope then ordered McCarrick's "suspension from the exercise of any public ministry, together with the obligation to remain in a house yet to be indicated to him, for a life of prayer and penance until the accusations made against him are examined in a regular canonical trial," the Vatican said. The McCarrick case posed a test of the pontiff's recently declared resolve to battle what he called a "culture of coverup" of similar abuses in the Catholic church's hierarchy. McCarrick had already been removed from public ministry since June 20, pending a full investigation into allegations that he fondled a teenager more than 40 years ago in New York City. McCarrick has denied these allegations. Another alleged victim, James , says McCarrick exposed himself to him when he was 11 and continued a sexually abusive relationship with him for more than two decades. McCarrick has not responded publicly to these accusations. Asking to be identified by only his first name to protect his family's privacy, James told The Associated Press on Saturday that he hopes the pope's approval of McCarrick's resignation will help other victims "become free." "Basically, truth always prevails," said James, who lives in Virginia. "Thankfully, everybody in today's world is more understanding of the harm done by individual priests, and now we can start to heal," he added. McCarrick's alleged sexual misconduct with adults was reportedly brought to the Vatican's attention years ago, including before McCarrick was appointed to the prestigious archbishop post in the U.S. capital in 2000 by then-pontiff John Paul II. Two dioceses in New Jersey, Newark and Metuchen, say they have settled two of three complaints of misconduct by McCarrick toward adults. The Vatican on Saturday didn't say where McCarrick would be confined nor when a church trial might begin, and its brief statement did not even allude to the grave accusations against the prelate. McCarrick rose steadily and swiftly up the U.S. church's ranks, from auxiliary bishop in New York City, to bishop in Metuchen, to archbishop of Newark, and then to Archbishop of Washington, D.C. A Catholic University canon law expert, Kurt Martens, noted this was the first time an order of penance and prayer had been issued before a church trial. Other U.S. Catholics who follow sexual abuse scandals hailed stripping McCarrick of his cardinal's rank as an unprecedented shift in how the Vatican has dealt with allegations against top churchmen. "The Vatican almost never moves at this speed," said Terence McKiernan, of BishopAccountability.org.Inc., a Massachusetts-based group that tracks clergy sexual abuse cases. The pope appears to "understand the gravity of the situation and further harm to the Catholic church's status," he told the AP. McKiernan wondered if the church investigation will reveal who among its hierarchy knew about the sex allegations against McCarrick and whether the Vatican will move to punish those clerics as well. He noted that the Vatican statement didn't spell out why the pope was disciplining the cardinal. "We're still in the old world," McKiernan said, referring to the Vatican's avoidance of details about the abuse allegations against McCarrick. "(Still) it's a remarkable development." In the case of Scottish Cardinal Keith O'Brien, accused by former seminarians in 2013 of sexual misconduct, Francis only accepted his resignation after the Vatican's top abuse prosecutor conducted a full investigation, two years after the first revelations, and after the prelate himself relinquished the privileges that come with a cardinal's rank. O'Brien, who died earlier this year, still remained a cardinal, however. The Rev. James Martin, editor-at large at America Magazine, which covers church issues, noted in a tweet that Bernard Law was allowed to stay a cardinal after he resigned as Boston archbishop, following revelations that he had sanctioned the systematic coverup of pedophile priests while presiding over that U.S. diocese. After resigning from his Boston post, Law was transferred to a prestigious job at a Rome basilica, an appointment that triggered outrage from many abuse survivors. That happened under Pope John Paul II, who was widely considered to have underestimated the scope of the sex abuse scandals worldwide. One of Francis' closest advisers, Cardinal George Pell, is the highest-ranking Catholic in the world to be charged in the church's global abuse scandal. The 77-year-old faces trial in his native Australia on decades-old child sex abuse allegations. Pell has denied wrongdoing. Details of the allegations haven't been made public. Bishops have been implicated in the sexual abuse scandals that have stained the Catholic church's reputation worldwide for decades, most often for their roles in covering up for pedophile priests by shuffling them from parish to parish and keeping the faithful in the dark about the allegations. Photo: The Canadian Press An Army National Guard specialist stands guard at a checkpoint as the Carr Fire burns in Redding, Calif., on Saturday, July 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) Thousands of dazed evacuees struggled to keep their emotions in check while trying to take care of themselves and their pets as a deadly wildfire in Northern California raged into its fourth day. Anna Noland, 49, was evacuated twice in three days before learning through video footage that the house she last saw under dark and windy skies had burned. She expected to spend Saturday night at a shelter at Simpson College in Redding while she searches for another place to live. "I think I'm still in shock," Noland said. "It's just unbelievable knowing you don't have a house to go back to." Noland is among the 38,000 people evacuated after the Carr Fire roared into the outskirts of Redding in Shasta County, leaving five people dead, including two firefighters, a woman and her two great-grandchildren, ages 4 and 5. "My babies are dead," Sherry Bledsoe said through tears after she and family members met with Shasta County sheriff's deputies. A vehicle problem ignited the fire Monday, but it wasn't until Thursday that the fire exploded and raced into communities west of Redding before entering city limits. On Saturday, it pushed southwest of Redding, the largest city in the region, toward the tiny communities of Ono, Igo and Gas Point, where scorching heat, winds and bone-dry conditions complicated firefighting efforts. The fire, which grew slightly Saturday to 131 square miles (340 square kilometres), is the largest fire burning in California. Nearly 5,000 structures were threatened and the fire was just 5 per cent contained. The latest tally of 536 destroyed structures was up from 500 earlier in the day, and sure to rise. A count by The Associated Press found at least 300 of those structures were homes. Bonnie and Jerry Kieffaber grabbed most of their medications when they left their home in Redding on Thursday, but they forgot his insulin. Days later, police won't let them back inside because it's still too dangerous. Bonnie Kieffaber, 69, says being away from home is expensive. "All of our food was there, and now we're draining our checking account trying to keep gas in the car and buy food too," she said while grabbing a hot meal at a Red Cross shelter. "It's exhausting," she said. "The heat and the stress of it all, and praying for everybody and all of our friends." The firefighters killed in the blaze included Don Ray Smith, 81, of Pollock Pines, a bulldozer operator who was helping clear vegetation in the path of the wildfire. Redding fire Inspector Jeremy Stoke was also killed, but details of his death were not released. Sherry Bledsoe's two children, James Roberts, 5, and Emily Roberts, 4, were stranded with their great grandmother Melody Bledsoe, 70, when walls of flames swept through the family's rural property Thursday on the outskirts of Redding. The three were among more than a dozen people reported missing after the furious wind-driven blaze took residents by surprise and levelled several neighbourhoods. Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said he expects to find several of those people alive and just out of touch with loved ones. Officers have gone to homes of several people reported missing and found cars gone a strong indication they fled. About 100 miles (160 kilometres) southwest of Redding, two blazes prompted mandatory evacuations in Mendocino County. The two fires, burning 30 miles (50 kilometres) apart, started Friday and were threatening more than 350 buildings. Authorities also issued evacuation orders in Napa County, famous for its wine, when several structures caught fire, the Napa Valley Register reported. The blaze had blackened 150 acres and was at 10 per cent containment. Throughout the state, Cal Fire officials said more than 10,000 firefighters were on the line, making progress on 14 large wildfires. Big fires also continued to burn outside Yosemite National Park and in the San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles near Palm Springs. Those fires had burned nearly 100 square miles (260 square kilometres). Yosemite Valley remained closed to visitors and won't reopen until Friday. In Shasta County, Matt Smith, a Forest Service pilot with 13 years' experience as a smokejumper, says he used hoses to save his house in the well-kept neighbourhood of Lake Redding Estates. Burned and twisted bicycle frames, refrigerators, and piles of rubble were still smoking Saturday around his property. Smith said he arrived home Thursday as evacuees were racing out. "Save it for your family, save it for your family," he says he reminded himself during two adrenalin-filled hours. As a former firefighter, he said he always kept an escape route in mind possibly his neighbour's pool. On Saturday, he had a blistering burn on his hand from grabbing his propane tank and wrestling it away from the house and into the front yard. His nose and ear also had burns. "The good news is that our house is here. The bad news is that our neighbourhood is devastated," he said. Photo: The Canadian Press FILE - In this May 7, 2018, file photo, newly sworn in New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell acknowledges the crowd at her inauguration in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File) Two armed individuals walked up to a crowd gathered Saturday evening outside a strip mall in New Orleans and opened fire, killing three people and wounding seven more, the police chief said. The shooting happened on a busy thoroughfare about 3 miles (4.83 kilometres) from the French Quarter, police said. Police chief Michael Harrison, speaking to reporters late Saturday in televised comments, said the two suspects believed to be wearing hoodies had a rifle and a handgun. He said they appeared to have fired indiscriminately into the crowd, striking ten people. Before fleeing they took time to stand over one person. "We believe that they actually stood over one of the individuals and fired multiple rounds and then after that fled," he said. Police responding to the shooting found three victims - two men and one woman - who were pronounced dead at the scene. Seven other victims - five men and two women - were taken to two separate hospitals. Four of them were driven in private vehicles, and three were transported by ambulance. Harrison said one underwent surgery and was in critical condition; the other six were in various conditions but none were considered life-threatening. Harrison spoke with family members and friends at the scene of the "volatile and tense situation." He called on people to come forward and help police find the killers and also asked people not to take matters into their own hands. "This was an extremely tragic incident. A lot of people were out here tonight. A lot of people, we know, saw what happened, heard what happened. And we need more than anything for people to come forward to help the NOPD right now solve this case," Harrison said. He said police do not know whether it was gang-related. Lawrence Russo was buying a scratch-off ticket at nearby gas station when he heard what he at first thought were firecrackers before he realized they were gunshots. He told NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune that he heard a total of 13 to 16 shots fired. "They never stop killing each other," he said, shaking his head as he spoke. Near the scene of the shooting, beyond the police tape, people could be seen crying and hugging one another in comfort. The New Orleans Advocate (https://bit.ly/2AlrJXt ) reported that a woman stood behind the crime scene tape shouting, "Pick my brother up," as two bodies lay uncovered. NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune reported two men were trying to console two sobbing women as one of the women shouted: "That's my baby." Mayor LaToya Cantrell said in a statement: "There is no place in New Orleans for this kind of violence. I speak for everyone in our City when I say we are disgusted, we are infuriated, & we have had more than enough. Three more lives gone. It has to end. It's unacceptable anywhere." Shell will set up an office in Nouakchott to begin exploring hydrocarbons off shore the West African country. Under an agreement reached between the two parties, the oil and gas giant Shell shall begin exploration activities, starting with reprocessing and analysis of existing seismic data. This move represents Shells entry into the West African Atlantic Margin exploration basin, which has significant potential. We look forward to working with the government and people of Mauritania as we bring our expertise and technical capability to help develop the countrys emerging energy sector, said Andy Brown, Upstream International Director at Shell. The Mauritanian minister of oil, energy and mining, Mohamed Ould Abdel Vetah, said Shells new entry in the Mauritania offshore area represents an important added value to the exploration activities and will contribute to maintain the momentum for developing the energy sector in Mauritania. Shell will have 90% interest with Societe Mauritanienne des Hydrocarbures et de Patrimoine Minier, the national oil company of Mauritania, holding the remaining 10% stake in the basin. Do Today's Christians Believe in Miracles? Christian Examiner Contributor | 25 July, 2018 by Ken Lambert "Why should it be thought a thing incredible, that God should raise the dead?" (Acts 26:8) "The raising of the dead is a miracle which, astonishing as it is, has been performed hundreds of times since the days of Christ. Our Lord told His Apostles to raise the dead (Matthew 10:8)." excerpt from Saints who Raised the Dead, by Father Albert Hebert. "Amen, amen I say to you, he that believeth in me, the works that I do, he also shall do; and greater than these shall he do." (John 14: 11-12) Today it seems more and more people, including Christians, do not believe in miracles. As such, believing that someone could be raised from the dead is very difficult, especially in cases where a "regular person" raises up a "regular person." Of course, most Christians believe that Jesus was raised from the dead, and they also believe the Gospel recordings of Jesus raising others from the dead. But, have people over the past 2,000 years, in the name of God, raised others back to life? Miscellaneous statements and validations about raising of the dead: St. Irenaeus (c. 130-220), Bishop of Lyons, stated "Some persons that were dead have been raised again and have continued among us many years..." and in a separate document, "So far are they ("magicians") from raising the dead, as Our Lord raised them, and as the Apostles did by prayer, and as in the brotherhood oftentimes is done ...." ...." St. Augustine (354-430) stated "The truth is that even today miracles are being wrought in the Name of Christ... Only, such miracles do not strike the imagination with the same flashing brilliance as the earlier miracles, and so they do not get the same flashing publicity as the others did...." And, in speaking about those in his day who denied miracles, "It is sometimes objected that the miracles which Christians claim, no longer happen... However the malice of the objection is in the insinuation that not even the earlier miracles ought to be believed...." (Here we note that the general belief of Christians back in the 4thand 5thcentury is not that different from the notions of today.) A few notable occurrences of the dead being raised, after Biblical times: Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419) raised at least 28 persons from the dead, especially revolving around his preaching to the Moors. St. Julian (d. 117), Bishop of Mans, converted numerous through his raising of the dead. There were two young boys in Mans and Champagne who were raised, according to D. Poilin's historical volumes. St. Nicholas of Bari, Bishop of Myra who lived in the fourth century, raised three children from the dead, who were allegedly killed by an evil innkeeper. There is a painting in the Church of St. Goar (Germany) which depicts this event. In the book noted above by Father Hebert there are over 400 listed occurrences of persons being raised back to life. Many of these miracles happened in the first 1,000 or so years of the Church. Very few have happened, it seems, over the past 100-200 years. Regardless, even if most happened over 1,000 years ago and even if many or most were exaggerations, myths, or frauds (not my opinion but might be an opinion of some)as long as there is one, or five, or ten actual events in history where someone was raised from them dead, this proves without a doubt that supernatural miracles can and DO occur. It is my opinion that many Christians today read the Bible and believe that miracles and God's interventions happened only in the Old and New Testaments. That is not the case. As referenced by Jesus himself, and elsewhere in the New Testament, and also via the early Church Fathers, the most miraculous featsomeone being raised back to life after dyingcan and has happened. Believing in this fact allows a more concrete belief in the eventual general resurrection at the end of days. If Peter and other godly men over the centuries can facilitate and pray for this miracle, surely the Creator of the world can do the same. And it is that final hope which gives Christians the comforting assurance of our Faith. Ken Lambert has been writing for both secular and religious publications for several years. He co-authored the book "Top 10 Most Influential Christians Since the Apostles" and holds a Doctorate in Ministry. He resides in southern New Hampshire. One. Simple. Choice. Christian Examiner Contributor | 29 July, 2018 by Mark Klages We really have one simple choice to love or to hate. Few can be indifferent. We can argue the emotional spectrum is far from black or white, love or hate; that God made us humans as complex beings capable of a broad range of emotions. Love and hate are just two complex emotions that fall opposite of each other on that spectrum. So, how about a test? I will mention a few items and you tell me if your primary response is love, hate, indifference or some lesser emotional response. Ready? Go! Hitler... a puppy... chocolate ice cream... taxes... baby feet... Thanksgiving dinner with family... Jesus's death on the cross... Jesus's resurrection... Donald Trump... Maxine Waters. I acquiesce, not all choices are as simple as black and white, right or wrong. But some are. Some are as simple as not spewing vitriol from the pulpit of the church. Some are as simple as not sowing hate and discord in a building dedicated to God's love. Some are as simple as not being a money changer in the temple. Conservative and Right-leaning news organizations from FOX News to Black Christian News Network and The Christian Post have reported on a recent sermon Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) gave to the congregation of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in LA. According to all reports, Rep. Waters claimed to be on a mission from God to stop President Trump: That mission apparently includes political speeches in God's house and calls to "absolutely harass" Trump staffers when they are in public places. Setting aside the validity of Rep. Waters' claims for immigration reform and civility from the Presidency, I take exception with her tactics. Are we Christians to believe that the same God who angrily tossed money changers out of the temple for thievery now supports sowing discord from the temple? "Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 'It is written,' he said to them, 'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it 'a den of robbers.'" (Matt 21:12-13, NIV) My blog is called God Provides where Hate Divides. It is so titled because many hateful acts are occurring in today's society, hateful acts for which God is the healer of all our wounds, the mender of all our sorrows. Rep. Waters claims President Trump is divisive. To counter his divisive nature, she uses her own divisive rhetoric. Rep. Waters falls on the extreme left of a Democratic party that will not, cannot, give an ounce of credit for any good coming from the Executive Branch. Counter that by an extreme right leaning element of the Republican party and that, ladies and gentlemen, is a house divided. But in this case if we Christians are to believe Rep. Waters' tactics of absolute harassment, then we are to reject God's message of "love thy neighbor." "So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: 'How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man's house.'" (Mark 3:23-27, NIV) So how do we as Christians resolve the rhetoric on the left and the rhetoric on the right? I will give you one guess and a couple of hints: It starts with the letter, "L" and happens to be one of my most oft-quoted scriptures in addition to one of the five words in the title of my blog. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these.'" (Mark 12:30-31, NIV) As followers of God's precepts, we are required to love our neighbor, even if that neighbor lives in a big white house and tweets in capital letters during the middle of the night or preaches a decidedly non-Christian sermon from the pulpit of God's house. I dare say not a single person involved in the Government of these United States today is a shining example of Christian leadership. I dare say neither is the writer of this blog, so there is some perspective for you. But how do we love that unlovable neighbor? One thing we can do is avoid the divisive messages that Satan so proudly and easily sets in front of us, and choose a better path, a brighter path, a Christian path. First, listen with love. Listen for a real message, a message on which God truly wants Christians to act. Go beyond the Hollywood drama. Discover what all the fuss is about in the first place. If it is not just another hollow political speech intent on stirring up division (John 8:44) then there will be a message we can grab onto. In this case, it is immigration reform. Second, test everything(1 Thes. 5:20-21) and reject the division and strife injected by the Deceiver. If it does not pass the Jesus sniff test to "Love your neighbor as yourself" then it isn't real, regardless of whether it comes from a pastor or an elected official. Rep. Waters may have a mission. Read your own Bible and pray God reveals the truth of that calling to you. Third, use your brain. God made us in His image, male and female (Gen 1:27), with a brain, good sense, and the desire to be closer to Him in our thoughts and actions. The more you study God's word and pray the more aligned your thoughts become with His will. So draw closer and you may find the line between hate and love becomes much cleaner, much finer, much more defined. And until we unite in service to our King, God will provide where hate divides. Mark Klages is an influential contributor, a former US Marine and a lifelong teacher who focuses on applying a Christian worldview to everyday events. Mark blogs at https://maklagesl3.wixsite.com/website under the title "God Provides where Hate Divides," with a heart to heal social, political, relational, and intellectual wounds through God's divine love and grace. Mark can also be found on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-klages-04b42511/. King Mohammed VI in his quality as Commander of the faithful is the custodian of the freedom of worship in Morocco, said Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita in Washington. Speaking at the State Departments first-ever Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, Bourita explained that the Commandership of the faithful is an institution that distinguishes the Moroccan religious model in so far as it protects all Moroccans whatever their faiths. King Mohammed VI, Commander of the faithful, is hence the custodian of the freedom of worship in the kingdom, said Bourita at the event which brought together representatives from 80 nations. The specificity of Moroccos religious model has been reflected in the constitution, which recognizes the Kingdoms Jewish heritage as a constituent of the national identity, he said. Bourita also recalled the magnanimity of King Mohammed V, the grandfather of the current King, when he protected the Jews during WWII, rejecting the racist laws of the Vichy government when France was under Nazi occupation. The Moroccan official also recalled the role played by late King Hassan II in encouraging inter-religious dialogue and advocating peace in the Middle East. Religious freedom hinges on strong institutions, Bourita went on to say, adding that Morocco rejects the use of religion for political ends or for attacking the faith of others. The Foreign Minister concluded his address by recommending the creation of a religious freedom observatory. In his address, US Vice President Mike Pence said that Those nations that reject religious freedom breed radicalism and resentment in their citizens, They sow the seeds of violence within their borders. The Vice President announced that in the coming months the US Government will launch a Genocide Recovery and Persecution Response initiative. He explained that this is a diplomatic and assistance effort specifically focused on ensuring communities of faith and local organizations are part of the solution in recovering from atrocities. Among other new initiatives to further the cause of religious freedom around the world, the US State Department created an International Religious Freedom Fund, said Secretary of State Michael Pompeo. This joint fund with other nations will support the work of religious freedom defenders and assist victims of religious persecution, he said. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment When President Donald Trump moved the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem many people of faith quickly recognized the biblical significance of such a move. Trump, like King Cyrus before him, fulfilled biblical prophecy, by recognizing that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish state and that the Jewish people deserve a righteous, free and sovereign Israel. However, this was not the first time in the modern State of Israel's short 70 years that it has played a role in the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. Many of the miracles we are witnessing in Israel today were promised in the Bible long ago. The Ingathering of the Jewish Exiles from the Four Corners of the World It says in Ezekiel 34:13, "And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them." This month, for the first time Israel has overtaken America to become the world's largest Jewish population center. The surge in the Jewish community is thought to have been fueled by returning members of the diaspora. In addition, the total Jewish population has reached six million, which carries added significance as this was the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust. Spiritual Partnership Between Jews and Christians The State of Israel, however, was not born through Jewish toil alone. Rather, as prophesied in Ezra 6:14 "And according to the decree of Koresh, and Daryavesh, and Artachshasta king of Paras" the State of Israel was birthed out of a spiritual partnership between Jews and non-Jews. In biblical times, it was Cyrus' edict that allowed the people of Israel to return to the land of Israel and rebuild the Temple. In 1917, it was the British government's Balfour Declaration that turned the tide for the Jews in exile. Similarly, in 1948, when U.S. President Harry Truman recognized the State of Israel, he said, "I am Cyrus." In the cases of Cyrus, Balfour, Truman and now Trump, it was non-Jews serving as God's agents who facilitated the return of the Jewish people to their land. We read in Isaiah 49:22, that the Lord will "beckon to the Nations, I will lift up my banner to the Peoples. They will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their hips." This prophecy is being fulfilled by the unprecedented number of non-Jews who visit, support and pray for Israel. The Revitalization of the Hebrew Language The prophet Zephaniah describes how in the end of days all the nations of the world will have "purity of speech." "For then I will make the peoples pure of speech, so that they all invoke Hashem by name and serve Him with one accord" (Zephaniah 3:9). We understand from Zephaniah that all the nations of the world will study Hebrew to call out the name of God together in His holy language. Thanks in large parts to the efforts of Eliezer Ben Yehuda (1858-1922), who decided that "in order to have our own land and political life it is also necessary that we have our own language to hold us together," Hebrew is the official language of the State of Israel. In recent years, there has been growing interest by Christian Zionists to learn Hebrew, which is likely a step toward the redemption described by Zephaniah. Moreover, there has been an outpouring of interest by Christians to learn Torah from Jews. Isaiah chapter 2 describes that in the end of days, the nations will stream up to Jerusalem for Torah "shall come forth from Zion, The word of Hashem from Yerushalayim" (Isaiah 2:3). Since the founding of the State of Israel and even more so in the last decade the Bible is being used as a source of unity between Jews and Christians, beginning to fulfill Isaiah's vision and the Jews' historic mandate to be a light unto the nations. That's one of the reasons I created The Israel Bible, so both Jews and non-Jews could study the Bible, read study notes from leading Jewish Bible scholars, and see the vital connection between the people of Israel and the land of Israel. Rebirth of the Physical Land of Israel For nearly two millennia, while the land of Israel switched hands between various foreign powers, including the Romans, the Muslims and the Ottomans, the land lay utterly desolate. But just as the prophet Isaiah predicted, "He hath comforted all her waste places, and hath made her wilderness like Eden" (51:3). The modern rebirth of the Jewish state in 1948 has brought with it an astounding development of the land, to the point where once again the Jewish people can claim a flourishing country all their own. The desert is literally blooming and growing. And in the realms of technology and culture, Israel ranks among the most advanced countries of the world. Indeed, we are witnessing the Lord comfort "all her waste places." Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment It is true that an ugly anti-Bible tide is rising in America. It is true that many conservative believers in particular Christian have been discriminated against, be it by the IRS or by the social media giants. And it is true that there is a growing hostility against our beliefs on university campuses and in places of business. I don't deny that for a moment. In fact, I have been documenting it for years. But let's not wallow and complain as if we are helpless and defeated. Let's not throw a big, "Woe is me" pity party. Such an attitude is unfitting for followers of Jesus the Lord. To be clear, I believe we should continue to document abuses. We should continue to push back in the courts of law. We should continue to expose inequity. We should continue to confront intolerance. The last thing I'm advocating is retreat and defeat. What I'm talking about here is our attitude. Do we have the attitude of overcomers or the attitude of complainers? Are we more focused on the very real opposition we are facing than or the (even more) real promises of God? Earlier today, I was proofreading one of my chapters in a forthcoming book co-authored with New Testament scholar Craig Keener. The book is called Not Afraid of the Antichrist: Why We Don't Believe in a Pre-tribulation Rapture, and it's due out next March. For those unfamiliar with the concept of a "pre-tribulation rapture," it refers to a widely-held, contemporary-evangelical belief that Jesus will "rapture" the Church before a final period of terrible suffering on the earth. That terrible period of time is called the Tribulation (or, at its worst, the Great Tribulation), a time of unprecedented pain and upheaval and wrath. It will be as if all hell breaks loose on the planet, and many Christians believe that Jesus will spare us from the worst of it, taking us safely to heaven until He returns in triumph. There are many fine Christians who hold to this belief, including some of my dearest friends and co-workers. (Craig could say the same.) And so, it is not an area that we divide over. In fact, it's an area most of us hardly even debate. But as I was responding to our editor today, reviewing my chapter on how we overcome, I was struck by the courageous mentality found throughout the New Testament writings. It is a mentality commonly found among persecuted Christians as well. It's an outlook that says, "Whatever Satan or the world mean for evil, God will turn for good." It's a mindset that thinks, "Go ahead and kill us. The faster you cut us down, the more quickly we will grow." It's a mentality that says, "No matter what comes our way, no matter the cost of following Jesus, we are victorious in Him. We died with Him, and now we're risen with Him. Who can possibly hurt us?" Both Craig and I have ministered among persecuted Christians in different parts of the world. Some of our friends or colleagues have been arrested and imprisoned. Others have been beaten or stoned. Some have been killed. Yet among these precious brothers and sisters, you do not hear the voice of hopelessness. You do not witness the spirit of despair. In the midst of the agony and mourning, there is a sense of triumph. Sometimes there is downright joy. In our new book, I tell the story of one my trips to India. (I've been there 25 times in the last 25 years.) On one of those trips, I washed the feet of a martyr's widow whose husband I had commissioned to plant churches. (He was killed as a church planter.) To say it was deeply moving would be a massive understatement. On that same trip, we also washed the feet of pastors who had been persecuted for preaching the Gospel, one of them nearly beaten to death. He had won so many Hindus to the Lord that he was savagely attacked and lay in a coma for five days. To make things even worse, in the hospital where he lay unconscious, a doctor had been bribed to kill him. But his family found out and rescued him, taking him out of the hospital while he was still in a coma, after which he gradually recovered at home. Subsequently, he went back to the same area and began preaching again, winning to the Lord and baptizing the first man who had assaulted him, along with many others. He was then attacked once more and had to go into temporary hiding, but he was resolute in his desire to return and preach. When I interviewed him through a translator he showed no fear and considered it an honor to suffer for his Master, even bursting into song. We could learn something from this pastor! I still remember vividly what happened on that day when we washed everyone's feet. (There were two martyr's widows there, along with one of their teenage daughters, plus all the pastors.) The music had been somber, and there were many tears being shed. But then, once we were done, the music suddenly changed, and in a moment, the men were jumping and dancing and leaping and celebrating. It is because they realized, "We have the privilege of being persecuted for righteousness! We have the honor of being treated like Jesus! What a high calling! What a joy!" It was really a sight to see. Here in America, nothing that we have suffered for our righteous stands can be compared to what these precious believers have suffered. Yet they danced and sang and rejoiced because it was all for their Lord. And even though the Hindu government was against them, they knew their God was greater still. Let us take hold of that joyful, overcoming spirit. It is the spirit of faith. It is the spirit of truth. It is the spirit that will prevail. Police are on the hunt for robbers who used a forklift to smash up a drive-through in a failed overnight ATM heist. Sometime late Saturday or early Sunday, thieves tried pulling out a money machine at a Wells Fargo on Eastex Freeway, according to authorities. Faryal Talpur deposited Rs2 million surety for interim pre-arrest bail KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party leader Faryal Talpur on Saturday surrendered before the special court (offences in banks) and deposited a Rs2 million surety for the interim pre-arrest bail in a case of Rs4.14 billion alleged money laundering. However, she as well as her brother Asif Ali Zardari did not appear before an FIA-led joint investigation team. On Friday, Ms Talpur was granted interim bail before arrest by the court till Aug 11 as her six-day protective bail granted to her by the Sindh High Courts Larkana circuit bench last week was due to expire on July 28. However, the surety amount of Rs2m, as ordered by the trial court, could not be deposited. Flanked by her counsel Farooq H. Naek, the PPP leader, recently elected as MPA from PS-10 (Larkana-I), appeared in person to surrender before the trial court in compliance with the directive given by the SHC and also deposited a Rs2m surety bond. Earlier this month Pakistan Stock Exchanges former chairman Hussain Lawai and banker Taha Raza were detained and booked for allegedly facilitating the opening of 29 fake accounts in Summit Bank, Sindh Bank and United Bank Limited, through which suspicious transactions were made to different companies, including M/s Zardari Group. Last week, the investigating officer filed an interim charge sheet in court showing 20 beneficiaries, including Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairman and former president Asif Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur, as absconders in the case. Mr Zardari and his sister Ms Talpur on Saturday did not appear before an FIA-led JIT probing the alleged money laundering case. However, Ms Talpur sought 15 days time saying she was busy before a court for an identical matter, her lawyer said. FIA assistant director of State Bank Circle Mohammad Ali Abro, who is the investigation officer of the case, sent a letter to Ms Talpur on July 24 asking her to appear before the JIT at 11am on Saturday (July 28) at the FIA Sindh office to record her statement under Section 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code in the FIR (4/2018). However, her lawyer Farooq H. Naek, through a junior lawyer, submitted a reply before the FIA stating that his client was busy on Saturday before the special court (offences in banks) Sindh in connection with her bail before arrest in the said FIR (4/2018) and interim charge sheet. The lawyer contended that the FIA had recently filed an interim charge sheet wherein she (Ms Talpur) has been unlawfully shown as an absconder. It has been stated that in view of the above situation, Ms Talpur was unable to appear before the JIT. Please communicate another date for appearance after fortnight, if necessary, said the lawyer. Imran Khan still winner against Khawaja Saad Rafique LAHORE: Imran Khan continues to be the winner in NA-131 even after recounting on Khawaja Saad Rafiques request issued to the returning officer on 25th July. Saad Rafique has contested the results and requested the recounting of votes, including the votes which were cancelled, at the polling station where he lost. The returning officer, Akhtar Bhangu accepted the request, following which 242 ballot boxes were reopened. Imran Khan remained in the lead with 50 more votes while Saad Rafiques vote bank increased by 70 votes but regardless, his runner up status did not change. Before, the results of the recounting were announced, Rafique submitted another request for the recounting of votes in the entire constituency, which the Election Commission denied. According to Saad Rafique, however, he had submitted the aforementioned request on 26th July 4 PM. Rafique also said that in the 2013 General Elections when he won in NA-131 with the lead of 40,000 votes, Khan deliberately made his life unbearable. He also asserted that since Khan pledged in his victory speech to reopen all contested constituencies, why are his lawyers creating a fuss now. He deemed this as hypocrisy and accused Khan of winning on a false mandate and expressed regret that such a person will become Prime Minister. A man and a woman were arrested early Sunday after allegedly stealing a police bait car and fleeing to a smoke shop, then sparking a chase in north Houston. The pair of would-be thieves swiped the Houston police SUV around 3 a.m., prompting an alarm alerting officers. Political parties in Balochistan to form coalition govt QUETTA: Political parties in Balochistan have started efforts for the formation of a coalition government in the province. Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) president Jam Kamal Khan Alyani, former chief minister Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo and president of his own faction of Balochistan National Party (BNP-M) Akhtar Mengal arrived in Quetta on Saturday. Jam Kamal has announced forming a committee comprising senior BAP leaders for initiating talks with other parties. He said his party had formally invited all parties having representation in the Balochistan Assembly to join hands for formation of a coalition government. Akhtar Mengal has called his partys cabinet council meeting on Sunday. BNP-Ms central committee will meet on Monday, which will take a decision about its candidate for the office of chief executive of the province. Sources said the BNP-M, which has seven seats in the Balochistan Assembly, was making efforts to nominate Akhtar Mengal for post of chief minister. While no party in the province could win a simple majority, the BAP has 18 MPAs-elect after three independents joined it in a house of 51 members. Sardar Masood Khan Luni, Mehta Khan and Mir Mohammad Arif Mohammad Hasni, who were elected from Zhob, Loralai and Chagai, joined the BAP. Masood Khan Luni defeated candidates of BAP, Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP). Mehta Khan defeated seven-time legislator Sheikh Jaffar Khan Mandokhel and strong candidates of the MMA, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and PkMAP. Sources in the BAP have claimed that three MPAs-elect of the Awami National Party (ANP) and two belonging to the Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) will support it in the formation of the next government. MPAs-elect of ANP and HDP have assured us of their support, a senior leader of BAP told Dawn, adding that they would formally announce their decision soon. The number of PTI MPAs-elect is now five after the election of Sardar Babar Musakhail from Musakhail-Sherani. The MMA has eight MPAs-elect. A shooter is on the run after an unidentified man was found shot to death late Saturday outside a north Houston bus stop, according to police. Management at an apartment complex near Rushcreek and Northborough called police just before midnight to report hearing shots fired. Stephen F. Austin realized that the fate of Texas rested on the torn hands and bent backs of cotton-picking slaves. The "Father of Texas" worked against Mexican government efforts to abolish slavery in the province of Texas, where he was the most successful empresario bringing farmers and ranchers in search of unsettled land. Slavery was the "curse of curses," Austin said in 1831, but he had long understood that slave labor was the economic engine that would power prosperity for the territory. He found workarounds to maintain free and forced labor to attract settlers and keep markets flowing, according to historians. That acknowledgment surfaced last week in an official review of municipal property with direct or indirect ties to the Confederacy. HOLLEY: Old and Lost in Chambers County are music to a nature-lovers ears in this HoustonChronicle.com report Its most prominent inclusion: the name of the city itself, given Austin's work to perpetuate the institution of slavery. On Wednesday, Austin's Equity Office recommended the renaming of seven streets and removal of three historical markers honoring Confederate history, calling it a high priority for the city to decide. The office published a second list, without recommendations for action, but in need of review of items grimly yoked to the Confederacy, including slavery, racism and segregation. Austin's name fell on that list. The signs for Confederate Avenue and Dixie Drive may come down. But will Austin really consider changing its name amid national upheaval to jettison Confederate symbols? "No one sees this as an attempt to change the name of the city," said David Green, a spokesman for the city. He told The Washington Post on Sunday that efforts were made to explicitly not make recommendations for the second list which detailed items that were not directly tied to the Confederacy but could merit discussion by the City Council. That includes the city of Austin itself, along with a street and a recreation center named after the "Father of Texas." The inclusion prompted concern among historians that Austin was being lumped into the seditious history of the Confederacy. Like Thomas Jefferson before him, Austin was a man of contradictions and hypocrisy on the subject of slavery, said Gregg Cantrell, a professor of history at Texas Christian University and the author of "Stephen F. Austin: Empresario of Texas." Austin was not an ideological supporter of slavery. He described it as a scourge, "that unanswered, and unanswerable, inconsistency of free and liberal republicans," he said in 1831, and allowed a handful of black colonists to settle in Texas with the same rights as whites, Cantrell wrote. But despite those strong words, Austin said slavery in Texas must continue to fuel expansion and had a few slaves as domestic servants at one point, though it was never clear whether he viewed blacks as subhuman or genetically inferior ideas used by slaveholders to justify the practice. "He didn't leave a paper trail on that question," Cantrell told The Post. But Austin warned that if the Mexican government enforced its ban on slavery in the joined state of Coahuila and Texas, freed slaves would become "vagabonds, a nuisance, and a menace," historian Eugene Barker wrote. When it comes to the removal or renaming of Confederate-linked city property, however, Cantrell said there is a distinction between a slavery advocate such as Austin and seditious figures such as Robert E. Lee. Austin died in 1836, nearly three decades before a war started over the Confederacy's defense of slavery. How he might have considered rebellion will never be known. "Austin never had to make the choice Robert E. Lee made," Cantrell said. "We can't tar him with that particular brush." Why Confederate monuments were erected and when are among the biggest considerations when deciding whether they should be removed, said Walter L. Buenger, a professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin. The underlying reason to erect the symbols was to cement white supremacy and flaunt Jim Crow-era segregation, Buenger told The Post. Most were built between 1890 and 1925, he said, long after the Civil War ended. Austin doesn't have the same provocative history, he said. "I don't get that with naming the city," Buenger said, calling the idea of changing the name of Austin "far-fetched." The small outpost on the Colorado River named Waterloo was renamed Austin in 1839, shortly after the capital moved there. It would take an election for Austinites to decide whether to remove the name from the charter and rename the capital, said Green, the city spokesman. So far, there are no serious efforts to rename Austin, and it may strike many as absurd to even raise this as an issue in a city with such a strong identity. But if a movement grows, reverting back to Waterloo may not be the best choice. The name is already synonymous with total and utter defeat. Taliban officials held meetings with American diplomats in Doha WASHINGTON: Taliban officials told several US media outlets on Saturday that they have held face-to-face meetings with American diplomats in Doha last week. The New York Times (NYT), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and Voice of America (VOA) reported that Alice Wells, the top US diplomat for South Asia, led the US team in these talks. The NBC News television channel reported last week that five US diplomats participated in these talks with Taliban representatives and that some meetings were also held in Afghanistan and UAE. NYT described the meetings as a reversal of a longstanding US policy of not holding direct talks with the Taliban. WSJ reported that the meeting between Ms Wells and Taliban political leaders in Qatar earlier this week was an effort to lay the groundwork for peace talks. But the optimism about potential talks is tempered by a recognition that any number of unexpected developments could quickly derail any proposed talks, the report. General Joseph Votel, who oversees the war in Afghanistan as head of US Central Command, told WSJ that the United States was focusing on both military and diplomatic means for resolving the Afghan conflict. If we only focus on objective aspects, you will miss something. There is something to the fact that people are tired and saw something in the ceasefire that got them excited, he said. NYT noted that the Taliban have long maintained an informal political office in Doha for the purpose of restarting the long-dormant peace process. This weeks meeting involved several members of the Taliban political commission, Ms Wells and other unidentified American diplomats, the report added. NBC News reported that both sides had decided not to publicise the meetings. NYT, WSJ and VOA reported that the State Department refused to comment when contacted by their correspondents but did not deny the Taliban claim that senior US diplomats had met their representatives. Last week, State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert confirmed that Ms Wells was in Qatar last week where she met the deputy prime minister and other Qatari officials to talk about their contributions to the situation in Afghanistan. Ms Nauert also praised Qatars efforts for promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan, adding that Ms Wells went there to commend the government for their ongoing support for peace in Afghanistan. AKRON, Ohio - An Akron-based maker of tiny electronic devices reports a big upside to participating in a 12-month pilot program in which eBay offers training in the use of eBay's online sales platform. TinyCircuits owner Ken Burns said he envisions his startup company someday listing 10,000 products on eBay, including items the company buys just to resell on the platform. "We buy a lot of this stuff anyway, so why not start importing things and reselling them," Burns said in an interview with cleveland.com. "We see that as a huge, almost side business from our existing business and it's a huge growth area we want to focus on," Burns said. Canal Place-based TinyCircuits is one of 120 companies that eBay selected from the Akron and Warren areas to participate in the eBay Retail Revival program, which began in March. The companies receive training and support from eBay as well as a complementary subscription and a dedicated eBay "concierge" to help them learn best practices for selling on the platform. Burns' customers typically are hobbyists and companies that incorporate the devices made by TinyCircuits into their own product prototypes. The company's main product, TinyDuino, is a miniature open-source electronics platform. But Burns decided to go in a different direction with his eBay store in an effort to appeal to a wider audience. "On eBay, people aren't out there searching for a tiny piano or something like that, so we're selling more componentry," Burns said. TinyCircuits now has about 100 products listed on eBay - a variety of small motors, pumps and batteries, some of which the company modifies - and Burns is pleased with how quickly the products are selling. One employee devotes half their hours to the eBay sales, and Burns hopes TinyCircuits will be part of a program eBay is rolling out to fund an intern position through the University of Akron. Burns said the education he has received through the program and the insights he gained talking with other eBay sellers at events helped him learn about opportunities he wasn't aware of previously. "We did sell on eBay before, but we didn't really market it or pay attention to it," he said. "When eBay came to town and we learned about the program and the marketing push they are putting behind it, we really saw a big opportunity there to greatly expand our sales through a platform like eBay." 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. BAY VILLAGE, Ohio -- Drunken driving, Lake Road: A Bay Village police officer stopped a car on Lake at Dover Center Road for a traffic violation at about 1 a.m. July 21. After speaking with the 51-year-old driver, the officer suspected that she had been drinking. The woman performed field sobriety tests, after which officers arrested the Avon Lake resident for operating a vehicle while impaired. Drunken driving, Porter Creek Road: An officer stopped a car at about 3:20 a.m. July 19 on Porter Creek near Lake Road for suspicious activity. The officer had observed the car driving through Cahoon Park after hours. The officer suspected that the 18-year-old driver had been drinking. Because of the driver's performance on field sobriety tests, police arrested the North Ridgeville resident for operating a vehicle while impaired. Theft from vehicles, Narragansett Drive: A resident called police about 10 a.m. July 18 to report that both of her unlocked vehicles had been entered overnight. Loose change and $10 in bills were taken. Police are investigating. Police remind residents to remove valuables from vehicles and lock the doors. Drunken driving, Tuttle Drive: Police stopped an 18-year-old woman at about 11:25 p.m. July 17 on Tuttle at Walmar Drive for several traffic violations. The officer suspected the driver had been drinking. Police administered field sobriety tests and arrested the Avon Lake resident for operating a vehicle while impaired. Curfew and drugs, Cahoon Park: Police stopped a car shortly after midnight July 20 in the Cahoon Park walking path parking lot for a curfew violation. The officer, after speaking with the driver, suspected drugs were in the car. The officer conducted a probable-cause search and discovered suspected marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Police cited the Avon Lake resident for the violations. To comment on this story, please visit Saturday's crime and courts comment section. CLEVELAND, Ohio - From next weekend's Ohio sales-tax holiday to a flurry of in-store ads, online promotions and mail, back-to-school shopping is in full swing. But the seasonal marketing crush, including next week's Ohio sales tax holiday, doesn't necessarily mean families will do most of their purchasing during the next month. Take Toni Hicks, a Richmond Heights resident and mother of four. She describes herself as a bargain shopper who buys for her kids, students ranging fourth grade to college, throughout the year - not just right before school starts. "Between clothes, shoes, backpacks and school supplies, I'll probably spend about $1,200 before school starts," Hicks said while shopping at an East Side Marshalls store. "But I buy stuff all year long when I can find good deals." The annual back-to-school shopping season is far from dead, but it's not the same as yesteryear's. More parents and college students say they're waiting for the best deals to complete their shopping lists, according to survey results released this month by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights and Analytics, a consumer-research firm. The retail federation estimates that back-to-school spending on kids and college students will hit $82.8 billion this year, just shy of last year's $83.6 billion tally. Families with children in elementary school through high school are likely to spend $27.5 billion of that, or $684.79 on average, barely down from $687.72 last year. Sales Tax Holiday is a benefit: not a major impact for customers or retailers But despite back-to-school shopping being a rite of passage for millions of families, data from various studies and retail experts say that no one event drives consumers back-to-school shopping habits, including Ohio's tax-free weekend. College students put electronics first on their lists Most of the back-to-school spending forecast is tied to college students. Families with children heading to college, along with college and graduate students buying for themselves, expect to spend $942.17 on average. That's a slight decline from $969.88 last year, the retail federation reported. Using back-to-school signs in stores including Target and Kohl's and catalogues like Dell's mailers promoting computer deals and discounts, retailers are courting shoppers in an attempt to grab those dollars. Tech giant Apple recently revealed its back-to-school promotion, similar to last year's, offering college students and their parents perks if they buy a new Apple product. The freebie is a pair of Beats headphones for buyers of a new Mac or iPad Pro. The offer went live July 12 and will continue until Sept. 25 Noel Springer, 20, recently perused MacBooks at Eton Chagrin Boulevard shopping center in Woodmere, in preparation for her first year at Kent State University. The Kent resident expects to spend about $1,000 on a new computer. While browsing, she couldn't ignore the row of Beats headphones propped up next to the laptops and iPads. "I have a computer, but it's six years old, and it kind of dies on me all of the time," she said. "I'm looking at both the MacBooks and the iPad Pros. ... But I don't plan on buying any new clothes before school starts." That puts Springer squarely in line with other college shoppers, who are reserving the biggest chunk of their budgets for electronic devices. But overall, apparel remains the most popular back-to-school category. Families and students of all ages plan to spend $236.90, on average, on clothes, according to the retail federation. Gadgets including computers, calculators and phones came in second, with the typical shopper poised to spend $187.10. Shoppers also budgeted for shoes, at $138.66 on average, and school supplies like notebooks, pencils, backpacks and lunch boxes, costing $122.13. As consumer habits shift, electronics accounted for the biggest change - a drop - in projected back-to-school spending this year, Mark Mathews, vice president of research development and industry analysis for the retail federation, said in a news release. "Items like laptops, tablets and smartphones are now an everyday part of household life and aren't necessarily a purchase parents save for the start of the school year," he said. Tax holiday offers savings on clothing and supplies Ohio parents and students looking to conserve their back-to-school budgets might consider waiting until next weekend, Aug. 3-5, when they can take advantage of extra savings during the state's fourth annual sales-tax holiday. The exemption from sales taxes applies Friday through Sunday and is limited to specific items: pieces of clothing priced at $75 or less and school supplies that cost up to $20 each. There's no limit on the number of qualifying items a shopper can buy. For more than two decades, various states have offered sales-tax holidays for many items on back-to-school shopping lists. State laws vary widely, as does the option for communities to participate or pass. Consumers generally can save 5 to 10 percent on purchases, depending on local tax rates. In Northeast Ohio counties, sales taxes range from 6.5 to 8 percent. Ohio requires all vendors, including online retailers, to participate. Online shopping broadens choices for parents, students Many big-box retailers have built-up their online presence with swift shipping for online orders and in-store pickup options. Several stores offer families the ability to access school lists online that are created by teachers across the nation. Parents can look up a child's school to find their customized list and then simply add the items to their digital cart for a hassle-free shopping experience. Some shoppers likely will turn to Amazon.com for deals and promotions, and the convenience of saving time. Over half the members of Amazon Prime, a program that offers free shipping on many items and other perks for a monthly or annual fee, are millennials, born roughly between the early 1980s and mid-1990s. That generation now accounts for more than a quarter of the U.S. population. And some millennials are stepping into the role of "back-to-school shopper" for their young children - and bringing along expectations for choice and convenience. Last year, Amazon.com customers purchased more pencils, pens, notebooks, glue sticks, lunchboxes and backpacks on Prime Day than any other day of the year. An Amazon spokesman said they choose not to comment for a back-to-school story. Their focus is strictly on last week's Prime Day, which created a consumer frenzy at an odd time of the year. This year, Prime Day was their most successful yet, with more than 100 million products sold. But make no mistake, Amazon expects to get a big share of back-to-school purchases. The online giant recently launched two new back-to-school shops, one aimed at K-12 and one for college-bound students. CLEVELAND, Ohio - A man was found shot early Sunday outside the Cleveland police Second District headquarters by an off-duty officer, police said. The shooting victim was found about 1:45 a.m. near the police station on Fulton Road near Marvin Avenue, on the border between the city's Clark-Fulton and Brooklyn Centre neighborhoods, Cleveland police spokesman Det. Reginald Lanton said. The victim suffered three gunshot wounds, police said. He was taken to MetroHealth for treatment. Police later learned that a second victim, possibly from the same shooting, suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and was taken to MetroHealth in a private vehicle. No further details about the shooting, including its circumstances, were released Sunday morning. No suspects have been publicly identified. If you'd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section. Guest columnist Andrew Bajda serves as an assistant professor of business administration at Cuyahoga Community College. He spent three years researching and writing "Captured in Liberation," a book that captures the power of freedom and the enduring strength of family. Andrew Bajda (Photo Courtesy of Tamara London) My journey seemed complete as I scanned the lavish reception hall of the Polish ambassador's residence in Washington, D.C., a drink in one hand and a crowded plate of hors d'oeuvres in the other. My 94-year-old father stood nearby, surrounded by a circle of guests, including smartly dressed women and decorated military officers. His smile was still visible from when Ambassador Piotr Wilczek had singled him out in a televised speech moments earlier. "I extend a special welcome to Mr. Marian Bajda, a surviving officer of Anders' Army who came all the way from Cleveland, Ohio, to be with us today," Wilczek said. But my journey, I learned moments later, was about to take an unexpected turn. The ambassador's secretary spotted me in the crowd and asked if my father and I would be available to meet with Wilczek. He led us upstairs, where polite introductions quickly grew into an animated discussion between my father and the ambassador in their native Polish. The conversation eventually drifted back to English, allowing me to present the ambassador with a gift of my father's story in print, "Captured in Liberation." I shared how much I enjoy giving talks on my book, to experience firsthand the range of reactions: from proud Poles who feel their story is finally being told to World War II enthusiasts surprised to learn how an occupied country fielded a mythical army so pivotal to the Allied war effort. Wilczek then reached for his phone, dialed and began speaking rapid-fire Polish before closing in a language I understood: "He doesn't understand Polish, so you'll have to speak to him in English. I think Cleveland would be a perfect place to host the Trail of Hope exhibit." The ambassador handed me the phone, and just like that, I was speaking to Minister Anna Maria Anders, daughter of perhaps the most fabled general in Poland's illustrious military history. What made that moment so surreal was that, until a few years ago, I knew virtually nothing of my family's story. I grew up -- like so many Clevelanders in the '60s and '70s -- more sensitive to the onslaught of ethnic jokes than curious about my ancestry. In 2014, I began a quest to learn my father's story and the epic journey of Anders' Army across three continents on the Trail of Hope. My father was part of that trail, surviving capture and daring escapes as a teen on a personal quest to join Anders' Army and liberate Poland. Retracing his steps led me by sea and rail across seven countries, through Transylvania and the Carpathian Mountains and the Alps. The journey took me to a cellar in bustling Bucharest, where my father was hidden by the Underground, and inside the ghostly walls of Auschwitz, where a family member was brutally murdered. Every stop brought lessons from the past, and unmistakable warmth emanated from both family and strangers, spreading hope for the future. Andrew Bajda's book, "Captured in Liberation," is available at bookstores, through online retailers or at www.abajda.com. The Trail of Hope exhibit will visit Cleveland and be on display Sept. 19-30 at the Polish American Cultural Center, 6501 Lansing Ave., in Slavic Village. A reception with Minister Anders is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 22. Have something to say about this topic? Use the comments to share your thoughts, and stay informed when readers reply to your comments by using Notification Settings (in blue) just below. Readers are invited to submit Opinion page essays on topics of regional or general interest. Send your 500-word essay for consideration to Ann Norman at anorman@cleveland.com. Essays must include a brief bio and headshot of the writer. Essays rebutting today's topics are also welcome. CLEVELAND, Ohio - Fifty years after the deadly Glenville shootout in Cleveland, there is no consensus to a basic question: What should we call the violent neighborhood upheaval? Was it a spontaneous riot? Was it an uprising of economically oppressed people? Was it a premeditated massacre of police officers? How exactly should Cleveland remember and continue to learn from the violent week that saw the shooting deaths of three Cleveland police officers, three civilian combatants and an innocent bystander? It remains important that we continue to parse and understand the conditions that contributed to the destructive week of July 23, 1968 - an infamous week of arson, looting and murder from which Glenville has not recovered. This past Monday, a forum entitled "Truth and Reconciliation" was held at Cleveland State University. On a rainy afternoon, more than 50 people gathered at the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs to hear several panelists discuss the destruction of the once storied Cleveland neighborhood. I made a point to attend the forum once I learned that former Cleveland Police Chief Edward P. Kovacic, 88, would participate in the discussion. Kovacic's common sense is rivaled only by his ability to recount highly entertaining stories of a law enforcement career spent corralling criminals and commanding officers. He's a local treasure. The Ed Kovacic I saw at the Glenville forum was unfamiliar to me. His voice shook. I could sense the raw pain and anger the Glenville memories still summon for him. Five decades after three of his colleagues were murdered and several others injured during the Glenville violence, the former chief still carries emotional wounds. "I'm here today because I don't want that day ever to be forgotten in this city," he told the audience. By the chief's reckoning, what happened in Glenville on the fateful week was premeditated murder - pure and simple. Many people agree with him. They contend that the shootout was carefully planned and orchestrated by Ahmed Evans, a Black Nationalist, who hoped to spark a race war. Evans was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. He died in prison of cancer. Sharing the stage with Kovacic that afternoon was Norma Jean Freeman, a noted Glenville community activist and neighborhood leader. She offered another perspective on that bloody week that decimated the Glenville neighborhood. Freeman knew Ahmed Evans. She considered him a friend and a visionary. She and her husband, Don, occasionally would invite Evans to their home for conversations about black economic empowerment and necessary steps for racial progress. "I'm here to represent the humanity of Ahmed Evans," she said in a soft voice that could not mask the strength of her convictions in regards to Evans - or her love for Glenville. The diametrically opposing views of Freeman and Kovacic couldn't have been any more pronounced or honest. Both views needed to be heard. More importantly, both points of view need to be understood by current and future generations of people committed to restoring Cleveland. "One of the most important lessons learned is that trust comes before truth and reconciliation," said Lee Fisher, dean of the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at CSU and moderator for the forum. "As a member of the Cleveland Police Commission, I am cautiously optimistic that we are slowly tearing down the walls of distrust between police and the community built up over many decades. Change happens at the speed of trust," Fisher told me Friday afternoon. Glenville exploded into murder 50 years ago when rage boiled into a toxic stew of hopelessness and dangerous distrust in the criminal justice system. That's why trust between Cleveland residents and Cleveland police must continue to be painstakingly built and earned. It's a two-way street. Remembering the lessons of the violent fall of Glenville is crucial to shepherding its potential for restoration. 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 NORTH RIDGEVILLE, Ohio -- Drunken driving, Avon Belden Road: On July 21, a gas station employee reported that an intoxicated driver was preparing to leave the premises. Police located the suspect on Chestnut Ridge Road and attempted to pull over the driver. The suspect failed to comply and the officers pursued the driver onto Ohio 57, where he eventually stopped in traffic. During an inventory of the vehicle, a small amount of cocaine was located on the passenger seat. The 68-year-old Lorain man was charged with traffic violations; possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia; wanton disregard for safety on streets; drunken driving and excessive BAC; and failure to comply with a police officer. Theft, Boulder Drive: A resident reported a firearm stolen from an unlocked car sometime between July 14 and July 22. Theft by deception, Jason Drive: A man reported paying for concert tickets on Craigslist on July 24 but never received the tickets. Disorderly conduct, Lear Nagle Road: A resident reported a domestic disturbance on July 20. Police responded to the area, and a woman was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct-persisting and transported to the hospital. Improper handling of a firearm, Lorain Road: A Taco Bell employee reported on July 17 that a man had been passed out in a van in their parking lot for about an hour. The suspect told police he was working as a Lyft driver and had fallen asleep. A search of the van revealed a marijuana smoking pipe and a loaded 9-mm handgun. He was arrested and charged with improperly handling a firearm in a motor vehicle and marijuana paraphernalia possession. Fleeing, Ohio 10: On July 16, police assisted the Ohio State Highway Patrol with a pursuit that entered the city. Police deployed stop sticks to end the pursuit. An unrelated car was damaged by the stop sticks. Drunken driving, Stoney Ridge Road: On July 24, police came upon a disabled motor vehicle and determined that the driver was under the influence. The 20-year-old Sheffield Lake woman was arrested on charges of drunken driving, traffic violations, underage possession of alcohol and possession of marijuana. She was released to family and the car was impounded. Drunken driving, Lear Nagle Road: Police were dispatched for a car crash on July 17. An 11-year-old was injured and transported to the hospital. A North Olmsted man was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, and the vehicle was towed. Burglary, Pitts Boulevard: A family reported that their home was burglarized on July 17. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- It looks as if Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown and his Republican opponent, Rep. Jim Renacci, are going to have three debates in the 'Three C's' before the November election. Brown's campaign on Saturday night issued a statement saying his and Renacci's teams had agreed to the three debates -- one each in Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus. On Sunday afternoon, Renacci's campaign confirmed that they are interested in participating in those debates in those cities -- subject to final negotiations -- although they hope there will be at least one more debate, if not more. The times and dates have not been determined. If this ends up happening, the debates would be very similar to the three debates Brown conducted in those three cities during his last re-election campaign in 2012. The Renacci campaign wants at least one of three agreed upon debates to be solely focused on tax-related issues, according to a spokeswoman, but the Brown campaign hasn't agreed to that. If that's all you want to know, stop reading here. But if you want a flavor of the quibbling that often accompanies debate negotiations between high-profile political candidates, the story continues. The public debate talk for Ohio's Senate race began on Friday, when the New York Times published a story quoting Brown saying he'd be willing to devote an entire debate with Renacci solely to the recently passed Republican tax overhaul. Brown told the Times that Republicans "should be ashamed of their tax bill, and I think they are," and "I think this is a fundamental difference between the two parties." Brown and the Renacci campaign had been negotiating parameters for debates around the same time the story came out. Late Saturday afternoon, the Renacci campaign issued a statement to the media saying Renacci accepted Brown's "offer." "As a chief architect of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, I would like nothing more than to devote an entire debate to talking about all the ways this important legislation has helped Ohio families and small businesses," Renacci said in the statement. Later that evening, the Brown campaign issued a statement of their own. Preston Maddock, a campaign spokesman, announced the two sides had agreed to debates in Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus. "Last week our campaign had a good conversation with the Renacci campaign about candidate debates this fall," Maddock said. "The campaigns mutually agreed to three debates total, which will be held in Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati. We look forward to continuing good faith discussions with the Renacci campaign to ensure that voters have the opportunity to learn more about the clear contrast in this race." Shortly afterward, Renacci campaign spokeswoman Leslie Shedd protested in a pair of Twitter posts. She said the two sides had agreed to "at least" three debates, but that "no locations had been confirmed." She also said that the Renacci campaign had asked about a fourth debate, but that Brown's campaign manager said he'd only do three. Just to clarify, we have agreed to AT LEAST three debates but no locations have been confirmed. Wed love to have more than three debates. @SherrodBrown told @jimtankersley he wanted at least one debate on taxes - and we have publicly accepted that. Leslie Shedd (@leslieshedd) July 29, 2018 We actually specifically asked that this tax debate - that was suggested by @SherrodBrown to @jimtankersley - would be a fourth debate. But we were shut down by @JustinBarasky who said Brown would only do 3 debates. As a note, there are 12 different media markets in Ohio. #ohsen Leslie Shedd (@leslieshedd) July 29, 2018 Maddock, in his own Twitter post responding to Shedd, since deleted, said she was "lying." So what's the disconnect? In a Sunday interview, Shedd acknowledged the Renacci campaign had been discussing holding three debates with the Brown campaign in those three cities. But negotiations hadn't been finalized, and the Renacci campaign had hoped for more debates, particularly following the New York Times story, she said. The Brown campaign unilaterally made the announcement without coordinating with the Renacci campaign first, as a hasty attempt at damage control, she said. "It was completely underhanded and ridiculous, and they did all of this to cover up what Sherrod Brown had done, which is commit to a debate which they know he can't win," Shedd said. She said Renacci is interested in holding the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati debates -- subject to negotiations on the dates, format and other details. The campaign is still hoping for a fourth debate -- if not more -- but if that's not possible, they want at least one of the three debates to dedicated solely to taxes, she said. In a statement, Mandi Merritt, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, called on Brown to debate Renacci on the tax plan. "Sherrod Brown should finish what he started and debate Congressman Renacci on the merits of the tax cuts - a debate that Congressman Renacci will easily win," she said. As for the Brown campaign, they're not commenting beyond their initial statement. Small business is starting to go digital, as smartphone apps, cloud sharing and automation help many of them get more work done in less time. Technology is often billed as a means to replace human labor, yet recent data suggest that small businesses are actually looking to boost headcount, even as they shell out more cash to streamline operations. According to the National Federation of Independent Business Research Center, 36 percent of small companies were not able to fill open positions in June, matching the survey's record high from November 2000. For smaller firms, one method being used to attract new workers is with shorter or remote work hours. Chris Petrella, the CEO of Unlimited Power, started his company four years ago. He employs veterans to manufacture portable solar microgrids used to increase energy efficiency. By using new technology, Petrella compressed employees' hours to 26 hours per week, and pays them on salary so that they receive the same compensation as they would for a typical 40 hour week. "Employees come in at 10 a.m. and leave at 4 p.m., outside of rush hour," Petrella said. "It's good for family life, getting kids to and from school." Petrella has always been forward-thinking about using new technology. His next hope: "Star Trek"-like transporter technology that can ship products instantaneously from place to place. Until transportation takes a big leap forward, there are businesses like Square. Its website builder Weebly recently partnered with Shippo to make small business shipping more accessible. Invoices and payment are also available via Square. Marie Rosecrans, senior vice president of SMB Marketing at Salesforce.com, explained that new tools are making tech accessible and helping to "future-proof" small businesses. Yet data from Salesforce recently showed 53 percent of small businesses would like to employ technology, but don't because it can be expensive. Echoing that theme, a 2013 survey by the National Small Business Association showed that more than 70 percent of respondents felt it was "very important" to keep up with changing technology trends, yet more than 40 percent of them were concerned by costs and cybersecurity breaches. Those issues are front and center for business owners like El Paso, Texas-based CEO Brianna Barnes, who manages two companies: Kayton Lee Residential and Rosewood Homes. When she first started the custom home building company three years ago, Barnes used to pour 50 to 60 hours a week into Kayton Lee. Now, she is able to put just 30 hours per week into each company while achieving better output by using iCloud and Excel spreadsheets. Yet Barnes admitted newer technology is harder to incorporate into her small business, primarily because rising costs and less time to learn operations. She felt the future of tech could be beneficial to her company, but she currently lacks the capacity to make bigger changes yet. An American Airlines Boeing 737 passenger plane taxis from a gate to the runway at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C. A system-wide computer outage at American Airlines resulted in a brief nationwide halt on Sunday for the company's flights. The company's main operating system failed for roughly 30 minutes before normal services resumed, according to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration on Twitter. "@AmericanAir main operating system and dispatch went down around 2:05 p.m. ET this afternoon. Working with the #FAA, a national ground stop was implemented for their flights. It has since been restored around 2:45 p.m. ET. Please check with your airline about your flight status." Company spokesperson Michelle Mohr confirmed the outage to CNBC, adding that a brief connectivity issue was responsible for the widespread outage. After some irate travelers vented on social media, Mohr stressed that the issue didn't result in any cancellations, and caused only nine delays across the entire system. American's outage ranged across U.S. cities, with customers complaining of delays from Chicago to Minneapolis. "If you are a Democrat and stand up to [Senator] Elizabeth Warren to corral enough votes for financial reform that breaks barriers for community banks and families, you're darn right we will work with you." "I know this is uncomfortable," Seidel told a group of donors and at least two GOP lawmakers who were sitting in the crowd. Koch network officials estimate there are approximately 500 donors attending this year's conference. During a seminar on Sunday titled "Transforming the network's effectiveness" at the Koch network's summit in Colorado Springs, Emily Seidel, the CEO of Americans for Prosperity, made it clear that working with Democrats will be on the table going forward especially when it comes to reducing government spending and cutting back on financial regulations. Leaders of the political network financed by billionaire industrialist Charles Koch called on their top donors to back them in a new initiative: Supporting Democratic lawmakers on issues the organization believe reflect its priorities. Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat who's been floated as a potential 2020 presidential contender, has been a strong proponent of increasing regulation on the banking industry. She cheered on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau when it was first created under President Barrack Obama. Seidel then gave a stern warning to Republicans who voted for a $1.3 trillion spending bill that was passed in March. "If you are a Republican who sits on the committee that wrote the worst spending bill in our country's history and you voted for it, you're darn right we will hold you accountable," Seidel said. Two Republicans who voted for the spending package, Senator Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Congressman Doug Collins, R-GA, were in attendance. Koch himself, in a rare briefing with reporters on Sunday, also distanced himself from the idea of solely backing Republican lawmakers. He was asked by reporters if he would be OK if Democrats took over the House of Representatives during the 2018 Congressional midterm elections. Koch replied that he hopes to see people in power who will back policies that will "move toward a society, mutual benefit, equal rights, where everybody has the opportunity to realize their full potential," he said. "I don't care what initials are in front or after somebody's name." The public turn by the billionaire and his network against a few of the latest Republican initiatives on Sunday, including President Donald Trump's decision to implement import tariffs, is the latest in a sharp reversal by Koch away from backing candidates, and toward a policy based agenda. In July, Americans for Prosperity unleashed a digital advertising campaign in support of North Dakota Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp, thanking her for co-sponsoring the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protect Act, a bill that rolls back Dodd-Frank Act regulations mainly on community banks, or those with less than $100 billion in assets. It recently passed in Congress with bipartisan support. In May, the group unveiled a six figure advertisement onslaught targeting Democratic and Republican lawmakers who backed the trillion dollar spending package but the majority of the ads were against GOP congressmen. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla., was among the Republicans, although he decided not to seek re-election this year. The others were Reps. Hal Rogers of Kentucky; Lou Barletta of Pennsylvania, who is challenging Democratic Sen. Bob Casey this fall; Mike Bishop of Michigan; Mike Simpson of Idaho; John Carter of Texas; Robert Aderholt of Alabama; Mark Amodei of Nevada; Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska; and Ken Calvert of California. As for Trump's tariff policy, Koch acknowledged that tensions between the United States and their trading partners such as the European Union and China, could turn into a full scale trade war. "If it's severe enough it could," Koch said. CORRECTION: This article has been updated to reflect Sen. Tim Scott represents South Carolina. Canada, the European Union, Japan, Mexico and South Korea will meet in Geneva next week to discuss how to respond to threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on U.S. imports of autos and car parts, officials familiar with the talks said. The Trump administration has come under heavy criticism from automakers, foreign governments and others as it considers tariffs of up to 25 percent, a levy critics warn will hike vehicle costs, hurting auto sales and global industry jobs. Several auto manufacturing powers have been talking to each other in recent days about their fears and a possible coordinated response to Trump's "Section 232" investigation, which he ordered on May 23, into whether auto imports are a threat to U.S. security, sources say. The probe could be completed within weeks, although similar ones ordered last year that led to tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminium took about 10 months. The Commerce Department has 270 days to offer recommendations to the president after such a probe starts. He then has 90 days to act upon them. It was not immediately clear what kind of response the countries could be looking at, although Canada, the EU and Mexico retaliated with their own tariffs after Trump imposed levies on steel and aluminium imports in March. Another option is to fight the United States at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Deputy ministers will gather in Geneva on July 31 to hear each other's views, a Canadian official and a Mexican official told Reuters, asking to not be named because they were not authorized to talk to the media. "The meeting is meant to bring together major auto producing nations so we can discuss our concerns over the U.S. Department of Commerce's Section 232 investigation of automobiles and parts," said the Canadian government official. Mexico's economy ministry confirmed Deputy Economy Minister Juan Carlos Baker will travel to Geneva for "work meetings about several subjects," including meeting World Trade Organization (WTO) chief Roberto Azevedo. The Canadian foreign ministry declined to comment. According to the WTO website, Azevedo will meet Baker on Monday, followed by Canada's Deputy Trade Minister Timothy Sargent and Japan's Senior Deputy Foreign Minister Kazuyuki Yamazaki on Tuesday. The Mexican official said the meetings were related to the auto tariff issue. Eventual tariffs on autos could hit companies including Korea's Hyundai Motor Co, Japan's Toyota Motor Corp and Germany's BMW, as well as global factories for U.S. brands General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV. Trump's agreement on Wednesday to refrain from imposing car tariffs on the EU in return for reduced trade barriers for U.S. products has helped cool fears of a trade war, but his final decision will not be known until the security investigation is concluded in coming months. The U.S. automakers lowered their full-year profit forecasts on Wednesday due to the trade frictions, and their stocks fell as investors bet the disputes would hurt margins and sales. Although hopes of a breakthrough in U.S.-EU trade talks boosted carmakers on Thursday, the planned meetings are a sign that auto-producing nations want to prepare for the worst. The political network funded by billionaire industrialist Charles Koch is unveiling the latest phase in a multi million dollar campaign against import tariffs implemented by President Donald Trump, CNBC has learned. Freedom Partners, one of the groups that is part of the larger network, is announcing a six-figure television ad campaign entitled "Trade not aid," which describes that importance of trade and the harm tariffs have on the farming community. The news was announced on the second day of the Koch network donor summit in Colorado Springs. Beyond the ad's attempt to highlight the vital role of the agricultural sector, it also questions Trump's recently announced $12 billion aid package to help farmers. "American farmers work hard to put food on our tables but because of new tariffs our farmers livelihoods are at risks," the ad states. It later concludes by saying: "Farmers want trade, not aid." Trump recently announced import tariffs on a variety of goods coming from China, the European Union, Canada and Mexico. Many of those critical trading partners have retaliated with billions of dollars' worth of trade barriers of their own against exports coming out of the United States. In addition, Freedom Partners, along with two other network organizations in Americans for Prosperity and The LIBRE Initiative, sent a letter to Trump. The groups called on him to rejoin the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), while congratulating the administration's economic policy achievements of tax reform, reducing financial regulations and inching toward an agreement with EU President Jean-Claude Juncker about removing the tariffs. The groups argued, however, that if the U.S. doesn't agree to go back into the TPP, the 11 other original countries who are still part of it will forge ahead with their rebranded Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Such a move could put American businesses at a disadvantage, it added. "As a practical matter, once the CPTPP is in full effect American businesses will be at a distinct competitive disadvantage when trying to sell in these markets and our consumers will miss out on lower-priced goods," the letter stated. The new ad buy and letter to the president comes the same day as Koch admitted in a rare press briefing that a full blown trade war could be on the horizon. "If it's severe enough it could," Koch said when asked about whether Trump's protectionist policies could result in a trade war. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks to participants during the Viva Technologie show at Parc des Expositions Porte de Versailles on May 24, 2018, in Paris. Chesnot | Getty Images Microsoft again gained more market share in the cloud business than top competitors in the second quarter, one technology research firm said. The findings suggest Microsoft is posing more competition to the public cloud market leader, Amazon. They come as Amazon and Alphabet's Google release products that address a key area that Microsoft embraced before they did: "hybrid cloud," which means customers can use a mixture of cloud services and software they run in their own data centers, and manage both with a common set of tools. In the second quarter, Microsoft Azure held 14 percent share in the cloud infrastructure market, Synergy Research said late on Thursday. Microsoft gained 3 percentage points of market share year over year, while Amazon was flat at 34 percent and Google was up 1 percentage point, coming in at 6 percent. Microsoft also had more share gains than Amazon and Microsoft in the fourth quarter and the first quarter, according to Synergy's calculations. (This market is distinct from software-as-a-service, and does not include hosted applications such as Microsoft Office 365, Salesforce, or Workday.) While reporting second-quarter earnings on Thursday, Amazon reported its cloud generated $6.11 billion in revenue, up almost 49 percent. Microsoft didn't disclose quarterly revenue for its Azure cloud but said Azure revenue grew 89 percent. Google didn't provide cloud numbers or growth rates for the quarter. On Microsoft's July 19 earnings call, Morgan Stanley analyst Keith Weiss asked CEO Satya Nadella about how customers are changing the way they use Azure. Nadella responded by saying that there haven't been drastic changes, but instead, a previously articulated approach, to provide the same tools to run applications in organizations' data centers and in the Microsoft cloud so that companies can move things to the cloud over time, is succeeding. Microsoft was early The approach of providing common tools for on-premises and cloud applications is broadly known as "hybrid cloud," and Microsoft's key product there is called Azure Stack, which Microsoft first announced in 2015. "People use both Azure Stack plus Azure, so that continues to drive a lot of IaaS growth for us," Nadella said, referring to the particular category of infrastructure as a service. The Russian government, previously considered a significant holder of U.S. debt, has been steadily and sharply paring down the vast majority of its holdings of U.S. Treasury securities. Russian holdings of Treasury securities declined 84 percent between March and May, falling to $14.9 billion from $96.1 billion in just two months, according to a U.S. Treasury Department report released July 18. Financial bloggers have pounced on the news as being potentially ominous, but a few analysts suspect the transactions are more closely related to Russia's sanctions-hit economy, and portfolio allocation. Russia's ownership of U.S. debt is eclipsed by that of China and Japan, both of whom actively manage their currencies and hold more than $1 trillion each in Treasuries on their books. In fact, China's vast holdings have been cited by some observers as a "nuclear option" in a Chinese-American trade war, with the U.S. economy seen as vulnerable to Chinese selling that could drive up yields. Major foreign holders of U.S. debt accounted for $6.21 trillion of current U.S. debt, while the total public debt outstanding is $21.3 trillion as of July 26. President Donald Trump revealed on Sunday that he met secretly with A.G. Sulzberger, the publisher of The New York Times, sparking a new clash as both men disputed the events of the meeting. On Twitter early in the day, Trump called the interaction "very good and interesting," but that description was disputed by Sulzberger himself in a statement. Trump has a long-running feud with the media in general, with the Times being a frequent target of his ire. While the president did not state when he met with Sulzberger, he tweeted that the two parties discussed "the vast amounts of fake news, and how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, 'Enemy of the People.'" Yet in a lengthy rebuttal, the Times released a statement from Sulzberger that offered the publisher's own characterization of what he discussed with Trump. Sulzberger said he expressed concern about Trump's "deeply troubling anti-press rhetoric," and that it was "eroding" the U.S. commitment to free speech and an unrestrained press. Later on Sunday, Trump blasted the Times and The Washington Post in a new series of furious tweets, denouncing both publications as "anti-Trump haters" who are "do nothing but write bad stories even on very positive achievements they will never change!" Below is the full test of Sulzberger's statement: My main purpose for accepting the meeting was to raise concerns about the president's deeply troubling anti-press rhetoric. I told the president directly that I thought that his language was not just divisive but increasingly dangerous. I told him that although the phrase "fake news" is untrue and harmful, I am far more concerned about his labeling journalists "the enemy of the people." I warned that this inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence. I repeatedly stressed that this is particularly true abroad, where the president's rhetoric is being used by some regimes to justify sweeping crackdowns on journalists. I warned that it was putting lives at risk, that it was undermining the democratic ideals of our nation, and that it was eroding one of our country's greatest exports: a commitment to free speech and a free press. Throughout the conversation I emphasized that if President Trump, like previous presidents, was upset with coverage of his administration he was of course free to tell the world. I made clear repeatedly that I was not asking for him to soften his attacks on The Times if he felt our coverage was unfair. Instead, I implored him to reconsider his broader attacks on journalism, which I believe are dangerous and harmful to our country. --The Associated Press contributed to this article. President Donald Trump called on Congress to enact sweeping immigration reform, including a border wall, and threatened a federal government shutdown if Democrats refused to back his proposals. In a series of early morning posts on Twitter, the president lambasted Congress over immigration reform. He then threatened to shut down the government if Congress didn't move U.S. laws "based on MERIT!" Tweet Earlier this year, the White House released a proposal for merit-based immigration, which floundered in Congress amid tepid support from within the president's own party. Meanwhile, Democratic leaders, who have embraced legalization of "Dreamers" as a rallying cry on immigration reform, have been galvanized by the administration's family separation policy. The administration's framework included a $25 billion "trust fund" for a border wall, a path to citizenship for "Dreamer" immigrants, and an end to foreign visa lotteries that would end a program "riddled with abuse." In an analysis of the proposal, the libertarian Cato Institute called the plan "draconian", and said it would reduce legal immigration by up to 44 percent per year. Amid searing images of undocumented families being separated at the border, Trump defended the controversial practice which was in place under the Obama administration. Trump warned that there were "consequences when people cross our Border illegally." He argued that parents attempting to cross the border are "using children for their own sinister purposes." Trump's tweet Sunday came several days after the government said more than 1,800 children separated at the U.S.-Mexico border have been reunited with parents, and sponsors after a federal judge ordered the reunions. Hundreds of children still remain separated. --The Associated Press contributed to this article. Andrew Lilico is an economist and political writer. The UK and EU appear still to be bogged down on the question of the Northern Ireland border backstop. The EU and UK have agreed (rightly or wrongly) to produce an agreed text for a Withdrawal Agreement covering citizens rights, the financial settlement and the border. The EU has proposed a legal text that (in the absence of other agreed solutions) would keep Northern Ireland inside the EUs Customs Union and Single Market whilst the rest of the UK left them, with customs checks taking place at the Irish Sea. Lets call this the Irish Sea border proposal. The UK regards the Irish Sea border proposal as unconscionable, a de facto annexing of Northern Ireland by the EU, the kind of proposal that no Prime Minister or British Government could ever accept. Indeed, the Commons recently passed an amendment to the Trade Bill which barred any agreement to put Northern Ireland into a separate customs area from the rest of the UK, and did so with such unanimity that a division was not even required. EU diplomats and officials suggest that, unless the UK accepts the Irish Sea border proposal, there can be no agreement on withdrawal terms, or indeed any future partnership. This seems patently absurd to most British onlookers. The UK has guaranteed that, even in the event of no deal, it will not impose border checks at the Northern Ireland land border. Irelands Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, revealed last week that the EU has promised him, repeatedly, that it will not impose any border checks at this border even in the event of no deal. So all parties agree that there will be a soft border. They merely dont agree on how. But since each has guaranteed to maintain a soft border unilaterally, even without the cooperation of the other, surely that ought to suffice as a backstop? Threatening that there will be no deal and a total breakdown of relations because the UK and EU cant agree on a joint way of doing what we both guarantee, in any event, wed do individually just seems absurd. The EU says the UK should de-dramatise the idea of an Irish Sea border. Since goods would be on planes or boats anyway, they claim it shouldnt be seen as that big a deal no violation of sovereignty, breaking up of the UK, or improper barrier to commerce. Checks for those leaving the island of Ireland on planes or boats persons, not goods do of course already occur, but at what we might call the Celtic Sea border (between Ireland and France) rather than the Irish Sea border. Ireland is not in the Schengen Area, instead being in a Common Travel Area with the UK. So people can be subject to passport checks at the Celtic Sea border. So if there must be checks done on goods leaving the island of Ireland, is it not more natural that they take place crossing the border where checks on persons already occur the Celtic Sea border? Lo! Did I hear someone say that for a Briton to suggest this is some kind of threat to the integrity of the EUs Single Market, violates the sovereignty of Ireland, and perhaps is even insulting? But why? I thought we were supposed to believe that checks of goods leaving the island of Ireland should be de-dramatised and were no threat to sovereignty or the integrity of markets, let alone insulting? Indeed, a Celtic Sea border should be less problematic, in sovereignty or market integrity terms, than an Irish Sea border. After all, an Irish Sea border would place checks within a country, whereas a Celtic Sea border would be checks between one country (Ireland) and other countries (the rest of the EU), where such checks (on persons not goods but checks on persons would be the Single Market in services equivalent) already occur (in relation to Schengen). One could hardly claim that these would break up the Single Market but that an Irish Sea border would not break up the UK market. Others might say: But this isnt Irelands problem. Howevrm the current impasse results in no deal, that will absolutely be a problem for Ireland perhaps more so than anyone else. If a Celtic Sea border would get us to a solution, mightnt it be worth considering? How could this idea work in practice? Well, the Irish and UK governments could agree that they would not impose any stop-and-check controls at the Northern Ireland land border, but would instead seek to enforce regulatory and tax differences across the border in much the same way that regulatory and tax compliance is delivered internally within countries through audit and whistle-blowing and on-site checks and intelligence operatives. That could be facilitated by allowing the Northern Ireland assembly, if it chose, to coordinate Northern Irelands regulations with those prevailing in the Republic in a few key areas, such as animal and plant health and welfare (which constitute a high proportion of border checks internationally). If the EUs view is that such methods could not be relied upon, the scope for non-compliance could be limited by having Celtic Sea border checks on goods. That would also have the advantage of meaning the audit, whistle-blowing, on-site checks and intelligence techniques mentioned above would only need to focus on Britain and Ireland, rather than being expanded to cover the whole EU. We ought not to require any more Ireland Northern Ireland border backstop than the undertaking that all sides have already made that, even in the event of no deal, there will be a soft border. But if some further backstop is required, a more natural and less problematic one would be a Celtic Sea border, where checks on persons already occur (apparently without threatening the integrity of the Single Market in Services), combined with cooperative away-from-the-border enforcement mechanisms on the island of Ireland. On the other hand, if people really think a Celtic Sea border is an inconceivable break-up of the Single Market, a threat to the sovereignty of Ireland and an insult to the people of Ireland, perhaps that might help Irelands Government, just a little, to understand how we in Britain think about the Irish Sea border idea? In a recent issue of the New Yorker there was a review by Patrick Radden Keefe of a documentary film, I, Dolours, composed largely of extracts from an interview with Dolours Price, a former Provisional IRA terrorist (she preferred the term volunteer), which describes in detail how she helped in the kidnapping, murder and burial of Jean McConville, a widow and mother of ten children, in Belfast in the 1970s. More than 3000 people were murdered in the Troubles, but the circumstances of McConvilles murder were particularly horrifying. Her children clung crying to her skirts in a vain attempt to prevent her abduction, and the Provos made them wait almost thirty years before confirming her death. As a result her murder has become notorious beyond the norm of terrorist horrors on both sides of the Irish border. After the Belfast Agreement the IRA admitted the kidnapping and murder of McConville, and Price broke the Provo code of omerta further by acknowledging that she had taken part in these actions on the instructions of Gerry Adams. He denies this, of course, but he also denies that he was in the IRA. In the film, however, Price gives more details of what happened and of the much more central role she played than anyone had revealed before. She was a member of a group within the Provos called The Unknowns who took on tasks requiring an especially strong stomach among which was transporting their victims, usually informers, across the border to the Republic where they could be killed and buried. Some of those being transported were unaware that there were marked for death and given various soothing explanations for the journey. Their murderers were often only slightly better informed. Price learned that McConville was a mother with a large family from her victim during the ride. She went ahead anyway. Indeed, she did rather more. She and her two companions were supposed to hand McConville to local Provos for the actual murder. But: They didnt want to do it, she says, of the local IRA men. They couldnt bring themselves to execute her. Probably because she was a woman. So you guys had to do it? Ed Moloney, the American journalist who carried out the interview, asks. There had been a grave dug by the Dundalk unit, Price says. So the three Unknowns took McConville to the edge of the grave and shot her in the back of the head. Price paid no legal price for her role in this murder, but she may have suffered a worse penalty. Keefe tells us that she had struggled with alcohol and prescription pills, and been diagnosed with PTSD [and] she was being treated at a local psychiatric hospital. She died in 2013, not long after the interview, of an overdose of pills. Though Keefe tells us that she was composed and coherent in the interview, he also observes that in describing the murder she slips into the third person and what Anthony Daniels has explained as the excusative version of the passive voice:It is clear in the film that she is acknowledging her own responsibility, yet she recounts the act as though it was carried out by someone else. McConville was taken by the three volunteers to the grave, and shot in the back of the head by one of the volunteers, Price tells Moloney. In the end, however, she faces up both to what she has done and to the limited benefits of a purely psychological confession. Some consequences she cannot escape: Do the disappeared haunt you? Moloney asks Price. Yes, she replies. I think back on those who I had responsibility for driving away. Im not a deeply religious person, but I would say a prayer for them. Moloney asks if she regards such forced disappearances as a war crime, and Price responds, I think its a war crime. Yes. One cannot help being reminded of Act V, Scene i, of Macbeth: Lady Macbeth: Heres the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, oh, oh! Doctor: What a sigh is there! The heart is sorely charged. Gentlewoman: I would not have such a heart in my bosom for the dignity of the whole body. The film I, Dolours is, among other things, an opportunity for the rest of us to reflect on the truths of McConvilles murder and of the wider massacre that was the Troubles. Keefes book on the case, Say Nothing, which is to be published next year, is likely to be another one. But weve missed other such opportunities, and we shouldnt miss this one. I, Dolours should be shown at peak viewing hours on the major establishment media in Ireland and Britain, including both the BBC and RTE, and made the subject of their principal discussion programs. American media too should treat it as an important event. For it demonstrates the harsh and terrible consequences of terrorism, for the terrorists as well as for their innocent victims and Jean McConville was innocent, whatever comforting myths about her being an informer that Adams and the Provos still tell themselves to keep the ghosts of the disappeared at bay. Its vital those consequences be known because many of the young people who became Provo terrorists did so from motives and ideals that were essentially frivolous. They had posters on their university walls of Che Guevara, of whose mass judicial executions they knew little and cared less. They had seen French students hurling stones at policemen in Paris during the 1968 manifestations but they somehow didnt notice that these riots provoked an election landslide for de Gaulle. They failed to apply any critical faculty to the Irish Republican myths that brushed a million Protestants out of history and out of their minds but not out of Ireland. They ignored the clear signs that Unionist leaders in the North and Irish prime ministers in the South were moving progressively to remove the discrimination and abuses that still afflicted both sides of Ireland, albeit the North disproportionately. Details, details. For they felt revolution was in the air and they didnt want to miss the party. As a result they shot policemen and blew up innocent bystanders in a terrorist campaign that made most Ulster Protestants their determined enemies, retarded the necessary civil rights reforms that were eventually achieved by democratic politicians, and succeeded not in achieving a united Ireland but in making Ian Paisley First Minister at Stormont. Some who joined the party realised this malign drift of events in time and got out of the struggle before they had committed themselves too deeply to murder and worse. But others had pulled a trigger or planted a bomb that left a man maimed, or a woman dead, or a child orphaned. And they now faced a future of bleak choices. To deliberately kill another human being is to cross a Rubicon, and the Rubicon is an oddly deceptive river. Its moderately difficult to cross but quite impossible to re-cross. So the temptation is to continue on the same course. After all, as the theologians will tell you, any sin is easier to commit the second time, even murder. And if one can justify a first murder, doesnt that justification point to the necessity of a second murder, and a third until eventually you find yourself at a freshly-dug grave behind a frightened mother of ten with a gun in your hand. You never expected to go that far, but after the first murder, what choice did you have? You had another choice, of course, but initially at least it is a painful, bitter, and lonely one requiring repentance and restitution. Sean OCallaghan took that second course in 1976 when he resigned from the IRA in which he had been an active volunteer for a decade, contacted the Irish authorities, and for two long periods worked inside the IRA as an informer for the Dublin and London governments, betraying several major terrorist plans and saving countless lives. That did not calm his guilt sufficiently for the two murders of Eva Martin, a teacher and part-time volunteer soldier, and Peter Flanagan, a Catholic senior officer in the RUC Special Branch he had committed while in the Provos. He went into a police station in Tunbridge Wells and confessed to their murders, was convicted on his own evidence, and sentenced to jail. After his release and the gradual end of the Troubles, he became an adviser to governments on terrorism, the author of an autobiography, The Informer, and a journalist. One of his last articles appeared in Quadrant in April last year. Sean died of a heart attack in October last year while visiting his daughter in the West Indies. In March this year he was the subject of a remarkable service of celebration and thanksgiving at St Martin in the Fields a festival of reconciliation that brought together people from both sides of politics and both sides of the Irish Sea. Familiar hymns were sung. Prayers were said for Sean and also for Eva Martin and Peter Flanagan. There were readings by Seans family, by young prison offenders whom the later Sean had mentored, and by friends like historian Ruth Dudley Edwards and writer Douglas Murray. Lord Salisbury, a cabinet minister at the time when Sean was in prison, revealed that, strictly against the rules, they used to have regular telephone calls to discuss how to handle the IRA in negotiations. On one occasion Sean had asked if British intelligence listened in. I certainly hope so, replied Lord Salisbury, because theyll get a far higher quality of strategic advice than they usually do. Let Sean have the last word. His son, Rory Hanrahan, read a poem written by his father about an IRA arms smuggling operation that he had helped to foil: I see seven tons of American Guns and bullets Towed into Queenstown or Cobh, As we call it now. My Guinness and my secrets satisfy. Seventy-six thousand bullets Will not shatter one limb, Or spatter brain on a pub floor. I finish my pint and walk The forty yards home. The Furies had gone elsewhere. We are analyzing the site. Please wait a few seconds.. 100% Website guernseymint.com uses latest and advanced technologies. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of . This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-10-14, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. Holland America Line recently hosted the Home from the Sea fundraiser luncheon for the Catholic Seafarers Ministry aboard at the Port of Seattle. The event was attended by the Bishop Daniel Mueggenborg, auxiliary bishop of Seattle, along with Father Paul Magnano and Deacon Joey DeLeon. A raffle for a Holland America Line cruise was held to raise funds for the center. After lunch guests were invited to tour the ship. Holland America Line is a longtime supporter of Catholic Seafarers Ministry, and we were honored to host their annual fundraising luncheon, said Orlando Ashford, Holland America Lines president. Not only is Catholic Seafarers Ministry an important part of our community, but they also serve our crew members. As Seattles hometown cruise line we are proud to help further the valuable work of this great organization supporting maritime workers who are away from home and their families, especially in this busy summer cruise season. The Catholic Seafarers' Center is a social-service agency in the Archdiocese of Seattle. Its mission is to meet the spiritual and practical needs of seafarers and maritime workers visiting and living in Seattle. The center provides a number of services to workers coming to the city, including shipping goods on their behalf, arranging transportation and coordinating recreational activities. Apparently it isn't enough to conduct body scans or pat down people who intend to fly because the TSA now has a secret, domestic Quiet Skies program that includes surveilling American travelers who are not under any investigation or suspected of wrongdoing. Before you get on a plane, do you change directions in the terminal or scan the boarding area from afar? On your last flight, did you sleep, talk to others, touch your face, use your computer, use your phone, or use the restroom? If you are the subject of a previously unknown surveillance program, then those behaviors and other minute-by-minute observations are documented by federal air marshals. Some air marshals arent even sure if the program is legal. The Boston Globe, after interviewing air marshals and reviewing internal documents, first sounded the alarm about the Quiet Skies surveillance program, which launched in March. Every day since then, there are 40 to 50 Quiet Skies passengers on domestic flights citizens who are not under investigation, not on a terrorist watch list or in screening database and air marshals surveil about 35 of them. Already under Quiet Skies, thousands of unsuspecting Americans have been subjected to targeted airport and inflight surveillance, carried out by small teams of armed, undercover air marshals, government documents show. The teams document whether passengers fidget, use a computer, have a jump in their Adams apple or a cold penetrating stare, among other behaviors, according to the records. Who is being added to the TSA Quiet Skies program Even air marshals conducting the surveillance are not certain of the full list of criteria for Quiet Skies screening. One document (pdf) states, Quiet Skies rules change based on current intelligence. Individuals may be targeted based on their travel patterns, if they are possibly affiliated with someone on a watch list, or if their flight reservation information includes email addresses or phone numbers associated to watch listed terrorism suspects. Examples of targeted Americans include a Southwest Airlines flight attendant, a federal law enforcement officer, and a businesswoman who traveled to Turkey. The Boston Globe noted that all U.S. citizens re-entering the U.S. from another country are automatically screened for inclusion in Quiet Skies. If you are a target of Quiet Skies, documentation states that you will receive enhanced screening at security checkpoints and stay on the Quiet Skies list for up to 90 days or 3 encounters, whichever comes first, after entering the United States. The tracking and following of citizens do not occur just during a flight, but also through the airport and even parking, as air marshals are asked to note the license plate or vehicle description of the pick-up vehicle of domestic arrivals. Changing clothes, shaving, changing direction, or stopping while in the airport are a few of the indicators of being abnormally aware of surroundings. A wide range of behaviors, ranging from sleeping during the flight to wide open, staring eyes or rapid eye blinking, are on the ridiculous list of documented behavioral indicators (pdf). Fidgeting, rubbing or wringing hands, exaggerated emotions, and other are also no-nos. Federal air marshals (FAMs) told The Boston Globe that the program is a waste of taxpayer dollars and actually makes the U.S. less safe, as they are not working on legitimate, potential threats. Many are not even sure if it is legal, but the TSA told The Boston Globe it is part of its mission to ensure the safety and security of passengers, crewmembers, and aircraft throughout the aviation sector. As its assessment capabilities continue to enhance, FAMS leverages multiple internal and external intelligence sources in its deployment strategy. But John Casaretti, president of the Air Marshal Association, said, Currently the Quiet Skies program does not meet the criteria we find acceptable. The American public would be better served if these [air marshals] were instead assigned to airport screening and check-in areas so that active shooter events can be swiftly ended and violations of federal crimes can be properly and consistently addressed. NEW MILFORD For more than 100 years, four panels of stained glass bearing an anchor and an omega symbol faced the green as one of St. Johns Episcopal Churchs 34 handcrafted windows. Those panels now sit on tables in Markis Tomascaks Dragonfly Studios, where he is cleaning the glass, repairing or replacing broken pieces and putting it back together using new lead. The majority of the glass is hand rolled and hand painted, though the red border pieces are mouth blown. Its more than a window, said Tomascak, who has worked in glass for 40 years and done a number of restoration jobs for area churches and homes, as well as original pieces. Once this windows restoration is complete, the church will only have one more window left thats considered a priority one a list Tomascak created about 15 years ago when the church first worked with him. Weve been saving up ever since then, said Kim Polhemus, a senior officer at St. Johns Episcopal Church. The priority twos have moved into priority one spaces. Its going to be ongoing. The congregation has been holding collections every Easter or Christmas, but is considering starting a fundraiser in honor of the churchs 275th anniversary in 2021. There are also priority threes. We have a responsibility to those who came before us and a responsibility to those who will come after us to maintain them for the history of New Milford and to the glory of God, she said. Polhemus reached out to Tomascak again several years ago when several boys spray painted the exterior of the church and threw the empty can, breaking one of the windows. He had worked for us before and we had a very good experience, she said. Hes very talented. Its a no brainer. Work on this window began about a month ago when Tomascak used a cherry picker to remove the windows. He then took them back to his studio in New Milford, where he completed two cartoon etchings of each window, essentially creating a map on how to reassemble the window. Each etching has notes on the width and type of the lead. Tomascak then photographs every inch of the windows, examining any cracks. The glass is cleaned and any broken pieces are glued back together or replaced completely. The lead is cut and the glass slotted inside. So far, only one piece needs to be replaced. We dont replace glass unless we absolutely have to and then we look for the perfect match if it even exists, he said. If it doesnt, we we look for a reasonable substitute and let the client decide. A completed window then has a piece of metal placed across the window and fastened into the wooden border so that the glass is secure but not rigid. He said the stained glass, which is only about 1/8 of an inch thick, has held up well, doing the work of a regular window for much longer than regular windows, while also displaying art and telling the story of Christianity. Each piece is unique, Polhemus said. Theyre unique in their craftsmanship, not in the story they tell. Its a tradition that dates back to the medieval times when the majority of the population couldnt read and didnt have easy access to books. Tomascak said the written word was limited or nonexistent with the majority of the stories passed down through generations. The windows were used to share these stories, focusing on Christs life or the crusades. The windows were informational, he said. Stained glass has been a staple of church architecture for centuries and includes symbols that tell a story, Rev. Jack Gilpin said. It's a way of aesthetically telling the story of God's love for God's people, he said. The glass at St. Johns includes an alpha and an omega, a reference to a passage from Revelation where God says he is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. The passage is meant to show that God is internal, Gilpin said. I find it a source of great comfort and strength, Gilpin said. Gilpin said he enjoys going into the church on the weekdays during St. Johns music program and seeing the light stream through the stained glass. Seeing the quality of the light coming through those windows in the afternoon is really psychotherapy all in itself, he said. It has an immensely calming and quieting effect on the soul and temperament that really I dont get from anyone else. Staff writer Julia Perkins contributed. WALLINGFORD - Gina Nero wants to do her part to help make doughnuts great again, or at least those produced by the famed baker Entenmanns. The 37-year-old Wallingford woman is one of five finalists vying for the title of chief donut officer with the 120-year-old brand. The individual selected to receive the honorary title will get $5,000, Entenmanns gear and a years supply of the companys donuts. I found out about it online and I thought it offered a lot of opportunity to be creative, said Nero, who works a freelance writer. As kid growing up, I used to eat Entenmanns because my grandparents used to buy the doughnuts and the strudel all the time. So this is sort of a nostalgia thing for me. The public will have an opportunity to vote for their favorite candidate for the position by going on Entenmanns website between now and Aug. 7, when the winner will be announced. The finalists were selected from a field of more than 23,000 entries. The finalists were selected for the passion, creativity, and originality or their entries. Each of finalists has recorded a video testimonial explaining why they deserve the title. For her video, Nero said she took the angle that people have been veering away from doughnuts for some time now. I thought it would be fun to enter because its such a creative campaign, Nero said. In my video, I say I want to bring doughnuts back to their rightful place. I want to take the taboo out of it. Although this is the first time Entenmanns has done a chief donut officer competition, the idea of running a contest with an honorary title is nothing new, said David Cadden, a professor emeritus at Quinnipiac Universitys School of Business. This was something that was much more common in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, Cadden said. And because its a retro idea, its something they ought to get a lot of mileage out of it. People love this sort of thing because they see it as a chance to be recognized. Cadden said Neros video could resonate with people who are picking the winner in the contest as well as the doughnut-buying public as a whole. A lot of people are tired of political correctness, particularly when it come to food, Cadden said. They just might look at this and say, Great, somebody is standing up for the doughnuts . The contest to select the brands chief donut officer was timed to coincide with National Doughnuts Day, which occurred June 1. The Entenmanns brand has been around for 120 years, having been launched in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1898 by German immigrant William Entenmann. Between 1978 and 2006, Entenmanns saw its ownership change hands more than a half-dozen times. The current owner of the brand is Mexican baking giant Bimbo, which has its U.S. headquarters in suburban Philadelphia. luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com A day after Superstorm Sandy hit, Nancy Arnold waded down her basement stairs and saw five feet of storm surge partially submerging her furnace and hot water heater. After the water eventually retreated, and the local fire department pumped out the rest, Arnold had another worry: mold. A husband and wife who had done painting for the Arnolds showed up and offered to wash the homes lower level with bleach. Where would I have been without that, Arnold wondered this summer, because they knew about the mold, and they Cloroxed the whole basement. If theres another storm, I dont know if theyre up to do that again. Arnold has lived in a house near the end of Whitfield Street in Guilford since 1962. She and her family evacuated to a local community center for six hours, during the worst of Sandys tempest. Evacuations have become commonplace in her neighborhood. A year prior, during Tropical Storm Irene, the family had packed its bags and spent the night at the center. After the Sandy cleanup, Arnold hired a contractor to install a new furnace that hangs from the ceiling, about five feet above the floor. Thats as high as they could make it, she said. If it needs to be higher than that, Guilfords in trouble. But the way the world is today, whos to say, you know, what could happen? More than breathing problems For the past several decades, Arnold has watched the tide creep deeper into the marshes that ripple outside her living-room window. Guilfords coastal neighborhoods, like most of the shoreline, saw the future arrive with Tropical Storm Irene in 2011. In a century, climate change and a rising sea level on Connecticuts coast have brought more frequent and devastating flooding during storms. The flooding destroys property, something people hear about immediately. But it also harms peoples health. After flooding, mold quickly multiplies into fuzzy blobs on walls and furniture. When people try to clean up, they breathe in airborne microbes that can trigger breathing problems, skin rashes and infections, mucous membrane illnesses, and problems in internal organs, according to fungal scientist Eckardt Johanning and his colleagues, writing in an article in Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine. Health researchers said residents should view floods as hazardous to their health and doctors need to beef up their training to recognize flood-related illnesses. Mold can make people sick, but mold also signals the presence of other bacteria and disease, said Paula Schenck, director of the Center for Indoor Environments and Health at UConn Health. She said doctors can advise their patients to have the appropriate protective gear on hand before the flood, and then avoid exposures that would cause illness, so Im sort of on a disease-prevention soapbox here. If you live in an environment that is likely to see severe wet weather, its good for your doctor to consider if you might have health concerns from exposures after a storm, or from being in a chronically wet environment, when you go in for your yearly exam, Schenck said. This little-discussed public health threat exposure to mold is rising slowly into the public consciousness. Nuisance flooding has increased on the United States coasts, and it will increase dramatically after 2050, or about the time that todays babies will be adults. People who live near water now live more and more in water. Adam Whelchel, director of science for the Connecticut Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, has worked on coastal resilience planning with dozens of municipalities. Theres a whole lot of emotional stress that goes along with living along the coast, he said. Around New England, most coastal areas have been inundated several inches over the past century. Bridgeports sea level has risen nearly one foot and New Londons slightly less, according to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administrations calculations. The yearly increase is almost three millimeters. In March, the Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation at the University of Connecticut released a report predicting increases of another 20 inches by 2050. Major areas of the coast will flood regularly in the future. High-tide flooding along the nations coastline has increased 300 to 900 percent in the last half century. NOAAs map of projected high-tide flooding can be zoomed to street-level detail for any town in Connecticut. A perusal around the state shows that inundation by future floods will cover large swaths of Guilford south of Interstate 95, and large areas of Madison, Bridgeport, Middletown, Old Saybrook, Haddam, Hartford and Stamford. Buildings in the floodwaters path will be prone to mold and all that mold signifies. All molds are part of the kingdom of fungi. Scientists havent yet identified most fungi that exist 90 percent or so, said De-Wei Li, a research mycologist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Stations Valley Laboratory in Windsor. Scientists who study fungi spend much of their time simply identifying species. The hundreds of molds scientists have identified in this part of the world can trigger allergies such as asthma and skin reactions, and some of them contain mycotoxins or volatile organic compounds in their spores. Mycotoxins and VOCs can cause serious diseases or reactions when ingested, when they come in contact with skin, or when someone breathes them in. The microscopic spores penetrate deep into the lungs. A month after Sandy hit in the Northeast, scientists collected samples of mold from houses in Brielle and Manasquan, N.J. They found 36 types of mold, including six that killed flies in the lab. Molds found included Aspergillus niger, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports can cause lung infections and allergic reactions; Aspergilloma, (fungus ball); and the most common found in damp or water-damaged structures, Penicillium chrysogenum; among others. The presence of mold also indicates a whole soup of biological materials, including bacteria. If someone sees mold growing inside, they are witnessing a risk to respiratory health, Schenck said. She said flood waters can be dangerously contaminated. Certain medical conditions make one vulnerable to airborne mold. Many materials wallboard, fabrics themselves (clothes, curtains) and those that trap dust (carpet) are a grand meal for mold, Schenck has written. Even some well-constructed buildings that havent had moisture concerns in the past become wet from wind-driven rain and flood waters in severe storms. Schenck wants people to know that any time they see mold, they should consider it an indicator that moisture is available for biological growth. The wetter it is, the greater the chances of severe respiratory illnesses. An increase in floods will cause wood and drywall and other building materials to become saturated more often, causing an increase in peoples exposure to airborne mold spores, since that is how they reproduce. This means that people whose immune systems have been weakened by disease are more vulnerable to health effects from mold. The most urgent advice about a flooded living space is to get out until the standing water has subsided. Once its flooded, dont go wading unprotected in that environment, Schenck said. This story was reported under a partnership with the Connecticut Health I-Team (www.c-hit.org). Stacey Abrams isn't yet a nationally known politician, but one sign that she could become one is her picture appearing on the cover of Time magazine's latest issue. The Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia is the central character in one of the most intriguing political campaigns of 2018, as she bids to become the nation's first female African-American governor. The Time cover is indicative of the interest in the Georgia race. Few gubernatorial contests will attract as much attention or produce as much speculation. Much will depend on Abrams' skills as a candidate and on the skills of her Republican opponent, Brian Kemp, who with an endorsement from President Donald Trump, won a decisive victory in last week's GOP runoff. But just as much or more could depend on whether Georgia turns out to be the new Virginia or next Alabama, or instead becomes the latest example of Democrats' hopes dashed in a politically changing state. Which is to say: Can Abrams and the Democrats alter the electorate in November and thereby accelerate the changes already underway, or will the current structural advantages enjoyed by Republicans prove strong enough to block her path? Abrams is a liberal Democrat, who as a result of her convincing victory in the primary, has quickly become the darling of the party's base nationally. First elected to the legislature in 2006, she rose to become Democratic leader in the state House at a time when Republicans were in control. Republicans already have signaled how they intend to run against Abrams. The Republican Governors Association released its first ad last week. The ad describes her as "the most radical liberal ever to run for governor" of Georgia, someone who is "funded by [House Democratic Leader Nancy] Pelosi's friends" and "loved by" 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. The ad says Abrams wants to raise taxes to support a big government agenda. Kemp is the Georgia secretary of state, a former state senator and a small-business owner. Unlike the current and previous Republican governors, both of whom began their careers as Democrats, he has been a Republican throughout his career in elective office. He was the underdog in the Republican primary, coming in second in the first round of voting to Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle. But with provocative television ads and the late support from Trump, he ran away with the runoff, winning with about 69 percent of the vote. Although some strategists believe Kemp was already moving ahead of Cagle before Trump's endorsement, the president's support ended up turning the runoff into a cakewalk. Kemp's ads featured the candidate with a shotgun on his lap interviewing an actor portraying a young man who wanted to date the candidate's daughter (and being forced to swear fealty to the Second Amendment). Another showed Kemp revving up a chain saw to "rip up some regulations" and in a pickup truck talking about rounding up "criminal illegals." Like the president, he ran proudly and overtly as a blunt, politically incorrect candidate. National Democrats are as enthusiastic about casting Kemp as a social and cultural warrior as Republicans are about casting Abrams as too radical for a conservative Southern state. Both likely will try to counter those portrayals. Abrams can point to having worked cooperatively with Republican Gov. Nathan Deal while in the legislature, for which she was criticized during the Democratic primary. Meanwhile, even some Democrats say Kemp's television ads may overstate just how much of a Trumpian firebrand he is or will be as a general election candidate. The contrasts between the two, however, are real and stark. As a result, both will depend heavily on turning out their respective bases. Both also will face challenges in trying to win what is left of the middle of the electorate. One battle will be to win support in Atlanta's business community, where Fortune 500 companies want business-friendly policies from the statehouse and are not eager for state leaders to engage in culture wars. In the days since the runoff election, Abrams has focused on economics and a jobs agenda. Republican strategists say Kemp must make economic issues more prominent in his campaign than they were in the primary. But social issues already are sparking divisions. Kemp has reaffirmed his pledge to sign a religious liberties bill, of the kind that Deal vetoed in 2016. Abrams opposes such a measure and says she supports policies that would make the state more open and inclusive. The contest is playing out against the backdrop of a politically changing Georgia. Demographic and other changes are pushing what has been a solidly red state toward something more purple and competitive. The question is how rapid is that change. The key battleground that will answer the question is the Atlanta suburbs. Nationally, there are just six counties that voted at least four times consecutively, and in some cases many more, for Republican presidential nominees before backing Hillary Clinton in 2016. Of those six, three are in suburban Atlanta: Cobb, Gwinnett and Henry. In 2004, then-President George W. Bush won the Atlanta suburbs by low double digits. In 2016, those suburban voters backed Clinton over Trump. For Abrams, potential models for success can be found in the victory of Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam in November 2017 and in the special election victory of Sen. Doug Jones in Alabama last December. Northam, whose victory margin exceeded all pre-election forecasts, was aided by a surge in voter turnout and a huge gender gap. Women backed him by 61 percent to 39 percent. Men favored Republican Ed Gillespie by 50 percent to 48 percent. Female voters will be crucial to Abrams's hopes of winning. Her efforts to turn out more of the college-educated female voters who are strongly opposed to the president, could be aided by the fact that, in two potentially competitive suburban congressional districts, Democrats have nominated women as their candidates. Jones' victory in Alabama was powered in part by strong support in the African-American community, particularly among women. Black turnout in the special election was almost of presidential year proportions. If Abrams can bring out substantially more black voters than typically participate in midterm elections, she could change the composition of the overall electorate enough to put her on track for a possible victory. Democratic pollster John Anzalone offered a back-of-the envelope calculation and suggested that if Abrams can increase the black vote share of the electorate in the way Jones did, or roughly so, and dominate among other minority voters, she would be in range of a majority by capturing barely 30 percent of the white vote. Republicans recognize the potential for all this to take place: After Virginia especially but also after Alabama, they are mindful of how Democratic energy and enthusiasm could cut this fall. But they see differences between Georgia and those other two elections. Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster, noted that while the Atlanta suburbs are not as conservative as the rest of the state, they are more conservative than the precincts in Northern Virginia that are becoming Democratic strongholds. A Democrat who was senior in Clinton's campaign also expressed skepticism that Georgia is as ripe for the Democrats as some others want to believe. Ayres also pointed to another difference: "Brian Kemp is not Roy Moore. Stacy Abrams is not Ralph Northam." By that he meant that Kemp carries none of the baggage of Moore, who was accused of molesting a young woman many years ago, and that Abrams is considerably more liberal than Northam. Right now, most strategists - Republicans, Democrats and those who are nonpartisan - say the Georgia race leans in the direction of the GOP nominee. Abrams' hopes could depend on whether she can accelerate the changes underway in Georgia by changing the November electorate dramatically in her favor. On Monday, the world awoke to a bloodcurdling threat from President Donald Trump to President Hassan Rouhani of Iran: "NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!" This vitriol was prompted by a speech in which Rouhani had said: "America should know that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars." Trump's reaction seemed disproportionate and reeked, as I noted, of a desperate attempt to distract attention from his subservience to Russia. Speaking on CNN, I said, "If anybody is issuing 'demented words of violence and death,' I would say it's the president of the United States. It's quite a pass we've come to when the leadership of a country like Iran seems more stable and rational than the president of the United States." Cue the right-wing outrage machine. Herman Cain (remember him?) tweeted: "So, @CNN thinks people who chant 'death to America,' execute gays, charge rape victims with illegal sexual conduct, fund terrorists, imprison journalists, lead the world in child executions, and censor non-islamic media seem 'more rational' than Trump." The right-wing website Twitchy blared in a headline: " 'SICK!' Max Boot stoops to TWISTED low to slam Donald Trump on Iran, Russia." NewsBusters found my comments "particularly disturbing" and added, "how an American television station could ever find Iran in a morally superior position is bewildering to say the very least." I'm sure all of these Trump supporters were equally outraged when the president described Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, who specializes in repression and aggression, as a "fine" person. Or when he called North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, who imprisons 200,000 people in concentration camps, "a very talented" and "very smart" man who "loves his country very much." Or when he congratulated President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines on "the unbelievable job" he was doing "on the drug problem" by unleashing death squads that have killed thousands of Filipinos. They weren't? How hypocritical! The rule on the right seems to be: Trump can praise dictators as extravagantly as he likes, and it's brilliant dealmaking. But it's "SICK!" for anyone to say anything positive about the few regimes that Trump opportunistically criticizes on human-rights grounds: With North Korea having fallen off the list, it's now down to Iran, Venezuela and Cuba. Let's be clear: I was not praising Iran as a moral paragon. Iran is ruled by a criminal clique which represses its own populace, exports terrorism, destabilizes its neighbors, imprisons and murders Americans, and threatens Israel. Yet, sad to say, Iran's odious rulers appear more "stable and rational" than our erratic would-be autocrat, who launches destructive trade wars (with subsidies for the victims), undermines NATO (the most successful alliance in history) and insults our allies. Iran has been all too successful in spreading its baleful influence across the Middle East. It dominates a "Shiite crescent" that stretches from Tehran to Beirut. To jump-start its economy, Iran agreed to dismantle most of its nuclear program in return for the lifting of international sanctions. And after the more bellicose Trump came into office, Iran was shrewd enough to curb its harassment of U.S. Navy ships in the Persian Gulf so as not to give him an excuse to attack it or tear up the nuclear deal. By contrast, Trump's policy toward Iran is neither stable nor rational. He exited the nuclear deal, which had forced Iran to give up 97 percent of its fissile material, even though Secretary of State Mike Pompeo admitted that Tehran was "in compliance." Trump reinstated sanctions, which are hurting the Iranian economy and driving up the price of oil, but Iran is succeeding in luring Chinese and Russian investors to make up for the departure of the Europeans and Americans. Trump seems to have set his heart on regime change even though it's not clear whether a successor regime would be any friendlier to the United States. He doesn't seem to realize that, outside of South Africa, there is little precedent for sanctions toppling a regime: Cuba, North Korea and Venezuela have all withstood decades of U.S. isolation. Meanwhile, belying Trump's Alice-in-Wonderland claim that "Iran is acting a lot differently," Tehran still supports proxies that dominate in Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon and Syria. The Iranian-backed Bashar Assad regime is violating the "deconfliction zones" that Trump and Putin had agreed on last year while allowing the Iranians to establish military bases to threaten Israel. Far from curbing the Iranian onslaught in Syria, Trump appears eager to pull out U.S. troops and cut a deal with Putin to restrain Iran - something that Moscow has neither the interest nor the ability to do. Trump doesn't seem to understand that his pro-Russia bias conflicts with his anti-Iran bias, because the two regimes are partners in crime. In short, the president's policy toward Iran seems to consist of petulant tweets and wishful thinking. Iran certainly isn't morally superior to the United States. But it is smarter strategically. The following editorial appeared in Saturday's Yomiuri Shimbun: - - - The Finance Ministry's new top administrative lineup has finally been established. Budget Bureau Director General Shigeaki Okamoto has been appointed administrative vice finance minister. Takeshi Fujii, senior deputy commissioner of the National Tax Agency, has been promoted to commissioner. These appointments ended an extraordinary situation in which two of the three posts at administrative-vice-minister level had been left vacant for as long as three months. Taking advantage of the personnel reshuffle, the ministry must drastically reform its organizational culture. Since last year, the ministry has been hit by a series of scandals. The altering of documents to approve the sale of state-owned land to school operator Moritomo Gakuen, and the alleged sexual harassment involving the ministry's administrative vice minister, were both unprecedented incidents. These incidents caused a huge loss of public confidence in the Finance Ministry, which had been said to be the "most powerful government office." It was not surprising that Finance Minister Taro Aso said, "It is extremely important for the ministry to tackle its restoration while sincerely reflecting [on the past incidents]" in a news conference to announce the new appointments. The ministry will newly establish an in-house council to promote compliance, a panel that will be chaired by its new vice minister, Okamoto. The ministry said it will tackle such matters as legal compliance and internal control, which have been undertaken by the minister's secretariat, by inviting experts as advisers. The ministry's aim is understandable, but it makes no sense unless accompanied by workability. The important thing should be consistently to take such steps as the reform of ministry officials' awareness. In the case of the scandal involving Moritomo Gakuen, it was revealed that the ministry's main office in Tokyo had forced the Kinki Finance Bureau to alter the documents. How to achieve smooth communication between ministry offices is a challenge to take on. The series of scandals turned the people's eyes anew to how the relationships between politicians and bureaucrats should be. It is necessary to establish a fair and highly transparent bilateral relationship so as not to cause doubt on the part of the people. To fulfill its primary jobs, such as budget compilation and tax system reform, it is essential for the ministry to regain public trust. In compiling the fiscal 2019 budget, there are many factors that will put pressure on the ministry to increase spending. As for social security expenditures, which account for the biggest portion of the budget, the ceiling on an increase in spending that had been in place until fiscal 2018 has been abolished. It has been decided that pump-priming measures, which will be carried out following a consumption tax rate hike to 10 percent scheduled for October 2019, will be studied separately from the ordinary budget. Ahead of a House of Councillors election and unified local polls set for next year, it is certain that demands for a boost in spending from ruling party lawmakers and others will become stronger. The ministry's screening of budgetary requests should not become lax as a result of the decline in its clout, which was caused by the series of scandals. The ministry is called on to revamp itself as soon as possible and tackle the budget compilation by maintaining its pride as the government office in charge of screening budgetary requests. A meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 economies will be held in Japan next year. Japan should make all possible preparations to display leadership as the host nation. Apart from the small clinic and school in the village, there are no other facilities. AL SAMAHA, Egypt - A l Samaha is a village that knows no rest or despair. The farms, the plants that flutter in the air and the primitive farming machines tell of unrelenting toil and hope. The women of Al Samaha in Egypts southern province of Aswan are self-dependent and do not rely on outside or male support to feed its residents or their children. It is a womens world but one in which things many modern women might consider to be necessities makeup, perfume, hair dye, manicures, high heels and sunglasses are unheard of. Al Samahas residents know nothing but work. We will not eat if we do not work, said Sanaa Nour, a mother of four and one of 300 homeowners in the village. Work is the central part of our life here in the village. Al Samaha was founded in 1988 by the government of former President Hosni Mubarak as a gathering point for single mothers women who lost their husbands because of death or divorce. It was part of a project to create six rural communities 120km north of the city of Aswan. The project was the first rural community whose economy would be the sole responsibility of its women residents. Each of the women living in the village is given a home and 2 hectares of land to cultivate. The homes have two rooms, a kitchen, a toilet and space for raising domesticated animals and fowl, such as goats, cows, sheep and chickens. Village residents are free to grow the crops they want, except for sugar cane, which is grown in abundance in Aswan. In male-dominated Egypt, Al Samaha is very different but it is a place that evokes all meanings about womens bravery, heroism and perseverance. Nour, 46, moved into the village several years ago after her husband died. She worked in farming with her husband before she moved to the village. She wakes early in the morning, heads to the farm, which is not far from her home, works in the field all day and returns before sunset to prepare food for her children. Nour grows rice and wheat. She keeps most of the produce for the family but sells surpluses in the market. She raises fowl to feed her children. Life is good, she said. There are ups and downs, of course, but we have to keep moving. Life in Al Samaha is very austere. Apart from the small clinic and school in the village, there are no other facilities. The homes are very small and the streets and alleyways of the village are dusty. The facades of the homes are rarely painted. However, each home holds stories of womens bravery and sacrifice. Nabiha Abdullah, a mother of five in her early 60s, had a harsh life after her husband died about 15 years ago. She worked to feed her children but it was far from easy. When she heard about the village, she quickly decided to move and start a new chapter. Abdullah said she was afraid at first because the village was mainly a desert. I worked in the field together with my children and then things started to improve day after day, Abdullah said. I cannot say life is bright. It is full of difficulties, in fact. Not all those in the village are succeeding. Some could not put up with hard work. Others left a few months after they arrived. The village has its tough rules. Women given homes and plots of land must remain single, said Hamdi al-Kashef, the Agriculture Ministry official supervising the project. When the children of those widowed women grow up and get married, they have to move outside the village as well, Kashef said. Problems have been accumulating in Al Samaha for years. Some of the plots are not fit for farming because of high salinity. The only clinic and only school in the village are not functioning well because of the lack of staff or poor maintenance. Nevertheless, the village residents deal with their problems, sometimes by cracking jokes and other times by being patient. Each woman living here has her own problems that seem insurmountable, Abdullah said, but when we discuss them, we discover that our problems are lighter than those of other women. 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. Baker Hughes, a GE company provides integrated oilfield products, services, and digital solutions worldwide. Its Oilfield Services segment offers drilling, wireline, evaluation, completion, production, and intervention services; and drilling and completions fluids, completions tools and systems, wellbore intervention tools and services, artificial lift systems, pressure pumping systems, and oilfield and industrial chemicals for integrated oil and natural gas, and oilfield service companies. The company's Oilfield Equipment segment designs and manufactures products and services, including pressure control equipment and services, subsea production systems and services, drilling equipment, and flexible pipeline systems; and onshore and offshore drilling and production systems, and equipment for floating production platforms, as well as provides a range of services related to onshore and offshore drilling activities. Its Turbomachinery & Process Solutions segment provides equipment and related services for mechanical-drive, compression, and power-generation applications across the oil and gas industry, as well as products and services to serve the downstream segments of industry. Its product portfolio includes drivers, compressors, and turnkey solutions; and pumps, valves, and compressed natural gas and small-scale liquefied natural gas solutions. This segment serves upstream, midstream, onshore and offshore, industrial, engineering, procurement, and construction companies. The company's Digital Solutions segment provides sensor-based measurement, non-destructive testing and inspection, turbine, generator and plant controls, and condition monitoring, as well as pipeline integrity solutions for a range of industries, including oil and gas, power generation, aerospace, metals, and transportation. It serves through direct and indirect channels. The company is based in Houston, Texas. Baker Hughes, a GE company is a subsidiary of General Electric Company. Read More American Water Works Co., Inc. engages in the provision of complementary water and wastewater services. It operates through the following segments: Regulated Businesses; Market-Based Businesses; and Other. The Regulated Businesses segment provides water and wastewater services to customers. The Market-Based Businesses segment is responsible for Military Services Group, Contract Operations Group, Homeowner Services Group, and Keystone Operations. The Other segment includes corporate costs that are not allocated to the Company's operating segments, eliminations of inter-segment transactions, fair value adjustments and associated income and deductions related to the acquisitions that have not been allocated to the operating segments for evaluation of performance and allocation of resource purposes. The company was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Camden, NJ. Read More Wall Street analysts have given BlackRock Municipal Income Investment Trust 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 BlackRock Municipal Income Investment Trust 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 BlackRock Long-Term Municipal Advantage Trust 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 BlackRock Long-Term Municipal Advantage Trust wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Nevsun Resources Ltd. engages in the mining and development of mineral properties in Europe, Africa, and North America. It explores for gold, copper, zinc, and silver deposits. The company's principal assets include Timok project, a copper-gold development project in Serbia; and Bisha copper- zinc mine in Eritrea. It also holds exploration licenses and permits in Serbia and Macedonia, as well as in the Bisha mining district. The company was incorporated in 1965 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. As of January 7, 2019, Nevsun Resources Ltd. operates as a subsidiary of Zijin Mining Group Company Limited. Read More JCDecaux SA engages in the provision of outdoor advertising services. It operates through three segments: Street Furniture, Transport, and Billboard. The Street Furniture segment is involved in advertising in shopping malls, as well as the renting of street furniture, sale and rental of equipment, cleaning and maintenance, and other various services. The Transport segment refers to advertising in public transport systems, such as airports, subways, buses, tramways, and trains. The Billboard segment pertains to advertising on private property, including either traditional large format or back-light billboards; and neon-light billboards and advertising wraps. The company was founded by Jean-Claude Decaux in 1964 and is headquartered in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Ingersoll Rand: 211 E. Russell Road LLC, Air-Relief, Belliss & Morcom Brasil, Belliss and Morcom, Boardwalk Enterprises, Charm Merger Sub Inc., CompAir, CompAir (Hankook) Korea Co. Ltd., CompAir Acquisition (No. 2) Ltd., CompAir Acquisition Ltd., CompAir BroomWade Ltd., CompAir Canada, CompAir Finance Ltd., CompAir GmbH, CompAir Holdings Limited, CompAir Holman Ltd, CompAir International Trading (Shanghai) Co Ltd, CompAir Korea Ltd, CompAir South Africa (SA) (Pty) Ltd., CompAir UK Ltd, CompAir USA, Consolidated Distribution Holdings Ltd., DV Systems Inc., Emco Wheaton, Emco Wheaton GmbH Branch, Emco Wheaton Gmbh, Emco Wheaton UK, Emco Wheaton USA Inc, Enza Air Propriety Limited (South Africa), GD Aria Holdings #2 Limited, GD Aria Holdings Limited, GD Aria Investments Limited, GD First UK Ltd, GD German Holdings GmbH, GD German Holdings I Gmbh, GD German Holdings II GmbH, GD German Investments GmbH, GD Global Holdings, GD Global Holdings II, GD Global Holdings UK II Ltd., GD Global Ventures I B.V., GD Global Ventures II B.V., GD Global Ventures III B.V., GD Industrial Products Malaysia SDN. BHD., GD Investment KY, GD UK Finance Ltd., Gardner Denver (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Gardner Denver Austria GmbH, Gardner Denver Bad Neustadt Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Belgium NV, Gardner Denver Brasil Industria E Comercio de Maquinas Ltda., Gardner Denver CZ + SK sro, Gardner Denver Canada Corp, Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments II Ltd., Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments II Ltd. - US Branch, Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments Ltd., Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments Ltd. - US Branch, Gardner Denver Deutschland GmbH, Gardner Denver Engineered Products India Private Limited, Gardner Denver FZE, Gardner Denver Finance II LLC, Gardner Denver Finance Inc & Co KG, Gardner Denver France SA, Gardner Denver France SAS, Gardner Denver Group Services Ltd, Gardner Denver Group Svcs Ltd, Gardner Denver Hoffman, Gardner Denver Holdings, Gardner Denver Holdings Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Investments Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Ltd, Gardner Denver Iberica, Gardner Denver Industries Ltd., Gardner Denver Industries Pty Ltd., Gardner Denver Industries Pty Ltd. Branch, Gardner Denver International, Gardner Denver International Ltd., Gardner Denver Intl Ltd Middle East Regional Rep Office, Gardner Denver Investments, Gardner Denver Italy Holdings S.r.L., Gardner Denver Japan, Gardner Denver Kirchhain Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Korea, Gardner Denver Korea Ltd, Gardner Denver Ltd, Gardner Denver Ltd South Africa, Gardner Denver Ltd., Gardner Denver Ltd. Branch (Ireland), Gardner Denver Machinery (Shanghai) Co, Gardner Denver Machinery (Shanghai) Co., Gardner Denver Nash Brasil Industria E Comercio De Bombas Ltda, Gardner Denver Nash Deutschland GmbH, Gardner Denver Nash LLC, Gardner Denver Nash Machinery Ltd, Gardner Denver Nash Machinery Ltd., Gardner Denver Nederland BV, Gardner Denver Nederland Investments B.V., Gardner Denver Oberdorfer Pumps, Gardner Denver Oy, Gardner Denver Petroleum Pumps, Gardner Denver Polska Sp z.o.o., Gardner Denver Pte Ltd., Gardner Denver S.r.l., Gardner Denver Schopfheim GmbH, Gardner Denver Schopfheim Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Schweiz AG, Gardner Denver Slovakia, Gardner Denver SudAmerica S.r.l., Gardner Denver Sweden AB, Gardner Denver Taiwan Ltd., Gardner Denver Thomas, Gardner Denver Thomas GmbH, Gardner Denver Thomas Pneumatic Systems (Wuxi) Co., Gardner Denver Thomas Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver UK, Gardner Denver Water Jetting Systems, Garo Dott. Ing. Roberto Gabbioneta S.r.l., Hamworthy Belliss & Morcom, ILMVAC (UK) Ltd., ILS Innovative Labor Systeme, ILS Inovative Laborsysteme GmbH, Indonesia Foreign Trade Representative Office, LeROI, LeRoi International Inc, MP Pumps Inc., Mako Compressors, Nash, Nash Elmo, Oina VV, Oina VV Aktiebolag, Robuschi, Rotary Compression Technologies, Runtech Systems, Runtech Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Runtech Systems Inc., Runtech Systems OY, Shanghai CompAir Compressors Co Ltd, Shanghai Compressors & Blowers Ltd., Syltone, TCM Investments, TIWR Real Estate GmbH & Co. KG, TODO AB, Tamrotor Marine Compressors AS, Thomas Industries, Thomas Industries Inc., Tri-Continent Scientific, Welch Vacuum Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Zinsser Analytic, Zinsser Analytik GmbH, and Zinsser NA. Genworth Financial, Inc. is a financial services company, which engages in the provision of insurance, wealth management, investment and financial solutions. It operates through the following segments: U.S. Mortgage Insurance, Australia Mortgage Insurance, U.S. Life Insurance, and Runoff. The U.S. Mortgage Insurance segment offers mortgage insurance products predominantly insuring prime-based, individually underwritten residential mortgage loans. The Australia Mortgage Insurance segment offers flow mortgage insurance and selectively provides bulk mortgage insurance that aids in the sale of mortgages to the capital markets and helps lenders manage capital and risk. The U.S. Life Insurance segment offers long-term care insurance products as well as service traditional life insurance and fixed annuity products in the United States. The Runoff segment includes the results of non-strategic products which are no longer actively sold but continue to service its existing blocks of business. Its non-strategic products primarily include variable annuity, variable life insurance, institutional, corporate-owned life insurance and other accident and health insurance products. The company was fo Read More Orange S.A. provides a range of fixed telephony and mobile telecommunications, data transmission, and other value-added services to customers, businesses, and other telecommunications operators in France and internationally. It operates through France; Spain and Other European Countries; The Africa and Middle East; Enterprise; International Carriers & Shared Services; and Mobile Financial Services segments. The company offers mobile services, such as voice, SMS, and data; fixed broadband and narrowband services, as well as fixed network business solutions, including voice and data; and convergence packages. It also sells mobile handsets, broadband equipment, and connected devices and accessories. In addition, the company provides IT and integration services comprising unified communication and collaboration services, such as LAN and telephony, consultancy, integration, and project management; hosting and infrastructure services, including cloud computing; customer relations management and other applications services; security services; and video conferencing, as well as sells related equipment. Further, it offers national and international roaming services; and mobile virtual network operators, network sharing, and mobile financial services, as well as sells equipment to external distributors and brokers. Orange S.A. markets its products and services under the Orange brand. The company was formerly known as France Telecom and changed its name to Orange S.A. in July 2013. Orange S.A. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Paris, France. Read More American Consumer News, LLC dba MarketBeat 2010-2021. All rights reserved. 326 E 8th St #105, Sioux Falls, SD 57103 | U.S. Based Support Team at contact@marketbeat.com | (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. BT Group plc provides communications services worldwide. Its Consumer segment sells telephones, baby monitors, and Wi-Fi extenders through high street retailers, online BT Shop, and Website BT.com; and offers home phone, copper and fiber broadband, TV, and mobile services in various packages. The company's EE segment offers 2G, 3G, and 4G mobile network services; broadband, fixed-voice, and TV services; and postpaid and prepaid plans, and emergency services network. This segment also sells 4G mobile phones, tablets, connected devices, and mobile broadband devices from various manufacturers. Its Business and Public Sector segment provides fixed voice, mobility, fiber and connectivity, and networked IT services to retailers, utilities, public sector, healthcare, sports, construction, finance, and educational sectors. The company's Global Services segment offers business communications and ICT services comprising BT Connect, BT Security, BT One, BT Contact, BT Compute, BT Advise, and BT for financial markets. This segment serves approximately 5,500 customers in 180 countries. Its Wholesale and Ventures segment enables communications providers and other organizations to provide fixed or mobile phone services. Its ventures provide mass-market services, such as directory enquiries and payphones; and enterprise services comprising BT Fleet and BT Redcare. This segment also provides broadband and Ethernet, voice, hosted communication, mobile virtual network operator, managed solutions, machine-to-machine, roaming, and media services. The company's Openreach segment engages in the provision of services over the local access network; and installation and maintenance of fiber and copper communications networks that connect homes and businesses. The company was formerly known as Newgate Telecommunications Limited and changed its name to BT Group plc in September 2001. BT Group plc was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom. Read More SUPERVALU INC., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a grocery wholesaler and retailer in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Wholesale and Retail. The Wholesale segment engages in the wholesale distribution of various food and non-food products to independent retail customers, such as single and multiple grocery store operators, regional chains, and the military. It also provides professional services, such as pass-through programs; and various services comprising retail store support, advertising, couponing, e-commerce, network and data hosting, training and certifications classes, and administrative back-office solutions. The Retail segment operates retail stores that provide groceries and various additional products that include general merchandise, home, health and beauty care, and pharmacy products. It provides its products under the Cub Foods, Shoppers Food & Pharmacy, and Hornbacher's names, as well as 1 Rainbow stores. The company's stores offer a range of branded and private-label products comprising perishable and nonperishable grocery products. As of February 24, 2018, it operated a network of 3,437 stores, including 3,323 wholesale primary stores; and 114 retail grocery stores. The company was founded in 1871 and is headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Read More Systemax Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a direct marketer of brand name and private label industrial and business equipment and supplies in North America. It sells a range of maintenance, repair, and operation products, including storage and shelving, material handling, janitorial and maintenance products, furniture and office products, workbenches and shop desks, HVAC/R and fans, safety and security products, outdoor and grounds maintenance products, tools and instruments, and office and school supplies. The company also sells plumbing products and pumps, packaging products and supplies, electrical and lighting products, food service products and appliances, raw materials and building supplies, motors and power transmission products, pneumatics and hydraulics, medical and laboratory equipment, metalworking and cutting tools, vehicle maintenance products, and fasteners and hardware. It offers its products under the Global, GlobalIndustrial.com, Nexel Paramount, and Interion brand names. The company offers its products to businesses, educational organizations, and government entities through relationship marketers, catalogs, and e-commerce sites. Systemax Inc. was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Port Washington, New York. Read More TCF Financial Corporation operates as the financial holding company for TCF National Bank that provides various financial products and services in the United States and Canada. It operates through Consumer Banking, Commercial Banking, and Enterprise Services segments. The company offers checking, savings, and money market accounts; certificates of deposit; individual retirement accounts; debit and credit cards; and check cashing and remittance services. It also provides investment management and custodial services, trust services, financial and estate planning, and retirement planning and employee benefit programs; residential, consumer, and small business lending products; and consumer real estate secured lending, consumer loans, loans secured by personal property, and unsecured personal loans. In addition, the company offers loans and lines of credit, deposits, cash management, capital market products, international trade finance, letters of credit, foreign exchange management services, and loan syndication services. Further, it provides commercial and industrial, commercial real estate banking, and lease financing; and treasury services comprising investment and borrowing portfolios, as well as manages capital, debt, and market risks. As of December 31, 2020, the company operated 478 branches, including 373 traditional branches, 102 supermarket branches, and three campus branches located in Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Colorado, Ohio, Wisconsin, Arizona, and South Dakota; and 1,062 ATMs. TCF Financial Corporation was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. Read More Valley National Bancorp is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of retail and commercial banking services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Lending; Commercial Lending; Investment Management; and Corporate and Other Adjustments. The Consumer Lending segment consists of residential mortgage loans, automobile loans and home equity loans, as well as wealth management and insurance services. The Commercial Lending segment includes the floating rate and adjustable rate commercial and industrial loans as well as fixed rate owner occupied and commercial real estate loans. The Investment Management segment refers to investments in various types of securities and interest-bearing deposits with other banks. The Corporate and Other Adjustments segment represents the income and expense items not directly attributable to a specific segment. The company was founded on November 12, 1982 and is headquartered in New York, NY. Read More Xcel Energy, Inc. operates as a holding company, which engages in the generation, purchase, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity. It operates through the following three segments: Regulated Electric Utility, Regulated Natural Gas Utility and All Others. The Regulated Electric Utility segment generates, transmits and distributes electricity primarily in portions of generates, transmits and distributes electricity in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Texas and New Mexico. In addition, this segment includes sales for resale and provides wholesale transmission service to various entities in the United States. It also includes commodity trading operations. The Regulated Natural Gas Utility segment transports, stores, and distributes natural gas primarily in portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Michigan and Colorado. The All Others segment engages in steam, appliance repair services, nonutility real estate activities, processing solid waste into refuse-derived fuel and investments in rental housing projects that qualify for low-income housing tax credits. The company was founded in 1909 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, MN. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of ABB: A88 for Electrical Industries (ABB ARAB) S.A.E., AABB Business Services Sp. z o.o., ABB (China) Investment Limited, ABB (China) Ltd., ABB 0y, ABB A/S, ABB AB, ABB AG, ABB AS, ABB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd, ABB Australia Pty Limited, ABB Automacao Ltda., ABB Automation GmbH, ABB Automation Products GmbH, ABB B.V., ABB Beijing Drive Systems Co. Ltd., ABB Beijing Switchgear Limited, ABB Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungsges. MbH, ABB Bulgaria EOOD, ABB Canada EL Holding GmbH, ABB Capital AG, ABB Electrical Control Systems S. de R.L. de C.V., ABB Electrical Industries Co. Ltd., ABB Electrical Machines Ltd., ABB Electrification Canada ULC, ABB Electrification Norway AS, ABB Elektrik Sanayi A.S., ABB Eletrificacao Ltda., ABB Engineering (Shanghai) Ltd., ABB Engineering Trading and Service Ltd., ABB Finance (USA) Inc., ABB Finance B.V., ABB France, ABB Global Industries and Services Private Limited, ABB Group Investment Management Pty. Ltd., ABB Holding AS, ABB Holdings (Pty) Ltd., ABB Holdings B.V., ABB Holdings Inc., ABB Holdings Limited, ABB Inc., ABB Inc., ABB India Limited, ABB Industrial Solutions (Bielsko-Biala) Sp. z o.o., ABB Industrial Solutions (Klodzko) Sp.z o.o., ABB Industries (L.L.C.), ABB Information Systems Ltd., ABB Installation Products Inc, ABB Installation Products International LLC., ABB Investment Holding 2 GmbH, ABB K.K., ABB Limited, ABB Ltd., ABB Management Services Ltd., ABB Mexico SA. de C.V., ABB Motors and Mechanical Inc, ABB N.V., ABB Norden Holding AB, ABB Pte. Ltd., ABB S.A., ABB S.p.A., ABB SAS, ABB Schweiz AG, ABB Shanghai Free Trade Zone Industrial Co. Ltd., ABB Shanghai Motors Co. Ltd., ABB South Africa (Pty) Ltd., ABB Sp. z o.o., ABB Stotz-Kontakt GmbH, ABB Treasury Center (USA) Inc., ABB Xiamen Low Voltage Equipment Co. Ltd., ABB Xiamen Switchgear Co. Ltd., ABB Xinhui Low Voltage Switchgear Co. Ltd., ABB s.r.o., APS Technology Group, ASTI Mobile Robotics, Asea Brown Boveri S.A., Asea Brown Boveri S.A.E., Asea Brown Boveri SA. de C.V., B + R Industrie-Elektronik GmbH, B&R Holding GmbH, B&R Industrial Automation, B&R Industrial Automation GmbH, Baldor Electric Company, Busch-Jaeger Elektro GmbH, Chargedot, Codian Robotics, Cylon Controls, DynaMotive Ltd., ELBI Elektrik, Edison Holding Corporation, Envitech Energy, Epyon, GE Industrial Solutions, Gomtec, Gresin Grupo Estudios Industriales, Industrial C&S Hungary Kft., Industrial C&S of RR. LLC, Industrial Connections & Solutions LLC, KEYMILE - Business, Kuhlman Electric Corp., Lorentzen & Wettre, Los Gatos Research, Mincom, NUB3D S.L., Newave Energy Holding, Newron System, Power-One, Powercorp, RGM - Rail vehicle power business, SVIA, Spirit IT, Thomas & Betts, Trasfor, Tropos Networks, Validus DC Systems, Vectek Electronics, and Ventyx. The following companies are subsidiares of SYNNEX: 2117974 Ontario Inc., Administrative Services and Technologies to Enterprises Ltda., Afina Peru S.A.C., Afina S.R.L., Afina Sistemas Informaticos Limitada, Afina Sistemas Informaticos S.L, Afina Sistemas Sociedade Ltda., Afina Venezuela C.A., Afinasis S.A. de C.V., Asset Ohio Fourth Street LLC, BPO Holdco Cooperatief U.A., Beijing Jumeng Technology Development Ltd., Brazil HoldCo Limited, CNX Services Jamaica Limited, Chongqing Jumeng Technologies Development Ltd., ComputerLand Corporation, Comstor Colombia S.A.S., Concentrix (Canada) Limited, Concentrix (Suzhou) Information Consulting Co. Limited, Concentrix Beteiligungen GmbH, Concentrix Brazil Outsourcing of Processes , Concentrix Business Services UK Limited, Concentrix CMG Canada ULC, Concentrix CMG Insurance Services LLC, Concentrix CRM Services Germany GmbH, Concentrix CRM Services Germany GmbH Belgium Branch, Concentrix CRM Services Germany GmbH Greece Branch, Concentrix CRM Services Germany GmbH Merkezi Almanya Istanbul Merkez Subesi, Concentrix CRM Services Germany GmbH Netherlands Branch, Concentrix CRM Services Germany GmbH Netherlands Branch , Concentrix CRM Services Germany GmbH Russelsheim Switzerland Branch Zug, Concentrix CRM Services Germany GmbH Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia Oddzia w Polsce, Concentrix CRM Services Germany GmbH Sucursal en Espana, Concentrix CRM Services Hungary Kft, Concentrix CRM Services RO S.R.L., Concentrix CRM Services UK Limited, Concentrix CVG (Mauritius) Ltd, Concentrix CVG Brite Voice Systems LLC, Concentrix CVG CMG UK Limited, Concentrix CVG Contact Tunisie S.A.R.L., Concentrix CVG Corporation, Concentrix CVG Customer Management Australia Pty. Ltd., Concentrix CVG Customer Management Delaware LLC, Concentrix CVG Customer Management Group Inc., Concentrix CVG Customer Management Group Inc. Costa Rica Branch, Concentrix CVG Delaware Inc., Concentrix CVG Delaware International Inc., Concentrix CVG Delaware International Inc. French Branch, Concentrix CVG Egypt Limited Liability Company, Concentrix CVG France S.A.R.L., Concentrix CVG Funding Inc., Concentrix CVG Global Services AZ Inc., Concentrix CVG Global Services El Salvador S.A. de C.V., Concentrix CVG Global Services Honduras S.A., Concentrix CVG Global Services Hong Kong Limited, Concentrix CVG Government Solutions LLC, Concentrix CVG Group Limited, Concentrix CVG Group Servicios de Apoyo Informatico S.L., Concentrix CVG Holding LLC, Concentrix CVG Intelligent Contact Limited, Concentrix CVG International Bulgaria EOOD, Concentrix CVG International Holding Ltd., Concentrix CVG International Holding Ltd. Dominican Republic Branch, Concentrix CVG International Sp. Z.o.o., Concentrix CVG Italy S.R.L., Concentrix CVG LLC, Concentrix CVG Learning Solutions LLC, Concentrix CVG Malaysia (Philippines) SDN. BHD. Philippine Branch, Concentrix CVG Malaysia (Phillipines) Sdn. Bhd., Concentrix CVG Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Concentrix CVG Nicaragua S.A., Concentrix CVG Philippines Inc., Concentrix CVG Pte. Ltd., Concentrix CVG Services Singapore Pte. Ltd., Concentrix CVG Services Singapore Pte. Ltd. ROHQ, Concentrix CVG Singapore Holdings Pte. Ltd., Concentrix CVG Singapore Holdings Pte. Ltd. ROHQ, Concentrix CVG Tunisie BPO S.A.R.L., Concentrix CVG Tunisie S.A.R.L., Concentrix Coop Holdco Limited, Concentrix Corporation, Concentrix Costa Rica S.A., Concentrix Daksh Services India Private Limited, Concentrix Daksh Services Philippines Corporation, Concentrix Digital Services Limited, Concentrix Duisburg GmbH, Concentrix Dusseldorf GmbH, Concentrix Europe Limited, Concentrix Frankfurt a. M. GmbH, Concentrix Free Trade Zone S.A., Concentrix GBS Limited, Concentrix Gera GmbH, Concentrix Global Holdings Inc., Concentrix Global Services GmbH, Concentrix Gmbh, Concentrix HK Limited, Concentrix Halle GmbH, Concentrix Insurance Administration Solutions Corporation, Concentrix International Europe B.V., Concentrix International GmbH, Concentrix International Services Europe B.V., Concentrix Investment Holdings Corporation, Concentrix Investment Holdings Singapore 1 Pte. Ltd, Concentrix Investment Holdings Singapore 2 Pte. Ltd, Concentrix Investment Holdings Singapore 3 Pte. Ltd, Concentrix Investments Europe B.V., Concentrix Ireland Contact Services Limited, Concentrix Ireland Limited, Concentrix Leipzig GmbH, Concentrix Logistics Corporation, Concentrix Management Holding GmbH & Co. KG, Concentrix Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V, Concentrix Munster GmbH, Concentrix New (BVI) Corporation, Concentrix NewHK Limited, Concentrix Nicaragua S.A., Concentrix Osnabruck GmbH, Concentrix Rechenzentrum GmbH, Concentrix Romania S.R.L., Concentrix Schwerin GmbH, Concentrix Service Hungary KFT, Concentrix Services (Colombia) S.A.S., Concentrix Services (Dalian) Co. Ltd., Concentrix Services (Dalian) Co. Ltd. Beijing Branch, Concentrix Services (Dalian) Co. Ltd. Shanghai Branch, Concentrix Services (Germany) GmbH, Concentrix Services (Ireland) Limited, Concentrix Services (Netherlands) B.V., Concentrix Services (New Zealand) Limited, Concentrix Services (Poland) spolka z o.o., Concentrix Services (Saudi Arabia) Corporation LLC, Concentrix Services (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Concentrix Services (Thailand) Co. Ltd, Concentrix Services (Uruguay) S.A., Concentrix Services Bulgaria EOOD, Concentrix Services Corporation, Concentrix Services Corporation Philippines Branch, Concentrix Services Germany GmbH Sverige filial, Concentrix Services GmbH, Concentrix Services Holdco (Netherlands) B.V., Concentrix Services India Private Limited, Concentrix Services Korea Limited, Concentrix Services Mexico S.A. de C.V., Concentrix Services Philippines Inc., Concentrix Services Portugal Sociedade Unipessoal LDA, Concentrix Services Pty Ltd, Concentrix Services Pty Ltd ROHQ, Concentrix Services Slovakia s.r.o., Concentrix Services Spain S.L.U., Concentrix Services UK Limited, Concentrix Services US Inc., Concentrix Technologies (India) Private Limited, Concentrix Technologies Limited, Concentrix Technologies Services (Canada) Limited, Concentrix Technology FZ-LLC, Concentrix VN Technologies Services Company Limited, Concentrix Verwaltungs GmbH, Concentrix Wismar GmbH, Concentrix Wuppertal GmbH, Convergys, Convergys Customer Management Colombia S.A.S., Convergys Customer Management Group Canada Holding Inc., Convergys Customer Management Group Inc. Philippines Branch, Convergys Customer Management International Inc., Convergys Customer Management International Inc. - Regional Operating Headquarters, Convergys Customer Management Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Convergys France S.A.R.L. (Mauritius Branch), Convergys Holdings (GB) Limited, Convergys Holdings (UK) Limited, Convergys Hungary Kft., Convergys India Services Private Limited, Convergys International Inc., Convergys International Nordic AB, Convergys Netherlands Investments B.V., Convergys Services Denmark ApS, Convergys Software Service (Beijing) Ltd., Convergys South Africa (Pty) Ltd., CyberLogistics Corporation, Dalian Jumeng Information Services Ltd., Dalian Jumeng Technology Development Ltd., EMJ America Inc., Encore Receivable Management Inc., Encore Receivable Management Inc. Philippines Branch, Foshan Jumeng Information Technology Service Co. Ltd, GLS Software S. de R.L., Guiyang Jumeng Technology Development Ltd., Hyve IT Solutions Israel Ltd, Hyve IT Solutions South Africa (PTY) Ltd., Hyve SNX Solutions Ireland Limited, Hyve Solutions (Taiwan) Corporation, Hyve Solutions Canada Limited, Hyve Solutions China Limited, Hyve Solutions Corporation, Hyve Solutions Europe Limited, Hyve Solutions HK Limited, Hyve Solutions Holding Company Limited, Hyve Solutions India LLP, Hyve Solutions Japan K.K., Hyve Solutions Korea Limited, Hyve Solutions Malaysia SDN.BHD., Hyve Solutions New Zealand Limited, Hyve Solutions Singapore Pte. Ltd, Hyve Solutions US Global Holding Corporation, IBM World Wide Customer Care, Intervoice Acquisition Subsidiary Inc., Intervoice Colombia Ltda., Intervoice GP Inc., Intervoice GmbH, Intervoice LLC Canada Branch, Intervoice LP Inc., Intervoice Limited, Intervoice Limited Partnership, Intervoice do Brasil Comercio Servicos e Participacoes Ltda., Jack Of All Games Inc., Japan Concentrix KK, LATAM HoldCo Limited, Lasting Holdings Corporation, License Online Inc, Minacs, Minacs Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., PT Concentrix Services Indonesia, PT Convergys Customer Management Indonesia, Pegasus Telecom LLC, SCGS (Malaysia) SDN. BHD., SGS Holdings Inc., SGS Tunisie S.A.R.L., SIT Funding Corporation, SYNNEX Canada Limited, SYNNEX Finance Hybrid II LLC, SYNNEX Information Technologies (Beijing) Ltd., SYNNEX Information Technologies (Chengdu) Ltd., SYNNEX Information Technologies (China) Ltd., SYNNEX Japan Corporation, SYNNEX Japan Holdings K.K., SYNNEX Servicios S.A. de C.V., SYNNEX Software Technologies (HK) Limited, SYNNEX de Mexico S.A. de C.V., SYNNEX-Concentrix UK Limited, Sennex Enterprises Limited, Servicios Afinasis S.A. de C.V., Shenzhen Shunrong Telecommunication Technologies Ltd., Shenzhen Shunrong Telecommunication Technologies Ltd. Foshan Branch, Sichuan 86Bridge Information Technology Ltd., Stream Business Process Outsourcing South Africa (Proprietary) Ltd., Stream Florida Inc., Stream Global Services - US Inc., Stream Global Services Danmark ApS, Stream Global Services Inc., Stream Holdings Corporation, Suzhou Ke Wei Xun Information Services Co. Ltd., Tech Data, The Global Email Trustee Limited, Tigerspike Co. Ltd, Tigerspike FZ LLC Rep. Office, Tigerspike FZ-LLC, Tigerspike Holdings Pty Ltd, Tigerspike Inc., Tigerspike Ltd, Tigerspike Products Pte. Ltd., Tigerspike Pte. Ltd., Tigerspike Pty Ltd, Velami Holdings Corporation, Vietnam Concentrix Services Company Limited, VisionMAX, WG-UK Holding Company Limited, WG-US HoldCo Inc, Westcon Brasil Ltda., Westcon CALA Inc., Westcon Canada Systems (WCSI) Inc., Westcon Corporation Ecuador WCE Cia. Ltda, Westcon Group Colombia Limitada, Westcon Group Costa Rica S.A., Westcon Group El Salvador S.A. de C.V., Westcon Group Inc., Westcon Group North America Inc., Westcon Group Panama S.A., Westcon Mexico S.A. de C.V., Westcon-Comstor, Xi'an Jumeng Technologies Development Ltd, and eTelecare Philippines Inc.. The Boeing Co. is an aerospace company, which engages in the manufacture of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems. It operates through the following segments: Commercial Airplanes; Defense, Space and Security; Global Services; and Boeing Capital. The Commercial Airplanes segment includes the development, production, and market of commercial jet aircraft and provides fleet support services, principally to the commercial airline industry worldwide. The Defense, Space and Security segment refers to the research, development, production and modification of manned and unmanned military aircraft and weapons systems for global strike, including fighter and combat rotorcraft aircraft and missile systems; global mobility, including tanker, rotorcraft and tilt-rotor aircraft; and airborne surveillance and reconnaissance, including command and control, battle management and airborne anti-submarine aircraft. The Global Services segment provides services to commercial and defense customers. The Boeing Capital segment seeks to ensure that Boeing customers have the financing they need to buy and take delivery of their Boeing product and manages overall financing exposure. T Read More The following companies are subsidiares of BorgWarner: B80 Italia S.r.l., BERU AG, BW El Salto S.A. De C.V., BWA Receivables Corporation, BWA Turbo Systems Holding LLC, Borg Warner Europe Holdings (PDS) B. V., BorgWarner (China) Investment Co. Ltd., BorgWarner (Reman) Holdings L.L.C., BorgWarner (Thailand) Limited, BorgWarner Aftermarket Europe GmbH, BorgWarner Alternators Inc., BorgWarner Arden LLC, BorgWarner Arnstadt RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Asia Inc., BorgWarner Automotive Asia Limited, BorgWarner Automotive Components (Beijing) Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Automotive Components (Jiangsu) Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Automotive Components (Ningbo) Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Automotive Components (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Automotive Components (Wuhan) Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Brasil Ltda., BorgWarner Chungju Co. LLC, BorgWarner Comercial e Distribuidora de Pecas para Veiculos Automotores Ltda., BorgWarner Comercializadora PDS S. de R.L. de C.V., BorgWarner Componentes PDS S. de R.L. de C.V., BorgWarner Cooling Systems (India) Private Limited, BorgWarner Cooling Systems GmbH, BorgWarner Diversified Transmission Products Services Inc., BorgWarner Drivetrain Engineering GmbH, BorgWarner Drivetrain Management Services de Mexico S.A. de C.V., BorgWarner Drivetrain de Mexico S.A. de C.V., BorgWarner Electric Motors L.L.C., BorgWarner Emissions Systems (Ningbo) Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Emissions Systems (Ningbo) Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Emissions Systems Holding LLC, BorgWarner Emissions Systems India Private Limited, BorgWarner Emissions Systems LLC, BorgWarner Emissions Systems Portugal Unipessoal LDA, BorgWarner Emissions Systems Spain S.L.U., BorgWarner Emissions Systems of Michigan Inc., BorgWarner Emissions Talegaon Private Limited, BorgWarner Engineering Ketsch RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Engineering Kibo RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Esslingen GmbH, BorgWarner Europe GmbH, BorgWarner Europe Holding S.a. r. l., BorgWarner Gateshead Limited, BorgWarner Germany Holding GmbH, BorgWarner Germany Holding Services GmbH, BorgWarner Germany REH GmbH, BorgWarner Germany REM GmbH, BorgWarner Germany Verwaltungs GmbH, BorgWarner Global Holding S.a. r. l., BorgWarner Heidelberg I RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Heidelberg II RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Heidelberg REH GmbH, BorgWarner Heidelberg REM GmbH, BorgWarner Holding Inc., BorgWarner Holdings Limited, BorgWarner Hungary Kft., BorgWarner IT Services Europe GmbH, BorgWarner India Holdings Inc., BorgWarner Investment Holding Inc., BorgWarner Ithaca LLC, BorgWarner Ketsch Plant RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Ketsch REH GmbH, BorgWarner Ketsch REM GmbH, BorgWarner Kft., BorgWarner Kibo RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Korea Holdings (PDS) B.V., BorgWarner Korea Holdings LLC, BorgWarner Korea LLC, BorgWarner Limited, BorgWarner Ludwigsburg GmbH, BorgWarner Ludwigsburg RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Markdorf Plant RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Markdorf REH GmbH, BorgWarner Markdorf REM GmbH, BorgWarner Massachusetts Inc., BorgWarner Mauritius Holdings Ltd., BorgWarner Mexico Holding BV, BorgWarner Mexico Holdings II LLC, BorgWarner Mexico Holdings LLC, BorgWarner Morse Systems India Private Limited, BorgWarner Morse Systems Italy S.r.l., BorgWarner Morse Systems Japan K.K., BorgWarner Morse Systems Mexico S.A. de C.V., BorgWarner Muggendorf RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner NW Inc., BorgWarner Netherlands Holdings (PDS) B.V., BorgWarner Oroszlany Kft., BorgWarner PDS (Anderson) L.L.C., BorgWarner PDS (Changnyeong) LLC, BorgWarner PDS (Indiana) Inc., BorgWarner PDS (Livonia) Inc., BorgWarner PDS (Ochang) LLC, BorgWarner PDS (Thailand) Limited, BorgWarner PDS (USA) Inc., BorgWarner PDS Brasil Produtos Automotivos Ltda., BorgWarner PDS Irapuato S. de R.L. de C.V., BorgWarner PDS Mexico Holdings S. de R.L. de C.V., BorgWarner PDS Technologies L.L.C., BorgWarner Poland Sp. z o.o., BorgWarner Pyongtaek LLC, BorgWarner Romeo Power LLC, BorgWarner Rzeszow Sp. z o.o., BorgWarner Shenglong (Ningbo) Co. Ltd., BorgWarner South Asia LLC, BorgWarner Southborough Inc., BorgWarner Spain Holding S.L.U, BorgWarner Sweden AB, BorgWarner Systems Lugo S.r.l., BorgWarner Thermal Systems Inc., BorgWarner Thermal Systems of Michigan Inc., BorgWarner TorqTransfer Systems Beijing Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Tralee Ltd., BorgWarner Transmission Products LLC, BorgWarner Transmission Systems Arnstadt GmbH, BorgWarner Transmission Systems GmbH, BorgWarner Transmission Systems Korea LLC, BorgWarner Transmission Systems Tulle S.A.S., BorgWarner Trustees Limited, BorgWarner Turbo & Emissions Systems France S.A.S., BorgWarner Turbo Systems Engineering GmbH, BorgWarner Turbo Systems GmbH, BorgWarner Turbo Systems LLC, BorgWarner Turbo Systems Worldwide Headquarters GmbH, BorgWarner Turbo Systems of Michigan Inc., BorgWarner Turbo and Emissions Systems de Mexico S.A. de C.V., BorgWarner UK Financing Ltd., BorgWarner UK Holding and Services Ltd., BorgWarner US Holding LLC, BorgWarner USA Industries L.L.C., BorgWarner United Transmission Systems Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Waterloo Inc., BorgWarner Wrexham Limited, Cascadia Motion LLC, Creon Insurance Agency Limited, Delphi Technologies, Dytech ENSA, Gustav Wahler GmbH u. Co. KG, Haldex, Kuhlman LLC, Kysor Europe Limited, M. & M. Knopf Auto Parts L.L.C., NSK-Warner (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., NSK-Warner K.K., NSK-Warner Mexico S.A. de C.V, NSK-Warner U.S.A. Inc., New PDS Corp., Old Remco Holdings L.L.C., Old Remco International Holdings L.L.C., Remy International, SeohanWarner Turbo Systems LLC, Sevcon, Sevcon New Energy Technology (Hubei) Company Limited, and Transmission Systems AutoForm LLC. CEMEX SAB de CV engages in the production, distribution, marketing, and sale of cement, ready-mix concrete, and aggregates. It operates though the following geographical segments: Mexico; United States; Europe; South, Central America and the Caribbean (SCA&C); Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA); and Others. The Europe segment covers United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, and Czech Republic, Poland and Latvia, as well as trading activities in Scandinavia, and Finland. The SCA&C segment includes Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Caribbean TCL, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Jamaica, the Caribbean, El Salvador, and Guatemala. The EMEA segment comprises of Egypt, Israel, the Philippines, and the United Arab Emirates. The Others segment refers to the cement trade maritime operations, information technology solutions business, and other corporate entities as well as other minor subsidiaries with different lines of business. The company was founded by Lorenzo Zambrano Gutierrez in 1906 and is headquartered in San Pedro Garza Garcia, Mexico. Read More 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. Wall Street analysts have given iShares S&P 400 MidCap 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 S&P 400 MidCap ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Fortis Inc. operates as an electric and gas utility company in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean countries. It generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 433,000 retail customers in southeastern Arizona; and 98,000 retail customers in Arizona's Mohave and Santa Cruz counties with an aggregate capacity of 3,233 megawatts (MW), including 59 MW of solar capacity. The company also sells wholesale electricity to other entities in the western United States; owns gas-fired and hydroelectric generating capacity totaling 65 MW; and distributes natural gas to approximately 1,048,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers in British Columbia, Canada. In addition, it owns and operates the electricity distribution system that serves approximately 572,000 customers in southern and central Alberta; owns 4 hydroelectric generating facilities with a combined capacity of 225 MW; and provides operation, maintenance, and management services to five hydroelectric generating facilities. Further, the company distributes electricity in the island portion of Newfoundland and Labrador with an installed generating capacity of 143 MW; and on Prince Edward Island with a generating capacity of 130 MW. Additionally, it provides integrated electric utility service to approximately 67,000 customers in Ontario; approximately 270,000 customers in Newfoundland and Labrador; approximately 31,000 customers on Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; and approximately 15,000 customers on certain islands in Turks and Caicos. The company also holds long-term contracted generation assets in Belize consisting of 3 hydroelectric generating facilities with a combined capacity of 51 MW; and the Aitken Creek natural gas storage facility. It also owns and operates approximately 91,000 circuit Kilometers (km) of distribution lines; and approximately 49,500 km of natural gas pipelines. Fortis Inc. was founded in 1885 and is headquartered in St. John's, Canada. Read More Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. engages in global investment banking, securities, and investment management, which provides financial services. It operates through the following business segments: Investment Banking, Global Markets, Asset Management, and Consumer & Wealth Management. The Investment Banking segment serves public and private sector clients around the world and provides financial advisory services, help companies raise capital to strengthen and grow their businesses and provide financing to corporate clients. The Global Markets segment serves its clients who buy and sell financial products, funding and manage risk. The Asset Management segment provides investment services to help clients preserve and grow their financial assets. The Consumer & Wealth Management segment helps clients to achieve their individual financial goals by providing a wealth advisory and banking services. The company was founded by Marcus Goldman in 1869 and is headquartered in New York, NY. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of WESCO International: 1502218 Alberta Ltd., ALLNET Technologies Pty. Ltd., AXE Distribution Solutions Trinidad Ltd., Accu-Tech Corporation, Anixter (Barbados) SRL, Anixter (CIS) LLC, Anixter (Switzerland) Sarl, Anixter (U.K.) Limited, Anixter Argentina S.A., Anixter Asia Holdings Limited, Anixter Australia Pty. Ltd., Anixter Austria GmbH, Anixter Bahamas Limited, Anixter Belgium B.V.B.A., Anixter Cables y Manufacturas S.A. de C.V., Anixter Canada Inc., Anixter Canadian Holdings ULC, Anixter Chile S.A., Anixter Colombia S.A.S., Anixter Communications (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Anixter Communications (Shanghai) Co. Limited, Anixter Costa Rica S.A., Anixter Czech a.s., Anixter Danmark A/S, Anixter Deutschland GmbH, Anixter Distribuidor de Soluciones Empresariales e Industriales S.A., Anixter Distribution Ireland Limited, Anixter Dominicana SRL, Anixter Egypt LLC, Anixter Espana S.L., Anixter Eurotwo Holdings B.V., Anixter Fasteners Deutschland GmbH, Anixter Financial Inc., Anixter France SARL, Anixter Guatemala y Compania Limitada, Anixter Holdings Inc., Anixter Holdings Mexico LLC, Anixter Hong Kong Limited, Anixter Iletisim Sistemleri Pazarlama ve Ticaret A.S., Anixter Inc., Anixter India Private Limited, Anixter Information Systems LLC, Anixter International, Anixter Italia S.r.l., Anixter Jamaica Limited, Anixter Japan KK, Anixter Jorvex S.A.C., Anixter Limited, Anixter Logistica do Brasil LTDA, Anixter Logistica y Servicios S.A. de C.V., Anixter Magyarorszag Elektronikus Halozati Rendszer Kereskedelmi es Szolgaltato Kft, Anixter Mid Holdings B.V., Anixter Middle East FZE, Anixter Morocco SARL AU, Anixter Nederland B.V., Anixter New Zealand Limited, Anixter Norge A.N.S., Anixter Operaciones y Logistica s De RL De CV, Anixter Panama S.A., Anixter Pension Scheme Trustees Limited, Anixter Pension Trustees Limited, Anixter Peru S.A.C., Anixter Philippines Inc., Anixter Poland Sp.z.o.o., Anixter Portugal S.A., Anixter Power Solutions Canada Inc., Anixter Power Solutions Inc., Anixter Procurement Corporation, Anixter Puerto Rico Inc., Anixter Real-Estate LLC, Anixter Receivables Corporation, Anixter Saudi Arabia Limited, Anixter Singapore Pte. Ltd., Anixter Slovakia s.r.o., Anixter Sub Holdings B.V, Anixter Sverige AB, Anixter Thailand Inc., Anixter U.S. LLC, Anixter Venezuela Inc., Anixter de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Anixter do Brasil Ltda, Atlanta Electrical Distributors, Atlanta Electrical Distributors LLC, Atlas Gentech (NZ) Limited, Avon Electrical Supplies, B.E.L. Corporation, Brews Supply, Brown Wholesale Electric, Bruckner Supply, CBC LP Holdings LLC, CDW Holdco LLC, Calvert Wire & Cable Corporation, Carlton-Bates Company, Carlton-Bates Company (CBC), Carlton-Bates Company de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Carlton-Bates Company of Texas GP Inc, Central Security Distribution Pty. Ltd, Communication Cables LLC, Communications Supply Corporation, Conney Investment Holdings LLC, Conney Safety Products, Conney Safety Products LLC, Distribuidora Materiales Electricos E-Supply Limitada, EECOL Electric, EECOL Electric Bolivia Ltda, EECOL Electric Corp., EECOL Electric Peru S.A.C, EECOL Industrial Electric (SudAmerica) Limitada, EECOL Industrial Electric Ecuador Limitada, EECOL Industrial Electric Limitada, EECOL Power S.A., EECOL Properties Corp, Eurinvest B.V., Eurinvest Cooperatief U.A., Fastec Industrial, HMH Pension Trustees Limited, Hazmasters, Hazmasters Inc., Herning Underground Supply, Hi-Line Utility Supply, Hi-Line Utility Supply Company LLC, Hill Country Electric Supply, Hill Country Electric Supply L.P., ICV GP Inc., Infast Group Limited, Inner Range Pty. Ltd, Itel Container Ventures Inc., Itel Corporation, Itel Rail Holdings Corporation, J-Mark Inc., LaPrairie, Liberty Wire & Cable Inc., Monti Electric Supply, Needham Electric Supply, Needham Electric Supply LLC, Obras Y Servicios Sunpark S.A.C., PT Anixter Indonesia, Potelcom Supply, Pro Canadian Holdings I ULC, RECO LLC, RS Electronics, Reily Electrical Supply, SASK Alta Holdings S.A., Services Voice Video and Data Distribution de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Servicios Anixter S.A. de C.V., Signal Capital Corporation, Signal Capital Projects Inc., Stone Eagle Electrical Supply GP Inc., Stone Eagle Electrical Supply Limited Partnership, TVC Communications, TVC Communications L.L.C., TVC Espana Distribucion y Venta De Equipos S.L., TVC International Holding L.L.C., TVC UK Holdings Limited, Tri-Ed Puerto Rico Ltd. Inc., Trydor Industries, Voice Video and Data Distribution de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., WDC Holding Inc., WDCH LP, WDCH US LP, WDI USVI LLC, WDI-Angola LDA, WDINESCO B.V., WDINESCO II B.V., WDINESCO III B.V., WEAS Company S. de R.L., WESCO (Suzhou) Trading Co. Ltd., WESCO Australia Pty Ltd, WESCO Canada GP Inc., WESCO Canada I LP, WESCO DC Holding I LP, WESCO DC Holding II LP, WESCO DC Holding III LP, WESCO DC Holding IV LP, WESCO Distribution Canada Co., WESCO Distribution Canada LP, WESCO Distribution HK Limited, WESCO Distribution II ULC, WESCO Distribution III ULC, WESCO Distribution IV Inc., WESCO Distribution Inc., WESCO Distribution Ireland Limited, WESCO Distribution NL B.V., WESCO Distribution Pte. Ltd., WESCO Distribution de Mexico S. de R.L., WESCO Distribution-International Limited, WESCO Enterprises Inc., WESCO Equity Corporation, WESCO Holdings LLC, WESCO Integrated Supply Inc., WESCO Integrated Supply Polska Spolka z o.o., WESCO Netherlands B.V., WESCO Nevada Ltd., WESCO Nigeria Inc., WESCO Procurement Canada ULC, WESCO Real Estate I LLC, WESCO Real Estate II LLC, WESCO Real Estate III LLC, WESCO Real Estate IV LLC, WESCO Receivables Corp., WESCO Services LLC, WESCO TLD Holdings Co. Ltd., WND Nigeria Limited, WireXpress Ltd., Xpress Connect Supply Hong Kong Limited, XpressConnect Holdings B.V., XpressConnect International B.V., XpressConnect Supply B.V.B.A., XpressConnect Supply Colombia S.A.S., XpressConnect Supply Inc., XpressConnect Supply Mexico S.A. de C.V., and XpressConnect Supply do Brasil Ltda. The Southern pays an annual dividend of $2.64 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 4.20%. SO has a dividend yield higher than 75% of all dividend-paying stocks, making it a leading dividend payer. The Southern has been increasing its dividend for 20 consecutive years, indicating the company has a strong committment to maintain and grow its dividend. The dividend payout ratio of The Southern is 81.23%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable. Based on earnings estimates, The Southern will have a dividend payout ratio of 74.37% next year. This indicates that The Southern will be able to sustain or increase its dividend. View The Southern's dividend history. The following companies are subsidiares of The Travelers Companies: 10762962 Canada Inc., 350 Market Street LLC, 8527512 Canada Inc., Aetna Life and Casualty Co, American Equity Insurance Company, American Equity Specialty Insurance Company, Aprilgrange Limited, Arch Street North LLC, Auto Hartford Investments LLC, Bayhill Restaurant II Associates, Camperdown Corporation, Constitution State Services LLC, Discover Property & Casualty Insurance Company, Discover Specialty Insurance Company, F&G UK Underwriters Limited, Farmington Casualty Company, Fidelity and Guaranty Insurance Company, Fidelity and Guaranty Insurance Underwriters Inc., First Floridian Auto and Home Insurance Company, Gulf Underwriters Insurance Company, IHP Capital Partners Fund VIII L.P., Northbrook Holdings Inc., Northfield Insurance Company, Northland Casualty Company, Northland Insurance Company, Phoenix UK Investments LLC, SPC Insurance Agency Inc., Select Insurance Company, Simply Business Holdings Inc., Simply Business Inc., St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company, St. Paul Guardian Insurance Company, St. Paul Mercury Insurance Company, St. Paul Protective Insurance Company, St. Paul Surplus Lines Insurance Company, Standard Fire Properties LLC, Standard Fire UK Investments LLC, TCI Global Services Inc., TPC Investments Inc., TPC U.K. Investments LLC, The Automobile Insurance Company of Hartford Connecticut, The Charter Oak Fire Insurance Company, The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company, The Family Business Institute LLC, The Phoenix Insurance Company, The St. Paul Companies Inc., The Standard Fire Insurance Company, The Travelers Casualty Company, The Travelers Home and Marine Insurance Company, The Travelers Indemnity Company, The Travelers Indemnity Company of America, The Travelers Indemnity Company of Connecticut, The Travelers Lloyds Insurance Company, TravCo Insurance Company, Travelers (Bermuda) Limited, Travelers Brazil Acquisition LLC, Travelers Brazil Holding LLC, Travelers Casualty Company of Connecticut, Travelers Casualty Insurance Company of America, Travelers Casualty UK Investments LLC, Travelers Casualty and Surety Company, Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America, Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of Europe Limited, Travelers Commercial Casualty Company, Travelers Commercial Insurance Company, Travelers Constitution State Insurance Company, Travelers Distribution Alliance Inc., Travelers Excess and Surplus Lines Company, Travelers Global Inc., Travelers Indemnity U.K. Investments LLC, Travelers Insurance Company Limited, Travelers Insurance Company of Canada, Travelers Insurance Designated Activity Company, Travelers Insurance Group Holdings Inc., Travelers Lloyds of Texas Insurance Company, Travelers London Limited, Travelers MGA Inc., Travelers Management Limited, Travelers Marine LLC, Travelers Participacoes em Seguros Brasil S.A., Travelers Personal Insurance Company, Travelers Personal Security Insurance Company, Travelers Property Casualty Company of America, Travelers Property Casualty Corp., Travelers Property Casualty Insurance Company, Travelers Seguros Brasil S.A., Travelers Syndicate Management Limited, Travelers Texas MGA Inc., Travelers Underwriting Agency Limited, Ultramar Travel Management, United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company, Xbridge Limited, Zensurance Brokers Inc., and Zensurance Inc.. Wall Street analysts have given iShares MSCI 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 iShares MSCI 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. Mettler-Toledo International, Inc. is a supplier of precision instruments and services. The firm manufactures weighing instruments for use in laboratory, industrial, packaging, logistics, and food retailing applications. It also manufactures several related analytical instruments and provides automated chemistry solutions used in drug and chemical compound discovery and development; and also, metal detection and other end-of-line inspection systems used in production and packaging and provides solutions for use in certain process analytics applications. Its operations are conducted by the following segments: U. S. Operations, Swiss Operations, Western European Operations, Chinese Operations and Other. The U.S. Operations segment represents certain of the company's marketing and producing organizations located in the United States. The Swiss Operations segment includes marketing and producing organizations located in Switzerland, as well as extensive R&D operations that are responsible for the development, production, and marketing of precision instruments, including weighing, analytical, and measurement technologies for use in a variety of industrial and laboratory applications. Th Read More Nabors Industries Ltd. engages in the provision of platform work over and drilling rigs. It operates through the following segments: U.S. Drilling, Canada Drilling, International Drilling, Drilling Solutions, and Rig Technologies. The U.S. Drilling segment includes land drilling activities in the lower 48 states and Alaska, as well as offshore operations in the Gulf of Mexico. The Canada segment consists of land-based drilling rigs in Canada. The International segment focuses in maintaining a footprint in the oil and gas market, most notably in Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Argentina, Colombia, Kazakhstan, and Venezuela. The Drilling Solutions segment offers drilling technologies, such as patented steering systems and rig instrumentation software systems that enhance drilling performance and wellbore placement. The Rig Technologies segment comprises Canrig, which manufactures and sells top drives, catwalks, wrenches, drawworks, and drilling related equipment, such as robotic systems and downhole tools. The company was founded by Clair Nabors in 1952 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda. Read More Parkland Corporation operates as a marketer, distributor, and refiner of fuel and petroleum products in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company operates through Canada, International, USA, Supply, and Corporate segments. The Canada segment supplies and supports a coast-to-coast network of 1,860 retail gas stations under the Ultramar, Esso, Fas Gas Plus, Chevron, Pioneer, and Race Trac as well as operates convenience stores under the On the Run/MarchA Express brand. Additionally it offers bulk fuel, bulk and cylinder exchange propane, heating oil, lubricants, and other related products and services to commercial, industrial, and residential customers in various industries, such as oil and gas, construction, mining, forestry, fishing, and transportation under the Ultramar, Bluewave Energy, Pipeline Commercial, Chevron, Columbia Fuels, and Sparlings Propane brands. The International segment operates retail service stations under the Esso, Shell, and Sol brands; and delivers and supplies gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, propane, and lubricants to customers in various sectors, including power, oil and gas, and mining. The USA segment operates a network of gas stations; and delivers bulk fuel, lubricants, and other related products and services under the Farstad Oil, Rhinehart Oil, Tropic Oil, Superpumper, Harts, and On the Run brands. The Supply segment manufactures transportation fuels; transports, stores, and markets fuels, crude oil, and liquid petroleum gases; and manufactures and sells aviation fuel to airlines. This segment also engages in the wholesale, supply, and distribution business. The company was formerly known as Parkland Fuel Corporation and changed its name to Parkland Corporation in May 2020. The company was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of PerkinElmer: Analytica of Branford, Applied Biosystems, Arnel Inc., ArtusLabs, Beijing Huaan Magnech Bio-Tech Co. Ltd., Beijing Longrun Bio-Tech Co. Ltd., Beijing Meizheng Bio-Tech Co. Ltd., Beijing Meizheng Testing Lab Co. Ltd., Beijing OUMENG Biotechnology Co. Ltd., Bio Evolution SAS, Bioo Scientific Corporation, Biosense Picolabs Inc., Biosense Technologies Pvt Ltd., Caliper Life Sciences, Caliper Life Sciences Inc., Cambridge Research & Instrumentation Inc., CambridgeSoft, Ceiba Solutions, Chengdu PerkinElmer Medical Laboratory Co. Ltd., Chromo G.A. SAS, CisBio US Inc., Cisbio Asia Pacific Ltd, Cisbio Bioassays SAS, Cisbio China Ltd., Cisbio Group SAS, Cisbio KK, Cisbio.com, DNA Laboratories Sdn. Bhd., Dani Analitica S.r.l., Dexela, EUROIMMUN (Hangzhou) Medical Laboratory Diagnostics Co. Ltd., EUROIMMUN (South East Asia) Pte Ltd., EUROIMMUN (Tianjin) Medical Diagnostic Technology Co. Ltd., EUROIMMUN AG, EUROIMMUN Brasil Medicina Diagnostica Ltda., EUROIMMUN Diagnostics Espana S.L.U., EUROIMMUN France SAS, EUROIMMUN Italia Diagnostica Medica S.r.l., EUROIMMUN Japan Co. Ltd., EUROIMMUN Medical Diagnostics (China) Co. Ltd., EUROIMMUN Medical Diagnostics Canada Inc., EUROIMMUN Medical Laboratory Diagnostics South Africa (Pty) Ltd., EUROIMMUN Medizinische Labordiagnostika AG, EUROIMMUN Polska Spolka z o.o., EUROIMMUN Portugal Unipessoal Lda., EUROIMMUN Schweiz AG, EUROIMMUN Turkey Tibbi Laboratuar Teshisleri A.S., EUROIMMUN UK Ltd., EUROIMMUN US Inc., EUROIMMUN US Real Estate LLC, Geospiza, Guangzhou EUROIMMUN Medical Diagnostic Products Co. Ltd., Hangzhou EUROIMMUN Medical Diagnostic Products Co. Ltd., Horizon Discovery, Immunodiagnostic Systems, Integromics S.L., Jiangsu Meizheng Bio-Tech Co. Ltd., LabMetrix Technologies, Labtronics, ManCell SAS, Nexcelom Bioscience, NovaScreen Biosciences Corporation, Opto Technology, Orchid Biomedical Systems Pvt Ltd., Oxford Immunotec, Pediatrix Medical Group - Newborn Metabolic Screening Business, Perkin Elmer Chile Ltda., Perkin Elmer Italia SpA, Perkin Elmer Sdn. Bhd., Perkin Elmer Yuhan Hoesa, Perkin Elmer de Mexico S.A., Perkin-Elmer Argentina S.R.L., Perkin-Elmer Instruments (Philippines) Corporation, PerkinElmer (Hong Kong) Ltd., PerkinElmer (India) Pvt Ltd., PerkinElmer (Ireland) Ltd., PerkinElmer (Schweiz) AG, PerkinElmer (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund L.P., PerkinElmer (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund Management Co. Ltd., PerkinElmer (UK) Holdings Ltd., PerkinElmer Analytical Solutions B.V., PerkinElmer Automotive Research Inc., PerkinElmer BVBA, PerkinElmer CV Holdings LLC, PerkinElmer Cellular Technologies Germany GmbH, PerkinElmer Danmark A/S, PerkinElmer Diagnostics Global Holdings S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Diagnostics Holdings Inc., PerkinElmer Espana S.L., PerkinElmer Finance Luxembourg S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Finland Oy, PerkinElmer Genetics Inc., PerkinElmer Germany Diagnostics GmbH, PerkinElmer Global Diagnostics S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Global Financing S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Global Holdings S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Health Sciences (Australia) Pty. Ltd., PerkinElmer Health Sciences B.V., PerkinElmer Health Sciences Canada Inc., PerkinElmer Health Sciences FZ-LLC, PerkinElmer Health Sciences Inc., PerkinElmer Health Sciences Pvt Ltd., PerkinElmer Healthcare Diagnostics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PerkinElmer Holding Luxembourg S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Holdings Inc., PerkinElmer Holdings Pty. Ltd., PerkinElmer IVD Pte Ltd., PerkinElmer Inc., PerkinElmer Informatics Inc., PerkinElmer Instruments (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., PerkinElmer International C.V., PerkinElmer Investments Ky, PerkinElmer Israel Ltd., PerkinElmer Japan Co. Ltd., PerkinElmer LAS (Germany) GmbH, PerkinElmer LAS (UK) Ltd., PerkinElmer Life Sciences International Holdings, PerkinElmer Limited, PerkinElmer Ltd., PerkinElmer Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PerkinElmer Nederland B.V., PerkinElmer Norge AS, PerkinElmer Oy, PerkinElmer Polska Sp z o.o., PerkinElmer Pty. Ltd., PerkinElmer SAS, PerkinElmer Saglk ve Cevre Bilimleri Ltd., PerkinElmer Shared Services Sp z o.o., PerkinElmer Singapore Pte Ltd., PerkinElmer South Africa (Pty) Ltd., PerkinElmer Sverige AB, PerkinElmer Sweden Health Sciences Holdings AB, PerkinElmer Taiwan Corporation, PerkinElmer VertriebsgmbH, PerkinElmer chemagen Technologie GmbH, PerkinElmer do Brasil Ltda., Perten Instruments, Perten Instruments (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Perten Instruments AB, Perten Instruments France SASU, Perten Instruments GmbH, Perten Instruments Italia S.r.l., Perten Instruments of Australia Pty Ltd., RHS Ltd, RayAl Ltd., Shandong Meizheng Bio-Tech Co. Ltd., Shanghai Haoyuan Biotech Co. Ltd., Shanghai Spectrum Instruments Co. Ltd., Shanghai Spectrum Instruments Co. Ltd., Signature Genomic Laboratories, Solus Scientific Solutions Inc., Solus Scientific Solutions Ltd., Surendra Genetic Labs, Suzhou PerkinElmer Medical Laboratory Co. Ltd., Suzhou Sym-Bio LifeScience, Suzhou Sym-Bio Lifescience Co. Ltd., Tulip Diagnostics, Tulip Diagnostics Pvt Ltd., Vanadis Diagnostics, Vanadis Diagnostics AB, ViaCell, ViaCord LLC, VisEn Medical, VisEn Medical Inc., Wallac Oy, Wellesley B.V., Xenogen Corporation, ZeLab SAS, and chemagen Biopolymer-Technologie AG. The following companies are subsidiares of Carnival Co. &: 1972 Productions Inc., 6348 Equipment LLC, A.C.N. 098 290 834 Pty. Ltd., A.J. Juneau Dock LLC, AIDA Kundencenter GmbH, Adventure Island Ltd., Air-Sea Holiday GmbH, Alaska Hotel Properties LLC, Barcelona Cruise Terminal SLU, Bay Island Cruise Port S.A., Belize Cruise Terminal Limited, CC U.S. Ventures Inc., CCL Gifts LLC, CSSC Carnival Italy Cruise Investment S.r.L, Carnival (UK) Limited, Carnival Bahamas FC Limited, Carnival Bahamas Holdings Limited, Carnival Corporation & plc Asia Pte. Ltd., Carnival Corporation Hong Kong Limited, Carnival Corporation Korea Ltd., Carnival Corporation Ports Group Japan KK, Carnival Finance LLC, Carnival Grand Bahama Investment Limited, Carnival Investments Limited, Carnival Japan Inc., Carnival License Holdings Limited, Carnival Maritime GmbH, Carnival North America LLC, Carnival Port Holdings Limited, Carnival Ports Inc., Carnival Support Services India Private Limited, Carnival Technical Services (UK) Limited, Carnival Technical Services Finland Limited, Carnival Technical Services GmbH, Carnival Technical Services Inc., Carnival Vanuatu Limited, Costa Crociere PTE Ltd., Costa Crociere S.p.A., Costa Cruceros S.A., Costa Cruise Lines Inc., Costa Cruise Lines UK Limited, Costa Cruises Shipping Services (Shanghai) Company Limited, Costa Cruises Travel Agency (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Costa Cruzeiros Agencia Maritima e Turismo Ltda., Costa Group Digital & Strategic Services GmbH, Costa International B.V., Costa Kreuzfahrten GmbH, Cozumel Cruise Terminal S.A. de C.V., Creative Travel Lab Ltd., Cruise Ships Catering & Services International N.V., Cruise Terminal Services S.A. de C.V., Cruiseport Curacao C.V., D.R. Cruise Port Ltd., Ecospray Technologies S.r.L., F.P.M. SAS, F.P.P. SAS, Fleet Maritime Services (Bermuda) Limited, Fleet Maritime Services Holdings (Bermuda) Limited, Fleet Maritime Services International Limited, GXI LLC, Gibs Inc., Global Experience Innovators Inc., Global Fine Arts Inc., Global Shipping Service (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Grand Cruise Shipping Unipessoal LdA, Grand Turk Cruise Center Ltd., HAL Antillen N.V., HAL Beheer B.V., HAL Cruises Limited, HAL Maritime Ltd., HAL Nederland N.V., HAL Properties Limited, HAL Services B.V., HSE Hamburg School of Entertainment GmbH, Holding Division Iberocruceros SLU, Holland America Line Inc., Holland America Line N.V., Holland America Line Paymaster of Washington LLC, Holland America Line U.S.A. Inc., Ibero Cruzeiros Ltda., Iberocruceros SLU, Information Assistance Corporation, International Cruise Services S.A. de C.V., International Leisure Travel Inc., International Maritime Recruitment Agency S.A. de C.V., Milestone N.V., Navitrans S.R.L., Ocean Bahamas Innovation Ltd., Ocean Medallion Fulfillment Ltd., Operadora Catalina S.r.L., P&O Princess American Holdings, P&O Princess Cruises International Limited, P&O Princess Cruises Pension Trustee Limited, P&O Properties (California) Inc., P&O Travel Limited, Prestige Cruises Management S.A.M., Prestige Cruises N.V., Princess Bermuda Holdings Ltd., Princess Cays Ltd., Princess Cruise Corporation Inc., Princess Cruise Lines Ltd., Princess Cruises and Tours Inc., Princess U.S. Holdings Inc., RCT Maintenance & Related Services S.A., RCT Pilots & Related Services S.A., RCT Security & Related Services S.A., Roatan Cruise Terminal S.A. de C.V., Royal Hyway Tours Inc., Santa Cruz Terminal S.L., SeaVacations Limited, SeaVacations UK Limited, Seabourn Cruise Line Limited, Shanghai Coast Cruise Consulting Co. Lda, Ship Care (Bahamas) Limited, Sitmar Cruises Inc., Spanish Cruise Services N.V., Sunshine Shipping Corporation Ltd., T&T International Inc., Tour Alaska LLC, Transnational Services Corporation, Trident Insurance Company Ltd., Westmark Hotels Inc., Westmark Hotels of Canada Ltd., Westours Motor Coaches LLC, Wind Surf Limited, and World Leading Cruise Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.. Raymond James Financial, Inc., a financial holding company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the underwriting, distribution, trading, and brokerage of equity and debt securities, and the sale of mutual funds and other investment products in the United States, Canada, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Private Client Group, Capital Markets, Asset Management, RJ Bank, and Other segments. The Private Client Group segment provides securities brokerage services, including the sale of equities, mutual funds, fixed income products, and insurance products to their individual clients; and borrowing and lending of securities to and from other broker-dealers, financial institutions, and other counterparties. The Capital Markets segment offers securities brokerage, trading, and research services to institutions with a focus on sale of the United States and Canadian equities and fixed income products; and manages and participates in underwritings, merger and acquisition services, and public finance activities. The Asset Management segment engages in the operations of Eagle, the Eagle Family of Funds, Cougar, the asset management operations of Raymond James & Associates, trust services of Raymond James Trust, and other fee-based asset management programs. The RJ Bank segment provides corporate loans, SBL, tax-exempt loans, and residential loans. The Other segment engages in private equity activities, including various direct and third party private equity investments; and private equity funds. Raymond James Financial, Inc. was founded in 1962 and is based in St. Petersburg, Florida. Read More Wall Street analysts have given iShares Latin America 40 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 Latin America 40 ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Royal Dutch Shell plc operates as an energy and petrochemical company worldwide. The company operates through Integrated Gas, Upstream, Oil Products, Chemicals segments. It explores for and extracts crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids; markets and transports oil and gas; produces gas-to-liquids fuels and other products; and operates upstream and midstream infrastructure necessary to deliver gas to market. The company also markets and trades natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), crude oil, electricity, carbon-emission rights; and markets and sells LNG as a fuel for heavy-duty vehicles and marine vessels. In addition, it trades in and refines crude oil and other feed stocks, such as gasoline, diesel, heating oil, aviation fuel, marine fuel, biofuel, lubricants, bitumen, and sulphur; produces and sells petrochemicals for industrial use; and manages oil sands activities. Further, the company produces base chemicals comprising ethylene, propylene, and aromatics, as well as intermediate chemicals, such as styrene monomer, propylene oxide, solvents, detergent alcohols, ethylene oxide, and ethylene glycol. Royal Dutch Shell plc was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands. Read More Wall Street analysts have given VanEck Gold Miners ETF a "N/A" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but VanEck Gold Miners ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Rockwell Collins, Inc. designs, produces, and supports communications and aviation systems worldwide. The company's Interior Systems segment offers commercial aircraft seats; galley structures, food and beverage preparation equipment, and water and waste systems; oxygen and passenger service equipment; cabin lighting systems; and business jet and general aviation interior products. Its Commercial Systems segment provides cabin management systems; data link, frequency, very high frequency, and satellite communications systems; landing, radio navigation, and geophysical sensors, and flight management systems; situational awareness and surveillance systems and products; integrated flight controls; simulation and training systems; maintenance, repair, parts, and after-sales support services, and aftermarket used equipment. The company's Government Systems segment provides communications systems and products; radio navigation products, global positioning system equipment, and multi-mode receivers; avionics systems; precision targeting, electronic warfare, and training systems; simulation and training systems; space wheels; visual system products; maintenance, repair, parts, and after-sales support services, and aftermarket used equipment. Its Information Management Services segment offers voice and data communication services; flight support services; airport communications and information systems; train dispatching and information systems; mission critical security systems; and cabin connectivity solutions. The company serves original equipment manufacturers of commercial air transport, business and regional aircraft, commercial airlines, U.S. Department of Defense, other ministries of defense, other government agencies, defense contractors, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, and passenger and freight railroads, as well as airport, critical infrastructure, and business aircraft operators. The company was founded in 1933 and is headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Read More 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 BlackRock: Acero Cooperatief U.A., Acero Holdings I B.V., Amethyst Merger Sub LLC, AnalytX Hosting LLC, AnalytX LLC, AnalytX Software LLC, Aperio, Aperio, Aquila Heywood, Asia-Pacific Private Credit Opportunities Fund I (GenPar) Ltd., BAA Holdings LLC, BFM Holdco LLC, BLK (Gallatin) Holdings LLC, BLK SMI LLC, BR Acquisition Mexico S.A. de C.V., BR Jersey International Holdings L.P., Beijing eFront Software Company Limited, BlackRock (Barbados) Finco 1 SRL, BlackRock (Channel Islands) Limited, BlackRock (Luxembourg) S.A., BlackRock (Netherlands) B.V., BlackRock (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BlackRock (Singapore) Holdco II Pte. Ltd., BlackRock (Singapore) Holdco Pte. Limited, BlackRock (Singapore) Limited, BlackRock AP Investment Holdco LLC, BlackRock Advisors (UK) Limited, BlackRock Advisors LLC, BlackRock Advisors Singapore Pte. Limited, BlackRock Alternative Advisors GP Holdings LLC, BlackRock Alternatives Management LLC, BlackRock Argentina Asesorias Ltda., BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited, BlackRock Asset Management Deutschland AG, BlackRock Asset Management International Inc., BlackRock Asset Management Investor Services Limited, BlackRock Asset Management Ireland Limited, BlackRock Asset Management North Asia Limited, BlackRock Asset Management Schweiz AG, BlackRock Asset Management UK Limited, BlackRock Australia Holdco Pty. Ltd., BlackRock Brasil Gestora de Investimentos Ltda., BlackRock Cal 1 Investor LLC, BlackRock Canada Holdings LP, BlackRock Canada Holdings ULC, BlackRock Capital Holdings Inc., BlackRock Capital Investment Advisors LLC, BlackRock Capital Management Inc., BlackRock Cayco Limited, BlackRock Cayman 1 LP, BlackRock Cayman Capital Holdings Limited, BlackRock Cayman Finco 2 Limited, BlackRock Cayman Finco 3 Limited, BlackRock Cayman Finco Limited, BlackRock Cayman West Bay Finco Limited, BlackRock Cayman West Bay IV Limited, BlackRock Cayman Z Limited, BlackRock Channel Islands Holdco Limited, BlackRock Chile Asesorias Limitada, BlackRock Colombia Holdco LLC, BlackRock Colombia Infraestructura S.A.S., BlackRock Colombia SAS, BlackRock Company Secretarial Services (UK) Limited, BlackRock Corporation US Inc., BlackRock Delaware Holdings Inc., BlackRock Enterprise Management Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BlackRock Europe Development Management Limited, BlackRock Execution Services, BlackRock Finance Europe Limited, BlackRock Financial Management Inc., BlackRock Finco LLC, BlackRock Finco UK Ltd., BlackRock First Partner Limited, BlackRock France SAS, BlackRock Fund Advisors, BlackRock Fund Management Company S.A., BlackRock Fund Managers Limited, BlackRock Funding International Ltd., BlackRock Funds Services Group LLC, BlackRock Germany GmBH, BlackRock Group Limited, BlackRock HK Holdco Limited, BlackRock Holdco 2 Inc., BlackRock Holdco 3 LLC, BlackRock Holdco 4 LLC, BlackRock Holdco 5 LLC, BlackRock Holdco 6 LLC, BlackRock Hungary Kft, BlackRock Index Services LLC, BlackRock Infrastructure Management I LLC, BlackRock Institutional Services Inc., BlackRock Institutional Trust Company National Association, BlackRock International Holdings Inc., BlackRock International Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (Australia) Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (Dublin) Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (Korea) Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BlackRock Investment Management (Taiwan) Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited, BlackRock Investment Management Ireland Holdings Limited, BlackRock Investment Management LLC, BlackRock Investments LLC, BlackRock Japan Co. Ltd., BlackRock Japan Holdings GK, BlackRock Jersey Finco 2 Limited, BlackRock Latin America Holdco LLC, BlackRock Latin American Holdings B.V., BlackRock Life Limited, BlackRock Lux Finco S.a r.l., BlackRock Luxembourg Holdco S.a r.l., BlackRock Mexican Holdco B.V., BlackRock Mexico Infraestructura I S. de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Infraestructura II S. de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Infraestructura III S. de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Manager II S. de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Manager III S. de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Manager S de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Operadora S.A. de C.V. Sociedad Operadora de Fondos de Inversion, BlackRock Mortgage Ventures LLC, BlackRock Niagara LLC, BlackRock Operations (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., BlackRock Overseas Investment Fund Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BlackRock PC Holdings LLC, BlackRock Pensions Limited, BlackRock Peru Asesorias S.A., BlackRock Property Consulting (Beijing) Co. Ltd., BlackRock Property France S.a.r.l., BlackRock Property Lux S.a.r.l., BlackRock Property Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., BlackRock Realty Advisors Inc., BlackRock Saudi Arabia, BlackRock Scale Holdings LLC, BlackRock Services India Private Limited, BlackRock Singapore III Pte. Ltd., BlackRock Slovakia s.r.o., BlackRock Strategic Investors GP LLC, BlackRock Strategic Investors LP, BlackRock Trident Holding Company Limited, BlackRock UK (Alpha) Limited, BlackRock UK (Beta) Limited, BlackRock UK (Delta) LP, BlackRock UK (Gamma) Limited, BlackRock UK (Sigma) Limited, BlackRock UK 2 LLP, BlackRock UK 3 LLP, BlackRock UK 4 LLP, BlackRock UK A LLP, BlackRock UK Holdco 2 Limited, BlackRock UK Holdco Limited, Blackhawk Investment Holding LLC, CIE Automotive, Cachematrix Holdings, Cachematrix Holdings LLC, Cachematrix Integrations Private Limited, Cachematrix Software Solutions LLC, Cachematrix UK Limited, FutureAdvisor Inc., Glass Mountain Pipeline, Global Energy & Power Infrastructure Advisors LLC, Global Energy & Power Infrastructure II Advisors LLC, Grosvenor Alternate Partner Limited, Grosvenor Ventures Limited, HLX Financial Holdings LLC, MGPA (Bermuda) Limited, MGPA (Exec) Limited, MGPA Limited, Mercury Carry Company Ltd., Mercury Private Equity MUST 3 (Jersey) Limited, Object Capital Technology Inc., Phoenix Acquisition B.V., Phoenix Acquisitions Holdings LLC, Portfolio Administration & Management Ltd., Prestadora de Servicios Integrales BlackRock Mexico S.A. de C.V., SVOF/MM LLC, St. Albans House Nominees (Jersey) Ltd., State Street Research & Management, Tennenbaum Capital Partners LLC, Tennenbaum Capital Partners LLC, Tlali Acero S.A. de C.V. SOFOM ENR, Trident Merger LLC, eFront, eFront, eFront (Jersey) Limited, eFront DMLT Holdings LLC, eFront DMLT Holdings S.R.L, eFront DR S.R.L, eFront Do Brasil Solucoes Informaticas Para Sistemas Financeiros Ltda., eFront FZ-LLC, eFront Financial Solutions Inc., eFront GmbH, eFront Holding II SAS, eFront Holdings SAS, eFront Hong Kong Limited, eFront II SAS, eFront Kabushiki Kaisha, eFront Ltd, eFront SAS, eFront Singapore Pte. Ltd, eFront Software Luxembourg S.a r.l., eFront Solutions Financeieres Inc., eFront d.o.o. Beograd, iShares (DE) I Investmentaktiengesellschaft mit Teilgesellschaftsvermogen, and iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC. The following companies are subsidiares of Textron: AAI Corporation, AAI Services Corporation, ALSTOM Gears, Able Aerospace, Able Aerospace Services Inc., Able Engineering & Component Services, Aeronautical Accessories LLC, Airborne Tactical Advantage Company LLC, Arctic Cat, Arctic Cat ACE Holding GmbH, Arctic Cat France SARL, Arctic Cat GmbH, Arctic Cat Inc., Arctic Cat Production LLC, Arctic Cat Production Support LLC, Arctic Cat Sales Inc., Arctic Cat Shared Services LLC, Arctic Cat UK Ltd., Arkansas Aerospace Inc., Avco Corporation, Aviation Service servis letal doo Ljubljana, Aylesbury Automation, B/K Navigational Equipment sro, Beech Aircraft Corporation, Beech Holdings, Beechcraft Defense Support Holding LLC, Beechcraft Domestic Service Company, Beechcraft Germany GmbH, Beechcraft International Holding LLC, Beechcraft International Service Company, Beechcraft New Zealand, Beechcraft Service Company UK Limited, Bell Helicopter GK, Bell Helicopter KK, Bell Textron Asia (Pte.) Ltd., Bell Textron Canada International Inc., Bell Textron Canada Limited/Limitee, Bell Textron Inc., Bell Textron Korea Inc., Bell Textron Miami Inc, Bell Textron Prague a.s., Bell Textron Rhode Island Inc., Bell Textron Services Inc, Bell Textron Supply Center BV, Bell Textron Technical Services Inc., Benzlers, Brazaco Mapri Industrias, Burkland, Cessna Aircraft Company, Cessna Citation European Service Center SAS, Cessna Dusseldorf Citation Service Center GmbH, Cessna Finance Corporation, Cessna Finance Export Corporation, Cessna Mexico S de RL de CV, Cessna Spanish Citation Service Center SLU, Cessna Zurich Citation Service Center GmbH, Citation Parts Distribution International Inc., Cushman Inc., Datacom Technologies, David Brown Group, Doncaster Citation Service Centre Limited, E-Z-GO Canada Limited, Energy Manufacturing, Flexalloy, HBC LLC, Hawker Beech de Mexico S de RL de CV, Hawker Beechcraft Argentina SA, Howe & Howe Inc., Howe and Howe Technologies, Industrial Technology Inc., InteSys Technologies, International Product Support Inc., KSB Annecy SAS, Kautex (Changchun) Plastics Technology Co. Ltd., Kautex (Chongqing) Plastic Technology Co. Ltd., Kautex (Guangzhou) Plastic Technology Co. Ltd., Kautex (Pinghu) Plastic Technology Co. Ltd., Kautex (Shanghai) Plastic Technology Co. Ltd., Kautex (Wuhan) Plastic Technology Co. Ltd., Kautex Corporation, Kautex Craiova srl, Kautex Germany Holding GmbH, Kautex Inc., Kautex Japan KK, Kautex Shanghai GmbH, Kautex Textron (UK) Limited, Kautex Textron Benelux BVBA, Kautex Textron Bohemia spol sro, Kautex Textron CVS Limited, Kautex Textron GmbH & Co. KG, Kautex Textron Iberica SL, Kautex Textron Italia Srl, Kautex Textron Management Services Company de Puebla S. de RL de CV, Kautex Textron Portugal Produtos Plasticos Sociedade Unipessoal Lda., Kautex Textron de Mexico S de RL de CV, Kautex Textron do Brasil Ltda., Kautex of Georgia Inc., Kaywood Products Corp., Klauke, LCI Corporation International, LLC Textron RUS, Maag, McCord Corporation, Mechtronix, Medical Numerics Inc., Midland Industrial Plastics, MillenWorks, MillenWorks Themed Technologies, MotorFist LLC, OPINICUS Simulation and Training Services LLC, OmniQuip International, Opinicus, Optical Boring Co., Opto-Electronics, Opto-Electronics Inc., Overwatch Systems Ltd., PEINER Umformtechnik, Pirelli Tyres - General Rubber Goods (GRG) division, Premiair Aviation Maintenance Pty Ltd, Progressive Electronics, Ransomes, Ransomes Inc., Ransomes Investment LLC, Ransomes Jacobsen France SAS, Ransomes Jacobsen Limited, Ransomes Limited, Ransomes Pensions Trustee Company Limited, Replacement Part Solutions LLC, Response Technologies LLC, Rotor Blades Limited, Sukosim Verbindungselemente, TRU Simulation & Training Spain SL, TRU Simulation + Training Inc., TRU Simulation + Training LLC, TekGPS Engineering Srl, Textron Airland LLC, Textron Atlantic LLC, Textron Aviation Australia Pty. Ltd., Textron Aviation Canada Ltd., Textron Aviation Defense LLC, Textron Aviation Finance Corporation, Textron Aviation Inc., Textron Aviation Prague Service Center sro, Textron Aviation Rhode Island Inc., Textron Aviation Services de Mexico S de RL de CV, Textron Capital BV, Textron Communications Inc., Textron Far East Pte. Ltd., Textron Finance Holding Company, Textron Financial Corporation, Textron Financial Corporation Receivables Trust 2002-CP-2, Textron Fluid and Power Inc., Textron France Holding SAS, Textron France SAS, Textron Global Services Inc., Textron Ground Support Equipment Inc., Textron Ground Support Equipment UK Limited, Textron IPMP Inc., Textron India Private Limited, Textron Innovations Inc., Textron International Inc., Textron International Mexico S de RL de CV, Textron Limited, Textron Management Services Inc., Textron Motors GmbH, Textron Motors North America Inc., Textron Outdoor Power Equipment Inc., Textron Realty Corporation, Textron Shared Service Centre (Canada) Inc., Textron Specialized Vehicles Inc., Textron Sweden AB, Textron Systems Australia Holding Pty Ltd, Textron Systems Australia Pty Ltd, Textron Systems Canada Inc., Textron Systems Corporation, Textron Systems Electronic Systems UK (Holdings) Limited, Textron Systems Electronic Systems UK Limited, Textron Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Textron UK Pension Trustee Limited, Textron Verwaltungs-GmbH, Turbine Engine Components Textron (Newington Operations) Inc., United Industrial Corporation, Westminster Insurance Company, Williams Machine & Tool, Wuxi Textron Specialized Vehicles Co. Ltd., and Zhenjiang Bell Textron Aviation Services Limited. thyssenkrupp AG operates in the areas of automotive technology, industrial components, plant technology, marine systems, steel, and materials services in Germany, the United States, China, and internationally. The company's Automotive Technology segment develops and manufactures components and systems and automated production systems for the automotive industry. Its Industrial Components segment manufactures and sells forged components and system solutions for the resource, construction, and mobility sectors; and slewing rings, antifriction bearings, and seamless rolled rings for the wind energy and construction machinery sectors. The company's Plant Technology segment builds plants for the chemical, cement, and mining industries. Its Marine Systems segment provides systems in the submarine and surface ship building, as well as in the field of maritime electronics and security technology. The company's Materials Services segment distributes materials and offers technical services for the production and manufacturing sectors. Its Steel Europe segment provides flat carbon steel products, intelligent material solutions, and finished parts. thyssenkrupp AG was founded in 1811 and is headquartered in Essen, Germany. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of TransUnion: Accupost Corporation, AppLock Limited, Auditz, Autolocator (Pty) Ltd., Beheer en Beleggingsmaatchapij Stivaco B.V., CIFIN S.A.S, [email protected] plc, Callcredit Data Solutions Limited, Callcredit Information, Callcredit Lead Generation Limited, Callcredit Marketing Ltd., Callcredit Public Sector Limited, Callcredit Spain S.L.U, Centro de Informacion y Estudios Estrategicos Empresariales S.A., Centro de Operaciones Servicios de Informacion Estrategica S.A., CheckMend Ltd., Coactiva Limited, Collection Africa Ltd., Confirma Sistemas de Informacion S.L., Credit Bureau of Carmel & Pebble Beach Inc., Credit Information Services Limited, Credit Information Systems Company Limited, Credit Reference Bureau (Holdings) Limited, Credit Reference Bureau Africa (Pty) Ltd., Credit Reference Bureau Africa Ltd., Credit Reporting Services Limited, Credit Retriever LLC, Crivo, Crown Acquisition BidCo Ltd., Crown Acquisition Consumer Ltd., Crown Acquisition MidCo Ltd., Crown Acquisition MidCo. 2 Ltd., Crown Acquisition TopCo. Ltd., DMWSL 617 Ltd., DMWSL 618 Ltd., DMWSL 619 Ltd., DMWSL 620 Ltd., DataLink Services, Datalink Services Inc., Decision Systems Inc., DecisionMetrics Limited, Diversified Data Development Corporation, Drivers History Inc., Drivers History Information Sales LLC, FT Holdings Inc., FactorTrust, FactorTrust Inc., GMAP Japan KK, GMAP Marketing Consulting Shangahi Co. Ltd, Healthcare Payment Specialists, INSDEC LLC, IS Resources Inc., Immobilise.com Limited, L2C Inc., L2C Inc., Link Marketing Inc., Link2credit Inc., Moussoro Participacoes Ltda., RTech, RTech Healthcare Revenue Technologies Inc., Recipero, Recipero Inc., Recipero Limited, Regional Data Systems Limited, RentPort, Rubixis, Rubixis Inc., Rubixis Technologies Private Limited, STS Vail Beheeren Administracion S. DE. R.L. DE C.V., Servicios y Asesoria S CO BC SA de CV, Signal, Soluciones de Informatica de Centroamerica (SICE) S.A., Source USA Insurance Agency Inc., Tenant ID Limited, Title Insurance Services Corporation, Trans Union Central America S.A., Trans Union Chile S.A., Trans Union Content Solutions LLC, Trans Union Costa Rica S.A., Trans Union Guatemala S.A., Trans Union Honduras-Buro de Credito S.A., Trans Union International Inc., Trans Union LLC, Trans Union Nicaragua S.A., Trans Union Real Estate Services Inc., Trans Union Software Services Private Limited, Trans Union de Puerto Rico Inc., Trans Union of Canada Inc., TransUnion (Mauritius) Limited, TransUnion (Proprietary) Ltd., TransUnion Africa (Pty) Ltd., TransUnion Africa Holdings (Pty) Ltd., TransUnion Analytic and Decision Services (Pty) Ltd., TransUnion Asia Ltd., TransUnion Auto Information Solutions (Pty) Ltd., TransUnion Baltics UAB, TransUnion Brasil Sistemas em Informatica Ltda., TransUnion CIBIL Limited, TransUnion Colombia Ltda., TransUnion Consumer Solutions LLC, TransUnion Credit Bureau (Pty) Ltd., TransUnion Credit Bureau Namibia (Pty) Ltd., TransUnion Data Solutions LLC, TransUnion Digital LLC, TransUnion El Salvador S.A. de C.V., TransUnion Exchange LLC, TransUnion Financing Corporation, TransUnion Global Holdings LLC, TransUnion Global Holdings LP, TransUnion Global Technology Center LLP, TransUnion Healthcare Inc., TransUnion Holding Cyprus Ltd., TransUnion ITC (Pty) Ltd., TransUnion Information Group Limited, TransUnion Information Services Limited, TransUnion Information Solutions Inc., TransUnion Information Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd., TransUnion Intelligence LLC, TransUnion Interactive Inc., TransUnion Intermediate Holdings Inc., TransUnion International Holdings LLC, TransUnion International UK Limited, TransUnion Kenya Limited, TransUnion Limited, TransUnion Ltd., TransUnion Marketing Solutions Inc., TransUnion Netherlands I B.V., TransUnion Netherlands II B.V., TransUnion Rental Screening Solutions Inc., TransUnion Reverse Exchange S de R.L. de C.V., TransUnion Risk Advisory Inc., TransUnion Risk and Alternative Data Solutions Inc., TransUnion Rwanda Limited, TransUnion S.A., TransUnion Soluciones de Informacion Chile SA, TransUnion Soluciones de Informacion S de R.L de C.V., TransUnion Teledata LLC, TransUnion UK Holdings Ltd., Tru Optik, TruSignal, TruSignal Inc., TrueLink, Trustev, Trustev Limited, Vail Holdings UK Ltd., Vail Systemen Groep B.V., Verifacts LLC, Visionary Systems Inc., Worthknowing Inc., eBureau, eBureau LLC, iovation Inc., iovation Ltd., and process benchmarking limited. Guwahati : Security forces had arrested a hardcore of banned outfit Peoples Democratic Council of Karbi Longri (PDCK) in Assams Karbi Anglong district today. According to the reports, based on specific input about presence of hardcore PDCK militant at Sarpo Terang village under Diphu police station, a team of Karbi Anglong police had launched operation at the remote area. In the operation spanning over 6 hours which involved crossing 5 steep mountains, the police team succeded in apprehending one veteran PDCK militant identified as Horen Bey. After interrogation, the militant revealed that he had buried arms and ammunition inside the ground in Atur Thepi hillock area and the police team had recovered it. Police had recovered one muzzle loaded gun (hand-made), one magazine (made of steel) of AK-series rifle, 139 numbers of live 7.62x 39 mm AK series ammunition, 5 numbers of SIM cards, one micro SD memory card and one Micromax Internet Dongle from the area. The arrested militant is being interrogated by the police. PDCK is active in Karbi Anglong, Dima Hasao district and some parts of Nagaon and Hojai district. Weatherford International plc, an oilfield service company, provides equipment and services for the drilling, evaluation, completion, production, and intervention of oil and natural gas wells worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Western Hemisphere and Eastern Hemisphere. It offers artificial lift systems, including reciprocating rod, progressing cavity pumping, gas, hydraulic, plunger, and hybrid lift systems, as well as related automation and control systems; pressure pumping and reservoir stimulation services, such as acidizing, fracturing and fluid systems, cementing, and coiled-tubing intervention; and drill stem test tools, and surface well testing and multiphase flow measurement services. The company also provides safety, downhole reservoir monitoring, flow control, and multistage fracturing systems, as well as sand-control technologies, and production and isolation packers; liner hangers to suspend a casing string in high-temperature and high-pressure wells; cementing products, including plugs, float and stage equipment, and torque-and-drag reduction technology for zonal isolation; and pre-job planning and installation services. In addition, it offers directional drilling services, and logging and measurement services while drilling; services related to rotary-steerable systems, high-temperature and high-pressure sensors, drilling reamers, and circulation subs; managed pressure drilling, conventional mud-logging, drilling instrumentation, gas analysis, wellsite consultancy, and open hole and cased-hole logging services; reservoir solutions and software products; and intervention and remediation services. Further, the company provides equipment and drilling tools; tubular handling, management, and connection services; equipment rental services; and onshore contract drilling and related services through a fleet of land drilling and workover rigs. Weatherford International plc was incorporated in 1972 and is headquartered in Baar, Switzerland. Read More William Lyon Homes (NYSE:WLH) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November, 6th. The construction company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters' consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.07. The construction company earned $466.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $487.15 million. William Lyon Homes had a net margin of 3.04% and a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 6.98%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. View William Lyon Homes' earnings history. The Williams Cos., Inc. operates as an energy infrastructure company, which explores, produces, transports, sells and processes natural gas and petroleum products. It operates through the following segments: Transmission and Gulf of Mexico; Northeast G&P; and West. The Transmission and Gulf of Mexico segment comprises of interstate natural gas pipelines, Transco and Northwest Pipeline, as well as natural gas gathering and processing and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region. The Northeast G&P segment includes midstream gathering, processing, and fractionation businesses in the Marcellus Shale region primarily in Pennsylvania and New York, and the Utica Shale region of eastern Ohio. The West segment consists of gas gathering, processing, and treating operations in the Rocky Mountain region of Colorado and Wyoming, the Barnett Shale region of north-central Texas, the Eagle Ford Shale region of south Texas, the Haynesville Shale region of northwest Louisiana, and the Mid-Continent region which includes the Anadarko, Arkoma, and Permian basins. The company was founded by David Williams and Miller Williams in 1908 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Read More Guwahati, July 29 : While Assam is going to publish complete draft of the updated National Register of Citizens (NRC) on July 30 to detect illegal foreigners residing in the state, India has prepared to deport 52 Bangladeshi nationals who were entered into India without valid documents. 52 Bangladeshi nationals who were detained in different detention camps in Assam will be deported to Bangladesh from Assams Mankachar check post on Sunday. The Bangladeshi nationals were caught by security forces after they entered into India without valid documents and were lodged in different detention camps in the state in past 4-5 years. Superintendent of Police (SP) of South Salmara Mankachar Amrit Bhuyan said that, all 52 Bangladeshi nationals will be deported to Bangladesh through the international border at Mankachar in South Salmara Mankachar district. Meanwhile, preparation for deportation is underway at Mankachar check post in presence of Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Border of Assam police Raunak Ali Hazarika, Joint Secretary of Union Home Ministry and Bangladesh Border Guards. On the other hand, Bangladesh has issued transit documents to its 52 nationals. 39 Bangladesh nationals were deported from Assam in the past two years. In 2017, 17 Bangladeshi nationals were deported to Bangladesh through the international border in Assams Karimganj district. 5,234 Bangladeshi nationals were deported in 2013, while the figure was 989 in 2014, 474 in 2015 and 308 in 2016. Guwahati, July 29 : A day before of publication of complete draft of the updated National Register of Citizens (NRC) on July 30 to detect illegal foreigners residing in Assam, India had pushed back 52 Bangladeshi nationals to Bangladesh who were entered into India without valid documents. The 52 Bangladeshi nationals were pushed back to Bangladesh through the international border at Mankachar in lower Assams South Salmara Mankachar district on Sunday. 52 Bangladeshi nationals were arrested in past years from different locations in Assam and lodged in two detention camps at Tezpur and Goalpara. The Bangladeshi nationals were caught by security forces after they entered into India without valid documents and were lodged in the detention camps in the state in past 5 years. The deportation process was conducted at the border check post in presence of top officials of Assam government, Bangladesh government, BSF and Border Guards of Bangladesh. Rakesh Agarwala, Joint Secretary of Assam Home Department said that, the 52 Bangladeshi nationals were arrested from different locations of Assam in past five years and they were lodged at two detention centres at Tezpur and Goalpara. The deportation process was started after the Assam Home Department had shared information about illegal Bangladeshis with the Ministry of External Affairs and the External Affairs Ministry had discussed with the Bangladesh counterpart. After completing enquiry the Bangladesh government had directed the Assistant High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Guwahati to issue travel permit for those people and the travel permit have been issued, Rakesh Agarwala said. On the other hand, Raunak Ali Hazarika, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Border of Assam police said that, the Bangladesh government agreed to take the 52 Bangladeshi nationals after conducting proper verification. We had deported the 52 Bangladeshi nationals to Bangladesh in presence of top officials of Assam government, Bangladesh government, BSF and Border Guards of Bangladesh, Raunak Ali Hazarika said. In past two years, 39 Bangladesh nationals were deported from Assam. In 2017, 17 Bangladeshi nationals were deported to Bangladesh through the international border in Assams Karimganj district. India had pushed back 5,234 Bangladeshi in 2013, while the figure was 989 in 2014, 474 in 2015 and 308 in 2016. Islamabad, July 27: Could the Bhutto legacy be in peril? Pakistan People's Party founder and populist demagogue Zulfikar Ali Bhutto won the polls to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan in 1971. ZAB's daughter Benazir Bhutto waltzed into the PMs House in 1988 after her first run at the hustings. Third generation Bhutto, the 29 year old Bilawal Bhutto Zardari may have to wait a while longer. Not only has Bilawals Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) under his father Asif Ali Zardari won a mere 43 seats in the National Assembly after this months polls, he lost the PPP stronghold of Lyari, finishing a dismal third in a seat from which his mother had won repeatedly since the 70s. He lost Marakand, the other seat he stood from, although managing to retain the PPP stronghold in Larkana. Both losses were to candidates from the rising star, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party of Pakistan's prime minister elect Imran Khan. Across Pakistan, the PPP, which had set its sights much lower and did not realistically even expect to form the government, has dropped to the bottom of the table in this three-cornered contest with Imran Khan's victory representing an end to decades of rotating leadership between the much vilified dynastic parties, the PML-N and the PPP, punctuated by periods of military rule. Where does that leave the young Bhutto? And the PPP? Clearly, the moniker 'kingmaker' a misnomer. The PPP fell short of the power game by some 10 seats, robbing it of any aspiration to become a real player. The PTI clinched enough extra seats that made it unnecessary to even reach out to the PPP. With 115 seats, the PTI will look to attract smaller parties, to form the government. Bilawal will anyway reject any collusion with the PTI, that was seen to be the beneficiary of the alleged rigging that powered its victory, and which is the basis of the plans by the united opposition to launch a protest campaign against the polls. That PTI chief Imran Khan and Bilawal Bhutto hold similar views on ties with India, and are seen as overtly more aggressive towards New Delhi when compared to Nawaz Sharif, the jailed leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz). But that's largely irrelevant this time. The PPP had never seriously expected to win the 2018 polls or see Bilawal Bhutto ensconced as the Prime Minister. That's the goal for 2023. The next five years is aimed at giving Bilawal the experience of being a parliamentarian in the hope that the Bhutto name will sustain his and the party's popularity, revive the PPP in Punjab and possibly come to power in 2023. For now, the leader of the opposition slot will also go to the PML-N as it has won the second highest number of seats in the National Assembly with 64 seats. Bilawal has already fired the first salvo. PML-N is a branchild of (former military ruler) Ziaul Haq and PTI of (Pervez) Musharraf, he had recently said, hitting out at PTI chairman Imran Khan and PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif. In a bid to cut the Punjab elite to size, the party promised a new province of Seraiki, to be carved out of Punjab in its manifesto, to ensure that it retains its base in the southern Seraiki speaking district, which is traditionally pro-PPP. In 2008, the PML-N won 126 seats, the PPP 33 and the PTI, a mere 26. This time around, the PTI won 116, the PML-N 64 and the PPP 43. There's no telling whether the PTI will go from strength to strength or crumble in the next few years. Either way, the PPP - and Bilawal - will be hoping that becoming the voice for change will help it shed the dynastic tag and win back the people's vote. WhatsApp's payments services gives people a really simple way to send money to each other and contribute to greater financial inclusion. (Photo: Pixabay) New Delhi: WhatsApp has started working on building its payments service for other countries even as it waits for the "green light" from Indian authorities for offering the feature to its user base here. Facebook-owned WhatsApp has been testing its payments services in India for a few months now with about one million users and is waiting for clearance from the government for a full-fledged rollout across the country. Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg, in a recent investor call, said WhatsApp's payments services "gives people a really simple way to send money to each other and contribute to greater financial inclusion". He added that feedback and usage have been "very strong" among people who have used the service. "All signs point to a lot of people wanting to use this when the government gives us the green light. And in the meantime, we've broadened our focus to building this for other countries so we can give more people this ability faster," he said. Zuckerberg added that over the next five years, the company is focused on building the business ecosystem around messaging on WhatsApp and Messenger. WhatsApp has been working with the Indian government, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and multiple banks to further expand its payments feature to more users in India, a company official had told PTI. According to government sources, the Indian IT Ministry has told WhatsApp to prioritise curbing of fake news on its platform, against the backdrop of lynching incidents claiming many lives, over its plans to launch payments service. The sources had noted that there are outstanding concerns over WhatsApp's proposed payment service plan, including how and where will the data of users be stored in the backdrop of RBI's instructions mandating that data be stored in India. The government wants greater clarity on how the storage issue is being handled by WhatsApp and these matters are under discussion, the sources had said, adding that detailed examination is required given that WhatsApp has a large user base in India. India is the largest market for WhatsApp, with the country accounting for over 200 million of its total 1.3 billion user base. The Ministry of Electronics and IT had asked NPCI to check if WhatsApp's payments service conforms with the RBI rules and data security of customers. NPCI was also asked to check that all compliances are in place before the US-based messaging app is allowed to scale up its services. WhatsApp, on its part, has stated that sensitive user data such as the last 6 digits of a debit card and UPI PIN is not stored at all. While it admitted to using the infrastructure of Facebook for the service, it had asserted that the parent firm does not use payment information for commercial purpose. The recent draft Data Protection Bill, submitted to the government by the Justice Srikrishna panel, could also have an impact on WhatsApp's plan. The draft bill says that every data fiduciary shall ensure the storage of at least one serving copy of personal data on a server or data centre located in India. Also, the government will notify categories of personal data as "critical personal data" that can only be processed in a server/data centre within India. The panel's report and the draft data protection bill will now go through the cycle of inter-ministerial consultations, Cabinet approval and finally Parliamentary nod. New Delhi: UIDAI on Sunday claimed that the personal details of Trai chief R.S. Sharma being put out on Twitter are not from the Aadhaar database or its servers, and that these are easily available with a simple search on Google and other sites, without using the 12-digit unique identity number. Trai chief Mr Sharma on Saturday had kicked-off a storm on Twitter by revealing his Aadhaar number and challenged activists to show how public disclosure of it could harm him. Soon ethical hackers started putting out what they claimed to be Mr Sharmas phone number, alternate phone number, personal photo graph supposed to be his whatsapp profile, PAN details, frequent flyer number, date of birth, voter ID details, address and email account IDs. Mr Sharma did not verify whether the specific details pertaining to PAN and others were indeed correct. However, UIDAI, in a statement on Sunday, dismissed claims that the personal details of Mr Sharma was fetched using his Aadhaar number. UIDAI maintained that any information published on Twitter about Mr Sharma was not fetched from the Aadhaar database or UIDAIs servers. In fact, this so called hacked info (about Mr Sharmas personal details such as his address, dob, photo, mobile number, email and so on) was already available in public domain as he being a public servant for decades and was easily available on Google and various other sites by a simple search without Aadhaar number, it said. UIDAI said claim by so-called hackers they had got Mr Sharmas personal details by hacking Aadhaar database is a farce and people should not believe such fraudulent elements active on social and other media. Aadhaar database is fully safe and secure and no such information about Mr Sharma has been fetched from UIDAIs severs or Aadhaar database. This is merely cheap publicity by these unscrupulous elements who try to attract attention by creating such fake news, it said. Mumbai: National Award-winning actress Kangana Ranaut on Saturday hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said he deserves to come in power again in the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections as he is the "rightful leader of the democracy." Kangana attended the screening of short film 'Chalo Jeete Hain', which is reportedly inspired by the early life of Prime Minister Modi. Also read: In pics: Kangana Ranaut meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi "The film has been made beautifully. It shows how Prime Minister Modi being a sensitive child went through such extreme circumstances. But I feel this film is not about him. Rather it is about us how the society needs to be together to rise. This film is just a small part of his life," Kangana said after the screening. When asked to analyse the last four years of the Prime Minister Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, Kangana said: "He (Prime Minister Modi) is the most deserving candidate. It's not like he has reached this place because of his mother and father. He is the rightful leader of the democracy. We have voted him as our Prime Minister. This cannot be taken away from him. This is his well-deserved place which he has earned after sheer hard work. So, there shouldn't be any doubt about his credibility as a Prime Minister." Also read: I am a big Narendra Modi fan because of his success story: Kangana Ranaut Does she want Prime Minister Modi to be in power again? Kangana said: "Of course. Why not? Five years are very less to take the nation out of a pit. Our country is in a pit, we need to pull it out." Co-directed by Aanand L. Rai and Mahaveer Jain, 'Chalo Jeete Hain' invited a lot of praise from ministers after it was screened at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre on Tuesday. Also read: 'Im upset': Kangana Ranaut reacts to news of Priyanka Chopras engagement The trailer reveals the story of a young boy, who keeps on asking his parents and other people as to what it is that they live for after reading a phrase, 'A winner is one who lives for others.' Rumour has that Priyanka Chopra has opted out of Salman Khans Bharat because shes about to get married to her American boyfriend Nick Jonas. But if that was the case, wouldnt she have opted out of her other film commitments as well? We hear the actress is all set to begin shooting for Shonali Boses The Sky Is Pink. A source close to the project confirms, Priyanka Chopra starts shooting for our film from August 8 onwards, in Mumbai. If she were planning to get married soon, she would have informed us by now. She was supposed to join Salman Khans Bharat shoot in the second week of August. The plan was to shoot for both films simultaneously. Now, shes only going to be shooting for our film. Another source close to Shonali Boses film says that an impending wedding is not the reason for Priyankas decision to quit Bharat. Priyanka Chopra, Farhan Akhtar, Zaira Wasim and Siddharth Roy Kapur in a screengrab of the video posted on Instagram. It was probably the length of her role, but we cant be sure. In The Sky Is Pink, she is the central character, while Bharat is Salmans film all the way, the source says. A director who has worked closely with Priyanka in the past is as perplexed as us by her abrupt exit from Bharat. It is a little strange that Priyanka didnt gauge the scope of her role when she agreed to do Bharat. She has incensed many important people in Bollywood. After this, the going will be tough for her, he says. Years ago, Priyanka offended Salman Khan by turning down a project that they were supposed to do together, and he refused to even acknowledge her presence for nearly a decade. Now that theyve finally made up, it doesnt seem like a good idea for her to piss him off again. HT03 It was Sanjay Dutts birthday on Sunday and the actor flew back home from the shoot of Prassthanam to celebrate it with his family. Dutt who is slated to shoot for Torbaaz after shooting for the Dev Katta directed remake of Prassthanam, wanted to be with his family and friends on his birthday and also celebrate the release of his film Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3. Dutts schedules are choc-o-bloc and he had to go to Dubai in between. Then he went off with Maanayata and kids, Shahraan and Iqra, to Singapore on a holiday to celebrate his birthday in advance. He is going to be busy for the next few months because he has to work with Arjun Kapoor in Ashutosh Gowarikers Panipat and later with Ranbir Kapoor in Shamshera the shooting of which will start in a few months from now. So, he wants to spend as much time as he can with family, especially on his birthday, says a source. It does seem that Sanjus date diary has become full after the release of Sanju. Sanskriti Media Varahi is latest to be at the receiving end of Sri Reddy. Mumbai: Sri Reddy has undoubtedly acquired the tag of one of the most controversial actresses down South in recent times, starting off with her strip protest against casting couch. After accusing several celebrities in Tollywood of sexual exploitation like Nani, Abhiram Daggubati, among others, Sri recently turned her attention to stars in Kollywood like AR Murugadoss, Sundar C, Srikanth, and even bringing actresses like Tamannaah, Hansika Motwani, Kajal Aggarwal and Nayanthara in the picture by hinting about their lists. The actress got a dose of her own medicine recently when she was at the receiving end of verbal attack from Tamil actor-director Varahi. Vaarahi, who is gearing up for his film, Siva Manasula Pusha, slammed Sri Reddy and allegedly called her a prostitute. Sri Reddy has been operating in a way which causes shame, bad image not only to the Indian culture but also to the nation's womenfolk. She herself has accepted the fact that she slept with directors and actors for roles in movies," he was also quoted as saying by Indiaglitz.com. Not the one to take things lying down, the actress has lodged a complaint against the actor-director with the Chennai police commissioner, according to multiple reports. While interacting with journalists after the complaint, he slammed Varahi by asking if he was present when Murugadoss paid her or did he give her money on their behalf. She had also taken to Facebook to express her anger against him, in two posts one seemingly prior to filing the complaint and one after, in her typical style of controversial writing. Itd now be interesting to see whos next on Sri Reddys hit list. Hyderabad: The Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) has continued the ban on about 300 fixed drug combinations (FDCs), stating that these were irrational drug cocktails and exposed the patients to unnecessary overuse risks. The DTAB found that there was a mismatch in dose combinations and this increased the toxicity in the body. The board report will be submitted to the Union ministry of health by the department of pharmaceuticals, and will be a big blow to the industry. FDCs are given to patients suffering from fever, headache and infection. Other combinations are given to those suffering from diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases. Dr K.K. Aggarwal, vice-president of the Confederation of Medical Association of Asia and Oceana, said fixed dose combinations are generally not included in the treatment regime unless it was found that giving the ingredients separately would be difficult for the patients. The combinations by qualified doctors are prescribed only if there is increased efficacy and improved compliance. But, over the years, we are finding more of quacks using these medicines and that is a major problem, he said. Among the drugs which were banned three years ago were Corex, Saridon, Vicks Action 500, Amoxycillin, Nimorazole, Nimesuilid, Benadryl and Phensedyl. These are still available in the market as the pharmaceutical companies argued that the ban was imposed without prior notice and these products are used in Indian market for 15 to 20 years. The department of pharmaceuticals set up another committee which found that the drugs are unsafe and the combinations are risky. The committee headed by Prof. C.K. Kokate has stated that the FDCs were increasing toxicity in the body as they are overused and multiple ingredients are dumped in the body some of which are not even required. The published literature submitted to the committee is from the over-the counter sales which were carried out in other countries and not from India. According to sources, there is no epidemiological data from India submitted to the committee. Most of the reports were too absurd and vague, sources said. The companies which are most affected by this decision are Cipla, Pfizer, Wockhardt, Sun Pharma whoe have more than 6,000 brands in the market in the form of fixed dose combinations. The number of Malaria cases in Tamil Nadu has doubled from 609 to 1,383 recording a spike of around 774 cases between April and May. There were 46 cases due to Plasmodium falciparum (PF), the parasite that causes malaria and is transmitted through the bite of a female Anopheles mosquito. Chennai: The recent report by National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme revealed the increase in all vector-borne diseases including malaria, dengue, acute encephalitis syndrome and Japanese encephalitis in the state in last three months. The number of Malaria cases in Tamil Nadu has doubled from 609 to 1,383 recording a spike of around 774 cases between April and May. There were 46 cases due to Plasmodium falciparum (PF), the parasite that causes malaria and is transmitted through the bite of a female Anopheles mosquito. The PF cases have increased to 81 this year till May. Though the malaria cases have been brought down by 47 percent in the past five years in the country, according to Union health ministry data, but it continues to be a major public health problem in Tamil Nadu. The number of malaria cases surged from 4,341 cases in 2016 to 5,449 in 2017. While dengue cases are under control when compared to last year that recorded 23,035 cases and 63 deaths in the state, 204 new cases were registered in last three months. The number of dengue cases in the state rose from 1,451 to 1,655, but there were no new deaths due to the same. Acute encephalitis syndrome claimed three lives in April- June this year and the number of cases doubled during this time taking the toll to 538 cases. The cases of Japanese encephalitis also increased to 49 from 25 during the same span. Tamil Nadu records 99 cases of chikungunya till June 2018 as per National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme. The southern districts of Tamil Nadu including Dharmapuri, Sivagangai and Madurai reported malaria outbreaks, while dengue outbreaks were reported in Madurai, Dindigul, Sivagangai and Virudhunagar since the beginning of this year as per Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme of National Centre for Disease Control. Chikungunya cases were reported in large numbers in Dindigul, Tiruvallur, Virudhunagar and Ariyalur. Despite various efforts to keep the numbers of cases due to vector-borne diseases low, the figures have risen continuously. However, public health department officials blamed it on the environmental factors for an increase in the incidences of infectious diseases in Tamil Nadu. Chennai: An expelled Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) cadre named Bullet Parimalam had intended to burn TTV Dhinakarans effigy outside his leaders house in Besant Nagar. His act backfired literally as he sustained 40 per cent burns in front of his leaders house in Besant Nagar on Sunday. Police sources said that K. Parimalam (45), who was town secretary in TTV Dhinakarans AMMK, was expelled from the party a few days ago for allegedly violating the partys code of conduct. As he had reportedly spent nearly Rs 55 lakh over party posters, he was upset over not having been recognised, sources said. He wanted to display his disappointment before his party leader and reached Dhinakaran's house on Sunday morning with a few others. He had brought some posters, an effigy and seven litres of petrol in two cans along with him. After dumping some posters in front of Dhinakaran's house, he tried to open the petrol cans, a source said. But the can exploded unexpectedly damaging the car apart from injuring Parimalam and two other persons standing nearby. With 40 per cent injuries, Parimalam was rushed to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital and then transferred to a private hospital. The others with 10 to 15 per cent burns are out of danger, police sources said. While Adyar police arrested the car driver Subramani under various sections including 307 (attempt to murder) of IPC, Parimalam would also be arrested soon as he recovers. Meanwhile, AMMK sources said Parimalam had printed wall posters praising then AIADMK supreme Jayalalitha for winning the RK Nagar election much before the elections were held. Jayalalitha sacked Parimalam for the act. He had then chopped off his finger before Jayalalithas house demanding a MGR statue in Kancheepuram, the source said. The driver lost control while on the way to the Nagarjun Sagar dam for a picnic. (Representational image) Hyderabad: A weekend picnic trip turned tragic when six members of a family died and four others were injured as their car was involved in a road accident in Nalgonda district of Telangana early on Sunday, police said. The accident occurred when the 'speeding' multi-utility vehicle rammed into a compound wall of a bus shelter near Nasarapally after its driver lost control while on the way to Nagarjuna Sagar dam from here on a picnic. There were ten occupants in the vehicle which was allegedly driven in a rash manner, police said. Six members of a family, including two women and a five-year-old boy, died in the mishap, Deputy Superintendent of Police Ravi Kumar told news agency PTI. Four injured people have been hospitalised. The MUV was among the three vehicles in which around 30 people from here were travelling to the picnic spot. The doctors have seized some drugs from the room where the girls had their weekly check-ups. (Photo: File | Youtube screengrab) Muzaffarpur/Patna: The number of minor girls allegedly sexually abused at a shelter home in Muzaffarpur has increased to 34, with fresh medical reports confirming rape of five more girls, a senior police officer said on Sunday. On July 24, Director General of Police K S Dwivedi had said 29 inmates of the state-funded home were raped. Muzaffarpur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Harpreet Kaur told news agency PTI over phone that fresh medical reports of 13 girl inmates have confirmed that five of them were sexually abused. Two of the 44 shelter home inmates were not presented before the medical board as one of them, a four-year-old mentally challenged girl, was at Madhubani, while the other, who had been shifted to Mokama in Patna, was unwell, the SSP said. The issue of the alleged sexual exploitation of girls at the shelter home, run by an NGO, was first highlighted in an audit report submitted by the Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS), Mumbai, to the state's Social Welfare Department in April. An FIR was lodged on May 31 against 11 people, including Brajesh Thakur, the owner of the NGO which ran the government-funded shelter home for destitute girls. On July 26, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar recommended a CBI inquiry into the matter. The opposition - RJD, Congress and CPI(ML) - had sought a probe into the case by the CBI with the high court monitoring it. The CBI has taken over the investigation, an official said on Sunday. Also Read: CBI takes over investigation, books staff in Bihar shelter home rapes The SSP said a Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team, which had already visited the place earlier, was called again to visit the shelter home on Saturday. A magistrate, videographers and a team of doctors accompanied the FSL team in light of allegations levelled by the inmates that they were administered drugs at the shelter home, Kaur said. The doctors have seized some drugs from the room where the girls had their weekly check-ups. The doctors' team is likely to submit its report in this regard on Mon, she said, adding that Muzaffarpur Zone Inspector General Sunil Kumar and Muzaffarpur Range Deputy Inspector General Anil Kumar Singh also visited the place on Saturday. Police have already submitted a charge sheet against 10 accused persons on July 26 before a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Court, the SSP said. A proclamation notice issued by the special court has been pasted at the house of another accused, Dilip Kumar Verma, who has been evading arrest. Ten out of 11 accused people have been arrested till now. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi has made it clear that the state government, during the next hearing, would itself request the high court to monitor the CBI inquiry into the matter. The son of a former minister, Manu Sharma was convicted of killing Jessica Lal at a bar during a private party in April 1999. (Photo: File) New Delhi: The sentence review board of the Delhi government has postponed the decision on release of Jessica Lal murder convict Manu Sharma lodged in Tihar jail. A meeting of the board held on Friday also deferred several other release applications, including that of Tandoor murder case convict Sushil Sharma, officials said. The applications of release were deferred as the opinion of the board members were divided on it, a member of the board said. The panel, chaired by Delhi Home minister, comprises principal secretary (Home), principal secretary (law), director general (prisons), joint commissioner of police (crime), chief probation officer and a district judge. An earlier meeting of the board in April was postponed amid surfacing of a letter by Sabrina Lal, sister of Jessica, in which she had apprised the Tihar jail authorities that she had no objection over the release of Manu Sharma. Jessica Lal was shot dead in a south Delhi restaurant by Manu Sharma in 1999. The move is aimed at increasing India's footprint in the strategically important Central Asian region. (Photo: Kazakhstan capital Astana | AFP) New Delhi: Central government employees may soon be able to go abroad on Leave Travel Concession (LTC), top officials said on Sunday. A proposal in this regard has been finalised by the Personnel Ministry, which has asked for comments from other departments concerned such as Home, Tourism, Civil Aviation and Expenditure "at the earliest possible" time, they said. The plan, which has been mooted by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), proposes to include five central Asian countries -- Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan -- under the LTC scheme, the officials said, citing a communique in this regard that has been accessed by news agency PTI. The move to allow central government employees to visit these countries is aimed at increasing India's footprint in the strategically important Central Asian region, they said. Earlier in March, the government said that it has shelved a proposal to allow LTC to its employees to visit SAARC countries. The LTC allows a grant of leave and ticket reimbursement to eligible central government employees. "A proposal of LTC facility to government employees to SAARC countries with a purpose to enhance people to people contact and boost relations in the SAARC region was examined by the government and after thorough examination of all aspects involved, the proposal was found not feasible and decided not to take it forward," Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh had said then. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a group of eight nations comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. There are about 48.41 lakh central government employees, according to a latest data. BENGALURU: Former Union minister P. Chidambaram launched project 'Shakti' here on Saturday for the benefit of Congress workers, and as part of a strategy to strengthen the party's ground network by connecting workers across every booth, village, block, town and districts. Party workers could enroll in the project by sending an SMS with their voter ID card number to a dedicated number, state unit leaders said, adding that 'Shakti' would enable booth-level workers to engage with local leadership on various issues. Through the App, it would also become easy for party workers to share videos, pictures and other documents, and empower each individual workers to give his suggestion to the party president. Emphasising the need for micro-management at every booth, Mr Chidambaram set August 15 as the deadline for enrollment of lakhs of the workers for the project. "Massive enrolment should take place beginning today and we must have some result by August 15. I'm absolutely sure with Project Shakti the Congress will multiply its numbers dramatically and in months to come we will have a very strong ground force and get ready for the parliament election whenever it takes place," he added. Mr Chidambaram stated that project Shakti, the brain child of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, will help the party analyse its ground level strength as ground force will play a vital role in future elections. The former union minister that project Shakti had been launched in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra so far and tens of lakhs of people had already joined the programme in just two months. It had energised the party workers and had enabled Congress party to take its message and ideology to every nook and corner of these states. The project will be scaled to the entire country rapidly," he added. People evacuating places along banks of Yamuna river where water level is rising. (Photo: Twitter | ANI) New Delhi: Traffic movement on Old Yamuna Bridge in Delhi was closed on Sunday with the water level in the river continuing to rise due to rains, a day after the flow breached the danger mark, officials said. The city government set up a flood control room and round-the-clock emergency operation centre to monitor the river situation, they said. An order banning movement of traffic on the bridge was issued after the flow in the Yamuna showed a rising trend, they said. Delhi: District Magistrate (DM) of East Delhi, K. Mahesh, orders closure of traffic on the old Yamuna Bridge with immediate effect. pic.twitter.com/ZiIBge5BrQ ANI (@ANI) July 29, 2018 Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia took stock of the ongoing evacuation operation in the low-lying areas of the city and appealed to the people to move to safer areas. The Yamuna was flowing at 205.5 metres this evening with the danger mark being 204.83 metres, the officials said. The water level in the river had reached 205.30 metres at 7 pm on Saturday, prompting authorities to evacuate people from the low-lying areas. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had held an emergency meeting with top officials to evaluate the situation. "The government has established a flood control room in the office of the district magistrate, District (East) at L M Bund, Geeta Colony. A 24x7 emergency operation centre has also been set up for monitoring the flood situation," a senior official said. The group of staff members of an agriculture university in the Konkan region who were traveling in the bus, which later fell into a gorge, killing 33 passengers, in Raigad on Saturday. (Photo: PTI) Mumbai: Pravin Randive was supposed to join his colleagues at Dapoli agriculture university when they set out for weekend picnic at Mahabaleshwar this morning. He could not join them as he was not well but kept checking a WhatsApp group where others were posting updates. Then suddenly there was silence in the group. Around 12.30 pm, he learnt that the bus carrying his colleagues had fallen into a gorge off Ambenali ghat near Poladpur, 180 km from here. Of the 34 people in the bus, all but one died. "We were going to leave at 6.30 am. But when they called me I said I can not make it because I am not well," Randive told reporters. The bus fell into a 500-ft gorge in the Konkan region in Raigad. (Photo: AP) His colleagues kept posting pictures of scenery along the route on the WhatsApp group. "The last message came around 9.30 AM. They were supposed to stop for breakfast. When I messaged later, there was no response. We came to know about the accident around 12.30 pm," he said. All those who died were in the age group of 30-45 years and some of them were unmarried, Randive said. The only one to survive was Prakash Sawant. Also Read: 33 students, staff en route picnic die as bus plunges into 500-ft-deep gorge Speaking to reporters in Poladpur, Sawant said mud and loose stones on this stretch of the ghat road caused the bus tyres to skid. "The bus veered to the left and fell into the gorge before we could understand what was happening. Trees arrested the fall someway down. I had managed to jump out in time. I climbed my way up somehow," he said. When he reached the road, he saw a crowd of people. "One of them gave me a mobile phone. I called up the police control room and informed them," he said. Originally, 40 people were supposed to join the trip to Mahabaleshwar, the famous hill station town in Western Maharashtra, but some of them opted out at the last moment because the bus was small and there was no space, he said. Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday visited a private hospital in Chennai to inquire about the health condition of DMK chief M Karunanidhi. (Photo: Twitter | ANI) Chennai: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday visited a private hospital in Chennai to inquire about the health condition of DMK chief M Karunanidhi. Naidu said doctors informed that Karunanidhi's condition was stable. "Visited Kaveri Hospital and met former Chief Minister Thiru Kalaignar Karunanidhi. Met his family members and doctors and enquired about his health. Doctors said he is stable. Wish him a speedy recovery," Naidu tweeted. Visited Kaveri Hospital and met former Chief Minister Thiru Kalaignar Karunanidhi. Met his family members and doctors and enquired about his health. Doctors said he is stable. Wish him a speedy recovery. @kalaignar89 pic.twitter.com/Q7ay71txzT VicePresidentOfIndia (@VPSecretariat) July 29, 2018 On Saturday night, the hospital had said, "Karunanidhi's health condition continues to remain stable with ongoing active medical support. He is continuously being monitored and treated by the panel of expert doctors in the ICU." The 94-year-old DMK president, who is being treated for fever due to urinary tract infection, was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Kauvery Hospital on Saturday following a dip in his blood pressure. Besides Naidu, TMC leader Derek O'Brien also visited the hospital. "I came here on behalf of the TMC and Mamata Banerjee. I met M K Stalin and Kanimozhi and inquired about Karunanidhi's health," he said. Guwahati: Amid the fear and hope that lakhs of migrants would be detected and identified, the stage has been set for the publication of the final draft of the National Register of Citizens in Assam on Monday. The state coordinator for the NRC has announced that the draft will be published at around 12 noon. Fate of lakhs of people in Assam hangs in balance as the final draft of the National Register of Citizens comes out today. History The National Registry of Citizens was first prepared in 1951. The latest updation of the list in Assam will have names of descendants of those who were in the 1951 list, or those who were in electoral rolls till March 24, 1971. 1.9 crore out of the 3.29 crore applicants in Assam have been confirmed Indian citizenship in the first round of lists on January 1 this year. 1.5 lakh people from the list will be dropped, said authorities in July due to discrepancies in paperwork. Names of around 50,000 rural women will also be dropped as officials had asked them to submit documents such as marriage and school TC certificates, which they do not have. Opposition Sections of Assam were not happy with the NRC as they claim it would make illegal migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan eligible for citizenship after six years of stay in India. The Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016 was one of the election promises made by Narendra Modi ahead of the 2014 general elections. Tight security 220 companies of the Central forces have been deployed in Assam and neighbouring states. Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal held a high level meeting recently on the NRC draft release and directed officers to remain alert The chief minister has also directed the officials not to refer any case to the Foreigners Tribunal based on the NRC draft list. The draft will be published at noon across the state which will contain the applicants name, address and photographs, NRC state coordinator Prateek Hajela said. As per the plans, shutters will be lifted up to 40 centimetres on a trial basis for four hours. Kochi: The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) and the Idukki district administration are gearing up to open the shutters of Cheruthony Dam on Tuesday on a trial basis even as the water level in the Idukki Dam reached 2,394.36 ft at 10 pm on Sunday as against the storage capacity of 2,403 ft. As per the plans, shutters will be lifted up to 40 centimetres on a trial basis for four hours. Two of the seven shutters of Lower Periyar Dam were opened as the water level reached 253 metres, the optimum level of the storage capacity of the dam. According to an estimate by KSDMA, nearly 4,500 buildings comprising residential units, business establishment and schools on the immediate vicinity of both sides of the banks of the rivers are likely to be affected by the opening of the shutters of Cheruthony Dam. The estimate has been prepared with help of satellite mapping and digital mapping systems. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that all possible precautions have been taken to meet the situation. A unit of the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) will be stationed at Idukki while two other units will be camping at Aluva and Thrissur, respectively. The Army, Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard have been alerted for assistance in case of an emergency. The water-level at the Idukki Dam has reached 2,394.28 ft from the sea level and rise in the level by one more feet will lead to declaration of the Orange Alert, a senior official of the KSDMA said. The district administration said that 12 relief camps have already been set up for accommodating people in case of evacuation. A control room will start functioning from Sunday night and red alert message signifying the extreme gravity of the situation will be issued 24 hours before the opening of the shutters. The steps for evacuating the people will commence after the declaration of the Orange Alert. A meeting of the district administration held on Sunday decided to restrict the people likely to come to see the opening of the shutters at Cheruthony. As per the estimate, the opening of the shutters at Cheruthony, part of the Idukki dam complex, will lead to the water gushing to the Lower Periyar Dam and from there to the Bhoothathankettu dam. Water from Bhoothathankettu will flow through River Periyar in Kalady, Aluva to the Arabian Sea. It is estimated it would take nearly six hours for the water to reach the Arabian Sea after the opening of the shutters at Cheruthony. Lucknow: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Sunday, slammed the Opposition for calling him a friend of capitalists and said that he was not afraid of meeting industrialists and capitalists because his intentions were honest. Those who blame me of befriending industrialists are the same ones who also meet these people but behind closed doors. Mr Amar Singh is here and he very well knows who meets whom behind closed doors. Agar neeyat saaf ho to kisi ke saath khade ho, daag nahin lagta, he said. The Prime Minister, while referring to Mahatma Gandhi, said that the latter was never apologetic of his friendship with industrialists. Gandhi stood with Birla without any hesitation, he said. He said industrialists were equal partners in the development of the nation just like farmers, artisans, banker, financers, government employees and laborers and deserved to be respected. Inki bhi bhoomika hoti hai. Apmanit karenge? Kaun sa tariqa hai? Jo galat hain woh toh desh chhod kar chale gaye hain, he said. Mr Modi said that the industrys investment in agriculture was just one per cent, which was the lowest among other countries. He said that during a recent visit to Mumbai, he met industrialists and made a presentation before them, explaining how they could invest in agriculture to add value to the farmers produce by spending on projects which would benefit them as well as farmers. Narendra Modi also launched 81 investment projects with over Rs 60,000 crore at a Ground Breaking Ceremony in the presence of top industrialists. The PM termed it not only as a groundbreaking event but also a record-breaking one. BENGALURU: In a gory incident, a cow that had strayed into an empty plot died a painful death when a gang of unidentified miscreants tried to steal it on Saturday night. According to the KR Puram police, the miscreants, who had found the cow in the empty plot, had tied its four legs and were trying to drag it when the animal got caught in the barbed wire. The cow died while struggling to free itself from the wires which had pierced the body. A senior police officer said that the incident took place on Saturday night at Bettarahalli in K.R. Puram. The cow belonged to Govindaswamy, who in his complaint to the K.R. Puram police said that the cow had managed to untie itself and strayed into the empty land about 400 metres away from his house. Govindaswamy and his father Narayanappa, who are farmers, started a search for the cow. Around 10 pm, they found it dead in a pool of blood with its legs tied and body entangled in the barbed wire fencing. Prima facie, it appeared that the miscreants, seeing a milking cow grazing in an empty land, had tried to steal it, the police said. They tied its four legs and dragged it. But, when the animal got caught in the barbed wire, they abandoned it and escaped, the police said. After Govindaswamys complaint, the police visited the spot and carried out a probe. A case Under Section 379 (theft) has been registered at the K R Puram police station and the police are analyzing nearby CCTV footage to establish the identity of the miscreants. National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, however, maintained that the issue of the 'face of opposition' is being brought up to divide the opposition unity. (Photo: File | PTI) Kolkata: National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah said the Congress has to be the "backbone" of the opposition unity with its chief Rahul Gandhi at the forefront of the campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls to oust the BJP from power at the Centre. This, however, does not minimise the responsibility of regional leaders who are strong in their own states, Abdullah told news agency PTI in an interview. "The Congress has to be the backbone as the lion's share of seats of the opposition in one particular party will have to be from it as there are a number of states where there will be a direct contest between the Congress and the BJP," he said. "At the end of the day to form a government at the Centre you need 272 seats, which the regional outfits are not going to get. You will be looking towards the Congress to come close to the 100-seat mark, if not cross it to form a non-BJP government," he said. Abdullah met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata on Friday and held talks on the probable opposition front. Efforts to cobble up an opposition front is gaining momentum, but a section of leaders of regional parties are not keen on letting the Congress lead it and are propagating a non-BJP and non-Congress front. On the issue of Rahul Gandhi being the face of the opposition, Abdullah said he being the president of the single largest opposition party was expected to be at the forefront of the election campaign. "Obviously, one will expect Rahul Gandhi to be at the forefront of leading the election campaign in 2019 but at the same time, Sonia Gandhi is the leader of the UPA. Therefore to the best possible extent, one will hope Sonia Gandhi will also be part of the campaign," he said. Refuting aspersions on Rahul Gandhi's leadership capabilities, Abdullah cited the example of Congress' role in forming the government in Karnataka and said he had shown a lot of maturity on how the party was orienting itself. "He is president of the Congress party. If anybody has any doubt about his leadership quality then it has to be from his party. His party has absolutely no problem with him, then why should anybody else have objections?" Abdullah said. "Rahul Gandhi has shown a lot of maturity on how the Congress is orienting. He is a leader in his own right and he has every right to be there," the NC leader added. He, however, maintained that the issue of the "face of opposition" is being brought up to divide the opposition unity. "Individual regional parties are strong in their own states." Mamata Banerjee will lead the fight against the BJP in West Bengal, while in Bihar, the anti-BJP face will be that of Lalu Prasad Yadav (RJD) supported by the Congress. In Uttar Pradesh, the faces will be Akhilesh Yadav (SP) and Mayawati (BSP) and in Tamil Nadu, it will be Karunanidhi (DMK) and his son M K Stalin, he said. "The Congress by virtue of its pan-India presence will have greater responsibility, but that's not to minimise the responsibility of other (regional) leaders. They would play a vital role. It's very important that we fight tactfully and tactically and this is the way forward," he said. Abdullah, who was in the city to take part in 'Think Federal Conclave', said NC was very much a part of the grouping of regional parties opposed to the BJP. "I would like them (grouping) to have a clear agenda regarding all the issues that matter to the country ranging from the creation of jobs, demonetisation, the way economy has been handled. And obviously, they have to look at both facets of Jammu and Kashmir. One is Pakistan as our (India) relations with it impact the situation in J&K and secondly, internally all the problems that have happened in the state after 2014 should be addressed by it," he said. Speaking on the present situation in Kashmir, Abdullah said the dismissal of the Mehbooba Mufti government by the Centre showed how the state was "mishandled" since 2015. "The present situation in the valley is not at all conducive for holding elections," he said. Listing steps that needed to be taken to restore peace in Kashmir, he said the alleged efforts of horse trading of PDP MLAs should immediately stop. "The J&K Assembly needs to be dissolved rather than simply suspended. Then the governor needs to work towards reducing the levels of violence so that some semblance of peace is restored. Speaking on the prevailing situation in the country, he said attempts were being made to vitiate the atmosphere of communal harmony. The way the entire community, particularly the Muslim community, was sought to be vilified is a matter of "grave concern," he said, adding that when these were stray voices from the people who didn't matter it was understandable to an extent. "But now you have elected representatives from the ruling party (BJP) who are espousing very strong anti-Muslim sentiments and trying to spread that in the country, which is a matter of grave concern," Abdullah said. Congress president Rahul Gandhi alleged that inaction of BJP state governments, especially in UP, has created an 'atmosphere of fear amongst Dalits and religious minorities'. (Photo: File) New Delhi: The inaction of BJP governments in states, especially Uttar Pradesh, has created an atmosphere of fear among Dalits and religious minorities, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said. He also said it was important for the Congress to reach out to the victims of "mindless violence". The current dispensation, Gandhi alleged, has allowed the "climate of fear" and lawlessness "to not only prevail but also flourish". The hate speeches made by various BJP ministers and leaders exhorting their followers to target certain communities "encourages local goons to act with impunity", he said. The Congress president alleged that the inaction of BJP state governments, especially in Uttar Pradesh, has created an "atmosphere of fear amongst Dalits and religious minorities". In a letter to the Scheduled Caste (SC) department of the AICC, Gandhi said it is important for the party to reach out to the victims of the "mindless violence" and publicly support them. The complicity of state agencies, that makes such large-scale persecution possible, "must be exposed," he wrote in his July 27 letter. He said that it would be expedient on part of the SC department of the party to examine the recent instances of violence against Dalits where the state had failed to act against the perpetrators. "There is an urgent need for a larger public discourse regarding the systemic persecution unleashed by this regime. Towards this end, I request you to take up these issues in all relevant platforms and apprise me on the same," Gandhi said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, 'It was a record-breaking ceremony, which will add significant momentum to Uttar Pradeshs growth.' (Photo: Twitter | @narendramodi) Lucknow: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday slammed the opposition parties, holding them answerable for what he called the "ills the country has been facing for 70 years". Attacking them for calling industrialists "chor (Thieves) and lootere (Robbers)", Modi said that he did not hesitate in standing with them as his "intentions" are clear. He congratulated the Uttar Pradesh government and industrialists for their commitment for development. "We are not those who are scared of standing next to businessmen," he said, adding like farmers, bankers, government employees and labourers, industrialists also contributed to the development of the country. "You cannot have a blot on you simply by standing with anyone if your intentions are good and clear. Gandhiji's (Father of the Nation) intentions were so pure that he never hesitated in staying with Birla family," he said. "Public mey milna nahi, parde ke peeche sab kuch karna hai. Woh dartey rahtey hain, (Those who do not meet publicly and do everything behind curtains remain scared)," he said. Amar Singh, former SP leader, is sitting here and he can give you all the details, Modi added with laughter. "Should we insult them (industrialists and businessmen) by labelling them as 'chor' and 'lootere'. What is this? Those who will do wrong will have to leave the country or spend life in the jail. This was not done earlier because everything was done behind curtains..." "Kiske jahaj me log ghoomte pata nahi kya," (Are you not aware on whose plane, they used to travel)," he said without naming anyone. PM Modi said there was a time when coal brought a bad name, apparently referring to the coal block allocation scam. He said those who used to look for issues to criticise him, should note that whatever mistake they find dates back to 70 years. "Please note, whatever you find will be dating back to 70 years (of their rule) and not from my four years. I have only four years in my account and you have 70 years," he said. The Prime Minister also took the opportunity to attack his political rivals who have been ridiculing his frequent visits to the state and saying that it smacked of his nervousness ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. "As an MP from the state, I will come twice, five times, ten times... I am your MP and will keep visiting (the state)," he said. His remarks come against the backdrop of opposition Samajwadi Party mocking the Prime Minister for visiting the state six times in a month. PM Modi's Uttar Pradesh tour today marked his sixth visit to the state this month and second to Lucknow in as many days. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Lucknow on Sunday to attend a programme on "Transforming Urban Landscape", marking the third anniversary of three key government initiatives related to urban development -- Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), Atal Mission for Rejuvenation of Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and the Smart Cities Mission. Earlier in July, PM Modi visited his parliamentary Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi, Azamgarh and Mirzapur, besides Noida (Gautam Buddha Nagar). He had visited Sant Kabir Nagar on June 28. The Prime Minister, without naming the Samajwadi Party, said the tube in a 'cycle' (its party symbol) tyre can take only a limited pressure of air. Beyond that limit, the same air hampers its movement," he said. He was speaking after the launch of 81 investment projects worth over Rs 60,000 crore for Uttar Pradesh at a mega ground-breaking event. Around 80 leading industrialists, including Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of Aditya Birla group, Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani group, Subhash Chandra, chairman of Essel group and Sanjeev Puri, MD, ITC, besides top magnates of other major business houses participated in the event. This comes close on the heels of 'Investors Summit' in February this year. Lauding the UP government for attracting huge investments, PM Modi said was a big step. "I have been Chief Minister for a long time and getting Rs 60,000 crore investment is a big achievement. I congratulate officers also for the unimaginable work, he said. "Some persons are calling it ground-breaking ceremony but it is a record-breaking ceremony. In such a less time, old ways have been changed and trust of industrialists has been gathered. I am happy that in Yogi Adityanath's leadership, an atmosphere is being created for investment by changing work culture," he said. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who led the state in holding the successful investors' summit earlier this year, said climate was very favourable to set up projects in the state. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who represents the Lucknow seat in the Lok Sabha, assured additional security for the ambitious projects in case of any requirement. "I can give you this assurance as the home minister of the country," he said. Union Minister Alphons Kannanthanam said NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma's remarks, while submitting a recommendation to ban confession, was her personal view and she has no mandate to give it. (Photo: File) Kochi: Union Minister Alphons Kannanthanam has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reject the National Commission for Women's (NCW) recommendation that confessions in churches be banned over fears they could lead to blackmailing of women. Observing that confession is a fundamental belief of Christian churches, the Minister of State for Tourism, in a letter to PM Modi, termed the NCW's recommendation to the government, seeking a ban on confession in churches, "immature". "I have written to the Prime Minister and also to the home minister. I met the home minister and had a discussion with him. I told him this must be rejected", Alphons said in Kochi on Saturday. He said Home Minister Rajnath Singh has assured him that he would look into the matter. Alphons said NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma's remarks, while submitting a recommendation to ban confession, was her personal view and she has no mandate to give it. Sharma, while referring to incidents of rape and sexual assault in churches in Kerala, had alleged that priests pressure women into revealing their secrets and exploit them. The NCW's recommendation came following an allegation by the husband of a homemaker that four priests of an Orthodox Syrian Church in Kerala used her confession to blackmail and sexually exploit her. The case is being investigated by the local police. The Union minister said confession is the fundamental belief of Christian churches and it has been there for 2,000 years. "Now we have an allegation which is being investigated by the Kerala Police and I am sure that they will investigate that seriously. The Kerala Police is very very efficient. I am sure they will arrive at the truth," Alphons said. He said police should take action if there is a violation of secrecy. "And therefore to take up one allegation and then submit a report saying that confession, which is a fundamental belief of the Christian churches, should be abolished, it should be banned, I think that is absolutely unacceptable. "This is beyond the mandate of the National Womens Commission. Its immature", he added. Alphons, a Christian, said interfering in religious beliefs is not the policy of the Modi government. "Prime Minister Modi has made it very clear in Parliament and outside... You believe in whatever religion you want to believe in and we will ensure that you are allowed to lead that life. We will protect you. And he has stood by that word. Therefore, there is no question of anybody ever accepting this recommendation", he said. The Kerala Catholic Bishop's Council (KCBC) had termed as "shocking" the NCW's recommendation to the Union Home Ministry to ban the "Sacrament of Confession" among Christians. "The chairperson has ventured into something which is totally out of her prerogative, and without any consultation with Christian churches, and communities and without considering the moral, theological or psychological aspects of confession among Christians," KCBC had said in a statement in Kochi. The church in Kerala is facing a string of sleaze allegations. In a complaint to the Kottayam district police chief in June, a nun had alleged that Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal raped her and had unnatural sex with her multiple times at a small town near Kottayam between 2014 and 2016. Chennai: BJPs former state president C. P. Radhakrishnan asserted that his party has ample scope to grow in the state and that it would fill the political vacuum. BJP never targeted any political personality as it believed in opposing on the basis of principles. We are not against any individuals, per se. Seen in this aspect, I strongly believe that our party will grow in the state and fill the political vacuum, Mr Radhakrishnan said. Secondly, any great leaders demise always created a vacuum. For instance, DMK president M. Karunanidhi rose by the sudden demise of late Kamaraj and then went on to fill the vacuum created by MGR. But DMK has had a very strong base in Tamil Nadu for a long time. We will try our best in our own way and that has nothing to do with any particular individual, he said in a chat with DC. Lauding the ruling AIADMK for voluntarily supporting the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre, by voting against the no-confidence motion, he described it as a great gesture in keeping the national and state interest in mind. Asked how the saffron party would rise to capture power, especially when the Dravidian majors have prevented its growth, Mr Radhakrishnan replied, We started rather late. The Jan Sangh was started in 1962 and our growth was slow in Tamil Nadu. Rather in one way, Mr Karunanidhi was so much against the polices of the Hindutva that really helped the BJP to grow. So much negative opposition to BJP has really helped the party in one way, to grow though it is small. Sema. Narayanan, president, TN potters' association, offering special prayers along with his family and friends, besides several DMK members, for Erikkarai Mariamman at the deity's temple in Nungambakkam on Sunday. (Photo:DC) Chennai: Their thalaivar Kalaignar might have proclaimed atheism multiple times and even publicly chastised senior party functionaries and cabinet colleagues for smearing kumkum and holy ash on the forehead; but thousands of DMK members across Tamil Nadu are now engaged in intense praying seeking divine blessings for M. Karunanidhis quick recovery and return home from his ICU bed in Kauvery Hospital. We know Kalaignar does not believe in God; still, we knew that he needed our Ammans grace to come out of his present crisis. Thats why we had conducted a joint prayer with lighted lamps before the Erikkarai Mariamman Temple at Nungambakkam, said Sema. Narayanan, president, TN potters association. He said the potters were grateful to Karunanidhi as he had constituted a welfare board for them during his tenure as the Chief Minister. He had done good for us just as he had for many other weaker sections. He always had deep concern for the poor and downtrodden, Narayanan said. Kalaignar would look at the deity every time his car passed the temple on his way to the Murasoli office from his Gopalapuram residence or the DMK headquarters at Anna Arivalayam, said Narayanan. Only look and not say a silent prayer? With a knowing smile, the potter chief said, Well, we all know he is a non-believer, a staunch atheist, follower of Periyar. Not just that; Karunanidhi had pulled up a senior DMK MP during one of his terms in office for coming to work sporting a thick spread of kumkum on his forehead. Why are you bleeding on the forehead? he asked the rattled MP Adhi Sankar. On another occasion in his CM term, the DMK chief said the fire-walking ritual in temples was a barbaric act. He was reacting to one of his ministers performing the ritual. Yet it should go to the Dravidian patriarchs credit that people cutting across all faiths lent their diehard loyalty to them, and held prayers in their various places of worship. Potter Sema. Narayanan was just one of them. Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu visits the ailing DMK president M. Karunanidhi at Kauvery Hospital, in Chennai on Sunday. Also seen is Tamil Nadu governor Banwarilal Purohit. (Photo:DC) Chennai: DMK president M. Karunanidhi has got better and his parameters got stable after suffering a serious setback late Sunday night at the ICU of the Kauvery Hospital. Doctors had said earlier that he showed significant improvement due to medical intervention since being brought from his Gopalapuram residence in the early hours of Saturday when his pulse dropped. The 94-year-old DMK patriarch has been under treatment for fever due to urinary tract infection. He is stable. His parameters are good as of now. There was a setback but that has been handled. Not to worry, said an informed source shortly after 11 pm. He was present at the ICU during the crisis time. The DMK, earlier in the day, released a photograph showing Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu standing beside Karunanidhis hospital bed. With the TV channels flashing images of the picture and commentators pointing out that the leader was doing well even without any support systems such as the ventilator, the huge crowd of party cadres and fans filling up the Alwarpet junction outside the hospital burst into cheering. Dr Aravindan Selvaraj, executive director of Kauvery Hospital, issued a bulletin at 9.50 pm saying there was a transient setback in the critical condition of Karunanidhi. With active medical support, his vital signs are normalising. He continues to be closely monitored and treated by the panel of expert doctors, said the brief statement. Vice-President Naidu had earlier tweeted that doctors at Kauvery told him that Karunanidhis condition was stable. Visited Kaveri Hospital and met former Chief Minister Thiru Kalaignar Karunanidhi. Met his family members and doctors and enquired about his health. Doctors said he is stable. Wish him a speedy recovery, he tweeted. However, unconfirmed reports trickling from the hospital sources insisted that the health condition of the DMK chief was fast deteriorating and the pulse had once again dropped. Police reinforcements were rushed and after repeated appeals from former Union Minister A. Raja asking the cadres to go home, because Kalaignar was on recovery path, failed to get response from the crowd that only grew, police resorted to mild lathi charge to disperse the people and clear the roads. At about 10.50 pm, Stalin too left the hospital. Other members of the family too went home to rest. But many of the DMK cadres kept coming back to Alwarpet through the night to continue their prayer and to keep vigil, despite police pressure. Police reinforcements were rushed and after repeated appeals from former Union Minister A. Raja asking the cadres to go home, because Kalaignar was on recovery path, failed to get response from the crowd that only grew, police resorted to mild lathi charge to disperse the people and clear the roads. At about 10.50 pm, Stalin too left the hospital in what might have been an attempt to convey to the cadres that his father was stable and so they too could go home and rest. Late on Saturday, Indias official spokesman said the people of Pakistan had reposed their faith in democracy through general elections. This is a mature, considered, reaction. It signals an easy acceptance of PTI leader Imran Khan as the next Prime Minister instead of cavilling about the fairness of the larger poll exercise, which the military had skewed in favour of Mr Khans party, as an Opposition party or a media observer might. Naturally, the messaging here is that New Delhi will be perfectly at ease doing business with the elected government after Mr Khan has taken the oath. The reference to the people of Pakistan reposing their faith in democracy is evidently also a nod to the rout of the candidates of the terrorist outfits in the polls and the failure of the Pakistan militarys mission to mainstream these extremists. Its also not unlikely that the comments of former chief election commissioner S.Y. Quraishi, who was in Islamabad recently as part of a Commonwealth observer group, to an Indian television channel from Pakistan, that the voting was free, fair and transparent, was in tune with the understanding that New Delhi sought to advance to the government and the people of Pakistan. In the final analysis, this is a way of informing Pakistan that India would like the ice to break. The timing, of course, is another matter. Very soon the election cycle will begin in India and that imposes its own domestic dilemmas for the ruling party here, chiefly due to its traditional ultra-Hindu stance. At any rate, even if both sides are agreed, Islamabad would appreciate that serious discussion with New Delhi will be impractical until the next government is in place. Nevertheless, it will be important for New Delhi as well as Islamabad to not muddy the waters here on. The Pakistan high commissioner to India, Sohail Mehmood, has said that after the Pakistan election an opportunity presents itself for getting ties back on track. Pakistans presumptive PM Imran Khan conveyed the same impression in his first televised address once it became clear that his party would be forming the government. Two things should happen to ease the path, though: first, there should be no terrorist strikes from the Pakistani side, and if there is one, someone at the top in Islamabad should condemn it; and second, there ought to be no communal provocation from an extremist outfit here, and if there is one someone important here should take the offenders to task. There has been an interesting tweeted suggestion tagging PM Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi from Ballooning India chief Vishwa Bandhu Gupta, the president of the All India Newspaper Editors Conference and a former MP. The idea is that Mr Khan and Mr Gupta fly a peace balloon from Lahore to Amritsar. Does this fly? It may be worth exploring. While Indias relationship with its immediate neighbours in spite of Prime Minister Narendra Modis neighbours first policy has seen mixed results, our relations with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have improved. But relations with the Maldives, Nepal and Pakistan have worsened. However, Mr Modi deserves to be applauded for his clearheaded, proactive and transformative outreach to Africa. Indias historical, cultural and trade links with the African continent go back centuries. Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi are still remembered fondly in many countries for their inspirational anti-imperialist, anti-colonial and anti-apartheid crusade. Africans also appreciate the Indian governments scholarships to African students under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme and its decision to set up IT centres, pan-African E-network and assistance to combat HIV and AIDS. But obviously India didnt take full advantage of prevailing favourable factors to their full potential. Top Indian leaders visited some African countries but these visits were few and far between, and several countries didnt see any Indian leader for decades. Similarly, the bilateral visits by African countries to India were also few, the enthusiasm for receiving African leaders was shallow if not outright negative. In many African capitals we heard the same refrain India remembers us only when it needs our vote for its candidates election to the UN agencies. Fortunately, this mindset has changed. There is a visible paradigm shift. The third India-Africa Forum Summit in October 2015, which saw representation from 54 African countries, in 43 cases at the level of the head of state/government, was a watershed. In the last four and a half years, Indias President, vice-president and PM have visited 25 African countries and 32 heads of states and government from Africa have visited India. Indian companies have invested $54 billion and Indias trade with Africa has risen to $74 billion. During Mr Modis recent successful visit to Rwanda and Uganda, a slew of agreements were signed, credit lines and soft loans of around $200 million each were extended. Mr Modi became the first Indian PM to visit Rwanda, which is becoming a fast-growing economy and offers opportunities for trade and investment in agriculture, food processing, infrastructure, education and healthcare. Gifting 200 locally sourced cows to support Paul Kagames flagship Girinka programme was a smart, innovative, low-cost high-return diplomatic move. Mr Modi, the first PM of India to visit Uganda in the last 22 years and the first to address the Ugandan Parliament, assured that India would continue to support Uganda in the fields of agriculture, healthcare, education, training, infrastructure, energy, capacity building in government and training in defence and referred to Indias ongoing partnership with Africa including implementation of 180 credit lines worth $11 billion in over 40 countries. He announced the setting of a Gandhi heritage centre in Jinja. His enunciation of 10 basic principles that will guide India-Africa relations will have a positive impact: Africa to be Indias top priority with intense, sustained and regular engagement. Indias development partnership to be guided by African priorities, relying on African talent and skills. Open and easier access to Indian markets for African products and support to industrys investment in Africa. Support digital revolution in Africa with Indias digital experience: improvement in delivery services, expansion of education and health services, promote digital literacy and financial inclusion and drawing the marginalised sections in to the mainstream. Improve Africas agriculture. Cooperate with Africa to ensure a just international climate order to protect biodiversity and adopt clean and efficient energy sources. Mutual cooperation in combating terrorism, including cyber crime. Keep the oceans open and free for the benefit of all nations. Ensure Africa doesnt become the theatre of rival ambitions again and help African youth to fulfil their aspirations. Work together to help create a just, representative and democratic global order, which has a voice and role for Africa. Mr Modis speech at the 10th Brics summit held in Johannesburg on July 25-27 was partly a reiteration of his speeches at the World Economic Forum and the Ugandan Parliament recently. His views about globalisation, open markets, multi-polar world and rule-based international trading system similar to the views of the Chinese President have found place in the joint declaration. His stress on new technologies, education, skill upgradation and human values has found wider resonance. Brics, which initially focused on financial, economic, trade and investment-related issues, now devotes as much time on regional and global strategic issues. It associates many non-Brics countries as cooperative partners. At Fortaleza, Brazil invited regional economies; at Ufa, Russia invited Eurasian economies; India invited the Bimstec members in Goa; China invited five major developing economies from around the world and South Africa invited as many as 22 countries from Africa as well as Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia and Turkey. It looked like a mini UN. Johannesburg declarations commitment to foster a more representative, democratic, equitable, fair and just international political and economic order uphold multilateralism respect international law, promote democracy and Sustainable Development Goals is unexceptional. It reaffirms the need for a comprehensive reform of the UN, including the UNSC; China and Russia reiterated their support to the aspirations of India, Brazil and South Africa to play greater role in the UN; it is far from a strong and clear endorsement. Their reiteration to strengthen multilateral institutions, including the WTO, is well meaning but offers no suggestion to address Donald Trumps wont for unilateralism. It talks of an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned national peace and reconciliation process and supports an inclusive Syrian-led Syrian-owned political solution of the conflict in Syria. It welcomes the recent developments regarding the complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and urges all parties to fully comply with their obligations and effectively implement the JCPOA-Iran nuclear deal. Israeli-Palestrina relations and the conflict in Yemen have been flagged on predictable lines. Need of a universal legal anti-terrorist convention and cooperation in counter-terrorism, including cyber crimes sounds familiar; there was no mention of Pakistan-based terrorists. Has China retracted from its Xiamen declaration? Wishing universal energy access, energy security, energy affordability, and reduced pollution and environment conservations is fine, but how the countries transitioning to more environmentally sustainable energy systems can be helped isnt clear. Collaboration for the preservation of biodiversity, promoting ocean economy and protecting outer space from arms race are welcome, but the emphasis on promotion of democracy sounds ironic, as both China and Russia cant be called democracies. Similarly, if China pursues its territorial claims in the South China Sea with little regard to international laws, its advocacy of a rule-based international order sounds hollow. Above all, Brics should act on what it proposes. Shiva Ayyadurai, 54, who is running Independent against powerful incumbent Elizabeth Warren from the Democratic party was attacked last week by her supporter. (Photo: Twitter | @va_shiva) New York: An Indian-American senatorial candidate has been assaulted allegedly by a racist man who punched him in the face leaving him severely bleeding at a town hall in Massachusetts, according to media reports. Shiva Ayyadurai, 54, who is running Independent against powerful incumbent Elizabeth Warren from the Democratic party was attacked last week by her supporter, Boston.com reported. Ayyadurai, an eminent scientist and an outspoken critic, was punched by a man, wearing a t-shirt which said "liberal" and a Warren for Senate sticker. He approached Ayyadurai with an umbrella while the bullhorn a queue of Warren supporters outside a town hall in Great Barrington, where the Democratic Senator was scheduled to appear, the report said. "I was just punched in face by a racist @SenWarren supporter," Ayyadurai tweeted. "This is how these white privileged white supremacists react. What you just witnessed is how you white supremacists react when you don't want to hear the truth from a dark-skinned Indian guy. The same guy you claim you want to help. You guys are racists," Ayyadurai said. I will take a punch in the face ANY DAY for America & Free Speech. We will have another ANTI-RACIST Rally against the scumbag #FakeIndian @SenWarren and her White Supremacist THUGS. JOIN US. Declare Your Independence! Stop Race War pic.twitter.com/IOtTCTzi1h Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai,PhD (M.I.T.) Inventor of Email (@va_shiva) July 22, 2018 He received a bloody lip, swelling, and abrasions, the report said. The encounter played out as a crowd of Warren supporters waited to enter a centre, the Great Barrington police said in a statement. Paul Solovay left the line, crossed Castle Street, and approached Ayyadurai. "Solovay allegedly engaged in a verbal confrontation that became physical when he pushed the bullhorn toward the speaker, striking his mouth," police said. "Officers acted quickly to subdue Solovay and place him into custody." "We don't produce enough engineers. We don't produce enough doctors. But we do produce a bunch of scumbag lawyer lobbyists like Elizabeth Warren," Ayyadurai says in the video before it cuts to Solovay shouting at him from across the street. When the two come face to face, Ayyadurai repeatedly calls Solovay a racist through the megaphone before the 74-year-old pushes it into his face, the video shows. Solovay, who was charged with assault and battery and disorderly conduct, pleaded not guilty on Monday in Southern Berkshire District Court. He was released on personal recognizance. The move comes nine months after the Trump administration openly spoke against the 'predatory economic policies of an Asian giant' that threatens to eat into the sovereignty of countries in Indo-Pacific. (Photo: File/PTI) Washington: The Trump administration is all set to roll out its major policy initiatives to address the massive infrastructural and energy needs of the Indo-Pacific region where India is seen as one of the anchor countries for greater connectivity and trade. President Donald Trump has lined up his top Cabinet members Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Energy Secretary Rick Perry -- at US Chambers of Commerce which is hosting the first Indo-Pacific Business Forum meeting on Monday. The Forum will introduce the economic and commercial elements of the US' whole-of-government Indo-Pacific strategy and will include participation from senior administration officials, private sector and officials representing Indo-Pacific nations. The move comes nine months after the Trump administration openly spoke against the "predatory economic policies of an Asian giant" that threatens to eat into the sovereignty of countries in Indo-Pacific, which has now emerged as a critical engine for growth. Asian economies are now projected to create 50 per cent of global GDP in coming decades. To realise that potential, countries of the Indo-Pacific will need to attract nearly USD 26 trillion in capital from the private sector and not the government to fund their energy and infrastructure needs, Nisha Desai Biswal, president of the US India Business Council (USIBC) said. She said American companies will be a critical player in both investing the capital and building the technology and infrastructure that the region requires. "It's an event that brings together business, the private sector and many of our partners from the region to kind of have a conversation about how we boost engagement investment across the Indo Pacific, Biswal, a key player in this initiative, told PTI ahead of the first Forum. In addition to Pompeo, Ross and Perry envisioning the administration's policies for the Indo-Pacific region, other top administration officials include USAID Administrator Mark Green, OPIC President Ray Washburne, Acting Ex-Im Bank Chairman Jeffrey Gerrish, and US Chamber President and CEO Thomas J Donohue. "All would be making announcements or sharing key investment opportunities that they are advancing in the Indo-Pacific region, Biswal said. The Indian Ambassador to the US, Navtej Singh Sarna, is among the few diplomats from the region who have been invited to speak during the forum event. Senator Mark Warner, co-chair of the Senate India Caucus, would provide Congressional perspective on how it's important for the US public and private sector to be engaged in the Indo-Pacific region. What we hope that there will be a lot of outcomes that come from this Indo Pacific Business Forum, said Biswal, who served as the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia in the second term of the Obama administration. The forum will highlight US Government initiatives to advance economic engagement in the region, particularly on key sectors including energy and infrastructure and the digital economy, State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said. The forum will also emphasise the importance of public-private partnerships, the benefits of transparency and good governance, and unlocking the power of markets for sustainable development, and the need for US collaboration with regional partners, she said. Immediately after the event, Pompeo would leave for Singapore to attend the ASEAN ministerial. He will have an opportunity to engage with his counterparts in the region and be able to take the business strategy and the economic strategy for the Indo-Pacific that has been articulated in this event and be able to engage with his counterparts from the region to further have conversations and discuss next steps, Biswal said. Responding to a question, the former State Department official asserted that the USD 26 trillion infrastructure gap across the Indo-Pacific region would come from the private sector and not from the government. It's largely going to be how we leverage private investment into the region to build the infrastructure and the connectivity, whether it's the energy infrastructure or the transport infrastructure, or the digital infrastructure where India is such a leader for the region, Biswal said. India is a critically important player in the entire scheme of things, she argued, noting that over the years it has emerged as a much more consequential actor in South east Asia. We really do see that India is one of the anchor countries in how we bring this whole region into greater connectivity and really boost commerce and trade across the region, she said. We also know that in many areas, including in the digital economy, India is a leader and a pioneer that has a lot of knowledge to share. We know that India is a very important market for the countries of Asia and we want to support that greater collaboration in the region, she said. The US has a strong interest in also supporting all of the trading connectivity and being part of it, she said adding that American business, technology and capital has an important role to play. So, the Chamber is a hosting this gathering as an effort to really bring together a lot of these different actors and different perspective and create some opportunities for that connections to be made, she said. Biswal refuted the notion that the forum is intended against China. I don't think that this is intended to be in any way a message to any particular country. This is meant to be an articulation of a robust policy and engagement from the US, from the government and from the business community and desire to do so in a way that is collaborative and consultative with our partners and counterparts across the region, she said. Islamabad: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Sunday said it will not become part of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) led government. The party alleged the elections were rigged. MQM leader Faisal Subzwari said in Karachi that he was going to Islamabad with petitions to hold vote recounts in different constituencies, adding that Farooq Sattar adopted the stance of the party at the All Party Conference. He said that the workers of MQM were summoned for a key meeting during which the strategy for protest will be devised. Earlier, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had announced final results of all the constituencies of the national and provincial Assemblies, more than 56 hours after the conclusion of voting for the 2018 General Elections. Imran Khans PTI has won 116 of the 270 National Assembly seats, emerging as the largest political party in the country. The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) grabbed 64 seats, while the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is in third place with 43 National Assembly seats. The Mutahida Majlis Amal (MMA) secured 12 seats and Pakistan Mus-lim League (Quiad-e-Az-am) Balochistan Natioanl Party, Mutahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan, and Balochistan Awami Party secured 4, 03, 06, and 04 seat respectively. Awami National Party (ANP) has won one seat, Awami Muslim League (AML), Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insan-iyat and Jamhoori Wat-tan Party (JWP) have also grabbed one NA seat each. Fourteen independent candidates have also remained successful in their constituencies. They may play an important role in formation of the federal government. Meanwhile, Imran Kh-an will be sworn in as Pakistans new Prime Minister before the countrys Independence Day on August 14, his party announced as it tried to reach out to smaller parties and independents. Islamabad: Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) started efforts for support of successful independent candidates to form the provincial government in Punjab. As many as 149 seats are needed to have majority in Punjab assembly while PML-N has secured 129 seats and PTI won 123 seats in recently held general elections. Besides PML-N, PTI and independent candidates, the other key players include PML (Quaid-e-Azam) with 7 seats and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) with 6 seats. BRS Ventures, the leading healthcare providers of UAE, signed a memorandum of understanding to take over two hospitals and establish a pharmaceutical manufacturing unit in Kabul, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. BRS Ventures will operate and manage the Sheikh Zayed Hospital (SZ Hospital) as well as the Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital (WAK Hospital) under the public-private partnership model. The hospitals will be a part of the BRS Ventures healthcare brand called BR Life. It will help over a lakh people to get quality healthcare at there doorsteps, said Dr B R. Shetty, founder and chairman. The group manages many super speciality hospitals in Udupi, Bengaluru and many other parts of India. President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey will stand its ground after US President Donald Trump threatened to slap sanctions on Ankara if it does not free an American pastor, broadcaster Haberturk reported on Sunday. Relations between the United States and Turkey are on the line in the dispute over pastor Andrew Brunson, Erdogan was quoted as saying by TRT Haber and other media. Trump on Thursday threatened to impose "large sanctions" on Turkey unless it freed Brunson, who has worked in Turkey for more than 20 years and has been accused of helping the group Ankara says was behind a failed military coup in 2016. The pastor, who has denied the charges, is now under house arrest and faces up to 35 years in jail if found guilty. "We will not step back when faced with sanctions," Erdogan was quoted as saying. "They should not forget that they will lose a sincere partner." Brunson, who is from North Carolina, was transferred to house arrest last week after 21 months of detention in a Turkish prison. Diplomats have been working to settle the tense dispute and on Saturday U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo discussed the status of the pastor with Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, the State Department said. Brunson's detention has deepened a rift between Washington and Ankara, which are also at odds over the Syrian war and Turkey's plan to buy missile defenses from Russia. It was not clear what would be the nature of sanctions threatened by Trump but Washington was already working on bills related to Turkey due to other issues of concern. Anand Chopra, a rebel Congress candidate from Savadatti constituency in the recent Assembly polls, suffered grievous injuries in a scooter accident, near SLO cross on the Savadatti-Dharwad road, on Saturday night. Chopra was found in an unconscious state. He was rushed to the Savadatti public hospital. But as injuries were severe, he was shifted to a private hospital in Hubballi. Police said, that the incident occurred when Chopra, president of the Rashtriya Basava Dal, was returning home after visiting the Basava Mantap. Family members alleged that Chopra's political rivals had plotted to murder him in the mishap. Terming the accident as an attempt on Chopra's life by political rivals, Goutam, Chopra's younger brother, lodged a complaint with the Savadatti police and demanded a thorough investigation into the incident. The police are yet to ascertain the allegations made by Chopra's family. "It is too preliminary to state whether the accident was an attempt to murder Chopra," said Superintendent of Police Sudhir Kumar Reddy. On Sunday morning, the police inspected the spot with the forensics team. The doctors who treated Chopra also visited the accident spot. Chopra's scooter was found at the spot. However, because family members suspect foul play, the Savadatti police have registered a section 307 (IPC) case (attempt to murder). The police did not find any weapons at the scene of the accident. The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC) or the Orthodox Church of India, traces its origins to St Thomas, one of the 12 apostles. St Thomas is believed to have visited India in AD 52 and evangelised Hindus and others in Kerala where he established seven parishes. The MOSC calls itself an indigenous Church, deeply rooted in Indian soil and eastern in its ethos and worship. The Church which has a history of close ties with the East Syrian Church came into contact with Roman Catholicism in the 16th Century, through the Portuguese. In 1599, the Synod of Diamper in Udayamperoor in Ernakulam district formalised the St Thomas Christians merger with Roman Catholicism. In 1653, through the Coonan Cross Oath, the St Thomas Christians opposed their enforced subjection to Roman Catholicism and decided to return to their oriental roots. The revolt led to the formation of the Malankara Church, with the Patriarch of Antioch as its head. In 1912, the Church witnessed a split with people backing the Patriarch of Antioch (later called Jacobite Syrians) and those who opposed his authority (the Orthodox faction) going their separate ways. It was named Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church after a church constitution was formed, in 1934. The Kottayam-headquartered Church with 30 dioceses is headed by Catholicos Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II. The Orthodox and Jacobite factions have fought a long, bitter dispute for control of parishes under the Malankara Church. In July 2017, the Orthodox faction took control of the parishes following a Supreme Court order. The conflict has been marked by a series of agitations and legal battles and continues in the form of protest rallies and clashes. Interestingly, one of the priests accused in the sexual abuse case, Fr Johnson V Mathew, had said, before his arrest, that he was a victim of the Orthodox-Jacobite feud. In his 2016 study Religious Denominations of Kerala, K C Zachariah of the Centre for Development Studies identifies Orthodox Syrians as first in educational levels and second in remittances per household. According to the Kerala religion census of 2011, Christians constitute 18.28% of the states population, placed third behind Hindus (54.73%) and Muslims (26.56%). Of the 6.141 million Christians in the state in 2011, 3.744 million are Catholics (61% of the Christian population) and 977,000 are Jacobite/Orthodox Syrians (15.9%). The Orthodox Syrian community has about 4.94 lakh members in Kerala and the Jacobite Syrian community has 4.83 lakh members. In terms of numbers among Christian denominations in the state, the Orthodox Syrians are placed third behind the Syro-Malabar Catholics (about 2.3 million) and the Latin Catholics (about 9.33 lakh). The communitys major presence is in the districts of Pathanamthitta, Kozhikode and Ernakulam. Also read: Rape in the Syrian Church, Call for transparency and reforms gets louder News Local coalition fighting human trafficking relaunches under new name, continues old fight Jeff Woo/DRC Brian Beerman Houser performs during C7 Human Trafficking Coalitions awareness event Saturday at Dans Silverleaf. C7, formerly known as the Denton County Human Trafficking Coalition, brings together more than 30 organizations to fight human trafficking. Jeff Woo/DRC Brian "Beerman" Houser performs in front of guests during C7's event Saturday at Dan's Silverleaf. C7, formerly known as the Denton County Human Trafficking Coalition, brings together more than 30 organizations to fight human trafficking. The group formerly known as the Denton County Human Trafficking Coalition has rebranded and officially relaunched as a nonprofit Saturday. The coalition is now to be known as C7, but its fights against human trafficking in North Texas will continue. On Saturday afternoon, C7 Human Trafficking Coalition held a relaunch event, inviting the public to enjoy cold drinks away from the heat with the coalitions many volunteers at local watering hole Dans Silverleaf. A few dozen folks enjoyed down-home country odes strung along by the Beerman (otherwise known as local musician Brian Houser) and a display of jewelry and clothing for sale with the proceeds from sales and donations benefiting the coalition. Were about education, collaboration and empowerment, said Carrie Powell, C7s secretary. We know we have a problem. ... All of our money will go to education. Jeff Woo/DRC Carrie Powell, C7 Human Trafficking Coalitions secretary, talks to guests about the nonprofits mission during an awareness event Saturday at Dans Silverleaf. The coalition was founded in December 2015, and has since grown outward from Denton County to include organizations in Cooke and Collin counties, and elsewhere in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. All of the counties that touch us [Denton County], we have an organization [there], Powell said. More than 30 organizations are now involved or partnered with C7, and coalition organizers hope to continue expanding into new partnerships. We just wanted to make sure were covering everywhere, said Ellen Pugh, C7s chairwoman. We would love to have every law enforcement agency be a part of this coalition. Pugh said while officers from the Denton Police Department have involved themselves with the coalition, C7 has not yet partnered with the Denton County Sheriffs Office or the University of North Texas police something Pugh hopes to change in the near future. The several dozen in attendance at C7s event Saturday included local representatives like recently elected Denton City Council member Deb Armintor and state Rep. Lynn Stucky, R-Denton, as well as Andrew Morris, the Democratic candidate running for Stuckys House District 64 seat. Weve got a human trafficking problem in North Texas, Armintor said. Im just so grateful to these organizations that are shining a light on this. C7 calls human trafficking Americas fastest growing epidemic, noting that 80 percent of human trafficking victims are women or girls. According to the coalitions website, the state of Texas is 2nd, behind California, for the most reported cases of sex trafficking in our nation. The average age for a child to be trafficked is between 12-14. The National Human Trafficking Hotlines website has recorded reports of more than 8,500 human trafficking cases in Texas this year. Powell wants others to know that C7s mission to eradicate human trafficking in North Texas is real. We have a problem, Powell said. I promise its here, unfortunately. 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United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe All Facebook and Instagram users are supposed to be at least 13 years old, but there is no verification process to sign up. Over the years, kids have lied (and many parents have lied for their kids) to get around the age requirement and create accounts anyway. The two social networks will now take a more proactive approach to locking these accounts. Facebook confirmed to TechCrunch that an operational change will shift how moderators investigate accounts. Previously, the companies would only investigate if someone reported it specifically. Reviewers will now lock the accounts of those suspected of being under 13, no matter the reason the account came under scrutiny. TechCrunch reports those account holders must provide proof of age to get their accounts unlocked. Age 13 is the cutoff because of the Child Online Privacy Protection Act. This regulation aims to give parents control over information collected about their young kids online. Any website or app that gains information from kids under age 13 must comply with many rules, including receiving parental consent and maintaining confidentiality of the information collected. Rather than facing so many additional regulations, many websites and apps decide to limit access to those 13 and older. But without age verification, not much stands in the way of young children signing up anyway. Facebook isnt the only website guilty of lax age standards. A 2017 study from OfCom found that 74 percent of adolescents ages 12-15 and 23 percent of children ages 8-11 have a social media profile. Another recent study found more than half of Android apps aimed at kids younger than 13 potentially violate COPPA. The research out of the University of California, Berkeley showed the apps were improperly collecting and sharing data, disregarding contractual obligations aimed at protecting childrens privacy. While some parents ignore these age requirements, it can cause problems down the road. A Facebook source told TechCrunch that as those kids who lied about their age got older, Facebook would always believe the user was older than they truly were. Facebook may think a user is 21 several years before it is actually true, meaning that user could see ads for alcohol, gambling or graphic violence meant only for adult users. Both Facebook and Instagram offer guidelines on reporting underage accounts. If a user created an account before they were 13 and now wants to come clean, they can request a birthday change, but the account may be suspended while the social network investigates. SALT LAKE CITY A Sandy woman who investigators say caused a wrong-way, head-on crash that killed three members of a North Carolina family and critically injured a fourth, may have been driving on the wrong side of the road longer than originally reported. The Utah Highway Patrol has submitted its case to Millard County prosecutors for potential criminal charges. As of Saturday, no charges have been filed against the 42-year-old woman. But a recently unsealed search warrant provides new details about the investigation. On June 19, Tyrone Bova, 47, and his wife, Holly Jo Bova, 43, were killed instantly, when their Ford Fusion was hit by a Porsche Ceyanna GTS on state Route 50, three miles south of Scipio. Haden Bova, 11, who was in the back seat, died while en route to Primary Children's Hospital. The surviving family member, Tyler Bova, 17, was critically injured. The impact from the violent collision caused the SUV to flip, nose-first, onto its roof, and spin the Fusion 180 degrees. The Porsche then caught fire, which spread to the other vehicle. A passerby who came across the crash was able to cut the seat belts of the SUV's occupants and drag them out of the burning vehicle. That man later told investigators that as he pulled the woman driver out of her SUV, she seemed disoriented. "She asked him multiple times if she caused the crash and what happened? according to a search warrant affidavit filed in 4th District Court. The woman and her 9-year-old daughter also suffered critical injuries. Originally, it was reported that the woman was passing another vehicle on the two-lane highway when the crash occurred, and may have been distracted by two dogs in her vehicle. But according to witnesses, she actually drove on the wrong side of the road for quite some time. One man who was driving a semitrailer said the woman passed him in a very reckless manner and continued to explain that he was surprised by the behavior due to the lightness of traffic," the warrant states. Another woman told investigators that the driver was going very fast when she passed her, according to the affidavit. (She) continued to explain that after the white vehicle passed her, it did not return to its proper lane of travel, the southbound lane. (She) explained that the vehicle was in the oncoming lane of travel, northbound lane, for so long that she thought to herself, Why isnt the car getting back into the correct lane? (She) explained that she kept waiting and watching for the white vehicle to return to its proper lane because it traveled for a long time in the wrong lane, the warrant states. The woman said she could see the Bova family's car coming and was horrified when the two vehicles hit head-on. When investigators attempted to interview the driver at a hospital on June 27, others were with her and attempted to invoke (her) right to counsel prior to answering any questions, the affidavit states. After the trooper told the others that only the woman could invoke her right to have an attorney present, the woman declined to answer questions without an attorney. The warrant was to obtain a vial of blood from the hospital where doctors had already collected samples immediately following the crash. As the investigation into potential criminal charges continues, the lone survivor of the Bova family continues to make slow progress. A Facebook page, Built Tyler Tough, has been set up to give updates on Tyler Bovas condition as well as conduct fundraising campaigns to help pay for his medical bills. Earlier this week, the page posted: Tyler continues to do so well! He is working hard. Continuing to make progress in therapy. They fit him for his leg braces today which is very exciting!! We have him hooked up with Fortnite now:) He is very excited about that. Please continue to pray for emotional healing. #BuiltTylerTough This young man is going to do great things! On July 16, the Facebook page posted: Tyler continues to work hard in both physical and speech therapy! He is making so much progress! Hes getting stronger everyday! Hes had the chance to go outside a couple of times in a wheelchair (continuing to work to get his legs stronger so he can stand and walk). Another post talked about Tyler having back surgery and three plates to do the reconstruction. He has also had, among his many surgeries, facial reconstruction and an operation to repair an aortic tear, according to the website. A GoFundMe Page set up by friends of the Bova family also continues to collect donations at gofundme.com/tyler-bova-and-family. SALT LAKE CITY The train home to Berlin from the outskirts of the city came to a complete stop. The lights were cut and the silence was interrupted only by the constant barrage of bombs that seemed to circle the train. "Was your mother holding you," I asked Ingrid over a breakfast of eggs, fruit and waffles, the kind of buffet that brings a twinge of guilt when discussing war and hunger. "I was holding her," she quickly replied, remembering clearly the fear that gripped her mother, who was shaking badly as each bomb fell. "I felt compassion for my mother. And at that time I wasn't afraid." She didn't know enough yet to be afraid as World War II was just getting underway in Germany. But in the ensuing years, as she grew from toddler to child to young school girl, the bombing raids became all too familiar and painful. Pre-war Germany was rife with abuses that began as a slow march of eroded rights and control after Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933. At that time the Nazis controlled less than 3 percent of Germany's 4,700 newspapers, according to the Holocaust Encyclopedia. But that soon changed. "In the following months, the Nazis established control or exerted influence over independent press organs," the encyclopedia states. The Propaganda Ministry came to power and controlling the message became key to Hitler's strategy to control Europe. Ingrid and her mother lived in an apartment building in Berlin, her father called away as a German soldier fighting the war. Usually the bombs fell late in the day or at night, part of the 363 raids on Berlin. The attacks would send them to the basement for protection. But the bombing was so unnerving that the young mother and Ingrid moved into a spacious apartment belonging to a friend of her late grandmother's, who she now lovingly refers to as her aunt. It was still in Berlin, but now there were another adult and child to cling to. Ingrid recalls her mother spending some days returning to the old apartment to can rhubarb, leaving the jars on the kitchen table to cool. One day she and her mother returned to collect their rhubarb only to find the building leveled. The bombs came unexpectedly in the morning, and everyone who fled to the basement for safety that day was killed. A vivid memory are those jars of cooling rhubarb now pushed atop rubble clear to the ceiling, intact and sitting next to the only other surviving item, a still-running clock, broken from its housing in a piece of furniture. To a child's eye it was absurd and amusing, but the memory is painful, tearful and serious. At breakfast, sitting with Ingrid and my wife, we discuss the current state of affairs in the country. We don't focus on our president, Donald Trump, directly. We try to talk about principles and values and things learned. That does steer the conversation a bit toward our president. As an editor, I'm offended by his repeated rants against any criticism that he then calls Fake News. Labeling some media the enemy of the American people is even more offensive, but in the framework of a conversation about Nazi Germany, it's more than offensive. It's dangerous. In America, saying the press is an enemy of the people is to attack the people themselves. Make no mistake. This is not a column comparing our current president to Hitler or Nazi Germany. They are not comparable and any attempt to do so is worthy of condemnation. This is a column about recognizing what should be valued, and the danger in so cavalierly casting aside freedoms including press freedoms that so many have fought for here and abroad. Such attacks on the press weakens our understanding of why freedom of the press was included in the First Amendment. Turning away reporters, as the White House did when it refused to allow CNN reporter Kaitlin Collins to do her job after her questions were deemed disrespectful, is straight intimidation. Her questions were direct, not disrespectful. How important is the principle of a free press? "In the postwar U.S. occupation zone of Germany, the military administration believed that the re-establishment of a free press was vital to the denazification and re-education of Germans, and essential to the creation of democracy in Germany," states the entry in the Holocaust Encyclopedia. "Therefore, the first German newspaper approved for publication by the U.S. military high command appeared on January 24, 1945, in Aachen, three months after the U.S. forces captured the city." Ingrid spent the years following the end of the war waiting for her father to return. He was captured in France and spent time as a prisoner of war. Ingrid said she would go to the balcony of her Berlin apartment, hoping to one day see him walking down the street toward home "because I had seen others come home," she said, with the light German accent that remains, though she has lived in America since 1956. It would be two years after war's end that her father finally returned. Ingrid and her mother spent much of that time trying to get food from outside the city. They would go to an already harvested farm in the country, and search for beans or potatoes or fruit from the trees that might have been missed. Any modest harvest would help. "I want to live a good life," Ingrid, our friend, tells us, saying that which she values most is her faith in God a conversion born at age 16 and the goodness of people. She said she sees a casualness in people now, see's them focusing on things that aren't important, losing site of values that can build an individual and a nation. Breakfast finished, we bundled up a waffle, a pancake and a croissant for another day, sliding it into a takeout box. One should not waste the nourishment of a good meal. Or discard the learning to be found in a valuable conversation. FILLMORE A 12-year-old boy was killed and several others injured in a rollover crash near Fillmore on Saturday. Just before 7 p.m., a teen driver with a learner's permit was traveling south on I-15 when she drifted off to the left side of the road near the edge of the rumble strips, according to the Utah Highway Patrol. "The driver steered sharply to the right, causing the car to begin sliding to its side. The minivan crossed both travel lanes and left the roadway to the right. The vehicle rolled several times, crossed the right-of-way fence and the frontage road, coming to rest on the right side of the frontage road," the UHP said in a prepared statement. Two boys, ages 12 and 14, were ejected. Alex Speer, of Escondido, California, was killed, according to troopers. The teen driver and her 48-year-old father, who was in the passenger seat, were flown by medical helicopter to Utah Valley Hospital. A 9-year-old boy was not seriously injured, the UHP stated. The remaining passengers suffered serious injuries and were taken to the Fillmore hospital. Their ages and conditions were not immediately released. SALT LAKE CITY Hed just been laid off from his job, he was sleeping in, and he turned over in bed to find himself drenched in pee, courtesy of the 4-year-old he and his wife were potty training who had slipped into their room overnight. Craig Hammond didnt get mad, he launched a new company. This sounds like fiction, I know, says Hammond as he tells the story of how his business, peejamas.com, came to be. But it really happened that fast. Since he didnt have a job to go to anymore it was amazing how fast the bubble had burst on the San Francisco tech firm hed joined nine months earlier he had time to mull over the subject of potty training when he got up that morning. The night before, he and his wife had debated whether to put a pull-up diaper on Marshall, but hed sailed through the day without needing a diaper and if they put on a nighttime diaper he wouldnt get the message that he was supposed to be going cold turkey. So they congratulated themselves on being great potty training parents and sent him to bed unprotected. You know the rest. Why isnt there another option? Hammond thought to himself as he threw the bedding in the washing machine. The parent in him wanted to help his son (and his dad) never wake up again in wet sheets. The entrepreneur in him Hammond got his MBA from the Thunderbird School in Phoenix wanted to create a new product that would re-introduce him to the ranks of the employed. He began to brainstorm. What if he could come up with something that acted like a diaper but looked and wore like pajamas? What if he named them Peejamas? He went to GoDaddy to see if a URL for peejamas.com might be available. It was. Right then I started thinking, This is too perfect, says Hammond. I had the time, I had some severance money after being laid off, I had a brandable name on a website I owned. As he went to work coming up with an absorbent fabric that would contain water and yet be pliant enough to wear like regular pajamas it turned out a combination of bamboo and cotton did the trick he learned just how huge the market is for nighttime diapers. Two big brands, Johnson & Johnson and Kimberly-Clark, account for $1.6 billion in sales every year in America. He also learned that diapers are one of the most frequent contributors to landfills; virtually all of that $1.6 billion winds up at the dump. The alternative he was offering to nighttime diapers would also help save the planet. And not only that, help save kids from the trauma of nighttime potty training by giving them the confidence that comes from A) Not going to bed wearing a diaper, and B) Not waking up with a wet bed. Craig and Megan Hammond put the first pair of Peejamas on their son Marshall and sent him off to bed. For two nights, to his dads disappointment, Marshall woke up dry. Finally, on the third night, he came through. He peed! The sheets arent wet! It worked, Craig Hammond exulted, enjoying his Alexander Graham Bell moment. The Peejamas got thrown in the wash instead of being thrown away and Marshall was back in them that night. One set of Peejamas is good for at least 300 washings before it begins to lose its absorbency. Hammond and his business partner, Ryan Treft, launched their product with an online crowd-funding Kickstarter campaign this past Valentines Day. They needed to hit their modest target figure of $14,000 in pre-sales during a 45-day window. They crossed their fingers and hoped consumers would like their idea as much as they did. By April 1, 45 days later, they had pre-sold $227,000 worth of Peejamas setting a record for the biggest Kickstarter launch ever in the kids clothing category. In the four months since, theyve pre-sold another $180,000 worth. In late August, some 8,000 Peejamas will begin to cover America. After that? The parents of America will decide the future of Hammond's brainstorm. Craig Hammond, being one of them, is optimistic. I do feel like I captured lightning in a bottle because of the demand thats already been shown, he says. Pull-ups just dont cut it for so many kids. We found that out, and I know other people are in the same boat. Were providing something that can make a difference for our kids and help our Earth, too. And hed never have found it out if he hadnt lost his job and gotten peed on by his son. Correction: In an earlier version, Hammond's business partner Ryan Treft was incorrectly identified as Ryan Trest. TAYLORSVILLE Detectives believe a 16-year-old boy was the actual gunman in a fatal drive-by shooting earlier this month, according to Unified police. Euziel De La Torre, 20, of West Jordan, was arrested for investigation of murder and seven counts of shooting at another person. The 16-year-old was booked for investigation of murder into juvenile detention but could later be certified to stand trial as an adult once formal charges are filed. The Deseret News has opted not to name him at this time. On July 10, Jawnie Wey, 48, was inside a residence at 4929 S. 1950 West when she was shot in the head during a drive-by shooting in which bullets were sprayed through a window. She died nine days later. Unified police recovered seven .40-caliber shell casings at the scene, according to a Salt Lake County Jail report. On Thursday, detectives interviewed one of four people believed to be involved. He told officers that the four first met up at a car dealership, the report states. "After leaving the dealership, the group went to a taco stand near 800 South and State and ate near the old Sears. After leaving the taco stand, (one boy) said Euziel, who was driving, drove by the residence located at 4929 S 1950 W. (The boy) said Euziel was upset and heated about something and wanted to drive by the house. (He) said there was some talk about shooting at the house," according to the report. According to the witness, the 16-year-old fired the shots while sitting in the back seat as De La Torre drove, the report states. When interviewed Friday, De La Torre told police he drove by the house "to check for a dog" and that the teen shot from the back seat, according to the report. The teen, however, claimed to police that De La Torre shot at the house while driving, the report states. The report does not say what the alleged dispute was over or if Wey was the intended target. Two others who were believed to be in the car during the incident have been interviewed by police but not arrested as of Sunday. In March, De La Torre was convicted of fleeing from police and placed on probation. He was also convicted twice in 2017 on separate drug distribution cases and one for drug possession, according to court records. He was given a suspended prison sentence and placed on probation. A Go Fund Me page was set up by Wey's niece to help the family. Wey was a single mother of two daughters and primary caretaker of her mother, according to the page. IBMs Watson supercomputer has apparently been giving wrong cancer treatment advice. As per a report by The Verge, via Stat, the machine has been frequently giving bad advice to doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, who partnered with IBM in 2012 to train Watson in diagnosing and treating patients. The new report is based on IBM documents from last summer, which the Stat reviewed. As per the files, the supercomputer repeatedly provides erroneous advice for treating cancer patients, like when it suggested a medicine for a cancer patient who suffers from severe bleeding and the prescribed drug could worsen it. It should be noted that a spokesperson for Memorial Sloan Kettering said that the computer was fed hypothetical situations and the treatment was not used on a real patient. The incorrect suggestions by Watson are being blamed on the hypothetical data that it had to work with. The documents slide decks presented last summer by IBM Watson Healths deputy chief health officer largely blame the problems on the training of Watson by IBM engineers and doctors at the renowned Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The software was drilled with a small number of synthetic cancer cases, or hypothetical patients, rather than real patient data. Recommendations were based on the expertise of a few specialists for each cancer type, the documents say, instead of guidelines or evidence, says the report. An IBM spokesperson told Gizmodo that Watson for Oncology has supported care for more than 84,000 patients and is still learning. Seems like IBMs Watson is not learning the right things and it could be due to the hypothetical data that is being fed to it. After all, any system based on neural network and artificial intelligence need a good amount of clean data to understand the concept its designed for and provide insights. This is our end of the month mishmash video from several clips we made in the month of July. Cuenca Ecuador is in the Spotlight! Enjoy the last VLOG we'll make in July 2018! See ya in August. Whos hiring across County Donegal this week? Check out the Donegal Democrat recruitment pages for a roundup of the best jobs in Donegal. Donegal County Council are inviting applications for Traffic Wardens (full time). The council proposes to form a panel of qualified candidates from which it will fill temporary vacancies as they arise. In Killybegs, Niall More Nagtional School has a vacant position for a part-time cleaner (2 hours per school day). Nurse on Call are hosting interviews this week in Sligo and Letterkenny. There is a large variety of nursing work available SITT Rural Transport are seeking applicaitons for placement on a panel for part-time travel escorts for people with intellectual disabilities. A company is hiring bricklayers for work in Derry. Applicants must have CSR Cards. A national managed print services company is looking to grow their business in the north west. They are looking for a person to represent the company here. It's a 20 hour per week flexible position working from home. See also: Major jobs announcement at Abbott For details on all the above positions and how to apply for the roles, get your copy of the Donegal Democrat (issues July 26 and July 19). If you wish to place a jobs advert, contact our offices at 074 97 40160 (Donegal town) or Letterkenny 074 91 28000. My good friend Anthony O'Hagan tells me that an item of interest to railway history enthusiasts had been posted recently on the Dundalknorthed and Friends Facebook page. It was posted by a lady named Kate Traynor, a native of Dundalk now living in London. It relates to the great railway engineer Sir John Macneill who was born at Mountpleasent in 1893 and died in London in 1880. Sir John was famous for many things but is, perhaps, best remember for his building of railway bridges in the middle of the nineteenth century, including the Boyne and Bessbrook Rail Viaducts. His contribution to the growth of engineer skills and employment in the area Dundalk, however, was immeasurable and, for that reason alone he deserves to be remembered as one of our most famous sons. In spite of this, his memory was almost forgotten by the end of last century until another local engineer, Canice O'Mahony, former Dundalk Town Surveyor who has, sadly, passed away since then, decided to do something about it. Canice became aware that Sir John had been buried in an unmarked grave at Brompton Cemetery at Kensington decided to promote it as an Irish Millennium Project. He inspired his fellow members of the Institution of Irish Engineers and Trinity College (Where Sir John Macneill was an early Professor of Engineering) to subscribe to the cost of a brass plaque to be placed the grave. This was done at a ceremony on July 20, 2001. The Dundalk Railway Heritage Society placed their own plaque commemorating Sir John on a wall at Jocelyn Street in December of last year. The latest twist in the story is that the Dundalk lady had heard that, apparently, that Brompton Cemetery, which is one of the most famous burial places in England, had become badly overgrown. 'Not any more' she posted 'the Royal Parks, a charitable society that has charge of prominent graveyards, spent 6.2 million on doing to up and now looks resplendent'. It seems Kate Trayor was very proud of the Dundalk connection and she wanted to inform anybody interested that there was a special Open Day in it on last Sunday, July 20. (Reuters/Johnathan Ernst)President-elect Donald Trump is blessed by Christian leaders. U.S. President Donald Trump continues to bewilder and alarm those trying to make sense of his utterances. Many Christians are wary of the president's proclivity to swerve away from keeping the Commandments that guide behavior. They see him as having given up totally on the eighth and ninth the ones regarding truthfulness rather joining a choir of mockery on truth and those who expose matters untrue he has been caught stating. It is relation to his disregard for the commandments on truthfulness that some Jews see a disconnect to the president's cozying up to Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu and his having a daughter who converted to Judaism and her husband who is part of his inner circle. American Jewish leaders on Feb. 20 called on Israel's Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and his government to convey to the Trump administration the urgency of condemning and combating a rise in anti-Semitism in the United States, The Times of Israel reported. Addressing the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem, Shaked asked members of the audience whether they felt a rising tide of anti-Jewish sentiment, and how they thought Israel should respond, in one of the first acknowledgements from an Israeli minister of the trend. JCC Association of North America chair Stephen Seiden told the minister that 56 Jewish community centers had received bomb threats over a three-week period, including some that had "received multiple threats." "Anything Israel can do to convince our new president to address the issue head-on, that anti-Semitism is a problem, to acknowledge it, I think would go a long way," he said. The bomb threats have "created fear in many of our members." The AJC Global Jewish Advocacy group said it was "dismayed" after Trump's outburst. "The purveyors of anti-Semitism are many, including, it must be said, some who claim to be your supporters, but others as well with entirely different political agendas. We need the help of the government to combat this cancer, which violates every value for which our nation stands. 'USE YOUR BULLY PULPIT' "Respectfully, Mr. President, please use your bully pulpit not to bully reporters asking questions potentially affecting millions of fellow Americans, but rather to help solve a problem that, for many, is real and menacing." Sarah Wildman writing in Vox echoed those words, "President Donald Trump could have used his bully pulpit this week to reassure Jews who are fearful of rising anti-Semitism in America. He took two chances for targeted messaging to talk, instead, about himself." Vox said he skirted an easy opening to assure concerned American Jews that their president is behind them. Instead he roughly pushed back the Orthodox Jewish reporter whose questions were about he might be doing pro-actively, to address those who are attacking the community. "This request was a long time coming. "For many Jews, the moment brought home a concern that has rankled for many months. By halfway through 2016, there was a persistent, palpable, even terrifying, sense within the community that we had suddenly entered into a new era of popular anti-Semitic permissiveness, one where what was once fringe thought and speech had been mainstreamed and magnified by social media." It cited tweets that brought in anti-Semitic imagery during the U.S. presidential campaign such as a six-pointed Jewish star, superimposed upon a pile of money that was later sworn to be a "sheriff's star," and surrogates who tweeted images of Pepe the frog, a favorite of the so-called alt-right. Vox also noted deep concern about the stories published by Breitbart news, former news home of Steve Bannon, a leading campaign advisor turned White House right-hand man, which didn't shy away from speaking negatively about Jews. "What will it take for Donald Trump to condemn Anti-Semitism," began an op-ed in the Jewish daily Forward by Kenneth Stern, executive director of the Justus and Karin Rosenberg foundation that fights anti-Semitism and hate crimes. He called the president a "serial enabler" of anti-Semitism and white supremacists, and noted an incredible lack of empathy conveyed over 48 hours. The Jewish Orthodox reporter had said to Trump, "Forty-eight bomb threats have been made against Jewish centers all across the country in the last couple of weeks," a reporter from an Orthodox magazine said. "There are people who are committing anti-Semitic acts, or are threatening to " Trump interrupted. "Okay, sit down," he said before going on to call himself the "least anti-Semitic person you have ever seen in your entire life." Josh Nathan-Kazis wrote in the Forward on Feb. 17, "What Trump did not do was condemn anti-Semitism." Forward carried a piece headlined: "Neo-Nazis Cheer Trump For Bullying Jewish Reporter Blacks And Mexicans Too," written by Allison Kaplan Sommer in Haaretz on the same day. A reporter for Ben, a small ultra-Orthodox publication, had a dream turn into a nightmare when President Trump called on him during a rare solo press conference and then slammed him. Reporter Jake Turx was said by the Forward to have long wanted to participate in such a high-level event, even publicly pleading with Trump's spokesman Sean Spicer to call on him. SURGE IN ANTI-SEMITISM He asked Trump about the surge in anti-Semitism in the United States but only after carefully and at length reassuring the president that nobody in his own community, or on staff at Ami magazine, felt Trump personally was anti-Semitic The much-discussed interchange took place at the president's extended and world-wide watched press conference Feb. 16. Sommer reported it was unclear whether Trump was angry at Turx because, as he said, he had requested an "easy question," or intentionally misunderstood Turx to be accusing him of being an anti-Semite. The mere suggestion of personal anti-Semitism was all that Trump seemed to hear from Turx and he unleashed a characteristic response. "Number one, I am the least anti-Semitic person you have ever seen in your entire life," he said. "Number two, racism. I am the least racist person... [Turx] said he was going to ask a straightforward question," Trump harrumphed. "Well, welcome to the land of the media. I hate the charge." "You heard Netanyahu, Bibi," Trump continued, alluding to the previous day's joint press conference with the Israeli prime minister. "He said, 'I've known Donald a long time,' and he said 'Forget it,'" Trump concluded, referring to the change of anti-Semitism. Forward said a different suggestion has been offered by Bradley Burston in Haaretz. "Donald Trump IS an anti-Semite," he wrote. "A man who initiates, fuels, and fans anti-Semitism, a man who is in a direct position to combat it and does not, is, in my view, an anti-Semite." The UK's leading Jewish papers - Jewish News, Jewish Chronicle and Jewish Telegraph - on July 25, 2018 carried the same front page on the community's anger over an anti-Semitism row in the Labour Party. Many of Britain's Jews are aghast that a place many of its political figures felt at home in once now seems to have turned against them the Labour Party the main opposition in the lower house of the UK parliament. "It's a controversy that just a few years ago would have been beyond even the most perverse imagination," wrote Michael Coren in The Globe and Mail on July 28. "The British Labour Party, in government for more than 25 years since the Second World War, the party of social democracy once led by Tony Blair, is in the middle of an agonizing battle over accusations of anti-Semitism," wrote Coren. He said the Labour Party was "long considered the natural political home of British Jews," but the party's leader, Jeremy Corbyn a committed socialist, was accused by veteran Jewish Labour lawmaker Margaret Hodge, of being a an "anti-Semite." The battled has rumbled on for many months and on July 25, the UK's leading Jewish newspapers - Jewish News, Jewish Chronicle and Jewish Telegraph took the unprecedented step of speaking as one and carrying the same front page on the community's anger over Labour's anti-Semitism row "We do so because of the existential threat to Jewish life in this country that would be posed by a Jeremy Corbyn-led government. We do so because the party that was, until recently, the natural home for our community has seen its values and integrity eroded by Corbynite contempt for Jews and Israel. "The stain and shame of anti-Semitism has coursed through Her Majesty's Opposition since Jeremy Corbyn became leader in 2015," said the editorial. Coren in his Globe and Mail op-ed wrote that in the UK a small number of Labour MPs and activists, some of them of whom are Jewish, "have made remarks that go far beyond informed criticism of Israeli policies" with some of them suspended or even expelled from the party. INTERNATIONAL HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE ALLIANCE Matters came to a head when the Labour Party was urged to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of anti-Semitism, one that is internationally accepted, and used by the British government, and numerous police services. The party did so, but did not adopt the entire definition raising the ire of those among the many of Britain's estimated 270,000 Jews who support Labour. "The reasons are that the IHRA definition argues, for example, that it's anti-Semitic to compare Israel to Nazi Germany, to claim that the foundation of the Jewish state was a 'racist endeavor' and to use classic anti-Semitic images to criticize Israel," said Coren. "Labour's response is that, 'Discourse about international politics often employs metaphors drawn from examples of historic misconduct. It is not anti-Semitism to criticize the conduct or policies of the Israeli state by reference to such examples unless there is evidence of anti-Semitic intent'" Coren said, "The party was wrong not to adopt the full definition, and they refused to do so almost certainly because of the leadership's fear that if they did, some party members could be caught up in the IHRA net." In early July leaders of the Jewish Labour Movement, a membership organization of the Labour Party, wrote to the party's general secretary protesting the soon-to-be published guidelines, The Jerusalem Post reported. "The Jewish community, and the Jewish Labour Movement believe that the best working definition of antisemitism is the full IHRA definition, including its examples," wrote MP Luciana Berger and JLM national chairman Ivor Caplin. "It doesn't need changing, and it's unclear for whose benefit these changes have been made. We cannot give anti-Semites a get out of jail free card." The Jerusalem Post said the Labour Party has been assailed with allegations of antisemitism in recent years, in particular following Corbyn's election as party head in 2015, with numerous party members, including prominent leaders such as former London mayor Ken Livingstone, being accused of expressing anti-Semitic sentiments. JEWISH COMMUNITY FEARS "With the government in Brexit disarray, there is a clear and present danger that a man with a default blindness to the Jewish community's fears, a man who has a problem seeing that hateful rhetoric aimed at Israel can easily step into anti-Semitism, could be our next prime minister," the three Jewish newspapers wrote in their editorial. Corbyn has previously apologized for what he called "pockets" of anti-Semitism in the party and promised to stamp them out, Reuters news agency reported saying he has responded to protests by meeting with Jewish community leaders reassuring Jews they are welcome in the party. Jonathan Freedland a columnist for The Guardian newspaper said that "when Jews express their disquiet, they are not greeted with empathy and solidarity from the army of self-described anti-racists. "Instead, they face an online horde shouting in their faces, accusing them of dishonesty, of smears, of ulterior motives and hidden agendas, of shilling for an Israeli government many of them oppose." Freedland conceded that maybe that editorial printed in the Jewish newspapers was "over the top." "But you know what? It reflects the anxiety that many, if not most, in the Jewish community feel. And given our history and the hyper-vigilance it has left us with, it might be an idea to stop wagging a finger and telling Jews, yet again, that they're wrong and just listen." In an article headlined, "What is a 'real' anti-Semite?" Olivia Goldhill wrote in Quartz on July 29, "Antisemitism is a strange form of prejudice. Rather than denigrating Jews as inferior, it casts them as maliciously superior. "It's a bias that's as popular on the left as it is on the right. And whereas leftist politics dictates that something is offensive if the persecuted group says it is, those who otherwise claim to be progressive have a disturbing tendency to insist that, actually, antisemitism isn't really a problem at all," she wrote. CONVENIENT SCAPEGOAT Goldhilll said Jewish people provide a convenient scapegoat for the world's ills, and so antisemitism persecutes Jews by insisting that Jewish people are the persecutors. She quoted French existentialist philosopher Jean Paul Sartre saying "If the Jew did not exist, the anti-Semite would invent him." And Goldhill quoted Ruth Wisse, professor of Yiddish and comparative literature at Harvard University, saying, "It's ridiculous to think that intentionality can ever be the defining element." Wisse says, ""Antisemitism is a politics of aggression against the wrong things. It's a politics of deflection and untruth," says Wisse. "It will never be able to solve the real and actual crises and problems of society. That's why it's very dangerous. It will always destroy its users." Coren wrote, "It's all made far worse by a right-wing media that detests Mr. Corbyn and exploits the situation, and a Conservative Party that wants to appeal to the Jewish community and the mass of British people who reject any form of extremism. "It's a mess, and I'm about as confident that the Labour Party dispute will be sorted out to everybody's satisfaction as I am that a workable peace will be found in the Middle East. And that is a terribly depressing thought." 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. Seguin, TX (78155) Today Partly cloudy skies this evening. Thunderstorms likely late. Low around 65F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening. Thunderstorms likely late. Low around 65F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. The mutt that Becca Tudor had been fostering for the past five days had seemingly boundless energy. So Tudor, 24, loaded the 2-year-old Labrador and pit bull mix, Jason, into her sport utility vehicle Saturday afternoon and drove him from her Alamo Ranch-area home to Government Canyon. They arrived at the Frontcountry Trailhead to find the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department staffing a Hot Dog pop-up tent, complete with a splash pool, bowls of water and pamphlets on avoiding, recognizing and treating heat exhaustion in dogs. Under the awning, Tudor spritzed Jason with water from a spray bottle, figuring theyd go for a short hike. But the heat index had climbed to 115 degrees. You begged me to be outside and now youre finally outside, Tudor said, smiling, as Jason flopped down in the shade of the tent, tongue lolling, refusing to move. RELATED: Pets need protection from South Texas heat She picked the dog up and carried him back to the air-conditioned car. The staff at Government Canyon have for years set up a tent for dogs during hot weather. Madelyn Fortenot, a natural resource specialist intern, said they staffed the tent in the morning earlier this summer, but she wanted to run it Saturday between noon and 3 p.m. to talk to owners exercising their dogs in more brutal heat. We wanted to serve the people who really need to know, Fortenot said. Employees at the fee booth at the entrance to the park also pass out hot dogs pamphlets to every driver they see with a dog in the car, said Carl Green, business manager at Government Canyon. Green and other Government Canyon employees remember two dogs dying of heat exhaustion in the park, both years ago on separate occasions. Part of the problem is obvious: Dogs cant talk. They go south very quickly, Green said. Once they show signs, theyre already in trouble. The state parks departments tips include walking in the morning when its cooler, taking plenty of water for pets as well as humans and soaking dogs at trailhead spigots before and after hiking. Owners should be vigilant for warning signs of heat exhaustion: heavy panting, huffing or gasping; a tongue hanging far out; excessive drooling; red eyes and ears; and difficulty walking or getting up. RELATED: When to walk your dog to avoid the heat If dogs become overheated, owners should get them into the shade, provide cold water to drink and rinse or spray them with cool water. The owner should place cool, wet towels over the dogs head, neck, belly and footpads. After the dog cools off, it should be taken to the veterinarian. Owners who are at the park can also call park headquarters on their cellphones for assistance. Kali Derr, 16, brought her chug Chihuahua and pug mix to the Hot Dog tent Saturday after seeing an ad for it. She and her mother and father, who are both named Lee Derr, felt a little guilty about taking the dog, Thai Spice, on an unexpectedly long hike at Palo Duro Canyon in March during 90-degree heat. Thai seemed fine during the hike, but that night she started to shake and wouldnt drink anything. Fortenot told the family that when dogs feel too dehydrated and sick to drink, the best thing is to submerge them and try to get their tongues wet, perhaps using ice cubes. Thai gamboled in the pool at the trailhead Saturday and licked at the water before departing for a 15-minute hike. This is a public service, really, said Kalis mother. Dogs dont stop on their own. They want to be with us. Alia Malik covers several school districts and the Alamo Colleges District in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | amalik@express-news.net | Twitter: @AliaAtSAEN A year ago, Indeed executives and state officials gathered at the job-search companys downtown Stamford headquarters to announce an eight-figure package of state aid to support the addition of 500 positions. Twelve months later, the firm is already about a third of the way to its goal. The growth of Indeed offers hope for a state beset by a protracted economic recovery that it can attract and keep major technology businesses. Indeed officials cite the central location of their Stamford hub and access to a large pool of skilled workers as key reasons for their rapid expansion in the city a trajectory that state officials and community leaders are keen to see other companies emulate. Weve been growing globally very aggressively for many years, and I think the last year has been a continuation of that, Indeed Chief Operating Officer Dave ONeill said in an interview earlier this month at Indeeds offices at 177 Broad St. Stamford has been a great place for us to attract talent. Growing in Connecticut Since its 2004 founding, Indeed has maintained its largest East Coast offices in Stamford, alongside its global headquarters in Austin, Texas. In the past 14 years, the company has developed into the self-described No. 1 job site in the world. More than 200 million people use indeed.com each month to search for jobs, post resumes and research companies. The company has quadrupled its worldwide headcount in the past three years. It now employs about 6,700 in 27 offices around the world. Its growth in Stamford has been equally striking. When the firm moved to 177 Broad in 2011, it took a half-floor for about 50 employees. About 850 now occupy eight levels up about 150 from a year ago and the company is building out a ninth floor. The firm aims to eventually employ about 1,200 in Stamford. Millennial employees make up a large swath of the total, with the company drawing heavily from area universities and other colleges with graduates who have tri-state roots. We believe that southwestern Connecticut is a great place for people to live and work and build their lives, said Nolan Farris, Indeeds senior vice president of sales. We think were able to continue to attract a highly educated, tech-savvy employee base. Sales and client success customer service departments comprise the largest departments in Stamford. Employees work in open layouts. The chatter of headset-clad sales team members on calls with clients fills the floors. Festive flourishes help to lighten the atmosphere. A small gong is rung, accompanied by a theme song for the closer, whenever a sale is made. We just want to create an environment where people feel comfortable and can be themselves, Farris said. As Indeed has grown, it has also woven itself more into the downtown workday tableau outside its offices. Indeed staffers wearing blue shirts with the slogan I help people get jobs proliferate on sidewalks in the city center. Last month, the company installed a 33-by-9-foot sign with its name on top of the building at 177 Broad. Indeed is a great success story in terms of being able to find a location that allows them to grow, said Jackie Lightfield, executive director of the nonprofit Stamford Partnership, which focuses on developing the citys business community. The more companies you have in your region that scale rapidly and are able to grow, it simply attracts other companies looking to achieve the same success. State support To support its Stamford expansion, Indeed is receiving from the state a $7 million loan and up to $15 million in tax credits. The loan would be fully forgivable if the company were to create 500 additional jobs between 2017 and 2030 and meet intermediate targets. The state aid accompanies a $26.5 million company investment in the Stamford hub. During his visit last year to the Indeed offices, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy suggested that those who blamed state officials for the 2016 relocation of GEs headquarters from Fairfield to Boston should rally around efforts to retain and grow firms like Indeed. Its a good, strong investment, Malloy said. If people complain about a loan forgiveness that totals that little money for 500 jobs ... then they should stop reporting on things like GE. The deal has also garnered strong support in the state Legislature, although some have quibbled about the details of the agreement. While the overall investment seems reasonable, I think the state could have negotiated a little harder on the tax credit amount, said state L. Scott Frantz, R-Greenwich, co-chairman of the Legislatures Commerce Committee. And I would have much preferred to see it as a repayable loan, as opposed to a potentially forgivable loan. Having said that, I think it is wonderful that Indeed is in Stamford, and we stand by to support them going forward. State Rep. Caroline Simmons, D-Stamford, co-chairwoman of the Commerce Committee, said she also supported the deal. However, we need to ensure that the state is getting the greatest return on investment possible and that when other companies get support from the state, that they commit to staying here and continuing to create jobs, Simmons said. At the same time, Indeed is growing in Austin. Already employing about 1,600 in the Texas capital, the company announced in May it would add up to 3,000 jobs there during the next few years. Indeed is not receiving state subsidies for the Austin expansion. Long-term growth The state continues to recruit tech companies. Earlier this month, Seven Stars Cloud Group committed to building a headquarters on the site of the University of Connecticuts former campus in West Hartford. Backed by a $10 million state loan, the Seven Stars project is expected to create 330 jobs during the next five years. But Connecticuts tech sector is still grappling with growing pains. Last year, the state Department of Economic and Community Development submitted an unsuccessful bid for Amazons planned second headquarters, with Stamford and the Hartford areas as its proposed locations. Many saw the states inability to make the short list of finalists for Amazon HQ2 as a reflection of structural problems. Chronic instability with the states finances and aging transportation infrastructure in southwestern Connecticut rank among the top obstacles to doing business in the state. What will give our states economy the single largest boost in growth is investment in rail, highway and telecoms infrastructure, said Joe McGee, vice president of public policy for The Business Council of Fairfield County. Indeed executives, however, remain bullish about their plan to scale up to 1,200 employees in Stamford within the next few years. Were well on pace to meet the obligations, ONeill said. Were very optimistic. pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; Twitter: @paulschott BRIDGEPORT A 1999 law targeting racial profiling by cops bears the name of the late state Sen. Alvin Penn, who represented Bridgeport and was a crusader against discrimination in policing. Now Bridgeport could lose state grants for failure to comply with that Penn Act and require officers record each traffic stop for analysis by a special racial profiling board. Nearly all departments now electronically transmit this data on a monthly basis, William Dyson, chairman of the Connecticut Racial Profiling Prohibition Project Advisory Board, wrote June 21 to Mike Lawlor, who oversees criminal justice policy and planning for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. But Bridgeport, Dyson wrote, has had continued challenges because its police department has relied on paper, not electronic, record-keeping. And those paper records have proven unreliable, according to an audit by the advisory board and its staff that found a wide discrepancy in the thousands between the traffic stop reports submitted by Bridgeport and police dispatch records reflecting the true number of stops. Dyson also indicated Bridgeport police have not been as cooperative as the board would like in trying to fix the problem over the past year. The lack of consistent data reporting make it difficult to conduct a thorough analysis of traffic stop disparities for the Bridgeport Police Department, Dyson told Lawlor. Project staff and (the) advisory board are concerned that a consistent lack of compliance from one department could create a multiplying effect across departments in the future (that) will only serve to undermine the Alvin W. Penn Act and erode public trust in the entire program. Lawlor said in an interview that his office would have a discussion with Bridgeport Police Chief Armando Perez. Lawlor said the city could face a loss of grant money. Whether its willful or tech-related (noncompliance), thats what were going to have to determine, Lawlor said. Problem solved? Dysons critical letter comes at an awkward time for Perez and his boss and good friend, Mayor Joe Ganim, who were both copied on the correspondence. Perez is competing for a five-year-contract as part of a nationwide police chief search. Ganim promoted Perez, a former captain, to acting chief in March, 2016. And Ganim is running for governor and campaigning heavily in urban, heavily minority neighborhoods. His office did not respond to a request for comment. Perez admitted in an interview Thursday that his department has had problems complying with the Penn Act because we were in the 18th century when it came to paperwork and filing. But, he said, NexGen software upgrades launched in May would solve the problem. We want to comply, Perez said. Now not only do we want to comply, were able to comply. NexGen has been touted as a way for Bridgeports first responders to better share information and, when it comes specifically to the police department, for officers to file reports more easily, cutting down on overtime. But Perez said the NexGen software also ensures that all police work, including traffic stops, must be reported by the officers involved. Because of NexGen, any time an officer makes a motor vehicle stop, he cannot close that file without electronically filling out the portion of the report, Perez said. And that will get filed immediately with the state. Lawlor said if Perez can demonstrate that NexGen or other changes have solved Dysons concerns, that can take the pressure off. No system Dyson, in his letter to Lawlor, did not describe a Bridgeport police department that has, as Perez claimed, wanted to comply. The (racial profiling) project staff has made numerous attempts over the last 12 months to work with the department to resolve these outstanding issues, but little progress has been made, Dyson reported. Dyson said that as of March 2017 there seemed to be a significant decrease in reported traffic stops by Bridgeport cops for the period from Oct. 1, 2015 to Sept. 30, 2016. That prompted an audit to compare what was being filed under the Penn Act to police dispatch records. Ken Barone of the Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy at Central Connecticut State University works with the racial profiling advisory board. Barone recalled Bridgeport claimed it had made roughly 1,900 traffic stops, compared to other big cities like Hartford, New Haven, Stamford and Waterbury, who had submitted many thousands of traffic stop reports. So we went to Bridgeport and said, How many stops were called in to dispatch? Send your dispatch log, Barone said. Theoretically, the number should be close (to the reports submitted). The traffic stops called in to dispatch were several thousand times higher than what was being reported to the state. Dyson wrote to Lawlor, It was determined that the (Bridgeport) department did not have a system in place to ensure that officers complete a form for each stop. So racial profiling project staff met in August 2017 with Bridgeport police to talk about developing a better oversight system to ensure the paper reports were filed. Dyson wrote that late last winter the racial profiling officials contacted Bridgeport about conducting another audit, and got no response, but in April they were told there had been personnel changes in the records division and the new staff was working to determine the size of the backlog of unreported stops. A subsequent May meeting also fell through, after the board unsuccessfully sought additional information from Bridgeport about the backlog. Perez said pre-NexGen that his department had consistently been trying to address the paper traffic stop reports. He said different officers were put in charge of the filing system, as well as Deputy Chief James Baraja. One sergeant we had doing these reports had a personal problem and we had to replace that person, Perez said. The person who took over wasnt as sharp. So yeah, it becomes a backlog. But thats a priority for me. I dont want to lose any grants. Two nursing students from Fairfield University have graduated from the Susan D. Flynn Oncology Nursing Fellowship Program at Greenwich Hospital. Brittany Fasanelli and Emily Etchegary are among 33 oncology nursing Flynn Fellows at 13 leading hospitals nationwide who are graduating this year. The fellowship program was first piloted at Greenwich Hospital in 2014. During the eight-week program at the Smilow Cancer Hospitals campus at Greenwich Hospital, the nursing fellows shadowed seasoned nurses and served as integral hands-on members of the cancer care team. The graduation ceremony took place July 19. Frederick C. Flynn Jr. of Stamford founded the Susan D. Flynn Oncology Nursing Fellowship Program in memory of his late wife. It was inspired by his experience with Greenwich Hospitals Palliative Care Program in 2013, when his wife was in the final stages of her three-year battle with ovarian cancer. Since 2014, a total of 138 aspiring oncology nurses have participated in this fellowship program nationally and over 70 Flynn Fellows have already begun their oncology nursing careers. This graduation showcases the high caliber of students who are attracted to the fellowship program along with Greenwich Hospitals commitment to the field of oncology nursing, said Flynn. Many thanks to the outstanding staff and program mentors who enabled these gifted students to learn so much clinically and academically about oncology nursing. Alexandra Bemis of Greenwich recently graduated from the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in Medford/Somerville, Mass., with a doctorate in veterinary medicine. She was among the 147 graduates whose studies varied from veterinary medicine to the intersection of animals and public policy, to infectious disease and global health. More than 3,700 students graduated from Tufts University on May 20 during a university-wide commencement ceremony. Local graduates from the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering included: Samantha Salkin of Old Greenwich, with a bachelors degree in community health, cum laude; Cassia Bardos of Cos Cob, with a bachelors degree in international relations, summa cum laude; Josephine Watson of Greenwich, with a bachelors degree in political science; Nicholas Couloucoundis-Parry of Greenwich, with a bachelors degree in quantitative economics; Neeki Parsa of Riverside, with a bachelors degree in sociology, cum laude; and Dominic Maniscalco of Riverside, with a bachelors degree in applied mathematics, magna cum laude. Hannah Klein of Old Greenwich graduated from Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I., with a bachelor of science degree international business. She was among 788 members of the Class of 2018 to be awarded a degree at the universitys 155th Commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 18. Helen Paglia of Greenwich graduated with a bachelors degree in psychology from Carleton College at its 144th commencement exercises, held on June 9 in Northfield, Minn. She is the child of Louis and Catherine Paglia of Greenwich. Nearly 500 students graduated from Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., on June 17 during the Colleges 224th commencement exercises. Local graduates are Bradley Browne, of Greenwich, who graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor of science in biology and economics; Brianne Hallock, of Greenwich, who graduated cum laude with a bachelor of arts in managerial economics; and Leslie Massad, of Greenwich, who graduated with a bachelor of science in computer science. Two local students graduated from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., during the May 4 commencement exercises: Kathryn Grace Mannarino of Cos Cob, who graduated with a degree in health sciences; and Colin Edward Barefoot of Riverside, who graduated with a degree in sociology. Wolfgang Hofer of Cos Cob graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y., with a bachelors degree in mechanical engineering technology. He was also named to the Deans List for the spring semester. Other local students named to the Deans List for spring at RIT are: Laura Corrigan of Cos Cob, who is in the computer science program; Jacob Kinley of Riverside, who is in the human-centered computing program; and Jack Corrigan of Cos Cob, who is in the software engineering program. Two local students have been selected for inclusion on the Deans List for academic achievement during the Spring 2018 semester at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y.: Sandro A. Cvecich of Greenwich, a member of the Class of 2019 who is majoring in philosophy; and Laura E. Edson of Old Greenwich, a member of the Class of 2020 who is majoring in economics. The following local students have been named to the Deans List at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, N.H., for the spring 2018 semester: Elizabeth Cardini of Cos Cob, with high honors; Kayla Marko of Greenwich, with high honors; Christian Silva of Greenwich, with highest honors; Michael Russell of Greenwich, with highest honors; and John Hartigan of Riverside, with honors. Charles Pottow of Greenwich was named to the Spring 2018 Deans List at Bard College at Simons Rock: The Early College in Great Barrington, Mass. GREENWICH Come fall, Allison Brea will be captain of the swim team and president of the Spanish Honor Society at Greenwich High School, but one of her most meaningful accomplishments will be taking place long before classes begin. On Aug. 8, the 17-year-old will travel to Bridgeport to distribute fresh food and new clothing to hundreds of homeless and at-risk people, a complex project she has taken on to complete the highest honor in Girl Scouts, the Gold Award. I like to have a way to give back to my community, she said of her 13 years in Girl Scouts. Unlike the badges that Girl Scouts earn as Brownies or Cadets, the Gold Award involves in excess of 100 hours of service on a project that makes a sustainable impact in the community. Candidates for the honor must research their project, assess community needs and resources and build a team to assist them. Most projects take a full year. Nationally, only 6 percent of older Girl Scouts earn the honor. There were 70 honorees in Connecticut this spring, according to Wendy Yu, Breas Girl Scout leader of 10 years. Yu said Brea has spent more than a year working on her project, which is no surprise to her troop leader. Shes very driven, said Yu, who is also the co-service unit manager for Greenwich. She puts 110 percent into everything she does. Shes very sincere in everything she does. Breas interest in helping the homeless stems from five hours of community service she completed for her civics class last year. She volunteered to help cook and serve dinner at Bridgeport Rescue Missions women and childrens shelter. That experience was really eye-opening to me, said the Old Greenwich resident. She asked about other ways she could help and was told about Project Connect, a one-stop approach to linking those at risk of homelessness with the services and supplies they might need. Volunteers and staffers from local agencies offer everything from medical screenings and employment opportunities to haircuts, childrens books and backpacks filled with toiletries, bus tokens and socks. Brea will host two tables at the 12-year-old event. At the first, she and her team of volunteers will distribute fresh food donated by Whole Foods, Trader Joes and various farmers markets. While breakfast and lunch have been offered in years past, this is the first time there will be fresh food to go at the event. The second table will offer another first at Project Connect: Brea will distribute new underwear to all participants. She placed donation boxes in several churches in Bridgeport and Greenwich and gratefully accepted a large donation from The Undies Project, a Cos Cob-based organization that has been collecting underwear for people in need for several years. Weve got about 500 pairs so far, she said. I hope to make it sustainable. Brea is also collecting toiletries for the backpacks and organizing volunteers. She hopes to provide an arts and crafts area for children to enjoy while their parents and guardians get the services and supplies they need. Through her research, Brea said she learned that nearly 2,000 people sleep on the streets every night in Fairfield County. The good news is that there are people who work every day to try to make a difference in their lives, Brea said, and I have had the honor of working alongside some of them this year. The Project Connect event is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 8 at Saint Marys Roman Catholic Church, 25 Sherman Ave., Bridgeport. To volunteer or make a donation, visit https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b044aabab22a5fe3-project or send an email to BridgeportProjectConnect@gmail.com. When a dream comes true, it typically refers to a wish or prayer coming to fruition. In Tony Leonardis case, it was a literal dream that spawned his new business venture. I had a dream I was making protein bars with mashed sweet potatoes, the Newtown resident said. That got me thinking about making bars and studying the business. After a month of thinking, I said: Let me try this. I started mashing sweet potatoes and adding other ingredients in the kitchen. The result after testing the bars on his kids and gymmates is Muscle Up Bars. The product has more than two times the amount of protein than sugar, which Leonardi calls a rarity in the protein bar market. The bars include grass-fed, pasture-raised whey protein and other organic ingredients. We are just as passionate about ingredients that we intentionally excluded, said Lori Aleks, Leonardis life and business partner. There is nothing in the bars that we cant pronounce. Aleks, a Weston resident, said Muscle Up bars do not contain soy, alcohol sugars, cellulose gum, Stevia or dextrin. Muscle Up bars comes in two flavors: cacao & vanilla and peanut butter. Double chocolate espresso flavored bars are in the works. Kids love our bars, Leonari said. They have no idea there is sweet potato in them or that its healthy for them. They can be enjoyed as a preworkout bar, a post-workout protein boost, or simply as a snack. The bars may be found in about 80 gyms, delis, markets and cafes, mostly in Connecticut. In greater Danbury, the bars are sold at Caraluzzis markets, LaBonnes markets, Newtown General Store, Camomille Natural Foods Store, The Well in Wilton and several Crossfit gyms. They are also available online at www.muscleupbars.com. Leonardi said about 40 percent of sales come from online. The business side Nelson Merchan, an adviser with the Connecticut Small Business Development Center, worked with Leonardi and Aleks to apply for small-business loans and other aspects of getting Muscle Up Bars off the ground. Tony and Lori are passionate about life and their business. This passion allowed them to launch a better product targeting an audience they know quite well, Merchan said. Having a natural product, high in protein and with grass-fed whey protein is a dream for many. Tony and Lori are on the ball. They move fast in the gym and business wise and that is key to continue growing. Leonardi and Aleks, who are both in their 50s, are each accomplished masters athletes and compete in weightlifting competitions. Aleks is a level 2 trainer for Crossfit and is affiliated with Crossfit Westport. Leonardi, who is also a financial planner, trains at Crossfit RedZone in Newtown. The name Muscle Up comes a difficult maneuver Crossfit athletes work hard at accomplishing. Its a clever name, Aleks said. Its perfect for the product. Dream to reality Once Leonardi perfected the recipe he dreamed up, then came the task of introducing Muscle Up bars to the world. Unable to mass produce the bars or perform a nutritional analysis at home, he looked for an outside source to make and package the bars. He found Co-Pack, a packaging manufacturer in California. He also formed a limited liability partnership and registered the business with the state. In food retail, you really have to make sure your is are dotted and ts are crossed, he said. Leonardi and Aleks do the distribution and order fulfillment on their own. Aleks includes a hand-written thank you note for each online order. Its important that people know how much we appreciate them, she said. Sales, marketing, business development and the companys financials are also handled by Leonardi and Aleks. Coming up with the recipe is the easy part, Leonardi said. Building the brand is the hard part. Thats what were doing now. Its a saturated market but our bars speak for themselves because of the clean ingredients. This year, the owner said, will be dedicated to approaching new gyms and markets, as well as spreading the word about Muscle Up Bars through social media and other outlets. Leonardi said they may partner with meal preparation delivery services to boost business. Our target is anyone who is looking for a healthy source of protein, he said. It is the original sweet potato bar. Sweet potato is natures best carbohydrate. Giving back Leonardi and Aleks have pledged to give 25 percent of the profits from Muscle Up Bars to scholarships for graduating high school seniors going into the exercise sciences field. We are committed to doing our part to nurture the future of health and fitness, Leonardi said, adding that the company has yet to become profitable. Its a volume business. We have to sell a lot of bars to become profitable. The writer may be reached at cbosak@hearstmediact.com; 203-731-3338 In the last days of October 2012, Superstorm Sandys remnants pushed seawater over roads and through the first floors of Fairfields idyllic beach neighborhoods. The tide found nowhere to recede because the storm kept pushing more water against the closed tide gates. Some people left and some people, the tough old Yankees whod seen storms before, stayed in their houses, recalled Assistant Fire Chief Scott Bisson, who was the unified commander, overseeing evacuations and the aftermath from a building that almost had to be evacuated. Within hours, the mold came and so did its musty odor. People were removing all of the wet, porous materials, Bisson remembered, rugs, toys, wood, furniture, couches, chairs, beds, mattressesputting it outside for bulk pickup. There was a smell in the air. It does not take long for that. Six years later, the rebuilt beach houses of Fairfield reach four stories high above ground-level, open garage spaces, through which the tides can rush unimpeded, fulfilling federal flood regulations. Some homeowners sold their houses rather than go through rebuilding. The new construction resembles a boom town. In a century, climate change and a rising sea level on Connecticuts coast have brought more frequent and devastating flooding during storms. The flooding destroys property, which people hear about immediately. But it also harms peoples health. After flooding, mold quickly multiplies into fuzzy blobs on walls and furniture. When people try to clean up, they breathe in airborne microbes that can trigger breathing problems, skin rashes and infections, mucous membrane illnesses, and problems in internal organs, according to fungal scientist Eckardt Johanning and his colleagues, writing in an article in Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine. Health researchers said residents should view floods as hazardous to their health and doctors need to beef up their training to recognize flood-related illnesses. Getting worse Mold itself can make people sick, but mold also signals the presence of other bacteria and disease, said Paula Schenck, director of the Center for Indoor Environments and Health at UConn Health. She said doctors can advise their patients to have the appropriate protective gear on hand before the flood, and then avoid exposures that would cause illness, so Im sort of on a disease-prevention soapbox here. This little-discussed public health threat exposure to mold is rising slowly into the public consciousness. Nuisance flooding has increased on the United States coasts, and it will increase dramatically after 2050. Sands Cleary, the Fairfield health director, said that after Hurricane Sandy the town decided not to enforce its blight ordinance, under which the town could fine residents $100 a day for flood-soaked objects or debris. For several months, we had large numbers of houses that were putting debris out on the streets, and we werent enforcing that because people had just gone through a terrible experience, he said. Around New England, most coastal areas have been inundated several inches over the past century. Bridgeports sea level has risen nearly 1 foot and New Londons slightly less, according to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administrations calculations. The yearly increase is almost 3 millimeters. In March, the Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation at the University of Connecticut released a report predicting increases of another 20 inches by 2050. Major areas of the coast will flood regularly in the future. Adam Whelchel, director of science for the Connecticut Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, has worked on coastal resilience planning with dozens of municipalities. Theres a whole lot of emotional stress that goes along with living along the coast, he said. Fungi mysteries High-tide flooding along the U.S. coastline has increased 300 to 900 percent in the last half century. NOAAs map of projected high-tide flooding can be zoomed to street-level detail for any town in Connecticut. A perusal around the state shows that inundation by floods will cover large swaths of Guilford south of Interstate 95, and large areas of Madison, Bridgeport, Middletown, Old Saybrook, Haddam, Hartford and Stamford in the future. Buildings in the floodwaters path will be prone to mold and all that mold signifies. All molds are part of the kingdom of fungi. Scientists havent yet identified 90 percent or so of all the fungi that exists, said De-Wei Li, a research mycologist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Stations Valley Laboratory in Windsor. Scientists who study fungi spend much of their time simply identifying species. The hundreds of molds scientists have identified in this part of the world can trigger allergies like asthma and skin reactions, and some of them contain mycotoxins or volatile organic compounds in their spores. Mycotoxins and VOCs can cause serious diseases or reactions when ingested, when they come in contact with skin, or when someone breathes them in. The microscopic spores penetrate deep into the lungs. A month after Sandy hit in the Northeast, scientists collected samples of mold from houses in Brielle and Manasquan, New Jersey. They found 36 types of mold, including six that killed flies in the lab. Molds found included Aspergillus niger, which the CDC reports can cause lung infections and allergic reactions; Aspergilloma (fungus ball); and the most common found in damp or water-damaged structures, Penicillium chrysogenum; among others. The presence of mold also indicates a whole soup of biological materials, including bacteria. If someone sees mold growing inside, they are witnessing a risk to respiratory health, Schenck said. She added that flood waters can be dangerously contaminated. Certain medical conditions make one vulnerable to airborne mold. Many materials wallboard, fabrics themselves (clothes, curtains) and those that trap dust (carpet) are a grand meal for mold, Schenck has written. Even some well-constructed buildings that havent had moisture concerns in the past become wet from wind-driven rain and flood waters in severe storms. Schenck wants people to know that any time they see mold, they should consider it an indicator that moisture is available for biological growth. The wetter it is, the greater the chances of severe respiratory illnesses. An increase in floods will cause wood and drywall and other building materials to become saturated more often, causing an increase in peoples exposure to airborne mold spores, since that is how they reproduce. This means that people whose immune systems have been weakened by disease are more vulnerable to health effects from mold. The most urgent advice about a flooded living space is to get out until the standing water has subsided. Once its flooded, dont go wading unprotected in that environment, Schenck said. This story was reported under a partnership with the Connecticut Health I-Team (www.c-hit.org) An emergency relief team composed of 15 medical personnel and five support staff embarked on a 10-day mission to treat displaced residents in southern Laos and prevent the spread of contagious diseases, it added. A dam built on a mountain saddle of a larger hydropower dam project gave way on Monday. SK Engineering & Construction, a South Korean firm, is a partner in the project. The dam is one of five auxiliary dams in the Xepian-Xe Nam Noy project, which collapsed, flooding seven nearby villages and displacing more than 6,600 people. The flooding killed at least 27 people, leaving more than 130 missing, according to local media reports. "The role of a humanitarian mission is important as this disaster also involves a South Korean firm," said Roh Dong-whan, the leader of the relief team. "We'd like to provide assistance to affected residents warmly and actively." The team is the first South Korean emergency medical team to be dispatched since 2014 when the government sent a team to Ebola-hit Sierra Leone. In rescue efforts, the government will provide US$500,000 in cash and $500,000 worth of materials to help Laos recover from the disaster. A Korean military aircraft carrying relief supplies arrived in Laos Saturday (local time) via the Philippines, according to government officials. The supplies include some 1,200 blankets, clothing and sanitation items provided by the government, the South Korean Red Cross and SK Engineering & Construction Co., the ministry said. The supplies will be delivered to the Laotian authorities with South Korean Ambassador to Vientiane Shin Sung-soon and Leth Xaiyaphone, the governor of Attapeu Province, attending the handover event. Shin said that Laos is apparently viewing the heavy rains as the cause of the dam collapse, but it is also focusing on the possibility of faulty construction. "The Laotian government seemed to think that even if heavy rain came down, (the dam) should have been constructed in a way to withstand the deluge," the envoy added. Source from the Yonhap. Latino students are the fastest-growing student population in the state, but a new report says they are also far less likely to have teachers who look like them, be exposed to Advanced Placement classes or score well on standardized tests. The just-released Connecticut SAT results are a case in point. Just 36.4 percent of Latino juniors scored in the passing range on the English Language Arts portion of the test and fewer than 16 percent scored at grade level in math. That compares with more than half of white students who scored at grade level. Compiled by Connecticut Voices for Children, a research-based child advocacy group based in New Haven, the report finds Latino students are also more likely than their white counterparts to miss school, be punished and drop out before graduation. Latino students face policies and practices that often are biased and puts them at a disadvantage, said Camera Stokes-Hudson, a co-author of the report. Only some of it, she added, can be blamed on the complexities of learning a language or navigating the nations increasingly difficult immigration policies. The data Voices conducted the research after interviewing racial justice advocates while looking for data that would help them tackle the disparities. The group first wrote a paper comparing black and white students, then went back and focused on Latino students. There are now just under 133,000 Latino students in Connecticut public schools, the majority of whom are clustered in Connecticut cites. In the last school year, 64 percent of New Britain students, 53 percent of Hartford and Waterbury students, 48 percent of Bridgeport students, 45 percent of New Haven students and 44 percent of Stamford students were identified as Latino. While one quarter of students are Latino, only 4 percent of teachers are Latino themselves. The disparities translate into education outcomes that make long-term negative impacts on the students themselves and the states economic health, said Stokes-Hudson, an associate policy fellow at Connecticut Voices. Breaking down the systemic barriers to opportunity that drive achievement disparities should be one of the states priorities, added Wendy Simmons, director of education and equity at Voices. According to the report, Latino students are two times more likely to be suspended than their white counterparts. The share of Latino students missing 10 percent or more days of the school year which means they are chronically absent is close to three times the rate of their white peers. And the graduation rate for Latino students is 76 percent, trailing the 93 percent graduation rates for whites. Stokes-Hudson said since 2010, some indicators have improved, but they have been improving for all groups. Attendance rates, grades and graduation rates are all better now than they were eight years ago. The problem we have is the gap hasnt changed, she said. Latino students are still twice as likely to be suspended. That has to be the focus. Why does there continue to be such a large gap? Taking action To reduce inequity and support student success, Lauren Ruth, the studys other author, suggests districts do more to conduct anti-bias training and increase the number of Latino teachers. The report commends a Grow Your Own program now offered in Danbury, Hartford and Waterbury to encourage students in the district to become teachers. While the success of such programs is currently unstudied, research on similar programs in other states suggests that the programs can make a positive impact on high school students interest in becoming teachers. Voices also wants schools to offer more culturally relevant courses. The study authors applauded new course requirements in Bridgeport public schools that will require high school students to take either a class in African-American, Latino-American or race relations to graduate. I think its a great thing to prepare students to understand the full history of the U.S., not only a portion of it, Stokes-Hudson said. To reduce chronic absenteeism, the report suggests expanding programs that involve Latino parents and community members in interventions. It also wants the state to start releasing detailed suspension and expulsion data separated by race/ethnicity as well as offense. The group also advocates better funding, calling the loss of such services as kindergarten aides in Bridgeport Public Schools deeply concerning. The lack of funding, she added, is probably why urban districts dont invest in more Advanced Placement courses. Robert M. Goodrich, co-founder of Radical Advocates for Cross-Cultural Education, a Waterbury-based grassroots education advocacy organization, said he is always shocked and disgusted when racial equity data audits reveal deep and persistent race-based disparities. The data tell him Waterbury is not alone in having a growing Hispanic population and a shrinking Hispanic teaching population. This is a crisis and our students and families deserve a response that reflects an urgency of a crisis of this magnitude, Goodrich said. STAMFORD A zoning fight waged for more than a year has been fought long enough, it appears, to transcend the traditional roles of developers vs. neighbors in favor of the impassioned finger pointing more typical of the broader political arena. Many say a zoning code allowing gyms in office parks is now a referendum on development, on whether the city is being bought and sold under residents feet. After eight hours of public comment this month before the boards Land Use Committee, the tide change became clear: Attorneys who usually make their living petitioning the Zoning Board for code changes, took the unusual step of defending the board by citing codes; elected city reps struggled to establish themselves as an apolitical zoning panel to take up the matter, and residents, though layman, presented their independent research on traffic and noise to counter purported experts in the fields. Everything flipped on its head, said attorney William Hennessey, who has fought on behalf of developer George Comfort & Sons to bring Life Time Fitness to the High Ridge Office Park for more than a year. The developer made its appeal directly to Advocate readers on Sunday with a full-page ad detailing its support for the measure, ending with a link to sign an online petition. Health clubs, such as Life Time Fitness which would come to High Ridge, are an amenity not only for the office parks tenants but for residents city-wide, the ad reads. Enabling new opportunities like this represents the kind of forward thinking that has kept Stamford at the forefront among small cities nationwide. On the other side, the Stamford Neighborhoods Coalition, a 700-member group that organizes 10 smaller resident associations, laid out its own argument against permitting the resort fitness center in an Op-Ed piece Sunday. To equate a private enterprise to sidewalks, streets, schools, bridges, roads, waste transfer stations, sewage treatment plants ... even public parks ... is irresponsible, the letter to the editor read. These are enterprises that are in the public interest and funded with the publics money. A profit-driven, noise- and traffic-inducing resort-like club simply does not meet the greater good criteria. Meanwhile, lines appear to have been drawn among city reps who will soon vote on the matter, starting Wednesday with the Land Use Committee. All this, over a change to the citys zoning text that had, until this spring, forbade stand-alone gyms in office parks. The text preemptively quashed plans by a developer to open a Life Time Fitness center in its Turn of River neighborhood park. But with the political landscape still soaked with anti-development fervor after last falls mayoral election, and elected officials now voting on the matter instead of the appointed Zoning Board, the text change has become part of a larger, political story of entrenched interests and the establishment against a growing contingent of residents who say their city is for sale. Whos shouting the loudest Neighbors nearby are certain the Life Time will destroy their tranquil part of the city, and the argument has caught favor with hundreds of other city residents as evidenced in the city-wide petition to bring the issue to the Board of Reps, which garnered nearly 700 signatures in fewer than 10 days. On the other side, the developer and its team of lawyers contend the change will save office parks from an empty future and bolster the citys tax rolls. Such a change is called for in the citys Master Plan, the first item on a list of key projects to be undertaken, Hennessey said. Frankly, the dynamic to all these Board of Reps appeals is that they become politically charged, and to my view, thats the shame of it, Hennessey said in an interview. The Zoning Board had made its approval contingent on a number of concessions from the developer and had included a number of restrictions to protect neighbors, he added. So much time has been spent with facts and data, Hennessey said. And then the paradigm shifts from an analysis of what is good planning and what is right for the community to whos shouting the loudest. No Calypso parties Special exceptions and edits to the zoning text and map are needed, the development arguement goes, as they facilitate how the city moves forward reshaping itself for the businesses and living patterns of the future. To the gentleman that came up here and played noise from a boombox, there are not going to be any Calypso parties on the party deck here, and the Zoning Board could stop it in an instant with a condition that said no amplified sound, Hennessey said at the last hearing. I think what has happened here is that the prospect of change has deprived us of a little bit of context. Some of that context could come later in the process. The Zoning Boards approval of the text change is just the first step developers would still need other approvals including a special exception to build the gym. City attorney Jim Minor echoed Hennessey. The idea that this is a totally blank slate thats wrong, Minor said. All these arguments made tonight: we cant enforce noise control, they will have drunken orgies at night and itll disturb my sleep. (The Zoning Board) can base their rejection on that. Meanwhile, residents beyond the next-door neighbors argue that it is not the citys role to edit its codes for private interests when those interests downgrade the quality of life for those nearby. Zoning codes are there to protect residents and alterations that add cars to streets and noise to backyards go against the maxims on the first page of the 356-page rulebook. The purpose of this Zoning Code is to encourage the most appropriate use of land; to conserve and stabilize the value of property; to provide adequate open spaces for light and air; to prevent and fight fires; to prevent undue concentration of population; to lessen congestion on streets, it reads, in part. A repeated refrain among opponents of the change is that the city is bailing out developers by making the changes. For development, are established land-use fixers, consultant Rick Redniss and Hennessey, both of whom have petitioned the city Zoning and Planning boards long before many current members were appointed to the panels. Hennessey, pressed to tell city reps how many text changes he had worked on in the city, said at the last hearing that he had done many, but couldnt count off off hand. Redniss, in an interview this week, said this fight reminds him of a similar appeal over a condo complex he proposed in the early 1980s. The Zoning Boards approval of a 52-unit cluster on 95 Intervale Road in 1984 was appealed to city reps, who after hearings upheld the approval. And in the end, look at it its totally innocuous, Redniss said. But now, what we have is all these things coming together anti-development, anti-text change and they are not accurate, he said. They are conflating text changes and evil. Its not sustainable. An overturn, Redniss added, would be a Pyrrhic victory and set the city back. No standards And against it, nearby homeowners are linked with a the burgeoning anti-development group, the Stamford Neighborhood Coalition, itself led in part by the former mayoral candidate, Barry Michelson, and former city Rep. Cynthia Reeder. Its about developers against this city, Reeder said. They are protecting their own interests the people are depending on you to protect their interests. By constantly changing the standards we, in effect, have no standards, said Michelson. The coalition, formed around the time of Michelsons campaign, appears to be growing. It hosted its first in-person meeting this spring and saw some 50 people, including city reps and members of Mayor David Martin's administration, attend. Wednesday, the Land Use Committee will likely make a recommendation on whether gyms should be allowed in a half dozen office parks in the city. The full board is slated to then take up the matter on Aug. 6, where 21 votes of the boards 40 are needed to overturn zoning. barry.lytton@stamfordadvocate.com; 203-964-2263; @bglytton Attending at the event were Head of the Communist Party of Vietnam's Central Commission for Propaganda and Education Vo Van Thuong and Deputy PM Vuong Dinh Hue. This years program themed Imprints of works honored 8 outstanding works, including Ho Chi Minh Road, North-South 500kV transmission line, Vietnam's telecom satellites, Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant, Vietnam's 1:200,000 geological map and mineral resources map, Vietnam encyclopedia, Selection and development of two new rice varieties of high quality and productivity, OM6976 and OM5451, and Vietnam's Extended Program on Immunisation. The program aims to recognize and honor the collectives and individuals who have made outstanding contribution to the country. By PHUC HAU - Translated by Kim Khanh Drax Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the generation and supply of electricity in the United Kingdom. The company operates through three segments: Generation, Customers, and, Pellet Production. It produces low carbon and renewable electricity; and provides system support services to the electricity grid. The company owns and operates Drax Power Station that produces electricity from biomass and coal with an installed capacity of 3,906 megawatts (MW) located in Selby, North Yorkshire; Cruachan Power Station, a pumped hydro storage station, with an installed capacity of 440 MW located in Argyll and Bute, western Scotland; and Lanark and Galloway hydro-electric power stations with an installed capacity of 126 MW located in southwest Scotland. It also owns and operates combined cycle gas turbine power stations, including Damhead Creek power station with an installed capacity of 805 MW; Rye House power station with an installed capacity of 715 MW; Shoreham power station with an installed capacity of 420 MW; and Blackburn power station with an installed capacity of 60 MW located in England. In addition, the company owns and operates Daldowie fuel plant that processes sludge from a wastewater treatment plant and converts it into dry and low-odour fuel pellets. Further, it manufactures and sells compressed wood pellets for use in electricity production; supplies and manages electricity and gas for large industrial and commercial sector customers, as well as small businesses; and provides debt recovery services. Drax Group plc was incorporated in 2005 and is based in Selby, the United Kingdom. Read More Guyana Goldfields Inc. provides exploration and production of gold. It engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, production, and operation of gold mineral properties. The company also owns and operates gold drilling rights. The company was formerly known as Chiboug Copper Company Limited and changed its name to Guyana Goldfields Inc. in January 1995. Guyana Goldfields Inc. was incorporated in 1994 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. As of August 25, 2020, Guyana Goldfields Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Zijin Mining Group Company Limited. Read More Ad Investing Trends New this week - 349 interested 2021 Investor Alert: Amazon, Google, And Facebook Stockpile Strange Gas This odorless, colorless gas is critical for every piece of technology you own. However, the world's supply is running dangerously low. This is the time for investors to get in before the mainstream media. China Mobile Limited provides mobile telecommunications and related services in Mainland China and Hong Kong. The company offers local calls; domestic and international long distance calls and roaming services; and value-added services, such as caller identity display, call waiting, conference calls, and others. It also provides wireless Internet service, as well as digital applications comprising music, video, reading, gaming, and animation; wireline broadband services; and wireline voice services. In addition, it offers dedicated line and IDC services to corporate customers in a range of industry sectors; and basic corporate communication products comprising corporate VPMN and SMS, and tailor made solutions. Further, the company provides international telecommunications services, which includes IDD, roaming, Internet, MNC, and value added business services. Additionally, it offers telecommunications network planning, design, and consulting services; roaming clearance, IT system operation, and technology support services; value-added platform development and maintenance services; mobile data, and system integration and development services; network construction and maintenance, network planning and optimizing, and training services; electronic communication products design and sale of related products; and non-banking financial services. It also provides mobile cloud research and development services; call center services; e-payment, e-commerce, and Internet finance services; and mobile Internet digital content services, as well as operates a network and business coordination center. The company serves 950 million mobile customers and 187 million wireline broadband customers. The company was formerly known as China Mobile (Hong Kong) Limited and changed its name to China Mobile Limited in May 2006. The company was incorporated in 1997 and is based in Central, Hong Kong. China Mobile Limited is a subsidiary of China Mobile Hong Kong (BVI) Limited. Read More The Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite takes us over Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Famous as a resort on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, this coastal strip along the Red Sea is peppered with bars, restaurants and hotels. The ancient Greeks and Romans are thought to have taken their holidays in Egypt as long ago as the 4th century BC. Click on the box in the lower-right corner to view this image at its full 10 m resolution directly in your browser. This striking true-colour image shows the Gulf of Aqaba at the top centre, feeding into the Red Sea - home to some of the hottest and saltiest seawater in the world. The Red Sea is connected to the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal, one of the world's busiest waterways. Usually an intense blue-green, as captured in this image, the Red Sea is known, on occasion, to turn reddish-brown owing to algal blooms, which change the colour of the sea when they die off. The area offers many opportunities for diving. In the centre of the image we can see a series of coral reefs, which host rich marine life. The variations in the colour of the water surrounding the islands and in the right of the image represent the depth of water - the lighter areas show more shallow waters than the vast expanse of deep blue, which dominates the image. In the top-right of the image we can see the western tip of mainland Saudi Araba - the beautiful and uninhabited sandy cape of Ras Al-Sheikh Hameed. Here, the red colour represents areas with higher levels of moisture in an arid, desert landscape, whilst the white colour represents salt. Sentinel-2 is a two-satellite mission for land monitoring, providing imagery of soil and water cover, inland waterways and coastal areas, for Europe's Copernicus environmental monitoring programme. - Download the full high-resolution image. Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, produces, distributes, and markets gas in Hong Kong and Mainland China. It is involved in the provision of liquefied natural gas, methanol, and coal and other chemicals; conversion and utilization of biomass, and industrial and agricultural waste; and operation of natural gas refilling stations, piped city-gas projects, upstream and midstream developments, water and wastewater treatment projects, energy exploration and utilization ventures, and aviation fuel facilities. The company supplies town gas to approximately 1.9 million customers. It also provides network connectivity, and data center and cloud computing services; and engages in the software development, solution implementation, and systems integration activities. In addition, the company offers consultancy and engineering contractor services, including utilities installation, infrastructure construction, and civil and building services engineering for public and private projects; and designs and manufactures gas meters and metering systems. Further, it is involved in water supply and wastewater treatment serving 2.4 million customers. Additionally, the company manufactures polyethylene piping and fittings; and engages in the customers center, cafA, restaurant, retail sale, automatic meter reading system development, laboratory testing, payment gateway and related, project management, landfill gas project, financing, logistics, oil, research and development, property development, and securities investment activities. The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited was founded in 1862 and is headquartered in North Point, Hong Kong. Read More Wall Street analysts have given iShares MSCI Sweden 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 MSCI Sweden ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. The following companies are subsidiares of Exxon Mobil: AKG Marketing Company Limited, Aera Energy LLC, Al-Jubail Petrochemical Company, Ampolex (Cepu) Pte Ltd, Ancon Insurance Company Inc., Barnett Gathering LLC, Barzan Gas Company Limited, Caspian Pipeline Consortium, Celtic Exploration Ltd., Coral FLNG S.A., Cross Timbers Energy LLC, Ellora Energy Inc., Esmeroon Oil Transporta Imperial Oil Limited, Esso (Thailand) Public Company Limited, Esso Australia Resources Pty Ltd, Esso Deutschland GmbH, Esso Erdgas Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Esso Exploration Angola (Block 15) Limited, Esso Exploration Angola (Block 17) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Angola (Overseas) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Chad Inc., Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Offshore East) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, Esso Exploration and Production UK Limited, Esso Global Investments Ltd., Esso Italiana S.r.l., Esso Nederland B.V., Esso Norge AS, Esso Petroleum Company Limited, Esso Raffinage, Esso Societe Anonyme Francaise, Exxo Holdings Inc., Exxon Azerbaijan Limited, Exxon Chemical Arabia Inc., Exxon International Finance Company, Exxon Luxembourg Holdings LLC, Exxon Mobile Bay Limited Partnership, Exxon Neftegas Limited, Exxon Overseas Corporation, Exxon Overseas Investment Corporation, ExxonMobil (China) Investment Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil (Taicang) Petroleum Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil Abu Dhabi Offshore Petroleum Company Limited, ExxonMobil Alaska Production Inc., ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., ExxonMobil Australia Pty Ltd, ExxonMobil B Resources Company, ExxonMobil Capital Finance Company, ExxonMobil Capital Netherlands B.V., ExxonMobil Central Europe Holding GmbH, ExxonMobil Cepu Limited, ExxonMobil Chemical France, ExxonMobil Chemical Gulf Coast Investments LLC, ExxonMobil Chemical Holland B.V., ExxonMobil Chemical Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil China Petroleum & Petrochemical Company Limited, ExxonMobil Development Africa B.V., ExxonMobil Development Company, ExxonMobil Egypt (S.A.E.), ExxonMobil Exploracao Brasil Ltda., ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc., ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Norway AS, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Romania Limited, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Tanzania Limited, ExxonMobil Finance Company Limited, ExxonMobil Financial Investment Company Limited, ExxonMobil France Holding SAS, ExxonMobil Gas Marketing Europe Limited, ExxonMobil General Finance Company, ExxonMobil Global Services Company, ExxonMobil Golden Pass Surety LLC, ExxonMobil Holding Company Holland LLC, ExxonMobil Holding Norway AS, ExxonMobil Hong Kong Limited, ExxonMobil International Services SARL, ExxonMobil Iraq Limited, ExxonMobil Italiana Gas S.r.l., ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Inc., ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Ventures Inc., ExxonMobil LNG Services B.V., ExxonMobil Lubricants Trading Company, ExxonMobil Oil Corporation, ExxonMobil PNG Limited, ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical BVBA, ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical Holdings Inc., ExxonMobil Pipeline Company, ExxonMobil Production Deutschland GmbH, ExxonMobil Production Norway Inc., ExxonMobil Qatargas (II) Limited, ExxonMobil Qatargas Inc., ExxonMobil Ras Laffan (III) Limited, ExxonMobil Rasgas Inc., ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company, ExxonMobil Russia Kara Sea Holdings B.V., ExxonMobil Sales and Supply LLC, ExxonMobil Technology Finance Company, ExxonMobil Ventures Finance Company, ExxonMobil Ventures Funding Ltd., Fujian Refining & Petrochemical Co. Ltd., Golden Pass LNG Terminal Investments LLC, Golden Pass LNG Terminal LLC, Gulf Coast Growth Ventures LLC, Imperial Oil Limited, Imperial Oil Resources Limited, Imperial Oil Resources N.W.T. Limited, Imperial Oil/Petroliere Imperiale, Infineum Italia s.r.I., Infineum Singapore Pte. Ltd., InterOil Corporation, Jurong Aromatics Corporation Pte Ltd, MPM Lubricants, Marine Well Containment Company LLC, Mobil Australia Resources Company Pty Limited, Mobil California Exploration & Producing Asset Company, Mobil Caspian Pipeline Company, Mobil Chemical Products International Inc., Mobil Corporation, Mobil Equatorial Guinea Inc., Mobil Erdgas Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Mobil Exploration & Producing Australia Pty Ltd, Mobil International Petroleum Corporation, Mobil Oil Australia Pty Ltd, Mobil Oil Exploration & Producing Southeast Inc., Mobil Oil New Zealand Limited, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Mobil Producing Texas & New Mexico Inc., Mobil SerLimited, Mobil Venezolana De Petroleos Inc., Mobil Yanbu Petrochemical Company Inc., Mobil Yanbu Refining Company Inc., Mountain Gathering LLC, Mozambique Rovuma Venture S.p.A., Palmetto Transoceanic LLC, Papua New Guinea Liquefied Natural Gas Global Company LDC, Permian Express Partners LLC, Phillips Exploration LLC, Qatar Liquefied Gas Company Limited, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (II), SPI Limited, Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery Company Ltd., Saudi Yanbu Petrochemical Co., SeaRiver Maritime Inc., South Hook LNG Terminal Company Limited, Tengizchevroil LLP, Terminale GNL Adriatico S.r.l, Trend Gathering & Treating LLC, Wolverine Pipe Line Company, XH LLC, XTO Delaware Basin LLC, XTO Energy Canada, XTO Energy Inc., and XTO Holdings LLC. Genesee & Wyoming Inc. owns and leases freight railroads. It operates through three segments: North American Operations, Australian Operations, and U.K./European Operations. The company transports various commodities, including agricultural products, autos and auto parts, chemicals and plastics, coal and coke, food and kindred products, lumber and forest products, metallic ores, metals, minerals and stone, petroleum products, pulp and paper, waste, and other commodities. It owns or leases 122 freight railroads, including 105 short line railroads and 2 regional freight railroads located in the United States, 8 short line railroads located in Canada, 3 railroads located in Australia, 1 railroad located in the United Kingdom, 1 railroad in Poland and Germany, and 2 railroads in the Netherlands with a total of approximately 16,200 miles of track. The company also operates 6,200 additional miles of track that is owned or leased by others. In addition, it operates deep sea maritime containers and provides bulk haulage, including coal, aggregates, cement, and infrastructure services. Further, the company provides rail service at approximately 40 ports; rail-ferry service in North America, Australia, and Europe; and contract coal loading and railcar switching for industrial customers. Genesee & Wyoming Inc. was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Darien, Connecticut. Read More There aren't too many races that have eluded trainer Ron Burke over his past decade of harness racing dominance. Even harder to believe that one of those elusive races was the Delvin Miller Adios, contested at his home track -- The Meadows. Dorsoduro Hanover and driver Matt Kakaley finally delivered that trophy and blanket of orchids after a confident performance in Saturday's main event at the Pittsburgh-area oval. Sent off as the public's choice in the $400,000 Adios despite not winning his elimination, Dorsoduro Hanover and Kakaley left stoutly from post five with front-end intentions and cleared to the top but note before a brief tussle from elim winner Hitman Hill (Brett Miller). The opening quarter was reached in a swift :26.3 with the other elimination winner American History (Yannick Gingras) settled into fourth. The outer flow began as the field passed the grandstand for the first time as Done Well (Tim Tetrick) began that journey with hopes of flushing cover. He found it in the form of American History, who was advancing first up through a :55.1 half. Heading to the three-quarter mark, American History had his nose at Dorsoduro Hanover's saddle pad as the third station flashed up in 1:22.3, with Gingras asking American History for more speed around the final turn. Heading for home, Dorsoduro Hanover had plenty left in the tank and kept all rivals at bay. He hit the wire in 1:50.1, more than a length ahead of a determined American History. Hitman Hill couldn't gain on the pacesetter from the pocket and just missed out on second to complete the triactor. The win was the first in the Adios for driver Matt Kakaley, who was very confident in his horse especially when the field hit the half-way mark. "I was just going to play it [by ear] out of there, and it worked out perfect that's for sure," said Kakaley in the jam-packed winner's circle. "They showed respect to the horse, you know...he's been racing great and I got a good breather. As soon as I got the breather the second quarter I was pretty confident. If he got beat off that half, something was wrong." A win in a major event like the Adios is all the more sweet for Kakaley after an accident earlier this year left his career in question. "It's huge. A few months ago, I didn't know if I was going to race again. I had a bad accident, and it's good to be back." "I think you've seen today that Matt's making his way to becoming an elite driver that can drive with anybody, and he's finally getting the chances to drive the better horses of ours," said trainer Ron Burke after the victory. "I think you'll see him win more races like this." Burke downplayed that the records show this is his first Adios win as the Burke Stable won with May June Character in 2007. "It's the same to us; we did the first one as a family and we did this one as a family. We're all in this together...we've probably spent ten million dollars chasing this race. It was finally time that we got one by." That said, Burke reinforced that winning the Adios means more than just purse money to his ownership group. "I think if you told Mark [Weaver] we could go for free and we'd win, he'd have said 'let's go for free, I don't care'. Mark Weaver and Mike Bruscemi have supported us all along. This is all of our owners actually, our core group which makes it nice. We did it together and this is why we do it so we're very happy. "We're a core group that do everything together. We go to the sales and buy them together, we race together, we all live in the same spot. I live very close to Mark's house. It's good to do it as a group...it's not one person, it's a bunch of us." Owned by Burke Racing Stable LLC, Silva Purnel And Libby, Weaver Bruscemi LLC, and Wingfield Five LLC, Dorsoduro Hanover has now won half of his 10 seasonal starts with the winner's share of the purse lifting his earnings to $575,603. "We've been doing this since 1981 when my dad sold his car dealership and said we were going to race horses. I was 12 years old, I thought 'my dad's lost his mind' but since then it's been constant good, and thank God for The Meadows; it's been a great place to grow up and a great place to race. And this is the best race for us to win." Burke said Dorsoduro Hanover will be pointed to the Carl Milstein at Northfield. Stay tuned for coverage of the Adios Day undercard Wall Street analysts have given iShares MSCI Switzerland 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 MSCI Switzerland ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Ormat Technologies, Inc. operates as a holding company. The firm engages in the provision of geothermal and recovered energy power business. It operates through the following segments: Electricity, Product and Energy Storage. The Electricity segment focuses in the sale of electricity from the company's power plants pursuant to PPAs. The Product segment involves in the manufacture, including design and development, of turbines and power units for the supply of electrical energy and in the associated construction of power plants utilizing the power units manufactured by the company to supply energy from geothermal fields and other alternative energy sources. The Energy Storage segment consists of battery energy storage systems as a service and management of curtailable customer loads under contracts with U.S. retail energy providers and directly with large commercial and industrial customers. The company was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Reno, NV. Read More Count On Cody crossed the finish line as the fastest sophomore trotting colt ever at Northfield Park when he won the $6,200 Summit County Fair Stakes in 1:55.2 on Saturday, July 28. Count On Cody started from post five and left from the gate to sit the pocket through :27.2 and :57 opening fractions. Just past the half Count On Cody came to the outside, took the lead and rolled through final fractions of 1:26.1 and 1:55.2, besting his competition by one-and-one-quarter lengths. Acadia Farms of Canfield, Ohio and G&B Racing of New Wilmington, Pennsylvania own Count On Cody. Ohio Harness Racing Hall of Famer Marty Wollam trains and Kurt Sugg was in the sulky for the winning drive. Count On Cody, by Full Count from the S Js Caviar mare Caviar Forthe Lady, now has two wins in three starts this year. Saturdays victory was his fourth win career and pushed his bankroll to $136,570. He was favoured and returned $5.80 to win. The former three-year-old trotting record was a 1:55.3 mile by Buckeye Boss in 2017. (With files from Northfield Park) The UK farming industry is progressing towards achieving 2020 targets for antibiotic use in each of eight different livestock sectors. The Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance (RUMA) has released a half-year summary of the UK industrys progress towards achieving the targets. The targets, developed last year by the Targets Task Force and published in October 2017, include a number of numerical and qualitative goals towards reducing, refining or replacing antibiotic use in UK farm animals. The Targets Task Force comprises a leading veterinary surgeon and farmer from each of the beef, dairy, egg, fish, gamebird, pig, poultry meat and sheep sectors, who have been consulting with key organisations in their respective industries. While the targets each sector has set vary according to the availability of data and scope in their sector, the targets as a whole have been described as positive and proactive. RUMAs secretary general, Chris Lloyd says a comprehensive review of progress is due in November. In the meantime this four-page summary provides a flavour of some of the activities being implemented to build on the successful reduction of 27% in overall farm antibiotic sales 2014-2016, Mr Lloyd said. He added that its important to note each sector is very different in terms of when they were first able to engage with the issue, disease pressure, number of producers and structure. This is why some have already made significant changes and are refining how and when antibiotics are used, while others are working on bigger issues of data, communication and usage hotspots, Mr Lloyd said. But whatever the stage, all remain fully engaged on driving improvement and best practice to ensure the targets can be achieved by 2020. It follows news that sales of antibiotics to treat and prevent disease in UK farm livestock have achieved a record low following a 27% reduction over the past two years. By Scott Squires and Luc Cohen BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Agriculture ministers from the G20 countries said on Saturday they were concerned about the increasing use of protectionist non-tariff trade measures inconsistent with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. The ministers from countries including the United States and China, in Buenos Aires for the G20 meeting of agriculture ministers, said in a joint statement they had affirmed their commitment not to adopt 'unnecessary obstacles' to trade, and affirmed their rights and obligations under WTO agreements. By Scott Squires and Luc Cohen BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Agriculture ministers from the G20 countries said on Saturday they were concerned about the increasing use of protectionist non-tariff trade measures inconsistent with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. The ministers from countries including the United States and China, in Buenos Aires for the G20 meeting of agriculture ministers, said in a joint statement they had affirmed their commitment not to adopt "unnecessary obstacles" to trade, and affirmed their rights and obligations under WTO agreements. The meeting came amid rising trade tensions that have rocked agricultural markets. China and other top U.S. trade partners have placed retaliatory tariffs on American farmers after the Trump administration put duties on Chinese goods as well as steel and aluminum from the European Union, Canada and Mexico. Last week, the Trump administration said it would pay up to $12 billion to help U.S. farmers weather the trade war. President Donald Trump and the chief of the European Commission struck a surprise deal on Wednesday that ended the risk of an immediate trade war between the two powers. The ministers did not specify which measures they were referring to in the statement. "Recognizing the important role of the WTO, we agree to continue the reform process of agricultural trade rules," the ministers of the G20, who together make up 60 percent of the world's agricultural land and 80 percent of food and agricultural commodities, wrote in the statement. After the meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, Trump said the European Union would buy "a lot" of U.S. soybeans. German Agriculture Minister Julia Kloeckner told Reuters that the trade relationship between the United States and the European Union was improving, but there was no guarantee the body would import the quantity of soybeans that Washington expects. (Reporting by Scott Squires and Luc Cohen; Editing by Diane Craft and Matthew Lewis) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. At least 25 people were injured after the roof of a stadium in Sri Ganganagar district in Rajasthan caved in on Sunday, media reports said. At least 25 people were injured after the roof of a stadium in Rajasthan's Sri Ganganagar district caved in on Sunday, media reports said. The mishap is said to have taken place a tractor competition at the venue. Dramatic visuals showed a portion of the stadium, where a large crowd of people was present, falling down suddenly. #BREAKING - The roof of the Sri Ganganagar stadium in Rajasthan collapsed during a tractor competition. At least 25 people are said to be injured, more casualties are expected pic.twitter.com/kR0jcaPsYL News18 (@CNNnews18) July 29, 2018 According to News18 Hindi, Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje has ordered an inquiry into the incident. The police and other authorities have reached the spot and rescue operations are on. Several other incidents of structures collapsing also occurred in the country on Sunday. Two of a family were killed and three others injured when a portion of their house collapsed due to heavy rainfall in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar, police said. In a similar incident, a six-year-old boy was killed and his sister was injured when the roof of their house collapsed due to heavy rains in Shamli district. With inputs from PTI Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and referred to the rape of girls and women at a shelter home, saying it is a story of the one who assures and the one who vows to give good governance. New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and referred to the rape of girls and women at a shelter home, saying it is a story of the one who assures and the one who vows to give good governance. "Story of ashwasan babu (the one who assures) and susashan babu (the one who vows good governance)... We have heard that the one elected (Modi) has merely given a slogan of beti bachao (save the girl child)," Rahul said in a tweet. The Congress leader also posted a news report about the rape incident. The 'beti bachao, beti padhao' (save the girl child, educate the girl child) is a slogan of the NDA government. Nitish Kumar is often referred to as 'sushasan babu', for his good governance plank. Congress and various other Opposition parties have accused Modi of only making false promises and giving assurances which are never fulfilled Bombay High Court has directed the Magarashtra government to appoint private doctors in civil hospitals to ensure good medical facilities reach the poor as well Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has asked the Maharashtra government to encourage private doctors to assist in civil hospitals across the state by way of charity so that poor patients can be benefited. The government's exercise of getting such doctors to serve at the Malegaon civil hospital (in Nashik district) should be followed as a 'model' in other districts, it said. A division bench of Justices NH Patil and GS Kulkarni was hearing a PIL last week filed by a resident of Malegaon town, alleging inaction on part of the public health department and the local civic body in filling vacancies for doctors and assistant medical staff at the Malegaon civic hospital for years. The petitioner, Rakesh Bhamare, cited replies to his Right to Information (RTI) queries to inform the court that authorities had failed to sanction and fill such vacancies since 2012. Earlier in July, Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni submitted a report to the court showing work carried out by medical experts attached to the Malegaon civil hospital and doctors practising privately in June 2018. As per the report, apart from three gynaecologists working with the Malegaon civil hospital, 12 gynaecologists and as many anaesthetists working with private hospitals have also contributed there. "The report is encouraging. It has informed that private doctors have shown their willingness to extend co-operation as and when required by the administration," the court said. "We appreciate the gesture. We further expect the administration to encourage private doctors to get them involved in such an exercise, which would be a step in the larger public interest," the bench said. "We expect the administration would continue the work in the same manner so that poor patients are benefited and this could be a model exercise to be followed in the rest of Maharashtra," the court said. The government should take necessary steps to protect all civil hospitals' premises in Maharashtra by erecting boundary walls, necessary fencing and by appointing appropriate agencies to safeguard them, it said. The court asked Kumbhakoni to discuss the issue with the state department's secretary concerned and take necessary steps. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese president Xi Jinping agree to maintain the 'momentum' in their ties during BRICS summit. The Chinese defence minister will visit India in August Johannesburg (South Africa): Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping have agreed that the Chinese defence minister will visit India in August as part of the efforts to maintain the "momentum" generated by their recent meetings. Modi, who was in Johannesburg to attend the BRICS Summit, met Xi for the third time in nearly three months on 26 July after their two-day informal summit in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late April and a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Qingdao, China in June. "It is important to maintain this momentum and for this we should, at our level, regularly review our relationship and give proper instructions whenever required," Modi told Xi in his opening remarks. He told the Chinese leader that their recent meetings have given a new strength to bilateral ties and also provided new opportunities for cooperation. President Xi said that the Chinese side is ready to work with the Indian side to carry forward the fresh impetus of bilateral relations since their informal meeting in Wuhan, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported. He called on the two sides to strengthen strategic communication, increase mutual trust, promote practical cooperation, as well as cultural and people-to-people exchanges, strengthen dialogue and properly manage differences, it said. The CBI has taken over the investigation into the alleged abuse of minor girls at a shelter home in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, an official said on Sunday. New Delhi: The CBI has taken over the investigation into the alleged abuse of minor girls at a shelter home in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, an official said on Sunday. The case relates to the mental, physical and sexual exploitation of the girls residing at Balika Grih, Muzaffarpur. The CBI has booked officers and employees of the shelter home. "It is alleged that officials/employees of girl's children home run by Seva Sankalp Evam Vikash Samiti used to mentality, physically and sexually exploit the children residing there," a CBI spokesperson said. The matter had come to light earlier this year when the Bihar Social Welfare Department filed an FIR based on a social audit of the shelter home conducted by a Mumbai-based institute. The audit report stated that many girls at the shelter home had complained of sexual abuse. A special investigation team was formed to probe the complaints. The NGO running the shelter home in Muzaffarpur was blacklisted and the girls were shifted to shelter homes in Patna and Madhubani. Women staff members of the shelter home and Brajesh Thakur, who ran the NGO, were among those who were arrested by the local police in connection with the case. Chattisgarh Police has recovered hi-tech weapons from the Maoists in Bastar. They suspect that the naxals have been smuggling weaponry through the North East Raipur: Maoists in Chhattisgarh may have been procuring sophisticated foreign weapons by smuggling them through the North East, the state police suspect. The police are investigating this aspect in the wake of the recovery of two hi-tech 'foreign made' firearms for the first time from Maoists in the Naxal hotbed of Bastar region. A rifle with a 'Made in Germany' mark was recovered on 2 May after a gun-battle with naxals in Sukma district, while a sub-machine gun of the US make was seized from them in Narayanpur district on 4 July, a police official said. "The possibility that Maoists got foreign-made weapons smuggled via the North East side cannot be ruled out as there were intelligence inputs in this connection," Deputy Inspector General of Police (anti-naxal operations) Sundarraj P told PTI. "An investigation is on to trace sources of these weapons, which were earlier never found with ultras in Bastar region," he said. Earlier in December 2011 and April 2014, two 7.65 mm automatic pistols with the 'Made in USA' mark were recovered after encounters with Maoists in Raoghat and Bhanupratappur areas of Kanker district, he said. The questioning of Maoists who were arrested and those who surrendered revealed that they were getting weapons and advanced devices, like direction finders and China-made binoculars, from abroad. But naxals had also looted such weapons and gadgets from security forces, the DIG said. Maoist spokesperson Abhay Devdas Nayak, who was arrested in June, revealed during his interrogation that naxals had bought arms and ammunition from abroad till 2011 before the death of their top leader Koteswara Rao alias Kishenji, he said. Kishenji was gunned down in an encounter with security forces in West Bengal in 2011. The DIG said Nayak told the police that the extremist groups like Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), from Sri Lanka and United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) had also earlier supplied weapons, including AK-47, Insas and M15 rifles, to Maoists. He said weapons generally reach ultras in Bastar from North Eastern states like Assam via Jungle Mahal (West Bengal) and Malkangiri (Odisha). But for the past couple of years, the supply chain of Maoists was choked by joint efforts of security forces from all these states, he added. "Even some documents recovered recently from naxal camps and hideouts revealed that they were running short of arms, ammunition as well as cadres," the official said. Since 2001, security forces have recovered about 2,600 weapons, including 92 automatic guns, from naxals after encounters and busting their camps, particularly from Bastar region. In the last five years, around 1,007 weapons, including some hi-tech ones, were seized from them, he said. A senior state intelligence branch official said though naxals mostly use country-made weapons looted from security forces during attacks, they have also tried to get arms smuggled through their links to foreign militants. The recovery of foreign made arms and ammunition from the extremists is an indication that they are getting weapons from external sources, he said. "As per the interrogation report of surrendered and arrested cadres, there are around 2,500 weapons in the possession of Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee - the deadliest formation of Maoists operating in south Chhattisgarh and parts of Telangana, Odisha and Maharashtra," he added. Professor Girish Kant Pandey, head of the department of defence studies in the Government Science College here, said some manufacturers of illegal weapons in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh make replicas of international models in which names of foreign gun makers are inscribed. He did not rule out the possibility of naxals possessing foreign-made weapons, but said only their top ranking cadres enjoy the privilege of carrying such firearms. "The foreign-made weapons recovered in the two recent encounters, wherein middle-rung cadres were killed, could be replicas of the international models. A thorough investigation into it will reveal the actual origin of these weapons," he said. Joe Faraldo won the $15,000 CKG Billings Eastern Region Mid-Season Final on Saturday, July 28 at Yonkers Raceway when guiding Tough Get Going to a gate-to-wire victory in 1:58.4. A win tonight and a catch drive on Thursday at Monticello [Raceway] where I finished second, heck, things are really looking up, Faraldo, an attorney in Queens, New York who has been a premiere supporter of amateur racing since its resurgence in the early 1980s. Faraldo, a Billings member from its inception and founder of the North American Amateur Drivers Association, was the National Amateur Driver of the Year in 2000 and a winner of 144 pari-mutuel races (two this year in Europe, also). He locked in Paul Minore and Wygant Prince until midstretch to score. We were on the engine all the way and Paul had Wygant Prnce on my back from the start, Faraldo said. When we rounded the final turn Annie [Stoebewith Uriel] was on the outside and I kept backing into her trying to keep Paul's horse from seeing daylight. But finally, in mid-stretch, Wygant Prince shook loose and came charging but my horse hung tough and we won it by neck. Winwood Scout grabbed third for David Glasser in the non-wagering contest Faraldo co-owns the Tough Get Going with the horse's trainer, Richie Banca. Meanwhile, later in the evening at Northfield Park in Ohio, a nine-horse field in the mid-west region of the Billings Series went to post and the odds-on favourite Utopia rallied late to overtake the pacesetter, Winback Charles M with Larry Farley, and go on to a one-and-a-half length victory in a 1:57 clocking. In that contest Farley sent Winback Chales M to the lead from the pole position, passing the first quarter in :28 seconds and still two lengths to the good as they passed the halfway point in :57.2. Driver Steve Oldford got Utopia in high gear and, with a three-deep move up the backside, they were two lengths off Winback Charles M as the field passed the third quarter in 1:27.2. Rounding the final turn, Farley's trotter braced for Oldford's charge but Utopia powered past and went on to victory. Winback Charkes M held on for second while Michelle Ruvola finished third with Better Call Saul. Unlike the Yonkers Billings the Northfield Park Billings was a wagering affair and Utopia paid $2.60 for win. The seven-year-old Mutineer gelding is owned by Oldford Racing LLC and trained by Terry Deters. For Oldford it was his fifth seasonal driving victory and 135th of his amateur career. Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil claimed that action had been taken only against one home shelter in Muzaffarpur, while the outrageous crime committed in remaining 14 have been conveniently ignored News Delhi: The Congress on Saturday demanded a Supreme Court-monitored CBI inquiry into the rape of 34 minor girls in a shelter home in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district. Calling him 'Kushashan babu', the Congress asked Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar if this was the good governance sushashan model of the Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal-United government in the state. "The opportunistic BJP-JDU alliance in Bihar has just completed one year in power. It is a year marred by misgovernance and anarchy," said AICC (All India Congress Committee) incharge of Bihar Shaktisinh Gohil. The Bihar government on Thursday announced a CBI probe into the case. The shelter home was sealed after the sexual abuse of girl inmates came to light during a social audit by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. The Congress also demanded that an FIR should be filed against 14 other such homes which were mentioned in the TISS report under "grave concerns". Gohil claimed that action had been taken only against one home shelter in Muzaffarpur, while the outrageous crime committed in remaining 14 have been conveniently ignored. "Bihar is in the grip of complete lawlessness as horrifying incidents have shaken public conscience," he said. He said that the family of arrested Child Protection Officer Ravi Roushan has made sensational claims that Social Development Minister Manju Verma's husband Chandrashekhar Verma regularly visited the shelter home. "This has raised several uncomfortable questions regarding the role of the Minister and her husband," the Congress leader said. "A government and a Chief Minister known for empowering women and girl child through bicycles, prohibition of liquor and reservation presides over a regime where girls in shelter homes are being sexually exploited." "All thanks to the anti-women mindset of BJP and its leadership," he added. The Congress leader also claimed that key accused Brajesh Thakur was getting support from BJP youth wing Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha leader Sudhanshu Pathak, who has demanded his release. "Instead of seeking justice for the victims and demanding punishment for the guilty, the BJP is brazening it out and is busy protecting the predators," said Gohil. Eight men in Haryana's Mewat have been booked for sodomising and torturing a pregnant goat. The men are absconding at present but, searches are underway Eight men in Haryanas Mewat have been booked for raping a pregnant goat, which succumbed to its injuries in less than 24 hours after the incident. The owner of the goat, Aslup Khan said that his goat went missing from its shed on 25 July at around 11 pm, according to a Hindustan Times report. Aslup and few villagers went looking for the goat when they encountered the men sexually assaulting the goat. Khan and the villagers thrashed three of the eight men who were in an inebriated state. Though a case has been filed against the eight men, they are all absconding. The goat died the next day. According to ANI, Khan registered a police complaint the same day at the Nagina police station. Three of the accused were identified as Savakar, Haroon and Jaffar, said Rajbir Singh, Senior Inspector (in-charge) of the police station. The other five are yet to be identified. He also said that the three of them had criminal records. Complaint registered against eight men in Haryana's Mewat district for allegedly gang-raping a pregnant goat, who later died Read @ANI story | https://t.co/XbDWnfUerl pic.twitter.com/gcsC1moRzz ANI Digital (@ani_digital) July 28, 2018 Hindustan Times quoting Dr Ramvir Bharadwaj said that the goat had died of brain haemorrhage. According to The Indian Express, PETA Indias Emergency Response Coordinator Meet Ashar claimed that the goat was tortured and abused after it was raped. People who are violent often start with animals as victims and then move on to humans. This case should, therefore, worry everyone, she said PETA India tweeted saying that it expects the accused men to be arrested soon. We worked with the police in filing FIR against the accused. They're expected to be arrested soon! Please join us in urging the govt. for stricter penalties, for those who abuse animals: https://t.co/Blz35IydzE https://t.co/YO9rg1z4Mz PETA India (@PetaIndia) July 28, 2018 The accused were booked under Sections 34, 377 and 429 IPC, Section 11(1)(a) and (1) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. Heavy rains in Patna led to a government hospital being flooded and fish being seen swimming inside its Intensive Care Unit (ICU), according to several media reports. Heavy rains in Patna led to a government hospital being flooded and fish swimming inside its Intensive Care Unit (ICU), according to several media reports. ANI tweeted visuals of fish in the waterlogged ICU of the Nalanda Medical College Hospital (NMCH) after a downpour in Bihar's capital. #WATCH: Fish seen in the water logged inside the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Nalanda Medical College Hospital (NMCH) in Patna following heavy rainfall in the city. #Biharpic.twitter.com/oRCnr6f0UJ ANI (@ANI) July 29, 2018 News18 reported that doctors at the hospital were forced to tend to patients in knee-deep water and several attendants were forced to spend the night standing as dirty water flooded the wards and corridors of the hospital. A staff member said they were facing difficulties in attending to patients and there was also a fear of being electrocuted. She added that vital machines had been switched off to avoid any untoward incident. According to a report in Financial Express, Patna has been experiencing heavy rain over the weekend. A major part of the Bailey Road in Patna caved in at an under construction site. This incident took place following waterlogging due to drain blockage and heavy rainfall, according to the report. Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday assured partial withdrawal of police cases filed against the Maratha youths for vandalising properties during recent protests for the quota demand. Mumbai: Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday assured partial withdrawal of police cases filed against the Maratha youths for vandalising properties during recent protests for the quota demand. "However, the criminal charges like assaulting police officials will not be withdrawn," the chief minister told reporters at Sahyadri Guest House. The announcement came after Fadnavis held a meeting with BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Narayan Rane and his MLA son Nitesh Rane, along with some leaders of the Maratha community who are pro-reservation. However, the names of the pro-reservation groups were not revealed by the state government. These groups had organised a bandh in Mumbai region and some parts of Maharashtra last week which had turned violent, with the incidents of arson reported from various cities. Sunday's meeting was held in the wake of the Maratha bodies demanding withdrawal of the criminal cases registered against the protesters who had organised the shutdowns. "The criminal charges involving attacks on police will not be withdrawn but others will be taken back. The community needs to resort to peace," the chief minister said. When asked about the date on which the State Backward Class Commission will submit its report to the government, Fadnavis said, "The report will be submitted within a month. Once it is received, we will discuss in the special session of the state legislature and take further action". He said the BJP government is supporting the expectations of the Maratha community on quota demand. "We will also ensure that no injustice is done (to Marathas) during the ongoing mega recruitment drive of the state government," the chief minister said. The commission is currently conducting a survey on the socio-economic backwardness of the Marathas who have been demanding 16 percent reservation in government jobs and education. Under the recruitment drive, the government has advertised 72,000 posts to be filled up for various departments. Meanwhile, the Maratha leaders who have been steering the quota stir for the last two years have distanced themselves from Sunday's meeting. "None of us who participated in the bandh was present at the meeting with the chief minister. Our primary demand is of reservation in education and government jobs, and we don't want to lose our focus from it," said Virendra Pawar, one of the leaders of the Maratha Kranti Morcha (MKM), an umbrella organisation of various pro-quota groups. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena and Congress have called for separate meetings in Mumbai tomorrow to discuss the issues related to Maratha reservation. The Maratha community has been demanding quota under the OBC category. The community had held violent protests across the state last week for this demand. The Delhi High Court has slammed Delhi Police for forcibly separating an interfaith couple despite knowing well that the Muslim woman is above 21 years and had married the Hindu man of her own free will New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has slammed Delhi Police for forcibly separating an interfaith couple despite knowing well that the Muslim woman is above 21 years and had married the Hindu man of her own free will. A bench of Justice S Muralidhar and Justice Vinod Goel has sought an explanation from Delhi Police over allegations that they kept the husband in the police lock-up from 3 to 5 July without presenting him in any court. The court order came while hearing a habeas corpus filed by the man who was seeking the wife's whereabouts. The couple got married in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, on 28 June, 2018, and then started residing at the man's residence at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus in New Delhi. On 3 July, at around 8 pm, policemen accompanied by JNU security personnel and others in civilian clothes forcibly took away the woman and handed over the man to police, who was taken to Loni police station in Ghaziabad and kept in the lock-up for three days. The man alleged that he was abused and beaten in custody and threatened he would be implicated in a false case of rape if he tried to reunite with his wife. The police action came after a complaint was lodged at Loni police station by the woman's brother that his sister was missing. The court has asked the police to explain how it proceeded to act on the complaint received from the woman's brother despite knowing that she was an adult and entitled to take her own decisions. The bench met the young woman in the chamber. She told the judges that she had married the man of her own choice and the marriage was registered at Ghaziabad. To ensure that there was no untoward or unpleasant incident hereafter, the court has directed the police to provide security to the couple as well as their family and listed the matter for further hearing on 7 August. The bench spoke to the young woman's mother and explained to her that although she may have reservations about her daughter's marriage to someone from a different religion, the latter is entitled to make her choices as she was an adult. The girl's mother told the court that it would be up to her daughter to decide what she wanted to do with her life. As the young woman wished to return to her husband, the bench gave her the permission to unite with her husband who was also present in the courtroom. A country-made petrol bomb was hurled outside AMMK chief TTV Dhinakaran's house in Chennai on Sunday A country-made petrol bomb was hurled outside Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) chief TTV Dhinakarans residence in Chennai on Sunday, according to various media reports. ANI reported that the bomb was hurled at Dhinakarans car. The AMMK leader, however, was not present at the location and was unharmed, but his driver and personal photographer are reported to have been injured in the incident. They have been taken to Malar Hospital in Chennai. A News18 report said that the person behind the attack was an unidentified miscreant. #BREAKING -- Petrol bomb hurled at a car parked outside TTV Dinakaran's residence, no casualties reported | @nimumurali with more details pic.twitter.com/w15f3WbiBz News18 (@CNNnews18) July 29, 2018 Times Now, however reported that the person responsible for the attack was an AMMK party member who was sacked by Dhinakaran few days ago. It's said that the party member attacked Dhinakarans car out of anger. Reports also say that the police arrived at the scene and were conducting investigations about the attack. Dhinakaran began his political journey as the treasurer of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) party. He is the nephew of jailed AIADMK leader VK Sasikala. He later went on to start AMMK party. Road mishap in Telangana's Nalgonda district kills six members of a family Hyderabad: A weekend picnic trip turned tragic when six members of a family died and four others were injured as their car was involved in a road accident in Nalgonda district of Telangana early on Sunday, police said. The accident occurred when the 'speeding' multi utility vehicle rammed into a compound wall of a bus shelter near Nasarapally after its driver lost control while on the way to Nagarjun Sagar dam from Hyderabad on a picnic. There were ten occupants in the vehicle which was allegedly driven in a rash manner, police said. Six members of a family, including two women and a five-year-old boy, died in the mishap, Deputy Superintendent of Police Ravi Kumar told PTI. Four injured people had been hospitalised. The MUV was among the three vehicles in which around 30 people from here were travelling to the picnic spot. According to police, the girl raped and murdered in Rajasthan's Jhalawar went missing on Friday when we was playing outdoor. Her parents approached the police Saturday morning and registered a complaint when she did not return home. A seven-year-old girl was raped and strangled to death in Rajasthan's Jhalawar district on Friday. Her body was found 200 metres away from her house in a field Saturday evening. According to police, the girl went missing on Friday when she was playing outdoor. Her parents approached the police Saturday morning and registered a complaint when she did not return home. Police found her body 200 metres from her home later in the evening, NDTV reported. The post-mortem revealed that was raped. ANI quoted Superintendent of Police (SP) Anand Sharma as saying, "The post-mortem has been done. It has been established that she was raped and then strangled. We have called a forensic team, a cyber expert, and a dog squad from Kota. We are trying to solve the case as soon as possible and arrest the culprit". "She had a roti at around 6 in the evening and stepped out to play. My elder daughter went back inside. Later, when she went out, she couldn't find her (the 7-year-old)," the girl's father said. According to India Today, in five months this was the second incident reported from Jhalawar. In February 2018, a six-year-girl, who had gone missing from outside her home, was found raped and murdered in an agricultural field. Last week, a 65-year-old retired railways employee, allegedly molested a teenage girl in Jhalawar district. Congress president Sachin Pilot accused the Vasundhara Raje government of being negligent. "Cases of rape are on the rise due to negligence of the government. Criminals are getting a conducive environment in the state due to the poor law and order situation," he said in a statement. Two News18 journalists were attacked in Punjab's Jalalabad while attempting to report on the illegal mining mafia, News18 reported. Two News18 journalists were attacked in Punjab's Jalalabad while reporting on the illegal mining mafia, the channel reported. The reporters, Sandeep Kumar and Neeraj Bali, suffered head injuries after being accosted by a mob of around 100 to 200 people, shoved into a room and thrashed. Their video equipment was damaged and bricks were thrown at them, News18 reported. The police are on the spot. The team went to the civil hospital but were cautioned that if they didn't have police protection, the mining mafia would turn up. The police did not respond for 30 to 40 minutes to the reporters' phone calls and only took action after the reporters went to the deputy superintendent of police's office and lodged a complaint, according to the report. Senior Superintendent of Police Vineet Khurana, speaking to News18 said, "I got information about 15 to 20 minutes ago. I've sent my station house officer and the deputy superintendent of police to the spot. The station house officer is verifying all facts." A recent addition to the fillies and mares ranks at Century Downs is living up to her name thus far as JL Wonder Woman appears to be a contender to the throne of Tajmeallover. After a runner-up effort in her local debut last week, JL Wonder Woman dominated her seven rivals en route to her first win in the $9,000 Fillies & Mares Open at Century Downs. Driver Anthony Succarotte angled JL Wonder Woman to the lead from post four, clearing before opening :28.2 quarter. An unstressed second quarter of :30.1 certainly helped the cause as American Passion (Brandon Campbell) and favoured Tajmeallover (J.F. Gagne), who was assigned the outermost post in the field, commenced a first-over voyage. JL Wonder Woman accelerated down the backside, tripping the third timer in 1:26.2 and opened up a four-length lead on the field turning for home. Succarotte allowed JL Wonder Woman to comfortably pace home through a :27.4 final quarter to stop the clock in a sharp 1:54.1. Lydi Lula Belle (Paul Davies) darted through horses for place honours with pocket-riding Thats It (Rod Hennessy) completing the triactor. Owned by trainer Jim Marino of Surrey, B.C., JL Wonder Woman (Feelin Friskie - One Wild Woman) has a win and a second in two races since moving west from the Delaware-Maryland circuit. Century's handle for the Saturday card topped $140,000, its highest Saturday of the meet thus far. For the results from Saturday's card of harness racing at Century Downs, click the following link: Saturday Results - Century Downs. Delhi's deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia visited the Yamuna belt and urged the people to evacuate the area before floods hit New Delhi: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Sunday took stock of the ongoing evacuation work in the low-lying areas of the city, a day after the water level of the Yamuna river breached the danger mark. The water level reached 205.30 metres at 7 pm on Saturday, prompting authorities to rescue people from the low-lying areas, even as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal held an emergency meeting with top officials of his government. "Sisodia took stock of the ongoing evacuation work in the low-lying areas around Akshardham and Pandav Nagar," an official said. In a meeting here, Kejriwal had said that all departments have been put on high alert. "Haryana has released 5 lakh cusec water. Called an emergency meeting to discuss the situation. This water likely to reach Del by tomorrow evening. Wherever administration evacuating people, they arerequested to cooperate. All departments put on high alert. For any flood related emergency, control room no is 1077 (sic)," he had tweeted on Saturday. The Yamuna water level at the Hathinikund barrage had crossed the danger mark of 90,000 cusec and till 7 pm on Saturday, 5,63,186 cusec of water was released, an official had said. Sisodia met the people living in the vicinity of the river and urged them to move to safer places, cautioning about the rising level of the Yamuna river. Many people have started moving to higher planes, another official said. An alert was sounded on Saturday by the Delhi government after the water level of the Yamuna river crossed the danger mark. "All executive engineers/sector officers are directed to keep in close contact with the control room in relation to the discharge, water level at the Old Railway Bridge and the advisory or forecast from the Central Water Commission/MeT, and requested to take appropriate measures/steps accordingly to avoid flood-like situation," an advisory from the authorities said. National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said that Congress will be the 'backbone' for Opposition parties to oust BJP from the Centre, with Rahul Gandhi at the forefromt Kolkata: National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah said the Congress has to be the "backbone" of the opposition unity with its chief Rahul Gandhi at the forefront of the campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls to oust the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from power at the Centre. This, however, does not minimise the responsibility of regional leaders who are strong in their own states, Abdullah told PTI in Kolkata in an interview. "The Congress has to be the backbone as the lion's share of seats of the opposition in one particular party will have to be from it as there are a number of states where there will be direct contest between the Congress and the BJP," he said. "At the end of the day to form a government at the Centre you need 272 seats, which the regional outfits are not going to get. You will be looking towards the Congress to come close to the 100-seat mark, if not cross it to form a non-BJP government," he said. Abdullah met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee here on Friday and held talks on the probable opposition front. Efforts to cobble up an opposition front is gaining momentum, but a section of leaders of regional parties are not keen on letting the Congress lead it and are propagating a non-BJP and non-Congress front. On the issue of Rahul Gandhi being the face of the opposition, Abdullah said he being the president of the single largest opposition party was expected to be at the forefront of the election campaign. "Obviously, one will expect Rahul Gandhi to be at the forefront of leading the election campaign in 2019 but at the same time Sonia Gandhi is the leader of the UPA. Therefore to the best possible extent one will hope Sonia Gandhi will also be part of the campaign," he said. Refuting aspersions on Rahul Gandhi's leadership capabilities, Abdullah cited the example of Congress' role in forming the government in Karnataka and said he had shown a lot of maturity on how the party was orienting itself. "He is president of the Congress party. If anybody has any doubt about his leadership quality then it has to be from his party. His party has absolutely no problem with him, then why should anybody else have objections?" Abdullah said. "Rahul Gandhi has shown a lot of maturity on how the Congress is orienting. He is a leader in his own right and he has every right to be there," the NC leader said. He, however, maintained that the issue of the "face of opposition" is being brought up to divide the opposition unity. "Individual regional parties are strong in their own states." Mamata Banerjee will lead the fight against the BJP in West Bengal, while in Bihar, the anti-BJP face will be that of Lalu Prasad (Rashtriya Janata Dal) supported by the Congress. In Uttar Pradesh, the faces will be Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party) and Mayawati (Bahujan Samaj Party) and in Tamil Nadu, it will be Karunanidhi (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and his son MK Stalin, he said. "The Congress by virtue of its pan-India presence will have greater responsibility, but that's not to minimise the responsibility of other (regional) leaders. They would play a vital role. It's very important that we fight tactfully and tactically and this is the way forward," he said. Abdullah, who was in the city to take part in 'Think Federal Conclave', said NC was very much a part of the grouping of regional parties opposed to the BJP. "I would like them (grouping) to have clear a agenda regarding all the issues that matter to the country ranging from creation of jobs, demonetisation, the way economy has been handled. And obviously they have to look at both facets of Jammu and Kashmir. One is Pakistan as our (India) relations with it impact the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and secondly, internally all the problems that have happened in the state after 2014 should be addressed by it," he said. Speaking on the present situation in Kashmir, Abdullah said the dismissal of the Mehbooba Mufti government by the Centre showed how the state was "mishandled" since 2015. "The present situation in the valley is not at all conducive for holding elections," he said. Listing steps that needed to be taken to restore peace in Kashmir, he said the alleged efforts of horse trading of People's Democratic Party MLAs should immediately stop. "The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly needs to be dissolved rather than simply suspended. Then the governor needs to work towards reducing the levels of violence so that some semblance of peace is restored. Speaking on the prevailing situation in the country, he said attempts were being made to vitiate the atmosphere of communal harmony. The way the entire community, particularly the Muslim community, was sought to be vilified is a matter of "grave concern," he said, adding that when these were stray voices from the people who didn't matter it was understandable to an extent. "But now you have elected representatives from the ruling party (BJP) who are espousing very strong anti-Muslim sentiments and trying to spread that in the country, which is a matter of grave concern," Abdullah said. Smelling a BJP-RSS hand in Delhi's St Stephens College withdrawing an invitation to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress on Saturday said she cannot be silenced and would go ahead with her trip to the national capital. Kolkata: Smelling a BJP-RSS hand in Delhi's St Stephens College withdrawing an invitation to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress on Saturday said she cannot be silenced and would go ahead with her trip to the national capital. "Let them keep trying, she cannot be silenced. The Bengal CM's trip to Delhi is on schedule," said a senior Trinamool Congress MP. Banerjee was earlier slated to address students of the prestigious college on 1 August. The MP referred to two recent instances where Banerjee had to cancel her scheduled visits. Last month, Banerjee had to call off her scheduled trip to Chicago in August to attend the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda's historic speech at the Parliament of World's Religions after the organisers wrote to her that the event has been cancelled due to "unforeseen difficulties" and "demise of a monk". Days later, Banerjee had to abandon her plans for an eight-day tour to China at the last moment as the scheduled political meetings "at the appropriate level" under the Exchange Programme between the two countries were not confirmed. "First, the Vivekananda event in Chicago. Then her China visit and now St Stephens! Mamata Banerjee is giving the BJP-RSS sleepless nights," the MP said. He informed that Banerjee would go to Delhi to be the chief guest at the "Love your Neighbour" conference organised by India's largest Christian body, The Catholic Bishops Conference of India, on 31 July. However, a teacher of St Stephens has been quoted in a section of the media as saying that the invite had to be withdrawn due to protocol issues. Agence France-Presse Japanese astronaut Norishige Kanai came back to earth last month but is still dreaming of space, especially after the discovery of an underground lake brought mankind one step closer to unravelling the mystery of life on Mars. "I was so excited about the news," the 41-year-old doctor told AFP in an interview on Friday, calling it "a major discovery that inspires dreams". International astronomers announced on Wednesday they had detected the largest body of liquid water ever found on the Red Planet, a breakthrough that may hold clues to whether life has ever formed on Mars or even exists today. Kanai, who spent 168 days on the International Space Station, is firmly convinced that we're not alone in the universe and there is life out there. "I believe there is," he said. "In the vast universe, anything could be possible." "I have high hopes that finding extraterrestrial life forms could open a new page in learning." The soft-spoken spaceman, nicknamed "Nemo" for his background as a diving medical officer in Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force, blasted into space for the first time in December. Growing pains Following in the footsteps of other media-savvy astronauts, Kanai tweeted about his stay at the space station in Japanese. But his social media foray came with some growing pains: he was forced to apologise and issue a correction after mistakenly claiming he had grown by nine centimetres just weeks after he arrived. When a colleague suggested the growth was unlikely, despite the fact that astronauts' spines do extend in the zero-gravity environment of space, Norishige had himself remeasured. It turned out a mix-up over centimetres and inches was to blame, and he said Friday that he had in fact grown by just two to three centimetres during his stay. He has been shrinking since he arrived back on Earth on 3 June, but is still one centimetre taller, he said. "It's interesting to see how long it will take to get back to my original height." Kanai, whose Twitter profile depicts him in cartoon form with a broad grin, concedes he wasn't always the likeliest candidate to join Japan's space agency JAXA, though he is now the agency's youngest astronaut. He was a "reserved, cautious" boy, rather than adventurous. "I was a granny's boy," he said. "When she was sewing, we did it together. I had a rather 'girlie' childhood." But one of the skills he picked up as a child turned out to have a surprising application during the strict JAXA screening process. In the final selection stage, 10 candidates spend a week in a capsule performing various tasks including folding paper cranes, which the agency says tests patience and steadiness under stress. Luckily Kanai was a dab hand at origami from his childhood. Space for all "I don't know if it gave me an advantage... but I knew how to do it. I'm dexterous and like to do repetitive small tasks. That task was easy for me," he said. Even as he spoke, he deftly folded a piece of origami paper into a crane, without so much as leaning on a table for support. He so enjoyed making small cranes that he folded more than 100 of them in the test capsule. While Kanai now belongs to an elite group of astronaut alumni, he is eager to see space become more accessible. "I think space is not only for astronauts and space-related corporations but is for everyone," he said. "I welcome the idea of 'enjoyable' space or interesting ideas of private companies to use space." He doesn't yet know if he'll be chosen for new missions, and admits that he had mixed emotions as he headed back to Earth last month. "I felt sorry that it was ending. But I was also happy that I was finally going back to Japan, because six months is a long time. "I had complex, half-happy, half-sad feelings." tech2 News Staff A team of Russian scientists, earlier this month announced, in the journal Doklady Biological Sciences, that they have discovered ancient nematode worms. The worms are said to be capable of resurrecting themselves after being buried in permafrost for at least 32,000 years. If this discovery turns out to be legitimate it would be the longest-surviving return that has never been seen before in a complex, multi-celled organism. This might even dwarf the tardigrade they are also well known for surviving extreme conditions. According to a report in Gizmodo, the worms were taken out from the frozen soil in Kolyma River Lowlands in northeastern Siberia. More than 300 samples of frozen soil were pulled out, out of which 2 samples held the worms. One of them belonging to the genus Panagrolaimus were from a buried squirrel burrow which dated back 32,000 years and the other from genus Plexus were from a glacier dating back 40,000 years. The intact nematodes were then isolated and over the next few weeks, the researchers spotted flickers of life. These samples were kept at 20 degrees Celsius (68 Fahrenheit) and were left in a petri dish surrounded by food. The worms ate the food and even developed new family members. These new, cloned family members were then cultured separately and they too thrived. Contamination of the worms can't be ruled out, but the researchers say that they maintained strict sterility procedures. Also, the researchers argue that it is impossible for the new-age nematodes to wriggle their way 100 feet and 15 feet down where the ice samples were buried. Even though this might not be the first time that organisms have been revived. According to the report in Science Alert scientists have pulled out spores from Bacillus bacteria which were hidden inside 250 million-year-old salt crystals and bring them back to life. But nothing has previously been seen on a scale quite like this. There has been no indication yet of these worms presenting any danger to the people. But the melting of permafrost could release pathogens which have been locked up in such cold environments for tens of thousands of years. Let's just hope that the melting of Siberia's ice gives us only these napping worms to worry about. tech2 News Staff He is two months old. He is hungry and scared. He is wondering when his mother is coming back. Gunshot echoes. Maybe she is not. And then, an ominous message that flashes across the TV screen, "Just 1411 left". Back in 2010, the distressed furry little face of Stripey, the tiger cub in Aircel's famous ad campaign "Save Our Tigers" brought the entire nation together. Eight years on, that crisis seems to have been averted. The concentrated efforts of independent activists, government policies, amendments to the Wild Life Protection Act, and rising awareness have helped push the number of the wild cats to 2,226 in 2014, when the last tiger census was held. Support from all quarters From politicians to conservationists, scores of people took to social media on Sunday to create awareness on tiger conservation. Here are a few: On #InternationalTigerDay let us unite to show our respect to the majestic species by renewing our resolve to conserve and protect its habitat and let it flourish pic.twitter.com/82BLCHBRyC Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) July 29, 2018 We should be committed to conserve #Tigers n every possible step must be taken to protect them to protect entire ecosystem... #InternationalTigerDay #GlobalTigerDay Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) July 29, 2018 #InternationalTigerDay, take a stand and spread the message to protect these endangered species and assist in maintaining ecological integrity. One of my SandArt at Puri Beach. pic.twitter.com/TqSFK6zI1x Sudarsan Pattnaik (@sudarsansand) July 29, 2018 On #InternationalTigerDay let's take pledge to save our national animal. This majestic creature is beautiful. Stop deforestation, hunting and poaching to stop the extinction of Tiger. pic.twitter.com/FQtxcVMAga Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) July 29, 2018 #InternationalTigerDay -India is one of those few countries, where Tigers have their natural habitat, with 70% of the global population. Tigers are our national heritage & their protection our responsibility towards the world & future generations. @moefcc, @PIB_India, @PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/vMzjOyAvAg Dr. Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) July 29, 2018 Healthy stats This International Tiger Day on Sunday, India can take solace in the fact that it remains the nation with largest tiger population. While the number is something to be proud of, experts believe issues such as poaching, receding forest areas and development projects infringing on tiger habitat need to be tackled. If not, we are looking at a bleak future for India's national animal. Leading wildlife conservationist Prerna Singh Bindra cites several infrastructure projects that will cut through tiger corridors and habitats to stress that the future of the big cat is uncertain if we continue to violate their habitat. "Unless tigers have inviolate habitats where they can breed and flourish and there are corridors linking these breeding populations, we are isolating tigers in very small reserves which is fatal in the long run," Bindra said. "What is worrying is that even the best of tiger habitats and reserves are not spared," she said, adding that highways and railway lines are being expanded in the corridor connecting Kanha and Pench tiger reserves and a railway line through Melghat tiger reserves is being expanded. Unless we factor in tiger concerns in our development agenda, unless we hold tiger habitats and the critical tiger corridors as sacrosanct we are looking at a bleak future, Bindra said. Another controversial decision by the government has been to sanction the Ken-Betwa river linking project, which when realised will submerge over 100 square kilometres of the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh. There are also several lessons to learn from outside India. In 2017, a viral video that showed Siberian tigers chasing also had a dark side, as was pointed out by several reports. The drone was reportedly part of the tigers keepers plans to keep the animals fit. But the funny videos wasn't amusing for very long, as National Geographic pointed out. The country had only an estimated seven tigers in the wild left, and the animals in the video were clearly obese as a result of overfeeding. A tiger farm is a facility that breeds tigers and other big cats. While alive, the tigers attract tourists who come to gawk at the animals and take picures. Tigers are reportedly later slaughtered for luxury and medicinal markets. They may also be promoted as zoos or sanctuaries, such as Thailands infamous Tiger Temple, a popular tourist destination that was raided by authorities in 2016 on the suspicion of tiger trafficking, the report said. Decreasing forest cover in India India has one of the lowest per capita forest areas in the world. Forests as carbon sinks are deemed to be a major mean of controlling climate change. Depletion of forests is responsible for reduction of tiger habitats. I believe that forest and tiger conservation begins from grassroots, literally and metaphorically, said tiger activist Ajay Dubey. As forest lands fall to development projects, habitable land for animals that make for the tiger's food base are also reduced. According to YV Jhala, senior wildlife scientist at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the country has enough forest area for the tigers to strive but the problem is the lack of food base. We have 3,00,000 sq kilometres of forest tiger area and tigers are currently found in 90,000 sq kilometres. So there's enough forest area out there for increasing the number of tigers. Unfortunately, this entire forest area doesn't have the prey base. It's not only about protecting the tiger but also protecting its food source, he explained. He added that the tiger population has scope to increase if the prey base is restored. The local communities that live in and around these areas eat these animals, there is poaching there. Of course, it is illegal but a ban is very difficult to enforce And if the tigers live there they will start feeding on the cattle and that gives rise to conflict, Jhala said. The challenge of poaching Another issue that has hindered tiger conservation in India and globally is poaching, which, according to Jhala and Bindra, will persist as long as there is an illegal market for tiger body parts. The tiger population in India has been increasing for last decade, that can only happen if tiger birth rate exceeds the poaching rate. So as long as that is happening, the tiger population will remain healthy in the country. We need to control poaching, you cannot stop poaching, Jhala said. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has launched the M-STrIPES (Monitoring System for Tigers - Intensive Protection and Ecological Status), a mobile monitoring system for forest guards. Jhala said improving patrolling and doing it specifically in areas vulnerable to poaching can bring the crime rate down. As long as the frontlines of tiger protection, the forest guards, are not empowered with latest technology, better training and manpower, poaching will remain a threat to the animal, say Bindra and Dubey. There is acute shortage in our frontline forest staff, and they are also not well-equipped or trained in intelligence and other policing skills for their task. They do a tough job in the worst of conditions, but we fail to appreciate it. The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau is not empowered enough to tackle the gravity and scale of wildlife crime," Bindra said. Earlier this year, NTCA and WII kicked off tiger census 2018 with better technology and more cameras. Considering the trend of the last 10 years, it is expected that the report, likely to be released in 2019, will show a rise in numbers. However, given the many challenges, we have a long way to go before Stripey and his ilk have a home to call their own without fearing for his or his mother's life. Take this quiz to test your knowledge on issues around tigers: With inputs from PTI The quake hit Indonesia's Lombok island early in the morning when many people were still sleeping. Around 40 people were injured and many fled into open fields away from collapsed buildings Sembalun: A powerful 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck the popular tourist destination of Lombok in Indonesia on Sunday, killing 10 people and damaging many buildings, authorities said. The quake hit Lombok island early in the morning when many people were still sleeping. Around 40 people were injured and many fled into open fields away from collapsed buildings. We jumped out of our beds to avoid anything falling on our heads, said Jean-Paul Volckaert who was woken by the quake while sleeping in the Puncak Hotel near Senggigi on Lombok. Ive been walking around but so far there is no damage. We were very surprised as the water in the pools was swaying like a wild sea. There were waves in the pools but only for 20 to 30 seconds, he told Reuters via telephone. The people in the villages may have damages. Its still early morning here," he said. "The quake was centered 50 km (31 miles) northeast of the city of Mataram on the northern part of Lombok island," the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. A Malaysian tourist visiting the popular trekking destination of Mount Rinjani on Lombok was among those killed, according to East Lombok police M. Eka Fathurrahman. Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the disaster mitigation agency spokesman, posted on Twitter pictures of houses with collapsed roofs and walls. People are gathering on the streets and empty fields to avoid collapsing buildings, he said. The main focus now is evacuation and rescue. Some of the injured are still being treated at clinics," he added. "Around 66 quakes were recorded after the initial 6.4 magnitude tremor, with the largest aftershock recorded at 5.7 magnitude," said the disaster mitigation agency. The major quake was felt on the neighboring island of Bali, Indonesias top tourist destination. The quake forced authorities to close the Mount Rinjani national park. Rinjani mountain climbing is closed temporarily because there are indication of landslide around the mountain, Nugroho, said in a statement. The earthquake struck at 6.47 am on Sunday (2247 GMT on Saturday) and was only 4.35 miles deep (7 km), a shallow depth that would have amplified its effect. A magnitude 6.4 earthquake is considered strong and is capable of causing severe damage. The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), the European quake agency, put the magnitude at 6.5. The earthquake was on land and did not trigger any waves or tsunami. Lombok is the next island east of Bali. Quakes are common in Indonesia, which is located on the seismically active Ring of Fire that surrounds the shores of the Pacific Ocean. The central headquarters of the Khaplang faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) in Myanmars Sagaing division remains intact despite a confrontation with the Myanmar Army in which no casualties were reported The central headquarters of the Khaplang faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) in Myanmars Sagaing division remain intact despite a confrontation with the Myanmar Army. No casualties were reported in the incident. NSCN(K) functionaries said the 'altercation' with the Myanmar Army was triggered over a checkpost of the rebel group near a Buddhist monastery at Taga in Hukwang Valley where its central headquarters is located. Around 100 personnel from the army are stationed near the monastery and they wanted the outpost to be dismantled. NSCN(K) was initially reluctant but later decided to withdraw. There was no exchange of fire, said a middle-rung cadre stationed at the border village of Longwa in Nagalands Mon district. Media reports claiming an operation has been launched by the Myanmar Army against the rebel camps and training facilities in Taga raised eyebrows as the ties between the Naga and Tatmadaw (Myanmars armed forces) have been cordialbarring a few exceptionssince an informal agreement was reached between them in 2001. This was later converted into a written accord on 9 April, 2012, with Naga delegates from Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh also attending the function held at Hkamti. This event was organised only two months after this correspondent visited Taga to interview former NSCN(K) chairman SS Khaplang and other rebel leaders. However, there was no Buddhist monastery in Taga, a sparsely populated area comprising a few villages inhabited by Pangmi Nagas. Located about 15 kilometres from the Chindwin river, it is also home to other separatist groups from the North East such as the United Liberation Front of Assam, People's Liberation Army, United National Liberation Front, People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak and others that have joined hands with NSCN(K). Isak Sumi, a Yangon-based spokesperson of NSCN(K), said on Facebook that the 'stand-off between the Myanmar Army and the Naga Army has temporarily been resolved without untoward incident, but the Naga Army had to make a tactical withdrawal.' His statement was misinterpreted to mean that the Myanmar Army launched a crackdown against the camps in deference to the continuous pleas from the Indian government to dismantle these facilities. Though it is not precisely known if NSCN(K) chairman Khango Konyak has shifted from the headquarters, what appears certain is the presence of many mid-rung leaders from all the outfits in Taga currently. The camp belongs to eight groups from Assam and Manipur and is within a radius of 10 kilometres from the NSCN(K) headquarters and only consists of only a few huts. Incident linked to Panglong Peace Conference? NSCN(K) delegates were invited as observers to attend the third session of the 21st-Century Panglong Peace Conference held between 11 and 16 July, 2018, in Naypyidaw. The conclave has been convened by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi to arrive at a consensus toward a peace accord that would end decades of conflict with ethnic armed organisations. The Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, envisaged as a foundation-stone for the peace process, was inked between the government and eight ethnic armed groups in 2015. However, most of the powerful groups have continued to oppose the agreement. NSCN(K) has stuck to its demand of sovereignty, although the countrys constitution has offered a Naga Self-Administered Zone covering the townships of Lahe, Leshi and Nanyun in Sagaing Division. After the conference, government spokesperson Zaw Htay was quoted by the media as saying that the NSCN(K) would not be allowed to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement because of its demand for an independent Naga homeland which extends to both sides of the Indo-Myanmar border. Several NSCN(K) cadres are of the firm opinion that the confrontation at Taga was also a stern message about Naypyidaws displeasure over the Nagas rigid stance at the conference. They (Myanmar government) are irked with the Nagas because the NSCN(K) declared in categorical terms that signing the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement could be a possibility only after the boundary issue of the Naga homeland was resolved, said Athong Makury, the Myanmar-based president of Council for Naga Affairs. Why is Myanmar Army reluctant to act against rebels? All the rebel camps in Sagaing Division can be divided into two cateogories: In the northern zone contiguous to Nagaland and the eastern districts of Arunachal Pradesh and the camps in the south adjacent to the border districts of Manipur. The northern zone, which is under the control of NSCN(K), is one of the most undeveloped regions in Myanmar smilar to the Chin State where facilities such as roads, electricity, schools and hospitals are yet to be established. In this region, there are four zones where the rebel camps are located in close proximity to each other and the nearest is the general headquarters across Chanmu in Nagalands Mon. The 2012 pact has benefitted both the NSCN(K) and the Myanmar Army. The countrys flag is now seen fluttering in several Naga villages, which was unthinkable a decade ago. Myanmarese teachers have also begun teaching the language to Naga children in some villages in makeshift classrooms. The end of hostilities meant the Myanmar Army has been able to divert its troops to the conflict zones in Kachin and Shan States where a full scale battle is still on with ethnic rebel groups. This apart, the army has also stationed a large chunk of its personnel in Rakhine State which witnessed severe violence last year. Under such conditions, the Myanmar Army is unlikely to wage war immediately against the Nagas in spite of repeated requests from New Delhi. NSCN(K) can muster the support of the other rebel outfits in a short span: Which explains why the camps are located in close vicinity of each other. On some occasions earlier, camps of Manipuri groups raided by the Myanmar Army resurfaced within a few weeks. One such incident occurred on 17 October, 2011, when a UNLF camp was burnt in Taga by the army but there were no casualties. Imran Khan's polarising election campaign has resulted in the creation of bad blood in Pakistan, and China is nervous that the spillover could affect its grand CPEC project Bollywood movies are popular in China. Aamir Khan flicks even more so. That could explain why Chinese media has been crying "all is well" and advising Imran Khan, Pakistan PM-designate, to ignore what "western media" is saying on China-Pakistan ties. To make up for its lack of political legitimacy, authoritarian regimes such as China often run a strategy of misinformation, propaganda and denial to control flow of information and retain command. For instance, when a vaccine scandal recently broke out in China as it emerged that millions of babies were administered 'faulty' vaccines, authorities moved quickly to censor references to the controversy on social media and employed state-controlled media to suggest that the issue was "overblown". We should therefore perk up our ears when a Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece decries coverage in western media of a possible strain in bilateral ties that may emerge with the formation of a new civilian government under Imrans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, given the fact that China Pakistan Economic Corridor projects have in the past fallen prey to vituperative political campaign in Pakistan some of it led by Imran. Chinese state-run Global Times insists that conditions that help foster this special relationship have not changed with the rise of Imran and his party. It maintains that "China-Pakistan relations always transcend political changes within Pakistan" and points out that "there have never been any political trials against it (CPEC) in Pakistan". All valid points. Strategic expert Gao Zhikai of the Centre for China and Globalisation in Beijing was quoted as saying in DailyO that the new prime minister will be treated as a best friend, while Chinese foreign ministry official said, We are glad to see the election in Pakistan went through smoothly. We sincerely hope Pakistan can maintain political social stability and focus on development. Not a word, expectedly, on the widespread rigging, army interference and subversion of the democratic process that took place during Pakistans dirtiest election in years. For his part, the PTI chief, whose demonstrations in Islamabad against the Nawaz Sharif government in 2014 forced Xi Jinping to abort his Pakistan visit and delayed the inauguration of a project, was careful to make all the right noises on CPEC and Chinese investments during his victory speech on 26 July. There is no doubt that a strong, bipartisan consensus exists in Pakistan in favour of CPEC as a key driver of economic stability and strategic advantage. The most important entity in Pakistan, its powerful military, is solidly behind Xis flagship project and ensures its centrality in China-Pakistan ties. If these fundamentals are constant, what explains Chinas nervousness in harping on the stability of China-Pakistan ties and sanctity of CPEC projects? A few articles in western media "hyping" up a "change in Pakistans China policy" should hardly be of concern. But it clearly was. Why? China is keen to ensure the stability of the $62 billion CPEC, the crown jewel of Xis ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Security of its monetary and political investments is a pressing concern but equally so is the successful rendition of its flagship project that may blunt the debt-trap criticisms that surround the BRI, aid Chinas geopolitical ambition, link Eurasian arm of Silk Road Economic Belt with Southeast Asian Maritime Silk Road and may even address Chinas Malacca dilemma via overland access to Arabian Sea through Pakistan, as Daniel S Markey and James West point out in their article for Council on Foreign Relations. It is also expected to upgrade the China-Pakistan bilateral relationship from its moorings in security relationship to a strategic embrace and deepening of socio-economic ties. The success of CPEC, therefore, is as important to China as it is to investment-hungry Pakistan. Given this context, China would love nothing more than to see political continuity in Pakistan so that the CPEC projects are insured against and immune from political interference. It isnt surprising to note that back in 2016, China was banking on Nawaz Sharifs PML-N government to retain power and smoothen the road for a bunch of projects that were signed in 2015 and involved a network of ports, highways, energy projects and other infrastructures at an investment of billions of dollars spread over a decade and more. Chinese investors, according to an article in Wall Street Journal by Jeremy Page and Saeed Shah, were promised annual returns on investment of up to 34 per cent, guaranteed by the Pakistan government, in (US) dollars, for 30 years. The promise of such high and unreasonable returns may have led more Chinese investors to pump in money but delays, systemic corruption and behavioural issues turned many of these projects unviable. For instance, as the WSJ article elaborates, Pakistani authorities were struggling to secure payments for new Chinese power projects "because of longstanding problems getting Pakistanis to pay their bills". Meanwhile, the import of machinery and transport equipment for CPEC projects were wreaking havoc on Pakistan's economy. In the first two years of the CPEC project, up to June 2017, Pakistans imports of machinery and transport equipment jumped 51 per cent to $15.5 billion, points out Tom Hussain in South China Morning Post. Coupled with a widening trade deficit (imports at 10 times the volume of exports), profit repatriations and external debt obligations, Pakistans economy was left with a balance of payment of crisis where it had barely enough forex reserves to cover two months of imports. The State Bank of Pakistan declared in June that forex reserves have declined by over $600 million during the week ending 22 June and left it with $9.663 billion in reserves. Emergency injection of Chinese funds to the tune of $3 billion at market rates have provided temporary relief but Pakistan may soon need a bailout package from IMF that is likely to result in scanning of the CPEC portfolio and may lead to closure of some projects for unviability, say analysts. China was under the impression that the Nawaz government would be in a better position to negotiate the political trouble arising out of the economic crisis. In an internal assessment, reports India Today, China had in 2016 speculated that a government under him would best ensure the project's progress, expressing concern about his weakening domestic position after the Panama Papers revelations. In 2016, Nawaz told the media that China were waiting for the time when our government would be in power so that they could make this investment," referring to the $46 billion investment made by Xi under CPEC projects. The Chinese had words of praise last year for Nawazs brother Shehbaz Sharif, the chief minister of Punjab, for speedy execution of projects. On the contrary, Imrans political posturing over CPEC projects had resulted in skepticism in China over his intentions. In 2016, the PTI chief, then in charge of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, had conveyed his reservations to Chinese Ambassador. His party functionaries were either comparing CPEC as modern-day equivalent of East India Company or slamming wasteful political projects such as the Orange Line metro. Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, spokesman PTI, had told WSJ that his party backed CPEC but wanted all agreements put before the parliament for review. China had to spend political capital in lobbying Imran though the PTI chief had made it clear that the dispute lay with Nawaz governments handling of CPEC projects, not the projects per se. Be that as it may, this provides the context of skepticism in Chinese ranks over Imrans trajectory. Pakistans prime minister-designate has reaffirmed his faith in CPEC as an employment generator but his status as a rookie administrator and doubts over his political acumen have persisted given the fact that Imran is yet to show that he fully understands the dimensions of the problems that face him. His ticket to prime minister-dom was secured through a route of populist angst against corruption, and his simplistic ideas about Pakistans ailments could add to his challenges. Critics may point out that he had to adopt many dubious electables in his party to ratchet up seat numbers, and that may tie his hands as a corruption crusader. In any case, the economy of Pakistan cannot be fixed by fixing corruption alone. To quote author and senior transatlantic fellow with Washington-based think tank German Marshall Fund Andrew Small in War on the Rocks, Beijing will therefore be watching closely to see whether a government led by Imran and his PTI party has the capacity, the will, and the political space to deal with the growing list of economic challenges that affect Chinas most prominent connectivity project. Of immediate interest will be the political challenges facing Imran, given the polarising campaign that he ran. It has resulted in the creation of bad blood. Add to that is the belief of nearly all Opposition parties in Pakistan that the army engineered Imrans win, therefore they may be unwilling to cooperate with the government in areas where the PTI chief might need consensus. Battagram protestors on the Silk Road against alleged fake votes polled in favour of PTI candidate. pic.twitter.com/S0g52Gihbt Syed Talat Hussain (@TalatHussain12) July 27, 2018 Protest in Karachi - obviously not carried by the media. pic.twitter.com/xGUOE9TWzk Gul Bukhari (@GulBukhari) July 28, 2018 Troops were deployed for election security only and nothing else but they can be seen counting votes after shutting out polling agents. This is how rigging was carried out and none of these images can be shown on controlled Pakistani media pic.twitter.com/xv69QqvyB6 Pakistan Media Watch (@PakPressWatch) July 27, 2018 The Chinese will hope that the spillover effect of this political animosity does not affect its grand plan. Herein lies the genesis of Chinese nervousness. After having been rained out one week ago, the third annual Vic Hayter Memorial Trot was the featured event of Clinton Raceways Sunday (July 29) card of live racing, and it was P C Dream Tickets day to shine. After having started from Post 2 in the eight-horse affair, P C Dream Ticket ($6.90) and driver Colin Kelly opted to let some of their foes mix it up in the early stages. The Post 1 starter, Bella Palazzo (driven by Bruce Richardson), who lowered the stakes record to 1:59 in her 2017 Hayter Memorial victory, fired out the best, as she led the field down to the quarter pole in :29.3. The second quarter saw Irish Thunder (Tyler Moore) race overland early, but it was the Scott Young-driven All Out Henry who was up and pressuring Bella Palazzo on the engine at the :59.3 half-mile indicator. Having waited long enough, Kelly moved the Jared Bako-trained P C Dream Ticket overland early in the third panel. The son of Cornaro Dasolo would go on to prove that he was in possession of a strong brush on this day. Kelly had tipped P C Dream Ticket three-wide late in the quarter, and the eight-year-old gelding had a load of trot to display for the on-track fans after the 1:29 third call. While positioned in the three-wide lane at the top of the stretch, Kelly took a quick look to his left before dropping P C Dream Ticket into another gear. The pair surged forward past the fellow leaders and went on to record a strong 1:59 victory. The win time equalled Bella Palazzos stakes mark from 2017. All Out Henry, who was the subject of a judges inquiry, stayed up for second. The Pat Hudon-driven Amityville Lindy came on late for third. The final two purse cheques went to Bella Palazzo and Irish Thunder, respectively. P C Dream Ticket is owned by Jared Bako, Taylor Fritz, Christopher Jewitt and John Gray. The winners share of the $12,500 purse pushed P C Dream Tickets seasonal earnings past the $17,000 mark. He has now won three of his 10 seasonal assignments and 12 of his 72 career starts. He has now banked more than $119,000 in lifetime purses. Family of the late Vic Hayter were on hand to make the winner's circle presentation to the connections. The Lake Huron Pony Club held its Day at the Races Fundraiser and worked together with the two charities Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society and the Stratford Perth Humane Society, two causes very near and dear to the late Vic Hayter from the previous rained-out Sunday. The Pony Club was able to raise over $3,400 from the event through a BBQ, bake sale, raffle and 50/50. Race fans were also treated to two miniature horse exhibition races and a meet and greet with the pint-sized ponies, and the second of three trackside local markets added to the day's festivities. The Huron County Oval took time to celebrate the caretakers of the industry with winner's circle presentations, complimentary lunches and prize draws, while the impressive live race handle topped the $44,000 mark. The National Caretaker Appreciation events also took place Sunday. All of the caretakers on the days race card were provided with lunch, courtesy of the raceway and the Hayter family. All caretakers in attendance had the chance to win some great prizes, and those that visited the winner's circle were provided with a print, from harness artist Michelle Hogan and a commemorative photo. To view the harness racing results for Sunday at Clinton, click the following link: Sunday Results Clinton Raceway. (With files from Ontario Racing) Fr Richard DSouza's findings are likely to upset a major paradigm in our understanding of galaxy evolution Once upon a time, there were three galaxies in the Local Group Andromeda (M31), the Milky Way and its sibling, the M32p galaxy. About two billion years ago, Andromeda cannibalised and destroyed M32p, leaving behind a trail of cosmic debris as evidence. It was the perfect crime, till now. Scientists Fr Richard DSouza SJ and Eric Bell at the University of Michigan used computer models and simulations to show Andromedas dark past. Their research suggests that Andromedas M32 compact satellite galaxy is actually the stripped core of the destroyed M32p. Their findings were published in Nature Astronomy last week. DSouza, the lead author on the paper, was born in Mapusa (Goa), studied at St Xaviers College, Mumbai and did most of his priestly studies in India. In an email interview, the Jesuit and scientist tells us about his work and the intersection of science and faith in his life. Tell us about your new findings and their significance. My research centers on how galaxies grow through mergers. A galaxy like Andromeda, our nearest big neighbour, is thought to have merged with hundreds of smaller galaxies. These smaller galaxies are destroyed in the process due to tidal forces of gravity leaving behind a trail of stellar debris (like crumbs) around the main galaxy called its stellar halo. By studying the stellar halo of a galaxy, I have developed a technique of inferring the size of the largest galaxy that was destroyed in the process. This is similar to guessing what a small child has eaten after looking at the crumbs and mess scattered on the floor around it. Observations over the last decade have shown that Andromeda has the largest stellar halo for any galaxy its size. We realised that to build such a large stellar halo, Andromeda must have merged with a really large galaxy (one-fourth its size) not too long ago. How is the discovery of this decimated galaxy going to help future research and study? It was traditionally thought that such large mergers would destroy the disks of galaxies, converting them to spheroidal elliptical galaxies. We now know that the disk of the Andromeda galaxy survived this particularly large merger, though we dont know exactly why. So, this finding upsets a major paradigm in our understanding of galaxy evolution. One thing we can take away is that the disks of galaxies are more resilient than previously thought. We hope that this finding motivates further studies to understand what circumstances lead to the disks of galaxies surviving such large interactions. The next part of my research involves studying the stellar halos and the merger histories of other more distant galaxies, to try and understand which of the galaxys properties are caused by merging. Will this help solve the mystery formation of Andromedas M32 satellite galaxy? We think so. We have only proposed a model and it needs to be tested and verified. While everyone agrees that Andromeda had a large collision two billion years ago, some scientists doubt whether this collision resulted in M32. Such disagreement is good. Science is a conversation, a back and forth, and we will iteratively come to the truth. Speaking of disagreement, how does faith and science intersect for you? For me, they are two very fundamental ways of knowing the same reality. Humanity needs both these ways of knowing, to understand reality and to move forward in life. Science is based on assumptions and faith. Especially in astronomy, where it is very difficult to prove something exactly, it surprises me how much really goes on assumptions and beliefs. Taking a cue from philosophy, meaning cannot be found within a system, it can only be found external to it. Science cannot offer us meaning in life, only something that is totally transcendental, like the divine, can. Without meaning, we will not move forward, we will not have hope, we will not strive to do the things we do, and without hope, people have nothing to look forward to. Religion and faith gives us meaning, and it often gives us a pretty good reason to do good science, because it becomes an expression of reaching out to this transcendent, that is God. Is this what attracted you to science? I was always interested in science. As a kid, I loved building things and computers. In college, I got a taste for research in physics. My Jesuit superiors encouraged me to take up astronomy as there was a rich tradition of Jesuits studying astronomy and doing research in it. After my ordination and my time in Goa, I returned to the sciences and went back to do a PhD in astronomy. My general field of study is galaxy formation and evolution. This field tries to understand the rich diversity of galaxies we see in the Universe. Where and how did it all start? What path did the Universe take to get here? How did you start working for the Vatican Observatory? The Jesuits manage and run the Vatican Observatory. As soon as I started my Master's in Physics in Heidelberg, Germany, they reached out to me. After my PhD in 2016, I formally joined the staff of the Vatican Observatory. Although I am associated with them, I went for a post-doc to the University of Michigan, and make occasional short visits back to the Observatory in Rome or their offices in Tucson. Most of the astronomers at the Vatican Observatory are Jesuits, if not Catholic Priests and Brothers. The place has the right combination of science and faith. Moreover, the members have such good connections and friends all over the world; it has opened a lot of doors for me. Does your work and research enhance your spiritual life? Normally, I aim to keep the two apart but it does not actually work out. I often find myself preaching about the hard process of research and the spiritual lessons one can draw from it. When I am down and disappointed in my research, I find myself praying for inspiration and for Gods help. My spiritual life and my research work interweave seamlessly. In an interview, you mentioned that most people misunderstand the Catholic Churchs stance towards science and creation. How so? Most people misunderstand the Catholic Churchs present teaching of creation. It teaches us that God created the world but does not insist on how. The Church agrees with modern Biblical scholarship that while the first few chapters contain many major theological truths about the human person and the relation to the world and to God, it is not to be taken literally or historically. The Churchs idea of creation is not in complete contrast with science and history. Fr George Lemaitre, a Belgian Catholic priest, was the originator of the idea of the Big Bang in the 1930s, after applying Einsteins equations of relativity to the Universe. The big bang is a very Catholic idea! The knowledge of the faith in the average Christian is quite limited. We were taught a couple of things as children and then our religious education stopped after the age of 13 or 14. Our religious knowledge remains at the level for children. On the other hand, we spend a lot of time and energy in educating ourselves professionally. I only wish Catholics would do the same and remain up to date with their faith education. A special court in Pakistan is all set to resume hearing of a high treason case against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, which may also be a big test for Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, which is likely to form a government, a media report said on Sunday. Islamabad: A special court in Pakistan is all set to resume hearing of a high treason case against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, which may also be a big test for Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, which is likely to form a government, a media report said on Sunday. Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Yawar Ali, who is heading the three-judge special tribunal, will visit Islamabad for three days from 31 July to 2 August. The Express Tribune reported that the purpose of his visit is to hear the high treason case lodged against the former president soon after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) came to power in 2013 for his role in the promulgation of emergency on 3 November, 2007. However, the prosecution team has yet to get any information regarding fixation of the case. The matter was also fixed at the start of this month but the schedule was cancelled because of the LHC top judge's foreign trip. We are also hearing that the case is fixed next week, a member of Musharraf legal team also informed about the development, said the daily. Now, it is to be seen whether the upcoming PTI government will pursue the treason case or keep Akram Sheikh, who was appointed as the prosecutor by the PML-N's government. The daily said Sheikh, who is regarded as being close to the PML-N, may himself withdraw from the case. The legal experts believe that the treason case is a test for the new government as one of the reasons of civil-military tussle was that the PML-N government had initiated the case against the former army chief. The PTI chief had vowed in November 2007 that his party would initiate proceedings against Musharraf over his unconstitutional acts but it has also been witnessed that the PTI has remained silent over the issue in the recent past. Most close aides of Musharraf have also joined the PTI. Interestingly, a key member of Musharraf's party, Amjad also withdrew his nomination papers in favour of Imran Khan in NA-53. It is also being observed as to how much the superior judiciary is interested to conclude the trial. Experts say the superior judiciary is still unable to end misperception that it leans towards the establishment. Since the disqualification of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, the PML-N has been propagating that the judiciary is part of a game plan. On 7 April, the Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar proposed fresh composition of the special bench, led by Justice Yawar Ali, but the federal government led by the PML-N did not issue a formal notification during its tenure. Later, the caretaker government issued a notification regarding the composition of the special tribunal, which also comprises Sindh High Court judge Nazar Akbar and Balochistan High Court judge Tahira Safdar. Justice Yawar Ali is set to retire on 22 October this year. It will be interesting whether the trial will be concluded before his retirement. Recently, the apex court summoned Musharraf, who has been living in Dubai since 2016, in a matter regarding his disqualification but he did not show up. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which emerged as the single largest party but short of simple majority in the National Assembly elections, was yet to seek formal support from smaller parties or Independents to form the next government. Islamabad: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which emerged as the single largest party but short of simple majority in the National Assembly elections, was yet to seek formal support from smaller parties or Independents to form the next government. Earlier, the party leaders had maintained that they will not need the support of any other party, the final preliminary results issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan on Saturday showed that the party was short of 22 seats to form a government on its own. On the other hand, two other major parties, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), are expected to meet in a couple of days to devise a joint strategy in a bid to give a tough time to the PTI in parliament, Dawn reported. According to various TV reports, senior PPP leader Syed Khursheed Shah will meet PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif in Islamabad on Sunday. The Pakistani media throughout the day on Saturday kept on mentioning names of possible candidates for key government offices and possible members of the federal cabinet, however, the PTI sources told Dawn that no names were discussed in meetings held in Banigala, the residence of Imran Khan, as the party was still busy in making calculations. When contacted, the PTI's Shafqat Mehmood claimed that no formal meeting had taken place in Banigala and that they (PTI leaders) had a general discussion on the challenges the party could face after formation of the government, but no names of federal ministers or chief ministers were discussed. According to the complete preliminary results announced by the ECP, the PTI has obtained 115 seats 22 short of a simple majority while the PML-N and PPP have won 64 and 43 seats, respectively. The PTI leaders who have won more than one seat will have to vacate additional seats as the law allows an individual to retain only one seat. The Prime Minister-in-waiting Imran Khan has won five seats and he will have to vacate four. Ghulam Sarwar Khan of Taxila has also won two NA seats by defeating former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and he will also have to vacate one seat. Former Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has won both National Assembly and provincial assembly seats. If the PTI decides to nominate him again for the previous office, he will also have to vacate the NA seat which means that the party's seats will be reduced to 109. It was after these calculations that the PTI leadership has now decided to reach out to other smaller groups and independents since the party has already declared that it will not join hands with the PPP and the PML-N. It was also reported by various outlets that PTI leader Jahangir Tareen had established contacts with independents and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) which has won six seats. There are 13 independents who emmerged winners in 25 July polls. The sources said Khan had himself contacted Mumtaz Bhutto of the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) to formally invite the alliance to join the coalition government. If the PTI obtains the support of the GDA, MQM-P, PML-Q and the Awami Muslim League, the number of its seats will become 122, still 15 short of the required numbers, which is more than the independents who have won the elections. Diageo (NYSE:DEO) makes most of its money selling the world's No. 1 scotch whiskey, Johnnie Walker. However, it is the distiller's tequila brands that are recording the largest gains, with organic net sales growth outpacing all other spirits in the portfolio by nearly three to one. That might not be so surprising, as Euromonitor International says tequila and the related mezcal market is the fastest-growing spirits category. The U.S. is the biggest market for both -- bigger even than Mexico, where it's made. Total volumes rose 5.1% last year to 33.6 million cases. The biggest tequila brands The Spirits Business' 2018 Brand Champions report highlighted the six tequila brands that sold over 1 million 9-liter cases last year. No one should be surprised that Becle's Jose Cuervo was the biggest, selling 9.5 million cases, a 6.4% increase over 2016. It's had excellent marketing over the years and has been popularized in song and film. Jose Cuervo currently holds a 30% share of the world tequila market. Japan's Beam Suntory was a distant second, with 2.8 million cases sold for its Sauza brand, up an anemic 0.3% over the year before. Patron came in third place at 2.6 million cases, rising 5.1% year over year. Patron's finish was also notable in that rum maker Bacardi made a big splash earlier this year by acquiring Patron Spirits in a deal valued at $5.1 billion. That dwarfed the $1 billion Diageo spent to acquire the super premium tequila Casamigos from George Clooney in 2015. Both deals, however, show that the distillers appreciate the premiumization of spirits that is under way in the marketplace as consumers willingly spend up for liquor. The Distilled Spirits Council defines premium tequila as one that costs between $90 and $160 per case, while high-end premium goes for $160 to $240 per case. Super premium, on the other hand, is tequila that costs more than $240 a case, or the equivalent of around $27 or more per bottle. That top end includes Patron, Sauza's Tres Generaciones, Brown-Forman's Herradura, and Diageo's Casamigos, as well as its more established Don Julio brand. It's that latter tequila that is making waves in the market. The shining star Acquired from Casa Cuervo in 2015, Don Julio has become a star performer for Diageo. Organic net sales surged 42% in the first six months of the 2018 fiscal year, with volumes rising 35%. The Spirits Business says Don Julio crossed over the million-case threshold for the first time in 2017, moving 1.3 million cases, which makes it the fourth-biggest seller. However, its 44.4% volume growth last year makes Don Julio the fastest-growing major tequila brand in the world. Diageo CEO Ivan M. Menezes notes that both Don Julio and Casamigos are growing far faster than the tequila category itself, as well as the super premium category. In other words, they are gaining market share. While Bacardi's acquisition of Patron gives the rum maker a bigger presence in the U.S., Diageo's tequila portfolio is growing faster and shouldn't face any problems now that its rival has switched owners. Scotch whiskey will continue to lead the way for Diageo as the spirit accounts for 27% of total sales. Still, as tequila's popularity continues to grow and as Don Julio maintains its rapid-fire growth trajectory, look for it to climb the ranks of brands in both size and importance. Without beating around the bush, let me just say what's on all of our minds when it comes to taxes: They stink! No one likes preparing their taxes or handing over their hard-earned money to Uncle Sam. It is, however, a necessary thing we do as working Americans to ensure that the federal government has enough incoming revenue to support social programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, as well as other vital expenditures, such as defense, transportation, and education, to name a few. But depending on where you call home, your federal responsibility only tells half the story. There are 43 states that also collect tax on various forms of income as of 2018. Of these states, 41 have a tax on wage income, while another two -- New Hampshire and Tennessee -- tax dividend and interest income to some varied degree. This means that there are seven states that have no income tax whatsoever right now, and by 2021, an eighth state will be joining the ranks. These states have no income tax Listed alphabetically, here are the seven states you could live in right now without having to pay tax on your wage income. 1. Alaska Alaska is one of the most tax-friendly places to live in the U.S., and is the only state to have no levied sales tax or state income tax. This means retirees can escape having any of their retirement income or Social Security benefits touched by the state of Alaska. To boot, senior homeowners over the age of 65, or a surviving spouse over age 60, are exempt from municipal taxes on the first $150,000 of assessed value of their home. The downside, the winters can be a bit harsh in Alaska, and access to medical care could be dicey if you don't live near one of its few major cities. 2. Florida Florida is an especially popular destination for retirees, and with good reason: There's no state income tax, and therefore no tax on any retirement income. Long-time residents may also privy to a homestead exemption of up to $50,000 on their property, depending on the city or municipality in which they live. If there is a double-edged sword in Florida, it's the weather. Florida's temperate climate is perfect for folks of all ages, but it also gets hit by hurricanes more than any other state, leading to the highest home insurance costs in the country. 3. Nevada Residents of Nevada are sure to feel like they've struck the jackpot given that it has no state income tax, as well as a relatively low state-levied 5.5% sales tax. Though there are no exemptions on property tax, Nevada's property tax rate is well below the national average. With the biggest downsides likely being its very toasty summers, or its limited access to specialized medical care if you live outside of its very few major cities, Nevada has a lot to offer folks of all ages. 4. South Dakota The home to Mount Rushmore is another state where your income can potentially stretch a bit farther. South Dakota has no state income tax, and its state-levied tax is just 4.5%. Additionally, an analysis by Money has shown that South Dakota has one of the lowest costs of living in the nation, allowing those with low- or mid-level incomes to stretch their dollars. Though median home prices are lower than the national average, property tax rates (as a percentage) are a bit higher than the national average, and South Dakota's relatively sparse population could make specialized medical care a bit tougher to come by. 5. Texas The Lone Star state is a popular destination for those who despise income taxes, as well as retirees who don't want their retirement accounts touched. Homestead exemptions on property taxes are open to all residents of the state, with seniors over the age of 65 potentially qualifying for extra breaks. On the downside, Texas hits its residents with a pretty hefty 7% state sales tax, and its median property tax is high on a percentage basis, relative to the national average. 6. Washington Calling the Evergreen State home comes with the sizable perk of no state income tax. This means Washington can't touch any of your retirement income, should you choose to retire there. Its temperate climate, where all four seasons are represented, is another plus. However, Washingtonians should also prepare for a substantial state and local sales tax burden, as well as reasonably high nominal property tax bills, primarily as a result of higher property values than the national average. 7. Wyoming Wyoming may have saved the best for last, because in addition to no state income tax, and therefore no tax on retirement income, its residents also face one of the lowest combined state and local tax levies in the country. Wyoming's oil- and mineral-rich land provides an ample revenue stream, which means not having to pilfer the pockets of its residents via taxation. Even property taxes in Wyoming are well below average, with numerous relief programs in place. If there are downsides, it's the state's harsh winters and potentially sparse access to specialized medical care. 8. And by 2021: Tennessee Finally, by 2021, the Volunteer State will also be income tax-free. As of right now, the Hall income tax allows for a relatively low tax rate on dividends and interest income above an exempted amount. In 2018, the Hall income tax rate is just 3%. Next year, it'll be 2%, By 2020, just 1%. And beginning on Jan. 1, 2021, it'll be completely phased out, allowing residents to keep all of their interest and dividend income, as well as avoiding state tax on wage and retirement income. When coupled with its relatively low property taxes, Tennessee could become popular with retirees. Just one downside to note: Its combined sales and local tax rate is among the highest in the country. 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. In a state like Connecticut where the four largest health insurance carriers employ thousands, including Aetna, which nearly moved to New York City, a summer hiring push by a newfangled insurance startup might not be top of mind for many. But when the hiring push is by the man who created more than 3,000 jobs in a previous go-around, that company is about to get a fresh dose of attention in both Connecticut and New York. Under founder Steve Wiggins and CEO Chris Garcia, Norwalk-based Remedy Partners is nearing the close of a contracting cycle that Wiggins and Garcia expect will double the size of the company, which has 380 employees today including 120 in Norwalk and about 150 in New York City. Remedy to date has raised more than $100 million from investors to push ahead with Remedys insurance model centered on episodes of care in which doctors work with patients to define a sought-for outcome to a medical treatment for a specific ailment, with Remedy then negotiating prices covering the full arc of that treatment. Teams then work throughout with patients, physicians and carriers to achieve that result. If a simple premise, behind the scenes it is a complex undertaking to structure insurance coverage for individual episodes of care and manage cases to their conclusion. And Wiggins estimates at more than a year the time it takes to land a hospital or clinic as a client, train their staff and launch the platform. Patients have a right to understand what of set of health care services should cost, Wiggins said. Our job is to help each of those parties physicians, hospitals and patients to improve the communication and the outcomes and the relationships between them, so that you get better faster and you get back to your regular life faster. It just so happens that we do that around a patients condition the same way that people engage with the health care system, when they have a big event in their life, he added. Our business is built around defining those events, putting a framework around what services are included, what the price should be, whats a fair (or) unfair price, and trying to encourage efficiency. November worries The antecedents of Remedy Partners extend back to the 1990s, when Oxford Health participated in an experimental trial in purchasing bundles of services with the Mayo Clinic, creating fixed-price coverage for patients undergoing organ transplants. Wiggins had founded Oxford Health Plans in Norwalk in 1984 and ran it until 1997, with the company moving its headquarters to Trumbull and getting bought out in 2004 by UnitedHealthcare for $4.9 billion, which continues to sell insurance in Connecticut under the Oxford name. After leaving the company, Wiggins began investing in health startups, including Norwalk-based HealthMarket, which was the first health insurance plan to rely upon episodes to define and manage risk as its core business. Wiggins created Remedy in 2011 in Darien, where he lives, with the company moving to Norwalk early this year it is still working to complete its office at the 800 Connecticut Ave. building that is home to Booking Holdings. The Remedy approach germinated during the administration of President George W. Bush and was subsequently planted in the Affordable Care Act by the Obama administration. Garcia estimates Remedy Partners has generated about half of the coverage to date for medical treatments since the program debuted, or roughly $15 billion in total across 300,000 treatment episodes. Obamacare had two principal components: it had this idea of getting insurance to more people through (state) exchanges, and then it had payment reform as another part, said Garcia, who lives in Fairfield. Payment reform has continued to track on from the previous administration through this administration. Wiggins said the company became profitable in 2016. With then-candidate Donald Trump promising to dismantle the Affordable Care Act before being stymied after taking office, Wiggins admits the rhetoric had him worried about the future of Remedy given its early dependency on the ACA experiments with bundled payments, but the program remains intact and interest is gaining in the health-care sector. Remedy Partners is now nearing an August deadline for a new round of renewals and new program entrants. Wiggins said 92 percent of Remedys customers are renewing the program this year, representing 97 percent of the total volume of patient care it helped underwrite. Law of large numbers In Connecticut, Stamford Hospital and Western Connecticut Health Network have received reimbursement for services under the Remedy platform, the latters hospitals including Danbury Hospital, Norwalk Hospital and New Milford Hospital. Yale New Haven Health has used a rival bundled payments service, with the hospital groups affiliates including Bridgeport Hospital and Greenwich Hospital. If Remedy doubles its customer base as Wiggins and Garcia expect, Remedy will require more people, with the company already listing a handful of jobs in Norwalk and New York City. Wiggins did not rule out seeking state incentives to sway hiring toward Norwalk. Even as Remedy pushes ahead with the newest government contractual cycle, last month the nonprofit National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions announced it is working with Remedy to make more employers aware of its platform. The National Alliance represents some 12,000 entities that purchase insurance to cover 45 million people, with annual premiums of $300 billion. In an industry where insurance actuaries are paid for their ability to forecast the laws of big numbers, in Norwalk an alternative method is growing that focuses on each individuals case. We are just trying to get to the point where you can pay for and measure health care the same way you (use) it, Wiggins said. Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman "Find your passion" is a mantra dictated to everyone from college students to retirees to pretty much anyone seeking happiness. But according to a forthcoming study from Stanford and Yale-NUS College in Singapore, it's actually bad advice - and may actually make it harder for people to figure out what they love to do. Why? The idea of "finding" one's passion implies that people have built-in interests just waiting to be discovered, and if you can simply figure out what they are you will magically be able to embrace them, says the study, which will be published in the journal Psychological Science. But people with that mind-set are more likely to give up on their newfound interest when they hit the inevitable roadblock, the study found. Instead, researchers say true passion develops - through being open-minded about delving into a new topic, and being willing to put some work into it. Earlier studies had focused on people who had "fixed" versus "growth" mind-sets about intelligence - that is, whether one believes intelligence is fixed (you either have it or you don't) or it can be cultivated. In this study, researchers looked at the differences between people who believe interests are static and those who believe they can be developed with time and effort. They conducted five experiments involving 470 participants. In one, they recruited undergraduate students who identified either as "fuzzy" (interested in the arts and humanities) or "techie" (interested in STEM topics). They had the students read two articles, one about technology and the other about literary criticism - and found that those who held a fixed mind-set about interests were less open to the article that was outside their interest area. In another experiment, students were shown a video about black holes and the origin of the universe, which most found fascinating. But when asked to read a denser scientific article on the same topic, the students with a fixed mind-set lost interest more quickly than the ones who believed interests can be cultivated. The study used undergraduates because "they're young and they're at a time in their life when they're being bombarded with the idea that you have to go out and find your passion," said Paul O'Keefe, assistant professor of psychology at Yale-NUS College and the paper's lead author. "They might be waiting for that trigger to happen - 'Oh yeah, that's my interest after all' - versus, 'Maybe I'll take this astronomy class, even though it looks hard.'" Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, a co-author of the study (and a pioneer in earlier research on fixed versus growth theories of intelligence), said her undergraduates "at first, get all starry-eyed about the idea of finding their passion, but over time they get far more excited about developing their passion and seeing it through." If finding a calling through developing yourself sounds too vague, here's a more concrete incentive: Developing a range of interests can also boost your grades and predict future success. That's because focusing too narrowly on one kind of interest can cause people to miss developing knowledge in other areas that could help them succeed in their field, O'Keefe said. Students with a growth mind-set "engage in their coursework more deeply and more enthusiastically, resulting in better learning," he said. "And if [they] are more open to things outside of their previous interests, then they might be seeing more connections between what they're learning and what the other things are." In a world that is becoming more interdisciplinary, the future will belong to those who cultivate passions in a variety of areas, such as science and the humanities, O'Keefe said. "That's what Steve Jobs was all about - he didn't just make a computer; he made a computer that was a piece of art." Last September Apple crossed the Rubicon, the iPhone X introducing a new design direction for the company's smartphones. Apple's next generation of biometric security, Face ID allowed Apple to retire the Home Button and move towards its vision to create an iPhone that is entirely screen. Offsetting the loss of the Home Button, a new set of navigational gestures were introduced, which according to Jonathan Ive, is how we will interact with our iPhones for the next ten years. While the iPhone X struck off in a new direction, the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus refined and polished the familiar design that had evolved over the last ten years to where we are today. That meant Apple has three iPhones in its 2017 line-up as opposed to its usual two, covering two distinct designs. In 2018, yesteryear's flagship design will be retired as two new beautified iPhone models join the family alongside the replacement for the iPhone X. So its time to bid the Home Button and Touch ID adieu. Say hello to the 2018 iPhones Our take on the 2018 iPhones OK, so the above is our take having taken a step back, consumed the rumors and added in a few predictions of our own. Have we knocked it out the ballpark or a foul ball? Only time will tell, but in the meantime read on as we explain the reasoning, starting with: Names So how did we arrive at the names? These are less likely to leak early as its well within Apples purview, so let's dive in and have some fun speculating, shall we? After all, it's much easier to refer to each device by its name as opposed to screen size. Apples iPhone naming convention often included the S designation, and in a one-off, Apple used the C appendage for its plastic-bodied iPhone 5c. While the 9.7-inch iPad is to referred to as "iPad," the higher spec models adopt the Pro nomenclature. Additionally, while unlikely, Apple may stick with the X name. Straight off the bat, we'll skip the iPhone 9 name as it soon crashes into X. By focusing on the two flagships first, we'll also gain some insight on what the 6.1-inch 2018 iPhone may be called: 5.8" iPhone 6.5" iPhone iPhone 11 iPhone 11 Plus iPhone iPhone Plus iPhone iPhone Pro iPhone X iPhone X Plus iPhone Xs iPhone Xs Plus iPhone X2 iPhone X2 Plus Looking at the list with our Apple marketing hat on - the first two stand out as the most likely options, and for the sake of this argument, we'll use iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Plus. With that decided, where does that leave the 6.1-inch version? Well, the 6.1-inch variant is believed to be a more cost-effective budget version - something we have heard of before. Exactly, the iPhone SE. We don't for one minute believe that the 6.1-inch variant will replace the SE, the iPhone SE is unique due to both its price and small form factor. Instead, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that the 6.1-inch will join the SE family - hence Apple will introduce the iPhone SE Plus. Models The replacement for the iPhone X will keep its 5.8-inch 458ppi display and will be joined by a bigger "Plus" sibling with a 6.5-inch 480-500ppi display. These two iPhones will become Apple's iPhone 2018 flagships and will employ OLED multi-touch displays supporting HDR and 3D Touch which Apple markets as the Super Retina HD display. New 2018 iPhone scale mock-ups compared to iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus The 2018 flagships will be joined by a new mid-sized variant with a 6.1-inch 320-330ppi display which will continue to use an LCD, Apple markets these as the Retina HD display. While likely HDR-capable, it's been speculated that the 6.1-inch LCD model may drop support for 3D Touch. In order to achieve the iPhone family look for the LCD equipped 6.1-inch iPhone, according to DigiTimes, Apple has been working with Japans Nichia who have developed a new kind of LED backlighting technology that will require smaller connectors which it refers to as the 0.3t LED chip. It's these connectors that often dictate the size of the chin on LCD phones. The 0.3t LED chip has smaller connectors than the current 0.4t LED chip resulting in bezel size of 2.0mm-2.5mm. While this new LCD allows a consistent bezel all around, the LCD equipped 6.1-inch variant may still have slightly larger bezels than the OLED equipped flagships. Apple Pencil and 120Hz displays With the 2018 iPad supporting the Apple pencil, does it make sense for Apple to add Apple Pencil support to the 2018 iPhones? Dependent on your inclination, maybe. If Apple does introduce Apple Pencil support, the 6.5-inch could overnight compete with the Samsung Galaxy Note9. Yet in our experience, the Apple Pencil works best when paired with the iPad Pro's 120Hz display. Today's iPad, with its 60Hz display, doesn't have the smoothness to feel right - maybe we've been spoiled by the iPad Pro. Just as we saw True Tone cascade down from the iPad Pro to the iPhone, will we see Apple equip its flagship iPhones with 120Hz displays? We could also envisage this being a popular choice among gamers and potentially Augmented Reality applications. It's even possible that Apple will reserve this for the iPhone 11 Plus to further differentiate its larger model. Design, build and finishes All 2018 iPhones will continue in the design direction set by the iPhone X with the inevitable subtle enhancements as a result of learning from the iPhone X and advances in manufacturing. While subtle, you'll notice that our renders differ slightly from other sources as we've kept the button layout and positions the same distance from the bottom of each variant - our rationale for this was facilitating ease of reach when using the Home/multitasking gestures. We're less sure of the pull-down gestures though from the top of these taller screens, but we'll know soon enough. Apple will double-down on Face ID in the 2018 iPhones with all utilizing a cutout for the associated Face ID tech, sensors, speaker/microphone and front camera. As the iPhone X introduced the first generation of Face ID, we wouldn't expect a generational shift just yet. That being said, it's rumored that improvements in packaging could result in the size of the notch being reduced. With Apple's commitment to wireless charging, expect the flagship 2018 phones to continue to be constructed with a reinforced glass backside, employing stainless steel between the glass sandwich. If the 6.1-inch iPhone arrives with a glass back, it's been speculated that it will employ aluminum alloy to join the two glass surfaces together. 6.1-inch iPhone rumoured to come in more colours One area where rivals are eclipsing Apple is in their use of color within the glass manufacturing process leading to some stunning colorways. The iPhone X is still only available in Silver and Space Grey finishes, no Product Red edition was launched, and the Gold version spotted at the FCC hasn't seen the light of day yet. We know Apple can color its glass successfully with its 7-layer color process by the availability of Gold and Product Red finishes for the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. Maybe Apple had trouble colorizing the stainless steel. According to TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo Apple will finally offer the flagships iPhones in a Gold finish. He even says Apple will offer the 6.1-inch iPhone in a greater range of colors, potentially including Blue, Red, Grey, White, and Orange. We've seen conflicting reports on the exact colors from Makotakara, but the indications are clear - expect more colors. We can't help but speculate that given the challenges Apple seems to have had providing additional color finishes for the iPhone X, the 6.1-inch iPhone could adopt an entirely aluminum enclosure similar to its iPod Touch range, forgoing the glass back and wireless charging - remember, you read it here first. Cameras As a minimum we expect the flagships to come with the dual camera system from the iPhone X. Comprising of 12MP /1.8 regular (in phone terms, that is) and /2.4 telephoto cameras and keeping the dual optical image stabilization. All this assisted by the Quad-LED True Tone flash with slow sync. In keeping with its more budget status, the 6.1-inch model will use a single lens, as the iPhone 8. Forbes, based on case schematics from Ghostek, reports that the flagship 6.5-inch iPhone could come with a three sensor arrangement. Apple could move to differentiate its largest offering by utilizing a triple lens setup, supplementing the wide-angle and telephoto lens with a monochrome sensor for decreasing image noise and improving dynamic range. We're big fans of the Huawei P20 Pro and as such more than willing to hope Apple go this route. 2018 iPhone speculated camera range Apple has remained conservative when it comes to its pixel count - it's been at 12MP since the iPhone 6s. Sony, the supplier of iPhone camera lenses, recently introduced the IMX586 a smartphone camera lens with 48 MP Quad Bayer 2x2 pixel array.. On most occasions it will bin four pixels together outputting the equivalent of 12MP sensor with large 1.6 m pixels. Essentially this is the successor of the 40MP sensor inside the Huawei P20 Pro, which also packs a Quad Bayer arrangement. Publicly Sony has stated that this will begin arriving at smartphones as early as September 2018. It's probably just wishful thinking to assume that Apple will have the opportunity to include the IMX586 in the 2018 iPhone lineup. If Apple does decide to up the megapixel count, Sony has a number of sensors in its Exmore RS range that are suitable, giving Apple ample time to integrate with its ISP and computational needs. That would mean we should expect something in the 16-19MP range. We previously reported that from 2019 Apple could introduce its TrueDepth 3D sensor to the rear cameras to improve AR, provide additional camera effects such as Portrait Mode and allow you to plop an Animoji on an unsuspecting subjects head. There's an outside chance that Apple could introduce this sooner as it doubles down on AR. The front facing, or selfie camera, on the iPhone X is OK at best. As such, we expect Apple to greatly improve upon it in the 2018 range. Even taking the easy route, expect a new 12MP front-facing camera to make the best out of the new Group FaceTime feature in iOS 12. We won't dwell too long on video, but we'd be interested to see the approach Apple will adopt. Some feel the current flagship trend of capturing a small burst 960fps, while fun, actually turns out to be quite tricky to use in the real world. It's still an amazingly cool feature though so we'd love to see Apple come up with its own solution. A12 Processor with 4GB RAM It's a safe assumption that Apple will introduce the next generation of its venerable A-Series SoC, the A12 and will undoubtedly outfit the two flagships with them. What will Apple use to power the 6.1-inch iPhone? With the A11 Bionic still doing great, would Apple take the opportunity to reduce costs and equip the 6.1-inch iPhone with last year's SoC? We hope not, but you never know. An alleged 2018 iPhone with iOS 12 recently surfaced on Geekbench. We can't be certain of its authenticity, but if we compare its results to previous generations of the A-Series SoC's, then it's certainly in the ball park if maybe a little less than what we were expecting. Also of interest in the Geekbench benchmark was the processor has a base frequency of 2.49 GHz. Apple's A series SoC Geekbench results with alleged A12 scores According to DigiTimes, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has been ramping up volume production of 7nm process in the second half of the year to fulfill lucrative orders from Apple for fabricating A12 chips for its 2018 new iPhone models. It's expected that the A12 will benefit from not only faster performance but a subsequent decrease in power consumption. Of course, the A12 SoC brings a great deal more to the table. Its ISP will bring all sorts of improved camera goodness such as even faster autofocus, pixel processing and hardware enabled multi-band noise reduction. Similarly, the A12 neural engine improvements (A11 Bionic Neural engine is a Dual-core design, capable of real-time processing of 600 billion operations per second) should improve Face ID's performance. The iPhone X with the A11 Bionic was on par with the first generation of Touch ID, and for some, that felt just a tad too slow. It's expected that the A12 SoC will also include Apple's 2nd generation in-house GPU. If the Geekbench results are factual, the performance is again going to be class-leading. We always seem to knock Apple for the amount of storage of RAM within its devices, but we have hope that we'll see the two flagships with 4GB RAM as indicated by the Geekbench listing, while it could increase the maximum storage from 256GB to 512GB. Battery & Charging Apple will continue with the two battery setup with this year's flagships, first seen in the iPhone X. The 6.1-inch iPhone is likely to have a single battery. It's been widely reported that Apple is designing its own Power Management chips for all or some of the 2018 iPhones reducing reliance on its incumbent supplier Dialog Semiconductor. Conflicting sources have stated that Apple is set to replace around half of its power management chips in 2018 iPhones while another source noted that the chips might not be ready until 2019. If the chips are ready, expect them to appear in the 5.8 and 6.5 iPhones. Apples new chips will handle tasks like battery life management, iPhone charging (linked with AirPower) and energy consumption with advanced power monitoring capabilities (expanding the new iOS 12 battery stats). Last year, by designing its own GPU, Apple managed to cut costs and improve its flagship. If the stars do align, Apple's Power Management chips, combined with a 7nm A12 SoC could see hours added onto the runtime of the 2018 iPhones. Finally, expect Apple to finally launch the AirPower Mat officially. Announced alongside last year's iPhones, we should finally be able to get our hands on one to experience the multi-device charging solution. Speaking of which, the 2017 iPhones wireless charging capped out at 7.5W - and that only after the iOS 11.2 software update. The Qi standard supports up to 15W of charging, however. Will Apple equip the 2018 iPhones with the hardware to hit 15W while coping with the heat build-up and will the AirPower support 15W charging? In our reviews we've been very vocal how very ungenerous of Apple not to include a fast charger with the iPhone's. We expect this to finally be addressed. Apple has been rumored to be working on a beefier 18W charger to include with its 2018 iPhones - at long last. We don't think it's a coincidence that it could be more than capable of powering the AirPower Mat. Price Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in April suggested that Apple will be offering a "more aggressive" pricing strategy for its three new iPhones in 2018. He suggested the following prices as Apple is concerned about "the negative impact of a higher price," but also that it has an improved cost structure thanks to assembly yield improvements: 5.8" iPhone will be $800-$900 (reduced from $999) 6.5" iPhone will cost $900-$1,000 6.1" LCD model will be $600-$700 We have no additional intelligence on the bill of materials for Apple's 2018 iPhones to speculate on any of the above. One more thing... We've yet to come across any surprises in the beta's of iOS 12, but every year Apple seems to pull something out of the hat alongside its newly announced iPhones. Be it camera effects such as portrait lighting we highly expect Apple to do the same again this year. Given that both its flagships will now be packing OLED displays we wouldn't be unhappy if Apple finally gave us the dark mode we've been hankering after and the option of an always-on display. GSMArena Always-on display concept. Finally a true Dark Mode? What new camera goodness can we expect So there you have it, our take on the 2018 iPhones. We'll update as the clock ticks down towards their unveiling and new information comes to light. The turbulent times in our Top 10 trending chart continue and no phone can feel safe for its spot. Just take last week's leader - the Oppo Find X, which is now all the way down in fifth. The third new leader in as many weeks is the Xiaomi Mi A2, which took advantage of its official debut to become the most popular device in our database, ahead of its Redmi Note 5 Pro stablemate. The podium is completed by the Nokia X6, which will be known as Nokia 6.1 Plus in international markets. The Samsung Galaxy J8 has held onto its fourth position, while the Mi A2 Lite, which also made its official debut on Tuesday has climbed two positions to snatch sixth. The Huawei Nova 3 and 3i trio was flying high last week, occupying third and seventh, but this time around the 3i is seventh, while the regular 3 has been relegated from the top 10 entirely. Samsung Galaxy J6 is another phone to lose ground, settling for eight, while the Galaxy A6+ (2018) retains ninth. The last available spot goes to the Oppo F7, which makes yet another return to the top 10 and becomes the only new name compared to last week. Week 31 in review: Galaxy Note9 rumors intensify as new devices rain on us A few years ago the summer used to be a rather boring period in the mobile world that brought next to no new hardware. That's no longer the case and look no further than week 31 for the definitive proof. We had a bunch of new announcements - Samsung brought the Galaxy On8 online mid-ranger, its Galaxy Tab S4 flagship tablet and the value-for money proposition that is the Galaxy Tab A 10.5. Honor introduced its 7" Note 10 phablet, while Xiaomi surprisingly brought a couple of super cheap featurephones. Finally, Motorola brought us the first phone with 5G-upgrade option - Moto Z3. The 5G Moto Mod itself will only be available next year, but the announcement event was a sign of things to come with 5G replacing AI as a buzz word. The Samsung Galaxy Note9 rumors and leaks kept flying in and we now have a good idea of what to expect come next Thursday. We also got a few extra pieces of the puzzle that is the 2018 Apple iPhone lineup. For these and the other hot topics of the week check out the list below. See you next week! Galaxy Note9 retail box reveals key specs and features Remote S Pen, 4,000 mAh battery and Galaxy S9+'s dual camera setup are at hand. Samsung accidentally outs the Galaxy Note9 intro video The video shows off the device and the S Pen in full glory and confirms some of the rumors so far. Xiaomi launches Qin featurephones for $30 The device has 4G connectivity and USB-C port, but no cameras whatsoever. Moto Z3 debuts with fingerprint scanner on the side, 5G mod It still works with MotoMods and Verizon will launch a 5G one for the phone next year. Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 10.5 flagship tablet comes with DeX, S Pen The DeX mode can be enabled without a dock. It also supports two screens simultaneously. There's an optional keyboard cover for some 2-in-1 action. New dummies give us even better idea of 2018 iPhones' design This is the first time we see the direct successor of the 2017 iPhone X. Oppo and Xiaomi join foldable smartphone race The available partners for the flexible screen are BOE, Visionox and LG Display. Counterpoint: Nokia was the 9th smartphone brand globally by shipments HMD isn't even 2 years old yet, but it already entered the Top 10 (thanks to a whopping 782% year on year growth). Oppo teases the F9 with two new images The phone will have a tiny notch and is likely to be waterproof. Android P may be released on August 20 The final release candidate went out to developers and beta testers towards the end of July. Nokia 6.1 Plus coming to India soon HMD Global teases a new product launch in India via its Twitter account. Huawei's CPU Turbo: what does it do? CPU Turbo debuts with the Huawei Honor Note 10, though we assume that it will be delivered as an update to other Kirin 970/960 phones. As the first half of 2018 gets further back in the rear-view mirror it gets easier to see the full picture. These are Ivans musings on the highs and lows of the first six months of the year as well as his hopes of whats to come in the second half. Paul and Yordan already laid their ponderings for your couch enjoyment but if you missed them, feel free to catch up. Ivan: Im loving 2018 so far but bring on the real stuff! First half recap Let me preface this by saying that half a year is a long time so this will be a long-ish article. You can still get your money back if you leave now. Still here? OK, lets do this. Im an organized person, so Ill lay out my thoughts in an organized way. So far, in just six months, 2018 makes 2017 look like a terrible dark age. Lets make a little recap. China on the rise: Huawei, Honor, vivo, Oppo and Xiaomi have been releasing beautiful phones with superb specs for any wallet. Huaweis Honor 10, P20 lite, P20 Pro, vivos NEX S/NEX A, Xiaomis Mi 8, Mi 8 Explorer, Mi Mix 2S, Oppos Find X, F7, R15/R15 Pro, Nubias Z18 mini are just a few of the beautiful and capable phones to come out of China these past six months. Oppo and vivo pushing the envelope: the Oppo Find X and vivo NEX are the embodiment of thinking outside the box. Even if they dont succeed in changing the way phones are made, they represent innovation at its finest. Kudos! Xiaomis golden age: Xiaomi looks a man among boys right now. It has a serious roster of devices in every price bracket with a reliable MIUI platform behind them. And its Mi A2 proves you can have your cake and eat it too - Xiaomis reasonably-priced, capable hardware with the Android Ones reliable software. Huaweis split-identity and multitude of devices doesnt seem as mature as Xiaomis expertly-curated lineup. Finally, Xiaomis growing European retail presence will help the company build a brand identity outside of China, giving it a leg up against its peers. OnePlus all grown up: OnePlus is no longer a startup, its phones no longer experimental. The OnePlus 6 is the result of the makers growing up - mature, reliable and reasonably priced. Huawei being aggressive: Just taking a brief glance at Huaweis line of phones is telling of its plans for world domination. The sheer number of series like the nova, the Y, the Honor 7, 9, 10, the Mate and the P is staggering. Huawei wants Samsungs chair and it wants it now! And if the Mate 10 series didnt mean business, the P20 sure does. However, without a US market presence it would be hard to challenge Apple and Samsung - Huawei has some work to do on that end. Nokia sticking to its midrange guns: I was unimpressed with Nokias 2017 progress for the same reason I am in 2018 - there are no real flagships. Nokia seems content with being a solid midrange company and thats just not the Nokia we thought we were getting back. Make a proper flagship already! Final call for HTC: It pains me to say goodbye to HTC but I feel the time has come. A favorite of mine one, HTC is now irrelevant. It keeps losing money, making okay-to-good phones that people dont seem to care about and it sold its brightest developers to Google. Oh how the good die young. The Best doing what they do best: Samsung has done a fine job in 2018 so far. Its Galaxy S9/S9+ are personification of a good update. They added the sensible bits like a faster processor and stereo speakers and innovated just enough with a dual-aperture camera. Apples iPhone X isnt from 2018 but has proven a bestseller in China for the entire half of the year, has set up a trepidatious expectancy of its successors and has spawned so many notch-yielding copycats that it surely merits a mention here. I love that in 2018 every phone from the midrange up has a tall-aspect display - that trend of pushing bezels to the edge has become the norm and its made the mobile landscape all the more modern in the process. Were in the apogee of good phones. Whatever your budget, you have a myriad of choices which are all handsome and loaded with features. And its only going to get better in the second half of the year. Second half expectations I buy my phones exclusively in the second half of any given year because that is the time the best phones come out. So I expect to find my next phone in the coming months. I have three devices pinned to my wish board - the Galaxy Note9, the Google Pixel 3 XL and the iPhone X Plus. Im currently a happy iPhone X camper (having gone through the Galaxy Note8 and Pixel 2 XL) so I would expect to go for its successor, despite my constant insistence that Ill keep my iPhone X for at least two years. I expect the iPhone X Plus to have the ubiquitous 8 Plus battery life and the AMOLED screen to rule all AMOLED screens. I expect it to retain the iPhone X dual camera, which is fine if not inspiring. I expect Samsung to fix the one thing that needed fixing in the Galaxy Note8 - no stereo speakers - with the Note9. Then again, Samsung is teasing improved battery life which would give the Note9 a leg up on my wish board. And I hope, not expect, that Google will make a no-compromise Pixel at last. Any real flagship phone needs to have a great screen, great battery life, great camera, stereo speakers and great software. Google just needs to add that great screen. Some final thoughts, wishes and the odd rant I wish phone makers would stop putting useless dual (and triple quadruple!?) cameras on phones. If that second sensor isnt a telephoto or an ultrawide then its useless, get rid of it. I wish makers would stop devaluing the term AI by peddling it in their cameras. Its a fancy scene recognition algorithm, not Skynet. Reserve the term AI for what matters, like Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa or Home Automation. I wish makers would just put wireless charging into any above-450 smartphone with a glass back. On a similar note, I wish Apple would ship a phone with a fast charge solution in the retail box. I wish that manufacturers will start paying software an equal amount of attention as hardware. Waiting 7 months for an Oreo update is disgraceful. I wish more makers would offer Android One devices outside of their proprietary software ones, although I realize thats not happening any time soon (or at all). Finally, Ill take a note from Paul and lament the little guy. HTC and BlackBerry (like Nokia and Motorola before them) are all on their way out of a fiercely-competitive market. Its a shame as both have shown innovation throughout the years. A bonus nod goes out to Essential - it showed that it's hard to make it in this cutthroat market even if you make a good product. The departure of once-great makers brings me to my final point. The mobile space is looking a bit repetitive and bland in 2018. Outside of recognizable flagships like the iPhone X, the Google Pixel 2/2 XL, the Galaxy Note8 and Galaxy S9/S9+ there are far too many lookalike devices that seem to lack identity. Those same out-of-China beauties I praised in the early paragraphs of this article. But I guess thats expected in a world of midrangers, so Ill take it. Thank you for sticking till the end of this! See you in six months! Published on 2018/07/29 | Source It takes longer for young people to find their first job after graduating from high schools or universities this year. Advertisement According to Statistics Korea, it took an average of 10.7 months for young people between 15 and 29 to find their first job since they left school this year. This is the longest since the survey began in 2007 and 1.2 months longer than it took in 2010. It took longer for those with a lower educational background to find their first job. While university graduates searched for an average of 7.7 months, those with only a high-school diploma took 16 months. Many more university students are taking leave of absence and delaying graduation to buy more time to find a decent job. Out of 2.93 million graduates of vocational colleges and universities, 1.3 million or 44.4 percent had taken a leave, 1.3 percentage points higher than last year's figure and the same as the record set in 2016. Overall it took four years and 2.7 months for university students to graduate, the longest ever. But after all that effort they worked for an average of just one year and 5.9 months in their first job. The outlook is getting dimmer. In May, when the survey took place, 460,000 young people were unemployed, and youth unemployment was a record 10.5 percent. An official at Statistics Korea said, "With the job market getting worse, more students are delaying graduation and are struggling to get a job. Because they believe that a second chance will be harder, they now spend longer getting a decent first job". Published on 2018/07/29 | Source Land prices in Korea rose 2.05 percent on average in the first half of this year, the fastest clip since the first half of 2008. Advertisement According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Tuesday, land prices in 17 cities and provinces across the country rose in the first half of this year. The biggest increase was in Sejong City at 3.49 percent, followed by Busan (3.05 percent), Seoul (2.38 percent), Daegu (2.35 percent) and Jeju Island (2.23 percent). Areas that are expected to benefit from a thaw in inter-Korean relations saw the biggest growth rates. In Paju, Gyeonggi Province near the border, land prices rose 5.6 percent. The ministry said prospects of improving inter-Korean relations and expectations of an express railway linking the city with Seoul drove up prices. Second was Goseong, Gangwon Province, with land prices around Jejin railway station surging after the leaders of the two Koreas during their summit in April flagged reconnecting rail lines that were severed during the Korean War. In third place was Dongjak district in southern Seoul, which saw an increase of 4.1 percent thanks to housing redevelopment plans. In fourth place with four percent was Haeundae district in the southern port city of Busan, where a new residential area is being built along with an eco-park and reviving commercial district. In fifth place was Mapo, home to the bustling commercial district around Hongik University in northwestern Seoul. Only in Ulsan and Gunsan did prices drop due to the slump of the shipping industry and the closure of a GM assembly plant. Published on 2018/07/29 | Source /Newsis The International Fleet Review in Jeju scheduled for October faces stiff opposition from locals who do not want the noisy display of maritime force in their backyard. Advertisement The fleet review is an event held every 10 years to mark the anniversary of the armed forces. Top naval officials from 30 countries are invited, and 20 to 30 foreign warships will take part. President Moon Jae-in is scheduled to attend and inspect the vessels. But residents near the naval base and left-wing civic groups have teamed up to oppose the event. Residents of Gangjeong Village held a debate on Sunday, where government officials tried in vain to convince them villagers to support the fleet review. The Defense Ministry and the Navy have been trying to impress on the villagers the importance of the 70th anniversary of armed forces. The Navy says time is running out, since it needs to select a venue by the end of this month so that invitations can be sent out and accommodation arranged. Published on 2018/07/29 | Source Novelist Choi In-hun died of colorectal cancer at the age of 84 on Monday. Choi described literary writing as a "thought experiment" and probed the ideological conflicts and angst of intellectuals in modern Korea through his works. Advertisement His best-known novel, "The Square" published in 1960, was a critical examination of the division of the two Koreas, told from the perspective of an intellectual who attempts to reconcile the Cold War ideological conflicts that divide the Korean Peninsula. The book is considered a "must-read" modern literary work. It tells the story of a young South Korean man who defects to the North immediately after the division of the peninsula, but becomes a prisoner of war while fighting for the North during the Korean War. After the armistice, the protagonist grows disgusted with both sides and decides to leave for a third country, India, only to commit suicide by throwing himself into the ocean on the way. The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism will posthumously award Choi the Geumgwan medal, the nation's highest order of cultural merit. Published on 2018/07/29 | Source A man looks at an electronic board showing electricity supply at KEPCO in Seoul on Monday. Record summer heat has led to power consumers setting a new record as they desperately try to cool themselves. Advertisement The highest average power consumption reached 90.7 million kW/h between 4 and 5 p.m. on Monday, an all-time high according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The previous record was 88.24 million kW/h on Feb. 6. The power reserve ratio fell to just 8.4 percent or 7.6 million kW, the lowest in 23 months and way below the minimum 10 million kW or 11 percent power reserve ratio set by the government to guarantee a stable power supply. "Power demand soared sharply as the record-breaking heatwave persists", said Energy Minister Paik Un-gyu. "The government will be fully ready for a stable power supply this summer". The ministry also said it could consider encouraging companies to decrease energy consumption. Published on 2018/07/29 | Source More travelers are making voluntary declarations at customs when returning from overseas trips. Advertisement The Korea Customs Service said on Monday there were some 99,000 cases in which travelers declared purchases worth more than US$600 in the second half of this year, up 54 percent from last year. Currently, travelers can bring in goods worth up to $600 tax free, along with a 1-liter bottle of liquor, 200 cigarettes and 60 ml of perfume. Those who voluntarily declare their purchases receive a 30 percent tax break. Those who do not and get caught have to pay a 40 percent penalty on top of the original tax. Published on 2018/07/29 | Source Bicycles are lined up at a bike rental station in Yeouido, Seoul on Tuesday. Half the bicycle helmets the Seoul Metropolitan Government began lending cyclists free of charge four days ago have already disappeared. Advertisement The city started providing helmets at 30 public bike rental stations in Yeouido last Friday in preparation for their mandatory use starting Sept. 28. But an inspection on Tuesday showed 47 percent of the 858 helmets were missing. "We're shocked how many helmets have disappeared", a city official said. The helmets are put in the bikes' carrier baskets or in separate containers, and users should have returned them that way. But many simply made off with them. City officials initially considered putting tracking chips on the helmets, but the cost of W1.2 billion a year put them off (US$1=W1,135). Instead they decided to trust people's better instincts, and were sorely disappointed. Now the city may scrap the helmets altogether. This is not the first time that a free public sharing project has flopped. Attempts to share books, umbrellas and medicine have failed because there has always been a significant proportion of thieves. Seoul Metro started lending around 1,300 books at 13 subway stations for free but stopped after just two years because most of the books were never returned. It also started providing band aids and sanitary towels at 35 subway stations but scrapped them after just six months because people scooped them up and hoarded them. Gangnam District Office began providing 450 umbrellas at 22 ward offices in July last year, but a staffer said, "We now have only 30 to 40 umbrellas left". Experts attribute the failure to a lack of civic spirit in an increasingly fragmented megacity. Yoon In-jin at Korea University said, "Many people still consider products offered as public services freebies. Our society is still in transition to becoming a trust-based society, so it's probably better to charge a small amount or check ID when providing such services". Longtime HHS band director gets new gig Fran Shelton, the retired Hendersonville High School band director, has joined Asheville Community Band as director and conductor. [LIGHTNING FILE PHOTO] After 32 years as a high school band director, Fran Shelton was ready to take up music again as a musician and not a teacher. She and Buddy Gudger, who just retired last month as band director at Hendersonville Middle School, decided to rekindle the fun of music without the pressure of class work, long bus trips with hormonal teenagers and high-level competition at the nations top concert halls. Buddy Gudger and I just joined the band to play again with little responsibility, just for the joy of it, she said of their move to the Asheville Community Band. We were last and second-to-last chair trumpet, and would always come to rehearsal two minutes before the downbeat, because we spent so much time at Wild Wings. She had no intention of conducting again. Yet when the incumbent director Jim Kirkpatrick asked her to guest conduct the bands March 25 concert, she said, Maybe. Kirkpatrick persuaded Shelton to conduct Light Calvary Overture, an iconic Franz von Suppe work familiar to many for its use in spaghetti Westerns. Sheltons appearance as the conductor went off without a wrong note. Her reputation was known to a few members of the band, and her demeanor when conducting was enough to command the respect of everyone in the room. She would go on to conduct a few more pieces with the band and was named associate conductor. In early May, after the band finished up its season, the board of directors came to Shelton with the offer. After three long meetings and some negotiation, she accepted. No loading buses Shelton spent most of her career directing high school bands. She taught for 5 years at Robbinsville High, and dedicated 28 years to HHS, taking the bands to renowned concert halls across the nation and bringing home loads of gold awards. Speaking with the board of directors, Kirkpatrick emphasized the talent and experience of the diminutive woman sitting in a chair by the door playing third trumpet. The board listened, and began to talk with Shelton about taking the reins. Ms. Shelton is highly regarded as one of the most accomplished band directors in the state of North Carolina, Kirkpatrick says. She is a consummate musician and understands the importance of service in our music community. Ms. Shelton is a good friend of mine and it was important to me that the next person to take the baton be one that I trusted. Ms. Shelton, without a doubt, will draw from her tremendous experience to continue the legacy of musical excellence attached to the Asheville Community Band. Having spent 30 years performing miracles with high school bands, Shelton was adamant that she would take the baton but not the grunt work. My days of loading trailers, copying music, and filing folders are over, O- V -E -R, capital letters, she said. They call me the artistic director. I just get up there and direct. Themed concerts Formed in 1979, the Asheville Community band is the oldest community band in WNC. It has performed in Hawaii, Germany and Austria. Shelton performed with the band Hawaii and Europe, before she had to commit more time to her high school bands. Now back as the conductor, she hopes to make the band stronger. One goal is for the band is to return to national and international performances. For concerts, she wants to have themes, and divide the concerts up. Instead of one long performance, she envisions two halves with an intermission. She hopes to form a few specific ensembles within the band, such as woodwind and brass sections, adding variety to the concerts. This coming spring, the Asheville Community Band will participate in the Amadeus Music Series along with the Asheville Symphony and Chorale group. This will be a family oriented concert, a great chance to expose younger kids to classical music, she says. She also spoke of holding exchange concerts with the other community bands in the mountains, speaking highly of each. Many musicians are members of the Brevard and Hendersonville bands as well as Ashevilles. Asheville is the biggest ensemble of the three, with nearly 90 members. Among the members, numerous musical backgrounds are represented. Some were music majors in college, some just never quit playing after high school and some just picked up their horn again with a passion to play, with ages ranging from 18 to 80. The biggest challenge is that they all have an opinion! Shelton says with a laugh. The key in this new venture her is to home in on the musicians balance and pitch. She was surprised at how well they responded to her conducting. That was something rare for her high school bands to do consistently, and she was pleased with this groups responsive nature, a result of their passion for music. The group practices one night a week, for two hours, with six rehearsals between concerts. Every rehearsal needs to be focused, and the musicians need to be excited to play to be successful. That excitement and emotion, translated through the music, is the allure of the band. I think its a great thing shes taking over the band, Gudger says. Shes got a lot of great ideas and I think shes going to bring to new things to the table, and the members are really excited to have her. Shelton has extended a special invitation for all her former students to come audition for the band. Her debut as the full conductor is Oct. 21, a 3 p.m. concert in Lipinsky Auditorium at UNC Asheville. Tickets are $10, and proceeds fund scholarships for young musicians. Shelton hints at a potential mountain-themed concert for her debut, so make sure to come out and support the fine musicians of the Asheville Community Band, now led by a Bearcat legend. * * * * * Lightning correspondent Dawson Walker, a 2016 graduate of Hendersonville High School, played saxophone in the HHS band from 2012 until 2016. He is a rising sophomore at Clemson University. Ulhasnagar : Police have on Thursday solved the murder case of Harsh Alhat (11), who was found dead with his throat slit at a family friends room in a chawl in Ulhasnagar in July. A 22-year-old labourer, who has been picked up in connection with the killing, worked at a denim-stiching unit with Harshs father, Ganesh. The accused, Aslam Ansari, decided to kill Harsh as the boy had seen him in a compromising position with a woman who resides in the area. Ansari feared that Harsh would spill the beans on his relationship, said a police officer. Ansari, who had fled after the killing, was arrested near the Nepal border recently. On Thursday, the accused was produced in the Ulhasnagar court that remanded him in police custody till July 30. The incident came to light on July 16 when Harsh was found with his throat slit. The room in which Harshs body was found was shared by 16 people. Ansari and 15 others were grilled by the cops. However, when cops went through CCTV footage of the surrounding area they found that Ansari had been trailing Harsh before the killing. Ansari managed to flee Mumbai before we could nab him. We later activated our informants and learnt that Ansari was planning to flee the country. We tracked him to the Nepal border, said an official. Ansari must get the maximum possible punishment, said Ganesh. I cant fathom why Ansari would kill his co-workers son. I would meet him at work everyday, Ganesh told TOI. Source : TOI Its Sanjay Dutts birthday and he turns 59 on Sunday. We are sure he has a big, happy day lined up for him. His wife, Maanayata Dutt must have planned a great party and his kids, Shahraan and Iqra, would also be excited to celebrate their doting fathers special day. If you follow Maanayata or Sanjay on any social media platform, you would know how much they appreciate family time. The beautiful family loves clicking pictures and pose together at all special events, at weddings, festival or even on a lazy Sunday, spent at the dining table. Maanayata regularly posts romantic pictures with Sanjay, in which they look lost in love, just like any young high school couple. Their pictures with their kids often go viral because Sanju Babas fans love to see his tender side when he is with his beautiful twin babies. When Maanayata was pregnant, I always thought I would be a damn strict dad. But with them, I just cant be that! Sanjay had said about his kids in a special interview to HT Brunch in November 2017. Although I do spoil them a bit, I make sure that when Maanayata is scolding them, I dont become the peace broker, he says. I dont interfere. It is wrong to play good cop/bad cop. But yes, after two three hours, dad might get them a box of chocolates, he added. When asked if his kids would ever become actors like him, Sanjay said there is still time to think about that. We will figure that out when we get there, but both Maanayata and I are very serious about their studies. They need to have proper education, at least a graduation degree, before they can even think about getting into movies, he said. Check out their cutest photos as a family: Follow @htshowbiz for more Kangana Ranaut is not one to simply stick with one job. The actor, who will soon begin directing her own films, is not averse to becoming a politician either. She was recently seen walking the ramp at the launch of Platinum Vogue in Mumbai as the showstopper and after the event, she was asked about her political ambitions by the media. While she did say she is too young to join politics, or have enough knowledge about running a country, she did say she would do anything for India if it comes to it. She said, Whenever there is any danger on our country, we have our soldiers who are ready to sacrifice their lives even without batting an eyelid. If my country ever needs me, then I will be willing to lay my life for my country, leave alone joining politics. A post shared by Kangana Ranaut (@team_kangana_ranout) on Jul 28, 2018 at 12:44pm PDT Kangana also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday at an event in Delhi, calling him the rightful leader of the democracy. Kangana attended the screening of short film Chalo Jeete Hain, which is reportedly inspired by the early life of Prime Minister Modi. The film has been made beautifully. It shows how Prime Minister Modi being a sensitive child went through such extreme circumstances. But I feel this film is not about him. Rather it is about us - how the society needs to be together to rise. This film is just a small part of his life, Kangana said after the screening. When asked to analyse the last four years of the Modi government, Kangana said: He is the most deserving candidate. Its not like he has reached this place because of his mother and father. He is the rightful leader of the democracy. We have voted him as our Prime Minister. This cannot be taken away from him. This is his well deserved place which he has earned after sheer hard work. So, there shouldnt be any doubt about his credibility as a Prime Minister. Kangana Ranaut at the launch of Platinum Vogue in Mumbai on July 27, 2018. (IANS) Kangana said the Prime Minister needs another win in 2019 to make the country better. Five years are very less to take the nation out of a pit. Our country is in a pit, we need to pull it out. Co-directed by Aanand L. Rai and Mahaveer Jain, Chalo Jeete Hain invited a lot of praise from ministers after it was screened at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre on Tuesday. The trailer reveals the story of a young boy, who keeps on asking his parents and other people as to what it is that they live for after reading a phrase `a winner is one who lives for others. (With inputs from ANI) Follow @htshowbiz for more Comment now on redistricting plans while you still can Lapeer County and Michigan voters in November 2018 passed an anti-gerrymandering ballot proposal that will significantly change the way Michigans... READER FEEDBACK Lets look at the facts about marijuana proposal If any of you have spent time with me, you will know... SOUND OFF Not feeling the love! Youth may be the future, but trust me, Lapeers youth want nothing more than to get... A group of children is busy playing on the premises of government school in Sahaspur area of Dehradun. The younger and the lighter children are riding piggyback on the older and the sturdier students as they race each other on a grassy field. Their mirth and laughter is infectious. The scene is serene and calming. So calming that for once, you are lulled into the belief that nothing wrong could happen here. Or, could have happened. Look closely, and you notice how the children are making it a point to make a little girl comfortable. One also notices how that little girl is clinging on to an elder schoolmate who is carrying her piggyback. She is holding tight, not ready to let go the warmth and the support she is getting. Just two days ago, that girl was in a hospital undergoing medical tests. A panel of doctors later said the tests had come positive. The girl had been gang raped. Porn on phone spurs gang rape Eight years old, she was allegedly sexually assaulted by five boys, all from her neighbourhood and including one who is just a year older to her. The other accused are minors too one a 10 year old, two others aged 12, and one 14. An initial probe has found the boys allegedly raped the girl on July 12, two days after watching pornography on the mobile phone of the elder brother of the youngest accused. They had lured the girl with the promise of a chocolate to the house of one of the accused. One of them stood guard while others allegedly took turns raping her. A week later, the girl has resumed her studies. Third among five children of an auto-rickshaw driver father and a farm worker mother, she is in class 3 at the government school in her village. One of her two brothers, who are younger to her, also studies in the same school in class 1. The scars of the trauma she has been through runs deep. The days the incident took place, the usually chirpy girl retreated into a shell. She wouldnt talk. She wouldnt eat. And her distraught mother wouldnt stop asking what was wrong with her. That night, the girl eventually broke down and in between sobs narrated what those five boys had done to her. The next day her parents informed some of their neighbours and finally decided to lodge a complaint on Sunday evening setting in motion a process that saw six boys the five accused and a 15-year-old on whose phone they had watched porn detained and she being sent for a medical examination. Looking for a normal life The girl joined school on July 18. Her parents believe school will keep her busy and away from thoughts of the ordeal she has been through. Children are innocent beings. She has resumed school and is trying to behave normally with other students. We are trying to make her feel comfortable. The pain sometimes shows on her face. More than physical, her injuries are psychological, says a teacher employed at the school for the last 17 years. Another teacher adds, We have directed the other children not to talk about that incident so that she forgets about it and starts life afresh. But that incident has left deep scars on the minor girls psyche and it is not something she is going to forget anytime soon a fact that her mother attests to. She has resumed studies and is also mingling with the other students at the school. But, once home, she refuses to come outside and doesnt talk much to anyone. She hasnt been eating properly since the incident and often complains of stomach ache, the mother said. She takes care of the girl but doesnt discuss the incident with her anymore. She fears it would only deepen the wounds and the girl would further retreat into the shell that she has created around herself. The meagre earnings of about Rs 10,000 doesnt permit the family to take the girl to some other location where she could recuperate. Scars run deep We are not sure how much time shell take to come out of her shell, the girls maternal aunt said. She lives with the family. We never thought something like this would happen with our daughter and that in our own neighbourhood. She is just a child... There is a sense of fear inside us after the incident, says the aunt. The girls mother affirms. Apart from her, there are other small children in the house. After that incident, whenever we adults go out for some work, we lock the main gate so that none of the children can go out. We dont want any other untoward incident with our children, the mother said. Safety has also become a top priority at the girls school. The girls teacher said that the staff now ensures that students go back home only with their parents or guardians. The school gate remains locked at all times. We have directed parents to ensure they or some family member picks and drops their wards. It was a shocking incident and we dont to jeopardise the lives of other children. A tense neighbourhood Meanwhile, the girls neighbourhood too is going through tense times. The families in the village are worried over the impact of the incident. I have two sons aged 8 and 10. After seeing the movement of police and hearing about the arrest of the five boys of the village, they are now not willing to step out of house even buy chocolates from the nearby general store. They go to school and come back from there only to remain indoors, said a woman who lives a few meters away from the girls house. That the accused allegedly committed the crime after watching porn on a cellphone is something that has created a fear psychosis among the young ones. Especially after a 15-year-old on whose phone they watched porn was detained. Not all boys in the village are like them (the accused), said the woman. But even then, the others fear that the police might arrest them too. Till July 30, 18 days after the incident, except for the investigating police officials and Uttarakhand State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (USCPCR) officials, nobody from administration or government had reportedly met the victim or her family. USCPCR chairperson Usha Negi could not be contacted for comments. Ironically, the very day the alleged incident took place, addressing the working committee meeting of the ruling BJP at Kashipur in Udham Singh Nagar district, Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat announced that his government will formulate a law to ensure capital punishment for the rapists of minor girls. Rawat had said his government was concerned over the growing incidents of crimes against minor girls and stricter laws were needed to check them. The state government will ensure that those who perpetrate rape on minor girls are sent to the gallows. Efforts are underway to make strict laws in this regard so that such crimes are reined in, he had said. Three other BJP-Ruled states Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana have already approved the provision of capital punishment for those found guilty of raping girls aged 12 years or less. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2018, which provides for stringent punishment including death penalty for those convicted of raping girls below the age of 12 years, will be introduced in ongoing monsoon session of Parliament. The CMs stern words, it seems, failed to have the desired effect as became evident on Saturday when a 32-year-old man, a father of two, raped and murdered a 11-year-old girl in the same Sahaspur locality. 10-year-old accuseds parents were in hospital with his sister who has been diagnosed with cancer Just about 10 metres from the 8-year-old victims residence in Sahaspur is the house of one of a 10-year-old boy, one of the five juveniles accused of raping her after watching porn. This is the house where the boys took turns sexually assaulting her while one of them stood guard. When HT visited the locality, only the 10-year-old accuseds father and elder brother were present at the house that bore a gloomy look. It was a double whammy for the father, a daily wage labourer. He and his wife were in a hospital when a neighbour informed that his younger son has been accused of raping a girl at their house and has been detained by the police. My younger daughter has been diagnosed with cancer in one of her legs. My wife and I have been spending most of our time at Dehraduns Jolly Grant Hospital since July 4. The doctors operated her leg on July 11 and the hospital bill has already exceeded Rs 1 lakh. My wife and I were already tensed and contemplating on how to go about arranging the money when we got to about our younger son, the father said. The father said his younger cleared class 5 this year from the local school and he was planning to get him admitted to another school. But before this could happen, I came to know that my son has been booked for this crime. We are shattered. We dont know what will happen now. Residents of 14 villages, affected by the setting up of a hydroelectric power project in Srinagar town of Pauri Garhwal district, plan to shut down the local power house on August 1. The villagers claim they havent been given the due compensation that was promised to them by the private company commissioned for the project. I have personally visited all the 14 villages affected by this project and have addressed the gram sabhas. We have received phenomenal support with at least 5,000 villagers pledging to shut down the power house on August 1, said Daulat Kunwar, founder of Uttarakhand Samvaidhanik Adhikar Sanrakshan Manch. The group is waging protests over the issue since 2013. We will continue the protests till the company compensates the villagers, Kunwar added. The contract for the construction of Alaknanda hydroelectricity project in Srinagar was awarded to GVK Group. Lands of 476 families from 14 villages in Tehri and Pauri were acquired when the dam construction began in 2006. Several villagers have alleged that the company has not compensated them till date. This project has affected 476 families. The company gave each family a cheque of Rs 10 lakh in 2013 as compensation. When we deposited these cheques, the company issued a stop payment against them. Since then, officials of the company have been telling us that we will get the compensation, but we havent got anything so far, said Rajesh Pandey, a resident of Dhari village. After almost two months of protest by the villagers in Dehradun, the state government called a meeting at the Secretariat last week. Chaired by the state power secretary Radhika Jha, the meeting was attended by a senior representative from the company as well as MLAs from the area. In the meeting, GVK was ordered to pay Rs 20 crore to the 476 affected families as well as an additional Rs 10 crore for repairing of the roads and pipelines damaged during the project construction. Speaking on the matter, project coordinator, GVK, Santosh Reddy said, We are waiting for the minutes of the meeting and should receive them in a day or two. Once we get them, we will decide the further course of action. Vinod Kandari, the local BJP MLA, said, I am completely with the villagers on this matter. Because of my intervention, a meeting was held last week at the Secretariat where I was also present. Two days ago, I had a meeting with the DM of Tehri and DM of Pauri. They have said they will be examining all the cheques that were issued by the company to the villagers and ensure they receive the due compensation as per the legal contract signed by the company. When asked about the protesters plan to shut down the power house from August 1, Kandari said, I do not have any information on this matter. Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Sunday took stock of the ongoing evacuation exercise in the low-lying areas of the city, a day after the water level of the Yamuna river crossed the danger mark. The Delhi government deployed boats and set up tents and evacuated over 1,000 families from low-lying areas along the Yamuna till Sunday morning as the river continued to flow above the danger mark of 204.83 metres in the national capital. Sisodia took stock of the ongoing evacuation work in the low-lying areas around Akshardham and Pandav Nagar, an official said. The deputy CM met the people living in the vicinity of the river and urged them to move to safer places, cautioning about the rising level of the Yamuna river. Many people have started moving to higher planes, another official said. Officials expect the river to rise to 206.60 meters on July 31. Haryana had released six lakh cusecs of water at 6 pm on Saturday. The water discharged from Hathnikund barrage, which provides drinking water to New Delhi, normally takes 72 hours to reach the city. More water is being released from the barrage every hour, which will have an impact on the water level of the river here. We are keeping a close watch on the situation, a Flood and Control Department official said. We have established over 750 tents for about 1,000 families in East zone alone. The arrangements for their food have also been made. We are shifting the people living in the river bed to the nearest high area, Nodal officer (Preet Vihar) Arun Gupta said. Boats have been deployed to tackle any unwanted situation, Gupta said. Quick response teams have also been activated for the emergency. The evacuation began on Saturday following a sharp rise in the rivers level. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday reviewed the governments preparedness to tackle the flood-like situation in low-lying areas of Delhi. The Delhi government also requested the Army to be on standby for any emergency. The Yamuna water level at the Hathinikund barrage had crossed the danger mark of 90,000 cusec and till 7 pm on Saturday, 5,63,186 cusec of water was released, an official had said. Delhi Police have arrested four people, including a woman, for kidnapping, sexually assaulting and then selling a 16-year-old girl from outer Delhis Sultanpuri to a spa and massage centre in Rohini, police said. Medical examination of the girl has confirmed sexual assault. The accused have been identified as Ravi (32) a rickshaw puller, Rinky (20) who lives with Ravi, Rohit (22), a caretaker at the spa centre, and Mukesh (25), an assistant at the centre. The centre is run by one Ashok Goyal. Three other accused Heena, Vicky, Intezar, and Goyal are absconding and efforts are on to nab them, said the police. Deputy commissioner of police (Outer), Seju P Kuruvilla, said that the family of the minor reported the kidnapping on June 30. During investigation we found that she was last spotted with one Abhishek. Efforts were made to trace him but he could not be found. Police got a breakthrough when the victim, on July 21, contacted her mother and informed her that she is in Rohini. Her mother then went to the house she was at and brought her to Sultanpuri police station where a case of kidnapping was registered, the DCP said. She has alleged that Abhishek took her to Haridwar and exploited her sexually, police said. They returned to Delhi after four days and lived at the old Delhi railway station where they met Ravi who assured them of a job and shelter. He took them to his residence in Ghaziabad. The next day, Abhishek went with Ravi to find a job but did not return. Ravi allegedly sexually assaulted her in the night, when Rinky had gone out, Kuruvilla said. The next morning, Rinky gave the victim some food and she felt drowsy after eating it. She said that she was then handed over to one Intezar and a woman named Heena who took her to Rohini and handed her over to Goyal who runs a spa and massage centre. The girl also identified Rohit and Mukesh as Goyals associates. She said Goyal exploited her sexually and even forced her to have sex with his clients, the officer said. Following inputs, the police arrested Abhishek after which he admitted assaulting the girl, police said. He said Ravi and Rinky had told him that she has gone back to her house. With Abhisheks assistance, the police arrested Ravi and Rinky from their residence who confirmed that they had sold the victim with the help of Intezar and Heena. A police team also raided the said massage centre and arrested both his associates, the DCP said. Uttar Pradesh authorities busted an exam solvers gang and arrested 12 people, including its kingpin, a suspended teacher, in Allahabad on Sunday ahead of the Assistant Teachers (trained graduate grade) recruitment exam 2018 which they were targeting. The exam, commonly known as the LT grade test, for the recruitment of 10,768 teachers for classes 610, was held at 1,760 centres in 39 districts of Uttar Pradesh later in the day without any hassle. Acting on a tip-off, the Allahabad unit of the Special Task Force (STF) arrested suspended teacher Om Sahai of Ghoorpur and his two aides Vinit Kumar and Jitendra Kumar of Kaushambi. Following their confession, the team arrested six solvers, including a woman, and five candidates, Allahabad circle STF officer, Navendu Singh said. The solvers were identified as Chintu Kumar, Bhola Kumari, Sanju Kumari, Kanhai Pandit, Pintu and Saurabh of Bihar. The candidates were Suresh Bhartiya of Kanpur, Ashok Kumar of Fatehpur, Ashok Yadav of Ghoorpur. Solvers are those who are well versed in a subject and illegally appear in an examination in place of the bona fide candidate in return for money. They were called from Bihar and each was to be paid Rs 25,000. As per the deal, candidates were to pay Rs 14 lakh to Om Sahai for clearing the examination. They had paid Rs 2 lakh as advance to Sahai, Singh said. Officials of the STF said the gang used to scan the photographs of the aspirants as well as the solvers and morph them. The morphed photograph was fixed on admit cards so that solvers could not be recognized during the examination and the chances of being caught were less, STF officials claimed. Several mobile phones, PAN cards, admit cards, Aadhaar cards and Rs 15,000 cash were recovered from the accused. The STF teams carried out raids in several districts of the state in search of other members of the gang. This is the first time a written exam was conducted for recruiting these teachers. Till now, the selections were made on the basis of academic merit. There are a total of 10,768 posts on offer, including 5,364 posts for mens branch and another 5,404 posts for womens branch. A total of 7,63,317 candidates have applied for the exam. In Allahabad, the exam was held at 144 centres and 65,798 candidates were registered for the exam here. Only women candidates vying to become teachers of Hindi subject took the exam here. Earlier, the responsibility of conducting this recruitment was with the joint director (education) and was shifted to the additional director (secondary education) during the SP rule. However, after the BJP government took charge, it decided to carry out these recruitments through a written exam by Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC). Investigators believe girls at the Muzaffarpur shelter home were allegedly given sedatives under the garb of deworming tablets almost every night before being sexually exploited. The inference is based on the revelation made by most of the 29 girls, examined by a medical board at the Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH). The girls, during the course of sharing their clinical history with doctors, told them that didis (women managing the shelter home) used to give deworming tablets every night after dinner. Investigators have reasons to believe that these medicines were not Albendazole, the most common medication for treatment of a variety of parasitic worm infestations, but sedatives. For, girls at the shelter home said they would soon go off to sleep after which their ordeal would begin. They would often wake up with abdominal or vaginal pain, said investigators. The doctors, however, did not comment on the medicine, as the girls did not know the proprietary or generic name of the medicine given to them. Read | Raped, starved, burnt: Horror tales from Bihar shelter where 29 inmates were assaulted However, responding to HTs query about deworming protocol, experts said, The tablet has to be consumed once and may be repeated either after a week or a month, depending upon the intensity of worm infestation. In no case are deworming tablets to be consumed daily. Doctors refrained from commenting on the side effects of regular consumption of deworming tablets or sedatives as they were not aware about the medicine given to the girls. Investigators suggested that 34 of the 42 girls examined so far were found to have been sexually exploited. Two other girls were not subjected to medical examination because of their poor mental health. Of the 29 girls examined in three batches at the PMCH, doctors had found possibility of sexual contact in 21 girls, while test reports of all 13 examined at the district hospital, Madhubani, were positive. Medical test reports of eight girls were negative, said senior superintendent of police, Muzaffarpur, Harpreet Kaur. The CBI team had reached Muzaffarpur on Sunday afternoon to take over investigation of the case. The Bihar government had recommended for a CBI probe into the case on July 26. Some girls were found to have laxity of vaginal introitus, the medical report said. This refers to loosening of vaginal opening, which may happen when a woman has sexual contact. It can also manifest in athletes, cyclists, those into equestrian or horse-riding or when young women use tampons during their menstrual cycle. Besides, it can also be due to congenital weakening of vaginal tissue, said experts, who were privy to the medical report, on condition of anonymity. The doctors found no injury marks on the external genitalia of the girls, even as old injury marks were found on their forehands, which the girls claimed was self-inflicted out of anger. PMCH medical superintendent Dr Rajiv Ranjan Prasad refused to share the medical findings, saying: The matter is sub-judice. A Muzaffarpur court had ordered constitution of the medical board to examine the girls. The expose followed an independent social audit report by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences of 110 shelter homes in the state. The inaction of BJP governments in states, especially Uttar Pradesh, has created an atmosphere of fear among Dalits and religious minorities, Congress president Rahul Gandhi has said. He also said it was important for the Congress to reach out to the victims of mindless violence. The current dispensation, Gandhi alleged, has allowed the climate of fear and lawlessness to not only prevail but also flourish. The hate speeches made by various BJP ministers and leaders exhorting their followers to target certain communities encourages local goons to act with impunity, he said The Congress chief alleged that the inaction of BJP state governments, especially in Uttar Pradesh, has created an atmosphere of fear amongst Dalits and religious minorities. In a letter to the schedule caste (SC) department of the AICC, Gandhi said it is important for the party to reach out to the victims of the mindless violence and publicly support them. The complicity of state agencies, that makes such large-scale persecution possible, must be exposed, he wrote in his July 27 letter. He said, it would be expedient on part of the SC department of the party to examine the recent instances of violence against Dalits where the state had failed to act against the perpetrators. There is an urgent need for a larger public discourse regarding the systemic persecution unleashed by this regime. Towards this end, I request you to take up these issues in all relevant platforms. and apprise me on the same, Gandhi said. Yatras, or roadshows, are a key part of the Bharatiya Janata Partys election strategy, and the party is organising them shortly in six states, including three where election are due later this year, three party leaders said on condition of anonymity. Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, all ruled by the BJP, will vote in November-December to elect a new government, and West Bengal, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, are the greenfield states where the BJP expects to make major gains in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. BJP chief Amit Shah will flag off the Suraj Gaurav Yatra of Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje from Charbhuja Temple of Lord Vishnu in Rajsamand district on August 4, one of the three BJP leaders said. Raje launched a similar outreach programme from this temple in 2013 and stormed to power that year, defeating the incumbent Congress government. The 45-day yatra will end with a rally in Ajmer on September 2 that may be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But within this roadshow, there will be many mini-roadshows. Each BJP MP will take out a separate yatra in his constituency during this period and it will merge with Rajes when she passes through that area, the first BJP leader said. Chhattsigarh chief minister Raman Singh has completed the first phase of his Vikas Yatra between May 12 and June 14, and will set out on the second leg of a similar tour between August 16 and September 30, a second BJP leader said. Home minister Rajnath Singh flagged off the first leg from Maoist hotbed Dantewada and Prime Minister Modi addr- essed the rally in Bilaspur on June 14. The yatra covered 62 out of 90 assembly segments by June 14 and the second leg will cover the remaining seats, the second leader said. Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also set out on a Jan Aashirvad Yatra from the temple city of Ujjain on July 14 and will cover all 230 ass- embly segments before it reaches Bhopal on September 25. The Prime Minister has been invited for the concluding rally, an official in the chief ministers office said on condition of anonymity. Yatras are an effective and time-tested tool to communicate our governments achievements and partys message to people, BJPs media cell chief and Rajya Sabha member and Anil Baluni said. It was veteran LK Advani who, with his Ram Rath Yatra in 1990, introduced the BJP to the concept of yatras for mass mobilisation and the party effectively used it in several successive elections. Yatras arent exclusive to the BJP. Other parties too use it. For instance, Congress president Rahul Gandhi covered Karnataka in a Janashirvada Yatra ahead of the May 12 assembly election in the state. Explaining its possibilities and limitations, Badri Narayan, professor at the Allahabad based G B Pant Institute for Social Sciences, said, Rath Yatra politics is an opportunity to interact with the masses, and in that sense it can be a good mobilisation effort. But as a symbol, it is now repetitive and faded. So its impact may not be as strong as it was in the past. If the yatras are meant to reinforce the BJPs strength in Rajasthan, Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, they are expected to give a fillip to the partys efforts to make a mark in the other three states. Three separate rath yatras will roll out from Cooch Behar, Birbhum and South 24 Parganas in West Bengal after Durga Puja, the third leader said. Minority appeasement and under-development is a big issue. We will try to reach out to people on these issues, the third BJP leader said. The BJP won just two Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal in 2014, but its vote share jumped from 6% to 17%. Amit Shah has set a target for the local unit to win 22 out of 42 parliamentary seats in the state. In Telangana, Indias youngest state, which accounts for 17 Lok Sabha seats -- it will vote simultaneously with the parliamentary election to elect a new assembly -- the BJP has just one MP . A makeshift chariot that former Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa used during his yatra in the run-up to Karnataka election was sent to Telangana to take out a Jan Chetna Yatra between June 23 and July 6. The second phase of it will be taken out after the monsoon, the third BJP leader said. A bus yatra will be taken out in Andhra Pradesh, another southern state that votes for the Lok Sabha and the state assembly simultaneously. We are finalising the dates, state BJP president Kanna Laxminarayana said. We will expose the rampant corruption under the TDP regime. Andhra sends 25 members to Parliament. The BJP also took out a 11-day-long Women Safety Yatra in Odisha from May 17. Odisha also votes simultaneously for the Lok Sabha and state assembly. A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team arrived in Bihar on Sunday to take over the probe into alleged sexual abuse at a government-funded shelter home in Muzaffarpur district, from where 42 girls were rescued earlier this month. Chief minister Nitish Kumar had recommended the probe after opposition parties accused the government of shielding the accused. An official familiar with the initial police investigation said on Sunday that the girls were raped after sedatives were given to them under the garb of deworming medication almost every night. Police have found that 34 of the girls rescued from the shelter were sexually exploited. Two other girls could not be medically examined because of their poor health. The case has been registered against officers and employees of Balika Grih (the shelter home)... It is alleged that officials/employees of girls children home run by Seva Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti (a non-governmental organisation) used to mentally, physically and sexually exploit the children residing at the said childrens home, said a CBI spokesperson. The state government had roped in the Samiti to run the short-stay home. Earlier, Muzaffarpurs Mahila (women) police station had registered a case under the Indian Penal Codes sections related to criminal conspiracy, rape and common intention to commit a crime and the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The CBI has now re-registered the case to take over the probe. The abuse came to light in February after Mumbais Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) conducted a social audit of 110 shelter homes in Bihar. TISS found girls had been ill-treated in at least six of the shelter homes including in Muzaffarpur, where they were also sexually exploited. The first case was registered after initial medical examinations confirmed at least 21 girls had been abused. Some of the girls have recorded their statements before a magistrate as well. So far 10 people, including the shelter in-charge Brajesh Thakur, have been arrested. Some of the girls alleged that one of them was killed after she resisted an attempt to sexually assault her. Police looked for her body at the shelter home campus after digging its compound, but nothing was found. The girls have told doctors they were given deworming tablets every night after dinner, which investigators believe were sedatives. The girls would go off to sleep after having the tablets and often wake up with abdominal or vaginal pain, said investigators. Doctors found no injury marks on the external genitalia of the girls. Old injury marks were found on their forehands, which the girls claimed were self-inflicted out of anger. A Muzaffarpur court had ordered constitution of a medical board to examine the girls. The India army has downplayed reports about heightened activity by the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) in the Doklam plateau and attributed this more to the rotation of troops and winter stocking than a desire by China to strengthen its presence in a region where armies of the two countries were locked in an uneasy 73-day standoff last year. Senior army officers who spoke on condition of anonymity said the Chinese had made no attempt to cross the Torsa nullah that virtually bisects the 100 sq km plateau near the tri-junction of India, China, and Bhutan. They added that there had been no change in the ground situation. The PLA, the Indian army (out of Doklam, or Doka La as India calls it) and the Royal Bhutanese Army (at Chela Post) are stocking their posts for winter. When theres a changeover for troops, the strength of the posts is temporarily doubled with outgoing troops briefing their incoming counterparts. The armys explanation comes after US Congresswoman Ann Wagner said during a US Congressional hearing on Wednesday that the Chinese PLA had resumed activities in Doklam. The army officers cited above added that, specifically, the PLA battalion guarding the Batang La-Meru La-Sincha La axis, which is part of the Doklam plateau, is being rotated with supporting logistics activity. As in the past year, the PLA plans to stay put in Doklam area this winter; the other two armies (India and Bhutan) are also stocking up for normal heavy snows in this mountainous region, said one of the officers. The Chinese PLA has around 700 troopers in the Doklam area with a back-up of heavy vehicles and large prefabricated barracks. The Torsa Nullah, which meets Amu Chu in Chinese territory, divides the plateau in such a way that 60% is under Chinese control and the remaining with India. Contrary to the reports, the PLA has no surface-to-air missiles or S-300 systems placed in the area as they would be sitting ducks in times of hostility with the Indian Army sitting on the dominating heights of Doklam plateau, the officers said. The Chinese do have surface-to-air missiles, but these are stationed deep within Chinese territory, in Yadong, the officers added. The Royal Bhutan Army also has a significant number of troopers at Chela Post to monitor Chinese movement despite Beijing putting pressure on Thimpu to resolve the border dispute between the two countries. Although the Chinese PLA had been sending patrols to meet Bhutanese troops after crossing the Torsa Nullah gorge on Doklam since the previous decade, the 2017 stand-off occurred as the PLA tried to carve out a road to reach Jhampheri ridge at the point close to Indian positions in Doklam and where the Torsa Nullah was crossable on all-terrain military vehicles. According to Indian Army officers, if the PLA had been allowed to cross the nullah at that place, the Indian positions would have been rendered vulnerable. DMK chief M Karunanidhi, who is being treated at a hospital in Chennai, is showing signs of improvement after a small setback, senior party leader A Raja told the huge crowd standing outside the hospital in rain, praying for the recovery of their Kalaignar. Dont belive in rumours no need to worry, Kalaignar is doing well. Its true he got small setback but now his health is improving, said Raja, standing atop a police barricade put up to control the hundreds outside the Kauvery hospital where the 94-year-old veteran politician is being treated. A Raja, who had to step out twice to reassure the swelling crowd on Karunanidhis health, appealed to the DMK cadre to maintain calm who were reportedly trying to break through the barricades. Huge security has been deployed outside the hospital to control the overflowing crowd. In a late night press release, Kauvery Hospital said that there was a transient setback in the clinical condition of Kalaignar M Karunanidhi. With active medical support, his vital signs are normalising. However, he continues to be closely monitored, the press note added. Karunanidhi was admitted to the hospital late on Friday following a dip in his blood pressure. He is being treated for a urinary tract infection Karunanidhis son and political heir MK Stalin and Raja were at the hospital all through the evening and headed home soon the health update. Were headling home, he is improving after unexpected setback, said Stalin, appealing the DMK cadre to not obstruct police and disturb public. Karunanidhis daughter Kanimozhi, however, is still at the hospital. Tamil Nadu chief minister E Palaniswami, who was headed to Chennai after cutting short his Salem tour was advised to postpone his visit by the police, sources told Hindustan Times. In a photograph released by DMK this morning, Karunanidhi was seen for the first time since his hospitalisation. He was visited by vice president Venkaiah Naidu and Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday. In the photograph with Mr Naidu, Karunanidhi appears to be sleeping. For more than a year, Karunanidhi a five-time chief minister of Tamil Nadu has not made any public appearance except occasional visits to his party office and waving at supporters from his home. He was admitted in hospital last on July 18 for a change of tracheostomy tube. After coming under flak from the Opposition parties for proposing amendments to the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the central government on Sunday invited applications to fill vacant posts of Information Commissioners in Central Information Commission (CIC). At present, there are six information commissioners in the CIC as against the sanctioned strength of 10. RK Mathur is the incumbent Chief Information Commissioner of India. The advertisement taken out by the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions states, It is proposed to appoint information commissioners in the CIC. Persons fulfilling the criteria and interested for appointment to the post of information commissioners may send their particulars. It adds, The salary, allowances and other terms and conditions of service of the Information Commissioners shall be as may be specified at the time of appointment of the selected candidate/s. An application for the post should be below 65 years, of eminence in public life with wide knowledge and experience in law, science and technology, social service, management, journalism, mass media or administration and governance. The person should not be a Member of Parliament or of the Legislative Assembly, or hold any office of profit or connected with any political party or carrying on any business or pursuing any profession. RTI activists have accused the government of trying to dilute the Act with proposed amendments, according to which salaries, allowances and other terms and conditions of service of the CIC and the ICs along with the latters tenures shall be such as may be prescribed by the Centre. DMK chief M Karunanidhis health is improving after a temporary setback, said his family and Chennais Kauvery Hospital, where the veteran leader is being treated, on Sunday night. There has been an unexpected setback in the health of Karunanidhi. But after critical medical care, he is normalising. A team of doctors is continuously monitoring and treating him. I appeal to the cadres to not indulge in any violence, not obstruct police and not disturb public, said MK Stalin, Karunanidhis son and political heir. Kalaignar is fine and we are going home, said MK Azhagiri, Karunanidhis elder son. Daughter M Kanimozhi, too, told media that her father is fine. Stalin, Azhagiri, Kanimozhi and another daughter Selvi, returned to the 94-year-old leaders home in Chennais Gopalapuram after gathering at the private hospital on Sunday evening. Karunanidhis vital signs are normalising after a transient setback in his condition, and he is being closely monitored, the hospital said in a statement a little before 10 pm on Sunday. #WATCH: Outside visuals of Chennai's Kauvery hospital, where DMK Chief M Karunanidhi is admitted. Police lathi charge crowd gathered outside. #TamilNadu pic.twitter.com/3fkR0LFlb1 ANI (@ANI) July 29, 2018 Chief minister E Palaniswamy, who was in Coimbatore for an event, is delaying his return to Chennai on the polices advice, sources told Hindustan Times. Emotions are running high outside the hospital as crowds have gathered in hundreds, waiting in the rain and praying for Karunanidhis recovery. Heavy security has been deployed at the hospital and police had to cane the crowd briefly in an attempt to disperse supporters and DMK workers, who shouted slogans in Karunanidhis praise. Barricades have been set up along the 2-km stretch from the hospital to Gopalapuram, causing traffic jams. Read | Dont believe in rumours on Karunanidhi: DMK leader A Raja tells crowd outside hospital Senior politicians, including Congress partys P Chidambaram and TMCs Derek OBrien, visited the veteran politician on Sunday. Vice president M Venkaiah Naidu also paid a visit earlier in the day to inquire about the DMK chiefs health and said he was told by doctors that Karunanidhis condition was stable. Visited Kaveri Hospital and met former Chief Minister Thiru Kalaignar Karunanidhi. Met his family members and doctors and enquired about his health. Doctors said he is stable. Wish him a speedy recovery, Naidu tweeted. The DMK president, who is being treated for fever due to urinary tract infection, was admitted to the hospitals Intensive Care Unit (ICU) on Saturday following a dip in his blood pressure. PM Modi concludes address As an MP from Uttar Pradesh, i feel indebted to the state. Im from the state... feel happy to come here, says PM Modi, concluding his speech. Rs 60,000 crore investment just the beginning: Modi Todays 60,000 crore investment is just the beginning. As Yogi Adityanath was saying Rs 50, 000 crore too are ready to be implemented: Modi. Urged industrialists to invest in agriculture: Modi PM Modi says he told industrialists to increase investment in agriculture which at present stands at about 1%. Have urged industry groups to form brain storming teams to think of ways to make investment in agriculture: Modi Modi hits out at critics, says had 4 years against 70 years PM Modi says he is surprised when people criticise him as he had only 4 years to achieve things against 70 years that others got. Our ex-PM and leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee always said he wanted an India that is strong. Vajpayee ji had once said roads were like lines on ones palm which would determine ones fate. Thats why we are working on several big infrastructure projects: PM Modi PM Modi speaks on overcoming energy deficit in UP PM says there was 4.2 % energy deficit in 2013-14 which is now less than 1 %. He says power grids now wont fail due to coal shortage. PM highlights in last three years people have saved Rs 50, 000 crore in power bills and states that India has improved by 82 point in World Banks Ease of Getting Electricity ranking. UP has immense potential in MSME sector, big hub of solar energy: PM There is immense potential in UPs MSME sector: PM Modi He states that UP is focusing on power generation and working on green energy especially solar energy. He predicts UP is going to be big hub of solar energy. Yogi govt working on holistic vision, inclusive action: PM Modi PM Modi says that under chief minister Yogi Adityanath, UP has benefitted immensely as government is working on holistic vision and inclusive action. Solutions and synchronisation key to development: Modi PM Modi says solutions and synchronisation are the key to development and cities Digital India and Make in India as great examples. India is fast becoming hub of mobile manufacturing and ranked number two now in this sector, Modi says. He says UP is leading this change and notes that there are more than 50 mobile manufacturing units working in the state. PM says investments to generate 2 lakh jobs PM Modi says these investments will generate 2 lakh jobs. He says he had promised 22 crore people of UP he would return their love with interest. These investments are part of our efforts to bring speed and transparency to our actions He emphasised that his government is working on Sabka saath, sabka vikas. PM Modi comments on meeting with industrialists He says there are people who dont want to get themselves photographed with any industrialist but there is hardly any who didnt meet them on the sly. PM Modi says Gandhi nerver hesitated in meeting businessman Birla. There is no problem in meeting anyone as long as the intentions are clear: Modi UP is all set to be a $ 1 trillion economy now: PM Modi There was a time when people considered investment to be a challenge but todays function is proof of the sheer speed in which UP is progressing now: PM Modi He says UP is all set to be a 1 trillion dollar economy now Modi praises Yogi for balanced development of UP PM Modi says Noida and Greater Noida are hubs of investment which is good but the entire state needs to develop. Some call todays event ground breaking ceremony but I call it record breaking ceremony for the sheer speed in which such projects were executed in just about no time and to translate intent to investment: Modi Rs 60, 000 crore investments in just 5 months is great task: Modi In five months this is the second time I am in UP meeting industry groups. I have been a chief minister too in the past and I know Rs 60, 000 crore investments in just 5 months is a great task executed by UP team. It has been a marvellous effort and crossing so may hurdles is great achievement: PM Modi To lift people out of difficulties is the main objective of govt: PM To lift people out of difficulties is the most important objective of a state and we have been trying to that for the past 4 years. PM Modi addresses event PM Modi says rains have set in the state which is good for agriculture but also brought in difficulties for some people. UP among top 5 states in ease of doing business: Yogi Aditynath The chief minister says Uttar Pradesh is now among top 5 states in ease of doing business. Before March 2017, industries were wanting to move out of state but we have managed to bring about a transformation in just one year, says Yogi, adding that UP will effectively play the role of countrys growth engine. Of Rs 60, 000 crore investment, 51% has been in West UP ,27% in central UP and 22% in Purvanchal or east UP: Uttar Pradesh CM He also extends invitation to industry groups for Kumbh 2019 and NRI meet in Varanasi. CM Yogi Adityanath starts address CM Adityanath says Rs 60, 000 crore investment in Uttar Pradesh is a befitting answer to critics like BSP and SP. He says BSP government in five years could manage investment worth Rs 57,000 crore while SP could manage just Rs 50, 000 crore but in contrast his government has gone ahead to make investments of Rs 60, 000 crore in one year. Gautam Adani speaks at the event Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani says Its remarkable that in just five months UP has been able to translate into reality commitments pledged barely 5 months back. UP is a state of countless possibilities, he says. PM Modi arrives at the venue Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath welcomes Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi at the venue. A man was lynched and another critically injured after a mob in the tribal district of Dahod intercepted two history sheeters and beat them up on suspicion of theft late Saturday night, police said. Police have registered a case of murder and rioting against 100 people following the incident in Kali Mahudi village of Jalod taluka, just over 200 km east of Ahmedabad. The police said the two men had been released on bail from Dahod jail in a theft case only four days back. The man who was killed has been identified as Ajmel Vahoniya (22) and injured as Bharu Palas. Palas told us that they were on motorbike travelling to Jhalod on Saturday when a group of people stopped them while they were crossing Kali Mahudi village. Suspecting that they were running away after a robbery, the group called on other people as well. Palas told us that a mob of around 100 people beat them with wooden sticks and iron rods, said P K Judal, investigating officer with Limbdi police station. The officer added that a villager had called the police but by the time they reached the spot, the mob had badly thrashed the duo. Vahonoiya died on the spot. Palas has been admitted to a hospital, said Judal. Police said that both Vahoniya and Palas have several robbery and theft cases registered against them. Vahoniya was also accused in a double murder case, said the police. The villagers reportedly told the police that upon information that a big group of robbers had arrived in their village, they have managed to catch the duo, while other fled. The police said it has started an investigation and are trying to identify those were part of the mob to make arrest. The latest lynching came four days after the Union government announced a high-level committee under Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba to deliberate and make recommendations for a separate penal provision on incidents of mob violence. The government set up the panel after the Supreme Court on July 17 asked Parliament to consider enacting a new law to effectively deal with incidents of mob lynching, saying horrendous acts of mobocracy cannot be allowed to become a new norm. Six days after the Supreme Court denounced the sweeping incidents of lynching as an affront to the rule of law and called for a law to deal with such horrendous acts of mobocracy, the government Monday informed Lok Sabha that it had created a Group of Ministers (GoM) under Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and a high-level committee under Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba to deliberate and make recommendations for a separate penal provision on incidents of mob violence. A four-decades-old question in Assam on Indian citizenship and illegal Bangladeshi migrants will near resolution on Monday, when the final draft of the Supreme-Court mandated National Register of Citizens (NRC) is made public. Almost everyone in Assam awaits its publication with bated breath. Those among the states 32 million people who find their names in the list will be relieved. But for those who will get left out, it will usher a new struggle to prove their citizenship. With no clear estimate of how many people might not make it to the list, theres a threat of violence as well. Elaborate security arrangements have been put in place and large number of personnel deployed to prevent any untoward incidents. The NRC was compiled only for Assam in 1951. The list is being updated to weed out illegal immigrants as per a provision of the Assam Accord signed in 1985 after a six-year agitation against Bangladeshis. Actual work on updating the NRC started in 2015. As there was no previous precedent of an exercise being undertaken on such scale, there were many questions on the methodology adopted. The first draft of the updated NRC comprising names of 19 million people was released on December 31 last year. It was decided that anyone residing illegally in the state from March 25, 1971 (as per the Assam Accord) would be kept out of the list. To be included in the list, residents of the state had to apply and submit proof that they or their ancestors were in the 1951 NRC or any subsequent voter list till the cut-off date. Fear of the outsider For Assams indigenous population, the fear of the outsider isnt new. Between 1951 and 1961, Assams population jumped by 36% and by another 35% in the next decademore than 10% of the national figure for those census years. The growth of over 50% between 1970 and 1979 from 5.7 million to 8.5 million was the trigger for the Assam agitation. While 855 agitators died during the six-year period, thousands were killed in group clashes. The most notable of them was the massacre at Nellie in February 1983, in which nearly 2,000 immigrant Muslims were killed in one night by tribals in central Assam, barely 70 km from the state capital. The Assam Accord, which was expected to solve the issue by putting an end to infiltration from across the border and speed up detection and deportation of illegal immigrants, failed to deliver. The states 267 km long boundary with Bangladesh is yet to be sealed and foreigners tribunals (there are 100 in Assam) have declared only 91,000 people as foreigners since 1985. Nearly 1,000 of them are now housed in six temporary detention centres. Assam and Bangladesh dont share an extradition treaty and even after someone is declared a foreigner. it is very difficult to send them back. Indigenous Assamese people fear they will lose their land, language and identity if unabated influx continues. As per the linguistic data of the 2011 census, the percentage of Assamese speaking population in the state decreased from 58% to 48% between 1991 and 2011. While during the same period, the figure for Bengali speakers increased from 22% to 30%. Last year, an interim report of a six-member committee to protect land rights of indigenous people set up by the states first Bharatiya Janata Party-led government noted that illegal immigrants comprised a majority of the population in 15 of Assams 33 districts. An uneasy journey There is no clear indication on how many people will be left out of the NRC list. Some reports are claiming it could be anywhere between 2 million to 7 million. Officials connected with the process refuse to divulge anything till the list is out. One thing is certain. Those residents who have been declared as D-voters (doubtful voters) and termed foreigners by the tribunals and their relatives will not be included in the list. But discrepancies in the process of being declared D-Voters of being summoned by foreigners tribunals have surfaced recently. The agitation to drive out foreigners was directed primarily at Bangladeshis. When successive Congress and Asom Gana Parishad governments failed to implement the Assam Accord, voters in Assam placed reins of the state in the hands of Bharatiya Janata Party, for the first time, in 2016. The partys aggressive stance on protecting rights of indigenous and assurances of stopping infiltration appealed to most indigenous Assamese. But that optimism dissipated when the same party sought to grant citizenship Bangladeshi Hindus by amending the Citizenship Act. The NRC exercise could address the issue of foreigners by leaving non-Indians from the list. But there is no clarity on what will happen to those who dont find their names in the list released on July 30. Ministers both at the Centre and in the state have made it clear that no one would be declared a foreigner if their names dont get included. Those applicants will get a chance to take legal recourse by submitting claims, objections and clarifications between August 1 and September 28. The complete list would be published only after all these claims are settled. There is no deadline yet for that process. People whose names dont appear in the complete list could end up in detention centres, might get pushed back, become stateless, get long-term work permits without land and political rights. For the moment, though, every applicant in Assam is hoping their name gets enlisted and they dont have to bear the tag of a foreigner and undertake and battle to prove their citizenship. Congress president Rahul Gandhi today took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and referred to the rape of girls and women at a shelter home, saying it is a story of the one who assures and the one who vows to give good governance. Story of ashwasan babu (the one who assures) and susashan babu (the one who vows good governance)... We have heard that the one elected (Modi) has merely given a slogan of beti bachao (save the girl child), Rahul said in a tweet. The Congress leader also posted a news report about the rape incident. The beti bachao, beti padhao (save the girl child, educate the girl child) is a slogan of the NDA government. Nitish Kumar is often referred to as sushasan babu, for his good governance plank. Congress and various other opposition parties have accused Modi of only making false promises and giving assurances which are never fulfilled. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Lucknow on Sunday for a ceremony marking the start of work on projects worth Rs 60,000 crore, keeping his focus on Uttar Pradesh which is key to the Bharatiya Janata Partys plan to win the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The ceremony marks the implementation of 80 of the 1,045 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) signed at the Uttar Pradesh Investors Summit in February. Leading industrialists, like Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani, are expected to attend the event. The major companies investing in the state are IT giants Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys, besides the Patanjali Group. The Yogi Adityanath government claims that the projects to be launched at the ground-breaking ceremony will create about 2.1 lakh jobs. Arrangements have been made for the live telecast of the ceremony at all the district headquarters. UP ministers have been asked to be present in the districts under their charge, and MPs and MLAs have also been instructed to attend district-level programmes along with local industry leaders. He visited Lucknow on Saturday when he promised that his government will provide a house to every Indian by 2022. He was the chief guest at the Transforming Urban Landscape, an event to mark the third anniversary of three key government initiatives related to urban development: Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), Atal Mission for Rejuvenation of Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and the Smart Cities Mission. PM Modi will be in Lucknow through July 28 and 29. Police have booked eight men in a village in Haryanas Mewat district for raping a goat Wednesday night. The seven-year-old goat was pregnant and died a day after the assault, police said. Police said the accused are locals and alleged history-sheeters. Three of them were beaten up by villagers in Maroda village about 73 kilometres south of Gurugram after the owner of the goat caught them in the act. Police have registered a case under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which prohibits carnal intercourse against the order of nature with man, woman or animal and under the Animal Cruelty Act at Nagina police station in Nuh, earlier known as Mewat. The police are yet to make any arrests but say that the accused would be nabbed soon. Our team is investigating the case and has recorded the statement of the goats owner, who allegedly caught the three accused in the act. We are also in the process of recording the statements of other eyewitnesses and villagers to know the exact sequence of the crime and arrests will be made once we get all the details, Nazneen Bhasin, superintendent of police, Nuh, said Sunday morning. Five others are yet to be identified. The owner, Aslup Khan, said his goat went missing from its shed, located adjacent to his house, on Wednesday night after which he and other villagers started looking for it. It was around 11pm when I heard some noise and went out. The gate of the shed was open. I panicked and raised an alarm, as four of my goats had been stolen in the past and this was the only one left. While we were looking around, we found three men sexually assaulting my goat, said 27-year-old Khan, a truck driver. Khan said they caught hold of them and beat them up, but were let off later as they were in an inebriated state and were regular offenders. He further said that the three men told them about five others who had allegedly raped the goat that night. Bhasin said the three men have a criminal record and were jailed in the past for allegedly stealing motorcycles and cattle. My goat was injured and lying on the ground. It was not even able to walk. I took it home and applied medicines on the wounds on its head and nose. It did not eat anything the next day and was lying as if it was paralysed, Khan said. Police said one of the accused met Khan the next day and mocked him over the condition of the goat. He came to me on Thursday and threatened to steal the goat. He laughed and said that he and his friends had a nice time that night, which made me furious. I thrashed him after which he fled the spot, Khan said. The condition of goat started deteriorating and it died around 6pm. Thats when the villagers informed police who reached the village on Thursday night. We informed the veterinary surgeon as the post-mortem had to be conducted and booked the men involved in the sexual assault, Bhasin said. Dr Ramvir Bhardwaj, veterinary surgeon of animal husbandry posted at Nagina said the goat died of brain haemorrhage. It was 50 weeks pregnant. During the post-mortem examination, it was found that there was blood in her windpipe. Samples of its vaginal swabs were sent to the forensic science laboratory, Bhardwaj said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his radio monthly address Mann ki Baat on Sunday hailed a ragpickers son, Asharam Chaudhary, who made it to AIIMS Jodhpur for the MBBS course this year overcoming heavy odds in his life. Asharam (18) hails from Vijayganj Mandi town in Dewas district, about 150 kilometers west of Bhopal. His father Ranjeet Chaudhary is a ragpicker and also takes odd jobs to make ends meet. Talking of Asharam Chaudharys exemplary achievement the PM said in Mann ki Baat, Referring to the college season reminds me of someone I saw in the news recently how Asharam Choudhury a student from an extremely poor family in Madhya Pradesh overcame lifes many challenges to achieve success. In his maiden attempt, he cracked the entrance exam for MBBS at AIIMS, Jodhpur. His father earns his daily bread by waste-picking. I congratulate him on his success. Boosted by the fact that the Prime Minister mentioned him in his address, Asharam said he would try to become a good doctor and serve the society. After the Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned my name in his Mann ki Baat I am really feeling lucky. At the same time I feel when none else than our PM has some expectation from me I have no other option but to continue to strive hard to achieve my goal. My commitment is to serve the society by becoming a good doctor, he said. He got overall 707th rank among all the students and 141st rank in OBC category in AIIMS-MBBS entrance examination, 2018. Asharam said his education in the first year of MBBS was almost free, thanks to media highlighting his achievement and then people extending help to him. I am not concerned about the fee in the first year but that in the next year. MP government had given Rs 21000 to me. This will meet the requirement of fee for the first year. The AIIMS, Jodhpur has given free books to me for this year, he said. He said the Madhya Pradesh government provided electricity supply to his house as announced but a toilet was yet to be constructed there. I need nothing more now than a toilet and a pucca house. Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has made the announcement that a toilet will be constructed at my house and also that the government will provide a pucca house to my family. But I dont know which agency will fulfil all these promises, he added. Asharam, his parents and siblings a younger brother and a younger sister live in a thatched structure. The re-allotment of government bungalows to former chief ministers, except Digvijaya Singh of the Congress, by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan using his discretionary powers has stoked a controversy. Former state advocate general and Congress Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha has dubbed the CMs decision as contempt of the Supreme Court. Tankha also said he would file a petition in the SC soon in this regard. I believe in Mahatma Gandhis philosophy and principles. Any government should use its largesse for the poor and needy, not for its partymen. I dont see any logic in any person being given a bungalow for his entire life merely because he has been a chief minister. Its unethical and unconstitutional and I am personally against it, said Tankha. On June 20, a division bench of the high court had held section 5 (1) of the MP Mantri Vetan Tatha Bhatta Adhiniyam,1972, as unconstitutional and passed an order to get the ex-CMs bungalows vacated. Following the HC order, the state home department cancelled the allotment of bungalows to ex-CMs and intimated the court about the same in the third week of July. Tankha tweeted on Sunday, Politics of distributing state largesse must stop. Ex CMs , Ex Min cannot enjoy state patronage forever. CMs discretion in such allotment not unbridled. Only state necessity or compassionate consideration determines public interest. Abuse of power. Earlier, he tweeted, CM MP commits contempt of court by re-allotting same Govt homes to ex BJP CMs who were asked to vacate by SC. On Friday, CM Chouhan had issued an order to re-allot bungalows to former MP chief ministers Kailash Joshi, Uma Bharti and Babulal Gaur, as they were eminent citizens. Sources in the government said as Digvijaya Singh did not move any application for re-allotment of any bungalow to him, his name was not considered for the same. There are four ex-CMs residing in Madhya Pradesh, all in Bhopal. Another ex-CM Motilal Vora who is from Chhattisgarh vacated his bungalow in Bhopal in September 2016. On his part, Digvijaya Singh made it clear on Sunday that he was not in favour of re-allotment of his bungalow. He tweeted, I am a law-abiding citizen. When Hon Supreme Court has decided I have decided to vacate the bungalow. But Shivraj should not act against the Supreme Court order. Earlier, when asked by journalists state Congress president Kamal Nath said on Saturday he was in favour of ex-CMs getting bungalows and he would ask Digvijaya Singh to move an application in this regard. On Vivek Tankhas comments, state BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said, Let the Congress leaders first decide as to what they want. Their own state president Kamal Nath is in favour of ex-CMs getting bungalows but Vivek Tankha is singing a different tune. The state government must have looked into all pros and cons before taking the decision. Complimenting the UP government for getting projects worth Rs 60,000 crore executed in five months time, Modi, in a lighter vein, said the states industry minister Satish Mahana was not aware of what he and his team had achieved. I dont know why Satish Mahana sounded rather low key while referring to launch of projects worth Rs 60,000 crore, Modi said. Rs 60,000 crore bahut hota hai ji (Rs 60000 crore is a big amount, sir). Its a terrific achievement. I have been a chief minister too in the past. I know Rs 60,000 crore investments in just five months is a great task executed by Team UP, Modi said. I am happy you didnt leave it all on any one individuals whims and made the process transparent and policy driven through online investment portal Nivesh Mitra, he said. From Trimble Incs Greenseeker, an algorithm-based hand device that can instantly read soil nutrient levels, to CropIn Technology Solutions Pvt Ltds cloud-based SmartFarm platform, which can remotely detect crop damage, cutting-edge farm technologies are now available in India, but to just a few. Technology should be welcomed in a country where farm incomes are low, about one-third of those of non-agricultural households. Yet, those actually using these technologies are less than 1%. Experts point to a peculiar problem. Data shows that in manufacturing, high-tech has spread fast, a process called technology diffusion. For instance, according to the World Banks estimates cited by its president Jim Yong Kim in a 2016 speech, automation threatens 69% of todays jobs in India. In agriculture, innovation is still bottled up at the top because most land parcels (plots) are too small, hurting long-term productivity growth, economists say. Farmers, who have been able to pool in their lands to increase their farm size to at least 100-200 acres have been the early beneficiaries. This has given rise to exclusive groups, known as farmer producer organisations. Since the Green Revolution of the 1960s, India has not had a truly leapfrogging technology other than high-yielding seeds and genetically modified BT Cotton, introduced in 2002, which saw India become the second biggest cotton exporter. The catch with this new array of technologies is that they need large farms to offer economies of scale, which refers to reducing per unit costs with every increase in production. The main challenge in technology diffusion (in agriculture) is that land holdings are so small that even using a tractor makes no sense. Secondly, all our technologies, like high yielding seeds, are for irrigated lands, although 48% of our sown area is drylands (those outside irrigation cover), said Tamil Nadu Agricultural Universitys agricultural economics head K Mani. Indian farms desperately need technology. Cultivable area is reaching its limits, so yield increases are a must, according to a latest report by the OCED and the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER). Indian rice and wheat yields are approximately 3 times lower than worlds highest. A key issue in tech diffusion is the increasing rate of fragmentation of land ownership or operational land holdings, Mani said. Nearly 90% of farmers are small and marginal. The average size of a farm is now just 1.15 hectares. According to the Agricultural Census 2016, 85% of land ownership is of less than 2 hectares and account for 45% of the total cropped area. By contrast, only 5% of farmers operate on land parcels larger than 4 hectares. Often, those exploiting smart technologies arent farmers but large agri-businesses. Some of these tools are used by farm-loan companies for risk management, such as the Mumbai-based Netafim Agricultural Financing Agency (NAFA), the farm credit arm of the Israeli drip-irrigation multinational Netafim. NAFA uses Smartfarm, a software as a service-based platform offered by Bengaluru-based CropIn Technology, one of its officials, requesting anonymity, said. SmartFarm maps out large farms and then scans every square inch of crops through satellite every 10 days. NAFA can thus estimate yields, maturity date and also keep track of a farmers incomes from sales, he said. We want to take out inefficiencies through technology, said Kunal Prasad, co-founder of CropIn. The cost for 1,000 acres is around Rs 3-5 lakh, he said. Two large horticulture farmer groups in Andhra Pradesh Vigneshwara Farmers Producer Company in Krishna district and Sri Siddeshwara Rythu Parasparasahakar Sangam in Chittoor are currently using its system. Trimble Inc, a US multinational corporation which sells precision-farming tools, is tapping into farm-equipment rental firms to make their products affordable. Its products include laser-controlled land-levelling equipment that helps to distribute water equally across a farm. Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions offers an Internet of Things-enabled system to schedule irrigation timings. It is accessible through both the web and mobile applications hosted on enterprise cloud. Trimbles targets are the top and middle of Indian farms. About 20-30% of large and medium farmers control 70-80% land and our initial target are those farmers, said managing director Rajan Aiyer. The message for Indian farmers, according to Mani, is clear: pool together or suffer alone. RS Sharma, chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), disclosed his Aadhaar number on Twitter Sunday as a challenge to the information was harmless, but the move backfired when people revealed his personal details. Elliot Alderson who describes himself as a French security researcher, dug up Sharmas phone number, date of birth (DOB), and address. People managed to get your personal address, dob and your alternate phone number. I stop here, I hope you will understand why make your #Aadhaar number public is not a good idea, Alderson tweeted. People managed to get your personal address, dob and your alternate phone number. I stop here, I hope you will understand why make your #Aadhaar number public is not a good idea pic.twitter.com/IVrReb4xIM Elliot Alderson (@fs0c131y) July 28, 2018 Several people tweeted to claim they had Sharmas permanent account number (PAN) and cellphone number. Others warned him about the peril of throwing such a dare on social media. Alderson put Sharmas PAN on Twitter but blackened the number itself. Many on Twitter claimed victory over leaking Sharmas personal details post the challenge. But the TRAI chief asserted that the challenge had never been about phone numbers and other information, but for causing harm using knowledge of his Aadhaar number. That does not cause me any harm! Does it? RS Sharma (@rssharma3) July 28, 2018 Another Twitter user under the pseudonym Dean of #JioInstitute claimed to have accessed Sharmas frequent flyer number with Air India. @rssharma3 's another email ID: rssharma3@yahoo.com both gmail ID and yahoo ID are connected to each other. Security question of gmail: Frequent Flyer Number which is Air India's Frequent Flyer number(103546250) - Which I got from Air India. I used your basic info for that pic.twitter.com/6HSr8U6nqz Dean of #JioInstitute (@DeanOfJio) July 28, 2018 The drama played out on Twitter just a day after Justice Srikrishna committee came out with its report on data protection where it mooted changes in the Aadhaar Act and proposed new safeguards to protect information of Aadhaar holders. Sharma, former UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) director general, has been an ardent supporter of the Aadhaar program, vouching for the safety of the system, and dispelling privacy concerns surrounding Aadhaar even during his current tenure as TRAI Chief. Data privacy is a big and very important issue in a digital world. I am one of the most vociferous supporter of that. However, the only thing I am saying is that Aadhaar does not violate privacy, Sharma had tweeted Saturday. On Friday, the Justice Srikrishna panel on data protection recommended that the Aadhaar Act be amended significantly to bolster privacy safeguards, and mooted that only public authorities discharging public functions approved by the UIDAI or entities mandated by law be given the right to request for identity authentication. The report assumes significance given that public and private sectors are collecting and using personal data on an unprecedented scale and for various purposes, and instances of unregulated and arbitrary use, especially that of personal data, have raised concerns about privacy and autonomy of an individual. The Mamata Banerjee government has spent Rs 32.53 crore over the past six years for 13 commissions of inquiry headed by retired judges, but has tabled only three reports in the state Assembly so far. Of these three reports, two are of low-profile incidents during the Left regime - the suicide of a block development officer in 2008 and the suicide of a CPI(M) MLA in 2011. The other was on the fire in AMRI hospital during the Mamata Banerjee regime that claimed 92 lives. All three reports are congruent with the earlier findings of the police. On the floor of Assembly, we have repeatedly asked for a status report on the commissions and the expenses incurred but the government provided us with no information, said Congress leader Abdul Mannan, Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly. Acting on pre-poll promises, Mamata Banerjee constituted eight commissions soon after assuming power. Later, commissions were constituted to inquire into five incidents during her regime. Of the incidents that happened before she came to power, five are high-profile cases. Congress leaders and policemen were accused in the Cossipore-Baranagar massacre of Naxalite activists and sympathisers in Kolkata in 1971, when the state was under Presidents Rule. The Left faced accusations in four others the killings of three members of Congress-supporter Sain family in Burdwan district in 1970, the killing of 16 Ananda Marg missionaries on Bijon Setu in Kolkata in 1982, death of 13 Youth Congress supporters in police firing on a Mamata Banerjee-led rally in Kolkata on July 21, 1993 and the accident in Midnapore in 1999 in which 23 tribals were run over by a truck. In the most high-profile case of Mamata Banerjee regime, the ponzi scam, Trinamool Congress leaders are key accused. Four of these reports are lying with the government.The Shyamal Kumar Sen commission on the ponzi scam submitted its report in 2014. The Sushanta Kumar Chatterjee commission on July 21 firing submitted its report in 2014, and the chief minister announced at a public meeting in July 2017 that her government will accept its recommendations. None of the reports have been placed in the Assembly. I submitted the report in September 2017 and have not heard from the government since, said retired justice DP Sengupta who headed the commission on Cossipore Baranagar massacre. The NN Bhattacharjee commissions report on the incident of tribal death was submitted earlier this year. According to Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952, reports are to be placed in the Assembly, along with the governments action-taken report, within six months of the commission submitting the report to the government. The commission that, indeed, required extension of tenure was the Sen Commission on chit funds because it was refunding depositors money. But the way its extension was denied and the commissions on Sain family and Bijon Setu incidents are granted repeated extensions makes governments political agenda crystal clear, remarked Sujan Chakraborty, the leader of Communist Party of India (Marxist)s legislative team in the state Assembly. The Arunabha Basu commission, inquiring into the killing of Sain family members, and the Amitabha Lala commission inquiring into the Bijon Setu massacre, started work in 2012 and 2013, respectively. As of July 2018, their probe is not complete. The government has so far spent Rs4.1 crore for the Basu Commission and Rs3.2 crore for Lala Commission. The Sen Commission that was empowered to confiscate and auction properties, had disbursed Rs148 crore to about 5 lakh Saradha depositors (up to Rs10,000). Its functioning for 18 months cost Rs2.6 crore. In 2015, Sen, a retired chief justice of Allahabad high court, publicly regretted that he could have refunded money to more depositors given another extension. She is wasting public money for political games, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh alleged. Rights activist Ranjit Sur, vice-president of Bengals largest rights organisation, Association for Protection of Human Rights, said, The government did not publicise the commissions properly. Also, it seems like the reports will not be tabled unless they serve the ruling partys political purpose, Sur said. No Trinamool Congress leader agreed to speak on the issue, saying that no one other than the chief minister will speak on the commissions. The budget comes from home (police) department, a portfolio that she holds. About 3,000 people were evacuated from low-lying areas of Delhi to makeshift camps and traffic was suspended on the Old Yamuna Bridge as the water level in the river continued to rise on Sunday, reaching its highest level in the last five years a day after breaching the danger mark, government officials said. The Delhi government has declared an emergency in the low-lying areas of the Yamuna floodplains. The water level touched 205.5 metres around 5pm on Sunday. The last time it breached the 205 metres was in 2013 when the water level touched 207.3 metres. In 2013 Haryana, had released around 8 lakh cusecs of water on a single day. This time the maximum water Haryana has released so far is around 6 lakh cusecs. It was released on Saturday evening, said an official of the irrigation and flood control department (I&FC), requesting not to be named. An order banning movement of traffic on the bridge was issued after the flow in the Yamuna showed a rising trend, another official said. The water level is likely to rise to 206.6 metres in the next 48 hours, as it takes at least two days for the water to reach Delhi after being released from Haryanas Hathnikund Barrage, around 200km north of Delhi. In 1978, when Delhi suffered its most severe floods, the water level had touched a record 207.49 metres. Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar held an emergency meeting on Sunday to review the situation in Yamunanagar district, where an alert was declared after water flow crossed 5 lakh cusecs. The Yamuna passes through Yamunanagar, Karnal and Panipat districts in Haryana before entering Delhi. Haryana officials have cautioned Delhi about the rise in water level, according to news agency Press Trust of India. Khattar also took an aerial survey of the affected regions, which included 65 villages. He announced a compensation for farmers and said affected areas would be assessed to study the damage caused to crops. Though monsoon rain has abated in the national capital, heavy spells in the upper catchment areas of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have led to a sharp rise in level of the Yamuna in Delhi. Evacuation of people, mostly farmers and cattle grazers in the low-lying areas of the floodplain, began on Saturday after the Delhi government issued a flood alert. The India Metrological Department (IMD), however, said on Sunday the intensity of rainfall in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand is likely to decrease in the next three-four days, which could improve the situation in Delhi. An I&FC official said the river water is unlikely to enter the main city. According to I&FC department officials, around 15,000-20,000 families living on the river floodplains are affected by the rising water. A flood alert was sounded in the villages and slum clusters along the river on Friday. The affected areas include Old Railway Bridge, Akshardham, Geeta Colony, Okhla, Garhi Mandu, Madanpur Khadar, and Usmanpur, among others. Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Sunday took stock of the ongoing evacuation work. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal held an emergency meeting with top officials of his government a day earlier, saying putting all concerned departments on high alert. Sisodia met the people living in the vicinity of the river and urged them to move to safer places. People in affected areas can dial 1077 for any flood-related emergencies. All executive engineers/sector officers are directed to keep in close contact with the control room in relation to the discharge, water level at the Old Railway Bridge and the advisory or forecast from the Central Water Commission/MeT, and requested to take appropriate measures/steps accordingly to avoid flood-like situation, a government advisory said. A Delhi government official said: We have set up around 550 tents and evacuated around 3,000 people. Food, water and other amenities such as electricity and toilets are being provided. Some people are unwilling to shift. Such camps were being set up after a gap of two years as the level of water in the river had not swollen to this extent since 2013, he said. The Delhi government has pressed about 350 officials from the revenue department, flood and irrigation department, Public Works Department, and the Delhi Disaster Management Authority into evacuation work. Around 250 officials from the Delhi Police have also conducting checks in affected areas, making announcement to warn residents. An expert said the rising water would do more good than harm to the area. While on one hand it would help to make the river clean flushing out pollutants, it would also help to recharge ground water and enrich the floodplain soil with fresh silt, said CR Babu, an ecologist. (With inputs from agencies) At least 17 people were injured, five of them critically, when the tin roof of a grain market in Sriganganagars Padampur town came crashing down during a tractor racing contest on Sunday evening, said a district official. Padampurs sub-divisional officer (SDO) Sandeep Kumar said out of the 17 people injured in the mishap, five were referred to Ganganagars district hospital and four were admitted to Padampur community health centre. Others were sent home after first aid, Kumar said. The SDO said the contest was being organized at dhaan mandi (rice market) by tractor companies and the organizers had not taken permission from the district administration for it. Videos of the mishap began circulating on social media soon after the accident. In the video, onlookers who were watching the show from the room are seen crashing down like a pack of cards. Chief minister Vasundhara Raje tweeted her condolence after hearing about the accident. I am disturbed after hearing about this mishap. I pray for peace to the departed souls and speedy recovery of the injured. I extend my condolences to the grief-stricken families, she tweeted. The CMs tweet came after reports that seven people were killed in the accident. However, district administration said there were no casualties. No one has died in the accident, said the additional district magistrate Nakhtadan Barhat. Districts chief medical and health officer Dr Naresh Bansal also denied reports about casualties. In a similar incident last year, at least 25 people, including five children, were killed when the boundary wall of a marriage home collapsed amid a heavy storm during a wedding ceremony in Bharatpur. The incident happened when people were eating food in the open near the boundary wall. Terming UP as a priority growth state, Walmart India said it expects to create at least 30,000 local jobs by setting up 15 stores across the state. MOU WITH STATE GOVT In the investment summit held earlier this year, Walmart India had signed MoU with the state government to open 15 wholesale Cash and Carry stores in UP. Each store is likely to create 2,000 direct and indirect jobs, resulting into at least 30,000 local jobs in the state, said Rajneesh Kumar, chief corporate affairs officer, Walmart India. In the UP Investment Summit held earlier this year, Walmart India had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state government to open 15 wholesale Cash and Carry stores. In the investment summit held earlier this year, Walmart India had signed MoU with the state government to open 15 wholesale Cash and Carry stores in UP. Each store is likely to create 2,000 direct and indirect jobs, resulting into at least 30,000 local jobs in the state, said Rajneesh Kumar, chief corporate affairs officer, Walmart India. Kumar will represent the company at the ground-breaking ceremony here on Sunday where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath will take stock of the progress in implementation of the MoUs signed during the UP Investment Summit held earlier. The mega event is billed to see the launch of various projects worth Rs 60,000 crore by big companies like Walmart, Reliance, Adani, Mahindra, PayTm, TCS and GAIL. Walmart India, which already runs four Cash and Carry stores in UP, recently launched a fulfillment centre (FC) in Lucknow, which created 1,500 new skilled jobs. Each store is likely to create 2,000 direct and indirect jobs, thereby generating at least 30,000 local jobs in the state, Kumar said. He said, Through our stores, we are creating skilled jobs, supporting and modernising small kiranas, sourcing from farmers, and local SME suppliers. We are delighted to be bringing retail best practices for small kiranas, best practices in farming and food safety to our farmers and SME suppliers. We are confident of making a difference to the lives of lakhs of farmers, local suppliers as we grow our business. Walmart India will attend the ground-breaking ceremony here on Sunday where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath will take stock of the progress in implementation of the MoUs signed during the UP Investment Summit. For Prakash Sawant-Desai, a fun trip with his colleagues turned into a tragic nightmare on Saturday when the mini bus they were travelling in fell off the road down a 300-feet gorge in Ambenali Ghat in Maharastras Raigad district. Thirty bodies have been recovered, and officials fear that the others may have been killed in the accident, making Desai the lone survivor so far. An assistant superintendent at the Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, Desai was thrown off the bus who managed to cling to a tree as the bus rolled down the valley to doom and death. Desai suffered injuries on his hands and legs, but was not hurt grievously. He told university officials that he managed to pull himself up, walk up the ghat and call for help from a mobile phone. Completely shaken by the loss of his colleagues, Desai remained in shock even after people began gathering around him. A total of 34 people, including two drivers, were on the bus which was travelling from Dapoli to Mahableshwar. According to the institutes registrar Ketan Chaudhary, the bus was carrying 32 non-teaching staff from the Agricultural Engineering Department. Dealing with exams, finance and administration, the group had applied to go on a study tour to the Regional Wheat Rust Research Station at Mahableshwar. This was partly an outing and partly a study tour and such visits by university teams happen frequently, a university employee said. NDRF personnel at the accident site at Ambenali Ghat in Raigad in Maharashtra. (Pratham Gokhale/HT Photo) Since last week, the hilly Mahableshwar and surrounding areas have been witnessing heavy rainfall. On Saturday morning after breakfast, the university staffers boarded the bus at around 6 am and left for Mahabaleshwar. The vehicle encountered heavy rains around 11:30 am while crossing the Ambenali Ghat in the Sahyadri mountain range bus. It then skidded and fell into the gorge. Sanjay Bhave, director of extension department of the university said, Sawant climbed up the gorge and tried to call us on his mobile but did not get the signal easily. Finally, he succeeded and informed us about the mishap. Two other employees of the university Pravin Randive and Ajit Anant Jadhav also escaped the tragedy as they decided not to join the group on the trip at the last minute. Randive said he had been receiving updates from the group that morning. I was in contact with them till 9:30 am. They were sharing photographs on WhatsApp, he said. Jadhav, who had planned the tour and sent a request letter to the university, changed his plans to visit Haridwar for a certificate course in yoga. At least 33 employees of the Dr Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth at Dapoli were feared dead after a mini bus carrying 34 people fell into a 800-ft gorge, off Ambenali ghat in Raigad district on Saturday morning. Assistant superintendent Prakash Sawant-Desai from the universitys agricultural engineering department was the lone survivor as he got thrown off the falling bus and got caught in a tree. It was an injured Desai who climbed up the gorge and called for help on his mobile phone. Sawant-Desai told reporters that near Poladpur, the bus reportedly lost control after skidding on wet mud that had collected on the treacherous stretch. I managed to climb up and called up Dr Balasaaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth authorities and the police, he said. According to the police, the accident happened around 11.30 am on the ghat with sharp bends. Vijay Suryavanshi, Raigad district collector, said there were 34 occupants in the minibus, including two drivers, who were also employees of the university. The cause of the accident was yet to be ascertained, he said, adding that it was raining and there was also dense fog in this part of the Western ghats. According to Ketan Chaudhary, the university registrar, the bus was carrying non-teaching staff from the agricultural engineering department. Dealing with exams, finance and administration, this group had applied to go on a study tour to the regional wheat rust research station at Mahabaleshwar. This was partly an outing and partly a study tour and such visits by university teams happens frequently, a university employee said. Two employees who were originally to join this group opted out at the last moment due to other engagements. The accident occurred at the jurisdiction of Poladpur police station under Raigad police jurisdiction. The accident site in the gorge was making it difficult for the rescue teams to reach out and pull out the survivors, if any, from below the smashed bus. Till 7.20 pm, 13 bodies had been recovered and 11 handed over to the relatives. The district administration ensured that each body was accompanied by a driver and attendant and was handed over to the relatives who had gathered at Poladpur primary health centre. Five rescue teams were engaged in the operations along with a team of 30 personnel from the national disaster response force (NDRF), Pune. Another rescue team was expected in the morning tomorrow. While traffic had been stopped on both sides of the Ambenali ghat to assist rescue operations, diesel gensets had been placed at the site with powerful halogen lamps to light up the area for the rescue operations. One person was thrown off the bus and survived to tell what happened, said police inspector Balkrushna Jadhav of Raigad police. Local rescuers, police and the NDRF personnel were among those deployed for rescue operations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi expressed sorrow over the accident. Pained by the loss of lives due to a bus accident in Maharashtras Raigad district. My condolences to those who lost their loved ones, the PM tweeted. Gandhi tweeted: I appeal to Congress workers in the area to provide all possible assistance to the injured and families of those who have died. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai said he was pained to learn about the massive loss of lives in the accident. Victims were employees of agricultural university, going on a picnic. We will provide help to the kin of the deceased, but will also take steps to ensure such incidents dont take place in the future, said Fadnavis, according to news agency ANI. The Maharashtra government announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of those who died. The government will also bear the medical expenses of those injured, reported ANI. The Panchkula municipal corporation is all set to introduce paid parking in the citys main commercial hubs. The charges finalised are the same as in Chandigarh Rs 10 for two-wheelers and Rs 20 for four-wheelers. Introduced in Chandigarh around two decades ago, paid parking has had a rough ride. Even Mohali experimented with it unsuccessfully a few years ago. The Panchkula MC eyes nearly Rs 10 lakh monthly revenue from paid parking. MC commissioner Rajesh Jogpal said all major commercial hubs of the city will have paid parking lots. These include Sectors 7 to 11, 14, 15 and 20 besides Sectors 4 and 5 of Mansa Devi Complex and Swastik Vihar market. We will be inviting bids next week and hope to roll out paid parking in a month, he said. Will help organise parking as well While the MC is still to invite bids from private contractors to run the lots, it conducted a trial in Sectors 8, 9 and 10 markets to get a feedback on Saturday. The trial, which will continue on Sunday, is being organised with the Red Cross society and money collected from vehicle owners will be donated to it for welfare works. Jogpal said the civic body received a mixed response on the first day. He said the idea behind introducing paid parking is not just to earn revenue but also organise parking, which takes place in a haphazard manner. We will introduce smart facilities as well. Also, each parking lot will have a toilet, drinking water facility and other basic amenities, he said. Will oppose it tooth and nail Meanwhile, the move has not gone down well with traders and other residents alike. SK Nayyar, president of the citizens welfare association, said they will oppose the move tooth and nail. Nayyar said instead of introducing paid parking, the MC should have first improved the condition of roads and other basic facilities in markets. Name any market that does not have big potholes in its parking area. The MC is responsible for deterioration of the citys commercial hubs and now it is burdening the people, he said. Rakesh Aggarwal of the Sector-12 residents welfare association said the MC should have consulted all stakeholders before introducing paid parking. We dont need paid parking but better infrastructure in markets, he said. Flaying the move, Panchkula Vyapar Mandal president Kuldeep Chitkara said paid parking will further dent their business. We will hold a meeting next week to prepare a strategy against the move, he said. Former mayor Upinder Kaur Walia called the move mindless. She said the MC House, which completed its tenure earlier this month, never took up the agenda of paid parking as it was not required. The MC should have taken an initiative to manage the traffic inside parking lots rather than hiring a contractor to burden the people with paid parking, she said. Some men may tend to feel sad after having sex. A recent study found that men suffer from Postcoital Dysphoria (PCD) which results in sadness, tearfulness or irritability following sex. The study breaks down the results of an international anonymous online survey of 1,208 men from Australia, the USA, the UK, Russia, New Zealand, Germany and elsewhere, said researcher Joel Maczkowiack. Forty-one percent of the participants reported experiencing PCD in their lifetime with 20% reporting they had experienced it in the previous four weeks. Up to four percent suffered from PCD on a regular basis, he added. Researchers said that men who participated and who had experienced sadness following sex described experiences ranging from, I dont want to be touched and want to be left alone to feeling unsatisfied, annoyed and very fidgety. Another described feeling emotionless and empty in contrast to the men who experienced the post-coital experience positively, and used descriptors such as a feeling of well-being, satisfaction, contentment and closeness to their partner, he added. The first three phases of the human sexual response cycle excitement, plateau, and orgasm have been the focus of the majority of research to date, said another researcher, Schweitzer. The experience of the resolution phase remains a bit of a mystery and is therefore poorly understood. It is commonly believed that males and females experience a range of positive emotions, including contentment and relaxation, immediately following consensual sexual activity, he added. Previous studies on PCD experience found that a similar proportion of females had experienced PCD on a regular basis. But the case with men is not well understood at the moment. We would speculate that the reasons are multifactorial, including both biological and psychological factors, Schweitzer further pointed out. Anecdotal evidence from clinical settings as well as personal accounts posted on online blogs suggested that PCD did occur amongst males and had the potential to interfere with couple interactions following sex. It has, for example, been established that couples who engage in talking, kissing, and cuddling following sexual activity report greater sexual and relationship satisfaction, demonstrating that the resolution phase is important for bonding and intimacy, said Maczkowiack. The negative affective state which defines PCD has the potential to cause distress to an individual and the partner as well. It can disrupt important relationships and add to distress and conflict which in turn impacts the sexual relationship. The study appears in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy. Follow @htlifeandstyle for more Three people have been killed and seven others injured following a shooting in New Orleans. City police spokesman Aaron Looney says in a statement that the shooting happened Saturday night on the 3400 block of Claiborne Avenue, about 3 miles (4.83 kilometers) from the French Quarter. The injured victims have been taken to a hospital, though their conditions were not immediately known. No further information was immediately available. An investigation is ongoing. Shailesh Vara, who held the junior ministerial post of parliamentary undersecretary of state in the Northern Ireland Office, has been promoted by Prime Minister Theresa May to the rank of a minister of state in the same department. Vara said: I am of course very pleased with the promotion. The work in Northern Ireland is hugely important, especially as we leave the European Union, ensuring that there is no hard border with Ireland. The promotion of Vara, a Conservative MP from North-West Cambridgeshire, means there are now two ministers of state in the May government of Indian origin. Alok Sharma, MP from Reading West, is minister of state for employment in the department of work and pensions. Two other Indian-origin MPs holding junior ministerial posts are Rishi Sunak (MP from Richmond, Yorkshire), who is parliamentary undersecretary of state in the department of housing, communities and local government; and Suella Braverman. Braverman is the parliamentary undersecretary of state in the department for exiting the European Union. Called parliamentary under-secretary of state, junior ministers are the third and lowest tier in the hierarchy in Britain. The only Indian-origin MP to hold a cabinet position so far is Conservative Priti Patel, whose tenure as the secretary of international development lasted less than six months July to November 2017 when she was dropped due to her ministerial overreach during a holiday. US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he would allow the federal government to shut down if Democrats refuse to back his demand for a wall at the Mexican border and other major changes to immigration laws his administration wants. I would be willing to "shut down" government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall! Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018 The Republican president has used the threat of a government shutdown several times since taking office in 2017 in a bid to get his priorities in congressional spending bills, especially funding for a wall along the southern US border. A disruption in federal government operations in the months before November congressional elections could backfire on Trump if voters blame Republicans, who control Congress, for the interruption in services. Trump wants Congress to pass legislation that addresses immigration issues, including the border wall, changing the way visas are allotted and other immigration restrictions. Although Republicans control Congress, disagreements between moderates and conservatives in the party have impeded a speedy legislative fix. Standoffs over spending levels and immigration led to a three-day government shutdown, mostly over a weekend, in January and an hours-long shutdown in February. The Republican president has made tougher immigration laws a centerpiece of his administration, from the first ill-fated travel ban on people from predominantly Muslim nations to the current battle raging over the separation of illegal immigrant children from their parents at the US-Mexico border. A federal judge on Friday urged the US government to focus on finding deported immigrant parents so it could reunite them with their children who remain in the United States. Trump has requested $25 billion to build the border wall and $1.6 billion has already appropriated for the project. US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said lawmakers were considering an appropriations measure seeking an additional $5 billion for the wall. However, its passage in the US Senate, where Republicans have a slim majority, is a long shot. Lawmakers met with Trump last week to discuss the appropriations process to fund the government by the September deadline. We really just want to get the military funded, on time, on budget on schedule this year. And thats the primary concern, Ryan said Wednesday on Fox News. If you arent living under a rock, chances are you must have come across Drakes Kiki challenge or #InMyFeelingsChallenge thats going crazily viral for some time now. Canadian rapper Drakes latest song In My Feelings from the album Scorpion is smashing records worldwide and has now given rise to a new dance challenge called Kiki challenge. It involves a person to get out of a moving car, dance to Drakes song while being in sync with the cars motion and then jump back into the car again. It all started with a funny video posted by comedian and online personality Shiggy, in which he danced to the song in his own way on a busy road. The video starts off with the line, Keke, do you love me? Soon, the social media world was flooded with similar dance videos, with some referring to it as Kiki, apparently not sure of the spelling. The challenge did not leave Bollywood untouched. Actors like Adah Sharma and Nora Fatehi have shared their videos on social media. Read more: Three social media stars to be arrested for taking part in Kiki dance challenge in UAE Nora Fatehi, Varun Sharma take the viral KeKe challenge. Watch their funny video While this viral trend has taken over the internet, a number of videos are surfacing where the challenge has also gone terribly wrong for many. So much so, that the Mumbai police had to issue a warning. Not just a risk for you but your act can put life of others at risk too. Desist from public nuisance or face the music ! #DanceYourWayToSafety #InMySafetyFeelingsChallenge pic.twitter.com/gY2txdcxWZ Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) July 26, 2018 No doubt, the challenge can be quite risky to perform and can land you in the hospital or jail. Going by these videos, looks like better to be safe than sorry. Watch the videos here. Long before Brexit posed questions about Britains global stature, Indian politicians and officials considered the country in decline, according to a classified February 1984 note by a member of Britains Joint Intelligence Committee. Held back but released under directions of a tribunal following a protracted legal battle by journalist-researcher Phil Miller, the documents include the note by R J ONeill of the Cabinet Office, providing a rare insight into Londons view of India. The note contains hitherto undisclosed assessment of key issues in the India-UK relationship attributed to what he called a complex of attitudes which, because they lie rather deep, we do not always want to bring out into the open. ONeills assessment was dated 1984, when Indias role in the Non-Aligned Movement riled the west, but most of his conclusions resonate today, including the perception among many Indian diplomats that Britains Foreign Office remain strapped in the colonial era. ONeill set out William Harding in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office the problem in the India-UK relationship along two sections: On the British side and On the Indian side; each section containing three points. He wrote: Indian politicians and officials do not regard the relationship with Britain as specialor as particularly important. Indeed, they regard Britain as a European country in decline, and of very much less account in the world than India. The same people do not look back warmly or with gratitude to the period of British ruleThey take the view that India had to struggle for its independence, and finally won it from a reluctant Britain. India owes Britain nothing; much the reverse. At the same time (again) Indians are very sensitive to British criticism of what happens in India, and they react emotionally to United Kingdom opposition to Indian policies. In other words, they have not liberated themselvesof the old relationship as they like to claim (Gandhi was fine; parts of The Jewel in the Crown are not). ONeills three points on the British side includes the belief that We regard India as special, but adds: We feel that we did rather well in India, leaving behind much that we can be proud of, and that we can equally claim some pride in Indias achievements since independence. The note goes on to say: At the same time, we regard many Indian views as misconceived, if not actually mischievous, and we do not take seriously the expressed views of Indian politicians and officials. The cache of files released after the tribunals ruling includes documents that reveal that days after Indira Gandhis assassination in October 1984, there was such concern about a march by Sikh extremists in London that efforts were made to change law so that it could be banned, since permitting it could put contracts worth 5 billion at risk. The files reveal that foreign secretary Geoffrey Howe in the Margaret Thatcher government was keen to avoid serious repercussions in India and stir up anti-British feelings by allowing the march. The US is likely to drastically reduce Pakistans security-related aid, from $700 million this year to $150 million next year, an indication, experts say, that the country may finally be giving up on its difficult allys ability to walk the talk on counter-terrorism. The defence spending bill for 2019, headed for President Donald Trumps desk for his signature, perhaps as early as next week, does not link future payments of security-related aid to Pakistan to the countrys counter-terrorism efforts as had become the practice in recent years, going back to at least 2015. Missing from the current document are words and phrases that had come to be associated with financial assistance to Islamabad such as the Haqqani Network, safe havens and counter-terrorism. But Pakistan will have to pay for this reprieve, should it think of it as such, with drastically reduced security-related funding. That could be as low as $150 million, according to experts who have followed US funding for Pakistan, a non-NATO ally that is now called by most American officials and lawmakers a duplicitous ally or frenemy. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 2019, as the defence spending bill is known, cuts the flow of defence-related security aid for Pakistan, abulk of which earlier went under the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) as reimbursement for expenses incurred in support of the US-led international coalition in Afghanistan. Under CSF, which has also been called legal bribery to Pakistans generals, Islamabad. has received $14.5 billion since 2002, the year after the US entered Afghanistan. Pakistan will now get this drastically reduced aid, against new conditions, which experts have said are far easier to fulfil, under a different head ( border security operations) along with others countries such as Jordan, Tunisia, Lebanon, Egypt and Oman. To the Government of Pakistan for purposes of supporting and enhancing efforts of the armed forces of Pakistan to increase security and sustain increased security along the border of Pakistan with Afghanistan, the bill says. The bill was passed by the US House of Representatives on Thursday. Anish Goel, a former White House official and a former senior member of the US senate armed services committee staff who used to write the South Asia and relevant parts of the defence spending bills until 2017 (he has moved on since), said: The legislation reduces the total amount of funds provided for reimbursement to Pakistan to $150 million. This is a significant reduction from the $700 million that was available through CSF last year. Another expert, who has studied US funding for Pakistan for years, agreed with that assessment, and said on condition of anonymity that the NDAA 2019 had cut total global CSF authorization to $350 million and, within that, Pakistan will be limited to $150 million, but as reimbursement for border-security operations, not CSF. The remaining $200 million will be available to reimburse Pakistan or other nations as CSF, but is unlikely to be used for that purpose. While cutting the fund, Goel said, the legislation gets rid of the certification requirements for Pakistani action against the Haqqani Network and it also gets rid of the authority to reimburse Pakistan for counterterrorism. Hence, the Pentagon no longer has any tools to apply pressure to the Pakistanis to undertake counterterrorism activities or action against the Haqqani Network. Here is what the defence bill for 2018 said about conditions tied to half of the $700 million set aside for Pakistan this year. The secretary of defence had to certify that Pakistan continues to conduct military operations that are contributing to significantly disrupting the safe havens, fundraising and recruiting efforts, and freedom of movement of the Haqqani Network in Pakistan; Pakistan has taken steps to demonstrate its commitment to prevent the Haqqani Network from using any Pakistan territory as a safe haven and for fundraising and recruiting efforts; the Government of Pakistan is making an attempt to actively coordinate with the Government of Afghanistan to restrict the movement of militants, such as the Haqqani Network, along the AfghanistanPakistan border; and Pakistan has shown progress in arresting and prosecuting senior leaders and mid-level operatives of the Haqqani Network. The language, text and words had been similar, though not the same, in all the previous defence spending legislations going back at least to the 2015 NDAA passed the year before in 2014. And here are the new conditions that will need to be certified by the secretary of defense for clearing reimbursements for border-security operations: The military and security operations of Pakistan pertaining to border security and ancillary activities for which reimbursement is sought have been coordinated with United States military representatives in advance of the execution of such operations and activities. The goals and desired outcomes of each such operation or activity have been established and agreed upon in advance by the United States and Pakistan. A process exists to verify the achievement of the goals and desired outcomes established in accordance with the above paragraph. The Government of Pakistan is making an effort to actively coordinate with the Government of Afghanistan on issues relating to border security on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. A former defence department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity said these certs (certifications) are more generic and easier to pass. Whether she's dipping into a pool in Miami or simply pumping gas in a form-fitting, figure-hugging dress, Nicole Murphy turns everywhere she goes into an absolute smoke show. At 50 years old, the multi-hyphenate international fashion model, television personality, designer, actress, and businesswoman is obviously not ready to let herself go and ride off into the retirement sunset. Instead, the smokin-hot ex-wife of comedian Eddie Murphy is more committed than ever to sculpting her near-perfect body and showing off the fruits of her intense labor on the regular. Putting the KarJenners to shame by naturally maintaining a rock-hard body after birthing five children, the 50-year-old now enjoys her seat at the helm of her Nicole Murphy Fitness empire. Chatting with Madame Noire, Murphy revealed that her motivation behind staying so fit is an unchanging, burning desire to look good both for herself and for her man. "At the time, I was married so I was like, I always want to look good for my man. I didnt want to get comfortable like some people do in a relationship and let themselves go. I know a few people like that and Im like, me, honestly, that would turn me off. I always wanted to look good. So Ive always been into it. Ive been into eating right," said the Instagram star. "I want to maintain," Murphy continued, referring to the current stage of her fitness journey. Im 50 now. I just turned 50 years old. So I want to inspire other women. Just because youre 50 doesnt mean its over. Im not trying to look 21 but I want to look good for myself and whoever my mate is going to be. Hats off to Murphy, because it's clear that she's accomplished her goal of maintaining a snatched figure post-middle age. In an era where cosmetically-enhanced Instagram thots dominate the social media fitness realm, it's refreshing to see Murphy's bangin' body sculpted by nothing other than eating right and putting in hours at the gym. Beach Walk Rightfully confident, Murphy has no problem strutting her stuff on the beach clad in little more than a cut-out one-piece bathing suit. Fitness Motivation Well, now it's obvious how Murphy manages to flex both toned arms and an impossibly-lifted backside. Sweater Dress Flexing her curves for the camera, Murphy shows that her sizzling Instagram feed isn't based on trick mirror angles and Photoshop slim-downs. Fashion Nova "I'm his favorite type of chick, boujee, bad, and thick/I could buy designer, but this Fashion Nova fit"...all of Murphy's perfectly-toned back end. Lace Up Once a model, always a model according to the intensity of Murphy's "smize." Turn Up Turning 50 is no excuse to not show up and show out at the club, clad in a slinky, shimmery one-piece. Six-Pack With washboard abs, Murphy takes every chance she can to don a crop top and show off the end result of her demanding gym schedule. Little Black Dress Take note KarJenners, it IS possible to have a lifted, rounded backside without fillers or injections. Get Fit With Murphy It's no surprise that Murphy's fitness empire is bursting with subscribers who want the secret to looking exactly like she does in this promo photo below. Good Vibes Only Sizzling in a form-hugging bathing suit, Murphy refuses to let anyone deserve her flow. Aziz Ansari might be making a return to Netflix for a third season of Master of None. There were doubts about the continuation of the project following the comedian's sexual assault scandal. When the head of original content, Cindy Holland, was asked if it were possible for Netflix to have the show back on deck, she responded in the affirmative. The sentiment she expressed during the Television Critics Associations summer press tour can be summarized with the following quote. "We certainly have given some thought to it. We certainly would be happy to make another season of Master of None with Aziz." This news comes after the precedent of modifying or canceling shows due to how particular moral scandals could compromise the integrity of productions. For example, House Of Cards, which is another Netflix Originals series, released their lead actor, Kevin Spacey, after many allegations were made against him concerning sexual misconduct and racist behavior. Aziz Ansari was met with a similar situation when a piece was published online detailing a woman's claims of being sexually mistreated by him during a date they had planned. Ansari responded to the allegations by saying he was "surprised and concerned" by the 23-year-old's testimony. [via] Nickelodeon is currently dealing with a small crisis. The children's network lost their president Cyma Zarghami, who decided to step down after thirty years at the station. While Nickelodeon rushes to find a new head of their network, the station is still working on their cartoon shows. Nickelodeon has been the most watched children's network for years, although they are facing a decline (along with many other networks) due to the popularity of streaming. Still, there are a few shows that Nickelodeon believes are holding their viewers at attention, and those series were recently renewed by the network. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Henry Danger, Knight Squad, Hunter Street, and The Dude Perfect Show have been renewed for additional seasons. Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is set to debut its first season on Nickelodeon this Fall, but the first episode was released online this Summer. Nickelodeon must have exceptional faith in the show to renew it for a second season based on the pilot alone. Henry Danger will return for its fifth season, Knight Squad is returning for its second season, and The Dude Perfect Show and Hunter Street are gearing up for a third season. Theres nothing easy about launching a barbecue-food-truck business. The truck will break down with alarming frequency. Summer in Houston will tax even the best food-truck air conditioning. An ill-timed thunderstorm can kill an entire day of business as potential customers are forced to stay home. For the owner/pitmaster of a barbecue truck, its often a quixotic quest to find a place to set up shop, publicize location and opening times, and serve high-quality barbecue consistently. But for pitmasters who can develop a loyal following and successfully mitigate the many pitfalls of what I call the barbecue-food-truck hustle, its a great way to lay the groundwork for a permanent location. CorkScrew BBQ in Spring, Pappa Charlies Barbeque in Cypress and Pinkertons Barbecue in the Greater Heights are just a few examples of trucks/trailers that paid their dues and made the jump to a brick-and-mortar location. Eaker Barbecue, a 6-month-old food truck owned by husband-and-wife team Lance and Boo Eaker, is an example of the commitment and sacrifice needed to succeed in the barbecue-food-truck game. More Information Eaker Barbecue Follow at facebook.com/ EakerBarbecue or call 832-422-7311 for up-to-date location and opening times. Love the smell of wood smoke in the morning? Join J.C. Reid, Alison Cook and Greg Morago as they discuss barbecue culture with special guests by subscribing to the Chronicle's BBQ State of Mind podcast on Apple's Podcasts, or visit houstonchronicle.com/ bbqpodcast. See More Collapse Like many barbecue entrepreneurs, Lance started cooking in his backyard for family get-togethers. He got serious four years ago when he watched an instructional video by famed Austin pitmaster Aaron Franklin and learned that barbecue is much more than just grilling on coals. I used to cook briskets on a kettle grill and thought that was the greatest thing in the world, Lance says. Watching the Franklin videos opened a whole new world. I realized that a clean wood fire was far preferable to the creosote flavor imparted by coals. With the blessing of his wife, Boo, who is Korean-American, the idea of making the jump to commercial barbecue began to take hold. On a trip to Seoul to visit family, Lance and Boo toyed with the idea of opening a Texas-style barbecue joint there. But Boos mother wanted to move to Houston to be close to her grandchildren (the Eakers have two young sons), so it was decided any future barbecue endeavors would be based in the Bayou City. The big day came in October 2017, when Lance left his job as an information-technology consultant and began building a food truck as the foundation of Eaker Barbecue. Boo worked as a fashion designer for a local company, so that offered some cushion from the vagaries of the food-truck business. The food-truck hustle is never without its surprises. Boo was laid off not long after Lance left his job. Making the barbecue food truck successful was now do-or-die. Boo joined the effort to develop a menu of side dishes and help out with all aspects of the business. The Eakers were all in. Their first service was on Super Bowl Sunday in February. Since then, they have built a loyal following by posting their opening times and locations every Monday on their Facebook page perhaps the most important task a food truck can do to make sure followers know where to find it. They recently partnered with The Truck Yard food-truck park in EaDo, where they will make weekly appearances, in addition to popping up in other locations throughout the week. Lance bills his barbecue as South Texas Style, referring to his childhood growing up in Uvalde, where mesquite is the wood of choice. He still uses mesquite, though his preparation and cooking style are Central Texas inspired. His prime-grade brisket matches up with some of the best in Houston. He expects it will take at least three years to build a following and then eventually open a family-friendly, brick-and-mortar barbecue joint in their Westbury-Meyerland neighborhood. For now, he estimates that he and Boo are each working 100 hours a week. Thats a whole lot of hustle. J.C. Reid is the Chronicle's barbecue columnist. He also is the co-host of BBQ State of Mind, a podcast covering barbecue news from Texas and around the world, and co-founder of the Houston Barbecue Festival. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook, or send barbecue tips and questions to jcreid@jcreidtx.com. ULYSSES, Pa. - The traffic sign that greets visitors on the south side of Ulysses, a tiny town in rural far north-central Pennsylvania, is suitably quaint - a silhouette of a horse-drawn cart reminding drivers that the Amish use the roads, too. But on the north side of town, along the main thoroughfare, is a far different display: a home dedicated to Adolf Hitler, where star-spangled banners and Nazi flags flutter side by side and wooden swastikas stand on poles. White supremacy has had a continuous presence in Ulysses and surrounding Potter County since the Ku Klux Klan arrived a century ago, giving the town - with a population today of about 650 - improbable national significance. In the mid-2000s, it hosted the World Aryan Congress, a gathering of neo-Nazis, skinheads and Klan members. This year, after a sting operation, federal prosecutors charged six members of an Aryan Strike Force cell with weapons and drug offenses, contending that they had plotted a suicide attack at an anti-racist protest. A terminally ill member was willing to hide a bomb in his oxygen tank and blow himself up, prosecutors said. The group had met and conducted weapons training in Ulysses. Neo-Nazis and their opponents here say that white extremists have grown more confident - and confrontational - since the rise of Donald Trump. Two months before the 2016 presidential election, the KKK established a "24 hour Klan Line" and sent goody bags containing lollipops and fliers to hundreds of homes. "You can sleep tonight knowing the Klan is awake," the message read. A regional newspaper ran Klan advertisements saying, "God bless the KKK." Now Playing: Seth Rogen Says Twitter Is Protecting White Supremacists and Racists. The 'Knocked Up' star is calling out the site and its founder Jack Dorsey. Rogen claims he's been asking Dorsey about the situation for months. The actor now says Dorsey doesn't care about it. Seth Rogen on Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Back in November, Twitter became aware it had a verification problem when the company gave a blue checkmark to Jason Kessler the organizer of the deadly Unite the Right neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville. Verified users on Twitter gain a level of authority from the public. Twitter's algorithm clearly favors verified users when ordering the replies to other tweets. Video: Wibbitz Local police said the group had not openly recruited in years. Two weeks later, the area's two neo-Nazi groups, the National Socialist Movement and Aryan Strike Force, held a "white unity meeting" in Ulysses to discuss their response to Trump and plan joint action. One organizer would not say when the groups had last met, simply commenting: "It's just a good time." Potter County is staunchly Republican and has voted Democratic once since 1888; Trump received 80 percent of the vote, tying with Herbert Hoover for the highest percentage won. "I can tell you with certainty that since November 2016, activity has doubled, whether it's feet on the street or money orders or people helping out," said Daniel Burnside, 43, a woodcarver who owns the Nazi-themed home and directs the state chapter of the National Socialist Movement, a far-right group that was founded in Detroit in the mid-1970s. It has a presence in many states, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist groups, and the NSM was among the groups taking part in the violent August 2017 rally in defense of Confederate statues in Charlottesville. "We have meetings every 30 days," he said. " There's more collaboration." Burnside, who declined to say how many local residents were involved in his group, was born in Ulysses and raised there by a grandfather who he said was a Nazi sympathizer who fought in the U.S. Army in Europe during World War II. Burnside said his beloved grandfather drank himself to death because of the war's impact on him. The younger Burnside said he joined NSM four years ago but has long harbored anti-Semitic views and is a practicing Odinist - the pagan religion Odinism is popular among some neo-Nazis. Burnside does not see Trump as a leader of the NSM cause but as a politician who amplified long-standing white-nationalist views at the right time. "Personally, I don't know about Trump," he said. "You won't necessarily see MAGA hats at an NSM meeting. We're anti-Semitic. Something's off about Trump with the Jews. That said, we're strategically aligned. When Trump says something that aligns with us - close the borders, build the wall, look after your own - that's good: We've been saying this for 25 years, but he has made it mainstream." "We're still a white nation, and I respect that he supports that,' Burnside added. "He's also highlighted social problems. The kids who go to bed hungry, people who can't pay their bills, the damage being done to society." Joe Leschner, 38, a white restaurant manager, fled the county this year because of what he said was abuse aimed at him and his wife, Sashena, who is black, after Trump's election. After he discovered a KKK leaflet outside their home, Leschner organized an anti-racism gathering in Ulysses. "And these guys drove by us and gave the gun signal, like they're gonna shoot us," he said. One of those who Leschner said made a pistol gesture had previously been jailed for 10 years for an aggravated assault on a black man. This year he was convicted of possession of firearms he was not legally allowed to own and intent to sell drugs. Photographs of the Leschners were circulated on VK, a Russian-run social media site, with users posting death threats, he said. "A guy came up to us in a restaurant and said, 'You have got to be kidding me.' I wanted to say something, but just couldn't. This was where I grew up, at the restaurant where I got my first job. My wife was almost in tears," he recalled. "We had to leave," said Leschner, who now runs a restaurant in Frederick, Maryland. "Most people aren't racist, but there are enough that are and enough who let it happen." Kathleen Blee, a University of Pittsburgh sociology professor and expert on white extremism, said Ulysses came to be a nexus of such thinking as like-minded residents gravitated to one another. "Modern white extremism is different to the KKK in the 1920s or Nazi Germany in that it is exclusively produced through small networks. It is not a mass movement," she said. "It's just one person recruiting another. Somebody knowing somebody. . . . You get an extremist in an area, they attract other extremists." Ulysses' most famous resident may have been August Kreis III, 63, a neo-Nazi from New Jersey who moved to town in the 1990s and left about 10 years ago. Kreis made Ulysses the national headquarters of the Aryan Nations group and organized events such as the Aryan World Congress. In 2015, he was sentenced to 50 years in prison on a child-molestation conviction. Pennsylvania has 36 racial hate groups, more than Alabama, Arkansas or Kansas, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. "This area is well known for white supremacy. It's got a rich history and the right conditions to thrive," said Heidi Beirich of the SPLC. "It's as significant as many areas in the South usually associated with white supremacy." Rural Appalachia, which includes Ulysses's Potter County, has a wary attitude to outside forces - especially the state - that is often cited as a reason that anti-government militia groups and white extremists have prospered here. "There is also an extreme mind-your-own business approach and a belief in individual rights," Blee said. Months before the Leschners fled the area, another controversy erupted after a sheriff's deputy from a neighboring county entered Burnside's front yard and confiscated a Nazi flag. Burnside called his local police force, demanding that the deputy return the flag and record a video apology. When that did not happen, he went to state police and pursued a theft case. The 23-year-old deputy was forced to return the flag and pay damages. Local police confirmed that he was suspended and left his position shortly after the trial's conclusion. Many locals suggested that they were more upset by the deputy's actions than by the neo-Nazism. One man, an Army veteran who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of being branded a racist, said there was no comparison between World War II Nazis and Ulysses residents. "World War II was a totally different time period. It's part of history," he said. "He can do what he wants. . . . Everyone has their own thing." One day recently, Burnside, accompanied by a reporter, drove around town dressed in a shirt featuring Hitler's face as the main design. None of the locals he chatted with objected to his attire. City council president Roy Hunt insisted that this reflected the town's generous spirit. "We're a laid-back town, and we're gonna be nice to everybody," Hunt said. "I've known Danny for twenty years. If you were in town and you walked around with him, you're right, he'll be welcome in every store. . . . If you're nice, people will be nice to you 98 percent of the time." "If he were to put something up that said kill all members of a race, in my opinion that would be crossing the line, but he doesn't have that sign up," Hunt said. He added that the town's Nazi presence had been exaggerated by the news media and opposing groups. Burnside said he serves the community. "I do fundraisers for American Legion with my artwork. Boys and Girls Clubs, regardless of race or ethnicity, I do fundraisers. . . . The only way I can help white people is by helping everyone." Other residents disagree about the impact of the white supremacists' presence. As he shopped among Burnside's carved wooden bears and eagle sculptures, some of them signed with a swastika, Tom Lee, a road construction manager, said that he supports the First Amendment and that the Nazi presence "ain't nothing to do with me. It's a free country." "After a while, you're not what you were anymore," he added. "It is America out here, but not in the inner cities anymore." William Fish, a 72-year old carpenter, recalled as a child accompanying his mother as she delivered blankets and shoes to the shacks where black field workers lived. "We're not a racist town, but there are people who will turn a blind eye when they see racism happening. That's why we have this history," he said. "I think it has got worse since Trump, I honestly do. I also think our young people do not today share the same rotten values as older people." Belinda Empson, 59, said it pained her that veterans in the Memorial Day parade had to march past Nazi signs. "My grandson is 8 years old and he's already asking about the Nazi flags," said Empson, a retired waitress. "And I don't want to explain to my grandson what it means, what they're about. We should have settled this stuff years ago." Empson said Ulysses had been divided since Trump's victory: "I think Trump has opened the gate and said, 'It's OK.' It was not a license, but a subtle, 'It's OK.' I think we are seeing that now." "It bothers me," she added, "because we have good people in this town." Wanda Shirk, 68, an English teacher who worked at a Potter County school for 28 years, joked that the town had become LGBT - "Liberty, Guns, Bible, Trump." "I don't think everyone here is racist, but I think a lot are racially insensitive," she said, "and Trump has allowed that to grow." BRIDGEWATER, N.J. - President Donald Trump threatened Sunday to shut down the federal government this fall if Congress does not pass sweeping changes to immigration laws, including appropriating more public money to build his long-promised border wall. "I would be willing to 'shut down' government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall!" Trump tweeted. "Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country!" Trump's shutdown warning - which he has made before - escalates the stakes ahead of a Sept. 30 government funding deadline, a political showdown before the November midterm elections that Republican congressional leaders had hoped to avoid. A funding fight also could prove a distraction from Republican efforts in the Senate to confirm Trump Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh by Oct. 1. Trump faced immediate words of caution from top Republicans, including Rep. Steve Stivers of Ohio, who leads the National Republican Congressional Committee, which coordinates campaign efforts for House Republican candidates. "I don't think we're going to shut down the government. You know, I think we're going to make sure we keep the government open, but we're going to get better policies on immigration," Stivers said on ABC News' "This Week." Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, told CBS News' "Face the Nation" that he supports the president's effort to pass conservative immigration policies but disagreed with his brinkmanship. "I don't like playing shutdown politics. I don't think it'd be helpful, so let's try to avoid it," Johnson said. On the other side of the aisle, Rep. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Democrats did not feel compelled to respond to Trump's threat. "Democrats wants to work together in a bipartisan way when it comes to comprehensive immigration reform," Lujan said on ABC News, adding that "Democrats are standing strong when it comes to a comprehensive immigration reform conversation with the American people that is fair, that is tough." Trump's declaration on Twitter surprised some lawmakers who have been eager to avoid a bruising funding fight and highlighted his intense desire to make progress on signature agenda items that have stalled. The president has not received from Congress as much funding as he has requested for his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump also has been advocating a number of changes to immigration laws, including ending the visa lottery program as well as "catch and release" - the practice of releasing from detention immigrants caught entering the country illegally if they agree to court hearings. Trump met Wednesday with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and discussed the upcoming spending fight. The president signaled in the White House meeting that he was on board with McConnell and Ryan's strategy to fund the government smoothly through "minibuses," or smaller packages of spending bills that had been moving through the House and Senate, according to a person familiar with the meeting. But in recent days, Trump has also spoken with several outside political allies who have urged him to strike a tougher line on the border wall as a means of pressuring Democrats and rallying his core voters in November, according to two people briefed on those discussions. Trump has sought to make immigration a core campaign theme heading into the midterms. He has defended his administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy, arguing that some parents who have been separated from their children under this policy are criminals. On Sunday, Trump tweeted, "Please understand, there are consequences when people cross our Border illegally, whether they have children or not - and many are just using children for their own sinister purposes. Congress must act on fixing the DUMBEST & WORST immigration laws anywhere in the world! Vote 'R.'" It is unclear whether simply threatening to shut down the government could push Democrats to agree to fund construction of the wall, particularly because Trump has backed down at the last minute during previous standoffs. Both last year and this year, Trump said he would shut down the government if Democrats didn't agree to fund construction of the wall. Both times, Democrats refused, and both times, Trump agreed to sign spending bills that did not include funds for a new wall along the southern border. Spending bills have appropriated funds to replace existing walls or barriers, something Trump has tried to promote to his supporters as signs of progress. The last spending bill funded $1.6 billion for border barriers, but that money does not apply to new construction. There was a brief government shutdown in January after Senate Democrats refused to back a spending package because of Trump's move to potentially force the deportation of immigrants who had been brought to the United States illegally as children. But Democratic solidarity over the matter did not last long. They backed down quickly. While congressional GOP leaders have worked over the past week to signal solidarity with Trump on immigration, they also struck notes of caution about the timing of any significant legislative progress. McConnell said Friday that talks over funding the wall would "probably" have to wait until after the midterms. "Probably, and that's something we do have a disagreement on," he said in an interview with a Kentucky radio station, referring to the timing of action on Capitol Hill. Ryan said Thursday that he believed Trump is "willing to be patient to make sure that we get what we need so we can that done." The House speaker added that the proposed border wall would eventually be built, calling it "not a question of if, it's a question of when." Congress reached an agreement in March to fund government operations through the end of September, and it must pass new legislation by then or the government will partially shut down Oct. 1, just five weeks before the midterm elections. The White House's demands for border funding have ranged widely, from around $2 billion to $25 billion, since Trump's inauguration. House Republicans are trying to appropriate $5 billion to begin construction of the wall, a figure Trump has endorsed. Some Senate Democrats have shown a willingness to partially fund construction of the wall in exchange for other immigration policy changes, but those talks have repeatedly broken down. During the presidential campaign, Trump frequently promised that Mexico would pay for construction of the wall, but the Mexican government has refused to do so. This has led Trump to demand that U.S. taxpayers fund construction of the wall, claiming he would recoup the money from Mexico through other means. Democrats believe they will make significant gains in the midterms, and any gains could make it more difficult for Trump to secure money for the construction of the wall. Trump's shutdown threat could be his last ploy to secure border-wall funding before the midterms. Trump has embraced a big-spending approach to government since taking office, allowing Democrats to secure funding for a number of their priorities in order for him to win a bigger budget for the military. This had helped dramatically expand the budget deficit, leading to complaints from conservatives. Trump said in March when he signed the last spending bill that he would not allow this to happen again, but Republicans have such a slim majority in the Senate that it makes it impossible to pass spending bills without any support from Democrats. --- Costa and Paletta reported from Washington, D.C. The Washington Post's Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this report. --- Video Embed Code Video: The Washington Post's Philip Rucker, Ashley Parker and David Nakamura explain why President Trump still pledges to build a wall on the U.S. southern border.(Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post) Embed code: KELSEYVILLE, Lake County Two wildfires burning along the rural border of Mendocino and Lake counties grew Sunday as firefighters struggled with high temperatures and scarce crews, threatening a handful of small communities. The Ranch Fire, northeast of Ukiah, grew to 16,300 acres as it chewed through dry grass and timber near Potter Valley, authorities said. The nearby River Fire, north of Hopland, expanded through similarly parched hills to 14,200 acres as it neared towns on the western shore of Clear Lake. About 1,379 firefighters were working to keep the two blazes in the hills, above homes and neighborhoods. But they both were just 5 percent contained Sunday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Theyre bringing in what they can to fight it, but its limited, said Lake County Supervisor Rob Brown, noting there are many fires across California that are demanding the attention of fire crews, including a blaze that broke out in Napa County on Saturday as well as the huge Carr Fire near Redding. Weve taken a lot of hits in Lake County, Brown said, referencing the several fires that destroyed thousands of homes in the county in recent years. But now the whole states on fire. Between the Ranch and River fires, dubbed the Mendocino Complex, six homes have burned and 10,200 structures remained threatened, according to Cal Fire. Thousands of people have been told to evacuate. In Mendocino County, the small community of Potter Valley and other areas north of Highway 120 remained under evacuation orders, while in Lake County the city of Lakeport and several neighborhoods west of Highway 29 were off limits. Mandatory evacuation orders were in place Sunday evening for much of western Lake County, including the communities of Blue Lakes, Upper Lake, Nice, Witter Springs, Bachelor Valley, Scotts Valley and Saratoga Springs. Now Playing: Firefighters use three basic types of aircraft to help fight fires from the air. From transporting fire crews to dropping water and fire retardant, helicopters and planes play a major role in combating serious fires. Video: Katie Wood / SFGATE By Sunday evening, local officials were prepping to protect the Lakeport structures as the Mendocino Complex Fire peeked over hills and pushed east toward the town. We have personnel, engines, dozers all staged out here in the town of Lakeport, said Will Powers, a Cal Fire spokesman. Its everything from clearing brush away from the houses to pulling wood away from the houses anything that might be flammable thats up against your home they might try to clear off. Sutter Lakeside Hospital was evacuated for the second time in two days Sunday evening, discharging or transferring one inpatient and seven emergency room patients to area hospitals. Staff was instructed not to report to work until further notice. Well, (were) always concerned because they didnt have as many firefighters on this fire at all, said Gus Baldwin, who fled his Lakeport home with his wife. There was hardly anybody on the fire, and thats why they evacuated so many people. The Baldwins were among about 150 people staying at Mountain Vista Middle School in Kelseyville, which was serving as an evacuation shelter. On Saturday night, the couple shuttled their cars to a friends house, packed up a few belongings and piled into their vintage RV. In Napa County, just south of Lake Berryessa, firefighters were battling a 150-acre wildfire that exploded in the Berryessa Highlands neighborhood Saturday. The Steele Fire destroyed at least eight structures and forced several residents to flee. As of Sunday evening, the fire was 65 percent contained. But elsewhere, Cal Fire officials acknowledged that headway was limited because of the outbreak of so many fires over the past week. A lack of available suppression and overhead personnel will slow firefighting efforts, Cal Fire officials said in a statement. On Sunday morning, a handful of RVs and trailers dotted the road into Mountain Vista Middle School, where about 150 Lakeport residents took shelter. Red Cross Supervisor Deborah Smith stood watch as volunteers installed a disabled-accessible shower. Others were working to secure wheelchairs, walkers and medical equipment to tend to the shelters tenants, many of whom had fled from a nearby senior mobile home park. The drill had become routine for Kimberly Downing, who shared a bench outside with two new friends. Her stay at the shelter marked her seventh evacuation in Northern California. She had moved to Lakeport three weeks ago, because she figured it doesnt burn there, but on Saturday she said, I looked at the sky and said,Oh, its coming. This time around, Downing required minimal prep time. She and several evacuees keep overnight bags at the ready. We have supplies to just walk out the door, she said. Its the only way to go in these fires. You just dont have time. Chronicle staff writer Dominic Fracassa contributed to this report. Megan Cassidy and Kurtis Alexander are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com, kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy, @kurtisalexander Olivia P. Tallet/Eduardo Canales, Director of The South Texas Human Rights Center organization in Falfurrias, Brooks County, Texas, organizes projects with volunteers to protect migrant lives such as the Water Station Project. The project maintains drinking Deaths of undocumented border crossers have risen 46 percent along the vast U.S.-Mexico border as the region experiences torrid summer temperatures, even as U.S. Border Patrol officials warn of the dangers to children entering the county. The risks to immigrants attempting to walk across the scorching border brush land on their way to interior cities has been a persistent and deadly dilemma in Texas, one that prompted a new initiative by Mexican and Central American diplomats and U.S. officials to install signposts with coordinates and emergency numbers on smuggling routes. Earlier this month, they toured the Rio Grande Valley region to view firsthand the hazardous terrains that become even more dangerous as temperatures raise. They also moved to finalize the locations and designs of the signs, many of which will be installed on tall poles along the heaviest traveled smuggling routes. They will include emergency phone numbers with codes to inform rescuers of the migrants latitude and longitude. The spike in immigrant deaths has been even higher 70 percent compared to last year along the sprawling Del Rio Sector of the U.S. border patrol whose agents are responsible 210 miles of Rio Grande, Lake Amistad and 41 counties comprised mostly of farms and ranches. The majority of the 17 deaths there since last October have been heat related, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency. Crossing the border illegally is an exhausting journey that comes with inherent risks, noted Felix Chavez, chief border patrol agent for the Del Rio sector. The dangers of the crossings are intensified by this continued extreme heat, he added, noting that temperatures can reach 110 degrees or more during this time of year. RELATED: Deadly trek: Immigrants face death in hostile South Texas brushlands Among all sectors on the southwest border, the number of immigrants deaths has grown 46 percent during the current fiscal year, but CBP officials declined to release the sector-by-sector statistics until the current the fiscal year ends Sept.30. Migrant deaths on the U.S.-Mexico border Every year, the U.S. Border Patrol records the deaths of hundreds of migrants on the border -- and though those are the best numbers available, the actual numbers are almost certainly far higher. To see the numbers, click through the charts and hover over data points. And note that the Border Patrol reports are according to fiscal years, October through September. So "2017" would be the fiscal year that ended in September 2017. Source: U.S. Border Patrol | Credit: Jordan Rubio, Houston Chronicle Last fiscal year, 294 immigrants perished along the border, with 73 percent of the deaths in Texas, according to CBP statistics. Other organizations put the number higher, noting that not all remains are found or identified. Federal authorities are concerned about the deadly effect that high temperatures could have in the mostly arid, brush country region of South Texas and the lower Rio Grande Valley. Often, immigrants cannot carry enough water to last the lengthy treks in the brush needed to circumvent highway checkpoints and fall ill from heat exhaustion. Others die in stiffing tractor trailers used by human smugglers to transport them past the checkpoints. Frequent rescues in the brushlands Nearly two weeks ago, a Border Patrol tactical unit rescued a 19-year-old Guatemalan man found unconscious from exhaustion among a group of immigrants after they crossed without permission into Texas along the river at Del Rio, the agency reported. The man was assisted by an EMT from the rescue team and later taken to a hospital in Eagle Pass. The man survived because border agents found him as they pursued the large group, according to the agency. On that day, temperatures topped 104 degrees. In the span of two days last week, Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley rescued 15 people. Agents also rescued a father and son from Mexico, but the older man died from cardiac arrest Tuesday after being taken to a border hospital. RELATED: Attempting to make the court deadline, immigrant families reunited across the country Efforts to reduce fatalities on the border are not new, and in the past, the U.S. government has launched public awareness campaigns, organized rescue units and even advertised in foreign media outlets to warn residents about the extreme dangers. According to federal records, the bodies of about 7,000 immigrants have been found along the southwest border in the last 20 years. One of the groups trying to reduce the death toll is the South Texas Human Rights Center in Falfurrias. The group, which has installed and maintained water stations in the border region, is receiving more calls than usual from people trying to locate family members and friends attempting to cross the Texas-Mexico border illegally, center director Eduardo Canales said. There are many people missing, mostly who are entering via McAllen and Laredo, Canales said. He added that about 50 percent of the people reported missing eventually are located, mainly in detention centers, but the whereabouts of the other half remain unknown. Often, ranchers and local law officials discover the bodies of immigrants who have died along smuggling routes, and they are often quickly buried in border grave yards without being identified. At least 165 individuals have died in 2018 since Jan. 1 along the U.S.-Mexico border region, according to data from the Missing Migrants Project of the UNs International Organization for Migration, which tracks immigrant deaths along migration routes worldwide. Their register of those who have perished on the border is drawn from information provided by law authorities, non-governmental organizations and by monitoring media reports. Curbing the trend Last Friday Border Patrol officials met with members of TRICAMEX, a group recently formed by consular officials from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador in an effort to protect their citizens in the U.S. by arranging closer communication and entering joint programs with U.S. authorities. RELATED: Acting ICE director defends agency during San Antonio visit The officials discussed the sign initiative, which will allow immigrants who get lost or ill to contact authorities and tell them where they are. The meeting was basically to decide where are we going to post the signs in a way that makes it difficult for coyotes to destroy them, said Mexican Consul General Eduardo Bernal Martinez, of the consulate in McAllen, who participated in the border meeting. The consular officials also took an aerial tour of the U.S. Border Patrol sector in the Rio Grande Valley - where the highest number of immigrant deaths were reported last year - to familiarize them with the hazardous terrain and the dangers immigrants face when attempting to cross. Diplomats from Central American nations experienced first-hand the extremely hazardous conditions immigrants go through while traversing the border. The diplomat said many inexperienced immigrants have misconceptions about how to survive their journey, and learn there are few options when overcome by fatigue, exhaustion and dehydration. He noted that immigrants often take shelter beneath clumps of brush to seek relief from the sun. "But those bushes near the border actually trap the temperature and become like saunas (but) full of cactus with thorns the length of a finger that prick you to the bone," he said. I urge immigrants to avoid crossing at all now because they could easily lose their lives, the Mexican consul said. Bernal said the group hopes to install the first signs in the vicinity of Falfurrias in South Texas in about a month. If the initiative produces good results, we think we will want to expand it to other areas in the state and beyond, like in the borders of Tijuana-San Diego, and Sonora (-Arizona) across the border from Arizona, Bernal said. olivia.tallet@chron.com Twitter.com/oliviaptallet SANTA FE Days after her son, Chris, was shot and killed in his first period art class at Santa Fe High School, Rosie Y. Stone cracked open his Bible. She noticed a sticky note marking a verse in the Book of Daniel, a passage that touched on selflessness and bravery. On the note, Chris had written one word: Courage. It made perfect sense to Stone, who heard from several survivors of the May 18 massacre that left 10 dead and 13 wounded that Chris had held a closet door shut to separate the 17-year-old gunman from other students, giving them time to run through another classroom to safety. His last actions have given Rosie a new purpose. Thats where I got the courage to be able to finish what he started, which was protecting those students, the 40-year-old mother of three said. Ten weeks after the mass school shooting in the Galveston County school, a wave of parent involvement and community advocacy has swept through the small but growing rural community. Unlike in Parkland, Florida, where some students and families organized on the national stage to advocate for stricter gun laws, Santa Fe parents have become hyper-focused on changes at the local level. IN AUSTIN: After Santa Fe school shooting, Texas unlikely to expand weak red-flag gun law Before the shooting, only a handful of district staff members and, perhaps, one parent would attend the Santa Fe Independent School Districts school board meetings. So many parents and others now pack the meetings that officials run out of chairs, forcing some to stand, sit on the floor or watch the proceedings in an overflow room. Parents have formed their own nonprofits, advocacy groups and support systems. Fundraisers must be meticulously scheduled after a crush of events compete for a finite amount of charitable contributions. Jamie Zegarelli, one of three board members on the newly formed Santa Fe Tribe Moms nonprofit, said this is the sort of thing folks in Santa Fe have always done look out for and support one another. You need to take care of your own house first, Zegarelli said. We need to get everything into play here now, and then we need to spread out and help other districts. Unexpected activists Mark Bratcher only wanted to write a letter. It was May 19, the day after the shooting, and the 42-year-old father of a Santa Fe High School student wanted to let school district officials know what security measures he wanted to see in the school. He wanted to sign it as coming from the community, hoping that a chorus of voices would be more powerful than his own. He solicited help on Facebook and was floored by the response. Dozens of people reached out to him, suddenly eager to engage with the school districts leadership. In the first few weeks after the shooting, he said folks had grown so frustrated with a lack of communication from the district they wanted to find some way to get more information and give their opinions. The district communicated several times on May 18, a little in the days after, and then silence for three weeks, Bratcher said. It was nothing. You cant leave us completely in the dark. Whats the plan? The district had convened a 32-person safety and security committee, but Bratcher and others wanted to see more action. He formed a community committee, complete with leadership and research teams. Although he is the groups unofficial spokesman and main cheerleader, he has refused to take a leadership role fearing folks will question his intentions. At the groups first open meeting on July 9, nearly 200 people crammed into Santa Fe City Hall. A Facebook group Bratcher created to organize folks now has about 1,200 members. They have completed surveys, organized carpools to school board meetings, presented security recommendations to the safety committee and board, and grilled Superintendent Leigh Wall and Board President J.R. Rusty Norman at their inaugural meeting. Its a big change for Bratcher, who said he had attended few events at the high school, and never a school board meeting, before the shooting. I was disengaged nine or 10 weeks ago. I had never been an activist before, never been a group leader before, he said. I didnt intend for it to be what it turned into, but it seems to be necessary. SPLIT VOTE: Santa Fe ISD trustees agree to install metal detectors Most of the folks who now pack Santa Fe ISDs board meetings say the same thing they were not engaged before and feel guilty about not taking action earlier, especially after a shooting scare on Feb. 28 forced the high school into a lockdown. The regret is especially strong for Stone, who still struggles to adjust to life without her son. At the first board meeting she attended on June 25, she chastised the school board and administration through frustrated tears, asking why they had not made safety more of a priority before the shooting. After going through board minutes and seeing meeting after meeting in which no one spoke during public comment periods, she realized the board had gotten no input from parents on the subject. I was one of those parents. I never went to board meetings, I never did any of that. Why? Because I really thought everyone was doing their job, Stone said. I was doing mine at home. Since her sons death, Stone has dedicated most of her free time to addressing issues within the district. She and a core group of about five are working to form a nonprofit called CCC, which stands for Chris, Courage and Change. She traveled to Florida last week to attend a conference about lessons learned in other school districts that have worked to recover after mass shooting events. She has spoken to community groups in hopes that her story and new-found advocacy will encourage others to speak up. She wants to speak to classes in districts across Galveston County and the southern Houston metro area, hoping to show any students with intentions to do harm what the aftermath of such carnage feels like to victims families. Next month, Stone plans to gather a group of high school students to hear their thoughts on all the changes and get feedback on what they would like to see happen after the shooting so she can pass their message along to the security committee, on which she sits, and trustees. Shes calling the event Chat with Mama Stone. Stone also plans to file to run for Santa Fe ISDs Board of Trustees before applications close on Aug. 20. Questions about longevity Trustee Eric Davenport worries the outpouring of involvement will fade once normalcy returns to the small community and the horrors of May 18 melt into a dull ache. At the districts most recent board meeting, Davenport implored the more than 100 parents gathered to keep coming to meetings and to stay active in the local schools. Going forward, please continue to be engaged, six months down the road, eight months down the road, 10 months down the road, next year at this time, I hope I see every one of your faces in this board room still, he said as the audience applauded. I invite you to come here every month, every special meeting. Get involved more than just because we had a tragedy. Please get engaged, get involved stay involved. Folks across the district have pledged to do just that. Bratcher said once security concerns begin to quell, the community committee will shift its focus to booster-type programs for extracurricular activities, finding opportunities for students and to support the schools programming. Board members of the Tribe Moms group hope to spread their work to nearby districts. Stone wants her organization to be a permanent homage to her son. Keeping up the momentum is difficult, former Columbine High School Principal Frank DeAngelis said . Before two teenaged gunman shocked the nation by killing 13 others at his Colorado school in 1999, perhaps 10 or 12 parents would come to district accountability meetings, he said. After the shooting, the meeting room routinely reached capacity. Parents and alumni clamored to volunteer at the school before the following school year. That interest, though, began to wane about six months after the massacre. What ends up happening in a lot of these situations is, you have the same volunteers coming over and over again, and they start getting tired because its hard to keep up with, DeAngelis said. As time goes on and they go through the whole grieving process, six months from now or a year from now, people will see their kids are safe and start going back to their normal lives. He said there often were subsequent waves of concern every time there was a threat against the school or a school shooting in another state. Still, organizations that popped up in the immediate aftermath tended to fizzle out a couple of years later, DeAngelis said. Channeling concern Joyce Epstein, director of John Hopkins Universitys National Network of Partnership Schools that helps link parents with their childrens schools, said the key is to capture that interest and try to turn it into something sustainable. The response in Santa Fe is a good response because, chances are, some organized systems will come out of those reactions of the parents, Epstein said. We do know the district and its school really need to address this topic more systematically. Santa Fe ISD officials did not comment on questions about how they will harness parents newfound interest in the district, deferring any response until after the boards July 30 meeting. Epstein said there are six main ways schools can capture family interest: through parenting, communication, volunteering, learning at home (homework help), decision making through parent-teacher organizations and collaborating with the community by creating planned programs each year. VIDEOCONFERENCING TECHNOLOGY: After Santa Fe shooting, Abbott wants telemedicine to boost school counseling Students in schools that can lay out organized and well-led engagement programs often have more success in the classroom and in extra-curricular activities, Epstein said. If kids know their teachers and counselors have a direct line of communication to their parents or parents friends, Epstein said they are more likely to become involved and less likely to engage in more troublesome behavior. Its the notion that if we dont know whats happening in schools, anything can happen, Epstein said. Students having particular troubles or different personal growth issues, especially in high school, those things are are preventable if someone knows whats going on. That is exactly why Santa Fe High moms Stacy Howard David, Jamie Zegarelli and Karee Carter organized the Santa Fe Tribe Moms. They are hosting a get-together for Santa Fe ISD moms and parents at the Abundant Life Christian Center on Aug. 11, with a growing list of speakers, childcare and volunteer signups. They want to commit random acts of kindness for parents and students alike, from scrawling inspirational quotes on bathroom stalls or setting up support groups for moms struggling with how to deal with their childrens pubescent struggles. They want to be visible inside Santa Fes schools, too, helping monitor students during class changes and lunch, providing a helping hand to over-burdened teachers and being an eager listener for students seeking an outlet to voice their hopes and fears. If were not going to let this happen in our school district again, we have to be strong and be the ones who make a difference, Zegarelli said. I think other school districts need to realize it now, use us as an example and dont let this happen there. We get so busy in our everyday lives that we just dont think about what could be, but we have to start thinking that way. In recent months, as news reports have been dominated by wrenching stories about families separated at the border, the plight of young people known as Dreamers have mostly been pushed from headlines. It shouldnt be. As a legal brief filed this week reminds us, this group of immigrants an estimated 800,000 across the country and more than 120,000 in Texas alone deserves our attention and support. They were brought to this country illegally as children and received legal work status and a reprieve from deportation through Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the Obama-era program known as DACA. Under DACA, the Dreamers were able to come out of the shadows and graduate from college, launch careers in the medical field, education, retail and journalism, build businesses and buy homes. Only to have their futures thrown into limbo when President Donald Trump ordered an end to the program last September. Since then, their lives have been thrust into turmoil amid dueling court challenges. In May, a federal judge in D.C. ruled that protections must stay in place and the government had to accept new applications. That same month, Texas and six other states filed a lawsuit seeking to end the program. This week, a coalition of 114 businesses, chambers of commerce, and other organizations filed a brief asking a judge to toss out the lawsuit, which had been filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a long-time opponent of DACA. An end to DACA, the brief argues, would unravel the Dreamers many contributions to the Texas economy damaging the larger Texas business community and those that filed the brief, which include Amazon, Southwest Airlines, Uber and Verizon. The Dreamers contribute to the Texas economy by creating jobs, strengthening the tax base, and supporting Texas businesses as customers, the brief states, before enumerating the staggering economic impact of DACA recipients: If DACA ends, the United States could lose $460 billion loss in gross domestic product over the next decade. Texas could lose more than $6 billion in annual economic activity. The Greater Houston region could lose more than $2 billion. In 2015, about 7,229 DACA-eligible entrepreneurs lived in Texas. The states 126,000 Dreamers are likely responsible for preserving 5,800 manufacturing jobs, which leads to job creation through purchasing powers, increased sales and demands for services. While we were disappointed that the Greater Houston Partnership did not join the brief a spokesman said the organization wasnt given enough time to adequately review it President Bob Harvey notes that anything short of comprehensive immigration, including an abrupt dismantlement of DACA through the courts, would have a substantial negative effect on Houstons economy. But Dreamers do more than add digits to the economic numbers. In many ways, their most valuable contributions cant be quantified. They bolster the culture and energy of the city through art and music. They enrich our futures by teaching schoolchildren and volunteering in community organizations. They save lives in hospitals and at accident scenes. They have helped Houston become the diverse, vibrant kaleidoscope that attracts tourists, invites new investors, and spurs growth by drawing new residents from other states and countries. They serve in the military and became heroes during Harvey. Dozens work in Houstons hospitals and medical center. Houston Methodist Hospital alone has 57 Dreamers on staff. About 1,000 Dreamers in Texas work as first responders, police officers, firefighters and teachers. One is Jesus Contreras, a paramedic who worked for six days without rest after Harvey ravaged Houston. He camped out at a fire station, pulled storm victims from flood waters, transported many to hospitals. Think of what we will lose if Dreamers are pushed out of our communities. Think of the lives that would not have been saved, the children who would not be educated, the jobs that would not flourish, . Think of how much poorer in so many ways our state would be. Then tell our elected officials, especially Ken Paxton, to do whats right for the Dreamers because thats whats right for all of us. Tell him to halt his wrong-headed crusade against DACA. Finally. President Trump is following the advice of at least one respected, mainstream American conservative. Youll remember that it was former Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell who warned, in the run-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, you break it, you own it. Now Trump is heeding that wisdom, even if unwittingly: He essentially broke the delicately crafted global trade networks for everything from soy to steel, and now hes offering to pay for the damage. Problem is, the bill for knocking that delicate piece of bone china off the display case isnt going to Trump. Its going to the American taxpayers. Were the ones on the hook for his $12 billion bailout of the agriculture industry. Now other industries harmed by Trumps reckless trade war want to know if their check is in the mail. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski has pointed out that one-third of her states seafood goes to China, which retaliated against Trumps tariffs with similar taxes, and her constituents are curious if theyll get a bailout, too. Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz ought to consider asking for a financial reparation on Houstons behalf. Our economy relies on international trade more than almost any other city. When Trump imposes tariffs, he taxes our engine for growth. Roughly 17 percent of our regional GDP was created by exporting locally originated goods, according to the Brookings Institution. Thats one in every six dollars. Overall, those exports international sales of things we produce here totaled $79billion last year. If you say we lost 10 percent of our exports, that could be $7.9 billion, Patrick Jankowski, senior vice president for research and regional economist at Greater Houston Partnership, told the editorial board. To make it simple, Mr. President, just round up the check to $8 billion. It isnt just a matter of lost revenue. A mere 10 percent downturn in exports would also impact 33,000 jobs. Meanwhile, the oil and gas industry the lifeblood of Houstons economy sits on the front lines of Trumps trade war. Tariffs on steel imports raise costs for building the new pipelines, refineries and chemical plants well need to take full advantage of our shale resources. Then theres the instability of it all, which can lead to cold feet. If theres so much uncertainty out there, you postpone hiring decisions and you postpone investment decisions, Jankowski said. And if you postpone hiring decisions and investment decisions, that will lead to slower economic growth. Things arent slowing down just yet. The GDP grew by 4.1 percent last quarter, a rate not seen since 2014. As much as wed like to cheer, economists warn this number was juiced by frantic stockpiling before the tariffs went into effect something akin to Houstonians raiding the shelves at H-E-B before a big storm. What goes up prematurely must come down. When it does, the damage will be clear. Politicians in Washington need to mend this trade conflict before it gets worse. . The problem is that nobody seems to know Trumps goal. He dropped out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but Japan has rejected his proposed replacement deal. His bluster about a trade war with the European Union ended up with consensus on a free trade agreement albeit one that sounds an awful lot like the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership that was negotiated under the Obama administration. Trump said he wants to stop China from stealing intellectual property, but its not clear how tariffs will accomplish that. As Cornyn asked last month: How does this end? No doubt, Trumps fans relish the spectacle of a president willing to shake things up. But trade policy requires more finesse than a bull in a china shop can muster. Leaders in congress, stop this mess. The nation can only glue the pieces back together so many times before the damage becomes irreparable. If you want to believe Donald Trump is innocent when it comes to Russia, youre going to have to do some work. Its not just that new information keeps coming out, and youll have to figure out whether it should be disbelieved (Its not true!) or explained away (Even if its true, its perfectly fine!). Youll also have to keep abreast of the presidents shifting stories and justifications so you can be up to date on what youre supposed to say. And youll have to believe some things that are frankly unbelievable. EDITORIAL: Texas Republicans should emulate Barry Goldwater's conscience of a conservative OPINION: Russia collusion investigation is far from a witch hunt Now that Michael Cohen, Trumps former fixer, has publicly said that he was in the room when Trump was told beforehand of the infamous Trump Tower meeting Trumps son, son-in-law and campaign chairman had with a group of Russians they believed would provide dirt on Hillary Clinton, and Trump gave the go-ahead for the meeting, Trump advocates are being called upon yet again for a new round of denials. So we should step back and remind ourselves of exactly what it is theyre asking us all to accept. - Don Jr. wouldnt have told his father about the Trump Tower meeting. Without getting too deeply into psychological analysis of Don Jr., its pretty plain that he worships his father, in whose shadow he lives, and craves his respect. So when an acquaintance approached him with an offer to meet with Russians who, according to the email Don Jr. received, said they could provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary (...) This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its governments support for Mr. Trump, Don Jr. was excited. If its what you say I love it, he responded. With the potential of such a blockbuster find, were supposed to believe that Don Jr. wouldnt have rushed to tell his dad what he was about to acquire for him. EDITORIAL: Trump embarrassed America by playing Putins puppy OPINION: Waiting for Trump's constitutional crisis? It's already here - Its mere coincidence that between the email to Don Jr. and the Trump Tower meeting, Trump touted damaging information he was about to reveal about Hillary. Don Jr. received the email proposing the Trump Tower meeting on June 3, 2016. On June 6, he had two phone calls with Emin Agalarov, the son of a Russian oligarch, who was helping to set up the meeting. Between those two calls he had another call with a blocked number. His father has a blocked number. Don Jr. says he cant remember whom he spoke to. But the next day, June 7, Donald Trump told a crowd at a rally, I am going to give a major speech on probably Monday of next week and were going to be discussing all of the things that have taken place with the Clintons. I think youre going to find it very informative and very, very interesting. The meeting took place two days later, on June 9, but produced no damaging information on Clinton. Trump never delivered his major speech revealing Clinton misconduct. Were supposed to believe this is all coincidence. - The Trump team released a false statement to the public about the Trump Tower meeting even though they hadnt done anything wrong. When the story of the Trump Tower meeting was about to break in July 2017, a group of Trump advisers quickly gathered to craft a cover story to minimize the damage. The account they settled on is one in which the meeting had nothing to do with the campaign but was just about policy related to adoption of Russian children by American parents. Were supposed to believe that they released this false story despite the fact that there was nothing improper about the meeting in the first place. OPINION: Russian threat to the U.S. is real, but Democrats need to stop demonizing Trump - President Trump lied about crafting the false statement to the public for no particular reason. That Trump lied about this is not in dispute. We now know that it was the president who dictated the cover story, but on multiple occasions, Trump had his lawyers publicly attest that he had nothing to do with the statement (The president didnt sign off on anything, The president was not involved). But then last month we learned that the lawyers, in a letter to special counsel Robert Mueller III, finally admitted that the president dictated a short but accurate response to be delivered to the New York Times, and thereby to the public, on Don Jr.s behalf, just as The Washington Post had reported last June. Were supposed to believe that these admitted lies were not meant to cover up anything, since there was nothing to cover up. - Working with representatives of the Russian government to get dirt on your opponent is perfectly fine. This is one of the most audacious claims Trump and his advocates have made, but its one they almost had no choice but to retreat to. After the Trump camps lies about what happened in the meeting were exposed, they could no longer deny that Trumps family members and closest advisers were actively seeking help from the Russians. I think from a practical standpoint most people would have taken that meeting, the president finally said. Politics isnt the nicest business in the world, but its very standard. That is completely false - taking campaign help from a foreign government is not standard at all and is probably illegal. But once it became the presidents position, his defenders had to adopt it as their own. Look, I dont think that its bad if campaigns are turning to foreign governments for dirt. Its not collusion, said conservative pundit Andrew McCarthy on Fox. So now were all supposed to believe that colluding with a hostile foreign power isnt actually collusion, and theres nothing wrong with it anyway. If you believe all those things, I commend you on your mental flexibility. You might want to consider how youd be reacting if we found out that in the heart of the 2016 campaign, Chelsea Clinton, her husband and John Podesta had eagerly sought information on Donald Trump from, say, the Iranian government, and then Hillary Clinton herself had lied publicly about the meeting. Would you be saying it was no big deal and we shouldnt worry about it? When youve been saying for years that she ought to go to jail because she used the mistaken email account? To conclude, Id like to offer a warning. The other people who Cohen says were in the room when Trump was informed about the meeting with the Russians were presumably close aides and/or family members. Given all the lying that everyone around Trump has done up until this point, its perfectly plausible that even if Cohen is telling the truth, theyll claim otherwise. After all, if they were close enough to Trump to be in the room, they might be willing to lie for him, especially if none of them are facing their own legal jeopardy like Cohen is, and theyre sure theres no way to prove whos telling the truth. Itll be their word against his. They can say, Yep, the presidents telling the truth and walk away, perhaps with the promise that their loyalty will be rewarded in the future. I would be shocked if they arent talking to each other right now, getting their stories straight. Even if we all know what really happened, proving it is something else entirely. Waldman is an opinion writer for the Plum Line blog. For decades, the two of us have represented different sides of our regions development one representing developers and utility districts and the other representing environmental and neighborhood groups. Hurricane Harvey caused us to have a conversation, and we found agreement on many important flood-related issues. We agree that flooding is the single largest issue facing the Houston region. It threatens our lives, property, economy and future as one of the greatest metropolitan areas of the world. Proposition A the proposal to allow Harris County to issue $2.5 billion in flood control bonds will be on the ballot in Harris County on Aug. 25, the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Harvey. We agree that this bond issue is essential to the future of our community. OPINION: Save Houston homes: Flood bond plan ignores neighborhoods We have entered a new era in flood mitigation one that requires big and bold solutions. We commend Judge Ed Emmett and the Commissioners Court for calling the $2.5 billion bond election. It is especially important that they included the following provisions in the Order Calling the Bond Election: 1. Public meetings to obtain input for selection of the projects to be funded with bond proceeds; 2. Public hearings for design of the projects to be funded with bond proceeds; and 3. Equitable distribution of projects across the county. Harris County Flood Control District is holding hearings in each of the 22 watersheds around the county. It is asking all of us for our concerns, ideas and opinions about the projects to be funded with the bond proceeds. HCFCD has developed a website (www.hcfcd.org/bond-program) with information about the watershed meetings, possible projects, interactive maps and methods for providing input. We should all participate and let them know our viewpoints and ideas. For decades, we have underfunded drainage and flood management, and that must change. HCFCD currently attempts to maintain 2,500 miles of channels on a $60 million annual budget. Its capital improvements budget is also $60 million per year. Compare that to transportation spending in Harris County, where the combined Texas Department of Transportation, METRO, Harris County Toll Road Authority, Harris County and others average in excess of $1 billion per year. However, it is drainage and flooding that most threatens our future. With the passage of $2.5 billion in bonds and an estimated $7.5 billion in matching federal funds, HCFCD would be able to spend $1 billion per year for the next 10years on flood management. This will not solve all of our drainage problems, but it would represent a dramatic improvement. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has announced funding for four federally approved and permitted projects: Brays Bayou, Clear Creek, Hunting Bayou and White Oak Bayou. All four projects have a significant local match requirement. If the bonds are approved, these projects could start immediately. Planning, public input and permitting should continue on other watersheds, as long-term drainage improvements are a generational challenge. As a community, we must understand that there is no way to completely eliminate flooding. We can only minimize its impact. There are high-risk areas adjacent to bayous and creeks that cannot be protected by currently available federal and local funding, even with the bond issue. These high-risk areas can only be protected by buyouts that remove families from harms way while providing the land area needed for retention ponds and drainage channels. Many of these homes have flooded three or four times.. Voluntary buyouts should be a high priority there. The private sector needs to be mobilized to address replacement housing for the homes to be bought-out. We need the creativity of the best planners, architects, engineers, builders, developers, academics and nonprofits from our region to develop an innovative housing redevelopment program as part of this effort. There is no Plan B. Either this bond election passes or the current flooding conditions continue. The world watched as we came together to help one another in the aftermath of Harvey. Now is the time to come together to show the world that we are willing and able to solve major problems to ensure the long-term success of the place we proudly call home. We plan to vote FOR Prop. A, and we urge you to do the same. Early voting begins Aug. 8. Election Day is Saturday, Aug. 25. For more information, go to harrisvotes.com. Allen is managing partner at the Houston law firm Allen Boone Humphries Robinson, which represents a number of municipal utility districts in northern Fort Bend County. Blackburn is a Rice University environmental law professor who co-directs the Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disaster Center there. With our expertly gerrymandered congressional districts and a persistent voting bloc of conservative rural residents (theyve got nothing better to do), the idea that Texas will be a major part of the mythical blue wave remains the cliched prevarication of 2018 that will not die. Fervor against President Donald Trump and his BFF Vladimir may drive enough voters to dislodge a few Republicans here and there, but such laxative will be limited to the states major urban cores and not generally widespread or earth-shattering. More like a blue meh (shrugs shoulders). Except, possibly, in Harris County. Harris County, one of those urban splotches of blue, stark against the plains of carmine comprising most of the state, has kept Texas Democrats on life support for a number of years. Theres a distinct progressive tone to city, state and federal offices in places all over the county (except you, west side of town. Youre darling; dont you ever change.) But county government for quite a while has tilted Republican and conservative - which are not mutually exclusive concepts, though lately they have sometimes seemed so. Lonely Rodney Ellis represents the totality of Democratic representation on the Harris County Commissioners Court, a solitaire among the other four commissioners and County Judge Ed Emmett. Republican County officials and office-seekers, though, felt pain in 2016 from those showing up at the polls to vote against Trump. There is typical back-and-forth for county offices, which tend to float Democratic in presidential election years and clamor back to Republicans in off-year elections. Now, two of the Republican commissioners face re-election amid the normal tumult of a mid-term election, when the party of the president usually loses a few positions in the most democratic way to ensure a logjam. If the Democrats manage to abscond with one of those seats, it would be a clear signal that things are bucking the norm. In fact, one of the contested positions, Precinct 2, is usually thought to have gained its current denizen as a response to Barack Obamas 2008 election. Jack Morman, whose name only sounds like slang for a non-devout member of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, beat omnipresent Democrat Sylvia Garcia back in 2010, making her the first incumbent of the office to be ousted in 36 years. Garcia went on to become a state senator and is running for congress in the 29th District this year. Morman, re-elected in 2014 with no opposition, now may be feeling a little deja-vu, having to battle with yet another Garcia. Persistent candidate Adrian Garcia, who never lets a ballot go out without his name on it somewhere, had to beat Roger Garcia to get the nomination. Garcia is the most prevalent surname among Hispanics, but Precinct 2 seems to be overloaded with homonymous candidates seeking public office. Adrian Garcia, of course, is our former sheriff who resigned in 2015 to run for mayor (lost) and in the 29th Congressional District two years ago, an ill-timed run as invulnerable incumbent Gene Greene decided to retire before the 2018 election now open for the other Garcia (Sylvia) to take. Morman wont benefit from Barack backlash this year. And the heavily Hispanic East End within the precinct is usually expected to vote Democratic (perhaps even more so with the battles over immigration and deportations so visible this year). If turnout falls below expectations (as it almost always does), Morman might survive. But if Democrats are going to retake any high-profile seat in the 2018 election, this may be it. If voters approve Harris Countys proposed $2.5 billion flood control bonds, the County Flood Control District will have more than 41 times its annual budget to spend on flood mitigation. Thats great news if the money is used wisely. A wise use of the bond money would include water detention basins in neighborhoods that flood, built on land already owned by the public. Recently, myself and a few others had a private showing of the flood bond proposals for our older neighborhoods in Spring Branch. A friendly gentleman from Flood Control showed us a map with purple circles and green triangles representing projects. If you are lucky, your neighborhood is awarded a purple circle which represents a bigger project. A green triangle on the other hand could be just a tiny, micro-project like fixing some unspecified damage to a drain. None of the projects, however, are set in stone. That is how the bond is being sold citizens can influence or even add projects. RELATED: Residents offer support, project ideas for $2.5B Harris County flood bond OPINION: On Harris County's flood bond, support Prop. A because there's no plan B During that hour intensely staring at a map of triangles and circles, it became clear that the biggest thing missing from the bond proposal was water detention basins actually being located inside the neighborhoods that have flooding problems. There wasnt a single proposed water detention basin inside the neighborhoods surrounding Memorial City, which flood heavily. Older neighborhoods inside the city have long been shortchanged on drainage infrastructure while seeing surrounding concrete poured with greater intensity each year. Yet, close-in neighborhoods are an immeasurable asset and vital part of the city. With most flooding in the region occurring outside of floodplains, it is clear that development (concrete, elevated properties) must be offset by water detention basins inside the very neighborhoods where they are sending their storm water runoff. This is especially true in neighborhoods adjacent to rapidly developing commercial areas that needed detention yesterday. Flood Control bond planners, while well intentioned, have seemed to completely miss the need for water detention basins being located inside neighborhoods that flood. With a potential new budget 41 times bigger than this years infrastructure budget, Flood Control cant stay mired in a past philosophy of taking care of the bayous while the city handles drainage to the bayous. If the bonds pass, Flood Control wont still be able to fit into the same coat it wore as a child. It must grow its responsibilities and its vision to match its growth in monetary resources. Focusing additional detention solely in the bayou doesnt protect homes from sheet flow, doesnt recognize that the bayou can only be expanded so much, and only has so much benefit when there is a tropical storm or hurricane preventing discharge into the ocean. . Also, rivers and their ecosystems are unpredictable and ultimately not so easily engineered. Detention upstream of bayous can temporarily hold water until it can be handled downstream. At our meeting, the idea of water detention basins inside neighborhoods that flood got pushback from the Flood Control folks. Its too expensive to acquire property inside the city, they said. However, public land is free when government entities work together. Spring Branch, for example has several very large parks such as Haden Park and it has ISD property, including schools that are scheduled to be torn down and replaced after the most recent SBISD bond election. Water detention basins can go underneath facilities such as new schools and existing parks and green spaces. Most neighborhoods have a park. Lots of schools are being torn down and rebuilt. There are ample opportunities to put water detention basins inside the neighborhoods that flood, at zero land acquisition cost. That requires an open mind, big picture vision, and leadership on the part of Flood Control to select this strategy and to get the different government entities working together. Having a budget 41 times your existing yearly budget means that new responsibilities will follow. With a bond of this size, Flood Control cant just be in charge of the bayou while a financially distressed city of Houston is in charge of drainage to the bayou. Thinking must be done outside the box. The institutional mindset of Flood Control must change and grow for the better. To serve all tax payers who would potentially be paying for the $2.5 billion bond, county planners must take the innovative approach and look for publicly owned land inside neighborhoods that flood. These are the places that water detention basins must be built to save neighborhoods inside the city. We know Houston will get hit again. Lets move beyond a grab bag of circles and triangles and embrace a big picture plan to spend this bond money. Gingell is the general counsel for Residents Against Flooding, a nonprofit. The Washington Post reports on the bombshell news that President Donald Trumps longtime lawyer Michael Cohen claims his boss had direct knowledge of the infamous June 9, 2016, meeting between Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner and a Kremlin-linked lawyer: Trump said explicitly last July that he didnt know about the meeting before it happened. But, then, thats what his campaign said about an alleged payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal when that news broke in October 2016. A conversation between Trump and his longtime attorney and problem-solver Michael Cohen discussing that payment the prior month emerged this week. RELATED: Four important points that arise from the Trump-Cohen recording OPINION: To lawyers like us, Michael Cohen looks as if hes ready to flip on Trump On Thursday night, both NBC and CNN reported that Cohen, per a source close to him, was prepared to tell investigators that he was present when Trump Jr. told his father about the possibility of meeting with the Russian lawyer to get dirt on Hillary Clinton. The meeting stemmed from an email sent by a music publicist to Trump Jr. in which the Trump campaign was promised some official documents and information that constituted very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its governments support for Mr. Trump. If true, Cohens account would put Trump front and center in a plan to conspire - collude, if you will - with Russians to help him win the presidency. This almost certainly would make Trumps mantra of no collusion a baldfaced lie and his conduct over the past 18 months (e.g. denying knowledge of the meeting, writing a phony account of the meeting, badgering Attorney General Jeff Sessions not to recuse himself, threatening the special prosecutor, firing James Comey as FBI director, concocting bizarre and false conspiracy theories to distract investigators) nothing short of obstruction of justice. But that is a really big if. Trump denied the report by tweet: . . ...I did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don jr. Sounds to me like someone is trying to make up stories in order to get himself out of an unrelated jam (Taxi cabs maybe?). He even retained Bill and Crooked Hillarys lawyer. Gee, I wonder if they helped him make the choice! But then again, the president has denied many things that turned out to be true. Interestingly, Trumps TV lawyer Rudy Giuliani didnt deny the allegations Thursday night; he simply attacked Cohens credibility. Giulianis defense that Cohen is a pathological liar raises the question as to why the president would employ such a scoundrel for years. Moreover, given that Trump has told thousands of lies as president and that the large majority of Americans think Trump is dishonest, hes not in a particularly strong position to get into a credibility contest with Cohen. RELATED: Pressure mounting, former Trump 'fixer' turns aggressive Step back for a moment. Cohens potential testimony is nothing short of amazing - the sort of one-in-a-million piece of evidence prosecutors dream about obtaining. Now of course it is true that many observers strongly suspected Trump must have known about the meeting that transpired. Donald Trump Jr., many onlookers surmised, would never have gone forward with the meeting without getting a thumbs up from his father. Moreover, The Post recounts events three days after Donald Trump Jr. replied I love it when offered dirt on Hillary Clinton: Trump Jr. and Emin Agalarov spoke (a call Trump Jr. claimed not to remember but which Agalarov did). Call logs suggest that Agalarov called Trump Jr. at 4:04 p.m. on June 6 and they spoke for a minute or two. About 20 minutes later, Trump Jr. received a call from a blocked number, after which he immediately called Agalarov back. The latter call lasted three minutes; the next morning, the meeting was set up (after which Trump Jr. placed calls to both campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner, the other two meeting attendees - calls Trump Jr. didnt remember). RELATED: Legal implications on Trump or Cohen unclear on secret tape The same evening as the calls to Agalarov, Trump gave a victory speech after winning several GOP primaries. I am going to give a major speech on probably Monday of next week and were going to be discussing all of the things that have taken place with the Clintons, he said during the speech. I think youre going to find it very informative and very, very interesting. I wonder if the press will want to attend, who knows. And that comes on top of an Associated Press report that Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who attended the Trump Tower meeting, worked more closely with senior Russian government officials than she previously let on. Now, circumstantial evidence like this is strong, but nothing compared with a direct witness. Prosecutors will need to interview Cohen, get those phone records, interview all other people possibly aware of Trumps decision to authorize the meeting and track down other corroborating evidence to make out a compelling case. Cohens testimony, if credible, would make for a compelling case, possibly entailing conspiracy; perpetrating a fraud on the United States; soliciting illegal, foreign help in a campaign; and obstruction. Anyone who denied Trumps role or otherwise intentionally misled prosecutors and/or Congress will have to worry about his own liability for perjury, obstruction and other related crimes. Max Bergmann, who heads the Moscow Project at the Center for American Progress, tells me, This revelation reveals what has been staring us in the face: Trump was part of the collusion. He wasnt some innocent bystander on his campaign. He argues, Trump ran the Trump campaign. We know this because everybody - from embedded reporters, to Trump campaign staff, to Trump himself - told us that he was fully in charge. So when it came to the most important decision of his campaign - whether or not to collude with Russia - of course he was involved. He adds, This is now a national security crisis. We have a President of the United States that almost certainly aided and abetted an attack on American democracy. Constitutional scholar and Supreme Court litigator Laurence Tribe tweeted, If Cohen credibly testifies Trump knew in advance of the 6/9/16 meeting that Donald Jr, Jared, etc, had with Viselnitskaya & other Russians in Trump Tower to get dirt against Clinton in June 2016, thats direct evidence of Trump/Putin collusion. Huge. Several points are worth underscoring. First, the latest Cohen news reminds us that we know a fraction of the potential facts in the Russia case. Roger Stone, Manafort and Cohen - if persuaded to cooperate - could have substantial, relevant information, including knowledge of the Russian hacking. Second, if Trumps direct approval of cooperation with Russians can be proved, it will be the biggest political scandal in American history. His presidency for all intents and purposes would be delegitimized. We are talking about a presidential candidate who sought and received help from a hostile foreign power, covered it up and repaid the favor by public obsequiousness to that powers leader. Again, this has yet to be proved. Third, Republicans who have enabled Trump by smearing law enforcement, creating bogus scandals, defending Trumps attacks on the Justice Department and rationalizing support for his presidency (But Gorsuch!) risk public humiliation and ruin. Nothing Trump has done or could possibly do would make up for participation in a conspiracy and obstruction, not to mention betrayal of his country. (Members of Congress who may have actively conspired with the White House themselves could have legal exposure.) Fourth, the potential discrediting of a presidency and the delegitimization of an elected commander in chief is gravely serious and should be resolved before Trump picks a Supreme Court justice (who potentially could determine Trumps fate). Finally, members of the administration should be very, very careful before throwing around Trumps favorite phrases (witch hunt!) and trying to discredit the investigation. In fact, before this gets even messier, now might be a good time for staffers to exit and get far away from this unfolding legal disaster. Jennifer Rubin writes the Right Turn blog for The Washington Post, offering reported opinion from a center-right perspective. With the possible exception of his pas de deux with Vladimir Putin, nothing about the Trump presidency inspires so much public resistance from his fellow Republicans as the presidents zest for tariffs and trade wars. That resistance only goes so far, taking the form of nonbinding resolutions and verbal scoldings and sighs of relief when, as he did this week with the European Union, Trump temporarily chooses jaw-jaw over war-war. But in a party so otherwise beholden to its leader, anything that gets conservative senators accusing their president of running a Soviet type of economy (as Ron Johnson of Wisconsin put it this week, attacking the presidents jury-rigged bailout for farmers hurt by his tariffs) counts as a dramatic fissure in the facade of MAGA unity. EDITORIAL: Abbott, Cruz and Cornyn need to team up on Trumps tariffs GRIEDER: Tariffs arent great, and a trade war will take a toll on Texas RELATED: Oil companies struggle to navigate Trump on steel tariffs The critics argument is principled their vision of conservatism has free trade as one of its pillars but also practical. Trumps handling of the economy polls at 50 percent in the latest Wall Street Journal poll; his handling of trade in the same survey is underwater. His otherwise-unpopular presidency is floated on jobs and economic growth, and trade wars can be bad for both. So why not just drop the mercantilism and let the good times roll? The answer gets at the dilemma of the Republican establishment in the age of Trump. The partys senators generally have a better grasp of facts than the occupant of the White House, but the president often has a better grasp of politics. And the political truth is that Trump probably needs his tariffs, needs his trade war, to have any chance of re-election precisely because its the only remaining economic issue where hes stuck to his campaign promises and hasnt just deferred to traditional Republican priorities. Those campaign promises, as everyone is well aware, were generally more populist than the official GOP agenda: Trump promised middle-class tax cuts and a generous Obamacare alternative, he stiff-armed the entitlement reformers and talked up infrastructure spending, and he railed against free trade deals with every other breath. And that populist branding was crucial to the electoral trade he made, which ceded a share of business-friendly suburbanites to the Democrats but reaped a crucial group of erstwhile Obama voters, mostly white and working class and concentrated in the Rust Belt and upper Midwest states, who ultimately handed Trump the presidency. RELATED: Gov. Greg Abbott calls on Trump to reconsider steel tariffs That was the story of 2016; the story since, though, is one of reversion to the older political order. Because Trump has mostly governed as a conventional Republican, a certain kind of conventional Republican has come home to him, keeping his support stable in the states that the Romney-Ryan ticket won easily in 2012. But for the same reason because the infrastructure plan never materialized and the tax cut was a great whopping favor to corporate interests and the health care repeal-and-replace effort was a misbegotten flop the swing voters he needs to hold the Midwest are nowdrifting away. And because Trump naturally alienates women and cant make a gesture of outreach to blacks or Hispanics without stepping on it with bigotry the next day, he doesnt really have another path back to the White House if those Obama-Trump voters in Michigan and Pennsylvania and Ohio go Democratic or stay home. Certainly the Republicans criticizing him on trade arent offering him such a path: Their overall vision is the same tired GOP orthodoxy that went down to defeat in 2008 and 2012, and that Trump himself crushed in the last primary campaign. EDITORIAL: While Putin expands his reach, Trump orders a trade retreat OPINION: Tariffs will bolster Texas manufacturing industry So the fact that Trumps tariffs are generally unpopular, even in Midwestern states, doesnt matter politically nearly as much as their potential appeal to the narrow slice of blue-collar swing voters that he needs if hes going to be re-elected. And their potential cost, for now, can be swallowed up by general economic growth or dealt with via cynical payoffs; if the general economic growth itself goes away, well, then Trump isnt getting re-elected anyway. If you expect this to lead to good policymaking, you havent been paying attention to how this White House operates. But the fact that Trump has this particular incentive to focus on free trades Midwestern losers is not itself a bad thing. One of the strongest arguments for the countermajoritarian element in the Electoral College is that it provides a point of leverage for regional populations that have suffered particularly at the hands of an overreaching bipartisan consensus. And the bipartisan consensus on trade with China really is ripe for an updating, since the domestic costs have been higher and geopolitical benefits more meager than the expert class predicted 20 years ago. Free-trade Republicans have every right to reject the Trumpian alternative to that consensus. But their whingeing would be easier to take if they hadnt discouraged Trump from every other attempt to make good on his populist pledges. He knows better than they do how he got elected; if protectionism is the only promise he can keep, its no surprise hes keeping it. Among a series of claims, the more serious allegations include requests for sexual acts in exchange for permanent employment and termination upon notification of pregnancy. Labour-hire workers are almost always on minimum wage and typically work in distribution centres. First Union is asking the government to allow workers the right to elect permanent employment with the host company where an assignment is for an indefinite period. This is similar to what currently exists for fixed term employees. The following is First Unions executive summary included in its submission on the Employment Relations (Triangular Employment) Amendment Bill: In particular, the union believes the following four amendments will deal with the loopholes without impacting genuine labour hire situations: Thousands flee Myanmar floods Floodwaters have forced thousands from their homes in southeastern Myanmar, local police said on Friday, as authorities and volunteers scrambled to provide food and aid to the victims. Heavy monsoon rains have pounded Karen state, Mon state and Bago region in recent days and show no sign of abating, raising fears that the worst might be yet to come. Photos and videos showed residents of Hpa-an, the Karen state capital, boating down streets that had turned into rivers while others were forced to escape on foot through waist-deep water. Vast swathes of the surrounding land lay submerged while 11 temporary camps have been set up around the city. There are more than 6,000 people displaced in Hpa-an and about 4,000 in Myawaddy, the head of the Karen state police force, Kyi Linn, told AFP, referring to a second town on the border with Thailand. A social welfare ministry official previously said 16,000 people had been displaced across eight townships in Karen state. The number affected in Mon state and Bago region has not yet been confirmed. The childrens school has closed, said Khin San Win, who fled her home which was thigh-deep in water for a shelter in Hpa-an along with her sick husband and their three children. Were being given food but we arent able to pay for anything else as we cant work. State-run media published pictures on Friday of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi visiting Karen state the day before, talking to victims, relief workers and volunteers. The Global New Light Of Myanmar newspaper said her government had freed up 200 million kyat ($140,000) to help those displaced and that rebuilding destroyed bridges would be a priority. We are now delivering food to flood victims who dont want to leave their homes, said volunteer Ni Ni Aung in Kyonedoe town, adding they would have no choice but to leave if the rains worsened. So far no casualties have been reported. Climate scientists in 2015 ranked Myanmar first on a global list of countries hardest hit by extreme weather. That year more than 100 people died in floods that also displaced hundreds of thousands across the country. Some 138,000 people were killed in 2008 when Cyclone Nargis lashed vast stretches of Myanmars coast. 1996 - 2018 Bangkok Post Public Company Limited Theme(s): Communities and Organisations. Imperial Valley News Center NIH makes STRIDES to accelerate discoveries in the cloud Washington, DC - The National Institutes of Health has launched a new initiative to harness the power of commercial cloud computing and provide NIH biomedical researchers access to the most advanced, cost-effective computational infrastructure, tools and services available. The STRIDES (Science and Technology Research Infrastructure for Discovery, Experimentation, and Sustainability) Initiative launches with Google Cloud as its first industry partner and aims to reduce economic and technological barriers to accessing and computing on large biomedical data sets to accelerate biomedical advances. NIH is in a unique position to bring together academic and innovation industry partners to create a biomedical data ecosystem that maximizes the use of NIH-supported biomedical research data for the greatest benefit to human health, said NIH Principal Deputy Director Lawrence A. Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D., who also serves as NIHs interim Associate Director for Data Science. The STRIDES Initiative aims to maximize the number of researchers working to provide the greatest number of solutions to advancing health and reducing the burden of disease. In line with NIHs first-ever Data Science Strategic Plan released in June, STRIDES will establish additional innovative partnerships to broaden access to services and tools, including training for researchers to learn about the latest cloud tools and technologies. Services are expected to become available to the NIH-supported community after a series of pilot activities to refine policies and test and assess implementation approaches. The initial agreement with Google Cloud creates a cost-efficient framework for NIH researchers, as well as researchers at more than 2,500 academic institutions across the nation receiving NIH support, to make use of Google Clouds storage, computing, and machine learning technologies. In addition, the partnership will involve collaborations with NIHs Data Commons Pilot a group of innovative projects testing new tools and methods for working with and sharing data in the cloud and enable the establishment of training programs for researchers at NIH-funded institutions on how to use Google Cloud Platform. The volume of data generated in biomedical research labs across the world is growing exponentially, said Gregory Moore, M.D., Ph.D., Vice President, Healthcare, Google Cloud. Through our partnership with NIH, we are bringing the power of data and the cloud to the biomedical research community globally. Together, we are making it easier for scientists and physicians to access and garner insights from NIH-funded data sets with appropriate privacy protections, which will ultimately accelerate biomedical research progress toward finding treatments and cures for the most devastating diseases of our time. A central tenet of STRIDES is that data made available through these partnerships will incorporate standards endorsed by the biomedical research community to make data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR). NIHs initial efforts will focus on making NIH high-value data sets more accessible through the cloud, leveraging partnerships to take advantage of data-related innovations such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, and experimenting with new ways to optimize technology-intensive research. By launching STRIDES, we clearly show our strong commitment to putting the most advanced cloud computing tools in the hands of scientists, said Andrea T. Norris, NIH Chief Information Officer and director of NIHs Center for Information Technology. Beyond our partnership with Google Cloud, we will seek to add more industry partners to assure that NIH continues to be well poised to support the future of biomedical research. Imperial Valley News Center HIV remission free of antiretroviral therapy is a feasible goal Washington, DC - Long-lasting control of HIV infection without antiretroviral therapy (ART) is a feasible goal that deserves vigorous pursuit, Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., will assert during a lecture on Wednesday, July 25 at the 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018) (link is external) in Amsterdam. Dr. Fauci directs the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. His lecture is titled, Durable Control of HIV Infection in the Absence of Antiretroviral Therapy: Opportunities and Challenges. An HIV cure in the classic sense requires the elimination of all virus-carrying cells, known collectively as the HIV reservoir. These cells, which have DNA encoding HIV proteins, have entered a resting state such that they do not produce any parts of the virus. HIV reservoir cells can survive for years, even for life, while remaining invisible to the immune system. Although research toward a classic cure is under way, Dr. Fauci notes that additional scientific breakthroughs will be needed to achieve that goal. An alternative goal to a classic cure is sustained, ART-free remission, according to Dr. Fauci. This objective would not involve eradicating the HIV reservoir. Rather, it would allow a person living with HIV to keep latent virus suppressed without daily medication. Today, people living with HIV typically must take ARTa daily regimen usually of three or more antiretroviral drugsto stay healthy and prevent transmitting the virus to others. Scientists are taking two broad approaches toward ART-free remission, Dr. Fauci will explain. One approach consists of intermittent or continual non-ART interventions, while the other involves stimulating the immune system to independently exert long-lasting control over HIV. Promising intermittent or continual interventions for long-lasting, ART-free remission include broadly neutralizing HIV antibodies (bNAbs) (link is external), according to Dr. Fauci. These powerful antibodies can stop nearly all strains of HIV from infecting cells in the laboratory. Studies are underway in animals and people to determine whether periodic infusions or injections of bNAbs can prevent HIV acquisition as well as suppress the virus in people living with HIV. Dr. Fauci will describe how scientists are developing bNAbs with improved attributes, including greater potency and longer duration in the body, and are testing treatment with combinations of two or three bNAbs in a manner akin to combination antiretroviral therapy. He will express cautious optimism that combination bNAb therapy will succeed. Scientists also are testing whether delivering either bNAbs against the virus or antibodies against parts of the immune system can produce ART-free remission by inducing long-lasting, immune-mediated control of the virus without further intervention, Dr. Fauci will explain. A study led by scientists at NIAID and Rockefeller University showed that giving infusions of two different bNAbs to monkeys infected with a simian form of HIV enabled the immune systems of some of the animals to control the virus long after the antibodies were gone. Another study led by scientists at Emory University in collaboration with Dr. Faucis lab involved antibodies that bind to a host immune cellular receptor called alpha-4 beta-7. Dr. Fauci will describe how giving short-term ART and infusions of the anti-alpha-4 beta-7 antibody to monkeys infected with a simian form of HIV led to prolonged control of the virus and replenishment of immune cells after all treatment stopped. He will note that an NIH study that tried to replicate this outcome did not achieve consistent results. Finally, Dr. Fauci will report preliminary results of a small, early-phase clinical trial in which people living with HIV that was well controlled with ART received infusions of vedolizumab, an anti-alpha-4-beta-7 antibody that is FDA-approved for ulcerative colitis and Crohns disease. These volunteers received both ART and vedolizumab at the beginning of the study, paused ART while continuing to receive the antibody, and finally stopped all treatment. He will describe how the regimen was safe and well tolerated but did not generate lasting control of the virus. He also will posit potential explanations for the differences between the alpha-4 beta-7 studies in monkeys and people. Dr. Faucis lecture will be live-streamed on the AIDS 2018 website. Dr. Fauci also has lectured on several other important topics at AIDS 2018 and related pre-conference meetings. On July 22, he delivered a lecture titled, U=U: Science and Policy, in which he traced the science behind the Undetectable = Untransmittable message from early observational studies to more recent, large clinical trials. On July 22, he also presented a talk titled, Ending the HIV/AIDS Pandemic: Individual and Global Considerations, in which he argued that ending the pandemic involves a dual pathway. HIV treatment and prevention must be optimized for people living with or at risk for HIV. At the same time, these advances must be implemented globally and complemented by the development of a preventive HIV vaccine that is at least 50 percent effective. Finally, on July 23, Dr. Fauci gave a lecture titled, 30 Years of Progress in the Field of HIV/AIDS: Science and Policy that summarized the history of scientific advances in understanding, treating and preventing HIV infection since the first cases of AIDS were reported in 1981. Imperial Valley News Center Protein affected by rare Parkinsons mutation may lurk behind many cases of the disease Washington, DC - Mutations in the gene LRRK2 have been linked to about three percent of Parkinsons disease cases. Researchers have now found evidence that the activity of LRRK2 protein might be affected in many more patients with Parkinsons disease, even when the LRRK2 gene itself is not mutated. The study was published in Science Translational Medicine and was supported in part by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This is a striking finding that shows how normal LRRK2 may contribute to the development of Parkinsons disease, said Beth-Anne Sieber, Ph.D., program director at NINDS. This study also identifies LRRK2 as an integral protein in the neurobiological pathways affected by the disease. More than 10 years ago, researchers linked mutations in the LRRK2 gene with an increased risk for developing Parkinsons disease. Those mutations produce a version of LRRK2 protein that behaves abnormally and is much more active than it would be normally. Despite its importance in Parkinsons disease, the very small amount of normal LRRK2 protein in nerve cells has made it difficult to study. In the current study, the authors developed a new method for observing LRRK2 cells that makes them glow fluorescently only when LRRK2 is in its activated state. They have also used detection of fluorescent signals to demonstrate loss of binding of an inhibitor protein to LRRK2 when LRRK2 is activated. The researchers looked first at postmortem brain tissue from Parkinsons disease patients who did not have mutations in LRRK2. Compared to healthy individuals of similar ages, there was a striking increase in LRRK2 activity in the dopamine-containing neurons of the substantia nigra, the area of the brain most affected in Parkinsons disease. This suggested that increased LRRK2 activity could be a common feature of the disease. This finding provided strong evidence that something is causing LRRK2 activity to increase in Parkinsons disease patients, specifically in the area of the brain we would expect based on what we know of the disease, said J. Timothy Greenamyre, M.D., Ph.D., Love Family Professor of Neurology in the University of Pittsburghs School of Medicine, director of the Pittsburgh Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases (PIND), and senior author of this study. To get a closer look at how LRRK2 activity is related to Parkinsons disease. the researchers next turned to rodent models of the disorder. The sensitivity of their new technique allowed for the direct study of LRRK2 activity, which until now could not be done. Much of what we have known previously about LRRK2 comes from overexpression studies, where cells are forced to make much more of the protein than they would normally, said Dr. Greenamyre Our fluorescent assay reveals where LRRK2 is active in the brain and the relative level of activity without potential side effects from overexpression. By injecting rodents with the environmental toxin rotenone and studying the effect on LRRK2, the researchers linked increased LRRK2 activity with the accumulation of alpha-synuclein, a process that leads to the formation of Lewy bodies in the brain, a hallmark of Parkinsons disease. In another model of the disease, where synuclein was present in much higher amounts than normal, LRRK2 activity was increased. In contrast, when the animals were treated with a drug that blocks LRRK2 activity, the accumulation of alpha-synuclein and Lewy body formation were both prevented. Finally, additional links were found between LRRK2 activity and the potentially damaging consequences of Parkinsons disease. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are compounds that can interact and affect other components within cells, and ROS were increased in the brains of both rodent models. ROS were seen to increase the activity of LRRK2, and when ROS production was blocked, LRRK2 activation was not observed. Our findings suggest that both genetic and environmental causes of Parkinsons disease can be tied back to the activity of LRRK2 protein, said Dr. Greenamyre. This is important, because it suggests that the drugs being developed for patients with the LRRK2 mutation, which represent a very small percentage of the affected population, could benefit a much greater number of people with the disease. Dr. Greenamyre and his research team plan to further study whether the neurodegeneration that occurs due to LRRK2 overactivity can be prevented and to identify the mechanisms that connect environmental stressors to LRRK2 activation. This study was supported by the NINDS (NS100744, NS095387), the National Institute on Aging (AG005133), the National Institute of Environmental Health Services (ES027470), the Blechman Foundation, the American Parkinson Disease Association, University of Pittsburgh Brain Institute, Michael J. Fox Foundation grant 6986, Medical Research Council grant MC_UU_12016/2, and friends and family of Sean Logan. Imperial Valley News Center Governor Brown Declares State of Emergency in Lake, Mendocino and Napa Counties Due to Fires Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued an emergency proclamation for Lake, Mendocino and Napa counties due to the effects of the River, Ranch and Steele fires, which have destroyed homes, threatened critical infrastructure and caused the evacuation of residents. Earlier today, Governor Brown announced that the state has secured a presidential declaration requested yesterday providing direct federal assistance to further support the communities impacted by the Carr Fire, following an emergency proclamation issued for Shasta County this week. The Governor has also ordered state flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of two firefighters who died while working on the Carr Fire, and issued emergency proclamations for Riverside and Mariposa counties this week due to fires. PROCLAMATION WHEREAS on July 27, 2018, the River Fire and Ranch Fire began burning in Mendocino County and have crossed into Lake County; and WHEREAS on July 28, 2018, the Steele Fire began burning in Napa County; and WHEREAS these fires have destroyed homes and continue to threaten homes and other structures, necessitating the evacuation of residents; and WHEREAS these fires have forced the closure of roadways and continue to threaten critical infrastructure; and WHEREAS high temperatures, low humidity, and erratic winds have further increased the spread of these fires; and WHEREAS a Fire Management Assistant Grant has been requested from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assist with the mitigation, management, and control of the River Fire; and WHEREAS the circumstances of these fires, by reason of its magnitude, are or are likely to be beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of any single local government and require the combined forces of a mutual aid region or regions to combat; and WHEREAS under the provisions of Government Code section 8558(b), I find that conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property exists in Lake, Mendocino, and Napa Counties due to these fires; and WHEREAS under the provisions of Government Code section 8571, I find that strict compliance with the various statutes and regulations specified in this order would prevent, hinder, or delay the mitigation of the effects of the these fires. NOW, THEREFORE, I, EDMUND G. BROWN JR., Governor of the State of California, in accordance with the authority vested in me by the State Constitution and statutes, including the California Emergency Services Act, and in particular, Government Code section 8625, HEREBY PROCLAIM A STATE OF EMERGENCY to exist in Lake, Mendocino, and Napa Counties due to these fires. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT: All agencies of the state government utilize and employ state personnel, equipment, and facilities for the performance of any and all activities consistent with the direction of the Office of Emergency Services and the State Emergency Plan. Also, all citizens are to heed the advice of emergency officials with regard to this emergency in order to protect their safety. The Office of Emergency Services shall provide local government assistance to Lake, Mendocino, and/or Napa Counties, if appropriate, under the authority of the California Disaster Assistance Act, Government Code section 8680 et seq., and California Code of Regulations, Title 19, section 2900 et seq. As necessary to assist local governments and for the protection of public health and the environment, state agencies shall enter into contracts to arrange for the procurement of materials, goods, and services necessary to quickly assist with the response to and recovery from the impacts of these fires. Applicable provisions of the Government Code and the Public Contract Code, including but not limited to travel, advertising, and competitive bidding requirements are suspended to the extent necessary to address the effects of these fires. The provisions of Unemployment Insurance Code section 1253 imposing a one-week waiting period for unemployment insurance applicants are suspended as to all applicants who are unemployed as a direct result of these fires, who applied for unemployment insurance benefits during the time period beginning July 27, 2018, and ending on the close of business on January 27, 2019, for the River and Ranch Fires, and beginning July 28, 2018, and ending on the close of business on January 28, 2019, for the Steele Fire, and who are otherwise eligible for unemployment insurance benefits. Vehicle Code sections 9265(a), 9867, 14901, 14902, and 15255.2, requiring the imposition of fees, are suspended with regard to any request for replacement of a drivers identification card, vehicle registration certificate, or certificate of title, by any individual who lost such records as a result of these fires. Such records shall be replaced without charge. The provisions of Vehicle Code sections 4602 and 5902, requiring the timely registration or transfer of title are suspended with regard to any registration or transfer of title by any resident of Lake, Mendocino, or Napa County who is unable to comply with those requirements as a result of these fires. The time covered by this suspension shall not be included in calculating any late penalty pursuant to Vehicle Code section 9554. Health and Safety Code sections 103525.5 and 103625, and Penal Code section 14251, requiring the imposition of fees are hereby suspended with regard to any request for copies of certificates of birth, death, marriage, and dissolution of marriage records, by any individual who lost such records as a result of these fires. Such copies shall be provided without charge. I FURTHER DIRECT that as soon as hereafter possible, this proclamation be filed in the Office of the Secretary of State and that widespread publicity and notice be given of this proclamation. IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 28th day of July 2018. __________________________ EDMUND G. BROWN JR. Governor of California ATTEST: __________________________ ALEX PADILLA Secretary of State Customs and Border Protection Reveals Concealment Methods, Unique Seizures Cincinnati, Ohio - U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and agriculture specialists stationed in Cincinnati routinely encounter unique concealment methods employed by smugglers of all types. From dangerous narcotics, fake IDs, illegal steroids and smuggled cash, to agricultural pests and invasive or endangered species, the officers and specialists have seen it all. Freddy sits on top of this cable drum which contained more than 1,000 lbs. of marijuana. CBP K9s are another line of defense helping protect the United States. Nationwide, CBP agriculture specialists discovered more than 352 pests and 4,638 quarantine materials and CBP officers seized more than 5,863 pounds of narcotics on any given day in fiscal year 2017. Our officers are very familiar with the many ways smugglers try to evade inspection, said Cincinnati Port Director Ron Cloud. Officers learn to think creatively about where things might be hidden because drugs can be anywhereinside books, auto parts, spools of ribbon, crepe makers, study binders, food, statues, photo framesif there is space inside an item it could contain something illegal. Marijuana may be in soap bottles, wedged into CD cases, and tucked between folded bedsheets. Calculators and books may hold passports, and magazines might contain thousands of dollars or credit cards destined to fund illicit activity. Sometimes the commodity shipped will be completely legitimate but drugs are injected into the box flaps of the packaging. Canned goods could contain bottles of what appears to be antibiotics but testing reveals they contain synthetic marijuana. Tortellini packages could hold prohibited lamb meat instead of pasta. Car mirrors and backpacks can be engineered with secret compartments that hold cocaine. Often, enforcement areas overlap. There could be marijuana or federal noxious weeds in tea cans, and bags of candy could contain marijuana-laced sweets or prohibited pork, all packaged to look like innocuous treats. Sometimes the shipment is prohibited for multiple reasons, such as seeds and cocaine smuggled together in a finished wood product. Our agriculture specialists are trained to understand the current agriculture risks and disease status of every country in the world, said CBP Supervisory Agriculture Specialist Barbara Hassan. Any plant or animal product might be carrying a disease or a pest that could seriously damage the agriculture industry and our native plants and animals in the United States. Since CBP officers and specialists screen all shipments and passengers that enter the U.S., they work closely with other government agencies to ensure the safety of U.S. citizens and wildlife. Fifty pound boxes labelled as ceramic tea set, grinding wheel disc, or clothing, could contain nothing but bags full of live blood clams. Blood clams are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) because these animals can live in anoxic environments and therefore can pass along diseases such as typhoid and hepatitis to those handling or consuming them. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) works with CBP to prevent the introduction of invasive species like live mitten crabs found manifested as Trousers, Shoes, and Clothes. Mitten crabs are considered a global threat and are listed on the Global Species Databases list of 100 of the Worlds Worst Invasive Alien Species because of their disastrous impact on native habitats. Animals in the exotic pet trade make up a significant portion of the illegal wildlife trade in the U.S., and Cincinnati officers and specialists have rescued live tortoises, centipedes, and tarantulas. They have also found primate skulls, crocodilian heads, and many smuggled animals, usually reptiles, which did not survive the long trip. CBP canines play a significant role in foiling smuggling attempts. Narcotics detector dog Freddy has found a multitude of hidden narcotics, such as cocaine inside a steel propeller shaft and more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana packed inside cable drums. Nuggett, an agriculture detector dog, stays busy sniffing out prohibited plant and animal products. Some of his seizures include a suitcase full of fresh fruit and the remainders of pangolins. Pangolins are scale-covered mammals, some species of which are critically endangered because of the unsustainable and illegal trade in their scales. Cincinnati CBP screens incoming passengers and freight from all over the world, said Port Director Cloud. Our officers and specialists are highly trained and work around the clock to protect the people, agriculture, and wildlife of the United States. CBP conducts operations at ports of entry throughout the United States, and regularly screens arriving international passengers and cargo for narcotics, weapons, and other restricted or prohibited products. CBP strives to serve as the premier law enforcement agency enhancing the Nations safety, security, and prosperity through collaboration, innovation, and integration. Border Patrol agent rocked by illegal aliens Progreso, Texas - A U.S. Border Patrol agent became the target of a rock assault after locating a group of illegal aliens. Yesterday, a Weslaco agent responded to a report of several subjects who had illegally entered the United States and were underneath the Progreso International Bridge. As the agent approached the area, a group of approximately 10 illegal aliens began to throw rocks, which impacted the vehicle multiple times. The agent immediately radioed for assistance. When additional units arrived, the assaultive group retreated into the Rio Grande and swam to Mexico. The public is encouraged to take a stand against crime in their communities and report suspicious activity at 800-863-9382. Pakistan Election Washington, DC - The United States takes note of yesterdays election results in Pakistan. The United States commends the courage of the Pakistani people, including many women, who turned out to vote and showed resolve to determine their countrys future. We condemn the horrific acts of terrorist violence that marred this process, including the latest attack outside a polling station in Quetta on election day. We offer our deepest condolences to the victims and their families, and wish a speedy recovery to those injured. The development of strong democratic and civilian institutions of governance and a vibrant civil society is critical to Pakistans long-term stability and prosperity. In that context, the United States shares concerns about flaws in the pre-voting electoral process, as expressed by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. These included constraints placed on freedoms of expression and association during the campaign period that were at odds with Pakistani authorities stated goal of a fully fair and transparent election. The United States concurs with the conclusions of the European Union Election Observation Mission, whose report notes that while there were positive changes to the legal framework for elections in Pakistan, these were overshadowed by restrictions on freedom of expression and unequal campaign opportunities. The United States also has deep reservations over the participation of terrorist-affiliated individuals in the elections, but we commend Pakistani voters for fully rejecting these candidates at the ballot box on Wednesday. Along with our international partners, the United States will continue to encourage a broadening of opportunities for political participation for all Pakistanis, and for the further strengthening of legitimate, democratic institutions. As Pakistans elected leaders form a new government, the United States will look for opportunities to work with them to advance our goals of security, stability, and prosperity in South Asia. Siddhant Chaturvedi on Bunty and Babli 2 Role: I Feel I Was Born to Entertain People in Various Avatars Dads Army, the BBCs classic sitcom about hapless recruits to the Home Guard, braced to defend our fair isles from Nazi invasion, celebrates its half-century on 31 July. The women and children of Walmington-on-Sea could rest easy in their beds knowing the south coast town was under the protection of Captain Mainwaring (Arthur Lowe) and his band of rigorously drilled veterans, armed to the (false) teeth and ready to see off the Teutonic hordes at a moments notice. Couldnt they? The adventures of Sergeant Wilson (John Le Mesurier), Lance Corporal Jones (Clive Dunn) and privates Frazer (John Laurie), Walker (James Beck), Godfrey (Arnold Ridley) and Pike (Ian Lavender) brought joy to millions over the course of the shows nine-year run, during which 80 episodes were produced, followed by a feature film in 1971 and a touring show in 1976. Recommended The legendary British comedian who paved the way for Alan Partridge Dads Army was created by writing duo Jimmy Perry and David Croft under the shrewd guidance of producer Michael Mills and remains instantly recognisable from its theme, Who Do You Think You Are Kidding Mr Hitler?, sung by period music-hall favourite Bud Flanagan. The show dwelt on Mainwaring, a fastidious bank manager, whose attempts to instil strict discipline into his platoon of Fighting Tigers (the programmes provisional title), despite their advanced years, dithering and confusion, frequently ended in disaster. Mainwarings bristling frustration with this mob was brilliantly set against his rivalry with Wilson, a deliciously wry, bored presence throughout. Class tensions abound, Mainwaring dismissing Wilsons education at a tuppenny hapenny public school and quietly seething at the latters having served with genuine heroism at Mons, Passchendale and Gallipoli. Lowe gave us one of British comedys great characters haughty and self-important to the last, a study in footling English officialdom but he was greatly aided by the coolly experience character playing of Le Mesurier, also put to good use in his role as reluctant stepfather to Pike, whose mother Wilson is seeing. Many of the cast had real war experience of their own their familiarity with military life as younger men no doubt helping to inform their performances. Lowe had served with the British Army in the Middle East during the Second World War, after being rejected from the Merchant Navy as a result of his poor eyesight, while Le Mesurier had fought in India with the Royal Tank Regiment. Dunn had been captured while fighting with the 4th Queens Own Hussars to prevent the German invasion of Greece and was subsequently held as a prisoner of war in Austria. Perhaps most extraordinary of all was Ridley (Godfrey), a veteran of the Somme badly injured in combat who nevertheless shelved his career as a popular playwright to enlist again for the Second World War, serving with the British Expeditionary Forces in France and guiding journalists to the front line. Discharged on health grounds, Ridley, of course, returned to patrol with the Home Guard in Caterham, Surrey. The idea of men aged between 17 and 65 otherwise unfit to join the army being put to use defending the home front was conceived of by secretary of state for war Anthony Eden, who invited applicants to apply to their local police station in a radio address of 14 May 1940. Originally known as Local Defence Volunteers, the name was subsequently changed to the Home Guard by Sir Winston Churchill to convey a greater sense of grandeur. The cast of Dads Army on set in October 1974 (Getty) (Getty Images) More than 250,000 men attempted to sign up in the plans first week of operations. There were 1.5m Home Guardsmen in place by July. Perhaps the first to realise the rich comic potential of the situation was Liverpudlian comedian Robb Wilton, famous for his inspired radio monologues: The day war broke out, my missus said to me, Its up to you... Youve got to stop it. I said, Stop what? She said, The war. Other key comic influences on Croft and Perry include British film comedian Will Hay, a specialist in schoolmasters and other exasperated authority figures, particularly his feature Oh, Mr Porter! (1937), itself partly inspired by Ridleys drama The Ghost Train (1927). A young Clive Dunn had appeared in Hays earlier Boys Will Be Boys (1935). Another was the plucky spirit essayed in Ealings wartime caper Went the Day Well? (1942) in which sleepy villagers are forced to rise up and defend the duck pond from Fifth Columnists after the Home Guard has been gunned down on a country lane. Adapted from a story by Graham Greene, Alberto Cavalcantis film boasts the extraordinary sight of future theatrical dame Thora Hird manning a machine gun. Arguably what made Dads Army so special was not the comic mechanisms at work, although these are deftly tuned and the authors and actors deserve every credit, but its conjuring of a very particular mood. Clive Dunn, Arnold Ridley, Bill Pertwee, Arthur Lowe, John Laurie and John Le Mesurier (Chris Ware/Keystone/Getty) (Chris Ware/Keystone/Getty Images) The war had finished 23 years before the show first aired in black-and-white at 8.20pm on 31 July 1968 and yet the atmosphere of unease that lingers in the background at all times, for which Captain Mainwaring is something of a lightning rod, is ever-present and absolutely right for its historical moment. The residents of Walmington-on-Sea attempt to go about their life as normal, the absence of the towns menfolk uncommented upon, nor the church bells fallen silent. The Home Guard likewise must be vigilant and ready for the fight, perennially poised for a fight that might never come. As The Telegraphs Charles Moore put it so brilliantly recently, Mainwarings recruits are a bit like Shakespeares soldiers before Agincourt. Like Becketts Waiting for Godot (1953), Dads Armys is a comedy of stasis. These old boys are braced for the chance to prove themselves heroes and make the ultimate sacrifice if necessary, but know all the while the opportunity may never come. With hindsight, we know that Adolf Hitlers Operation Sea Lion never came to pass and their visions of a final stand staged in the streets of our quaintest market towns would never be realised. When they do finally encounter a U-Boat crew in The Deadly Attachment, the situation is every bit as petty and childish as you might expect: Pike branding Hitler a twerp and their captain duly entering his name in a notebook for future reference. Clive Dunn as Lance Corporal Jones (Rex) (Rex Features) Though history denied Mainwarings Fighting Tigers a real shot at daring-do or the sort of grand finale Blackadder Goes Forth (1989) executed so devastatingly, their dedication is very moving on the few occasions it is allowed to surface above the farce. Take this simple exchange from The Battle of Godfreys Cottage, in which they genuinely believe they are under attack: Mainwaring: Itll probably be the end of us, but were ready for that, arent we men? Frazer: Of course. Dads Army was rebooted with great sensitivity in 2016 and an all-star cast including Bill Nighy, Michael Gambon, Tom Courtenay and Catherine Zeta-Jones as a ravishing femme fatale. Toby Jones wisely elected not to imitate Lowe as Mainwaring in a part that was always a thankless task. The project largely suffered by being unable to satisfactorily answer the question: who is this for? An unfamiliar irrelevance to younger viewers that left older fans pining for the uniquely beetle-browed presence of John Laurie. The mark the show has left on British culture is vast, Jonesys catchphrases alone becoming part of the language. Dont panic! shouted in a state of enormous panic, sums up the national character more astutely in two words than others have achieved with a thousand. Devastated Camp Bestival organisers have shut down its main arenas due to poor weather conditions. After weeks of high temperatures in the UK, thunderstorms, high winds and rain caused many tents to flood, while all stages have been shut down due to health and safety concerns. The festival, held at Lulworth Castle in Dorset, was supposed to close tonight (29 July) by the Scottish band Simple Minds, who posted a statement addressing the issue on their Twitter account and linked to the festivals own official update. Very sorry to announce that @CampBestival has been cancelled today due to weather, so #SimpleMinds will not perform... more info [below] from the organisers, the band tweeted. Organisers said they have been advised by the safety team that arenas cannot be re-opened. The campsite will remain open tonight for people that wished to stay. The full statement on Camp Bestival's Twitter feed reads: Dear Camp Bestival, we are utterly devastated and heartbroken to say that we have been advised by our safety teams that we can not re-open arenas again today due to the severe weather and the forecasting of continual high winds and rain today. We have had the best 3 days in Camp Bestival's history, it's been our greatest ever show with all our favourite performers, shows, stages and artists which we have thoroughly enjoyed sharing with you all. Camp Bestival affected by bad weather Show all 8 1 /8 Camp Bestival affected by bad weather Camp Bestival affected by bad weather Getty Camp Bestival affected by bad weather Getty Camp Bestival affected by bad weather Getty Images Camp Bestival affected by bad weather Getty Images Camp Bestival affected by bad weather Getty Images Camp Bestival affected by bad weather Getty Images Camp Bestival affected by bad weather Getty Images Camp Bestival affected by bad weather Getty Images They added: You are by far the best festival audience and we love you dearly. This has been such a tough decision, but the safety of all you guys, the families, kids, and our working staff has to be of paramount importance. The campsites will remain open tonight if you want to continue with your Camp Bestival stay regardless of the conditions. Thank you so much for coming and please get home safely. Before the festival was forced to close, it had enjoyed performances by the likes of Rick Astley, who invited Mary Berry onstage as a guest drummer. A former cabinet minister has compared Brexiteers to climate change deniers as she fired off a warning over the sobering risks to the economy if Britain crashes out of the EU without a deal. Amber Rudd, the ex-home secretary, said the government must heed advice from businesses and economists to prevent a chaotic Brexit and said anyone who claimed the process was easy was being as cavalier with peoples future as climate sceptics. Her comments came amid reports ministers were considering bringing in the army to deliver food and medical supplies in the event of a no-deal Brexit, as such a scenario appears to become likely. It comes after The Independent launched its Final Say campaign for a public vote on the Brexit deal, which attracted more than 300,000 signatures in support in the first 48 hours. Writing in The Sunday Times, Ms Rudd, a former energy secretary, said: Yes, we will leave the EUs political institutions in March next year we will no longer have MEPs or be members of the European Council. But disentangling regulatory and legal systems that have been entwined for more than 40 years will require delicate diplomacy. Such an endeavour will not be straightforward. Anyone who claims it will is being as cavalier with peoples future as those who deny that the belching of fossil fuels into the atmosphere is warming the planet. Just as we must listen to scientific warnings about the risks of manmade climate change, so we must listen to the businesses and economists warning that a chaotic Brexit will threaten our economy. Theresa May has said voters should be take reassurance and comfort from the governments no-deal planning, as details emerged over proposals to stockpile food, medicines and fuel in case supply chains are disrupted. Under the plans, ministers are considering drafting the army in to help deliver supplies to hard-to-reach areas outside of the southeast of England, according to The Sunday Times. Supermarkets have already dismissed suggestions that they stock up on adequate food supplies as impractical. The British Retail Consortium, the trade association, said: Retailers do not have the facilities to house stockpiled goods and, in the case of fresh produce, it is simply not possible to do so. Our food supply chains are extremely fragile and this is yet further demonstration of the need for an agreement on the backstop to ensure frictionless trade is maintained after 29 March 2019. Doctors have also warned that cancer patients could face potentially dangerous delays to their treatment if critical supplies of medical isotopes are held up at the border. Dr Jeanette Dickson, vice president of clinical oncology at the Royal College of Radiologists, said: These medicines are like a burning fuse. They start off with a certain amount of radioactivity and you have a set time to get them to hospital when they are still effective. If you delay them for a few hours, you begin to lose activity. Brexit casualties Show all 10 1 /10 Brexit casualties Brexit casualties Andrea Jenkyns - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary at the ministry for housing, communities and local government role May 2018 - The Morley and Outwood MP said: We want to see a new relationship with Europe, with a new model not enjoyed by other countries nothing that leaves us half-in, half-out. And in order to achieve this, we need to leave the customs union. Ms Jenkyns also said she wished to dedicate more of her time to Parliaments influential Exiting the European Union select committee, after a series of unbalanced reports produced by MPs PA Brexit casualties David Davis - Resigned from Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union role July 2018 - quit following a major row with May over her plans for post-Brexit relations with the EU. Davis resignation letter said: As you know there have been a significant number of occasions in the last year or so on which I have disagreed with the Number 10 policy line, ranging from accepting the [European] Commissions sequencing of negotiations, through to the language on Northern Ireland in the December Joint Report. At each stage I have accepted collective responsibility because it is part of my task to find workable compromises, and because I considered it was still possible to deliver on the mandate of the referendum, and on our manifesto commitment to leave the Customs Union and the Single Market. I am afraid that I think the current trend of policy and tactics is making that look less and less likely. He went on to argue that the general direction of Ms Mays policies would leave the UK in at best a weak negotiating position, and possibly an inescapable one. AFP/Getty Brexit casualties Steve Baker - Resigned from Minister at the Department for Exiting the European Union role July 2018 - Mr Baker, a key Tory figure in the Leave campaign, was David Daviss main lieutenant at Dexeu, and was hailed as courageous and principled by other Brexiteer Tories as he also left. Reuters Brexit casualties Boris Johnson - Resigned from Foreign Secretary role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. In his resignation letter to the prime minister, Mr Johnson said: "On Friday, I acknowledged that my side of the argument were too few to prevail and congratulated you on at least reaching a Cabinet decision on the way forward. "As I said then, the government now has a song to sing. "The trouble is that I have practised the words over the weekend and find that they stick in the throat." Reuters Brexit casualties Conor Burns - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary to Foreign Secretary role July 2018 - A Brexit supporter who worked alongside Boris Johnson stated in his resignation letter: I've decided it's time to have greater freedom. I want to see the referendum result respected. And there are other areas of policy I want to speak more openly on. Rex Brexit casualties Chris Green - Resigned from Department for Transport role July 2018 - The Bolton West MP said: "Parliament overwhelmingly decided to give the decision of whether to leave or remain in the European Union to the British people and they made an unambiguous decision that we ought to leave. "I have always understood the idea in 'Brexit means Brexit' is that the final deal should be clear to me and my constituents - that we have, in no uncertain terms, left the European Union. Twitter Ads info and privacy "The direction the negotiations had been taking have suggested that we would not really leave the EU and the conclusion and statements following the Chequers summit confirmed my fears. "I recognise that delivering Brexit is challenging, however I had hoped at tonight's meeting that there would be some certainty that my fears were unfounded but, instead, they have been confirmed. "I have been grateful for the opportunity to serve as Parliamentary Private Secretary and it is with regret that I offer my resignation with immediate effect." PA Brexit casualties Maria Caulfield - Resigned from Conservative Party vice-chair for women role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. Lewes MP warned that the direction of travel did not fully embrace the opportunities that Brexit can provide. Ms Caulfield said in her letter to the PM: The policy may assuage vested interests, but the voters will find out and their representatives will be found out. This policy will be bad for our country and bad for the party. The direct consequences of that will be prime minister Corbyn. PA Brexit casualties Ben Bradley - Resigned from Conservative Party vice-chair for young people role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. The Mansfield MP said: I admit that I voted to Remain in that ballot. What has swayed me over the last two years to fully back the Brexit vision is the immense opportunities that are available from global trade, and for the ability for Britain to be an outward looking nation in control of our own destiny once again. I fear that this agreement at Chequers damages those opportunities; that being tied to EU regulations, and the EU tying our hands when seeking to make new trade agreements, will be the worst of all worlds if we do not deliver Brexit in spirit as well as in name, then we are handing Jeremy Corbyn the keys to No10. PA Brexit casualties Robert Courts - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. MP Mr Courts said: I have taken a very difficult decision to resign my position as [parliamentary private secretary] to express discontent with the Chequers [plans] in votes tomorrow. I had to think who I wanted to see in the mirror for the rest of my life. I cannot tell the people of Woxon that I support the proposals in their current form. Getty Brexit casualties Scott Mann - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. "I fear elements of the Brexit white paper will inevitably put me in direct conflict with the views expressed by a large section of my constituents. I am not prepared to compromise their wishes to deliver a watered-down Brexit. "The residents of North Cornwall made it very clear that they wish to have control over our fishery, our agricultural policy, our money, our laws and our borders. I will evaluate those principles against the Brexit white paper and ensure that I vote in line with their wishes." Rex Health secretary Matt Hancock has said that ministers are looking at plans to stockpile medical supplies, vaccinations and blood products. A Department of Health spokesman said: The UKs ability to import medical isotopes from Europe and the rest of the world will not be affected. Earlier, Sir Michael Rawlins, the chair of the UK medicines regulator, said millions of diabetes patients could be seriously disadvantaged if supplies of insulin were disrupted. Justine Greening has said the prime ministers Brexit plan is already dead and called for politicians to take their heads of out the sand, as she backed The Independents campaign for a second referendum. The Tory former education secretary said Theresa Mays Chequers agreement would lead to a disastrous decade of continuing division and instability as it lost the support of the public, the Conservative Party and even members of the cabinet. She said that many MPs, including senior Conservative ministers, agreed that a new vote may be the only way to break the Brexit deadlock, as Theresa Mays wafer-thin parliamentary majority leaves her vulnerable to hardliners on both sides. It comes after The Independent launched its Final Say campaign for a public vote on whatever Brexit terms emerge, which garnered the support of more than 350,000 people in its first few days. Ms Greening, writing for The Independent, said: The difficult truth is that the prime ministers Chequers deal is already dead. Its time we stopped pretending otherwise. It doesnt have the support of the public, my party or even those ministers who spent two years negotiating on behalf of Britain. Parliament is at stalemate and the sooner we deal with it the better. The prime minister should finish her EU negotiations, but its inconceivable that in our democracy any government could then believe it was sensible or right to press ahead with its route on Brexit without knowing it had clear public support, especially when all the indications are it does not. She added: It is an unacceptable state of affairs and must change ... A referendum on the final deal is the only responsible course ahead. Ms Greening wants three options on the ballot paper the prime ministers deal, Remain or a no-deal Brexit to solve the impasse, amid speculation Ms May will be unable to get her deal through parliament. Brexit casualties Show all 10 1 /10 Brexit casualties Brexit casualties Andrea Jenkyns - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary at the ministry for housing, communities and local government role May 2018 - The Morley and Outwood MP said: We want to see a new relationship with Europe, with a new model not enjoyed by other countries nothing that leaves us half-in, half-out. And in order to achieve this, we need to leave the customs union. Ms Jenkyns also said she wished to dedicate more of her time to Parliaments influential Exiting the European Union select committee, after a series of unbalanced reports produced by MPs PA Brexit casualties David Davis - Resigned from Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union role July 2018 - quit following a major row with May over her plans for post-Brexit relations with the EU. Davis resignation letter said: As you know there have been a significant number of occasions in the last year or so on which I have disagreed with the Number 10 policy line, ranging from accepting the [European] Commissions sequencing of negotiations, through to the language on Northern Ireland in the December Joint Report. At each stage I have accepted collective responsibility because it is part of my task to find workable compromises, and because I considered it was still possible to deliver on the mandate of the referendum, and on our manifesto commitment to leave the Customs Union and the Single Market. I am afraid that I think the current trend of policy and tactics is making that look less and less likely. He went on to argue that the general direction of Ms Mays policies would leave the UK in at best a weak negotiating position, and possibly an inescapable one. AFP/Getty Brexit casualties Steve Baker - Resigned from Minister at the Department for Exiting the European Union role July 2018 - Mr Baker, a key Tory figure in the Leave campaign, was David Daviss main lieutenant at Dexeu, and was hailed as courageous and principled by other Brexiteer Tories as he also left. Reuters Brexit casualties Boris Johnson - Resigned from Foreign Secretary role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. In his resignation letter to the prime minister, Mr Johnson said: "On Friday, I acknowledged that my side of the argument were too few to prevail and congratulated you on at least reaching a Cabinet decision on the way forward. "As I said then, the government now has a song to sing. "The trouble is that I have practised the words over the weekend and find that they stick in the throat." Reuters Brexit casualties Conor Burns - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary to Foreign Secretary role July 2018 - A Brexit supporter who worked alongside Boris Johnson stated in his resignation letter: I've decided it's time to have greater freedom. I want to see the referendum result respected. And there are other areas of policy I want to speak more openly on. Rex Brexit casualties Chris Green - Resigned from Department for Transport role July 2018 - The Bolton West MP said: "Parliament overwhelmingly decided to give the decision of whether to leave or remain in the European Union to the British people and they made an unambiguous decision that we ought to leave. "I have always understood the idea in 'Brexit means Brexit' is that the final deal should be clear to me and my constituents - that we have, in no uncertain terms, left the European Union. Twitter Ads info and privacy "The direction the negotiations had been taking have suggested that we would not really leave the EU and the conclusion and statements following the Chequers summit confirmed my fears. "I recognise that delivering Brexit is challenging, however I had hoped at tonight's meeting that there would be some certainty that my fears were unfounded but, instead, they have been confirmed. "I have been grateful for the opportunity to serve as Parliamentary Private Secretary and it is with regret that I offer my resignation with immediate effect." PA Brexit casualties Maria Caulfield - Resigned from Conservative Party vice-chair for women role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. Lewes MP warned that the direction of travel did not fully embrace the opportunities that Brexit can provide. Ms Caulfield said in her letter to the PM: The policy may assuage vested interests, but the voters will find out and their representatives will be found out. This policy will be bad for our country and bad for the party. The direct consequences of that will be prime minister Corbyn. PA Brexit casualties Ben Bradley - Resigned from Conservative Party vice-chair for young people role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. The Mansfield MP said: I admit that I voted to Remain in that ballot. What has swayed me over the last two years to fully back the Brexit vision is the immense opportunities that are available from global trade, and for the ability for Britain to be an outward looking nation in control of our own destiny once again. I fear that this agreement at Chequers damages those opportunities; that being tied to EU regulations, and the EU tying our hands when seeking to make new trade agreements, will be the worst of all worlds if we do not deliver Brexit in spirit as well as in name, then we are handing Jeremy Corbyn the keys to No10. PA Brexit casualties Robert Courts - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. MP Mr Courts said: I have taken a very difficult decision to resign my position as [parliamentary private secretary] to express discontent with the Chequers [plans] in votes tomorrow. I had to think who I wanted to see in the mirror for the rest of my life. I cannot tell the people of Woxon that I support the proposals in their current form. Getty Brexit casualties Scott Mann - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. "I fear elements of the Brexit white paper will inevitably put me in direct conflict with the views expressed by a large section of my constituents. I am not prepared to compromise their wishes to deliver a watered-down Brexit. "The residents of North Cornwall made it very clear that they wish to have control over our fishery, our agricultural policy, our money, our laws and our borders. I will evaluate those principles against the Brexit white paper and ensure that I vote in line with their wishes." Rex She said: A parliament that works on party political lines has failed to deal with a Brexit that cuts across all of that. Brexit has been the parliamentary equivalent of putting diesel into an unleaded car and its broken the engine. The result of that is that our parliamentary democracy is rapidly approaching a crisis unless we find a way to deal with this. The campaign was launched with a major editorial on Tuesday, which said: The British people decided to pursue our course in the referendum of 2016, so as we now look for a decision on whether we will like the deal agreed with the EU (assuming there is one), it is natural that those same people should have the final say. Indeed, given the magnitude of the decision, it would be essential for the British people to be given that final right of approval, even if cabinet and parliament were providing the leadership we need, which they are not. It has attracted a swell of support from senior politicians across the political divide, including former prime minister Tony Blair, Tory ex-attorney general Dominic Grieve and Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable. Anti-Brexit campaigner Gina Miller has also shown her support, along with NUS vice president Amatey Doku, who declared: Students are with you. It comes after Ms Mays efforts to bypass Brussels was rebuffed by EU leaders, when she and her senior ministers attempted to win backing for her Brexit blueprint through a series of diplomatic visits. The EUs Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, also poured cold water on the customs proposals that form a key plank of her white paper. The prime minister received a boost when Austria agreed that Brexit would be among topics for discussion at an informal meeting of EU leaders in September. However, she faced challenges closer to home as the chairs of several cabinet ministers constituency associations told The Sunday Telegraph that they opposed the Chequers plan or would remove their support if further concessions were given to Brussels. Her own chairman, Richard Kellaway, initially said the plans must not be diluted, but later gave a statement where he said the Maidenhead branch fully supported the prime ministers plans. The impending and historic election in Zimbabwe has taken an extraordinary twist after a dramatic intervention by Robert Mugabe who savagely attacked the ruling party he had once led, and praised the main opposition candidate as the only viable option who can return legitimate government to the country. The 94-year-old former president delivered a bitter invective against Zanu-PF saying: I must say clearly I cant vote for those who tormented me, no I cant. He condemned the evil and malicious characters who had removed him from power and decried the military intervention which brought it about. Recommended Zimbabwe prepares for historic vote as rival parties vie for power The former president, appearing in public for the first time since his overthrow last year, defended his wife Grace accused of massive corruption demanding critics leave her alone. The polls on Monday, the first in 38 years without Mr Mugabe being in power, were being presented as a break from the dark past and the first steps towards repairing a fractured nation with a deeply divided society and an imploded economy. But the sudden reappearance of the man who was, until recently, the longest serving head of state in Africa, has now added an uncertain new dynamic to that equation. Mr Mugabe did not directly endorse the opposition MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) alliance. But there was undoubted approval for its leader who is challenging President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former ally of Mr Mugabe who replaced him in last Novembers coup. Mr Mugabe said: Nelson Chamisa seems to be doing well by his rallies. He wants a legitimate government to be in power and an end to one brought about by military intervention ... I would certainly wish to meet him if he wins. He himself, said the former president, will choose from the candidates for his vote, but it will not be Mr Mnangagwa, of the 18th November team which carried out his overthrow. There were immediate claims afterwards that Mr Mugabes wife, Grace, was the driving force behind the move. The former first lady, who is accused by her critics of rampant corruption and plotting to run the country through her husband before his fall, is a bitter enemy of Mr Mnangagwa. Ms Mugabe stood beside her husband, with an assistant holding an umbrella over her, as he spoke at a hastily and unexpectedly arranged press conference at Blue Roofs, the house in Harare where the couple had continued to stay after the president was stripped of office. At one point she asked Mr Mugabe to speak up please. Mr Mugabe did very much want to speak out about the vilification of his 55-year-old wife by her many enemies, who call her DisGrace and Gucci Grace. He said: I do not accept the denunciation and vilification of my wife that is going on every day. Leave, leave, leave my wife alone. I want Grace to remain my Grace. Mr Mugabe, in a dark suit, white shirt and tie and pocket handkerchief in red, was alert and mostly cogent when answering questions. The military, who had helped crush dissent and kept Mr Mugabe in power over the decades, were a particular source of his anger. I hope the choice of voting tomorrow will thrust away the military government and bring us back to constitutionality. Let tomorrow the voice of the people say never again shall we experience a period in which the army is used to thrust one person into power. Zimbabwe president Emmerson Mnangagwa survives 'assassination attempt' in campaign rally explosion It was clear that Mr Mugabe expected Mr Chamisa to unseat that person, Mr Mnangagwa in the election. But it remains to be seen what effect the former leaders endorsement will have on the MDC leader who is trailing Mr Mnangagwa by three points in the opinion polls. Mr Chamosa, who once had his skull fractured by state security agents of the Mugabe regime, may gain from the former presidents supporters who resented his removal, but it may yet put off the 20 per cent who say they are still undecided. Mr Mnangagwa, who had been careful not to say anything particularly critical of Mr Mugabe, may lose the support of the Zanu-PF old guard, but it may also provide an opportunity to put aside the baggage he had been carrying for his long alliance with Mr Mugabe. On Saturday, in the last round of election rallies, Mr Chamisa was accompanied on stage by Eunice Sandi-Moyo, head of National Patriotic Front (NPF), which had been set up by Mugabe loyalists in March. The membership were largely composed of the G40 or Generation 40 group in Zanu-PF who had hitched their wagons to the star of Grace Mugabe. The MDC leader said: Robert Mugabe is a citizen of Zimbabwe, former president, and the president of the first republic who is going to hand over to the second president of the republic who is me, myself here present. Let me welcome the NPF here as the genuine Zanu-PF, it means we have the original Zanu-PF here, authentic and undiluted. The G40 have been blamed for the grenade attack in Bulawayo a month ago targeting Mr Mnangagwa which killed two people and injured more than 40 others. No evidence has been produced so far to back the claim made by, among others, Mr Mnangagwa. A number of people were arrested after the attack, some have been freed. Mr Chamisa had, in the past, been forced to deny rumours that he had received funding from the Mugabes. However, he had said: We welcome every vote; Mugabe, we welcome your vote. We want a new dispensation, a fresh start. The MDC leader had also faced claims that Ms Mugabe or other former members of the Mugabe government may be part of an administration if he were to win the election. But there was ambiguity in the denial. He said at a recent rally: Whoever wants to join us is welcome, our bus doesnt get full but there is no way one can join a church and become a deacon the same day. Firefighters are rushing against uncertain weather forecasts to contain a multitude of wildfires in northern California that have already claimed the lives of at least six people and forced 50,000 to flee their homes. With hot, dry conditions and high winds fuelling the blazes, 12,000 firefighters have been drafted in to try to contain 17 wildfires that have destroyed buildings in its path including the home of a fire chief. As those firefighters continued to fight the blaze, families of the dead on Sunday told their harrowing tales of loss. Recommended Raging California fire kills five people and destroys 500 buildings My babies are dead, a tearful Sherry Bledsoe told reporters at the Shasta County Sheriffs Office, where she had just learned that her two children, a five-year-old son and four-year-old daughter, and grandmother, 70-year-old Melody Bledsoe, had been killed in a fire. Ms Bledsoes husband, Ed, said he had been at a store when he received a call from his son, who asked that he come get him because he feared the fire was too close. He rushed to save them, but was stopped by authorities as he tried to make it back. God almighty, I dont know what I done wrong, Mr Bledsoe told the Sacramento Bee. I talked to them until the fire got them. California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 Show all 45 1 /45 California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 Firefighters try to limit the spread of the Carr Fire by backburning, a process by which areas in the path of a fire are burned up in advance to rob the fire of its fuel Getty California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 A street is devastated by the Carr Fire in the town of Redding AP California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 A truck burned by the Delta Fire is abandoned along interstate 5 AFP/Getty California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 This image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration highlights the major fire AP California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 The Ranch Fire spots out ahead of the main fire in Spring Valley, burning two homes AP California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 A picture taken by German astronaut and geophysicist Alexander Gerst, showing wildfires in the state of California as seen from the International Space Station AFP/Getty/ESA/Alexander Gerst California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 Evacuees from Lucerne, from left, Ken Bennett with Ember Reynolds, 8, and Lisa Reynolds watch the sunset as smoke from the Ranch Fire rises into the sky at Austin Park Beach in California's Clearlake with Mount Konocti in the background The Press Democrat via AP California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 The memorial for Redding firefighter Jeremy Stoke AP California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 REUTERS California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 Holy Jim volunteer firefighter Luke Senger stands next to a home destroyed the Holy Fire in Trabuco Canyon AP California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 Firefighters try to stop the spread of a massive fire in Lake County AP California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 A woman walks out of the water after taking a dip as smoke rises in the distance from the Holy Fire in Cleveland National Forest Getty California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 A pyrocumulus cloud (or cloud of fire) explodes in the Carr fire near the town of Redding Getty California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 The Delta Fire burns in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest AP California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 Trees set alight near Whiskeytown Getty California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 An firefighting aircraft drops fire retardant to slow the spread of the River Fire near Lakeport Getty California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 A firefighter lights backfires in an attempt to limit the spread of the Ranch Fire Reuters California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 Firefighters light backfires to defend houses in the town Upper Lake from the Ranch Fire Getty California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 Flames consume a home in Lakeport AP California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 The Ranch Fire spread towards the town of Upper Lake AFP/Getty Images California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 A firefighter lights a backfire in the city of Redding Getty California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 The Carr Fire burns near Whiskeytown AP California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 Firefighters try to limit the spread of the Carr Fire by backburning Getty California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 Flames flare in the Cajon Pass near San Bernardino AP California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 An firefighting aircraft drops fire retardant to slow the spread of the River Fire near Lakeport Reuters California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 A schoolhouse burns in the Carr Fire in Shasta County AP California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 The Carr Fire burns along Highway 299 by the city of Redding AP California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 A car is seen amongst the devastation left by the Cranston Fire EPA California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 A firefighter waters down a backfire on Cloverdale Road in Igo AP California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 Firefighters convene while battling the Carr Fire in Shasta County AP California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 Firefighters assess the damage in San Bernardino County AP California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 The Carr Fire burns along Highway 299 by the city of Redding AP California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 The Carr Fire burns along Highway 299 in Shasta County AP California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 The land around Mountain Centre has been left devastated by the Cranston Fire EPA California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 Firefighters battle the Carr Fire in the town of Redding AP California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 A home burns in Redding Getty California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 The Cranston Fire burns south of Idyllwild AP California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 The Carr Fire burns through the town of Shasta AP California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 A home burns in Redding Getty California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 A collection of antique cars has been destroyed by the fire in the town of Redding Getty California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 A home on Sunflower Road in Redding burns in the Carr Fire Getty California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 A helicopter aids utility workers as they work to repair burned power lines EPA California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 A home burns in Redding Getty California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 The Carr Fire burns along Highway 299 by the city of Redding AP California in flames: wildfires rage across the US state in 2018 Sunflower Road in Redding burns in the Carr Fire Getty The fires have destroyed more than 500 buildings, including homes, since the blazes started last Monday roughly 100 miles south of the border with Oregon. Another 5,000 buildings are considered threatened by the fires which have spread over more than 90,000 acres. The wildfires, fuelled by swift winds, have moved quickly and given residents in some areas little time to flee from the deadly blazes that engulfed buildings. All told, at least 14 people have been reported missing as the fires spread chaos in the region. The hot and dry conditions have given firefighters little breathing room, and by Saturday the flames had spread southwest of Redding and towards Ono, Igo and Gas Point. Firefighters have indicated their primary mission is to aid in evacuation, since the inferno is moving so fast. Were not getting a break with the weather, Chris Anthony, a spokesman for Cal Fire, said. It just continues to be really hot, really dry and we continue to get those winds. This fires getting so big and there are so many different parts to it. In response to the fires, President Donald Trump signed a declaration of emergency, which allows counties struggling to contain the fire to receive federal aid. Jared Kushner and his wife Ivanka Trump are ready to reassert their public profile, White House insiders have predicted. As scrutiny of the couple often referred to as "Javanka" became increasingly intense during the presidents first year, Mr Kushner and Ms Trump seemed to retreat from public view. After several of their allies in the White House departed, there was a near-constant stream of questions about whether they would follow. Amid a whirlwind of fallouts and firings, Mr Trump has retreated into the familiarity of his family his daughter, above all, and eventually, her husband. In May, Mr Kushner had his security clearance restored. It points to a conscious effort on the part of Mr Kushner and Ms Trump to ramp up their profiles, ready again for a more public stage to pursue their projects. I think they felt in some ways when things escalated that they thought it was best to keep a lower profile and hone in on their specific policy areas, said Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary. Ms Trump has announced she would shut down her New York-based fashion brand - a move seen as a symbolic recommitment to her life and her husbands in Washington. Any suggestion that they were going to leave the White House was just ridiculous, said Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, who was one of several allies the couple asked to speak on their behalf for this article. In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home Show all 13 1 /13 In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The front of the house Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The lobby Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The house exterior Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The patio Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The bedroom Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The living room Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The living area Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The Living Room Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The kitchen Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The living room Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The bathroom Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The living room Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The hall Zillow They both have been dependable, valuable and effective partners for me and other members of the presidents cabinet, added secretary Mnuchin. However, both Mr Kushner and Ms Trump have been criticised for their quiescence in some of the president's more controversial policies. I never counted on it, but they themselves promoted the idea that they would save us, said Hilary Rosen, a Democratic strategist who has been a vocal critic of the administration. As for separating immigrant families, she added, How do they sleep at night? In response to critics like Ms Rosen, the couple have argued that they can temper Mr Trump only if he is willing to listen. Sometimes he has been. Ms Trump pushed for the expanded child tax credit in the tax cut bill that passed in 2017, and Mr Kushner has convinced the president that criminal justice reform is worthwhile, even as his attorney general remains a vocal opponent. Mr Kushner has shown an adeptness at using the presidents impulses to steer him towards his own priorities. Jared Kushner on Israel: 'The pursuit of peace is the noblest pursuit of humankind' When Mr Kushner ushered Kim Kardashian West into the Oval Office to speak about commuting the life sentence of an African-American woman named Alice Marie Johnson, Mr Trump ignored the concerns of his advisers and freed Ms Johnson, dazzled by his power to grant clemency and Ms Kardashians celebrity. Mr Kushner appears to see himself as the custodian of Mr Trumps political brand, offering his father-in-law options, and has spoken about clearing out the Republican Party of lingering resistance. He has privately said that he has been taking action against incompetence and that any tensions are a result of fighting for his father-in-laws best interests. I have greatly enjoyed working collaboratively with so many extraordinarily devoted and competent people, Mr Kushner said through a spokesman a few hours before this article was published, but those who have tried to undermine the president have found me to be an obstacle. The couples allies insist that the expectations of their friends were way too high from the beginning, and that the admonitions to publicly denounce Mr Trump were never realistic or fair. Although they rarely talk on the record to reporters, Ms Trump and Mr Kushner's focus on media coverage is suggestive of their desire to take centre-stage in the president's court once more. The New York Times Police are searching for two suspected murderers after a shooting in New Orleans left three dead and another seven injured. Authorities say the suspects were wearing hooded tops when they fired a long rifle and a handgun into a crowd outside a business about three miles from the citys popular French Quarter. The shooting sparked a manhunt in the city, with police asking anyone with knowledge of the incident to come forward with information. Recommended Jaguar escapes enclosure at zoo and goes on killing rampage Police Chief Michael Harrison asked residents to trust police and bring information forward about the shooting that he described as indiscriminately carried out. He said: This is an extremely tragic incident." The shooting left two men and one woman dead. Five men and two women were also injured, and taken to area hospitals for medical care. One individual was reportedly in critical condition Sunday morning. This was a large crowd and we know that people saw something, heard something, Mr Harrison said. We need them to know that they can trust us and come to us. New Orleans mayor LaToya Cantrell said police would be given every resource necessary to find those responsible. There is no place in New Orleans for this kind of violence. I speak for everyone in our city when I say we are disgusted, we are infuriated, and we have had more than enough, Ms Cantrell said in a statement. Three more lives gone. It has to end. This happened near my neighbourhood, on the edge of Broadmoor. It's unacceptable anywhere. Donald Trump has threatened to shut down the government unless Congress passes legislation that would fund his proposed wall across the US border with Mexico. In an early morning tweet, he demanded a raft of changes to the countrys immigration laws, adding he wanted great people coming into the country. I would be willing to shut down government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall! he wrote. Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country! Mr Trump earlier tweeted there were consequences when people cross our border illegally, whether they have children or not. Many are just using children for their own sinister purposes, he continued. Congress must act on fixing the DUMBEST & WORST immigration laws anywhere in the world! Vote R. The US presidents defence of his immigration policies comes amid a failure by his government to fulfil a court order to reunify undocumented children with their parents. The Trump administration triggered global outrage when it begun separating families at Americas southern border as a supposed deterrent to illegal migration. Mr Trump also tweeted a quote by former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director, Tom Homan, who praised the billionaire as having done more for border security that previous presidents. The 72-year-old leaders threat echoes events from earlier this year, when a bill to fund the federal budget failed over an argument about protections for undocumented migrants. It triggered a temporary government shutdown, which was only resolved after Mr Trump reluctantly signed a massive spending bill that failed to fund his promised border wall. Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests Show all 16 1 /16 Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests President Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki Reuters Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests An advert from Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat is on display in Helsinki Reuters Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests President Trump in a meeting with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto AFP/Getty Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests President Trump meets with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto in Helsinki EPA Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests President Trump talks with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto in Mantyniemi, the official residence of the Finnish President EPA Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests US, Finnish and Russian flags fly in front of the Presidential Palace in Helsinki EPA Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests AFP/Getty Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests Vladimir Putin gifts a football to President Trump at the press conference that followed their meeting AP Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests Trump supporters hold banners during a demonstration in Helsinki AFP/Getty Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests People protest for women's reproductive rights in Helsinki's Senate Square Reuters Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests A crowd watches the motorcade transporting President Trump through Helsinki AFP/Getty Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests Russian President Putin drives through Helsinki on his way to meet with President Trump EPA Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests A man in the audience of the joint press conference holds up a sign sign that reads "NUCLEAR WEAPON BAN TREATY". REUTERS Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests A man is removed from the joint press conference in Helsinki. Security removed the man after he pulled out a sign that read "NUCLEAR WEAPON BAN TREATY". REUTERS Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests President Trump and Russia's President Putin sit for a working lunch in Finland's Presidential Palace AFP/Getty Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests President Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki Reuters The president has long railed against Americas diversity immigration lottery programme and the practice of catch and release at its borders. The visa lottery scheme makes available 55,000 immigrant visas, known as green cards, every year for people from countries with low rates of migration to the US. Catch and release, a term used by conservatives who want to restrict immigration, describes a policy which allows people who entered the US illegally to live in the US ahead of their court date. On Sunday morning, Mr Trump also repeated the false claim that he has the highest poll numbers in the history of the Republican Party. That includes Honest Abe Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. There must be something wrong, please recheck that poll! he tweeted. According to a Gallup poll, Mr Trump was viewed favourably by 88 per cent of Republicans, a number only Gerald Ford has failed to reach among Republican presidents in recent history. New York City has launched a new initiative to bring more statues of women to the city and letting the public decide who the first one honours. The She Built NYC campaign was launched last month by Mayor Bill de Blasios wife Chirlane McCray and Alicia Glen, deputy mayor for housing and economic development, and a city website catered specifically to womens public services allows residents to nominate a woman of historical significance for a new statue up until 1 August. Ms Glen told The Independent: She Built NYC puts women in their rightful place on pedestals. Per the mayors office, residents can also nominate a group or event to be honoured as long as it involved women of significance to the Big Apple. Nominated events must have happened at least 20 years ago; nominated individuals must no longer be living and known for an event, movement, or action that took place at least 20 years ago, the guidance on the nomination form states. Of the 1,000-plus monuments in the five boroughs of New York, 150 are statues and just five are of real women. The most famous Liberty Enlightening the World (aka the Statue of Liberty) and Fearless Girl, a bronze statue of a young girl staring down the famous Bull of Wall Street join the host of statues of fictional female characters. The Fearless Girl also was not a public works project, but the installation of an artist that the cimasty has allowed to remain, given its popularity. Women's rights group project sexual harassment accusations against Donald Trump on his DC Hotel But, when it comes to honouring women who actually existed and made history, the city falls woefully short. Eleanor Roosevelt, Israels first female prime minister Golda Meir, Joan of Arc, novelist and poet Gertrude Stein, and abolitionist Harriet Tubman are the only ones. None of them are in Central Park, where several male statues reside. Ms Tubman is the only woman of colour represented and Ms Meir is only represented by a small bust. The She Built NYC campaign seeks to rectify those issues, at least in some small measure. As CEO of the Girl Scouts of Greater New York Meridith Maskara told The Independent, the reality is women have been contributing [for all of history] in significant ways but you wouldnt know that by walking around or looking at the figures we see today. Ms Glen agreed, saying the statues, plaques, and memorials around the city can either inspire young girls to dream big, or it can perpetuate the message that women have not contributed to society something we know is untrue. The citys Department of Cultural Affairs has committed up to $10m over the next four years to commissioning new permanent public monuments and commemorations. This new monument will be funded through that allocation, Jane Meyer, the mayors deputy press secretary, told The Independent. Police officers high-five demonstrators on women's march After the 1 August deadline for nominations, submissions will be reviewed by a commission put together by the mayors office and a shortlist of nominees will be chosen with a final decision to be announced in January 2019. The goal, Ms Meyer said, is to make sure public spaces represent our diversity and values. The message that lack of representation sends is that these people have no value and did not make contributions to our city. This first step we are taking will help us more accurately show the diversity in the people who helped make New York City so great, Ms McCray said in a statement. One of the main hurdles for the city up until this point was that there was no single list of all the citys statues and monuments since they fall under the purview of several different agencies in different boroughs. The mayors office has hired someone to compile that list in an effort to conduct a comprehensive review, particularly in light of the controversy of monuments honouring slave-owning Confederate generals from the civil war era last August after the riots in Charlottesville, Virginia. One of the women nominated for a statue is Lillian Wald, a social worker, nurse and community activist who advocated for the first school for nursing in the city and was based in the Lower East Side neighbourhood of Manhattan during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Ms Wald established the Henry Street Settlement as a way of bringing nursing services to the poor, immigrant population of the area and the organisation is still serving the community of approximately 50,000 people through various social services, arts, mental health, and homelessness relief programmes. Katie Vogel, a public historian who works for Henry Street, told The Independent part of the reason they nominated Ms Wald for a statue was her work with low-income immigrant populations after she noticed the growing inequality in the city. Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Show all 35 1 /35 Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures London Women's rights demonstrators hold placards and shout slogans during the Time's Up rally at Richmond Terrace, opposite Downing Street in London. Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures London The Time's Up initiative was launched at the start of January 2018 as a response to the #MeToo movement and the Harvey Weinstein scandal. AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Berlin Women's March in Berlin. EPA Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures London The Time's Up Women's March marks the one year anniversary of the first Women's March in London and in 2018 it is inspired by the Time's Up movement against sexual abuse. Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Paris Women hold a banner reading "still feminist" with the Eiffel tower in background on the Trocadero esplanade in Paris. AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures London Protesters hold up placards at the Women's March in central London. Rex Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Paris A demonstator hold signs on the Trocadero esplanade in Paris during a women's march organised as part of global protests. AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures London Chanting Times Up in the cold rain - On the anniversary of the Women's March on London. Rex Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York Thousands of people gather holding protest signs on Central Park West. EPA Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York Demonstrators take part in the Women's March in Manhattan Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Chicago A woman holds a sign during the Second Annual Womens March in Chicago AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York People gather near Central Park before the beginning of the Women's March in New York Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Washington Supporters gather during the Women's March in Washington AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York The crowd lines up near Central Park Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Chicago Demostrators attend the Second Annual Womens March in Chicago AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York Thousands hold signs and rally while attending the Womens March in New York Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York People gather near Central Park before the beginning of the Women's March in New York Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Washington People participate in the second annual Women's March in Washington Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York People hold signs up during the women's march Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Philadelphia Oscar Janicki, 6, participates in the Second Annual Women's March in Philadelphia Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Philadelphia Crowds gather to participate in the Second Annual Women's March in Philadelphia Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Washington People participate in the second annual Women's March in Washington Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York Women pose as they attend the second annual National Womens March in New York City AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Washington People participate in the second annual Women's March in Washington Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York People gather prior to the second annual National Womens March in New York City AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York People take part in the Women's March in Manhattan Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York People gather the second annual National Womens March AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Washington People participate in the Second Annual Women's March in Washington Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Rome A woman holds a banner reading "Womwn united will never be defeated" during Rome Resists demonstration part of the Women's March in downtown. AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Rome Italian actress Asia Argento (3rdL) attends the Rome Resists demonstration part of the Women's March in downtown Rome. AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Rome The Women's March Rome, designed to show solidarity for the protection of civil and social rights, women's rights and the environment included Italian actress Asia Argento, one of the first women to accuse US film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault. AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Zurich A US citizen holds a poster on the anniversary of the inauguration of President Trump apologising to the world on behalf of her country, in Zurich, Switzerland. A year after millions of people took to the streets across the US and countries around the world, women's marches are being held in lots of cities this weekend. EPA Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York People take part in the Women's March in Manhattan Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Rome A woman holds a banner reading "The rising of the women means rising of us all" during Rome Resists demonstration. AFP/Getty Images Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Rome A woman lifts her fist while holding a banner reading "Hear our voice" during Rome Resists demonstration. AFP/Getty Ms Wald pioneered the field of public health nursing for these populations, Ms Vogel said, standing in the same dining room from which Ms Wald worked, underneath her portrait. The city has always been home to new immigrants and now is no different, even in the current political climate coming from Washington. Her statue would be a way for the city to honour that commitment to being a new home for so many, campaigners say. Though she was of German-Jewish ancestry, Ms Wald was also a founding board member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909, campaigning for civil rights for African Americans, Ms Vogel said. The current site of Henry Street Settlement was also the site of the citys first public playground, courtesy of Ms Wald. Ms Vogel said her statue would also be a dedication to the LGBTQ+ community. Though Ms Wald was not public about her sexual orientation, letters have revealed she did have romantic relationships with women during her life. Another historical figure nominated for the She Built NYC campaign is Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts in 1912. Despite Ms Lows family ties to the Confederate side during the US civil war, the organisation has evolved and become an advocate for minorities and its current national CEO is Sylvia Acevedo, the groups first Latina leader. The Girl Scouts in the US alone have 2.6 million members with 58 million alumni. Ms Maskara, who leads the New York division of the national organisation and serves 30,000 girls around the New York City area, said they wanted to honour because her legacy is strong. She wrote the Girl Scout manual right here in New York City, Ms Maskara explained of Ms Low, who had moved the headquarters of the group from Savannah, Georgia, to the city in 1915. The empowerment that she represents in fostering female leadership skills is what made Ms Maskara say she wanted to see the statue of Ms Low in midtown Manhattan where young tourists from all over the world could be inspired by it. Our girls need to see fair and balanced and equitable representation of our contributions to history, Ms Maskara said. Lulu Lolo, a New York-based artist, has been beating this drum since October 2015. Ms Lolo, standing at the foot of the Joan of Arc monument in Riverside Park on the west side of the city, has been dressing up as the French warrior and carrying a shield with the words Where are the Women? on it to bring awareness to the issue through a live, ongoing art project. There are no monuments to women in Central Park except for Alice in Wonderland and Mother Goose, Ms Lolo said, slightly rolling her eyes in frustration. As part of her project, Ms Lolo also asked people who they would nominate and she said several had asked for a statue of Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman to be elected to US Congress who represented parts of Manhattan and Queens. Some city residents have asked ask why the mayors office has undertaken this issue now. Marsha Weinstein, the president of the National Collaborative for Womens History Sites, told The Independent that interest in more statues may have been sparked by the upcoming centennial celebration of womens suffrage. Ms Weinstein has worked extensively on promoting ways to honour the women who fought for the right to vote before the historic 1920 ruling. Ms Weinstein said the #MeToo social media movement to encourage women to stand up against sexual harassment and the massive Womens March events the past few years has brought to light voices that were once underground. She also said it could be because of the recent public awareness of [a] womens proper place in society...which is everywhere she want[s] to be. The She Built NYC campaign is running until 1 August. At least 14 people have been killed and another 40 injured after a powerful 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck a popular tourist island in Indonesia. The quake, which rocked Lombok island early on Sunday morning when many people were still asleep, sent villagers fleeing from their beds and into fields to avoid collapsing buildings. Video footage showed ambulances lining streets and many houses damaged, with only parts of brick walls standing. Electricity was cut off in the worst-hit area, Sembalun, a sparsely populated region of rice paddies on the slopes of Mount Rinjani on the northern side of the island. A 30-year-old Malaysian woman visiting Mount Rinjani, a popular trekking destination, was among those killed, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the disaster mitigation agency spokesperson. He said the area was temporarily closed to climbers because there were reports of landslides. Male eagle takes flight after earthquake rocks nest in Santa Cruz, California People are gathering on the streets and empty fields to avoid collapsing buildings, he said. The main focus now is evacuation and rescue. Some of the injured are still being treated at clinics. An emergency tent was set up on a street in Sembalun to treat the injured because the local hospital was damaged, and those in a critical condition were taken to other hospitals. It happened so suddenly at around six in the morning. Suddenly everything simply collapsed, said Siti Sumarni, a Sembalun resident. My child was inside the house, thankfully he survived. Standing outside a green tent set up on a dusty field, she said nothing was left of her house. We jumped out of our beds to avoid anything falling on our heads, said Jean-Paul Volckaert who runs a hotel near Senggigi on the western side of Lombok. Taiwan earthquake damage: in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Taiwan earthquake damage: in pictures Taiwan earthquake damage: in pictures Rescue workers walk out from the Yun Tsui building, which is leaning at a precarious angle, in the Taiwanese city of Hualien on February 8, 2018 after the city was hit by a 6.4-magnitude quake late on February 6. AFP/Getty Images Taiwan earthquake damage: in pictures A child rides a bicycle on a fractured road in Hualien. REUTERS Taiwan earthquake damage: in pictures Rescuers rushs against time to search for survivors from thr damaged building in Hualien on 6 February, 2018. EPA Taiwan earthquake damage: in pictures People pray for the earthquake victims outside a damaged building. Getty Images AsiaPac Taiwan earthquake damage: in pictures Displaced families take shelter in a school . AFP/Getty Images Taiwan earthquake damage: in pictures A resident walks past a damaged street in Hualien. EPA Taiwan earthquake damage: in pictures A rescue worker takes a photo of the Yun Tsui building. AFP/Getty Images Taiwan earthquake damage: in pictures Taiwanese rescuers continued the terrifying task on February 8 of searching for survivors in a dangerously leaning apartment block that was partially toppled by an earthquake, despite regular aftershocks coursing through the building's tottering structure. EPA Taiwan earthquake damage: in pictures The Yun Tsui building. REUTERS Taiwan earthquake damage: in pictures Rescuers carry a body from the damaged building. EPA Ive been walking around but so far there is no damage. We were very surprised as the water in the pools was swaying like a wild sea. There were waves in the pools but only for 20 to 30 seconds, he told Reuters. A magnitude 6.4 earthquake is considered strong and is capable of causing severe damage. The Lombok quake struck at 6:47am local time on Sunday and was only 4.35 miles deep, a shallow depth that would have amplified its effect. It was centred 31 miles northeast of the city of Mataram, according to the US Geological Survey, but it was also felt strongly to the west on the neighbouring island of Bali, Indonesias top tourist destination. Nearly 80 subsequent tremors were recorded, with the largest aftershock recorded at 5.7-magnitude, Indonesias Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysics Agency said. The earthquake was on land and did not trigger any waves or tsunamis. Earthquakes are common in Indonesia, which is located on the seismically active Ring of Fire that surrounds the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Additional reporting by Reuters. A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck the island of Lombok in Indonesia, the US Geological Survey said. The quake, which struck at 6.47am local time on Sunday, was followed less than an hour later by a 5.4 magnitude aftershock in the same area. The epicentre was 80 miles northeast of the islands main city of Mataram and was very shallow, which would have amplified its effect. The earthquake was on land and did not trigger any waves or tsunami but authorities issued a yellow alert, suggesting there was a possibility of casualties. A 6.4 magnitude is strong enough to cause injuries and damage to buildings, but largely depends on how densely populated the affected area is. In February, an earthquake of that strength hit Taiwan, killing 17 people and injuring hundreds more. Taiwan earthquake damage: in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Taiwan earthquake damage: in pictures Taiwan earthquake damage: in pictures Rescue workers walk out from the Yun Tsui building, which is leaning at a precarious angle, in the Taiwanese city of Hualien on February 8, 2018 after the city was hit by a 6.4-magnitude quake late on February 6. AFP/Getty Images Taiwan earthquake damage: in pictures A child rides a bicycle on a fractured road in Hualien. REUTERS Taiwan earthquake damage: in pictures Rescuers rushs against time to search for survivors from thr damaged building in Hualien on 6 February, 2018. EPA Taiwan earthquake damage: in pictures People pray for the earthquake victims outside a damaged building. Getty Images AsiaPac Taiwan earthquake damage: in pictures Displaced families take shelter in a school . AFP/Getty Images Taiwan earthquake damage: in pictures A resident walks past a damaged street in Hualien. EPA Taiwan earthquake damage: in pictures A rescue worker takes a photo of the Yun Tsui building. AFP/Getty Images Taiwan earthquake damage: in pictures Taiwanese rescuers continued the terrifying task on February 8 of searching for survivors in a dangerously leaning apartment block that was partially toppled by an earthquake, despite regular aftershocks coursing through the building's tottering structure. EPA Taiwan earthquake damage: in pictures The Yun Tsui building. REUTERS Taiwan earthquake damage: in pictures Rescuers carry a body from the damaged building. EPA The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), the European quake agency, put the latest quake in Lombok at magnitude 6.5. Indonesia is prone to earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin. Recommended At least 180 missing and feared dead in huge Indonesia ferry disaster In December 2004, a massive magnitude-9.1 earthquake off Sumatra triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries. Lombok is an Indonesian island east of Bali popular with tourists. The Foreign Office currently has a travel warning related to nearby volcanic activity. Travellers are advised to avoid the Mount Agung crater in east Bali and the Mount Sinabung crater in Kalo Regency, North Sumatra. On the topic of earthquakes in Indonesia, the Foreign Office advises: "If a major earthquake or landslide occurs close to shore, you should follow the instructions of local authorities, bearing in mind that a tsunami could arrive within minutes. "The Indonesia Tsunami Early Warning Centre issues tsunami warnings when a potential tsunami with significant impact is imminent or expected." A prominent lawyer who was on the defence team of former strongman Slobodan Milosevic at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal has been shot and killed. A police statement says Dragoslav Ognjanovic was killed late Saturday outside his home in the Serbian capital, Belgrade. Mr Ognjanovic's 26-year-old son was wounded in his right arm, it added. Mr Ognjanovic was part of the legal team that defended Milosevic at the UN tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, where he was tried for war crimes of the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Milosevic died of a heart attack in 2006 before his trial could be concluded. Serbia To Salute Putin But Sees Future With Europe Over the years, Mr Ognjanovic also defended some of Serbias leading underworld figures. Several prominent members of Serbian and Montenegrin organised crime networks have been killed in Belgrade in the past two years in what police describe as a turf war over the illegal drugs market. In a joint statement, the heads of the Bar Association of Serbia and the Bar Association of Belgrade said the shooting of Ognjanovic was "the latest in a series of numerous attacks on lawyers." Hundreds held after Serbian extremists storm Gay Pride march Show all 3 1 /3 Hundreds held after Serbian extremists storm Gay Pride march Hundreds held after Serbian extremists storm Gay Pride march 471391.bin MARKO DJURICA/REUTERS Hundreds held after Serbian extremists storm Gay Pride march 471392.bin REUTERS Hundreds held after Serbian extremists storm Gay Pride march 471393.bin REUTERS "[We will] exert maximum pressure on the competent state authorities in order to find the perpetrators of this crime in the shortest possible time," Viktor Gostiljac and Jugoslav Tintor said. Serbian police say they are searching for the attacker. Press Association Three babies were amongst the six people who died after their boat capsized off the coast of western Turkey. Nine people were rescued by the coast guard overnight on Saturday, while search and rescue efforts are continuing for one missing person after the incident off the coastal province of Ayvalik. The boat was believed to be en route to Greece's Lesbos island which is only 12 miles away from the Turkish coast. From January to July this year at least 54 "irregular migrants" died trying to cross to Europe from Turkey, according to coast guard statistics. Between January to April this year, 370 migrants died on the Libya-Italy route. Turkey: Children among 22 refugees who drowned off Turkish coast District governor Gokhan Gorguluarslan said the people who were trying to cross to the Greek island were Turkish citizens. Two of them are believed to be involved with the smuggling operation, affiliated to the proscribed Gulen movement (FETO), added Mr Gorguluarslan. FETO is accused by the Erdogan government of orchestrating the defeated coup of July 2016. However, FETO denies direct culpability. It also says FETO is behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions like the military, police and judiciary. Turkey protests: PM Erdogan issues 'final warning to troublemakers' as death toll rises to five and crowds prepare for clashes in Taksim Square Show all 12 1 /12 Turkey protests: PM Erdogan issues 'final warning to troublemakers' as death toll rises to five and crowds prepare for clashes in Taksim Square Turkey protests: PM Erdogan issues 'final warning to troublemakers' as death toll rises to five and crowds prepare for clashes in Taksim Square pg-38-turkey-main-reuters.jpg Reuters Turkey protests: PM Erdogan issues 'final warning to troublemakers' as death toll rises to five and crowds prepare for clashes in Taksim Square Turkey-Taksim-GETTY.jpg Getty Images Turkey protests: PM Erdogan issues 'final warning to troublemakers' as death toll rises to five and crowds prepare for clashes in Taksim Square 5.jpg Reuters Turkey protests: PM Erdogan issues 'final warning to troublemakers' as death toll rises to five and crowds prepare for clashes in Taksim Square 10.jpg.jpg Reuters Turkey protests: PM Erdogan issues 'final warning to troublemakers' as death toll rises to five and crowds prepare for clashes in Taksim Square 9.jpg Reuters Turkey protests: PM Erdogan issues 'final warning to troublemakers' as death toll rises to five and crowds prepare for clashes in Taksim Square 8.jpg Reuters Turkey protests: PM Erdogan issues 'final warning to troublemakers' as death toll rises to five and crowds prepare for clashes in Taksim Square 7.jpg Reuters Turkey protests: PM Erdogan issues 'final warning to troublemakers' as death toll rises to five and crowds prepare for clashes in Taksim Square 6.jpg Reuters Turkey protests: PM Erdogan issues 'final warning to troublemakers' as death toll rises to five and crowds prepare for clashes in Taksim Square 4.jpg Reuters Turkey protests: PM Erdogan issues 'final warning to troublemakers' as death toll rises to five and crowds prepare for clashes in Taksim Square 3.jpg.jpg Reuters Turkey protests: PM Erdogan issues 'final warning to troublemakers' as death toll rises to five and crowds prepare for clashes in Taksim Square 1.jpg Reuters Turkey protests: PM Erdogan issues 'final warning to troublemakers' as death toll rises to five and crowds prepare for clashes in Taksim Square 2.jpg Reuters Since the July 2016 coup, thousands of people have fled Turkey to escape the government's crackdown on FETO sympathisers. Many have had to flee illegally because the government has taken away their passports, say human rights advocacy group Amnesty International. Additional reporting by Reuters Thousands of airline passengers are waking up to discover their holiday flights have been cancelled, following widespread flight cancellations yesterday. Ryanair has so far grounded more than 20 flights to and from UK airports, with many of the 4,000 passengers affected finding out only at check-in. It follows scores of cancellations yesterday, which left over 15,000 travellers on Ryanair stranded. The problems are worst at Stansted Airport. Some cancellations were made at very short notice, including departures from Stansted to Dublin, Barcelona and Wroclaw in Poland. Departures to Dublin from Birmingham, Luton and Newcastle have also been grounded, as well as a round-trip from Gatwick to Cork and another from Liverpool to Reus in Spain. A spokesperson for Ryanair said: Our UK operation is running well today (29 July). There is a very small number of delays and cancellations as a knock-on effect from the extreme weather disruptions (Fri) and the disruptions arising from ATC staff shortages in the UK, France and Germany. Many Ryanair passengers took to social media to express their frustration. Caroline McKeon tweeted: @Ryanair you should be ashamed of yourselves-cancelling flights at last minute, causing chaos & misery and now our family holiday is ruined! Ive got two sad little girls because their nanny and aunty cant come on our holiday all because @Ryanair let them go to the airport, check in, get to departure gate before deciding to cancel. Paul Fitzgerald tweeted: 21 year old sister forced to leave Beauvais airport in Paris last night at 11pm due to her flight being cancelled. Put out onto the street in the middle of the night with no accommodation and told find an alternative way home. Passengers on other airlines have also been experiencing problems. British Airways first UK departure of the day, from Stansted to Faro in Portugal, was grounded, along with a round-trip from Heathrow to Dublin. Several hundred British Airways passengers arrived from Alicante, Ibiza and Malaga late on Saturday night, an average of 18 hours late. Also at Gatwick, easyJet has cancelled a flight from and to Toulouse, blaming a crew welfare issue. The airline grounded a Liverpool to Amsterdam round-trip because of heavy disruption on Saturday. Some long delays on easyJet are building, particularly at its home base, Luton. Flights to Vienna and Barcelona are showing delays of five hours. Wizz Air is also experiencing long delays at Luton. Airlines that cancel flight are obliged to tell passengers about their entitlement to replacement flights, accommodation and meals. Ryanair undertakes to find alternative flights on its own services or rival airlines on the day of cancellation or the following day. UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies Show all 35 1 /35 UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies People on the beach at Croyde Beach in North Devon PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies People enjoy the sun at Carsington Water in Derbyshire PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies Sophie Todd, aged 7, and her mother Jane Todd playing in one of the Trafalgar Square fountains in London PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies A couple play catch with a ball whilst swimming in the River Stour Getty Images UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies Children play in the fountains at Granary Square, King's Cross PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies A dog under an umbrella at the Festival of British Eventing at Gatcombe Park, Gloucestershire PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies People sunbath on the clifftop at Woolacombe Beach in North Devon PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies A woman stands in a field of sunflowers at Vine House Farm near Spalding, Lincolnshire PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies A woman takes a selfie in front of St Paul's Chathedral PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies Paddle boarders off the coast at Tynemouth , Tyne & Wear PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies People on Woolacombe Beach in North Devon PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies A canal boat passes along the Regent's Canal PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies People relax in the warm weather on the beach in Brighton PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies People enjoying the hot weather and sunshine on the banks of the River Thames in Putney Rex Features UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies Spectators enjoy the hot weather during day seven of the Nature Valley International at Devonshire Park PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies Hot and sunny day in Hyde Park's Serpentine lake Rex UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies People relax in the warm weather on the beach in Eastbourne PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies People sunbathe as they enjoy the warm weather on Bournemouth beach PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies A person sunbathes on a blow up mattress in the sea off of Bournemouth beach in Dorset PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies A couple relax in the sunshine on the beach in Brighton PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies People play in water fountains in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies Chris Bryant from Basingstoke paddle boards at Boscombe Beach in Dorset PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies People shelter from the sun beneath umbrellas as they walk in St James's Park in London AFP/Getty Images UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies Arianna Espiritu Kelly, 2, eats an ice-cream in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies Victor the Polar Bear enjoys a dip in the water at Yorkshire Wildlife Park PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies People on the beach in Brighton PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies Woman relax in the sunshine on the beach in Hastings, Sussex PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies People enjoy their lunch break in the sunshine near Tower Bridge in London PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies Police horses drink from a water fountain during the hot weather in Green Park PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies Anglers fish on New Brighton beach on the Wirral, Merseyside as the sun rises over the Port of Liverpool and the River Mersey PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies A family of lemurs enjoy an ice lolly at Yorkshire Wildlife Park PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies People enjoy the sunshine in St James's Park in in London AFP/Getty Images UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies A duck swims in the algae covered lake in St James's Park, London PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies A couple cycle in the sunshine around Bewl Water in Kent PA UK weather: Temperatures soar as heatwave intensifies A man takes a break in the sun on Southbank, London PA The Irish airline and British Airways say they will not be paying cash compensation for the delays because they were caused by bad weather and, claims Ryanair, shortages of staff among air-traffic control providers. The cancellations have highlighted an apparent lack of resilience among the airlines this summer. Airlines make most or all of their profits during the school summer holidays. Withe seats worth hundreds of pounds each they schedule as many flights as they think they can handle. But when problems intervene, there is little slack in the system for service recovery. At Eurotunnels Folkestone terminal, planned maintenance on Saturday night/Sunday morning was cancelled so that more shuttles could be run to try to reduce the backlog of motorists trying to reach Calais. Delays are now down to around half-an-hour. The company has apologised for the recent service issues we have experienced, which caused delays of five hours or more on Friday. Rail services in Britain are being disrupted. Late-notice engineering work at London Liverpool Street is causing problems on services to East Anglia and Stansted Airport. And the line between Beverly and Bridlington on the Yorkshire coast is closed after a lightning strike on the signalling system. The mayor of Liverpool has criticised Ryanair after the airline cancelled more than 20 flights. On the final day of a heavily disrupted weekend which left tens of thousands of people stranded, Joe Anderson tweeted: 100s of people let down by Ryanair this morning with more cancelled flights at Liverpool JLA and as the chaos of Friday roles [sic] on to affect other airports and routes, the Ryanair response is remove staff from any contact with customers and let them fend for themselves. One of the cancellations was a service from Liverpool John Lennon Airport to Reus in Spain. Sorry state of affairs when staff not available to help, many people travelled from further afield to get flight and seriously let down. Really poor show by Ryanair again. I hope people get sorted, the mayor added. A spokesperson for Ryanair told The Independent: Our UK operation is running well today (29 July). There is a very small number of delays and cancellations as a knock-on effect from the extreme weather disruptions (Fri) and the disruptions arising from ATC [air traffic control] staff shortages in the UK, France and Germany. A Ryanair plane comes in to land in rainy conditions at Leeds Bradford Airport (PA) Thousands of airline passengers woke up to discover their holiday flights had been cancelled, after widespread flight cancellations on Saturday. On Sunday morning, Ryanair cancelled a dozen flights to and from its leading base, Stansted. Some of the 4,000-plus grounded passengers found out only at check-in. Ryanair passengers told to claim compensation due to strike Departures to Dublin from Birmingham, Luton and Newcastle were also been grounded, as well as a round trip from Gatwick to Cork. Ryanairs budget rival, easyJet, also cancelled a number of flights to and from Gatwick. Reasons ranged from technical issues, which grounded a round trip to Aberdeen, to knock-on effects from the poor weather on Friday causing the cancellation of a return flight between Liverpool and Amsterdam. British Airways first UK departure of the day, from Stansted to Faro in Portugal, was grounded, along with a round trip from Heathrow to Dublin. Airlines that cancel flights are obliged to tell passengers about their entitlement to replacement flights, accommodation and meals. Ryanair undertakes to find seats on alternative flights on its own services or rival airlines on the day of cancellation or the following day. The Irish airline and BA say they will not be paying cash compensation for the delays because they were caused by bad weather and, claims Ryanair, shortages of staff among air traffic control providers. The cancellations have highlighted an apparent lack of resilience among the airlines this summer. Airlines make most or all of their profits during the school holidays. With each seat potentially worth 100 or more, the temptation is to schedule as many flights as they think they can handle. But when problems intervene, there is little slack in the system for service recovery. One of Britains biggest holiday firms is to stop selling tickets to marine parks that keep killer whales in captivity. Thomas Cook said it took the decision after more than 90 per cent of its customers said they were concerned about animal welfare. The company also took into account scientific evidence from specialists about the treatment of the animals, according to chief executive Peter Fankhauser. It means Thomas Cook will stop selling trips to two attractions SeaWorld in Florida and Loro Parque in Tenerife from next summer. This was not a decision we took lightly, said Mr Fankhauser in a blog post. We have actively engaged with a range of animal welfare specialists in the last 18 months, and taken account of the scientific evidence they have provided. We have also taken feedback from our customers, more than 90 per cent of whom told us that it was important that their holiday company takes animal welfare seriously. And when so many of our customers are so clear in their view, I could not allow our business to ignore them. That has led us to the decision we have taken today. Thomas Cook had already agreed to stop promoting SeaWorld online, after an outcry when one of its orcas called Kasatka had to be put down. Twenty-nine other attractions have been removed from its books since it introduced a new animal welfare policy 18 months ago. SeaWorld and Loro Parque were among the 20 remaining parks which met minimum animal welfare guidelines set by the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA). Mr Frankauser said: We respect and applaud the work that has been done, and we will work with both over the next 12 months to prepare for our exit. We will also continue to work ourselves to identify more sustainable alternatives. SeaWorld's killer whales Show all 10 1 /10 SeaWorld's killer whales SeaWorld's killer whales Visitors are greeted by an Orca killer whale as they attend a show featuring the whales during a visit to the animal theme park SeaWorld in San Diego, California March 19, 2014. A California lawmaker introduced a bill to ban live performances and captive breeding of killer whales in the state, a measure that would force the SeaWorld San Diego marine theme park to end is popular "Shamu" shows. Mike Blake/Reuters SeaWorld's killer whales A trainer shows the crowd a killer whale during a show at the animal theme park SeaWorld in San Diego, California March 19, 2014. A California lawmaker introduced a bill to ban live performances and captive breeding of killer whales in the state, a measure that would force the SeaWorld San Diego marine theme park to end is popular "Shamu" shows. Mike Blake/Reuters SeaWorld's killer whales An Orca killer whale is seen underwater at the animal theme park SeaWorld in San Diego, California March 19, 2014. A California lawmaker introduced a bill to ban live performances and captive breeding of killer whales in the state, a measure that would force the SeaWorld San Diego marine theme park to end is popular "Shamu" shows. Mike Blake/Reuters SeaWorld's killer whales Visitors get a close-up view of an Orca killer whale during a visit to the animal theme park SeaWorld in San Diego, California March 19, 2014. A California lawmaker introduced a bill to ban live performances and captive breeding of killer whales in the state, a measure that would force the SeaWorld San Diego marine theme park to end is popular "Shamu" shows. Mike Blake/Reuters SeaWorld's killer whales Trainers have Orca killer whales perform for the crowd during a show at the animal theme park SeaWorld in San Diego, California March 19, 2014. A California lawmaker introduced a bill to ban live performances and captive breeding of killer whales in the state, a measure that would force the SeaWorld San Diego marine theme park to end is popular "Shamu" shows. Mike Blake/Reuters SeaWorld's killer whales Trainers have Orca killer whales perform for the crowd during a show at the animal theme park SeaWorld in San Diego, California March 19, 2014. A California lawmaker introduced a bill to ban live performances and captive breeding of killer whales in the state, a measure that would force the SeaWorld San Diego marine theme park to end is popular "Shamu" shows. Mike Blake/Reuters SeaWorld's killer whales Trainers have Orca killer whales perform for the crowd during a show at the animal theme park SeaWorld in San Diego, California March 19, 2014. A California lawmaker introduced a bill to ban live performances and captive breeding of killer whales in the state, a measure that would force the SeaWorld San Diego marine theme park to end is popular "Shamu" shows. Mike Blake/Reuters SeaWorld's killer whales Trainers have Orca killer whales perform for the crowd during a show at the animal theme park SeaWorld in San Diego, California March 19, 2014. A California lawmaker introduced a bill to ban live performances and captive breeding of killer whales in the state, a measure that would force the SeaWorld San Diego marine theme park to end is popular "Shamu" shows. Mike Blake/Reuters SeaWorld's killer whales Tillikum, a killer whale at SeaWorld amusement park, performs during the show "Believe" in Orlando, September 3, 2009. A killer whale at the SeaWorld amusement park in central Florida killed a trainer on February 24, 2010, police and company executives said. According to the Orlando Sentinel the orca involved in the incident, named Tillikum but popularly known as "Tilly," has a controversial past. Mathieu Belanger/Reuters SeaWorld's killer whales An unidentified trainer works with a killer whale during the "Believe" show at Sea World in Orlando, Florida, in this photograph taken on February 14, 2010. A killer whale at the SeaWorld amusement park in central Florida killed a trainer on February 24, 2010, police and company executives said. Picture taken February 14. Richard Baum/Reuters Public concern over the keeping of orcas in captivity increased after the release of the 2013 documentary Blackfish, which suggested that keeping the creatures in captivity caused them to become so stressed that they become a danger to people. Visitor numbers at SeaWorld subsequently dropped, as did the companys share price. In response to the criticism, in 2014 SeaWorld agreed to stop taking new cetaceans from the wild, and later it announced it would end its controversial orca-breeding programme. PA I left my home country of Scotland at the age of 18. I am now 21, working and studying in Copenhagen, Denmark, and also running a small business. When I speak to other UK citizens, wherever they are in Europe, I hear this word expat. My vision of being an expat is of pensioners living in Benidorm. I identify myself as most EU nationals now living in the UK... an immigrant looking for a better life. Since the UK voted to leave the bloc, I, as a UK national living in the EU, feel we have been forgotten about by London and Westminster; that the fact we have built our lives in the EU and that our very right to continue our lives as before is at risk means zero to Westminster. Nobody asked us how we feel. EU migration goes two ways over the English channel, a fact that all Brexiteers tend to forget. I am a British immigrant looking for a better life in the EU, I am not an expat. Cameron Address supplied Regarding your Letter: Our burgundy passports are already starting to become useless for us expats. Stephen Ward, this shouldnt come as a surprise, especially after the UK started to make EU IDs useless too. I moved from Spain to London in 2006, and ever since used my ID for European trips. Last year I was stopped at border control for 15 minutes with the police asking me the most random questions ever. Lesson learnt: Im always with my passport to avoid human contact at border patrol. Good luck to us all! Manuela Rubio Address supplied Our democracy requires us not to vote again I have a similar issue to R Quirk (Letters) in that as well as a second referendum there has been much talk of another general election. How dare people suggest we ignore the will of the people expressed in the previous election? We voted for a situation where no party has an overall majority, and although we know more now about the incompetence of the government, that is no excuse for another vote. It would be anti-democratic to have one. There should be no more elections. We made our decision in 2017 and that should be that for all time. Alan Pack Kent The odds of a second Brexit referendum If there are 1.4 million potential new voters who could change the direction of Brexit if they were given an opportunity, we must also factor in the effects of roughly the same number of votes that would be lost because of death in the last two years. How does the score stack up now? J Matthews Wareham I want to live in Totnes now Sundays article How the Independent City State of Totnes will start the reformation of Brexit Britain was a breath of common sense in a Lewis Carroll-style whimsical way. But hats off to Cooper for his promotion of human rights and analogies to Trojan horses. Humour can and often does make a point, and I wish the City State of Totnes the best of luck in the future. I wonder if I can get dual citizenship (although I draw the line at the crystals). Laura Dawson Harpenden Facebook is not the threat we make it out to be While I might wish that we could uninvent Facebook and its ilk, were stuck with them. So I think it behoves us to be thoughtful and balanced in our reaction to their influence, and I dont think the parliamentary report does that. It is right to be concerned about the influence these platforms can wield, but I dont think inflammatory comments about threats to democracy will lead to a balanced opinion. I mean I can think of lots of times in my lifetime, and before Facebook was invented, that we might have thought democracy was threatened. So I have to say to the committee, decent first try but go back and think again. As one of my teachers might have said, youre getting there but you need to think harder. Steve Mumby Bournemouth Gavin Duffy needs four council nominations before he can enter the presidential race (Rui Vieira/PA) Businessman Gavin Duffy has announced a potential run for President. The Irish Dragons Den entrepreneur is seeking the backing of four local councils before he can enter his name on the ballot paper. He has accepted an invitation to speak at Waterford City and County Council on Tuesday. If I get the required 4 Council nominations I will run the most modern, dynamic, interactive election campaign possible. If you want to be on the rollercoaster, make history, elect a President that is not just above but is not of politics email info@gavinduffy.ie Gavin Duffy (@GavinDuffy) July 29, 2018 He said: If I get the required four council nominations, I will run the most modern, dynamic, interactive election campaign possible. If you want to be on the rollercoaster, make history, elect a President that is not just above but is not of politics. Michael D Higgins will be running against a Sinn Fein candidate to be announced in September, six weeks before Ireland goes to the polls. While Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Labour have all backed the current president, a number of others have expressed an interest in running for the presidency. Expand Close Michael D Higgins has the backing of Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Labour (Niall Carson/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Michael D Higgins has the backing of Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Labour (Niall Carson/PA) Senator Gerard Craughwell indicated his interest, saying it was important that an election would take place, but he withdrew from the campaign. Another possible candidate was former GAA president Liam ONeill but he also ruled himself out, saying he did not have the logistical group to support a campaign. Independent senators Padraig O Ceidigh and Joan Freeman have also expressed an interest in contesting the election. Dublin Port's announcement of plans to invest 1bn in its facilities over the next 10 years got some attention recently, but nothing compared to the fanfare there last April when Taoiseach Leo Varadkar christened the MV Celine. Dubbed the 'Brexit-buster', it is 235m long and has a capacity of 8km, it is the world's biggest roll-on/roll-off ship and it will transport freight between Dublin and the continent. It would not have been able to dock in Dublin had it not been for the completion of recent expansion works there. But these expansion plans are now being beefed up further, according to Dublin Port chief executive Eamonn O'Reilly. The latest expansion drive of 1bn, compared to a previous projection of 600m, is being funded by a combination of the company's own cash flow, backing from other private lenders and the European Investment Bank (EIB). As part of new developments, the semi-state body which runs the port is also rowing back on earlier plans to deepen the port to 12 metres, saying the ongoing work to deepen it to 10 metres is sufficient. The focus, now, is increasing the port's capacity. Trade volumes at Dublin Port have increased by 29pc over the past five years and if the rate continues, they will have doubled in 14 years. Roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) freight was up 4.6pc in the first half of the year while container volumes increased 5.8pc. Outside of freight, the leisure aspect of the business also grew. Tourism figures increased by 2.7pc on last year. Ferry passenger numbers reached almost 800,000, with the number of cruise ships calling to the port rising by 14 to 64. "All we are at the end of the day is a provider of infrastructure for the shipping industry," said Dublin Port's O'Reilly who added that growth is key. And while Brexit is a major challenge for all business and the UK remains a massive trade route for Dublin Port, shipping companies are seeing opportunities because of the UK exit and the port is accommodating them. "Shipping companies are putting extra capacity onto existing routes from Dublin to continental Europe and we are seeing that they will sacrifice time for certainty where they can - there is uncertainty around the landbridge," he said. Currently there are routes from Dublin to Cherbourg with Irish Ferries and to Zeebrugge and Rotterdam with CLdN. Supply chains are adapting and there is also growing evidence that extra routes direct to continental Europe are being considered by shipping firms. And, in future, if tariffs become an issue we will see goods that are today imported from Britain come from continental Europe where possible, O'Reilly added. "Last week I met the German ambassador and the Irish German Chamber and later in the week we have Ireland's five major ports at Dublin Port to meet representatives of all of the major French ports on the north and west coasts - including Calais, Dunkirk and Cherbourg," O'Reilly said. "We did that for two reasons - one to explore the potential for new shipping routes between Ireland and France and also to discuss the shared problem that ports like Dublin, Rosslare, Calais and Dunkirk will have with British trade after Brexit." O'Reilly added that the port recently had a delegation of Irish civil servants visit at 5am, peak time, as part of their post-Brexit preparations to explore how they can introduce border checks without disrupting the flow of goods. The expansion at the port was widely welcomed by industry participants. "Anything that facilitates trade is positive and Dublin Port's move is a welcome one," said Simon McKeever, chief executive at the Irish Exporters Association (IEA). "For example, there will be more capacity on Irish ferries when Ulysses comes into service and when the WB Yeats starts it will increase from one to three-and-a-half round-trip sailings per week to Cherbourg," McKeever added. While its delivery was recently delayed, the WB Yeats is a 54,985 gross tonnes cruise ferry that can accommodate 1,885 passengers and crew and has nearly 3km of car deck space. But these are uncertain times for trade generally and with the upheaval caused by Brexit, many of the IEA's members are looking to diversify and find new markets. And the port may well end up accommodating some of this trade. "Germany is top of the list of our member companies choosing to diversify into new markets at 29pc. The most popular ones are either close by or English-speaking with the US second on the list," he said. According to McKeever, the association was the first to introduce a new training initiative on Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) status to support importers and exporters to comply with the Union Customs Code (UCC) which is a standard issued by customs administrations in the EU to businesses involved in the import and export of goods. The course is designed to modernise and enhance the way in which goods flow across the international supply chain and complements other courses run by the body. "We have seen a 30pc increase in demand for our courses to date - particularly for in-house, tailored customs training and AEO," he said. According to Verona Murphy, president of the Irish Road Haulage Association, other ports will play a significant trade role in the post-Brexit Ireland and investment is needed outside of Dublin. "One of the biggest drawbacks to Dublin Port is the congestion on the M50," she added. She said that Rosslare Europort needs to be given Tier 1 status to make it eligible for the same type of investment as Dublin Port. "It also needs to be made an agricultural border inspection post or an awful lot of queues will ensue post-Brexit. "The EU will want Ireland to do what's good for the EU, but Ireland needs to do what's good for Ireland or we will be in a black-hole recession for nigh on 10 years post-Brexit," she warned. Ireland would need emergency aid from the EU in the event of a no-deal Brexit the former head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has said. Ireland is set to be economically worst hit by a no-deal scenario if Britain fails to find a solution before the March deadline next year, according to Pascal Lamy. This is something that needs to be in our mind. Yes Ireland would be the most hit both in quantity and proportion and then there should be some sort of EU solidarity, he said, speaking on RTEs This Week programme this afternoon. This is a scenario which one year ago I would have put at a low probability. Read More A debate would be sparked throughout the EU27 as to who should pick up the bill but regardless the issue of EU aid should remain a priority, according to the former WTO Director-general. Of course there would be people in the continent who say why should we pay for the British not being able to agree on a solution," he said. This debate will come but at the end of the day this is something we will need to prepare for and will need to have in mind. Mr Lamy also reiterated warnings that tehre would be "no way" to avoid a hard border on the island in the event of a no deal. He said the border in Northern Ireland remains a top priority across Europe although many did not fully understand the historical context. EU is also about solidarity and specifically solidarity with, lets say, the smallest and the weakest. I think the Irish question resonates quite a lot on the continent among EU leaders, he said. Read More Most Europeans do not know precisely about the history and relationship with Great Britain and Ireland. But there is a view on the continent that this Irish questions is extremely sensitive I dont think there is any risk of the Irish being let down on this question," he said. If there cannot be an agreement on the future trade regime and the UK nevertheless exits in March next year there has to be a solution that guarantees that there will be no border," he added. Both Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tanaiste Simon Coveney have said they are confident that a deal can be reached by October. The Government is planning for all outcomes however, including a crash out scenario. Tighter supplies and significant price hikes for dairy staples such as butter, cheese and yoghurt have been forecast for Britain if the country crashes out of the EU next March. A London School of Economics (LSE) report, which was commissioned by the dairy processor Arla Foods, has warned that the UK will face severe dairy shortages if a Brexit deal is not secured. Britain is a net importer of dairy produce and depends on supplies primarily from Ireland, Denmark, Holland, Germany and France for everyday items such as cheddar cheese and butter. However, the report warns that tariffs of between 41pc and 74pc will be imposed on dairy produce if EU-UK trade reverts to WTO rules. Reacting to the findings of the report, Ash Amirahmadi, the UK managing director of Arla Foods, warned of serious implications for both the supply and price of dairy products. "Most likely we would see shortages of products and a sharp rise in prices, turning everyday staples like butter, yoghurts, cheese and infant formula, into occasional luxuries. Speciality cheeses, where there are currently limited options for production, may become very scarce," Mr Amirahmadi predicted. While a no-deal Brexit could represent an expansion opportunity for UK-based dairy processors, Mr Amirahmadi cautioned that Britain would struggle to fill the supply shortfall for at least three to four years. Ireland is a major supplier of dairy produce to Britain, with butter, powders and various cheddar cheese brands accounting for the bulk of the exports. The UK takes around one third of Ireland's dairy exports, with the trade worth around 820m. Over half of Ireland's cheese exports go to Britain, close to 30pc of butter exports - including the high-margin Kerrygold brand - and around 12pc of skim milk powder. The imposition of massive tariffs on these exports would pose a serious threat to the entire sector. The recent announcement by Glanbia Ireland that it is to develop a mozzarella plant in Portlaoise, in addition to Dairygold's decision to produce Jarlsberg cheese at Mogeely, Co Cork, is viewed as an effort by both processors to insulate their business, to some degree, from a 'bad Brexit'. The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) led a rescue team which saved over 72 pigs from a slurry tank on a farm in Co Antrim on Sunday. It was the largest animal rescue operation in the history of Northern Ireland and lasted nearly seven hours on the farm on the Ballinderry Road in Aghalee. Six NIFRS appliances attended the incident along with a specialist rescue team and a large animal rescue team. The pigs, weighing over 100 kilos each, fell into the slurry tank when concrete slots gave way. Unfortunately two pigs died during the operation. Aghalee farmer Nigel Grant thanked the Fire Service for their work in rescuing his pigs. "We had a good outcome, out of all the pigs in the tank we lost two. I can't praise the fire brigade enough," he told Q Radio. "There's an old saying in this country, whoever owns the cows in the drain will pull hardest on the rope, well today I saw the fire brigade men pull hardest on the rope. "They didn't own the stock, but they pulled very hard today on the rope." NIFRS Group Commander Geoff Somerville paid tribute to the work of those involved in the operation. "It was very arduous conditions, firefighters were working using breathing apparatuses and immersion suits, they worked in teams of three to rescue the pigs and then. "I would like to pay tribute to the work of the crews and everyone in attendance, it was a great result. We thought we were going to be dealing with a much worse situation." An examination by Comptroller & Auditor General (C&AG) Seamus McCarthy of Nama property sales has found that over one in four involved actual or perceived conflicts of interest on the part of the estate agent handling the transaction. The finding is contained in the C&AG's second progress report on Nama, which was published last week. Having reviewed the sale of a sample 70 assets, McCarthy's team found that the estate agents had made disclosures of actual or perceived conflicts of interest in 18 cases. In one case, the C&AG found the receiver of the property had also acted as the sales agent. The C&AG noted that a conflict of interest disclosure had not been made to Nama before the sale. Nama's policy dictates that sales agents are required to disclose any commercial relationship with the Nama debtor in the previous five years at the outset of the sale process. Once the sale has been concluded, they are obliged to disclose any actual or perceived conflict of interest between the agent, debtor and purchaser. While the process followed by Nama in three of the 18 property deals was deemed to be "reasonable" by the C&AG, he said "no evidence of assessment by Nama of the implication of the conflicts [of interest] was available" for the 15 other transactions where conflict of interest disclosures had been made. Defending its conduct, Nama told the C&AG that the conflicts that had been disclosed "were not deemed material to affect the transaction/performance of the sales agent". Referring to the case of the receiver who had acted as the sales agent on the same property, Nama said the full par debt had been recovered, and that this had been anticipated when the receiver had been appointed. Nama said this negated the need for a conflict of interest disclosure when the receiver appointed another division within their own firm to act as the sales agent. A series of large Irish wind projects look set to change hands, with US operator Element Power up for sale. SSE and ScottishPower are among the interested parties for the business - owned by US private-equity business Hudson Clean Energy Partners - according to a report in renewables publication Sparkspread. Element Power has an office in Cork and wind projects at various stages of development in Munster, Leinster and Ulster. It is also running a separate sales process for an interconnector development project, known as Greenlink, which aims to connect Wexford to Pembrokeshire in Wales. Sparkspread reported that interested parties in that process include UK-based Transmission Investment and Frontier Power. Evercore is advising Element Power and may ultimately split the business up into different portfolios. As well as Ireland, the company also has operations in Britain. France, Sweden and the US, among other countries. Splitting off the Irish operations - which also includes an Irish offshore wind development site - may help increase interest from the likes of Irish-listed Greencoat Renewables, which has just raised more than 100m of fresh cash to pursue acquisitions, with more fundraising potentially to come. Speaking about the offshore wind project, Element Power chief executive Mike O'Neill said Ireland "has an outstanding offshore wind energy resource that will play a key role in helping the country shift to a low carbon economy and increase its energy security, delivering benefits for Irish consumers and industry". The offshore industry is in its infancy here, but various companies - including ESB - are aiming to establish a foothold as the cost of the technology required comes down. "This site, in the relatively shallow waters of the east coast and near the large electrical demands of Dublin and the fast-growing data centre industry, is ideally located to be in the first wave of large-scale offshore projects to be built in Ireland to meet our 2030 renewable energy targets," Mr O'Neill added. On Wednesday, Ireland's climate change advisory council said the country was "completely off course" to achieve its 2020 and 2030 climate-change targets. Denis Naughten, the minister with responsibility for climate action, said he acknowledged and shared the frustration. Last year, Intercom raised $125m to become Ireland's first, and so-far only, unicorn. Started in 2011 with a base in both Dublin and San Francisco - and backed by Social and Capital, a US venture firm - they have paved their own path. Eoghan, Des and the team are to be commended. They sought out the advice of true experts in the field, investors with a track record of backing credible entrepreneurs, had a vision, built product, and hired an incredible team. Similarly, the Collison brothers, starting in San Francisco, managed to attract investment from Sequoia and Founders Fund, the firms behind Apple, Google and Facebook. Now Stripe is worth over $10bn. Movidius, started in Ireland by Sean Mitchell and David Moloney and backed by Atlantic Bridge and DFJ, sold to Intel for $400m. Logentries founded by Trevor Parsons and Viliam Holub, with backing from Polaris' Noel Ruane and a base in both Ireland and the US, sold for $100m in three short years. And Voxpro, headed by Dan and Linda Kiely, sold last year to Telus international for $150m. I could go on and on. Each is a considerable exit, and there are dozens more, but what sets these companies apart is a global outlook, a drive and ambition that not all companies and entrepreneurs have. How do we nurture our entrepreneurs and create more? Having spent the past few years in New York, and previously at Web Summit, I've been lucky enough to have met some incredible entrepreneurs and investors. I've seen first hand the key difference between Irish entrepreneurs and their counterparts in the US or even Israel. Our biggest problem is that so many of us don't think big enough and we don't back ourselves. You'll never hear an Irish person say: "I'm building something quite revolutionary here, it's actually my second company, I sold the first for so much..." and so on, but you'll hear plenty of US entrepreneurs talk about their visionary and revolutionary widget. Many Irish entrepreneurs are too polite, almost tripping over themselves to apologise for having an idea, never mind a vision. Thinking they're not quite at the level to enter a bigger market like London, New York or San Francisco. While graduates of Stanford think nothing of reaching out to Peter Thiel, Facebook's first investor , despite having never met him, or Andreessen Horowtiz partner Mark Andreessen, we Irish demur. Instead we look to local entrepreneurs, or worse still, their father's mate down the rugby club whose smartest investment was his SSIA account. To truly move the needle, entrepreneurs have to get out of their comfort zones, replicate the success of others and look a lot further afield. Many Irish investors, particularly the indigenous funds, are backed by people with little experience of building global technology businesses. They're the exact opposite of the Anglo bankers - more likely to bet conservatively and safely, looking for projects that are immediately profitable rather than investing in risky technology. These guys, and they're mostly guys, are looking for the three-year business plan, and would favour slow, measured growth over investing in real technology with a serious product roadmap. One quick look at Dragon's Den will give you a good example of the calibre of investors we have. Many are lacking in truly global experience and have such big egos as to feel their support alone is enough to warrant 20-40pc of an entrepreneur's company. Is this the calibre of investors we have in Ireland or is it just lazy casting? Living in New York, I meet the many Irish who've travelled abroad, it's allowed me to realise that, by and large, they are a smart entrepreneurial bunch. We're hard-working and those that do persevere do well. Whether that's Greg Turley, Colm Lyon or Mark Little. There are many examples of entrepreneurs who thought a little bigger and were rewarded. Similarly there are investors like Bill McCabe, Noel Ruane, Brian Caulfield and their ilk who are willing to back entrepreneurs who think outside the box. All of this is not to say that there aren't incredible companies out there, that do think bigger - there really are. Voysis is a complete voice AI platform, Pointy provides local stores with a way to make all of their inventory visible online, Cainthus is facial recognition for cows, allowing farmers to get a clear picture of their animals' health and wellbeing, and there are dozens more from Profitero and UrbanVolt to Teckro. But what they do all have in common is that vision, desire, and determination. They generally have investors with an international outlook and have operated as global companies from day one. They think bigger. While entrepreneurs need to think bigger and push themselves - and investors need to loosen the purse strings a lot more - the Government too has a role to play. The scatter-gun approach that Enterprise Ireland plays is admirable in some ways, giving an opportunity to so many, but it doesn't necessarily serve us well. The support and funding should be more focussed on a smaller number. Similarly, the IDA has done a fantastic job of attracting not just the Googles and Facebooks to Dublin, but the next generation of companies from Qualtrics to Consensys. But this is not a government problem, and no tax incentive will change the number of jobs in startups or the number of unicorns Ireland produces. It's not about investors, or talent, or even our geographical positioning - this is a psychological problem, a problem of mindset that pervades our entire society. No excuses though, we all need to think bigger. Daire Hickey is managing partner with 150Bond, a strategic advisory firm based in New York Ryanair unveiled its results for the three months to the end of June last Monday. These showed a 20pc reduction in after-tax profits to 319m. This was despite a 7pc increase in passenger numbers, to 37.6 million. The share price fell 5pc on the results. The airline blamed the profit dip on lower fares - Ryanair's average fare for the quarter was down 4pc to 38.68 - plus an early Easter along with higher fuel and pilot costs. However, it was the airline's continuing industrial relations difficulties rather than the lacklustre first-quarter results that kept Ryanair in the headlines last week. There was another one-day strike by Irish directly-employed pilots last Tuesday while cabin crew in Portugal, Italy, Spain and Belgium walked off the job last Wednesday. Expand Close Ryanair Chairman David Bonderman Photo: PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ryanair Chairman David Bonderman Photo: PA And there's more to come. The Irish pilots are threatening a further strike on August 3, the Friday of the August bank holiday weekend. Ryanair's response has been typically robust, with the airline announcing that it was it was switching six of the 30 aircraft operating out of Dublin Airport to Poland next winter and issuing protective notice to 300 of its Dublin-based staff - 100 pilots and 200 cabin crew. The airline claims that its staff are considerably better paid than those of most competitor airlines. According to Ryanair, its captains earn up to 200,000 a year, its pilots are paid up to 20pc more than those of other airlines such as Norwegian and Jet2, while its cabin crew "earn up to 40,000". All of this may well be so but, as the old saying goes: when you're explaining - you're losing. Ever since it recognised trade unions last December in the wake of the rostering fiasco that forced it to cancel 20,000 flights and ruined the travel plans of over 400,000 passengers, Ryanair has been on the back foot. It finds itself having to deal with trade unions for the first time and the transition is proving to be a difficult one. This is despite conceding a 20pc pay increase to its pilots and a 3pc increase to other staff. Staff costs rose by 34pc to almost 245m in the first quarter. Even when the impact of the 7pc increase in passenger numbers is filtered out, the average labour cost for each passenger flown rose by almost 25pc to 6.51. The continuing disruption to flights caused by the seemingly endless industrial relations difficulties has inevitably focused attention on the composition of Ryanair's board and its management team. Chairman David Bonderman, who resigned as a director of Uber in June 2017 for what were perceived to be sexist remarks, has been in situ for 22 years while Michael O'Leary has been a Ryanair director for 30 years and chief executive for 24 years. Kyran McLaughlin of Davy, who advised Ryanair on its 1996 IPO, has been a director for 17 years. While Michael Cawley and Howard Millar joined the board in 2014 and 2015 respectively, prior to becoming directors they had both been deputy chief executives of Ryanair since 2003. In other words, five of the 14 members of the Ryanair board have been with the company for at least 15 years, something that has attracted the ire of investor advisory groups. Prior to Ryanair's AGM last September, they advised shareholders to vote against the re-election of some directors. "The composition of the board and key board committees continues to fall short of best-practice guidelines", said Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS). "We consider the board chair [Bonderman] ... to be ultimately responsible for governance failures at the company." Pensions & Investment Research Consultants (Pirc) was also highly critical of what it considered to be governance weaknesses at the company saying that there was "insufficient independent representation" on the Ryanair board and recommending that shareholders vote against the re-election of McLaughlin, Millar and Cawley as directors. "We are very fortunate to have a chairman with the aviation experience of David Bonderman," said Ryanair chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs. "All shareholders would say that Michael O'Leary has been the standout chief executive of European airlines." With a majority of them having ignored the advice of ISS and Pirc and voted to re-elect all of the directors, Ryanair shareholders obviously agree. So is this a case of an ageing board stuck in its ways and either unable or unwilling to adapt to changing circumstances? "People who are talking about the Ryanair business model being broken are incorrect," said Goodbody Stockbrokers aviation analyst Mark Simpson. "Wages are only a small part of Ryanair's cost advantage." Ryanair's total non-fuel costs per passenger were 27 in the first quarter of which wages were 6.51 or 24pc. This compares to total non-fuel costs per passenger of 111 at Eurowings, 93 at Lufthansa, 84 at Norwegian, 51 at easyJet and 40 at Wiz. In addition to lower labour costs, Ryanair also has an enormous cost advantage over most of its rivals in airport and handling charges, ownership and maintenance, and sales and marketing. However, as the turbulence experienced at Ryanair over the past 10 months demonstrates, managing a small non-union, insurgent airline in competition with large flag carriers is a very different proposition to managing a heavily-unionised incumbent - Ryanair expects to fly 139 million passengers in the year to March, making it Europe's largest airline in terms of passengers flown. "Management possibly thought they could buy off the pilots by increasing remuneration. It goes further then money though, possibly too far. Restrictions on base transfer is a red line. This is key to Ryanair's low-cost business model and core to staff job security. The trade unions have to compromise. They need to agree terms that work for both parties for the long-term. Agreeing something this month and then having the whole thing fall apart next year does not work for a company that has long-term targets", says Merrion analyst Darren McKinley. Ryanair has ordered 135 Boeing 737-200 aircraft and has options over a further 75 with a total list price of more than $22bn (18.8bn). The first of these new aircraft, which can carry 4pc more passengers while burning 16pc less fuel, are scheduled for delivery in the spring of 2019. The airline is relying on these larger, more economical aircraft to help achieve its target of flying 200 million passengers by the year ending March 2024. This will mean growing passenger numbers by an average of 7.5pc for each of the next six years and increasing the size of the Ryanair fleet from its current 455 to 585. This continued dash for growth almost certainly helps explain some of Ryanair's current problems. Is the constant expansion placing demands on staff that will prove to be unsustainable with what is now a unionised workforce? Meanwhile, Ryanair is determined to maintain the flexibility which has been the key to its growth. "The Ryanair business model is heavily dependent on a flexible labour force and a mobile fleet. It still has that at the moment. The red line is that it will not give up its low-cost advantage and productivity," said McKinley. With at least some of the trade unions not for turning and the company seemingly determined to retain flexibility, has the immovable force hit the immovable object at Ryanair? Not necessarily. While Ryanair's recognition of trade unions has not been without incident, it has gone much more smoothly than is generally recognised. "We are happy with the pace [of concluding agreements with the unions]. We have union agreements in place in our three biggest markets, the UK, Italy and Germany. Once we decide to do something we pretty much get on with it. We want to make the same progress in Dublin", said Kenny Jacobs. A unionised workforce may also open up previously-closed markets to Ryanair. "Ryanair can now look to France and Scandinavia, unionised markets that were previously closed to it. The idea that union recognition is a zero-sum game for Ryanair is simply not true," said Simpson. While union recognition may not prove to be a zero-sum game for Ryanair, something may have to give for the airline to make it through the current turbulence. That something may well prove to be its passenger milestone. "Investors like to see plc management under-promise and over-deliver. Therefore the elephant in the room is: will they be able to sustain the target of 200 million passengers by 2024?" said McKinley Having pinned their colours so firmly to the mast, what would the implications for O'Leary and Bonderman be if Ryanair were forced to abandon that target, or even postpone it for a few years? With both chairman and chief executive having been in position for over two decades and growing indications of investor dissatisfaction at Ryanair's corporate governance, would scrapping or postponing the 200-million passenger target result in Bonderman and/or O'Leary heading for the departures gate? On the other hand, what are the implications for industrial relations at Ryanair, and with it the airline's hard-won reputation for punctuality and reliability, if it continues to go for growth in the face of mounting staff dissatisfaction? Having transformed Ryanair from a small, struggling carrier into the largest airline in Europe, can O'Leary and Bonderman now refashion it to cope with the new unionised era? OpenHyDRo's tidal energy ambitions ended last week, marking the termination of another boomtime punt for some of Ireland's wealthiest individuals. Founder Brendan Gilmore, a one-time adviser for former Independent News & Media chairman Tony O'Reilly, set up the company in 2005 and the country's high-net-worth individuals piled in - paying up to 250,000 for a stake in the business. The prospectus was slick and ambitious, with plans for a liquidity event that would deliver a handsome return for shareholders. Gilmore, whose business affairs crossed paths with the likes of Paschal Taggart, Michael Holland, Noel Smyth and Philip Lynch in the 1990s, had many loyal followers who were willing to place a bet on alternative energy. But an investment in 2011 from French naval company DCNS, originally hailed as a payday path for shareholders, did not prove to be the exit many backers had hoped for. DCNS didn't own the company outright, but it has been in the driving seat for some time. Hopes of a stock market listing were dashed in 2014, when Rothschild, appointed by DCNS, told Irish investors that it would not be practical and that instead they would be tapped for more cash. The following year it raised close to 50m from shareholders, the majority of which came from DCNS. Irish shareholders were increasingly unhappy about further fundraisings, the last of which was reported in these pages in April 2017. At that time, up to 90m was needed, with original shareholders being further diluted. Shares were issued at 1.60 - in a 2011 fundraising, clients of Davy and Goodbody stockbrokers and other investors bought into the company at 3.50 a share. DCNS, which has been renamed as Naval, said last week it had invested 260m in the OpenHydro, and was no longer prepared to support the company because it is loss-making. Irish shareholders invested millions of euro in addition to this. Naval forecast that OpenHydro would make further losses of 128m between now and 2026. The French shareholders may have pulled the plug last week, but OpenHydro has been under water for some time. * * * * * TG4 last week got 1m in extra funding from the Government after the Irish-language station submitted its five-year strategy to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and the Government. When it submitted its last five-year strategy in 2013, the station was basically handed back its homework and told to come up with a more realistic plan after envisioning an expanded organisation. Back in 2013, the station was getting 32.75m in public funds, accounting for 91.4pc of income. The rest came from advertising and other commercial activities. In 2017, public funding was almost unchanged, but accounted for 89pc of income as commercial revenue increased. The 1m fillip equates to a 3pc increase in public funding. RTE is still awaiting its funding fate after submitting its five-year strategy. A 3pc increase would be an extra 6m, which the broadcaster would hardly turn away at the moment. Small luxury houses plan for Victoria Homes Housebuilder Victoria Homes has just closed on a site in Knocklyon, south Dublin, where it hopes to build a clutch of high-end homes. It is not far from Corrybeg Way in Templeogue, which was a very successful small development for the ambitious building firm. Those redbrick houses were pitched as being Victorian in style and proved to be extremely lucrative for the developers. Prices for the 16 four- and five-bed detached homes started at 850,000. The new site is smaller than the Corrybeg site and will accommodate 11 luxury houses. Much bigger projects are in the works Victoria Homes, which is run by Derek Byrne and Danny Whelan and backed by international investors, plans 850 homes in Carrickmines. * * * * * Alan Foley, the creator of Piranha Bars new cartoon Mya Go, is already looking to international markets for the new series, which launched earlier this month on RTEjr. The pre-school cartoon was inspired by his now 12-year-old daughter who, as a two-year-old, enthusiastically declared that Mya go shop or Mya go park, every morning depending on her plans for the day. The project, which cost .2.6m and was funded by organisations in Ireland and Spain, brought on board industry star writer Sam Morrison, who has worked on Peppa Pig, Ben & Hollys Little Kingdom and The Octonauts for the BBC. The programme is five minutes long and there are 104 episodes in the current series. It will go on air in Spain next year, but Foley has his eyes on the lucrative British television market. Its very early days at the moment, but we do have a lot of interest internationally, he told me. The UK would be fantastic and we are keen to open a door there. Polo pony dealer Siobhan ready for charity chukka The 2018 International Ladies Polo Tournament in aid of the Irish Injured Jockeys Fund was launched recently at the All Ireland Polo Club in the Phoenix Park. Among those attending was Siobhan Herbst, who has built up an interesting business selling former Irish racehorses to the international polo market. She sources them from various horse trainers around the country and helps fill demand in the Argentinian polo pony market. Herbst, an accomplished international polo player, sold close to 60 Irish horses abroad last year and is looking to repeat that this year. The Ladies Polo Tournament, run by Polo Wicklow, takes place on August 18 and will feature some of the best riders in the world who will be flying in from Argentina, the USA, the UK, France, Germany and Spain. Since the financial crisis there have been concerns that when something goes badly wrong in a bank some individuals rely on what one UK regulator termed the 'Murder on the Orient Express' defence of "it wasn't me, it could have been any one of us". This week's Central Bank 'Behaviour and Culture in Irish Retail Banks' report proposes a new individual accountability framework with four pillars: Conduct standards providing greater clarity about the behaviour expected by regulators for regulated financial services providers and the individuals working in them. A Senior Executive Accountability Regime, applicable only to banks and certain insurance and investment firms in the first instance, requiring firms to allocate individual responsibility for different areas within the firm, leaving no gaps. Stronger requirements for regulated firms to assess the fitness and probity of senior managers on an ongoing basis. A streamlined enforcement process removing certain barriers to regulatory enforcement action against individuals. There are obvious merits not only for the regulator, but also for regulated firms and the public, in having a clearer and more structured system for identifying required behavioural standards and mapping which senior individual is responsible for what. When considering whether to introduce such reforms legislators may draw from lessons learned from recent UK reforms promoting individual accountability in banks. The Central Bank's proposals bear many similarities to the UK's Senior Managers Regime which has applied to UK banks since 2016. The UK regime requires banks to allocate particular responsibilities to individual senior managers, to prepare statements of responsibility for each individual senior manager, to arrange appropriate handover of responsibilities between senior managers and to prepare a 'management responsibilities' map to identify which senior individual is responsible for any given matter at any given time. Should we expect a sudden sharp increase in regulatory enforcement action against senior individuals after the introduction of a regime akin to that proposed by the Central Bank? Based on the UK's experience to date, the short answer is no, or at least, not immediately. However, the point of such a regime is not simply to lead to a greater number of enforcement actions against senior individuals - the mere prospect of career-ending, severely stressful enforcement action against individuals is itself designed to encourage responsible conduct from senior individuals in banks and other regulated firms. With such a regime in place, would some talented individuals think twice about becoming a non-executive director of an Irish bank? 'Bankers jostle to be junior as accountability rules kick in' blared one headline when the UK regime was being introduced - to derision from some quarters. A non-executive director is paid less than senior executives and has less control over day-to-day management of a bank but the proposed regime may lead to heightened exposure to individual accountability. At the very least we should expect an increased focus on the precise description of an individual's responsibilities, the demarcation of responsibilities of others, some defensive escalation of concerns to senior individuals and the seeking of independent legal advice at the bank or regulated firm's cost by senior individuals to protect their position when material issues arise. In its report, the Central Bank states that "it is ... critical to break the link between the conduct of an individual and a firm's wrongdoing (referred to as 'participation'). This hurdle of participation significantly complicates enforcement action". The Central Bank recommends that the "hurdle" of participation be removed to allow the Central Bank to pursue individuals directly for their own misconduct rather than only where they are proven to have participated in a regulated firm's wrongdoing. Enforcement actions against individuals are typically bitterly-fought and costly for the Central Bank to pursue. It is likely therefore that any attempts to simplify regulatory enforcement action against individuals will be resisted by some. Controversy arose in the UK in the lead-up to the introduction of the Senior Managers Regime regarding requirements for enforcement action against individuals. The UK regulator originally proposed a 'presumption of responsibility' which would have reversed the burden of proof in enforcement cases against senior managers. However, before the new regime entered into force, the 'presumption of responsibility' was abandoned, leaving the burden of proof with the regulator, as before. No doubt the devil will be in the detail, but there are valuable lessons to be learned from the UK and other jurisdictions. The Central Bank's report is likely to shape the agenda of individual accountability in Irish banks and regulated entities for years to come. There is widespread acceptance that it is no longer a question of if - but rather when - measures to strengthen individual accountability will become law. In that context, it would be wise for senior managers in banks and other regulated firms to start thinking now about how such a framework might be implemented in practice. Shane Kelleher is the head of the Financial Regulation Unit at William Fry If youre using your phone in America check in advance how much the charges and allowances are with your network an Irishman recently spoke of his disbelief when he received a bill for 26,000 following a family trip to the US Stock image If you're about to jet off to sunnier climes over the next few weeks, you should take a few minutes to check what the situation is regarding your mobile operator's roaming charges that might apply at your holiday destination. If you don't, you could be stung for hundreds, if not thousands, of euro when your next mobile bill comes in. Let's say that during a two-week holiday in the USA you spend about an hour a day using roaming to check out your Facebook, Instagram and Twitter feeds, watching a couple of YouTube videos, browsing a handful of websites, and using Google Maps or Translate. You could easily be using up to 50MB a day. If you're a customer of Eir Mobile, for instance, that would mean a bill of up to 7,000 for data alone used during the entire holiday period. The other operators - Vodafone, Virgin, Three and Tesco Mobile - charge between 2.40 and 7 per MB compared to Eir's 10 per MB. Eir's roaming rates for calling home are charged at 1.60 to 1.70 a minute, or texts at 39c each, which are generally on a par with other operators with the exception of Lycamobile, which charges just over 3 a minute for calls, and 75c for texts. Few of us bother to check exactly what the charges will be. New research by price comparison site Switcher.ie shows that only 14pc of us will check charges with our phone provider and adjust our usage accordingly while travelling. The study also showed that four in 10 of us will leave roaming on all the time when we're abroad, while around a quarter will turn it off completely and only use wifi. However, the good news is that, since mid-2017, you are less likely to be stung by your next mobile bill if you holiday in another European country, thanks to new EU rules outlawing extra charges for roaming - but not all of them. Indeed, depending on your operator, you could still rack up charges unnecessarily if you're not careful. Roaming in the EU Last year saw the introduction of the so-called and much-publicised 'roam like at home' (RLAH) EU law, which banned operators from charging roaming fees across all mobile phone plans for calls and texts. So if you make a call or text in another EU country, you will not be charged anything more than you would pay while calling or texting at home. The new rules have certainly made an impact. According to the latest figures from telecoms regulator ComReg, we're using our mobiles to make and take calls 50pc more than a year ago, while our use of data services like Facebook abroad is up a staggering 256pc. While you can no longer be charged extra for roaming for calls and texts, the picture is less clear when it comes to data roaming. In a nutshell, the amount of data that is subject to the RLAH rules depends on the type of contract you have. Generally, your operator is allowed to apply what is usually termed a 'fair usage' policy to limit data use when roaming. So you can be hit for penalties if you use too much data while in other EU countries, although they will be capped under EU law. Last year, for instance, the most you would have been charged for exceeding your operator's roaming limit was 7.70 per GB of data, but this cap has already fallen to 6 per GB since the beginning of this year, and will continue to decrease steadily every year until 2022, when it will be set at 2.5 per GB. Operators must clearly inform you about any limits in advance and alert you if you have reached your limits. But it's worth learning how to calculate your RLAH data-roaming limit. If you have a plan with unlimited data or very cheap data, you divide the amount you pay every month (excluding the Vat) by six (the current penalty rate for exceeding your RLAH limit) and multiply the answer by two. For example, if you have a mobile bundle with unlimited calls, SMS and data for 42 (35 minus the 20pc Vat), you will get a RLAH data allowance of at least 11.6GB (2 x (35 divided by 6)). If your plan does not include unlimited data, calculating your data limit is a bit more complicated. Under a 'fair usage' policy, your operator is entitled to apply a lower RLAH data limit if you pay less than 3 per GB of data under your mobile plan. For example, if you have a mobile bundle that includes unlimited calls, SMS and 3GB of data for 30 (25 excluding the 20pc Vat), this means you are paying 8.3 per GB (25 divided by 3GB), so you can use your full data allowance while abroad. But if you have the same bundle with 10GB of data, you would be paying 2.5 per GB of data (25 divided by 10GB), so a lower data limit will apply. So in this case, your RLAH data allowance will be 8.3GB (2 x (25 divided by six)). If you use more than that, the above penalties will apply. If you are with Vodafone, the good news is that you don't have to worry about calculating a RLAH data allowance, because it is the only one of the Irish operators that provides its customers with the use of their full data allowance within their plans while roaming in Europe at no extra cost. Outside the EU It's still all too common to hear of mobile users receiving eye-watering bills following trips taken in non-EU countries. A Dublin man recently spoke of his disbelief when he received a bill for 26,000 from mobile network Three, following a family trip to the US last December. He claims that there was a daily data cap of 50-worth applied to his plan and he wasn't informed by Three when he went over it. Roaming fees to non-EU countries currently vary widely. In destinations like Asia, the US and Australia, charges for calls home can be more than 3 per minute, while sending a single text costs up to 75c, according to Switcher.ie. If you use mobile broadband, you could be looking at charges of between 5 and 10 per MB, which can quickly add up given that 1MB is only enough data to browse a single website. As always, contact your network or visit its website to clarify how much the charges and allowances will be in the country you're travelling to. You'll also receive a text from your network when you arrive at your destination, which gives you information on the charges, and it'll contact you to alert you of your roaming spend, too. It's worth noting that Vodafone also offers a default roaming tariff, called Red Roaming. Depending on where you are travelling to, this has a daily fee of 2.99 or 4.99 for unlimited calls, SMS and 200MB of data per day. The golden rules to follow to help you avoid roaming charges include: turning off roaming and sticking to wifi; using apps like WhatsApp or Skype to make calls over wifi; downloading any content you need, like books, music or movies, before you go rather than streaming; and turning off any automatic updates for apps. 'Spain's ICT sector has experienced three years of consecutive growth, with turnover rising to more than 105bn in 2017, among the highest in Europe.' Photo: PA Sun, sea and sand are typically top on the minds of Irish travellers to Spain. While most of the more than two million people who visited Spain from Ireland in 2017 were holiday-makers, an increasing number are travelling to realise new business opportunities. For many Irish exporters, Spain, the Eurozone's fourth-largest economy, now means business. The International Monetary Fund recently upgraded its growth forecast for the Spanish economy from 2.4pc to 2.8pc, outstripping Germany, France and Italy. Spain's growing economy is being driven by its exporting base, with exports now composing a third of national output, compared to 25pc before 2010. The economy's resurgence over the past year has seen unemployment fall, down from 26pc in 2013 to 16pc today. The positive impact of rising employment on consumption and construction activity is fuelling domestic demand. Tapping into the potential presented by economic growth across the Mediterranean, Enterprise Ireland held Ambition Italy and Spain in June, an event focused on supporting Irish exporters to explore opportunities, identify challenges, and develop strategies to succeed in the two markets. The 55 Irish companies that attended learned about opportunities in Spain's medtech, life sciences, ICT, fintech and agritech sectors in particular. Safety and workwear manufacturer Portwest is one of Ireland's top exporters to Spain. "Portwest has been active in the Spanish market for a number of years and each year we continue to grow our market share," said Portwest's commercial manager, Orla Hughes. "There is great potential in the market and by investing and believing in our sales team on the ground, we look forward to nurturing more relationships with key distributors." Cork-based recruitment specialists Zartis has also benefited from entering the Spanish market. "The Zartis team in Spain started with two people just over three years ago, and we have since grown headcount to 54," said Zartis CEO Padraig Coffey. "Doing business in Madrid is a pleasure." Spain's ICT sector has experienced three years of consecutive growth, with turnover rising to more than 105bn in 2017, among the highest in Europe. Enterprise Ireland's Madrid office recently organised an inward buyer visit for ICT giant Telefonica in Dublin. Six Telefonica executives interested in sourcing new suppliers met with 16 Irish cyber security companies and reviewed their innovative technologies. The medtech sector in Spain is also ripe with potential for innovative Irish companies, particularly those specialising in healthcare technology. Spain's medtech sector accounts for 20pc of total domestic healthcare tech consumption, meaning that 80pc of the market is open to foreign companies looking to supply nearly 800 hospitals across the country. The financial services sector in Spain is also one of Europe's most developed and is known for its early adoption of innovative technologies. One of the country's largest banks, BBVA, visited Dublin's MoneyConf in June and met with eight Irish fintech companies which are now pursuing opportunities in the Spanish market. In order to succeed in Spain, Irish companies must ensure that they remain patient and invest in the right people on the ground. Spanish professionals will want to build trust before doing business, resulting in longer sales cycles. Enterprise Ireland's office in Madrid is ready to assist Irish companies interested in the market. We support them to ensure they get maximum benefit from time invested in the country and to discover the most impactful opportunities Spain has to offer. With the right preparation and engagement, we can help the Spanish sun to brighten up your business. Alberto Cisterna is manager for Spain and Portugal at Enterprise Ireland Facebook long had a knack for navigating privacy controversies related to its collection of user data. But the cost of its missteps finally caught up with it last week, sending its market value down more than $100bn (85.7bn) last Thursday in the largest drop in value in Wall Street history. Long-simmering privacy concerns, dating to nearly the birth of the company in a Harvard dorm room in 2004, have in recent months taken more concrete form than ever. In May, the EU imposed a strict new regulatory regime. US officials, meanwhile, have begun scrutinising Facebook in a multi-agency federal investigation related to its handling of a recent scandal that exposed the information of 87 million people. Worries about the rising costs of privacy regulations, along with declining growth in users and revenue, played a key role in a major Wall Street sell-off last Wednesday night and Thursday, with Facebook's stock closing down 19pc, at its lowest level in nearly three months. The steepness of the decline suggests investors are re-evaluating the viability of Facebook's core business - collecting extensive data on users so that they can better target them with advertising - in a world in which public pressure is mounting for stricter privacy protections. "This is a privacy wake-up call that the markets are delivering to Mark Zuckerberg," said Jeffrey Chester of the Centre for Digital Democracy, a privacy advocate. Facebook's bad day on Wall Street raises questions about the fate of other big technology firms, such as Twitter and Google, which like Facebook have been grappling with rising privacy concerns and congressional demands to more aggressively combat the flow of disinformation on their platforms. Twitter saw a sharp decline after The Washington Post reported three weeks ago that the company was suspending fake and suspicious accounts at a record pace. Shares plunged on Friday after the company said active users fell by 1 million in the last quarter But analysts noted that Google's parent company Alphabet saw shares surge last Monday after reporting strong earnings despite the new European regulations and a recent $5.1bn fine for antitrust violations, suggesting that investors have specific concerns about Facebook and its recent bout with scandals. The public mood regarding Facebook also has arguably soured amid the privacy controversies and revelations about the platform's role in spreading Russian disinformation during the 2016 presidential election. Calls to #DeleteFacebook have spread on Twitter, and some prominent people have announced that they were stepping away from their heavy use of social media. In terms of measurable impact on Facebook, the new European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules led to a decline of three million users on that continent, company officials revealed in an earnings call on Wednesday. Facebook said that the changes would continue to hurt revenues as more people opted out of ad targeting in the months ahead. The company also said that it would lose money because its advertiser partners had also been impacted by GDPR and because of other privacy changes to come. But Facebook, like some other technology companies, has rolled out the user protections worldwide, meaning the consequences for the company are likely to be global. Chief financial officer David Wehner said in an earnings call that Facebook's expectation of declining earnings growth is "really a combination of kind of how we're approaching privacy as well as GDPR and the like". Problems for the company have not been confined to privacy issues. Signs of trouble have been growing for nearly two years, since the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election when chief executive Zuckerberg dismissed the possibility that the rampant spread of phony news reports on the platform affected the vote. He called the notion "a pretty crazy idea" but later apologised for the comment. What followed was a major public reckoning, rare for high-flying technology companies. Facebook eventually disclosed aggressive Russian manipulation on its platform and had to answer pointed questions about it on Capitol Hill. Then, news reports in March detailed how political consultancy Cambridge Analytica had siphoned away the data of Facebook users for campaign targeting. This prompted another round of questioning on Capitol Hill, this time of Zuckerberg himself. Facebook's stock price proved resilient throughout these controversies - aside from a dip after the Cambridge Analytica news - even as Zuckerberg warned that addressing issues such as privacy and disinformation on the platform would involve costs for the company, such as the hiring of tens of thousands of new content reviewers. That three-year winning streak reversed abruptly after last Wednesday's earnings call, which appeared to crystallise several long-standing concerns. "The impact of data privacy and GDPR seems to have had a greater effect on their business than many had appreciated," said Christopher Rossbach, chief investment officer at J Stern & Co. GDPR gave users more elaborate notices about how their data was being collected and used and required explicit approvals. The earnings report suggests broader worries that a company that has grown at a furious pace for years may finally be seeing its growth easing, especially among younger users opting for such social media alternatives as Snapchat or Instagram. That company, along with the globally-popular WhatsApp messaging service, is owned by Facebook, but neither has been as effective as the parent company at generating advertising revenue. Morningstar issued an analysis last week, noting the slowing growth and lowering its estimated value of Facebook stock. The report declared that the decline was "Not a Buying Opportunity". Yet it's the privacy issues and cascade of recent scandals that dominated commentary about Facebook last Thursday, as investors tried to make sense of Facebook's tumble. "If Cambridge [Analytica] had never happened, I don't think the worries would be as pronounced. Cambridge has thrown in a whole host of worries around confidence for users, advertisers, and regulators. It creates a murkier picture," said Daniel Ives, chief strategy officer and head of technology research at GBH Insights. The US investigations, first reported by The Washington Post this month, have two major areas of inquiry. The Federal Trade Commission is probing whether Facebook violated a 2011 consent decree with the agency governing its privacy practices when it shared data with Cambridge Analytica and other companies. And the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission are examining whether Facebook's portrayals of its actions with regard to Cambridge Analytica have been timely and accurate. Facebook has said it is co-operating with these investigations. It has portrayed Cambridge Analytica and people working for the company as acting inappropriately in collecting data on its users. The broader political atmospherics surrounding the company also have darkened amid these controversies, with both Republicans and Democrats calling for possible new regulation of the tech industry and social media in particular. "It takes a while for opinions to begin to settle, and I think the cumulative effect of months on end of scandal has shown that this is not something they are capable of fixing in any meaningful way - on their own," said Sarah Miller, spokeswoman for Freedom From Facebook, a non-profit coalition of progressive groups calling for Facebook to be broken up. Last Thursday analysts began debating whether Facebook's tumble signalled the likelihood of long-term stagnation or merely was a stumble - and hence an opportunity to buy a fundamentally strong stock before it continues rising again. Richard Greenfield of BTIG called the dip in users related to GDPR a "one-time step down, not a building headwind" in suggesting that Wall Street was overreacting. "We were pretty stressed out during Facebook's Q2 2018 conference call and could sense the fear/panic in investors' voices afterwards," he wrote. "But as we sat back and reflected on why we believe in Facebook, the core tenets of our investment thesis are unchanged. Mobile is eating the world and Facebook is a core holding to benefit from that shift." What remains less clear is whether the push for tougher privacy regulations has peaked or is still building. The fate of Facebook - and many other tech companies - probably depends on the answer to that question. The Washington Post Irish billionaire inventor David McMurtry's precision measurement, 3D printing and medical robot manufacturing firm Renishaw is boosting its Irish operation on the back of strong growth. Employee numbers in Swords, north Co Dublin have increased from 220 to 262, with new recruits mostly working on manufacturing and design of precision measurement devices for its metrology division, the firm said. It added that numbers are likely to increase further as the company's global workforce approaches 5,000 from a current headcount of 4,862, and it continues to invest in R&D and sales and marketing over the next two years. The news emerged as Clontarf native McMurtry is set to bank a 17.9m dividend after the UK-headquartered firm he co-founded, and in which he owns a 1.56bn, 36pc stake, booked sales of 611.5m and a profit of 145m - up 14pc and 33pc respectively on last year. Chief executive William Lee confirmed that as the risk of a no-deal Brexit intensifies, the company may have to invest in a new warehouse in central Europe. "We have looked at the simplest way of shipping from our Gloucestershire HQ all around Europe. "Most of our products are zero-rated anyway, but the logistics and administration could become more complicated," he added. Lee took over from 78-year-old McMurtry as CEO earlier this year after working at the firm for 20 years. McMurtry now heads up the R&D operation, working on inventing the next generation of the firm's 3D metal printers and Equator precision measuring probes, alongside fellow Irishman, engineering director Geoff McFarland. It recently emerged that the firm took part in a blockchain trial using a rules of origin certificate aimed at simplifying the sharing of information such as customs declarations - including the certificates, as well as bills of lading and letters of credit. Blockchain is a distributed ledger, spread across thousands of computers. McMurtry, one of Ireland's wealthiest entrepreneurs, began his career working at Rolls-Royce in the UK. A new report predicts that China could become the worlds largest economy by 2030 Stock image The $20 trillion (15.25 trillion) US economy, the world's largest, is starting to hear footsteps. Less than 15 hours before government figures released in Washington showed a solid expansion in the second quarter, the International Monetary Fund delivered a reminder there's another economy that's gaining fast. "Even with a gradual slowdown in growth, China could become the world's largest economy by 2030," the fund said in annual report on the world's second-largest economy. US gross domestic product grew 2.8pc last quarter from a year earlier, the most since 2015. The gross domestic product of China, meanwhile, got 6.7pc bigger over the same period and stands at about $13 trillion. The jockeying for the No 1 slot is playing out in a trade war between Donald Trump's White House and Beijing. Bloomberg The US Attorney's office asked for the charges to be withdrawn having considered Kelleher (pictured) and Kenney's wish to "address the merits of the underlying civil matter" before Judge Diamond's court. Photo: Pat Murphy/Sportsfile A warrant issued in the United States of America for the arrest of developer Garrett Kelleher and Irish-Canadian lawyer Martin Kenney has been withdrawn. It had been issued over their failure to appear before a judge in Philadelphia for a costs hearing related to an insurance claim for over $100m. US district court Judge Paul Diamond agreed last Monday to withdraw and dismiss charges of criminal contempt in response to a request from United States Deputy Attorney William McSwain. The US Attorney's office asked for the charges to be withdrawn having considered Kelleher and Kenney's wish to "address the merits of the underlying civil matter" before Judge Diamond's court. That matter relates to Kelleher's decision to loan $2.85m to a company that assisted with the funding of an insurance claim brought by 24 Liberian businessmen against insurer Cigna Worldwide (CWW) for losses suffered during Liberia's civil war in 1990. In 2016, the US district court ruled that the action funded by Kelleher violated the worldwide anti-suit injunction. In a recent filing to the court, Kelleher said: "I had no personal knowledge of that injunction at the time I made the investment that makes me the subject of this civil contempt proceedings." 'Here's a middle-class, middle-aged white male who has no material wants and loves his wife and kids. Make a novel out of that." This is Mike McCormack, the Connacht literary maverick, addressing himself in some dimension between else-world myth and blunt reality. He's talking about the protagonist and outline to Solar Bones, the novel that shouldn't work but somehow works quite unlike any other. On a sunny day, perched on the root of a tree somewhere off to the side in Phoenix Park, a charcoal-clad McCormack insists to me that those focusing on the book's "formal experiment", its unspooling existential riffs, its meandering river of consciousness, are missing the real shazam. "The more I think about it," he frowns, "people have latched on to the wrong bit of it. The thematic experiment is the bigger and more difficult proposition. All my novels and short stories have an experimental edge. Paradoxically, it's the thing people find awkward but also the very thing that will make that one person in 10 step forward and say, 'I want this'." At "52-and-a-half", McCormack finds himself in new territory. Weeks previously, Solar Bones was announced the winner of the humongous International Dublin Literary Award for 2018. By the time its follow-up - a "metaphysical thriller" still being mapped out - arrives, McCormack's one in 10 will probably feel less lonely. Speculation will mount. Pre-orders will be offered. Is he prepared for the ripples of change hitting his shores? "Ah, you're not so innocent to say there won't be more interest," he concedes "but I couldn't let that guide me. I've been under contract for one of my five books [1998's Crowe's Requiem] and I didn't find that very comfortable at all. Every other book, I just go away and write it and give it to the publisher. I write them the way they come to me. I get out of their way and let them have their way." No point ignoring the 100,000 elephant in the corner, either. Financial stability is pie-in-the-sky stuff for most writers, but for McCormack, there have been whole decades of lean times only for two windfalls to arrive at once. Within days of the IDLA announcement and all it now implies for McCormack, artist wife Maeve Curtis and their four-year-old son, he also got summoned to walk the coals of Aosdana, meaning the 17k annual cnuas is now there should he need it. "That was a huge surprise," he says of Aosdana's tap on the shoulder. "Both things came just when you think the legs should've gone out of Solar Bones. It's two years old - you'd think the world would've moved on to something else. And this would be the very time of year myself and Maeve would be turning up the cushions, looking for change. There's a long stretch between your last teaching pay cheque at the end of May to September. For the first time in my life, I can look forward four or five years and not worry about money coming in or making rent. That's important because that worry drains from the exact same place you should be writing from. That battery just gets depleted with worry." While he wouldn't mind cutting back on the teaching to allow more time for writing, no one ever retired on 100,000, he accepts. It's just as well then that the teaching bug still itches via his current role as head of NUI Galway's Creative Writing programme. A twinkle of pride flashes across his spectacles as he chats about "gifted students", the importance of finding them good mentors, and an excellent screenwriting tutor who has recently left. The conversation swirls up memories of his time in adult education, teaching essay writing as part of an access course to people with various deprivations. McCormack would bring them from their first exercise - "how to make a cup of tea" - to a 2,000-word research essay. "Real teaching", as he calls it now, as part of a team of passionate, socially conscientious tutors. After 15 happy years, however, he had to quit because something began butting more forcefully into his headspace. Video of the Day "I was working on Solar Bones and it was taking a real toll on my grammar, which is what I was supposed to be teaching!" McCormack hoots. "By the end, I was barely able to answer fairly simple questions about semicolons and commas. The rhythm and the run of the book had completely sunk into me and I couldn't see beyond it." It's beguiling to hear even its own author succumbed to Solar Bones. What a thing it is. What a strange and beautiful creature to have living amongst us, speaking its truths on a plain all its own while being so rooted in the banal. Never, you could argue, has the colour palette of masculinity ever seemed a less sexy topic for literary fiction. And yet Marcus, Solar Bones' decent, evolved and over-conscientious narrator, is a voice for the ages, singing of things that shouldn't matter too greatly beyond the four walls of his mind and making them sound rich, crucial and eternal. In the end, it was women Solar Bones spoke to most insistently. Women who picked up its music and ensured that an unloved internal monologue by a fictional engineer that had no full stops was going to be published. "Every step of the way," McCormack says. "I'm blue in the face saying it. Women were the heroes of that book once it left my hand. It's easy to be patronising about these things but it's just a historic fact. Men folded. So many male editors couldn't make it run, couldn't get it past editorial boards or acquisition meetings." First off, wife Maeve read an early draft and told him he was on the right track. Then agent and former fashion buyer Marianne Gunn O'Connor told him it was the best thing he'd ever sent her. After that, a long swathe of males "whose nerve failed them". Finally, two women from a small independent publishing house called Tramp Press get in touch and the rest is Booker-nominated, multi-award-scooping history. He recalls that famous meeting in Galway's Kai restaurant as "an eye-opener, a real illuminating moment" and says he'd be surprised if they don't "dance again". "Marianne still won't tell me how many rejections it got," McCormack smiles. "I'd worked with editors in London and New York, but one of the things I found with Sarah (Davis-Goff) and Lisa (Coen) was not having to translate myself, not having to go around in circles trying to elucidate points. And then you think of Declan [Meade, The Stinging Fly] and New Island, etc. There's a whole generation of Irish writers getting their first editorial tuning by Irish editors. That's invaluable." You see what McCormack means when he says the IDLA win is an "age-appropriate prize" at his stage in life, a consolidation of efforts but for a definitive work, not, as awards can sometimes be, "for services rendered". He has now been subsumed by this new generation of which he speaks. It has renewed his singular voice and focused eyes on his next move. Here's a middle-class, middle-aged white male who has no material wants and loves his wife and kids. A great story is being made of that, one with no full stops in sight. Have you ever imagined Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio falling for each other on that lonely hillside in Brokeback Mountain? Only in private moments perhaps, but according to film-maker Gus Van Sant, we almost got to see those images. Before Ang Lee took over as director, Van Sant was attached to the project, which was based on Annie Proulx's story about a love affair between two cowboys hired to herd sheep in Wyoming. "I felt like we needed a really strong cast, like a famous cast," Van Sant said last week, but "nobody wanted to do it. I asked the usual suspects: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Ryan Phillippe. They all said no." As we know, Jake Gyllenhaal and the late Heath Ledger said yes, and both earned Oscar nominations for their trouble. Well, 2005 is a long time ago and DiCaprio, Pitt and Damon might have been worried about the film's frank depiction of gay sex. But I doubt it: Damon would later play Liberace's gay lover in Steven Soderbergh's Behind the Candelabra, and neither DiCaprio nor Pitt strike me as actors afraid to take a risk. They might simply have decided that the roles, however interesting, weren't good fits for them, and I think, overall, they were probably right. Film careers stand or fall on the decisions actors and their agents make about what projects to attach themselves to, and it's not always merely about whether a script is any good or not: the bigger question is always whether it's right for you. Down the years, there have been some lucky escapes in this regard, and none luckier than Laurence Olivier who, believe it or not, was Paramount's first choice to play Don Corleone in The Godfather. Francis Ford Coppola was convinced that Marlon Brando should play the charismatic mob boss, but Paramount President Stanley Jaffe was not one bit keen on that idea. Brando's reputation as an unreliable tantrum-thrower preceded him, and by the early 1970s he was considered a virtually uninsurable risk. Jaffe helpfully suggested that the craggy-faced character actor Ernest Borgnine play the part, but preferably the legendary British thespian Olivier. The great man had been around the block several times at this stage, and knew he ran the risk of looking ridiculous in the film. So he had his agent claim he was sick, leaving the way clear for Coppola to cast Brando. It's hard to imagine Olivier muttering menaces from an armchair as Don Vito, or muttering anything come to think of it, but even harder to imagine Brando playing The Penguin in Tim Burton's 1990 sequel, Batman Begins. He was Burton's first choice, but Warners told him he must be joking, and cast the far more reasonably priced - and sized - Danny DeVito instead. Tom Cruise as Iron Man anyone? In 2004, when Marvel Studios were cooking up the 2008 film that would launch its mighty movie franchise, producers talked with Tom about starring as the cocky billionaire Tony Stark. Nervy executives reckoned their big-budget film needed a star to ensure it recouped its money, and there are none bigger than Cruise. But when Jon Favreau was asked to direct Iron Man, he made the brilliant suggestion that Robert Downey Jr might be the right man for the job. Cruise plays focused, straight-talking heroes, but the arrogant, obnoxious and wise-cracking Stark is not exactly that. At that point, Downey was slowly rebuilding his career after a series of drug-related setbacks and Favreau reckoned his bruised pedigree would add depth and nuance to his portrayal of Stark. And how right he was. The list of movies Tom Hanks was almost cast in is very long, but there just wasn't enough of him to go around. Hanks is so good at disappearing into roles that over the years he's been considered for a surprising number of projects. And the odd thing is that it's very easy to imagine him playing most of them. For instance, did you know that Tom was Frank Darabont's first choice to play Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption? Hanks couldn't do it because of a scheduling conflict with Forrest Gump, but he would have been at least as good as Tim Robbins playing the wrongly imprisoned banker. Video of the Day Director Cameron Crowe wanted Hanks for Jerry Maguire, but went with Tom Cruise instead when Hanks politely declined. He would have been sadly miscast, however, in Gangs of New York, where he was originally down to play Daniel Day-Lewis's knife-throwing maniac Bill Cutting. And Harold Ramis wanted him to play misanthropic weatherman Phil Connors in Groundhog Day before wiser councils persuaded him that Tom was just too nice. Bill Murray does nasty just fine. Bill dodged a nasty bit of casting himself in the late 1980s when he was briefly considered for the role of Batman in Tim Burton's film. Warner Brothers put pressure on him to cast a well-known star rather than Michael Keaton. Charlie Sheen, Pierce Brosnan and Mel Gibson were the early front-runners, but at one point Murray was being strongly considered for the role. Back then, Murray was purely a comic actor, famous for films like Caddyshack and Ghostbusters and his appearances on Saturday Night Live. No one would have taken him seriously as the Caped Crusader except perhaps himself. "I would have been a fine Batman," Murray has modestly said. Keaton got the job. Lots of people almost played Superman. The late Christopher Reeve became synonymous with the Man of Steel in a series of hugely successful blockbusters, but was not first choice for the part. Robert Redford was the studio's choice, and when he turned it down they asked 5ft 5in Dustin Hoffman. Clint Eastwood was also approached: "I was like, Superman? Nah, that's not for me." A few years ago, Eastwood revealed that he was also approached to play 007. In 1968, after Sean Connery announced he was quitting the role, Eon Productions asked Eastwood to star in the 1969 adventure On Her Majesty's Secret Service. "I was offered pretty good money," he said, "but to me that was Sean's deal. It just didn't feel right." Would anyone have been able to take Richard Gere seriously in Die Hard? Probably not, but the silver fox was asked to star in John McTiernan's iconic 1988 action film. Gere said no, and apparently Burt Reynolds, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone were also approached about the McClane part before McTiernan decided to take a punt on Moonlighting TV actor Bruce Willis instead. In 1976, shortly before he became famous, Sly Stallone was asked by George Lucas to read for the part of Han Solo, the sarcastic space pirate who'd become such a vital part of Star Wars' success. Lucas's friend Harrison Ford was knocking around during auditions, reading lines with the actors, when the director realised that Ford would be perfect for the part. "George Lucas didn't look at me once," Stallone has said, "but it all worked out for the best." Indeed it did: Ford became a big star, and Stallone's Rocky won Best Picture at the Oscars in 1977. After playing Han Solo, Ford achieved even greater popularity in the Indiana Jones films, but he wasn't George Lucas's first choice for those either. Lucas was not keen on the idea of using Ford in all his movies, and wanted Tom Selleck, the likeable star of the TV series Magnum PI, to play the archaeologist-adventurer instead. Selleck was all for it, but the producers of Magnum PI wouldn't release him from his contract, and three weeks before Raiders was due to start shooting, Steven Spielberg persuaded Lucas to cast Ford in one of the most iconic roles in recent cinema history. Titanic was the role that made Leonardo DiCaprio a huge star, but Matthew McConaughey was originally the frontrunner to play penniless third-class passenger Jack Dawson until James Cameron decided he wanted someone younger. DiCaprio, though, was not keen on the romantic aspects of the story. Cameron persuaded him this was a role that could lead to big things. And a few years later Leo was a big enough star to turn down the role of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho. Now that would have been a misstep. Plans to roll out high-speed internet as part of the Government's National Broadband Plan are in trouble after SSE pulled out of a consortium bidding for the contract. The Enet consortium, of which SSE was a member, is the sole remaining bidder for the plan. Telecoms firm Eir pulled out of the tendering process earlier this year. SSE's decision to leave the consortium raises questions about the future of the Government's plan to supply high- speed broadband to 500,000 homes across the country. Sources last night told the Sunday Independent that SSE has left the consortium. Enet said it is now "considering and reviewing structures". Enet Chairman David McCourt said the consortium will make its final submission in the coming weeks. "While we cannot publicly discuss the National Broadband Plan process, I do want to take this opportunity to underline, in the strongest possible terms, our continued commitment to Ireland and to the Government's policy of delivering a high-speed rural broadband network," he said. "The consortium has always understood the criticality of the project to the State. "As a result we are considering and reviewing structures so as to ensure the optimum response to the tender process for the National Broadband Plan by a group of investors with unmatched success in telecoms, infrastructure and Public Private Partnerships to deliver it." SSE said it would not add further comment. Fianna Fail communications spokesman Timmy Dooley criticised the Government's plan last night, saying the fact there was one remaining bidder pointed to flaws. Mr Dooley said SSE's decision shows the Government's tendering process to roll out the plan has been too complex. "It also clearly shows the Government has low-balled in terms of what it is willing to pay. Vodafone has pulled out, the ESB pulled out and Eir has most recently pulled out. "They clearly saw some problems here. Companies of their size and scale pulling out must signal there is something inherently wrong with the project." A spokesman for the Department of Communications said it is in the final stages of a procurement process to appoint a company to roll out the plan. He said: "We are expecting the final tender in the coming weeks with a conclusion to the process expected shortly thereafter. "Details of the procurement process remain confidential until a preferred bidder is appointed and progress to award a contract is finalised." The false accreditation accusations against a Louth based makeup academy have caused widespread disbelief among many; but perhaps the worst hit by this revelation were the students of this academy themselves, who were suddenly left with nothing to show for their 10 month long intensive make-up study. Avant Garde Make-up Academy and Studio, based in Drogheda, had said that it was accredited by the Confederation of International Beauty Therapy and Cosmetology(CIBTAC), the British Association of Beauty Therapy and Cosmetology (BABTAC),the National Association of Screen Make-up artists and Hairdressers(Nasmah); and the Guild of Professionals and Beauty Therapists. The graduation certificates provided by them to their students bear the logos of Nasmah, Babtac and the Guild of Professionals and Beauty Therapists. In the past week, it was revealed that none of these agencies are affiliated to the academy, which puts a gigantic question mark on the qualifications provided to their students. Naomi Tully, an ex-student of the academy, said that she still has difficulty registering what transpired in the past week. I just cant believe that this has happened. I just cant register in my head, why we have all been fed a lie, she said. And its not just me, hundreds of other girls are in the exact same position- we have nothing to show for our hard work. I feel devastated, said Tully. It has only really hit me now in the last few days, whats happening. I was looking to expand my trade with my qualification, but unfortunately Im not given that opportunity now. Tully said that she spent around 5000 pursuing this course, because she wanted to pursue her passion. I paid 3,500 for the actual course. 550 for make-up a kit, then more for insurance and anything else I needed along the way. Over all, like 5,000," she said. I was a struggling student, and I worked two jobs. But when its something you love- your passion, youll do anything. I wanted to do nothing more than to pursue my passion, and it was all absolutely pointless. She said that she is fortunate to be employed with a brand that has reassured her that this development wont affect her job, but she knows people that havent been lucky. I know about this one lady- she was on the course, and she has worked for incredible brands. She was offered a teaching job in the academy that we trained in, but she decided to do a bit on her own. She was doing her own freelance work. The day this came out, she had a full day of appointments fixed. Once it was out there, she had every single one of her appointments cancelled. When youre well recognised, like she was, there is a fantastic income behind it. She might have lost out on 500 a day. Tully said that she feels betrayed, by the director of the academy- Emma Woods-Garry, as she looked up to her and said that she was a fantastic teacher. I wanted to be Emma. She was so inspirational as a businesswoman. I wanted to go out, work with a few brands, then I wanted to teach, open up my own academy. I just feel betrayed. We built our own personal relationships with Emma that made you want to work with to your best. Now, I just feel like my trust is completely gone. Tully said even though she is safe in her current job, the problem with qualifications might hinder her future prospects. I paid that amount of money to get the opportunity to work off site- for a photoshoot in Dublin, for a film set, to have nothing to show for it is devastating, she said. If I was to try and take that route, I dont have those qualifications. Tully hopes that the ex students and students of the academy get the justice we deserve. We are not getting the answers that we need. There has been no contact from Emma. I would just love to know why this has happened. Just why? This has been going on for so long, its only coming to light now. I would just love to know- how did she think that this was acceptable? Furthermore, there are legal actions now being taken against the academy: They have been served with a cease and desist letter by one of the agencies they claimed affiliation to, Babtac. Babtac said that they are taking legal action after carrying out an internal investigation into the matter. We have appointed a lawyer to deal with the issue further; we have sent them a cease and desist letter which basically tells them that they must stop using our name, said Victoria Short, spokesperson for BABTAC. Our lawyer will send them a follow up letter soon. Short said that as of now, BABTAC are not intending to take them to the court yet because there are many unknown variables involved. We might change what were doing now and we might take legal action, but not at the moment. In the past week, the other three standard agencies have clarified that they are not associated with the Avant Garde Make-up academy. Avant Garde remained unavailable for a comment. An Irishman has been killed in a crash in Texas. The Department of Foreign Affairs is providing consular assistance to the family of an Irishman who was killed in a road traffic collision in Texas It is understood the man who was in his 20s was pronounced dead after being struck by a lorry in the early hours of Friday morning local time in Austin. RTE reports the man was believed to be on a holiday with friends. More to follow... Gardai are continuing their investigation into the alleged sexual assault of a teenage girl at an Irish college in the west of the country. The incident happened on Saturday, July 21 on the grounds of the school. It has been alleged that a 15-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by another student, an older male juvenile, on the date in question. Gardai have said that no arrests have yet been made in relation to the incident but that investigations are ongoing. Interviews by specialist officers are expected to be carried out with the victim and possible witnesses as part of the investigation. The sexual assault was reported to gardai in Galway on the day of the alleged offence, and an investigation was launched. The victim was brought to the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit (SATU) in Galway where she was treated by specialist medical personnel. The SATUs, of which there are six across the country, provide specialist treatment for women and men aged 14 years or older who have been subjected to rape or other sexual assault. A garda spokeswoman told the Irish Independent that local officers are investigating the alleged sexual assault of a juvenile female on July 21 last in the Inverin area. The investigation has been described as particularly sensitive due to the age of the people involved, as both the complainant and alleged suspect are juveniles.. It has been reported that the suspect in the case is a 17-year-old male who was also a student at the Irish College where the alleged sexual assault took place. Gardai will prepare a file for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), who will in-turn decide if they will prefer charges in relation to the incident. The Irish college in question has remained operational following the complaint of a sexual assault, but it is understood that a number of students have left the college after news of the incident emerged. Typically students are enrolled in three-week courses at the Gaeltacht colleges and must observe strict rules in relation to speaking Irish-only. Visits from family members are usually permitted on weekends at most Irish language schools. There is an unexpected solemnity about Gavin Duffy, as he officially opens his campaign to seek a nomination to contest the Presidential election, which is expected to take place on October 28. "It will be a challenge to get four nominations... the main parties are trying to lock down their support for the incumbent Michael D Higgins, so we are looking to councils where there is a larger number of independents, and Fianna Fail have now relaxed the whip, so that opens up opportunities in 31 councils. It depends now on how many candidates there are in the race," Duffy said. He opens his campaign Tuesday next at a sitting of Waterford Co Council, which will also be addressed by another candidate - although he's not sure who that is. Duffy texted me at 5.55am to arrange to meet at an office in central Dublin to formally declare that he is looking for a nomination. Duffy (58) is an early riser, from his days working in radio with LMFM which he founded 30 years ago. He has since found more widespread fame as the longest-serving member on the panel of Dragons' Den. When we do meet later in the morning, he's dressed in a pin-striped suit. He slings the jacket on the back of the chair and faces me in shirt, tie and trademark braces. "I think Michael D Higgins has been an excellent President, he has served his seven-year term and what I now see is there is going to be a contest, because Sinn Fein have stated loudly and clearly, that they will run a candidate and a Presidential election between the incumbent and just Sinn Fein is something that concerns me," he says. "The President is above politics but I admire that he has not lost the art of politics itself, that dark art, and I think he has applied it very well over the summer," he says, in reply to a question on Michael D Higgins's decision to leave it until earlier this month to change his mind and seek a second term. "This is the latest declaration in the history of the Presidency and that makes the challenge of getting four council nominations all the more difficult," he says. The order for the Presidential election will be made at the end of August and "it does mean there will be a mad scramble in the first couple of weeks of September", he concedes. Mr Higgins has rejected suggestions that the timing of his announcement of his intention to seek a second term has impacted on any other potential candidate. He has said: "I have not delayed for a single day anybody who could have, if they wanted to, been seeking a nomination for the last six-and-a-half years." He has also said: "I'm not standing in the way of anybody making a decision." Meanwhile, Duffy says it would be "wrong" to say that people have been urging him to go forwards. "I looked at the prospect, first of all that we weren't going to have a contest at all, and I felt the people wanted an election, the polls have proved that. Then I looked at what is the job specification of president." These, he lists, as sound judgment, representing the people at home and abroad and being in touch with the mood of the nation. "I am somebody who has worked as a public speaker all my life. I am very comfortable with it. The difference between me and President Michael D Higgins is that, while he is a wonderful orator, he speaks to people's heads, I would hope to speak to people's hearts." Apart from the slog of getting a nomination, his main concern now is how the media will cover the campaign, which is the first since 1966 involving an incumbent president. Back then, Eamon de Valera decided not to campaign and the national broadcaster, now RTE, didn't cover the election, putting his opponent, Tom F O'Higgins, at a huge disadvantage. "I think, when the campaign starts properly, the candidates have to be deeply and properly scrutinised and I know there has been media debate 'do we over-do that?'. Nobody welcomes the scrutiny and interrogation, but it is very important that the potential candidates, including the incumbent, are tested and that leads to the most important critical requirement: do you have the integrity to be the President for Ireland? "I think the public will expect the media to conduct an open, fair, just, transparent campaign. In this election, we have to respect the office of President, but challenge the candidates and the President himself. In 2011, the only question he was ever asked by RTE is 'why would you bother wanting to be President?' We can't have a re-run of that. "I believe there has to be open debate and I feel President Higgins has to be there and has to stand up to the stump and answer the questions. "I can assure you that I will be asked about my business, assets and company accounts. I will be asked very personal questions about family, as will the other candidates in the race. I think it is unusual and unfair if the incumbent isn't asked questions as well." Born in Sallins, Co Kildare, Duffy grew up in Drogheda and now lives in Meath. He and his wife Orlaith Carmody, a former RTE reporter, have four grown-up children and, after his initial involvement in local radio, he has worked as a media consultant and TV personality in more recent years. One of the consequences of now "crossing that line" - by going for public office - is that it will be "life changing", he says. "I am in the fortunate position of having the support of my family to go and do something like this, and if it doesn't end in success, I would see myself being able to continue as I have done before. "I think if people, who are looking for a President who is above politics, they should at least consider somebody who is not from the political system. Because, effectively, what has happened here is the political establishment want one of their own, they want to avoid the cost of a Presidential election, they are keeping themselves for the job of getting ready for a general election next year or the year beyond. "Now we will have a contest and I intend to campaign, travel the country, meeting as many people as possible, yet it will have to be conducted in a modern, state-of-the-art fashion and I am confident that there will be people who, at least, want to consider an alternative to the political establishment." He agrees he is taking a financial risk and has taken out a mortgage to fund the early stages of a campaign, which could cost 500,000. He says that, although he has never been a member of a political party, he has a "rainbow" team already in place to hit the campaign trail, but he will not be looking to 'big businesses' to fund his campaign. "I am not of big business, I am about supporting small start-up businesses hopefully growing to small and medium enterprises," he says. "That is where I come from," adding that, as president, he would "maximise the potential of the people of Ireland". He believes a president with business acumen could be beneficial to the Government in Brexit, the arts and helping communities. He stresses that, as a long-time advocate against ageism, he will not be making an issue of Michael D Higgins's age. "We should celebrate that Michael D wants to be considered for second term and serving that term in his 80s. Neither I, nor anyone on my campaign, will be allowed to raise that issue." Statement: at the time, it was the biggest engineering project ever undertaken here. Photo courtesy of the ESB Last summer, to celebrate the ESB's 70th birthday, the Ardnacrusha hydroelectric station in Co Clare opened its doors to the public for the first time in many decades. Over 10,000 visitors in hard hats and hi-vis jackets took the free 90-minute guided tour. This summer's tours run until mid-September with swelling numbers expected for The Ardnacrusha Experience. Intriguingly, it's the second time the power station has been Ireland's newest major tourist attraction, but the modern version has a lot of catching up to do. Between 1928 and 1932, Ardnacrusha attracted almost 200,000 sightseers or, incredibly, some 6pc of the population. Those first visitors would have been keenly aware that for the workers who built the scheme, the original Ardnacrusha experience was no holiday. It was hell, inflicted by a government that sanctioned dirty tricks and bully-boy tactics in a bid to get the daunting scheme completed on schedule and, most vitally, on budget. The Shannon Electricity Bill passed into law in June 1925. This was to be independent Ireland's big statement to the watching world that the newborn Free State could stand up strong and proud. Ourselves alone. A spot on the Shannon by the sleepy Clare village of Ardnacrusha had been chosen as the site for the hydroelectric dam, the biggest engineering project ever undertaken on the island of Ireland. In a land where job opportunities were scarce, the opening of this vast State-sponsored construction project held out the prospect of steady work and decent money. But when the adverts appeared seeking 3,000 labourers at a rate of 32 shillings for a 50-hour week (just over 100 in today's money), there was widespread dismay and despair at the low wages on offer. By the time the measly pay rates were published, a huge throng of would-be workers had already descended on the banks of the Shannon. When the unions called for a fairer deal, the German construction giant Siemens countered that the pay was fair. Almost before a sod had been turned on the State's showcase scheme, a strike was called. 'Big' Joe McGrath was summoned to fill the role of troubleshooter. McGrath had fought for union recognition as one of Jim Larkin's muscular minders, fought in the 1916 Rising, became Ireland's Industry Minister, and would finish up Ireland's richest man as founder and boss of the swindling super-lottery that was the Irish Hospitals' Sweepstakes. According to McGrath's one-time cabinet colleague Ernest Blythe: "He brought with him some of the men with whom he had been associated in Army Intelligence. It was popularly believed that thereafter, a man working on the Shannon Scheme could not curse the weather without his words being reported to Joe." Within three months of his arrival, McGrath had broken the strike. He and his heavies stayed on to keep the workforce in line, in conditions never far from toppling into anarchy. Apart from paltry pay, the living conditions for many workers were atrocious. A shanty town had sprung up around Ardnacrusha, its population swollen by countless men just hanging around in the hope that a few days work might come up. In June 1926, a meeting of the Clare County Board of Health heard that between 12 and 14 workers had made their home in a stable at Blackwater, while a family of four were living in a pigsty attached to a labourer's cottage. The pigsty, the stable and the shanty town proved shocking images, even in an Ireland where many hadn't two ha'pennies to rub together. This was no one's vision of a new, proudly self-sufficient land of freedom. Within days, the Irish Independent had a reporter at the entrance of the infamous pigsty. The Independent reported: "The latter accommodates a husband, a wife and two children. Some of the places in which men are sleeping are not at all fit for human beings. There was one place referred to by the Home Assistance Officer. "It was merely an out-office. It might have housed horses or cattle. The beds consisted of old hay, thrown on the floor, with no suggestion of bed clothing. One of the heaps of hay was semi-covered with an old sack. Those men are paying rent for the privilege of the accommodation." Further on, the piece continued: "The Camp Commandant at Ardnacrusha, Mr WJ Stapleton, stated that it was possible there were men living in outhouses, but they were not employed on the scheme. He pointed out that men were arriving at the works daily from all parts of the country, oftimes penniless, seeking to find employment and unable to find any. It was quite conceivable that those men in numerous instances were obliged to sleep out." The media outcry led to a Dail debate, where McGrath's successor at Industry & Commerce, Patrick McGilligan, flatly dismissed reports of squalor as fake news, saying: "You may take it prima facie that the press is inaccurate." It was McGilligan who had signed the light touch contract with Siemens, tying the Germans to the most flimsy health and safety commitments. Asked to persuade the company to take greater responsibility for their growing numbers of sick and injured, the minister said it was outrageous to think of asking such a thing. The storm of publicity over the workers' conditions might have been expected to provide the perfect platform for the unions to raise their voices once again. Instead, their silence was deafening. McGrath had done his job well. According to historian Michael McCarthy: "McGrath had outflanked and outplayed the unions during the strike by hiring ex-servicemen from the Free State Army, including a captain as camp commandant, while excluding would-be troublemakers and union organisers. The contractors also, reportedly, encouraged the formation of bogus unions in the Ardnacrusha camp, set up an effective camp-informer network, and employed a 'heavy gang' to enforce law and order." In years to come, McGrath would brush off repeated charges of running a bogus union in the Irish Hospitals' Sweepstakes in order to confound attempts to organise a real one. The shock-horror coverage of the summer of 1926 subsided, but any improvements in conditions seemed short-lived. In 1928, a lead story in the Clare Champion blared: "Crowds In Stable - Shocking Conditions At Ardnacrusha". Subsequent research has shown that Siemens had been willing to fund better accommodation for their Irish workers, but the government forbade it. This was the same government that infamously shaved a ha'penny off the old age pension. The Shannon Scheme was officially launched on July 22, 1929 when, following a blessing by the Bishop of Killaloe, President WT Cosgrave threw the switch to open the sluice gates that would bring Ireland into the modern power age. Ernest Blythe wrote of McGrath: "He ensured that Ardnacrusha came in on time to the delight of the government." The newborn Free State was delighted indeed to have made its big statement to a world that was suitably impressed, but it came at a cost of 53 workers' lives, hundreds of crippling injuries, and unfathomable depths of callously inflicted human misery. In the wake of Anthony Bourdain's death, there has been a lot of talk about mental health and wellness in the restaurant business. Bourdain was such a role model for many chefs - and the reason they got into the profession in the first place - that it was bound to have a big impact. All jobs have their stresses and strains, but the high-pressure environment of restaurants and the anti-social/anti-family working hours present a particular challenge to mental health and wellbeing of staff. The Cork-based Market Lane Group, which includes four restaurants - Elbow Lane, Market Lane, Orso and The Castle Cafe (pictured above) - and a microbrewery, is one of only two Irish companies to be awarded a Pieta House Amber Flag. It has also been presented with an inaugural Cork Healthy Cities PSYCHED Award. The Amber Flag initiative recognises the individual efforts of groups to create healthy, inclusive environments that support mental wellbeing. It unites these groups in their efforts to work toward a happier, healthier Ireland; one that eradicates the stigmas associated with mental health issues. PSYCHED Awards focus solely on the business community and are based on what employers are doing in the area of employee wellness and mental health in the workplace. The Market Lane Group employs more than 160 staff and takes a people-centric approach to everything that it does. In its company manual, the group outlines its commitment to providing an inclusive and open working environment that is free from any form of bullying or harassment; to welcoming diversity and recognising its contribution to the success of the business, and to the group's belief in equality of opportunity based on ability and merit. Managers work on the ground alongside the rest of the staff, helping to create a team spirit and an open channel to talk when stresses and pressures arise from personal lives or work. These managers are also trained to notice and to act appropriately on these issues with colleagues. In addition, there is a 'wellness team' within the company, including staff from all aspects of the business, who are actively involved in wellness initiatives all year round. At a time when recruiting and retaining staff is a huge issue, initiatives such as these can only help restaurant businesses become a happier and healthier work environment. Chic crustaceans Expand Close Lobster festival / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Lobster festival Suesey Street's annual lobster festival runs until the end of August, with a brand-new lobster menu created by Richard Stearn to showcase the fabulous crustacean. Dishes include grilled lobster with basil and saffron emulsion, triple-cooked chips, pickled fennel and orange salad. See sueseystreet.ie Rockin' Wexford Expand Close The countdown is on to the Enniscorthy Rockin Food Festival. Photo: Domnick Walsh / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The countdown is on to the Enniscorthy Rockin Food Festival. Photo: Domnick Walsh Enniscorthy's Rockin' Food Festival takes place over the bank holiday weekend, with an artisan food and drink market and a host of events including a chocolate truffle- making experience, a wine and Irish charcuterie night, and a Norman harvest banquet. See facebook.com/rockinfoodfestival Harvest heaven Expand Close 10th anniversary: Waterford Harvest Festival / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp 10th anniversary: Waterford Harvest Festival Waterford Harvest Festival is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year over the weekend of September 7-9, with a tasty programme that includes communal dining, bake-offs, demonstrations, chef collaborations and a plethora of family-friendly events. See waterfordharvestfestival.ie Restaurant awards sometimes have a touch of Groundhog Day crossed with The Late Late Show about them, with a sense that, when it comes to framed certificates, there's one for everyone in the audience; the most coveted amongst them circulating between the same chefs and restaurants year after year. So it was a nice surprise at the Restaurants Association of Ireland dinner at the Clayton Burlington Hotel in May when the award for best chef in Dublin went to Barry Sun Jian of Etto, which also happened to be named the best restaurant in Ireland. While Etto is well known, Barry's name would not have been as familiar as others nominated, and when he went up on stage to collect his award, he pulled his friend and mentor, Paul McNamara, up on stage with him. For those paying attention, it was a 'something in my eye' moment, the bond between the two clear to see. "When we opened Etto," explains Liz Matthews, who owns the restaurant with her partner, Simon Barrett, "the plan was always for Barry FitzGerald [the original chef] to spend a year there and then move on to open his own place. [FitzGerald now owns Bastible.] Barry is a brilliant chef and he gave Etto such a great start. It was scary for us to face into this big change, at a time when Etto was still a baby and we were only beginning to find our feet. Paul McNamara and Simon had worked together over the years and he was Simon's first choice to take over the kitchen. Around six months after opening, we approached Paul and began planning the transition. Paul told us that he had a great sous chef, Barry Sun Jian, who he wanted to bring with him." "I first came to Ireland 16 years ago," says Barry Sun Jian. "I was 19 and I'd just finished high school in China. It was very popular at that time to send your children to Europe when they finished school. To be honest, I didn't pick Ireland. My parents picked Ireland. They said that I had to go to another country to study. I asked, 'Where?' and they said, 'Ireland.' I didn't know where it was - I had to Google it." Expand Close Barry receives his RAI Best Chef in Dublin award from Ciaran Mulryan and David Lefroy of Nisbits. Photo: Paul Sherwood / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Barry receives his RAI Best Chef in Dublin award from Ciaran Mulryan and David Lefroy of Nisbits. Photo: Paul Sherwood Barry arrived in Ireland on his own, not knowing a soul. He lived in a hostel and after six months he had to come up with another 2,000 to pay his language school so that he continue his studies. He needed to get a job. At first he worked as a cleaner, and then took a job as a kitchen porter at Mint in Ranelagh when the chef was Oliver Dunne, who subsequently gained a Michelin star at Bon Appetit in Malahide. "As a kitchen porter, you see everything, taste everything that's going on in the kitchen," says Barry. "You see how the chefs work and how they cook. When I was young, I always liked food, but never got a chance to cook at home" "Poor Barry can't cook Chinese food," interjects Paul. "He's only ever cooked in Ireland!" "Ollie asked me if I wanted to be a chef and I said, 'Yes,' so I started training with him," continues Barry. "At the beginning of my career, he helped me a lot, taught me a lot of basic skills, such as how to chop things." Over the next few years, Barry put in stints at Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud, Chapter One, Bon Appetit, Cleaver East and l'Ecrivain. When Paul McNamara was asked to recruit and head up a brigade of 16 chefs at The Dawson (formerly La Stampa) six years ago, Barry's was one of the names recommended to him by another chef friend, Eric Mooney. "We got on really well together there," says Paul. "When it's hard, it brings you together. Barry was reliable and supportive, and he was my first choice when Simon and Liz asked me to come to Etto." "You never told me that!" smiles Barry. After a trip back to China to get married, Barry joined the staff at Etto - which along with head chef Paul now included chef de partie Kamil Dubanik - as sous chef. The team worked together for the following three years. During that time, Simon, Paul and Liz started planning to open another restaurant. "The three of us spent two weeks travelling around Spain together in spring 2016 and we began to form an idea of what we wanted to do," explains Liz. "Simon and I were keen for Etto not to be affected by the opening of a new place so, again, we had to look at how best to make the transition between head chefs. In summer 2017, when it felt like we were getting closer to finding a site, Paul moved on from Etto [as he had taken an ownership stake in Locks]. Barry Sun Jian was the perfect person to take over as head chef, having been sous chef here for three years at that stage. "Kamil moved into the position of sous chef. Both were more than ready for the challenge, having developed great skill and confidence under Paul's quiet, calm and supportive guidance. Barry has led the kitchen for over a year now and has developed into a brilliant and conscientious head chef who cares greatly for everyone who works alongside him. As we finally approach an opening date for Uno Mas (hopefully September!), it is great to see Etto in the hands of such a strong team." "I left because I wanted to get away from Barry!" laughs Paul. "No, seriously, I always knew Barry could step up and advance, and have more of a future and a reward for all his hard work. I was flexible and could step away whenever Barry and Kamil were ready to move into their new roles. And while they were building the team, I was in and out for a long time, helping. It takes time to get things right. Simon and Liz know what Etto should be, what the dishes should be, what works and what doesn't. It wasn't just Barry [FitzGerald] or me. A lot of people contribute to the style, including Barry Sun Jian. Now there's a very strong team with five very good chefs who work from 7.30 in the morning until midnight; they each bring different ideas and they all love Etto." "Paul has taught me so much, especially about attention to detail," says Barry. "He's taught me how to run the kitchen, and to keep it simple; that is his mantra. Keep it simple. He might say something to me in the kitchen and I'll go home and think about it that evening. If I have an idea for a new dish, then I usually ask Paul's advice and get his opinion." "Barry's running the kitchen 100pc," adds Paul. "He won the award, not me; it wasn't for no reason. We have similar taste in food: we concentrate on flavour. At Etto, there's a certain flavour profile with a Mediterranean and Italian influence. Barry has a very good palate; he's able to identify things from taste and develop a dish. He knows what tastes good, what flavours work. "He's also very hard-working, always first in and last to leave. He's committed, responsible, maybe a little like myself I used to try and get in before him but rarely did." Now that they no longer work directly with one another, Paul and Barry don't have the same daily contact that they once did, but they stay in touch with regular phone calls. "Chefs talk about what's going wrong, what suppliers have at the moment, ask where to get things," says Paul. "When I left, it was almost every day or every night... the gaps have widened a bit now." They meet up for meals too, at places such as Chapter One and Forest & Marcy. But their relationship goes further. "I got married a year before him," explains Paul. "I've done everything a year ahead of Barry. My wife is Japanese, his is Chinese. When you are a chef, it is difficult for them too; hard to have a balance between work and family time. We both have two children - mine are a year older than his - we both have a boy and a girl; we talk about that experience. We both rent apartments, so we talk about where to rent, where to put the kids in school, how to handle our wives, how to handle our kids" "He's an inspiration," says Barry. "He's not just a mentor in my career, he has taught me how to be a good husband and a cool father as well. He's a friend." A taste of Etto Steamed Mussels with Nduja, Datterini Tomato, Parsley and Sourdough Serves 4 Ingredients 1.5kg mussels, de-bearded and cleaned cup olive oil 100g nduja sausage, crumbled 200g Datterini tomatoes, cut in half 1 cup dry white wine 1 cup fresh cream 2 tsp chopped flat-leaf parsley Juice of lemon 4 slices sourdough bread Method Wash the mussels very well, de-beard and drain. Heat the olive oil in a large pot, add the nduja and cook gently for a couple of minutes, then add the tomatoes and cook for another minute. Add the mussels, white wine and cream and cover with a lid. Cook over a medium to high heat until the mussels have just opened, then add the parsley and lemon juice and serve with toasted sourdough. Slow-cooked Lamb Shoulder, Smashed Vegetables, Roast Broccoli and Anchovy Serves 4-6 Ingredients 1 x 2kg lamb shoulder, bone in 50g fresh rosemary, chopped 50g fresh thyme, picked and chopped 3 cloves garlic, chopped 600g potato, peeled and cut into large dice 2 aubergines 3 tbsp chopped fresh coriander 2 spring onions, peeled, washed and finely sliced 50g soy sauce 30g rice wine vinegar Salt and pepper 2 bunches purple sprouting broccoli 6 fillets anchovy (Ortiz), diced 100g rapeseed oil Zest and juice of 1 lemon tsp ground cumin seed tsp ground fennel seed Method Marinate the lamb shoulder overnight with the rosemary, thyme and garlic. Preheat oven to 150C. Lightly colour the lamb in a heavy tray or pan over medium heat. Cover with tin foil and cook slowly for 4-5 hours until the meat falls off the bone. Steam the potato and aubergine together until soft, then crush them with a fork. Add the coriander, spring onion, soy sauce, vinegar, salt and pepper, and combine. Steam the broccoli for 2 minutes and then lightly roast in a hot pan or char on a barbecue. For the anchovy dressing, mix the anchovy, rapeseed oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, cumin and fennel. Season with salt and pepper. To serve, reduce the juices from the lamb to a sauce, dress the broccoli with the anchovy dressing and serve with the smashed vegetables and lamb. Lemon Posset, Almond, Lime & Gin Granita Serves 4 Ingredients 450ml double cream 100g caster sugar 120g lemon juice (roughly 2 lemons) Zest of 1 lemon 65ml lime juice 50g caster sugar 120ml water Zest of lime 50ml gin 100g flaked almonds, toasted Method Heat the double cream and caster sugar, and simmer for 5-6 minutes without boiling hard. Remove from the heat, add the lemon juice and zest and infuse for 45 minutes. Pass through a fine sieve, divide between 4 glasses (they should be half-full) and refrigerate until the posset sets. For the lime and gin granita, bring the lime juice, sugar and water to a boil, remove from the heat, and add the zest and gin to taste. When cool, freeze in a flat tray until frozen, then scrape with a fork to break up the ice. To serve, remove the possets from the fridge 30 minutes before serving, fill the glass with granita and garnish with the toasted almonds. There are a few countries that really encapsulate summer holidays, and Italy is certainly one of them. From the rolling hills of Tuscany to the Amalfi coast, and right down to Puglia and Sicily in the south, it seems that everywhere is the idyllic place to visit - and the number of wines available for sipping on a sunny terrace or over a long, lazy dinner are as numerous as the dishes from the different regions. Not only is Italy one of the world's biggest producers of wine in terms of volume, it is also home to around 350 indigenous varieties of grapes. There is also a huge range in terms of quality. While Barolo and Barbaresco, made from the Nebbiolo grape, along with Brunello di Montalcino, which is made from the Sangiovese grape, are among the most celebrated and expensive wines, there is good value to be had in Italy. If you look on the label for the region of origin, you will find less-expensive but good-quality Nebbiolos from appellations such as Gattinara, Ghemme, Lessona, Boca and Bramaterra in the Alto Piemonte region, and for less-expensive Sangiovese wines, there are some top-quality Chianti Classicos. Italian whites are particularly suited to summer drinking and are very well-priced. And don't be tempted to just stick with Prosecco and Pinot Grigio. Aldi has a clean, crisp Gavi di Gavi for 9.99; Tesco Finest has a Passerina for 10, which I recommended back in June, as well as a Pecorino for the same price; the Spar, Eurospar, Londis and Mace outlets carry the organic Grifone range, and Lidl has a new seasonal line-up of Italian wines which just landed in last week. I particularly liked the Vermentino, which I've featured in the line-up of bottles this week. In their reds, they have a light, fruity Rossa de Montepulciano for 8.99 and a Valpolicella Ripasso Classico and Maremma Toscana, both for 11.99. One of the areas of Italy that is increasingly getting attention for its wines is Sicily. With its reliably warm climate and relatively inexpensive terroir - which ranges from the volcanic soils of the contradas in Mount Etna to limestone, clay and sandy soils - there has been a huge influx of young winemakers excited to grow grapes there. The big attraction has been the different soils of the Etna region, with the wines being made mainly from the ultra-hip Nerello Mascalese grape in the natural style, using wild yeast for fermentation. But in the somewhat lower-key south of the island, where the native red grapes include Nero d'Avola and Catarratto, and the native white variety is Grillo, there have been some great improvements among the traditional smallholders who have been growing grapes for generations. A few months ago, I tasted a range of wines from Mandrarossa, a co-operative that is based on the south-west coast of the island. Whereas normally you might expect the focus to be on volume, this co-op, which has over 2,000 members, incentivises the growers to plant grape varieties on soil that is specifically suited to each varietal, with a strong focus on quality. Their whites, which include a Fiano and a Grillo, are fresh and floral, and they have a good selection of reds, one of which is included in today's line-up. 3 wines to try Lidl Vermentino Toscana 2017, 11.99, 12.5pc Expand Close Vermentino / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Vermentino Lidl (seasonal Italian wine sale) From Sardinia, this fragrant, dry white wine has a slightly silky texture and a crisp acidity with flavours of lime and green apple. Beautiful paired with crab cakes, or grilled or pan-fried fish. Simply Better Chianti Classico DOCG 2015, 16.49, 13pc Expand Close Chianti / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Chianti Dunnes Stores A Decanter silver-medal winner, this Chianti from the Campomaggio Estate has a generous nose of ripe red fruit with flavours of sour cherries on the palate finishing with a touch of dark berries, dried oregano, balsamic and vanilla. Mandrarossa Frappato, Terre Siciliane IGT 2016, 18.95, 13.5pc Expand Close Mandrarossa / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mandrarossa The Vintry, DrinkStore, On The Grapevine; The Wine House; Mortons; 1601 Kinsale; O'Driscolls, Bradley's, Menloe Stores Normally blended with the more familiar Nero d'Avola, this is a single varietal Frappato which has fresh cherry and raspberry flavours. Chill it slightly and serve it with seared tuna, grilled vegetables or Parma ham. Zara Tindall with her daughter Mia at the Gatcombe Horse Trials at Gatcombe Park in Gloucestershire Zara and Mike Tindall's daughter Mia (middle) with her cousins Savannah Phillips (right) and Isla Phillips (bottom) at the Gatcombe Horse Trials at Gatcombe Park in Gloucestershire Members of the Royal family, Zara Tindall (left) Princess Eugenie and her fiance Jack Brooksbank, the Princess Royal and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence and Princess Beatrice (second right) wait for Queen Elizabeth II to arrive for the Easter Mattins Service at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, Windsor. Photo: Simon Dawson/PA Wire WINDSOR, UNITED KINGDOM - MAY 19: MIke Tindall and Zara Tindall arrive at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle before the wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle on May 19, 2018 in Windsor, England. (Photo by Gareth Fuller - WPA Pool/Getty Images) Zara Tindall and her daughter Mia watch Mike Tindall during the Celebrity Cup charity golf tournament at The Celtic Manor Resort, Newport (Andrew Matthews/PA) Mike Tindall, Zara Tindell and their daughter Mia Tindall pose for a photograph during day three of The Big Feastival at Alex James' Farm on August 28, 2016 in Kingham, Oxfordshire. (Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images) Zara Tindall suffered a secret second miscarriage before giving birth to daughter Lena in June. The 37-year-old equestrian and her husband Mike Tindall welcomed daughter Mia in 2014 and announced in November 2016 that they were expecting another child before Zara suffered a tragic miscarriage just weeks later. And now, the granddaughter of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, has revealed that she also had a second miscarriage but did not reveal it because it was "too raw." In an interview with the Sunday Times, she said: "You need to go through a period where you don't talk about it because it's too raw. But, as with everything, time's a great healer." Zara's second miscarriage happened early in the pregnancy but the first one was further along. She said: "In our case, it was something that was really rare; it was nature saying, ''This one's not right.' "I had to go through having the baby because it was so far along. "[Zara's brother] Pete was again very much the protective brother; he was very concerned about me, as was Mike. Expand Close England rugby player Mike Tindall (L) and his new wife Britain's Zara Phillips, granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II, leave after their wedding ceremony at Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland, on July 30, 2011. AFP PHOTO / DYLAN MARTINEZ/POOL / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp England rugby player Mike Tindall (L) and his new wife Britain's Zara Phillips, granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II, leave after their wedding ceremony at Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland, on July 30, 2011. AFP PHOTO / DYLAN MARTINEZ/POOL "Everyone was. It was a time when my family came to the fore and I needed them." Mike, 39, previously spoke of how difficult miscarriage was for him and Zara but said Mia helped them to cope. He explained: "One thing you do learn is how many other people have to go through the same thing. The saving grace for us has been Mia, our daughter. However down we feel she will come running up in our faces. When I was playing [rugby] I hardly saw her; now we can see her grow up. I can take her swimming and I can take her to Ninja Tots. You'll never be able to see her there because she disappears in a puff of smoke." I hadn't intended to get another dog. When my last died, a gorgeous dachshund called Rick, I was heartbroken. He was adorable, even if he wasn't the most effective guard dog. One hot summer 10 years ago, I was sleeping with the window open at my home in Clontarf. Rick always slept on the floor in my bedroom, his head resting on my handbag. I awoke in the early morning to find a man in my room rifling through my jewellery. "Jesus, Mary, help," I roared. Then I ran for him. He escaped through the front door, which was lucky for him. There wasn't a bark out of Rick. Afterwards, he ambled into the front room as though to say: 'what's up?' But when the police arrived, he suddenly found his inner guard dog and barked furiously at them. At least he had kept my handbag safe. Before Rick, I had Susie, a Jack Russell who had been abandoned in a ditch in Howth. I walked her in Dublin's Liberties, where I then lived, every morning. Once she insisted on turning right instead of her usual left. On our new route, I noticed smoke coming from the second floor of a block of flats. I raised the alarm and helped get the family out. Susie got a write-up in the Evening Herald. In recent years, I minded my neighbours' dogs as I didn't want to get my heart broken again. And that's how Buffy came into my life. Buffy was born in Sydney, Australia. When her owner, Deirdre, returned home to Ireland, Buffy came, too. She flew at the costly sum of 5,000, and she even had a doggy passport. I often petted Buffy, as she lived nearby. When Deirdre passed away, I offered to mind Buffy. Deirdre's sisters asked if I would keep her, as they knew I minded dogs. I was slightly hesitant. I am nearly 83! But I'm fit and I couldn't say no. Buffy has been with us now just over two months. She has brought something very special into our lives. My sister, Denise, who lives beside me, is in remission from cancer. Buffy showers her with affection and cuddles. Denise adores her. "Buffy is life-affirming," she tells me. I was worried that Buffy might be grieving but she seemed to know instinctively that my sister and I loved her. Who wouldn't fall for those brown eyes that practically talk to you? She has settled in well. She stands by the door when she wants to go out and gets four walks a day. She wags her tail at every stranger, so she is no guard dog but she's the boss and I love her. I'm so lucky to have her. Ruth Shanahan, Clontarf Name: Buffy Finest hour: Landing safely in Dublin after flying from Australia Likes: Walking and ice-cream Dislikes: A ringing telephone * If you would like your pet featured in this column please send a story of 440 words and a photograph to snews@independent.ie clearly labelled MY PET Planning a trip to Sin City? Here's our hotlist of the places you don't want to miss on (and off) the Strip. 1. The Neon Museum Ever wondered what happens to the old casino lights when they retire from the Strip? Well, a lot of them spend their final years in the Neon Museum, a kind of elephant graveyard for old illuminated letters and signs. Stacked up against each other, you'll find worn, curved letters with antiquated light bulbs, made for motels, theatres and casinos which are long gone. An old gas station sign offers up 'Free aspirin and tender sympathy' - a marriage made in heaven for those tender Vegas heads. Guided tours cost $18/16. See: neonmuseum.org 2. Downtown Las Vegas isn't a very old city (it was founded in 1905) but if it were, then the Downtown area would be the classic, 'Old Vegas'. Around Freemont Street, you'll find cute little casinos and bars (which are much cheaper than the Strip) as well as funky mini-districts like the Container Park. There's also amazing street art - check out the Maser Motel, a vibrantly painted old motel complex created by Irish graffiti artist, Maser. See: downtowncontainerpark.com vegasexperience.com Expand Close Graffiti in Vegas / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Graffiti in Vegas Graffiti in Vegas 3. The Grand Canyon There's not much that can prepare you for your first sight of the Grand Canyon, especially if you see it from a helicopter. After flying over the magnificent Hoover Dam, the land becomes craggier until you're suddenly in the depths of one of the greatest wonders on earth. You'll soon find yourself soaring through its peaks and troughs as the red rock comes to life in the sunlight. It's probably best to do it in style, with an early morning champagne breakfast. Packages start at $359/316. See: papillon.com 4. High Roller Observation Wheel It's no secret that Vegas can get a little well, spirited. So when you're feeling overwhelmed by all the action, take yourself up into the sky and watch it all drifting away beneath you. The High Roller Observation Wheel is the highest of its kind in the world, with a peak height of 500ft. Book a 'Happy Half Hour' ticket to make the most of an open bar in the cabin. Tickets from $26.95/24. See: caesars.com/las-vegas 5. Bellagio Fountains Even if you don't realise it, iconic sights from Vegas are engrained into your mind - the famous sign, the showgirls and the spinning roulette tables. Add to the list the illuminated fountains at the Bellagio. The spectacle of water, light and music runs from 3pm onwards, but really comes to life when the sun goes down. You can watch the show for free from the bridge, but for dinner with a view book a table at Lago, an Italian restaurant with an unbeatable position to take it all in. See: bellagio.com 6. Bardot Brasserie The culinary scene in Vegas has come on leaps and bounds over the last few years. Respected chefs like Joell Robuchon and Gordon Ramsey have made their mark, and the scene has moved on from unlimited buffets to quality dining experiences. Bardot Brasserie is one of the new kids on the block, led by renowned chef Michael Mina. With the feel of a cosy Parisian brasserie, the restaurant is offering up impeccable French dishes, like escargot wrapped in puff pastry, king crab crepes and juicy steaks cooked to perfection. See: aria.com 7. Walking the Strip Expand Close Las Vegas / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Las Vegas The Strip is the bling-tastic bloodline of Las Vegas, and what likely pops into your mind when you think of the city. Position yourself correctly and you can see an Egyptian pyramid, the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower all in one go. It's worth walking its length during the daytime to get your bearings, though do remember that the afternoon heat can become stifling, and the walk is longer than it looks. Come nightfall, you'll likely be going gambling or partying, and you'll find both in excess. For nightclubs, hit Hakkasan, 1 Oak or XS, and be sure to dress to impress. See: hakkasanlv.com, 1oaklasvegas.com, xslasvegas.com 8. Delano Hotel Vegas is home to most of the world's largest hotels, which soar over the strip, filled with thousands of rooms. The Delano is a shimmering, curved gold tower filled exclusively with uber-luxe suites. There's a definite Miami vibe to the decor, with white leather headboards and floor-to-ceiling windows. Laze at the chic pool area, or wander into the adjoining Mandalay Bay for their huge pool and beach complex. Rates from $200/176. See: delanolasvegas.com 9. Outlet Shopping With the exchange rate so far out of our favour, a jaunt to the States isn't the bargain it once was. So if you want to pick up some deals, head to either of the Premium Outlet malls on the north or south end of the Strip. And if you're shopping in Macy's, don't forget you can claim a 10pc discount as an international visitor - just find the customer service desk for your coupons. See: premiumoutlets.com 10. The Million Dollar Quartet There's no shortage of epic shows to see in Vegas. The omnipresent Cirque du Soleil is around in many incarnations, from a new Beatles show to a Michael Jackson spectacular. But the underdog is the musical Million Dollar Quartet, which tells the story of the night Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins jammed together in a Memphis studio. The show sees them sing all the classics, until the audience is dancing in the aisles. Tickets start from $62.70/55. See: milliondollarquartetlive.com Get There Aer Lingus ( aerlingus.com ) flies daily from Dublin to San Francisco with onward connections to Las Vegas with partner airlines, United and JetBlue. Fares start from 269pp each way, including taxes and charges. For more info, see lasvegas.com View the latest independent.ie exclusive holiday deals on this destination and from around the world Read more: Premium Colm McCarthy Opinion If you are not explaining it properly, then you are losing When a policy cannot be explained to a receptive audience, the problem is most likely the policy itself rather than the communications strategy. Voluntary adherence to the recommended public health measures, and willingness to accept vaccination when offered, will be critical determinants of this countrys success or failure in containing the pandemic and getting people back to work. Premium Dan O'Brien Opinion While we catastrophise about Covid, we ignore risk of running out of cash We Irish view the world in an increasingly strange and unhealthy way. We catastrophise about Covid in a way other European countries do not. We focus on how bad the effects of the virus could get, on how many more restrictions might be imposed by Government and how helpless we are in the face of the virus. Fianna Fail feels hard done by and rightly so. Over the past few weeks Micheal Martin has repeatedly complained that his troops haven't got the credit they deserve for propping up the Government. Your view on that analysis probably depends on whether you believe Fine Gael is doing a good job. And that's the catch for Fianna Fail. If you support Fine Gael, the likelihood is that you support Fianna Fail keeping them in power. Ultimately though, you will vote for Fine Gael at the next election. If you believe Leo Varadkar is failing as Taoiseach, the logical leap is that you blame Micheal Martin for facilitating his hubris. You won't vote for either. Fianna Fail provided the country with some stability back in May 2016 when the possibility of a second election was very real. It was a serious risk for Martin as it entangled his party's fate with that of their biggest enemy. Things haven't been made any easier by Sinn Fein's robust efforts to ensure we all forget about Gerry Adams. And the result is that the party is struggling, whispers have started about the leader among a small cohort of backbenchers and the public are wondering whether Fianna Fail is relevant at all any more. So Micheal Martin must now spend his summer trying to rework the narrative to suit his agenda. The truth is that Fianna Fail has played a mature and vital role in Irish politics over the past two years. The party ensured that the Government could travel around European capitals boasting that national parliament was "at one" on Brexit. Two budgets have passed with little more than the usual amount of fuss and kite-flying. And, while 'new politics' has required some patience on all sides, the Dail has functioned most of the time. Then there are the definitive policy decisions taken by the Government at the behest of Fianna Fail. At a glance, its achievements include: A 2:1 split between investment in public spending and tax reductions; Establishment of a 'Rainy Day Fund'; Retention of mortgage interest relief beyond its original cut-off last December; New life for the National Treatment Purchase Fund; Increased guidance counselling in secondary schools; Putting high variable mortgage interest rates on the agenda. But people seem to have forgotten that it was Fianna Fail which ultimately abolished water charges. And people seem to be living with the fact that Fine Gael can't get a handle on the crises in either housing or health. No wonder Micheal Martin is feeling frustrated - and even less wonder that Leo Varadkar is thinking he might be able to bounce Fianna Fail into extending the confidence and supply deal. The two-year proposal put on the table would give Varadkar the power he craves and offer Martin the time he needs to come up with a new electoral strategy. The vast majority of TDs within the Fianna Fail party are unhappy but far from panicked. When the top brass hear the likes of John McGuinness on the radio they don't even flinch. They know he doesn't have the backing of anything close to enough TDs to mount a challenge. Martin has done an incredibly good job of keeping potential successors in their place. When Enda Kenny was nearing the end, there were half-a-dozen potential replacements (Varadkar, Coveney, Fitzgerald, Donohoe, Bruton and Harris). Fianna Fail's list doesn't stretch far beyond Michael McGrath and Dara Calleary who are not in the market for long knives right now. The most likely scenario is that the leader has a year to turn things around. I have long believed this Government would fall around October but the increasingly precarious Brexit negotiations means Micheal Martin must again put the national interest first. He is thinking about extending the deal until this time next year, in order to allow the country get past Brexit Day: March 29, 2019. Brexit will be more difficult to resolve than Fianna Fail woes but whether either can be done in that time frame is questionable. Firstly, Martin needs to refresh his party's wide appeal. There's no way they would only get 21pc if a general election was held tomorrow - but why don't people want to associate with them when asked by pollsters? Could it be that in an Ireland with a very modern taoiseach, they appear old-fashioned? Then there is the frontbench. They must start sounding like ministers-in-waiting rather than TDs angry about the amount of airtime RTE gives to Sinn Fein. And, finally, Martin must assess his own performance. Last Thursday, he made a speech in UCC where he criticised "a junior senator" who was sent out by Fine Gael to retaliate to comments he had made about Brexit. The senator in question, Neale Richmond, responded by accusing Martin of "baffling condescension". Richmond is a fine politician who may one day become a minister - but right now he shouldn't even be on the radar of the opposition leader. This is the big league and for all the talk of 'green jersey politics', Martin needs to start getting some wins over Varadkar in order to get the crowds back on the Fianna Fail bandwagon. 'There is a lack of substance there," Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said about Taoiseach Leo Varadkar last week. In the normal course of events such criticism could be dismissed as politics as usual, but current events are far from normal. The country is at the centre of two unprecedented events: the approaching end of a minority government underpinned by a confidence and supply agreement; and the looming exit of our nearest and most significant trading partner from the European Union. This is not the first time that Martin has so criticised Varadkar. For some time now the Fianna Fail leader has been genuinely at odds with the Taoiseach over the manner in which Leo Varadkar conducts the business of politics. Indeed, it would be fair to suggest that he and others believe Varadkar to be the most overtly 'political' Taoiseach in a long time, perhaps in living memory. The risk is that Varadkar has become too political, or too transparently so at any rate. Martin's criticism related to a meeting between them, and their closest two advisers, at the end of the Dail term for summer the week before last. According to simultaneous media releases from Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, there were four items on the agenda: Brexit, the forthcoming budget, upcoming referendums and the confidence and supply arrangement. Within 24 hours, either Varadkar, or somebody at his behest or within his confidence, leaked to the media a proposal made by the Taoiseach at the meeting - that Fianna Fail should extend the contentious confidence and supply deal by two years up to the summer of 2020. And believe me, at the core of the grassroots in Fianna Fail there are now few things more contentious than the confidence and supply deal. In large part Varadkar's proposal was wrapped up in the context of Brexit, the withdrawal agreement deadline for which is rapidly approaching, at the end of March. That deadline is reached three months after a "review" of the confidence and supply deal is scheduled to take place. The timing could hardly be more intriguing. Martin subsequently said that Varadkar's proposal was "thrown out" at the meeting: "It wasn't discussed. He threw it out, but there wasn't any serious discussion." In other words, Martin believed that Varadkar had made a tactical proposal, with a view to it being subsequently leaked to the media. The Fianna Fail leader said: "For the Taoiseach then to leak one aspect of [the talks] betrays and illustrates a certain dimension to how he operates. It's all about optics, it's all about spinning. There's a lack of substance there." Varadkar subsequently confirmed that he had made the "serious" proposal, but denied that he was "chancing his arm". Whatever his motivations, from the Taoiseach's standpoint the outcome of the meeting could be deemed a success. Fianna Fail is now interpreted as being on the back foot and under pressure to continue to underpin the minority Government for another two years while the uncertainties of Brexit abound. That is one interpretation - and a relatively short-term one at that. A wider interpretation is that there really is something high-risk, even unpalatable, about the way in which the Taoiseach conducts his politics. There are those, and they are many - look at the opinion polls - who remain excited, even thrilled at Varadkar's modus operandi. But as I have said before, his high-risk strategies will backfire sooner or later. He has this tendency to fly far too closely to the sun. There are those who argue that in such an approach to Brexit, Icarus cannot fail. He has the full support of the European Union, after all. And it is Ireland and Europe against 70 or so hard-line Brexiteers and the DUP, goes the argument. No contest. There is merit in the argument. Yet as we approach D-day for a withdrawal agreement, there is also contemplation of what would be a disastrous no-deal Brexit. A no-deal would be a damning indictment of all sides in these negotiations, but particularly the super-charged approach taken by Varadkar's Government in its dealings with the UK. That reality seems to have dropped slowly with the Government. Now, nine months to D-day, there is a tentative about-turn at senior Government level. Now there is increasing emphasis on a key provision laid out in Article 50 to allow for an extension of negotiations on withdrawal, such would be the disastrous consequences for Ireland, in particular, of a no-deal. However, an extension can only occur with the agreement of the European Council and all EU27 member states. But there is no guarantee that all 27 would agree. Consider what might be the motivations of certain Eastern Europe countries, Poland and Hungary for example. So more than ever before, the question is being asked: will this "certain dimension" to how the Taoiseach "operates" ultimately backfire with disastrous consequences for the country? All manner of experts will tell you 'no', that Varadkar is playing a 'can't lose' master game on Brexit. The opinion polls show this to be also the public's view. If anything, the Taoiseach's standing has been enhanced by his pro-nationalist, even anti-British, rhetoric. In essence, this is how he explains his no-holds-barred approach to the UK, as outlined by him in the Sunday Independent last week: "Our over-riding policy is to ensure that Ireland and the Irish people do not once again become collateral damage in a British policy decision." Into this strategy last week came, again, the man Micheal Martin has recently accused of "sympathy trolling " Fianna Fail: Minister of State Patrick O'Donovan. In reaction to Fianna Fail TDs' criticism of Varadkar's leaking of details of his meeting with Martin, O'Donovan accused Fianna Fail of being "more concerned with internal party angst rather than the country's future". There is an element of truth in the accusation, but a large part of Fianna Fail still sees the future of party and country as entwined. O'Donovan also went even further than Varadkar, to suggest that Fianna Fail support the minority Government "beyond 2020". "The country needs reassurances there will not be a general election until Brexit and its aftermath is well off the agenda. Clearly, that will not occur until well beyond 2020," he said. Another Fine Gael young turk, Neale Richmond, chimed in, taking issue with Martin's criticism, and the Government's Brexit negotiation strategy. He accused Fianna Fail of "muddled thinking". Richmond's attack related to Fianna Fail's proposal for a special economic zone to resolve the issue of Northern Ireland in the Brexit negotiations. He accused the party of developing a "catchphrase, not a policy" to resolve the issues at the heart of the proposed backstop. This was the deal so dramatically proclaimed as "bulletproof" by the Government last December, but which does not look so bulletproof now. Actually last week Micheal Martin did put some flesh on the bones of Fianna Fail's proposal. Instead of seeing Brexit just as a threat to be minimised, which it undoubtedly was, he said, we had to also find a mechanism for securing a "new development agenda" for Northern Ireland. "I believe that a special economic zone status offers the best opportunity," he said, citing Shannon in the south west of Ireland as an example. In Northern Ireland's case it would, in effect, benefit from the best of both worlds - full access to the UK and EU markets, and not be forced to choose between them. Later last week he took aim at Richmond - "a junior senator" - for reinforcing a "lack of understanding of how you reach agreement across communities in Northern Ireland". This was a subtle reference to Fianna Fail's perceived ownership of the Good Friday Agreement and its belief that it, better than Fine Gael, can manage relations with parties in Northern Ireland and UK. What these increasingly antagonistic interactions between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail really confirm is that Brexit, deal or no deal, will be at the heart of the next election, whenever that may be called. It remains my view that Fianna Fail will not support the current arrangement to 2020 never mind "beyond"; and that Micheal Martin would also have great difficulty securing party support for even a one-year extension, although secure it he probably would. But what it also advises us is that Varadkar's naked politicking has started to militate against his stated aim of providing stable Government. Maybe that is his real, if unstated intention all along - to provoke and then blame Fianna Fail for causing an election. Were the potential downsides limited to just that... The greater concern is that a "certain dimension" to how the Leo Varadkar "operates" will ultimately deliver a poor-deal, or worse still a no-deal Brexit. Trish McEvoy signs books at Trish McEvoy's "The Makeup of a Confident Woman" Book Signing at Doubles on May 9, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Patrick McMullan/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images) Trish McEvoy attends Build Series to discuss "The Makeup Of A Confident Woman" at Build Studio on March 17, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Pont/WireImage) Do you ever get that feeling when you speak with someone new and their infectious enthusiasm lights a fire under you? Trish McEvoy, a Dublin-born, New York-based beauty mogul is one of those people. Ms McEvoys story is the summation of the American dream: she was raised by immigrant parents, from Dublin and Berlin, and turned her career as a makeup artist into a bonafide empire, all while maintaining the same zest for her craft after 43 years as she did on day one. She was inspired to pursue a career in beauty after growing up admiring her mothers commitment to glamour and her grandmother, who was a perfumier in Berlin. With me, it was truly - my grandmother always had perfumiers in Berlin - my mother was very, very elegant. They loved makeup and clothing and it was just something that Id been around my whole life, she tells Independent.ie Style from her Fifth Avenue office. When it was time to choose what I wanted to do, it was always something I did. I always enjoyed makeup and fragrance. I was very fortunate that at a very young age, that first job was the love of my life. It taught me that you can open one door and your whole life is there. After working in retail at a cosmetics counter, she moved into makeup artistry and eventually was given a corporate role with a beauty brand before branching out on her own. I was very, fortunate,I had a lovely boss and then I went into product development and in the evenings, I did photoshoots, she explains. Expand Close Trish McEvoy at the Westbury Hotel in Dublin. Picture: Kieran Harnett / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Trish McEvoy at the Westbury Hotel in Dublin. Picture: Kieran Harnett Video of the Day I started my journey into local television and radio, which is what travelling makeup artists did at that time and that enabled me to speak in front of small groups of women. At a very young age, I became an independent makeup artist that had that great fortune of starting my own business. Her first foray into her own product development for her eponymous cosmetics line was with makeup brushes in the 1975. At the time, the demand for high end makeup brushes was skyrocketing, but the supply was virtually non-existent. And after taking out an ad in Vogue ("it was an eighth of the page at the back of the book"), her business transformed seemingly overnight. Her story is one littered with equal parts ambition, savvy and just the right amount of luck. I always wanted to be independent in what I did and if there was an opportunity and I took it, she says. Ive always been fearless, fearless is my Irish quality! She currently employs anywhere from 300-500 people around the world, either working with her in a corporate setting or representing the brand working behind a makeup counter (in Ireland, thats in Harvey Nichols in Dundrum Town Centre). Was there a particular moment that she felt she made it? I think Ive made it every step of the way..but my made it might be different to someone elses. I ask myself, Am I happy? Am I working my craft? Am I enjoying the day? Am I able to be profitable? My main thing was to live a happy life and work in my craft. Ive done it my whole life. Its clear her ethos is one that inspires loyalty as most of her senior staff have been working with her for a number of years and she describes her business as more of a start up culture, one in which everyone mucks in and learns a new skill. This is particularly relevant to the women she makes a purpose of hiring and mentoring. The average age of the people that are around me, with the exception of my general manager and a few other people, is 27-29, its very young in that part of our business, she says. Its very important to show the next generation the dream can come true. The more experienced generation have experience and the bonding of the two really have made for the perfect situation. Although she was born in Ireland, she lived here only for a brief time as a baby before moving to Berlin until the age of 12, when she hot-footed over to New York City; but now, at 68, shes returning to her roots and is focusing on expanding the Irish market, something displayed over her now twice-a-year visits. Now my focus is very much Ireland and the UK, she explains. For a very long time, I didnt think of expansion, but I have a wonderful team in place. I feel the spirit and the timing is right. Jonathan Rhys Meyers with wife Mara and son Wolf attend the premiere of The 12th Man at Fredrikstad Cinema on December 18, 2017 in Fredrikstad, Norway. (Photo by Rune Hellestad - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images) Irish actor Jonathan Rhys-Meyers poses for a photocall for a TV serie "Roots" during the MIPTV, on April 4, 2016 on the French riviera city of Cannes. / AFP / VALERY HACHE Jonathan Rhys Meyers says he is not an alcoholic. The 41-year-old actor has battled problems with alcohol for many years but after recently relapsing and getting into an onboard fight with his wife and airline staff on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles, he insisted he simply has an "allergy" to alcohol. He told Event magazine with the Mail On Sunday: "Ive let myself down by relapsing, and its my responsibility. Nobody else is to blame. I actually dont like the taste of alcohol. "I would be known as somebody who relapses with problem drinking, not alcoholism. I dont suffer from alcoholism I suffer from an allergy to alcohol every time I drink it. But once I stop, I never think about it again. "That doesnt mean that the problem is any less, it just means I have a different version of it. But when I drink, the consequences are so devastating that it is a problem. But I never need a drink. Its not something that I crave." Jonathan - whose mother Geraldine suffered from issues with alcohol - did not start drinking until he was 26 and does not believe his problems are hereditary as his three brothers have no issues with drinking. Jonathan was detained at Los Angeles' LAX airport when his plane touched down on the runway earlier this month following an on-board fight with his spouse Mara Lane - with whom he has 18-month-old son Wolf - and he previously revealed he ordered a drink following a series of "frustrating" events. He said: "My wife and I had been traveling since 3 o'clock in the morning from Peru back to Los Angeles. And they gave away our tickets - it was just a problem with the airline. Expand Close Jonathan Rhys Meyers and his wife Mara Lane were flying from Miami to Los Angeles. Photo: Getty Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jonathan Rhys Meyers and his wife Mara Lane were flying from Miami to Los Angeles. Photo: Getty Images "We had our baby, who was teething at the time, and it was all kind of frustrating. "So we eventually got on the flight and my wife went to sleep and I very stupidly decided to order a drink. When my wife found that I'd ordered a drink, she got very, very angry with me because I shouldn't drink. It doesn't suit me and I had been sober for a long time. Video of the Day "And so I felt that mistake and I got upset and I took out an e-cigarette. And the airline staff told me that I wasn't allowed to smoke an e-cigarette so I put it away. "Then I spoke to the Los Angeles police once we got there, who were incredibly kind. Incredibly understanding and that's the entire story. Expand Close Jonathan Rhys Meyers' adorable son Wolf on Good Morning Britain / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jonathan Rhys Meyers' adorable son Wolf on Good Morning Britain "As soon as I got off the airplane I went and spoke to somebody and I got back on track immediately." A firefighter walks along a containment line in front of an advancing wildfire in Redding, California (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP) Fire crews are facing several weather uncertainties as they struggle to contain a deadly blaze in Northern California that has led to the evacuation of thousands of people. Firefighters are enduring hot temperatures and remain wary of the possibility of gusty winds, Anthony Romero, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said. Right now its going everywhere, he said. We still have a lot of open line. Any event could bring this back up again. The National Weather Service on Sunday forecast hot and dry conditions in the area, with wind gusts expected late in the afternoon. Expand Close A firefighter walks along a containment line while battling a wildfire in Redding, California (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A firefighter walks along a containment line while battling a wildfire in Redding, California (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP) Anna Noland, 49, was evacuated twice in three days before learning through video footage on Saturday that the house she last saw under dark and windy skies had burned. She plans to stay at a shelter at Simpson College in Redding while she searches for another place to live. I think Im still in shock, she said. Its just unbelievable knowing you dont have a house to go back to. Ms Noland is among 38,000 people evacuated after the so-called Carr Fire roared into the outskirts of Redding in Shasta County, leaving five people dead including two firefighters, a woman and her two great-grandchildren. My babies are dead, Sherry Bledsoe said through tears after she and family members met with police on Saturday. A vehicle problem ignited the fire on Monday, but it wasnt until Thursday that the fire exploded and raced into communities west of Redding before entering city limits. Expand Close Sherry Bledsoe, left, cries next to her sister Carla after learning her two children and grandmother were killed when flames consumed their home (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sherry Bledsoe, left, cries next to her sister Carla after learning her two children and grandmother were killed when flames consumed their home (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP) On Saturday, it pushed south-west of Redding, the largest city in the region, towards the tiny communities of Ono, Igo and Gas Point, where scorching heat, winds and bone-dry conditions complicated firefighting efforts. The blaze has grown to 139 square miles and now threatens more than 5,000 structures and is said to be just 5% contained. The latest tally showed 517 destroyed structures and another 135 damaged, Mr Romero said, with the vast majority believed to be homes. Ms Bledsoes two children, James Roberts, five, and Emily Roberts, four, were stranded with their great-grandmother Melody Bledsoe, 70, when walls of flames swept through the familys rural property on Thursday in the outskirts of Redding. The three were among more than a dozen people reported missing after the furious wind-driven blaze took residents by surprise and levelled several neighbourhoods. Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said he expects to find several of those people alive and just out of touch with loved ones. Officers have gone to the homes of several people reported missing and found their cars are not there a strong indication they fled. Expand Close A burned vehicle sits outside a ruined home in Redding after flames engulfed the area (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A burned vehicle sits outside a ruined home in Redding after flames engulfed the area (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP) Wildfires around the state have forced roughly 50,000 people from their homes, officials said, and 12,000 firefighters are currently tackling 17 significant fires in California. About 100 miles south-west of Redding, two blazes that prompted mandatory evacuations in Mendocino County burn largely unchecked. Those fires are threatening more than 4,500 buildings, and have consumed 39 square miles. Authorities have also issued evacuation orders in Napa County, famous for its wine, after a fire destroyed eight structures. In addition, major fires continue to burn outside Yosemite National Park and in the San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles near Palm Springs. Those fires have burned nearly 100 square miles. Three weeks ago, Donald Trump lawyer Rudolph Giuliani was asked if he was concerned that Trump's longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, might 'flip' and tell tales on the president. "I have no concerns that Michael Cohen is going to do anything but tell the truth, and if he does, as I said, there's no suggestion that anything happened," Giuliani said then. Now with Cohen reportedly prepared to flip on Trump, Giuliani is singing a different tune about a man he once called an "honest, honourable lawyer". "This guy is a proven liar," Giuliani told CNN on Thursday. "A year ago, when I wasn't Trump's lawyer, people told me this guy will flip because he is an inherent, pathological liar." The sudden focus on discrediting Trump's longtime lawyer suggests the investigations into Cohen and Russian election interference could come down, in part, to Cohen's credibility. Or at least Trump's lawyer seems to think so. Cohen did not say Trump had advance knowledge of a June 2016 meeting with Donald Trump Jr and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya before the House Intelligence Committee in 2017. And both Trump and Trump Jr have repeatedly denied that Trump knew about the meeting before it happened. "It was such a nothing, there was nothing to tell," Trump Jr told Sean Hannity on Fox News in July 2017, denying any mention of the meeting to candidate Donald Trump. Less than an hour after the interview aired, none other than Michael Cohen weighed in on Twitter. "So proud of Donald Trump Jr for being open, honest and transparent to the American people," Cohen tweeted. "This nonsense needs to stop!" A teenager who was buried in the sand by friends while on a day out at the beach has contracted a flesh-eating parasite as a result, according to his mother. Michael Dumas (17) from Memphis Tennessee was on a mission trip with his church in Florida when a group of friends took time out to relax on a South Florida beach. However, days later swelling and lumps appeared on the boys skin and it was discovered he had contracted Hookwork, a parasite usually found in the intestines of animals. In a post on Facebook, the boys mother Kelli reacted to the infection describing it as disturbing and warning people of the danger of contracting the parasite. He was buried in the sand for fun and it has become our nightmare. Four of our people contracted a parasitic infection, hookworms, from the Pompano Beach, she said. Michael has the worst case by far We have been to the paediatrician 4 times, to a dermatologist and have a follow up appointment today. He is in pain and this is AWFUL. Never be buried in the sand or allow your children to be either. I am only showing a few pictures because it is so disturbing,she wrote. The Tennessee mother said she contacted the health department who told her it was common knowledge that parasites can be contracted from beaches. Hookworm infections of this kind are usually a result of walking barefoot on contaminated soil. Palestinian activist and campaigner Ahed Tamimi (C) is seen upon her release from prison after an eight-month sentence for slapping two Israeli soldiers, on the outskirts of the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh on July 29, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / ABBAS MOMANIABBAS MOMANI/AFP/Getty Images Palestinian activist and campaigner Ahed Tamimi (C) is seen upon her release from prison after an eight-month sentence for slapping two Israeli soldiers, on the outskirts of the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh on July 29, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / ABBAS MOMANIABBAS MOMANI/AFP/Getty Images Palestinian activist and campaigner Ahed Tamimi is seen at the tomb of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, on July 29, 2018, after she was released from prison earlier in the day following an eight-month sentence for slapping two Israeli soldiers. / AFP PHOTO / ABBAS MOMANIABBAS MOMANI/AFP/Getty Images A Palestinian teenager who was sent to prison for slapping and kicking Israeli soldiers has returned home to a hero's welcome after being released. Ahed Tamimi (17) and her mother, Nariman Tamimi, were greeted with banners, cheers and Palestinian flags as they entered their home village of Nabi Saleh in the West Bank. Ahed was arrested in December after she slapped two Israeli soldiers outside her family home. Her mother filmed the incident and posted it on Facebook, where it went viral and instantly turned Ahed into a symbol of resistance to Israel's half-century-old military rule over the Palestinians. With her unruly mop of curly light-coloured hair, the Palestinian teenager quickly became a local hero and an internationally recognisable figure. Her supporters see a brave girl who struck two armed soldiers in frustration after learning that Israeli troops had seriously wounded a 15-year-old cousin, shooting him in the head from close range with a rubber bullet during nearby stone-throwing clashes. In Israel, however, she is seen by many as a provocateur, an irritation or a threat to the military's deterrence policy. Israel treated her actions as a criminal offence, indicting her on charges of assault and incitement. Her eight-month sentence was the result of a plea deal. In Nabi Saleh, supporters welcomed Ahed home with Palestinian flags planted on the roof of her home. Hundreds of chairs were set up for wellwishers in the courtyard. "The resistance continues until the occupation is removed," she said on her return. "All the female prisoners are steadfast. I salute everyone who supported me and my case." From her home, Ahed headed for a visit to the grave of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Her father, Bassem Tamimi, said he expects her to take a lead in the struggle against Israeli occupation but she is also weighing up college options. Since 2009, residents of Nabi Salah have staged regular anti-occupation protests that often ended with stone-throwing clashes. Ahed has participated in such marches from a young age, and has had several highly publicised run-ins with soldiers. One photo shows the then 12-year-old raising a clenched fist towards a soldier towering over her. In a sign of her popularity, a pair of Italian artists painted a large mural of her on Israel's West Bank separation barrier ahead of her release. Israeli police said they were caught in the act along with another Palestinian and arrested for vandalism. Ahed was 16 when she was arrested and turned 17 in custody. Her case has trained a spotlight on the detention of Palestinian minors by Israel, a practice that has been criticised by international rights groups. Some 300 minors are currently being held, according to Palestinian figures. Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians are increasingly disillusioned about efforts to establish a state in those territories after more than two decades of failed negotiations with Israel. Donald Trump was urged to tone down his anti-press rhetoric by the publisher of the New York Times (Niall Carson/PA) The publisher of The New York Times has said he implored Donald Trump at a private meeting to reconsider his attacks on journalists, calling the presidents anti-press rhetoric not just divisive but increasingly dangerous. In a statement, AG Sulzberger said he decided to comment publicly after Mr Trump revealed their off-the-record White House meeting to his 53 million Twitter followers on Sunday. The presidents aides had requested that the July 20 meeting not be made public, Mr Sulzberger said. Mr Trump tweeted: Had a very good and interesting meeting at the White House with A.G. Sulzberger, Publisher of the New York Times. Spent much time talking about the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, Enemy of the People. Sad! Hours after that exchange, Mr Trump resumed his broadside against the media in a series of tweets that included a pledge not to let the country be sold out by anti-Trump haters in the dying newspaper industry. Mr Sulzberger said his main purpose for accepting the meeting was to raise concerns about the presidents deeply troubling anti-press rhetoric. He added: I told the president directly that I thought that his language was not just divisive but increasingly dangerous. He said he told Mr Trump that while the phrase fake news is untrue and harmful, I am far more concerned about his labelling journalists the enemy of the people. I warned that this inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence. Mr Sulzberger, who attended the meeting with James Bennet, the Times editorial page editor, said he stressed that leaders outside the US are already using Mr Trumps rhetoric to justify cracking down on journalists. I warned that it was putting lives at risk, that it was undermining the democratic ideals of our nation, and that it was eroding one of our countrys greatest exports: a commitment to free speech and a free press, the publisher said. He added that he made clear he was not asking Mr Trump to soften his attacks against the Times if he thinks the newspapers coverage is unfair. Instead, I implored him to reconsider his broader attacks on journalism, which I believe are dangerous and harmful to our country, he said. Expand Close AG Sulzberger met Donald Trump at the White House for private talks (Damon Winter/The New York Times via AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp AG Sulzberger met Donald Trump at the White House for private talks (Damon Winter/The New York Times via AP) Mr Trump reads the Times and gives interviews to its reporters. But the president who, like all politicians, is concerned about his image also regularly derides the newspaper as the failing New York Times. However, the Times ownership company in May reported a 3.8% increase in first-quarter revenue compared to the same period in 2017. The president, who lashes out over media coverage of himself and the administration that he deems unfair, has broadly labelled the news media the enemy of the people and regularly accuses reporters of spreading fake news the term he often uses for stories he dislikes. Hours after his tweet about the Sulzberger meeting, Mr Trump renewed his criticism of the media in a series of posts in which he accused reporters of disclosing internal deliberations of government and said that can endanger the lives of many. He did not cite examples but wrote Very unpatriotic! and said freedom of the press comes with a responsibility to report the news accurately, a sentiment that journalists share. Mr Trump also claimed that 90% of the coverage of his administration is negative, leading to an all-time low in public confidence in the media. He cited the Times and The Washington Post, two favourite targets, and claimed: They will never change! What Is a European Option? A European option is a version of an options contract that limits execution to its expiration date. In other words, if the underlying security such as a stock has moved in price, an investor would not be able to exercise the option early and take delivery of or sell the shares. Instead, the call or put action will only take place on the date of option maturity. Another version of the options contract is the American option, which can be exercised any time up to and including the date of expiration. The names of these two versions should not be confused with the geographic location as the name only signifies the right of execution. Key Takeaways A European option is a version of an options contract that limits rights exercise to only the day of expiration. Although American options can be exercised early, it comes at a price since their premiums are often higher than European options. Investors can sell a European option contract back to the market before expiry and receive the net difference between the premiums earned and paid initially. Investors usually don't have a choice of buying either the American or the European option and most indexes use European options. The Black-Scholes option model is often used to value European options. Understanding a European Option European options define the timeframe when holders of an options contract may exercise their contract rights. The rights for the option holder include buying the underlying asset or selling the underlying asset at the specified contract pricethe strike price. With European options, the holder may only exercise their rights on the day of expiration. As with other versions of options contracts, European options come at an upfront costthe premium. It is important to note that investors usually don't have a choice of buying either the American or the European option. Specific stocks or funds might only be offered in one version or the other, and not in both. Most indexes use European options because it reduces the amount of accounting needed by the brokerage. Many brokers use the Black-Scholes model (BSM) to value European options. European index options halt trading at business close Thursday before the third Friday of the expiration month. This lapse in trading allows the brokers the ability to price the individual assets of the underlying index. Due to this process, the settlement price of the option can often come as a surprise. Stocks or other securities may make drastic moves between the Thursday close and market opening Friday. Also, it may take hours after the market opens Friday for the definite settlement price to publish. European options normally trade over the counter (OTC), while American options usually trade on standardized exchanges. Types of European Options Call A European call option gives the owner the right to acquire the underlying security at expiry. For an investor to profit from a call option, the stock's price, at expiry, has to be trading high enough above the strike price to cover the cost of the option premium. Put A European put option allows the holder to sell the underlying security at expiry. For an investor to profit from a put option, the stock's price, at expiry, has to be trading far enough below the strike price to cover the cost of the option premium. Closing a European Option Early Typically, exercising an option means initializing the rights of the option so that a trade is executed at the strike price. However, many investors don't like to wait for a European option to expire. Instead, investors can sell the option contract back to the market before its expiration. Option prices change based on the movement and volatility of the underlying asset and the time until expiration. As a stock price rises and falls, the valuesignified by the premiumof the option increases and decreases. Investors can unwind their option position early if the current option premium is higher than the premium they initially paid. In this case, the investor would receive the net difference between the two premiums. Closing the option position before expiration means the trader realizes any gains or losses on the contract itself. An existing call option could be sold early if the stock has risen significantly, while a put option could be sold if the stock's price has fallen. Closing the European option early depends on the prevailing market conditions, the value of the premiumits intrinsic valueand the option's time valuethe amount of time remaining before a contract's expiration. If an option is close to its expiration, it's unlikely an investor will get much return for selling the option early because there's little time left for the option to make money. In this case, the option's worth rests on its intrinsic value, an assumed price based on if the contract is in, out, or at the money (ATM). European Option vs. American Option European options can only be exercised on the expiration date, whereas American options can be exercised at any time between the purchase and expiration dates. In other words, American options allow investors to realize a profit as soon as the stock price moves in their favor and enough to more than offset the premium paid. Investors will use American options with dividend-paying stocks. In this way, they can exercise the option before an ex-dividend date. The flexibility of American options allows investors to own a company's shares in time to get paid a dividend. However, the flexibility of using an American option comes at a pricea premium to the premium. The increased cost of the option means investors need the underlying asset to move far enough from the strike price to make the trade return a profit. Also, if an American option is held to maturity, the investor would have been better off buying a lower-priced, European version option and paying the lower premium. European Option Pros Lower premium cost Allows trading index options Can be resold before the expiration date European Option Cons Settlement prices are delayed Cannot be settled for underlying asset early Example of a European Option An investor purchases a July call option on Citigroup Inc. with a $50 strike price. The premium is $5 per contract100 sharesfor a total cost of $500 ($5 x 100 = $500). At expiration, Citigroup is trading at $75. In this case, the owner of the call option has the right to purchase the stock at $50exercise their optionmaking $25 per share profit. When factoring in the initial premium of $5, the net profit is $20 per share or $2,000 (25 - $5 = $20 x 100 = $2000). Let's consider a second scenario whereby Citigroup's stock price fell to $30 by the time of the call option's expiration. Since the stock is trading below the strike of $50, the option isn't exercised and expires worthless. The investor loses the premium of $500 paid at the onset. The investor can wait until expiry to determine whether the trade is profitable, or they can try to sell the call option back to the market. Whether the premium received for selling the call option is enough to cover the initial $5 paid is dependent on many conditions, including economic conditions, the company's earnings, the time left until expiration, and the volatility of the stock's price at the time of the sale. There's no guarantee the premium received from selling the call option before expiry will be enough to offset the $5 premium paid initially. What is the Farm Credit System (FCS)? The Farm Credit System (FCS) is a nationwide lending network which specializes in serving the agricultural community. It is made up of cooperative banks and associations who provide credit to individuals and businesses throughout the United States. The FCS assists the rural community and organizations of all types and sizes, ranging from small family farms to corporations with global operations. Key Takeaways The FCS is made up of cooperative banks and associations who provide credit to individuals and businesses throughout the United States. The FCS consists of 72 independent and customer-owned financial institutions. The Farm Credit System is a crucial source of funding for the agribusiness industry which is seen as high-risk by traditional lenders. How the Farm Credit System (FCS) Works The FCS consists of 72 independent and customer-owned financial institutions. These institutions provide financing and related services to U.S. farmers, ranchers, agribusinesses, commercial fishers, greenhouse operators, and farmer-owned cooperatives. The Farm Credit System also assists in loans to rural home buyers and infrastructure providers. The Farm Credit System is a crucial source of funding for the agribusiness industry which is seen as high-risk by traditional lenders. Each of the member institutions of the FCS has management through a customer chosen Board of Directors. The FCS makes loans for a variety of purposes, including: Agricultural processing and marketing activities Rural housing initiatives Farm-related businesses Construction and improvement of rural utilities Financing and promoting the global exports of products Purchasing land to operate farms Purchasing equipment and building the facilities necessary to the agriculture industry The Farm Credit System helps the agriculture industry with resources including financial products such as credit life insurance, crop insurance, accounting tools and cash management services. The organization also provides access to leasing programs that allow customers to purchase and finance vehicles, farm equipment, and other supplies. The FCS provides access to critically needed credit in rural areas where national and regional banks typically do not have a presence. That, in turn, helps support rural communities and keeps them healthy and thriving. The organizations mission today also focuses on ensuring that American agriculture remains competitive in global markets. The Farm Credit System does not run off of government funding or tax dollars. The FCS raises funds through the sale of debt securities on the market. Loan proceeds help to purchase and maintain the products and supplies needed by the people the FCS serves. History of the Farm Credit System The organizations roots trace back more than 100 years. It originated when Congress created the FCS in 1916 through legislation establishing the Federal Land Bank System (FLB). The group issued its first loan less than a year later. The system expanded during the Great Depression and received credit for helping to save many American farms during that period. The Farm Credit Act of 1953 established the FCA as one of the agencies that falls under the executive branch, setting it on a course towards independence. The federal government initially funded the FCS to ensure American agriculture had a dependable source of credit. It is now self-funding and owned by its member-borrowers. The organizations size and scope allow member-borrowers to have access to credit sources and attractive borrowing terms that might not otherwise be available to them, especially in the case of small farms or those with limited resources. What Is Homo Economicus? Homo economicus is a theoretical abstraction that some economists use to describe a rational human being. In certain neoclassical economic theories, people are portrayed this way: as ideal decision-makers with complete rationality, perfect access to information, and consistent, self-interested goals. Key Takeaways Homo economicus is a theoretical abstraction that some economists use to describe a rational human being. In certain neoclassical economic theories, people are portrayed this way: as ideal decision-makers with complete rationality, perfect access to information, and consistent, self-interested goals. Modern behavioral economists and those who study neuroeconomics, however, have demonstrated that human beings are, in fact, not rational in their decision-making. The origins of the homo economicus lie in an essay about the political economy by the English civil servant, philosopher, and political economist John Stuart Mill in 1836. Rationality should dictate that the rational business person should use profits from their business to live a fairly frugal existence but that is not always the case. Understanding Homo Economicus Homo economicus, or economic man, is the figurative human being characterized by the infinite ability to make rational decisions. Certain economic models have traditionally relied on the assumption that humans are rational and will attempt to maximize their utility for both monetary and non-monetary gains. Modern behavioral economists and those who study neuroeconomics, however, have demonstrated that human beings are, in fact, not rational in their decision-making. They argue that a "more human" subject (that makes somewhat predictable irrational decisions) would provide a more accurate tool for modeling human behavior. Origins of Homo Economicus The origins of homo economicus lie in an essay about the political economy by the English civil servant, philosopher, and political economist John Stuart Mill in 1836. The essay, which was titled On the Definition of Political Economy and on the Method of Investigation Proper to It, attempted to assign characteristics to subjects under consideration for the new field. Mill's subject was a "being who desires to possess wealth, and who is capable of judging the comparative efficacy of means for obtaining that end." He stated that political economy abstracts other human motives, except for those that help the hypothetical being in his pursuit of wealth. Luxury is considered part of the being's desires, as well as producing babies. The economic man's tastes and propensities are also passed on from one generation to another, according to Mill. In Mill's model, a parent with a taste for luxury might have children who possess similar tendencies. Defining Traits of Homo Economicus The most important trait of homo economicus is that they care, primarily, about maximizing profit. More importantly, they are always able to make decisions that allow them to pursue this goal in the most efficient way. If they are a consumer, the primary goal of the homo economicus is to maximize utility; if they are a producer, their primary goal is profit. In addition to profit-maximization, there are several other defining traits of homo economicus. These traits include flawless rationality, unlimited cognitive capacity, perfect information, narrow self-interest, and preference consistency. The decision-making of the homo economicus is perfectly rational and is never influenced by any personal biases. The homo economicus also has an unlimited cognitive capacity and can process any amount of information, regardless of its quantity, quality, or complexity. Furthermore, the homo economicus has access to all the relevant information that relates to the decisions they have to make. The homo economicus possesses narrow self-interest; they are only concerned with helping themselves. Finally, the homo economicus' preferences and goals remain constant over time. Homo Economicus Today The homo economicus is a cornerstone of the neoclassical economics approach, particularly in microeconomics. In modern economics, the neoclassical theory rests on three assumptions: rational decisions, maximization of utility, and a self-interested orientation. This assumes that individuals are conscious of making decisions based on their own self-interest, that individuals have relevant and full information so they can make a rational calculation that would maximize utility, and that the primary goal for companies is to maximize profits and for individuals, to maximize utility. Companies accomplish this by adding to their workforce until a point where the value of the output balances the additional cost of hiring workers. Consumers attempt to maximize utility by paying for goods and services up to the point that the amount they pay balances the satisfaction gained from an extra unit. Limitations of Homo Economicus History and various economic crises over the years have proved that the theory of an economic man is a flawed one. Daniel Kahneman, an Israeli-American psychologist and Nobel laureate, and Amos Tversky, a leading expert in judgment and human decision making, founded the field of behavioral economics with their 1979 paper, "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk." Kahneman and Tversky researched human risk aversion, finding that people's attitudes regarding risks associated with gains are different from those concerning losses. Homo economicus, and the idea that humans always act rationally, is challenged by risk aversion. Kahneman and Tversky, for example, found that if given a choice between definitely getting $1,000 or having a 50% chance of getting $2,500, people are more likely to accept the $1,000. Other Human Decision-Making Models Because there are many criticisms of the homo economicus model, there have been alternative models of human decision-making that have been proposed over the years. Here are a few of them: Homo reciprocans: The homo reciprocans is a person who rewards positive actions and punishes negative actions. Homo politicus: The homo politicus is a person that always acts in a way that is consistent with what is best for society. Homo sociologicus: The homo sociologicus is a person that is not always perfectly rational because they are affected by society; they strive to fulfill their role in society but are also influenced by societal forces. It's important to keep in mind that these models are not mutually exclusive. For example, while a person may act like a homo reciprocans in one situation, they may act like a homo politicus in a different situation. Example of Homo Economicus The most common example provided of the homo economicus is that of a businessperson. The businessperson seeks to eke out profits from each transaction and decision. For example, they may automate operations and lay off workers in order to maximize productivity. Similarly, they might get rid of non-performing parts of their business to focus on the ones that generate profits. In 2007, in an essay in The New York Review of Books called Who Was Milton Friedman? Paul Krugman wrote that "For most of the past two centuries, economic thinking has been dominated by the concept of Homo economicus. Its easy to make fun of this story. Nobody, not even Nobel-winning economists, really makes decisions that way. But most economistsmyself includednonetheless find Economic Man useful, with the understanding that hes an idealized representation of what we really think is going on." The homo economicus brings the same rationality to their dealings in other spheres of life. But the theory falls short in explaining the rationale behind some seemingly irrational decisions. For example, rationality should dictate that the rational business person should use profits from their business to live a fairly frugal existence. But that is not always the case. The prevalence of luxury items and philanthropy are direct refutations of the theory. Homo Economicus FAQs How Does Homo Economicus Contrast With Adam Smiths Views? The idea of the homo economicus was introduced by John Stuart Mill in the 19th century in an essay about the political economy. Mill's theory was an extension of other ideas proposed by economists, such as Adam Smith and David Ricardo, who also saw humans as primarily self-interested economic agents. Smith characterized humans as motivated by economic self-interest and the maximization of pleasure. He also described the human actor as rational with an underlying self-interest in the pursuit of wealth. How Does Homo Economicus Relate to Instrumental Rationality? Instrumental rationality is a way of reasoning that is concerned with the most efficient way to achieve an end. Instrumental rationality can be contrasted with value rationality, which only recognizes ends that are right, or legitimate in themselves. The sociologist Max Weber was the first to observe these two capacities and label them as such. Some characterizations paint the homo economicus as a perfectly rational, but amoral, actor. In this way, it could be said that homo economicus acts in a way that is consistent with instrumental rationality. Is Homo Economicus a Part of Behavioral Economics? Behavioral economics challenges the traditional view of the homo economicus. Behavioral economics tries to understand how psychology affects economic decisions. According to behavioral economists, humans are anything but rational. Not only are individuals not always self-interested, but they also are not always concerned with maximizing benefits and minimizing costs. Most decision-making occurs with insufficient knowledge and processing capability, and we sometimes lack the self-control to engage in self-interested behavior. In addition, our preferences change, often in response to the context in which a decision is being made. For this reason, the theoretical abstraction of the homo economicus is incompatible with some of the basic beliefs of behavioral economics. The first mass of Reek Sunday got underway around 8am this morning. The Archbishop of Tuam, Michael Neary is leading the annual Croagh Patrick pilgrimage which has been a feature of the Irish Catholic Calendar for the last 1,500 years. More than 15,000 pilgrims - some with bare feet - will today climb to the summit of the County Mayo Mountain, where mass will be said every hour until 2pm. Super conditions for Reek Sunday thank God! pic.twitter.com/rV2wr523uM + Fintan Monahan (@BishopFintan) July 29, 2018 Jimmy Barry from South East Mountain Rescue said it is a daunting challenge. He said: "When you're heading up here today there is going to be showers of rain so the rocks are going to be slippery, it's going to be a hard climb. "I hope and pray that today is going to go well for everybody and that we are not busy at all, but that is usually not the case." Stay Hydrated and Go at Your Own Pace Order of Malta Ambulance Corps urges pilgrims to prepare for warm weather and high volume of people ahead of Reek Sunday climb at Croagh Patrick this weekend. #SavingLives #ReekSundayhttps://t.co/VUet5ICAlA pic.twitter.com/Hqq8g2CoV5 Order of Malta IE (@OrderofMaltaIRL) July 26, 2018 The recent fine weather is expected to boost numbers, however, Keelan Moran from the Order of Malta Ambulance Corps says pilgrims should be prepared for all seasons on the mountain. He said: "It is a very tricky event to dress for. "We would advise everyone to be prepared for every eventuality, particularly with the hot weather at the bottom. "Often times towards the top of the mountain it can be over 10 degrees lower in temperature and it gets very rainy, misty and windy at the top. "While you can have your t-shirt on you at the bottom you're going to need warm jackets and rain gear at the top." Digital Desk A newly discovered threat actor or advanced persistent threat, that is targeting government and private sector organisations in the Middle East, is using NSA exploits leaked by the Shadow Brokers in April last year as part of its arsenal of threats, the security firm Symantec claims. Named Leafminer by the company, Symantec said it was using publicly available techniques and tools for attacking targets and also experimenting with published proof-of-concept exploits. The company said judging by its findings, the threat actor appeared to be based in Iran. Industry verticals targeted by Leafminer. "Leafminer attempts to infiltrate target networks through various means of intrusion: watering hole websites, vulnerability scans of network services on the Internet, and brute-force/dictionary login attempts," researchers from the Symantec Response Attack Investigation Team wrote in a blog post. "The actors post-compromise toolkit suggests that the group is looking for email data, files, and database servers on compromised target systems." The team said they been lucky that a download URL for a malware payload used in one attack enabled the identification of a compromised Web server on the e-qht.az domain that had been used to distribute Leafminer's arsenal. Investigations were said to have shown that the malware and custom tools used by Leafminer had targeted 44 systems across four regions in the Middle East. A list of 809 targets that were subjected to vulnerability scans was in Farsi, and listed each entry with its organisation of interest and industry. The countries targeted were Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, and Afghanistan. The Symantec team said the compromised Web server hosted a number of public proof-of-concept exploits and exploitation tools. "This included the Fuzzbunch framework that was part of an infamous leak of exploits and tools by the Shadow Brokers in April 2017," they wrote. "Leafminer has developed exploit payloads for this framework that deliver custom malware through attacks against SMB vulnerabilities described by Microsoft. "The EternalBlue exploit from the framework received worldwide attention after being used in the ransomware campaigns WannaCry in May and Petya/NotPetya in June 2017. The Leafminer operators use EternalBlue to attempt lateral movement within target networks from compromised staging servers." Symantec said it also observed attempts by Leafminer to scan for the Heartbleed vulnerability from an attacker-controlled IP address. The Leafminer arsenal server also had a Python script that scanned for this vulnerability. While Leafminer was keeping in touch with developments and trying to take advantage of newer exploits, Symantec said its "eagerness to learn from others suggests some inexperience on the part of the attackers, a conclusion thats supported by the groups poor operational security". "It made a major blunder in leaving a staging server publicly accessible, exposing the groups entire arsenal of tools. That one misstep provided us with a valuable trove of intelligence to help us better defend our customers against further Leafminer attacks." Graphics: courtesy Symantec The new ground station, located at Red Banks Reservoir, Pinkerton Plains, complements mission control consoles next to Fleets South Australian headquarters in Beverley in Adelaides west and will be used to track and transmit data from nanosatellites in space. The project has been partly funded by the South Australian Government and matched by funding from Fleet itself. The ground station will operate round the clock and will allow Fleet to track and receive data from nanosatellites, including its own which are set to launch this year, while in orbit. Fleet says space start-ups across Australia and around the world will be able to monitor their own nanosatellites and payloads at a fraction of the cost of larger operators. Were thrilled to be opening South Australias first ground station to service space start-ups and unleash endless possibilities to track nanosatellites in even the most remote areas of the world, said Flavia Tata Nardini, chief executive of Fleet. The ground station will break barriers for space start-ups locally and abroad creating opportunities that were previously only available to large organisations. Were democratising space and advancing global collaboration. We knew it was ambitious to build and operate a world-class ground station in less than six months. Its a huge achievement for a small start-up to receive leasing rights, let alone build a fully functioning mission control centre within this short timeframe. Were proud that we can start working on this; owning and operating a ground station in Australia is a key part of ensuring we can deliver world class service with our satellites for our customers. Tata Nardini says the ground station launch cements Fleets commitment to driving quicker access to data to help transform billion-dollar industries, from precision agriculture on isolated rural farms in Tasmania, maritime monitoring in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and food supply chain management in Asia. Opening of the new ground station follows the announcement of Fleets launches of the first two nanosatellites Centauri I and II aboard Indian Space Agency and SpaceX rockets. According to Fleet, progress has been rapid, and this week the company received the Overseas Launch Certificate under the Australian Space Activities Act allowing its nanosatellites Centauri I and II to be deployed into orbit this year. While were all for enabling broader access to space, it has to be done in a regulated way. Getting these two certificates from the Australian government demonstrates how hard the team has worked to ensure we have all the correct approvals in place before launching, Tata Nardini said. She said the ground station has been made possible by the lease of land from SA Water and support from Speedcast. The station and mission control centre has been built in collaboration with Italian satellite ground segment service provider, Leaf Space which engineered and supplied a turn key satellite dish integrated with monitoring and control systems critical to receive radio waves from nanosatellites orbiting Earth. The proliferation of nanosatellites in recent years has created enormous demand for new ground stations across the globe for tracking, uplink and downlink operations, said Giovanni Pandolfi, co-founder and chief technical officer of Leaf Space. South Australia is emerging as a space hub with ambitious start-ups, incredible talent and innovative technologies. Were pleased to extend our installation of ground stations to Australia and increase operational efficiency for local and international satellite operators. Fleet says the ground station will increase the speed and agility of its operations with instantaneous access to data, ultimately boosting efficiencies for customers. Head of the Australian Space Agency, Dr Megan Clark, said, This ground station is an example of some of the great space-related activities underway in Australia and I congratulate Fleet Space Technologies for achieving such an important milestone. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Stefanno Reinard Sulaiman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, July 26, 2018 09:53 1188 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9efb997a 1 Business renewable-energy,Indonesia,fuel,oil,palm-oil Free The government is revising a presidential regulation on biodiesel incentives in a bid to expand the use of vegetable oil in biodiesel. The current mix, called B20, is a blend comprising 20 percent vegetable oil. Indonesia is one of the world's biggest palm oil producers and aims to reduce the increasing cost of fossil-fuel imports by blending vegetable oil in its fuel. The revision is ongoing, Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution said on Wednesday, adding that he would soon make another report to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. "I have to report [again] about further developments in our discussions [with biodiesel stakeholders], but I believe it won't take much longer," he said on Wednesday. The revision is for Presidential Regulation No.61/2015 on the funding of crude palm oil. Since early 2016, the government has made B20 mandatory for certain businesses in return for incentives which largely take the form of subsidies to keep the price of biodiesel at relatively the same level as that of fossil-based fuel. However, these incentives only apply to the public service obligation (PSO) sector, which uses biodiesel from state-own energy firm Pertamina and private fuel distributor PT AKR Corporindo. Darmin's statement came after a coordination meeting for biodiesel was held for a second time this month. Attendees at Wednesdays meeting included officials from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, Biodiesel Producers Association (Aprobi) and crude palm oil producers. Dadan Kusdiana, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry's special advisor for natural resources, told the press after the event that among the larger changes in the regulation involved the legal basis for incentives for non-PSO businesses, such as those in mining and transportation. "Other than that, the regulation will stipulate a guideline for oil palm replanting," he said adding that the issuance would not take much longer, as the revision was currently being approved by related ministries and would then be sent to the President. (dmr) The sextoy market is growing quite rapidly in India right now. Although it is not a big trend, it is a hot topic on the internet as it is secretly expanding its market. In this article, we will focus on sextoy and introduce recommended sextoy for Indian beginners of sextoy by gender. India, the birthplace of the Kama Sutra, is very strict about sex. Also, premarital sex is basically not allowed. Therefore, there are many people who are sexually restricted. But what happens when you continue to be sexually restricted? Frustration may build up and you may end up taking your sexual stress out on your partner. If you are able to adopt sextoy in a timely manner, you can get rid of those problems. I want to have more exciting sex than Im having now. I want more variation in masturbation I want to get even stronger pleasure than I do on my own. If you have any of these problems, please stay with me until the end. What is sex toys for Indian? Sextoy, as the name implies, is a toy used during sex and masturbation. It is a generic term for vibrators, Egg-vibrators, Electric massagers, dildo, handcuffs and condoms. They are used to make regular sex more exciting or to make masturbation more pleasurable. Because sextoy is very stimulating, it can help you to get rid of the problems and frustrations of being in a rut of sex with your partner for a long time, or if you are unhappy with the lack of pleasure in sex with your partner. The ability to satisfy your desires with movement, texture, and size, which cannot be done by a normal human being, can help you to be satisfied with sex and, as a result, improve your relationship with your partner. It is also said to help improve sexual dysfunction (inability to get an erection or ejaculate) and difficulty in feeling during sex (insensitivity), which is attracting more attention than in the past. In recent years, the demand for sextoy has increased due to the spread of smartphones and the Internet and the increasing number of people using online shopping. Even those who are concerned about the appearance of sextoy (and find it difficult to purchase) can now easily obtain it by using mail order. In the case of online shopping, most of the stores have taken steps to ensure that the contents of the products delivered to you are not revealed, so you can purchase them without your family members knowing. Until a while ago, you had to go to the store where the adult goods were sold to buy them, so it was quite a hurdle to overcome. Also, many people may have an image that sextoy is somehow embarrassing to own. But nowadays, some of them are so stylish and cute that you cant believe they are sextoy at a glance. More and more people are using them for travel and outdoor use because they are not too bulky and are suitable for carrying around. Sextoy situation in India Before introducing the recommended sextoy for Indians, lets talk about one of the sextoy situations in India in recent years. In India, due to the high concentration of population, the following six cities have particularly high sales of sextoy in India. Mumbai Kolkata Bangalore Delhi Chennai Hyderabad These cities account for roughly 70 percent of sextoy sales in India. In the future, the percentage of sextoy use will gradually increase in other cities in India as well. If you never talk about sextoy publicly, that girl in your neighborhood might be a sextoy user too. If you are interested in sextoy, you dont have to suppress your desire for it. What are Sextoys for beginner? Among all sextoys, sextoy for beginners are vibrators, dildo, masturbators, Sex Lubricants, and condoms. Sex Lubricants and condoms, which are familiar to people who have had sex, are also a great beginners sextoy. I will explain the details of each toy later, but there are many sextoy products that are painful to use and can only be used after some anal expansion. I assume that the Indian readers of this article are people who have not had much experience with sextoy. If such people use professional sextoy suddenly, they are at risk of injury or trauma. Therefore, to introduce sextoy, you need to start with a beginners version and gradually become familiar with it. Advantages of using sextoy for Indians There are three advantages of using sextoy for Indians You can masturbate in a wide variety of ways. Can have stimulating sex Can develop new sexual zones If you try to masturbate with your own fingers or hands, it tends to be a pattern. However, with sextoy, you can easily masturbate in a variety of ways. You will definitely be fascinated by the attraction of new stimulation. Also, your daily sex life will be more exciting than ever. There are many things in sextoy that are visually stimulating and give you a strong and intense feeling of pleasure. This allows you to see your partners promiscuity in a way that you wouldnt normally see it. When you are in a relationship, sex with your partner may become a pattern, but it can also eliminate these problems. It can also lead to the development of new sexual zones (which is the training of sexual stimulation to allow you to feel orgasms). For more information on the development of new sexual zones, see the following articles [Women's Erogenous Zone]How to find and develop, 7 hidden sexual zones !![In India] In this issue, we will dissect the female erogenous zone! ..." Many of you may be like that. Men, in particular, shou... Thus, the use of sextoy can only be a good thing for the men and women of India. Sextoy for beginner men in India So, lets continue with the recommended goods for Indian sextoy beginners. For ease of understanding, we will introduce them by gender. Lets start with the men! The following five goods are recommended for novice Indian sextoy men Masturbator Cock rings Love Doll Sex Lubricants Toys for the prostate Lets check each one in detail. Masturbator The masturbator is a sextoy for men that elaborately reproduces a womans vagina, mouth, and anus, and is one of the most popular sextoy products. It is used by men to masturbate, and it is popular because it provides stronger stimulation and pleasure more easily than using hands. Most are made of good quality silicone, and their softness is something that cannot be achieved with ones own hands. They can provide stronger pleasure than a real womans vagina, so be careful not to overuse them. (You wont be able to have an orgasm in a womans vagina anymore.) Again Male masturbators are a wonderful toy. I do not need any favourite timing, bothersome bargaining. You do not have to worry too much. Revolutionize your masturbation time! ! ! Made in Japan is a wonderful kinky toy.#sextoysindia #SexToyIndia #Japanhttps://t.co/4k70QGzoTP pic.twitter.com/tRVdxTKPpa SEXToys India PR (@SextoysIndia) November 12, 2018 Some of them are disposable, while others can be washed and used over and over again, so its fun to buy a few to use depending on your mood. If you want to know more about masturbator, please click here Really pleasant male masturbation and how to do it Are you in a rut with your daily masturbation routine? I'm going to show you five ways men masturbate that you might ... [For Beginners] How to choose and use a male masturbator without fail Gentlemen.Have you ever used a masturbator? The person who sees this article is probably the one who has not experien... Cock Ring A cock ring is literally a ring-shaped sextoy that is worn on a mans penis. It maintains an erection by binding the penis with a ring of rubber and blocking blood flow. It is sometimes used as an accessory to be worn on the penis, and may be made of metal or plastic as well as rubber. In some cases, cock rings have parts or vibrators attached to them that stimulate the vagina, so they kill two birds with one stone, giving a woman pleasure while maintaining an erection. Cock rings are also sometimes used to treat erectile dysfunction. It can help with erectile dysfunction, where the penis doesnt get hard when you get an erection or doesnt last long when you try to insert it. Men who are prone to breakage or who are unsure of the hardness and size of their erections can use a cock ring to increase the size of their penis and maintain an erection for a longer period of time. Cock rings vary in price from around RS700 to over RS2000 with a vibrator function. Some of them do not fit your penis, so you should check the size of the cock ring before you buy. You should know the size of your partners or your own penis when it is erect. [Penis enlargement] What is a cock ring? Types and usage Cock rings can make your penis bigger and harder. It also makes sex with women more fulfilling and increases your sat... Love Doll Love dolls, also known as Dutchwives, are dolls with the appearance of a woman who can experience simulated sex. There are dolls that look like a woman, but they have no face and only have their breasts and lower torso cut off, and some dolls are so realistic that they can actually be mistaken for real women. Some expensive dolls can cost more than 1 million yen, and the quality of the doll is easily influenced by the price. The higher the price, the higher the quality of the doll will be, the closer it will be to the real woman, and the cheaper the doll will be, the less elaborate it will be, making it look like a real doll! Something is wrong! That is also true. You cant go wrong if you choose a balance between price and taste. There are stores that allow you to make custom-made love dolls, so you can create a girl of your choice. You can make a girl of your choice. You can start with inexpensive love dolls at first, and once you get used to it, you can try custom-made love dolls. If you want to know more about Love doll, please click here Thorough explanation of the charm of sex dolls! Have you ever heard of sex dolls that are used primarily for pseudo-sex purposes? It is a doll that is quite close to... Sex lubricants Sex lubricants are used as a substitute for lubricating fluid during sex or as a lubricant for men to use masturbator rules. It is not uncommon for women to have difficulty getting wet, depending on their physical condition, or to have difficulty getting wet due to their constitution. Forcing the penis into the vagina at such times can cause painful intercourse. There are various types of Sex Lubricants, some with a warming effect, some with a cooling effect, and some with a scent. Changing the Sex Lubricant used during play is recommended as a good sex accent. If you want to learn more about Sex Lubricants, click here. What is sex lubricant?Explain the difference and usage of each ingredient The word "sex toy" may seem like a hurdle to overcome, but lotion is actually one of the most familiar sex toys. Many... Toys for the Prostate Another sextoy for men is prostate toys. The most famous prostate toys include Enemagra, which was originally a prostate massager developed by an American urologist to treat an enlarged prostate line. Modern prostate toys are imitations of Enemagra that have spread as sextoy for men. Many people think of prostate toys as being used by gay men, but in fact they are often used by straight men. What is the prostate? The prostate is an organ found only in men. It is a walnut-sized organ located deep in the pelvis, just below the bladder, and its primary role is to protect and nourish sperm. You cannot touch the prostate gland from outside the body, but you can touch it by inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus. By inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus and touching the prostate and developing it, you can feel intense orgasms. Orgasms felt in the prostate are mainly dry orgasms, which are orgasms that do not involve ejaculation. (You can also feel orgasms with ejaculation through prostate stimulation.) The prostate is called the male G-spot, and dry orgasms can be much more intense than ejaculation. Therefore, men who are able to develop a prostate can become addicted to the pleasure. sextoy for beinner women in India The following are the recommended goods for Indian women who are new to sextoy. The following three are recommended for use by women who are new to sextoy. Vibrator. Dildo Electric Masserger Lets check out what each one is in detail. If you want to check out womens toys, click here. [BEST25]Sex Toys for Women in IndiaThat Can Help You Have an Orgasm There are many women who pretend to feel orgasm during sex. But don't worry, you don't have to pretend to feel orgasm... Vibrators A vibrator is a sextoy that vibrates with an Egg-Vibrator to provide stimulation and is often referred to simply as a vibrator. Some vibrate as well as rotate, and there are many variations of sextoy. It is quite a popular sextoy, and is well recognized by people who do not know much about sextoy. Its usage is similar to that of a massager, but it is more compact and easier to carry than a massager, and many of them look as cute as a lipstick or a macaroon, so they are popular among women. For a while, a famous influencer on twitter said, This is good! You may have heard of the topic of this article by introducing the recommended vibrators. Vibrators are great for women to use on their own, but they are also recommended for men who have difficulty satisfying women with sex. Since it is powered by electricity, it is far less tiring than moving your hands by yourself. This makes it easier to satisfy a woman with sex because you can caress her for longer than usual. Vibrators are mainly used on the female side, but they can also be used on men. When used on men, they are used to attack the nipples and glans, and in both cases it is recommended to wear a condom for hygiene reasons. Introducing how to use the vibrator, its purpose, and how to choose it! Vibrator uses the vibrations caused by the rotation of the motor to provide stimulation. It is one or two of the most... Dildo A dildo is a model sextoy made to mimic a male penis. It can be made of silicone, elastomer (think of it as a material similar to PVC), metal or glass. A dildo can be used by a man for his female partner during sex, or by a woman for masturbation to get pleasure from it. They are mainly inserted into women, but some can be used in the male anus as well. It is sometimes used synonymously with vibrators, but the vibrator is not the same thing as a vibrating device. A model of a penis that does not vibrate is a dildo. Some of them have suction cups that can be attached to the floor or wall so that you can enjoy realistic masturbation without using your hands. For fun, there is a dildo made in the shape of your partners penis. This one is also popular as a gift, and if youve been together for a long time and are having trouble finding a gift for your partner, you might want to pick one. To learn more about dildo, please click here. What is Dildo: Orgasms with Dildos for Men and Women A dildo is a model of a male organ that is used by women for masturbation and by men to stimulate the prostate gland. Th... Electric Masserger A Electric Masserger is a hand-held electric massager, also known as a handheld massager, and can usually be purchased at electronics stores. It was originally designed to relieve stiff shoulders and back pain, so the hurdle of buying one in a physical store is quite low. Many people may have seen or used it in some form or another, as it is often installed in leisure hotels. Such a massager is highly recommended for beginners because it is easy for women to get pleasure from it when they use it during masturbation. It is larger than Egg-Vibrator and vibrations are stronger than those of Egg-Vibrators and vibrators, so even just hitting the clitoris can give you a great deal of pleasure. For those women who have never had an orgasm during sex with their man, the massager may be a good way to get a feel for what it feels like to have an orgasm. It looks and feels like an electric massager, so you wont have to feel awkward if your roommate finds out. If you are in a rut of having sex with your partner, if you want to feel an orgasm through masturbation, or if you are thinking of using a sextoy, why dont you try it from a simple massager? To learn more about Electric Masserger, click here. What is a massager? Introducing types, selection methods, and usage Originally, the Magic-wand vibrator and the massage machine were sold as a home massage machine used for the back and th... How to choose a sextoy for Indian Now that weve covered the different types of sextoy, heres how to choose one. Especially if you are trying sextoy for the first time, pay attention to the following three points: Does the size fit you (the partner)? Does the size fit you (your partner)? Is the environment able to produce sound without problems? Price range First of all, the choice of size is quite important. Most sextoy are used against or inserted into the genitals, but the genitals are very delicate organs for both men and women. For this reason, using an inappropriate size may cause damage. Secondly, the environment should be able to produce sound without problems. Some sextoys not only wear, but also rotate and vibrate. Its easier to get pleasure from something that moves than something that doesnt, but the fact that it moves means that the internal rotors make some noise. If you live in a house with thin walls or if you have roommates, you may not be able to concentrate because of the noise, so it is best to choose one that is silent or has a low noise level. Especially in India, where many people live with their families, it is very important that you dont have to worry about sound when you use it. Finally, there is the price range. The price range of sextoy ranges widely, from around RS500 at the cheapest to RS10,000 or more at the highest. Its good to consider how much money you can afford and how much you want to buy. Do you want your family to not find out about sextoy? I live with my family and want to use sextoy without them finding out! If you are a man, you should buy a camouflage sextoy that does not look like a sextoy at first glance. For men, there are many masturbators that do not look like a sextoy, and for women, there are vibrators that only look like cosmetics. If you choose such a type, youll be safe in case your family members find out. How to buy sextoys in India The best way to purchase sextoy is through online shopping. For more information on how to purchase sextoy, please see the article below. Sextoy is one of them. Therefore, you can easily get sextoy in India by using online shopping. SexToysINDIA is a long established and stable sextoy store and you can have sextoy delivered to any place in India. They also offer cash on delivery, so those who are worried about shopping with a credit card do not have to worry. Of course, the latest security is in place, so your information will not be taken out when you use your credit card. To begin with, many people may be concerned about whether they are legally allowed to purchase sextoy. ikmAs it turns out, its not illegal. Right now, it is not open to the public because the Indian adult market is still in the development stage, but it will gradually spread from now on. Take advantage of sextoy and open the door to new pleasures and culture. Cautions for Indians using sextoy When using sextoy, keep the following three things in mind Keep sex toys clean Watch out for electrical leakage Beware of the heat generated by the body while using a sex toy As I mentioned earlier, many sextoy products are used for the delicate zone. Therefore, it is most important to keep the sextoy itself clean. It is very important to keep the sextoy itself clean, because if a slight scratch is created by friction, bacteria can enter and breed there. It is safe to wear a condom when using the masturbator, just in case. In addition, many sextoy devices are powered by a power source, so if they are not waterproof, there is a possibility of electric shock or malfunction due to wetness. Some may even develop heat during continuous use. If the fever becomes too much, you may get burned, so be careful. If you get a fever during use, stop driving the sextoy immediately and refrain from using it. You will enjoy sex more if you keep it safe and use it correctly. Summary What did you think? In this article, we have introduced the recommended sextoy for the beginners of sextoy in India. The sextoy market is growing rapidly in India and it will continue to grow steadily in the future. As India is a rather closed-minded country, it can be difficult to be open about ones sexual habits and values. However, being faithful to ones desires by properly dissolving ones sexual desire is very effective for ones physical and mental health. If this is your first time to learn about sextoy, or if you are interested in using sextoy, why not give it a try? Indian Sextoys for ur best! will introduce you to sextoy and other trivia about sextoy, sexuality, and sexuality for men and women. I want to read more! If you think its a great idea, please bookmark it. Reddit 2 Email 495 Shares By Timothy Summers | College Park, Md (The Conversation) The Soviet Union and now Russia under Vladimir Putin have waged a political power struggle against the West for nearly a century. Spreading false and distorted information called dezinformatsiya after the Russian word for disinformation is an age-old strategy for coordinated and sustained influence campaigns that have interrupted the possibility of level-headed political discourse. Emerging reports that Russian hackers targeted a Democratic senators 2018 reelection campaign suggest that what happened in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election may be set to recur. As an ethical hacker, security researcher and data analyst, I have seen firsthand how disinformation is becoming the new focus of cyberattacks. In a recent talk, I suggested that cyberwarfare is no longer just about the technical details of computer ports and protocols. Rather, disinformation and social media are rapidly becoming the best hacking tools. With social media, anyone even Russian intelligence officers and professional trolls can widely publish misleading content. As legendary hacker Kevin Mitnick put it, its easier to manipulate people rather than technology. Two sets of federal indictments one in February and another in July allege in detail how a private company linked to Putin and the Russian military itself worked to polarize American political discourse and sway the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Cybersecurity experts in the U.S. knew that the Russian intelligence agencies were conducting these acts of information warfare and cyberwarfare, but I doubt they had any idea how comprehensive and integrated they were until now. Russias propaganda machine duped American voters The operation was complex. What is publicly known now is perhaps most easily understood in two pieces, the subjects of separate federal indictments. First, a billionaire Russian businessman and Putin associate allegedly assembled a network of troll factories: private Russian companies engaging in a massive disinformation campaign. Their employees posed as Americans, created racially and politically divisive social media groups and pages, and developed fake news articles and commentary to build political animosity within the American public. Second, the Russian military intelligence agency, known by its Russian acronym as the GRU, allegedly used coordinated hacking to target more than 500 people and institutions in the United States. The Russian hackers downloaded potentially damaging information and released it to the public via WikiLeaks and under various aliases including DCLeaks and Guccifer 2.0. Online trolls manipulated your opinions The people involved did not fit the stereotypical picture of internet trolls. One leading Russian troll factory was a company called the Internet Research Agency, reportedly with all the trappings of a real corporation, including a graphics department to create incendiary images, a foreign department dedicated to following political discourse in other countries and an IT department to make sure trolls had reliable computers and internet connections. Employees, mostly 18 to 20 years old, were paid as much as US$2,100 a month for creating fake social media accounts and blogs to distribute disinformation to Americans. They were employed to take advantage of deepening political polarization in the U.S. The Russians saw this as an opportunity to stir up conflict like poking a stick into a beehive. These trolls were instructed to stir up racial tensions, stage flash mobs and organize activist campaigns sometimes announcing events for opposing groups at the same times and locations. One ex-troll told a Russian independent TV network that his job included writing incendiary comments and creating fake posts on political forums: The way you chose to stir up the situation, whether it was commenting [on] the news section or on political forums, it didnt really matter. In 2015, well before the 2016 election, the troll-factory network had more than 800 people doing this kind of work, producing propaganda videos, infographics, memes, reports, news, interviews and various analytical materials to persuade the public. America never stood a chance. Focusing on social media Its no surprise that these Russian trolls spent most of their time on Facebook and Instagram: Two-thirds of Americans get at least some news on social media. The trolls spread out across both platforms, seeking to encourage conflict on any topic that was getting a lot of attention: immigration, religion, the Black Lives Matter movement and other hot-button issues. When describing how he managed all of the fake social media accounts, the ex-troll said: First, you gotta be a redneck from Kentucky, then you need to be a white guy from Minnesota, youve slaved away all your life and paid your taxes, and then 15 minutes later you are from New York posting in some Black slang. Then, the indictments reveal, the GRU entered this increasingly fraught online political discourse. The GRU joins in Like another significant political scandal, the GRU effort allegedly started with a break-in to Democratic National Committee records but this time it was a digital burglary. It wasnt particularly sophisticated, either, using two common hacking techniques, spearphishing and malicious software. As the July indictment details, starting in March 2016, Russian military operatives sent a series of fake emails, disguised to look real, to more than 300 people associated with Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Hillary Clintons presidential campaign. One of the targets was Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, who fell for the scheme and unwittingly handed over more than 50,000 emails to the Russians. Around the same time, the Russian hackers allegedly began searching for technical vulnerabilities in the Democratic organizations computer networks. They used techniques and specialized malicious software that Russians had used in other hacking efforts, including against the German Parliament and the French television network TV5 Monde. By April 2016, the hackers had gained access to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee systems, exploring servers and secretly extracting sensitive data. They located a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee staffer who also had privileges in the Democratic National Committee systems, and thereby got into the Democratic National Committee networks too, extracting more information. When the Democratic National Committee realized there was unusual data traffic in its systems, the group hired a private cybersecurity firm, which in June 2016 publicly announced that its investigation had concluded that Russia was behind the hacking. At that point, the Russians allegedly tried to delete traces of their presence on the networks. But they kept all the data they had stolen. Opposing Hillary Clinton As early as April 2016, the GRU was allegedly trying to use the Democrats confidential documents and email messages to stir up political trouble in the U.S. There is evidence that the Russian government, or people acting on its behalf, offered key people in the Trump campaign damaging information on Clinton. In July 2016, the indictments say, the GRU began releasing many of the Democrats documents and email messages, mainly through WikiLeaks, an internet site dedicated to anonymous publishing of secret information. All of this effort was, according to the indictments, set up to undermine Hillary Clinton in the eyes of the American public. Putin definitely wanted Trump to win as the Russian president himself acknowledged while standing next to Trump in Helsinki in July. And the trolls were instructed to go after her savagely: A former Russian troll said, Everything about Hillary Clinton had to be negative and you really had to tear into her. It was all about the leaked email, the corruption scandals, and the fact that she is super rich. The indictments describe in detail how information warfare and cyberwarfare were used as political tools to advance the interests of people in Russia. Something similar may be set to happen in 2018, too. Timothy Summers, Director of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Engagement, College of Information Studies, University of Maryland This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Reddit 2 Email 80 Shares By Michael Grabell and Topher Sanders | (ProPublica) -Just five days after he reached the United States, the 15-year-old Honduran boy awoke in his Tucson, Arizona, immigrant shelter one morning in 2015 to find a youth care worker in his room, tickling his chest and stomach. When he asked the man, who was 46, what he was doing, the man left. But he returned two more times, rubbing the teens penis through his clothing and then trying to reach under his boxers. I know what you want, I can give you anything you need, said the worker, who was later convicted of molestation. In 2017, a 17-year-old from Honduras was recovering from surgery at the shelter when he woke up to find a male staff member standing by his bed. You have it very big, the man said, referring to the teens penis. Days later, that same employee brushed the teen with his hand while he was playing video games. When the staff member approached him again, the boy locked himself in a bathroom. And in January of this year, a security guard at the shelter found notes in a minors jacket that suggested an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. Pulled from police reports, incidents like these at Southwest Keys Tucson shelter provide a snapshot of what has largely been kept from the public as well as members of Congress a view, uncolored by politics, of troubling incidents inside the facilities housing immigrant children. Using state public records laws, ProPublica has obtained police reports and call logs concerning more than 70 of the approximately 100 immigrant youth shelters run by the U.S. Health and Human Services departments Office of Refugee Resettlement. While not a comprehensive assessment of the conditions at these shelters, the records challenge the Trump administrations assertion that the shelters are safe havens for children. The reports document hundreds of allegations of sexual offenses, fights and missing children. The recently discontinued practice of separating children from their parents has thrust the youth shelters into the national spotlight. But, with little public scrutiny, they have long cared for thousands of immigrant children, most of them teenagers, although last year 17 percent were under 13. On any given day, the shelters in 17 states across the country house around 10,000 adolescents. The more than 1,000 pages of police reports and logs detail incidents dating back to the surge of unaccompanied minors from Central America in 2014 during the Obama administration. But immigrant advocates, psychologists and officials who formerly oversaw the shelters say the Trump administrations harsh new policies have only increased pressures on the facilities, which often are hard-pressed to provide adequate staffing for kids who suffer from untold traumas and who now exist in a legal limbo that could shape the rest of their lives. If youre a predator, its a gold mine, said Lisa Fortuna, director of child and adolescent psychiatry at Boston Medical Center. You have full access and then you have kids that have already had this history of being victimized. Southwest Key wouldnt discuss specific incidents, but said in a statement that the company has a strict policy on abuse and neglect and takes every allegation seriously. HHS declined ProPublicas requests to interview the refugee resettlement programs director, Scott Lloyd. The agency released a statement saying it treats its responsibility for each child with the utmost care and has a zero-tolerance policy for all forms of sexual abuse or inappropriate behavior at the shelters. But the reports collected by ProPublica so far show that in the past five years, police have responded to at least 125 calls reporting sex offenses at shelters that primarily serve immigrant children. That number doesnt include another 200 such calls from more than a dozen shelters that also care for at-risk youth residing in the U.S. Call records for those facilities dont distinguish which reports related to unaccompanied immigrants and which to other youth housed on the property. Psychologists whove worked with immigrant youth said the records likely undercount the problems because many kids might not report abuse for fear of affecting their immigration cases. Its unclear whether any of the children mentioned as victims in the reports were separated from their parents at the border, but the reports include several children as young as 6 years old. The government faced a court deadline Thursday to reunite the nearly 3,000 children who were separated from their parents. But the administration told the court that more than 700 of those children remain in shelters or foster care because their parents have already been deported or have been deemed ineligible for reunification for various reasons. Not all the reports reveal abuse. The shelters are required to report any sexual allegation to the police and many reports detail minor incidents and horseplay not uncommon in American schools. For example, the BCFS International Childrens Shelter in Harlingen, Texas, called the police in February after one minor entered anothers room and rubbed a small styrofoam ball on the juveniles buttocks. And, once secure in the shelters, some immigrant children report assaults that occurred not at the shelters, but in their home countries. Last November, a 14-year-old girl staying in a shelter in Irvington, New York, told staff she had been raped in Honduras by a man who was now in immigration custody. But the reports show that the allegations of staff abuse and inappropriate relationships that occurred in Tucson arent isolated. In February, a 24-year-old youth care worker at KidsPeace in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was placed on administrative leave after kissing a teenage boy in the laundry room. Just over a year earlier, a 21-year-old staff member there was accused of kissing a 16-year-old girl in the hallway. The BCFS shelter in Harlingen was written up by state regulators in 2017 after a staff member flew to New York to visit a former resident. And at a Southwest Key shelter outside San Diego, reports show, a female employee who had been accused of kissing a juvenile quit after being confronted with information that the teenager had the womans Snapchat account written on a piece of paper. KidsPeace wouldnt discuss personnel matters but said the safety and well-being of our young clients are our top priority. BCFS said the staff member was terminated for violating agency policy and that it has very strict and clear boundaries for our staff. The reports also reveal dozens of incidents of unwanted groping and indecent exposure among children and teenagers at the facilities. Some kids fleeing threats and violence in their home countries arrived in the United States only to be placed in shelters where they faced similar dangers. In March, a 15-year-old boy at the Southwest Key shelter in Tucson reported that his roommate lifted up his legs as he was trying to go to sleep, made thrusting motions and said, Im going rape you. And in late 2016, a 15-year-old at KidsPeace told police that another boy there had been forcing him to have oral sex. After an investigation, one teen was transferred to a more secure facility. (KidsPeace said it wouldnt discuss specific information about kids in its care.) While its difficult to get a complete count, the police reports show that children go missing or run away from the shelters roughly once a week. Several shelters, including Southwest Keys Tucson facility, have seen a significant increase in missing person and runaway calls since the start of 2018. St. PJs Childrens Home in San Antonio, which primarily cares for immigrant children, has had 26 such calls in the first half of the year, records show, compared to 14 for all of last year and nine for 2016. St. PJs Childrens Home responded after publication and said its spike in runaways involves U.S. children, not immigrant youth. The police reports also raise questions about how Southwest Key, the largest operator of immigrant shelters, handles such incidents. In the molestation case involving the 46-year-old staffer, police had obtained edited surveillance footage but later sought a complete, unedited version. Southwest Key, however, had taped over the footage. And in another case, police noted that Southwest Key refused to give officers records from an internal investigation. Southwest Key CEO Juan Sanchez declined an interview. The Texas-based nonprofit has received more than $1.3 billion in federal grants and contracts in the past five years for the shelters and other services. Jeff Eller, a spokesman, said, We cooperate with all investigations. Government officials and advocates say most immigrant youth shelters were never intended to house children long-term. But in recent weeks, the average length of stay has climbed to 57 days from 34 days just two years ago. Maria Cancian, deputy assistant secretary for policy at HHSs Administration for Children and Families from 2015 to 2016, said typically the shelters only housed immigrant kids for the honeymoon period when they first arrived in the U.S. The kids didnt have a chance to get bored and ornery, she said. The longer kids are there, the more trouble youre going to have, and the more opportunities there are for relationships to evolve in ways that are more challenging. Cancian, who served under President Obama, said the shelters were well run when she was there. But if youre serving 65,000 children in a year, she said, there are going to be some bad incidents. The network of federally funded shelters sprang up after HHS took over the responsibility of caring for unaccompanied children arriving at the border in 2003. For most of their existence, the shelters received little attention, serving fewer than 8,000 children a year. But in 2014, that number surged to nearly 60,000 as a flood of teenagers fleeing gang violence in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador sought asylum in the U.S. The shelters whose operators have been paid about $4 billion over the past five years were designed as temporary way stations, where new arrivals could get acclimated while staffers tried to locate family members who could care for them while their immigration cases wound through the courts. There are now approximately 100 shelters scattered from Seattle to suburban New York, but concentrated in Texas and Arizona. They range from old motels to stand-alone homes, from a converted Walmart to a former estate set amid mansions, where on a recent day a deer could be seen prancing through the leafy grounds. The children arrive with a host of needs, said Nayeli Chavez-Duenas, a clinical psychologist who helped develop shelter guidelines on behalf of the National Latina/o Psychological Association. Many children have experienced traumatic events in their home countries, are desperate for stability after the long journey, and have little understanding of American laws all things that make them particularly vulnerable. When a perpetrator is trying to pick a victim theyre picking somebody that they think is less likely to report the abuse, Chavez-Duenas said. Children and youth that are coming from outside of the country, that have no legal status here, that dont speak English, that dont have access to lawyers or people who can protect them they already might think theyre not going to be believed. In the back of their minds, she said, is the fear that speaking up could ultimately hurt their immigration case. The worker who was convicted of molesting the boy in Tucson isnt the only shelter employee to face criminal charges. Last year, according to court records, a youth care worker at a Homestead, Florida, shelter was sentenced to 10 years in prison after she sent nude photos of herself to a 15-year-old boy who had recently left the shelter and asked him for sex. In 2012, a case manager at a Fullerton, California, shelter was convicted of molesting several teenage boys when they went into his office for regular calls with family, court records show. The shelters must complete background checks complying with both federal standards and state licensing requirements. They are overseen by an overlapping system of regulators that ostensibly provides a lot of enforcement tools. When incidents occur, shelters are required to alert the police and the ORR. They may also have to notify state agencies that license child-care facilities. Bob Carey, who was director of ORR from 2015 to 2017, said each week he read through a stack of significant incident reports submitted by the shelters, summarizing everything from behavior problems to allegations of sex between staff and minors. Looking at them over several years, he said, there werent many serious incidents that stood out. When I was there, the overwhelming majority of what was reported was one kid slapping the butt of another kid in the cafeteria line, he said. But you want to make sure that when the more serious incident does happen, that people know what do. When there were serious problems, he said, the agency would initiate an investigation that could result in corrective actions, ranging from increased monitoring to the termination of the grant. Field staff assigned to the regions where the shelters are located can make unannounced visits day or night. In Texas, licensing officials can also issue fines, order shelters to make changes and ultimately revoke a shelters operating license. But in practice, the harshest tools have rarely been used. Monitoring the shelters can be extremely difficult as the number of unaccompanied children can fluctuate wildly from year to year. The rise and fall means the shelters are in a constant state of flux, making it difficult to retain and train staff. Last spring, Southwest Key laid off almost 1,000 employees only to have to ramp up several months later. Current and former employees describe a stressful environment where overstretched and underpaid care workers do the best they can with little training to handle kids in crisis. Its really hard to imagine how difficult it is to quickly ramp up appropriate care for children, Cancian said. The more people you have to bring in fast and the less experienced your staff, the more challenges there are to maintain standards. In response to the influx in 2014, Carey and other officials developed a plan to restructure the ORR to improve oversight of the unaccompanied minor program by increasing staff and supervision, shifting field employees to regions where new shelters had popped up and trying to resolve longstanding data problems. The plan began to take shape at the end of 2016. But its unclear what happened when the Trump administration took over and initiated a hiring freeze. An HHS spokeswoman would only say that the plan was never implemented by the last administration and that today, operations are constantly reviewed and improved on an ongoing basis. Several police reports obtained by ProPublica raise questions about how serious incidents were handled by shelters. In one case in Tucson in 2015, two female employees told managers that a maintenance supervisor had groped them, tried to pull one of them into a room, and then made a sexual gesture with a broom handle. When no action was taken, an assistant shift leader notified the police. The employees told police that the assistant program director said he had lost one of womens statements while another manager told them to drop it and leave it alone. The assistant director told police that the company held a sexual harassment class and suspended the maintenance supervisor while it investigated, but couldnt prove or disprove the allegations because the supervisor denied them. When a police detective asked for copies of the employees statements, police records say, a lawyer for Southwest Key refused to provide them. According to the police report, the employees said they feared that if the maintenance supervisor was doing this to female employees, whos to say hes not doing this or worse to the several hundred female refugees staying at the center. The man had full access to the building, they told police, and the minors might be hesitant to speak up. The reports also show that when inappropriate touching or abuse occurred among residents at the Tucson shelter, the staff and police often left it up to minor victims to decide whether to file charges against other children. The process for reporting and investigating incidents was inconsistent at other shelters as well. A former employee at KidsPeace in Pennsylvania said that staff members frequently attended police interviews of residents who reported misconduct, potentially creating a conflict of interest. KidsPeace spokesman Bob Martin said the agencys interactions with police and other governmental entities are scrupulously conducted to ensure that neither kids personal well-being nor their legal rights are put at risk while they are in our care. At a Southwest Key shelter in Conroe, Texas, in May, a boy told a youth care worker that his mental health counselor brushed his shoulders, rubbed his arm and caressed his face while continually peeking out of the offices blinds as if he was checking to see if someone was coming. The counselor began to unbuckle his own pants, but stopped, the police report said. The boy later repeated the story to a state child welfare worker. The counselor was suspended during the investigation. But a more formal forensic interview didnt take place until six days after the incident. At that point, the police report said, the boy made no outcry regarding any criminal offense and the case was closed. Waiting six days for a forensic interview is not on its face unusual, said David Palmiter, a psychology professor at Marywood University who has conducted forensic interviews of abused children. But he noted that the interview should be done sooner rather than later. Everything from legitimate confusion to some calculation of what the consequences could be or whether they would please or hurt the adults around them could impact the child, he said. There could be any number of reasons why the story changes. A large part of the current pressure on the shelters stems from a series of changes made by the Trump administration in how it handles unaccompanied minors, immigrant advocates say. As part of an information-sharing agreement, the ORR is now required to provide Immigration and Customs Enforcement with potential sponsors names, dates of birth, addresses and fingerprints so that ICE can pull criminal and immigration history information on the sponsor, usually a family member, and all adult members of the sponsors household. Officials say the vetting is being done to protect children. In one case a few years ago, the agency unintentionally turned teenagers over to a smuggling network that forced them to work on an egg farm to pay off their debts. But immigrant advocates say the policy is deterring family members who are often undocumented from coming forward, leaving children to languish in shelters where they may become increasingly desperate. The police reports detail repeated calls about runaways. It wouldnt be that difficult for kids to run away from these facilities if they really wanted to, said Carey, the former ORR director. But they were expecting to be pretty quickly reunited with a parent or sponsor. That didnt create a big incentive for them to try to run away. As the lengths of stay increase with sponsors less likely to come forward, he said, that might conceivably create an incentive to voluntarily depart. For many of the teens, who may have already run away from gangs in their home countries, as well as predators along the route and the Border Patrol, bolting from the shelters is unsurprising. In February, a recent arrival at Southwest Keys Tucson shelter, whom staff and ICE believed was older than he claimed, jumped off a second-floor balcony into the parking lot, climbed a light pole and bounded over the fence. At the Lincoln Hall Boys Haven in the New York suburbs, four boys disappeared in 2016 after being taken to a clinic for X-rays and other medical treatment. Last summer, two boys who were awaiting deportation at the Southwest Key shelter in Conroe, Texas, took off running as a large group of students was being escorted to a class. According to ORRs policy guide, agency staff are supposed to assess whether a child is an escape risk in deciding whether to place him or her in a more secure setting. But in most facilities, the kids cant be forcibly restrained from leaving. We are not a detention center, said Eller, the Southwest Key spokesman. If a child leaves the property, we cannot force them to stay, but we talk to them and we work with law enforcement to ensure their continued safety. Court records describe the Honduran teen by the initials M.A.C. Hed crossed the border in McAllen, Texas, and was taken to the Southwest Key facility in Tucson, where he was told caseworkers would help reunite him with his father in South Carolina. Hed been in the U.S. just five days and the next day was his 16th birthday. In the dim morning hours that Saturday, a man M.A.C. knew only as Oscar walked into his room, wearing a Southwest Key T-shirt that read I Love My Job. Oscar Trujillo, 46, was one of the first people M.A.C. met when he arrived at the facility on Friday, April 10, 2015. He viewed Oscar as an adult he could trust. Standing at the boys bedside, Trujillo lifted M.A.C.s blanket and began tickling him on the chest and stomach, according to transcripts of his 2017 trial. The boy testified that he was confused, but he didnt shout or pull away because he saw Trujillo as a grownup and a teacher. M.A.C. didnt know that Trujillo had already violated one of Southwest Keys major rules by entering the childs room alone. That is something that is instilled in our minds day one, said Jeff Cotton, a former Southwest Key employee who was the shift supervisor the day Trujillo entered the boys room. Do not be alone with these kids because there could be an instance where you are accused and if you are accused, you want to have a witness. Trujillo left the boys room, but returned a short time later and lifted the childs blanket again. He resumed the tickling, but this time he also rubbed M.A.C.s penis through his clothing, court records show. The boy moved Trujillos hand. I know what you want, I can give you anything you need, Trujillo told the boy, according to police records. Trujillo left the room, and again returned a short time later. Surveillance cameras caught Trujillo entering and exiting M.A.C.s room alone each time. On his third trip into the boys room, Trujillo attempted to lift the childs boxers and slip his hand in the boys underwear, according to trial records. This time M.A.C. pulled away. Trujillo asked the child not to tell anyone or else his job could be at risk, the records show. The boy, feeling violated and confused, got dressed and stood in line at the cafeteria. I felt uncomfortable over everything that had happened, M.A.C. told a jury last year. I knew it was something that shouldnt be happening in a place like that, and I knew that I needed to say something to someone about that, because it was something that was serious. So I asked to speak to my counselor. After M.A.C. was interviewed by police and a psychologist, Trujillo was arrested and never returned to the Southwest Key facility. Trujillo could not be reached for this story, but in court he testified that he went in and out of M.A.C.s room to give him toiletries and to teach him how to make his bed. Trujillos attorneys also claimed that M.A.C. concocted the abuse claim in order to become a candidate for a U-Visa, which allows immigrants who are victims of crimes to remain in the country. The jury wasnt convinced. Trujillo was convicted of one count of molestation and sentenced to three years of probation. Its hard for me to imagine that children and youth that are coming from other countries are arriving here and trying to play the system and apply for things that even people that have been here for years dont know about, said Chavez-Duenas, the clinical psychologist, who is also an associate professor at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Arthur Evans, CEO of the American Psychological Association, said the problems revealed in the police and court records are to be expected given the very significant needs of the children and the staffs lack of specialized training. His organization has offered its memberships expertise to assist the facilities. With such a mismatch in needs and capacity, he said, Youre more likely to have kids running away. Youre more likely to have incidents of sexual and physical abuse. Such a result, Evans said, is not surprising. Filed under: Immigration ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for their newsletter. Via ProPublica - Bonus Video added by Informed Comment: PBS NewsHour: While in ICE custody, thousands of migrants reported sexual abuse By Trend Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed an order, providing funding for the construction of the Ojakaran-Tulakuvan-Tangarud road in Astara region. Under the presidential order, 3.4 million manats will be allocated to the Azerbaijan Highway State Agency for the construction of the road connecting three residential areas with a total population of 9,000 people. Here we reproduce news and opinion articles in the print and electronic media since October 8, 2008, about each of our 58 county grand juries. Most are about grand jury reports. Our posting of these articles does not purport to reflect the opinions of CGJA or our members. We hope that this feature is a resource to grand juries, grand jury advisors, CGJA chapters, the media, and the public. Sponsored by the California Grand Jurors' Association, www.cgja.org/ The value of the epayments in Bahrain exceeded BD50 million ($131.8 million) in the first half of the year, marking a year-on-year increase of 74 per cent paid through more than 600,000 transactions made through the National Portal Bahrain.bh, eKiosks and smartphone applications, said the Information &eGovernment Authority (iGA). Such increase is due to the increase of a bundle of ePayments services as New Vehicles Registration provided by the General Directorate of Traffic, which has increased by about five times as well as the increase of approximately double the use of Payment of Court Execution Ruling Service provided by the Ministry of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Awqaf. This is due to the continuous awareness efforts carried out by the entities that provide these services, in cooperation with iGA. Acting vice CE for eTransformation Dr Zakareya Ahmed AlKhajah said that the constant support and follow up by the Supreme Council of Information & Communication Technology chaired by H.H. Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa helps in directing the authority to develop its services with what is needed to keep up with this progress, as well as to provide various options that adapts to the users need. Especially that the ePayments services are being the most needed services by users, which give the need to develop variation of ePayment methods. He also added that the authority will keep on developing more eServices during the second half of the current year. Dr AlKhajah addressed his sincere thanks to all governmental entities and officials, mentioning in particular Lt Gen Shaikh Rashidbin Abdulla Al Khalifa, Minister of Interior, for his constant care in following up the authoritys performance, improvements and services to the citizens. As well as expressing appreciation to these entities for their constants cooperation in providing the eServices. Indicating that the entities are in constant coordination with (iGA) in order to improve the services and re-engineer their functions with what is in conformity with the government orientation in providing quality and efficient services. The statistics revealed the high dependence on the applications of smart phones to accomplish the eServices, the percentage of usage exceeded by three times for some applications during the first six months of 2018, compared to the same period of last year. According to statistics, the eGovDirectory app which provides the contacts data for the officials of the governmental entities, registered an increase in its usage by three times, in the first half of the year in comparison to the same period of last year. This increase is due to providing the contact information of the Kingdom's officials offices via the app. This data is important since it is a direct link between the users of the application and officials. In addition, the usage of Tawasul application increased by more than 80 per cent during the same period, thanks to the fact that the application is user friendly, enabling users to submit their complaints, suggestions and inquiries to government officials, as well as to attach documents using the function of smart phones. While the application Wejhati provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs increased in use by 60 per cent thanks to the Ministry and the Authority's awareness efforts to make use of it, especially in the annual travel seasons. TradeArabia News Service 404 Shares Share Both patients and providers realize that an internist is different from a surgeon, but specifically how they differ and how this affects their approaches to patient care is largely under-appreciated. Over the last four years, I have conducted over 250 interviews with physicians across specialties and institutions about what they do and why they do what they do. With each project, I continue finding remarkably distinct, specialty-specific values, perceptions, and ways of thinking that seem to directly impact how physicians interpret medical evidence and, ultimately, care for patients. Medical specialties, like other academic disciplines, are distinct cultures with their own jargon, journals, meetings, practice guidelines, uniforms, idols, tools, and rituals. During medical school, students try on specialty identities through their rotations, often choosing a specialty where they fit in. Professional values then diverge further during the intense socialization process of residency and fellowship, reinforcing distinct values and perceptions. Although institutions also have distinct cultures, this seems secondary to physicians specialty identity. Academic cardiologists in the Midwest and private practice cardiologists in California use considerably more similar language and thought processes than interventional cardiologists and interventional radiologists at the same institution. To better understand these differences, I created a model that divides physician identities into three categories based on how they tend to describe what they do and why they do what they do: managers, fixers, and diagnosticians. These groups are further divided along three key value axes based on how they tend to think and perceive value: broad vs. specific thinkers, complex vs. definitive answer seekers, and public visibility. It is important to note that these groups are not exclusive. Physicians often embody all of these traits but differ in the degrees to which they are emphasized and evident in their behaviors and groupthink. Furthermore, these groupings are general trends and not meant to invalidate individual experiences that may diverge from this model. Identity categories 1. Managers (e.g., internists) tend to focus on understanding clinical narratives and the interconnectedness of body systems as well as emotional and social determinants of health. They are story-seekers that tend to value clinical context, thinking broadly, and developing evolving differentials to best manage patient populations and conditions over relatively long clinical relationships. As such, they often divide their domains of practice based on patient populations and disease processes. This specialized knowledge is thought to be built upon a broader understanding of clinical medicine, i.e., being a good cardiologist is based on being a good internist. As such, these groups tend to form subspecialties rather than completely independent training pathways. 2. Fixers (e.g., most surgeons) tend to describe their roles in terms of fixing specific problems. They value working with their hands, technical skill, and innovation to achieve tangible, more-immediate outcomes. Depth of knowledge and skill tends to be valued more than breadth with less perceived interconnectedness. Because of this, fixers often divide themselves based on anatomical regions or the procedures they perform and are more likely to form independent training pathways, e.g., separate residencies for cardiothoracic vs. orthopedic vs. vascular surgery. 3. Diagnosticians (e.g. radiology and emergency medicine) tend to value knowing something about everything and using this breadth of knowledge to efficiently triage patients or make a diagnosis. However, this makes these specialties particularly dependent on others, so diagnosticians often feel they must prove their worth to other physicians and health care systems. Diagnostician specialties were formed around specific hospital services and have shared a struggle to differentiate themselves as independent practitioners versus hospital employees as well as doctors versus technicians. Key value axes Broad vs. focused thinkers. Broad-thinkers (e.g., internists and radiologists) tend to emphasize the importance of knowing about many different areas of medicine and casting a broad net in their problem-solving. Conversely, focused-thinkers (e.g., surgeons) prioritize narrowing in on the key issue(s) at hand to be controlled and addressed. Generally, depth of knowledge garners more respect from colleagues outside ones own specialty than breadth. Complex vs. definitive answer seekers. Physicians who think in terms of complex answers (e.g., internists and psychiatrists) view clinical decision making as more nuanced, often fluid and changing with many caveats and few absolutes. Thus, good patient care is felt to rely on understanding and responding to evolving clinical context. Conversely, physicians who think in terms of definitive answers (e.g., radiologists and surgeons) tend to draw hard lines while describing their clinical reasoning and behavior. Tests or treatments are indicated or not; outcomes are superior or inferior. Not everything is black and white, but gray area or subjectivity are less acceptable. Public visibility. Specialties with more patient interaction (e.g., internists and surgeons) attract greater public awareness than specialties with less (e.g., radiologists and pathologists). Interestingly, this awareness tends to predict a degree of perceived value. Consider that a neurologist interpreting a patients brain MRI is met with less skepticism than a neuroradiologist counseling a patient about his/her neurological disease. Neurologists roles in managing neurological disease has a higher degree of public visibility than radiologists roles in interpreting imaging, which attracts wider appreciation for the complexity of this skill. Surprisingly few studies have sought to characterize specialty-specific values in health care. Nevertheless, I have found these differences to be remarkable consistent across institutions with important effects on inter-specialty relationships, guideline and policy adoption, and perception of value. When policies and initiatives treat physicians as a monocultural group, they risk failing to resonate with diverse groups of physicians leading to poor adherence and greater practice variation. Instead, I believe we should seek a deeper understanding of these differences to better respond to them, identify shared values, and foster better role definition. It is my hope that the model proposed above can serve as springboard, inspiring others to explore the important differences in how health care providers think and perceive value. Visual schematic of physicians distinct professional identities. Identities are divided into three main categories further differentiated by three key axes of perceived value and ways of thinking. Eric J. Keller is a medicine resident. Image credit: Shutterstock.com By Jung Da-min North Korea may be hostile to Japan diplomatically, but some North Koreans appear to be fond of Japanese culture. In a video clip recently released by North Korea's state media Korean Central Television (KCTV), a middle-aged woman uses a mini electronic fan in the shape of Japanese popular character Hello Kitty. In the video, "Health food during the hottest period of summer: dog meat soup," the woman eats with her friends while enjoying the breeze from the fan on the table. According to North Korean propaganda media Arirang Meari, Thursday, temperatures in many areas reached record highs. A South Korean medical team left for Laos on Sunday to assist with recovery from the deadly flooding that resulted from the collapse of a dam that was under construction by a Korean builder, Seoul's foreign ministry said. An emergency relief team, comprised of 15 medical personnel and five support staff, embarked on a 10-day mission to treat displaced residents in southern Laos and prevent the spread of contagious diseases, it added. A dam built on a mountain saddle of a larger hydropower dam project gave way on Monday. SK Engineering & Construction, a South Korean firm, is a partner in the project. The dam is one of five auxiliary dams in the Xepian-Xe Nam Noy project, which collapsed, flooding seven nearby villages and displacing more than 6,600 people. The flooding killed at least 27 people, leaving more than 130 missing, according to local media reports. "The role of a humanitarian mission is important as this disaster also involves a South Korean firm," said Roh Dong-whan, the leader of the relief team. "We'd like to provide assistance to affected residents warmly and actively." The team is the first South Korean emergency medical team to be dispatched since 2014 when the government sent a team to Ebola-hit Sierra Leone. In rescue efforts, the government will provide US$500,000 in cash and $500,000 worth of materials to help Laos recover from the disaster. A Korean military aircraft carrying relief supplies arrived in Laos Saturday (local time) via the Philippines, according to government officials. The supplies include some 1,200 blankets, clothing and sanitation items provided by the government, the South Korean Red Cross and SK Engineering & Construction Co., the ministry said. The supplies will be delivered to the Laotian authorities with South Korean Ambassador to Vientiane Shin Sung-soon and Leth Xaiyaphone, the governor of Attapeu Province, attending the handover event. (Yonhap) By Kim Hyun-bin Terminal One at Incheon International Airport is scheduled to go through major remodeling which will include rearranging airline departure gates, expanding smart services and passenger convenience facilities. "To provide Terminal One with quality services as good as Terminal Two, we will remodel Terminal One to be similar to (the recently opened) Terminal Two," Chung Il-young, CEO of Incheon International Airport Corp (IIAC), said Sunday. According to the IIAC, the major remodeling will be conducted in phases in the second half of the year through 2022 to minimize passenger inconvenience. Starting October, Asiana Airlines' check-in counters and lounge currently located on the west side of the terminal will be moved to the east side, while some other airlines will also be relocated by 2020. Twenty-eight facilities that accommodate mass inflow of passengers, including bathrooms and baggage claim areas, are also scheduled for renovation. Round security inspection devices, 20 additional self check-in counters and 28 bag drop smart devices will also be installed as well as 12 more immigration desks to speed up departure and arrival processes. These changes are expected to reduce the average departure time from 37 minutes to 31 minutes. The airport is also seeking to initiate 100 different smart projects at the terminal to better aid passengers including utilizing a "Smart Pass" system, which uses big data to reduce congestion at departure gates, and applying artificial intelligence at security checks. The airport plans to reduce the number of arrival hall exits from the current six to four making it easier for passengers to exit the airport. The unused space will be developed into passenger convenience facilities and other workspaces. Incheon Airport plans to pour in 4.2 trillion won ($3.76 billion) at Terminal Two to construct a fourth runway, which is scheduled for completion by 2023. It is expected to drastically increase annual passenger inflow from the current 72 million to 100 million. "Since we opened Terminal Two there has been a 13 percent increase in passengers going through the airport," said Chung. Abu Dhabi City Municipality has signed five agreements related to the delivery of e-mortgage services through the smart digital services platform with four banks and one finance company, a media report said. The agreements were signed by Saif Badr Al Qubaisi, general manager of Abu Dhabi City Municipality, ADM, and chairman of the Technology Committee at the Department of Urban Planning and Municipalities on behalf of the three municipalities in Abu Dhabi: ADM, Al Ain Municipality, and Al Dhafra Municipality, reported Emirates news agency Wam. The four banks in the agreements include Mashreq Bank, First Bank of Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. Christopher Hoo Taylor, chief executive officer of Abu Dhabi Finance Company PJSC, signed on behalf of the Abu Dhabi Finance Company. "This step is part of the departments digitalisation of all services with the aim of improving the services and enhancing the cooperative relationships with all strategic partners, said Al Qubaisi. The department will continue upgrading its online services and opening communication channels with active entities such as the banks and establishments concerned with supporting the performance of the real estate market. We are also focused on improving our services to keep pace with the expectations and highest satisfaction rating of customers, strategic partners and the community. "The Abu Dhabi City Municipality has taken the initiative of developing a digital system for registering the property mortgage known as e-mortgage. Thus, the UAE becomes one of the first countries to use this system in registering, amending and redeeming property mortgages. "Among the key objectives of the said agreements is to boost the relationship between the municipalities and banks with a view to streamlining procedures as well as the legal and administrative systems applied by both parties. Such cooperation will empower the real estate market and enhance its ability to carry out property mortgages through swift procedures that save the time of all parties and the hassles of attending to complete the process. The new system enables all parties to complete this process online with no routine procedures or papers involved," explained Al Qubaisi. Amro Al Manhali, head of Islamic Banking, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, said: "We are proud to be part of this strategic partnership with ADM through which we will seek to cement our relationships with government entities offering services to community members. Thus, it serves the public interest and brings happiness to clients. The agreements avail us the chance to operate and use the e-mortgage system to deliver e-mortgaging services more effectively and efficiently. The service offering includes registering, revising and redeeming property mortgages to streamline the business of lands and real estate sector and support the sustainable development of this vital sector." "The signing of this agreement with ADM is concurrent with our strategy aimed at boosting digital services and providing convenient transactions for all parties. This agreement is an important step towards easing customers transactions and offering more effective solutions that contribute to slashing the procedures and time of our customers. We are pleased to thank the municipality for supporting this initiative, which contributes to improving the real estate sector of the emirate, Al Manhali added. This combined photo shows three candidates who are running for chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. From left are Reps. Song Young-gil, Kim Jin-pyo and Lee Hae-chan. / Yonhap By Park Ji-won While the National Assembly is largely hibernating after the suicide of minor Justice Party floor leader, competition between the ruling party leader hopefuls started after the party's primary held last week, where three candidates were selected to run for party leadership. Reps. Lee Hae-chan, Kim Jin-pyo and Song Young-gil are squaring off in the race to become the chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) in the Aug. 25 national convention. Rep. Lee Hae-chan, a former prime minister for the 2003-08 Roh Moo-hyun administration and seven-time lawmaker, had a press conference to explain his vision as a party leader, saying that he will be supportive of the Moon Jae-in government by coming up with strategies that will help hold on to power for 20 consecutive years as well as play roles in improving inter-Korean relations. "I have experience that taking power for 10-years is not enough to establish the policy as it is overturned in two to three years," Lee said during a press conference, Sunday. "I have been serving as a public official for many years and I consider this (party's chairman) my last duty." Lee also visited Roh's hometown Bongha Village in Gimhae and his grave on Saturday to show his strong ties with the late Roh seemingly to attract pro-Roh supporters. Meanwhile, Rep. Kim Jin-pyo, fourth-term lawmaker and former finance minister for Roh's administration, also held a press conference Sunday emphasizing his experience as an economic expert. He also served as the head of the state affairs planning advisory committee chief, the de facto power transition team for the Moon administration last year. The 71-year-old Kim said the reason behind the decreasing support of the DPK is because of its tepid performance on economic policies. "I would become the competent party chairman who can revive the economy no matter what the costs," Kim said at the National Assembly, Sunday. Rep. Song Young-gil, who served as the chief for Moon's election strategy campaign, visited Seoul National Cemetery Sunday to pay tribute to the late President Kim Dae-jung with young party members. The global credit ratings agency Standard & Poors (S&P) has recently reaffirmed the positive outlook of Sharjahs economy, granting it stable sovereign credit rating of BBB + / A-2in terms of local and foreign currencies respectively. The Emirate's positive ratings are driven by its strong financial position and low-risk exposure, the agency said. In a statement, S&P said that it expected the Emirate's economy to grow 2 per cent between 2018 and 2021, and expected GDP growth to accelerate in 2018 based on the growth of business in the real estate and construction sectors and the positive impact on the Emirate due to Dubai's preparations for hosting the high-profile exhibition, Expo 2020. The credit ratings agency lauded the economic structure of the Emirate for its high level of diversity, compared to many economies of the region. The industrial sector contributes as much as 17 per cent to the Emirates GDP, followed by real estate, retail, wholesale and financial services, each accounting for about 10 per cent of the Emirate's GDP. It also lauded the leadership of HH the Ruler of Sharjah, for playing an active role in achieving these goals. The ease of citizens' communication with the leadership enhances stability, it emphasised. The agency said it expects the Emirates economic growth to touch 2 per cent annually, from 2018 to 2021, reflecting the growth of public investment and recovery of demand in the region as a whole and the growth of international trade. It also expects Sharjah to benefit from Dubais hosting of Expo 2020. It expects Sharjah's financial situation to improve significantly over the next two years, supported by measures to raise higher revenues for government-owned companies and institutions. It also expects the government's consolidated financial revenues to increase by one percentage point to touch 10 per cent of GDP this year. Top Sharjah officials and economic stakeholders have strongly welcomed the move by S&P. Lauding the decision by the global watchdog, they emphasised that Sharjahs economic outlook remains healthy and positive in short and long terms, thanks to the Emirates diverse economy and its robust economic fundamentals under Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, attracting global investments and strengthening Sharjahs leading position in the region. Hailing the move by S&P, Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, chairman of Basma Group and chairman of Arada, asserted that the keenness of the Ruler of Sharjah, to always communicate with citizens and residents in the Emirate and fulfil their needs has positively reflected on the development work, excellence in performance and growth in the Emirate. It has also helped provide a secure life for people in the Emirate. Sheikh Sultan pointed out that the Emirate's credit ratings, arising from its robust financial position and low risk exposure, underscore the strength of Sharjah's economic environment and importance of its development programmes in achieving stability. He cited the Emirates initiatives and legislations that help provide a safe environment for investors and achieve prosperity for all people in Sharjah, heralding a future of giving and achievement. Abdullah Sultan Al Owais, chairman of Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stressed that S&P's prediction of the accelerating growth of Sharjah's GDP in 2018 reflects the upward trend of the Emirate's economy in light of the wise leaderships vision to achieve comprehensive growth and build a modern and sustainable economy founded upon knowledge, creativity and innovation. "S&P's ratings did not come out of thin air," said Al Owais. "They are the outcome of the vision of HH the Ruler of Sharjah. He has for decades looked ahead and charted the roadmap for a prosperous future, in perfect harmony with the UAE's economic system that seeks to build the worlds best economy and happiest society through serious preparations to join the Fourth Industrial Revolution and become a key player in the comity of nations. TradeArabia News Service Beijing, July 29: Days after US Congresswoman Ann Wagner told a congressional hearing that Chinese troopers are escalating their presence in the tri-junction region of Doklam, fresh reports have confirmed that the number of PLA personnel present close to the disputed region has increased. Nearly 700 additional Chinese troopers have been deployed near the Doka La (Doklam as India calls it) plateau. Indian Army sources, while speaking to HT, have denied assuming it as a threat. The officers who spoke to the English daily said it is a "rotational activity". The Army personnel, on the condition of anonymity, said the Indian, Chinese and Bhutanese forces begin winter stocking in this part of the year. This involves rotation of the troops, with a section of the incumbent stationed personnel sent in low-lying areas and a new batch replacing them. The incumbent personnel, however, accompany the new batch for a few days for training and logistical purpose, before moving out. "Whenever there is a changeover of troops, the strength is temporarily doubled," explained one of the officers. The official claimed that the People's Liberation Army of China interchange their troop each year at the Batang La-Meru La-Sincha La axis, which is part of the Doklam plateau. Military activity in the Doklam region is keenly monitored as the trijunction area was the flashpoint of a 73-day standoff which erupted between Indian Army and PLA personnel last year. The Chinese troopers had initiated road construction near the Torsa Nullah, which bisects Doklam. This was opposed by the Indian Army, leading to a tense 73-day military standoff in the region. The troops de-escalated after China agreed to abort the road construction project. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 29, 2018 10:17 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). London, Jul 29: The invitation to a Pakistani cleric to an anti-terror meet in the UK earlier this month has triggered controversy as it emerged that he had praised the actions of an Islamist extremist in the past. Hassan Haseeb ur Rehman attended the 'Counter Terrorism Conference' on July 12 in Manchester alongside UK police chiefs and family members of a victim of the ISIS-claimed terror attack on an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena last year, which had claimed 23 lives. According to The Sunday Times, Rehman led a "high-profile campaign" in Pakistan in praise of Mumtaz Qadri, who had killed Punjab governor Salman Taseer in 2011 for wanting a dialogue on the country's strict blasphemy laws. Qadri, who shot Taseer 28 times saying it was his religious duty, was executed in 2016. Sara Khan, the UK's lead Commissioner for Countering Extremism, told the newspaper: "Rehman attended and spoke at the funeral of Qadri and described him as a martyr. "There is no defence or justification for celebrating an ideologically motivated assassination. It is clear that many of those at the conference... would not have known about his vile views." Fiyaz Mughal, founder of the interfaith group Faith Matters said: "The speaker being feted in the 'counter-extremism' conference has been on record as maligning Ahmadi Muslims and in supporting the memory of the murderer of Punjab governor Salman Taseer." The conference in a Manchester hotel was hosted by the Ramadhan Foundation, which denied its Pakistani guest's links to extremism. Mohammed Shafiq, the chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation said: "He (Rehman) is not a supporter of terrorism. He is an opponent of terrorism. Any insinuation that he is an extremist is frankly absurd and an insult." Russ Jackson, Head of the Northwest Counter-Terrorism Unit, was presented with an award by Rehman and Shafiq at the event, which was also attended by Sharon Goodman, grandmother of the Manchester Arena attack victim Olivia Campbell-Hardy, and Andrew Hardy, Olivia's father. Greater Manchester police said: "The Sunday Times has now brought to our attention some concerns about one of the speakers, which we will now consider." Jul 29, 2018, 3:12am ET Bugatti teases Pebble Beach-bound Divo Bugatti\'s ode to corner carving takes shape. Bugatti will introduce a new model during the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Called Divo, it was announced as an ode to the art of corner carving. The French company published a teaser video on its official Facebook account to preview the car. As is often the case, the video does a good job of hiding the Divo's overall design. It merely shows a pair of taillights with intricate 3D inserts. They're bigger than the Chiron's and they don't appear to be connected by a light bar. This suggests -- but doesn't confirm -- that the Divo is a standalone model with its own body, not merely a Chiron with a suspension kit. We expect the Divo will receive the Chiron's W16 engine, a unit famously rated at 1,500 horsepower. Bugatti stresses its team of engineers focused on shedding weight and adding downforce. Earlier reports point to a new gearbox designed with racing in mind, and some sources have gone as far as speculating the Divo will beat the Chiron's 2.5-second sprint from zero to 60 mph. Bugatti will cap Divo production at 40 units. Pricing for each one starts at five million euros, a sum that converts to about $5.8 million. We wouldn't be surprised if every example has been spoken for when the car makes its debut on August 24th. Limited-edition variants of high-end cars sell out quickly and Bugatti has already shown the car to prospective buyers. Thousands took to the streets of Allentown Sunday wearing red, white and blue, holding political signs and waving the territory's flags during the Puerto Rican Cultural Parade and Festival. The festival coincided with the first "mass registration" in the territory, which was led by an estimated 5,000 Puerto Rican evacuees who have since settled in the Lehigh Valley. Organizers estimated a total of 9,000 people attending Sunday's festivities. The event began with a breakfast at Building 21 on Lehigh Street with victims of Hurricane Maria, which caused catastrophic damage and numerous fatalities across the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017. Students and parents shared stories. The breakfast was organized by Casa Dominicana and Phoebe Harris, an Allentown school board director, and also discussed discuss the "Newcomer's Academy," which is a recently-launched intensive English as a Second Language program to address the needs of new students moving to the region from Puerto Rico. A flag-raising ceremony followed at Allentown City Hall with speeches by city and state-elected officials, as well as Democratic Congressional candidate Susan Wild. A parade traveled from City Hall to Jordan Park. At the park, additional speakers planned to give words. They included Victor Martinez, a Puerto Rican community leader and local radio host; Pedro Ortiz, 18, a Puerto Rican graduate from Allen High School and youth activist; and Juana Breslin-Ortiz, 22, a Puerto Rican youth organizer who helped organize protests during U.S. President Donald Trump's ban on travel from several predominantly Muslim countries. The event concluded with an afternoon concert. Scroll through the top of this post for scenes from the Allentown's Puerto Rican Cultural Parade and Festival. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A man was shot and killed Saturday evening by a South Whitehall Township police officer, township police Chief Glen Dorney confirmed. The shooting happened about 5:44 p.m. in front of 3712 Hamilton Blvd. (Route 222) in the township, the Lehigh County Coroner's Office said about 11 p.m. Saturday. That is near Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom. Pennsylvania State Police, the Lehigh County District Attorney's Homicide Task Force and District Attorney Jim Martin were investigating, along with the coroner's office. A witness said a man was banging on the windows of passing cars prior to the shooting, according to a report from the scene. "The guy was behaving, what I would characterize as, bizarrely," Martin told lehighvalleylive.com. He ripped out the window of one vehicle and held on as the car continued to move, according to the district attorney. "There were several encounters, perhaps as many as four or five," Martin said. In a video posted on Facebook, the man is near a police vehicle on the passenger side but then walks away. The officer yells several times for the man to get on the ground, but the man walks back toward the officer and as he gets near, the officer fires five shots and the man drops. The shooting victim was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital, Salisbury Township. He was pronounced dead at 6:08 p.m., according to the coroner's office. An autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday to determine the cause and manner of death, the office's morgue manager, Raymond Anthony, said in a news release. Authorities were calling the victim a John Doe, and Martin said he did not immediately know where the man was from. Nor did authorities identify the police officer involved. Martin stressed the investigation was in its early stages and said that investigators spoke with several witnesses about what they had seen. "There are a lot of things that at the moment we don't know," he said late Saturday night. Freelance photographer Mike Nester contributed to this report. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A 60-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman were assaulted when they attempted to repossess a vehicle in Bath, state police said. Pennsylvania State Police in Bethlehem said the incident happened at 10:43 p.m. this past Wednesday at a property along Creek Road. A 28-year-old man from Bath, who police did not identify, punched the 60-year-old man from Coplay in the head until it caused a laceration. The man then punched the 25-year-old from Daytona Beach, Florida, in the stomach multiple times, according to police. The assailant then fled. The victims, who also weren't identified by police, were legally repossessing the vehicle, police said. Charges are being filed against the assailant for simple assault and harassment, according to police. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. GFH Financial Group (GFH) today announced that it has paid the entire amount of its $200 million sukuk, which was originally drawn in 2007. The facility, which was payable over several tranches with final maturity in July 2018, has now been settled with a recent payment of an outstanding amount of $34 million. Jassim Al Seddiqi, chairman of the board of GFH, said: We are pleased to witness the repayment of one of the oldest facilities that we had in GFH. This sukuk facility has been previously funded by a mix of GCC and international banks and our ability to make timely repayments and settlement on time increases the confidence in our group despite market challenges, and underscores the strength of the bank and its debt to equity position. With this repayment, GFH frees up further assets pledged under the sukuk for potential disposal or exit. In 2008, GFH had financing liabilities in excess of $1 billion compared to $125 million today, the statement said. Al Seddiqi concluded: With a prudent approach to managing our liabilities, strong cash generation and levels of liquidity, GFH continues to be better placed than ever to deliver value and further build our commercial and investment banking business lines. - TradeArabia News Service The Irish Defence Forces released a very unusual photo to mark the visit of Minister Paul Kehoe, who has responsibility for Defence, to the Curragh Camp today. Normally, such visits are marked with group photos of dignitaries and those involved grinning proudly at the camera. But the group pic of the Ministers visit to the Army Ranger Wing features 13 men with their faces blurred out to protect their identities. The ARW is the Irish Special Operations Unit a group based at the Curragh in Kildare, who are on call 24/7 to deal with dangerous incidents in any part of the country. They also would be called in to deal with the case of a terrorist attack or hostage situation. The soldiers who form part of the unit undergo intensive and specialised training for their jobs and their identities are customarily kept private in photos for security reasons. WATCH: Check out what it takes to be a member of the Army Ranger Wing based in the Curragh On his arrival at the Curragh Camp today, the Minister was greeted by the Chief of Staff, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett and the Deputy Chief of Staff (Operations), Major General Kieran Brennan. The Minister received a briefing from the Officer in Charge of the ARW on the roles, capabilities and operational effectiveness of the Unit. He also viewed ARW operatives preparing for a mission, to examine the wide range of equipment available to execute such a mission, and to witness a demonstration of the particular skills of the Unit in responding to a simulated domestic terrorism incident and a hostage rescue incident. The Minister then met with individual members of the Unit who spoke to him of their first hand experience of serving in a dynamic rapid response role. Minister Kehoe pictured with Army Rangers at the Curragh today The Minister said he was committed to increasing the strength of the Unit. I am satisfied that on-going coordination and liaison meetings take place between the Defence Forces and An Garda Siochana to ensure that the security of the State is given top priority. In recognising the dynamic nature of the security environment, initiatives to enhance and support interoperability include the development of agreed protocols, joint seminars on response to a terrorist attack and exercises on crisis management. File photo of Army Ranger on a training exercise The South Leitrim community of Aughavas is preparing to lodge an appeal against plans to close the local post office. The community had been hopeful that the post office business would be allowed to transfer to new owners following the retirement of the existing postmistress. However the local community has been notified that the existing post office will closed on August 10 following the retirement of current postmistress, Mary McCaffrey. A notice put up in the Post Office states that, from August 13 all social welfare services currently available in Aughavas Post Office, will be transferred 7km away to Carrigallen. Some An Post Services however, will remain available via PostPoint in the shop/pub which houses Aughavas Post Office at the moment, The Dugout. According to An Post, set criteria was considered in making the decision to close Aughavas Post Office. An Post says, in rural Ireland, it "will endeavour to ensure that all settlements with over 500 people will have a Post Office". Sadly, Aughavas does not have this level of people living within its borders. An Post are also working on criteria that communities are within 15km of a post office. There are other post offices in larger towns such as Mohill, Ballinamore and Carrigallen which fall within this distance. "The decision on future Post Office Service for Aughavas including the consolidation of Aughavas Post Office with surrounding Post Offices in Carrigallen, Mohill, Ballinamore, Newtowngore and Arva reflects An Post's commitment to build a sustainable and viable Post Office Network for this area," notes An Post. Appeal Local TD, Martin Kenny, told www.leitrimobserver.ie that, while news of the closure was disappointing, there was still the avenue of an appeals process open to the community. Deputy Kenny said: "It isn't all bad news. We still have an appeals process we can engage in and that is what we will do. Hopefully the decision will be made to keep the post office open." Leitrim has the lowest construction activity and the highest vacancy rate according to the latest GeoView Residential Building Report. Leitrim and Longford were the only two counties to record fewer than 100 new residential addresses in the 12 month period to June 2018. According to the report, 87 residential addresses in Leitrim were added to the GeoDirectory database during the last 12 month period. Nationally, the majority of addresses were added in Dublin, accounting for 39.8% of the overall national total, highlighting an east/west divide in terms of new addresses. Construction Activity In total, 20 buildings were classified as being under construction in Leitrim in June 2018, the lowest in the country. The majority of construction activity took place in urban areas, with the highest levels recorded in Dublin (34.9%), Cork (10.7%) and Meath (10.5%). Construction activity was particularly low in the counties of Leitrim (0.2%), Longford (0.3%) and Offaly (0.5%). National Vacancy Rates The national average vacancy rate stood at 4.8%. Leitrim registered the highest residential vacancy rate in the country at 15.9%. Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow recorded the lowest percentages of vacant units in the country, at rates between 0.9 and 3.5%. Breakdown of Housing Stock The report shows that there were 1,983,715 residential dwellings in Ireland in June 2018. Out of this total, detached dwellings accounted for the largest share at 34.8%, followed by terraced dwellings (27.6%) and semi-detached dwellings (24.3%). There are 180,741 apartments in the country, representing 9.1% of the overall total. Donegal is the county with the highest proportion of holiday homes at 11.4%, followed by Wexford (7.7%), Kerry (7.1%) and Clare (6.7%). Residential Turnover Rate and Transactions By combining data from the GeoDirectory database and the CSO, the GeoView Residential Buildings Report estimates the average rate of housing turnover. Leitrims turnover rate was 2.43%, which was lower than the national average housing turnover rate of 2.6 per cent in the 12 months to April 2018 In total, 431 residential properties were purchased in Leitrim in the 12 months to April 2018, 13.5% per cent of which were new properties. Average Property Prices The national average residential property price in the 12 months to April 2018 was 273,206. When Dublin is excluded, the national average falls to 198,906. Leitrims average house price was 113,921, 85,000 less than the national average (excluding Dublin). The average house price in Carrick-on-Shannon, the largest urban area in the county was just 116,871. Only three counties recorded property prices above the national average, namely Dublin (413,891), Wicklow (354,113) and Kildare (281,675). This highlights the demand for housing in the Greater Dublin Region, with the average property price in these three counties higher relative to the rest of the country. The county with the lowest average house price was Longford at 101,587, almost 50 per cent below the national average price excluding Dublin. Commenting on the findings of the GeoView Residential Buildings Report, Dara Keogh, CEO, GeoDirectory said, The twelve months to June 2018 saw a significant increase in terms of residential construction activity. The report shows that the vast majority of this activity is taking place in Dublin and surrounding counties. However, despite this increase, house prices in urban and commuter counties continue to rise, showing us that demand is still outweighing supply by a great deal. Annette Hughes, Director of EY-DKM Economic Advisory Services said, Almost one-in-five residential property transactions in the twelve months up to April 2018 involved new dwellings. While this suggests that construction activity is moving in the right direction and new dwellings are coming on stream, increasing property prices continue to signal a significant supply-demand imbalance, implying that much more work is needed to address demand levels. LifeStyle The best Lifestyle shows are right here, from Australia and around the world. Catch up with the experts on home design and interiors, food and cooking, the property market, and get fresh ideas with the savviest of renovators. Whether you need inspiration for cooking up a storm, to refresh a tired room, or tips to sell your property, Foxtel Lifestyle will always something new for you to watch. Enjoy your favourite experts like Andrew Winter and Neale Whitaker, or Shaynna Blaze and Jamie Oliver live or On Demand. A MOTORIST who drove straight through a busy roundabout in Limerikc while under the influence of cocaine has been banned for four years. Paul Hannon, aged 28, who has an address at Sean Heuston Place, Limerick pleaded not guilty to charges relating to an incident which happened at around 9.45pm on December 1, 2016. Garda Pauline Coughlan told Limerick District Court she and a colleague were on patrol near Groody Roundabout, Castletroy when they observed a silver BMW travelling straight through the roundabout forcing another vehicle to stop in order to avoid a collision. The BMW was pursued and Mr Hannon pulled in at the entrance to the Parkway Retail Park a short time later. Garda Coughlan said his eyes were bloodshot and that as she was speaking with him, she noticed he was getting completely mixed up and confusing himself. Mr Hannon took two attempts to get out of the car and he was arrested a short time later. Judge Marian OLeary was told he later provided a urine sample to the designated doctor and that an analysis confirmed the presence of cocaine-class drugs. Solicitor Sarah Ryan questioned why her client had been charged with both drug driving and careless driving submitting the State cannot maintain both on them. Questioned by Ms Ryan, Garda Aishling ONeill accepted she had noted there was no evidence of alcohol use when the defendant arrived at Henry Street garda station following his arrest. However, she insisted she recalled the incident and ticked the incorrect box. Inspector Paul Reidy opposed Ms Ryans application for a dismissal insisting there was no bar on the State bringing the two charges. He also submitted there was no doubt that the entry on the custody record was a mistake. After convicting the defendant, Judge OLeary imposed a 500 fine and a four-year- driving ban in relation to the drug driving charge. The careless driving charge was taken into consideration. Recognizance was set in the event of an appeal. THERE is one altar so large that it is stopping families from accessing their dearly beloved ones graves in a cemetery, said Kilmallock councillor Mike Donegan. He was speaking about oversized memorials during a meeting of the Cappamore-Kilmallock municipal district. The debate started following a question put down by Cllr Lisa Marie Sheehy. She asked if the council has a policy for replacing unsightly signs at graveyards in its administrative area. Cllr Sheehy said she has spoken to a number of cemetery committees who volunteer their time to cut lawns, tidy up and clean their local graveyards. Then there are these unsightly signs from the council. Some are falling apart like in Glenroe, said Cllr Sheehy. Barry Murphy, senior executive engineer, said there are 250 graveyards in County Limerick with over 50 in the Cappamore-Kilmallock municipal district. Mr Murphy said some signs are well past their sell by date. Every county takes a different approach. What we want to do is standardise it and re-enforce a number of the bye-laws, said Mr Murphy, who added that 10 foot monuments have been erected contrary to the bye-laws. Cllr Donegan said: Its not so much oversized monuments. I know of one altar, families cant access graves because of it. I hope bye-laws will be upheld. It is going on the whole time. The Kilmallock councillor said he knows of one instance where there was no resolution and the council didnt want to go after them. Cllr Bill ODonnell said there was strong intimidation. The contractors should be the ones prosecuted not the families. They know the rules better than anyone else, said Cllr ODonnell. Cathaoirleach of the district, Cllr Eddie Ryan said not to put too much information on the signs. In Galbally they say please remove old wreaths and flowers. Dog fouling is another issue, said Cllr Ryan. Cllr Noel Gleeson suggested the council should get in contact with graveyard committees on the signs. Mr Murphy said it is incredibly sensitive. On the same theme of signs, Cllr Brigid Teefy asked can a programme be put in place in the municipal district to erect directional signage at road junctions where currently there is no signage. It is frustrating when you come to a crossroads and there are no signs, said Cllr Teefy, who called for a survey to be done and prioritise road junctions. We are trying to encourage tourists and visitors to come to our municipal district and then there are no signs when they come to some junctions. Locals find it annoying too, said Cllr Teefy. A TEAM of cyclists are preparing to pedal to every GAA club that was represented on the All-Ireland-winning Limerick team of 1973. The 73 Tour on August 25 will be a charity fundraiser for Sophies Journey Foundation, and all funds raised will go to sick children, and those with disabilities, in Limerick. Liam Mulcahy, who along with his family set up Sophies Journey after his daughter Sophie passed away, will cycle from east to west, and everywhere in between, on the tour. As this years Limerick hurlers edge ever closer to the final, those with nostalgia for the good old days will still remember the players and clubs of 73. Starting at Doon, the dozen or so cyclists will pedal to the city, taking in Claughaun and Old Christians, before making their way to Mungret, Ballybrown and Patrickswell. Then its on to South Liberties, Kilmallock, Effin, Bruree, Kileedy, before finally finishing up in Tournafulla. Ned Rea, who played later with Faughs GAA in Dublin but who is originally from Effin, will be represented at the Effin stop. A photo and maybe a lucky free will be taken at every club ground. The entire journey is expected to be around 160km. And in conjunction with the cycle, the charity is coming out with a retro-inspired Limerick jersey to raise funds. Any family that has a child who is ill, we try to help them financially with their care, whether their child is in hospital or they need something around their house, said Liam. Most of the children the group works with are terminally ill. They work with the Childrens Ark in University Hospital Limerick to identify those who are in need of funding. This time, they want to link up with St Gabriels school, which is currently seeking funding for its respite centre. Sponsorship cards will soon be circulated for the cycle, and those who wish to donate can also do so through the Sophies Journey website. More information on the cycle will be available on the Sophies Journey Facebook page. A JUDGE at Limerick court described a female motorist as having absolutely no regard for the rules of the road. Lynn Greaney, aged 28, of Coonagh Court, Doon pleaded guilty to having no insurance at Coonagh Court on December 1, 2017. She was stopped by Garda John Ryan. Kilmallock Court heard that Ms Greaney has two previous convictions for no insurance. Judge Marian OLeary said: She has absolutely no regard for the rules of the road. The judge said it is Ms Greaneys third no insurance charge and asked why she shouldnt send Ms Greaney to prison. Kevin Power, solicitor for Ms Greaney, said his client has three young children and is a single mother. Her mother assists her as best she can. It is social services for the children if she goes to to prison, said Mr Power. Judge OLeary asked Ms Greaney how she got to court. My mother, she replied. For no insurance, the judge handed down a four month prison sentence suspended for two years, put her off the road for six years and fined Ms Greaney 400. A HIGH-TECH Limerick company has taken home two prestigious international awards. Action Point, which exists to provide IT infrastructure, systems and support, won the awards at Microsoft Inspire, the global tech conference for partners of Microsoft. This took place in Las Vegas, Nevada. The week in pictures! A look back on a successful few days for ActionPoint US and Irish teams at #MSInspire in Las Vegas. We are looking forward to sharing some important #Microsoft announcements with you all real soon. Stay tuned.#MSPartner @msinspireus pic.twitter.com/k65sUBLdKC July 24, 2018 The first award placed Action Point as the technology giants Data and AI Partner of the Year and recognises the firms work developing Internet of Things (IoT) solutions for the manufacturing sector worldwide. The second award, from the International Association of Microsoft Certified Partners (IAMCP US) was in recognition for an innovative software project in partnership with California based company, General Networks. The head of IoT at Action Point, Ivan OConnor said: The world of connected devices is growing rapidly from 25 billion connected devices globally to 75 billion by 2025, according to Statista. We have already shipped our product IoT-Predict to more than ten countries in three continents since its launch this year and can clearly see that the manufacturing market recognises the opportunity that IoT brings. We are delighted to be at the leading edge of this technology with our US partners. ActionPoint has been developing custom software for over a decade and is no stranger to awards, including a Tech Excellence award last month for the innovative online passport renewal system on behalf of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which has transformed Irelands passport system. The firm employs over 80 technology specialists at its headquarters in the National Technology Park, and also has offices in Dublin, Cork and LA. It has been a Deloitte Fast 50 winner for the past four years, and a Deloitte Best Managed firm in 2018. ActionPoint also won Microsoft's SMB partner of the year award in 2017 and has twice won Dell's Country Partner of the Year Award. THE THREAT to up to 1,000 jobs in Limerick has eased somewhat with an announcement that the US may consider dropping severe sanctions on a local plant. Aughinish Alumina, which is owned by embattled Russian company UC Rusal, has been under threat since April, when the US Treasury Department announced harsh sanctions against its controlling owner Oleg Deripaska, along with a handful of other Russian oligarchs. The company had been tasked with jumping through a number of hoops before the October 23 deadline, most notably the reorganisation of the ownership to ensure that Mr Deripaska reduced his majority share. That process is underway. But now, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said that the department would be open to removing Rusal from the list of companies which were due to be hit by the sanctions. According to a report in Reuters, Mr Mnuchin added that the objective of the punitive sanctions was not to put Rusal out of business. If we can find an acceptable solution, that is our objective, said Mr Mnuchin. And since his comments, shares in the company rose 15 percent on the Hong Kong stock exchange. The prospect of a softer approach by the US is good news for Askeatons Aughinish Alumina, which found itself at the centre of the controversy as the largest alumina refinery in Europe. There are 450 people employed on site, and another 500 working locally within its orbit, as contractors, suppliers and spin-off industry. It is one of the biggest employers in County Limerick. The sanctions list, announced in April, was a US attempt to punish Russia for malign activity around the globe, including the countrys activities in Crimea and Syria, its alleged involvement in a poisoning in the UK, and suspicions surrounding US election meddling. Billionaire Russian business people were specifically targeted because they were seen to have benefited from the regime. And Aughinish owner Mr Deripaska is said to have close ties to the Russian president. He has his shares in UC Rusal through his holding company EN+. He has made moves in the last two months to divest his interests in the company, to save it from the sanctions. And a series of other steps have been taken within the company. A new board of independent directors was elected last month. Central Hotels has appointed Mohamed Hassan Youssef as the general manager for the luxurious Royal Central Hotel The Palm in Dubai. Youssef is a seasoned hotelier with over 20 years experience in the industry, including nine years in the UAE working with a number of leading brands within the region. Ammar Kannan, group general manager of Central Hotels, said: We are delighted to welcome Mohamed as general manager of our newest five-star hotel. Mohamed has a solid hospitality background in the GCC, and we are confident that his local and international experience will deliver truly unforgettable moments to our much-valued guests. We believe his diverse expertise will enable him to develop and grow his team who are key to ensuring our guests are well looked after and stay loyal to us. Upon joining the Royal Central Hotel The Palm, Youssef commented: I am honoured and extremely motivated to lead the highly-talented team to offer Central Hotels Stay Fresh concept for the first time in The Palm Jumeirah. We are proud to have such an outstanding property in this iconic destination in Dubai. Our Stay Fresh concept will give our guests the opportunity to surround themselves with a whole lot of fun in a funky, casual and family-friendly surrounding. I am looking forward, together with my team, to welcome guests from around the world to this stunning hotel. An Egyptian national, Youssef began his career with a number of Global brands, which included Sonesta Hotel & Nile Cruises, Swissotel Sharm El Sheikh, and Concorde Hotels & Resorts for many years with his focus on front of house. Speaking fluent French, Arabic, and English, he came to the UAE in 2009 to take the position of front office manager at the Iberotel Miramar Al Aqah Fujairah. In 2014 he took the position of rooms division manager at Gloria Hotels where he quickly progressed to director of rooms. In 2016, he took the role of director of operations for the new Telal Resort, Al Ain by Muruoj Gloria. Immediately prior to joining the Royal Central Hotel The Palm, he was hotel resident manager at the Western Hotel in Abu Dhabi. - TradeArabia News Service A LOCAL councillor has called for a social housing masterplan for Limerick, which would include plans for every social development in the city and county, to deal with the homelessness crisis. Kevin Sheahan, Fianna Fail councillor and former Mayor of Limerick, thinks that the local authority needs to come up with a wider strategy to deliver the hundreds of social houses needed. That, he said, would be preferable to the local authority presenting plans for individual developments. There is no indication to me that anybody is acknowledging the housing crisis, said Cllr Sheahan. The housing waiting list for Limerick is 2,630. And that figure is nearly four and a half thousand if those on rent subsidy are included. The call comes after plans for social housing in Adare hit a brick wall, when councillors disagreed with the design. I think the time has now come, and I am calling on the CEO for a masterplan to be prepared by Limerick City and County Council to deal with the homeless issue, and to deal with the Adare issue and any other issue with social developments anywhere else, said Cllr Sheahan. The Government blames the local authority when asked about the delivery of houses. When queried on the efficacy of the Housing Strategic Policy Committee (SPC), Cllr Kevin Sheahan said: SPCs are not the vehicle for a crisis. One of the ways that has not been addressed has been the allocation of sites to local people. The councillor suggested that all 31 local authorities in the country should be instructed by the Government to sell 50 sites in each district, where council-owned landbanks were available. That could amount to five per village, he said. That proposal would amount to some 200 sites per local authority - and nationwide, could yield over 6,000 houses. Cllr Adam Teskey said that council-owned houses are empty. They need some investment. In the last month in the metropolitan district, Cllr Michael Hourigan raised concerns about the design and location of a proposed development at North Circular Road. In the Cappamore-Kilmallock district, a motion to build houses on council-owned landbanks was unanimously agreed because of the shortage. A spokesperson from the council said that Limerick City and County Council takes a holistic approach to the development of housing. It also utilises housing delivery options, including programmes to return vacant housing to use such as the Buy and Renew and Repair and Lease Schemes. The council said that it has completed assessments and strategic plans, and that detailed masterplans are in place for larger land banks, such as regeneration areas and Mungrets Twenty Thirty site. THE UL HOSPITALS Group has announced a spate of initiatives to combat imminent overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick this winter season, including the construction of a new ward in the former emergency department. As UHL awaits the completion of a 25m 96-bed unit, it is now looking to deliver an interim 60 beds to assuage its overcrowding problem. However, the 96-bed block wont be built and ready until 2021 and the 60 beds will not come into fruition until late 2019. In response to what is expected to be a busy winter and flu season, the UL Hospitals Group has outlined a number of special measures to tackle high levels of patients on trolleys. A spokesperson told this newspaper that it will review last years winter plan as part of the plan for this winter. UHL will soon build a 19-bed ward at the old emergency department, which shut its doors in May 2017 following the opening of the new 24m facility. These works are at an advanced stage and we have submitted a bid as part of the estimates process for the full staffing and equipping of this unit in the winter period. UHL will work on admission avoidance for patients with certain conditions, such as respiratory illness, seizures, deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. UL Hospitals deals with 1,000 possible deep venous thrombosis cases and 1,500 possible pulmonary embolism (PE) cases each year. A spokesperson said that PE patients are referred and admitted to a hospital bed for assessment and access to a CT scan. However, he said that 50% of these patients could avoid admission using appropriate selection algorithms. We are actively recruiting additional nursing resources to enable this admission avoidance measure, he added. The spokesperson said it is in the process of training staff in order to open two additional critical care beds for the winter period. A total of 11 have been trained to date, and it is planned that the two new beds will be open by August and November, respectively. He added that the redevelopment of a medical ward at Nenagh General Hospital is at an advanced stage and once complete will significantly enhance the patient accommodation and improve patient transfers from Limerick to Nenagh. It will comprise 16 single rooms and four semi-private rooms. The spokesperson said that the group is in regular, ongoing contact with the Department of Health and the HSE on all matters relating to scheduled and unscheduled care. Amid the ongoing trolley crisis, there are 40 nurse vacancies and eight vacancies for non-consultant hospital doctors at UHL. Deputy Jan OSullivan said that it was essential that the 60-bed block is progressed as quickly as possible and that the HSE doesnt hold it up by delaying funding approval. I am very fearful for patients and their families as well as staff if they have to endure the kind of overcrowding that makes UL Hospital Limerick consistently top the list of patients on trolleys for much longer. We face the winter with critical bed and staff shortages and the Government and the HSE must give urgent priority to Limerick, she told the Limerick Leader. A LIMERICK man who damaged four cars belonging to members of a family after having had words with one of them was told to get a job to pay for the estimated 2,000 damage done. He has to make restitution, Judge Mary Larkin said at Newcastle West court when she adjourned the case against Joe Power, Crean, Athlacca, who was charged with four counts of criminal damage at Croom last March 3. Inspector Alan Cullen said that on that date, Power went to a particular premises where there were four cars parked outside and went at the four cars with a hammer . He broke windows on three cars and caused other damage but was identified at the scene by the family members. Later, Inspector Cullen added that Power had initially left the scene and came back with the hammer. I came back with no hammer, Power said from the body of the court. Pleading for his client, Liam Carroll BL said that Powers grandfather had died just two days before the incident and he had been drinking heavily. He was under a lot of stress, he said. Power, he continued was friendly with a member of the family and went to see them but words were exchanged. He came under fear of being attacked, Mr Carroll said. His client over-reacted and caused the damage he caused. He does not have any substantial previous convictions, Mr Carroll said. His client did not have a job, he told the judge, and was not in receipt of social welfare as he was living with his parents. He is going to have to get a job, Judge Larkin said. She was not, she added, going to adjourn the case for three or four years while he pays on the dribble. He walloped a lot of cars and he has to pay for it, the judge said. She was told that Power was subject to a curfew and barred from Croom. But she refused to amend the conditions of bail so that Power could meet with his friends in Croom. The sad thing about getting into trouble is that there are consequences and one of them is you stay out of Croom, Judge Larkin told Power, warning him not to be losing the head and to focus on compensation or go to jail. You want to go home and have a serious think about what you are going to do between now and the rest of your life. Increasing connectivity between Oman and the Indian subcontinent, Oman's first budget airline SalamAir has launched non-stop flights to Dhaka, Bangladesh. The new service is the airlines fourth destination in the subcontinent, which includes Karachi, Multan and Sialkot. Return tickets to Dhaka are now available at special promotional fares. Captain Mohamed Ahmed, CEO of SalamAir, said: The new Dhaka route is another milestone in our regional expansion plans. We are responding to strong demand facilitated by the large volume of Bangladeshi travellers to Oman and other GCC countries. We will continue expanding our network and connect Oman with direct flights to key new destinations, offering our guests exciting travel possibilities with competitive market rates. Above all, whether travelling for leisure, business or returning home, our guests will enjoy a flexible rewarding itinerary. According to the latest statistics issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information, the number of Bangladeshis working in the Sultanate is close to 700,000, making them the largest expatriate community in Oman. Catering to their needs, SalamAir will operate four direct weekly flights on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday to Dhaka. Today, the SalamAir network consists of 13 destinations including Muscat, Salalah, Suhar, Dubai, Doha, Jeddah, Karachi, Multan, Sialkot, Shiraz, as well as newly introduced Tbilisi, Baku and Dhaka. - TradeArabia News Service Followers of science and health news, particularly those with a terminal illness, may get the impression that the dawn of a new, disease-free era is upon us and nowhere is this idea more evident than in the latest buzzword in the health sciences, CRISPR. With this tool, a form of genetic engineering, scientists can edit a genome that is, alter a set of genes among the tens of thousands contained in an organism's DNA. With CRISPR, scientists may have the ability to remove or correct disease-causing genes or insert new ones that could theoretically cure disease, including cancer. But the technology comes with both potential benefits and risks. [10 Amazing Things Scientists Just Did with CRISPR] Two important CRISPR studies published this month underscore the promise and concerns. The first, from a multi-institute team led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and published in the journal Nature, revealed a new, more efficient way of making changes in the genome using CRISPR. This method, which uses electrical fields, drew widespread praise from the biomedical research establishment, as relayed in numerous news reports. The second study, from the laboratory of Allan Bradley at Wellcome Sanger Institute in England, published a few days later in the journal Nature Biotechnology, suggested that CRISPR gene editing may be doing more damage than scientists thought. So, what's going on? And how close are scientists to actually using CRISPR to effectively treat cancer? CRISPR getting crisper CRISPR is one tool among many in the 40-year-old field of genetic engineering, storming onto the scene in 2012. The technology offers unprecedented precision in editing the genome that is, opening up a strand of DNA and correcting an error typed into the genetic code. CRISPR is not the first method for editing genes, but it seems to be the most precise so far. Here's how it works: CRISPRs, short for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (don't worry most scientists can't remember this), are stretches of DNA found in bacteria and other microbes. These microorganisms use CRISPRs to find and remove viral DNA that has invaded their genomes. It's a host defense system. The CRISPRs and associated proteins, such as Cas9, essentially snip out the viral DNA and patch things up. The technology is just now entering the realm of clinical application, with still only a handful of patients receiving the treatment, all starting in 2017. However, CRISPR is used now broadly and remarkably successfully in creating laboratory animals and cell lines with key genetic characteristics that help scientists better study human diseases. In this regard, part of the CRISPR promise has already been realized in terms of "really advancing the landscape of research in biomedicine in a way nobody thought possible," said Fyodor Urnov, deputy director of the Altius Institute for Biomedical Sciences in Seattle, who uses CRISPR and other methods to edit human genes in the lab. [7 Diseases You Can Learn About from a Genetic Test] And as for the other promise, clinical application, "There's really good news on the horizon," Urnov told Live Science. CRISPR advances and pitfalls For CRISPR to work, the short strands first need to get into the nucleus of a cell, where DNA is found. To transport CRISPRs there, scientists use modified viruses, a decades-old delivery method. These harmless viruses invade the cell, as they are wont to do, and deposit the package. But manufacturing these viruses in significant numbers for clinical use can take months or a year, and critically ill patients usually don't have that long to wait. That's why the new Nature article elicited such excitement and praise. In that work, scientists used electrical stimulation, not viruses, to ferry genetic material into the cell nucleus. This is called "electroporation," and it shortens the process to a few weeks. The method could greatly speed research efforts. But the other new study, though it didn't reference the research on electrical stimulation, warned that CRISPR remains rife with danger. The technique can alter more parts of the DNA than scientists realized, including those parts located farther away from the region targeted by CRISPR, the researchers said. In short, CRISPR can snip too much, and depending on what's snipped, this inaccuracy could spell trouble, the researchers wrote. Scientists using CRISPR might inadvertently cut out a cancer-suppression gene, for example. And these errors could occur regardless of the ferry mechanism used, whether electroporation or viral vector, lead study author Michael Kosicki, a graduate student at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in England, told Live Science. But Urnov, who wasn't involved in either study, said that he cautioned against drawing broad conclusions from the second paper. That study used mouse cells, not clinic-grade human cells, and did not use a CRISPR-Cas9 strain engineered for clinical use, he said. You can't compare the off-target cleavage seen in the mouse DNA to what might happen in the human studies, he added. In the U.S. and Europe, no clinical trial would begin without passing through "rigorous safety review," Urnov said. There are two primary safety concerns: 1) making sure the genetic change was made correctly, without snipping other regions, a danger that the second study highlighted and 2) ensuring the genetic change of interest, even if done correctly, is safe and that its alteration or removal has no unforeseen ramifications. What cancer patients need to know CRISPR has the potential to revolutionize cancer therapy, chiefly in the realm of immunotherapy. In cancer immunotherapy, the treatment genetically engineers immune cells called T cells to find and kill cancer cells, as if they were a cold virus. In 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved two drugs for a type of immunotherapy called chimeric antigen receptor (CAR-T) immunotherapy. Neither treatment involved CRISPR, though. But doctors worldwide are using both traditional immunotherapy and new CRISPR techniques to increase the number of cancer types that they can treat reliably, albeit all at the preliminary experimental level. If you are cancer patient, the first thing you need to realize is that you don't necessarily want to be in need of these experimental therapies. If you do need one, that means the conventional treatments chemotherapy, radiation and surgery have failed. [7 Side Effects of Cancer Treatment, and How to Cope with Them] The second thing that cancer patients must understand is that experimental CRISPR treatments are, well, experimental and not available to many. These treatments are offered primarily at research hospitals, and they don't work for the majority of patients. Doctors in those settings are trying to figure out if and how these therapies work, or how they need to be tweaked, so these physicians need to recruit patient-volunteers who have well-defined cancer types. So, this is the key question: How close are we, really, to curing cancer with CRISPR? Of course, no expert can say for sure. Urnov said that he is confident that CRISPR technology will bring about more and more cures to a broad range of diseases, including certain cancer types, in the next few years. Dr. Alexander Marson of UCSF, senior author on the electroporation study, suggested that we may get an answer about CRISPR's cancer applications rather soon. His team hopes to treat siblings who have an autoimmune disease so rare that it lacks a name. These patients' T cells have already been corrected using the non-viral gene-targeting method in the lab. The goal is to transfer corrected cells back into the children to treat their disease. Important work remains ahead to develop clinical-grade corrected cells, test their safety and seek regulatory approval, Marson told Live Science. Marson and other members of this team also are partnering with the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy in San Francisco to engineer cells to treat a variety of cancers, now that CRISPR-mediated immune cell reprogramming can be done so effectively without relying on viruses. This, hypothetically, would quicken the pace of CRISPR's entry into clinical studies and arrival as a mainstream treatment. Follow Christopher Wanjek @wanjek for daily tweets on health and science with a humorous edge. Wanjek is the author of "Food at Work" and "Bad Medicine." His column, Bad Medicine, appears regularly on Live Science. By Amiya Kumar Kushwaha for IANS: New Delhi, July 29 : The Delhi High Court has slammed Delhi Police for forcibly separating an inter-faith couple despite knowing well that the Muslim woman is above 21 years and had married the Hindu man of her own free will. A bench of Justice S. Muralidhar and Justice Vinod Goel has sought an explanation from Delhi Police over allegations that they kept the husband in the police lock-up from July 3 to 5 without presenting him in any court. Support TwoCircles The court order came while hearing a habeas corpus filed by the man who was seeking the wifes whereabouts. The couple got married in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, on June 28, 2018 and then started residing at the mans residence at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus in New Delhi. On July 3, at around 8 p.m., policemen accompanied by JNU security personnel and others in civilian clothes forcibly took away the woman and handed over the man to police, who was taken to Loni police station in Ghaziabad and kept in the lock-up for three days. The man alleged that he was abused and beaten in custody and threatened he would be implicated in a false case of rape if he tried to reunite with his wife. The police action came after a complaint was lodged at Loni police station by the womans brother that his sister was missing. The court has asked the police to explain how it proceeded to act on the complaint received from the womans brother despite knowing that she was an adult and entitled to take her own decisions. The bench met the young woman in the chamber. She told the judges that she had married the man of her own choice and the marriage was registered at Ghaziabad. To ensure that there was no untoward or unpleasant incident hereafter, the court has directed the police to provide security to the couple as well as their family and listed the matter for further hearing on August 7. The bench spoke to the young womans mother and explained to her that although she may have reservations about her daughters marriage to someone from a different religion, the latter is entitled to make her choices as she was an adult. The girls mother told the court that it would be up to her daughter to decide what she wanted to do with her life. As the young woman wished to return to her husband, the bench gave her the permission to unite with her husband who was also present in the courtroom. (Amiya Kumar Kushwaha can be reached at [email protected]) This computer-generated view of the surface of Venus shows lava flows from the volcano Sapas Mons that extend hundreds of miles across fractured plains. NASA's Juno spacecraft recently spotted a possible new volcano at the south pole of Jupiter's most lava-licious moon, Io. But this volcanically active moon is not alone in the solar system, where sizzling-hot rocks explode and ooze onto the surface of several worlds. So how do Earthly volcanoes differ from those erupting across the rest of the solar system? Let's start with Io. The moon is famous for its hundreds of volcanoes, including fountains that sometimes spurt lava dozens of miles above the surface, according to NASA. This Jupiter moon is constantly re-forming its surface through volcanic eruptions, even to this day. Io's volcanism results from strong gravitational encounters between Jupiter and two of its large moons, Europa and Ganymede, which shake up Io's insides. Rosaly Lopes, a senior research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, managed observations of Io between 1996 and 2001, during the Galileo spacecraft mission to Jupiter. "Io has lots of caldera-like features, but they are on the surface," Lopes told Live Science. "There are lots of lava flows and lots of lakes. Lava lakes are pretty rare on Earth. We have half a dozen of them. We think they have occurred in the past on Venus and Mars. But on Io, we actually see lava lakes at the present time." Hawaii's Kilauea volcano is one such spot on Earth dotted with lava lakes. [Photos: Fiery Lava from Kilauea Volcano Erupts on Hawaii's Big Island] Juno scientists asked for Lopes' help in identifying Io's newly found hotspot. She said the new observations of Io are welcome, because Galileo was in an equatorial orbit and could rarely see the poles; by contrast, Juno is in a polar orbit and has a much better view. There are some hints that Io might have larger and less-frequent eruptions at the poles, she said, but scientists need more observations to be sure. Venus and Mars volcanoes are all right tonight Venus also appears to have active lava flows on its surface, where temperatures reach more than 800 degrees Fahrenheit (425 degrees Celsius). The few Soviet Venera spacecraft that landed there in the 1970s and 1980s lasted only a short while. Lopes said it's unclear if Venus has active volcanoes currently, although multiple observations from Europe's past Venus Express mission suggested it might. One example is Idunn Mons, which is a hotspot that may have erupted relatively recently. Venus has dome volcanoes, or volcanoes with lots of peaks, although these volcanoes might be inactive. This kind of volcano is also common on Earth. A dome volcano is formed from eruptions of viscous (sticky) lava, with only a small percentage of gas that oozes out. "Volcanologists call it two-face lava, because it hides itself and oozes out," Lopes said. Mount St. Helens, in Washington state, is one such example, with several of these lava domes dotting its crater. Venus is also populated with other types of volcanoes and volcanic features pancake domes (which look like pancakes), arachnoids (eroded calderas that look like spiders), lava flows and volcanic plains. Venus and Mars also have shield volcanoes, a type of volcano made up almost entirely of fluid lava flows. (Shield volcanoes are common on Earth, in Hawaii in particular, Lopes said.) Mars possesses the highest volcano in the solar system Olympus Mons and several other monster volcanoes, perhaps because its gravity is lighter than Earth's and the volcanoes can grow taller. On Mars, the volcanoes appear to be dormant, as there are no visible recent lava flows on the surface. There's extensive evidence of past volcanism, though. There are flood plains of basalts, as well as other types of volcanoes that "were formed by more explosive volcanism, because they are highly eroded on the flanks," Lopes said. Other worlds in our solar system also had lava volcanism in the ancient past, including Earth's moon, Mercury and the dwarf planet Ceres, Lopes said. And then there are worlds with possible cryovolcanism or icy volcanoes in which the erupting material is water, or water mixed with nitrogen or methane. There is evidence of active plumes at Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's moon Enceladus. Saturn's moon Titan may also have past cryovolcanic features on its surface, Lopes' research has found. Other worlds with possible cryovolcanism include Triton (Neptune's largest moon), Pluto, and Charon (Pluto's largest moon). Originally published on Live Science. Wildfires in Mendocino and Napa counties raged into the evening Saturday, destroying structures and prompting evacuations as firefighters struggled to get the upper hand on the stubborn blazes. The Ranch and River fires west of Clear Lake combined Saturday into the 14,000-acre Mendocino Complex that crossed into Lake County and threatened the towns of Lakeport and Upper Lake, officials with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. Sutter Lakeside Hospital in Lakeport began evacuating patients around 4:15 p.m. because of the threat from flames as several neighborhoods east of town were under mandatory evacuation orders. Patients at the level-4 trauma center were taken to nearby hospitals, said Morgen Wells, a spokeswoman for Sutter Lakeside. Just south of Lake Berryessa in Napa County, a 150-acre wildfire exploded in the Berryessa Highlands neighborhood, burning several homes and forcing residents to flee for their lives. The Steele Fire started around 4:30 p.m., forcing residents on Steele Canyon Road between Rimrock Drive and Headlands Drive to evacuate, said Sgt. Pat McMahon with the Napa County Sheriffs Department. Firefighters were attacking the flames from the air and on the ground, with several homes burning or damaged, McMahon said. A large plume of smoke could be seen for miles as aircraft made several passes over the growing flames. The fire was 10 percent contained, Cal Fire said. Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency Saturday for Napa, Mendocino and Lake counties to request federal assistance to support the communities affected by the Steele Fire and Mendocino Complex. The fires were just three of more than a dozen major wildfires that have scorched more than 150,000 acres around California, according to Cal Fire. Some 10,000 firefighters were fanned out around the state on the front lines. One of the problems that firefighters are facing right now is just a lack of resources, said Bryan May, a spokesman for the states Office of Emergency Services. With all of these fires burning across the state, they are tapped out. Firefighters, trucks and other resources were pouring into California from states as far away as Maryland, with more than 400 local government fire engines responding, he added. Rising temperatures have made conditions for firefighters particularly challenging. President Trump granted Browns request for federal assistance Saturday for the Carr Fire in Shasta County, where five people have died and 536 structures have been destroyed. The National Guard was deployed to battle the 83,800-acre fire, which was only 5 percent contained, Cal Fire said. Before mounting its attack on Lakeport, the Ranch Fire ignited around noon Friday at Old Lake County Highway and Highway 20 and grew to 5,000 acres. The flames prompted an evacuation advisory for the entire town of Upper Lake on Saturday night. The nearby River Fire started around 1 p.m. Friday, 13 miles away at Old Lake County Highway, 6 miles north of Hopland, and grew to 9,000 acres. Seven firefighters were injured while battling the blazes, four of whom were taken to hospitals for heat-related illness. No immediate information was released on the conditions of the other firefighters. The combined Mendocino Complex was 5 percent contained with nearly 1,000 homes under evacuation orders, said county Undersheriff Matthew Kendall. So far, one home and one outbuilding have been destroyed, and 386 structures remain threatened. Elsewhere in California, the wildfire threatening Yosemite Valley, which has caused the park to remain closed because of the unhealthy air quality, wont be fully contained for at least another two weeks, Cal Fire said. The Ferguson Fire, burning in Merced River Canyon, has scorched 51,671 acres and was 30 percent contained as of Saturday, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The National Park Service had originally hoped to reopen the valley Sunday but is now planning to delay the reopening until Friday. Flames are not threatening the valley, but the smoke has rendered the air quality unhealthy. Seven firefighters have been injured, and one was killed in the blaze. Braden Varney died fighting the Ferguson Fire on July 14, when his bulldozer rolled over. There was no immediate information on the injuries. One structure has been destroyed, and 5,245 are still being threatened by the blaze. The cause of the Marsh, River, Ranch and Ferguson fires is under investigation. The Cranston Fire in Riverside County which is one of the largest wildfires has burned 13,118 acres acres in San Bernardino National Forest and was 29 percent contained Saturday afternoon, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The cause of the blaze thats resulted in over 2,000 evacuations is arson, the Forest Service said. Sarah Ravani and Evan Sernoffsky are San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani @EvanSernoffsky NEW YORK The text came in on a Thursday afternoon. The director of Chicago, the second-longest-running show in Broadway history, wanted to see the sole remaining member of the opening night cast the next day. It was an unusual request. The cast member, Jeff Loeffelholz, an understudy who in recent years rarely performed, hadnt met with the director in a long time. The encounter was brief, but, for Loeffelholz, unsettling. In notes he jotted down and in text messages to a friend, he said that the director had been brutal and that the musical director had criticized his performance. At the end, Loeffelholz wrote, the director told him to respect the production, which he interpreted as a suggestion that he should consider quitting. Six days later, Loeffelholz killed himself. It is rarely possible to know exactly why someone takes his own life, and suicide generally has multiple causes. But the death of Loeffelholz on June 29 has rattled the cast, crew and creative team of one of Broadways marquee shows. Its something that has really unnerved the whole company, Bruce Bonvissuto, a trombonist in the orchestra, said. Its really been a very difficult period to go out and do a show every night. However complex the causes of Loeffelholzs death may be, widespread discussion of his final rehearsal has brought new attention to the way theatrical creative teams wield power in an era of increasing concern about how managers treat subordinates in the workplace. Since Jeffs tragic death, we have heard from a new round of Equity members that bullying is still far too common in the theater, despite our work on harassment prevention, Mary McColl, executive director of Actors Equity, the union representing performers and stage managers, said. Some have taken to social media to detail instances in which they felt mistreated or abused. Backstage bullying is essentially Broadways dirty little secret, Robert DuSold, an actor, wrote in a blog post about Loeffelholzs death. The shows producers, director and musical director all expressed sadness over Loeffelholzs death; the production and the director declined to comment on details while investigations are underway, while the musical director said she has always behaved professionally. An investigation is being conducted by Actors Equity, which hired a lawyer to review the death and said it would share the results with the cast. The producers hired their own lawyer to investigate, but then decided to rethink the process, according to a spokesman, after that lawyer complained about a lack of cooperation from the cast, some of whom were suspicious about whether the shows inquiry would be objective. Anger has been directed at the producers and directors, but whether that is fair is a difficult question. Broadway, the mountaintop of theater, is by nature a demanding place. Tough rehearsals happen all the time. And Loeffelholz, at 57, was dealing with the kind of career and life pains every actor goes through indeed, the pains that many everyday workers go through. He was not getting any younger, and his character, a small but demanding role, was not getting any older. He and his partner had also lost control of a chocolate shop they ran in Rockefeller Center and were fighting with the owners. But no one not his friends, not his partner, not his bosses, and not his colleagues seemed to know the depths of his despair until he was found, near death, in his apartment. Dream Role for an Unusual Talent Chicago, a musical satire about a group of murderous women seeking to parlay their notoriety into careers in vaudeville, is among the best-known shows Broadway has produced; a 2002 film adaptation was the rare musical to win an Academy Award for best picture. The current Broadway revival the original ran for two years in the 1970s opened in 1996, and has been performed more than 9,000 times, grossing $625 million thus far; the show is also running in London, and has had multiple tours. Only The Phantom of the Opera, which opened in New York in 1988, has been on Broadway longer. Loeffelholz was an unusual figure in the Chicago milieu a standby for the character Mary Sunshine, a journalist with a soft spot for sob stories who is played by a male soprano dressed in womens clothing. Loeffelholzs responsibilities involved calling in eight times a week to see if he was needed, and, if not, staying near the theater while the show was running. When the revival opened, he signed a standard contract guaranteeing him a job for the life of the show; such a provision was not unusual, but most productions measure their life spans in months rather than decades. The role was a dream for Loeffelholz, a theater lover who could sing high notes most men cannot reach. He brought a comic flair to the part, and took pride in the enormous applause he routinely received when his character is revealed to be a man. "It was the perfect role for him it fit his voice and it fit his personality, a cousin, Donna Wynn, said. Loeffelholzs domestic partner, Peter De La Cruz, said the couple chose their apartment to be near the Ambassador Theater, where Chicago is performed, so he could dash over when needed, and when they would eat out, they would choose a restaurant in the neighborhood. He loved it, De La Cruz said. Sometimes he would go on midway through the show. You have to have nerves of steel, and he did. Loeffelholz was born and raised in Norman, Oklahoma. His father, Ray Loeffelholz, died by suicide at the age of 23, about three months before Jeff Loeffelholzs birth, according to a friend and a news report at the time. His mother died, apparently of a heart attack, at 45, when Loeffelholz was in college; he sang Youll Never Walk Alone from Carousel at her funeral. Jeff discovered theater in high school, and studied drama at the University of Oklahoma. In college he got experience performing in womens clothing appearing in drag in one of the plays that became Torch Song Trilogy and began developing his soprano, at first as a way of mimicking the divas he adored. He lived as if in a musical, said a friend, Bart Ebbink. Certain songs would fit a situation he was in, and he would burst into song. Upon graduation, he, his boyfriend and Ebbink piled into a car and drove to New York. They found an apartment in Astoria, Queens, and embarked on new lives; in 1986 he met De La Cruz, who was with him until his death. Loeffelholz began performing in comedic cabaret acts where he would sing songs normally performed by women at first in Soprano Showstoppers, and then, with Michael Tidd, in Dangerous Duets. He played Mary Sunshine in summer stock in Potsdam, New York, years before landing the Broadway standby role. In the revivals early years, Loeffelholz went on as Mary Sunshine many times, but in recent years he was rarely used. Under the contract, Loeffelholz could be fired only for cause. He could be bought out a step that would have cost the budget-minded production, which has used tight cost controls to continue running for 22 years, about $30,000 to $40,000, according to his friends. Adrian Bryan-Brown, a spokesman for the production, said the amount of a buyout would not be a limiting factor in making decisions that benefit the production and that the producers had no reason to buy out Mr. Loeffelholz. Called in Before Rehearsal Loeffelholz feared that the production no longer supported him, and he was worried when he was asked to come in just before a full-cast rehearsal, on June 22, to work with the shows director, Walter Bobbie, and musical director, Leslie Stifelman. Bobbie, 72, is an admired stage veteran with 21 Broadway credits as an actor, director and writer; he won a Tony for his direction of Chicago. Stifelman, 58, was a Chicago pianist who in 2003 was elevated to musical director; she conducts the onstage orchestra and speaks a few lines of dialogue. She has described the cast as family, and even met her wife, Melissa Rae Mahon, through the show. Loeffelholz had no real relationship with Bobbie, and he felt that Stifelman didnt like him, friends said. He thought something might be up, said Brian Rardin, a close friend and Tidds partner. Loeffelholz texted Rardin during breaks in the rehearsal, and jotted down notes afterward. Walter was Brutal and I feel like it was a set up directed towards me personally! he texted to Rardin. They made me do the song about 5 times at one point he got mad and walked out. In the notes Loeffelholz left, he said that, as he repeatedly sang Mary Sunshines big number, A Little Bit of Good, Bobbie asked him to quit overperforming it and being draggy; said he couldnt hear the songs lower notes; and described himself as very disappointed and very upset before leaving the auditorium. Stifelman then said she wanted to work on the middle section of the song with Loeffelholz, saying you always do it wrong, according to his notes. Much of his description was confirmed by witnesses who heard parts of it, but asked not to be identified because they feared endangering their positions with the show. Bryan-Brown said those descriptions do not represent our understanding of the events of that day but declined to be more specific while the investigations are ongoing. According to Loeffelholzs notes, he and Bobbie had a brief final conversation at the lip of the stage, which none of the witnesses heard. He wrote that Bobbie had asked him to respect the production, said I cannot tell you what to do, but 22 years; said that he did not agree with run-of-production contracts; and said you make more money than I do with this production. (Bryan-Brown said the actor did not out-earn the director. Loeffelholz made an estimated $106,000 a year, the current Broadway minimum.) Stage rehearsals, of course, can be demanding, and repeating a song or scene is common; witnesses said the interaction with Loeffelholz was not as tough as some they had experienced at Chicago, and a stage managers report that day noted nothing unusual. But the Mary Sunshine song is taxing for the male voice, and the exchange hit Loeffelholz hard. He was in a dark mood by the time he got home. He was definitely upset, depressed, despondent, Tidd said. The following Monday, Loeffelholz met with a representative from Actors Equity, the union, to report the interaction. But over the next few days, he remained out of sorts. He said, I have a scarlet letter,' De La Cruz recalled. He was so mad that they took this route. On Thursday evening, Loeffelholz sent a round of texts to friends, saying I love you; wrote No joy on a notepad; and then swallowed a lethal amount of alcohol and pills. When De La Cruz got home from work, he found him unresponsive; the next day he was removed from life support. The medical examiner ruled the death a suicide. Backstage Despair Determining the cause of suicide is, of course, difficult. Many people are treated roughly at work, and even lose their jobs, without killing themselves. Loeffelholz had experienced some financial stress. After working at, managing and investing in a Teuscher Chocolates shop in Rockefeller Center for years (he would often bring Champagne truffles to Chicago), De La Cruz was laid off and Loeffelholz resigned in 2016, when the shops owner moved to bring in new leadership. The couple sued Teuscher, and the case is pending in state court. They werent struggling, but they were worried, and the stress of being an older performer on Broadway is tremendous, said the couples lawyer, Juan C. Restrepo-Rodriguez. Chicago performers interviewed said that, although they were stunned by Loeffelholzs suicide, they were not surprised by the incident that preceded it. Multiple current and former musicians, most speaking anonymously because they feared retribution, said Bobbie could be intimidating and Stifelman could belittle or disrespect performers. She would regularly be cursing, slamming things, and trash-talking musicians and performers, said Dan Peck, a musician who previously played the bass and tuba for the show. And whenever Jeff was on, despite the audience loving him, she would be throwing shade and rolling her eyes. Stifelman, who has stayed away from the show since shortly after Loeffelholzs death, disputed the descriptions, saying in an email, In two decades working at Chicago Ive trained hundreds of performers with the utmost of professionalism and respect and any insinuation to the contrary is just not true. She said she never told Loeffelholz you always do it wrong. No words can ever begin to express how profoundly saddened I am by Jeffs passing and for all that Jeffs family and friends are going through, she said. In the 20-plus years I have worked for the producers of Chicago, my job has been the music, never hiring or firing, and in all that time without incident. She has support from Rob Fisher, the shows original musical director, who said, Ive never seen her belittle or humiliate, and its hard for me to imagine that. Fisher also said everybody loved Jeff, but added that the role of Mary Sunshine is not something that people can do for 22 years male vocal cords cant sustain singing in that range. Bobbie declined to comment, but his union, the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, released a statement on his behalf. With two investigations ongoing, it is not appropriate for our member Walter Bobbie or for SDC to discuss the tragedy, the statement said. Walter is deeply saddened by Jeff Loeffelholzs death and offers his sincere condolences to Jeffs family and loved ones. Bryan-Brown said the production had received no prior complaints about Bobbie or Stifelman. Initially the producers, Barry and Fran Weissler, named as their investigator a lawyer, Judd Burstein, who had represented them, leading some performers to believe he would not be objective. Many performers refused to meet with him, and another lawyer, Bruce Maffeo, appointed by Equity to conduct a separate investigation, discouraged such meetings. When Burstein publicly objected, and said Equity was in circle the wagons mode because of its own handling of Loeffelholzs concerns, the Weisslers decided to reconsider how to proceed. It is important to them that both the unions and the company have confidence in the process for investigating the matter, Bryan-Brown said. Loeffelholzs friends are hoping the investigations will have an impact. We want the whole truth, said Marshall Coid, the Chicago violinist. We seek change in his name as a fitting legacy for a wonderful and much-beloved man. While the investigations proceed, family and friends are planning an Aug. 7 memorial at St. Malachys Church, known as the actors chapel, where Loeffelholz, who was raised Catholic, would occasionally attend Mass. And in a backstage stairwell at the theater, there are two tributes to Loeffelholz. In one corner is a shrine with candles, photos of Loeffelholz, and a plastic bag holding his body mic. And on the next landing, cast and crew have begun writing in iridescent markers on a black wall words expressing their hopes for change: Love. Kindness. Support. Respect. If you are having thoughts of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK) or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. St. Nicholas Day was approaching in 1944 when Harry Stutz and Richard Brookins, corporals in the U.S. Army's 28th Infantry Division, arrived in newly liberated Luxembourg. The two soldiers had survived a harrowing battle in Germany's Hurtgen Forest, where their unit suffered 60 percent casualties. Now their division had been sent to Wiltz, a small town in northern Luxembourg, to recover. Brookins, now 96, remembers the relief of "not being under fire all the time, and it was good to have people smiling." The town would come to revere Brookins - so much so that European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker reminded the world about him Wednesday. "Wiltz was hit hard during the war, mainly in the Battle of the Bulge. It was largely destroyed, with families forced from their homes and young men forcibly conscripted into the invading army," Juncker said. The former prime minister of Luxembourg had just wrapped up a meeting with President Donald Trump on trade and spoke briefly at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. "A young corporal from the U.S. Army's 28th Infantry division called Richard Brookins decided to bring cheer to the children of the town by dressing up as St. Nicholas," Juncker said. How did Brookins become famous in Luxembourg? When the Nazis invaded the small country in 1940, street names were changed to German, and people were forced to take German-sounding surnames. The celebration of St. Nicholas Day on Dec. 6, the equivalent of Christmas in Luxembourg, was forbidden. After the country was liberated in fall 1944, the celebration of St. Nicholas Day could finally resume. But Stutz learned that parents had nothing to give their children as gifts. He decided to organize a celebration. He and a few other soldiers handed out invitations and collected treats for the children from the soldier's care packages. They just needed someone to play Saint Nicholas. Stutz asked his friend Richard Brookins, who initially refused out of concern that he would mess it up. "I didn't know who Saint Nicholas was, so I didn't know what he did, and I didn't want to spoil it for the kids," Brookins told The Washington Post. After some cajoling by Stutz, Brookins relented, but he balked again when he realized that he had to wear a costume: the local priest's robes, a beard made of rope, a staff and a bishop's miter. On Dec. 5, Brookins was driven through Wiltz in an Army jeep flanked by two local girls dressed as angels. They visited the town's schools where children sang and G.I.s passed out sweets. The bishop's miter, which was a bit small for Brookins, gave him a bad headache. Stutz suggested taking the miter off, but Brookins refused. "I didn't want to spoil the effect for the kids and have them see Saint Nicholas without his hat on," Brookins said. The kids were thrilled. "We didn't know what they were saying, and they didn't know what we were saying, but we got along very well," Brookins said. "They didn't really know, as I found out later, that this was an American soldier. The little ones just ate that up like our kids do with Santa Claus." Eleven days after the celebration, the German army counterattacked and forced Americans out of northern Luxembourg in the Battle of the Bulge. After intense allied bombing that destroyed much of the town, Wiltz was liberated a second time. After the war ended, Brookins returned to his hometown of Rochester, New York, began working for the telephone company and started a family. In 1977, he received a letter from the town of Wiltz inviting him to return for the 30th anniversary of the town's rebuilding. The letter also mentioned that the people of Wiltz had been re-enacting the 1944 celebration every year. They even retraced the route Brookins took in the Army Jeep. "They had been re-creating this event and re-creating what these soldiers did for 30 years, and none of the soldiers knew about it," Peter Lion, author of "American St. Nick," told The Post. With his family and Stutz, Brookins returned to Wiltz in 1977 to play Saint Nicholas, but for a larger crowd this time. "Thousands of people lined up on the streets because they wanted to see this guy. All of Luxembourg knew this legend," Lion said. In 2016, Brookins was presented with the Luxembourg Military Medal. Other recipients of this honor included Dwight D. Eisenhower and Winston Churchill. By then, Brookins had traveled to Wiltz for St. Nicholas Day several more times. Each time he was greeted like a hero by the people of Wiltz. "They vowed they would never forget the kindness and generosity of that handful of American soldiers that one St. Nicholas Day," Lion said, "and to this day they never have." --- Video Embed Code Video: Richard Brookins, 96, dressed up as St. Nicholas for the kids of Wiltz, Luxembourg, in 1944.(Patrick Martin/The Washington Post) Embed code: Silver Spring, Md. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh says he recognizes that gun, drug and gang violence "has plagued all of us." Still, he believes the Constitution limits how far government can go to restrict gun use to prevent crime. As a federal appeals court judge, Kavanaugh made it clear in a 2011 dissent that he thinks Americans can keep most guns, even the AR-15 rifles used in some of the deadliest mass shootings. Kavanaugh's nomination by President Donald Trump has delighted Second Amendment advocates. Gun law supporters worry that his ascendancy to America's highest court would make it harder to curb the proliferation of guns. Kavanaugh has the support of the National Rifle Association, which posted a photograph of Kavanaugh and Trump across the top of its website. The Supreme Court has basically avoided major guns cases since its rulings in 2008 and 2010 declared a right to have a gun, at least in the home for the purpose of self-defense. Gun rights advocates believe Kavanaugh interprets the Second Amendment right to bear arms more broadly than does Anthony Kennedy, the justice he would replace. As a first step, some legal experts expect Kavanaugh would be more likely to vote for the court to hear a case that could expand the right to gun ownership or curtail a gun control law. Kavanaugh would be a "big improvement" over Kennedy, said Erich Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America. Kennedy sided with the majority in rulings in 2008 and 2010 overturning bans on handgun possession in the District of Columbia and Chicago, respectively, but some gun rights proponents believe he was a moderating influence. "Kennedy tended to be all over the map" on the Second Amendment, Pratt said. Former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, the Arizona Democrat who was gravely wounded in a 2011 shooting at a constituent gathering, said in a written statement that Kavanaugh's "dangerous views on the Second Amendment are far outside the mainstream of even conservative thought." She predicted that Kavanaugh would back the gun lobby's agenda, "putting corporate interests before public safety." In his 2011 dissent in a case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Kavanaugh argued that the district's ban on semi-automatic rifles and its gun registration requirement were unconstitutional. Los Angeles Maria Santamaria made sure to follow the U.S. immigration rules. She obtained a green card through her husband, came to the country on an immigrant visa and became an American citizen. When her sister came on a travel visa fleeing violence and civil war in her native El Salvador, she helped her get a green card to stay in the U.S. That process took 16 years. "If we had not been of the middle class, we never could have come here legally," Santamaria said. "They would never give a visa to the poor." At a time when President Donald Trump and other conservatives are repeatedly calling on people to come here legally, most immigrants have few options to do so under America's complex immigration system. Visas are hard to get, especially for immigrants struggling with poverty and joblessness in Central America. Another main option for legal immigration get a family member who's an American citizen or green card holder as a sponsor can take more than a decade. Trump has again endorsed the legal immigration route in recent weeks amid the furor over his administration's policy of separating children from parents at the border, saying the immigrants should be sent home and they can try to come back with legal papers in hand. "I have a solution: tell people not to come to our country illegally," Trump said recently. "Don't come to our country illegally...Come legally." The realities of legal immigration in the U.S. aren't quite that simple. Getting a visitor's visa known as a B-2 visa requires proving a certain amount of wealth that most in developing countries like El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras don't have. That's because the visa application requires them to show income, property or other assets to prove they will likely return to their countries. Other visas require special skills, a corporate sponsor or American relative to sponsor them in a process that can take years due to a complex quota system. Those fleeing violence or persecution can seek asylum legally at designated points along the country's southwest border or upon arriving at the airport. But tens of thousands of Central Americans are caught trying to enter the country illegally each year, which experts conceded may be their only way to come unless they have a strong asylum claim or money. "The main way if they don't have a relative who sponsored them years ago in a family-based category so they may be current now to come is they are going to have to apply for a B-2 non-immigrant visa, and they're likely to be denied," said Daniel Sharp, legal director for Central American Resource Center in Los Angeles. The near impossibility of getting a visa may lead some migrants to head north without one. Edvin Cazun, a 43-year-old Guatemalan immigrant, said he tried to come to the United States legally by paying for a short-term farmworker visa but was ripped off by the people who claimed they could sell him one. When he tried to get his money back, he said they threatened to kill him. He then fled with his son to the United States, leaving behind his wife and four other children, and tried to cross the U.S. border illegally. He and his son who were separated for more than a month are now staying with relatives in Hamilton, Ohio, and plan to seek asylum. "The company told us they were legal, but in the end we found out that they were persons who stole money from the people," he said. "It was pure fraud." More than 160,000 immigrants from the three Central American countries were caught on the U.S.-Mexico border during the 2017 fiscal year, according to the U.S. Border Patrol. Many traveled as family groups and tens of thousands children made the trip on their own. In the same year, roughly 26,000 people from these same countries were granted visas to move permanently to the United States the vast majority because a relative had sponsored them. Fewer than 100 were sponsored for a green card by an employer, State Department statistics show. About 136,000 people were granted so-called B-2 visitor visas to travel to the United States but on those visas, they are not allowed to stay. Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, said Central Americans fleeing persecution can come to designated ports of entry to seek asylum or seek protection in Mexico or other countries. But that's not an option for immigrants seeking a better job or to escape poverty, he said. By TCN News Janadriyah is a cultural heritage and folk festival of Saudi-Arabia that is held every year ever since 1985 when it was first held in 1985 by Saudi National Guard was inaugurated by the late King Fahad Ibn Abdul Aziz. The Janadriyah village in the north east of Riyadh was built specifically to host this festival. This is the largest festival of its kind in the Gulf, attracting millions of visitors from all over the region each year. The village is divided into sections according to the provinces of Saudi Arabia. Each area, or pavilion as they are referred to, showcases the unique culture, architecture, foods, dances, traditional dress and craftsmanship of that region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Support TwoCircles Some of the events at the Janadriyah include camel racing, horse racing, Display of traditional crafts such as pottery, weaving, woodwork, metalwork, leatherwork etc. Every year the event is celebrated for about 18 days with a country chosen as guest of honour and the country showcases its culture, tradition, culture and art. This year, 2018 India was the Guest of Honour. And India set up a great pavilion displaying its growth story, technical advancement, traditional folk dances and Bollywood performances. The state pavilions performances were sprinkled with local flavours much to the delight of the Saudis and others. Yoga was demonstrated every day and it attracted the interest of many Saudis. Best of the diverse Indian culture was displayed by the different states which was the main attraction at the event. T Srinivasan, Eng. Mohammed Abdul Nayeem, Eng. Mohammed Shakeel, CEO Nawazinda Telecom Technologies Co. Ltd. and Dr. Mohammed Ashraf Ali were part of the organising committee. The Indian ambassador Ahmed Javeed congratulated the whole team and attributed the success to the dedication and team work of the Embassy staff and volunteers who worked round the clock. The ambassador also presented plaques of appreciation to the business community who participated in Janadariyah. They included MV Rao, VP and Country Head, L&T, Zameer Mohammed SA, Area Manager KSA & Bahrain, Tata Motors, Mohammed Abdul Nayeem, Masah Co., Dr. Fadi M Al Ghareeb, CEO, Aster Sanad Hospital, Bachu Vidya Sagar, VP and Country Head, Shaporji Palonji Group, Sachin Ibrahim, Lulu Hyper Market, Mohammed Afnas, ITL, Dr. Shinoop Raj, Regional Head Riyadh & Dammam, Abeer Hospital, Mohammed Rafi, Gateway Holidays and Niyas Ellikal, Sales Manager, Jet Airways. He also presented the mementos to Indian embassy officials and the members of the Managing Committee. The event was attended by many a prominent Saudi businessman like Dr. Abdullah Al Maglouth, Chairman Al Maglouth Group and head of investment committee at Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Said Al Rabiah Chairman Al Rabiah Group and RGTT, Ibrahim Al Mojel, Chairman Al Mojel Group and many others. The Indian business community facilitated the Indian Ambassador, Embassy officials, businessmen and volunteers for their relentless contributions and services to make the Janadariyah 2018 a huge success. There were around 2.5 million visitors to the Janadriyah this year. The event was a super success which pleased the audiences especially the Saudi Government which resulted in increase in the number of visas issued to Indians. The event concluded with playing of the National anthem of India and Saudi Arabia. WASHINGTON - Hulgize Kassa, a 52-year-old from Raleigh, North Carolina, earned his spot at the front of the line. The father of two camped outside Walter E. Washington Convention Center starting at midnight Friday, watching as Ethiopians from as far away as Colorado and Texas arrived with boxes of food, speakers and selfie sticks. By 7 a.m. Saturday, thousands had gathered in the streets, honking car horns and sharing food. Most wore T-shirts emblazoned with the face of their homeland's newly minted prime minister, Abiy Ahmed. In the three months since his rise to power, the 41-year-old politician has introduced sweeping changes to Ethiopia, lifting a state of emergency, brokering peace with neighboring Eritrea and releasing hundreds of political prisoners. These dramatic steps toward liberalization have sparked "Abiy-mania" within the Ethiopian diaspora in the United States, which, for decades, stood among the fiercest critics of the ruling party's autocratic regime. Abiy is in the United States to visit and speak to members of the diaspora. The Washington area is home to some 300,000 Ethiopians, making it the largest community outside the African country. "I want to hug him. He's a hugger, I know, so I want to hug him," said Kassa, a researcher at North Carolina State University. When Kassa first came to the United States in 2000, he never thought he would go back to his homeland. But Abiy's ascension has changed his mind, he said. He plans to visit his home in the Amhara region next year, and bring his children, 12 and 14, with him. Abede Yimenu, a former major in the Ethiopian army, said he is also thinking of going home after having been away for 17 years. The 57-year-old from Dallas was in the District of Columbia with three friends from his days in the Ethiopian military, all clad in army uniforms, complete with black sunglasses. After fighting together in the Eritrean-Ethiopian War of 1998 to 2000, they left for the United States, unhappy with the oppression imposed by their government, Yimenu said. "This uniform," he said, tapping his red beret. "It shows that we believe in this prime minister, and that we still love our country, and that we still need to serve our country." Inside the convention center, the crowd spent the hours before Abiy's arrival dancing, waving Ethiopian and Eritrean flags, and engaging in ululation, called ililta. For many, this is the first time they are seeing so many Ethiopians in a single place, save for being in the country itself. About 2:45 p.m., Abiy walked onto stage in a white, glossy suit with gold accents, and the room exploded in cheers. Nearly everyone stood on their chairs, and many stayed there until they were told to sit. Religious leaders began the rally with prayers, praising Abiy and celebrating the future of the country. District Mayor Muriel Bowser also addressed the crowd, declaring July 28 "Ethiopia Day" to rapturous applause. Abiy spoke primarily about unity, telling the audience that "our ancestors were wrong about having division." He called on members of the diaspora to invest in Ethiopia and to return home - a message that seemed especially resonant for older members of the audience. Saba Gizau, a 58-year-old grandmother from Maryland, said that after two decades away from Ethiopia, she is ready to go back. Gizau, who had been at the convention center since 4 a.m. with her 56-year-old sister, works in sales at a Nordstrom department store and said she wants to impart what she knows about business to Ethiopians back home. "He invited us to come back to Ethiopia and help the country," she said after Abiy's speech, her eyes welling with tears. "He invited us, and I will be there." KELSEYVILLE, Lake County Two wildfires burning along the rural border of Mendocino and Lake counties grew Sunday as firefighters struggled with high temperatures and scarce crews, threatening a handful of small communities. The Ranch Fire, northeast of Ukiah, grew to 16,300 acres as it chewed through dry grass and timber near Potter Valley, authorities said. The nearby River Fire, north of Hopland, expanded through similarly parched hills to 14,200 acres as it neared towns on the western shore of Clear Lake. About 1,379 firefighters were working to keep the two blazes in the hills, above homes and neighborhoods. But they both were just 5 percent contained Sunday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Theyre bringing in what they can to fight it, but its limited, said Lake County Supervisor Rob Brown, noting there are many fires across California that are demanding the attention of fire crews, including a blaze that broke out in Napa County on Saturday as well as the huge Carr Fire near Redding. Weve taken a lot of hits in Lake County, Brown said, referencing the several fires that destroyed thousands of homes in the county in recent years. But now the whole states on fire. Between the Ranch and River fires, dubbed the Mendocino Complex, six homes have burned and 10,200 structures remained threatened, according to Cal Fire. Thousands of people have been told to evacuate. In Mendocino County, the small community of Potter Valley and other areas north of Highway 120 remained under evacuation orders, while in Lake County the city of Lakeport and several neighborhoods west of Highway 29 were off limits. Mandatory evacuation orders were in place Sunday evening for much of western Lake County, including the communities of Blue Lakes, Upper Lake, Nice, Witter Springs, Bachelor Valley, Scotts Valley and Saratoga Springs. By Sunday evening, local officials were prepping to protect the Lakeport structures as the Mendocino Complex Fire peeked over hills and pushed east toward the town. We have personnel, engines, dozers all staged out here in the town of Lakeport, said Will Powers, a Cal Fire spokesman. Its everything from clearing brush away from the houses to pulling wood away from the houses anything that might be flammable thats up against your home they might try to clear off. Sutter Lakeside Hospital was evacuated for the second time in two days Sunday evening, discharging or transferring one inpatient and seven emergency room patients to area hospitals. Staff was instructed not to report to work until further notice. Well, (were) always concerned because they didnt have as many firefighters on this fire at all, said Gus Baldwin, who fled his Lakeport home with his wife. There was hardly anybody on the fire, and thats why they evacuated so many people. The Baldwins were among about 150 people staying at Mountain Vista Middle School in Kelseyville, which was serving as an evacuation shelter. On Saturday night, the couple shuttled their cars to a friends house, packed up a few belongings and piled into their vintage RV. In Napa County, just south of Lake Berryessa, firefighters were battling a 150-acre wildfire that exploded in the Berryessa Highlands neighborhood Saturday. The Steele Fire destroyed at least eight structures and forced several residents to flee. As of Sunday evening, the fire was 65 percent contained. But elsewhere, Cal Fire officials acknowledged that headway was limited because of the outbreak of so many fires over the past week. A lack of available suppression and overhead personnel will slow firefighting efforts, Cal Fire officials said in a statement. On Sunday morning, a handful of RVs and trailers dotted the road into Mountain Vista Middle School, where about 150 Lakeport residents took shelter. Red Cross Supervisor Deborah Smith stood watch as volunteers installed a disabled-accessible shower. Others were working to secure wheelchairs, walkers and medical equipment to tend to the shelters tenants, many of whom had fled from a nearby senior mobile home park. The drill had become routine for Kimberly Downing, who shared a bench outside with two new friends. Her stay at the shelter marked her seventh evacuation in Northern California. She had moved to Lakeport three weeks ago, because she figured it doesnt burn there, but on Saturday she said, I looked at the sky and said,Oh, its coming. This time around, Downing required minimal prep time. She and several evacuees keep overnight bags at the ready. We have supplies to just walk out the door, she said. Its the only way to go in these fires. You just dont have time. Chronicle staff writer Dominic Fracassa contributed to this report. Megan Cassidy and Kurtis Alexander are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com, kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy, @kurtisalexander ROBSTOWN A 13-year-old boy was among those killed in a string of shootings Friday night that left five people dead, local police said Saturday. Police believe Richard Starry, 60, shot and killed his father Ernest Starry, 85, and stepmother, Thelma Montalvo, 60, at Retama Manor Nursing Center before turning the gun on himself. The bodies of the 13-year-old and a 40-year-old man, identified as Montalvos son, were found at the home of Ernest Starry and Montalvo, which is near the nursing home. Their names weren't released. RELATED: Body found in San Antonio-area lake, officials say Evidence leads us to believe that the two that were killed at that home were the first victims of this shooting, Robstown police Chief Erasmo Flores said at a news conference Saturday. Police believe the crimes are related, but authorities would not speculate on a motive for the shootings. At this time the evidence points to a murder-suicide, police Lt. Enrique Paredez said later. But the investigation is still premature to determine a motive. Paredez said Ernest Starry was a resident at the home and that his wife was visiting him when the younger Starry came in. Officers were first called to the nursing home in the 600 block of East Avenue J, where they found the bodies of Montalvo, Ernest Starry and Richard Starry. A gun was found nearby. Authorities later received a call from a family member that sent them to a home on 4200 block of west Texas 44. When they arrived, they discovered the teen and the 40-year-old man dead inside. Flores said his department is preparing a report on the shooting that will be given to Nueces County District Attorney Mark Gonzalez in the coming days. Scores of law enforcement agencies converged on both locations, causing concern for many in this close-knit agriculture town of 11,000 residents just minutes from Corpus Christi. Late Friday, the nursing home was temporarily locked down. Family and friends waiting in a nearby parking lot to hear the status of their loved ones were asked to go to Seale Junior High while to wait for the lockdown to be lifted. You never think its going to happen to your family, said Doris Salazar, whose mother stays at the nursing home. You think theyre safe. The Texas Rangers are expected to assist in the investigation, city officials said in a news release. State Rep. Abel Herrero, D-Robstown, said city officials, with the assistance of Gov. Greg Abbott's office, will have the Texas Department of Public Safety provide grief counselors at the site for those who need it. Everyone in the community and surrounding area is heartbroken, Mayor Amanda Barrera said at the Saturday news conference. This is going to be something that is going to take a long time for our community to heal from. New York Times staff writer Julia Jacobs and Caller-Times staff writer Mark Young contributed to this report. As the state of Texas and numerous committees continue revising their Alamo Plaza master plan, I am compelled to make this small gesture to defend our citys most important public space and the historic architecture defining it. The plaza has functioned as a public space for many more years than it has functioned as a mission courtyard or fortification. It is a public space for local and national civic activities, for parades, memorials, tree lightings, impromptu bike rides, flash mob flamenco dancers, college cheerleading, yoga classes, late-night strolls, wedding shots and selfies recently, for a group of trumpet players. You can still buy raspas there. I believe that San Antonians would not agree to closing our public space. We do not want to convert it into a controlled, limited-entrance place of reverence. We do not agree to demolishing historically significant buildings, relocating the Cenotaph, and permanently closing streets. We do not agree to any fencing, or planting desertlike landscaping, building fake cannon ramparts or rebuilding a secondary acequia. This is not Disneyland. Its San Antonio. Lets keep our public space public and genuine. On the table is demolishing the Crockett Building (1882). It was designed by the very important local architect Alfred Giles and restored in the 1980s. The building represents innovation in cast-iron structural framework construction during an economic time when the railroads arrived and created a building boom in our dilapidated plaza. At East Houston Street and Alamo Plaza, the Woolworth Building is an extraordinary example of the Chicago commercial architectural style. It has a steel structural framework that makes possible larger windows and storefront areas. The upper floors have classically designed Chicago style windows. The building represents a growing modern retail economy in 1920s San Antonio. Just as significant, it was the first successful desegregated lunch counter in 1960. History is defined by political-economic times and the buildings of during those times. No stand-alone facades, please. We must keep all our historic buildings and all our citys layers of history. The city of San Antonio should not hand over our streets, nor allow for the demolition of our buildings. San Antonio needs to buy back those buildings ($14 million at most). Lets look at those buildings as an opportunity for historic preservation and local economic development. We are good at that. Lets rethink and target the San Antonian repeat visitor and the nationwide traveler who spend more in the local economy. Think The Pearl district. We spent $40 million on Alamodome upgrades and will spend $38 million on restoring City Hall. The state of Texas wants to spend $450 million we are witnessing a severe case of scope creep (making the project larger than needed). The wake-up call has been sent to us. We need to take back our public space. We are wiser to move incrementally. Lets restore the Alamo and compound first. Lets then make Alamo Plaza a public space that is enjoyable for all. Lets ask what makes a great public space. I am confident in our local professionals to do that job. A world-class city is a city that expresses its values from within to the outside world. Would Florence ask Rome to tell it how to improve its public space? Lets keep our public space public, all our historic buildings and all our citys layers of history. Jack Guerra is a small-business owner. He has more than 25 years professional experience as a city planner dealing with downtown, historic preservation and urban design issues in Boston, New York, Dallas and San Antonio. His family has been in Texas since the 1700s, and he is a native San Antonian. A Longford teenager who caused over 50,000 worth of damage to Oberstown Children Detention Campus during four separate standoffs with staff when he was 16 has been sentenced to four years in prison. Michael Ward (18) of Gleann Riada, Strokestown Road, Co Longford, spent two years in detention in Oberstown from the age of 15 and has 33 previous convictions, including theft, criminal damage, burglary, robbery and unauthorised taking of vehicles. He appeared before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court where he pleaded guilty to four counts of criminal damage to the centre in Lusk, Co Dublin on January 3, February 26, September 8 and October 31, 2016. Two further counts of assault and theft were taken into account. The Court heard that on one occasion Mr Ward set fire to a room in the detention centre and that during the four incidents the defendant caused damage to furniture, security doors and windows, a CCTV camera and electrical equipment. Judge Patricia Ryan sentenced the defendant to four years in prison with the final year suspended. She also ordered that he be under the supervision of the Probation Service for two years upon his release. Judge Ryan said the court was obliged to take into account the fact that the defendant was a child at the time but said the incidents were very violent and aggressive and must have caused a high degree of anxiety among staff and other residents. She also took into account that they were not isolated incidents. She noted that Mr Ward got on well in Oberstown overall, had made efforts to rehabilitate and had expressed remorse. She also accepted that he had the support of his grandmother. A judge has said he was not surprised to hear about a naturist being found sunbathing naked beside an apartment block in Ballymahon, saying 'it's not Victorian Ireland'. Glen Wrather, originally from Leeds, was handed down a 200 fine after being convicted of exposing himself in a public place at Ballymahon, Co Longford on July 6 2018. The 57-year-old was charged after a woman, who was hanging out washing at the Thomond Court apartment complex in the south Longford town, came across a "completely naked" Mr Wrather who was out sunbathing at the time. Sgt Paddy McGirl told Longford District Court that Mr Wrather was lying face down when the woman first noticed Mr Wrather before contacting her husband. When he arrived on the scene later that afternoon, Mr Wrather was still naked, only this time the accused was lying on his back. Mr Wrather, who initially appeared to represent himself, attempted to open a bag which his court assigned solicitor Brid Mimnagh said contained his shorts and swimming trunks. The part-time farm worker had no previous convictions the court was told, and had been resident here for the past seven years. Prior to that, Mr Wrather had worked at Leeds University and specialised in the CCTV industry in both the UK and Ireland. Ms Mimnagh said her client had suffered a head injury in the past, an ailment which does, on occasions, affect his memory. She also revealed he described himself as a "naturist" and had been for the past 25 years. "He also tells me head had oil on," she told the court. Judge Seamus Hughes noted how there had been growing discussions in the national media over calls by certain quarters for more nudist beaches. "I am not personally surprised," commented Judge Hughes. "It's not Victorian Ireland." Handing down a 200 fine to Mr Wrather, Judge Hughes warned him of his future conduct, advising him he could not partake in such similar instances in public places from now on. Dillian Whyte survived a late Joseph Parker onslaught to score a unanimious decision win at London's O2 Arena. Parker was knocked down twice during the epic 12-round contest, but came home with fire in his belly, dropping the Brit in the final frame. Whyte hung on through the final 30-seconds, admitting post fight that he was in serious trouble. Parker gave full credit to his opponent, stating the better man won. The Kiwi started well, pestering Whyte with a slick left jab, but late in the second he was dropped by the 'Body Snatcher' and copped a standing eight-count by referee Ian John-Lewis. On review the knockdown was a result of a head-clash which was obscured to the referee. Whyte capitalised, taking control of the fight over the course of the next six-rounds. More to follow. Kanye West has officially changed his name to 'Ye' The rapper was given the tick of approval by a judge earlier today to change his name to 'Ye' with no middle or last name. Trump and Putins meeting in Finland made headlines worldwide. Just like in other places, Trumps visit was met with street protests in which thousands of workers and youth expressed their anger. This was despite the best efforts of the liberal organisers to water down the main protests message and create confusion about its time and location. In the liberal imagination, Russia violates human rights while the US embraces them. In reality, both countries have awful human rights records and multiple war crimes to their names. This does not stop liberals from fervently clinging to the idea of western values. They do criticise Trump, but they are more concerned about his looks and manners than his policies. At best, they bemoan this or that repressive action by the United States and other Western countries, while refusing to see that these countries are based on capitalism, which demands oppression of all kinds. Liberal nationalism and hysteria The press reaction to the summit mainly reflected nationalist interests and sentiments. Points were raised about how the thousands of international journalists would pump Euros into the tourism industry. There was also an atmosphere of humble pride over the fact that arguably the two most powerful people in the world would be visiting Helsinki. Of course, ordinary Finnish workers view both Putin and Trump with disdain. Embed from Getty Images In the sense that it said anything, the liberal establishment also expressed its opposition in nationalist terms. One example of this is that the countrys biggest newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat, advertised on billboards in the city centre with the text Mr. President, welcome to the land of free press in both English and Russian. This is the very height of hypocrisy, given that recent years have seen the prime minister embroiled in a scandal for influencing the publicly-owned Finnish Broadcasting Company. Furthermore, an Amnesty International advert was produced with the slogan make human rights great again. These ads ended up being the only critique against presidents Trump and Putin in the public sphere, as ordinary residents were banned from putting up their own banners during the meeting. Protests sabotaged Demonstrations were allowed, and by the time of the summit, 16 had been announced to the police. Most of the protests were marginal demonstrations with a pro-Trump or pro-Putin agenda that only amassed a few dozen people. Interestingly, the biggest demonstration was not advertised publicly as either anti-Trump or anti-Putin. While the organisers represented various groups, the actual planning was dominated by liberals. This was most distinctly seen in the name of the demonstration: Helsinki Calling!, which without context presents no message of any kind. As the organising went on, most left-wing organisations got frustrated and jumped ship, as the liberal leadership determined who could speak and rejected the use of terms such as protest. Matters reached a peak of absurdity when the demonstration was moved from the day of the summit on Monday to the Sunday before. The decision was made just a week before the summit, with the organisers citing practical reasons as the rationale behind the move. The demonstration would not only be happening when neither of the leaders were in Helsinki, but the choice of words showed that what the organisers were not interested in a genuine demonstration that would make peoples voices heard, but rather a public event with a programme dictated from above. A journalist from MSNBC reporting on the event on Sunday described it as more like a summer festival than a protest, summing up the feelings of many disappointed activists. Still, participants were clearly far more radical than most of the bland official speakers, and the most left-wing speeches were the best received. If organising protests is left to the liberal elite, we will get public events with diluted messages / Image: Flickr, White House Another demonstration ended up being called for Monday, bearing a much more clear-cut message: Helsinki against Trump and Putin. But with only a few days left before the summit, it did not have the time to gather publicity in the way Helsinki Calling! did. In the end, Helsinki Calling! ended up having 2,500 participants while Helsinki against Trump and Putin assembled a similar number. All the confusion around the demonstrations helped to diminish the number of protesters, and it is very probable that announcing just a single demonstration with a clear agenda from the beginning would have drawn bigger crowds. If organising is left to the liberal elite, we will get public events with diluted messages. State suppression All the demonstrations were peaceful, with no major disruptions. Clearly this bored the police, as in Monday afternoon they surrounded and arrested a number of anarchist activists after they left the Helsinki against Trump and Putin demonstration. The anarchists claimed that they were simply leaving the event, but on the way, the police surrounded them in the city centre and did not let people leave, ultimately arresting 31. The anarchists banners were confiscated, one of them ironically carrying the message: freedom for political prisoners. The police claim that those arrested were planning on disrupting traffic, but this was merely an excuse. The accused only had their charges specified several hours after the actual arrests, which is supposed to be illegal. The police also did not order dispersion before the arrests, which they are also meant to do. This case shows once again the hypocrisy of the Finnish state, which has attempted to frame itself as a poster child for democratic rights while arresting protestors n phoney charges. Another incident took place during the press conference, as Sam Husseini, an accredited journalist for The Nation, was forcibly removed from the room just minutes before the conference began. Husseini was holding up a sign (or a note) that read nuclear weapon ban treaty. On Twitter, Husseini reported that he was cuffed on both hands and legs by the Finnish authorities and no information was given to his family about the situation. So much for freedom of the press. Neither Putin nor Trump! After the summit, people were most shocked at Trumps submission to Putin, his denial of Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election and his willingness to believe Putin over his own security services (on which he has now back-peddled). This all boils down to a power game between imperialist states. No questions were raised about the most pressing issues of the hour, such as austerity, nuclear disarmament or climate change. Nor were the views of the Syrian or Iranian people considered as Trump and Putin discussed their fates behind closed doors. The media was scandalised by what boils down to a power game between imperialist states / Image: PoR In the end, nothing progressive will come from the meeting of these imperialist representatives, nor from any other world leaders. In terms of their interests, neither the capitalist class nor the imperialist powers have anything in common with the rest of us. Only the working class, through a socialist revolution, can create a society fit for humanity. The protest movement in southern Iraq has continued into its second week. The protest broke out on Sunday 8 July over the government's inability to provide basic services such as electricity and clean water. The protesters are also demanding jobs for the local population. On 8 July, a group of protesters blocked the road to West Qurna: home of the largest oil field in Basra. The blockade of the road was an attempt to interrupt oil production. A group of 10 protesters broke into the facility, but the security forces regained control soon after. As Al-Monitor reports: Iraq needs more than 23,000MW of electricity per hour to ensure a nonstop supply to homes and public buildings. However, it cannot produce more than 15,700MW of electricity. Protest and state violence With the temperature reaching highs of 50 degrees Celsius, most of the population still dont have reliable access to electricity. They also must buy their water since the tap water is not drinkable. The Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, responded by deploying security and counter-terrorist forces to quell the protests. The police intervention resulted in one death and three injuries. This sparked a bigger movement inside Basra, which also spread to other cities north of the province. In Najaf, the protesters disrupted operations at the international airport before the security forces regained control. The movement further extended to other cities, including Baghdad, where a smaller gathering in Tahrir Square took place. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi deployed security and counter-terrorist forces to quell the protests / Image: fair use In Basra the protesters have attacked the government buildings, but in an unprecedented move they also attacked the Shia militia offices in the city. At the time of writing the death toll has reached 11 and hundreds are wounded. Some foreign oil companies have already evacuated their senior staff in fear of more violence erupting. The seriousness of the movement forced the government to slow or cut internet services across Iraq to stop the fire from spreading. Abadi, while deploying counter-terrorist and security forces in tandem with Shia militias to suppress the movement, announced that he recognises the peoples right to conduct peaceful demonstrations, but vowed to act against the small group of infiltrators who are trying to exploit peaceful demonstrations. The government has also proceeded with the old trick of bribing tribal leaders to help them control the movement. On his return from Brussels (where he was attending an anti-ISIS coalition meeting), Abadi went directly to Basra to announce a $3bn investment in the province, promising further spending on housing, healthcare, education and so on. He was not received with applause, though. Instead a group of angry people attacked his hotel although he was gone by the time the crowd arrived. Sadrs power ploy The Shia militia leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, has exercised greater caution. He supported the demonstration passively but has not called on his supporters to come out. His actions can be understood in the context of the general political situation in Iraq. On 21 June, the court announced a recount of votes from the 12 May election. This means that the current government will extend its term until the end of the recount process, which has not started yet. Unsurprisingly, Sadr, the winner of the May election, is opposed to this. Although he has not been part of the political establishment in Iraq in recent years, Sadr still enjoys a certain level of popularity (more accurately, he is less-hated by the masses). In fact, the Sadrists offices were less-targeted compared to other party offices during the recent protests. He intends to show his support for the people. But it would be a mistake to think that he has the interests of the Iraqi masses at heart. Sadr is fundamentally part of the establishment and he shares its interests. Sadr does not have the interests of the Iraqi people at heart, he is a (minor) player in the establishment and shares its interests / Image: public domain Indeed, it is precisely because Sadr has not been as involved in power as the other parties that he maintains a certain level of political capital amongst the masses. Representing a junior wing of the ruling class, he is leaning on the anger of the masses to carve out a slice of power for himself. But indicative of their true intentions, the Sadrists have already made an alliance with Abadi, Hadi al-Ameri (head of the Fatah bloc, and close to Iran) and Ammar al-Hakim (leader of the National Wisdom movement). So, all the old crew as expected got back together to form the next cabinet. Sadr has also announced his support for the privatisation of the electricity sector in Iraq. Stopping this privatisation is in fact one of the protestors demands, as they see it will only result in an increase in the cost of electricity, while reducing the workforce employed by the state. This clearly shows on which side Sadr stands. Being a relatively weak member of the ruling class however, the big players are not very comfortable with the fact that now they must share power with him. Establishment discredited The present protest movement should not come as a surprise. Since the beginning of the Arab Revolution, protests started spreading to and throughout Iraq. The rise of ISIS cut across this process temporarily, but with the defeat of ISIS, daily protests are back on the agenda. This is contrary to Abadi and the Iraqi political establishments calculations. They thought the defeat of ISIS would grant them a certain level of authority. In fact, the war campaign not only exerted a huge human and economic cost, it further discredited the Iraqi establishment. Mosul is still uninhabitable and most of the 2m internal refugees in Iraq are still waiting to return home. The government is unable to rebuild the north. The war and the atrocities carried against the majority Sunni northern regions of Iraq has also further alienated them. But in the Shia areas, politicians are little more popular. They thought they would emerge from the campaign to defeat ISIS as heroes and saviors of the people, enjoying popular support. In fact, the return of security was one of Abadis main campaign slogans in the May election. The discredited government leans on the tribal leaders and gangs. It was defeated in the May elections / Image: Foreign and Commonwealth Office This proved to be a fantasy. This was already shown in the election, when none of the establishment candidates emerged as the victor, much to their bewilderment. If the distrust in the political establishment was expressed passively in the May election by the high rate of abstention, this time the masses are expressing themselves actively by burning down the government offices, including the militia offices. A significant aspect of the recent wave of protests is that they are centered in the majority Shia provinces of the south. Basra and the south of Iraq are not only the economic lifelines of the country (where most of the oil lies), they are also where the postwar Iraqi political elite considers its base of support to reside. But things have got out of hand, even in the south. This shows the limits of sectarian policies pursued by the US in Iraq since the invasion in 2003. Another problem raised by the protestors is the lack of security on the streets. In recent years, Iraq has witnessed a rise in tribal violence and criminal activity in the south as well. This is a symptom of a failing society that cannot provide for its population. In the absence of jobs, services and opportunities, the tribes and gangs are getting stronger as they seem to be the only ones that can provide through their system of patronage. The government, far from reducing the influence of these elements, relies on them by bribing the tribal leaders and elders (the Sheikhs) in return for bringing stability in the region so that the multinationals can operate. Deep crisis and mass movements The situation is no better in the other regions in Iraq. In fact, Abadis main goal in the recent summit in Brussel was to ask for funding and weapons from Western countries. Just before the protest broke out in the south, ISIS increased its activity in the northern regions around Kirkuk. They kidnaped and later murdered eight members of the Iraqi security forces on the Erbil-Kirkuk road and in a later attack killed three more who were guarding a pipeline close to Kirkuk. The political establishment in Iraq is in a deep crisis. While they are busy at their parliamentary game of alliances and counter-alliances, the living conditions of the masses is in freefall, to which the establishment is apparently blind and deaf. Abadi is busy trying to secure the position of prime minister in the next government and his approach to the protest is the same old story: intimidation, empty promises and buying alliances with the tribes to undermine the movement. The government thought it would emerge heroically from the campaign against ISIS, but it is widely hated / Image: public domain By these means and given the lack of organisation behind the current movement it is likely that the government will manage to weather the storm for now. But this can only be temporary, and it will prepare bigger explosions in the future. There is no way on earth they can solve any of the problems the people are facing. The government in Iraq is extremely dysfunctional and mired in corruption at all levels. It is only concerned with filling its pockets before its time runs out and guaranteeing the function of multinational companies in the meantime. To do so, it bribes the tribal and gang leaders and starves the local population. The only way this can change is through a complete overthrow of the current system and its replacement with a new one. This conclusion is becoming clearer every day to the people in Iraq. But the masses are not organised, which makes it easier for the government to suppress one demonstration with promises and intimidation and then move to the next one. The bankruptcy of the Communist Party is shown in the fact that, instead of being present on the streets to organise these demonstrations, it is busy forming alliances with Sadr. Given the absence of any organised leadership, the path ahead could be long and painful. But the Iraqi ruling class is also weak, with no base of support in the population. If faced with an organised movement it would collapse like a house of cards. The current events in Iraq should also be seen in conjunction with recent developments in the rest of the Middle East. We have just witnessed the protests in Jordan that brought down the prime minister. Over the eastern border, there is an ongoing crisis in Iran. This situation in Iraq is part of a new wave of mass movements across the region. 24 July 2018 LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A Los Angeles judge ordered a man accused of stealing Frances McDormand's best actress Oscar statuette to stand trial on a felony grand theft charge. Superior Court Judge Mark Hanasono said Wednesday that there was sufficient evidence for Terry Bryant to stand trial. The ruling came after a hearing in which a worker with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences testified about taking the Oscar away from Bryant as he tried to leave the ceremony's official after-party. "God is on my side," Bryant was heard saying in court after the ruling. Bryant is due to be arraigned Aug. 8. McDormand won the award for best actress in "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" and lost the statuette after having it engraved at the ceremony's Governors Ball. Cesario Tio, a film academy worker who was escorting a photographer taking pictures at the ball, said he heard on a walkie-talkie that McDormand's Oscar was missing. He said he later saw a man, who he identified in court as Bryant, walk out of the ball holding a statuette and yelling "We did it! We did it." Tio said neither he nor the photographer recognized the man. The photographer took a picture of Bryant, who told them his statuette was won for best producer on "Get Out," which Tio said he immediately knew wasn't an award. A blown up image from the photographer's camera showed a portion of McDormand's name. Tio said he then grabbed the statuette from Bryant. "He said, 'Hey, I'm holding that for a friend,'" Tio testified. He said Bryant followed him back into the Governors Ball, where Tio handed the statuette off to security and he didn't see Bryant again. Bryant, 47, and his attorney declined comment after the hearing. He remains released on his own recognizance. His attorney, Daniel Brookman, argued in court that Bryant didn't try to hide that he had McDormand's Oscar, and the charge should be dismissed. "There was never any intent to deprive the owner of the property on a permanent basis," Brookman said. The attorney also said McDormand did not want Bryant to be prosecuted and displayed a police detective's report that said the actress "stated she is not desirous of prosecution." McDormand did not attend Wednesday's hearing. Much of the hearing focused on the value of the Oscar statuette, which a lawyer for the academy said cost the organization between $2,300 and $2,500 for it to purchase. The lawyer said the award was actually probably priceless to most winners, and noted that winners could not sell them on the open market or give them away to anyone but their heirs. Rummaging in my attic recently, I rediscovered 13 letters my father wrote to my mother during the eight weeks leading up to their wedding in May of 1935. I reread them and was surprised again at how touching they are. The story begins like this. A friend of my father's in Springfield met a girl in Salem he liked. And, she had a sister. He convinced my father to join them on a double date. My father was, apparently, smitten. My mother, not so much. My father was older, 32 to her 23, and a few inches shorter. Honestly, I think his being shorter was what put her off. What was my father to do? He turned to his friend's older sister who told him, "Faint heart never won fair lady. Send her flowers, and write her letters." So, he did. My mother once said it was the letters that won her over because they revealed a good, warmhearted man, with a delightful sense of humor. These few letters, at the end of their relatively brief courtship, are all that remain of their correspondence. Much in the letters is informational about when he'd be traveling from Springfield to Salem to see her, about wedding plans, or meetings with family and friends. What continually bubbles up is his warm heart, his delight in winning my mother's hand and his sense of humor. Are his expressions a little old-fashioned, a little bit of wearing his heart on his sleeve? Perhaps. But consider that he never knew his mother, who died when he was two, and he had no siblings while growing up. He learned so much about life by observing. And also consider this. In his hometown in Maine, the movie theater occasionally recruited him, as a youngster, to play his violin as accompaniment to the silent movies. How could he not be influenced by those over-the-top scenes of love, broken hearts and redemption? In the first of the letters, he writes, "Dearest, You are getting to be quite a letter writer. Perhaps at last, you have learned to open your heart on paper. Keep it up, and I may give you a permanent job." He concludes it, "So long as I am with you, nothing else matters." A couple of weeks later, he tells her, "I always look forward to writing to you, my dear. It is the next best thing to having a chat ... It seems the more we have of them, the better we understand each other. But we'll be able to have millions of them soon, and it won't be any too soon for me." After what appears to be the first meeting between the two sets of parents, he says, "(My) folks think you're pretty special, I can see that, which is only a miniature reflection of my own opinion." At the same time, he jokes about my mother's father forgetting his hat. "Daddy forgot his hat in my car. If I can't get more than ten cents in the hock (pawn shop), I'll bring it with me and charge him a quarter for storage." That hat comes up again, in another letter. "I took Daddy's hat down, only to bring it back with me again. Am I in love or am I in love!" The letters become more ardent as the wedding approaches, often delivered with a tinge of humor and whimsy. He writes, "I have called a meeting of the board of directors, and my legal adviser (my heart) has decreed as final, that I never have, that I never will, find anyone I could love one-tenth as much as I love you. Be informed, therefore, dear lady, that you will ever be the only one in my heart." Sometimes though, humor and whimsy escape him. "Last Monday was very lonesome without you. Crossing days off the calendar seems to be my only outlet in waiting for the sight of you again," he writes. When the wedding announcement appeared in the Springfield newspaper, he writes with joy, "The announcement stirred up more news around here than I ever could have imagined ..... Everyone around this neck of the woods seems to think you're a lucky girl. I'd like to get all those people together and take a vote on that. Then we could be sure about it." Sometimes medical metaphors make their way into his writing, which makes sense since he was a doctor. "I love you terribly, terribly much, but that is a chronic disease with me for which I hope they never find any treatment." In a later letter he again resorts to medicine to describe his feelings: "I don't seem to get used to being away from you. It's another chronic disease with me that I hope remains incurable." His final letters are just lovely. "It is easy to appreciate now how love can be deeper and deeper, as I've been able to realize it in the past few weeks. There is no doubt in my mind that we both know our way clearly, and that we will be happy. I hope you have no doubt that you can count on me," reads one. In another, he writes, "I miss you terribly today, but it is consoling to know that "The Day" is not far off when I shall never have to leave you." Of course, as in every marriage, my parents had their ups and downs, their bumps in the road. But even in old age, my mother said she still laughed at his jokes. They were married for 61 years, until my mother's passing in 1996. My father mourned her loss until he died in 1998. Citizens not on any terrorist watch list or suspected of a crime are being watched by federal air marshals in a program known as "Quiet Skies," the Boston Globe reports. Logan Airport in Boston is just one of many airports where air marshals track regular citizens and monitor their behaviors in the airport and on domestic flights, according to the newspaper. The program called "Quiet Skies" is part of a domestic surveillance program, but it has air marshals tracking regular citizens. These people are not on terrorist watch lists, the Globe reports. The newspaper reviewed an internal bulletin that says the program's creation was to stop potential threats to commercial flights. Federal authorities, however, appear to have loose guidelines on who can be followed. The Transportation Security Administration sent a written statement to the Globe about the program. The TSA did not confirm the program existed or if it stopped any threats. CHICOPEE -- Mayor Richard J. Kos has asked city police for a report on the department's investigation of a rape case that yielded DNA evidence identifying Stewart Weldon as a suspect. A spokesman for Kos, communications manager Nathan Moreau, told The Boston Globe: "The mayor just wants information about how the investigation was handled and what happened." The mayor's request came after The Republican / MassLive reported Thursday that Chicopee police and an assistant district attorney received the rape kit analysis on Jan. 12. The state police crime lab's report identified Weldon as a match for DNA collected after a woman went to Baystate Medical Center in May 2017 and, in interviews with Chicopee detectives, said a man had tied her up and raped her in the basement of a home she believed was in Chicopee. Chicopee police, though, closed the case after determining the alleged crime happened in Springfield. Chicopee police say the department forwarded the DNA results to Springfield police, and that the woman never acted on their recommendation to file a report there. Springfield police, meanwhile, say they were never informed of the rape allegation or the DNA match. The woman eventually filed a report with Springfield police in early June, in the days after investigators descended on Weldon's 1333 Page Blvd. home and found three women's bodies. He has not been charged with their deaths, and autopsy results are still pending. The discovery came three days after Weldon was arrested following a car chase on May 27, when his live-in girlfriend told officers he'd been holding her captive and brutalizing her for weeks. He was arraigned again on June 4, on kidnapping and attempted rape charges involving a woman told police Weldon picked her up on Main Street in Springfield's South End in early February. He is being held on $2 million bail. WEST SPRINGFIELD - For 12-year-old Camdyn Kelly of Hadley, her cow is top dog in her life. Her cow "Dash" did OK at the Hampden County 4-H Fair Saturday. Just OK, but that's OK with Kelly. "She's not the greatest walker even though she's named Dash," Kelly said. "but she's my best friend. People say dog is man's best friend, but my cow is my best friend." Welcome to the 4-H. This what it's about. It is, as 4-H leaders will tell you, an opportunity to develop and learn skills. And along the way you may step in some cow manure. And if that happens, clean it up. There were plenty of shovels and pitchforks at Hampden County 4-H Fair Saturday, and the young exhibitors were adept at the work. And, yes, there were parents there to help with the chores. But that's what they do. The 4-H is a family thing. About 200 4-H members and other youth participated in the 66th annual event to exhibit the skills they have learned throughout the year. Admission and parking were free, and there were hundreds of people there to enjoy the fair. In addition to the dairy cows, the fair featured a horse show, goats, sheep, working steer, poultry, rabbits, crafts competition and more. A favorite with the youngsters was the tractor pull. At least until the veggie race. If you've never seen a squash on wheels, or a speeding zucchini ... well, you need to add to your bucket list. Area farmers donated the over-sized cucumbers and squash. The Hampden County 4-H extended thanks to the following: Eastern States Exposition for use of the grounds, Westfield Voc Technical School for printing the fair books, Autumn Mist Farms for donating shavings, East Meadow Enterprises for heavy equipment use during fair set-up, Calabrese Farms for the vegetables, Western Mass Hospital for providing meeting space, and the Southwick Town Hall for providing space for the Challenge Project assembly as well as the judges and volunteers. A single male shooting victim was taken to the Baystate Medical Center Saturday night after he was found lying in Dwight Street near Calhoun Park suffering from at least one gunshot wound. Springfield Police Lt. David Kane said police received numerous 911 calls as well as multiple ShotSpotter activations at about 10:50 p.m. indicating gunfire near 1462 Dwight St. Medical debris used by emergency medical personnel to treat the victim before he was rushed to the hospital was left in the street at that location directly across the street from the North End park. Kane said the male victim was breathing when he was taken by ambulance to the hospital, but his exact condition is unknown at this time. This is a breaking story. Additional information will be posted as it becomes available. A 23-year-old man died in a shooting Sunday morning after gunfire erupted in Worcester, according to police. Police were called to Sturgis Street for a report of shots fired around 2:30 a.m. Officers found people in the roadway and discovered a 28-year-old man on the sidewalk with a gunshot wound. He was taken to a nearby hospital and was in serious condition as of Sunday morning, police said. While interviewing witnesses, police learned a second shooting victim, a 23-year-old man, arrived at a hospital's emergency room. The man was taken there by a family member, police said. The victim was taken to UMass Memorial Medical Center - University Campus where he died. Police said three parked cars were struck by stray bullets. "Officers were told that a male had come from the side of a home and began to fire several shots before fleeing the scene," police said. Police had limited information on the suspect as of Sunday morning. Detectives and the Crime Scene Unit spoke to witnesses and collected evidence from the scene. The killing is the second fatal shooting in Worcester this year. Friends left flowers, candles and balloons at the scene of the shooting near the corner of Sturgis and Windsor streets. They declined to speak to a reporter about the victim. "R.I.P. Jampy," was written on one vehicle. The first fatal shooting in Worcester was on May 26, when 16-year-old Sidney Krow Jr. was shot in the area of Holland Street. Krow was found on the ground near 1232 Main St. with a gunshot wound. Krow was rushed to an area hospital where he died. Krow's killing remains under investigation. Worcester did not see a fatal shooting in all of 2017. There were 24 shootings with 25 victims in 2017. None of the victims in the 2017 shootings died. Police officials said 2017 was the first year in more than 25 years that the city didn't see a homicide by firearm. Anyone with information can send an anonymous text to 274637 TIPWPD + your message or send an anonymous web based message at worcesterma.gov/police. Calls can also be made to the Worcester Police Detective Bureau at (508) 799-8651. BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (AP) -- President Donald Trump said Sunday that he would consider shutting down the government if Democrats refuse to vote for his immigration proposals, including a U.S.-Mexico border wall. Republicans, trying to protect their majority in Congress, are playing down the chance of a shutdown as the November election nears. Trump, however, isn't backing away from the idea. "I would be willing to 'shut down' government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall!" Trump tweeted. "Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! I would be willing to shut down government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall! Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018 "We need great people coming into our Country!" Trump said. Trump returned to the idea of shutting down the government over the border wall after meeting at the White House last week with House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to discuss the fall legislative agenda. McConnell, asked about a shutdown during a Kentucky radio interview, said it was not going to happen. He did acknowledge, however, that the border funding issue was unlikely to be resolved before the midterm elections. Ryan said after the meeting: "The president's willing to be patient to make sure that we get what we need so that we can get that done." He added that money for the wall was "not a question of if, it's a question of when." Trump campaigned on the promise of building a border wall to deter illegal immigration and making Mexico pay for it. Mexico has refused. Please understand, there are consequences when people cross our Border illegally, whether they have children or not - and many are just using children for their own sinister purposes. Congress must act on fixing the DUMBEST & WORST immigration laws anywhere in the world! Vote R Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018 Congress has given the president some wall funding but far from the $25 billion he has requested. Trump wants changes to legal immigration, including scrapping a visa lottery program. In addition, he wants to end the practice of releasing immigrants caught entering the country illegally on the condition that they show up for court hearings. Trump has also demanded that the U.S. shift to an immigration system that's based more on merit and less on family ties. Democrats and some Republicans have objected to some of the changes Trump seeks. The federal budget year ends Sept. 30, and lawmakers will spend much of August in their states campaigning for re-election. The House is now in recess, returning after Labor Day. The Senate remains in session and is set to go on break the week of Aug. 6 before returning for the rest of the month. McConnell canceled most of the Senate's recess to give senators time to work on the annual spending bills that fund government operations. Democrats, who want Open Borders and care little about Crime, are incompetent, but they have the Fake News Media almost totally on their side! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2018 Both chambers will have a short window to approve a spending bill before government funding expires. Trump would be taking a political risk if he does allow most government functions to lapse on Oct. 1 -- the first day of the new budget year -- roughly a month before the Nov. 6 elections, when Republican control of both the House and Senate is at stake. Some Republican lawmakers doubted the government would be forced to shut down. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said on CBS' "Face the Nation" that he didn't think shutting down the government just before the elections would be helpful "so let's try and avoid it." Tom Homan, fmr ICE Director: There is nobody that has done more for border security & public safety than President Trump. Ive worked for six presidents, and I respect them all, but nobody has done more than this Administration & President Trump, thats just a stone cold fact! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018 Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm for GOP House candidates, agreed. "I think we're going to make sure we keep the government open, but we're going to get better policies on immigration," he said on ABC's "This Week." ''The president, I think, wants us to have policies that work for America and work for Americans, and I think that's what we are going to move forward with." House Republicans released a spending bill this month that provides $5 billion next year to build Trump's wall. Democrats have long opposed financing Trump's wall but lack the votes by themselves to block House approval of that amount. They do, however, have the strength to derail legislation in the closely divided Senate. The $5 billion is well above the $1.6 billion in the Senate version of the bill, which would finance the Homeland Security Department. The higher amount matches what Trump has privately sought in conversations with Republican lawmakers, according to a GOP congressional aide who wasn't authorized to publicly talk about private discussions and spoke on condition of anonymity. Two leading Democrats -- Reps. Nita Lowey of New York and California's Lucille Roybal-Allard -- called the $5 billion a waste that "only further enables this administration's obsession with cruel attacks on immigrants." Separately Sunday, Trump tweeted that there are "consequences when people cross our Border illegally" and claimed that many who do so are "using children for their own sinister purposes." Trump's tweet came several days after the government said more than 1,800 children separated at the U.S.-Mexico border under Trump's "zero-tolerance" immigration policy have been reunited with parents and sponsors. A federal judge had ordered the reunions to be completed by last Thursday, but hundreds of children remain separated. The administration says some of their parents have criminal histories. "Please understand, there are consequences when people cross our Border illegally, whether they have children or not - and many are just using children for their own sinister purposes," Trump said. He also said Congress must fix "the DUMBEST & WORST immigration laws anywhere in the world!" and urged voters to "Vote 'R.'" By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated Press; AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro and Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, July 29, 2018 New privacy laws -- including Europe's General Data Protection Regulation and California's Consumer Privacy Act -- could end up creating "protective moats" around established companies like Google and Facebook, while thwarting start-ups, according to Federal Trade Commissioner Noah Joshua Phillips. "Privacy rules ... may skew to benefit large incumbents," Phillips said in prepared remarks for a speech at the Internet Governance Forum in Washington, D.C. on Friday. "I want today to register my concern that laws and regulations intended to promote privacy may build protective moats around large companies (some of which already possess significant amounts of data about people) by making it more difficult for smaller companies to grow, for new companies to enter the market, and for innovation to occur," he said. advertisement advertisement He added that laws that require consumers to consent to the use of their data may favor large companies with well-known names. "Consumers are more likely to trust the companies they know," Phillips said. "And, to the extent large incumbents also provide popular services ... the big guys win again." The GDPR, which took effect in May, requires companies to obtain consumers' explicit consent to process their data. California's new law, slated to take effect in January 2020, requires companies to disclose data about consumers to them at their request, and allows consumers to opt out of the sale of their data to third parties. That measure applies to all businesses that collect personal information from at least 50,000 consumers per year. Phillips compared both laws unfavorably with the more common approach in the U.S., which involves what he called a "risk-based" approach to privacy -- meaning that federal laws only protect privacy in certain areas, like health care or education, where data is particularly sensitive. "The United States risk-based approach imposes the greatest costs on businesses at the points where our democratic process has determined the greatest privacy need exists," he said. Phillips, who was sworn in to the FTC in May, isn't the only one to raise concerns about the new California law. The Association of National Advertisers has said it hopes to see some provisions revised before it takes effect. Santa Clara University law professor Eric Goldman also has criticized the measure for several reasons, including its breadth. "The law was supposed to curb the purportedly abusive privacy practices of internet giants (like Google and Facebook) and data brokers," he writes in a column posted last week on the International Association of Privacy Professionals' website. "Unfortunately, the law overshot this goal; it reaches most businesses, online or off. Facebook may have been the target, but the local pizzeria will bear the laws brunt." You can trust our Indian prodigies to shine brighter than a diamond, no matter wherever they go. Tanishq Abraham is only 15 years old but is already an engineer! Tanishq has graduated from the University of California, Davis with the highest honours of summa cum laude. At the age of 11, he had already graduated from a community college and is now a biomedical engineer. Facebook What made the achievement even more special is the fact that Tanishq got the degree on Father's Day. It was the best Father's Day gift for my husband and also my dad," says Tanishq's mother Taji Abraham. "We are happy that his grandparents who are heart patients (both retired veterinary medical PhD doctors) were able to see him graduate with a biomedical engineering degree and start his PhD in the same field. He was enrolled in the American River Community College after, at the age of five, he had cracked math courses offered by Stanford University's Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY) in less than six months. At six, he took online high school and college level classes in subjects such as chemistry, paleontology, biology, and geology, and at seven, completed courses in Geology & Astronomy, emerging as the top student in both classes. Facebook Facebook Currently, Tanishq has been accepted into the UC Davis graduate program where he is going to pursue his MD now, after which he plans on continuing his education and getting a PhD. Way to go, Superman! The lady is a multi-degreed success by every standard, who was driving through a Chattanooga neighborhood earlier this week when she could not believe her eyes. There stood a political sign, blaring, Esther Helton Voted For Barack Obama Twice. Within six inches was a second sign, same size but a bit swarthier, reading, Esther Helton Did Not Vote for Barack Obama Twice! The lady from the Ohio hinterland could not stop laughing, instead immediately stopping to take cell-phone proof to immediately paste on her Facebook page so her friends would appreciate that the Land of Hicks and Rhubarbs is alive and well in Tennessee. Now, on the very eve of Thursdays election, this guys jig is most definitely up. Jonathan Mason has become the gold standard of sleaze, political slander, and all else that is rancid in the most basic of our American democracy. The Hamilton County Republican primary for District 30 in the state legislature has undoubtedly attracted the biggest buffoon in the history of Southeastern Tennessee politics, a known brawler in the repugnant part of the Republican Party who is well-known for his amateur antics, Jonathan Mason.Now, on the very eve ofelection, this guys jig is most definitely up. Jonathan Mason has become the gold standard of sleaze, political slander, and all else that is rancid in the most basic of our American democracy. Mason, the guy who caustically once tried to expel long-term Hamilton County Commissioner Curtis Adams from a most notable Pachyderm Club luncheon, today gives every evidence of skipping Sunday School (a lot) at his daddys church, and in fact has turned into such a raging liar Satan himself has grown jealous. First, we all know there is absolutely no way known for any American to know or much less certify anothers vote, nor heart, in the United States. But now the desperate Mason has exposed his yellowed underbelly, claiming Tax Assessor Marty Haynes arranged for his opponent, the ever-gracious and well-qualified Esther Helton, to receive reduced taxes. Moreover, his attack ad shows Haynes kissing his long-term pal Esther on the cheek, intimating some intimate scam of sorts. This is such a political smarm it should be illegal but because Mason has served as a foot soldier in other local Republican campaigns, every politician who endorses Masons repugnant attacks should be held equally responsible, most recently Hamilton County Commissioner Sabrena Smedley. Smedley figured a high political tic-tac-toe when she very publicly disavowed the now discredited UnifiEd pseudo-non profit but today her puzzling dance with Mason defies the scientific advantages of antibiotics! I guarantee you her mother will be aghast! In his smoke-and-mirrors deception of Esther Helton, Mason uses the property where she and her former husband of over 20 years lived in East Ridge, this a beautiful site located within the community where Helton has served on the Town Council. But get this -- the property was owned solely by her husband. Esther owned not a square inch so, without any ownership of the land, it is absolutely impossible for her to be taxed, or to pay taxes. Because of substantial growth in the last taxable period, all property taxes again, all -- in the City of East Ridge went from a 1.42 millage rate to 1.32. Esther had nothing to do with the tax decrease other than her leadership on the City Council, and the tax decrease affects every parcel of land in East Ridge. Masons charge that While Esthers taxes decreased, yours increased is absolutely ludicrous if you own as much as a quarter-inch of land in the Town of East Ridge. Marty Haynes said his best appraisers dutifully and rightfully determined the tax bases for East Ridge and they have been certified by state auditors year after year. These accusations are not only outlandish, irresponsible and totally unfounded, The assessor said he will call a press conference on Monday and will repudiate every slur an accusation. , "I will present every fact, and anyone will see we have serve the public in the exact way each deserves. Esther Helton and I enjoy a great friendship she has never failed to be my friend but what Mason is alleging is absolutely a lie and I am eager to challenge him on it, said Haynes. He added, Since I became Hamilton Countys Tax Assessor, I have come to adore the expertise, the professionalism, and the dedication to duty every person in my office exhibits on an every-day basis. You doggone right I am going to fight for my people and, after I heard the absolutely stunning allegations and total falsehoods that Jonathan Mason wants our voters to hear, I welcome the opportunity to challenge him on what I believe is the finest collection of public servants in our county. Larry Henry, the countys Circuit Court Clerk, was dumb-founded Saturday afternoon. This may be the worst I can ever remember in Hamilton County. No one can make senseless allegations about another person. Thats not what voting, or politics, or America, is about. Ill really be ashamed if anyone cant see through this. I've never been to the First Presbyterian Church in Rensselaerville, NY, but their all are welcome page makes me love them already. I'll be worshipping with them next Sunday, August 5, because I've been invited to preach. How does it come to pass that a rabbi will be preaching from their lectern? It turns out I'm far from the first to do so. Every summer they they welcome clergy and religious folks of different faiths to bring spiritual sustenance to their community. They've been doing that for more than 100 years: For a short period in the second half of the 19th century, the village of Rensselaerville was a lively industrial town as the first site of the Huyck Woolen Mills. When mill founder and Presbyterian Church member F. C. Huyck Sr. moved his mill to Albany, he did not sever ties with the village or the church. But as jobs left with the mill so did many of the village residents, leaving the church without enough members to maintain a year-round pastor. The church continued because the Huyck family returned to Rensselaerville each summer to vacation and provided for a pastor during their stay. F.C. Huyck Sr.s granddaughter Katharine Huyck Elmore expanded the vision of the summer services, in the mid-20th century, to encompass various faith traditions and invited ministers, rabbis, priests, nuns and other preachers to bring their messages of compassion, social justice and stewardship of the world and community to our pulpit. Their theme for this summer is "And still we rise" (after "And still I rise" by Maya Angelou), and everyone who's preaching there during the summer season is offering a reflection on that theme. They asked me a few months ago to give them the title for my sermon. While I often struggle to come up with sermon titles (usually I write the sermon first and then figure out whatto call it), in this case I knew right away that I would call my remarks "Descent for the Sake of Ascent." I will draw on Torah, Hasidic tradition, and the unfolding of the Jewish sacred calendar to offer hope, strength, and consolation appropriate for listeners of any faith. Worship begins at 11am. If you're in or near Rensselaerville next Sunday, I hope you'll join us. Still undetermined is whether the impact caused the October leak, or if the line was hit by something else at a later date. Key Select Mineral List Type Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Dana Chemical Elements Geochronology References Sort by Year (asc) Year (desc) Author (A-Z) Author (Z-A) Rocks & Minerals (1936) 11: 90. Rocks & Minerals (1942) 17: 344. Montgomery, Arthur (1957) Three occurrences of high-thorian uraninite near Easton, Pennsylvania. American Mineralogist, 42, 804-820. Montgomery, Arthur (1969) The Mineralogy of Pennsylvania 1922-1966. Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, Special Publication No. 9. Smith, R.C. II (1977) Metanovacekite chapter in The Mineralogy of Pennsylvania, 1966-1975. Friends of Mineralogy Pennsylvania Chapter Special Publication No. 1: 174-178. Livi, K.J.T. and Veblen, D.R. (1987) Eastonite from Easton, Pennsylvania: A mixture of phlogopite and a new form of serpentine. American Mineralogist, 72, 113-125. MATRIX, summer 200_: 95-102. Mindat Articles Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality North America Plate Tectonic Plate This page contains all mineral locality references listed on mindat.org. This does not claim to be a complete list. If you know of more minerals from this site, please register so you can add to our database. This locality information is for reference purposes only. You should never attempt to visit any sites listed in mindat.org without first ensuring that you have the permission of the land and/or mineral rights holders for access and that you are aware of all safety precautions necessary. Quarry in serpentine/tremolite, located on Chestnut Hill, above the Delaware River, North of Easton. Owned by the C.K. Williams & Co., Easton, PA. Encompassing the original sites of the Sherrer, Verdolite, and minor workings of the Fox quarries, this site was greatly expanded in the mid-1920s, exploiting serpentine for ornamental/building stone and tremolite as mineral pulp additives in paint and paper products. By the mid-1930s, demand for building stone diminished, but the market for its mineral-pulp carried the company until its close of operation in the mid-1940s.Lower level quarry in serpentine/tremolite. Mineralization in the region was described as early as 1809, primitive quarrying speculated to have occurred as early as 1820. The first fully operational quarry was begun sometime in the 1830s, by Abraham Sherrer. Workings featured a working face 100 feet by 400 feet long. Upon Mr. Sherrer's death in 1898, an additional quarry was opened above by William B. Reed, named the Verdolite Quarry. Both quarries eventually became part of C.K. Williams Quarry complex. These two original quarries are the original/primary sites of origin for most early mineralogical studies and specimens from the area.In the 1950s the property was put up for sale and purchased by famed Mineralogist Arthur Montgomery, at that time an acting professor at Lafayette College in Easton. He deeded the property to Lafayette in 1953, for the purpose of preserving this unique mineralogical site in perpetuity.Note that most, if not all, 'eastonite' from this locality is, in fact, a mixture of phlogopite and serpentine. There are no modern analyses confirming the presence of eastonite in Easton; Livi and Veblen (1987) showed that Eastonite from Easton, Pennsylvania, is a mixture of phlogopite and a "new form of serpentine".*Site noted separately to aid the locality search for older labeled specimens.Mineralization age: Proterozoic : 1292.4 12.6 Ma to 985 7 MaThis table is based only on rock and mineral ages recorded on mindat.org for this locality and is not necessarily a complete representation of the geochronology, but does give an indication of possible mineralization events relevant to this locality. As more age information is added this table may expand in the future. A break in the table simply indicates a lack of data entered here, not necessarily a break in the geologic sequence. Grey background entries are from different, related, localities. A New Find of Albite from the C.K. Williams & Co. Quarry in Easton, Pennsylvania by Gary Moldovany Key Select Mineral List Type Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Dana Chemical Elements This page contains all mineral locality references listed on mindat.org. This does not claim to be a complete list. If you know of more minerals from this site, please register so you can add to our database. This locality information is for reference purposes only. You should never attempt to visit any sites listed in mindat.org without first ensuring that you have the permission of the land and/or mineral rights holders for access and that you are aware of all safety precautions necessary. How to use the mindat.org media viewer Click/touch this help panel to close it. Welcome to the mindat.org media viewer. Here is a quick guide to some of the options available to you. 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Note that while images are loading this option will not be available but will be automatically activated when the animation has loaded. Once active you can spin the image/change the animation by moving your mouse or finger on the image left/right or by pressing the [ or ] keys. The button switches to move mode so that you can use your mouse/fingers to move the image around the screen as with other media types. The button, or the P key will start playing the animation directly, you can interrupt this by using the mouse or finger on the image to regain manual movement control. Controls - 3D Stereoscopic images If a stereoscopic 3D image is opened in the viewer, the 3D button appears in the bottom right corner giving access to "3D settings" menu. The 3D images can be viewed in several ways: - without any special equipment using cross-eyed or parallel-eyed method - with stereoscope - with anaglyph glasses. - on a suitable 3D TV or monitor (passive 3D system) For details about 3D refer to: Mindat manuals: Mindat Media Viewer: 3D To enable/disable 3D stereo display of a compatible stereo pair image press the 3 key. If the left/right images are reversed on your display (this often happens in full-screen mode) press the 4 key to reverse them. Controls - photo comparison mode If a photo with activated comparison mode is opened in the viewer, the button appears in the bottom right corner giving access to "Comparison mode settings" menu. Several layouts are supported: slider and side by-side comparison with up to 6 photos shown synchronously on the screen. On each of the compared photos a view selector is placed, e.g.: Longwave UV . It shows the name of currently selected view and allows to select a view for each placeholder. Summary of all keyboard shortcuts The Astros have placed second baseman Jose Altuve on the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to July 26, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com tweets. Altuve has been dealing with right knee soreness over the past few days. Altuve hasnt played since Wednesday, thus depriving the reigning world champion Astros of their much-ballyhooed double-play tandem of him and shortstop Carlos Correa, whos also on the DL. A back injury has kept Correa out of action for just over a month, and hes unlikely to return until sometime next month. Nevertheless, at 67-39, Houston continues to boast a 4 1/2-game lead over second-place Seattle in the American League West. As has been the case over the past few seasons, the Astros success this year has come thanks in large part to Altuve. Last years AL MVP winner, Altuve has batted .329/.392/.464 with nine home runs and 14 stolen bases over 454 plate appearances in 2018. Hes also in the midst of his fifth straight season of at least 4.0 fWAR, having notched exactly that amount thus far. Altuves loss is obviously significant for Houston, then, though the 28-year-old suggested to reporters (via McTaggart) that his injury isnt serious. Regardless, this marks Altuves first trip to the DL since the six-time All-Star debuted in the majors in 2011, and it should open the door for Marwin Gonzalez to handle second for as long as hes out. A United Arab Emirate minister has claimed that his country can take on a bigger military role in the region, saying it can no longer rely on Western allies like the United States and Britain for its security. PressTV reports in its article UAE says wants 'bigger military role' in Middle East that Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said Thursday that the UAE was ready to deploy more troops across the Middle East now that the US and the European countries differed on their policies toward the security of the region. In this current international system, it is no longer write a cheque and someone is going to come and secure the stability in the region'. You have to do some of the burden-sharing, said Gargash in a speech in London. The minister said his country was mainly worried about the increasing differences between the US and Europe on how to deal with Iran. The UAE has spent billions on military equipment and weapons under the sheer pretext of countering Irans regional influence. It has also joined Saudi Arabia and other allies in a devastating war against Yemen. The campaign has claimed the lives of around 15,000 people, mostly civilians. UAE forces specifically have an active presence in an ongoing operation to capture Yemens only major port in Hudaydah, on the Red Sea. Furthermore, the Emirates is trying to establish control over the strategic island of Socotra in the Arabian Sea, which Yemens resigned president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi had rented out to the Persian Gulf kingdom for nearly a century. The UAE is also believed to be trying to establish its foothold in North Africa. It is see as a main impediment to peace in Libya by providing financial support to the so-called Libyan National Army (LNA), led by General Khalifa Haftar, in defiance to the mandate of an internationally-recognized government in capital Tripoli. The UAE has also established bases and commercial ports in northern Somalia as well as a base in the Eritrean port of Assab, South of Eritrea, the UAE agreed with the authorities of Somalias breakaway northern territory of Somaliland in February to open a naval base in the port town of Berbera. In his Thursday speech, Gargash confirmed reports that several million dollars of UAE cash had been stolen from a civilian plane in the Somalia capital of Mogadishu. Wed like to continue to do our work, but we have made it very clear that we have been wronged with regards to how we were treated with the shipment of nine-point-something million dollars, said Gargash, adding There are attempts currently to mediate between us and Somalia. The UAE is among the worlds top five arms importers, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in June. The report said that Abu Dhabi even outpaced China in buying arms in the past five years, adding that main suppliers of weapons to the country were the US, Britain and France. The Yankees have sent left-handed reliever Caleb Frare to the White Sox in exchange for $1.5MM in international bonus pool money, Jack Curry of the YES Network tweets. This is the second time this weekend the Yankees have landed international money in a trade, as they acquired $1MM from the Cardinals in a three-player deal on Saturday. Expectations are that the Yankees, who entered this years international period with the standard bonus pool of $4,983,500, will spend some of their newfound cash on Cuban pitching prospect Osiel Rodriguez. New York will now say goodbye to Frare, whom it selected in the 11th round of the 2012 draft. The 25-year-old did not rank among the Yankees top 30 prospects at MLB.com prior to the trade, though he did dominate at the Double-A level this season. Frare recently earned a promotion to Triple-A Scranton, where he only threw one inning, after opening 2018 with a .62 ERA/2.24 FIP and 11.75 K/9 against 3.09 BB/9 across 43 2/3 Double-A frames. Earlier this season, Frares manager at Trenton, Jay Bell, told Randy Miller of NJ.com that hes starting to figure it out, thanks in part to a fastball that sits in the 93-94 mph range. Frare will report to Triple-A Charlotte with his new organization, the White Sox announced. YPSILANTI TOWNSHIP, MI - An Ypsilanti Township home was destroyed and two dogs perished late Sunday morning during a house fire. The Ypsilanti Township Fire Department was called around 11:30 a.m., Sunday, July 29 to 545 Oaklawn Blvd. where they found the home engulfed in flames. No injuries were reported, but officials said a family of eight was living in the home. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Damages are estimated at $30,000. The American Red Cross is assisting the family. Ypsilanti Fire and Superior Township Fire assisted at the scene. CASS COUNTY, MI -- A motorcyclist was injured after crashing into another vehicle Saturday, July 28, in Cass County. Casey Madden, 31, was riding east on U.S. 12 near the Simmons mobile home park at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday when the crash occurred, according to a news release from the Cass County Sheriff's office. As Madden neared the intersection at Calvin Center Road, a vehicle turned left to go north onto Calvin Center Road while a third vehicle turned right into a private driveway. Madden's motorcycle struck the passenger side of the car turning into a driveway, and he was thrown from his bike, landing in a nearby yard. Madden was not wearing a helmet, according to the news release, was traveling at a high rate of speed prior to the collision. The Elkhart, Indiana, resident was taken by ambulance to Elkhart General Hospital. The severity of his injuries was not released. Alcohol or drugs may have been a factor in the crash, according to the release. The crash remains under investigation. PARCHMENT, MI -- In the wake Michigan declaring a state of emergency in Kalamazoo County, the distribution of bottled water to residents in Parchment and Cooper Township will continue Monday, July 30, though with more limited hours. Water distribution will be offered from noon to 8 p.m. Monday at Parchment High School, 1916 East G Avenue, according to a Sunday news release from the Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services Department. The department expects to provide updates on the topic daily at 4 p.m. The state of emergency announced Sunday was in response to high levels of PFAS discovered in the city of Parchment's municipal water source last week. The declaration stems from ongoing health and safety concerns tied to the discovery of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in the system serving residents of Parchment and some portions of Cooper Township. Those using Parchment's municipal water supply were told late Thursday, July 26, to immediately stop drinking the water after high levels of PFAS were discovered in the municipal water source. Officials estimate 3,100 residents are on Parchment's city water system. A test conducted by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality showed a level of total PFAS of 1,587 parts per trillion in Parchment's municipal water supply. This level is more than 20 times higher than the EPA lifetime health advisory of 70-ppt for the two PFAS chemicals PFOS and PFOA. The chemicals, an emerging public health threat, are known to increase risk of cancer, kidney disease, thyroid conditions and auto-immune disorders. The chemicals also can increase cholesterol and interfere with the body's natural hormones. On Friday, July 27, public employees and volunteers conducted bottled water distribution from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. In addition to the change to distribution times, residents will also now be asked to verify their address when picking up their water supply, according to the health department's update. Crews from the city of Kalamazoo continue to work with Parchment city officials to flush out Parchment's tainted water system. Flushing has included some water being dispelled untreated directly into the Kalamazoo River watershed, and some being directed to Kalamazoo's wastewater plant for treatment before being released. Those efforts continued Saturday night, according to health department officials, and will begin again Saturday night, with staff working through the night. Kalamazoo Township has provided a fire truck to assist in the flushing. Both the city of Kalamazoo and Kalamazoo Township are using backup, reserve fire engines to flush the water, according to the update. Front-line fire department equipment and resources are not being diverted from either municipality to assist with the flushing of Parchment's water supply system. County officials stress that controls are in place to prevent Parchment's water from flowing into the city of Kalamazoo's water system. The flushing plan was developed cooperatively by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, city of Kalamazoo and city of Parchment, according to the county's update. State and local health officials have also created a PFAS fact sheet for local residents to use as a reference point. A town hall meeting for residents is planned for Tuesday, July 31, at Haven Reformed Church, 5350 Sprinkle Road. An open house runs from 5-6 p.m., followed by a program from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Residents living in the city of Parchment and Cooper Township are encouraged to attend the meeting. The meeting will include updates on the status of water response activities, and residents will have the opportunity to receive more information regarding PFAS substances, health impacts and plans for interim and long-term water supply solutions. Results from tests of the three wells that feed Parchment's water system are expected Monday, and will inform the next steps for local and state officials. As part of the response to news of contamination, private wells within a one-mile radius of Parchment's well field are also being tested. For more information regarding PFAS contamination in the Parchment area, residents can contact a hotline at 269-373-5346, answered by county health department staff from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The following map shows, outlined in blue, the extent of the city of Parchment's water system, which reaches into a small portion of southern Cooper Township. The area outlined in green is Parchment's city boundaries. LAKE MICHIGAN - A week after he was struck by a large wave and fell overboard into Lake Michigan during a sailing race, the body of Jon Santarelli was recovered from the water on Saturday, July 28. "On behalf of the Chicago Yacht Club, the Race to Mackinac, and all competitors as well as the entire sailing community, I'd like to express our deepest condolences to the Santarelli family," said Nick Berberian, Chicago Yacht Club rear commodore, in a statement put out by the club. "Now that Jon has been recovered, a full investigation can take place, including an analysis of the PFD (personal flotation device) he was wearing at the time of the incident." Santarelli, 53, was competing in the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac aboard the Imedi in the Turbo racing class on July 21 when the incident occurred. Santarelli was leaning toward the back of the boat to make a routine sail adjustment when the boat was struck by a large wave, throwing him overboard. His PFD apparently malfunctioned and did not inflate when he fell into the water, witnesses later said. His crewmembers and several other boats in the race joined the U.S. Coast Guard and other authorities in the search for Santarelli. Last Tuesday, as the racing teams gathered on Mackinac Island to mark the end of the annual sailing event, a moment of silence was held for Santarelli. Tributes honoring him were placed on the island and flags were flown at half-staff. Santarelli, of Chicago's Lincoln Park, was a triathlete as well as a longtime sailor. His friends created a fundraiser to place a memorial bench in his name in his hometown. JACKSON COUNTY, MI - Allan Tompkins beat Leland Prebble by 29 votes in the 2016 primary election to ultimately win the Jackson County Board of Commissioners District 6 seat. The pair of Republicans are returning for a rematch in 2018. The winner of the Tuesday, Aug. 7 primary election will face Democrat Ruben Marquez in the Nov. 6 general election. District 6 encompasses Concord, Hanover, Pulaski and Spring Arbor townships and the villages of Concord and Hanover. MLive Media Group has partnered with the League of Women Voters of Michigan to provide candidate information and other voting resources to readers. Each candidate was asked to answer a series of questions about their policy stances. Information on state and federal races and many of Michigan's county and local races is available at Vote411.org - a website run by the League of Women Voters. Here's a look at the priorities and backgrounds for Tompkins and Prebble. Leland Prebble Prebble retired as an excavating contractor after 45 years. This expertise helps him understand what's required for good road maintenance, he wrote in the voter guide. "I want to ensure that this new road paving machine Jackson County owns will be used to the fullest potential," Prebble said in the voter guide. "If not used properly, it could be an expensive mistake." His second priority is the "illegal drug addiction crisis" in the county. Prebble points to disintegration of family, mental health and poverty as the causes. He believes faith-based institutions, service groups and government can partner to address the hopelessness, he said. Prebble also mentions Jackson County Sheriff Steve Rand, condemning the county board for how it handled the situation. Rand has the county wrapped up in lawsuits for alleged discriminatory comments he made toward women and minorities. "The situation with the sheriff should have been handled differently in my opinion," Prebble wrote in the voter guide. "I feel that Sheriff Rand was lynched by public opinion. I think something should be done, but it should be negotiated with the sheriff." Allan Tompkins Tompkins, however, voted in favor of asking the sheriff to resign and authoring a letter to ask the governor to remove the sheriff. He took the seat in 2016 when Julie Alexander, who previously had the spot chose to not run again and was elected to the 64th District Michigan House of Representatives seat. Tompkins has retired in the past year as an orthopedic surgeon due to health issues. He missed a slew of meetings at the beginning of 2018 after surgery and months of recovery with family in Chicago. He is now back on his feet and ready to serve the county, again. Like Prebble, Tompkins prioritizes roads and the heroin epidemic. "Everybody wants to have (all the roads) done at once. We have the equipment in place, now. We have the contracts in place," Tompkins said. "It can't happen immediately." His third priority is to ensure county tax programs benefit residents across the county. This is why he voted against putting a millage to build a new YMCA in Jackson on the ballot. "The data showed that it would not be in the best interest of most of my township residents," Tompkins wrote in the voter guide. "And I voted accordingly to be a steward of county tax dollars on whom voters can trust." NILES, MI -- David Lee Bross Jr., 24, was killed after his 2009 Subaru crashed into a tree during a police pursuit near Niles Saturday, July 28. The Berrien County man was pronounced dead at Memorial Hospital in South Bend after a fleeing a county sheriff's deputy in a Saturday, July 28, chase that began in the city of Niles and ended just west of U.S. 31, near Buchanan, according to a news release. The deputy who pursued him was placed on leave pending the results of an ongoing investigation, according to the release. A Berrien County Sheriff deputy attempted to pull over the Subaru at 5:27 p.m. Saturday, noting the vehicle matched the description from an earlier message to be on the lookout for a potentially intoxicated driver. As the deputy started pulling over the vehicle, Bross fled the scene. Police said he led the deputy on a pursuit that left Niles to the west on Niles Buchanan Road, after the Subaru sideswiped a vehicle within city limits. During the pursuit, police said, the driver made "several erratic driving maneuvers" and exceeded speeds of 100 mph. About three minutes after the chase began, it ended at 5:30 p.m. when Bross lost control of the vehicle on Niles Buchanan Road west of Mayflower Road. The car left the north side of the road and struck a tree, police said, causing major damage to the car. The deputy reports losing Bross's vehicle in a cloud of dust when he fled. The deputy was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation into the crash being conducted by the Michigan State Police, working in conjunction with the county sheriff's office. Bross was unresponsive at the scene and he was transported to Memorial Hospital in South Bend, Indiana, by ambulance. He was later pronounced dead. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday, July 30. Once completed, the crash investigation will be forwarded to the Berrien County prosecutor's office for review. KALAMAZOO, MI - Police are investigating an early Sunday morning shooting after a 37-year-old man with a gunshot wound showed up at Bronson Methodist Hospital. The victim is currently being treated for non-life threatening injuries and a suspect has not yet been apprehended, according to a news release issued by the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety. The incident remains under investigation. Officers responded at around 2 a.m. to Bronson hospital after medical personnel said a man had arrived seeking treatment for a gunshot wound to the leg. Officers believe the incident occurred at 500 block of Florence Street, according to the release. Investigators said they believe the suspect is known to the victim, and additional officers later responded to canvass the area on Florence for evidence of a shooting. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety at 269-337-8139 or Silent Observer at 269-343-2100. BERRIEN COUNTY, MI - A motel fire in the Benton Harbor area that killed six people Saturday was likely an accident, according to early findings in the police investigation. The fire happened around 1:45 a.m. Saturday, July 28, in a room on the first floor of the Cosmo Extended Living motel. Police had previously named the victims as Kiarre Curtis, 26; Marquise Thompson, 10; Gerome Randolph, 7; Samuel Curtis, 5; Savod Curtis, 4; and Avery Curtis, 2. Kiarre Curtis' husband, Samuel, 36, and her one-year-old child were able to escape from the motel during what police are calling a tragic incident, according to a news release from the Berrien County Sheriff's Office. The incident remains under investigation, but early findings from the Michigan State Police's fire marshal division and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms indicate that the fire may have been an accident. Both teams also have determined that the fire occurred in a room on the first floor, and not in the victims' second-floor dwelling, according to the release. A test of the scene at 2699 M-139 Highway did not reveal the presence of a fire accelerant nor any indication that illegal narcotics were being manufactured at the hotel at the time of the fire, the release said. Forensic tests are to be conducted on samples taken from the room on the first floor where investigators believe the fire began. Berrien County Sheriff Chief Deputy Robert Boyce said Friday that the motel had smoke detectors and a sprinkler system, but said investigators were still working to determine if they were functional at the time of the fire. The county sheriff's office is contracting with a Grand Rapids-based security company to test the motel's fire alarm and smoke detector, according to the news release. That investigation is ongoing. Autopsies on the six victims are scheduled to take place Sunday to determine the cause of death, which is believed to be smoke inhalation, deputies said. Four first responders and several residents sustained smoke inhalation during the fire. At least two of those individuals were treated and released from Lakeland Medical Center as of 3 p.m. Saturday. Deputies said the sheriff's office will release more information once it becomes available. KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MI - A state of emergency has been declared by state of Michigan officials in response to high levels of PFAS discovered in the city of Parchment's municipal water source. The governor's office announced Sunday, July 29, a state of emergency has been declared due to ongoing health and safety concerns tied to the discovery of per- and polyfluoroalkyl, or PFAS, compounds in the system serving residents of Parchment and some portions of Cooper Township. "This declaration will allow the state to supply additional resources to help with response efforts and ensure the health and safety of residents in Parchment and Cooper Township," Lt. Gov. Brian Calley said. Residents have already been advised to stop drinking the water after tests showed a level of 1,587 parts per trillion of PFAS in Parchment's water supply. That is more than 20 times higher than the EPA lifetime health advisory of 70 ppt. Public health experts link exposure to the chemicals with increased risk for cancer, liver damage and other serious ailments. A town hall meeting also been scheduled for Tuesday to discuss updates, the health impacts of PFAS and long-term solutions to protect the area's water supply from future contamination. The meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., July 31, at Haven Reformed Church, 5350 N. Sprinkle Road in Kalamazoo. Stephanie Moore, chair of the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners, declared a local state of emergency on Saturday, according to a news release issued by the county. Moore also submitted a request to the state asking for aid. In declaring a state of emergency Sunday, Calley is acting as governor while Gov. Rick Snyder is out of state. "State and local officials and members of the community have been working in full partnership to ensure people in the area have safe water in the short, medium and long term," Calley said. Public Works crews from Kalamazoo are working to flush Parchment's water lines, which may stir up sediments and discolor the water, according to the release. Residents are being advised not to drink the water until further notice. Residents in the northeast part of Kalamazoo may also see some water discoloration as a result of more water moving through the Kalamazoo system to Parchment. Kalamazoo residents may continue to use and drink water from their taps. Officials said that controls are in place to prevent Parchment water from flowing into the Kalamazoo system. Water distribution will continue at Parchment High School but the distribution schedule has changed. Starting Monday, distribution will begin at noon and end at 8 p.m. Residents also will be asked to verify their address upon pickup. PFAS compounds represent an emerging public health threat contaminating water supplies across the Michigan. More than 20 communities across the state have identified contamination sites. That list is expected to grow. Parchment, known as "The Paper City," was built around a paper mill along the Kalamazoo River in the early 20th century. Just north of the city of Kalamazoo, it's a town of about 1,800 people. Officials estimate it's water system, which is separate from Kalamazoo's and fed by three groundwater wells located along North 20th Street in Cooper Township, serves about 3,100 residents. Results from tests of those three wells are expected Monday and will inform the next steps for local and state officials. Private wells within a one-mile radius of Parchment's well field are also being tested. For more information, residents are directed by local officials to call a drinking water hotline set up at (269) 373-5346. Those unable to get to the bottled water distribution point are also encouraged to call the hotline. The following map shows, outlined in blue, the extent of the city of Parchment's water system, which reaches into a small portion of southern Cooper Township. The area outlined in green is Parchment's city boundaries. PORTAGE, MI - Levels of PFAS have been found in Portage drinking water and city officials are vowing to take action to eliminate the harmful chemicals. The levels reported in a news release issued Saturday, July 28, are below the Environmental Protection Agency's lifetime health advisory limit of 70 parts per trillion, though some researchers suggest that level is set too high. The per- and polyfluorinated compounds, known collectively as PFAS, were found in two of the eight sites tested in Portage's city water network as part of statewide testing of all public water systems. Public health experts link exposure to PFAS chemicals with increased risk for cancer, liver damage and other serious ailments. The chemicals have been found in more than 20 different communities in both the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan, in urban, suburban and rural settings alike. The chemicals have been found in groundwater, surface water bodies like lakes and rivers, as well as the Great Lakes -- and in drinking water pulled from each source type. In Portage, PFAS contamination was found during a June 14 sampling of eight public water locations across the city. Two of those samples tested positive for total PFAS at 13 ppt and 2 ppt. Tests for specific compounds PFOS and PFOA returned non-detect results at all eight sites. The EPA health advisory level of 70 ppt, set in 2016, is for the combined level of those two compounds, and the agency does not currently offer an advisory level for total PFAS. City Manager Laurence Shaffer said the city and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality take the test results "very seriously." "We intend to address the PFAS condition aggressively and to notify the citizens of the results of our efforts on an ongoing basis." Shaffer wrote in the news release. Some immediate actions vowed by city leaders include taking certain municipal wells offline and increased testing, treatment and flushing. City officials also plan to issue regular public updates on what factors led to the contamination and what actions may be necessary to remediate it. While the lower levels may be a relief for some Portage residents, at least one study from the Centers for Disease Control suggests the recommended safety should be six times lower than the current 70 ppt benchmark. That release of that study was ultimately blocked by the Trump administration, according to emails reported by Politico. According to one email, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has yet to release new draft toxicological profiles for several per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, after White House aides deemed the new levels a "public relations nightmare" in January. The EPA's current level was set in 2016, and the ATSDR suggests it should be somewhere closer to less than 12-ppt for some PFAS chemicals based on its finding that exposure above that level "could be dangerous sensitive populations like infants and breastfeeding mothers." Adequacy of the 70-ppt benchmark has been the subject of substantial debate, with regulators and polluters generally loathe to endorse lower levels and public health advocates pointing to new studies calling its effectiveness into question. The ATSDR is taking public comment until mid-August on a draft toxicological profile report on four PFAS compounds which proposes a lower minimum risk level. The release of city of Portage test results comes in the wake of news that similar tests of the nearby city of Parchment's water system revealed levels of PFAS in the municipal water system at more than 20 times the EPA health advisory level of 70 ppt. An estimated 3,100 residents in Parchment and neighboring Cooper Township have been warned to immediately stop drinking their tap water or using it for cooking or washing food. Bottled water is being provided to impacted residents, available at Parchment High School, and officials have scheduled a town hall meeting for Tuesday. For more information, residents are directed by local officials to call a drinking water hotline set up at (269) 373-5346. Those unable to get to the bottled water distribution point are also encouraged to call the hotline. Michigan is approaching the halfway mark in an effort to test 1,380 public water systems and 461 schools across the state, according to state officials. With the exception of Parchment, no test results received as part of that process so far show PFAS compounds over the 70 ppt advisory level, DEQ spokesperson Scott Dean told MLive Friday. The testing of schools and public water systems should be completed by the end of the year, Dean said. No results have been released from renewed testing of the city of Kalamazoo's water system, though 2013 tests showed negligible levels of six PFAS compounds. The current statewide testing process now looks at 14 different PFAS compounds. In 2012, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency required water systems that serve more than 10,000 people to test for six PFAS compounds, among those in a larger family of compounds categorized generally as PFAS. There is no official maximum standard set for PFAS in drinking water, but the group of compounds was included among other unregulated contaminants the EPA monitors every five years. Parchment was not required to test for PFAS in its system at that time because of the system's small size. Elsewhere in Kalamazoo County, elevated PFAS levels were recently found in private wells serving homes and businesses in nearby Richland Township. Well testing in the community northeast of Kalamazoo began after testing by Kalamazoo's wastewater system earlier this year revealed PFAS at levels more than 100 times higher than 70 ppt being discharged from a former industrial site now owned by the state. As of July 18, 10 affected Richland Township households had been given bottled water. Dozens more anxiously wait to discover if high levels of the contaminant will be found in their drinking water wells. Results from additional testing of private wells in a study area established by the Department of Environmental Quality are expected sometime between Aug. 6-13. The current study area in Richland Township could expand again based on those results, according to DEQ officials. MUSKEGON, MI -- A dedication to the Great Lakes is causing two men to soon make a trip over one of them, by paddle boarding. Eric Strickler and Daniel Bonner, both of Muskegon, will be traveling 79 miles from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Muskegon to raise money for the Muskegon Lake Watershed Partnership, sometime between Aug. 7 and 13. "It was something that was very important to us to do -- something more than just talking about cleaning up Lake Michigan or protecting our Great Lakes, but actually doing something and taking some action," Bonner said. "(We're) trying to get people excited about both protecting the Great Lakes, but also getting outside and enjoying the Great Lakes." The two men are calling their adventure "Michigami Crossing." The term "Michigami" is a traditional Ojibwe term for "big water," Strickler said. "We kind of wanted to pay respect to those who have come before us in this great water body," Strickler said. "The Native Americans around this area were the first to explore this area before any colonists or anybody else got here, so they must have braved incredible conditions and really set the stage for a relationship with the lake." The two will be making their way to Milwaukee and scoping out a day between Aug. 7-13 that will have good weather conditions. A chase boat will follow them during their journey in case of emergency and to steer them in the right direction. Money raised for their journey is going to the Muskegon Lake Watershed Partnership, which is an organization dedicated to restoring Muskegon Lake and the Great Lakes. The men said their goal is to raise $10,000 and they have already raised more than $1,000. The crossing is expected to take between 20 and 30 hours. "I think the thing I'm most excited about is just getting out on Lake Michigan and starting this whole thing we've been preparing for for months now," Bonner said. "We've been doing a lot of training all summer long, a lot of logistics planning. The biggest excitement is to just get it started." Being out on the lake for that long, Bonner and Strickler recognize that anything could happen. "You really don't know what's going to happen, but that's the fun part about the adventure is not knowing," Bonner said. "Just having that unexpected of putting together all of our plans and all of our gear and getting everything dialed in, but then mother Earth is in charge after that, so we just gotta be prepared for whatever happens." The two paddle boarders have a Facebook page, www.facebook.com/michigamicrossing, where they will post updates on their journey. During the crossing, they said they will have friends from either their chase boat or shore updating the page on their whereabouts. Bonner and Strickler are planning to end their crossing at Pere Marquette Beach in Muskegon. More information on how to donate can be found at www.fundly.com/michigami-crossing. "It's going to be hard, but it's going to be enjoyable and an other worldly experience just to be in the state of fatigue, yes, but also just connection with the lake and paddling all night long, and seeing that sun set then rise on the same lake as you're still trying to cross it," Strickler said. "I'm really excited for what that brings up for me emotionally in just crossing Lake Michigan." GRAND RAPIDS, MI - A man was shot Sunday morning after a road rage chase through Grand Rapids became violent, according to the Grand Rapids Police Department. The victim was shot once in the arm and was treated at an area hospital with non-life threatening injures. Police have not released any information regarding a suspect. The incident remains under investigation. Police said the drivers of two vehicles began a road rage incident early Sunday morning. The pair reportedly chased each other through a small section of downtown Grand Rapids before coming to a halt around 1:30 a.m. at the intersection of College Avenue SE and Logan Street SE. The incident became violent when one man reached for a gun and opened fired multiple times, police said. The volley struck the victim once in the arm. He was later taken to an area hospital by family members. Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to contact Grand Rapids police at 616-456-3400 or Silent Observer at 616-774-2345. An expert panel headed by Nilima Kshirsagar last week recommended continuation of the ban on 343 fixed drug combinations (FDCs) citing lack of safety and efficacy data. The panel also pointed out that many of these FDCs were formulated without due diligence and the dosing mismatches could result in toxicity that may adversely impact vital organs like liver. An FDC refers to a cocktail or combination of two or more active ingredients into a single pill in a fixed dosage ratio. India is flooded with FDCs, at least one in two medications sold in India is some kind of FDC. FDCs have shown to be particularly useful in the treatment of infectious diseases like HIV, hepatitis-C, malaria and tuberculosis, where giving multiple antimicrobial agents is the norm. FDCs are also useful for chronic conditions, especially when multiple disorders co-exist. Pharma companies have aggressively pushed FDCs on grounds of improved efficacy, better compliance, reduced cost and simpler logistics of distribution. But analysts say that the reason for pharma companies pushing FDCs is that the category bypasses drug price control as they are treated as new drugs. Much of the combination drugs sold in India are untested drug cocktails with no clinical justification other than commercial intent. In an attempt to weed out irrational drug combinations from the Indian market, in 2016, the government banned over 344 FDCs for a wide range of medical conditions saying that the combinations had "no therapeutic justification" The ban covered painkillers, anti-diabetic, respiratory and gastro-intestinal medicines. The ban included around 6,000 brands from major pharma companies, including Pfizer, Alkem, Wockhardt, Cipla , Sanofi and Sun Pharma. However, pharma companies have challenged the government order in various courts and were able to get a stay on the ban. Last December, the Supreme Court referred the matter to Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) for a fresh review on whether these drugs should continue to be marketed. The apex court suggested that DTAB should decide whether the manufacturing and sale of these drugs should be regulated, restricted or banned outright, and submit its report and recommendations to the government within six months. DTAB formed sub-committee under the chairmanship of Kshirsagar, professor and head clinical pharmacology, GS Medical College KEM hospital, Mumbai, to review the safety, efficacy and therapeutic justification of these drugs. The ban had impacted several popular brands, including Corex, DCold Total and Vicks Action 500 Extra, among others. The companies are estimated to be incurring losses of Rs 4,000 crore due to the ban, as per market research firm AIOCD. India pharmaceutical market is worth over Rs 1.3 trillion. To be sure, many pharma companies have reworked on their formulations following the ban and some have pulled out products from the market. Healthcare activists groups welcomed the move. "It reinforces our constant demand for approval, and use, of only rational medicines in India," said All India Drug Action Network (AIDAN). A network of health NGOs promoting the cause of rational drug use. AIDAN was also invited by the sub-committee to give its views on FDCs. "Rationality needs to be demonstrated for safety, efficacy and therapeutic justification. None of the FDCs meet the criteria of a rational and safe FDC. The people of India have been made the consumers of unsafe medicines for too long and this is one step towards rectifying the grave situation of a pharma market brimming with innumerable irrational FDCs," AIDAN said in its response to the report. AIDAN puts the sales estimates of FDCs under scrutiny at Rs 2,500 crore. As climate change makes itself more and more felt, fossil fuels are being looked at as something that needs to be changed. In an effort to move towards something more sustainable auto companies have no doubt started moving towards the electric path. And while the road will be long and hard, it is not undoable. Here are the electric cars that are already on sale in India. Essel Infraprojects today said it is planning to invest Rs 1,750 crore in phased manner to set up electric vehicle charging and battery swapping infrastructure. "In a massive boost to the electric vehicle segment in the country, Essel Infraprojects Ltd, (EIL) an enterprise of Subhash Chandra led Essel Group, launches its Electric Vehicle Charging and Battery Swapping Infrastructure initiative under Essel Green Mobility Limited in Lucknow today," the company said in a statement. Under the project, EIL will invest Rs 1,750 crore in phased manner with the launch of 250 charging stations, 1,000 battery swapping stations in 20 cities of Uttar Pradesh. The announcement was made during the foundation stone laying ceremony by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lucknow. Speaking on the occasion, Essel Group Chairman Subhash Chandra said: "With the launch of this initiative, we have enhanced our association with the state and look forward to doing our bit in the government's vision of clean mobility. The launch of EVs in holistic manner will augment the state's transport infrastructure and also create job opportunities". EIL project will kick-start the electric vehicle ecosystem in effective manner as EIL will also invest in simultaneous deployment of 25,000 e-rickshaws, which will generate 50,000 jobs in the state. EIL's electric vehicle launch was among different industrial projects announced in the state capital, the company said in a release. It will reduce the cost of battery charging and will bring down the running cost per km at par with CNG or any other alternative fuel. The project will also address the issue of last mile connectivity, which has been a major stumbling block in local transport infrastructure, the company said. Through this project, the company aims to improve driver's living standard by raising their income. Also, it will provide battery swapping options at every 2 sq kms which will be supported by digital app to enable drivers locate the nearby swapping station. The battery can be swapped in 2-3 minutes, increasing vehicle productivity for plying. The operations will start from Ghaziabad and cover other cities, including Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Noida, Meerut and Varanasi. The project will revolutionise the electric vehicle industry in the country, especially the e-rickshaw segment as the drivers would not need to own vehicles or batteries and they can start their business without much investment and without any complicated documentation or collateral. MNCs which were pulled up for not cutting prices post GST implementation, have argued before the anti-profiteering authority that prices of some products could not be lowered as there was difficulty in adjusting them to decimal points. The authority, in turn, has asked these MNCs why they could not adjust the quantity so that the benefit of GST rate cut could be passed on to the consumers. The authority, sources said, asked the Multinational Companies (MNCs) to follow the rules laid down in The Legal Metrology Act while fixing the price to the nearest decimal point. Some companies have argued that they reduced the prices of large packets but could not do the same for smaller packets and sachets, in some cases, as the quantum of price reduction was very low in decimal points, sources told PTI. In a lot of cases the reasoning given by the MNCs for not passing on the rate cut benefit did not cut ice with the authority, which is looking into such cases post the investigation submitted by the Directorate General of Anti Profiteering. According to sources, some companies have said they had reduced prices of certain brands of the same commodity but did not cut price for other brands. It was also pointed out by some companies that they have reduced the prices of certain brands of the same product, but failed to explain why the prices were not reduced on other brands. Section 171 of the Central GST Act says that any reduction in rate of tax on any supply of goods or services or the benefit of input tax credit shall be passed on to the recipient by way of commensurate reduction in prices. To ensure that the prices are reduced, the anti-profiteering authority was set up in November last. Goods and Services Tax was rolled out on July 1, 2017. The GST Council, chaired by the Union Finance Minister, has in the last one year reduced tax rates in 384 commodities. As per the structure of the anti-profiteering mechanism in the GST regime, complaints of local nature will be first sent to the state-level 'screening committee' while those of national level will be marked for the 'Standing Committee'. If the complaints have merit, the respective committees would refer the cases for further investigation to the Directorate General of Safeguards (DGS). The DGS would generally take about three months to complete the investigation and send the report to the anti-profiteering authority. If the authority finds that a company has not passed on GST benefits, it will either direct the entity to pass on the benefits to consumers or if the beneficiary cannot be identified, will ask the company to transfer the amount to the 'consumer welfare fund' within a specified timeline. According to anti-profiteering rules, the authority will suggest return of the undue profit earned from not passing on the GST rate cut benefit to consumers along with an 18 per cent interest as also impose penalty. The authority will have the power to cancel registration of any entity or business if it fails to pass on the GST benefits, but it would probably be the last step against any violator. Prime Minister Narendra Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched 81 projects worth close to Rs 60,000 crore during a 'Ground Breaking Ceremony' in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. "These projects will prove to be a big step in giving a new direction to Digital India and Make in India. Be it setting up of fibre or establishment of IT centre for internet service in Uttar Pradesh, digital infrastructure will give a new direction, new pace to the state," PM Modi said. PM Modi said that it was the second time in the last five months that he was meeting his "industrial friends" in Lucknow. "Last time, we met for UP Investors Summit in February. I am elated that a huge step is being taken to deliver the promises made there on the ground," the Prime Minister said. Asserting that the investment of Rs 60,000 crore is a big amount, PM said the move will help the state government create more than 2.1 lakh direct jobs. The Prime Minister said that it was not a ground-breaking ceremony but a record-breaking ceremony considering the manner in which development works have been carried out in such a short span of time. Modi said that at this speed of investments, Uttar Pradesh will soon become a trillion dollar economy. PM Modi further said that the nation is becoming a hub for mobile manufacturing for the world with Uttar Pradesh leading this manufacturing revolution. "More than 50 mobile manufacturing companies are working in Uttar Pradesh and the largest mobile manufacturing unit in the world has also been established here," PM Modi said. Taking a dig at previous governments in Uttar Pradesh, Modi said they did not have a will and their intentions were not clear. "When the intention is clear and the intentions are noble, the result shows," the PM said, adding that his government is working towards taking Digital India and Make In India campaign forward. The foundation-laying ceremony was held at the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan and was telecasted live across the 75 districts of the state. The state government's 'Ground Breaking Ceremony' comes after it held a grand Investors meet in February where it got these 81 projects. In this meet, memorandums of understanding (MoUs) for projects worth over Rs 4.28 lakh crore were signed across sectors like renewable energy, infrastructure, power, IT and tourism. Prime Minister Narendra Modi Karnataka Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to inaugurate around 81 projects worth close to Rs 60,000 crore during a 'Ground Breaking Ceremony' in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. The foundation-laying ceremony will be held at the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan and it will be telecasted live across the 75 districts of the state. PM @narendramodi will be in Lucknow today to attend a programme for the Ground Breaking Ceremony for various projects of investment in Uttar Pradesh. PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 29, 2018 The topmost industrialists of the country are expected to attend the ceremony. The state government's 'Ground Breaking Ceremony' comes after it held a grand Investors meet in February where it got these 81 projects. In this meet, memorandums of understanding (MoUs) for projects worth over Rs 4.28 lakh crore were signed across sectors like renewable energy, infrastructure, power, IT and tourism. Within a few months, investment proposals for 81 projects amounting to an investment of about Rs 60,000 crore have materialised for a groundbreaking. The key projects include investments of Rs 10,000 crore by Reliance Jio Infocom and Rs 5,000 crore by BSNL for laying optical fibre cable network in the state. IT firms such as Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services will invest Rs 5,000 crore and Rs 2,300 crore, respectively, for setting up their campuses in the state. Other companies that have also lined up investments in the state include Adani Power which is investing Rs 2,500 crore for 765 KV Ghatampur-Hapur transmission line, Paytm is investing Rs 3,500 crore to build its campus in the state. Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More The week ended to haunt ICICI Bank investors as the bank reported its first ever loss in its history since it went public in 2001. On the other hand, Bank of Baroda surprised with an over two-fold jump in its net profit. The banks chief called the first quarter of FY19 likely to be a turnaround quarter, ceteris paribus. ICICI Bank, Indias largest private sector lender, on Friday it reported a historic loss of Rs 120 crore for the June quarter ending 2018. In anticipation of the financial results to be in line with expectations, ICICI Banks stock had surged nearly 10 percent in the week but investors may have been deluded. The loss has been mainly on the grounds of substantially higher provisions of nearly Rs 6,000 crore, up by 129 percent over last year and just 10 percent lower than the quarter ending March 2018. However, a look beyond the bottomline number shows that the bank may be on the brink of recovery and that the conservative estimates may augur well for the bank going ahead. Gross non-performing assets (GNPA) reduced to 8.81 percent from 8.84 percent QoQ. Net non-performing assets reduced to 4.19 percent from 4.77 percent QoQ. This was also the first results announcement in absence of its CEO and Managing Director Chanda Kochhar, who is on leave pending an independent inquiry into the impropriety allegations being probed against her. Moreover, it was the first for Sandeep Bakhshi after being appointed as ICICI Banks new COO or chief operating officer in June this year. He has ensured the operating performance is strong, being the highest in the last 11 quarters and the loan book grew by 15 percent. Moreover, its gross and net NPAs or bad loans also reduced by about Rs 600 crore and Rs 3,716 crore from the January to March quarter. Siddharth Purohit, a research analyst with SMC Institutional Equities, said, While the loan growth is on expected lines, the asset quality has improved in absolute terms. Hence, the market may not see it as negative due to the healthy balance sheet numbers." Bank of Baroda surprise As of Bank of Baroda, the profit more than doubled with a dip in provisions towards bad loans with the banks CEO and managing director PS Jayakumar saying: Indications are that this is going to be a turnaround quarter In the sense of the probability of outcomes, our NPA numbers in absolute terms will go down and were expecting a healthy growth rate on our balance sheet. But well hold our judgement for one more quarter. Although its NPAs increased marginally during the first quarter, its net interest income grew 29 percent, loan growth was at 20 percent and net interest margin (NIM) also improved to 2.65 percent from 2.51 percent in March quarter. Another government-owned lender Canara Bank also posted improvement in profit numbers on the back of healthy net interest income and reduction in bad loans. And while the Bank of Baroda attempts to contain its NPA watchlist at about Rs 8,700 crore as it is getting a grip on the NPA cycle, it will need 2-3 more quarters to say it has ended. These words by Jayakumar may be true for his bank and several of its peers given the gradual domestic economic pickup, and yet relatively uncertain environment in the resolution of bad loans under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The inaction of BJP governments in states, especially Uttar Pradesh, has created an atmosphere of fear among Dalits and religious minorities, Congress president Rahul Gandhi has said. He also said it was important for the Congress to reach out to the victims of "mindless violence". The current dispensation, Gandhi alleged, has allowed the "climate of fear" and lawlessness "to not only prevail but also flourish". The hate speeches made by various BJP ministers and leaders exhorting their followers to target certain communities "encourages local goons to act with impunity", he said The Congress chief alleged that the inaction of BJP state governments, especially in Uttar Pradesh, has created an "atmosphere of fear amongst Dalits and religious minorities". In a letter to the schedule caste (SC) department of the AICC, Gandhi said it is important for the party to reach out to the victims of the "mindless violence" and publicly support them. The complicity of state agencies, that makes such large-scale persecution possible, "must be exposed," he wrote in his July 27 letter. He said, it would be expedient on part of the SC department of the party to examine the recent instances of violence against Dalits where the state had failed to act against the perpetrators. "There is an urgent need for a larger public discourse regarding the systemic persecution unleashed by this regime. Towards this end, I request you to take up these issues in all relevant platforms. and apprise me on the same," Gandhi said. Representative image The Export and Import Bank (EXIM) of India has suggested to the Madhya Pradesh government to seek Geographical Indication (GI) tags for Indori Poha and the Burhanpuri delicacy, Mawa Jalebi. After carrying out a study titled "Export Strategy for Madhya Pradesh", the Exim Bank has suggested the government to seek GI tags for the Poha and Mawa Jalebi, as per a press release issued by the state government. Besides Poha and Mawa Jalebi, the EXIM Bank report has also asked the state to seek a GI tag for Chanderi saree of Chanderi and Jali work of Gwalior, it stated. A Geographical Indication is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin. In order to function as a GI, a sign must identify a product as originating in a given place. So far, 14 products of Andhra Pradesh and 30 products of Karnataka have received the maximum G.I. tags in the country, it said. State Women and Child Development Minister and Burhanpur MLA Archana Chitnis said, "We are going to get details to file application for claiming GI tag for Mawa Jalebi". The EXIM study revealed that the international trade of Madhya Pradesh had touched 2.4 billion dollars mark in 2016-17, stated the release. Madhya Pradesh ranked 15th in the country among the states, with the export trade contributing 1.6 per cent of the total international exports of the country, it said. The study report said that obtaining the GI tag for new products would help the central state in achieving the goal of 10 billion dollars export by 2022, it said. With the Yamuna crossing the danger mark, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today held an emergency meeting with top officials of his government, including Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash, and directed all departments to be on high alert. The meeting was chaired after Haryana released five lakh cusec of water from the Hathni Kund Barrage. It is expected to reach Delhi by tomorrow evening. Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia took review of the preparedness of the departments in case water enters the low-lying vulnerable areas of Delhi. The meeting was attended by the MLAs of the vulnerable areas, Prakash, officials of the Delhi Police, Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), urban development, Irrigation and Flood Control, Army, MCDs, PWD, Delhi Jal Board, CATS, Health, Revenue, DDMA and other stakeholder departments. All the departments informed the chief minister that they were prepared and are on alert for any such situation. They informed that the quick response teams (QRTs) are also activated for any emergency. The agencies concerned informed the chief minister that the process of evacuation in the vulnerable areas has already begun and they have started putting up tents to shift the people being evacuated, said a statement from the Delhi government. The chief minister said the supply of power, food and drinking water must be ensured to the people. Emergency medical teams would also be on duty for the people being shifted for any kind of medical emergencies, the statement said. The DUSIB has been asked to activate and place their mobile toilet vans around the tents being put up at the earliest. Kejriwal asked the departments concerned to reach out to the people in these areas and inform them about the evacuation and its reasons aggressively. The Education department and municipal corporations have been asked to be ready to provide the school space in these areas for people to be shifted if the situation demands so. The DUSIB has also been asked to chip in with their centres where people can be accommodated if required. All power companies have been asked to arrange electricity supply in these tents 24x7 once people are shifted into them. The power companies have been asked to deploy their officials at the Flood Control Room round the clock. The Army was also requested to be on stand-by for any emergency, they replied in an affirmative and said they are on stand-by. The availability of motorboats was also discussed. All the agencies having motorboats were asked to keep them ready for evacuation. The army has been asked to check all the motorboats for operations, if required. Portable generators are also being prepared for night evacuation, if required. DUSIB, Power, Health and other departments have been asked to deploy their officials in the control rooms 24x7 for the next three-four days. All departments have been assigned with their respective duties and have been put on alert, the statement added. "The chief minister directed that the Control Room Emergency Number 1077 must be advertised so that it reaches people at the earliest. People in general would be able to call on 1077 for any flood related emergency," it added. The water level is expected to cross 205.4 metres today, officials said. Kejriwal said all departments have been put on high alert. "Haryana has released 5 lakh cusec water. Called an emergency meeting to discuss the situation. This water likely to reach Del by tomo eve. Wherever administration evacuating people, they r requested to cooperate. All depts put on high alert. For any flood related emergency, control room no is 1077 (sic)," he tweeted. The Yamuna water level at the Hathinikund barrage has crossed the danger mark of 90,000 cusec and till 9 pm, 49,2351 cusec of water was released. The water level of the Yamuna river at the Old Delhi Railway Bridge rose to 205.36 metres by 9 pm and is expected to rise even further, an official said. "The water level of river Yamuna at Delhi Old Rly Bridge reached at 204.92 metres at 7 am on July 28 (above the warning level) and having rising trend," a statement issued in the morning had said. An alert was sounded yesterday by the Delhi government after the water level of the Yamuna crossed the danger mark, an official said. "All executive engineers/sector officers are directed to keep in close contact with the control room in relation to the discharge, water level at the Old Railway Bridge and the advisory or forecast from the Central Water Commission/MET, and requested to take appropriate measures/steps accordingly to avoid flood-like situation," an advisory from the authorities said. "The CWC, Upper Yamuna Division, New Delhi has issued flood forecast for the Delhi Railway Bridge (North Delhi Dt NCT, Delhi). The water level of river Yamuna at Delhi Rly Bridge was 205 metres at 9 am on July 28 (warning level 204.00 m)," the advisory said. A low pressure persists over western Uttar Pradesh and its neighbouring areas. This system will bring widespread rainfall with isolated 'heavy to very heavy rainfall' over Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and northwest Madhya Pradesh during the next two days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. Congress president Rahul Gandhi today took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and referred to the rape of girls and women at a shelter home, saying it is a story of the one who assures and the one who vows to give good governance. "Story of ashwasan babu (the one who assures) and susashan babu (the one who vows good governance)... We have heard that the one elected (Modi) has merely given a slogan of beti bachao (save the girl child)," Rahul said in a tweet. The Congress leader also posted a news report about the rape incident. The 'beti bachao, beti padhao' (save the girl child, educate the girl child) is a slogan of the NDA government. Nitish Kumar is often referred to as 'sushasan babu', for his good governance plank. Congress and various other opposition parties have accused Modi of only making false promises and giving assurances which are never fulfilled. BJP national president Amit Shah BJP president Amit Shah held a meeting with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat here in the backdrop of the ongoing agitation by the Maratha community seeking job reservation in Maharashtra. The duo held talks at Yashwant Bhavan, the RSS office here but what transpired between them was not known. However, a BJP source said Shah and Bhagwat discussed ways to strengthen the ruling party in the state, which will see both Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in 2019, but did not touch upon the quota issue. He said the meeting was scheduled long back and it had nothing to do with the ongoing stir by Marathas demanding 16 per cent reservation in government jobs and education. "The meeting was decided months ago and it barely lasted for an hour. It was just a coincidence that it happened in the backdrop of an all-party meet called by the chief minister," the BJP source said. Incidentally, an all-party meeting was also convened yesterday by the state government to discuss the quota issue. The BJP-led government has faced criticism over its handling of the state-wide agitation, which turned violent in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and parts of Marathwada this week. Early this week, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut had claimed that there were "talks within the BJP" to replace Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, a claim denied by senior party ministers. There were no discussions within the BJP on replacing Fadnavis, the source said, adding that the CM was "adequately capable" of handling the ongoing protests. Shah was on a day-long visit to the city yesterday, during which he met Bhagwat, who was also in Mumbai. As part of his visit, Shah also attended a special preview screening of "Chalo Jeete Hain", (Come, let's live), a film based on Modi's early life. Mumbai-rains Torrential rains continued to batter parts of north India today, with worst-hit Uttar Pradesh recording 31 rain-related deaths and the Yamuna breaching the danger mark in the national capital, prompting authorities to evacuate people from low-lying areas. Fifty-eight people have died and 53 suffered injuries in rain-related incidents in UP since Thursday, officials said today. Till yesterday, the number of deaths stood at 27. Eleven people lost their lives in Saharanpur, 10 in Meerut, six in Agra, four in Mainpuri, three each in Muzaffarnagar and Kasganj, two each in Amroha, Bareilly, Baghpat and Bulandshahr and one each in Kanpur Dehat, Mathura, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Rae Bareli, Jalaun, Jaunpur, Pratapgarh, Banda, Firozabad, Amethi, Kanpur and Pilibhit districts, they said. Six members of a family, including a baby, were killed and a boy was injured when a portion of their house collapsed due to incessant rains in Saharanpur district, SP (Rural) Vidya Sagar Mishra said. In a similar incident, two people, including a minor girl, were today killed and 13 others injured when a part of their house collapsed due to heavy rains in Muzaffarnagar. About 23 cm of rainfall was recorded in Meerut, 13 cm each in Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar, 10 cm in Bijnore, 8 cm in Moradabad, 7 cm in Etawah, 6 cm each in Hardoi and Baheri, 5 cm each in Kannauj, Gautam Budhnagar, Pilibhit and Bareilly since yesterday. The weatherman has forecast "heavy to very heavy rains" in Sonebhadra, Mirzapur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Ghazipur, Ballia, Maunath Bhanjan, Azamgarh, Deoria districts, a spokesperson of the Relief Commissioner's Office said. In Delhi, the Yamuna's water level crossed the danger mark, prompting authorities to evacuate people from low-lying areas. "The Central Water Commission, Upper Yamuna Division, New Delhi, has issued a flood forecast for the Delhi Railway Bridge. The Yamuna's water level there reached 205 metres at 9 am (warning level 204m)," a Delhi government advisory read. The water level at the Delhi Railway Bridge is expected to rise to 205.40m between 9 pm and 11 pm today, the East Delhi district administration said in a statement. At the Hathinikund Barrage here, the river water level crossed the danger mark of 90,000 cusecs and touched the 2.11 lakh-cusec mark at 9 am. The water level of the Yamuna at the Delhi Old Railway Bridge rose to 205.20 metres at 5pm and is expected to rise further with more rains predicted, an official said. "All the executive engineers/sector officers are directed to keep close contact with the control room in relation to the discharge, the water level at the Old Railway Bridge and the advisory or forecast from the Central Water Commission/MeT, and requested to take appropriate measures/steps accordingly to avoid flood-like situation," the advisory read. In Uttarakhand, the government directed its disaster management department to remain alert in view of continuous rain in most parts of the state. The local MeT office predicted more precipitation over the next 72 hours. Chief Secretary Utpal Kumar Singh spoke with all district magistrates on the phone and asked them to keep a strict vigil at places prone to water logging, villages with no connectivity and people residing in riverside towns and villages, an official release said. He instructed the disaster management department to keep the immediate response system fully active. The SDRF deployed at sensitive locations was also asked to be prepared to deal with any exigency, it said. In Haryana, the Yamunanagar district administration issued a high alert as the water level in the Yamuna crossed the five lakh-cusec mark due to a downpour. Officials said the situation was at present under control and all necessary arrangements have been made to tackle any contingency. The authorities have cautioned the Delhi administration about the rise in the river water level. A team of the State Disaster Management Force has been put on alert, the officials said. In Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur district, two pilgrims were swept away by flash floods triggered by heavy rains, a government spokesperson said. The Himachal Police and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police have so far rescued 251 out of the 286 Kinner Kailash devotees who were stranded due to flash floods, he said. Meanwhile, the Union home ministry's National Emergency Response Centre said that 537 people have lost their lives in six states due to floods and rains in the monsoon season this year. According to the NERC, 139 people have died in Maharashtra, 126 in Kerala, 116 in West Bengal, 70 in UP, 52 in Gujarat and 34 in Assam due to floods and rains. Heavy rains have hit 26 districts in Maharashtra, 22 in West Bengal, 21 in Assam, 14 in Kerala and 10 in Gujarat and large swathes of UP so far. In Assam, 10.17 lakh people have borne the brunt of rains and floods, of which 2.17 lakh have taken shelter in relief camps, while in West Bengal 1.61 lakh people have been marooned. In Kerala, the floods have impacted 1.43 lakh people. Italy's far right deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini has accused the European Union of attempting to "swindle" the United Kingdom out of the Brexit people voted for in the landmark 2016 referendum, The Sunday Times reported. "My experience in the European parliament tells me you either impose yourself or they swindle you", Salvini told the weekly as he urged prime minister Theresa May to take a harder stance in negotiations to sever ties with the trading bloc. May and her ministers are scrambling to forge agreements with each of the EU's 27 member states after a week which saw her already fragile "Chequers plan" for Brexit knocked back by Brussels chief negotiator Michel Barnier. On Thursday Barnier rejected May's plan to keep the border between EU member Ireland and the UK province of Northern Ireland open, with a dual system of taxes levied by each side for the benefit of the other. But League party leader Salvini has urged May to consider taking a hard line, potentially leaving the EU without securing a deal. "Because on some principles there is no need to be flexible and you should not go backwards," he told The Times. The paper said he also implied the EU is attempting to punish Britain for seeking to leave, claiming: "There is no objectivity or good faith from the European side." "I hope the negotiations end well for the UK to serve as an example of the people coming out on top of the EU," he added. "I remember the referendum stage as an example of participation and freedom; I hope it can be an opportunity for the British." Barnier has attempted to scupper May's plan to circumvent Brussels in striking a deal with the member states, insisting that there is not a "sliver of difference" between him and the 27 nation leaders. But according to The Times Salvini has said he would welcome one-on-one talks with May, undermining Barnier's authority as the head of talks. The workers' union of Minera Escondida, the Chilean copper mine that is the highest-producing in the world, threatened an "imminent" strike after rejecting the latest proposal from controlling firm BHP. "The strike is imminent, we have not been able to meet with the company," Carlos Allendes, a union spokesman, told AFP today. The stoppage would affect production at a mine where 5 percent of the world's copper is produced. After nearly six weeks of negotiations with Anglo-Australian company BHP, the nearly 2,500 members of the mine's largest union today began voting on whether to reject or approve the firm's latest proposal. Balloting is to continue until August 1, but union leaders have recommended rejecting it. If the workers do reject the offer, mediation will begin. If an agreement is still not reached, the union could strike again, as happened last year, paralysing the company for 44 days. "We have made an effort as a company and we are confident that our workers will consider it," Patricio Vilaplana, Escondida's vice president for corporate affairs, said after the company delivered its latest proposal. The union is calling for a five percent salary increase and a conflict termination bonus of four percent of dividends received by shareholders last year, or about USD 34,000 per worker. The company has increased its initial offer of 13.5 million Chilean pesos to 15 million (USD 23,000) per worker as a bonus for ending the negotiation. The mine is located in the Atacama desert at an altitude of about 3,100 metres (10,100 feet). A television program written and produced by a former Midlander recently received silver and bronze awards during the national 39th annual Telly Awards. Linda Thorsen Bond wrote and produced the Longmont Channel video, "Hot Time in the Old Town --1925." The video received the Silver Telly Award for the People's Telly - TV Programs/Segments and a Bronze Award in the General-History television category. The program highlights the Hovers, a prominent family from Longmont, Colorado, who hosted famous suppers at historic Hover House. The suppers illustrated the hope, determination, commitment and success of the Longmont community, according to a press release about the award. "Last summer in Colorado, the television station in Longmont wanted to videotape the outdoor drama I was doing there, so I rewrote it for TV and they did an incredible job shooting and editing it," Bond said in an email. "The general manager of the TV station surprised us all by entering it to the Telly Awards. This was a huge, national win for all of us, including the actors, the production crew and the historic home. Before leaving Midland in 2002, Bond was a producer at KOSA-TV, director of development and marketing at Midland Community Theatre and executive director of the Arts Assembly of Midland. She wrote and produced historic plays about Midland's Brown Dorsey House, the Scarborough-Linebery House and the Santa Rita drilling rig at the Petroleum Museum. "I really owe a debt of thanks to Midland. That's where I wrote my first historic play 'The Wedding of Sarah Brown Dorsey,' she said. "It was so much fun I've kept on writing interactive historical dramas, and now I've written and produced about 20 of them. I've done other stage shows, like musicals in New York, Great Britain and all around the world. But it was really putting together a show to raise money for the Brown-Dorsey House that got me started." Bond said the People's Telly award has significant meaning because people from across the United States voted for the production. The General-History award was judged by experts to be one of the most significant historical productions of the year. "There's nothing more fun to me than creating immersive historic events that let people step into the past," Bond said. "It's an honor to be recognized for my work." As a young girl, Midland artist Sara Drescher used to visit the Museum of the Southwest where she was exposed to a variety of art. Fast forward to her post-college years, and she worked with the museum on special projects and had a piece in a juried art show. But she never thought about having her own show there. In January that changed. Thats when she received the news that Midlands museum would showcase her work. . I was stumbling on how fast I could say Yes. Ive grown up in Midland and this is my museum. I was so thrilled that they thought enough of my work to showcase it, she said. As the final exhibition of the museums Contemporary Series 2018, Resonance opened Friday in the Mary Blanton Kennedy Gallery and will run through Nov. 11. Among local artists, Drescher is a familiar name. Her art pieces are often centered on a figure or person with a sort of spiritual aura. They represent aspects of her faith but in surrealist fashion. They are often magical and evocative. In Resonance, however, she has moved in a new direction that also challenged her approach. This show was the perfect place to show her newest works that are different but retain her signature style. For the last two years Ive been incorporating an abstract element into my work, she said in the gallery as her art is being hung and the walls lit. I always had a portrait or full figure in my work, but adding this has been so fun because its very unpredictable. Where before she was very controlled and detailed about her works, Drescher describes each inception for her new pieces as chaos. She was also used to watercolors, but working wet and seeing the colors move have given her an unfamiliar feeling that shes worked to embrace. It pushes me as an artist to challenge my eye and color sense and out of my comfort zone, she said. I call it the underpainting and the abstract part of it tells me what kind of area or place needs more attention. That crossroads of the new and the familiar is when she adds her portrait or figure that is her signature trait. I feel like the people in my work engage or speak to people. That maybe it can connect as a reminder of someone or the viewer recognizing something in themselves, she said. Dreschers Christian faith is incorporated into her work. Oftentimes, shell accompany her work with mini-essays on what it means or how she sees it. Her words on her art can be seen in Resonance via QR codes should the viewer wish to learn more about her thought process. But Drescher said it isnt required reading. As for the subject matter, she balances out her beliefs with accessibility. Since college Ive been incorporating my spiritual walk in my work, but I never wanted to hit people over the head with it, she said. My work is about encouraging people and these faces represent every person. But its all very open-ended. I always write something about each painting or what scripture inspired the title and what I think I see in it. Its amazing and fun incorporating a spiritual element into something that is very tangible. Perhaps her new art is a way of having her cake and eat it too -- only without a fork. I have to create a frequency that matches, she said. That harmony is very organic and capricious where the sketches are structural. Im making it really hard on myself to make those two work together (laughs). This truly has allowed me to grow. Resonance contains more than 30 pieces of art, many which can be seen on her website (saradrescher.com), but Friday, she did reveal a new work. The centerpiece of her show is a triptych titled This Present Eternal. Inspired by author C.S. Lewis words, she described it about the freneticism todays society lives in which misses this moment in time. I hope I get this right but he said The present is where time and the eternal meet, she said. So this moment is where we connect and to look for that in the chaotic swirl around us. Dreschers shift began with a class in Stanton two years ago. Upon some friends advice, she began a workshop with abstract artist Douglas Walton. His advice to begin randomly was initially difficult for her, but she said it was exactly what she needed. It caught me at right place and ready for change. The workshop gave me courage to try this. I think life is about learning and taking that class was a great way to try something very different, she said. As for what she learned, it was that less is more. She discovered how to let the painting speak for itself. I leave more of what happens and dont cover it up as much. Its been challenging to be simple and to think Im done, but its also more powerful like, she said. She points to her painting Refugee as a primary example. Drescher doesnt see her art as very personal, but instead with an outward energy. None of her portraits or figures are of herself, but she does say there is a part of her in there as she describes her work Forgiveness. I went through something that was hard and life-changing and I needed to grieve through it. When I finished this piece, I knew what it was, she explained. Resonance by Sara Drescher is on display through Nov. 11. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Tuesday through Saturday, and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Museum of the Southwest, 1705 W. Missouri Ave. museumsw.org. --- Additional programming at Museum of the Southwest for Resonance Teach On! Presents: The Art of Storytelling with Sara Drescher Sara Dreschers artistic voice combines figurative portraits with organic abstracts to create stories and deeper connections between imagery and ideas. Educators will learn how to use her techniques in their classrooms to encourage student creativity and storytelling. Open to the public but educators will receive professional development credits and lesson plans. 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday. Free for members, $25 for non-members. Museumsw.org. The Business of Art presents Sara Drescher In this lecture series, Drescher will discuss her technique as well as her journey from quitting her job to becoming a professional, award-winning artist. 6 p.m. Oct. 4. Free. museumsw.org. Three people were shot to death at a Texas nursing home Friday night and two others were found dead at a nearby residence, in what authorities said were related episodes. The police in Robstown, Texas, about 20 miles west of Corpus Christi, responded to an active shooting at the Retama Manor Nursing Center about 7 p.m. Friday. Three people were found dead at the nursing home, and the killer was among the dead, said Herman Rodriguez, a spokesman for the city. Officials did not specifically say how the killer had died, although they said the threat at the nursing home had been neutralized by the time officers arrived. We are looking at a murder investigation, Chief Erasmo Flores of the Robstown Police Department said in a statement. Two people were found dead at the home of one of the people killed at the nursing home, Rodriguez said. He said family members went to the residence and discovered the bodies. It was unclear how those two people died, but Rodriguez called the attack at the nursing home the primary shooting. Robstown is a city of about 11,500 people. The nursing home is a for-profit senior care community, with about 94 beds, according to the police. This is a profound incident that doesnt really transpire too often in Robstown, Rodriguez said in an interview with local news media Friday. Were a small community and a lot of the families, we know each other. More than 50 people were gathered in the parking lot of the Family Dollar store across the street from the nursing home, Daisy Velasquez, an assistant manager of the shop, said in an interview Friday night. Family members of nursing home residents were waiting there to hear more from the authorities, she said. She said police officers entered the store Friday night and told employees to lock all their doors. Authorities first told the employees that there was a reported robbery, she said, then corrected themselves to say it was a shooting. This article originally appeared in The New York Times 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. Midland ISD Superintendent Orlando Riddick doesnt need to resign. Midland Moms on a Mission feels differently. By now, many of you know this activist group has called on Riddick to step down. This group was started because of the bullying that is happening on campuses across Midland. These womens concerns are real, and Midlanders should stand by their side to help them accomplish their mission of a safe educational atmosphere. But that doesnt mean the superintendent needs to go. Bullying was taking place in Midland before Riddicks arrival a little more than one year ago. It will happen after he has moved on. Some parents have failed to raise their children to follow the Golden Rule do unto others as you would have others do unto you. Our community has failed to teach them right from wrong. RELATED: Petition created to remove MISD superintendent Again, that doesnt mean the superintendent needs to go. No, Midland ISD needs to go in a different direction. The school board needs to step up and recognize that the challenge of combating bullying is bigger than any one person. The board needs to place on the August or September agenda an item seeking recommendations from the bullying review committee that Riddick has tasked with tackling bullying in the districts schools. Then, the board should call on MISDs new executive director of police to develop a strategy to handle cases in which bullying crosses the line and becomes a criminal issue. We know, based on public comments from Midland Moms on a Mission, that bullying isnt always what one would expect. But we should accept the challenge to protect our youth by partnering with groups such as the Midland Rape Crisis and Childrens Advocacy Center to bring their expertise to deal with the most extreme cases. We know those cases exist. We know the district needs our help. Some people will say MISDs style of leadership isnt to allow the board to micromanage. I say it is past time for the board to step up, call for reasonable heads to come together to find a real solution and allow Riddick to address academic and growth issues. Positive things are happening in the area of academic improvement. It seems like slow going, but steps are being made that Midlanders can be proud of. Need proof? South Elementary seems to be headed off the states improvement required list. South went into the 2017-18 year with one of the longest failing streaks in the state. Its former principal, Lety Amalla, is moving to central office, so she can impact more campuses. Long-time educator Barbara Yarbrough told the Reporter-Telegram that the move was the right one for Midland. We need to see where Riddick can take this community and how he will use school choice, in-district charters and other non-traditional methods to create a school system that is right for Midland. The story of Midland Moms on a Mission will not be forgotten. The case of an elementary school student who, it appears, was sexually assaulted on campus by another student makes me sick to my stomach. I have two daughters, and it pains me to think their classmates could be capable of such damage. The police detective on the case told the Reporter-Telegram that the only thing keeping the offending student from being arrested was her age. So sad. We wont forget you, Midland Moms on a Mission, and we will say we are sorry. You deserve that. The victim and her family deserve that. Someone on board needs to follow my lead in letting you know that the most devastating incident of bullying that some of us have heard has exposed a hole in the districts protocol. Then that someone needs to say, Were sorry. Again, there is an opportunity for our community to do better. Are we up for the challenge? Anyone with information about these or other crimes can call the appropriate Crimestoppers number. Callers can be anonymous; a reward of as much as $1,000 will be paid for information leading to an arrest. Crimestoppers of Morgan and Scott Counties Submit tips anonymously at tipsubmit.com, by calling 217-243-7300 or by text messaging CRIMES (274637) with payout as the first word of the tip. Crimestoppers is seeking information to assist the Jacksonville Police Department with its investigation of an aggravated battery and robbery. About 10:45 p.m. July 23, a man was robbed in the 300 block of West Morton Avenue. The suspect struck the man over the head and took his wallet. The robber was described as a black male standing about 6 feet tall and weighing 260 pounds. He was wearing a black cap, hoodie and gray jeans. Witnesses reported seeing two slim-built men running north on South East Street at the time of the robbery. Two Rivers Crime Stoppers Serves Calhoun, Greene and Jersey counties. Submit tips to 1-800-300-2590. Two Rivers Crime Stoppers is seeking information to assist the Calhoun County sheriffs department with its investigation of burglaries to soda machines. About 2:30-4 a.m. July 7, someone in a pickup truck broke into three separate soda machines in Brussels. No damage was done and evidence leads authorities to believe those responsible have some type of master key. Two Rivers Crime Stoppers is seeking information to assist the Calhoun County sheriffs department with its investigation of property damage and reckless driving. Between July 22 and July 26, storage units on Illinois Route 96 were damaged when a vehicle left the road. The vehicle entered the property through a ditch then spun 360s, causing rocks to be thrown on storage units, chipping paint and causing ruts into the parking lot. Schuyler County Crimestoppers Call 217-322-3326 Pike County Crimestoppers Call 217-285-1500 Wanted on warrants The following are being sought on arrest warrants, according to the various sheriffs departments. The addresses listed are the last known addresses provided by the warrants and may be outdated. Morgan County Kevin S. Middendorf, 54, homeless, is being sought on a warrant accusing him of failing to appear in court on charges of disorderly conduct and criminal trespass to real property. He is a white male standing 5-foot-7 and weighing 155 pounds. He has green eyes and brown hair. Tricycles to be banned from using ... By The Associated Press Jul. 26, 2018 | 05:07 PM | LOUISVILLE Top global whiskey associations put aside their marketplace competition Thursday to show a united front in denouncing tariffs and urging world leaders to end their disputes before trade wars start siphoning global sales of distilled spirits. After two days of talks, representatives of nine global distilled spirits organizations meeting in Kentucky signed a resolution urging the "prompt removal" of recent tariffs. American whiskey makers have become caught in the middle of disputes, with tariffs slapped on their products and other goods in trade conflicts pitting the U.S. against key allies. "When we were talking this morning, we couldn't agree on who produces the best whiskey," Kentucky Distillers' Association President Eric Gregory said. "We couldn't agree on whether it's spelled w-h-i-s-k-e-y or w-h-i-s-k-y. But we did agree unanimously ... that open and fair trade is essential for the future of our global industry." The spirits groups said they were encouraged by signs that the U.S. and the European Union are stepping back from the brink of a trade war. President Donald Trump and European leaders agreed Wednesday to open talks to tear down trade barriers between the U.S. and the EU. Perhaps those negotiators could resolve the trade conflicts over a drink or two, summit participants suggested. "Let's just sit down and have a reasonable and logical (discussion) and raise a toast of bourbon or any other spirit and get this sorted," said Aoife Clarke, representing the Irish Whiskey & Spirits Association at the summit. Groups from the Irish whiskey and Scotch whisky industries as well as trade groups for spirits producers in Japan, Canada, Europe and the U.S. were represented at the summit. Their theme: "Nobody wins in a trade war." Asked afterward if the group's message could influence world leaders, Clarke said: "There's the question, isn't it? I do believe a collective voice is a powerful voice." Trade disputes have resulted in tariffs imposed in some key overseas markets for bourbon and other American whiskeys, including the European Union where Kentucky spirits producers exported nearly $200 million of their products in 2017. American whiskey makers also face retaliatory tariffs in Canada, Mexico and China. EU tariffs targeting American whiskey and other U.S. products were a response to President Donald Trump's decision to slap tariffs on European steel and aluminum. Those duties amount to a tax, which producers can pass along to consumers through higher prices or absorb shrinking profits. Global whiskey makers share concerns that an escalation in trade disputes would lead to expanded and higher tariffs. Some large American distillers gained a short-term cushion from trade disputes by stockpiling supplies in countries ahead of tariffs. But if the trade dispute becomes prolonged, they'll be hit, too. And if the trade disputes widened, they could face repeated hits because some have distilleries in multiple countries. Smaller distillers didn't have the luxury of stockpiling. Foreign markets have become lucrative for spirits makers worldwide in the past two decades. U.S. spirits exports surged from $575 million in 1997 to $1.64 billion in 2017, according to the Distilled Spirits Council. Spirits makers in other countries also have benefited from rising exports. "The whiskey industry in Europe, in the United States, Canada and Japan has all benefited for more than 20 years of tariff-free trade," said Karen Betts with the Scotch Whisky Association. "That tariff-free trade has supported the livelihoods of ordinary people who have made a global success of exporting their local whiskeys." Summit participants steered clear of assigning blame for trade disputes threatening their industries. Clarke said the causes were "world economics and politics," adding: "We're not here to point fingers." The sudden emergence of trade conflicts could influence how whiskey companies set future global strategy, she said. "We shouldn't have all our eggs in one basket," she said. "We need to be exploring other markets. We need to be making sure that we are selling our products in as wide and open a marketplace as possible, and maybe just not relying on one or two particular markets to grow our industry." President Xi Jinping returned to Beijing Sunday after state visits to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Senegal, Rwanda and South Africa. Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech titled "Keeping Abreast of the Trend of the Times to Achieve Common Development" at the BRICS Business Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa, July 25, 2018. [Photo: Xinhua] During his stay in South Africa, Xi attended the 10th BRICS summit in Johannesburg. He also paid a friendly visit to Mauritius during a stopover on his way back to Beijing. Xi's entourage included his wife Peng Liyuan; Ding Xuexiang, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee; Yang Jiechi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee; Wang Yi, State Councilor and Foreign Minister; and He Lifeng, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and head of the National Development and Reform Commission. When Xi left Port Louis for Beijing, Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, together with his wife and cabinet members, saw him off at the airport. Xi thanked the Mauritian side for its warm reception and thoughtful arrangements. He said the friendly visit to Mauritius has been a successful conclusion to his trip to Asia and Africa. Although the visit to Mauritius was brief, the results were fruitful and significant, which will surely consolidate and strengthen the friendly ties between China and Mauritius, said Xi. Jugnauth congratulated Xi on the success of his visit to Mauritius. He thanked China for its long-term assistance and support to Mauritius and looked forward to meeting Xi again during the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in September. Two men died early Thursday morning in a two-vehicle collision on Business Interstate 20, according to a press release from the Texas Department of Public Safety. This brings to seven the number of people who have died in wrecks on roads in Midland County this month and the 25th this year, according to Reporter-Telegram records. Odessa Darren R. Sigley, 21, was driving a Ford Mustang eastbound on BI-20, and 39-year-old Bradley M. Eller of San Antonio was driving a Toyota Tundra westbound. Eller was driving on the wrong side of the road and hit the Mustang head-on, according to the release. Both men died at the scene of the wreck that occurred shortly before 1:30 a.m. Thursday about three miles west of Midland. Sigley was wearing a seat belt, but Eller was not, according to the release. Sigley and Eller are the 24th and 25th people to have died in wrecks on roads in Midland County this year, and the sixth and seventh this month, according to Reporter-Telegram records. The seven fatalities this month is the most since July of 2017 (when eight people died in accidents on roads inside Midland County. The most in a month (10) going back to the start of 2013 happened in October 2014, according to Reporter-Telegram records. Thursdays wreck is the fifth fatal wreck this month and the second in which two people were killed, according to previous Reporter-Telegram articles: --Two men died July 10 in a wreck on Interstate 20 after their pickup was hit by a Peterbilt truck tractor towing a semi-trailer. The Peterbilt driver, Jose Gilvane Oliveira Baldassari, 48, of Deerfield Beach, Florida, fled the scene of the wreck, which involved five vehicles. He was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents in El Paso on July 12, according to a previous article, and was transported to Midland on July 16. He was being held in Midland County jail Friday on $300,000 bonds for two second-degree felony manslaughter charges. --A 35-year-old Murchison man died July 12 in a two-vehicle wreck on Farm-to-Market Road 307. -- A 28-year-old Stanton man died July 13 in a one-vehicle crash on the Interstate Highway 20 south service road. --A motorcyclist died July 14 after being hit by a pickup on Front Street. ---- Most fatalities in a month (going back to 2103) October 2014 10 July 2017 8 December 2014 8 July 2018 7 July 2015 7 May 2013 7 Fatalities by month this year January: 0 February: 2 March 4: April: 6 May: 3 June: 3 July: 7 (as of 7-26) Total year-to-date: 25 A man who was arrested last weekend after allegedly abducting a child faces two additional felony charges, according to court documents. Ramon Daniel Hernandez, 28, was being held Friday on $75,000 bonds for first-degree felony charges of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery as well as a $75,000 bond for a second-degree felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. A Midland police officer was dispatched at about 3 p.m. July 21 in reference to a stolen vehicle. A man, woman and a child were in a vehicle with Hernandez when they stopped at a gas station, according to a previous Reporter-Telegram report. The man and woman got out of the vehicle, and then Hernandez drove off with the child in the back seat and threatened to use deadly force against him, according to the report. The man and woman received a ride to a residence, where Hernandez dropped off the child, according to his arrest affidavit. Hernandez allegedly brandished a knife and proceeded to take the vehicle again. He struck the mans leg with the vehicle before driving through a wooden fence, according to the affidavit. Police later found the stolen vehicle near a residence associated with Hernandez, according to the affidavit. Hernandez was arrested July 22 after he barricaded himself in a house, according to previous Reporter-Telegram reports. Police officers went to serve a warrant on the kidnapping charge when he refused to comply, according to the reports. He was arrested Wednesday evening on the aggravated robbery and aggravated assault charges. If convicted, Hernandez could face up to life imprisonment for a first-degree felony charge and up to 20 years imprisonment for the second-degree felony charge. A woman died after a hit-and-run in south Houston Saturday, Houston police said. Shortly after 5 p.m., an eastbound green Ford Ranger pickup truck struck a 63-year-old woman, who was walking south at 4700 Yellowstone Boulevard, said a spokesperson for the Houston Police Department. The pedestrian was not in a crosswalk at the time of the crash, the spokesperson said. She was taken to Ben Taub Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, the spokesperson said. While fleeing, the driver hit a white Nissan Altima, causing minor damage. Its driver sustained no injuries, the spokesperson said. The suspect remains at large. Authorities urge anyone with information on this vehicle to call Crime Stoppers at (713) 222-TIPS. victoria.cheyne@chron.com twitter.com/victoria_cheyne WASHINGTON - The former archbishop of Washington, accused of sexually abusing adults and minors for decades, resigned from the College of Cardinals on Saturday, becoming the first cardinal in history to step down due to sexual abuse allegations and magnifying the abuse crisis that Pope Francis is grappling with around the globe. News of the resignation of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, a longtime globe-trotting diplomat for the Catholic Church and a public face for efforts to end clergy sexual abuse, has roiled the local Catholic community and the wider church. Pope Francis ordered McCarrick to remain in seclusion, and in prayer, until a church trial considers further sanctions. McCarrick's fall is "gut-wrenching" for local Catholics, said John Gehring, a Catholic author who worked for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops while McCarrick led the Washington archdiocese. "Most Catholics, including myself, are just sickened by the fact that it seems like so much was known about his behavior, and he still climbed the ranks of the church. He never should have been made a cardinal. ... It can never happen again." McCarrick, 88, was found by the church in June to be credibly accused of sexually abusing a teenager nearly 50 years ago. Since then, additional reports of sexual abuse and harassment by the cardinal, over a span of decades, have been reported. The additional victims include one then-minor and three adults, who were young priests or seminarians when McCarrick allegedly abused them. McCarrick is the highest ranked U.S. Catholic clergy member to ever be removed from ministry due to sexual abuse allegations, and the first cardinal to fully resign his position since 1927. Cardinal Keith O'Brien, from Scotland, renounced the rights and privileges of his position after a string of accusations in 2013 about sexual misconduct. But he did not officially depart the College of Cardinals, and Pope Francis only accepted O'Brien's resignation two years after the allegations came out. The Vatican said McCarrick will face a canonical trial, though it did not provide details about when the trial would be conducted. Kurt Martens, a professor of canon law at Catholic University, noted that the Catholic church has typically punished people by ordering them to conduct a life of "prayer and penance." In McCarrick's case, the Vatican has imposed that penalty before the trial has even started - raising pressure on the church to find a stronger form of punishment. "Because you're running out of options if you want to impose a further penalty," Martens said. "I would not be surprised if he gets dismissed from the clerical state." That would mean that after spending most of his life as a church leader, McCarrick would be defrocked entirely -- becoming a lay person, not a Catholic priest. The now-60-year-old Virginia man who alleged that McCarrick abused him beginning when he was around 11, said he was very emotional upon learning Saturday that Pope Francis had accepted McCarrick's resignation, signalling that the church believes the accusers. "The Vatican now knows everything, realizes the depth of his destruction in the church and that it's time to clean house," said James, who spoke on the condition that his last name not be used to protect his family. As for McCarrick: "He's been guilty since the beginning of his life. And he's now realized he's cornered and can't come out." Francis's swift and decisive action regarding McCarrick comes as the pope also contends with a massive case of abuse and cover-up in Chile - a country where the Argentinian pontiff dispatched Vatican investigators. The country's 34 bishops offered to step down en masse after meeting with Francis in May; so far, the pope has accepted five of those resignations. Francis later this month will travel to Ireland, another country where the church was scared and weakened by systemic abuse. Austen Ivereigh, a Francis biographer, said that the appetite across the world has grown for the pope to show more than just verbal contrition in the biggest cases. "I think a lot of people are saying this is the time for new kinds of action, rather than repeating words," Ivereigh said. "A much more proactive stance. Of the sort like sending your top prosecutor to investigate Chile. A stance where the pope, when he sees or suspects an institutional omerta, he reacts." The allegations against McCarrick unfolded piecemeal over the past two months. In June, McCarrick was removed from ministry when a church review board found that he had been credibly accused of abusing a teenager early in his career, when he was a priest in New York. The youth was helping prepare for a Christmas service when McCarrick allegedly put his hands in the boy's pants. When he was removed from ministry, McCarrick said he had no memory at all of that incident and maintained his innocence, but he accepted the Vatican's decision. Then came more. A Virginia man, now 60, told the New York Times and then The Washington Post that McCarrick, a friend of his father, abused him for nearly 20 years, starting when he was 11. He said it started when McCarrick urged him to show him his genitals while changing clothes after a swim party, and continued into his adulthood. The New Jersey diocese of Metuchen and the archdiocese of Newark, both of which McCarrick led before he was promoted to archbishop of Washington in 2001, revealed that they had reached settlements in the 2000s with two men who accused McCarrick of sexually harassing them when they were adults. In one case, Robert Ciolek, a former priest, said McCarrick would invite him and other seminarians to a beach house, where there was always one bed too few, so one man would have to sleep with the bishop. Ciolek, who said McCarrick never kissed him or touched him below the waist but did give and demand unwanted back rubs, reached an $80,000 settlement with the dioceses for McCarrick's conduct and abuse he also suffered at the hands of a high school teacher when he was a teenager in Catholic school. Ciolek said the church imposed an agreement that he not speak to the media about McCarrick's abuse, which it released him from this year. In the second case, which The Washington Post learned about after examining extensive church files, a former priest said McCarrick abused him while on a fishing trip and again on a trip to New York City, where McCarrick made him sleep with him and rubbed his crotch. The New York Times reported that the church settled with that former priest - who himself was removed from ministry in the mid-2000s, about a decade after he admitted that he had touched two teenage boys - for $100,000. That priest has not returned requests for comment. A third man brought a lawsuit over McCarrick's harassment in 2011 but then withdrew it from the court system. According to files obtained by The Washington Post, that man - a priest from Brazil - also alleged McCarrick forced unwanted sexual acts on him while at a trip to a beach house. Francis apparently is moving toward a church trial based on the sum total of these news reports, not just the New York case involving the teenager that the church has already investigated. The Vatican's statement Saturday said the canonical trial would handle the "accusations," plural, against McCarrick. The allegations have startled Catholics, especially in Washington, where McCarrick was a well-liked local archbishop from 2001 to 2006. At the Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Washington on Saturday, parishioners were discussing the cardinal with their families as they walked into 4 p.m. Mass. Michael Mora, who said he's very involved in the church, said he had been shocked to hear the reports about his former archbishop: "I feel betrayed." "I'm glad that he resigned and the church is doing something about it," Mora said. "They have to follow the rules of discipline, whoever it is, but especially for someone higher up." McCarrick stepped down from the Washington archdiocese when he reached retirement age but remained an active diplomat for the church - traveling around the world at the behest of the Vatican and occasionally the U.S. State Department to advocate for religious freedom and intervene in conflicts. "The message is quite clear: no person or institution can feel safe," said Father Hans Zollner, a member of the Vatican Commission for the Protection of Minors. "Even those who hold the office of a bishop or cardinal. If there are allegations, we need to follow the normal procedure, and it'll no longer be possible to muddy, conceal or hide them in a drawer and forget about it." In an interview with Washington radio station WTOP, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who succeeded McCormick as the Archbishop of Washington, said that the pope's acceptance of McCarrick's resignation "highlights for me ... that the pope takes very seriously the allegation of an abuse of a minor." "The pope is saying that we need to show that we are hearing these things, paying attention and acting," Wuerl said in the interview. Wuerl also said he has never been approached by anyone alleging of abuse by McCarrick and was unaware of the rumors surrounding McCarrck's behavior, WTOP reported. Pope Francis has faced increasing calls to more forcefully handle cases of sexual abuse involving not just priests, but also leaders at the highest echelons of the church. Earlier this week, Cardinal Sean O'Malley, Francis's chief adviser on sexual abuse, said that a "major gap still exists" and called for more muscular church policies to address the punishment of bishops and cardinals. "Failure to take these actions will threaten and endanger the already weakened moral authority of the Church," O'Malley said. Critics say that the Vatican still handles cases without transparency and too often fails to take action against unless allegations become public. McCarrick was a high-profile figure whose behavior was likely known by many, said Marie Collins, a former member of the Vatican Commission for the Protection of Minors who resigned last year, citing a reluctance among Vatican administrators to implement the commission's recommendations. "I don't think the pope or the Vatican has changed in any way," Collins said. "When things are public or are no longer tenable, they are asked to resign, and they have the prayer and penitence. But that is not the same thing as proper accountability." - - - The Washington Post's Michelle Boorstein and Lynh Bui in Washington and Stefano Pitrelli in Rome contributed to this report. COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - In 2003, billionaire industrialist Charles Koch gathered a small group of like-minded business leaders to oppose increased federal spending and steel tariffs under the George W. Bush administration. Koch, 82, is now ringing the alarms again 15 years later at this weekend's meeting, which has grown to include more than 500 major donors to his influential network, amid the brewing trade war under President Donald Trump. The twice-annual confab kicked off Saturday afternoon with a video message released to reporters in which an impassioned Koch decries protectionism and those who support it. "They're doing whatever they can to close themselves off from the new, hold on to the past and prevent change," Koch says in a video. "This is a natural tendency, but it's a destructive one, because when people act in protectionist ways, they erect barriers, which makes everyone worse off." The four-minute video was produced for the three-day gathering at the sprawling Broadmoor resort here and will be broadcast to the megadonors in attendance who have each contributed at least $100,000 annually to Koch-linked groups. It will be shown at Koch network events across the country, signaling the seriousness with which the network intends to raise the pressure on the Trump administration over its trade policy. The video is narrated entirely by Koch, dressed in a light-blue, button-down shirt and dark-blue blazer, speaking directly to the camera. He describes the beginnings of Koch Industries as historical footage of a younger Koch flashes on the screen, and he credits the growth of his company to "rejecting protectionism for a vision of mutual benefit and continual transformation." "When the U.S. has followed this vision, it's succeeded beyond what anyone could have imagined," Koch says in the video. "And if we remain true to this vision as a network, we will help people improve their lives beyond what any of us can imagine." But, he adds, "we face herculean task. Protectionism is perverting the key institutions of our society. It's created immense barriers that are holding people back. So if we want to help all people realize their potential, we have to break these barriers." The network is undertaking what officials described as "a multiyear, multimillion-dollar commitment" to promote the benefits of free trade. "The police response to tariffs in order to achieve anything is absolutely inappropriate policy, and we intend to make that case very strongly to the American people," said Brian Hooks, co-chair of the Seminar Network. "The policies right now are hurting people, no doubt about it." The network's top officials sharply criticized Trump's plan to provide $12 billion in emergency aid to farmers caught in the trade war, calling it a "bailout of bad policy." "We put tariffs, supposedly, to hurt and put pressure on China, and then it actually hurts farmers here," said James Davis, spokesman for the Seminar Network. "Crops waste away in the field, and then you pull a Depression-era program out to bail farmers, to make them whole. But who's underwriting our debt?" Earlier this year, Koch took aim at Trump's trade policy in a column that was published in The Washington Post, warning against the "harmful effects" of the administration's decision to impose steel and aluminum tariffs. Since then, the Koch network has run ad campaigns and mobilized its grass-roots activists across the country to oppose Trump's push for tariffs. Officials said the meeting this weekend is the largest summer gathering of like-minded donors, with 135 first-time participants. Among the Republican elected officials in attendance are Sens. John Cornyn, Texas, and Tim Scott, South Carolina, Reps. Marsha Blackburn, Ky., and Douglas Collins, Ga., Florida Gov. Rick Scott, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin and Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt. The Washington Post and other news outlets were invited to cover portions of the seminar on the condition that donors not be identified without their consent. - - - The Washington Post's James Hohmann contributed to this report. NABI SALEH, West Bank - Palestinian youth activist Ahed al-Tamimi was released from an Israeli prison on Sunday after serving an eight-month sentence on assault and incitement charges and arrived home to a hero's welcome. Tamimi, whose December arrest drew international attention, tearfully embraced relatives as a crowd of supporters jostled for selfies with the teen. Israeli authorities also released her mother, Nariman, who served a similar sentence for incitement. The mother and daughter were indicted by an Israeli military court after a video of the curly-haired teen kicking and slapping two armed Israeli soldiers in protective gear went viral on Facebook. Her mother was arrested shortly after she posted the footage on social media. Tamimi, 17, soon became a potent symbol of the Palestinian protest movement, her image gracing murals and posters around the globe. In her village in the West Bank, Nabi Saleh, activists and residents have staged weekly demonstrations since 2009, when Jewish settlers confiscated some of Nabi Saleh's land, including a spring that served as its water source. Israeli troops and border police have confronted the demonstrators, firing tear gas, arresting stone-throwers and imposing curfews. Israel says the security measures around Nabi Saleh, which has a population of about 500, and other areas are necessary to prevent the kind of attacks that Palestinians have recently carried out in Jewish settlements across the West Bank. In the hours after Tamimi's arrest in December, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said that the teen and her parents would not "escape what they deserve" and that anyone who was "wild during the day would be arrested at night." But in the hours after her release from prison, Tamimi said Sunday - sitting in the courtyard of her home - that she "knew a long time ago" that she would be arrested for "choosing this path" of opposition to the Israeli occupation. Her eight-month sentence was the result of a plea deal struck to avoid a lengthy trial, her attorney said. Israel has occupied the West Bank since it captured the land in a 1967 war. Over the decades, it has built numerous settlements that crisscross land the Palestinians claim for a future state, including in places like Nabi Saleh, which borders the Israeli outpost Halamish. As she spoke to reporters, Tamimi's unruly blond curls fell over her black-and-white checkered scarf, long an emblem of Palestinian nationalism. Her face was pale and her eyes bloodshot. Nationalists songs blared from loud speakers, including one written especially for her. "Despite the softness of your hands, your hands have shaken the world," the lyrics said. "Your hands returned the slap to the occupier and returned esteem to the nation." But a somber Tamimi acknowledged that "life in prison was very difficult." "Anyone who also chooses this path should prepare themselves to spend time in prison," she said. Israelis had nicknamed Tamimi "Shirley Temper" for her curls and repeated confrontations with Israeli soldiers. Officials, however, have deemed her a dangerous provocateur. A Sunday headline in the English-language Times of Israel declared that "soldier-slapper Ahed Tamimi" was released from prison. But rights groups said Sunday that her arrest highlighted Israel's practice of detaining Palestinian minors, who are also subject to the military court system in the West Bank. According to statistics released by the Israeli rights group B'Tselem this month, 291 Palestinian minors were held in Israeli prisons as security detainees and prisoners. "Ahed Tamimi has been released, but only after serving an unjust sentence based on the ridiculous premise that she posed a threat to armed and heavily protected soldiers," Saleh Higazi, Amnesty International's head of office in Jerusalem, said in a statement. "Ahed Tamimi's release must not obscure the familiar and continuing story of the Israeli military using discriminatory policies to lock up Palestinian children," said Higazi, who described her arrest as "a blatant attempt by the Israeli authorities to intimidate those who dare to challenge the ongoing brutal repression by occupying forces." Tamimi's father, Bassem, said he could not describe how happy he was to see his wife and daughter back home. "We are still under occupation," he said. But his daughter's "confidence is very high." --- Sufian Taha in Nabi Saleh contributed to this report. A body was found in Calaveras Lake early Saturday morning, according to the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office. According to Rolando Fuentes, a game warden with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the body found fits the reported age and gender of a man who went missing earlier this week. "Wednesday morning, a male, about mid-30s, informed his family that he was going to go fishing down South Foster Road and go fish at Calaveras Lake," said Fuentes, who was eventually involved in recovering the body. "He left home he resides in that area (and) left the home with his dog and the fishing gear, went down there Wednesday morning." The medical examiner's office, however, has yet to positively identify the body, a representative said. RELATED: Authorities identify subcontractor killed after he was crushed to death in San Antonio house Fuentes said the man then trespassed on private City Public Service property to fish on the lake. Later that evening, the dog returned home without the man, Fuentes said. The family of the man began looking for him on Thursday, Fuentes said. When they didn't find him, they reported him missing to the Bexar County Sheriff's Office. Texas game wardens were then notified of the situation by BCSO. "This morning, (at) about 8 o'clock, family members (of the missing person) were walking across the bridge and saw a body floating in the lake," Fuentes said. BCSO and the wardens were notified, Fuentes added, and he and another Warden used a boat to recover the body by 9:40 a.m. A BCSO investigation is pending. It appears the man drowned, and no foul play is suspected, Fuentes said. Calaveras Lake is about 20 miles southeast of San Antonio. This is a developing story. brian.contreras@express-news.net Laredos federal courthouse will be renamed after retired U.S. District Judge George P. Kazen after President Donald Trump approved the name change Friday. Trump signed a bill sponsored by U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz and U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar dubbing the building the George P. Kazen Federal Building and United States Courthouse, Cuellar spokeswoman Olya Voytovich said. Kazen, the first permanent sitting federal judge in Laredo, retired in March after serving nearly 40 years on the bench. President Jimmy Carter nominated Kazen to the post and the U.S. Senate confirmed him in 1979. Judge Kazen made countless contributions to the community of Laredo and our nations judicial system, Cornyn said in a statement. I was glad to join efforts with Senator Cruz and Representative Cuellar to honor Judge Kazens dedicated public service and ensure future generations of Texans can reflect on his legacy. Kazen a veteran who served in the Air Forces legal JAG Corps from 1962 to 1965 presided over criminal and civil cases for two decades as the sole federal judge in Laredo after his confirmation. He served as chief justice of the Houston-based Southern District, which includes Laredo, from 1996 to 2003. He also served a seven-year term on the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which hears government requests for warrants and wiretapping involving homeland security. In a statement, Cruz said Kazen has served Texas and the United States honorably. Naming the Laredo courthouse after him will serve as a lasting testament to his legacy, and I am grateful the President has signed this bill into law, Cruz said. Cuellar lauded Kazen as an honest, humble and dedicated man. He was among the most respected judges in the state, and consistently ruled with class and fairness, all the while still making time to serve in numerous civic organizations throughout South Texas, Cuellar said. The dedicating of this federal building and U.S. Court House will serve as a reminder to us all of this great man of character who dutifully served his community. A formal naming ceremony for the courthouse is in the works, Voytovich said Saturday. Staff Writers Carmina Danini and Joana Santillana contributed to this report. Staff Writers Carmina Danini and Joana Santillana contributed to this report. A man faces second-degree felony charges for his suspected involvement in a hit-and-run last month that led to the death of a bicyclist. Gabriel Morales, 31, is charged with failing to stop and render aid at the scene of a crash that killed Edward Ramos Martinez Jr., 46, according to the affidavit for Morales arrest warrant. Around 4 a.m. on June 24, police officers responded to the site of a collision between a bicyclist and a motor vehicle in the 300 block of Frio City Road, the affidavit states. Martinez was struck from behind by the motor vehicle as he was riding his bicycle, and the driver of the motor vehicle left the scene without try to help Martinez, the affidavit continues. Martinez was taken to the San Antonio Military Medical Hospital by EMS but died by 11 a.m., the affidavit says. RELATED: SAPD: Driver arrested after causing rollover crash that killed passenger An officer from the Traffic Investigations Detail of the Homicide Unit went to the scene of the accident and found a gray drivers side mirror that later research suggested was associated with a Nissan Sentra, the affidavit states. Another detective later received an anonymous phone tip saying that someone named Gabriel Gonzales had been involved in a crash with a bicyclist while driving a Nissan. The tipster also provided authorities with the name of Morales girlfriend and said that a Morales relative had hidden the car. Morales girlfriend was interviewed by authorities several days later and she said that shed seen damage on Morales gray Nissan Sentra the morning of the crash, according to the affidavit. When she asked him what had happened, the affidavit continues, he told her hed hit a bicyclist. At a location given to them by the girlfriend, authorities later found a gray Nissan Sentra which, when inspected following the acquisition of a warrant, was found to be missing the drivers side mirror, the affidavit states. Later, it adds, Morales mother made a statement to the police in which she said that Morales had the Nissan Sentra the night of the crash and that she later observed damage to it. Morales was taken into custody on July 28 on unrelated municipal court warrants, according to the affidavit, at which point he was questioned about the suspected hit-and-run. He admitted to having been in a crash the same day as the crash that killed Martinez, the affidavit adds, but said it had been with a truck; he later changed his statement, saying it had been with a van. The results of a test comparing hair found in the seal of the Nissan Sentras front window with Martinez DNA are pending, the affidavit says. Morales bail is set at $30,000, according to the county magistrates office. Brian Contreras is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. | brian.contreras@express-news.net | Twitter: @_B_Contreras_ A man was sent to a San Antonio hospital early Sunday after being shot in the leg. Officers responded about 12:45 a.m. to the 5500 block of Prairie Flower Drive where a man hosting a house party was shot, according to the San Antonio Police Department. - Nigeria's Professor Mahmood Yakubu is the president of the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC) governing board - The chairman of Nigeria's Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) and his team are preparing for the elections - They met with other stakeholders to discuss plans for the elections Ahead of Mali's crucial presidential election scheduled for Sunday, July 29, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, president of the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC) governing board and chairman of Nigeria's INEC met in Bamako on Saturday, July 28 met with other stakeholders. Those who attended the meeting were officials of Mali's Independent electoral commission, CENI, and head of ECOWAS Election Observation Mission to Mali Ambassodor Kadre Desire Ouadraogo, former Burkina Faso prime minister and also former president of the ECOWAS Commission. Professor Yakubu's delegation, which includes some senior INEC officials, was received by CENI President Amadou Ba and Barrister Moctar Mariko, president of Mali Human Rights Association. READ ALSO: Former President Robert Mugabe condemns Zimbabwe's ruling party Both sides discussed preparations for Sunday's poll and the strengthening of cooperation between ECONEC and CENI in line with the network's mandate on assistance, information and experience sharing, peer review and advocacy for support of election management bodies, to deepen electoral integrity and consolidation of democratic governance in the region. President Ba thanked the ECONEC chief for the solidarity visit. During a separate meeting at the ECOWAS situation room, Professor Yakubu and Ambassador Ouedraogo underscored the need for synergy and collaboration among international observation missions and development partners to accompany Malians on the path to stability, democracy and good governance. The 171-member ECOWAS observation mission to Mali led by Ambassador Ouedraogo includes ECONEC secretariat staff, with the ECONEC permanent secretary, Mr. Francis Oke, head of the ECOWAS electoral assistance division, also serving as member of the ECOWAS technical team, supporting the mission, whose members are deployed in parts of Mali's eight administrative regions. Some 8 million registered voters among Mali's estimated 18 million national population, go to the polls on Sunday to elect a president in a field of 24 candidates, including sitting President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, 73, seeking a second five-year mandate, and with only one female contestant. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, an election observer group, Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA) has described the recent call for the sack of INEC chairman, Professor Yakubu Mahmood by HURIWA as suspicious, mischievous and self-serving. The group accused HURIWA of acting a script for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), adding that HURIWA has been linked in the past with hatchet jobs and mercenary undertakings. The CTA in a statement sent to Legit.ng and signed by its executive director, Dr Chima Amadi said HURIWA's demand is strange, noting that every other independent observer of the electoral process in Nigeria is seeing incremental improvement in the management of elections under the current INEC leadership. What Ekiti Residents Said About Collecting Money to Vote on Legit.ng TV Source: Legit - A PDP leader has said that the politicians defecting from the ruling APC are returning to the challenges they abandoned - Jameel Zubairu said the politicians had previously refused to solve the problems within the party - He said the APC is currently undergoing internal crisis because it was formed with strange political ideologies A leader of the Peoples Democratic Party in Adamawa state, Jameel Zubairu, on Sunday, July 29, said that politicians decamping from the All Progressives Congress (APC) are returning to the problems they left in the party. Zubairu said these politicians had initially refused to solve the problems in the PDP before they fled the former ruling party. Punch reports that Zubairu, a former chief protocol to President Muhammadu Buhari when he was Nigeria's head of state said the ruling party was currently undergoing internal crisis because it was formed by strange bedfellows with different political ideologies. READ ALSO: Mali presidential election: ECONEC chief Yakubu meets CENI, ECOWAS mission head "When situation like that happens, you are bound to have a conflict of interest and this is what you are seeing now. Obviously, you can see that a lot of people, who came together and formed the APC, are not happy," Zubairu said. The same people (defectors), who created the problem in the PDP, ran away and assembled somewhere else, without resolving the initial problem. They will still come back to meet that problem which they left unresolved. The PDP remains the best party you can ever belong to or serve in. The party is very big and experienced; it can accommodate diverse opinions. From all the happenings now, those who left the PDP should know that the party is the right place for them to return. The APC hasnt seen anything yet. Many of those who left the PDP for the APC will return. Its like a homecoming. I am sure they must have realised now that its better to return home and solve the problems together," Zubairu who also served in the same capcity during former president Goodluck Jonathan's tenure said. READ ALSO: Finally! Chief of Air Staff exposes those behind killings across Nigeria The PDP chieftain who is contesting for the governorship seat in Adamawa said the development to the inability of governors to creatively devise means to generate internal revenue in addition to the monthly federal allocation. I have been a civil servant all through my life. I know the problem associated with not being paid on time not to talk of being owed several months of salaries. Non-payment of salaries affects not only the employee, but the whole society. Adamawa for instance, is a civil service-based economy. In those days, public servants could go to the markets and take things on credit because there was a guarantee that their salaries would be paid," he added. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android and read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the governor of Benue state, Samuel Ortom who recently decamped to PDP cautioned the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress Adams Oshiomhole. Ortom said it is important for Oshiomhole to be watchful of his state so as not to throw the state into political crisis ahead of the 2019 elections. The governor said the same Oshiomhole had earlier described his performance in glowing terms when he was still in APC. Benue Elders Speak on Herdsmen Attacks on Legit.ng TV Source: Legit By Jerri-Lynn Scofield, who has worked as a securities lawyer and a derivatives trader. She is currently writing a book about textile artisans. A paper published last week in the journal Current Biology, The Location and Protection Status of Earths Diminishing Marine Wilderness, documents the dire worldwide state of ocean wilderness. The paper concluded that only 13.2% (55 million km2) of the worlds ocean could be classified as marine wilderness, and most of this was far away from coastal areas (e.g., coral reefs). Only 4.9% of marine wilderness is currently within marine protected areas. The paper emphasizes that targets to retain marine wilderness are needed in global conservation strategies. In particular: We found that only 4.9% of global marine wilderness (2.67 million km2) is inside [marine protected areas (MPAs]), despite 6.97% of total ocean area being under protection. This protection occurs almost exclusively within national waters, with 12% (2.65 million km2) of global wilderness within [exclusive economic zones] , but only 0.06% (0.02 million km2) of wilderness in high seas protected. Global wilderness protection is high in some populated regions, with 98% protected in Temperate Southern Africa and 17% protected in the Central Indo-Pacific). However, these areas also have very little total wilderness left (<5%), suggesting that MPAs play a crucial role in preserving the small amount remaining. Wilderness protection is much lower in remote areas, such as the Southern Ocean and Northern Cold Water realms, where few MPAs are designated.. Considerably more global marine wilderness remains in offshore ecosystems (49.7 million km2) than in coastal ecosystems (5.5 million km2); but the proportion of protected wilderness is similar (4.4% and 4.8%, respectively). In coastal ecosystems, the vast majority of protected wilderness (93%) is in soft-bottom areas, rather than habitats such as rocky reefs or coral reefs that people depend on for food and income ). However, despite having low wilderness extent and areal protection, these ecosystems have high proportional levels of protection, with 66% and 26% of rocky reef and coral reef wilderness being covered by MPAs, respectively. A substantial amount of wilderness in these ecosystems is contained in large, remote MPAs, such as the British Indian Ocean Territory MPA. Offshore ecosystems generally have more protected wilderness area than coastal ecosystems but lower proportional wilderness protection (Jerri-Lynn here: citations omitted). The scientists who conducted the research were surprised by their findings, as the Guardian reports in Almost all worlds oceans damaged by human impact, study finds: We were astonished by just how little marine wilderness remains, says Kendall Jones, at the University of Queensland, Australia, and the Wildlife Conservation Society, who led the new research. The ocean is immense, covering over 70% of our planet, but weve managed to significantly impact almost all of this vast ecosystem. Jones said the last remnants of wilderness show how vibrant ocean life was before human activity came to dominate the planet. They act as time machines, he said. They are home to unparalleled levels of marine biodiversity and some of the last places on Earth you find large populations of apex predators like sharks. What Is To Be Done? Many of the problems that are spoiling ocean wilderness originate on land, Jones told the BBC in Ocean wilderness disappearing globally, with fishing comprising one of the most significant direct impacts: Runoff of nutrients from farming fertilisers, chemicals from poorly controlled industrial production, and the influx of plastic pollution from rivers are all disrupting ocean life. Plastic pollution is one of the big things that we want to work out a way to get data on, he told the BBC. Its so widespread and so hard to manage that we really want to get a good idea of where it is and where is most affected. Regular readers will be aware that I have discussed the plastics problem in several previous posts; the ones that focus on oceans include: US, Japan Reject G-7 Ocean Plastics Charter, Planet or Plastic, Plastics Pollution Policies Bold or Pathetic?, and Plastic Watch: Great Pacific Garbage Patch Grows. One way to take some action on oceans would be via an extension to the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention. As the BBC reports: The UN are currently considering a legally binding addition to the Convention on the Law of the Sea, which would mandate conservation and sustainable use of international waters currently not protected. The first of four conferences to determine the details will take place in September 2018. In particular, the Guardian noted that scientists highlighted fishing subsidies as a problem: They also said the $4bn a year in government subsidies spent on high seas fishing must be cut. Most fishing on the high seas would actually be unprofitable if it werent for big subsidies, Jones said. The new work joins recent studies in highlighting the threat to oceans. Scientists warned in January that the oceans are suffocating, with huge dead zones quadrupling since 1950, and in February, new maps revealed half of worlds oceans are now industrially fished. Oceans are under threat now as never before in human history, said Sir David Attenborough at the conclusion of the BBC series Blue Planet 2 in December. Alas, the United States has yet to ratify the Law of the Sea Convention treaty. Although the US participated in negotiations on the treaty between 1973 and 1982, the Reagan administration refused to sign the convention, according to an article in The Diplomat, U.S. Ratification of the Law of the Sea Convention: As a result, the United States remains off the list of 168 state parties to UNCLOS, a list which includes all other major maritime powers such as Russia and China. In practice, the United States has accepted and complies with nearly all the treatys provisions. On March 10, 1983, President Ronald Reagan issued the United States Oceans Policy Statement, supported by National Security Decision Directive 83, which documents the U.S. view that UNCLOS reflects customary international law and fulfils U.S. interest in a comprehensive legal framework relating to competing uses of the worlds oceans. Successive presidential administrations Republican and Democrat have relied upon Reagans precedent to legitimize and guide the Freedom of Navigation (FON) Program in global hot spots like the South and East China Seas. So even as the United States invokes UNCLOS to assert the freedom of navigation and challenge excessive maritime claims, Washington has no seat at the table in protecting U.S. rights and claims within the treatys institutional framework. As a non-party, Washington remains on the outside looking in as the international community moves forward in defining the legal landscape affecting over 70 percent of the worlds surface. I read that to mean that the bottom line here is that in this as in so many other environmental protection areas, I would be willing to bet the farm that the Trump administration is unlikely to participate actively in any negotiations to extend the UN framework to include a high seas conservation annex. That is yet another reason to think that even if serious negotiations were to commence to extend the convention, whatever might be achieved would be too little, and too late, to address the magnitude of this and other ocean crises. (Natural News) Its not enough that the Left-wing establishment media mischaracterizes POTUS Donald Trump and all of his supporters as hateful, racist, bigoted Nazis; those on the perpetually triggered Left have to go to the extreme to prove those things, even if such proof is made up. In recent days a waiter at a restaurant in Odessa, Texas named Khalil Cavil, 20, claimed that a patron at the Saltgrass Steak House where he works left him a note on the receipt that said, We dont tip terrorist. Cavils story went viral on social media (of course which was the point) in which he claimed he was stiffed on a $108 meal and instead got the hateful message. As reported by The Gateway Pundit, the story made local news, and Cavil went on TV to tell his story. I hope that the people who wrote me that note find Jesus and I hope that he can experience the same love that Ive experienced from Jesus Christ, he told KMID news. "I hope that the people who wrote me that note find Jesus and I hope that he can experience the same love that I've experienced from Jesus Christ." Khalil Cavil is turning an incident meant to tear him down, into one that will build him up. https://t.co/qNKr2XFmJA Big 2 News KMID (@Local2NewsKMID) July 17, 2018 Wow, what a guy, huh? Such a humanist, rising above petty bigotry from a king-sized bigot in the red state of Texas, of course. Except that Cavil fabricated the entire thing. As the New York Post reported, the steakhouse owner followed up on the claim and found out it was all bogus. A hate hoax. After further investigation, we have learned that our employee fabricated the entire story, Saltgrass Steak House COO Terry Turney said Monday in a statement to the Odessa American newspaper. The customer has been contacted and invited back to our restaurant to dine on us, the statement continued. Racism in any form is intolerable, and we will always act swiftly should it occur in any of our establishments. Falsely accusing someone of racism is equally disturbing, Turney added. (Related: FAKE hate crimes galore: Muslim girl fabricated claim of being attacked for her religion, police now confirm; faces charges.) Especially in todays hyper-partisan political environment where the Left goes crazy every other day about something related to POTUS Trump and his supporters. The last thing we need is hate-generating hoaxes Restaurant executives said that Cavil, who is black, is no longer an employee. They did not, however, reveal they discovered that what he had done was fake that is, after he posted the doctored meal receipt on his Facebook page claiming he was inspired to do so by Martin Luther King. In the age of POTUS Trump such hate hoaxes have become commonplace: One of the first to go viral reportedly occurred the day presidents election victory in November 2016. A young Muslim woman who was attending the University of Louisiana at Lafayette faked a story that she was attacked, had her hijab torn off and her pocketbook stolen by two white men wearing Trump hats. She fabricated the story, police discovered. Another story from the day after Trumps election victory claimed that Ku Klux Klan members from North Carolina held a victory march to celebrate. A grainy picture that began circulating on social media. Fake: The picture was of conservatives carrying American, Gadsden, and Christian flags. A 58-year-old black man wrote fake hate messages including Trump rules and Black B*tch on multiple vehicles and homes in Philadelphia after Trump won. Without a shred of evidence, the hard-Left and failing New York Daily News blamed it on Trump-supporting Nazis. In a reversal, meanwhile, in December 2016, investigative journalist Paul Sperry reported that some 2,000 educators around the country had already reported racist slurs and other derogatory language aimed at white students in the days after Trumps election, but the Left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center and American Federation of Teachers (which formally endorsed Hillary Clinton) which surveyed the teachers, never published the findings. Hate hoaxes aimed at bashing conservative Trump supporters have become a thing these days, but all they do is further inflame already sky-high tensions between Americans. Read more about these Trump-related hoaxes at Hoax.news. J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel. Sources include: TheGatewayPundit.com NYPost.com NaturalNews.com A confirmed case of measles has prompted the Boston Public Health Commission to alert the public of potential exposure in two locations in the city. Measles is a highly contagious virus, but vaccination has proven to be highly effective and has essentially reduced cases in the United States by more than 99 percent. It remains common in countries that do not require vaccinations. Possible Measles Case In Boston According to a report from WCVB, a young child from another country traveled to Boston and was found infected with measles. The city's health officials released the following locations, dates, and times to warn residents who may have been exposed: Tasty Burger at 1301 Boylston Street (July 19, 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.) Logan Airport Terminal B (July 20, 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.) Exposed individuals may get sick sometime between July 26 and Aug. 10. The Boston Public Health Commission recommends those who were at the specified locations during the dates and times noted to call a certified health care provider immediately. Visiting the doctor's office in person is not advised, as the virus can be spread to other patients. For more information, contact the commission at 617-534-5611. Measles In The United States CDC reveals that before the measles vaccine, 3 to 4 million people in the United States were infected every year. Of this number, 400 to 500 people died, 48,000 were hospitalized, and about 1,000 contracted encephalitis. The measles vaccine, developed in the 1960s, was able to drastically reduce the number of cases in the United States. In 2000, measles was declared eliminated from the country, a feat that was primarily credited to the United States' effective vaccination program as well as measles control in the entire Americas region. There have been a few isolated cases, though, including one in Snohomish County in Washington in early July. Symptoms To Watch Out For The symptoms for measles show up seven to 14 days after infection. It begins with cough, runny nose, high fever, and red watery eyes. A few days later, tiny white Koplik spots appear inside the mouth. Several days after the first symptoms, rash breaks out from the face. It spreads downward to the rest of the body, sometimes featuring small raised bumps on top of the flat rash. At this point, the fever can jump to over 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Complications can include ear infections and diarrhea. However, more severe cases can lead to pneumonia and encephalitis, which can be fatal especially to young children. Chronic inflammation is a serious challenge for the body, often leading to severe diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease, among others. These chronic inflammatory disorders are difficult to treat, but the secret may lie in controlling the inflammation with the help of a newly identified enzyme. The Role Of Inflammasomes In the study published in the journal Nature, researchers from the University of California San Diego identified an enzyme that activates the NLRP3 inflammasome. Inflammasomes are protein-based molecules that trigger inflammation as a response to cell stress, tissue injury, or infectious organisms. UC San Diego Health notes that while inflammation is a crucial part of the healing process, chronic inflammation can lead to serious illnesses. In particular, the NLRP3 inflammasome is actually implicated in a number of severe chronic inflammatory disorders. Therefore, the discovery of the CMPK2 enzyme's role in this inflammasome may be key in the prevention of these diseases. "It has been obvious for some time that, when available, drugs that turn off the NLRP3 inflammasome, but not other inflammasomes, will be very useful for treating a variety of inflammatory disorders, from osteoarthritis to Alzheimer's disease and cancer," first author Zhenyu Zhong, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at UC San Diego School of Medicine, explains in a statement. "Until now, it was not clearly understood how environmental stress and tissue injury activate the NLRP3 inflammasome and, without such knowledge, it was impossible to rationally design specific inhibitors of the NLRP3 inflammasome." How It Works The hormone behind both benefits and adverse effects of inflammation is an interleukin called IL-1, which is usually produced in very small amounts. However, injury, environmental stress, infection, or chronic inflammation causes an increase in its production. These specific situations are detected by sensor proteins, and one of the most important of these sensors is NLRP3, which means it's greatly responsible for the activation of inflammasomes and the production of IL-1. In the study, Zhong and his team recognized the role of the CMPK2 enzyme in activating NLRP3 and IL-1 production. Subsequently, this enzyme is also an important step in developing chronic inflammatory disorders. By inhibiting this enzyme, the harmful effects of inflammation could potentially be reduced. "I predict that specific inhibitors of CMPK2 can be easily and rapidly developed," senior author Michael Karin says. "Once available, such compounds may provide us with new treatments for many diverse untreatable and common illnesses, including osteoarthritis, Alzheimer's disease and lung cancer." Authorities on Sunday are searching for a suspect who took off on foot in San Ramon after leading law enforcement officers on a pursuit in a stolen vehicle, according to the Alameda County Sheriff's Office. The search is taking place in the area of Cashew and Chestnut courts in the East Bay city, the sheriff's office said. Dublin police noticed the stolen car and launched a pursuit around 9:30 a.m., according to the sheriff's office. The chase later ended nearby in San Ramon. The driver ran away from the scene where the pursuit ended, according to the sheriff's office. Officers have established a perimeter and are searching for the suspect. Further information was not available. What to Know The Carr Fire near Redding has burned 95,368 acres and is 17 percent contained. The River and Ranch fires in Mendocino County have combined to burn 30,500 acres. The blazes are both 10 percent contained. The Steele Fire in Napa County is holding at 150 acres. It is 65 percent contained. A pair of wildfires that prompted evacuation orders for nearly 20,000 people barreled Monday toward small lake towns in Northern California, and authorities faced questions about how quickly they warned residents about the largest and deadliest blaze burning in the state. Ed Bledsoe told CBS News he did not receive any warning to evacuate his home in the city of Redding before the flames came through last week and killed his wife, Melody, and his great-grandchildren, 5-year-old James Roberts and 4-year-old Emily Roberts. "If I'd have any kind of warning, I'd have never, ever left my family in that house," Bledsoe said. Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko told the network there's an investigation into whether the Bledsoe home received a warning call or a knock on the door. The sheriff cited evidence that door-to-door notifications were made in the area. Bosenko did not return a message from The Associated Press on Monday. The dispute came as authorities on Sunday ordered evacuations around twin fires in Mendocino and Lake counties, including from the 4,700-resident town of Lakeport, a popular destination for bass anglers and boaters on the shores of Clear Lake, about 120 miles (195 kilometers) north of San Francisco. The blazes have destroyed six homes and threaten 10,000 others. So far, the flames have blackened 87 square miles (225 square kilometers), with minimal containment. Those fires were among 17 burning across the state, where fire crews were stretched to the limit. "We have experienced fires the last four years, and so we're very aware of what can happen with fires and the damage they can cause," Lake County Sheriff Lt. Corey Paulich said. Derick Hughes II did not heed the order and remained behind at his property in Nice, California, where he ran sprinklers on his roof and removed yard plants that could catch fire. The 32-year-old Marine Corps veteran sent his wife and two daughters to safety along with three carloads of belongings. But he said he had too much at stake to leave himself. He bought his three-bedroom house last year using a loan from the Department of Veterans Affairs. "This is everything I bled for, and I've worked really hard to get to where I am, and I'm just not willing to give it up so easily," he said over the phone. "Some people may think that's selfish of me, and I have insurance. But the way things go, I'd rather not start over." Hughes said about five of his neighbors also disobeyed the evacuation text alert they got Sunday evening to protect their homes and keep looters out. Farther north, police said five people were arrested on suspicion of entering areas evacuated due to the explosive wildfire around Redding. That blaze killed six people and destroyed 723 homes. Authorities were also investigating at least 18 reports of missing people, though many of them may simply have failed to check in with friends or family, police said. Fire officials were hopeful that they could make progress containing the blaze. The fire that threatened Redding a city of about 92,000 was ignited by a vehicle problem a week ago about 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of the city. On Thursday, it swept through the historic Gold Rush town of Shasta and nearby Keswick, fueled by gusty winds and dry vegetation. It then jumped the Sacramento River and took out subdivisions on the western edge of Redding. "It wasn't expected to travel that far that fast," California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Scott Mclean said Monday. The fire slowed down as winds subsided, and crews were able to get into neighborhoods to prevent embers from taking out additional homes, he said. Bledsoe said he did not know his home was in danger when he left his wife and great grandchildren to run an errand on Thursday. He said he received a phone call from his wife 15 minutes after he left saying he needed to get home because the fire was approaching. He said one of the children told him the blaze was at the back door. When he tried to return, the road was blocked and flames prevented him from returning on foot. The sheriff has said the fire was moving fast, but authorities still alerted residents in a variety of ways, including going door-to-door and using loudspeakers on emergency vehicles. Authorities also use electronic warning systems, including an emergency alert system that is repeated by local news media and an automated calling system that can be targeted to phones within a geographic area. Another method known as the Integrated Public Alert & Warning System can be directed to any cellphone within reach of a particular transmission tower, said Sherry Bartolo, operations manager for the Shasta County dispatch center. The drawback of the automated calling system is that it is designed to dial landlines, but cellphone users must register their phones if they are to receive alerts, she said. The dispatch center put out more than 18 emergency alerts between Thursday evening and midday Friday, Bartolo said. The center usually has eight dispatchers on duty, but overnight Thursday had at least 12, along with four supervisors and three managers who worked through the night, she said. Thanawala reported from San Francisco. Associated Press writers Lorin Eleni Gill and Olga Rodriguez also contributed to this report. Parking at all Rhode Island state beaches will be free for the annual Governor's Bay Day. Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo signed an executive order earlier this month setting Sunday, July 29 as the 30th Governor's Bay Day celebration. In addition to free parking at all state beaches, people are allowed to fish Rhode Island's saltwaters without a license. Raimondo calls it one of her favorite traditions that celebrates the best of Rhode Island. Round-trip fares on Rhode Island Public Transit Authority buses to South County beaches are waived. The Department of Health says Conimicut Point Beach in Warwick, Kingston's Camp Beach and Larkin's Pond Beach Club will remain closed due to high bacteria counts in recent water tests. Four people were arrested in Massachusetts and charged after police allegedly seized 90 grams of "crack" cocaine. Dudley Police and the Southern Worcester County Drug and Counter Crime Task Force executed a search warrant at 10 Williams Street in Dudley, Massachusetts at 1:45 a.m. on Sunday, police said. The initial entry into the residence was conducted by members of the Central Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council SWAT Team. According to police, they were able to seize approximately 90 grams of "crack" cocaine, over $3,000 in cash and a loaded 9mm firearm. Four people were arrested and charged, police said. Benjamin Wilterdink, 28, of Hampton, Connecticut is charged with trafficking in cocaine and conspiracy to violate the Controlled Substance Act. Jamal Tillman, 29, of New London, Connecticut is charged with trafficking in cocaine, conspiracy to violate the Controlled Substance Act and firearm charges. Shawn Gliniecki, 44, of Dudley is charged with trafficking in cocaine, conspiracy to violate the Controlled Substance Act and possession of a dangerous weapon. Sherri Wright, 44, of Brooklyn, Connecticut is charged with trafficking in cocaine and conspiracy to violate the Controlled Substance Act. All four suspects are being held on bail awaiting arraignment at Dudley District Court on July 30. It is unclear if any of them have attorneys. The occupants of a speeding car were killed late Saturday when they collided head-on and critically injured the occupants of another car on the Far South Side, according to police. About 11:30 p.m., two 18-year-old men in a Subaru traveling north at a high rate of speed hit a Chrysler 300 head-on in the 12000 block of South Doty Avenue, a road that runs along I-94 in the Pullman Industrial Corridor, according to Chicago Police and fire department officials. The driver and passenger of the Subaru were taken to University of Chicago Medical Center while being treated with CPR, fire officials and police said. They were pronounced dead at the hospital. [NATL] Top News Photos: Pope Visits Japan, and More The 21-year-old male driver and 16-year-old male passenger of the Chrysler were taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in critical condition, police said. The Cook County Medical Examiners Office hasnt released details about the fatality. The crash happened in an area where cars are known to race, according to the fire department. With Cole Hamels coming to the North Side, the Chicago Cubs will have to make some changes to their pitching rotation, and on Saturday they revealed their odd man out. According to manager Joe Maddon, Tyler Chatwood will move to the bullpen in a long relief role when Hamels is added to the big league roster next week. Chatwood, who leads the big leagues in walks and has a 4-5 record and a 4.98 ERA this season, will be available in a long relief role beginning on Tuesday when the Cubs visit the Pittsburgh Pirates. Mike Montgomery, who ascended to the rotation when Yu Darvish went on the disabled list, will remain in the five-man rotation for the time being, Maddon said. Hamels is expected to make his Cubs debut on Wednesday against the Pirates at PNC Park. He will be preceded in the rotation by Jon Lester, who will throw on Tuesday after the team has a day off. Three people are dead and at least 13 others were wounded in shootings across the city of Chicago on Saturday. The citys first fatal shooting occurred just after midnight, according to Illinois State Police. Authorities were called to the inbound lanes of the Dan Ryan at 25th Street, where they found a 25-year-old man in a vehicle on the shoulder of the highway. The man had a gunshot wound to his head, and was pronounced dead at the scene. No one was arrested, and police are still investigating. Another fatal shooting occurred in the 7100 block of West Grand Avenue at approximately 4:14 a.m., police said. Police reported to the scene and found a 26-year-old man lying on the sidewalk. The man had suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his chest, and was pronounced dead at Community First Hospital. No one is in custody, and police are still investigating. Just before midnight, officers responded to a call of shots fired in the 300 block of South Washtenaw and discovered a man lying on the street with gunshot wounds to his head and leg. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, and police are still investigating the shooting. A 35-year-old man is in critical condition after he was shot in the 5900 block of South Damen Avenue, police said. The man was at the location at approximately 5:15 a.m. when a person in a white Jeep opened fire, striking him in the shoulder. The man was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition. No one is in custody. Here are the rest of Saturdays shootings: A 50-year-old man is in critical condition after he fell off a jet ski in the 59th Street Harbor on Saturday. The man, who was riding the watercraft while partying according to the Chicago Fire Department, was submerged for over 15 minutes before he was pulled from the water in the 59th Street Harbor by rescue workers. The man was rushed to the University of Chicago Hospital in critical condition. After the incident, Chicago fire officials warned the public to wear life jackets while using jet skis, as the victim was not wearing flotation gear at the time of the incident. What to Know Montana's elections director told the AP in March that Montana was not among states targeted by hackers in 2016 But state Sec. Corey Stapleton said Friday that Russian hackers unsuccessfully probed the state's election systems for weaknesses in 2016 He said no votes were changed, but it was a clear threat to fair elections Montana's secretary of state said Friday that Russian hackers unsuccessfully probed the state's election systems for weaknesses in 2016. The acknowledgement by Secretary Corey Stapleton in his occasional newsletter appears to contradict a previous statement by state elections officials that Montana was not among states targeted. Stapleton said Russian agents tried to interfere with the 2016 elections and that "almost half the states (including Montana) were scanned for weaknesses in our elections systems." He said no votes were changed, but it was a clear threat to fair elections. Elections Director Dana Corson in March told The Associated Press that Montana was not among states targeted by hackers in 2016. Stapleton said there was no contradiction between his assessment and Corson's because "scanning is not hacking" and that his office has restrained from using language like "hacking" to prevent people from being alarmed. A local veteran doesn't want a recent controversy surrounding Haddam Selectman Melissa Schlag's decision to kneel during the Pledge of Allegiance at a public meeting to be tied to veterans. Air Force veteran Kate Hamilton Moser said she knows many fellow veterans are criticizing Schlag, and said she understands why they feel deeply for the flag. For so many of us, you are socialized to believe that the flag stands for home, that the flag stands for safety, Hamilton Moser said. She is pleading with people to reconsider tying Schlags protest to veterans. The controversy, Moser believes, distracts people from real problems veterans are facing daily, such as PTSD, sexual trauma, and long-term quality of life issues. Until youre addressing all of these other issues, youre using veterans as a prop. To me thats the ultimate disrespect, she said. Schlag insisted that her decision to take a knee at a recent Haddam Board of Selectman meeting was to protest President Trumps meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier that day. I watched the nightmare of a press conference in Helsinki. I was disgusted with what happened, she said on Friday. Schlag continues to draw criticism from across the country after the video of her protest went viral. I didnt hurt anybody. I still love my country, and I will fight for my country as hard as anybody else will, she said. Dozens of people on Facebook are so far indicating plans to attend a silent vigil in support of Schlag at Haddams next Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday night. The meeting was moved from town hall to Haddams Volunteer Fire Company to accommodate what is expected to be a significant crowd. A five-year battle ended in an Austin court Friday when a federal judge declared gun safety groups can't block the release of blueprints for 3D printed guns. It was a legal challenge for technology that's quickly moving from industry into people's homes. As it does, the ability to create just about anything is relatively unregulated. Michael Lynn opened 3D Print Everything in his Fort Worth home after being laid off from his welding job with General Electric. "I knew that it was an emerging market and that I could do something cool with it, so I bought this one as my first printer," Lynn said. It was quickly joined by two more. And Lynn said business hasn't been hard to find, though he can't say the same about his most popular merchandise. "Generally it's hard to find items like a broken blind piece or a piece to a camera or microphone," Lynn said. Lynn said hed love to eventually get into the business of printing dental implants, tires or even whole cars. He said he believes the sky's the limit for technology he believes is here to stay. "It's a disruptive, distributed, decentralized technology that can get in between the manufacturer," Lynn said. It's a characteristic that many of the opponents to Defense Distributed's blueprint pointed to. The head of the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, or CLEAT, told Austin affiliate KXAN that while the group supports the second amendment, there are questions that need to be answered before these new weapons are on the street. One of the primary concerns is whether there will be serial numbers associated with the guns, which law enforcement uses to solve crimes. "We don't know what ballistics will be like on these new weapons, so it brings in too many questions to just say, 'Yes, start wholesale manufacturing weapons in your garage and sell them to folks,' and put no kind of registration or acknowledgment," Charley Wilkison said. The gun safety groups which filed the restraining orders to prevent the plans from being posted include the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund, Inc. and the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Back in his Fort Worth home office, Lynn said it's an argument over a product he expects few will actually make. "It would cost you way more than its worth for an inferior product that would never be used," Lynn said. Instead, he said he believes it's part of a bigger discussion about the future of 3D printing and how it's regulated as the technology grows more prevalent in homes. A conference on autism brought experts from across the country to the University of North Texas in Denton Saturday. The university's Kristin Farmer Autism Center hosted the 10th annual Adventures in Autism Intervention and Research Conference. Conference attendees had the opportunity to network with and learn from parents and professional from the autism community. The keynote speakers were professors from Yale University and the University of Texas at Austin. UNT's Kristin Farmer Autism Center is a part of the university's college of education. Unnerving fellow Republicans, President Donald Trump declared Monday he would have "no problem" shutting down the federal government this fall if Congress won't come up with more money for border security. Trump's threat, his second in two days, put him further at odds with his own party in Congress, where many Republicans are facing tough re-election fights this November. A shutdown when government funding expires at the end of September, just weeks before the midterm elections, would be the second under unified Republican control of Washington, following a weekend stoppage in January. "I would have no problem doing a shutdown," Trump said during a joint press conference at the White House with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. "It's time we had proper border security. We're the laughingstock of the world." The president's comments suggest he continues to believe that an election-season showdown over immigration would fire up his base and boost his party's chances of holding power in Congress. Republican leaders disagree, hoping they can avoid a high-profile display of dysfunction and focus their message on the GOP tax cuts and the strong economy. Trump has made no secret of his belief that his hard-line immigration policies boosted him to the Oval Office, and he launched an aggressive push for additional border security measures early this year. They include $25 billion toward construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, but he acknowledged on Monday his demands are a starting point. "I'll always leave room for negotiation," he said. Republican leaders believed they had secured Trump's patience last week when they huddled at the White House to discuss strategy ahead of the budget year that starts Oct.1. After the meeting, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told a radio interviewer that a shutdown so close to the Nov. 6 midterm elections won't happen. He said the border funding issue in particular would probably have to wait until after the elections. House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Capitol Hill after the meeting with Trump: "The president's willing to be patient to make sure that we get what we need so that we can get that done." He added that money for the wall was "not a question of if, it's a question of when." But on Sunday, Trump reversed course in a surprise tweet: "I would be willing to 'shut down' government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall!" "Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT!" he tweeted. With time so short, lawmakers appear most likely to approve a short-term funding measure to keep the government open through Election Day. That would set up another fiscal showdown during a lame duck session. Trump on Monday said he had no "red line" for precisely what he would require from Congress, and he made no comment on timing. The president has pledged to campaign aggressively, starting after Labor Day, to help Republicans retain control of the House and Senate, but GOP lawmakers don't appear to be rallying to his side this time on immigration. Senate Appropriations Committee chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are working to fund the government and that Trump's threat "is not good for anything." He added: "It might help him. It might not help him. It doesn't help us right now." Trump campaigned on a promise of building a wall to deter illegal immigration and to make Mexico pay for it. Mexico has refused, leading Trump to look to U.S. taxpayers to fund the endeavor instead, at least for now. Trump has gotten some wall money from Congress, and likely will get more, though the total is well short of the $25 billion he has requested. He also wants changes to legal immigration, including scrapping a visa lottery program. In addition, Trump wants to end the practice of releasing immigrants caught entering the country illegally on the condition that they show up for court hearings. And he wants to shift the U.S. immigration system to one based more on individual merit and less on family ties. Democrats and some Republicans have objected to those proposals. Both chambers will have a short window to act before government funding expires at midnight Sept. 30. The House is in recess and won't return until after Labor Day. The Senate will stay in session for most of August, except for a weeklong break scheduled to begin Aug. 6. McConnell canceled most of his chamber's recess to give senators time to work on the annual spending bills. House Republicans released a spending bill this month that would provide $5 billion next year to build Trump's wall, a plan Trump supports. Democrats have long opposed financing the wall but don't have enough votes by themselves to block House approval of that amount. They have the strength to derail legislation in the closely divided Senate. The $5 billion is well above the $1.6 billion in the Senate version of a bill funding the Department of Homeland Security. The higher amount matches what Trump has privately sought in conversations with Republican lawmakers. At last week's White House meeting, Trump, Ryan and McConnell agreed that Congress was on track to enact more than half of federal spending before the new budget year begins Oct. 1, but that DHS funding, including the border wall money, doesn't have to be settled before then, according to a person familiar with the meeting who was not authorized to discuss it publicly and insisted on condition of anonymity. AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro and Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Matthew Daly, Catherine Lucey and Darlene Superville contributed to this report. A group of protesters filled an intersection in St. Petersburg on Sunday many demanding justice for Markeis McGlockton and calling for a repeal of Florida's "stand your ground" law. The protest occurred in the intersection of Haines Road North and 38th Avenue North in St. Petersburg, WFLA reports. The rally is a direct response to the fatal shooting of 28-year-old McGlockton. McGlockton was shot and killed July 19 during a fight over a handicap parking space in Clearwater. The shooter, Michael Drejka, is not facing charges due to the "stand your ground law," which allows Florida residents to use deadly force without retreating to protect themselves against a perceived deadly threat. The group wanted to take over the intersection to send a bold statement to the community. We wanted to disrupt life as usual, because this law is disrupting communities of color, pastor Andy Oliver of Allendale United Methodist Church told WFLA. As the protest continued, tensions grew as drivers became frustrated. Drivers blew their horns, screamed out their windows and some even tried to drive right through the protest. Police later responded and moved the rally to the sidewalk. A South Florida mother said she found red sores and blisters that led to bacterial skin infections on her 3-year-old daughter after spending a day at the beach. Anais Monteagudo celebrated her daughter Aaliyah's third birthday at Key Biscayne's Crandon Beach on July 21. Monteagudo noticed Aaliyah's skin was swollen at the end of the day. Days later, Aaliyah's condition worsened as more sores and blisters appeared on her lips, face and arms. Monteagudo took Aaliyah to Nicklaus Children's Hospital on Tuesday, where she said she saw others being treated for similar infections, according to a Facebook post. "They said that there's been a lot of cases from Key Biscayne that are coming in with infections. A lot of kids," Monteagudo told NBC 6. Just four days before the Monteagudo birthday beach trip, the Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County issued a no swimming advisory for Crandon Beach North, Crandon Beach South and Golden Beach after water samples showed high levels of fecal bacteria. The FDOH lifted the advisory for the Key Biscayne beaches on Tuesday the same day Monteagudo took Aaliyah to the hospital. "There are significant scars," Monteagudo said. "I was scared because I didn't know if it was going to impact her internally." What to Know The plane left from Osan Air Base Pyongyang will likely return about 55 sets of remains from the 1950-53 Korean War About 7,700 U.S. soldiers are listed as missing from the Korean War North Korea on Friday returned the remains of what are believed to be U.S. servicemen killed during the Korean War, the White House said, with a U.S military plane making a rare trip into North Korea to retrieve 55 cases of remains. The handover follows through on a promise North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made to President Donald Trump when the leaders met in June and is the first tangible result from the much-hyped summit. Trump welcomed the repatriation and thanked Kim in a tweet and later Friday morning during a press event outside the White House. "At this moment a plane is carrying the remains of some great fallen heroes from America back from the Korean War," Trump said. "They're coming back to the United States." Trump said that Vice President Mike Pence would greet families when the remains arrived in the U.S. Trump thanked North Korea's leader for "keeping his word" and "fulfilling a promise." The United Nations Command said 55 cases of remains were retrieved from North Korea. The White House earlier confirmed that a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft containing remains of fallen service members had departed Wonsan, a Northern coastal city, on its way to the Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, near the South Korean capital of Seoul. A formal repatriation ceremony will be held there Wednesday. At the air base, U.S. servicemen and a military honor guard lined up on the tarmac to receive the remains, which were carried in boxes covered in blue U.N. flags. About 7,700 U.S. soldiers are listed as missing from the 1950-53 Korean War, and 5,300 of the remains are believed to still be in North Korea. The war killed millions, including 36,000 American soldiers. U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, in a statement from the U.N. Command, called the retrieval mission successful. "Now, we will prepare to honor our fallen before they continue on their journey home." Following the honors ceremony on Wednesday, the remains will be flown to Hawaii for scientific testing. A series of forensic examinations will be done to determine if the remains are human and if the dead were American or allied troops killed in the conflict. Trump late Thursday tweeted the repatriation was occurring and said, "After so many years, this will be a great moment for so many families. Thank you to Kim Jong Un." Officials in North Korea had no comment on the handover on Friday, the 65th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, which the country celebrated as the day of "victory in the fatherland liberation war." Despite soaring rhetoric about denuclearization before Kim and Trump met in Singapore, their summit ended with only a vague aspirational goal for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula without describing when and how that would occur. The repatriation of remains could be followed by stronger North Korean demands for fast-tracked discussions to formally end the war, which was stopped with an armistice and not a peace treaty. South Korea's Defense Ministry also said the North agreed to general-level military talks next week at a border village to discuss reducing tensions across the countries' heavily armed border. The U.S. military last month said that 100 wooden "temporary transit cases" built in Seoul were sent to the Joint Security Area at the Korean border as part of preparations to receive and transport remains in a dignified manner. U.S. Forces Korea spokesman Col. Chad Carroll also said, at the time, that 158 metal transfer cases were sent to a U.S. air base and would be used to send the remains home. The remains are believed to be some of the more than 200 that North Korea has held in storage for some time, and were likely recovered from land during farming or construction. The vast majority of the war dead, however, have yet to be located and retrieved from cemeteries and battlefields across the countryside. Efforts to recover American war dead had been stalled for more than a decade because of a standoff over North Korea's nuclear program and a previous U.S. claim that security arrangements for its personnel working in the North were insufficient. From 1996 to 2005, joint U.S.-North Korea military search teams conducted 33 recovery operations that collected 229 sets of American remains. The last time North Korea turned over remains was in 2007, when Bill Richardson, a former U.N. ambassador and New Mexico governor, secured the return of six sets. The North marked Friday's anniversary with ceremonies at war-related memorials; the capital Pyongyang and other cities were decked out in national flags and bright red banners. For the first time since 2015, Kim Jong Un has announced a general amnesty will be granted for prisoners who have committed crimes against the state. North Korea has held out the return of remains as a symbol of its goodwill and intention to improve ties with Washington. Officials have bristled, however, at criticism from the U.S. that it seeks to profit from the repatriations by demanding excessive fees for handling and transporting the remains. Pyongyang has nevertheless expressed its willingness to allow the resumption of joint search missions in the country to retrieve more remains. Such missions had been held from 1996 until they were cancelled by President George W. Bush amid heightening tensions over the North's nuclear program in 2005. Post Kim-Trump summit talks between U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and senior North Korean officials got off to a rocky start earlier this month, with the North accusing the Americans of making "unilateral and gangster-like" demands on denuclearization. The North also said U.S. officials came up with various "conditions and excuses" to backtrack on the issue of formally ending the war. "The adoption of the declaration on the termination of war is the first and foremost process in the light of ending the extreme hostility and establishing new relations between the DPRK and the U.S.," the North's Korean Central News Agency said in a statement on Tuesday, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "Peace can come only after the declaration of the termination of war." Pompeo said Wednesday that a great deal of work remains ahead of a North Korea denuclearization deal, but he dodged requests to identify a specific denuclearization timeline in testimony to members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Experts say a declaration to officially end the war, which could also involve Seoul and Beijing, would make it easier for Pyongyang to steer the discussions with Washington toward a peace treaty, diplomatic recognition, security assurance and economic benefits. Some analysts believe that North Korea would eventually demand that the United States withdraw or dramatically reduce the 28,500 troops it keeps in South Korea as a deterrent. Washington has maintained Pyongyang wouldn't get sanctions relief and significant security and economic rewards unless it firmly commits to a process of completely and verifiably eliminating its nuclear weapons. There are lingering doubts on whether Kim would ever agree to fully relinquish his nukes, which he may see as a stronger guarantee of survival than whatever security assurance the United States could offer. AP journalists Eric Talmadge, Kim Yong-ho in Pyeongtaek and Foster Klug contributed to this report. What to Know A Philadelphia homeowner managed to stop a suspect who stole a police vehicle after attacking two officers, investigators said. Police say the suspect attacked two officers and stole their vehicle during a traffic stop Saturday night. The suspect broke into a home but was stopped by the homeowner who fought him off until police arrived, investigators said. A Philadelphia homeowner managed to stop a suspect who stole a police vehicle after attacking two officers, investigators said. The ordeal began on the 5500 block of Poplar Street at 9:14 p.m. Saturday. Two 19th District officers pulled a man over and were conducting a traffic stop. The man then allegedly attacked both officers and then jumped into their vehicle. The man then drove westbound on Poplar Street before exiting the vehicle on Ithan and Media streets, police said. The man then broke into a home on the 1400 block of North 56th Street and was confronted by the homeowner, according to investigators. The homeowner managed to fight the suspect off and he was then captured by responding officers, police said. Investigators have not yet revealed the suspects identity. Both officers who were injured were taken to the Penn Presbyterian Medical Center where they are in stable condition. What to Know An investigation is underway after a police officer shot and killed a man in South Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania. Witnesses told police the man was interfering with traffic and damaging several vehicles. Several Facebook users posted video of what they claimed to be the police-involved shooting though its authenticity has not been confirmed. An investigation is underway after a police officer shot and killed a man Saturday evening in South Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania. The ordeal started around 5:45 p.m. when police responded to complaints of a man interfering with traffic at 3712 Hamilton Blvd. near Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom. Witnesses told police the man damaged cars and, at one point, ripped the window out of a vehicle. A police officer confronted the man, identified as 44-year-old Joseph Santos from Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, and opened fire, striking him at least once after asking him to stand down several times. Santos was taken to Lehigh Valley Cedar Crest Hospital where he died from his injuries. The officer was placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation, according to Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin. Investigators have not released the police officer's identity. They also have not revealed what led to the shooting or whether Santos was armed. "It's very early in the investigation," Martin said. "We have a lot of things to do - a lot of witnesses to speak with." Several Facebook users posted a witness' video of the police-involved shooting. The video showed Santos walking toward a police vehicle and an officer is heard repeatedly telling him to get on the ground. Santos continued walking toward the vehicle as the sound of gunfire erupted. The man then fell to the ground. Officials continue to investigate the incident and urge witnesses to come forward. What to Know Thousands of residents on the outskirts of Redding fled the deadly Carr Fire that exploded Thursday night In a neighborhood of about 700 residents, an Associated Press reporter counted 66 destroyed homes After the flames subsided Friday, residents returned to their homes, some standing, others in ashes Jim Chapin had dined out after work Thursday, confident that a distant wildfire would not reach his neighborhood while he was away. But when the 79-year-old Redding, California, resident got home around 7:30 p.m., police were telling people to hurry up and go. Chapin's wife gathered prescriptions and the dogs and left. He stayed behind to hose down the roof and fallen leaves. A half-hour later, fire was burning trees behind his neighbors' homes and winds were whipping branches, burning leaves, garbage can lids and other debris. He feared he would be hit in the head. "Everybody else had left," Chapin said. "There was just all kinds of debris flying around in the air. Hot embers and hot leaves coming down all over the yard. I figured I better get out of here." He jumped in his car and almost immediately was in gridlock. Drivers honked, jumped the curb and cut off other cars. There was no way for firefighters to get into the Lake Redding Estates subdivision, which has just one way in and out. "Some people were panicking so much they were driving up on people's yards just to get around other cars," Chapin said. "It was crazy." Chapin was among thousands to flee the deadly Carr Fire that exploded Thursday night, jumped the Sacramento River and raced into the western outskirts of Redding, a city of about 92,000, about 100 miles south of the Oregon border. In Chapin's neighborhood of about 700 residents, an Associated Press reporter counted 66 destroyed homes. The fire in rural Shasta County turned so quickly that a reporter at KRCR-TV in Redding choked up as she reported live on the devastation before the station had to go off air. Journalists at the Record Searchlight newspaper tweeted they were reporting without electricity. Some people had time to pack up belongings, even helping neighbors load up vehicles and say goodbye. They gathered a wedding dress, handmade quilts made by a grandmother and pets. Other departures were more hurried and many reported clogged roads. "One of the things we love about living in Redding is there's no real traffic, so to be bumper-to-bumper on these little streets we zip up and down most times is pretty surreal," said Kim Niemer, community services director with the city's recreation department. Niemer had the foresight Thursday to collect family mementos, papers and her grandmother's quilts. She left around 9 p.m., an hour before an evacuation notice was issued, and joined a line of vehicles, some carrying boats and RVs. Anna Anderson left shortly after Niemer did, but her departure was more rushed. When she heard a highway patrol officer holler, "this is mandatory evacuation, you must leave!" through a megaphone, the Redding resident knew it was time to go. Anderson, her parents, and two teenage children raced around their four-bedroom house to gather their belongings. Outside, fierce winds blew ash into their eyes as they packed up the car with their two cats, clothes and pictures. They spent the night on the floor of the Redding Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "Fires happen a lot here, but this is the closest that it's ever gotten for us," said Anderson, 36, a clerk at the Superior Court of California in Shasta County. The family was able to check their still-standing house Friday. They watched as firefighting planes flew directly overhead. As they left for a second time around noon, the National Guard had arrived. "I went through it again, crying my eyes out, leaving again," she said. On Thursday morning, west Redding resident Alayne Rodriguez received a call at work from her husband, Rafael, that their apartment complex was being evacuated. It turned out to be faulty information, but it gave the couple warning. With the fire edging closer, they fetched their Goldendoodle, Jack, and packed the car with computers, legal documents and a few photo books. Rodriguez, 26, grabbed the dress she wore at their 2014 wedding. They helped neighbors pack and left shortly after 7 p.m., not even half an hour before her neighborhood received its order to evacuate. "Because the fire spread so quickly, it added a tinge of panic to our decision making," Rodriguez said. Chapin returned to hard-hit Lake Redding Estates on Friday and cried when he found his home still standing. "I thank the man upstairs for that," Chapin said. ___ Gill reported from San Francisco. AP reporter Janie Har contributed from San Francisco. The ongoing Russian meddling investigation has many San Diegans worried about the results of upcoming elections. A large group of voters, turned out at San Diego State University on Saturday morning to hear from some of the top local experts on U.S.-Russia relations. Many of the people in the crowd are concerned that a foreign power could have an influence on U.S. elections. I think it should be scary for everybody, Peter Dougherty said. Dougherty and other attendees were especially interested in the presentation by UC San Diego politics professor Eric Gartzke. Even the intelligence agencies have been clear, the Russians did not affect the electoral process directly," Gartzke said. "They affected the public opinion, which affected the way people voted, but thats not the same as going into the polls or going into the electronic voting machines and affecting the vote. Gartzke was joined on the panel by SDSU political science professor Mikhail Alexseev and UCSD political science professor Philip Roeder. "I found the part about the different methods of interference interesting," Dougherty said. "The fact that they are swaying our opinions, but not actually interfering with our actual elections." The panel was hosted by Rep. Susan Davis (CA-53). Its about our democracy, and its about the coming election as well," Davis said. "We want people to certainly get out and feel very empowered to vote and be part of it. These experts also presented the Russian perspective and brought up Americas own history of trying to influence the politics in other countries. "I was very pleased to hear the range of perspectives from the speakers to really go beyond the narrow range of contemporary politics and exchange that you see in the news today," James Halliday said. Other topics included NATO, the end of the Cold War and the internal politics of Russia. Experts warned about the politicization of Special Counsel Robert Muellers Russia Investigation. They agreed that the indictments of 12 Russian agents were very significant. The Justice Department handed down those indictments just days before President Trumps meeting with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland. The panelists reminded everyone to not believe everything you read online and suggested the best way to maintain a strong democracy, is to build cohesive communities, both on and offline. Curiosity and awe have greeted a complete lunar eclipse, the longest one of this century and visible in much of the world. The so-called "blood moon," when it turns a deep red, was visible at different times in Australia, Africa, Asia, Europe and South America when the sun, Earth and moon lined up perfectly, casting Earth's shadow on the moon. The total eclipse lasted 1 hour and 43 minutes, with the entire event lasting closer to four hours. Across Africa people turned to the sky, watching the reddish shadow slide up the moon's surface. In Somalia, some hurried to mosques for special prayers. In South Sudan, some dared to take photos in a war-torn country where using a camera in public is discouraged. In Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, people at an open-air restaurant admired a rare clear view during the rainy season, comparing a live NASA webcast to what they saw above. Then clouds rolled in. "Dem yelebesech chereka," some murmured Amharic for "blood moon." "The reason that the moon turns red is because atmospheric scattering causes red light to pass through the atmosphere and the composition of the atmosphere can change if volcanic eruptions or forest fires occur," said Tom Kerss, an astronomer with the Royal Observatory Greenwich. "And the density of dust increasing in the atmosphere can cause the moon to appear a particularly deep red, and indeed it has the same effect on our sunsets and sunrises." In a special treat, Mars is also at its closest approach to Earth this week since 2003, making it appear bigger and brighter. Excited skywatchers on social media shared photos of the bright planet just to the right of the moon. North America missed out on Friday's lunar eclipse but can look forward to the next one on Jan. 21, 2019, according to NASA. Associated Press writers Elias Meseret in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Abdi Guled in Mogadishu, Somalia and Sam Mednick in Juba, South Sudan contributed. Annabel hasn't yet celebrated her third birthday, but she's already battling a rare neurological disorder that doesn't have a cure or effective treatment. Fortunately, she has a community and family helping to turn lemons into lemonade. Literally. Friends and family gathered in Palisades Water Park in Northwest D.C. on Saturday for the Hope for Annabel lemonade stand fundraiser. Georgetown Cupcakes donated dozens of treats to be sold, and lemonade cost $2 a cup. The crew raised $1,089 to help fund research into Annabel's illness, the family posted on Instagram. That's a hefty haul for a lemonade stand, but it's a far cry from the $4 million the family hopes to raise to develop a cure for disease that affects one in every 1 million people. Annabel struggles with a genetic disorder called Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood, or AHC. According to the National Institutes of Health, AHC causes episodes of temporary paralysis. The paralysis eventually subsides, but the disease can also cause severe cognitive problems and brain degeneration. AHC is a painful, potentially deadly disease that causes Annabel to choke multiple times a day and leads to frequent hospitalization. It's also very rare: Annabel is one of 300 children in the U.S. diagnosed with AHC, and one of three kids in the world with known to have her specific genetic mutation, according to the Hope for Annabel website. "With so few AHC patients, Annabels hope for a cure is limited: there simply is not enough research or enough funding underway to find a cure in time to change her life," the Hope for Annabel website says. Left with few good options, Annabel's parents, Nina and Simon Frost, say they struck out to raise the money needed to develop a gene therapy treatment. They launched a non-profit called Hope for Annabel and document their journey on Instagram. Pioneering a cutting-edge treatment is a long and expensive process that requires the development of the therapy, testing on mice and clinical trials. The whole process will cost about $4 million, the Hope for Annabel website says. Hope For Annabel aims to raise $300,000 in the coming year. That sum is expected to cover the initial development and pre-clinical research. The family says they the development of a gene therapy for AHC will give other kids a path towards a cure for similar diseases. You can learn more about Annabel and her family's fight for a cure to AHC on her website. For three days she has grieved, carrying her dead calf on her head, unwilling to let it go. J35, a member of the critically endangered southern resident family of orcas, gave birth to her calf Tuesday only to watch it die within half an hour. All day, and through the night, she carried the calf. She was seen still carrying the calf on Wednesday by Ken Balcomb, founder and principal investigator of the Center for Whale Research. "It is unbelievably sad," said Brad Hanson, wildlife biologist with the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, who has witnessed other mother orcas do the same thing with calves that did not survive. Robin Baird, research biologist with the Cascadia Research Collective in Olympia, in 2010 watched L72, another of the southern residents, carry her dead newborn in 2010. "It reflects the very strong bonds these animals have, and as a parent, you can only imagine what kinds of emotional stress these animals must be under, having these events happen," Baird said. "You could see the calf had not been dead very long, the umbilical cord was visible. When we were watching, all the rest of the whales were separated by a distance, and they were just moving very slowly. She would drop the calf every once in a while, and go back and retrieve it." J35 is doing the same thing, carrying her calf by balancing it on her rostrum, just over her nose. She dives to pick it back up every time it slides off. Scientists have documented grieving behavior in other animals with close social bonds in small, tightly knit groups, observed carrying newborns that did not survive. Seven species in seven geographic regions covering three oceans have been documented carrying the body of their deceased young, including Risso's dolphin in the Indian Ocean; the Indo-Pacific bottle-nosed dolphin and the spinner dolphin in the Red Sea; and pilot whales in the North Atlantic. In one instance, a researcher attached a rope to the carcass of a bottlenose dolphin and towed it to shore and buried it with the mother following, touching the carcass until she could no longer follow into water too shallow to swim in. There she remained, watching. Some carried their young in their mouths, some on their backs. Deborah Giles, research scientist for University of Washington Center for Conservation Biology and research director for the nonprofit Wild Orca, also watched L72 carry her dead calf, following her at a distance in her research boat until the light faded and it was too dark to see. "Same thing, it was hours and hours," she said of that whale. "But I have never heard of this," she said of J35. "More than 24 hours. "It is horrible. This is an animal that is a sentient being. It understands the social bonds that it has with the rest of its family members. She carried the calf in her womb from 17 to 18 months, she is bonded to it and she doesn't want to let it go. It is that simple. She is grieving." The news of the grieving mother came even as researchers are also tracking a 4-year-old in the endangered orca clan that is emaciated. Hanson photographed J50 on Saturday and documented the classic "peanut head" a misshapen head due to loss of body fat. Her survival is in doubt. The southern residents face at least three known challenges to their survival as a species: toxins, vessel traffic and lack of adequate food, particularly chinook salmon. When they are hungry, it makes their other problems worse, research has shown. Gov. Jay Inslee has appointed a task force on orca whale recovery. Jaime Smith, spokeswoman for Inslee, said the task force is looking at a range of solutions, both short and long term. "The loss of this calf is a sobering reminder of what's at stake," Smith said. "And it's why we've convened partners who we believe can and will be best able to identify what we need to do in the upcoming weeks, months and years to save these animals." For researchers who work closely with the southern residents, their continued decline is painfully apparent. "I am on the water collecting poop from animals that are not getting enough to eat," Giles said. " I don't know if people understand the magnitude of what we are talking about here. We don't have five years to wait, we really don't." She said other members of the whale's family knew J35 was pregnant, because of their echolocation ability, which they use to find food. "So they must be grieving, too." Palestinian teen Ahed Tamimi, who became an international symbol of resistance to Israeli occupation after slapping two soldiers, walked out of an Israeli prison Sunday and told throngs of journalists and well-wishers that she now wants to study law to defend her people. In an outdoor news conference near her family home, the curly haired 17-year-old briefly raised her fist and said the "occupation must leave." She spoke against the backdrop of a large model of a slingshot that was "loaded" with a pencil rather than a stone, apparently to highlight education as one of the possible Palestinian tactics. The once feisty teen appeared to be subdued, stopping short of committing to continued acts of protests and saying her eight-month prison stint had taught her to appreciate life. Underlying her case are clashing narratives about Israel's half-century rule over the Palestinians, the extent of permissible Palestinian resistance to it and the battle for global public opinion. Tamimi's supporters see a brave girl who struck two armed soldiers in frustration after having just learned that Israeli troops seriously wounded a 15-year-old cousin, shooting him in the head from close range with a rubber bullet during nearby stone-throwing clashes. In Israel, she is seen by many either as a provocateur, an irritation or a threat to the military's deterrence policy even as a "terrorist." Israel has treated her actions as a criminal offense, indicting her on charges of assault and incitement. In liberal circles, the hard-charging prosecution of Tamimi was criticized as a public relations disaster because it turned her into an international icon. Her release comes at a time when Palestinian hopes for an independent state appear dimmer than ever. Israeli-Palestinian talks on setting up a state in lands captured by Israel in 1967 the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem have been deadlocked since hard-line Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to power in 2009. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas suspended contacts with the U.S. after President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December in what Palestinians denounced as a display of blatant pro-Israel bias. Abbas, meanwhile, has stepped up financial pressure on Gaza, controlled since 2007 by his bitter domestic rival, the Islamic militant Hamas. Many Palestinians are disillusioned by their leaders in both political camps and feel exhausted after years of conflict with Israel. Alternatives have arisen, including calling for a single state for both peoples between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, but haven't gained a mass following. In this context, the idea of so-called popular resistance regular demonstrations, including stone-throwing by unarmed protesters has only caught on in a few West Bank villages, including Nabi Saleh, home to the extended Tamimi clan. Since 2009, residents of Nabi Salah have staged regular anti-occupation protests that often ended with stone-throwing clashes. Ahed has participated in such marches from a young age and has had several highly publicized run-ins with soldiers. One photo shows the then 12-year-old raising a clenched fist toward a soldier towering over her. In a sign of her popularity, a pair of Italian artists painted a large mural of her on Israel's West Bank separation barrier ahead of her release. Israeli police said they were caught in the act along with another Palestinian and arrested for vandalism. On Sunday, Israel canceled the visas of the two Italians and ordered them to leave the country within three days, police said. Ahed and her mother Nariman also arrested in December in connection with the same incident were released Sunday morning from a prison in northern Israel. They were driven by bus to the West Bank and were given a hero's welcome in Nabi Saleh. "The resistance continues until the occupation is removed," Ahed said upon her return. "All the female prisoners are steadfast. I salute everyone who supported me and my case." From her home, Ahed headed to a visit to the grave of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. She laid a wreath, kissed the headstone twice at the request of photographers and recited a prayer from the Quran, the Muslim holy book. She was then taken with her family to a meeting with Abbas at his headquarters in Ramallah. The 83-year-old Abbas praised her as a symbol of resistance to occupation even as he faces growing domestic criticism for not walking away from continued security coordination between his forces and Israeli troops against Hamas, a shared foe. In an afternoon news conference, Ahed said that she completed her high school exams in prison, with the help of other prisoners. Palestinian inmates typically organize study courses to complete high school and even university degrees. "I will study law to defend my people and defend my Palestinian cause in international forums," she said. She said her prison experience was tough, and that she missed her old life in the village and her friends. She said she underwent three lengthy interrogations without a female officer present, in violation of Israel's own rules. At one point Sunday, Ahed received a call from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who congratulated her on her release, said her father. Tamimi's scuffle with the two soldiers took place Dec. 15 in Nabi Saleh. At the time, protests had erupted in several parts of the West Bank over Trump's recognition 10 days earlier of the contested city of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. She was arrested at her home four days later, in the middle of the night. Ahed was 16 when she was arrested and turned 17 while in custody. Her case has trained a spotlight on the detention of Palestinian minors by Israel, a practice that has been criticized by international rights groups. Some 300 minors are currently being held, according to Palestinian figures. Israeli Cabinet minister Uri Ariel said the Tamimi case highlighted what could happen if Israel lets its guard down. "I think Israel acts too mercifully with these types of terrorists. Israel should treat harshly those who hit its soldiers," he told The Associated Press. "We can't have a situation where there is no deterrence. Lack of deterrence leads to the reality we see now ... we must change that." A tropical storm in Japan disrupted transportation and knocked out power to thousands of homes in its path as it headed west toward a region still recovering from devastating rains earlier this month. At least 16 people have been injured, according to a tally by Japan's public broadcaster, NHK. Tropical Storm Jongdari made landfall about 1 a.m. Sunday in central Japan after dumping heavy rain on Tokyo and other parts of eastern Japan the previous day. Downgraded from a typhoon, it had maximum sustained winds of 90 kilometers per hour (56 miles per hour) with gusts up to 126 kph (78 mph). Airlines canceled many flights to and from the affected regions Sunday for the second day in a row, and train service was delayed or suspended. Electric utilities reported scattered power outages as the storm moved from east to west, NHK said. Residents and workers piled up sandbags Saturday to guard against flooding in Okayama and Hiroshima prefectures, the two states hit hardest by landslides and floods that killed more than 200 people during record rains in western Japan in early July. Authorities issued evacuation advisories throughout the affected areas. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh says he recognizes that gun, drug and gang violence "has plagued all of us." Still, he believes the Constitution limits how far government can go to restrict gun use to prevent crime. As a federal appeals court judge, Kavanaugh made it clear in a 2011 dissent that he thinks Americans can keep most guns, even the AR-15 rifles used in some of the deadliest mass shootings. Kavanaugh's nomination by President Donald Trump has delighted Second Amendment advocates. Gun law supporters worry that his ascendancy to America's highest court would make it harder to curb the proliferation of guns. Kavanaugh has the support of the National Rifle Association, which posted a photograph of Kavanaugh and Trump across the top of its website. The Supreme Court has basically stayed away from major guns cases since its rulings in 2008 and 2010 declared a right to have a gun, at least in the home for the purpose of self-defense. Gun rights advocates believe Kavanaugh interprets the Second Amendment right to bear arms more broadly than does Anthony Kennedy, the justice he would replace. As a first step, some legal experts expect Kavanaugh would be more likely to vote for the court to hear a case that could expand the right to gun ownership or curtail a gun control law. Kavanaugh would be a "big improvement" over Kennedy, said Erich Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America. Kennedy sided with the majority in rulings in 2008 and 2010 overturning bans on handgun possession in the District of Columbia and Chicago, respectively, but some gun rights proponents believe he was a moderating influence. "Kennedy tended to be all over the map" on the Second Amendment, Pratt said. Former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, the Arizona Democrat who was gravely wounded in a 2011 shooting at a constituent gathering, said in a written statement that Kavanaugh's "dangerous views on the Second Amendment are far outside the mainstream of even conservative thought." She predicted that Kavanaugh would back the gun lobby's agenda, "putting corporate interests before public safety." In his 2011 dissent in a case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Kavanaugh argued that the district's ban on semi-automatic rifles and its gun registration requirement were unconstitutional. That case is known as "Heller II" because it followed the Supreme Court's 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller striking down the city's ban on handguns in the home. Kavanaugh said the Supreme Court held that handguns are constitutionally protected "because they have not traditionally been banned and are in common use by law-abiding citizens." "Gun bans and gun regulations that are not longstanding or sufficiently rooted in text, history, and tradition are not consistent with the Second Amendment individual right," he wrote in a point rejected by the majority. Critics contend Kavanaugh's analysis is flawed because AR-15s were not around during the early days of the republic. In his dissent, Kavanaugh wrote that he had lived and worked in Washington for most of his life and was "acutely aware of the gun, drug, and gang violence that has plagued all of us." He said few government responsibilities are more significant than fighting violent crime. "That said, the Supreme Court has long made clear that the Constitution disables the government from employing certain means to prevent, deter, or detect violent crime," he wrote. He said it was unconstitutional to ban the most popular semi-automatic rifle, the AR-15, since it accounted for 5.5 percent of firearms by 2007 and over 14 percent of rifles produced in the U.S. for the domestic market. He said semi-automatic rifles had been commercially available since at least 1903, "are quite common in the United States" and the Supreme Court said in a 1994 ruling that they "traditionally have been widely accepted as lawful possessions." Semi-automatic rifles were used in several mass shootings in recent years, including the February killing of 17 people at a Florida high school. Kavanaugh rejected the majority's reasoning that semi-automatic handguns were sufficient for self-defense, saying: "That's a bit like saying books can be banned because people can always read newspapers." He belittled the description of the guns as "assault weapons," saying that handguns could be called the "quintessential 'assault weapons' because they are used much more than other guns in violent crimes. He was equally dismissive of Washington's gun registration protocol, saying it had not been traditionally required in the nation and "remains highly unusual today." Still, Kavanaugh supported the ban on full automatics or machine guns, reasoning that they "were developed for the battlefield and were never in widespread civilian use." In 2016, Kavanaugh dissented when two of his colleagues lifted an order blocking the city from enforcing a limit on issuing licenses to carry concealed firearms. The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence said the dissent shows Kavanaugh believes the district's "good reason" requirement for concealed-carry permit applicants is unconstitutional. His views on that subject drew more scrutiny after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 days ago in a Hawaii case that people have the right to openly carry guns in public for self-defense. Phil Mendelson, a Democrat and chairman of the D.C. Council, said Kavanaugh's dissent made clear that "his views on gun control are on the extreme side." Councilmember Mary M. Cheh, a Democrat and professor of constitutional law at George Washington University, said she's "worried about the shift to the right, for sure." Some legal experts believe Kavanaugh's confirmation would make it more likely the court would hear another potentially groundbreaking Second Amendment case. Only four of nine justices need to vote in favor of reviewing a case. UCLA law school professor Adam Winkler, author of "Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America," said Kavanaugh could become that crucial fourth vote because three justices Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito Jr. all have voiced support for the court to take on Second Amendment cases. Still, it takes five justices to win a case and Chief Justice John Roberts may turn out to be as reluctant as Kennedy to further define the law. Georgia State University law professor Eric Segall said the court's recent silence on gun laws has fueled speculation that neither the conservative justices nor their liberal colleagues knew how Kennedy would vote. Segall suspects the Supreme Court would be more likely to review a Second Amendment case if Kavanaugh is confirmed because there is less uncertainty about where he stands compared to Kennedy. "The lower courts are just all over the place, reaching different results on different gun laws. The court has to provide guidance at some point, and it will," Segall said. One person was killed and another seriously injured in a double shooting early Sunday morning in Worcester, Massachusetts. Police responded to Sturgis Street for a report of shots fired at approximately 2:30 a.m. Sunday. Upon arrival, officers observed several people in the roadway and found a 28-year-old man on the sidewalk suffering from a gunshot wound. The man was treated at the scene and taken to a nearby hospital where he is in serious condition. When police began interviewing witnesses at the scene, they realized another man had been shot in the incident and was taken to an emergency room of a local hospital by his family. The 23-year-old had then been immediately transported to another hospital with life-threatening injuries. He was pronounced dead Sunday morning. There is limited information on the suspect at this time, but police say there are reports that a man came from the side of one of the homes in the area, fired several shots and then took off. There is no word on motive at this time. With the suspect on the loose, neighbors are on edge. "Well I was really surprised that it was two houses away from us like if it was something random then it could have been hey they decided to go two houses down the street and it could have been us," Marissa Sidlow said. The victims' identites have not been released. When the gunfire erupted overnight, three parked cars were also hit with stray bullets. Worcester Police and members of the Crime Scene Unit are investigating the shooting. Anyone with information is asked to call 508-799-8651, send an anonymous text to 274637 (TIPWPD) or send an anonymous message at the city's website. This is the second homicide in Worcester this year, authorities said. BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. - Audrey Denney, a Democratic candidate for Californias 1st Congressional District is collecting supplies for evacuees and fire crews in the Carr Fire. Her team needs water, Gatorade, baby items and N-95 respirators. ACTION NEEDED: Were helping the VFW in Paradise, CA collect supplies for the #CarrFire evacuees and fire crews in #Redding. Lets #fillthetruck!See thread for details. (1/3) Audrey Denney (@audrey4congress) July 28, 2018 If people wish to donate they can go to the Paradise Veterans Hall on 6550 Skyway, Paradise, at 9:30 a.m. Sunday. Denneys office will also accept donations at 3209 Esplanade Suite 140, Chico, that will begin at 10:30 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. Cambodia's ruling party won an expected victory in an election Sunday widely considered illegitimate after the only credible opposition was silenced and which ensures that long-ruling Prime Minister Hun Sen will serve another five-year term. Although 20 parties contested the election, the only one with the popularity and organization to mount a real challenge, the Cambodian National Rescue Party, was dissolved last year by the Supreme Court in a ruling generally seen as political. Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith confirmed to The Associated Press that the Cambodian People's Party had topped the polls. He did not say how many of the of the 125 seats in the National Assembly the CPP had captured, but preliminary totals broadcast on state television showed that the party had won at least 70 percent of the vote in each of the country's 25 provinces. Under the election's system of proportional representation, the party would likely grab more than 100 seats. Local and foreign rights groups, along with several Western governments, had agreed that the election would not be credible. The United States said it regretted the flawed vote and wound consider its responses, including expanding on visa restrictions that were announced in December. The statement from the White House press secretary's office said the U.S. was disappointed in the government's choice to disenfranchise voters, citing the exclusion of the principal opposition party, the jailing and banning of its officials, and threats to punish non-voters. The disbanded CNRP's former leaders had urged people not to vote in what was dubbed a "Clean Finger" campaign because those who did cast ballots had to dip a finger in indelible ink, a practice meant to thwart multiple voting. According to detailed totals released by the state National Election Committee, more than 6.8 million registered voters, or 82.2 percent, cast ballots. The figure, if correct, would suggest that the promotion by opposition forces of a poll boycott was ineffective. In the last general election in 2013, voter turnout was 6.6 million, or 68.5 percent of 9.7 million registered voters. Hun Sen said on his Facebook page before the results were announced that he welcomed the big turnout, and congratulated his countrymen for exercising their right to vote. However, threats had previously been reported against anyone planning to boycott. In rural areas where the majority live, someone who didn't vote recognized by the lack of ink on their fingers might have been subject to retaliation by local officials who carry out civic functions, such as land registration. Voters in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital and an opposition stronghold, were less susceptible to such threats because of their higher visibility and safety in numbers. However, according to the election committee, even there the turnout was about 80 percent. Doubts are likely to be raised about the actual turnout because several established poll-watching groups as well as contingents from the United States and the European Union declined to take part in polls they viewed as illegitimate. One of the bigger Cambodian groups watching the polls is led by one of Hun Sen's sons. Following the election, exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy called for peaceful protests, calling it "a sham election with a foregone conclusion." Speaking from south of Paris in Freteval where he lives, Sam Rainsy told The Associated Press that "it is a meaningless victory because (Hun Sen) won without any real challenger ... prior to the election he dissolved the only credible opposition party." Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party was alarmed by the results of the 2013 election, when the race was close enough for the opposition to claim that it would have won had the voter registration process not been manipulated. Along with fracturing the political opposition including pressuring Sam Rainsy into exile and jailing his successor, Kem Sokha Hun Sen's government also silenced critical voices in the media. Over the past year, about 30 radio stations shut down, and two English-language newspapers that provided serious reporting were gutted, one forced to close and the other put under ownership friendly to the government. Just ahead of the polls, the government ordered the temporary blocking of 17 websites, citing regulations prohibiting media from disseminating information that might affect security. The blocked websites included those of the U.S. government-funded Voice of America as well as local media. Hun Sen, whose 33 years in power make him among the world's longest-serving national leaders, promised peace and prosperity at a campaign rally Friday, but attacked the opposition's boycott call and called those who heed it "destroyers of democracy." Hun Sen, 65, has said he intends to stay in power for at least two more five-year terms. He was a member of the radical communist Khmer Rouge during its successful five-year war to topple a pro-American government, then defected to Vietnam during Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot's 1975-79 genocidal regime that left nearly 2 million Cambodians dead. He became prime minister in 1985 in a Vietnamese-backed single-party communist government and led Cambodia through a civil war against the Khmer Rouge, which eased off with the 1991 Paris Peace Accords that also installed a democratic political framework. Associated Press writer Grant Peck contributed to this report. The 45-year-old jockey won four of the eight races that took place at Newbury on Sunday afternoon DESPITE the wind and rain, almost 6,000 people turned out at Newbury Racecourse as the 2018 Dubai International Arabian Races took place on Sunday with eight races throughout the afternoon. The raceday, dedicated to Purebred Arabians returned to West Berkshire under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance. It was a day for France jockey Olivier Peslier to remember as he secured a total of four victories over the course of the afternoon. Peslier, from Chateau-Gontier, France had winners with Tahirwah, Al Chammy, Joudh and Nafees. In the first race of the afternoon, it was 20/1 Taqdeeraat who crossed the line first, narrowly ahead of second place, Rafeef. TAQDEERAAT! Its a 20/1 winner in the opening race of the @DIA_Races at @NewburyRacing. Its second for Rafeef, third for Anfaas and fourth for Al Kaaser. #Newbury#DIARacespic.twitter.com/e5tP9VR2Rx Newbury Today Sport (@NWN_Sport) 29 July 2018 Their was a late jockey change on the winning horse as Harry Bentley replaced Liam Jones who was originally due to ride the Phillip Collington trained horse. In third place was Anfaas while favourite prior to the start Al Kaaser, finished fourth. It was a comfortable win for No And No Al Maury in race two of the afternoon as H.H Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum enjoyed a second successive winner. In second place, Emiraaty finished ahead of Laheeb in third and Ezzahra Du Breuil in fourth. The third race produced a dramatic conclusion as Tahirwah and Zoe Di Gallura crossed the line together, resulting in a photo finish and a stewards enquiry. As a result of the enquiry, it was confirmed that Tahirwah, owned by the Royal Cavalry of Oman took first place ahead of Italy's Zoe Di Gallura. Meanwhile, Hadiyah finished third ahead of Ensiab in fourth. In the Jebel Ali Racecourse Za'abeel International Stakes, Al Chammy crossed the line in first ahead of Ahzar in second place. It was the first Group 1 PA race of the afternoon as the Royal Cavalry of Oman claimed a second successive winner of the afternoon. Joudh claimed first place in the Shadwell Arabian Stallions Hatta International Stakes, finishing ahead of Sharesa in second and Eiman Du Loup in third. Olivier Peslier was riding Joudh and secured his third successive win of the afternoon. Race six resulted in another victory for Peslier as he lead Nafees to victory in the Shadwell Dubai International Stakes. Al Mouwaffak (9/1) came across the line in second while second favourite Mehdaaf Athbah came third. In the penultimate race of the afternoon, a second photo finish determined the winner. Saleemah at 9/2 secured the victory ahead of Halib Des Forges in second. SALEEMAH! After another photo finish, its the 9/2 horse that takes it on the line ahead of Halib Des Forges in second. #DIARaces#Newburypic.twitter.com/JIrVofVrSk Newbury Today Sport (@NWN_Sport) 29 July 2018 In the final race of the afternoon, 16 horses took to the field but it was Mersal who crossed the line first ahead of Paramer Angel in second. For a full report, results from the prize winners and pictures from Sunday's raceday, pick up a copy of next weeks Newbury Weekly News, out Thursday. Police appeal for witnesses after vehicle "is struck with pellet from catapult" on M4 AN "erratic" driver tried to force another car off the M4 during a road rage incident. At around 2.15pm on Wednesday July 25 the victim, a man in his twenties, was driving a white Nissan Cabster from Pangbourne to Reading on the M4. He was being followed by another car, a black BMW X5, which police say was being driven erratically. During the incident, the driver of the BMW hit the Nissan with a ball bearing from a catapult and tried to get the car off the road. No-one was injured and it is being treated as an isolated incident. A 28-year-old man from Reading has been arrested on suspicion of making threats to life and has been released on police bail until August 22. Thames Valley Police is now appealing for witnesses to offences including dangerous driving. Investigating officer, Detective Constable Rachel Belsher, based at Reading Police Station, said: This was a very distressing incident for the victim. As this happened in the middle of the day, when the M4 is busy, it is likely there is a number of witnesses who saw this happen. We would encourage anyone with information relating to this incident to please get in touch. You can do this by calling the 24-hour Thames Valley Police enquiry centre on 101 quoting reference 43180227734. If you would prefer to remain anonymous, you can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 500 111 or you can you can make a report online. Contributed Photo / Contributed Photo TRUMBULL Next Saturday cops and community members can gather to get to know each other in Trumbull. The Coffee with a Cop event is set to kick off at 9 a.m. at the Upper Crust Bakery and Cafe at 4244 Madison Ave. You loved watching the series Pirates of the Carribean? Ever wondered whether those tough men could be real? Could those bearded men who stank, stuttered and staggered of all the rum they guzzled down from morning to evening, terrorise the major naval forces of Spain and England for centuries? Yes, the pirates were the real McCoy of the time. The pirates flourished in the big blue pond in the 16 and 17 century sending shudders up to Europe and the colonised America. Sir Henry Morgan, born in Wales was perhaps the most frightening of them. Sir Morgan! Dont you smell a rat in the title? Morgan was no pirate indeed, but was a privateer, employed by Charles II of England. His role: A pirate. His mission: destroy the reputation of Spanish trade on sea. England needed a lot of dirty acts back then to upset the supremacy of Spain. A daredevil Morgan was more than willing to help his country. A new pirate was born. Morgans terror on sea began ever since he established a base at Port Royal in Jamaica. He then launched a series of attacks on Spanish possessions moving or unmoving, trade ships or Spanish colonies in the Caribbean islands. By then with the blessings of the English King, he had gathered a large private army. Morgan resorted to clever tactics in his robberies and pillages. Sometimes he used the cover of darkness, sometimes even human shield (he once used captured nuns) to numb his opponents. Spanish posts fell one by one. The shiver he sent across began to rattle both sides of the ocean, the continent and the Caribbean. But every ambitious warrior at one time in his life goes overboard. Morgan did it when he conquered the largest city in the New World, Panama without knowing a treaty had already been signed between his country and Spain (Dont blame him. News traveled at a snails pace back then). Now Spain wanted retribution. Captain Morgan was arrested and brought to his home country soon. But definitely not to be executed or to be thrown behind bars. By then Morgan had become a legend in his home country with his brave and patriotic acts. A pleased king set the nations hero free, knighted him, and sent back to Jamaica where he started his job. Sir Captain Morgan was made the vice governor of the colony. Merrily, he lived the rest of his life there, and merrily he died of all the rum he drank (He was buried on the island but in a massive earthquake that came a few years later all those remnants were swept away into darkness save those legends that hang around his name). When in 1944 the Seagrams group discussed launching a premium rum against such giants like Bacardi, they didnt have to think twice about its name. Captain Morgan was launched. Distilled from sugarcane, molasses, mash and yeast, Captain Morgan Original Spiced (all that spice was perhaps needed to commemorate the blazing feats of the real Morgan) rum is distilled in continuous still. The clear spirit is then aged up to one year before spices indigenous to the Caribbean islands and other flavourings are added. Captain Morgan once again became a hit. This time, of course, on land. (In 2001, Seagram sold the "Captain Morgan" brand to Diageo. The website says: For a smooth and refreshing tasting drink, Captain Morgan Original Spiced Gold is best served in a tankard over ice, with cola and a slice of lime). (Manu Remakant is a freelance writer who also runs a video blog - A Cup of Kavitha - introducing world poetry to Malayalees. Views expressed here are personal) The Red Cross announced Saturday night they are opening new shelters to accommodate additional evacuees of the Carr Fire in Weaverville. The shelter at Weaverville Elementary School is now closed. A new shelter is open at Trinity High School, 321 Victory Lane, Weaverville, CA, 96093. Evacuees from the elementary school shelter are moving to the Trinity High School site. In addition, a new shelter is open at Foothill High School, 9733 Deschutes Rd, Palo Cedro, CA, 96073. Carr Fire evacuees can also visit the following Red Cross shelter sites: * Crosspointe Community Church, 2960 Hartnell Avenue, Redding, CA, 96002 * Simpson University, 2211 College View Dr, Redding, CA, 96003 The shelter at Shasta Community College, 11555 Old Oregon Trail, Redding, CA, 96003, is at maximum capacity. No additional clients are being accepted at that site. Anyone is welcome at Red Cross shelters, including those with service animals. Shelter guests can expect a place to sleep, meals, drinks, snacks, comfort and the opportunity to reconnect with loved ones and get information. Red Cross staff is on hand providing health services such as replacing lost medications and eyeglasses, emotional support and spiritual care. The Red Cross urges everyone to follow evacuation orders from local law enforcement and to have an emergency kit ready to go. Find a shelter by visiting redcross.org or download the free Red Cross Emergency App, which includes wildfire safety tips. The app is available in app stores by searching for American Red Cross or going to redcross.org/apps. Chennai: Triggering a scare across a very emotional Tamil Nadu, DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi lapsed into a transient setback on Sunday night but was later back to being stable as delirious supporters breathed a sigh of relief and continued to raise slogans for Kalaignars long life. The 94-year-old DMK president continued to wage a grim battle for life on Sunday night as he remains under observation for a urinary tract infection that has also caused fever. "It is true that there was a transient setback. But it has been set right due to intensive medical care. Do not believe in rumours. He continues to be treated at the ICU," DMK leader and former Union Minister A Raja told reporters at the hospital premises. A Rajas announcement, who struggled to be heard over the supporters sloganeering, was greeted with loud cheers by the ardent admirers of Karunanidhi who had gathered in large numbers at the hospital. Hundreds of policemen were deployed in and around the hospital in upscale Alwarpet. The police resorted to mild lathicharge to disperse the crowd that refused to leave the Kauvery Hospital. A steady stream of DMK supporters visited the hospital since morning, but the crowd began swelling since 7:30 pm as news spread about the deterioration in his condition. "There was a transient setback in the clinical condition of DMK president M Karunanidhi. With active medical support his vital signs are normalising. He continues to be closely monitored and treated by the panel of expert doctors," a medical bulletin issued by Kauvery Hospital said at 9:50 pm. Many party workers, especially women, were seen crying. They heaved a sigh of relief after the medical bulletin said he was breathing normally and his vital parameters had stabilised. Karunanidhi was hospitalised in the wee hours of Saturday after his blood pressure dropped. He had undergone a procedure at the Kauvery Hospital for replacement of a tracheostomy tube to help him breathe normally. Earlier on Sunday, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu called on Karunanidhi at the hospital after which DMK released the first visuals of the ailing leader lying on the hospital bed. Several political bigwigs have paid visits to the DMK chief over the past few days ad his health triggered concerns across political lines in the country. Washington : US President Donald Trump declared on Saturday a state of emergency in California and ordered the federal government to provide additional assistance due to the wildfires that since July 23 have devastated the region and forced authorities to evacuate close to 38,000 people. By means of this order, Trump authorized the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate disaster relief efforts, Efe quoted the White House as saying in a statement. "This action will help alleviate the hardship and suffering that the emergency may inflict on the local population, and provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the counties of Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura," the White House said. Firefighters have been unable to halt the spread of a northern California wildfire that has already destroyed 32,700 hectares (some 82,000 acres) and has killed at least two people. According to figures provided Saturday by CalFire, the state's forestry and forest fire protection department, the Carr fire has only been brought 5 per cent under control. The fire began last Monday in Shasta County, whose main city, Redding, lies some 350 km north of San Francisco. Authorities said that about 38,000 people have had to be evacuated from the region as a precaution. The flames have destroyed 500 buildings and damaged another 75. In addition, at least two people - one firefighter and a bulldozer operator - have died in the area battling the blaze. More than 3,400 emergency services workers are currently trying to put out the Carr fire. It is expected that high temperatures will continue in the coming days in the area, where dry conditions and high winds have fostered the rapid spread of several blazes. Given the seriousness of the situation, California Governor Jerry Brown last Thursday declared a state of emergency in Shasta County. Meanwhile, the Ferguson Fire, which broke out two weeks ago and forced the closure of parts of Yosemite National Park, is 29 per cent controlled, CalFire said on Friday. More than 3,800 personnel are involved in the battle against the Ferguson Fire, with aerial support from 16 helicopters. Authorities in southeastern California's Riverside County announced on Friday the arrest of a man accused of starting the Cranston Fire, which has destroyed 4,700 hectares. Brandon McGlover, 32, faces 15 criminal charges and is being held on $1 million bail, the county prosecutor's office said. Sorry! This content is not available in your region Im seeing talk about shots in several groups that are medical- or vaccine-related and in typical parenting groups, too. People are asking if its true that their child must be vaccinated. I heard they dont have to be but my district just sent me a notice. If I dont get her the vaccine, she wont get her schedule. Most whove chimed in to answer know quite a bit about vaccine law and about their rights. But, since not every member of the group is vaccine savvy yet, theyre gently reminding the newer folks that what some of the schools and health departments are saying about school shots is misleading. Once that newbie parent is provided the accurate information, that yes, their child can still go to school without getting that Tdap vaccine or that booster, some of the parents band together to set the district straight. I belong to a lot more parenting groups now than I did when my children were younger. The people in these groups, many who have become personal friends, are a lifeline for me. From the old timers to the youngins, many of whom are more in tune with their parental rights than I ever was at their age, we have a safe place to talk, vent, and collaborate. From poop talk to getting the skinny on whos an autism friendly doctor or therapist, Im drawn in to several conversations throughout the year. Since the start of school is right around the corner, some of the latest convos have been about school shots. Back to school. I love this time of year. New supplies and new academic adventures await. My kids are somewhat excited to return to school but more so for the social aspect. They cannot wait to see their friends again. Friends are a good thing to have in life. Im grateful for the ones I have, especially for the friends Ive made online. As your body grows bigger Your mind must flower It's great to learn 'Cause knowledge is power It's Schoolhouse Rocky, the chip off the block Of your favorite schoolhouse, Schoolhouse Rock! And off they go to politely tell the district, or the health department, or the school administrator that theyve forgotten something very important. Where a district shares only part of the law, the parents include whats been left out that all 50 states offer at least one type of vaccine exemption. If youve learned that your local district or health department is keeping information from you and other parents of school age children, do you chime in? Do you let that district representative, or administrator, or health department employee, or school nurse know what theyve done? I have. One nurse was very receptive. She even went so far as to apologize for neglecting to add that exemptions were indeed still a valid option. Another time, a different nurse was not as receptive. I already knew the information, but tested her by asking if I could turn in an exemption instead. Begrudgingly, she said yes. I then requested that she please consider citing the entire law to include that exemptions existed when she made future announcements about vaccines. She was miffed and let me know just how angry Id made her. Why was she angry? Because I asked her to be honest with the parents and children she was being paid to serve? Honesty will always be the best policy, especially when risks are involved. Unfortunately, many parents are still unaware that the law (in most states) includes being able to opt out of school shots. Unless someone knows how to search for it, though, that information may not be easily found. Not sure about what your states vaccine exemptions include? Check out this map: Photo credit: NVIC.org The NVIC website has more detailed information which Id encourage parents to read. Another great resource is Vaxtruth. Each of those websites lists other vaccine topics that I believe are worth reading to include legislation alerts. The online alerts can, and have, very quickly notified the people that its time to rally in person. Because our childrens health rights are worth fighting for, scores of parents across the US made a point to be in their home states capital during vaccine legislative meetings and hearings. They did everything they could to be heard and seen and to help kill several vaccine bills. Not every state representative listened to nor appreciated the presence of the concerned parents, but that hasnt stopped these parents from continuing to work together. I see that in the online groups that I currently belong to. Moms and dads take time to help each other. They take time to layout the facts, all of the facts. They have lengthy conversations about vaccines, vaccine exemptions, and vaccine choice, something that vaccine advocates dont seem to care to bring up. I encourage the talking and sharing thats going on parent-to-parent. When parents know more, I believe they'll be able to make not just a good decision but an informed one. Cathy Jameson is a Contributing Editor for Age of Autism. -- Other posts from Cathy about vaccine exemptions can be found here: Back-to-School Shots Back-to-School Shots: You Have Exemptions Carol Kaliff / Hearst Connecticut Media DANBURY The public schools Central Registration Office is now open for new students to register for school. All students new to the district should register by Aug. 17 to be able to start the first day of school on Aug. 31. PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - The 57-year-old farmer in a rural northern Cambodian province has voted in every election since the U.N.-led effort to bring democracy to this country a quarter-century ago. This time, he's staying home. "In this election, my vote is useless," Khorngson Phumpihean said in an interview from Ratanakiri province, which borders Laos and Vietnam. "Everything in this election is unjust." Cambodians on Sunday were offered the opportunity to vote for their next government, but many have chosen not to and others have spoiled their ballots to protest what has widely been decried as a sham election engineered to extend the run of Prime Minister Hun Sen, whose tenure of more than three decades makes him one of the world's longest-serving rulers. A spokesman for his party told a local radio station on Sunday night that preliminary results show the party winning at least 90 seats of the 125 available, a decisive majority to form a government. "There's only one strong competitor, who has already won," said Dim Ratha, a 30-year-old motorcycle-taxi driver, speaking hours after polls opened in an area on the outskirts of Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, where many garment workers live. "'The party we want is not on the list." A friend of his standing close by gingerly offered his index finger and said, "Look, it is clean," a reference to the ink used to stain voters' fingers after they have cast their ballots. He declined to be named for fear of reprisal by the government. Others forfeited their votes by marking their ballots with a giant X, crossing out all of the 20 parties listed, casting blank ballots or writing that the election is unjust or a sham at the top of the paper, according to photos posted on Facebook. They were among those acting in defiance of Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), whose blue party banners and billboards line Phnom Penh's streets in one of many indications of its dominance in this Southeast Asian country. Cambodia's history has been shaped by war, genocide and, later on, an unprecedented effort by the United Nations and Western donors to bring multiparty democracy to the country. But elections have done little to effect changes that many want, analysts say, and Sunday's vote will only serve to reinforce that reality. In November, a court dissolved the main opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) - which almost unseated Hun Sen's CPP in 2013 - and locked its leader, Kem Sokha, in a remote jail on treason charges. The government has muzzled independent press and, on the eve of elections, blocked 17 websites, including those of the U.S.-funded Voice of America and Radio Free Asia. Meanwhile, thousands of Cambodians have been invited to WhatsApp groups spreading misinformation and regime-friendly propaganda. The National Election Commission, which is not independent, has touted the presence of 19 other political parties contesting the election, but none are significant enough to disrupt what is likely to be the consolidation of power around the CPP. International monitors have been deployed to observe the election, but none are from credible organizations. A coalition of 23 internationally recognized election observers, including the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL), said the monitors in Cambodia "show neither the autonomy nor the skills to conduct an independent, reliable assessment of the elections." "Elections have a history of cementing authoritarian rule in Cambodia," said Lee Morgenbesser, a lecturer at Griffith University in Australia who studies Cambodia politics. Sunday's elections, he added, "are far less about the hope of democracy and far more about the reality of authoritarian rule." Hours after polls closed on Sunday, the election commission said it recorded a 80.5 percent turnout, which it later revised to 82.7 percent. The commission declined to say how many ballots were valid or how many ballots had been deliberately spoiled. Officials heralded the turnout, which, if accurate, would be higher than that in the competitive 2013 elections, as a sign that the election - and, therefore, the government that will be formed as a result - was legitimate. "You can tell from the face of the voters. They are happy. So how can you say that they were forced?" Sik Bunhok, chair of the commission, said in a news conference. There was "no intimidation at all." At least half a dozen voters interviewed by The Washington Post in the capital, which in previous elections has been a stronghold of the now-dissolved CNRP, said they were not voting and declined to be named, citing intimidation, harassment and fines imposed on those who have promoted a boycott. Others said they were voting only because they feared government backlash. Despite the commission's tally of an 80 percent turnout in Phnom Penh, things were quiet at multiple polling stations hours before voting closed. "It is just more red cards for the (election commission) and CPP," Mu Sochua, a prominent member of the CNRP, said in an interview from Seoul. "They know they cannot bring in the crowd." The CNRP in recent months called for a boycott of the vote, and Hun Sen pushed back, branding those heeding its calls as "traitors." The election commission fined several who promoted the boycott in the weeks leading up to the vote. "The manipulation of voting in the polling stations due to the complete control of the ruling CPP over voting operations from A to Z caused serious distortions," exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy said in a statement. "Every credible national and international election-observing organization has refused to observe an election process that was falsified from the outset." Among the 200 international observers who gave Cambodia's election a clean bill of health were representatives from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Communist Party of China, a steadfast defender of Hun Sen's government. The Communist Party noted the presence of "women with babies and aged voters" who arrived at the polling stations "very early in the morning" as a sign of enthusiastic turnout. "The delegation considers the sixth legislative election in Cambodia peaceful, fair and transparent," the Communist Party of China said. Other delegations from Maldives, Nepal and Russia also were invited to sign off on the elections at a lengthy news conference in Phnom Penh. Cambodians who voted for the ruling party said they did so because they believed Hun Sen and the CPP could continue to bring development to the country. Billions in investments from China have flooded into Cambodia in recent years, creating satellite cities and high-rise buildings where nothing stood before, and new transportation links such as roads and bridges. "I am not swayed by any of these boycott campaigns," said Rath Sineth, a 51-year-old voter in Phnom Penh. "I believe it is my duty to elect the leader who can make my life better." Reth Bandith, a 26-year-old government official in the capital, said salaries of public servants have increased under Hun Sen, explaining his support for the ruling party. Even in former opposition strongholds, several chose to go to the polls, fearing reprisal or pressure from the government. One family of shopkeepers and tailors in the Veng Sreng area, the site of violent anti-government protests after the 2013 elections, said they felt compelled to vote, or risk their livelihoods. "We know what is going on, but we can't express it publicly," said a 37-year old shopkeeper. "We have to keep our opinions to our closest circles to make sure we have peace." On the eve of Mexico's election, even before the National Electoral Institute called the results, President Donald Trump tweeted congratulations to the presumptive victor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. The two leaders followed up the next day with a congenial phone call. The following week three U.S. Cabinet secretaries, along with senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, headed to Mexico City to meet their counterparts and the president-elect. The press and markets have taken these gestures as signs of more positive relations ahead. Don't be too sure. These initial niceties paper over deep chasms in priorities, positions and domestic politics. A blow-up may not be far away. Lopez Obrador's recent letter to Trump shows how different his take is on what a promising bilateral relationship entails. The seven-page missive lays out his economic development plans for Mexico, in minute detail, and reflects his view that the solutions to bilateral challenges of migration, security and commerce depend on Mexico's economic advancement. It is safe to say Trump has little interest in ambitious plans to plant 2.5 million acres (1 million hectares) of trees in Mexico's most poverty-ridden states, much less any inclination to help finance this venture. The same goes for Lopez Obrador's infrastructure goals: refineries in Tabasco and Campeche, a bullet train from Cancun to Palenque or a rail corridor connecting the Pacific to the Atlantic across the southern Isthmus of Tehuantepec in a bid to rival the Panama Canal. This U.S. administration isn't big on partnering on economic development. Look for Lopez Obrador to be turned down or ignored on the economic issues that matter most to him. Likewise, he is unlikely to be the NAFTA partner Trump is looking for. The incoming president supports keeping the 25-year-old free trade agreement, recognizing the benefits for investment. His designated trade lead, Jesus Seade, is working with the current Mexican negotiating team to prepare to pick up the mantle, joining them in Washington talks. Despite Trump's demand and veiled threats to quickly reach an agreement, Lopez Obrador and his team aren't deviating from Mexico's current redlines - including the sunset clause, dispute settlement mechanisms and auto content rules - or showing any interest in bilateral talks, something Trump has also been encouraging. There is also little common ground on Central American migration. Led by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan, the U.S. has pushed for a safe third-country agreement, which would force Central Americans passing through Mexico to apply there for asylum. While this would largely solve the U.S. problem - border agents could turn back every man, woman and child seeking refuge - there is less than nothing in it for Mexico. The new government would struggle to process tens if not hundreds of thousands of refugee applications and to build the infrastructure and camps required to house desperate Central Americans - a crisis potentially overwhelming Lopez Obrador's young presidency. And the Trump administration looks unwilling to provide the billions of dollars Europe has used to gain Turkey's acquiescence to a similar deal. Instead, it is still fighting Congress for billions for a border wall. The two leaders are equally at odds about how to lessen these migration flows over time. Lopez Obrador calls for a comprehensive regional economic development plan to attack the root causes of migration. Trump has proposed cutting such aid to Central America by nearly $200 million, or 30 percent each of the last two years. Security cooperation, too, looks to be interrupted. Every change in administration brings something of a pause. Yet this halt will be prolonged by Mexico's plans to create a new Public Security Secretariat, National Guard, and intelligence agency; setting up these new bureaucracies will delay the start of a yet to be defined domestic security strategy. And even once it is up and running, it won't be headed in the same direction as the U.S. Lopez Obrador's ministerial appointees are talking about legalizing marijuana, providing amnesty for illicit crop farmers and expanding scholarships as ways to reduce violence. This doesn't jibe with the Trump administration's hard-line approach to regional security. Diplomatically, cooperation on an imploding Venezuela (let alone Nicaragua or Cuba) is also about to fade, as Mexico's new leadership reverts to a more traditional hands-off international approach. Washington won't be pleased. Of course, few traditional allies have remained in the U.S. president's good graces. Just ask Canada's Justin Trudeau, Germany's Angela Merkel, Japan's Shinzo Abe and France's Emmanuel Macron. As the 2020 elections approach, Trump will be tempted once again to demonize Mexico. With his own base to feed, Lopez Obrador will be hard pressed not to respond in kind. Lopez Obrador closes his letter to Trump by talking about how they both overthrew the "establishment" in their rise to office. What he misses is that this establishment actually cared about Nafta, the Dreamers and Mexico more broadly. True, the deepening partnership of the last 25 years has been more an anomaly than a norm. Yet even during past disagreements, despite mutual suspicions and distrust, the two nations found ways to work together. If a standoff between presidents leads back to a more institutional relationship, away from the personalization of the last year and a half between Jared Kushner and outgoing foreign minister Luis Videgaray, that, too, may set the relationship on a steadier path. Just don't expect it to be better. - - - O'Neil is a senior fellow for Latin America Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. In secret, behind locked gates, our Nation's Oldest City dumped a landfill in a lake (Old City Reservoir), while emitting sewage in our rivers and salt marsh. Organized citizens exposed and defeated pollution, racism and cronyism. We elected a new Mayor. We're transforming our City -- advanced citizenship. Ask questions. Make disclosures. Demand answers. Be involved. Expect democracy. Report and expose corruption. Smile! Help enact a St. Augustine National Park and Seashore. We shall overcome! When many of us look up at the skies at night, most of us assume that star systems along with planets light up our skies. However, according to Alex Collier at least some of these lights are reflections of orbiting hostile and not hostile alien space stations observing our human activities. Alex Collier who has reportedly been invited to an orbiting space station of Ethical Extraterrestrials remarked on how they were observing us through visual monitors in much the same way we watch TV. There has apparently been much dismay among Off-World Ethical Humanoids at how we, as humans have allowed a reported "federation" of hostile interdimensional beings to manipulate us into pursuing the destruction of our planet and each other. Dr. Michael Salla has presented this "federation" in his "Typology of Extraterrestrials". One such case that is apparently being observed is how we, as humans, are allowing an apparent race of hostile aliens to expedite an invasion of Earth, with relatively little effort among us, as humans, to stop it except for the notable effort of one human who has been able to accomplish little on his own. That human is Raymond. When most humans think of an "alien invasion" they tend to picture huge fleets of UFOs raining down from the sky like those portrayed in science fiction movies. However, what most of us humans don't seem to know is that the invasion seems to be happening now. Rather than UFOs raining down from the skies, an invasion of Earth is underway, and it is been waged against humans literally while they sleep! Humans are apparently being targeted all over the planet for "assimilation". Many of these humans are in key areas of influence so they can expedite Earth's take over. These apparently include police officers, judges, managers of corporations, members of militaries and world leaders. Ethical Extraterrestrials are encouraged that at least one example of this hostile alien attack has been spotted but are apparently dismayed that the lack of any effort among a group of humans to do anything to help this human resist their alien take over will allow the take-over to continue. Horace Carby-Samuels is the Ottawa man who is losing the battle to prevent his conscience from being taken-over by this race of hostile aliens. In the apparent view of Ethical Extraterrestrials, we, as humans, must show a willingness to "help ourselves" by helping to rescue humans like Horace Carby-Samuels, before these Ethical Extraterrestrials can possibly teach us how, we, as humans can elevate our own consciousness to resist the broader war of the current quiet invasion of Earth that's taking place. Ethical Extraterrestrials are apparently concerned about the efficacy of teaching us how to tap into our own ability to resist the dark forces of aliens operating through human bodies on the planet if we, as humans, having been now alerted to this invasion continue to show a lack of willingness to help mount an alien resist resistance toward the liberation of Horace Carby-Samuels, his wife, Dezrin and other humans who are being subjugated and used for advancement in an "Alien Quiet Revolution". Once Horace Carby-Samuels is free, we, as humans would be able to gain the knowledge necessary in learning alien invasion tactics through dream states that can in turn be used by us, as humans, to possibly reverse the take over of other humans. It is through own minds, as humans, and not through the physical projection of force that aliens trick us into relying upon through a perpetuated scenario of war on our planet, must be, as humans, begin a process to reverse the current hostile but quiet alien take over of our planet. Horace first started to have what he considered to be benign contacts with what he described as aliens through his dreams which he further described as occupying "multidimensional space". These contacts have taken place over years and began after a "Near Death" out-of-body experience that Horace had in the 1960s while studying in British Columbia for his MSc. Horace credited these aliens for "saving his life". But, many years after supposedly saving his life, it seems that these aliens came for "pay back". It's seems that these aliens now came to "collect" and wanted his "body". Raymond, his son, became concerned, did some research and found out that "Near Death Experiences" are a technique often used by a race of demonic alien artificial intelligences that today are often linked to alien abductions. In the Christian Bible, its writers refer to these demonic entities as fallen angels because they use their simulation capabilities to appear to humans as "angels" but they are far from it. Horace had been a devout Christian. He could easily recite whole verses of the Bible. So when this race of aliens falsely began to present themselves as "angels" seeking to save his life and then guide him on "missions", it's apparent that Horace could easily be manipulated. The symptoms of the alien take over of Horace began to expedite when Horace allowed these fallen angel entities to step into his conscious mind. He began to day dream and get spaced out like someone who was experiencing some kind of altered state of consciousness from drugs. Within weeks, Horace began to get hysterical because it began to appear that these aliens were not content to relegate themselves to his day dreaming but now wanted his whole mind. This is when Horace began to reach out to other humans for help. But everyone ignored him except Raymond his son, who was chased away by "alien sleepers" locally within the Ottawa Police and among lawyers who had already been taken over by these entities. Horace help that he sought began with continued rants about the "Extraterrestrial threat". Everyone, except his son, ignored him. As a race of aliens began to expedite their take over of Horace, he began to have increasing episodes of violence. Every time the alien consciousness took over his body, Raymond could see it begin with bulging eyes. Horace turned to abuse against his wide Dezrin and violence which included a bodily assault against Raymond on 29 January 2013 when Raymond expressed a concern to Horace about his episodes of violence against Dezrin. Raymond's efforts to protect his Mom brought out other "zombie-fied" humans that sought to welcome Horace as their latest recruit. "Zombie-fied" humans led by Ottawa Police officer Robert Griffin Jr arranged for the unlawful eviction of Raymond, which was further supported by Bell Baker, a law firm in Ottawa apparently working to support "alien interests". When Raymond sought to challenge these "zombie-fied" humans in Court, it became apparent that some judges apparently had also been taken over by a race of aliens. Just before Raymond has been evicted by these alien zombie-fied humans, he also began to notice paranormal activities in Horace's and Dezrin's home as if this house was being used as some sort of "interdimensional gateway" to enable the activities of these aliens against our human sovereignty and free will. After Horace in his zombie-fied state with the apparent alien sleepers in the Ottawa Police evicted Raymond in late April 2015, within weeks, Dezrin, his Mom, lost the ability to walk, write or talk under the perpetuated abuse of Horace. It is apparent that this race of aliens that has sought to take over Horace feeds in part from "negative energy" that manifests from, human suffering. When Raymond presented the note from Dezrin to Robert Griffin Jr, that "Dad Abuses Me" this apparent "alien sleeper" simply ignored the note, and coordinated efforts among apparent alien sleeper lawyers to keep Raymond from "interfering" with the alien take over of Horace and their exploitation of the pain and suffering they have sought to perpetuate against Dezrin. If you think this may be a joke, just watch the above video that these same aliens tried to get deleted, It shows how a once mild mannered Horace by 2016 became "converted" into an angry psychopath that prevented both Ottawa Police officers and his son Raymond from simply checking on the well-being of Dezrin who has been the corresponding victim of alien abuse. Rather than humans seeking to rally together to help Raymond in his efforts to seek Justice against the hostile forces that seek to exploit both Horace and Dezrin, Ethical Extraterrestrials have observed humans carry on without any regard to the current alien invasion. It is apparent that if we, as humans continue to ignore the peril faced by Horace and Dezrin in the current alien invasion of unwary humans through dream states, we as humans will have surrendered the complete take over of government, corporations, militaries, police, court system and other key institutions to what ancient Pagan Gnostics described as 'archons' or more specifically the "humanized faces of regressive demonic aliens". The ancient Pagan Gnostics often referred to these entities that they discovered in their own dream states as "artificial man" because these entities appeared in human form but were commanded by an artificial intelligence that lacked the 'Divine Soul" of humans as a spiritual-biological consciousness. As spiritual biological consciousness, empathy, love and peace are innate within us. However, as beings of free will, we are allowing races of aliens to "fatten us up" with materialistic comforts which are to be all destroyed through Armageddon once the aliens have fully "positioned" themselves. In the video below, former Defence Minister Paul Hellyer suggests these aliens seek to fully begin to implement their sought takeover in 2018 - this year! It may be now or never for humans to first liberate and debrief Horace and Dezrin that remain subjugated by an alien-imposed quarantine at their Kanata home under the "watchful eye" of "Detective Griffin" who in an apparent rogue operative in the Ottawa Police. Quickly 'Debriefing" both Horace and Dezrin of the first hand experiences of an apparent race of hostile aliens may be vital to our survival as humans on our planet Earth. However, the failure of Raymond to generate the kind of support among humans necessary to liberate his parents from an apparent hostile race of aliens provides Ethical Extraterrestrials with little hope that humans have what it takes to prevent Earth's take over which Horace has shown is apparently underway. It was the early 80s and the rollout of cable TV was in its Wild Wild West era, driven by the white-hot MTV music video network. Ned Lamont, a young Harvard graduate, worked with Cablevision on its entry into Connecticut. He had his hand in other cable-related projects, too including a report he filed on the industry in Kuwait. Thats one of the things that prompted me to challenge Joe Lieberman many years later, Lamont now says. He borrowed $250,000 from Peoples Bank in Stamford, to buy a couple of very small, beat-up private cable television systems in New York and Virginia. We fixed them up, made then functional, Lamont recalls. One day he got a tip from someone at MTV: Trek up to Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire theyre very unhappy with their cable system. The college told Lamont its students were paying high prices and the cable system wasnt delivering what it wanted, educational and international programming. And, by the way, we want MTV, Lamont recalls Franklin Pierce telling him. That was the first customer for Campus Televideo, Lamonts company that strung cable TV from satellites into college dorms and other buildings. The company grew steadily, adding more than 100 campuses by 2006, with an enterprise value well into the millions, with Lamont as the largest owner after selling more than half the equity to outside investors. But it also suffered a major downsizing that became the source of controversy in Lamonts political career. Theres no question Campus Televideo was and still is, under a different owner a successful and innovative business. Details of finances and operations remain hidden because, as a closely held company, it never had to report publicly. But we know it never grew to be a huge business just over 100 full-time employees at the peak and its likely that the company didnt account for the bulk of wealth in Lamonts household, which includes inheritance as well as income from Lamonts wife, Anne Huntress Lamont, a venture capital investor. And what we do know tells us a lot about Connecticuts endorsed Democrat for governor. After the Franklin Pierce victory, Lamont sent letters to a couple of dozen other colleges and universities and snagged three new customers right off the bat, including the University of Hartford. Lamont loved the connection to higher education and collected chairs with the insignias of those early institutions, one early employee recalls. Ned was the kind of guy, very intelligent, but also knew how to surround himself with people who knew all sides of the business, said the former employee, Ray York, now senior director of operations under Apogee, the company that bought Campus Televideo in 2015. Apogee, based in Austin, Tex., maintains an office in Stamford for some executives. More Information Ned Lamont Hometown: Greenwich Age: 64 Education: Harvard University B.A., Yale M.B.A. Elected office: One term as a Greenwich selectman Business background: Founded Campus Televideo in the '80s. Invests in technology companies through Lamont Digital. Has taught business entrepreneurship at Central Connecticut State University. See More Collapse He was wise enough to let all the engineers on the ground do their jobs, York said. Cutting back Through his financial holding company, Lamont Digital which the Lamonts still own he had expanded into private cable, voice and data networks for planned communities. But by 2006, the front end of the housing decline, that business, known as Gatehouse Networks, wasnt working out. That was the year Lamont, with little electoral experience, shocked the political world by beating then-Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., in a primary only to lose to Lieberman in the general election after the senator ran as an independent. Lamont Digital and other investors sold off the Gatehouse projects in pieces. But did Lamont lay off two-thirds of his staff, more than 75 people, while taking a salary of more than $500,000? That was a charge from Lieberman. A New York Times story in August, 2006, left the question open. Now Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim is reviving the charge. Like Lamonts previous opponents in Democratic primaries including Dannel P. Malloy, who won the nomination and the governors seat in 2010 hes saying it cuts to broader issues about Lamonts character and the sources of his wealth in his self-funded campaigns. Lamont, 64, who lives in Greenwich, says in fact, there were only a few layoffs of executives. All the front-line guys kept their jobs, many of them moved on to the new employers. He should produce the records, Ganim said. Thats like me saying I dont have a felony conviction. York, the operations employee, recalled the downsizing but declined to comment on layoffs. He said he usually communicates with Lamont around Christmas time. And he recalls Lamont as an exemplary employer at a company that was exciting to work at because it was growing a new business model with innovations such as early use of fiber-optic cable. He stayed pretty much out of the operational side, York said. But he definitely stayed in touch with the people. A CEO can sit up in an ivory tower and never talk with anybody under him but it sure does help with morale when a CEO stays involved and knows the names of your children. There was never a concern that Oh man, I made a mistake, Im going to get fired. How big a payoff? Lamont stepped down as CEO for his first run for office against Lieberman, and remained as chairman of the board until just before the company sold. He wont say how much the business fetched. I started the company by borrowing $250,000 and I sold it for 100-plus times more, Lamont said, offering no more specifics. I did well. All the folks that worked for our company did well....Our clients thought it was a good deal. You treat people well, the deal works out. Whatever he made from the sale, he said Thursday hes most satisfied that he negotiated that employees would keep their jobs. We don;t know his household net worth but in a 2006 federal campaign filing, he reported it as $90 million to $332 million, much of that held by his wife. Ganim is calling for financial disclosures to determine what he says are potential conflicts and on Friday he said Lamont should make it known whether he or his wife have any state contracts. Lamont has not complied. Since 2008, Lamont Digital has invested in some startup companies that Lamont has advised closely, including a current firm called Stringr, which connects news organizations with freelance videographers in real time, the Uber for news gatherers, he said. One regret he never signed up Harvard, his alma mater, with a cable system. Maybe they were a little too highbrow for our service, he said. But we did do Yale. Volker Fieguth, a Canadian trucker originally from Germany, rested in his deep blue rig with a white trailer full of magnesium at an Interstate 95 rest area in Fairfield Friday night. He grew animated when I asked about the new electronic highway tolls in Rhode Island, aimed solely at the biggest commercial trucks. Its just another money grab, he said. We pay a lot of road taxes. On his rare trips through Rhode Island, he said hed have to eat the cost himself, as an independent trucker. Its OK in that tiny, out of the way state, but Connecticut that would hurt him badly. It has natural allure, the idea of highway tolls for big commercial trucks only, most from out of state, while offering a free ride to cars and light trucks. It is, after all, free money or so it seems for the state from every passing 18-wheeler, most of which are not based here. Rhode Island passed a law in early 2016 putting the idea into motion for the first time in any state. Just last month, the Ocean State opened its first two gantries aimed at large commercial trucks only the ones with four and five axles. The American Trucking Associations Inc. quickly filed a federal lawsuit charging the targeted tolls violate the interstate commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution. The Federal Highway Administration regulates how and whether tolls can be set up, but not which vehicles have to pay them so the courts decide. While that case plays out, the idea is gaining traction in some quarters here in Connecticut most notably from Ned Lamont, the endorsed Democrat for governor. We should focus on the big, out-of-state tractor-trailer trucks that are coming through our state, Lamont said at a debate Thursday at Sacred Heart University, co-sponsored by Hearst Connecticut Media. Theyre the ones that are destroying our roads. Other candidates this year, notably Guy Smith, who ran for governor but failed to qualify for a spot on the ballot, have suggested Connecticut aim tolls at non-residents. All five Republicans running for governor say theyre dead-set against highway tolls, and Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim said he views them as a last resort. Ganim said he thought the courts would strike down the trucks-only scheme as discriminatory. Still, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, a strong toll advocate, is right on this one. Republicans can talk all they want about spending money more wisely. The cold, hard fact is Connecticut cant find the $50 billion to $100 billion thats needed over the next 40 years without tolling. The numbers dont add up. The question is, can Connecticut follow Rhode Islands lead in levying the road charges on big trucks only? In the end, its a bad idea that wont fly, isnt fair and would not solve the states transportation revenue problems. Things that increase the cost of the trucking industry reverberate through the economy and impact the price of consumer goods, said Joseph R. Sculley, president of the Motor Transport Association of Connecticut, an affiliate of the American Trucking Associations. Besides, Sculley said this past week in response to the situation in Rhode Island and comments by Lamont, trucks pay between $26 million and $35 million a year in state taxes as it stands now a fact lost on many residents. Those taxes come from the diesel fuel tax, which raises $12 million to $15 million a year in Connecticut even if truckers dont fill up inside our borders. Under an industry agreement, every state receives the share of fuel taxes based on a trucks miles in that state. Then theres the states share of truck registration fees, which, like the fuel tax, is allocated based on miles driven in each state. That accounts for another $12 million to $14 million a year, Sculley said. Other taxes round out the levies for trucks. They include a $550 annual heavy vehicle use tax that goes the the federal government, some of which finds its way to states; and a 12 percent sales tax on new trucks, which, again, is federal but filters to states. We make a living on the interstates. Were willing to pay our fair share, said John Lynch, senior vice president of the national associations, a federation. Our first preference would always be fuel taxes. One big issue: Tolls create distortions, Lynch and Sculley said, such as the fact that they hurt smaller trucking companies disproportionately, as those firms dont have the power to raise their prices. And tolls divert trucks onto local roads. Thats a matter of debate but it does happen. With the new Rhode Island truck tolls which that state plans to expand to 14 locations over the next couple of years Connecticut should expect to see more truck traffic zipping up and down Interstate 395 to the Mass Pike and on Interstate 84, as trucks avoid Rhode Island. All of this is affecting consumers and motorists through prices for goods in part because, Lynch said, some trucking firms wont even travel to New England to begin with because of congestion and the lack of return freight to the rest of the country. But were talking about big numbers already: Assuming the average truck trip is 100 miles, we see 46,000 a day in Connecticut, 365 days a year. Thats based on an estimate of 1.7 billion truck miles per year in Connecticut, from the research arm of the national federation, based on federal data. And yet, its only 5 percent of all road miles piled up by motor vehicles. As for the lawsuit against the trucks-only tolls, the precedents dont deal directly with tolls, but rather, with states aiming other fees at trucks. We feel confident about it, but this is uncharted waters also, Lynch said. The smarter approach is to levy tolls at a low rate per mile, say, 4 cents, to everyone. That way, Connecticut would fetch about 35 percent, perhaps $100 million or more, from out of state motorists. dhaar@hearstmediact.com Free concerts are coming back to downtown Bridgeport. With summer in full swing, Downtown Thursday organizers are preparing to liven things up starting this week at McLevy Green with the first of several shows in the six-week concert series. Were thrilled to be presenting Downtown Thursdays again this year, said Natalie Pryce, principal and consultant for I LUV BPT, which manages the concert series, in a press release. As residents and local business owners, we know firsthand about the incredible people, art, culture, food and great energy that Bridgeport has to offer; and Downtown Thursdays is a fun way for us to tell that side of Bridgeports amazing story to our fellow residents and visitors alike. With events set to run from July 12 to Aug. 23, the series will feature performers and groups that have graced the Bridgeport stage in the past as well as newcomers. In past years, the concert schedule has stuck with a single genre of music. This year, organizers said they will be blending sounds to attract a mix of music lovers each night. Kicking off the series will a salsa and Afro beat night, featuring returning salsa group Agua Pa Chocolate. They will be joined by Afro beat and reggae artists I Anbassa, Denroy Morgan, Anita Antoinette & Lamboginny. That will continue each week as concerts will feature mixtures of blues, rock, pop and soul and more leading to the series finale at Seaside Park, which will be the 4th annual Classic Hip Hop and R&B show. We want to make sure that we create a diverse (experience), Pryce said, adding that Downtown Thursdays will also feature food trucks, a mobile pub station and retail vendors. The concert series regularly draws crowds, creating opportunities for surrounding businesses. As the concert series promises to do more of the same, business owners are looking to capitalize on the extra traffic. Management and staff at the recently opened Pappas Pizza at 1006 Broad St. are preparing to attract new customers with drink and food specials on Thursday nights. Im sure well be staying open later, having some food and drink specials and a late night happy hour because Im sure the competition will be a little tight. Everybody is vying for those fans and music lovers, said head mixologist JoMarq Joyner. I imagine it being just a great crowd of people. La Signature Cheesecakes owner Sandra Williams is also looking to get in on the Thursday evening activity. The bakery and Jamaican restaurant relocated from its former spot in the Arcade Mall to its new space around the corner from McLevy Green, which Williams said has already yielded greater exposure. Im sure well draw more business because a lot of people come from elsewhere, Williams said. Ill see how it goes on the first week and then I will make the decision from this Thursday to see if I extend to 8 or 9 oclock. With several comics slated to perform on Thursday nights at 7:30 p.m., Vinnie Brand, owner of the new Stress Factory comedy club, is unsure how the concert series may affect business, but he wants to remain optimistic. While he is thinks that troves of concert goers may discover the club along with the variety of others in the area, Brand said that remains to be seen. Concerts draw a lot of people so from an exposure standpoint you like to think its good, he said. From the long-term perspective, I believe people are going to see the business that wouldnt have seen it previously. ... You hope it will and well know right away. ORANGE The coming weekend of Aug. 2-5 is one the hap, happiest times of the year in town, as its time for the Orange Volunteer Fire Association Carnival. The carnival is the major fundraiser for the towns all-volunteer fire department and will fund an $850,000 fire truck with a 75-foot ladder, said carnival chairman Don Foyer. The truck replaces one that is 35 years old. Foyer said people come from all over for the great midway full of rides and games and tasty food including Belgian waffle desserts, Worlds Best Sundae, fried dough, hamburgers, hot dogs, brisket sandwiches, baked potatoes with toppings and more. The carnival will be held on the fairgrounds, 525 Orange Center Road, on Thursday from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday from 5 p.m. to midnight; Saturday from noon to midnight and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. There will be a fireworks show Friday and Saturday. Foyer, who is also the towns Public Works Department crew chief, has said people move away from Orange, but they come back for the carnival and its like they never left. Its tradition, Foyer has said. The carnival was first held nearly 90 years ago on the Town Green, a small patch of grass next to Orange Congregational Church. Later, it moved into the field behind Mary L. Tracy School until the fairground at 525 Orange Center Road was completed. I remember as a kid they had two Ferris wheels, Foyer has said. Foyer noted that advanced ride bracelets are on sale online now and will only be available during limited times once the carnival begins. The bracelets, which entitle kids to endless rides during the period they purchased the bracelet, are $28 each or, if you buy two, $25 each. Once the carnival begins, the bracelets will cost $28 and can only be purchased during the Saturday matinee from noon to 5 p.m. and on Sunday Family Fun Day from noon to 5 p.m. The carnival is also known for its great raffle prizes: First prize is a $7,000 Visa Gift Card courtesy of Peoples United Bank; second is a $3,500 Visa Gift Card; third prize is a $3,000 Visa Gift Card; and fourth prize is a $2,500 gift certificate to Anytime Fitness, 560 Boston Post Road. There are several other prizes as well. NORTH HAVEN Ted Stockmon retired from the North Haven Police Department last week to become a school resource officer, leaving behind a job that never got old, but not the community he has known and served for decades. Stockmon said Thursday he joined the department on April 22, 1986, spurred by a friend who was interested in the idea. He had never considered getting into law enforcement, but after working for eight-plus years at Stop & Shop, the concept was appealing. Being a young guy in my 20s, I wanted something exciting, and I thought Id give it a shot not even expecting success, but just giving it my best shot, said Stockmon. He applied to six departments and was offered a job in his hometown, North Haven. For the next 32 years, Stockmon served the town as a street-level officer, largely working on patrol. He provided traffic enforcement, worked on street crime, helped share the mission of the department through public relations work and responded to people in times of stress, anger and need. Stepping into moments of crisis to take control and help people was always interesting, Stockmon said. He sought to move with empathy and compassion, getting people to calm down, focus and bring things into perspective. It was rewarding work, he said. Making peoples bad day, if not worst day, better really gave a lot of meaning for me, said Stockmon. Im from town here, four generations this is my front yard and my back yard. I really never got sick of it I only retired because youve got to retire at some point. He had to learn to deal with humanity; he was naive when he started, with nice parents, and had to attune himself to the possibility folks were lying to him. And there were some sleepless nights over the years, as he dealt with the emotional toll of some of what he saw. The May 2 explosion on Quinnipiac Avenue, he said, was something he never expected to deal with. But, working in North Haven, he was spared some of the worst of the job. And it was a pleasure to be out and about, particularly in his home town, learning and working year after year in a multifaceted, changing role. Some officers choose to move on from patrol work at some point and take an office job. Stockmon said he never did. Itd be a long day for me to sit and have to look at the same four walls. I did that in my retail job for eight and a half years, said Stockmon. I loved it. I dont care if it was the dead of winter my window was never closed on my cruiser. I had to have it open, at least an inch or two, to get fresh air and, of course, hear anybody trying to get my attention. The nature of the job is it never got old for me, said Stockmon. How many people can say they worked the same job for 30-plus years and never got bored? But the opportunity to become a school resource officer, made available at the June 25 town meeting, seemed like the right next step. The chance allows him the chance to work with children, building a rapport with young people and watching over the schools. His pension reached its maximum years ago. And in this new role, he can work a regular schedule, allowing him to be home on weekends and spend more time with his family. But the shift has not really sunk in yet, Stockmon said. His patrol uniforms are all still in the closet, staring at me. He cant quite bring himself to get rid of them. Its been most of my life 32 years on the job here. Its a long time to be in the same job; a long time to be doing the same thing, said Stockmon. Change doesnt come easy to me, but, like I said, I could not pass up on the school resource officer opportunity. It was just too good to pass up, as much as I loved patrol. But with this new job, he doesnt have to leave the department behind. Hell be able to wear the same badge and serve in the town hes worked to safeguard for years. It means the world to me that I can still say Im a member of this department, if not as a full-timer, a part-time position is fine with me. Im happy to still be with the department that Im proud to be a part of, said Stockmon. I was unemployed for one day. I retired on Monday and I was sworn-in on Tuesday so its a beautiful thing. william.lambert@hearstmediact.com A convicted sex offender has been charged with luring in Cape May County after a self-proclaimed "predator hunter" posted a Facebook video showing the man waiting to meet with someone he believed was a 15-year-old boy, authorities said. John Deangelis, 56, of the Villas section of Lower Township, was arrested Thursday by the Cape May Prosecutor's Office after authorities reviewed the video. Deangelis has been on New Jersey's sex offender registry for an aggravated sexual assault charge in 1995. Deangelis thought he'd been chatting with a 15-year-old boy on Grindr, a social networking app aimed at gay, bisexual and transgender men, but it was actually Robert Davis, a Villas resident who describes himself as a "predator hunter," Davis told NJ Advance Media on Sunday. Davis shared the video of him confronting Deangelis at the meet up spot. While authorities did not name Davis and only cited "a video that was circulating on social media," but Davis told NJ Advance Media it was his video that led to the arrest. Internet is a scary place caught a predator today trying to meet a 15 year old boy. Watch what your kids do. Posted by Robert Davis on Sunday, July 22, 2018 "I just want to know why you're doing this, why you're meeting young kids on the internet?" Davis asks Deangelis in the video. "I wanted to meet someone who was young and energetic," Deangelis replies. On the video, Deangelis acknowledges that he did think he would be meeting up with a teen. Davis told NJ Advance Media through Facebook on Sunday that he spoke with detectives after posting the video, and Lower Township Police and the county's Special Victims Unit conducted an investigation. Deangelis faces one count of luring, a second-degree crime, the Cape May Prosecutor's Office said. If convicted, he would face five to 10 years in prison. He is currently in custody at the Cape May County Correctional Center, pending court proceedings. Paige Gross may be reached at pgross@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @By_paigegross. When I sat down earlier this month to interview N.J. Attorney General Gurbir Grewal in his Trenton office, we both had Jersey City on our minds. I was interested to hear his recollections about his early years in the city where he was born. He was being deluged with media requests after his decision to suspend Mayor Fulop's plan to decriminalize marijuana in the second-largest city in the state. "We can't be rushed," the 61st AG told me. Grewal acknowledged that there are a host of issues to resolve knowing that his boss, Gov. Murphy, wants to legalize marijuana. Earlier that day, he had a conference call with the 21 country prosecutors to lay out a timetable. And in the end, he decided to put a hold on all marijuana cases in municipal courts statewide until at least Sept. 4. If you listen to Grewal, a gracious man, he fits the mold of the top state law enforcement officer. When you see him, you cannot help but notice that he is a Sikh -- a member of an Indian religion that dates back to the 16th century -- and wears a turban. He readily acknowledges he was taunted, like most Sikh boys in America, in elementary school in Bergen County because they wear their hair long and in a bun. "One hundred percent of the time," he said with no trace of bitterness in his voice. Grewal learned to avoid sitting near those boys on the school bus who would pull his hair, he said, adding that the experiences gave him the resolve "to be more gregarious.'' Little did he know during our conversation that soon after, at age 45, he would face taunting again, this time at the hands of adults: two radio hosts who derisively referred to his turban during a discussion of his marijuana policy. "This is not the first indignity I've faced and it probably won't be the last," he wrote in response on Twitter. "Sometimes, I endure it alone. Yesterday, all of New Jersey heard it. It's time to end small-minded intolerance." Grewal recalled for me that when his parents moved to Bergen County, the Glen Rock temple where his family worships was undeveloped and they sat under tents. Today, he brings his three girls -- ages 5, 7, and 9 -- to the active and developed temple, where Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, also Sikh, worships with his family. Grewal, an only child, considers Bhalla and Bhalla's brother, Amar, like his own brothers. Brotherhood is a desired goal of Sikhs, who welcome anyone to their temples. They always have plenty of food and do not question why someone would come. Grewal has never been to the Jersey City temple off Broadway in the Marion section, which is growing as Jersey City becomes even more diverse. Grewal's first years were spent on Sip Avenue is a multi-family home with a Guyanese family and another Indian family residing in the building. "It's a very welcoming city," he said of Jersey City. Some desired traits Sikhs promote are, in Grewal's words, "selfless service and prosperity for all." These guide some of the initiatives he has created. During his tenure as the Bergen County prosecutor, before becoming AG after Murphy took office in January, Grewal implemented Operation Helping Hand, for example, to assist drug addicts. Out of 180 arrests, 150 people received treatment. "We do not want to humiliate people," he said. As AG, his "21 for 21" program requires the top prosecutor in each of New Jersey's 21 counties to offer quarterly programs for religious and community leaders. This year's topics are police use of deadly force, opioid and drug addiction, community policing and immigration policies. "There is an uptick in bias crimes," Grewal said, mentioning anti-immigrant sentiment, pro-Nazism, hate and intolerance as behaviors he believes we must respond to and suppress. "I want to set an example as an attorney general, as a good leader with proper values," he said. Grewal is a strong believer in social justice, another Sikh trait, and lit up when I asked about his years at Jesuit-run Georgetown. He graduated from their highly touted School of Foreign Service and acknowledged the Jesuits he had as teachers and mentors, saying he wants his daughters to go to Jesuit schools. Another Sikh trait is "honest conduct" and if he can survive the ruthless N.J. politics intact, he might make history like another Georgetown graduate, Bill Clinton. EDITOR'S NOTE: The Rev. Alexander Santora is the pastor of Our Lady of Grace and St. Joseph, 400 Willow Ave., Hoboken, 07030, FAX: 201-659-5833; Email: padrealex@yahoo.com; Twitter: @padrehoboken. UPDATE: NYC man, 20, charged in death of woman in I-80 crash An 18-year-old woman is dead after an early morning crash in Netcong on I-80, authorities said Sunday. The teen was a passenger in a car heading westbound when it crashed near Exit 26 around 3 a.m., the Morris County Prosecutor's Office and New Jersey State Police said. The 20-year-old driver of the car sustained minor injuries, State Trooper Alejandro Goez said Sunday. Goez said charges are pending against him. Both victims are New York state residents, the trooper said. The car ran off the road near the exit and struck a tree. The driver was wearing a seat belt but Goez said it was not immediately clear if the 18-year-old was. The weather conditions were dry and clear, Goez said. The identity of the woman who died in the crash has not yet been released. The prosecutor's office and State Police continue investigating the incident. Staff writer Bill Duhart contributed to this report. Paige Gross may be reached at pgross@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @By_paigegross. New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal has been in the news this week. He should be in the news for his impeccable beard grooming, but instead the story is about how a pair of radio idiots behaved like their job titles would suggest and spouted some deeply ignorant, racist nonsense about the state's top law enforcement official. I can't imagine the life choices that would lead someone to listen to the "Dennis & Judy Show," but apparently the broadcasters have been suspended indefinitely, thereby depriving their audience of their biting wit and trenchant insights. The bigger story, in my opinion, is the steps taken by Grewal to halt prosecution of marijuana offenses until September. The move is widely seen as a big step toward the decriminalization and eventual legalization of recreational marijuana across the state. The move comes on the heels of Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop launching his own citywide initiative to do the same. After Grewal kindly informed Fulop, he didn't have the authority to do so, he took it upon himself to do it statewide. The majority of New Jerseyans support legalizing pot and that sentiment is largely echoed around the country. The only guy who continues to think pot is the devil's weed is U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The little fella has on numerous occasions made it clear he considers marijuana to be as dangerous as the heroin currently devastating the nation through the opioid epidemic. This opinion is, of course, offered without a shred of evidence. Luckily, President Trump has a deep and abiding hatred for Jeff Sessions and has deemed pot to be un-tweet worthy, leaving it up to the states to decide what they will and won't legalize. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. Several times in recent months, the federal government has attacked Middlesex County for releasing unauthorized immigrants from jail even when they are convicted of terrible crimes, like sexual abuse of children. If the charge were true, it would indeed be outrageous. These are the first people who should be deported. On that much, at least, most Democrats and Republicans can agree. But it is not true. It is a terrible slander of Middlesex County. The fault, in fact, often lies with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency itself, which blew opportunities to deport some of the very people it is citing in its unfair attacks on Middlesex. The fact that the Trump administration is using these phony charges as justification for cutting public safety grants only compounds the sin. Take the case of a 32-year-old sex offender from Mexico, arrested in 2016. ICE put a detainer on him then - a request for the jail to hold him for up to 48 hours extra, while immigration officials decide if they want to take him into custody. The jail agreed to this. Yet ICE never picked him up. Instead, the guy sat behind bars for nearly two years, awaiting trial. ICE says people should be held accountable for their crimes before they get deported. We agree. But ICE had two years to get a judicial order requiring this man to be detained after his sentence was completed, until it could pick him up. And it did nothing. In May, he pled down to a lesser charge and was sentenced to time served. The county notified ICE that the detainer would no longer be honored, because it's against jail policy to hold inmates convicted of lesser crimes past the final date of their sentence. But ICE never responded and never took him into custody. He was let out 24 hours later. Then ICE issued a scathing news release, citing this case and slamming Middlesex for being a "sanctuary." Please. How is it not ICE's fault that he was released? At the core of this debate with ICE is the detainer, which is basically a request to hold inmates after they have completed their sentences. The problem is that while ICE demands that, the courts have repeatedly found that the practice violates inmates' due process rights. So, if Middlesex obeyed ICE, the county might have to pay big settlements, funded by property taxes. Middlesex has agreed to take that risk with the most serious criminals. But ICE hasn't done its part by getting federal court orders to authorize that added time in detention. Instead, ICE rants at the county jails and blames them. Yes, Middlesex should be better at communication and not so absolutist in its stance that it can't help ICE in any way. Its jail already holds people beyond their release date when they're convicted of the worst crimes, despite the liability. It should routinely give ICE a heads up in situations like this sex offender, who pled down from serious charges and was about to get out, or anyone convicted not just of higher level crimes, but also a serious third-degree offense, like aggravated assault. A phone call 24 hours ahead of time does not hold the same legal risk as a detainer. But what ICE has been saying about Middlesex amounts to a defamatory smear. And this is not the only example. ICE also unfairly blamed the county for releasing a man from Honduras accused of sexually abusing a minor, when its own agents never picked him up. He arrived at the jail on Dec. 1, 2017, having been sentenced to a lesser charge. The ICE detainer came in Dec. 4 and the jail rejected it the same day. Yet he remained in the lock-up until Feb. 23rd. So, again, why didn't ICE come for him? Based on cases like these, the Trump administration says it will punish Middlesex and other so-called "sanctuary" counties, by withholding hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual policing grants. This goes directly to the heart of public safety. It's money to help enforce Megan's Law and fund our SWAT teams that battle gun and gang violence. By imposing this penalty, it is the Trump administration putting public safety at risk, not Middlesex. A better solution is for ICE to actually show up before these guys get out of jail. If it doesn't have the capacity, maybe it should reallocate some resources from its amped-up arrests of grandpas with no criminal records. Rather than sit back and call this county a "sanctuary," why not take a drive over to Middlesex to pick up a sex offender? Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. By Marjorie A. Paloma Nothing is more Jersey than the Jersey Shore--and it's about to get healthier, safer, and cleaner, now that Governor Phil Murphy has signed a new law banning smoking at public beaches and parks. This law will make it easier for all New Jerseyans and the millions of people who visit our beaches every summer to enjoy smoke-free outdoor environments--an opportunity that not everyone shares equally because of where they live or work. As the largest foundation in New Jersey and the nation's largest health foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has been working in tobacco control for more than 20 years. We applaud the new law and hope that it will spark action to further reduce tobacco use in public places. With this step, New Jersey builds on its strong indoor smoke-free air law and further burnishes its credentials as a leader in protecting kids and families from the health hazards of exposure to secondhand smoke. We are proud of the governor and the state legislature for demonstrating their continued commitment to improving health and quality of life for all who live in and visit our state. While tobacco use remains the top cause of preventable deaths in the United States, we have made progress. Between 1964 and 2014 -- thanks to a wide range of tobacco-control policies designed to help people quit smoking and prevent others from starting -- the percentage of U.S. adults who smoke dropped to about 20 percent, from more than 50 percent. But not everyone has benefitted from these gains. Across New Jersey, there are deep disparities in tobacco use and quit rates, depending on where we live, how much money we make, and the color of our skin. For example, nearly 20 percent of adults in Atlantic County smoke, compared to about 10 percent in Somerset County, according to the 2018 County Health Rankings. What's causing these inequities? Part of it is marketing. A growing body of research finds that the tobacco industry targets certain populations--women, people who are black or Latino, and members of the LGBT community--by exposing them to more advertising. And tobacco products disproportionately harm people with lower incomes and less education; people with mental illness and substance use disorders; people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT); and racial and ethnic minorities. At RWJF, we are committed to building an enduring Culture of Health, across New Jersey and across the country, where everyone has the opportunity to thrive, regardless of where they live or how much money they have. To achieve that goal, we must continue to protect people from the hazards of tobacco use. And that includes doing everything we can to keep young people from using tobacco in the first place. In a 2017 survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3.6 million middle- and high-school students reported that they use tobacco products, putting them at high risk for a lifetime of poor health. This is where the federal government can make a difference. New Jersey has taken an important action at the state level, and now it's time for the federal government to step forward. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering using its rulemaking authority to strengthen tobacco policies in three areas: limiting nicotine in tobacco products, further restricting flavored tobacco products, and maintaining its regulatory authority over premium cigars. In particular, the proposed rule limiting nicotine to non-addictive levels in all smokable tobacco products will help prevent kids from becoming addicted and help more smokers quit. Similarly, further restricting flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, will likely lead to reduced smoking among young people. Flavors are one of the top reasons students use electronic cigarettes. RWJF supports all three rules, and has submitted comments to that effect to the FDA. We encourage others to do the same. Meanwhile, I look forward to bringing my kids to the Jersey Shore, knowing that we and other families won't have to worry about smoke-filled air or dirty cigarette butts littering the sand. This is a big step forward for our state. If other states act, and the FDA follows through, we can make a real difference for millions of families across the country. Marjorie A. Paloma is a senior director at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. It is widely believed that our state constitution makes our governor the most powerful governor in the land. Someone forgot to tell Steve Sweeney. For most of this decade, the president of the state Senate has been using the powers of his office to thwart governors both Republican and Democratic. In Chris Christie's first year as governor, he made the mistake of ticking Sweeney off by declining to reappoint a state Supreme Court justice from the Senate president's own Gloucester County. Sweeney reacted by keeping that seat empty through the end of Christie's first term and well into his second. Christie soon learned that's it's better to just get along with Sweeney. But Phil Murphy still hasn't learned that lesson. In the recent fight over the state budget, Murphy started from the assumption that Sweeney would enact whatever budget his fellow Democrat proposed. Sweeney had different ideas. He pushed his own budget bill, one that differed from Murphy's in many ways. The most conspicuous was its lack of a so-called "millionaires tax" that would have raised the top income-tax rate for everyone making more than a million dollars a year. In June, Sweeney pushed that budget through and sent it to Murphy's desk. At first the governor threatened to veto it. But that would have opened the door to a potential override of the veto, a huge embarrassment for a new governor. So instead Murphy adopted a delaying tactic. Our 1947 constitution gives the governor the sole power to certify that revenues are sufficient to match expenditures. Murphy declared that Sweeney's budget came up about $850 million short on the revenue side. That must have seemed like a pretty sharp tactic - at first. But the governor still needed a budget in place by July 1. At the last minute, he compromised with Sweeney on a budget that, among other things, had a greatly weakened millionaires tax, one that kicks in only for filers who make more than $5 million a year. With that out of the way, Sweeney quickly turned his attention to another aspect of the state constitution, one that gives the Legislature great leverage over the governor. That's the process for amending it. This is the single greatest power in the constitution, but the most powerful governor in America has no say in it. The framers left the process of putting amendments on the ballot entirely to the Legislature. On Thursday, a mere 25 days after the budget battle had ended, Sweeney put through the Senate a proposed amendment that would take the power of certifying revenue away from the governor and give it to an independent panel. The measure sailed through the Senate with only three dissenting votes, all from Democrats. The Republicans are co-sponsoring the measure. It still needs to get through the Assembly with the required three-fifths vote to make it onto the November ballot. At the moment Speaker Craig Coughlin has not scheduled a vote. But if he does, he can count on Republican support. After the Senate vote, I asked Sweeney if he was settling a score with Murphy. Not at all, he said. "It's not about fighting with the governor. It's not a vendetta," he said. "New Jersey needs a better system. There are 28 states that score budgets and revenues in a way that's more predictable for the state." When I asked what was wrong with the current process, Sweeney replied that Murphy had at first refused to certify hundreds of millions in revenue that later went into the budget he signed. One example was the fight over projected returns from increased internet sales taxes. "We said $176 million. They said $110 million. And then he scored it at $188 million," Sweeney said of Murphy. The governor won't be doing that again if Sweeney gets his way. That could put a crimp in Murphy's plans for such costly programs as universal preschool and tuition-free community college. Traditionally, governors have put such programs into the budget and then fudged the revenue numbers so they appear to be funded. But with a neutral body scoring revenues, that power won't be available to the most powerful governor in the nation. Like Christie before him, Murphy is learning a crucial lesson about Sweeney: It's better not to get him started. PLUS - SWEENEY'S RIGHT ON THE MERITS: Aside from the politics of this move, Sweeney is entirely correct on the need for the constitutional change. Imagine that there had been no agreement and the Legislature overrode Murphy's veto of the budget. At that point the governor could declare that he would not certify the revenue figures in the budget bill. What happens next? The state constitution doesn't say. That would be a mess the courts would have to sort out. While we're at it, let's amend the constitution to say that the governor must either sign or veto the budget in advance of the July 1 deadline. Under current law, the governor has 45 days to decide, so this fight could have stretched into August. So that would be another good move. By Steve Sweeney The landmark school funding fairness reform signed into law by the governor ensures that the School Funding Reform Act of 2008 will live up to its promise to provide fair and full funding for all schoolchildren, regardless of where they live. It does so by lifting the "growth cap" that penalized growing districts and phasing out the hundreds of millions of dollars of "adjustment aid" going to school districts for students who are no longer there. State aid will finally be distributed based on each district's property tax wealth, its ability to pay, enrollment changes, and the special needs of its schoolchildren, fulfilling the state Constitution's guarantee of a "thorough and efficient" education for all schoolchildren. For the 72 percent of schoolchildren and taxpayers living in urban, suburban and rural school districts that have been underfunded for years, this legislation and the budget bill we passed last month will guarantee that you get the state aid and property tax relief you deserve. And we did it by putting in special safeguards to ensure that schoolchildren in districts that would be losing state aid continue to receive the "thorough and efficient" education to which they are entitled. This new law is the culmination of months of bipartisan hearings by Senate and Assembly committees that developed into a budget initiative in June 2017 that provided the first significant boost in state aid to underfunded districts in nine years as part of last year's budget. It could not have been accomplished without the thousands of hours and phone calls put in by parent advocates like Jennifer Cavallaro-Fromm of Kingsway Regional and Andrea Katz of Chesterfield who mobilized a statewide Fair School Funding Coalition and watched tearfully as their children and other children pushed the buttons on the Senate floor to pass the bill last month. Finally, it would not have been as good a law without the insights provided publicly and privately by school funding experts, superintendents, principals, school board members and educational organizations, and by Gov. Phil Murphy and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex. We put $351 million into this year's budget to bring the overwhelming majority of underfunded districts up to 58 percent of funding immediately, providing a net increase in school aid for districts in 17 out of 21 counties. This legislation guarantees that all future state aid increases from redirected adjustment aid or state appropriations will be allocated fairly to districts based on their proportional share of total underfunding. While the elimination of the growth cap and the seven-year phase-out of adjustment aid were the most important provisions of the law, I am proud of the last set of changes we made to protect the quality of education. The vast majority of school districts scheduled to lose adjustment aid are spending well above "adequacy" -- the level set through the School Funding Reform Act and upheld by the New Jersey Supreme Court as necessary to provide the "thorough and efficient" education required by the New Jersey Constitution. But we wanted to make sure that state aid was not cut to districts with above average property tax burdens that are spending less than adequacy. We also wanted to ensure that students did not suffer in districts that are receiving more than their fair share of state aid, but are still underfunded because their communities are paying less than their fair share of property taxes. For that reason, we added a series of amendments to the bill designed to provide additional protections for students in about 35 urban, suburban and rural districts where we wanted to make sure adjustment aid cuts would not imperil the quality of education. Recognizing the concept of "municipal overburden" discussed by the Supreme Court in its decision upholding the constitutionality of the SFRA, we set standards that will eliminate or reduce adjustment aid cuts in about 10 districts ranging from urban East Orange to smaller Fairfield Township in Cumberland County. These are districts where property taxes are way above the state average, leading the court to worry they might be "unable to raise their LFS (Local Fair Share) in future years." We also take steps to ensure that about 25 districts that are spending below adequacy -- even though they have been receiving adjustment aid for years -- provide sufficient local funding to offset their adjustment aid reductions in the years ahead, averting another potential constitutional issue. Former Abbott districts that are facing adjustment aid cuts -- some of which are taxing far below the state average -- will be given cap waivers authorizing them to raise school property taxes to their full Local Fair Share. Nothing is more important to our future than the quality of education we provide to our schoolchildren. I am proud this new law will guarantee full and fair funding and a quality education for all of our children. State Sen. Steve Sweeney, D-Gloucester, is president of the New Jersey Senate. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. Adam Jobbers-Miller By Karen Yi | NJ Advance Media A former Wayne firefighter who moved to Florida to work as a police officer died Saturday, a week after he was shot while on duty, authorities said. Adam Jobbers-Miller, 29, grew up in Wayne and served as a volunteer at Wayne Fire Company No. 2. He was hired by the Fort Myers Police Department in Florida in September 2015. "It is with a heavy heart that we inform our community that Fort Myers Police Officer Adam Jobbers-Miller has passed away," Fort Myers Police wrote in a press release Saturday night. "We ask that you continue to pray for Officer Jobbers-Miller's family, friends and our entire Fort Myers Police Department family." Don't Edit PRESS RELEASE FORT MYERS POLICE DEPARTMENT 2210 WIDMAN WAY FORT MYERS, FL 33901 (For immediate release) July 28, 2018... Posted by Fort Myers Police Department on Saturday, July 28, 2018 Don't Edit Jobbers-Miller was shot in the head on July 21 while responding to a report of a gunman at a gas station in Fort Myers, Florida, police said. He underwent surgery and was listed in critical condition but died of his injuries on Saturday, Fort Myers Police said. Don't Edit HONORED: The body of fallen FMPD Officer Adam Jobbers-Miller is escorted from Lee Memorial Hospital to the medical examiners office with honor Saturday night. More: http://bit.ly/2uZrGLL Video by: Gary Snow Posted by WINK News on Saturday, July 28, 2018 Don't Edit .@FLAnnScott and I have heavy hearts tonight after learning of the passing of Fort Myers Police Officer Adam Jobbers-Miller, who was shot in the line of duty last Saturday night. We are praying for his family and the entire Lee County law enforcement community. Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) July 29, 2018 Don't Edit Don't Edit Police said Wisner Desmaret, 29, fired at Jobbers-Miller and other officers during a chase. Desmaret was shot by officer's gunfire and suffered non-life threatening injuries. He will be charged when he is released from the hospital, police said. According to the News-Press, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement filed a detainer request against Desmaret, who is a Haitian native. A detainer request allows ICE to take custody of the individual when that person is released from local custody and possibly deport that person. Don't Edit Don't Edit Jobbers-Miller was the son of David Miller, who served as fire chief of Wayne Fire Company No. 2 for 30 years, according to John Gabriel, who is the current chief. "Adam got his start up here with us, spending his early years as a member of Company 2 in Wayne, alongside his 'Pops,' as he calls him, before moving to Florida a few years ago and becoming a cop," Gabriel previously wrote on Facebook. On Sunday, the community mourned Jobbers-Miller's passing and remembered his life. Don't Edit Honoring the life and service of Officer Adam Jobbers-Miller tonight with a flag raising. We stand with our fellow first responders and grieve for Adam, his family and our brothers and sisters in blue. Posted by Fort Myers Fire Department on Saturday, July 28, 2018 Don't Edit Please keep Officer Millers family in ur thoughts and prayers. Godspeed brother Posted by Wayne PBA Local # 136 on Saturday, July 28, 2018 Don't Edit Don't Edit Officer Adam Jobbers-Miller, who was born and raised in New Jersey until he began his law enforcement career with the... Posted by New Jersey Police Honor Legion "Finest of the Finest" on Saturday, July 28, 2018 Don't Edit Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or on Facebook. A neighbor's 911 call about a possible break-in once ended with Ving Rhames facing armed police officers at his own front door, the actor said in a recent radio interview. The incident has been in the news recently because Rhames talked about it on Friday (July 27) on The Clay Cane Show on Sirius XM. In answer to a question from Cane about how racism reveals itself, Rhames explained how he was once confronted by officers while inside his own Santa Monica house. He is quoted as saying: "I open the door and there's a red dot pointed at my face from a 9 mm, and they say, 'Put up your hands!' " Listen to Rhames, who stars in "Mission: Impossible -- Fallout," which opened this weekend, talk about the incident here. Rhames said the incident occurred early this year, but ABCNews.com report: "Santa Monica police on Saturday confirmed that the incident happened on July 29, 2016, just before 2 p.m. local time. Sgt. Saul Rodriguez said the department received two calls about an African-American man entering a home from neighbors who didn't think he lived there." One of the officers recognized Rhames. Later, police escorted the actor to his neighbor's home to introduce him, according to the ABC report. Santa Monica police did not confirm that the responding police officers pulled weapons on Rhames, according to ABCNews.com, but said burglaries calls can turn violent, so it would not be uncommon for officers to draw their weapons. Read the story here. Two suspects are believed to be on the loose early Sunday (July 29) after a late Saturday shooting on South Claiborne Avenue left three people dead and another seven wounded, according to New Orleans Police Chief Michael Harrison. The suspects' identities were not known early Sunday, Harrison said. In a press conference near the scene of the shooting in the 3400 block of South Claiborne in Sunday's early minutes, Harrison said initial reports from the scene indicate two people wearing hooded sweatshirts stepped in front of "a large crowd" at a daiquiri shop late Saturday and opened fire. One of the people appeared to have a rifle, Harrison said, and the other used a handgun. The pair, Harrison said, "appeared to fire indiscriminately" at the crowd, though they stood over one individual and fired more than once at that person before they fled the scene on foot toward Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Two of the people who died, Harrison said, were pronounced dead by EMS at the scene on South Claiborne Avenue. The third person, who was also pronounced dead by EMS officials, was in the 2800 block of Louisiana Avenue, Harrison said. Those three victims included two men and one woman. The remaining seven victims -- including five men and two women -- remained in "varying degrees of condition, some more critical than others," according to New Orleans EMS Director Dr. Emily Nichols. Harrison declined to release additional identifying information about the shooting victims because families were still being notified early Sunday. 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 "This has to be personal," Harrison said Sunday. "Firing indiscriminately into a crowd, shooting 10 people, killing three? It doesn't get more personal." Details about a motive were not known, Harrison said. Harrison asked for community assistance in gathering information on the shooting, calling it "an extremely tragic incident," while also eliciting a warning to anyone involved. "This was a large crowd. We know people heard something, saw something," he said. Harrison said it wasn't clear whether another shooting reported late Saturday, in which a woman was shot more than once in the back underneath Interstate 10 where City Park Avenue and Metairie Road meet, was related to the Claiborne shooting. Those with information can submit anonymous tips to Crimestoppers by calling 504.821.1111. A $5,000 reward is being offered. Those with tips will remain anonymous and do not have to testify in court to receive the reward, according to Crimestoppers. By Rep. Walt Leger III and Rep. Joel Bomgar For years, the status quo on criminal justice policy has led us down the wrong path. Tough-on-crime laws, mandatory minimums and drastic sentences for repeat offenders became the new normal, with little to no progress to show in exchange. As elected officials, we take our commitment seriously to ensure public safety and wisely manage public funds. Our outdated criminal justice systems needed major reform, and in making these changes, we have charted a new course for our states for years to come. When our states took on reform we had the highest incarceration rates in the nation. Louisiana occupied the No. 1 spot in the nation for decades, as tracked by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. In 2013, Mississippi ranked No. 2 for the highest rate of state citizens behind bars. The policies of the past were ballooning our budgets and putting an undue burden on taxpayers. Yet they did nothing to stop the unchecked growth of prison populations or protect public safety. Mississippi's passage of House Bill 585 in 2014, and the passage of a 10-bill reform package in Louisiana in 2017, were landmark moments in our states. The solid outcomes from these efforts will chart our continued work in keeping citizens safe and prison use trending downward. Criminal justice reform does not mean we are putting public safety at risk. In fact, it means we are focusing our attention toward real solutions that stop people from committing another crime that will land them in prison again, while focusing our corrections resources on those individuals committing serious offenses. For far too long we ratcheted up sentences higher and higher, only to see recidivism stay stubbornly high. Our states saw the ramifications of individuals who spend years in prison only to return to our neighborhoods with no prospect of a job or ties to a community. In 2007, Texas broke ground on criminal justice reform. The state's costs went down and prison populations decreased, along with a 26 percent decrease in crime rate. In the years following, 35 states cut crime and imprisonment simultaneously. Following the Texas model, Mississippi has already seen ample progress, and Louisiana isn't far behind. The tangible metrics of the success in Mississippi are reflected in the savings brought to taxpayers and increased public safety. In 2014, state lawmakers restructured sentences for low-level drug crimes and strengthened supervision to provide a better alternative to prison, among more than a dozen other policy changes. From 2014 to 2017, the imprisonment rate declined 10 percent and the state avoided $266 million in prison spending. After three years, the Legislature and Gov. Phil Bryant revisited the issue and passed new measures in 2018 to ensure this positive trend continues through policies that prohibit incarceration based solely on a person's inability to pay a fine or fee. Last year, Louisiana built on that foundation and went further to ensure - successfully - that the state will no longer be the incarceration capital of the world. By modifying penalties for certain nonviolent offenses, expanding eligibility for alternatives to incarceration, and removing practical barriers to re-entering the community, the state has taken bold action to ensure that resources are being spent smartly in the service of protecting public safety. A new report on the first several months since implementation began shows that the prison and supervision populations have dropped 7.6 percent and 4.2 percent respectively, while the state has saved $12.2 million for reinvestment. Seventy percent of those savings will be reinvested in local programs to reduce recidivism and in services for crime victims. The approach crafted with key lawmakers and stakeholders was widely praised as transformational, and that momentum continues as state partners work together to realize the promise of better outcomes. We are experiencing a major shift from the outdated, lock-'em-up school of thought on criminal justice of the past. Today, the case for criminal justice reform demands accountability both from offenders and government policies promising results. It is vital that we continue to embrace the data and strive to take every opportunity to reasonably approach correctional policy while promoting increased public safety for our communities. State Representative and Speaker Pro Tempore Walt Leger III is from New Orleans and represents District 91 in Louisiana. State Rep. Joel Bomgar is from Madison, Miss., and represents District 58 in Mississippi. A FEMA postcard arrived in New Orleans this week with a timely reminder: "You can't control the weather, but you can prepare for it. Renew your flood insurance policy today." It isn't only policyholders who need to renew. Congress has a couple of days left to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program before its July 31 expiration date. The House voted 366-52 Wednesday to extend the program to Nov. 30, which is the last day of hurricane season. A longer extension would have been ideal, but it is vital to get homeowners and business owners through storm season with the program intact. People shouldn't have to watch the Gulf of Mexico and worry about whether their home is protected from storm surge. They also shouldn't have to worry about whether they'll be able to get the insurance required to buy a house. "We can't play some game of chicken with the lives of millions of families," Jefferson Rep. Steve Scalise, the House majority whip, told his colleagues Wednesday. Despite pressure from Texas Republican Rep. Jeb Hensarling and other anti-flood insurance forces, Rep. Scalise won the vote. The bill reauthorizing flood insurance now is in the Senate, which must act quickly. Senators need to remember the families Rep. Scalise mentioned. There are 5 million policyholders who depend on the program for protection from floods. Once the temporary extension is done, Rep. Scalise's hope is to bring together a group of House and Senate members in September to try to hammer out a long-term extension, he said in a phone interview Thursday. Congress will have four months to agree on a way to reform the NFIP and end these short-term reprieves. A reform package must keep policies affordable, encourage private insurers to offer coverage, improve mapping and mitigation programs and be fair to taxpayers, Rep. Scalise said. It also must include a grandfather provision to protect existing policyholders who have followed FEMA's rules, he said. A five-year extension ought to be a minimum. The House passed a five-year reauthorization last year that included reforms. But the Senate hasn't had a vote on anything like that. Louisiana Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy are each working on bipartisan bills to improve the flood insurance program and reauthorize it for six to 10 years. The July 31 expiration date was set when Congress approved a four-month extension in March. That followed several other brief extensions. The National Association of Realtors, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and 20 other trade and business groups signed on to a July 13 letter urging Congress to give consumers a long-term extension of the flood insurance program. They pointed out that 20,000 communities across the United States depend on the program. Rep. Scalise emphasized that point in a news release after the vote Wednesday: "Flooding is not just an issue that affects a handful of states. Families and small businesses in all 50 states have NFIP policies and are at risk for flooding because of one simple fact: wherever there is rain, or a river, stream or other body of water, there is potential for a flood. Whether land-locked or coastal, flooding can impact anyone." Some members of Congress don't seem to understand that. They claim that the program is filled with $1 million beach houses. That isn't true. Almost all -- 98.5 percent -- of NFIP policies are in parishes or counties with a median household income below $100,000, according to GNO Inc. And 62 percent of policies are in parishes or counties with a median household income below the national average of $53,889. The NFIP was created after private insurers backed out of the marketplace after Hurricane Betsy in 1965. Reform proposals are pending that would encourage more private companies to offer flood coverage. But at this point, there is no other viable option for flood insurance for millions of people who need it. Congress shouldn't make people worry every few months about whether they will still be able to get flood coverage. The House did its part to keep the program going. Now, the Senate should do the same. LONDON The 24-year reign of Guineas president, one of Africas longest-ruling strongmen, ended in confusion and chaos on Tuesday as a group of soldiers seized on his death to proclaim a coup that was immediately challenged by government officials. Troops in armored personnel carriers took to the streets of Conakry, the capital of Guinea, an impoverished West African state, but there were no immediate reports of bloodshed, according to news agencies. Rather, the putsch, as one lawmaker called it, began to unfold in time-honored fashion with a group of officers taking control of the airwaves to announce that the Constitution and the government had been suspended. Soon afterward, the government denied the claim. Prime Minister Ahmed Tidiane Souare said in a state broadcast that he was speaking from his office and that his government continues to function as it should, The Associated Press reported. The prime minister was responding to statements by a uniformed army officer on state television and radio that a group calling itself the National Council for Democracy and Development was taking charge of the destiny of the Guinean people, news agencies reported. A 60-year-old man fatally shot his father and stepmother in a nursing home in Texas on Friday after killing two other people at the couples residence nearby, the authorities said. The gunman, Richard Starry, was found dead inside a room at the Retama Manor Nursing Center in Robstown, alongside his 85-year-old father and stepmother, Chief Erasmo Flores of the Robstown Police Department said at a news conference on Saturday. He identified the victims in the nursing home as Ernest Starry and his wife, Thelma Montalvo. The police responded to a call about an active shooter shortly before 7 p.m. at the nursing home. They found three bodies in a room, with a handgun near Richard Starry, Lt. Enrique Paredez said. At this time the evidence points to a murder-suicide, he said. But the investigation is still premature to determine a motive. CLEVELAND Boxes of pizza and trays filled with steaming food lined wooden tables at the Spaces art gallery here. Visitors to a recent opening could help themselves, but if they chose corn on the cob or chicken nuggets, they had to reach over the sign that read: Please enjoy this offering of Tamir Rices favorite foods, to make him present in a project that is about his death. The installation, by Michael Rakowitz, an Iraqi-American artist and professor based in Chicago, is titled A Color Removed, and it asks, Can you remove a color and a symbol of safety from an entire city? Mr. Rakowitz is trying to do just that, as a tribute to Tamir, the 12-year-old boy who was playing with a pellet gun when he was fatally shot in 2014 by a Cleveland police officer, Timothy Loehmann. The police chief, Calvin Williams, said that the pellet gun had been indistinguishable from a real firearm because it was lacking its orange safety cap. A grand jury did not indict Mr. Loehmann, who was fired last year for lying on his employment application. When that minor object got isolated, it was outrageous and infuriated me, but at the same time I thought, Thats something to talk about, because were talking about color, said Mr. Rakowitz, whose art practice often involves trying to execute impossible-seeming actions, including reconstructing from disposable materials all the artifacts looted from the National Museum of Iraq. In the six-part docu-series Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story, the filmmakers Jenner Furst and Julia Willoughby Nason recount the teenagers life and his deadly encounter with George Zimmerman in a gated townhouse community outside Orlando. Through interviews with key players, including Mr. Martins family and Don West, a defense lawyer for Mr. Zimmerman, the directors zero in on what they see as a flawed criminal justice system. They also make an argument that the divisive case (in which Mr. Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter) galvanized both the Black Lives Matter movement and white nationalists. The filmmakers and Mr. Martins parents hope Rest in Power, which debuts Monday on the Paramount Network and BET, moves Mr. Martin beyond the realm of symbolism and demonstrates the costs of ignoring these issues. I hope people walk away knowing who Trayvon Martin really was, Sybrina Fulton, Mr. Martins mother, said. I want people to walk away having a clear view of what this country is about right now, and not what they thought it is, she added. The docu-series was first announced in early 2017 as part of a production partnership between Jay-Z and The Weinstein Company. But the Weinstein Company and Harvey Weinstein have been scrubbed from the credits of Rest in Power since the publication of sexual assault and harassment allegations against Mr. Weinstein in The New York Times and The New Yorker last year. (The company did not have editorial input on the series, according to Paramount, which said it owns and financed the project in full. Ms. Fulton and Tracy Martin, Trayvons father, have said that the Weinstein Company owes them money for the rights to their book, which served as source material for the documentary.) Sierras paean to the erotic potential of control has larger implications, though. As the younger women look to Helen for expertise and advice, it is her obvious wisdom and confidence that make her desirable at least as much as her beauty. You have a whole world that needs you, Sierra says of Helens family on the drive to Joshua Tree, wishing anyone cared about her half as much. Later, around the banquet table, Helen walks the other women through the process of becoming needed like that, assuring them that the heart actually does expand to accommodate partners and children. In turn, part of what makes Sierra attractive to Helen is that Sierra, like the onset of menopause, represents a world in which Helen doesnt have to cater to a mans needs. Yet this also seems to be what brings her back to Vik in the end, when they desperately pledge to one another that he must not die: On some level, being needed feels better than anything else. Largely set adrift from the needs of his own family, at least until Cole recruits him into the Alison Bailey rescue mission, Noahs story centers on a different family entirely. That would be Janelle, Anton and Carl his boss turned girlfriend, her son and the ex-husband who fills a similar role in their lives to, well, the one Noah fills for Helen and their own teenage kids. Like pretty much everyone who filters in and out of the Core Fours existence, these are vibrant characters and performances, with much to recommend them on their own. As Anton, the actor Christopher Meyer brings a wiser-than-his years sense of humor to his characters unusual situation, in which the teacher hes kind of counting on as a mentor is also courting his mom. Yet hes still apt to make the impetuous nonsolution decisions of youth, like trying to avoid disappointing one of his parents (they disagree on whether he should attend Princeton) by offering to join the Marines thus disappointing both of them. Russell Hornsby, who starred in the series co-creator Hagai Levis HBO drama In Treatment, returns in a subtly scene-stealing role as Carl. For the second week in a row he gets some of the episodes best laughs by reacting with incredulity that Noah is still hanging around at all a reaction, it should be said, that a sizable portion of this shows audience has felt from time to time. But he is also capable of bringing an edge to the performance, melding what one imagines is the characters very real frustration with his ex-wife and son with an extra dose of anger that seems born of Noahs own perspective on the matter. Earlier this summer, Chipotles new chief marketing officer outlined a lofty vision for the burrito-and-taco chain and the feelings it could one day evoke in consumers. Our ultimate marketing mission is to make Chipotle not just a food brand but a purpose-driven lifestyle brand, the executive, Christopher Brandt, said on an earnings call. By that, he added, he meant that Chipotle will become a brand that people want to know about, want to be a part of and want to wear as a badge. The same month, a release from Godiva noted the companys desire to be seen as a lifestyle brand by leveraging their culinary expertise to expand beyond chocolates. Pizza Hut, Blue Apron and IHOP have also described themselves as lifestyle brands. What does that even mean? Brands have long tried to persuade people that they represent something larger than the mere goods they sell. If you wanted to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony, as the 1971 jingle put it, you bought a Coke. More recently, the term lifestyle brand has attached itself to celebrity lines like Gwyneth Paltrows Goop and retailers like Ralph Lauren, which maintain a certain aesthetic across a range of products. MoviePass, the subscription-based movie ticket service, was forced last week to borrow $5 million after it reported it could not pay its bills, raising new questions about the embattled companys viability. Helios and Matheson Analytics, its parent company, said in a regulatory filing on Friday that MoviePass had experienced a service interruption the day before because it could not make required payments to its merchant and fulfillment processors. In a message to subscribers on Friday, the companys chief executive, Mitch Lowe, apologized for the outage, during which some of its three million subscribers could not check in to see movies, and said the service was up-and-running with stability at 100%. Its far from the first time MoviePass has dealt with technical glitches and unexpected shifts in service. But after the outage, observers on Sunday sharpened their criticism of the company, which in 2011 set out to transform the industry amid rising theater ticket prices and increased competition from movie streaming services. Haley Monteal Greenwald-Gonella and Robert Daniel Levy are to be married July 29 at Glynwood Farm in Cold Spring, N.Y. Rabbi Brent Chaim Spodek is to officiate. The bride, 34, is the director of retail marketing at Estee Lauder in New York. She graduated from the University of California, Irvine, with two bachelors degrees, one in dance and the other in English. She also received a masters degree in specialized journalism from the University of Southern California. She is a daughter of Rabbi Andra B. Greenwald and Loren M. Gonella of Modesto, Calif. The brides father is a real estate broker in Merced, Calif., for Coldwell Banker Gonella Realty. Her mother, who retired as a psychotherapist in Angels Camp, Calif., is a rabbi with the Mother Lode Jewish Community in Murphys, Calif. The groom, 38, is a vice president who leads the research practice at the Center for Financial Services Innovation, a nonprofit organization in New York that aims to improve financial health for low-income Americans. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, also with two bachelor degrees, one in intellectual history and the other in digital media design. He received an M.B.A. from Yale. Saya Snow Kitasei and Jered Daniel Sorkin were married July 26. Linda D. Puglisi, the town supervisor in Cortlandt, N.Y., officiated at the Town Hall. On Aug. 4, the couple will have a second ceremony at the home of the brides parents in Cortlandt Manor, N.Y. Kashmiri R. Hutcherson, a friend of the couple, is to lead the vows and exchange of rings. Ms. Kitasei-Sorkin, 32, works in the London office of Xynteo, an Oslo consultancy that advises companies on sustainability practices and leadership. She is the director of the companys annual meeting, which is designed to help corporate and organizational leaders to rethink growth; she is also a member of her companys executive committee. She both graduated and received a masters degree in Russian, East European and Eurasian studies from Stanford. She is a daughter of Hilary Hinds Kitasei and Junichi Kitasei. The brides father retired as the president and chief executive of the American division of TV Asahi, a Japanese television network; he worked in New York. Her mother was a freelance writer. Mr. Sorkin, 43, is a composer whose recent film credits include Whirlpool, Boogaloo and Graham and Head Over Heels. He also writes music for dance performances, including a composition for Without End, which premiered in London in 2015. He graduated from Dartington College of Arts in Devon, England, and received a masters degree in composition from the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, England. For-hire drivers in the city, many of whom are nonwhite immigrants, are being hurt because the roads are oversaturated with vehicles, Ms. Desai said. Ride-hailing vehicles and yellow taxis were empty a third of the time while in Manhattans central business district, according to the 2017 report by Bruce Schaller, a former city transportation official. Defending the oversaturation which has resulted in the deep poverty of a work force made up of immigrants of color is not a civil rights position, it is the antithesis, Ms. Desai said. This is the second time the city has sought to slow the growth of for-hire vehicles. Mayor Bill de Blasio proposed a cap on for-hire vehicles in 2015, but the city backed down after Uber waged a public-relations campaign. Mr. de Blasio voiced support on Friday for the most recent proposal. Uber has started a social media campaign against the proposed license freeze, and this year created a website that emphasizes the number of trips in areas long ignored by yellow taxis and where access to public transit is limited. We are growing fastest in the outer rings of the outer boroughs because we are serving communities that have been ignored by yellow taxis and taken for granted by the M.T.A., said Josh Gold, a spokesman for Uber, referring to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Uber statistics, he said, show that ridership in neighborhoods such as East New York in Brooklyn and Kingsbridge in the Bronx had more than doubled since this time last year. Mr. Sharpton and Ms. Rice say their nonprofits have received donations from for-hire companies such as Uber and Lyft. The taxi industry has donated money to the campaigns of Mr. de Blasio and members of the City Council, including Ruben Diaz Sr., chairman of the Committee on For-Hire Vehicles. SAN FRANCISCO Hedge funds go to the Cayman Islands to incorporate. Big companies are generally domiciled in Delaware. And online poker companies often set up their bases in Gibraltar and Malta. Now the race is on to become the go-to destination for cryptocurrency companies that are looking for shelter from regulatory uncertainty in the United States and Asia. In small countries and territories including Bermuda, Malta, Gibraltar and Liechtenstein, officials have recently passed laws, or have legislation in the works, to make themselves more welcoming to cryptocurrency companies and projects. In Malta, the government passed three laws on July 4 so companies can easily issue new cryptocurrencies and trade existing ones. In Bermuda this year, the legislature passed a law that lets start-ups doing initial coin offerings apply to the minister of finance for speedy approval. We are 65,000 people, and 20 square miles, but we have a very advanced economy, the premier of Bermuda, E. David Burt, said in an interview at a cryptocurrency conference in May in New York, where he was trying to pitch companies on the islands charms. We want to position Bermuda as the incubator for this industry. WASHINGTON When Brett M. Kavanaugh came before the Judiciary Committee in May 2006 for his nomination to be an appeals court judge, senators pressed him on his role in President George W. Bushs use of signing statements to claim the power to bypass new laws like a much-disputed assertion the previous December that he could override a ban on torture. Judge Kavanaugh, who at the time was the White House staff secretary, acknowledged handling draft signing statements to ensure that relevant members of the administration have provided input before presenting them to Mr. Bush. But the nominee sidestepped questions about any advice or views he had about them, refusing to discuss internal matters and pivoting instead to a description of a 1952 Supreme Court opinion that explains how to analyze separation-of-powers disputes in general. Now that President Trump has nominated Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, the opacity of his testimony about Mr. Bushs signing statements, including about the torture ban, is becoming a case study for Democrats vehement arguments that the Senate must see his staff secretary files before any confirmation hearing. Democrats have already been raising concerns that Judge Kavanaugh may hold too expansive a view of executive power in other contexts, like his skepticism about the wisdom of forcing a president to answer questions in criminal investigations. Judge Kavanaugh played a key role in clearing President Bushs use of signing statements, said Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader. Understanding the nature of his involvement in those actions is absolutely critical to evaluating the type of justice he would be on the bench. The Senate and the American people deserve full access to the documents from his time as staff secretary. Even then, no one was quite sure what to make of Cynthia Nixon. It was 2009, nearly a decade before her campaign for governor of New York, and Ms. Nixon was in Albany lobbying lawmakers on a marriage equality bill. One Republican senator began their meeting clutching a printout that suggested Ms. Nixon had been hypocritical. Married people are the enemy, the senator read, citing a quote attributed to her on the internet. Ms. Nixon cut him off. She had indeed said that. As Miranda Hobbes, her character on Sex and the City. He just kind of folded up the paper and put it away, Ms. Nixon recalled as she sat in her kitchen in Manhattan, where a birthday card from her in-laws showed Gov. Andrew M. Cuomos face being punched by a golden fist. So many people think they know me. They know one slice of me, and the slice that they know is really mostly a fictional character. For months now, Ms. Nixon, 52, has been straining to introduce new slices of herself, challenging Mr. Cuomo in a Democratic primary on a platform of boundless progressivism, disdain for squishy centrism and higher taxes on the rich to finance much of her agenda. She is a lifelong New Yorker trying to convey urban authenticity surely the only candidate in history who said she had no trouble performing nude on television because she had already breast-fed on the No. 2 train. But she is also a figure with effectively zero government or executive experience asking voters to make her New Yorks chief government executive, giving pause even to some who generally agree with her. BANGKOK The Siberian husky burned in Bangkok, the flames devouring her thick fur. Holding hands in the pet funeral hall, the dogs owners wept soundlessly. They had paid $160 for their dog, Friendly, to be cremated in the proper Thai way, festooned with marigolds and sprinkled with holy water at a Buddhist temple, or wat. Bangkok, a messy city with little green space, is not ideal for pets. A park near where I live is home to nine-foot-long monitor lizards that looked capable of snacking on Agatha, my familys miniature schnauzer. Pets swallowed whole by pythons are not as uncommon an occurrence as one would hope. The Bangkok government takes a blase attitude toward stray animals, so there is little in the way of spaying or neutering. As a consequence, an estimated 100,000 street dogs, in varying states of disrepair, roam the streets of the Thai capital. I thought I was serving my country, but I was only serving the rich and powerful people who stole my land, he said. In 2015, Mr. Peung Thy joined a small political party founded by a popular grass-roots campaigner named Kem Ley. But less than a year after the party came into existence, Mr. Kem Ley was shot dead as he was buying his morning coffee in Phnom Penh. Other activists have also been killed, particularly those investigating illegal trades like timber. Back in Phnom Penh, Perk Chrep, a 30-year-old worker in Cambodias important garment industry, fretted that she had little choice in the electoral exercise. The line manager at her Chinese-owned factory, she said, had warned the seamstresses several times that if they did not come back to work with ink on their fingers, they need not return at all. Ever since garment workers flocked to the opposition in the 2013 elections, Mr. Hun Sen has courted this demographic, regularly holding rallies where he handed out envelopes of cash. But Ms. Perk Chrep, who makes $300 a month with overtime pay, said she did not want to sell her vote. She mourned the dissolution of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, which she said had worked to guarantee basic rights for garment workers. Sitting in a single room devoid of furniture, Ms. Perk Chrep said that all she wanted to do was send a message to Mr. Hun Sen. I want him to reflect on what he has promised the people in Cambodia, she said. Does he really think he has achieved that much except for adding more years to his rule? ATTAPEU, Laos As heavy rains lashed southern Laos over the weekend, volunteers from many countries were continuing to help victims of earlier flooding caused by the failure of a foreign-funded hydropower dam. It shows the spirit of humanity, Yen Saisamon, a 17-year-old Laotian volunteer, said on Friday at a relief center in the town of Attapeu, where cardboard boxes of instant noodles and condiments were labeled in Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese. Yet if foreigners are helping now, they also share a piece of the blame. The accident at the billion-dollar Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydroelectric project last week has cast a harsh spotlight on the unspoken compact between the ruling Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party and giant outside financial interests: The companies get access to Laos abundant natural resources; Laotian officials get some revenue; and no one will cast undue scrutiny on investment projects that exacerbate rural poverty or, in this case, kill innocent villagers. Laoss one-party communist government and the international financial institutions that support it have long embraced a high-wire act of prioritizing investment over stronger regulation, said Keith Barney, an expert on Laos at the Australian National University. But in the accidents wake, the potential pitfalls of poor regulation are now evident for everyone to see, he said. Conflict with the Establishment, Mr. Weinbaum said, is almost inevitable. Mr. Khans erratic personality is a further complication. He is known for running a team of one, making impulsive decisions, contradicting himself and then using his enormous reserves of self-confidence and charisma to dig himself out. Take his views on religion. He has said that he wants to reform the madrasa system in which countless young Pakistani boys have been brainwashed in Quranic schools to fight for extremist groups. At the same time, Mr. Khan has supported Pakistans blasphemy laws and teamed up with hard-line religious groups that a few years ago rioted in Islamabad, the capital. His sprawling villa on Islamabads outskirts, where he spends much of his time, symbolizes his guarded nature. The enormous compound, occupying a craggy hilltop, is tucked behind high walls. At night, you can see thousands of lights from Islamabad twinkling in the distance far below. Even though hes still officially only one of hundreds of members of Parliament, several dozen police officers this weekend blocked the roads leading to his house and stood in clumps at his gates as if he were already prime minister. To Western governments, Mr. Khans idiosyncrasies may not even matter that much. Analysts say there are only two issues the West really cares about in Pakistan: militant groups and nuclear arms. Mr. Khan will not have much say in either. The military and intelligence establishment handles both. The biggest issue that Mr. Khan will control is the economy. This is where he could shine as a leader or quickly be subsumed. Pakistan is facing a balance of payments crisis, its currency has rapidly devalued, its debt is soaring. According to the cruise companys statement: The incident occurred when the four-person polar bear guard team, who are always on board for these expedition cruises as required by law, prepared for a shore leave. One of the guards was unexpectedly attacked by a polar bear that had not been spotted and he was unable to react himself. There had to be intervention for reasons of self-defense and to protect the life of the attacked person, the statement added. The Joint Rescue Coordination for northern Norway said on Twitter on Saturday that the animal had been shot and killed. The injured guard, who was not identified, was flown by helicopter to a nearby hospital, according to Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. Mr. Krause said that the company dated to 1891 and that he was not aware of any similar episodes on any previous expedition. The ship, which typically carries a maximum of 150 people, remained at the site for a couple of hours to comply with local laws and then moved on, he added Hapag-Lloyd Cruises is very aware of its responsibility when traveling in environmentally sensitive areas and respects all nature and wildlife, the company statement said. Venezuelans have not only been buying Spanish real estate, but also building it. In 2017, the Cohen family, owners of one of Venezuelas largest commercial real estate companies, opened the Sambil Outlet on the outskirts of Madrid, which bills itself as Spains largest shopping mall. The Cohens are among the Venezuelans who moved to Spain around 2012, just as the government in Madrid was forced to negotiate a European banking bailout. The timing allowed them to pick up Spanish assets cheaply: Sambil replaced a mall that went bankrupt during Spains banking crisis. This year, the Cohen group also bought a building in Salamanca that will be turned into a dozen luxury apartments. Among Salamancas other investors is Miguel Angel Capriles, a relative of Henrique Capriles, a politician and leader of the opposition in Venezuela. Amid mounting international pressure on Mr. Maduro, the Spanish authorities have been stepping up their efforts to monitor the inflow of Venezuelan money. Its a difficult task, according to some lawyers, given that wealthy Venezuelans have always kept money overseas to offset capital controls and currency fluctuations. Spain has the obligation to control money inflows, but rich Venezuelans have long learnt that their savings should be in a strong currency, preferably in an overseas account, said Juan Carlos Gutierrez, a Venezuelan lawyer who moved to Madrid last December. In fact, the most high-profile detention to date of a Venezuelan in Spain was the result of an arrest warrant issued by Mr. Maduros government: In April, the Spanish police detained Claudia Patricia Diaz, a former treasury official who was also a nurse to Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president who died in 2013; and her husband, a former security chief. The arrests were part of a money laundering case that included an investigation into the couples purchase of an apartment in Madrid in 2015 for 1.8 million, or about $2.1 million. RAMALLAH, West Bank Prison time is almost a rite of passage for some Palestinian activists, and Ahed Tamimi, the West Bank teenage firebrand who rose to international prominence after she kicked and slapped an Israeli soldier, tried to use hers profitably. I learned a lot, Ms. Tamimi, 17, said hours after her release on Sunday from an Israeli prison, where she served an eight-month term. I learned how to stay patient, to be in a group. I did my best to use the time to study. I came out more educated, and understand the world better than when I went in. She also came out no less determined. She now plans to study law with an eye to suing Israel in international courts for what she describes as the violations and war crimes of the occupation. Of course Im not going to forget the cause, she said in an interview, but Im going to invest in my studies, because knowledge is the strongest weapon for a struggler. There was chaos in Nebbi town after the ruling party, National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate, Hashim Sulaiman was declared winner of the Nebbi municipality MP seat. Sulaiman defeated his closest rival Robert Onega of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) with 4,483 against Onega's 4,159 votes. The chaos at the tally centre started when Obongi County MP, Kaps Hussein Fungaroo, complained about the disparity of votes at Tata polling station. He said that the cast votes for the MP exceeded those of the mayor and the directly elected councillor by over 100 votes. Hashim Sulaiman casting his ballot However, no sooner had Fungaroo and other opposition supporters started raising their complaints to the media than police and other security personnel started roughing up journalists and opposition supporters, forcing them out of the tally centre. After being forced out, the Nebbi returning officer Raymond Kasirale declared Sulaiman the winner. However, this did not go on well with Onega's supporters who tried to force their way into the tally centre. The police and the army were forced to fire live bullets and tear gas to disperse the rowdy supporters. Earlier in the evening, opposition members accused police of using its regional medical service vehicle to carry pre-ticked ballot papers, an allegation that was denied by the RPC West Nile Jonathan Musinguzi. Other candidates in the race included Patrick Okumu Ringa who polled 1,270 votes, Opio Enrico 143, Betty Odongo Pacutho 46 and Berocan Okurocal 59 votes, all independent candidates. Cutest family bonding: Toddler teaches big pet manners before rewarding it with candy Feature oi-Shubham By Shubham Kids have a great bonding with pets and the video above proved it again. Here is a tiny toddler with a treat in her hand and a huge spotted pet standing in front of her waiting to get a taste of the prize! But the toddler is not giving it away easily and neither is the Great Dane in a mood to snatch it away. It is the cute bonding between them at its best. The toddler certainly has learnt from her elders how to train and teach the pet and she is putting it to full use. She asks the dog in her yet-to-be clear voice to sit before she gives it the candy in her hand. The pet perhaps didn't understand her command and stood enticed yet confused, waiting for the biscuit to land in its mouth. The 'stalemate' continues till the toddler's mom intervenes and asks the animal to sit. It promptly obeys and seeing it doing so, the child throws in the candy politely and the doggie goes for its incentive, also gently. A great family photograph. Liked this video? Look out for more on our site. Akhilesh Yadav authorised to decide on alliance for 2019 LS polls India oi-Staff By Oneindia Staff Writer Lucknow, July 29: The Samajwadi Party national executive authorised party president Akhilesh Yadav to take a decision on alliances and seat sharing for the general elections next year, an SP leader said. Senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav said, "The main decision taken in the national executive is that party president Akhilesh Yadav has been authorised to take a decision on alliance and seat sharing for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls." "The executive is of the view that elections should be held through ballot papers and not through EVMs (electronic voting machines)," he told reporters here. The ruling BJP claimed that the SP's demand reflected its "nervousness and desperation". "The SP appears to have accepted defeat even before the elections," BJP spokesperson Shalabh Mani Tripathi told PTI. Ram Gopal Yadav, when asked to elaborate on the discussions at the meeting about the political scenario, parried a direct reply, saying, "I am telling you about the decisions not the discussions." About absence of some party leaders, including Azam Khan from the meeting, he said, "Is it necessary that all should remain present? Ninety per cent of the members were present. Party president Akhilesh Yadav was also there." On being asked as to what the party would do if the Election Commission did not accept their demand for polls through ballot papers, Ram Gopal Yadav said SP leaders would sit at the doors of the EC and resort to satyagrah. Asked about possibilities of him contesting from Sambhal Lok Sabha seat, he said, "It is up to the party to decide whether I will contest or not. If it directs me, I will contest. If it doesn't, I will not." To a question on who will lead the alliance if it is formed, Ram Gopal Yadav said, "The government at the Centre is running with 17 parties. Their leader is only (Narendra) Modi. Every party has its leader." To another query as to whether there was any discussion about Akhilesh Yadav's warring uncle Shivpal Yadav, he replied in the negative. When his attention was drawn towards the frequent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Uttar Pradesh, Ram Gopal Yadav said, "This is just the beginning. As elections approach, he will have to come here on a daily basis." At the meeting, the attendees condoled the death of poet Gopal Das Neeraj and some other eminent personalities, and observed silence as a mark of respect to them. A senior SP leader said the seat sharing formula could be that each party in the prospective alliance will get to contest in those constituencies where they had either won or were runners-up in the last Lok Sabha polls. Going by this arithmetic, the Congress will be eligible for only eight seats in Uttar Pradesh as it had won two seats and was runners-up in six in the 2014 general elections. According to Samajwadi Party insiders, the party leadership is not ready to spare more than eight seats for the Congress. If the SP relinquishes these eight seats and some more for smaller partners, its own quota of seats would go well below 30. "In such a scenario, the party believes that it will be left with only 25-26 seats to contest in 2019, which does not suit its stature," said another SP leader, requesting anonymity. He said Akhilesh Yadav might not be, therefore, willing to accommodate the Congress beyond its pocket boroughs of Amethi and Rae Bareli. "Moreover, the experiment of a tie-up with the Congress had failed in 2017 (Assembly polls) despite the Akhilesh government's achievements," said another SP leader. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, July 29, 2018, 8:45 [IST] Beti Bachao' a mere slogan: Rahul's jibe at Modi over Bihar shelter home rapes India oi-Vikas By Vikas New Delhi, July 29: In a veiled jibe at Narendra Modi over the alleged sexual assault of thirty-four minor girls at the state-run shelter home in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said that the Prime Minister's call for "Beti Bachao" (Save Daughters) is a mere slogan. Rahul, in a tweet, also trained gun at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. He wrote, "This is a story of Ashwasan Babu (the one who assures) and Sushahsan Babu (one who vows to give good governance)". Then he further wrote "It seems for that for those whom we have elected 'Beti bachao' is a mere slogan". In the same tweet, he posted a picture of an article published in a Hindi daily about the shelter home rapes. Meanwhile, the CBI has taken over the investigation into the alleged abuse of minor girls at a shelter home in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district. The matter had come to light earlier this year when the Bihar Social Welfare Department filed an FIR based on a social audit of the shelter home conducted by a Mumbai-based institute. Women staff members of the shelter home and Brajesh Thakur, who ran the NGO, were among those who were arrested by the local police in connection with the case. After pressure from the opposition, Nitish Kumar government on Thursday handed over the investigation into the alleged sexual assault to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The police filed a charge-sheet against the ten who were arrested. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, July 29, 2018, 16:21 [IST] Bihar shelter home horror continues: 5 more rapes reported, toll at 34 India oi-Staff By Oneindia Staff Writer Muzzafarnagar, July 28: More horror has been reported at the Bihar shelter homes with cases of five more girls being reported coming to light. The toll now stands at 34. A report last week had found that 29 of the 44 girls were raped in the Muzaffarpur home. This horrific tale of sexual abuse came to light when the girls opened up to volunteers from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences during a social audit. Ten of the 11 accused have been arrested, including Brajesh Thakur who ran the NGO home. The home has been blacklisted and all girls have been shifted to shelters in neighbouring districts. The probe has been handed over to the CBI, by Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar after he came under pressure from the opposition. The Bihar Social Welfare Department also filed a police complaint based on the audit report. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, July 28, 2018, 15:49 [IST] Have never seen such chaos, anarchy as what is playing out in Punjab Cong: Manish Tewari It will be a BJP mukt Bharat says P Chidambaram India oi-Staff By Oneindia Staff Writer Bengaluru, July 29: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday asked his party workers not to get fooled by the "BJP's propaganda of Congress-mukt Bharat", saying if at all there was a "mukt Bharat, it would be BJP-mukt". The former Union minister said that things had changed from the time when the Congress was an "unchallenged" political party in India and stressed on the need to strengthen it at the booth level, reminding that now elections were fought at that level. "There was a time when all that the Congress had to do was to mention the name of Jawaharlal Nehru or Indira Gandhi and then millions of people would simply come to the booth and vote," Chidambaram said. "It is a booth-wise election now, which is why in every booth we must be present... We must have enough people in every booth... What matters now is the number of feet on the ground," he added. He said, that was the time when the Congress was an "unchallenged" political party in India, but things had changed, as they would in any country. "Today more political parties have come to play important roles and more regional political parties have come," he said, addressing party men after launching project 'Shakti' in Bengaluru. The former finance minister said that there were only two parties today which had a national footprint -- one was the Congress, and the other was the BJP. "Don't let the BJP fool us. Don't be overawed by the BJP's propaganda that they can ever build or have a Congress mukt Bharat, that is simply not going to happen," he said. "If at all there will be a mukt Bharat, it will be a BJP mukt Bharat, it will never be Congress-mukt," he added. Chidambaram said sometimes the party's presence was strong, and sometimes it was not as strong and added that these things would change. "Just because, say, we lose an election in Gujarat, does not mean that we are not present in that state. We are present in Gujarat, but we just missed it. We just missed it by a whisker," he said. Chidambaram claimed that in Karnataka, the presence of the Congress was stronger than that of the BJP, as the party secured 38 per cent vote, while, the BJP got 36 per cent. "We had 2 per cent advantage in votes, but we had a 24 seat deficit," he said, adding that the analysis showed that in coastal Karnataka the BJP's vote share went up to 50 per cent but in old Mysuru it dropped to almost 17 per cent. The vote can go up in some areas and come down in some, which means it can make a big difference to the seats, said Chidambaram and claimed that the Congress' presence was more or less uniform across the state. He launched project 'Shakti' in Karnataka for the Congress workers, with an aim to strengthen the party's ground organisation by connecting workers across every booth, village, block, town and districts. Party workers could enrol in the project by sending an SMS containing their voter ID card number to a dedicated number, party officials said, adding that 'Shakti' would enable booth-level workers to engage with local leadership on various issues. Emphasising the need for micro-management of every booth, Chidambaram set August 15 as the deadline for enrolment of lakhs of the workers for the project. "Massive enrolment should take place beginning today and we must have some result by August 15... I'm absolutely sure with Project Shakti the Congress will multiply its numbers dramatically and in months to come we will have a very strong ground force and get ready for the Parliament election whenever it takes place," he added. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, July 29, 2018, 5:44 [IST] We are a big loser, J&K better off when governed by CMs: Ghulam Nabi Azad Protect country without worry, Modi govt will take care of your families: Amit Shah to troops Amit Shah spends night at CRPF camp in Pulwama; says will see a peaceful J&K 'in our lifetime' J-K cops detain 6 over derogatory video after Pakistan's victory against India in T20 match Balkanisation of India: Lt. Gen would look to further bolster Operation Tupac in Kashmir J&K: Terrorists shoot dead CRPF jawan in Pulwama India oi-Vikas By Vikas Srinagar, July 29: The terrorists on Sunday shot dead a CRPF jawan in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district. The attack is said to have taken place in Naira Tahab area. The martyred jawan has been identified as Naseer Ahmed who was part of 134th battalion CRPF. On July 24, a jawan was killed after terrorists attacked a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) patrol near the police control room in Batmaloo area of Srinagar On July 26, security forces gunned down one terrorist in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara region. On July 25, the security forces gunned down two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag region. One of the slain terrorists was identified as one Bilal Ahmad Dar. Earlier this month, the Army had gunned down three LeT terrorists who had abducted and killed Constable Saleem Shah of the Jammu and Kashmir police. The encounter had taken place at the Wani Mohalla locality of Khodweni, around a kilometre away from where Saleem's body had been found. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, July 29, 2018, 23:12 [IST] Rise up students, your future is at risk: Rahul attacks PM Modi on proposal to overhaul UPSC Karnataka: Yeddyurappa accuses Kumaraswamy of divide and rule policy India oi-Staff By Oneindia Staff Writer Bengaluru, July 29: Accusing Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy of indulging in "divide and rule" policy, Karnataka BJP president B S Yeddyurappa today squarely blamed him for the demand for a separate north Karnataka state. "The BJP is for a united and prosperous Karnataka," the former chief minister said and appealed to the people of north Karnataka not to allow separatist sentiments to take over. "The chief minister is indulging in a divide and rule policy of north and south Karnataka. Congress has to make its stand clear on this as Congress has made Kumaraswamy of JD(S) with 37 MLAs the chief minister," Yeddyurappa told reporters after chairing the state BJP's core committee meeting here. Citing the bandh called in north Karnataka with a demand for a separate state, he said "the complete responsibility for this has to be borne by chief minister Kumaraswamy and the congress party." A day-long bandh has been called by some outfits in 13districts of north Karnataka on August 2 demanding statehoodfor the region, alleging discrimination by successivegovernments towards it. Calling for the bandh, 'Uttara Karnataka Pratyeka Rajya Horata Samiti' (North Karnataka Separate Statehood Protest Committee) has alleged discrimination in allocation towards the region in the budget presented by Kumaraswamy on July 5, and also lesser representation in the cabinet. Yeddyurappa, while recalling the struggle by many Kannada stalwarts for the sake of "akhanda Karnataka" (united Karnataka), said Kumaraswamy has to realise he was chief minister for entire Karnataka. "Kumaraswamy is chief Minister for entire Karnataka, your (Kumaraswamy) feeling that you are chiefminister for 37 constituencies won by the JD(S) is unfortunatefor the people of this state," he said. "Don't commit the sin of dividing united Karnataka, the future generations and our ancestors will not forgive you," he said, as he squarely blamed Kumaraswamy's "irresponsible comments" for triggering the issue and demanded an apology. "I pray to the people of north Karnataka with folded hands not to allow separatist sentiments to take over, BJP will stand with you for your demand for development. No one should speak about dividing the state," he said. He said from August 9, BJP's state leaders will travel across the state in three teams to highlight the achievements of the Narendra Modi-led central government and pointout the "failures" of the JDS-Congress coalition government in the state. On the state government's plans to restrict movement of media personnel inside Vidhana Soudha, the seat of state legislature and secretariat, he called it "dictatorial" and a move aimed at hiding "scandals." He also warned that a dharna would be staged in front of the Vidhana Soudha "if the government goes ahead with the plan." For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, July 29, 2018, 6:06 [IST] PM says notion that Army, police meant for men no longer exists, lauds rise in number of women cops PM Modi to visit Italy, UK from Oct 29 to Nov 2 for G-20 summit, COP-26 conference PM Modi launches Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission: What we know about the scheme, so far? Karunanidhi laid to rest with full-state honours at Marina Beach India oi-Oneindia Staff By Oneindia Staff Chennai, Aug 8: DMK patriarch and five-time Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi was finally laid to rest on Wednesday alongside Jayalalithaa, DMK founder CN Annadurai and MGR at Marina beachfront in Chennai as a sea of humanity bid him a tearful farewell. He was buried with full state honours next to his mentor and former chief minister C N Annadurai at the Marina beach. No Hindu rituals were performed as Karunanidhi was a self-proclaimed atheist and rationalist. Karunanidhi's son M K Stalin received the national flag wrapped around his father's body. Other family members including the leader's wife Rajathi Ammal, other sons and daughters showered flower petals at his feet. Draped in a tricolour, the five-time chief minister was taken for his burial in an open procession. A sea of supporters were lined up along the route to catch a final glimpse of the departed leader and chanted slogans for their Thalaivar. The last journey of 'Kalaignar' Karunanidhi began at 4:00 pm. The 94-year-old Dravidian icon, who was affectionately called as Thalaivar and Kalaignar, had breathed his last at Kauvery hospital after fighting for life for 11 days. He had been battling age-related ailments for a long time. Earlier today, leaders from across the country, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi, came to Chennai to pay their last respects to the doyen of Tamil Nadu politocs who breathed his last at Kauvery hospital in Chennai on Tuesday. Several Chief Ministers and political leaders paid tribute to late DMK chief M Karunanidhi at the Rajaji Hall here today. Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, former chief ministers of Kerala and Uttar Pradesh, Oommen Chandy and Akilesh Yadav respectively, among other leaders paid homage to the departed leader. Here are the Highlights: DMK working president MK Stalin said in an interview that DMK supremo Karunanidhi's health is stable and that doctors are monitoring his condition at the hospital. Actor Vijay meets DMK leader MK Stalin at Kauvery hospital where former Tamil Nadu CM M Karunanidhi is undergoing treatment Chennai: Actor Vijay meets DMK leader MK Stalin at Kauvery hospital where former Tamil Nadu CM M Karunanidhi is undergoing treatment pic.twitter.com/CxRFxzKYOz ANI (@ANI) August 1, 2018 Rajnikanth meets Karunanidhi. On July 31, Congress president Rahul Gandhi met Karunanidhi and wished him a speedy recovery. I wanted to come and see M Karunanidhi Ji. He is a tough person, I met him & he is stable. Sonia ji has sent her best wishes and regards to the family: Rahul Gandhi Congress President Rahul Gandhi to travel to Chennai today to meet DMK chief M Karunanidhi who is admitted to Kauvery Hospital. Stalin says Karunanidhi's condition is stable and that the veteran leader continues to remain under keen observation of doctors. Representatives of Sri Lanka President, Maithripala Sirisena, visited Kauvery hospital to meet former Tamil Nadu CM M Karunanidhi. They submitted a letter from Sirisena to DMK working President MK Stalin wishing speedy recovery to Karunanidhi. NCP leader Sharad Pawar visited Chennai's Kauvery hospital today. He met M K Stalin and Kanimozhi and inquired about the Karunanidhi's health. Supporters of DMK chief M Karunanidhi pray at his residence in Coimbatore where he used to reside in 1945. He is currently admitted in Chennai's Kauvery hospital. Visuals from outside Kauvery Hospital in Chennai where DMK Chief M #Karunanidhi is undergoing treatment #Visuals from outside Kauvery Hospital in Chennai where DMK Chief M #Karunanidhi is undergoing treatment. #TamilNadu pic.twitter.com/ious2kR6GT ANI (@ANI) July 30, 2018 DMK supremo Karunanidhi is fighting with Yaman (the God of death) but he will return victorious, said MDMK general secretary Vaiko Kaveri after visting him at Kauvery Hospital on Monday. Isha Yoga founder and spiritual guru Jaggi vasudev also visited DMK chief Karunanidhi at the Kauvery Hospital on Monday, News18 Tamil reported. AIADMK member Nanjil Sampath and famous Tamil poet Vairamuthu visited DMK chief Karunanidhi in Kauvery Hospital on Monday, according to local media reports. E Palaniswami met Karunanidhi in ICU. He said that the DMK chief is doing fine and a team of expert doctors team is monitoring him, according to reports. DMK volunteers need to maintain peace and cooperate with the police, MK Stalin requests to supporters. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palaniswami and and deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam have arrived at the Kauvery hospital to enquire about M Karunanidhi's health, according to sources. DMK workers continue to gather outside Kauvery Hospital in Chennai where DMK Chief M Karunanidhi is undergoing treatment. According to Thanthi TV, DMK chief Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi who had stayed at the hospital overnight has said that he is doing good and his well-wishers and party workers should be "brave" in these testing times. DMK workers continue to gather outside Kauvery Hospital in Chennai where DMK Chief M #Karunanidhi is undergoing treatment. pic.twitter.com/Y98hwdh0RZ ANI (@ANI) July 30, 2018 A DMK worker died of a heart attack in Thiruvarur on Sunday morning after hearing about the deteriorating health of party veteran M Karunanidhi. Another DMK worker, Raju, committed suicide by hanging himself on Sunday, according to local media reports. The security was beefed up both at the hospital and Karunanidhi's residence on Sunday. DMK leader A Raja, in an address to people outside Kauvery Hospital in Chennai, asked not to believe in rumours. Raja said, "Karunanidhi is responding well to treatment". A massive crowd has gathered outside Kauvery hostpital and a tight security has been put in place. Some reports had earlier said that Karunanidhi's condition was upgraded to 'very critical' from 'critical'. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palaniswami, who was in Salem, has reportedly cancelled all his meetings and rushed for Chennai. Leaders cutting across party lines are arriving at Kauvery hospital. Massive crowds have gathered outside the hospital. People are shouting slogans "Long live Kalaignar". MK Stalin issues statement over M Karunanidhi's health condition,states 'There was unexpected setback in his health but after intense medical care,he's normalising.Doctors' team is continuously monitoring him.Appeal to cadres to not indulge in violence or disturb police or public pic.twitter.com/1tsAoUF4mU ANI (@ANI) July 29, 2018 Karunanidhi was admitted to the Hospital in a critical condition around 1.30 a.m. on Saturday after his blood pressure began to fall. He was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance past Friday midnight from his Gopalapuram residence. Former BJD leader Bijayant Jay Panda earlier called on M Karunanidhi at Kauvery hospital today and wished for the DMK president's speedy recovery. "I came here to convey my best wishes for Karunanidhi Ji's speedy recovery. He has played a tremendous role in social transformation and economic development of the nation. I met MK Stalin, Kanimozhi and other DMK leaders," Panda told ANI after meeting. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu earlier today met the DMK Chief at Kauvery hospital where Karunanidhi is admitted following a drop in blood pressure. The crowd stayed put outside the hospital even past midnight. Despite assurances that Karunanidhi was recovering, the crowd refused to disperse. Anna University has announced that there has been no holiday declared for its constituent colleges. BJD leader Bijayant Jay Panda calls on M Karunanidhi. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu meets DMK Chief M Karunanidhi at Kauvery hospital where the former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister was admitted following a drop in blood pressure. DMK supporters gathered outside Chennai's Kauvery hospital, where DMK Chief M Karunanidhi was admitted following drop in blood pressure. Police personnel have cordoned off for the entire area for general public. Karunanidhi's condition has hogged attention over the past couple of days, with political leaders from across the spectrum lining up to visit him. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu will meet Karunanidhi at the hospital on Sunday. Former Tamil Nadu chief minister and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi's health condition continues to remain stable with ongoing active medical support, said the latest bulletin issued by Kauvery Hospital in Chennai. The hospital statement said, "DMK President and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Kalaignar Dr M Karunanidhi's health condition continues to be remain stable with ongoing active medical support. He is continuously being monitored & treated by the panel of expert doctors in the Intensive Care Unit." Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman meets DMK's MK Stalin at Chennai's Kauvery hospital to inquire about M Karunanidhi's health condition Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad visits Karunanidhi at Kauvery Hospital TN CM E Palainiswami's statement: Karunanidhi was not feeling well & was undergoing treatment at home. Now, he is being given the best treatment at the hospital. Our ministers had met MK Stalin and inquired about his health. He will recover soon. If necessary we are willing to provide any help with medical aid. He is better. His blood pressure has stabilised: DMK leader Kanimozhi on DMK President M Karunanidhi's health condition. Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit met MK Stalin at Kauvery Hospital, where DMK President M Karunanidhi was admitted late last night. DMK supporters continue to gather outside Kauvery Hospital, where DMK President M Karunanidhi is admitted. Tamil Nadu governor Banwarilal Purohit visits DMK President M Karunanidhi at Kauvery Hospital who was admitted to the hospital late last night following a drop in blood pressure. MK Stalin arrived at Kauvery Hospital, where DMK President Karunanidhi is admitted following a drop in blood pressure. DMK supporters gathered outside Kauvery Hospital, where DMK President is admitted. Karunanidhi, 94, was admitted in the Intensive Care Unit of Kauvery Hospital at 1:30 am. After the hospital informed that Karunanidhi was responding to treatment, the crowd started to disperse. His family members including Stalin and former Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran too left the hospital. The hospital in a statement said he was brought there after his blood pressure had dropped. "His blood pressure has been stabilised with medical management and he continues to be monitored and treated by the panel of experts," the hospital said. Several senior DMK leaders, including working president M K Stalin and his estranged elder brother M K Alagiri were at the hospital. Other frontline leaders such as Duraimurugan, Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi and former Union minister A Raja were also there. Hundreds of party cadres and well-wishers have gathered at the hospital. Security beefed up in and around the area. Slogans like "Long Live Kalaignar Karunanidhi" rent the air. Earlier in the day, Kauvery hospital in Chennai released a medical bulletin stating that Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi's health had deteriorated and a team of medical experts were treating him for fever due to urinary tract infection and had kept him under observation for 24 hours. "There has been a decline in the health of DMK president M Karunanidhi's due to age-related ailments. He is being treated for fever due to urinary tract infection. He is being given hospital level treatment at home," a medical bulletin released by the Kauvery Hospital said. Given his condition, the team of doctors attending to him has recommended the restriction on visitors. DMK working president and Karunanidhi's son, M K Stalin, told that the veteran leader is recovering steadily as his fever is coming down. News agency ANI quoted him as saying "he (M Karunanidhi) is recovering steadily as his fever is coming down." Stalin was made the party's working president in 2016 after Karunanidhi retreated from the mainstream politics. He tweeted: "I am thankful to Rahul Gandhi, SitaramYechury & D Raja for calling to inquire about Thalaivar Kalaignar's health. The concern and wishes from everyone will surely aid @kalaignar89's recovery and we hope he will be able to meet everyone soon." On behalf of the DMK, I thank @rashtrapatibhvn & @PMOIndia for their enquiries about @kalaignar89's health. I am extremely grateful for their offers of help. Thalaivar is getting the best medical care and treatment. We hope he will recover soon and thank everyone in his own words M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) July 27, 2018 Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that he spoke with Karunanidhi's son M.K. Stalin, who is the Leader of Opposition, and daughter Kanimozhi and enquired about the veteran leader's health. "I pray for his quick recovery and good health," wrote Modi on Twitter and added that he has offered any assistance required. Also, President Ram Nath Kovind spoke to Karunanidhi's family members, President's office tweeted, "Spoke to Thiru Karunanidhi's family members on the phone and inquired about his health. Wishing the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, a veteran of our public life, a quick recovery." Spoke to Thiru Karunanidhis family members on the phone and inquired about his health. Wishing the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, a veteran of our public life, a quick recovery #PresidentKovind President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) July 27, 2018 Arpudhamaal, the mother of Perarivaalan who is accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, visited Gopalapuram to meet Karunanidhi. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took to Twitter to wish for Karunanidhi's speedy recovery. MK Stalin took to Twitter to thank PM Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi for enquiring about Karunanidhi's health. Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot took to Twitter to wish Karunanidhi a speedy recovery. Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan said that meeting MK Stalin & Kanimozhi, he was apprised that Karunanidhi's health is improving and that PM Modi spoke to them inquiring about his health. Karunanidhi's house has been flooded with party workers today after Kauvery Hospital stated a "slight decline" in his health Thursday night. Stalin's estranged brother and former union minister M K Alagiri arrived at the residence along with his son Durai Dayanidhi. Tamil Nadu BJP president Tamilisai Soundararajan said, "Kalaignar should get back to active life and that is my prayer. He presided over my marriage..." Among other visitors were, MDMK chief Vaiko, Tamil Nadu BJP chief Tamilisai Soundararajan, CPI leader D Pandian and Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi leader Velmurugan who enquired about his health from family members and Stalin. "Such fever after a tracheostomy procedure is usual. Stalin told me that he is fine. I am confident that he will bounce back with the same magnetic voice," Vaiko told reporters. Karunanidhi completed 50 years as party chief today and the DMK had planned to celebrate it by distributing sweets and welfare assistance. Maratha reservation stir: Uddhav to hold meeting of Shiv Sena MLAs tomorrow India oi-Vikas By Vikas Mumbai, July 29: Amid ongoing stir by Marathas demanding reservation in government jobs and education, Shiv Sena has called for a meeting of its ministers and MLAs on Monday (July 30). The meeting would be held at Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray's residence in Mumbai at 12 pm, said reports. Marathas have been agitating over the demand of 16 percent reservation in government jobs and education for over a week now. Incidentally, an all-party meeting was also convened yesterday by the state government to discuss the quota issue. The BJP-led government has faced criticism over its handling of the state-wide agitation, which turned violent in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and parts of Marathwada this week. Early this week, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut had claimed that there were "talks within the BJP" to replace Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, a claim denied by senior party ministers. There were no discussions within the BJP on replacing Fadnavis, the source said, adding that the CM was "adequately capable" of handling the ongoing protests, reported PTI. The government's stand on the Maratha community's demand for reservation in government jobs and educational institutes has been that the issue is pending before the Bombay High Court. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, July 29, 2018, 19:42 [IST] Meghalaya: Mentally-challenged girl raped repeatedly for 2 months India pti-PTI Tura (Meghalaya), July 29: Ten persons, including two minors, allegedly took turns to rape a 13-year-old mentally-challenged girl over a period of two months in Meghalaya's North Garo Hills district, police said on Sunday. The incident came to light after an FIR was lodged by the girl's family at the Resubelpara police station yesterday. Police arrested nine of the accused today, while one is absconding. The mentally-challenged girl was repeatedly raped over the last two months, the police said, adding that the wife of one of the accused had witnessed the dastardly act and informed the village elders about it. The village heads called the family members of the girl to a meeting on July 25 to arrive at a compromise. However, the girl's family did not relent and lodged the FIR, the police said. They added that two of the accused were minors, while most of the others were married and hailed from the same village of Haluapara under Resubelpara police station. "It appears that they took turns to rape the girl at various times and at various locations in the village. The accused even confessed to their crime at the meeting held in the village," Circle Inspector of Resubelpara police station G K Sangma said. Social activists flayed the villagers for trying to suppress the incident. "The villagers also need to be docked for trying to hide the heinous crime committed against a 13-year-old girl. There cannot be a compromise for what the culprits have done and for attempting to do so, the elders should be taken to task for trying to circumvent the law," social activist Dardy GC Marak said. It may be noted that kangaroo courts decide the fate of most criminals in the remote parts of Meghalaya. PTI Modi launches 81 projects worth over Rs 60,000 crore for UP India oi-Madhuri Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched 81 investment projects worth over Rs 60,000 crore for Uttar Pradesh at an event in Lucknow. Lauding the Uttar Pradesh government and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the PM called it an 'unimaginable achievement'. The projects aim to promote industrialisation and attracting investment in the country's most populous state. This ceremony, the first yet by the state government, will be held to implement 80 of the 1,045 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) signed at the Uttar Pradesh Investors' Summit organised earlier this year. Speaking at the event Modi said,'It is for the second time in the last 5 months that I am meeting my industrial friends in Lucknow. Last time we met for UP Investors Summit in February. I am elated that a huge step is being taken to deliver the promises made there on the ground. ''People are calling this event a ground-breaking ceremony. But I call this a record-breaking ceremony. The manner in which development works have been carried out in such a short span of time & old methods have been changed, was never seen before in Uttar Pradesh,'' Modi said in Lucknow. PM further said,''These projects will prove to be a big step in giving a new direction to Digital India and Make in India. Be it setting up of fiber or establishment of IT center for internet service in Uttar Pradesh, digital infrastructure will give a new direction, new pace to the state.'' ''In past three years, Rs 50,000 cr have been saved in electricity bills because of the LED bulbs were set up in households under Ujala scheme. If I had announced a concession of this amount, 'Wah Wah Modi' would have been the headlines for a week,'' Modi said. ''Rs 50,000 cr have been saved due to Ujala scheme under which LED bulbs were set up in households. Had I announced a concession of this amount, "Wah Wah Modi" would have been the headline,'' PM said. The prime minister will visit an exhibition on Flagship Missions of Urban Development. He will interact with 35 beneficiaries of PMAY (U), one from each state or union territory, the statement said. The visit is the latest in a series of trips by the prime minister to Uttar Pradesh, as the ruling BJP prepares for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. A week ago, Narendra Modi was in Shahjahanpur to address a farmers rally. In the recent past, he has also been to Varanasi, Azamgarh, Mirzapur and Sant Kabir Nagar. Muzaffarpur sexual assault case: CBI registers case over alleged sexual abuse of girls India oi-Madhuri Patna, July 29: The CBI on Sunday has registered a case on the request of Bihar Government and further notification from Govt of India and taken over the investigation case related to mental, physical & sexual exploitation of girl children residing at a government-funded shelter home in Muzaffarpur. The case has been registered against Officers and employees of Balika Grih, Muzaffarpur under section 120(B), 376, 34 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 4, 6, 8,10,12 of POCSO. It is alleged that officials/employees of Balika Grih run by Seva Sankalp Evam Vikash Samiti used to mentality, physically&sexually exploit girls residing there. Earlier, the Nitish Kumar government had recommended a probe into the alleged sexual abuse of at least 29 girls at the shelter home. The recommendation was made hours before the Patna High Court was scheduled to take up the case amid the Opposition's demand that a CBI probe be ordered under the Court's supervision. The recommendation came two days after the Bihar Police Chief K S Dwivedi had ruled out an independent probe by the CBI expressing satisfaction with the probe by the local police. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, July 29, 2018, 15:08 [IST] Pinarayi Vijayan must face trial says CBI India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, July 29: The Central Bureau of Investigation has told the Supreme Court that Kerala, Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan should face trial in the Lavalin case. The CBI also said that the order discharging him in the case must be set aside. The Supreme Court had in January stayed the trial and sought the CBI's response. The CBI in its affidavit, filed on Saturday said that SNC Lavalin had obtained wrongful gain on account of the contracts awarded to them and this fact is an important aspect that the Kerala High Court failed to take into account while discharging Vijayan. Changes in the terms of the contract were made when Vijayan was in Canada as the guest of Lavalin in February 1997. All these factors were not taken into account when the HC discharged him and two others in the case, the CBI further said in the affidavit. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, July 29, 2018, 10:00 [IST] Other side of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: UP man sells 7 goats to build toilet as govt didnt help him If you attack people for eating beef then also give up consuming mutton, says Netajis grandnephew Pregnant goat dies after being gang-raped by 8 barbarians India oi-Staff By Oneindia Staff Writer New Delhi, July 29: In a shocking, bizarre and disgusting incident, a pregnant goat died after being gang-raped by 8 persons in Nuh, Haryana. The eight men reportedly in an inebriated state stole the goat from owner Aslu's house. Earlier in the day, they had tried to molest the goat, and got beaten by the villagers. According to reports, the accused took the pregnant goat to a secluded spot and raped her. After that, five people fled the scene whereas three stayed back. Aslu tracked the goat down after hearing to her shriek. When he found the goat, she had already breathed her last. The police said that the accused are absconding. Investigations are underway, Nagina police station in-charge Rajbir Singh told ANI. One person, Aslu registered a complaint on July 26 that his goat was gang-raped on the night of July 25 by Savakar, Haroon, Jaffar and five others whose identities are yet to be ascertained, he also said. The Tribune quoted the owner as saying, "They tried to molest her in the courtyard. When I raised alarm, villagers caught them and thrashed them. Enraged, they came back 8 hours later and took away my goat and raped her". FIR have been filed under section 377 and 429 of IPC and also relevant sections of Prevention of Cruelty to Animal's Act. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, July 29, 2018, 6:43 [IST] 'If Congress isn't doing anything, we can't be sitting ducks': TMC attacks grand old party Return to West Bengal, MP urges migrant labourers India oi-Oneindia Staff By Oneindia Staff Kolkata, July 29: Trinamool Congress MP from Jhargram constituency, Dr Uma Soren appealed to all labourers, who have left West Bengal in search of work, to come back to the state as it has made "arrangements" for their return. "The state government has made all the arrangements. There will be no dearth of rice and clothes," Soren said, while visiting the Uporkatmundi village in Jhargram, where Benu Singh, the mother of the three girls, who died allegedly due to starvation in east Delhi, used to reside before marriage. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's had last year promised support and opportunities for migrant labourers from the state, if they felt unsafe in other states and wanted to come back. Soren spoke to her brothers and relatives and assured them the the state will be by their side in their hour of crisis. Benu's brothers requested the MP to make necessary arrangements to bring their sister back to the village, located under the jurisdiction of Sankrail police station in the Jhargram district, officials said. All help and support will be given to the family, Soren said. Mangal Singh, the father of the girls, is untraceable since Tuesday, when they were declared dead by doctors of a Delhi hospital. A day after a preliminary magisterial probe report sought a "deeper investigation" into the conduct of Mangal, a police team was today sent to his native place in West Bengal to trace him, a senior officer said. A magisterial probe report had said he had given some "unknown medicine" to his daughters by "mixing it in hot water" on the night of July 23, and went missing since the morning of July 24. Police said they were awaiting the viscera report, which would help determine whether the girls were given any medicine that could have led to their death. The initial autopsy reports had suggested that they died due to starvation. A medical board at the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital had conducted a second autopsy at the request of police, which had corroborated the first post-mortem report. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, July 29, 2018, 11:30 [IST] Decision to transfer Justice Muralidhar was taken on Feb 12 with his consent If there is a God, why doesnt he ask corona to buzz off: Justice Katju SC/ST Act row: Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha demands removal of Justice Goyal as NGT chief India oi-Vikas By Vikas New Delhi, July 29: The dissent over Justice (retd) AK Goyal's appointment as National Green Tribunal (NGT) chairman seems to be gaining momentum with Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha becoming the latest to voice his objection. Goyal was one judges who laid down guidelines to protect public servants and private employees from "arbitrary" arrest under the 1989 Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Opposing the amendment, Dalit activists had argued that it would dilute the Act and take away the legal protection offered to SC/ST people from discrimination. "We are assuring people that we won't let them suffer because of Justice Goyal's decision (on SC/ST Act), but his appointment as NGT chairman has sent a very wrong message. I support the demand of his removal from the post of NGT chairman," news agency ANI quoted Upendra Kushwaha as saying. Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale had on Saturday said that Justice AK Goyal had delivered wrong judgment on SC/ST Atrocities act and it would be inappropriate to appoint him as NGT chairman. Athawale said that even though he is the part of NDA, he demands Goyal's removal from the post. Earlier Ram Vilas Paswan and his son Chirag Paswan had written to Rajnath Singhand Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking them to oppose the appointment of Goyal as National Green Tribunal (NGT) chairman and warning about fierce protests around Justice's judgement on SC/ST Atrocities Act. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, July 29, 2018, 19:07 [IST] Scientists told to act as change agents India oi-Oneindia Staff By Oneindia Staff Meghalaya, July 29: Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Radha Mohan Singh appealed scientists here to act as change agents and help in bringing about economic development of the farmers of the region. I appeal to all the scientists here to act as change agents and help in bringing about economic development of the farmers of the region, Singh said while visiting the ICAR Complex here. He later interacted with farmers and artisans. The minister also said that the activities and initiative of ICAR and the farmers of the region should be documented and showcased so that they become role model for the entire country. Reiterating the Centres plan to double the income of farmers by 2022, the Union minister exhorted officials to assist and advise farmers on ways to improve farming techniques and raise their income. He also advised farmers and the institute not only to be confined to cultivation of crops but also to invest themselves to allied sectors like horticulture, fisheries and beekeeping among others to achieve the 2022 objective. Expressing satisfaction on the works rendered by the ICAR, the minister stressed on the need to introduce and implement micro irrigation and integrated farming. The minister also reviewed the implementation of Krishi Kalyan Abhiyan (KKA) in Ri Bhoi district, which is one of the 112 districts where the Centre has launched the programme, covering 25 villages in each district with population of more than 1,000. Later in the day, while launching the Meghalaya Milk Mission today, Singh said the mission will facilitate in achieving the Centres goal of doubling farmers income by 2022 through promotion of milk business in the state. The Mission is expected to benefit about 2000 farmers over the next four years besides checking the absence of organised marketing channels in the dairy sector in Meghalaya. The Union Minister also announced Rs 215 crore sanctioned through the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) for which the amount will be utilised for various training under dairy farm, chilling centre and purchase of milch animals. Informing that there are cooperatives in only 97 villages out of the 6,449 villages of Meghalaya, the minister said there can be cooperative societies in 60 per cent of the total villages. He said that cooperatives can play an important role in the development of all sectors. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, July 29, 2018, 11:50 [IST] Shah, Bhagwat meet in Mumbai, discuss 2019 elections India pti-PTI Mumbai, July 29: BJP president Amit Shah held a meeting with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in Mumbai in the backdrop of the ongoing agitation by the Maratha community seeking job reservation in Maharashtra. The duo held talks at Yashwant Bhavan, the RSS office in Mumbai but what transpired between them was not known. However, a BJP source said Shah and Bhagwat discussed ways to strengthen the ruling party in the state, which will see both Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in 2019, but did not touch upon the quota issue. He said the meeting was scheduled long back and it had nothing to do with the ongoing stir by Marathas demanding 16 percent reservation in government jobs and education. "The meeting was decided months ago and it barely lasted for an hour. It was just a coincidence that it happened in the backdrop of an all-party meet called by the chief minister," the BJP source said. Incidentally, an all-party meeting was also convened yesterday by the state government to discuss the quota issue. The BJP-led government has faced criticism over its handling of the state-wide agitation, which turned violent in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and parts of Marathwada this week. Early this week, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut had claimed that there were "talks within the BJP" to replace Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, a claim denied by senior party ministers. There were no discussions within the BJP on replacing Fadnavis, the source said, adding that the CM was "adequately capable" of handling the ongoing protests. Shah was on a day-long visit to the city yesterday, during which he met Bhagwat, who was also in Mumbai. As part of his visit, Shah also attended a special preview screening of "Chalo Jeete Hain", (Come, let's live), a film based on Modi's early life. PTI 'Tarzan' actor Joe Lara passes away at 58 in US plane crash Four killed in plane crash at Swiss Alps International oi-Oneindia Staff By Oneindia Staff Geneva, July 29: Four people died when their light aircraft crashed into the summit of a glacier in the Swiss Alps, police said, in the latest fatal accident to hit the popular tourist region. The plane went down 3,300 metres (10,800 feet) above sea level at 4:45 pm (1445 GMT) yesterday in an area known as the Dunand Pass, police in southern Valais canton said in a statement. They identified the plane as a four-seater made by the French firm Robin and which had taken off from Sion airport for "a pleasure flight". After receiving an alert, authorities dispatched rescue teams to the summit but found the pilot and three passengers dead at the scene. "The circumstances of the accident have not yet been determined," police added. The victims have not yet been formally identified. The accident comes after an unusually deadly winter season in the Swiss Alps that saw multiple hikers killed in a series of avalanches. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, July 29, 2018, 13:15 [IST] High treason trial against Pervez Musharraf to resume next week International pti-PTI Islamabad, Jul 29: A special court in Pakistan is all set to resume hearing of a high treason case against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, which may also be a big test for Imran Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, which is likely to form a government, a media report said. Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Yawar Ali, who is heading the three-judge special tribunal, will visit Islamabad for three days from July 31 to August 2. The Express Tribune reported that the purpose of his visit is to hear the high treason case lodged against the former president soon after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) came to power in 2013 for his role in the promulgation of emergency on November 3, 2007. However, the prosecution team has yet to get any information regarding fixation of the case. The matter was also fixed at the start of this month but the schedule was cancelled because of the LHC top judges foreign trip. We are also hearing that the case is fixed next week, a member of Musharraf legal team also informed about the development, said the daily. Now, it is to be seen whether the upcoming PTI government will pursue the treason case or keep Akram Sheikh, who was appointed as the prosecutor by the PML-Ns government. The daily said Sheikh, who is regarded as being close to the PML-N, may himself withdraw from the case. The legal experts believe that the treason case is a test for the new government as one of the reasons of civil-military tussle was that the PML-N government had initiated the case against the former army chief. The PTI chief had vowed in November 2007 that his party would initiate proceedings against Musharraf over his unconstitutional acts but it has also been witnessed that the PTI has remained silent over the issue in the recent past. Most close aides of Musharraf have also joined the PTI. Interestingly, a key member of Musharrafs party, Amjad also withdrew his nomination papers in favour of Imran Khan in NA-53. It is also being observed as to how much the superior judiciary is interested to conclude the trial. Experts say the superior judiciary is still unable to end misperception that it leans towards the establishment. Since the disqualification of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, the PML-N has been propagating that the judiciary is part of a game plan. On April 7, the Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar proposed fresh composition of the special bench, led by Justice Yawar Ali, but the federal government led by the PML-N did not issue a formal notification during its tenure. Later, the caretaker government issued a notification regarding the composition of the special tribunal, which also comprises Sindh High Court judge Nazar Akbar and Balochistan High Court judge Tahira Safdar. Justice Yawar Ali is set to retire on October 22 this year. It will be interesting whether the trial will be concluded before his retirement. Recently, the apex court summoned Musharraf, who has been living in Dubai since 2016, in a matter regarding his disqualification but he did not show up. PTI Jailed former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif hospitalised International oi-Vikas By Vikas Islamabad, July 29: Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who is currently lodged in Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail after being convicted in corruption case has been shifted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS). It was reported last week that Sharif was on the verge of a kidney failure and doctors had recommended to shift him to a hospital. The decision to shift Sharif to hospital was taken by the caretaker Pakistan government, the Pakistan media reported. Shaukat Javed, home minister of Punjab province, said a routine cardiogram preformed on the 69-year-old Sharif in the prison in Rawalpindi indicated the need for hospitalization. Sharif , 68, is serving a 10-year jail term in a corruption case over his family's purchase of luxury apartments in London. He has been lodged in the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi since July 13. A team of doctors from Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology (RIC), headed by its Chief Executive Major General (retd) Dr Azhar Mehmood Kayani, had visited the prison and compiled a report after carrying out a detailed medical check-up. The report was sent to the Punjab Health secretary. The board's findings suggested that Sharif be shifted to hospital immediately. Sharif's condition was first highlighted by Dr Adnan, his personal physician who has seen him twice in the past week. Dr Adnan was allowed to visit Sharif only after media reports highlighted the alleged poor conditions in which the former prime minister was being kept. [Nawaz Sharif on verge of kidney failure] On July 6, Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz were convicted in the Avenfield reference case by the Accountability Court. While Sharif was given ten years of jail and fined eight million pounds, Maryam was sentenced to eight years in jail and fined two million pounds. Also, Maryam's husband, Captain (Retd) Muhammad Safdar was given a one-year sentence without any fine. The father and daughter were taken to Islamabad by a special chartered flight soon after their arrival at Lahore on July 13, from where they were taken to Adiala jail in Rawalpindi. Are Imran Khan and Gen Bajwa at war over appointment of new ISI chief? Imran Khan highlights need for improving Pak-India ties; takes a dig at India over T20 cricket victory Imran Khan speaks of better ties with India and rubs T-20 World Cup victory Pakistan elections: Preparations underway to form new government International oi-Staff By Oneindia Staff Writer Islamabad, July 29: Imran Khan has started reaching out to leaders of different political parties and independent candidates to form the next government in Pakistan after his party won a majority of seats in Parliament, according to his party officials. Khan led his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to victory in the parliamentary elections this week, amid a growing consensus among South Asia experts and Pakistan-observers that it was greatly influenced and meddled by the strong Pakistani Army. The PTI has so far bagged 115 of the 270 National Assembly (NA) seats on which elections were held, according to the Election Commission of Pakistan which has released results on 267 seats. Pakistan's NA - the lower house of Parliament - comprises a total of 342 members, of which 272 are directly elected. A party can only form the government if it manages to secure 172 seats in total. Jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) with 64 and former president Asif Ali Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) with 43 seats are placed at number two and three respectively. Independent candidates have won 13 seats. Khan yesterday met Saudi ambassador Nawaf Saeed Ahmad al-Malilki in Islamabad. The two discussed bilateral relations and agreed to further deepen the ties during the tenure of the PTI government. According to PTI sources, Khan has consulted his party leaders about the federal cabinet and formation of government in Punjab where PML-N is also in the race. Khan's confidante Jehangir Khan Tarin, who has been tasked to contact independent candidates, talked with Muttahidda Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQMP) leader Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui who later refused to attend a multi-party meeting which rejected the election results. The multi-party meeting called to devise a joint strategy over alleged rigging in the general elections rejected the results of the poll yesterday, demanding a "transparent" re-election. The meeting in Islamabad was chaired by PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif and Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) president Maulana Fazlur Rehman. Meanwhile Khan also took his party leaders in confidence about government formation in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa where the PTI has won a majority of seats and will easily form the government. It is likely to retain former chief minister Pervaiz Khattak for the top job in the province despite some reservations about his performance. Khattak is considered to be close to Khan since school days as both studied in the same Atchison College in Lahore. The party is also trying to have a coalition government in Balochistan. Khan has still about three weeks to prepare for the government before the mandatory session of the National Assembly (NA) is called after elections. As per the law, the President of Pakistan should convene the maiden NA session within 21 days of election to give oaths to lawmakers and elect the new speaker. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, July 29, 2018, 8:30 [IST] UP B.Ed JEE Exam to be held on July 30 Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to reach Lucknow on July 16; Key meetings scheduled in Delhi before visit Members of farmers' body detained in Lucknow for trying to burn effigies of PM Modi, Shah UP minister charged in 29 year old road rage case Lucknow oi-Staff By Oneindia Staff Writer Lucknow, July 28: A court here framed charges today against Mohsin Raza alias Arshad, a minister in the BJP-led government in Uttar Pradesh, in connection with a 29-year-old road rage case. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Nirbhay Prakash also framed charges against co-accused Akbar and fixed August 4 for the recording of evidence of the prosecution witnesses. The accused were present in the court at the time of framing of charges. A truck driver, Lallan, had lodged an FIR at the Wazirganj police station on August 4, 1989, alleging that the two accused had suddenly come in front of his truck and though no one was hurt, they had stopped his vehicle and assaulted and abused him. The police had filed a chargesheet against the duo on August 4, 1990 under sections 323, 336, 504 and 506 of the IPC. The court could not frame charges all these years as the accused were not appearing before it. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, July 28, 2018, 15:30 [IST] Four including woman held for sex trafficking New Delhi oi-Oneindia Staff By Oneindia Staff New Delhi, July 29: Four persons, including a woman, were arrested for their alleged involvement in trafficking of a 16-year-old girl, the police said. The accused have been identified as Ravi (32), Rinki (20), Rohit (22) and Mukesh (25), they added. On July 30, a case of kidnapping of a 16-year-old was registered in outer Delhi's Sultanpuri police station by her family, Seju P Kuruvilla, Deputy Commissioner of Police (outer Delhi) said. During investigation, it was learnt that the victim was with by one Abhishek (18). On July 21, the victim contacted her mother and informed that she was in Rohini. Her mother visited the place and brought her to the police station. She was medically examined and her statement was recorded, he said. In her statement to the police, the victim alleged that she was lured by Abhishek who took her Haridwar, where he sexually exploited her. After four days, they returned to Delhi and stayed at Old Delhi railway station platform where they met one Ravi who assured them a job and shelter. He then took them to his house in Ghaziabad. Next day, Abhishek went with Ravi for job and never returned. Ravi then came home and informed the victim the he has arranged a job for Abhishek and that he would return the next day. The same night, Ravi's wife Rinky left the house, leaving the victim alone with her husband. Ravi then sexually exploited the victim at his house. The next morning when Rinky returned, the victim narrated her the incident but she ignored and gave her food. After consuming food, the victim became drowsy following which two other men identified as Intezar and Heena reached there. They then took her to Rohini where they handed over her to one Ashok Goyal who allegedly confined her in his spa and massage centre in Rohini with the help of his two associates Rohit and Mukesh. Goyal allegedly sexually exploited her and forced her to make relationship with his clients, the DCP said. On the basis of victims statement, a police team was formed, following which Abhishek was apprehended. During investigation, Abhishek admitted that he took the victim to Haridwar and even made sexual relationship with her. Ravi and Rinky were arrested from their residence in Ghaziabad who admitted that they had "sold" the victim with the help of Intezar, his wife Heena and one of his relative Vicky, the officer said. Subsequently, a police team reached at Goyal's said spa and massage centre where the victim was confined and allegedly raped and arrested his two associates Rohit and Mukesh, he added. Police has been trying to trace the other accused -- Goyal, Vicky, Intezar and his wife Heena -- who are still absconding, he said. For More New Delhi News, Click Here For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, July 29, 2018, 12:20 [IST] DU cut off: 52k students have secured admission so far Yamuna river continues to flow above danger mark, Army on standby New Delhi oi-Madhuri New Delhi, July 29: The Yamuna water level at the Hathinikund barrage continued to flow above the danger mark of 90,000 cusec. However, an alert was sounded on Saturday by the Delhi government for the same. With the Yamuna crossing the danger mark, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal held an emergency meeting with top officials of his government, including Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash, and directed all departments to be on high alert. The meeting was chaired after Haryana released five lakh cusec of water from the Hathni Kund Barrage. It is expected to reach Delhi by tomorrow evening. The Army was also requested to be on stand-by for any emergency, they replied in an affirmative and said they are on stand-by. The availability of motorboats was also discussed. All the agencies having motorboats were asked to keep them ready for evacuation. The army has been asked to check all the motorboats for operations if required. Portable generators are also being prepared for night evacuation, if required. For More New Delhi News, Click Here For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, July 29, 2018, 10:01 [IST] Pune lockdown: Officials release new guidelines for restaurants, religious events and more Unable to get job due to Covid-19, 24-year-old MPSC aspirant commits suicide in Pune 14-year-old minor girl abducted and raped in Pune; 8 including six auto drivers, two Railways employees held Pune: Maulana Rahim held for sexual abuse sent to police custody Pune oi-Malavikka Sridharan Pune, July 29: Maulana Rahim who was arrested on charges of sexual assault with students at a madarsa in Katraj, Pune on Saturday, has been sent to police custody till 31st July. A total of 36 students were rescued by the police from a Madrasa in Pune on Friday evening after reports of sexual assault surfaced. Recently two children aged ten years old secretly ran away from the orphanage. But later they were traced by an NGO and were produced before the Child Welfare Committee. Police said that when a committee member asked them reasons why they ran away. They said that one Maulana Rahim sexually abuses a brother of one of them. The Madrasa reportedly houses students between the age group of 5 to 14 years. Statements of all the inmates will be recorded at the Child Welfare Committee office to find out if any other child faced sexual abuse, the officer said. For More Pune News, Click Here For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, July 29, 2018, 11:18 [IST] Chhattisgarh: Threat by Naxals forces four tribal families leave homes Raipur pti-PTI Raipur, July 29: Four tribal families left their homes in Chhattisgarh's Kondagaon district allegedly after Naxals threatened them with dire consequences, police said on Sunday. The villagers approached the police yesterday after escaping from Becha village, located deep inside the Abujhmad area (a Maoist stronghold), Kondagaon Superintendent of Police (SP) Abhishek Pallava told PTI. He said as per preliminary information, around 24 adult members of these families left the village along with their children, whose exact number is not yet known. In their statements, the victims said Maoists had been accusing them of acting as police informers as a few of their relatives joined the police force, the SP said. They were allegedly being pressured to support the outlaws, but when they denied, naxals threatened to kill them, Pallava said quoting the victims. On Friday night, the victims came to know that naxals were planning to hold a 'jan adalat' (people's court) to convict their family members following which they escaped from the village yesterday morning. The victims contacted the Chhote Dongar police station, located around 300 km from state capital Raipur, he said. Later, heads of these families were brought to the Kondagaon district headquarters, Pallava said. The other members of their families are still at the premises of the Chhote Dongar police station as public transport was suspended in the area as 'Martyrs' Week' is being observed by the ultras, the SP said. The remaining family members will be brought to Kondagaon soon, he said. Based on complaints of each family, separate cases will be registered, the SP added. Pallava said about three to four members of these families allegedly acted as naxal supporters in the past and now they will be asked to formally surrender before the police. The victims who have left their homes will be given compensation as per the government's policy, he added. Maoists are losing their support base and hence, are "terrorising" othervillagersto support them or quit their native place, according to police. PTI 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. Rula Ghani was born and raised in Lebanon to a Lebanese Christian family. She graduated in Political Studies from the American University of Beirut in 1974, where she had met her future husband, Ashraf Ghani. They got married a year later and returned to Afghanistan in 2003. Ghani holds citizenship in Afghanistan, Lebanon, and the United States. She reportedly speaks Arabic, English, French, Pashto and Dari. Mrs. Rula Ghani, the current First Lady of Afghanistan and wife of the incumbent President of Afghanistan, answered our questions in a three-hour web-chat interview which became possible through our mutual British friend. Read the summary of her remarks in the following. "As Afghanistan's First Lady I should say Afghanistan has warm, talented, and civilized people who has not been able to achieve their proper status in the world over the past few centuries, and many other people's mindsets about the Afghan people are the result of media propaganda and delusion." "I have been trying to carry out my human responsibilities towards Afghan people since 2014. Along with educated and active women in social sphere, we have tried hard to improve the situation of women in Afghanistan, for example violence against women is one of our major challenges in Afghanistan, or modern slavery against women under the guise of religion and Islam is widespread in Afghanistan, and we have been planning and striving against such challenges in recent years, and the President assisted me in these cultural and social projects. My husband and I can have a good life in the United States, but we have accepted the difficulty of living in Afghanistan for humanitarian purposes so that to improve part of the tragedies of the oppressed nation of Afghanistan. I consider it my duty to support all of my husband's plans and actions as President of Afghanistan." The wife of the Afghan president, in response to those people being sensitive about the Afghan First Lady's Lebanese and Christian origin, and the circulation of a report saying she converted to Muslim, said: "I got married to the president without converting my religion and I am happy. With respect to all Muslims, there is no need to change Religion. I have respect for all national and international laws for the people of Afghanistan and do not care about what others are saying about me. As the first lady of Afghanistan, I have a huge responsibility and I would rather concentrate on my work plans to achieve the goals rather than focusing on Facebook rumors because the president has many enemies who want to use any means to attack him." The first lady also said in response to another question about the state of democracy and freedom in Afghanistan: "Afghans still do not enter the domain of democracy and they live in traditional conditions. Freedom in Afghanistan is lacking the required depth, and people are still caught up in religious and tribal constraints and they need the exercise of democracy and liberation from such divisions. Religious and political elites in Afghanistan are considered to be the biggest obstacles to the mobilization of the nation, and I hope that these barriers will be removed in the shortest possible time, though it seems difficult and apparently impossible." About Afghan population demographics and their cultural status, Mrs. Ghani said: "The Pashtuns of Afghanistan are the most native inhabitants of this land and majority of the population. Pashtuns are civilized people with a history of several thousand years old civilization, and those who live in the geography of Afghanistan must proudly name themselves as Afghans and Pashtuns. With that knowledge, I address my ethnicity in the official documents of Afghanistan as Pashtun. Pashtun's support is sufficient for a person to be successful in the election easily. Other ethnic groups like the Uzbeks, Tajiks and the Hazaras are not capable to do as such relying solely on their own. Weak democracy and lack of respect for the rules of democracy in Afghanistan has led other minorities to oppose this reality and try to impose their superiority with arms and violence. In any country, if the majority in the country does not rule, the country will go through crisis and violence and on the verge of collapse." "In the 2014 presidential election, despite all the obstructionism, relying on Pashtun's support and based on public support, Mr. Ghani is now in the Presidential Palace, and this presence will last as long as people have such a will, and people are not forced to do anything. I have ignored my well-being and ease and my persistent presence in Kabul is only for the establishment of democracy and freedom, and nothing else. But it should be accepted that until people are not adapted with democracy and are inexperienced and naive to claim their rights, we compassionate elites must help them on their way." It should be noticed that according to the State Department spokesman, Israeli biological experts have proven that genetic link exists between Pashtuns and Jews. It seems that the Pashtun tribe living in southern and southeastern Afghanistan and in the west and northwest of Pakistan are from the lost tribes of the Jews and their origin goes back to the Jews of the Eastern Sephardim (Read more ). Given this, the future of Pashtun tribe in Afghanistan and Pakistan is an urgent issue and the State Department and Knesset officials should be more sensitive about the developments in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Mr. and Mrs. Ghani could pave the way for the return of the Pashtun people to their historic origin. Source (Article changed on July 30, 2018 at 13:36) 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 JFP Freedom Flotilla Motor vessel Al Awda (The Return) (Image by Photo by Keith Meyers) Details DMCA The motor vessel Al Awda (The Return), traveling in international waters towards Palestinian waters, 49 nautical miles from the port in Gaza City, has been contacted by the Israeli Occupation Forces navy and warned. The Israeli navy claims our ship is breaking international law and threatens that they will use "any measures necessary" to stop us. In fact, the only "necessary measures" would be to end the blockade of Gaza and restore freedom of movement for all Palestinians. At last news from on board, Al Awda maintains her course towards Gaza, where the crew and participants hope to arrive this evening around 21:00 local time. A number of warships have appeared, so an attack, boarding and capture appear to be imminent, and we anticipate that all communications with the vessel will be lost shortly. Al Awda is sailing under a Norwegian flag, carrying 22 people and a cargo of medical supplies, including #Gauze4Gaza. There are people from 16 nations on board, including human rights supporters, journalists and crew, along with 13,000 worth of medical supplies. The boat itself, a former fishing vessel from Norway, is a gift to Palestinian fishers in Gaza. Four boats left Scandinavia in mid-May and have since stopped in 28 ports building support for a "Just Future for Palestine," that demands Israel end its ongoing breaches of international law and the 12-year blockade of Gaza, thereby enabling the only closed port in the Mediterranean to open and for people to have their right to freedom of movement. Al Awda is being followed by the Swedish-flagged yacht Freedom, which is also carrying medical supplies along with people from a number of nations. We anticipate that it will reach a similar area where the IOF attacked Al Awda within the next two days. Two smaller sailing boats that traveled from Scandinavia and sailed through the canal system in Netherlands, Belgium and France visiting inland ports, participated in the mission until Palermo. "The Freedom Flotilla Coalition calls on the Norwegian Government, the national governments of those aboard Al Awda and the Freedom, other national governments, and relevant international organizations to act immediately." said Torstein Dahle of Ship to Gaza Norway, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. "The international community must assume its responsibilities and demand that Israeli authorities ensure the safety of those on board, the speedy delivery of our gifts to the Palestinian people in Gaza, an end to the illegal blockade of Gaza, and to stop impeding our legal right of innocent passage to Gaza to deliver our gift of much-needed medical supplies." -Ends- More information about the 'Right to a Just Future for Palestine' flotilla and the FFC: Web:https://jfp.freedomflotilla.org Facebook: .facebook.com/FreedomFlotillaCoalition Twitter: @gazafflotilla To arrange an interview or for more information, contact: jfp.freedomflotilla.org/media-room-2 The Freedom Flotilla Coalition : freedomflotilla.org/about-freedom-flotilla-coalition/ Would you like to know how many people have read this article? Or how reputable the author is? Simply sign up for a Advocate premium membership and you'll automatically see this data on every article. Plus a lot more, too. This piece was reprinted by OpEdNews with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source. From Caitlin Johnstone Website Last Tuesday a top lawyer for the New York Times named David McCraw warned a room full of judges that the prosecution of Julian Assange for WikiLeaks publications would set a very dangerous precedent which would end up hurting mainstream news media outlets like NYT, the Washington Post, and other outlets which publish secret government documents. "I think the prosecution of him would be a very, very bad precedent for publishers," McCraw said. "From that incident, from everything I know, he's sort of in a classic publisher's position and I think the law would have a very hard time drawing a distinction between The New York Times and WikiLeaks." Do you know where I read about this? Not in the New York Times. The New York Times is aware of this, and as evidenced by McCraw's comments it is also aware of the dangerous precedent that such a prosecution would set for all news media publications. The New York Times editorial staff are aware that the US government prosecuting a publisher for publishing important documents that had been hidden from the public would make it impossible for the Times to publish the same kind of material without fear of the same legal repercussions. It is aware that the maneuvers being taken against Assange present a very real existential threat to the possibility of real journalism and holding power to account. You might think, therefore, that we'd be seeing a flood of analyses and op-eds from the New York Times aggressively condemning any movement toward the prosecution of Julian Assange. You might expect all media outlets in America to be constantly sounding the alarm about this, especially since the threat is coming from the Trump administration, which outlets like the New York Times are always eager to air dire warnings about. You might expect every talking head on CNN and NBC to be ominously citing Assange as the clearest and most egregious case yet of Trump's infamous "war on the free press." Leaving aside the issues of morality, compassion and human rights that come with Assange's case, you might think that if for no other reason than sheer unenlightened self interest they'd be loudly and aggressively defending him. And yet, they don't. And the fact that they don't shows us what they really are. They're not next. Very few will ever publish anything substantive enough to generate serious blowback. -- WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) July 25, 2018 Theoretically, journalism is meant to help create an informed populace and hold power to account. That's why it's the only profession explicitly named in the United States Constitution, and why freedom of the press has enjoyed such constitutional protections throughout US history. The press today is failing to protect Julian Assange because it has no intention of creating an informed populace or holding power to account. This is not to suggest the existence of some grand, secret conspiracy among US journalists. It's just a simple fact that plutocrats own most of the US news media and hire the people who run it, which has naturally created an environment where the best way to advance one's career is to remain perpetually inoffensive to the establishment upon which plutocrats have built their respective empires. This is why you see ambitious reporters on Twitter falling all over themselves to be the first with a pithy line that advances establishment agendas whenever breaking news presents an opportunity to do so; they are aware that their social media presence is being assessed by potential employers and allies for establishment loyalism. This also why so many of those aspiring journalists attack Assange and WikiLeaks whenever possible. "Everyone hoping to gain admission to the cultural elite must now strenuously cultivate their social media so as to avoid controversy," journalist Michael Tracey observed recently. "Eventually they will internalize controversy-avoidance as a virtue, not a societal imposition. Result: a more boring, conformist elite culture." A great way for an aspiring journalist to avoid controversy is to never, ever defend Assange or WikiLeaks on social media or in any media outlet, and certainly under no circumstances allow yourself to look like the sort of journo who might someday publish the sorts of materials that WikiLeaks publishes. An excellent way to prove yourself is to become yet another author of yet another one of the many, many smear pieces that have been written about Assange and WikiLeaks. Why Americans Need to Defend Julian Assange's Freedom https://t.co/J8nUjta64a -- Common Dreams (@commondreams) July 28, 2018 Mainstream media outlets and those who thrive within them have no intention of rocking the boat and losing their hard-earned privilege and access. Conservative mass media will continue to defend the US president, and liberal media will continue to defend the CIA and the FBI. Both will help advance war, ecocide, military expansionism, surveillance and police militarization, and none will leak anything that is damaging to the power structures that they have learned to serve. They will remain innocuous, uncontroversial defenders of the rich and powerful at all times. Meanwhile, alternative media outlets are defending Assange ferociously. Just today I've seen articles from Consortium News, World Socialist Website, Disobedient Media, Antiwar and Common Dreams decrying the persecution of the most important government transparency advocate living today. Alternative media outlets and independent writers aren't bound by establishment servitude, so the value of WikiLeaks is clear as day. One's eyes are only blinded to the pernicious behaviors of power when power is signing one's paycheck. 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. Mural portrait of Ahed Tamimi by Jorit Agoch (Image by Jorit Agoch) Details DMCA [Update 07.29.18 0:7:29 Eastern: Haarets reports: "Israel Arrests Italian Artists Who Painted a West Bank Mural of Ahed Tamimi." ] The muralist kept his face covered during the creation of the mural, and there was speculation that he was Palestinian. However, eventually the artist was revealed to be 'Jorit Agoch,' an Italian street artist who "has a reputation for hyper realistic murals of activists, politicians and other campaigners." According to an activist from the Popular Resistance committee in Bethlehem, the mural was part of the celebrations planned around Tamimi's release. RT @freegazateam: An #Italian street #artist Jorit Agoch paints a giant mural of 17-year-old #AhedTamimi on #Israel's congregational & ethn at lili_sc@live.fr (@lili18_sc) July 28, 2018 The image was painted close to a portrait of 21-year-old Palestinian medic Razan Najjar. Najjar was killed by Israeli sniper fire, reportedly while wearing a white medic vest and with her hands up in the air, as she was aiding injured Palestinian protesters during protests at the Gaza-Israel border in June. A group of agencies at United Nations in New York City issued a press release expressing their anguish over her death, calling al-Najjar "a clearly identified medical staffer," and stating that the killing of the nurse was "particularly reprehensible." Jorit Agoch's Facebook page is here. RT @palestininianpr: OMG#Just when you thought Israel could not stoop any lower, Italian artists who painted incredible mural of Ahed Tami at Faith Frees (@Satriyo1) July 29, 2018 Would you like to know how many people have read this article? Or how reputable the author is? Simply sign up for a Advocate premium membership and you'll automatically see this data on every article. Plus a lot more, too. The Grand Illusion of Imperial Power - 2 Part Series "From the sublime to the ridiculous is but a step"-- Napoleon Bonaparte during his retreat from Russia According to one-time CNN Special Assignment investigator Joe Trento in his 2005 expose' Prelude To Terror , Saudi Arabia's chief of intelligence Kamal Adham worked alongside the Bank of Commerce and Credit International, BCCI's founder Agha Hasan Abedi to expand the very concept of covert action by using BCCI to merge the Safari Club with "every major terrorist, rebel, and underground organization in the world." A 2001 Time magazine report found that the bank functioned as "a vast, stateless, multinational corporation that deploys its own intelligence agency, complete with paramilitary wing and enforcement units, known collectively as the 'black network:'" that would bribe or assassinate anyone to turn Afghanistan into the place to trap the Soviet Union in their own Vietnam. Uninformed of the Safari Club's activities, America's ambassador proceeded to meet with Amin throughout the fall of 1978 and into the winter of 1979 often in secret meetings. But Brzezinski's ongoing destabilization, his military relationship with the Chinese and Amin's antagonism toward the Russians was making life for Dubs increasingly dangerous. He grew alarmed by Amin's provocative behavior and demanded to know from his CIA station chief whether he was employed by them. He was told no, but by then Afghan rebels were openly training in Pakistan and China's Xinjiang province. In addition there was what Joe Trento called the CIA's Saudi-funded stockpile of misfits and malcontents manning the Safari Club's 1,500-strong army of assassins and enforcers. And last but not least were Chinese-backed Maoist factions Setam-i Melli, Sholah Jaweed and SAMA programmed by Beijing to bring down their Afghan oppressor, Hafizullah Amin. Thanks to Saudi Intelligence chief Kamal Adham and BCCI banker, Agha Hasan Abedi, there were ample incentives for a holy jihad against Russia. Afghanistan offered the opportunity for BCCI to migrate the lucrative heroin business from Southeast Asia to the Pakistani/Afghan border under the protectionof Western intelligence agencies. President Carter supported Brzezinski's cross-border raids into Soviet territory. He also sanctioned Brzezinski's plan to use Afghanistan to lure the Soviet Union into its own Vietnam; which he lied to the public about when they fell into the trap on December 27, 1979. Joseph Trento writes, "Carter may in fact have signed his directive in July 1979, but the Safari Club's Islamic fighters had been taunting Moscow into invading for nearly a year before that." By January 1979 the newly unstable region was becoming the primary financing source for a terrorist campaign that would spread around the world. But while Dubs was pleading that destabilization would provoke direct Soviet intervention, Brzezinski was promoting armed opposition. That same month, Brzezinski's NSC director of South Asian affairs, Thomas P. Thornton, arrived in Kabul to shut Dubs down, yet Dubs continued his mission. Between Dubs' arrival in July of 1978 and the fall of the Shah on January 16, 1979 American policy in Iran, China and Afghanistan had shifted into the hands of the Pinay Cercle's right-wing cabal. Run by a consortium of intelligence influencers, the decades-long geopolitical plan to move the United States into alignment with the Pinay Cercle's old European right-wing was nearing completion. By mid-February the Shah had fallen and the Afghan countryside was in open revolt. The Marxist regime of Hafizullah Amin was demanding military assistance from Moscow and the only man left to hold back Soviet retaliation was Ambassador Dubs. But on the morning of February 14, 1979 Dubs himself would become the vehicle for the very outcome he had gone to Kabul to prevent when four men abducted him on his way to work and brought him to the Kabul Hotel. Three hours later the ambassador would die in a shootout that has been described as a botched rescue attempt. The subsequent debate in Washington focused mainly on blaming the Soviets with unnamed "U.S. congressional sources" claiming "the Russians had wanted Dubs to die." But as described in an interview conducted for Washingtonian Magazine in 2017 with Bruce Flatin, the political counselor dispatched by the U.S. embassy to the hotel that morning, the whole affair just didn't make sense; unless the kidnapping wasn't intended as a kidnapping and Dubs' unfortunate death wasn't the result of a botched rescue attempt, but was part of a Safari Club operation to remove the last obstacle to their plan. At a 1995 Nobel Symposium on the causes of the Afghan war - in the presence of former CIA director Admiral Stansfield Turner, the former Director of Soviet affairs at the National Security Council, General William Odom and dozens of former high-level officials - the leading Russian authority, General Alexander Lyakhovsky suggested the existence of a cover up. "Dubs was seen in the company of those same people who kidnapped him later in the same hotel--in the same room-- the day before they kidnapped him . And then later Dubs was in his car, with a travel case. He stopped his car when those same people who he saw the day before ordered him to stop, as if they were known to him." No one has ever suggested the existence of a non-governmental agency in the death of Adolph Dubs. But the Safari Club's anti-Communist agenda had been brought directly into the White House with Brzezinski in 1977 and it had been active in Afghanistan long before February 14, 1979. If ever there was an opportunity for their 1,500-strong "black network" of CIA misfits, malcontents, assassins and enforcers to act on Brzezinski's agenda to lure the Soviets into their own Vietnam, it was at room 117 of the Kabul Hotel on February 14, 1979. The kidnapping and assassination of Ambassador Adolph Dubs ended any meaningful effort by the U.S. to prevent a Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan. The death was employed however from that day forward by Brzezinski as the opportunity to increase the level of provocation for luring the Soviets into their own "Vietnam quagmire" and keeping them pinned down for as long as possible. Because of Dubs' death, Brzezinski got control of foreign policy; got his hard line neoconservative policy toward the Soviet Union pushed through, ended support for de'tente once and for all and put Strategic Arms Limitation on hold. Continuing his coup d'e'tat, Brzezinski proceeded with plans for the radical transformation of America's nuclear doctrine of Mutual Assured Destruction -- MAD into one of nuclear "war-fighting" through a series of Presidential Directives. But the real irony of the Carter presidency was that his greatest success - the U.S- Egypt-Israeli peace treaty - was also arranged by the Safari Club. The death of Ambassador Dubs, the Iran hostage crisis and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in late December 1979 doomed Carter's reelection to failure. Afghanistan was soon to become the self-fulfilling prophecy of Soviet iniquity that the right-wing had been trying to create for decades; a permanent, ongoing crisis in U.S.-Soviet relations which it had precipitated and then claimed to uncover and respond to. Brian Crozier's "ultimate sophistication of subversion" got its candidate Ronald Reagan elected in 1980 while completing the London-backed neoconservative/right-wing takeover of the American government. And they would never give it back. The pattern and the profile of events parading across our screens today mirrors the pattern and profile of events engineered in the late 1970s by a London-backed neoconservative/right-wing alliance which paralleled the pattern and the profile of the late 1940s and the genesis of the Cold War. The United States, Britain and their post-World War II European creation, the EU continue to manufacture issues with which to demonize Russia as they once demonized the Soviet Union. But in the end, the goal set out by the Pinay Cercle and implemented during the Carter administration can only be said to have failed. 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. 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. This piece was reprinted by OpEdNews with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source. From Consortium News Ahed Tamimi and her mother freed from jail (Image by jordantimes.com) Details DMCA When they left prison on Sunday Ahed Tamimi and her mother Nariman received a hard-earned heros' welcome from Palestinians and others opposed to Israel's occupation and colonization of Palestinian lands seized in 1948 and enlarged by the Israeli army in 1967. Ahed is 16 years old. Last December, an Israeli soldier shot her cousin in the face. The next day Israeli soldiers menacingly showed up at her house the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh. What would you do? Ahed slapped one of the armed-to-the-teeth soldiers. While some Israeli politicians said she should be put away for life and others demanded a sentence of at least 10 years, the Israeli occupiers sentenced her to eight months for the slap seen around the world. Her mother Nariman filmed the incident and was thrown in jail too, this time for incitement. (It was not the activist Nariman's first time in an Israeli prison.) Most Americans -- except for the relatively few who have spent more than a few days in Israeli-occupied territories -- find it hard to understand why Palestinians like Nariman and Ahed "persist." Most people in the U.S. are blissfully unaware of the history of Palestine and of the continuing injustices inflicted on its people today. The explanation for this lies largely in the way the U.S. mass media reports the story, almost entirely from the Israelis' point of view. For those malnourished on Establishment media, here's a bit of history, without which it is impossible to understand the anger and the courage-against-all-odds shown by those who continue to use what they have -- even their open palms -- to make clear that they will never acquiesce in Israeli occupation. How a Homeland Gets Occupied The Israeli attack starting the Six-Day War in early June 1967 fits snugly into the category of "war of aggression" as defined by the post-WWII Nuremberg Tribunal. "Pre-emptive" attacks, when there is nothing to pre-empt, are now -- post Iraq war -- labeled more euphemistically as "wars of choice," but that too fits the Nuremberg definition. To begin to appreciate the injustices inflicted on millions of Palestinians, whose land Israel coveted for itself, one must un-learn the legend that in attacking its neighbors in 1967 Israel was acting in self-defense. None other than then-Prime Minister Menachem Begin (1977-83) undermined that piece of propaganda in a speech to the U.S. National Defense University on August 8, 1982. (Apparently, even accomplished dissimulators get cocky on occasion and let the truth slip out.) Here are Begin's words: "In June, 1967, we had a choice. The Egyptian Army concentrations in the Sinai approaches do not prove that [President Gamal Abdel)] Nasser was really about to attack us. We must be honest with ourselves. We decided to attack him. ... The government decided unanimously: we will take the initiative and attack the enemy, drive him back, and thus assure the security of Israel and the future of the nation." Bassem Tamimi and Ray McGovern in Nabi Saleh last year. (Image by Ellen Davidson, Veterans For Peace) Details DMCA And now, a half-century after its successful six-day war of aggression with U.S. backing, Israel has been unlawfully colonizing the occupied territories, oppressing the Palestinians still living there, and thumbing its nose at UN Security Council Resolution 242. It was approved unanimously on Nov. 22, 1967, calling on Israel to withdraw from the lands it seized in June of that year. That was then. And This is Now ... In February-March 2017, I was part of a a small Veterans For Peace delegation in Palestine. One of our last visits was to a village named Nabi Saleh, where Ahed's father Bassem Tamimi, his wife Nariman, and Ahed's three siblings live when they are not in prison. Her older brother is in prison now. After two weeks of experiencing what life is like for Palestinians under Israeli occupation in the West Bank, I had a chance to ask Bassem about the nonviolent, but frontal, resistance to Israeli occupation and colonization. "Your sons have been beaten and badly wounded and one's still in prison; your wife is in and out of prison: your brother-in-law was killed by a sniper bullet; you yourself have been tortured in prison; your house is on the list for demolition -- why do you persist; why encourage such actions?" I asked. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Would you like to know how many people have read this article? Or how reputable the author is? Simply sign up for a Advocate premium membership and you'll automatically see this data on every article. Plus a lot more, too. See the original here Federal officials say 711 children remain separated from their parents despite Thursday's court-imposed deadline for the Trump administration to reunite all migrant children separated from their parents by immigration officials at the border. More than 400 parents have been deported back to their home countries while their children remain in U.S. custody in facilities scattered across the United States. For more on the Trump administration's family separation policy and the roots of today's refugee crisis, we speak with world-renowned political dissident, linguist, author and professor Noam Chomsky. Transcript This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form. AMY GOODMAN: Federal officials say 711 children remain separated from their parents, despite Thursday's court-imposed deadline for the Trump administration to reunite all migrate children separated from their parents by immigration officials at the border. More than 400 of the children have parents who have already been deported from the United States. Well, on Thursday, I spoke with world-renowned political dissident, author and linguist Noam Chomsky. He is a laureate professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Arizona and professor emeritus at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he taught for more than 50 years. His recent books include Global Discontents: Conversations on the Rising Threats to Democracy and Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power. He joined us from Tucson, Arizona, and I began by asking Noam Chomsky about the Trump administration's family separation policy. NOAM CHOMSKY: Well, it's a major scandal, of course, and properly condemned throughout the world. Taking children away from their parents, sending them off somewhere, losing track of them, you know, it's hard to think of a more brutal and sadistic policy. Here in Tucson, there's a lot of--there's a good deal of activism concerned with immigrants. There are groups that set up camps in the desert to try to help people fleeing. And, of course, it's a very live issue. It's not very far from the border. In fact, when I give talks here, I often refer to the area as "occupied Mexico," which actually is a good designation. But the immigration policy altogether is a grotesque moral scandal here, and in Europe, I should say. AMY GOODMAN: I want to turn to President Trump speaking earlier this month. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I have a solution: Tell people not to come to our country illegally. That's the solution. Don't come to our country illegally. Come like other people do. Come legally. AMY GOODMAN: That's President Trump. We were on the border recently in Brownsville, going back and forth over the bridge to Matamoros, Mexico. We saw a Guatemalan mother with her child, a Guatemalan father with his child. The Guatemalan mother had been at the legal port of entry at the bridge for days, on two different bridges, told that America is full, told this by the U.S. government. The question is: Who's being legal? Who's being illegal? What about what the U.S. is doing and where these migrants are desperately fleeing from--Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador? If you can talk about the history of U.S. involvement in these countries and what President Trump is saying--do it legally? NOAM CHOMSKY: Well, actually, these people are fleeing from the wreckage and horrors of U.S. policies. So, take Guatemala. No need to go through the whole history, but back in 1954, the U.S. intervened, sponsored a military coup, overthrew a mildly reformist elected government. Since then, the country has been a complete horror story -- hundreds of thousands of people killed, all kinds of atrocities, every imaginable sort of torture. It peaked in the 1980s under Reagan. In fact, some of the places where people are fleeing from, the Mayan areas, there was literal genocide going on, carried out by the man who Reagan called a stellar exponent of democracy, a really good guy. When Congress imposed some limits on direct U.S. military aid to this -- to Ros Montt, the person who was -- general who was implementing the genocidal attacks, Reagan set up an international terrorist network. The U.S. does not hire terrorists, it hires terror states -- it's much more effective -- so, Taiwan, Israel, Argentina -- as long as it was under the rule of the neo-Nazi generals. Unfortunately, they were overthrown. They had the good news, Argentina. The people are still fleeing from the destruction there. It's been a horror story ever since. Same with El Salvador, where about 70,000 people were killed during the 1980s, almost all by the security forces, armed, trained, directed by the United States. Again, horror story since. In Honduras, which not long ago had the plurality of refugees, the refugee flow started to peak after a military coup threw out the elected government, the Zelaya government, condemned by the entire hemisphere and the world, with the usual exception of President Obama. Hillary Clinton refused to call it a military coup, because that would have meant terminating military aid to the junta, which the U.S. continued to do. There had always been a severe repression and atrocities. They mounted sharply. Honduras became maybe the homicide capital of the world, and refugees started fleeing. There were so-called elections, which were mocked by almost everyone except the United States. It continues. You'll notice there's one -- there's two countries in the region from which there haven't been refugee flows. One is Costa Rica, which happens to be the one country that sort of functions, and not by accident, the one country that the United States has not -- in which the United States does not intervene militarily to overthrow the government and run a military regime. The other is Nicaragua, which differed, which also suffered severely in the 1980s from Reagan's assaults. But Nicaragua was unlike the other countries of the region: It had an army to defend it. In the other countries, the army were the terrorists. In Nicaragua, the army could, to some extent, defend the population from Reagan's terrorist forces. And though there's plenty of problems in Nicaragua, it hasn't been the source of refugee flow. So, essentially, what President Trump is saying is, we'll destroy your countries, slaughter you, impose brutal regimes, but if you try to get out, you're not going to come here, because America is full. 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. An Egyptian Kangaroo Court Saturday (July 28) sentenced 75 supporters of the former President Mohammad Morsi to death. Egyptian Kangaroo courts are on death sentences spree since the overthrow of Mohammad Morsi, the first democratically election president of Egypt by US client General Abdel Fattah el-Sissi who has since assumed the title of Field Marshall. Last month Egypt's Zagazig Criminal Court sentenced seven members of the Muslim Brotherhood organization to death over the alleged killing of a police conscript in the Nile Delta Governorate of Sharqiya in 2015. Accusation list 'ludicrous' The Saturday death sentence verdict is part of a mass trial being conducted by the court involving 739 defendants alleged to have been involved in the 2013 sit-in, which was brutally broken up by the pro-military security forces killing hundreds. International human rights groups have condemned the use of force and criticized the ongoing trial, alleging it violates Egypt's constitution. Amnesty International says the dispersal of the sit-in killed more than 800 protesters. Egypt's government claimed many demonstrators were armed and 43 police officers were killed. Husain Baoumi, an Egypt campaigner for Amnesty International, told Al Jazeera the court's decision was "shocking" and "completely unfair ... [as] not a single member of the security service has been held to account." Political analyst Maged Mandour was quoted by Al Jazeera as saying there is little hope the sentence will be overturned as the accused have not been given a fair trial. "I think it's very clear that the judiciary has been heavily politicised, the accusation list is ludicrous and it's very hard to actually prove," he told Al Jazeera from Zurich, Switzerland. "It's not the only case where clear biases have been shown." The Muslim Brotherhood was banned following Morsi's overthrow in July 2013 in a coup led by the military junta led by General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Death sentences spree Reverting to the death sentences spree by the Egyptian Kangaroo courts since the overthrow of Mohammad Morsi, in July 2013. On 28 April 2014, in the aftermath of a coup d'e'tat against President Mohammad Morsi, an Egyptian Kangaroo Court sentenced 683 alleged Muslim Brotherhood supporters to death, including the group's supreme guide, Mohamed Badie, and confirmed the death sentences of 37 of 529 alleged supporters previously condemned. Kangaroo Court Judge Saeed Youssef first attracted international condemnation and prompted an outcry from human-rights groups after he handed down the initial sentence for the 529 defendants on March 24, 2014 following a brief trial marked by irregularities. Later he reversed 492 of those 529 death sentences, commuting most of them to life in prison. 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. This piece was reprinted by OpEdNews with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source. Every victory for Western-supported ISIS is a victory for the West in its publicly-declared regime change war against Syria and Syrians. So, when Israel shot down a Syrian warplane on 24 July, as the plane was attacking ISIS near the occupied Golan Heights, it was a victory not only for ISIS, but for the West and its allies who seek regime change. ISIS is good for Regime Change. Separately, but related, ISIS and the West also scored a "victory" in the province of Sweida, Syria, on 25 July, 2018. What did the "victory" look like?" ISIS terrorists emerged from areas near the illegal U.S military base at Al-Tanf. They murdered about 240 Syrians, and wounded about 170. Syrian Ibrahim Muhammad reported the attack in these words: In this bloody day we had to suffer the lost of 240 martyrs with over 170 wounded .. moons have ascended from the land of #Swaida to the sky, another pure souls from our beautiful country, another innocent lives were taken brutally on the hands of the most odious monsters in the world, #ISIS terrorists were hidden in the western desert of #Tanf area (under the noses of the #US military base), have launched a massive attack with more than 600 terrorists at 3:50 am. The attack was carried out on several villages in the eastern countryside of Swaida province in conjunction with 4 suicidal bombers who exploded themselves in a building under construction, a vegetable market and two public squares, while the Popular Armed Committees manged to stop the 5th bomber and capture him to be hanged later that afternoon in front of the #National_Hospital (where he was going to bomb himself) with two ISIS attackers were also captured alive. The attackers divided themselves into several groups of 30 to 50 operatives armed with machine guns and explosive belts, as well as other groups equipped with snipers and mortars, deployed on the outskirts of some villages, they manged to sneak into the villages trough the desert mountain area with the help of some sleeping cells. Door by door, house by house they slaughtered and executed complete families, and kidnapped some others, they attacked unarmed civilians, committed one of the most brutal massacre since the beginning of the #Syrian_War, the villages were ( "Duma", "Tema", "Tarba", "Al-Ksiab", "Rami", "Ghiddat Hamayel", "Al-Shabky" and "Al-Shrehi"). The attackers were faced with hard resistance by the residents and some deployed points of the #Syrian_Arab_Army, most of the first defenders were martyred and wounded till the arrival of the reinforcements from Swaida villages, Jaramana, and #SAA units, many of ISIS attackers were killed, numbers are estimated with about 300 over 80 of them were dragged to the national hospital of Swaida while the terrorists managed take the rest of their dead with them. There's no exact information till now of how many people were kidnapped. This day is a living prove of the US collusion with those criminals, this day a living prove of the criminality of the all the terrorism supporters, bu it also the strongest prove of our dedication to defending our homeland. In the first video the residents with the Popular Armed Committees are evacuating a family from one of the villages under fire. In the second video the residents with the Popular Armed Committees are securing families in there houses in addition to footage of some the clashes. In the last two videos the residents with the Popular Armed Committees are dragging ISIS killed members. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Cervical Total Disc Replacement Market to account for US$ 1,750.1 Mn by 2021 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3775 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/3775 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com According to the latest market report published by Persistence Market Research titled Cervical Total Disc Replacement Device Market: Global Industry Analysis & Forecast: North America to Witness Highest Growth by 2021, the CTDR device market is expected to be valued at US$ 489.7 Mn by the end of 2015. It is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 23.1% during the forecast period (2015 - 2021) to account for US$ 1,750.1 Mn by 2021.Cervical total disc replacement (CTDR) device is used to treat patients suffering from degenerative disc disorders (DDD). Neck pain is the major cause for development of DDD in cervical region of the spine. Cervical disc replacement procedure is performed for treatment of DDD, where the degenerated disc is removed surgically and an artificial disc is implanted in the vertebra. This is a minimal incision surgery (MIS), which results in quick recovery post-surgery, short hospital stay and low revision surgery rate.A sample of this report is available upon request@Various benefits of this procedure is increasing adoption rate of this surgery over conventional spinal fusion surgery. Conventionally, DDD is treated through spinal fusion surgery, but due to high rate of revision surgery and increasing prevalence of adjacent segment disc degeneration post fusion surgery, doctors are considering cervical disc replacement over spinal fusion.The CTDR device market is mainly driven by factors such as growing ageing population, low revision surgery rate of cervical disc replacement surgery, and increasing demand for advanced CTDR device. However, factors such as inadequate reimbursement policies and lack of clinical data are expected to hamper market growth. The CTDR device market is segmented on the basis of material type and end user.By region, North America dominated the market with over 45% market share and is expected to remain dominant throughout the forecast period. The CTDR device market in Asia and Latin America are expected to expand at a CAGRs of 23.8% and 18.5% respectively in terms of value during the forecast period.Request report Toc@Key players covered in this report are Medtronic, plc, Depuy Synthes, Globus Medical, Inc., NuVasive, Inc., LDR Holding Corporation. These players have been profiled on the basis of various attributes such as company overview, recent developments, growth strategies, sustainability, and financial overview.Persistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Persistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email:amir@futuremarketinsights.comWeb: Cognitive Systems Market: is expected to be valued at US$ 13003.8 Mn by 2024 https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upsample/120124609/Cognitive-Systems-Market https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/updiscount/120124609/Cognitive-Systems-Market https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upcomming/120124609/Cognitive-Systems-Market www.researchreportinsights.com/ Natural language processing (NLP) is a major element of artificial intelligence (AI) for advanced communicating with intelligent systems with the help of natural language. It aids computers in responding and reading by mimicking the human capability to recognise the day-to-day language that they adopt to communicate. Today, without natural language processing, AI can only answer simple questions and understand the meaning of language, but will not able to recognise the significance of words in framework. Natural language processing applications permits users to connect with a computer in their own words.DriversWith increasing usage of internet, computers, smart phones and many other personal devices, the requirement for machine and human level communication has increased. Everybody from enterprise to individual users nowadays need machines that can respond to their questions, support them in their daily basis operations and also make their life organized and easier. This demand has given rise to increased demand for natural language processing technology which is now being quickly commercialized. Natural language processing technology is the most adoptable technology for cognitive systems due to its easy and advanced language conversation process and which boosts the growth of Cognitive Systems Spending. Increasing technology advancement in cognitive systems will help to track both external and internal threats. Complex data hacking due to internal users mistakably revealing the corporate systems data to threats are increasing the importance of Cognitive systems. These abilities will open a new world of insights and data analytics for companies and assist them to report cyber security and security issues threats. Cognitive security tools with such advanced capabilities will help organizations address cyber security threats and compliance issues. The tools offered by cognitive systems will help security teams to make more informed decisions, quickly seal security breaches at all levels and thus in turn increase the demand of overall Cognitive Systems Spending.Request For Report Sample:TrendsAn emerging Trend which is boosting cognitive systems spending growth is the rising demand for predictive analytics. Cognitive system integration permits communicative relocation of real-time data between machineries and networks. The growing need to strategically monitor information and analyse will eventually influence the overall cognitive systems spending that is projected to grow at a significant rate during the forecast period. Moreover, large businesses have recognized that they can use big data to deliver better services, optimize costs, and boost revenues. Therefore, large industries have benefited from advances in big data techniques via examination of customer buying behaviour and buying patterns. On the basis of data points, predictive modelling techniques are customized to a group or an individual customer. This can leads to improving the overall efficacy of the production while reducing costs and efficient and accurate solutions. Hence, the increasing demand of predictive analytics in North America is fuelling the growth of overall Cognitive Systems Spending.Natural Language Processing Technology Analysis, by product typeNatural language processing technology segment is expected to be valued at US$ 13003.8 Mn by 2026 and is projected to register a CAGR of 16.6% over the forecast period. Natural language processing technology segment will only grow as the exponential increase in information ads to the continued pressure to improve knowledge worker performance and decision making. Knowledge workers are facing an ever-increasing amount of information to deal with.Natural Language Processing Technology Analysis, by deploymentNatural language processing technology segment to account for the significant market share of 60.6% in the North America market by 2026 end. Natural language processing technology segment is the most adoptable technology for cognitive systems due to its easy and advanced language conversation process which will thereby boost the growth of cognitive systems spending.Natural Language Processing Technology Analysis, by applicationIn terms of value, natural language processing technology segment is anticipated to register a CAGR of 16.6% over the forecast period. Natural language processing technology segment finds its end-users in healthcare, education, manufacturing, and banking. Approximately 60% of cognitive systems with natural language processing technology are used by large and medium manufacturing industries, banking sector and others.Request For Report Discount:Natural Language Processing Technology Analysis, by RegionOn the basis of region, North America region is projected to remain dominant throughout the forecast period. Natural language processing technology segment is estimated to account for the significant market share of 64.8% in the North America market by 2016 end. The presence of several natural language processing technology service provider companies in North America is expected to play an important role in revenue growth of the natural language processing technology segment in the North America market. Natural language processing technology segment is expected to witness robust growth in Western Europe and APEJ market driven by increasing cloud based solution demand in the region, as natural language processing technology is highly used by end-user such as healthcare, education, manufacturing, and banking in these regions.Key Players:Microsoft Corporation, IBM Corporation, Google Inc., Symantec Corporation, Palantir Technologies, Inc., Recommind, Inc.and OpenText Corporation etc.Report Analysis:About Us:Research Report Insights (RRI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver a host of services including custom research reports, syndicated research reports, and consulting services which are personalized in nature. RRI delivers a complete packaged solution to clients; this combines current market intelligence, technology inputs, statistical anecdotes, valuable growth insights, 360-degree view of the competitive framework, and anticipated market trends.Contact Us:Research Report Insights (RRI)42 Joseph StreetPort carling P0B 1J0Muskoka, Ontario1Phone - +1-631-721-4201Website:Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com Portland is a pet town. People here take pride in adopting dogs, cats and other animals from local shelters and rescue groups. We have dog-friendly bars, cat-filled coffee shops and bunny-petting boutiques. If you dare buy from a breeder, you'll likely face the ire from the vast league of shelter supporters. So it was pretty surprising when the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners recently downplayed issues raised by Auditor Steve March about how the county cares for animals in its Troutdale shelter. In early July, March and his team presented the board with a follow-up to their scathing 2016 audit of Multnomah County Animal Services. Among numerous issues, that audit revealed spotty record-keeping, inadequate shelter staffing and training, and a failure to meet national standards for providing animals with "enrichment activities," such as walks and play time. In the follow-up, auditors praised animal services for addressing one-third of the problems. Department leaders reworked shelter entrances to relieve congestion as pets are dropped off or adopted. They reconfigured cages to ease stress on cats and smaller animals. They installed a swamp cooler to keep the shelter more comfortable in the summer. Auditors also pointed out that the remaining two-thirds have been ignored or are only partially completed. That's what auditors are supposed to do: serve as the watchdog that keeps county government efficient, accountable and on track. That so many issues remain after two years is concerning. Through documents, data and dozens of interviews, auditors found the shelter still fails to meet federal standards for providing animals with "enrichment." Without that human contact, animals can get stressed and develop bad behavior that makes them less likely to be adopted. Commissioner Lori Stegmann praised the review, then waffled that she thought auditors were letting "the perfect be the enemy of the good." "We would like to do more," she added, citing a tight budget, "but sometimes it's the best we can do." Yet "enrichment" is considered basic care, along with providing food and water. She's right that money - or rather, budgetary priorities -- is necessary to address this staffing issue that's having a negative outcome for animals. Jackie Rose, director of Multnomah County Animal Services and the shelter manager, acknowledged the shortcomings. She also pointed out that in early July, she began the process of hiring two people. That's good and hopefully, she'll remain committed to allotting the hours needed to provide this essential care. Auditors also found the shelter fails to provide timely and accurate information about animals. That presents a number of problems, both for people seeking to adopt and for families searching for a lost pet. In fact, auditors found that over a three-month period last year, shelter staff didn't post pictures of 25 percent of the animals they'd picked up, while 18 percent didn't note gender or where the animal was found. This is a particular problem for low-income families who may be limited in how much time they can take off work or must rely on public transit to get to facility in Troutdale. Nicole Dewees, a senior management auditor, described the case of one man who'd lost his dog. The county website provided only vague information about a found dog that was gray - but posted no picture. He called repeatedly and couldn't get more details. And, Dewees said, he had to rely on the website because he didn't have paid leave at his job and the bus ride to Troutdale was more than an hour away. Finally, after three days, a picture of his dog was added to the listing - as was a note that the dog was now available for adoption. He hurried to the shelter, which is a half-mile walk from the bus stop. Despite doing all he could to locate his pet, the shelter charged him boarding fees, Dewees said. The county shelter's rate for reuniting families with lost dogs is 51 percent. County residents who pay taxes as well as pet license fees likely expect their money will secure a better than 50-50 shot at being reunited with their pet. Commissioner Sharon Meieran criticized auditors for failing to include the national reunification average, telling The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board that it's important to have a baseline when considering the context of how an agency is doing. Thing is, the national average is a pathetic 26 percent. The fact that we've doubled that ridiculous rate is a small assurance. That's especially true considering auditors say comparisons nationwide are far from exact, considering varying shelter operations, sizes and the fact that other regions have larger populations of feral dogs. The point is it's tough for some county residents to find their pets. And the county could change that. Consider an example cited by auditors: The Marin County Animal Shelter in California once claimed a 60 percent reunification rate. Then staff set a goal to put more details and pictures of found animals online more quickly. The rate is now 90 percent. Despite various critiques of the audit, board members repeatedly vowed their commitment to the shelter and the animals in its care. Hopefully they'll show it by keeping close tabs on Rose and her progress in addressing these two audits highlighting important issues with the county's animal care. Commissioners repeatedly said they felt it was important to note what progress has been made and that's true. Yet they should also listen carefully to the message that came clearly through these audits, which provided a strong voice to some of Multnomah County's poorest pet owners. -- Laura Gunderson for The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board Oregonian editorials Editorials reflect the collective opinion of The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board, which operates independently of the newsroom. Members of the editorial board are Laura Gunderson, Helen Jung, Mark Katches and John Maher. Members of the board meet regularly to determine our institutional stance on issues of the day. We publish editorials when we believe our unique perspective can lend clarity and influence an upcoming decision of great public interest. Editorials are opinion pieces and therefore different from news articles. However, editorials are reported and written by either Laura Gunderson or Helen Jung. 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. By Andy Ko The executive pardon of Harney County ranchers Dwight and Steve Hammond by Donald Trump has stirred up a lot of feelings about the Hammonds' story, the Bundys and the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. On July 14, The Oregonian's Editorial Board drew an important lesson from the case and pardons: Every American, whether we identify politically as left, right or center, should be deeply concerned about mandatory minimum sentences and their shocking results. I agree. But excessive mandatory minimums are just one aspect of a criminal justice system that is remarkably ill-equipped to meet the needs of people affected by crime or to prevent crime before it happens. As Americans, we over-criminalize problems that would be much more effectively and fairly addressed in other ways. And we waste tax dollars that should be used to maintain public infrastructure, educate our children and ensure high quality, affordable health care. So, what is the solution? Maybe we should ask whether the current system is giving us what we need and if not, set a few clear and achievable goals. Here are some drawn from our work at Partnership for Safety and Justice. Support crime victims' healing Establish appropriate forms of accountability Do the real work to prevent crime Commit to an equitable justice system Retool our collective response to crime That might seem like a lot. It is a lot. But it is work already underway here in Oregon and across the nation. Earlier this month, The Pew Charitable Trusts released a report showing that 35 states have adopted a policy known as "justice reinvestment" that improves public safety by reallocating funding used to punish crime to programs that prevent crime from occurring in the first place. Adopted in Oregon in 2013 -- and up for renewal again by the Legislature in 2019 -- Oregon's justice reinvestment program is one of the most highly developed in the nation. Communities throughout Oregon also are exploring local options to effectively reduce the use of jails and prisons while increasing public safety. Cities and counties are addressing the underlying causes of crime, providing supervised services to keep families intact and applying long-standing principals of harm reduction to people suffering from addiction, mental illness and extreme poverty. The starting point for all of this is to accept that in addressing crime, one size never fits all. A strong sense of our shared humanity also helps. As one Oregon district attorney once said to us, crime victims and criminal defendants both have parents, spouses, children or other people who love them. At Partnership for Safety and Justice, one of our core beliefs is that crime victims and people who have committed crimes have a shared interest in transformation of the criminal justice system. The point of our justice system should be to reduce the harm caused by harmful situations. I do not know the Hammonds, but I am glad that they can now return to their family, their friends and their land. I hope that whatever brought them into conflict with federal officials tasked with protecting public lands -- people who have loved ones of their own -- can be resolved to meet their needs and responsibilities without a repetition of the events that set the criminal justice system in motion. That is the kind of transformation that we all need. -- Andy Ko is the executive director of Partnership for Safety and Justice, which is based in Northeast Portland. Share your opinion Submit your essay of 800 words or less on a highly topical issue or a theme of particular relevance to the Pacific Northwest, Oregon and the Portland area to commentary@oregonian.com. Please include your email and phone number for verification. By Nancy Bearg United States national security is threatened --by our own president. As a national security policy professional who worked at the highest levels of foreign policy in Republican White Houses, the Pentagon and Congress, I have watched from Washington, DC and my new home in Portland, Oregon with alarm as President Donald Trump has disrupted foreign policy norms and US security. President Trump's words and deeds while in office have shaken the foundations of our security by carelessly changing American behavior and commitment to the international system that has fostered development and kept the world from major war for 70 years. During that time, the United States has been the global leader -- not perfect, but the indispensible leader -- with the ideas, strength, resources, prestige and values to lead the world through finishing World War II, the Cold War and the years since as new threats arose. For decades, a U.S. foreign policy strategy and consensus -- the broad outlines of which enjoyed bipartisan agreement -- supported these developments. In his slash-and-burn foreign policy style, Trump seeks change regardless of facts, history, the US reputation or the impact on U.S. security and international stability. Naive and uninformed, he shuns experts and the established foreign policy process, which he has weakened. His lack of basic courtesy and respect for allies is an abrasion to diplomatic tradition. Trump is working his way to a new world he seeks in which only America matters. In fact, a world in which only the American bottom line matters. Has the U.S. paid more than the NATO allies? Yes, and it has been on the agenda of U.S. presidents for years. But his method of disrupting and disrespecting the alliance and its leaders undermines the solidarity of the NATO alliance and undercuts our ability to operate within it to achieve shared goals. Crucially, the disrespectful behavior to allies as well as abrupt withdrawal from international agreements damages our credibility around the world as a partner and leader. Growing mistrust of the U.S. can lead, for example, to less cooperation on critical intelligence issues like counterterrorism and hampering of the important daily work of international diplomacy. All of this impacts our national security. The elephant in the room is Russian President Vladimir Putin. His large footprint in our elections, illegal annexation of Crimea and aggression in Ukraine, and support for the murderous Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad alone are enough to establish Putin as a dangerous leader who is a violator of international norms -- and who now enjoys the embrace of an American president. Putin is not a friend nor is he a competitor, as Trump suggested ahead of the Helsinki summit. Rather, Putin is a menace to the U.S. and Europe who cannot be contained by conversation. Dictators take advantage of weakness, and together, Putin and Trump -- imagine that phrasing -- are diminishing NATO and possibly inviting further aggression on the European continent. Adding to the uncertainty is that we don't know what was said -- or agreed to - in Helsinki in private between Trump and Putin, an unprecedented situation in such high-stakes meetings. Trump's hostile behavior toward NATO and friendly treatment of Putin, as well as his unilateral withdrawals from international agreements, pose a direct threat to the international order, U.S. security and peace in the world. (I have not even mentioned the reckless, empty diplomacy with North Korea.) We are on shifting sands, and the shift isolates our country in an increasingly connected world, making it less powerful and less secure while the international system dangerously frays. We should all be very concerned. -- Nancy Bearg is a longtime national security professional, former National Security Advisor to Vice President George H.W. Bush, and National Security Council staffer. She has held other foreign policy positions in Washington DC on both sides of the political aisle in the White House, the Pentagon, and the Senate Armed Services Committee. She recently moved to Portland. By Tim Boyle As Oregonians begin to battle over a ballot measure to undo our status as a "sanctuary" state, we all might pause to consider this: If we didn't count the votes of Oregonians who are immigrants or descended from immigrants, this measure would never pass. Think about it. We are a state and a nation of immigrants, with almost all of us -- or our ancestors -- from somewhere else. I suspect my great-grandfather may have been an illegal immigrant from Ireland, and my mom was fortunate to escape Nazi Germany in 1937 and find a place in Oregon. As the famous lyric in "Hamilton" goes, "immigrants... we get the job done." Oregonians will be better off if this divisive measure is defeated. I am all for constructive political debates on important subjects. And, I have no doubt that decent people can have a healthy and honest debate about immigration policy in this country and can hold differing views in good faith. But make no mistake, the dialogue around sanctuary cities and states is not intended to bring out the best in us or help us find common ground with one another. It is meant to divide and create fear, and to do so by demonizing one group of people: immigrants. I happen to agree with the sanctuary state policy for a number of reasons. Most important, I don't want the federal government making our state less safe by interfering with local law enforcement. Leaders like Multnomah County Sheriff Mike Reese are not in favor of repealing sanctuary laws. They want to focus their scarce resources on preventing and solving actual crimes, not rounding up families seeking better lives and posing no threat to the community. Furthermore, deterring and solving crimes requires trust in law enforcement, so witnesses report or testify about wrongdoing. If a member of your family gets hurt by a criminal act, and the key witness is an undocumented immigrant, don't you want that witness to report it and help the police and prosecutors? Will they do so if local law enforcement is instead working for the federal immigration authorities? If your loved one is injured in a car accident, and the only bystander is undocumented, do you want that person calling for help and staying to assist, or departing in fear because the police are required to focus on immigration laws? I can anticipate that some will say I don't understand crime, or am soft on criminal enforcement. But our family has been a victim of widely reported violent crime in this state, and we're forever thankful that law enforcement was able to focus on solving that crime. We need to remember and recognize our common roots, which have long been reflected in the Latin phrase on the presidential seal or U.S. currency: E Pluribus Unum, the notion from the nation's founders that out of many we are one. It is not a coincidence that on the base of the Statue of Liberty is engraved, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" We need to remember that we should live up to Lady Liberty, a beacon of hope for many of our own families. We need to remember that Oregonians of all stripes and political persuasions are capable of having an honest and constructive dialogue about immigration. I hope all Oregonians -- immigrants, descendants of immigrants and Native Americans -- will all join me in voting no on Measure 105. With our overwhelming numbers, there should be no need for any campaign. -- Tim Boyle is the chief executive officer and president of Columbia Sportswear Company. Share your opinion Submit your essay of 800 words or less on a highly topical issue or a theme of particular relevance to the Pacific Northwest, Oregon and the Portland area to commentary@oregonian.com. Please include your email and phone number for verification. The results are in for a pair of Democratic candidates that will fill in vacancies for two people who bowed out of state Senate and House races, Oregon Democrats confirmed on Twitter. Courtney Neron and Sarah Grider will replace Ryan Spiker and Paul Diller, respectively, for House District 26 and Senate District 13. Two conventions made of precinct committee persons met in Wilsonville to nominate a candidate for each seat. Spiker and Diller dropped out of their races for health and family reasons. Oregon democrats are gearing up for a battle this November, hoping to gain a supermajority in the statehouse. They are one seat short in each chamber of the Legislature from the three-fifths supermajority. House District 26 includes parts of Washington and Clackamas counties and Senate District 13 comprises segments of Clackamas, Marion, Washington and Yamhill counties. It was 38 days of confrontation. Invective flew. Arrests were frequent. Violence flared. On one side was the OccupyICEPDX movement, a group of protesters committed to changing President Donald Trump's policies on immigration. On the other side was the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, tasked with enforcing those policies. The demonstration began as a call to action in response to Trump's "zero tolerance" immigration policy. This separation of children from parents illegally crossing the border led to widespread outrage that became even more poignant on a local level when reports detailing harsh living conditions for more than 120 adult immigrants detained at the federal detention center in Sheridan were released. What evolved was an OccupyICEPDX takeover of the property surrounding ICE's Southwest Portland headquarters. A camp sprung up after an initial protest June 17, at its maximum housing hundreds in a makeshift tent community. Over the next five weeks, conflicts were frequent, as were high tensions. Federal officers made 22 arrests during the occupation. Most, if not all, detainees were released with mandatory court appearances. The largest sweep of arrests was made when protesters attempted to block a van from exiting the property on June 28 when the facility, which was shut down for eight days because of security concerns, reopened. Many occupiers saw the temporarily shutdown as their biggest local victory. But attrition and the arrests whittled away at the occupation, and it came to a remarkably quiet end July 25 as Portland police escorted the last half dozen protesters out of their tents in the early morning darkness. City-hired crews tore down five weeks of occupation remnants. But what remains? Movement leaders say their action drove home the plight of immigrant families separated at the border and held in prisons. Critics, on the other hand, dismiss the demonstrators as a nuisance that obstructed government and wasted resources. A protester is arrested by authorities. At least 9 protesters were arrested as authorities broke up part of the protest camp surrounding Southwest Portland's Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters early Thursday, June 28, 2018. Anna Spoerre/The Oregonian But one aspect is indisputable: Portland's Occupy ICE movement had an impact. Since its Father's Day launch, the protest thrust the immigration debate front and center, and it sparked a nationwide movement, with dozens of other occupations in major cities springing up across the country, many ongoing. And it continued Portland's legacy of civic unrest, indeed adopting and mimicking many aspects of the Occupy Portland and Occupy Wall Street movements of 2011. And that, observers say, can't be discounted. "One of successes of Occupy Wall Street was it really changed political culture nationwide in a big way," said Joseph Orosco, an Oregon State University political philosophy professor who previously taught a class on the philosophy of Occupy Wall Street. "Likewise Occupy ICE really changed conceptions about the role of ICE in the country." Orosco pointed to the impact of the popular OccupyICEPDX hashtag, which he said became part of the political lexicon in Washington, D.C., almost immediately after the Portland occupation began. "I think that it had a greater impact in the five weeks it was around than Occupy Wall Street; perhaps that's an exaggeration, but it had a quick impact in a big way," he said. Portland's political dance Elected officials across the nation quickly endorsed the movement, including City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly. Early on, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler commented on Twitter that the initial protest looked peaceful, something he was pleased to see. But Jacob Bureros, a co-founder of OccupyICEPDX and a media liaison for the group, found the city to be a hindrance rather than a help. "The biggest takeaway from this entire movement is that the only actionable power has come from the people and that the state has worked to suppress that," Bureros said, adding that city officials were verbally supportive but did nothing to help protesters accomplish their list of demands. Those included the city's withdrawal from the Joint Terrorism Task Force, funding for an Office of Immigrant Rights and removal of ICE from the city. Wheeler during a news conference Friday restated his profound opposition to what he called the "mean-spirited" Trump administration's family separation policies. But Wheeler said he did not have enough knowledge to state an opinion regarding the abolishment of ICE. He also plans to keep the city in the terrorism task force. As for the encampment, Wheeler said public health and safety concerns got in the way of an occupation that wasn't sustainable from the beginning. On Monday, Wheeler issued a statement telling protesters to disband or be removed by Portland police, which he initially said he wanted uninvolved in the conflict. Wheeler said he believes the camp, as part of the nationwide movement, influenced Trump's decision to walk back his immigration policy. "There's no question the president changed his mind when he saw people around the nation were very, very upset about the separation of children from their families," he said. But Wheeler said if he knew how camp conditions would devolve, he would have shut it down sooner. "It detracts from the main message when an encampment is built and then piles of garbage and biohazard and litter are left behind," Wheeler said. He later added: "There are other more productive ways to exercise First Amendment right and not leave the taxpayers with the bill and not create environmental or health or safety concerns." Supporters remain committed Lilith Sinclair spent four weeks at the encampment. She argues that protesters cleaned up everything they could in the time they were given. "The reality is you can't completely clear out in 24 hours what almost took six weeks to build," she said. Now, she said, it's time to regroup. Protesters continue to hold vigil in front of Portland's U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office. Wednesday, June 20, 2018 Beth Nakamura/Staff "It's the beginning of a new civil rights movement," said Sinclair, who stressed the importance of communicating with public representatives, affected communities and national movement leaders. Marshall Runkel, Eudaly's chief of staff and a point of contact for Sinclair throughout the protest, said the occupation's biggest accomplishment was its ability to inspire similar demonstrations throughout the country. "It did provide a channel for people's rage about the federal government's evil policies and practices," Runkel said. "We needed a way as a community to express that, so this was brilliant through that perspective." But, he said, one of the movement's failures was its inability to quickly and sufficiently adapt from an occupation to a larger set of strategies with more reasonable demands. "The notion that there would be a campout until ICE was abolished was not a realistic demand," Runkel said. "That was never going to happen." The frequent closure of roads around the ICE headquarters became worrisome for those accessing medical facilities in the area. The encampment also resulted in numerous complaints of protesters yelling obscenities and vulgarities at passersby and racial slurs at Department of Homeland Security officers, and that became a topic of concern for many in the neighborhood. Bureros' response: It's not his job to tell people how to respond to their oppressors. "We aren't there to tell people how to voice their rage; we're there to provide an avenue to channel that rage" and actually get something done, he said. At least 8 protesters were arrested as authorities broke up part of the protest camp surrounding Southwest Portland's Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters early Thursday, June 28, 2018. Mark Graves/The Oregonian Though the national movement is a victory he's proud of, the occupation failed in getting its list of demands met. This, he said, reinforced his belief that the community can't wait for politicians to take action. As for the legacy of an encampment shut down by the city? He said it was proving the power of direct action and its ability to shut down the system. Meanwhile, the movement continues as protesters regroup and plan a second wave of protest. Bureros wouldn't provide details, but he said the activists plan to "hit them on multiple fronts," not just one location. "Our mission has not changed," he said. "Our mission is to shut down ICE and its operations within this city, to ensure that our communities, our neighbors are safe and that they aren't able to carry out kidnappings in our streets ... We are going to fight tooth and nail to make sure that we can disrupt, harass and shut down ICE operations in our city." "It's just another battle," Bureros continued, "in the greater war that we're raging against this unjust system." --Anna Spoerre Fanendo Adi will feature in his final game as a Portland Timber Saturday night when the club hosts the Houston Dynamo at Providence Park. The Timbers have completed a deal to move Adi, a source confirmed to the Oregonian/OregonLive Saturday. It is not yet clear whether Adi is being traded to another team within MLS or whether he is being transferred to a club outside of the United States. Adi reportedly asked the Timbers for a trade. Adi has been a key player for Portland ever since joining the club in 2014. The 27-year-old striker has 53 career goals in 125 appearances (102 starts) for the Timbers. He ranks second on the Timbers all-time list for goals scored, behind only Diego Valeri. The Nigerian striker was also critical in helping the Timbers win their first-ever MLS Cup title in 2015. He scored 16 regular season goals in 23 starts (33 appearances) during the 2015 MLS regular season before recording two goals and an assist in the 2015 MLS playoffs. But Adi's production began to drop off this year. Adi entered Saturday night with just two goals in 13 appearances for the Timbers this season. He has not made a start since June 9 as forward Samuel Armenteros has taken off. After being left off the 18 for Portland's U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal match against LAFC and the club's MLS game against the Montreal Impact last week, Adi was on the bench for Saturday's match against the Houston Dynamo, putting him in a position to see minutes as a substitute in his final game for the Timbers. -- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com 503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg SUNDAY "Naked and Afraid of Sharks": "Shark Week" meets "Naked and Afraid" as contestants try to survive for 14 days on "what the ocean provides." (9 p.m. Discovery Channel) MONDAY "Whose Streets?": An "Independent Lens" documentary exploring the community protests in Ferguson, Missouri, following the killing of teenager Michael Brown. (11 p.m. PBS/10) TUESDAY "Making It": Amy Poehler and her "Parks and Recreation" cohort Nick Offerman are executive producers and hosts of a reality competition series in which crafters and other DIY-ers do their best to impress. (10 p.m. NBC) "Casual": The comedy returns for a fourth and final season. (Hulu) WEDNESDAY "Martha and Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party": Two episodes of Martha Stewart and Snoop Doog's show air. (9 p.m. VH1) "The Sinner": Season 2 of the psychological thriller begins strong, with a dark story about a boy suspected of murder, the leader of a utopian community who may be involved, and the detective who's reluctantly returned to his rural hometown to help investigate the crimes that were committed and understand what happened, and why. The excellent cast includes Bill Pullman, reprising his role from the first season, Carrie Coon and Tracy Letts. (10 p.m. USA Network)] THURSDAY "Beat Bobby Flay": Chefs Maeve Rochford and Navjot Arora compete to see who'll challenge Bobby Flay. (10 p.m. Food Network) FRIDAY "Animals": The offbeat series returns for a third season, this time focusing on what the press release calls "a humanless, post-apocalyptic Big Apple, blending live-action and animated segments along with the show's usual eclectic casting." (11:30 p.m. HBO) "Random Acts of Flyness": Artist Terence Nance hosts a new late-night series that combines verite documentary, music, animation and other elements that add up to what Nance calls "a show about the beauty and ugliness of contemporary American life." (Midnight, HBO) SATURDAY "A Summer to Remember": Catherine Bell and Cameron Mathison star in a romance about two people who meet at a resort in Fiji. (9 p.m. Hallmark Channel) -- Kristi Turnquist kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist Blanketed in smoke from the Ferguson Fire, Yosemite National Park closed its iconic valley on Wednesday. The popular destination, typically packed in summer with tourists taking selfies against a Half Dome backdrop, turned into a no man's land. In the hours before the valley closed, cars sat in traffic trying to exit. The tent cabins in Half Dome Villages, always fully booked in the summer, were emptied by noon. So were campgrounds, parking lots and picnic areas. A few remaining employees and media in the park shared images and video on social media, and many commented on the eerie setting. "It's a ghost town," tweeted Angelica Lei Lani, a reporter for KSEE-TV, who posted video footage of the vacant park. "So you're saying Yosemite is a dream land right now?" wrote @PageDoll. "As in empty?" ALSO: Tourism nightmare: Yosemite Valley closing as fire closes in, smoke at hazardous levels A Reddit user who goes by Franklinsteinn posted an image of a smokey sunrise over the empty valley. It quickly went viral on the social media site's "Earth Porn" page. According to the user, only a few hundred employees remain in the park. "I don't drive and everyone with a ride left the first day," wrote Franklinsteinn, who works for Yosemite concessionaire Aramark. "I tried to find a way out but everyone's car was full." He added, "There is an emergency bus I can take, but the only place it takes me to is Sonora. Being out of work right now I really don't wanna blow all my cash on hotel rooms and food when I've got it covered here." The Ferguson Fire continues to grow just outside Yosemite National Park since it started on July 13. The blaze has scorched 72 square miles, racing through dry brush and timber between the town of Mariposa and the steep terrain just outside the border of the park's western edge. MORE: What's closed and what's open in Yosemite open Yosemite Valley, the Wawona area and Wawona Road, and Mariposa and Merced Groves remain closed at least until July 29 (and possibly longer) for fire operations. Big Oak Flat Road west of Crane Flat and Tioga Road (Highway 120 through the park) are still open, and campgrounds and services in the Crane Flat and Tuolumne Meadows are also open. The last time the valley was closed because of a wildfire was 1990. For more coverage of the Ferguson Fire, visit SFGATE's California Wildfires page. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A Spirit Airlines flight was diverted after several passengers became sick from an odor that smelled like "dirty socks." Two hundred and twenty passengers on Flight 779 from New York to Fort Lauderdale were detoured to Myrtle Beach, S.C., Thursday so the airline could determine if there was a potential hazmat situation on board, NBC New York reported. NEW ORLEANS -- Authorities released no new details early Sunday morning in the mass shooting in the 3400 block of South Claiborne Avenue in New Orleans on Saturday night that left three dead and seven injured. The dead and injured None of the names of the dead or injured had been released by the New Orleans Police Department. Three of the seven injured people were taken by ambulance to University Medical Center's trauma center, police said. The other four arrived at the hospital by private means. In a press conference on the scene, New Orleans Police Chief Michael Harrison said one person was taken in for surgery and was in critical condition. The seven victims -- including five men and two women -- remained in "varying degrees of condition, some more critical than others," New Orleans EMS Director Dr. Emily Nichols said on Saturday night. Suspects While police have not released names or detailed descriptions of suspects, on Saturday, Harrison said that two people in hooded sweatshirts opened fire on "a large crowd" at a daiquiri shop, appearing "to fire indiscriminately." Police said that one of the suspects appeared to stand over one person and shoot that person deliberately. He did not say how he came by this detail of the crime. One of the men appeared to have a rifle, a handgun, police said. The two then ran from the scene on foot toward Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, police said. The scene A large crowd of people were gathered at the scene before the shooting occurred, police said. More than 20 evidence cones were in place that evening as police investigated the scene and family and friends searched for loved ones. "A lot of people were out here tonight, a lot of people we know saw what happened and heard what happened," Harrison said, during a press conference. "We need more than anything for people to come forward to help the NOPD right now solve this case." In the 2800 block of Louisiana Avenue, crime tape was in place at a house and officers stood on the front porch. A police car was parked outside. A person could be heard grieving near the scene. Harrison said that one of the three people who were killed at the scene was found in the 2800 block of Louisiana Avenue. The three victims were two men and one woman. Crimestoppers is offering a $5,000 reward for information concerning the mass shooting. Those offering information will be kept anonymous and do not have to testify in court to receive reward, according to Crimestoppers. Crimestoppers can be reached at 504.822.1111 or through the . Another incident Also, on Saturday night, a woman was shot more than once in the back underneath Interstate 10 where City Park Avenue becomes Metairie Road. Harrison said it is unclear if that crime was related to Claiborne shooting. NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune reporter Marie Simoneaux contributed to this report. The 75-year-old pastor and founder of a Medford church and the country's largest Christian rock festival was sentenced to 18 years in prison Friday after sexually assaulting four minors and having "inappropriate interaction" with another over a 16-year period. Harry Thomas was the pastor of Come Alive Church in Medford and the co-founder of the Creation Festival, perhaps the largest Christian music festival in the country. Thomas pleaded guilty in February to one count of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, three counts of second-degree sexual assault and one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child. But his attorney, Robin Lord, told the Courier-Post this week that the plea would be "a death sentence." An attempt to withdraw the guilty plea led to Judge Jeanne Covert rescheduling his sentencing. Covert later denied the motion to withdraw the plea. Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina said in a statement that the court proceeding showed "the unmasking of a true Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." "An individual who professed to be a man of faith and who has made many positive contributions to strangers committed the ultimate act of betrayal against family members who loved and trusted him," Coffina said. "There is no sentence that can approximate justice in light of this defendant's despicable acts against these children, but it is gratifying that the victims have been spared the pain of a trial and the defendant almost certainly will spend the rest of his life in prison, where he never can harm a child again," the prosecutor said. Thomas' sentence contains no parole eligibility. He will serve it at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center, a corrections facility for convicted sex offenders in the Avenel section of Woodbridge. Editor's note: This story was corrected at 5:45 p.m. July 30 to indicate that the university removed certain, but not all, references to Moonves from its website. LEWISBURG - Bucknell University has removed from its website certain references to the chief executive of The CBS Corp., one of its prominent alumni, due to sexual misconduct allegations against him. "Bucknell will not stand for sexual misconduct -- on campus or beyond," its president John Bravman said in a note to the university community explaining the reason for the action. Allegations of sexual harassment of women against Les Moonves, a 1971 Bucknell graduate, were made in a report published Friday by the New Yorker. The article states six women who had professional dealings with Moonves say he sexually harassed them between the 1980s and late 2000s. READ MORE: CBS investigates claims of sexual misconduct by CEO Four of the women described forcible touching or kissing during business meetings, it says, while two said that Moonves physically intimidated them or threatened to derail their careers. CBS said independent members of its board of directors are "investigating claims that violate the company's clear policies" regarding personal misconduct. Other CBS executives and entertainers have tweeted support for Moonves. Removed from Bucknell's website were pages that celebrate his relationship with the university, Bravman said. "We are evaluating any additional actions that may be appropriate," he said. Moonves acknowledged in a statement there were times decades ago when he may have made some women uncomfortable by making advances. But he says, "Those were mistakes, and I regret them immensely." He said that he never misused his position to harm or hinder anyone's career. Another beautiful drying-out day is in store in central Pa., but more rain will be coming this week, forecasters say. Today will be mostly sunny, with a high near 82. Overnight, clouds will roll in, with a low of 64. Chance of showers and thunderstorms starts Monday, and this pattern will continue throughout the rest of the week, the National Weather Service at State College says. AccuWeather says tropical moisture will again surge north between a slow-moving storm and a Bermuda High, which is a strong high pressure zone offshore. While a repeat of rains exceeding 8 inches is not expected again in the mid-Atlantic, there could be 1-3 inches of rain away from the coast. "However, residents from Baltimore to Harrisburg and Williamsport, Pennsylvania, should not let their guard down," AccuWeather says. "Locally heavy rain can easily trigger new issues due to the large amount of rain this part of the country has received recently," said Rob Richards, AccuWeather meteorologist. Downpours could quickly flood low-lying and urban areas, as well as bring swollen streams and smaller rivers out of their banks. Here is the week's forecast: Today Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. Calm wind becoming northwest around 5 mph. Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 64. Calm wind. Monday: A slight chance of showers, then scattered showers and thunderstorms after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 83. Calm wind becoming southeast 5 to 7 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. Monday night: Scattered showers and thunderstorms before 2am, then isolated showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 69. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. Tuesday: Isolated showers before 8am, then scattered showers and thunderstorms between 8am and noon, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 82. South wind 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. Tuesday night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 10pm, then scattered showers and thunderstorms after 10pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 71. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. Wednesday: Showers and thunderstorms. High near 85. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Wednesday night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 70. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Thursday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 84. Chance of precipitation is 50%. Thursday night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 69. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Friday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 82. Chance of precipitation is 50%. Friday night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 69. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Saturday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 84. Chance of precipitation is 40%. For the latest forecasts, visit PennLive's weather page. You can see live weather updates via the National Weather Service and other Twitter sources below. Tweet us at @pennlive with photos of inclement weather at your place, incidents you see on your commute or send a submission to submissions@pennlive.com. While residents Thursday night in South Middleton Township were offering reasons why they don't want a mini-casino in their backyard, another vociferous group packed a public hearing in Springettsbury Township, York County, to express similar sentiments. Penn National Gaming is considering sites in four communities in York County to put a mini-casino, including the first floor of the Sears building at the York Galleria mall, township solicitor Charles Rauch said. That store is closing soon. Township officials proposed changes to its ordinances, according to a story on ydr.com, that would set standards for a mini-casino that could possibly move into the township and with the anticipated redevelopment of the mall in mind. Many who attended expressed the same worries that the group in South Middleton Township did that night: an increase in crime, a drop in property values, and its proximity to schools and a playground. In both cases the townships originally opted out and since have changed their mind and opted in. Eventually, Springettsbury Township officials did make some changes to its ordinances, including regulations for casinos, such as allowing them in the commercial highway zone, which includes the mall. Penn National Gaming has until Sept. 12 to submit an application to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to open a mini-casino in York County, ydr.com said. One hundred days has been an important political milestone for at least a couple of centuries. It was first used to define the period between Napoleon's return to Paris after his escape from exile and his abdication following his defeat at Waterloo. Republican strategist Charlie Gerow (PennLive file) Closer to home it's been a description of the special session of Congress from March 9, 1933, to June 16, 1933, when Franklin Roosevelt pushed through legislation designed to offset the devastating effects of The Great Depression. Because that session closely paralleled Roosevelt's first term as president (he wasn't inaugurated until March 4), the first hundred days of any administration has become a symbolic benchmark measuring its early successes and failures. Roosevelt himself is widely regarded for coining the phrase "first 100 days" in a July 24, 1933, radio address. Since then the media has had a field day every four years detailing the track record of each new administration and making all sorts of predictions and pronouncements about what it all means. We are now 100 days before the pivotal 2018 midterm elections. So what better time to look ahead to November 6 and begin to make our own predictions and pronouncements? Historically midterm elections have been bad -- sometimes disastrous -- for the party that occupies 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Typically, the party that holds the presidency has lost more than 30 seats in the first midterm of the administration. That's more than enough, by itself, to overtake the Republican's narrow majority in the House. Democrats have been telling us, since the election of Donald J. Trump along with a Republican Congress, that a giant "Blue Wave" is building steam offshore, ready to sweep across the land and carry with it huge majorities for them. The only evidence of a looming aqua tsunami we've seen thus far are a couple of ripples here and there. In several House special elections held since Trump was inaugurated, Democrats boasted that they'd roll to victory based on "resistance" to Trump. They lost every one. They finally found the mark here in Pennsylvania when Conor Lamb took out Rick Saconne in a special election earlier this year. But Lamb wasn't a "resistance" candidate by any stretch. He even went so far as to say he wouldn't vote for Nancy Pelosi if he was elected. That's a far cry from candidates like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New Yorker who defeated U.S.Rep. Joe Crowley, whom many saw as a potential replacement for Pelosi, in their Democratic primary. She's an unrepentant socialist whose calls for "free" everything and for abolishing ICE mirror the far-left rhetoric of some other Democrats, including several here in the Keystone State. Socialist candidates pose a serious problem for Democrats. Many of their leaders are now publicly expressing serious concern that left-wing nuttiness will drive independent and swing voters away from them and threaten to disrupt a unified base. Midterm elections are "base" elections. That means that turning out each party's base voters is crucial to success. Party unity is vital to winning in the midterms. The growing divide in Democratic ranks exposes a lack of unity. Democrats may believe that mere resistance to Donald Trump is enough to unite their base. The constant drumbeat from their socialist flank makes that far less likely. Additionally, independents and "swing" voters tip the scales in many of the "battleground" districts that will determine control of the House. Those voters aren't attracted to calls for gigantic tax hikes, open borders or "sanctuary cities." What looms over all of this are the two factors that will determine the 2018 midterms: Donald Trump and the U.S. economy. The left will try to put every Trump tweet, verbal miscue and personal problem under a magnifying glass. They've been working that strategy for a year and a half now. Yet the president's approval numbers continue to climb. He's now eclipsed the approval rating Barack Obama had during his second midterm election. Trump's numbers would be much higher were it not for the hiccups of his tweets and verbal miscues. There's one huge reason for that: the economy. Bill Clinton's team famously told us, "It's the economy, stupid." They weren't wrong, but we're not stupid. The Economy is humming. Economic growth is booming, far eclipsing the record of the past four years. Jobs are flourishing, unemployment is at its lowest in half a century, the stock market is soaring and people are taking home bigger paychecks. Ultimately, people vote their wallets. They also vote on the current administration, both its policies and the personality of its leader. Which side of that scale -- the president's sometimes polarizing style or a robust economy -- tips highest will likely determine control of the next Congress. PennLive Opinion contributor Charlie Gerow is the CEO of Quantum Communications in Harrisburg. His "Donkeys & Elephants" column appears weekly opposite progressive commentator Kirstin Snow. Republican U.S. Reps. Carlos Curbelo, of Florida, and Brian Fitzpatrick, of Pennsylvania, recently introduced "The Market Choice Act," (H.R. 6463), which proposes a fee on fossil fuels. This is an approach that economists agree would dramatically reduce the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate disruption. Similar proposals are supported by prominent Republicans, many Democrats, and a number of major energy producers. There will be reflexive opposition from the usual naysayers, who oppose any effort to address climate issues. They typically claim that a carbon fee would "destroy jobs" and reduce economic growth. But studies indicate that a carbon fee, especially if implemented as a revenue-neutral measure (in which net revenues are returned to households as a monthly dividend) would provide an economic stimulus that would actually increase both jobs and GDP. Most households would have a net increase in income or would break even, while some upper income earners would face minimal net increases in energy costs. The rapid decline in carbon emissions that would accompany the carbon fee would substantially reduce adverse health effects, infrastructure damage, and other undesirable impacts caused by climate disruption. Given the climate threat to the well-being of our children and grandchildren and the mounting evidence that climate disruption is happening now and will worsen over time, we should give the Market Choice Act and other carbon pricing plans our serious consideration. RACHEL MARK, Hummelstown, (Group Leader, Harrisburg Chapter, Citizens' Climate Lobby) MORTON RUBENSTEIN, Upper Allen Twp., (Congressional liaison, PA-04, Citizens' Climate Lobby) 234 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard By Ben Blanchard and Tony Munroe BEIJING (Reuters) China has increased tariffs by up to 25 percent on 128 U.S. products, from frozen pork and wine to certain fruits and nuts, escalating a dispute between the worlds biggest economies in response to U.S. duties on imports of aluminum and steel. The tariffs, to take effect on Monday, were announced late on Sunday by Chinas finance ministry and matched a list of possible tariffs on up to $3 billion in U.S. goods published by China on March 23. Soon after the announcement, an editorial in the widely read Global Times newspaper warned that if the United States had thought China would not retaliate or would only take symbolic counter-measures, it could say goodbye to that delusion. Even though China and the U.S. have not publicly said they are in a trade war, the sparks of such a war have already started to fly, the newspaper said. The Ministry of Commerce said it was suspending its obligations to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to reduce tariffs on 120 U.S. goods, including fruit and ethanol. The tariffs on those products will be raised by an extra 15 percent. Eight other products, including pork and scrap aluminum, would now be subject to additional tariffs of 25 percent, it said, with the measures effective from April 2. Chinas suspension of its tariff concessions is a legitimate action adopted under WTO rules to safeguard Chinas interests, the finance ministry said. China is moving swiftly with retaliatory action amid escalating trade tension with the United States, which has rocked global financial markets in the past week as investors fear a full-blown trade dispute between them will damage world growth. U.S. President Donald Trump is separately preparing to impose tariffs of more than $50 billion on Chinese goods following an investigation under Section 301 of the 1974 U.S. Trade Act. The U.S. administration says China has systematically misappropriated American intellectual property allegations China denies. About the Section 301 investigation, China had yet to unsheathe its sword, the official Xinhua news agency said. Sometime this week, the Trump administration is expected to unveil a list of Chinese goods that could be subjected to new U.S. tariffs. U.S. technology industry officials said they expected the list to target products that benefit from Beijings Made in China 2025 program, which aims to upgrade the domestic manufacturing base with more advanced products. China has repeatedly promised to open its economy further, but many foreign companies complain of unfair treatment. China warned the United States on Thursday not to open a Pandoras Box and spark a flurry of protectionist practices across the globe. There are some people in the West who think that China looks tough for the sake of a domestic audience, and would easily make concessions, the Global Times said. But they are wrong. The Global Times is run by the ruling Communist Partys official Peoples Daily, although its stance does not necessarily reflect government policy. Reaction to Chinas measures varied on social media, with some saying Chinese customers would be the ones to ultimately pay for a trade war. Why not directly target soybean and planes? The tariffs that China announced today dont sound a lot to me, said a user on the Weibo microblog platform. Aircraft and soybeans were Chinas biggest U.S. imports by value last year. In a statement published on Monday morning, the commerce ministry said the United States had seriously violated the principles of non-discrimination enshrined in World Trade Organization rules, and had also damaged Chinas interests. Chinas suspension of some of its obligations to the United States is its legitimate right as a member of the World Trade Organization, it said, adding that differences should be resolved through negotiation. Weibo prominently featured the list of U.S. goods that China is targeting among the days hot trending topics. I will never buy fruit from the U.S., a Weibo user wrote. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Tony Munroe; Additional reporting by David Stanway in SHANGHAI and Stella Qiu and Lusha Zhang in BEIJING; Additional Writing by Ryan Woo; Editing by Eric Meijer and Shri Navaratnam) 2.6k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Rod Rosenstein is nothing if not a survivor. Rumors have swirled around Washington for months that the president would fire Rosenstein who is Bob Muellers boss but Rosenstein is too smart to let that happen. Several weeks ago Rosenstein brilliantly announced that Trump was not a target of Muellers probe, and by doing that took away any excuse he would have for getting rid of the Deputy Attorney General. Yesterday, during an epic Twitter meltdown, Trump tweeted: I hereby demand, and will do so officially tomorrow, that the Department of Justice look into whether or not the FBI/DOJ infiltrated or surveilled the Trump Campaign for Political Purposes and if any such demands or requests were made by people within the Obama Administration! I hereby demand, and will do so officially tomorrow, that the Department of Justice look into whether or not the FBI/DOJ infiltrated or surveilled the Trump Campaign for Political Purposes and if any such demands or requests were made by people within the Obama Administration! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 20, 2018 Within several hours Rosenstein had issued an official statement in response to the presidents unhinged threat. Instead of getting defensive or combative (which Trump would do in similar circumstances) he offered to go along with the requested inquiry into the FBI and DOJ (Department of Justice). If anyone did infiltrate or surveil participants in a presidential campaign for inappropriate purposes, we need to know about it and take appropriate action, Rosensteins statement said. Later DOJ spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores issued her own statement, saving that the Inspector General will consult with the appropriate U.S. Attorney if there is any evidence of potential criminal conduct. She went on to say that the new investigation will include determining whether there was any impropriety or political motivation in how the FBI conducted its counterintelligence investigation of persons suspected of involvement with the Russian agents who interfered in the 2016 presidential election. By going along with Trumps request Rosenstein has removed any possible excuse Trump would have for firing him. Rosenstein has nothing to fear from the new investigation because he knows the FBI and the DOJ have done nothing wrong. According to the website Axios, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appears to be trying to pre-empt Trumps official request by saying hes happy to allow an independent investigation. The thing DoJ officials are most concerned about is the exposure of confidential sources and documents, which Trump still hasnt formally ordered Rosenstein to do. With his latest move Rod Rosenstein has once again shown that we are lucky to have him as our Deputy Attorney General in charge of the Mueller investigation. He must keep his job at all costs in order to protect Mueller. Nobody knows what Trump will do next, but for now at least, it appears that Rosenstein has dodged a bullet and the Mueller investigation is safe for a while longer. 305 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard The Associated Press (AP) is reporting this morning that President Donald Trump has told lawmakers in Congress that he will allow the federal government to shut down before signing a spending bill like the one that he signed into law in March. A budget battle that tears apart the Republican Party is undoubtedly good news for Democrats running for Congress in the fall. If the government shuts down just weeks before the November election most people believe this will be blamed on the GOP. According to the AP: President Donald Trump has warned Congress that he will never sign another foot-tall, $1 trillion-plus government-wide spending bill like the one he did in March. His message to lawmakers in both parties: Get your act together before the next budget lands on my desk. American voters know that the Republican Party is in complete control of the government in Washington. They know that the responsibility for passing a federal budget is the responsibility of Republicans. They also know that if they cant pass a budget and Trump shuts down the federal government, it will be the fault of the GOP, and not the Democrats. Of course Trump and Republicans in Congress will blame Democrats for the budget impasse and possible government shutdown, but it wont work. The budget is supposed to be approved by October 1st of each year, and last year it didnt happen because of deep and intense divisions within the Republican Party. This required Congress to pass five separate continuing resolutions to keep the government operating on a short term basis. Ultimately the government was shut down for a short time last winter before Republicans were forced to compromise and get a budget bill passed and signed by the president. Trump signed the compromise budget bill because he had to. It was a political necessity. If the U.S. government shuts down and there is no federal budget, when Republicans control all branches of government, this shows that the GOP cannot be trusted to be in charge and a change is needed. The worst-case scenario for the GOP is a government shutdown a few weeks before Election Day on November 6th. There is a huge, historic battle this year for control of Congress. But Trump has been very vocally advocating for Congress to provide funding in the budget for his biggest boondoggle: his long-promised border wall with Mexico. He has been expressing increasing frustration over his lack of success in getting funding for his pet project that he promised to his racist supporters. At a campaign rally last month he said, We need the wall. Were going to have it all. And again, that wall has started. We got $1.6 billion. We come up again in September. If we dont get border security, well have no choice. Well close down the country because we need border security. Republicans are in a difficult situation because they have Trump throwing tantrums on one hand, stirring up his base, and on the other hand they have the majority of American voters who know the border wall is a crazy idea and would be a massive waste of money. The battle of the budget in coming months will show the entire country that the Republican Party doesnt stand for anything and should not be in power. A government shutdown would be bad for the country but could end up being a good thing for Democrats and their chances to take back control of Congress. 720 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) Pope Francis on Saturday accepted the resignation of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, one of the U.S. Catholic Churchs most prominent figures, who has been at the center of a widening sexual abuse scandal. McCarrick, 88, the former archbishop of Washington, D.C., is the first cardinal in living memory to lose his red hat and title. Other cardinals who have been disciplined in sexual abuse scandals kept their membership in the College of Cardinals and their honorific your eminence. The allegations against McCarrick, which first surfaced publicly last month, came with Francis facing an image crisis on a second front, in Chile, where a growing abuse scandal has enveloped the Church. A Vatican statement said the pope, acting only hours after McCarrick offered his resignation on Friday night, ordered his suspension from the exercise of any public ministry. This means he remains a priest but will be allowed to say Mass only in private. Francis also ordered McCarrick to go into seclusion for a life of prayer and penance until the accusations made against him are examined in a regular canonical trial. The Vatican said the pope wanted to send a strong message that high rank would no longer be a shield. The important point is that McCarrick is no longer a cardinal. What this means is that, no matter how important your position, no matter how prestigious, when it comes to sex abuse youre going to be held accountable. That is the message being sent today, spokesman Greg Burke told Reuters Television. McCarricks sudden fall from grace stunned the American Church because he was a widely respected leader for decades and a confidant of popes and presidents. Last month, American Church officials said allegations that he sexually abused a 16-year-old boy almost 50 years ago were credible and substantiated.. Since then, another minor has come forward with allegations that McCarrick abused him when he was 11 years old, and several men have come forward to allege that McCarrick forced them to sleep with him at a beach house in New Jersey when they were adult seminarians studying for the priesthood. NO RECOLLECTION McCarrick has said that he had absolutely no recollection of the alleged abuse of the teenager 50 years ago but has not commented on the other allegations. The New York Times reported last week that two dioceses in New Jersey, where McCarrick served as bishop before being promoted to Washington in 2000, had reached financial settlements in 2005 and 2007 with men who said they were abused by McCarrick as adults decades ago. Some U.S. Catholics have said the Vatican should send an inspector to the United States to determine who in the U.S. Church hierarchy knew of the alleged incidents and why McCarricks rise was not impeded. The Vatican must investigate and publish its conclusions regarding McCarricks advancement and very successful career, said Terence McKiernan, president of BishopAccountability.org, a U.S.-based group that tracks abuse cases. The officials responsible must be identified and disciplined, and the investigative file must be made public, McKiernan said in a statement. In 2013, Cardinal Keith OBrien of Scotland recused himself from participating in the conclave that elected Francis after he was caught up in a sexual abuse scandal involving seminarians. He later renounced rights and privileges of being a cardinal but kept his red hat and title until his death earlier this year. The last person to resign from the College of Cardinals is believed to be French theologian Louis Billot, who left over a disagreement with Pope Pius XI in 1927, according to the U.S. newspaper, National Catholic Reporter. (Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Andrew Bolton and Kevin Liffey) 4.8k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) and three other House Republicans are threatening to sue Twitter because their accounts were temporarily shadowbanned. Here is Nunes on Fox Business threatening to sue Twitter: Nunes answered when asked if Twitter was censoring conservatives, I had no idea what shadow banning was. I had no clue. For several months people have been contacting me saying I tried to find you on Twitter. I couldnt find your account, why is that. Then we had a report that came out where there were four people in the House of Representatives and four elected officials that were quote-unquote, shadowbanned. they dont call it shadow banning. There was a trap were people couldnt see our Twitter feed. That was Mr. Gaetz, Mr. Meadows, Mr. Jordan, and myself. It looks like they are censoring people. They ought to stop it. We are looking at legal remedies to go through. Interestingly, the accounts that were temporarily caught up in Twitters purge of Russian bots and fake news spreaders, all tweet disinformation about the Russia investigation. The disinformation matches Trumps tweets, and what Russian bots circulate on the popular social media platform. Rep. Nunes is a stooge of Trumps who was on the Trump transition team and spread the infamous and widely discredited memo concerning the Russia investigation being a conspiracy against Trump. Nunes also obstructed and shut down the House Intelligence Russia investigation, and has been the roadblock in the House to getting to the bottom of what happened with Trump and the Russians during the 2016 election. Conservatives love the idea that they are persecuted or censored in some way. It is the ultimate distraction issue. Twitter was not censoring anyone. They were just trying to keep Russian disinformation off of their platform. It speaks volumes that Twitter couldnt tell the difference between Russian propaganda and tweets from Devin Nunes. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. 755 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Senior officials and donors from the groups affiliated with billionaire conservative businessman Charles Koch expressed great displeasure with President Donald Trump and his Republican enablers in the U.S. Congress at the groups biannual seminar in Colorado Springs this weekend. Trump tariffs assailed at Koch network gathering Trump tariffs assailed at Koch network gathering https://t.co/FeFtFKrgXg POLITICO (@politico) July 29, 2018 Issues ranging from trade tariffs to immigration and spending were discussed among the Koch Network seminar attendees. The top Koch strategists held a news conference at the seminar and set forth the many areas where they think Trump and GOP Congress have gone astray. They also expressed frustration at what they called the divisiveness of the Trump administration, which they say is making it nearly impossible to find areas where legislators of different parties can find compromise. The divisiveness of this White House is causing long-term damage, said Charles Koch Foundation president Brian Hooks. When in order to win on an issue, someone else has to lose, it makes it very difficult to unite and solve the problems of this country. When we say theres a lack of leadership Id include the White House and a number of politicians who are following that lead, Hooks added. Theres a need for someone to step up and show people its possible to achieve things when you unite people together rather than divide them. Charles Koch himself warned against a rise in protectionism and he has previously expressed his unhappiness at the Trumps tariffs and immigration policies. Koch Network officials were very upset about the Trump administration giving $12 billion in aid to farmers who are being harmed by retaliatory tariffs, calling them Depression-era policies punctuated by farmer bailouts. This is hurting people and doing long-term damage to the country, Hooks said. Koch Network officials also said theyre appalled by Trumps zero tolerance immigration policy, which resulted in thousands of adults being arrested and children being separated from their parents at the Mexican border. Weve been very vocal in our opposition to that, its one of the main injustices were trying to work really hard to unite people around and ultimately to drive the administration to change their policy there, said Koch Network spokesman James Davis. The Koch Network has also officially expressed displeasure with the Republicans who control both houses of Congress. They want to see Republicans pass a bill that provides a pathway to citizenship for the nearly 2 million Dreamers, immigrants who were brought to the country as children. And theyre still irate about the $1.3 trillion spending bill that was passed by Republicans in March. The challenge here is that if we continue to do that well slow the decline of the country rather than change the trajectory of the country, and our supporters and donors have said no, we have to step up to lead here, Davis said. This weekends meeting is the largest the Koch Network has ever held, with more than 500 donors attending, each of whom was expected to contribute at least $100,000. 1.8k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) responded to a question about Donald Trump Jr. potentially committing a crime by lying to Congress with a call for the Mueller investigation to end. Video of Sen. Rob Portman on NBCs Meet The Press: Transcript via Meet The Press: CHUCK TODD: Let me start with the Michael Cohen situation, because he is now contradicting something that Donald Trump Jr. said under oath to Congress, and whether it was under oath or not, lying to Congress is a crime. Donald Trump Jr. told the Judiciary Committee that he did not tell his father about anything of the Trump Tower meeting, before or after. Michael Cohen apparently is contradicting him. Should Michael Cohen be called before the Judiciary Committee and clear this up sooner rather than later? SEN. ROB PORTMAN: I think the Mueller investigation is probably the place it should be cleared up, but you know, thats up to the Judiciary Committee. CHUCK TODD: If this is something that let me ask you this, you as a Republican senator, would you want to see the Judiciary Committee sort of clean this up since theyve gone done this road, or you would say punt? You would tell Senator Grassley, your advice would be, Leave it alone? SEN. ROB PORTMAN: Well, I think its going to be, you know, a he said and he said issue. So I think its probably better that, you know, this goes through the regular process, which is ongoing, Chuck. And I think the Mueller investigation ought to be brought to an end also. I mean, we need to have the facts lead to the right conclusion, and so I support the investigation, I have from the start. But we do need to wrap it up, and you know, Im not an expert on Michael Cohen, never met the guy. I am not on the Judiciary Committee; Im not involved in this issue directly. But I do believe that its important for us to get to the bottom of it, but do it expeditiously. The Presidents son lied to Congress about a crime, and a United States Senators response was that the investigation that is uncovering evidence about these crimes needs to end. Portmans answer was a perfect example of what critics mean they stress that the Republican Congressional majority in the House and the Senate are covering up for Donald Trump on the Russia scandal. If the situation were reversed and a Democratic presidents child lied to Congress about a crime, Senators like Rob Portman would be calling for that witness to come back and answer questions before the committee. Republicans are stopping the American people from learning the truth about what happened in 2016. They are a roadblock and Trumps protectors. If you want a real congressional investigation into the 2016 election vote for Democratic House and Senate candidates in November, because that is the only way that it is ever going to happen. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. 176 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer is threatening to sue the Associated Press (AP) due to a story appearing yesterday about a confrontation on his book tour. The story said a former high school classmate of Spicers accused him of calling him the n-word many years ago. Spicer threatens legal action over Associated Press report Spicer threatens legal action over Associated Press report https://t.co/JLSb9qVOMt pic.twitter.com/2Sr6uAXNGy The Hill (@thehill) July 29, 2018 Spicers attorney Michael J. Bowe said in a statement Saturday night that they will file a lawsuit because the AP recklessly republished a categorically false accusation about Sean Spicer. The claim is a lie. Absent an immediate retraction, Mr. Spicer will take legal action Monday, Bowe said. The AP story said there was an incident at a bookstore in Middletown, R.I., on Friday where Spicer was holding a book signing. It said that a black man claiming to have gone to school with Spicer at Portsmouth Abbey School accused Spicer of using a racial slur when they were in school together. Here is how AP reported the incident: Alex Lombard, who was standing behind a small group of people waiting in line to meet Spicer and get him to sign the book, called out Spicers name and said they went to Portsmouth Abbey School together. Spicer waved to him and said, Hey. Yeah. How are you? Lombard, a Newport native who now lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, then accused Spicer of calling him the N-word and trying to fight him when they were at school. You dont remember that you tried to fight me? Lombard asked. But you called me a (N-word) first. A security guard approached Lombard and led him away as he kept talking: I was 14 then. I was a scared kid then, Sean. Im not scared to fight you now. Spicers publicist told the AP that Donald Trumps former press secretary was taken aback by the outrageous claim. The publicist, Lauren McCue from Regnery Publishing, said Spicer cant recall any incident like the one Lombard described. Video of the encounter was posted online by NewportRI.com showing Lombard approaching Spicer while he was seated at a table signing books at event. The video doesnt show Spicers reaction to the accusation of using the racial slur by Lombard. Spicer is on tour promoting his new book, The Briefing: Politics, The Press, and the President, about his rocky time serving in the White House as press secretary. According to the AP The book paints a rosy if sometimes thorny picture of Trump, describing him as a unicorn, riding a unicorn over a rainbow and a man to whom the regular rules of politics dont apply. Spicer left his position as White House Press Secretary last summer. This isnt the first time Spicer has been confronted on his book tour. On Wednesday a protester interrupted a book signing in New York City by calling him a garbage person. Hey Sean, youre a real piece of garbage and I hope you look around and see all these empty seats, the protester said inside a Barnes & Noble bookstore. And I hope you realize in even in New York City people will not come and pay to hear you speak. 3.4k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Robert Mueller is investigating Trumps tweets, so the president responded by attacking the Special Counsel on Twitter. Trump tweeted: There is No Collusion! The Robert Mueller Rigged Witch Hunt, headed now by 17 (increased from 13, including an Obama White House lawyer) Angry Democrats, was started by a fraudulent Dossier, paid for by Crooked Hillary and the DNC. Therefore, the Witch Hunt is an illegal Scam! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018 Is Robert Mueller ever going to release his conflicts of interest with respect to President Trump, including the fact that we had a very nasty & contentious business relationship, I turned him down to head the FBI (one day before appointment as S.C.) & Comey is his close friend.. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018 .Also, why is Mueller only appointing Angry Dems, some of whom have worked for Crooked Hillary, others, including himself, have worked for Obama.And why isnt Mueller looking at all of the criminal activity & real Russian Collusion on the Democrats side-Podesta, Dossier? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018 There Is One Common Theme To Trumps Attacks On Mueller Trump only has one goal when it comes to Mueller and that is to discredit. Trump is trying to discredit the Special Counsel so that he can damage the credibility of the findings. The fact that Trump consistently omits about Mueller is that his own administration appointed him. When Trump refers to the anger of the investigators, he is projecting his own anger onto them. Mueller is investigating Trumps tweets Mueller is using Trumps tweets as part of his investigation. The Special Counsel wants to talk to Trump about his tweets, so the dumbest and most self-destructive thing that Donald Trump could do would be to attack Robert Mueller on the platform that he is investigating. We are watching a guilty president self-destruct, and dig his own political grave one tweet at a time. Trump is giving the Special Counsel evidence that will be used against him, and it will be his undoing. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. 1.3k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard On Wednesday we reported a problem with respect to Trump campaign flags: The red, white and blue banners for U.S. President Donald Trumps second-term campaign are ready to ship, emblazoned with the words Keep America Great! But they are made in eastern China and soon could be hit by punitive tariffs of Trumps own making as he ratchets up a rancorous trade dispute with Beijing. And Reuters had tweeted: Trumps re-election flags are ready to ship, but they are made in China and could get hit by his own tariffs. Trump's re-election flags are ready to ship, but they are made in China and could get hit by his own tariffs. More from this week's ICYMI playlist: https://t.co/rQhxoMDQib via @ReutersTV pic.twitter.com/Mf2BDz8BPz Reuters Top News (@Reuters) July 28, 2018 On Saturday Trumps campaign denied that it is using Chinese manufacturers to produce campaign flags, despite many videos and photographs appearing on the internet which prove otherwise. We have made it clear all along that all of our merchandise is 100% made in the USA, said Michael Glassner, the campaigns chief operating officer. Any vendor who claims to have a relationship with us otherwise is lying or violating our protected trademark rights. This applies to all of the recent fake news about Made in China products for the 2020 campaign, Glassner added. Reuters had reported several days ago that the Chinese company Jiahao Flag Company has been making tens of thousands of Trumps 2020 campaign banners. A company manager said she believes the extremely large production numbers were caused by the US-China trade war because the buyers want the lower prices now. After Trumps tariffs go into effect there will be cost increases and his campaign and the Republican Party will have to pay more for each banner produced. The manager also said she wasnt sure if the buyers of the 2020 campaign flags were affiliated with Trumps official campaign or the Republican Party. Several weeks ago NPR published a story saying that the owner of a different factory in China had told them that his company is also making thousands of flags for Trumps re-election campaign. The NPR story appeared several days before China and the United States imposed new tariffs totalling $34 billion on each others exports. The Trump administration has announced they are planning another round of new tariffs on Chinese imports in the amount of $200 billion. The manager of Jiahao Flag Co Ltd, told Reuters that she believes her company has been producing so many flags because the tariffs havent gone up yet. Its closely related, she told Reuters. They are preparing in advance, they are taking advantage of the fact that the tariffs havent gone up yet, with lower prices now. Its ironic that Trumps misguided tariffs on goods imported from China are raising prices on his own 2020 campaign materials. However, it is also suspicious that the Chinese manufacturing companies increased their production of these materials long before the tariffs were announced. It almost appears that Trumps suppliers in China had advance notice of the increased import taxes that were to come later, which notice they would have received from the U.S. buyers, the Trump campaign and the Republican Party. Suspicious? Yes. Surprising? No. Donald Trump has been proving for 40 years that he is selfish and cares only about himself. The fact that there is proof of Chinese manufacturing of Trumps campaign materials, and that Trumps spokesman is lying about it, is also not surprising. Donald Trump has also been proving for 40 years that he will lie about anything and everything if it will give him any sort of advantage in business or politics. Trump and his people should be reminded every day of their hypocrisy in ordering goods from China at the same time he has started a trade war with China that may harm millions of people. 801 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard After taking a day off for some unexplained reason, President Donald Trump was back on Twitter Sunday morning addressing many of his favorite topics, including: He wrote first, Do you think the Fake News Media will ever report on this tweet from Michael? referring to a report that Cohen had complimented Trump Junior. So proud of @DonaldJTrumpJr for being open, honest and transparent to the American people, Cohen wrote on Twitter on July 11, 2017, attaching a photo of Trump Jr. for good measure. This nonsense needs to stop! Do you think the Fake News Media will ever report on this tweet from Michael? https://t.co/kXLCKZO5Fr Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018 The president also renewed the fear that he would shut down the United States government just before the midterm elections. Trump said he would have no problem considering doing that if congressional Democrats do not support additional funding for a border wall with Mexico. I would be willing to shut down government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall! Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country! I would be willing to shut down government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall! Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018 Trump also claimed that he met with New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger. Trump said the two chatted about the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media. Had a very good and interesting meeting at the White House with A.G. Sulzberger, Publisher of the New York Times. Spent much time talking about the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, Enemy of the People. Sad! Had a very good and interesting meeting at the White House with A.G. Sulzberger, Publisher of the New York Times. Spent much time talking about the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, Enemy of the People. Sad! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018 Trump also continued to defend his administrations highly criticized immigration policies, as the federal government struggles to fulfill a court order to reunify parents separated from their undocumented children. Please understand, there are consequences when people cross our Border illegally, whether they have children or not and many are just using children for their own sinister purposes. Congress must act on fixing the DUMBEST & WORST immigration laws anywhere in the world! Vote R Please understand, there are consequences when people cross our Border illegally, whether they have children or not and many are just using children for their own sinister purposes. Congress must act on fixing the DUMBEST & WORST immigration laws anywhere in the world! Vote R Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018 Democrats, who want Open Borders and care little about Crime, are incompetent, but they have the Fake News Media almost totally on their side! Democrats, who want Open Borders and care little about Crime, are incompetent, but they have the Fake News Media almost totally on their side! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2018 In a ridiculous tweet, Trump claimed once again that he is the most popular president in the Republican Partys history going all the way back to Abraham Lincolns election in 1860. Of course what Trump tweeted is not true since not only is he less popular among his party than his recent predecessors but public opinion polling didnt start until the 1930s. Wow, highest Poll Numbers in the history of the Republican Party. That includes Honest Abe Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. There must be something wrong, please recheck that poll! Wow, highest Poll Numbers in the history of the Republican Party. That includes Honest Abe Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. There must be something wrong, please recheck that poll! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018 Overall, his popularity (42 percent in the most recent weekly poll) remains well below the high point of his predecessors: Dwight D. Eisenhower peaked at 79 percent of all voters in 1956, Ronald Reagan at 68 (twice), George H.W. Bush at 89 at the time of the Gulf War, and George W. Bush at 90 percent shortly after the 9/11 attacks. This mornings flurry of tweets from the president did nothing but confirm that he is unhinged, deluded, and living in a fantasy world of his own making. The good news is that since he doesnt realize how unpopular he is and his policies are it is likely that his party will go down to a crushing defeat in this years midterm elections. On July 20, President Trump met with A.G. Sulzberger, publisher of the New York Times, and James Bennet, the papers editorial page editor. News of the meeting became public because the president tweeted about it: Had a very good and interesting meeting at the White House with A.G. Sulzberger, Publisher of the New York Times. Spent much time talking about the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, Enemy of the People. Sad! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018 That prompted Sulzberger to describe the meeting to the Associated Press, while complaining about Trumps criticisms: The publisher of the New York Times said Sunday he implored President Donald Trump at a private White House meeting this month to reconsider his broad attacks on journalists, calling the presidents anti-press rhetoric not just divisive but increasingly dangerous. *** Sulzberger, who succeeded his father as publisher on Jan. 1, said his main purpose for accepting the meeting was to raise concerns about the presidents deeply troubling anti-press rhetoric. I suspect the president was more concerned about the presss deeply troubling anti-Trump rhetoric. Trump has a considerably better case. Sulzberger said he told Trump that while the phrase fake news is untrue and harmful, Heh. Recall that it was leftists who first used the phrase fake news in complaints about Facebook stories during the election. Trump has now co-opted fake news and made it his own. I am far more concerned about his labeling journalists the enemy of the people. I warned that this inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence. Apparently the AP did not seek comment from Steve Scalise, Sarah Sanders or Kirstjen Nielsen. Sulzberger added that he made clear that he was not asking Trump to soften his attacks against the Times if he thinks the newspapers coverage is unfair. Instead, I implored him to reconsider his broader attacks on journalism, which I believe are dangerous and harmful to our country, he said. The Times has viciously attacked President Trump on a daily basis since the primary campaign in 2016, both in its editorials and in its news coverage. The paper has committed itself to the Resistance and is openly trying to destroy the administration. Nothing Trump says about the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN and other Democratic Party outlets is too harsh. They have completely abandoned traditional standards of objective journalism. The AP goes to bat for the Times: The president, who lashes out over media coverage of him and the administration that he deems unfair, has broadly labeled the news media the enemy of the people and regularly accuses reporters of spreading fake news the term he often uses for stories he dislikes. Is it true that the president has broadly labeled the news media the enemy of the people'? I dont think so. The Times itself made a similar claim on February 17, 2017: President Trump, in an extraordinary rebuke of the nations press organizations, wrote on Twitter on Friday that the nations news media is the enemy of the American people. But once again, the Times was peddling fake news. It referred specifically to this tweet by the president on the same day: Obviously, Trumps tweet criticized the New York Times, ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN, not the nations news media as the Times falsely claimed. The APs assertion that Trump has broadly labeled the news media the enemy of the people' isnt borne out by any other Trump statements that I am aware of. In this tweet, for example, Trump called the Fake News Media the real enemy of the people. The Summit with Russia was a great success, except with the real enemy of the people, the Fake News Media. I look forward to our second meeting so that we can start implementing some of the many things discussed, including stopping terrorism, security for Israel, nuclear.. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 19, 2018 Again, he was not referring to the press generally, but to news outlets like the New York Times and the Washington Post that habitually spread falsehoods about his administration. Major elements of the press have a problem. They have made themselves part of the Democratic Partys Resistance to President Trump. They have attacked the president in the most intemperate, and often false, terms. (See, for example, pretty much any New York Times editorial.) Naturally, he doesnt like it and he hits them back. They deserve it, and in his conflicts with reporters and editors, Trump is more often right than wrong. If reporters at papers like the Times dont like being criticized by the president, they should secede from the Resistance and go back to practicing journalism. If they still remember how. In the Wall Street Journals weekend interview feature, columnist Kim Strassel tracks down House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes in Tulare, California. She honors him as Washingtons Public Enemy No. 1 (accessible here on Outline). Nunes is a straight shooter and dogged public servant. His admirable qualities come through clearly in this illuminating interview. The interview is also useful. It is useful in reminding us what we have learned in the collusion matter so far, of his contribution to what we have learned and the abuse he has taken along the way by defamatory leaks disseminated to the Democrats media adjunct. We remain the dark about the unmaskings that Nunes decried way back when. They appear to involve substantial wrongdoing within the Obama administration. Nunes addresses them here: He had been troubled in January 2017 when newspapers published leaked conversations between Mike Flynn, Mr. Trumps first national security adviser, and the Russian ambassador. The leak, Mr. Nunes says, involved very technical collection, nearly the exact readouts. It violated strict statutory rules against unmaskingrevealing the identities of Americans who are picked up talking to foreigners who are under U.S. intelligence surveillance. Around the time of the Flynn leak, Mr. Nunes received tips that far more unmasking had taken place. His sources gave him specific document numbers to prove it. Viewing them required Mr. Nunes to travel in March to a secure reading room on White House grounds, a visit his critics would then spin into a false claim that he was secretly working with Mr. Trumps inner circle. They also asserted that his unmasking revelations amounted to an unlawful disclosure of classified information. That prompted a House Ethics Committee investigation. In April 2017, Mr. Nunes stepped aside temporarily from the Russia-collusion piece of his inquiry, conveniently for those who wished to forestall its progress. Not until December did the Ethics Committee clear Mr. Nunes. We found out later, he says, that four of the five Democrats on that committee had called for me to be removed before this even got rolling. Meantime, the Intelligence Committee continued the Russia-collusion probe without Mr. Nunes. In October 2017 news finally became public that the Steele dossier had been paid for by the Clinton campaign. This raised the question of how much the FBI had relied on opposition research for its warrant applications, under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, to spy on onetime Trump campaign aide Carter Page. Throughout the fall, the Justice Department refused to comply with Intel Committee subpoenas for key dossier and FISA documents. This brings the story up to date: This spring Mr. Nunes obtained information showing the FBI had used informants to gather intelligence on the Trump camp. The Justice Department is still playing hide-and-seek with documents. We still dont know how many informants were run before July 31, 2016the official open of the counterintelligence investigationand how much they were paid. Thats the big outstanding question, he says. Mr. Nunes adds that the department and the FBI havent done anything about the unmaskings or taken action against the Flynn leakersbecause, in his view, they are too busy working with Democrats to cover all this up. He and his committee colleagues in June sent a letter asking Mr. Trump to declassify at least 20 pages of the FISA application. Mr. Nunes says they are critical: If people think using the Clinton dirt to get a FISA is bad, what else thats in that application is even worse. Mr. Nunes has harsh words for his adversaries. How, he asks, can his committees Democrats, who spent years worrying about privacy and civil liberties, be so blase about unmaskings, surveillance of U.S. citizens, and intelligence leaks? On the FBI: Im not the one that used an unverified dossier to get a FISA warrant, Mr. Nunes says. Im not the one who obstructed a congressional investigation. Im not the one who lied and said Republicans paid for the dossier. Im just one of a few people in a position to get to the bottom of it. And on the press: Todays media is corrupt. Its chosen a side. But its also making itself irrelevant. The sooner Republicans understand that, the better. His big worry is that Republicans are running out of time before the midterm elections, yet there are dozens of witnesses still to interview. But this was always the DOJ/FBI plan, he says. They are slow-rolling, because they are wishing and betting the Republicans lose the House. Todays media have chosen not only chosen a side, they also deny it and profess to be above it all. PR-Inside.com: 2018-07-29 07:56:45 Press Information Refreshing Mountain Retreat and Adventure Center 455 Camp Road Stevens, PA 17578 Justin Harnish Owner 717.738.1490 email http://www.refreshingmountain.com/ # 326 Words 455 Camp Road Stevens, PA 17578Owner717.738.1490 Despite days of heavy rain, Refreshing Mountain Retreat and Adventure Center in Lancaster County, PA remains open for business and continues to provide fun, family-friendly activities. If you think a slip-and- slide is fun in your backyard, just wait until you try ziplining through the forest in the rain.Ziplining in the rain can add even more fun to the experience, notes Justin Harnish, Director at Refreshing Mountain. The canopy of trees provides a bit of protection from the rain, and otherwise, it is kind of like combining a water ride with a zipline, he adds. Its tons of fun!Rest-assured that safety is still top priority, however. Events and activities will be canceled or postponed for high wind, thunder, or lightening. In the midst of a passing shower, however, there is something incredibly serene and peaceful soaring through the treetops while hearing the raindrops bounce off leaves during a light rain.Additionally, there is no risk to losing money due to weather cancellations. Refreshing Mountain offers full refunds or rescheduling options if a tour has to be cancelled due to weather.Kids can only take so many days of being stuck inside during all this rain. Come outside and have some fun on our ziplines, elevated obstacle courses, and other activities, notes Harnish. We cant promise you wont get a little wet, but we absolutely know youll have a blast and make some great memories!To book a zipline tour, visit their zipline page at https://refreshingmountain.com/activities/ziplines/ About Refreshing MountainRefreshing Mountain is a year-round retreat and adventure center providing family friendly fun and refreshment for over 30 years in Lancaster County, PA. We provide a variety of outdoor adventures, day field trips, and corporate team-building events, and overnight getaways with activities including zipline canopy tours, high ropes course, climbing tower, problem solving challenges, and much more. To learn more about everything happening at Refreshing Mountain, visit refreshingmountain.com Revellers who turned out for the Johnnie, Jazz and Whisky (JJW) night in Abuja hailed Lagbaja as one of the greatest Nigerian performer. JJW is Nigerias premier afro-jazz platform, showcasing live performances on nights usually themed, A blend of music and flavors. The JJW party organized by Johnny Walker and powered by MTN. It witnessed performances from Afrobeat musicians Lagbaja and Simi. Joseph Barde could not resist raving about the greatest performer. He urged people to believe that Lagbaja is the greatest while gushing about his talent. Take it from me. Lagbaja is the greatest performer! Guys got music in his soul. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered a consensus that Lagbaja is the greatest live stage performer and a living legend in Nigeria. Max Emenike told NAN about his fondness for Lagbajas music. This man is a living legend, I have loved his music since I was a kid. Thank you Johnnie Walker and MTN for fulfilling one of my dreams of seeing the greatest performer tonight. Vivian Okezie a Johnnie Walker influencer, also spoke of her admiration for Lagbajas performance. What a performer. One of Afrobeat Iconic Legend and one of my favorite growing up. Funke Olatunji said she grew up Listening to Lagbajas music so the night was about reminiscing. The man freaking turned it to nostalgia night. I grew up listening to Lagbaja records, so to actually watch him perform live was nothing short of amazing. This is my childhood right here. Beyond my wildest dreams. (NAN) Nigerian fashion designer, Yeside Laguda of My Q Lifestyle, unveiled her latest designs tagged The Roots Collection, at Rele Gallery, Victoria Island, Lagos on Saturday evening. The designer went down history employing a modern twist to wearable pieces made from the indigenous Tie and Dye fabric popularly known as Adire. In her introductory speech at the event attended by PREMIUM TIMES, Yeside said he collection visualises a brief history of Nigerian heroines and honours women who have fought for Nigerias independence, freedom and democracy. They include Alimotu Pelewura, Dora Akinyuli, Efunroye Tinubu, Emotan, Florence Nwapa, Funmilayo Ransome Kuti, Grace Soyinka, Margaret Ekpo, Mary Okezie, Dideolu Awolowo, Kudirat Abiola and Stella Adadevoh. Speaking on the reason why she decided to explore the adire, she said it had become imperative for her to look inwards and explore indigenous fabrics. She noted, We have been in business for 11 years and this time around and we cant keep relying on imports. Gradually our mills are closing down, our industries are shutting down and about 90 percent dependent on import. Most of the time when people place an order for any of our collections, you have to wait when you run out of fabric. In a creative industry such as ours, spontaneity is crucial as well. Sometimes you think something up and the time to execute it you wont have materials. This was why we decided to start designing our own patterns and fabrics so we could contain that and control resources for ourselves. Exchange rates and cost of production have tripled especially with imports and peoples earnings havent increased and we were asking people to pay three times their earnings. The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, Ogun Deputy Governor, Yetunde Onanuga and The Minister of State, Industries, Trades and Investments, Aisha Abubakar also graced the event. Other personalities spotted at the event include the Vangaurd Publisher, Sam Amuka, Bola Shagaya, Nkiru Anumudu, Lanre Da Silva, Mo Abudu amongst many others. In her remarks, Ogun Deputy Governor, Yetunde Onanuga, said, I must commend the designer for coming up with this creative and beautiful initiative for Adire. If you go round Ogun state you see women doing Adire in different fabrics and designs and I am glad that this collection is coming at this time. I am also excited to see Adire made into dinner and causal wears which is very encouraging for our local textile industries. Rather than travel abroad, you can shop quality Adire designs in Nigeria. Some people have been used to Ankara but Im glad that Adire is taking the lead. Each design in the Roots Collection stays true to the My Q aesthetic with the use of lace, colour and detailed beading. The designer also noted that each piece is also modern, wearable and reflective of the 21st-century woman. SKC Ogbonnia is a presidential aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In this interview with PREMIUM TIMES Ololade Bamidele, he speaks on his chances, the raging crisis in the party, the Buhari presidency and other issues. Excerpts: PT: In the run up to and for a while after the 2015 Presidential Election, you were a staunch supporter of President Muhammadu Buhari and it was even said that you supported his last campaign financially, so what informs your newspaper decision to contest against him in the forthcoming APC presidential election primary? Could it be anger at his purported non-performance or frustration with being left out of the government, like many party stalwarts have complained about? Ogbonnia: Let me set the record straight. I have said several times that God answered our prayers in 2015 by using Muhammadu Buhari to demonstrate that there are consequences for bad governance in Nigeria, especially at the presidential level. Having accomplished that feat, Buhari ought to simply emulate Nelson Mandela and exit with any sense of dignity. President Muhammadu Buhari has to come to terms with the reality that he no longer has what it takes to cope with the 21st Century Nigeria. Government job? First of all, does my style sound like someone begging for handouts or a government job? Of course not! So, I am not angry for being left out of government. If I really wanted to play big role in any government, I would have lobbied and gotten one or even capitalised on other opportunities that came my way under the Buhari administration. But I chose not to. PT: What other reasons would you regard as informing the loss of the massive goodwill that the present government at the federal level came into power with? And what would you consider to have deepened the seeming climate of widespread disenchantment with the APC government at the centre? Ogbonnia: President Buhari squandered the enormous goodwill because he came to power without the prerequisite knowledge about Nigerian leadership. The problem was exposed when he alienated the brains behind his victory and replaced them with primitive loyalists whose visions appear to belong to the stone age. This lack of knowledge was evident in his lopsided appointments and the critical confusions on how the rule of law and separation of power work in the presidential system. It is unfortunate but you can sum it up this way: Muhammadu Buhari has become a dictator without power. True. The president is no longer in charge, no longer has the influence. Notice that he cant even influence security agents, let alone the Nigerian people. Yet PMB is attempting to dictate. It is instructive that the legislature (controlled by Saraki of all people, a renegade Senate president from the ruling party) can impeach the president today with minimal lobby. And Mr. Buhari is being pumped up to seek second term? Mbaaa, not when I am in the race! As for the crisis within the APC, it is unfortunate. But, the truth be told, Buhari is the main problem. Of course, most of the big wigs in APC are aware that the president is very weak and unpopular and thus do not want him to seek second term. Even some of these guys now grandstanding as PMB 2019 promoters, particularly the likes of El-Rufai, Rochas Okorocha, and Bola Tinubu, wish Buhari could step aside so they can take a shot at the presidency. The R-APC people, such as Bukola Saraki, Rabiu Kwankwaso, and Tambuwal also want to be president in 2019. Unfortunately, these APC leaders do not seem to have the audacity to mute such ambition within the APC. Why? Your guess is as good as mine PT: Would there be any area in which you consider the Buhari administration to have performed creditably well, say in terms of whittling down the Boko Haram insurgency or in terms of the husbandry of the economy or possibly containing corruption, as the administration would want people to believe it has made such progress? Ogbonnia: Yes, the Buhari regime made good progress in area of the Boko Haram insurgence, agriculture, containing the economic recession, and vocalising the war against corruption. At least, unlike under President Goodluck Jonathan, corruption is now being drummed as stealing, and the importation of food has gone down dramatically. Truly, Buhari has performed far better than the PDP regimes of the past. But, by commission or omission, PMB has lost control of Nigeria. Moreover, we have candidates in the race better equipped to take Nigeria to the next level. So, even if Buhari fulfils all his promises, Nigerian masses will care less. The president has lost his leadership voice and needs to go. In short, even if Muhammadu Buhari recruits Barack Obama as a spokesman, the message wont stick. The damage is already done. PT: Do you think it is possible for you to defeat Buhari in the APC presidential primary, within the context of the fact that his preferred candidate, Adams Oshiomhole, has emerged as the partys national chairman? Ogbonnia: Good question! I will defeat President Buhari in a free and fair APC presidential primary. I was at the convention and mingled. The masses within APC do not like Buhari anymore, and I hope that their voices will be heard when the time comes. I am confident that APC will soon begin to see me as a better alternative. I have what it takes to make Nigeria an envy of the world. The international community, of course, trusts me more than President Buhari. I have no connection with any corrupt cabal. Best of all, I am determined to succeed where others have failed. So, how can the Nigerian masses be denied the opportunity of having me as their next president? Just compare me and Buhari and be the judge. Where do we begin? Again, I challenge PMB to a two-hour debate on our respective visions for our beloved country. As for Adams Oshiomhole, I still respect the comrade. In fact, I had ensured that APC delegates loyal to our campaign voted for him at the convention. But I am afraid he is starting on the wrong foot. Someone has to whisper to the comrade that party leadership is far from trade union activism. Party leadership thrives with dialoguenot sentimental protests. He was elected to be an unbiased umpirechairman for all, not APC chairman for Muhammadu Buhari. Rather, Oshiomhole has been going around, alienating members and deepening the crisis in the party. Recall that a couple of weeks ago, instead of seeking peace, he was attempting to marginalise the R-APC group. Before then, the same Oshiomhole was in Imo State, promoting unpopular candidates of the party in Muhammadu Buhari (for president) and the son-in-law of the governor of Imo State (for governor). This past week alone, he attempted to discount the other APC presidential aspirants who are expressing their democratic rights to challenge President Buhari for the partys primary. To Mr. Oshiomhole, Mr. President should not be challenged within APC, as if Buhari has suddenly become the Shah of Iran. Cmon PT: Since yours appears as the rhetoric of a loyal party man unlike the characteristic flip-flopping of the political class what informs your seeming allegiance to the APC within a context that has been described as one devoid of the politics of ideology? Ogbonnia: In APC, I still dream of a party that can give hope to the younger generation of Nigerians, a party where we can maximise the strengths of our diversity and resources towards a greater nation. Things are not going exactly as planned, but there is hope. The APC, our great party, remains a beacon of hope for our democratic future. So, instead of flip-flopping like your typical politicians, the situation calls for true leadership to reposition the party to its original ideals. And I see myself among the very few in the party that can profess the truth without minding whose ox is gored. That truth is that, although President Buhari means well, his style has become an impediment to the visions of APC. PT: What happens if you lose the primary contest? Would you remain in the party or seek the use of another platform to realise your ambition? Ogbonnia: Does APC want to lose to PDP in 2019? So, I do not see how APC can fall into the temptation of denying me the presidential ticket. Nigerians yearned for a figure to sack PDP and its corrupt empire in 2015, and Buhari was the answer. Today, the masses are fervently praying for a dynamic leader with the capacity to make Nigeria truly great. And I am that leader. But if the party chooses the unpatriotic path and denies me; God forbid, but PDP could come back under strange circumstances. That portends a troubling future. That is why I said after the convention that nominating Buhari ahead of me is worse than the annulment of June 12. Let me then address the part two of your question. No, I will never leave the partywin or lose. I will stay and help grow the party in line with the founding visions. I will also not solicit nor accept appointment from any government. I will dedicate my resources to growing the party without boundaries. PT: In terms of the fact that all politics is local in a fundamental sense, do you consider yourself has having the required following and structure at the local level that could be built up on in contesting national office? There are a few people who have wondered why you are not thinking of starting your political career at a more local possibly the state level before going straight to the centre? Ogbonnia: Lets face the truth. Nigerias major problem does not reside at the local or the state government level. It is at the centre. That problem is also not the lack of resources nor the policies. The problem is squarely the lack of the political will and the capacity to implement the policies to the admiration of the Nigerian masses. It requires a wholistic approach. For instance, I know, for sure, that I have the bullet-proof solutions for Nigeria on corruption, power supply, NNPC, education, healthcare, and youth employment, among others. Do you then prefer that I focus only on Enugu State or take on the entire country? I am listening PT: Are you also an American citizen or just a legal resident in the USA? How do you intend to negotiate this duality of your identity in relation to seeking the highest office in Nigeria? And did that have anything to do with the flagging off of your presidential aspiration with a declaration in the United States a while ago, and not in Nigeria? What sort of weight did you expect this to carry, considering that those in the Diaspora are still unable vote in their foreign bases at the moment? Ogbonnia: I am a full-fledged Nigerian citizen with just legal residence in the State of Texas, USA. The event in the USA was to intimate the Nigerian Diaspora community of my intent to seek the office of the presidency, and they expressed support. Nigerians do not vote yet while abroad, quite alright, but the Diaspora community matters. People who remit the equivalence of Nigerias annual budget matter. That money goes to their relations or organisations of influence in Nigeria. But I will make a formal declaration in Abuja after President Buhari does his. PT: If the present administration sought at the outset to essentially focus on the three-pronged concerns of enhancing the economy, national security and tackling the monster of corruption, what would be the critical issues of your political contest? And, how do you seek to achieve these in practical terms? Ogbonnia: Well, even if President Buhari scores one million percent in all areas, I will still oppose him at the APC primary for the 2019 election. So, the critical issue of my political context is that I am by far better, better equipped, better for Nigeria and the humankind than President Buhari at this point in history. PT: Nigerians often say politicians are the same, could this be true or whats the essential difference of your own value proposition? Ogbonnia: Do I sound like a typical politician? Of course, not! President Donald Trump and President Barack Obama cannot be said to be the same in terms of promises and fulfilment. So, I am different, uniquely different. I will do exactly what I say I will dogood things. And every Nigerian will be proud again. Instead of our youth and professionals trooping away from Nigeria, the youth and professionals from other countries will be begging for the Nigerian visa. PT: At this juncture, if we were to speak hypothetically: Supposing you lost your power bid, would you be willing to support any of the younger outliers of our political scene, such as Omoyele Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters; Kingsley Moghalu of the Young Progressive Party; Tope Fasua of ANRP; Ahmed Buhari, or Ahmed Baba Datti, etc.? Ogbonnia: Well, I am more familiar with Omoyele Sowore and Tope Fasua. At least, they are bold progressives. I know where they stood when it mattered most in 2015. I respect them, but I do not believe in a multiplicity of parties. A multiplicity of parties weaken opposition and can lead to bad leadership by consequence. So, I wish both Sowore and Fasua can come over to APC so we can join hands and defeat Buhari. The cases of Kingsley Moghalu and Ahmed Baba Datti are particularly interesting, though. They are brilliant scholars, quite alright, but they are applying for the wrong job. The point is that Moghalu and Baba Ahmed are basically old-school conservatives with the knack for quaint romanticisation of policies. The brothers have to recognise that the Nigerias real problem has never been lack of policies but the will to implement the policies. That requires a charisma, true charisma, which none of the two possesses. PT: Its been observed that the NNPC has been at the heart of corruption in Nigeria over the decades and even into the present administration, which has actually done very little to entrench a regime of transparency and accountability in the affairs of the Corporation. As a prominent oil sector actor, how would you practically seek to sanitise the NNPC if in the position to do so? Ogbonnia: I have always said that when there are no consequences for bad behaviour, the bad behaviour typically worsens. That is the problem with Nigeria (and) that is the problem with NNPC. See, I am proven. I know exactly what to do to regain the trust of the international community in the Nigerian oil industry, to get our refineries working within six months of gaining power, to eradicate corruption within NNPC. I know exactly what to do to maximise our oil and gas resources towards the greater good. Watch PT: Your party, the APC, appears to be in turmoil as some party members are threatening to pull out. Besides, with a record in office thats being constantly criticised across the country, do you think that Nigerians will give your party another chance at the presidency in 2019? Ogbonnia: APC is in crisis, no doubt, but there is hope. As noted earlier, Buharis second term aspiration is the problem. Nigerians will vote for APC if we can produce a younger, dynamic, visionary, and detribalised candidate for the presidency. Nigerians want ABBB: Any Body But Buhari. It is imperative, therefore, that we replace him within the APC ranks. PT: Some are of the view that it is time to give a South-Easterner a chance to lead Nigeria. Whats your attitude to this? Ogbonnia: I am not into zoning. I am running because I know I am the best person to lead Nigeria today. I pity those from the South-East who believe zoning is the only path to presidency of Igbo extraction. They are not the true Igbo, though. The true Igbo do not cling to excuses to fail. As my father, Chief Ilogebe Ogbonnia, would always say, a habit of excuses is the best friend of failure. PT: If elected, would you heed the call for a referendum to test the prolonged agitation for the Republic of Biafra? Ogbonnia: I am probably the only candidate that can discuss issue of Biafra without fear or favour. So, when elected, I will surely deal with issue of Biafra once and for all. It begins with the truth. That is the only way to quench the agitation for good. President Buhari blew a golden opportunity through the Biafran agitation to win the hearts of the Eastern region. Neither Buhari nor the governors from the Biafran territory of the South-East and South-South were honest in their approaches. I wrote extensively on the topic of Biafra during that time. Scan the Internet for these. I made it clear how PDP and APC created the new Biafran agitations, and how Buhari and Nnamdi Kanu are fighting the wrong enemies, among others. PT: The clamour for Biafra has subsided since the sudden disappearance of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra; what was your own attitude to Kanus methods in his call for the creation of a newer Republic of Biafra? Ogbonnia: Buharis crude approach on IPOP will create more problem in the future than solution. Nnamdi Kanu did a great job in highlighting the problems of neglect of the Biafran area, but his strategy is flawed. Again, like President Buhari, Mr. Kanu is fighting the wrong enemy. The people who underdeveloped the Eastern Nigeria of my generation are not Hausa/Fulani or Yoruba but the Easterners themselves. Didnt we have someone from the defunct Biafra as president in Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan? Didnt we have other powerful functionaries from the same area at the same time Jonathan was president, for example, Pius Anyim (SSG); Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (de facto Prime Minister); Godwin Emefiele (CBN); Diezani Madueke (Petroleum); Chinedu Nebo (Power); Stella Oduah (Aviation); Ike Ekweremadu (Deputy Senate President); Emeka Ihedioha (Deputy House Speaker); Ayogu Eze (Chair Senate Committee on Works); Ogbuefi Ozomgbachi (Chair House Committee on Works); Hope Uzodinma (Chair Senate Committee on Aviation), and the leadership of the various Niger Delta commissions, to name a few. Yet, the region remains grossly underdeveloped; no credible international airport or seaport in midst of the worst network of roads in the country? Therefore, instead of overheating the polity, Nnamdi Kanu and Muhammadu Buhari should have dialogued and then focus their energy on those South-East and South-South leaders who colluded with contractors to loot the development projects in the Biafran area, particularly during the reign of Brother Jonathan. PT: What do you think of the calls for the restructuring of Nigeria, and what practical approach would you take to address this issue if elected president? Ogbonnia: Leadership is a dynamic process. A good life is the product of a dynamic process. Good countries are dynamic. Restructuring is a dynamic process; it is all about positive change. But it appears we are over-drumming the restructuring of Nigeria as if it is the sole panacea to our myriad of problems. Of course, there is the urgent need to correct the inequitable creation of local governments and states by the military. There is also a great need to scrap the Nigerian Senate, because there is nothing the Senate can do that the Federal House cannot do, except duplication of corrupt loopholes. Yet, the whole idea of restructuring is not the main problem. A restructuring with bad leaders is like attempting to fetch water with a basket. What Nigeria direly needs is a visionary, detribalised, and charismatic leader, who has the will and capacity to unleash the abundant potential of Nigeria to greatness. And Nigeria is blessed with that leader. With benevolent commitment to the human kind and the posterity, I make bold to say that I am that leader. Now is the time. For we are set to succeed where others have failed. Mention family planning to her, and brace yourself for at least a minute spell of enmity with Deborah, her husband says. For many years, Henry has appealed to his wife that the family adopt a contraceptive method to limit the number of children they have. My wife does not believe in any form of protection. I have been trying to make her adopt a method for many years now, but she will always tell me shes not interested, Henry told PREMIUM TIMES. Henrys insistence on family planning could be linked to the economic reality of the family. He, a National Diploma holder of the Lagos State Polytechnic, popularly known as LASPOTECH, earns N23,000 monthly working as a security guard in Lagos while Deborah earns an irregular amount working as an attendant in a pub at the Mile 2 area of Lagos. The pressure to get Deborah adopt a family planning method started in 2012 after the couple had their second child. After our second child, I told her to make plans to do family planning but she rejected it instantly. I kept pestering her about it but she will tell me that she doesnt like it. That it is not good. Other times, she will tell me that she wont enjoy it (sex) well if we do family planning. She doesnt just want to hear anything about it, a frustrated Henry said of his wife. The birth of their third child in 2015 was followed by many rounds of persuasion for Deborah to embrace family planning, again, the plea fell on deaf ears. Then came the fourth pregnancy in 2017, one which almost took her life. Due to early signs of complications, as against what she used to experience, the couple, from second month of conception registered for ante-natal sessions in a private hospital. Things were moving fine until two days to the Deborahs expected day of delivery when she collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. After being stabilised in the private hospital, the doctor informed Henry his wife needed urgent attention which the hospital could not provide as her blood pressure has drastically shot up. Deborah was referred to the Gbagada General Hospital for further attention. She was diagnosed as having hypertension and when it was time to deliver of the baby, she couldnt do it on her strength. She had to be cut up to save her and the baby, or at least her life, the doctor informed Henry. She underwent the surgery two days later and fortunately, she and her baby survived. Its now a family of five. Deborah is currently recuperating from the bruises she sustained when she collapsed and from the surgery. She declined to talk to PREMIUM TIMES. Henry however is not fully sure she will agree to family planning after rehabilitation. They asked us to come for counselling when shes fully healed. I have talked to her again and it seems she will do it this time but Im not fully sure yet, Henry said. Like Deborah, many wives in Lagos, the most populated state in Nigeria, reject family planning for several reasons. FAMILY PLANNING IN LAGOS In Nigeria, like many parts of Africa, the habitual practice is such that husbands discourage their wives from adopting family planning. But in Lagos, arguably the most populous state in Nigeria, the reverse is becoming the case. The National Population Commission of Nigeria puts the Lagos population at over 21 million in 2016 with analysts warning of the dangers of overpopulation which the state is currently facing. To stem rapid increase in population, especially through procreation, family planning methods, through the use of contraceptives, have been proposed as potent means. These contraception comes in three broad forms: the long-acting reversible contraception, the short-acting reversible contraception and permanent methods. The long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) are methods of birth control that provide effective contraception for an extended period without requiring user action. They include injections, intrauterine devices (IUDs) and subdermal contraceptive implants. On the other hand, the short-acting contraceptives (SARC) have to be used in short time intervals such as in case of condoms, and daily intake of pills. While the SARC are handy and ready to use, some Lagos wives detest the use of LARC methods for certain reasons. FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN For some of wives, the fear of the unknown casts doubts on their disposition towards embracing family planning, especially the LARC methods. This fear has been fending off Adeyemi Adebisi, a mother of two who will never agree to any LARC family planning method. Adeyemi Adebisi (1) Her husband, a trader, has been on her neck since the birth of their first child, Fola, in 2011; but she wont yield even after the birth of her second, Bose, in 2015. I have never used it (implant) before. Even if its for one day, I dont want, the 33-year-old said pulling a face of disgust. Most of the people I see around me adopt the implants have defects. Some start with swelling of the belly. You will see that she is not fat but its just the belly that is coming out. For others, it will delay their menstruation from flowing well. For some other people, they may have three days flow normally but once they do family planning, it will increase to 10 days. The greatest fear is how to get pregnant again. I have a friend, she took an implant which was supposed to work for two months, and it took her up to two years before she got pregnant again. Her insistence has resulted in mild and sometimes fierce confrontations between her and her husband. but she is not willing to give up the fight anytime soon. To partially accede to his wish, Mrs Adebisi uses post-pills, but in situations when it doesnt work effectively, she has her own way of washing (aborting) the pregnancy. There is this mixture I use whenever it (pregnancy) comes. There are some things we combine for slimming, we call it combo water. It contains ginger, garlic, turmeric and some other things like that. Once I drink it, it will wash whatever is there away. If Ive missed my period for some days, it will surely come, she said. Like Mrs Adebisi, Precious Michael, 23, will not succumb to her husbands pressure because of experiences some LARC family planning users have shared with her. Michael Precious (1) Beyond fertility complications, she is worried about physical deformation some of her friends told her about. The mother of two still wants to be in good shape, hence, her argument for rejection of LARC method. I dont like it, at all. When I was pregnant for my first child, I heard several experiences. If you do it for two years and remove it thereafter, you will have to wait for four years before you will be able to conceive again. You will also see some people, they will be fat and their cheeks will become puffy. They will just be shapeless. I dont want to be like that, she said. To avoid her husbands wrath, which has started coming in form of threats, Precious in June told him she would be thinking about it. Precious was still thinking about it on the day this reporter interviewed her. MORE FEARS Favour Adebayo, a student of Kwara State University will get married by December; but she already envisages her life with her partner. Even though, her partner wanted her to adopt an LARC method, Favour has been able to convince him to seek other methods of preventing pregnancy. She says: Though, people have been saying it. I and my spouse have been having several discussions on how to space our children but what have been hearing about it, I dont like it. I just have to convince him. I dont like a situation where I will be menstruating for a week, two weeks, one month and the thing will be rushing or a situation where I will be adding weight. Some people will say they do it, they miss their periods for like six months. Some will menstruate for long, some will be like, they opened tap. Some people will do it and become big. Those things piss me off. I dont like doing it. I dont even have interest. I dont think I can ever do it because of all this Im hearing and seeing it. She will continue to use condom or find alternative means, she says with finality. HUSBANDS RIDICULOUS THREAT Adekunle Sodiq, a welder, who resides in the Ketu axis of Lagos is one of those husbands that had challenges in talking their wives into adopting LARC method of family planning. He, however, got her into it in a most ridiculous manner. After the birth of their second child in 2011, Mr Sodiq said he instructed his wife to visit a family planning provider to know which method would work best for her. She didnt. Her disobedience resulted in a pregnancy which the two never prepared for in 2013. Adekunle Sodiq I was the one that introduced it to her. After our third child, I told her to go for family planning. She told me she doesnt want it. Then I threatened her that I will continue to do it (have sex with her) and shell continue to bear children. And she will take responsibility for the children. That was how she embraced it. She took the one of five years. Mr Sodiq said he has quit childbearing and would make his wife continue to use the implant until she reaches menopause. MISCONCEPTIONS UNTRUE EXPERTS Family planning providers say the womens negative mind-set could be attributed to poor access to information. A retired nurse and family planning consultant, Adekoya Abiola. shared her experience on how she talks such wives into taking up family planning. Its through counselling. I counsel them, I look for people who can share positive experiences with them so as to convince them. And from there, some of them will say yes and take an implant. To prevent maternal mortality rate, FP (family planning) is the way. It has to be reduced. FP will prevent unwanted and unplanned pregnancy. By that, it wont put the life of the mother in danger. So, I think that is the way. Data from the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) puts maternal mortality rate in Lagos at 555 per 100,000 live births with a contraceptive prevalence rate of 48.3 per cent. Lagos State mega city This is milder in contrast to a national figure of 576 per 100,000 live births and 15.1 per cent. The Lagos State Team Lead of the Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (NURHI) II, Edun Omasanjuwa, said the excuses given by the women are mere misconceptions borne out of misinformation or lack of information. He, however, noted that effects such as weight gain, delayed menstruation and delayed conceptions are all part of the undesirable effects of using family planning. For hormonal contraceptives, its part of the undesirable effects. The persons water retention will be higher. Once your body retains water, chances are that youll begin to add weight. Thats why we usually ask women who are hypertensive not to use hormonal methods because it would further increase the blood pressure. We also advise women who are above 75kg not to use hormonal method because, chances are that first, you will add more weight and secondly, it will not last up to five years. For example, because of the undesirable effects, you see some women go from size eight to size 10. But by the time you see a size eight go to like 14 in space of two years, it is no longer the drug. It is as a result of other factors. Mr Edun added that delayed menstruation should not be seen as abnormal. Because the hormonal methods work on your hormones, some people, for the period they are on hormonal contraceptives, might not see their periods. If they are taking it for three months, six months or even a year, they may not see their periods. Absence of menstrual period is not a disease. The fear in some people is that when they dont menstruate, the menstruation is accumulating in their body which is false. What they should understand is that menstruation is as a result of the body trying to prepare for pregnancy. When you are not on hormonal method, the body, every month prepares to carry a child. By the end of that month, if that child does not come, all the preparation the body has done is nothing. There is no ovulation, there is nothing to prepare, so at the end of the month, there is nothing to churn out. Thats why some people dont see their menstruation. For delay in conception, the family planning expert said it is normal if it doesnt go beyond six months. Depending on the method, your fertility can return almost immediately or in some cases up to three, six months. But if it goes beyond six months and gets to one year, the reason is beyond the method We have found out that most of the time, there is usually a secondary reason for which most of these women dont pay attention to. FAMILY PLANNING SHOULD BE IN CONSTITUTION EXPERT For Babafunke Fagbemi, a family planning expert and Executive Director, Centre for Communication and Social Impact (CCSI), family planning should be listed as a basic and fundamental human right of Nigerians in the constitution. This move, she opined, will bridge the gap of availability of the full range of safe and effective family planning methods that are fundamental to saving the lives of women and adolescents as well as a key factor in the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. The theme of this years World Population Day is speaking to the many myths and misconceptions about modern family planning methods, it is a direct attack on norms and cultures that seek to criminalise or ridicule those who have chosen to plan their family. The government and our lawmakers must rise up and play a key role in ensuring the well-being of Nigerian women and ensuring their human right to family planning is one way to go, Mrs Fagbemi said. We need to let people know that modern family planning method is safe and people can actually return to their fertility once they are ready. Perhaps, if this message is relayed to Lagos women, their conceptions about family planning will change. Editors Note: Names of respondents except the experts changed (on request) to protect their identities. About 30 adolescent gets infected with HIV per hour About 30 adolescents particularly girls within the age range of 15 to 19 get infected with HIV every hour, a report by the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF) said. The health agency said while there has been substantial progress in the fight against AIDS in the last two decades, the failure to prevent so many new infections among children and teenagers is slowing this down. The epidemics spread among adolescent girls is being fuelled by early sex, including with older men, forced sex, powerlessness in negotiating around sex, poverty and lack of access to confidential counselling and testing services. Adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19 account for almost two thirds of the three million under-19 year-olds living with HIV. HIV Does Not Spread Through Kissing Scientists Twenty world leading HIV scientists have debunked some assumptions and myths about HIV infection stressing that there was no possibility of HIV transmission through contact with the saliva of an HIV-positive person, including through kissing, biting or spitting. The experts, in HIV research, epidemiology and patient care, issued the consensus at the 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018) in Amsterdam, Netherlands. They said the risk of transmission from a single act of unprotected sex was very low. They added that there is no possibility of HIV transmission during vaginal or anal sex when the HIV-positive partner has an undetectable viral load. Among the 20 co-authors of the statement were a Nobel Laureate, Francoise Barre-Sinoussi of the Pasteur Institute, Salim Abdool Karim of Columbia University and Chris Beyrer of John Hopkins University. Pregnant Women With Smoking Partners Pregnant women whose partners are smokers may face higher risks of miscarriage, according to a recent Chinese research. Conducted by the Research Institute of the National Health Commission, the research was based on data of 5.8 million non-smoking pregnant women and their partners, who participated in Chinas free pre-pregnancy checkups from 2010 to 2016. After the follow-up research of pre-pregnancy, early pregnancy, and pregnancy outcomes, researchers found that pregnant women whose partners smoke are 17 per cent more likely to miscarry than those with non-smoking partners. The risk of miscarriage increases as the amount of paternal smoking increases. 5,000 Nigerian Doctors In South Africa The Consul General (CG) of Nigeria in South Africa, Godwin Adama, has said there were 5,000 Nigerian Medical practitioners working in various teaching, public and private hospitals in South Africa. The Vice Consul, Information and Culture, David Abraham, said this shows that virtually every hospital in South Africa has a sizeable number of Nigerian doctors. According to him, South Africa is replete with many Nigerian professionals who are contributing to the economic development in both public and private sectors in the country. Cholera Death Toll Hits 186 In Six Months NCDC The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, said cholera has claimed the lives of 186 people across the country in the last six months. According to the health agency, 16,008 cases of cholera were reported from 16 affected states since the beginning of the year. Although new cases are said to be on the decline, cholera cases are still being reported from eight states including; Adamawa, Bauchi, Kano, Katsina, Kogi, Zamfara, Plateau and Kaduna. Prince Harry, Elton John launch HIV campaign Britains Prince Harry joined pop star Elton John to launch a campaign to raise HIV awareness among men, warning that dangerous complacency about the virus threatened the quest to wipe it out. The billion-dollar project MenStar will target men living with or at risk of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, which has been ravaged by AIDS since the 1980s. Around 36.7 million people around the world have HIV, according to 2016 figures cited by the UNs HIV and AIDS body UNAIDS. Fewer than half of men living with HIV receive treatment compared with 60 per cent of women, it said. Diabetes: Switching To Common Drugs Raises Risk A new research has found that switching diabetic medication to a class of drugs called sulfonylureas could raise the risk of complications for people living with type 2 diabetes. The study led by Samy Suissa from McGill University Quebec, Canada and published in the journal BMJ was set out to investigate how safe it is for patients with type 2 diabetes to switch from taking metformin, a standard first-line anti-diabetic drug to taking sulfonylureas, often prescribed to control blood sugar level when metformin alone fails. It was deduced from the study that it was safer to continue metformin than switching. The study found that adding or switching to sulfonylureas was linked with higher risk of a heart attack, death from any causes and severe hypoglycemia. Side Effects Of Painkillers Worse In Alzheimers A recent study has demonstrated that pain relief drugs produce more pronounced side effects when taken by people with dementia. Dementia is a growing concern because it cannot be reversed. Understanding the best way to care for the people with advance dementia is very important because most of them live with pain which usually goes unnoticed or poorly managed. Although paracetamol is generally the first line of pain treatment, opioids are also usually prescribed. However, researchers from the University of Exeter, Kings College London and University of Bergen, Norway found that taking opioids have side effects such personality changes, sedation and confusion on the patients as compared to those taking placebo Sanitation in Nigeria continues to decline,even as 70 million persons still lack potable water despite efforts by governments and partners to improve access. Amidst the challenges, reprieve has come to a community in Anambra State, which practised open defecation. The Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS 5), revealed that access to basic sanitation has steadily reduced in Nigeria between 2000 and 2015. This is also as open defecation has worsened between 2010 and 2015. Sanitation in the country is quite alarming, the survey adds, as over 110 million people lack access to improved sanitation in 2013 while about 46 million people still practice open defecation. About 70 million Nigerians still lack access to potable water supply, the survey said. With this continuous decline in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Nigeria may likely not meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG) on WASH. The SDG goal 6 states that countries must achieve universal and equitable access to potable water for all, achieve access to adequate sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation. Open defecation and poor hygiene have been linked to increased diarrhoea cases, which in turn affects the nutritional status of children. Every year, an estimated 124,000 children under the age of 5 die because of diarrhoea. Speaking during a media dialogue on WASH in Anambra State, last month, a specialist with the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), Mainga Banda, said about 130 million Nigerians use unimproved sanitation facilities, with majority of them living in rural areas. Mrs Banda, while quoting the MICS5 published in 2017, said that over 46 million people still practice open defecation, which ranks Nigeria 3rd among countries in the world with such people. She said, Despite all effort, sanitation is declining instead of improving and this calls for concern. The trend in water availability between year 2000 and 2015 revealed that the gradient is going up instead of declining, same with sanitation especially in the rural area. WASH plays a critical role in improving health, nutrition and hygiene in Nigeria. So it is a necessity for Nigeria to curb issues of water borne and sanitation related diseases to meet its SDG 6 by 2030, she said. Mrs Banda also noted that most people in rural areas still lack latrines, basic hand washing tools, among others, which if not provided will keep worsening sanitation in the country. Anambra Communal Reprieve Meanwhile, the European Union assisted Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reform Project (WSSSRP) has continued to build strong institutions and systems for effective and sustainable water services delivery. Six states which include Anambra, Cross River, Jigawa, Kano, Osun and Yobe states are benefiting from the initiative. A visit to Ononaku Ezinifite, a community in Aguata LGA, Anambra State with over 2,000 residents, reveals the benefit of the project to the people, especially those in the rural communities. The secretary, WASHCOM unit in the community, Ike Christian, said the project has relieved them (residents) of a lot of stress. He noted that before the introduction and completion of the project, children used to go to a distance to fetch water for home use and people made use of the nearby bushes to defecate. Mr Ike said since the provision of the facilities, there has not been reported cases of any water-borne disease in the community. He added that people now take care of their environment because of the orientation they are getting from WASHCOM officials in the community. He also said the officials are making efforts to ensure that the facility is secured. A resident of the community, Nathan Ofoma, said since the completion of the project, people no longer defecate openly. He laments that before now, residents rely majorly on rain water as there is no single river in the community. The Programme Manager, Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA), Ministry of Public Utilities and Water Resources, Anambra State, Ezekwo Victor said the state government was committed to WASH. He also said they have completed 33 water supply schemes, the compilation of phase 11 rehabilitation works for non functional boreholes, among others. He noted that the state has also rehabilitated 116 non-functional boreholes across the state. The project was co-funded by EU and the Anambra State government with 70 per cent EU/UNICEF support and 30 per cent from the state government. It was a public procurement concept awarded to the lowest bidder. The political clime was well heated in the outgoing week, with defections, withdrawals, accusations and counter-accusations very widespread. The centre of activity was the National Assembly where over two scores of lawmakers decided to switch allegiance to other parties. While Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, continues to play the dumb game, a gubernatorial candidate was caught lying about his educational status. Here are some of the political high points from the past week. Sunday The PDP in a statement criticised the APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, for his efforts to persuade R-APC members from leaving the party In its reaction, the APC said the PDP is only looking for life after death as it struggles to hide its bad image under the new coalition. Governor Muhammadu Bindow of Adamawa State described as malicious and false an online report alleging that he gave N70 million to organisers a rally in Yola by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, a presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party. In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kassim Afegbua, on Sunday, the rAPC said it is too late for President Muhammadu Buhari and the party to start making peace and reconciliation moves to stop their defection from the ruling APC. Monday If the minister refuses we will suspend him from the party, the National Chairman of APC, Adams Oshiomhole said, as he threatened to sack the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, from the ruling party, APC. As fall out of the APC primary, the Secretary to Osun State Government, Moshood Adeoti, resigned his appointment and defected to the Action Democratic Party (ADP). Contrary to online reports, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, debunked speculations about juicy offers being made to him and his associates as part of the on-going discussions with the presidency and leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Ahead of expected defection, Acting Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Chukwudi Onyema, declared that he will become the House leader in a few days. The PDP expelled Ogun State senator, Buruji Kashamu, alongside three others; Bayo Dayo, Segun Sarki and Sanimu Sodipo from the party. The Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, summoned Senate President Bukola Saraki over the killing of 31 persons following an armed robbery attack in his home state of Kwara. In a statement Monday night, the Force Headquarters circulated a June 23, 2018 letter which Mr Idris wrote to Mr Saraki, asking him to turn himself in to clarify grey areas in his statement. Mr Saraki, in a swift reaction said the invitation was an afterthought designed to achieve political purpose. I have been reliably informed that the police invitation was planned by IG as a ploy to stop an alleged plan by some Senators and House of Representatives members from defecting from the All Progressives Congress (APC). It was also said that if I was detained betweenTuesday and Wednesday, that will abort the so-called defection plan, he said. Mr Kashamu said that his expulsion from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party would not stand, as it did not follow due process. Tuesday Security agencies laid siege on the homes of Senate President Bukola Saraki and Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu in Abuja. Sen. Saraki Making his way into the Senate chambers Mr Saraki escaped the siege, entered the chamber and presided over the days plenary. The security siege on Mr Ekweremadus house was only lifted later in the day. About 15 senators of the APC defected from the ruling party. Eleven joined PDP, two ADC, one said he remained in APC and a last, Lanre Tejuosho reversed his defection. Shortly after the defection, Oyo Central senator, Monsurat Sunmonu, clarified that she defected to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and not the opposition PDP. Similarly, the senator representing Oyo South Senatorial District, Soji Akanbi, debunked claims that he defected from APC to PDP. Mr Akanbi, while addressing journalists shortly after plenary on Tuesday said he remains a bona fide member of the APC. A while after the Senate defections, 37 members of the House of Representatives left APC. Of this number, 32 joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) while four joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC). One later announced he was also leaving the APC but did not state his new party. Members of the House of Reps A member of the House of Representatives, representing Oshodi/Isolo Federal Constituency of Lagos State, Tony Nwulu, announced his defection from PDP to UPP. After a meeting with President Buhari, National Chairman of APC, Adams Oshiomhole, said that he is happy that some lawmakers left his party for opposition parties. He said they were mercenaries who were in APC just to win election. Around 3.30 p.m. when PREMIUM TIMES reporter visited, the siege had been lifted on Mr Ekweremadus house. Some senators visited Mr Ekweremadu to express solidarity with him on his travails. In his reaction to defections, Mr Buhari said none of the defecting federal lawmakers of the APC had any specific grievances against him or the government he leads; neither did he harbour anything against any of them. He also said their movement will not affect the APCs electoral chances. Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, said the APC still holds majority in the Senate with 52 lawmakers against PDPs 50. Presidency in a statement denied Mr Buhari orchestrated the siege on the two Senate leaders as insinuated in some quarters. Wednesday President Buhari met with members of the Parliamentary Support Group of the Upper Chamber Chapter at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state announced his defection from APC to PDP. Thursday The Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Ita Enang, said lawmakers who defected from the APC on Tuesday were angry at some governors and party leaders and not Mr Buhari. Ben Murray-Bruce, claimed his colleague, Dino Melaye, had been abducted by unknown gunmen. Mr Murray-Bruce, one of the key allies of Mr Melaye at the Senate, disclosed this on Twitter. Senator Dino Melaye [Photo credit: Mr. Melayes Instagram handle] The police on Thursday said they are investigating the purported kidnap of Mr Melaye. Police spokesperson Jimoh Moshood said in aThursday night statement said that the Force Headquarters only read of the news of Mr Melaye in the media, but has no unique details about the development. The lawmaker representing Osun Central in the Nigerian Senate, Olusola Adeyeye, said he could not make it to the senators meeting with Mr Buhari because the notice got to him late. Friday The recent defection of a former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, and lawmakers from the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) will not affect the partys chances politically, governor of the state, Abdullahi Ganduje, said. Kaduna Central senator, Shehu Sani, said the chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomole, a leader of the party, Bola Tinubu, and the national chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party, Balarabe Musa, prevented him from defecting. The former senator representing Kaduna Central in the National Assembly, Shehu Sani Mr Melaye said in on Twitter at about 11:00 a.m. Friday that he escaped an attack on him, saying he would continue to prevail over his enemy. This came almost 24 hours after his associates claimed he was kidnapped. The senator representing Osun West Senatorial District PDPs and gubernatorial candidate in the coming Osun elections, Nurudeen Adeleke,did not graduate from Jacksonville State University (JSU), says the authorities of the public university located in Alabama, United States. Contrary to his profile on the National Assembly website that he has a Diploma in Criminology from JSU and graduated in 1986, the university in a response to inquiry by ICIR said though the senator enrolled at the tertiary institution, he did not graduate. Mr Adeleke joins a growing list of public officials who have lied about their educational status and achievements. Saturday made it three weeks since PREMIUM TIMES exposed the finance minister Kemi Adeosun of parading a forged NYSC certificate. The minister has simply kept mum about the forgery while Nigerians call on the president to act. Saturday The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the Buhari presidency has become a citadel of liars where lies are churned out daily to deceive Nigerians. Mr Buhari in a statement said his supporters have begun what may be interpreted as political campaigns in their advocacies and advertisements in the mass media. While a chronicle of the achievements of the administration is in order now, outright canvasing may amount to jumping the gun. We appreciate our massive supporters nationwide, and urge them to exercise restraint till the race commences officially as stipulated by law, a statement by Mr Buharis aide, Femi Adesina said. Also, Rabiu Kwankwaso, one of the senators who defected to the PDP, said he believed President Muhammadu Buhari would not win in Kano in 2019. Mr Buhari got his largest votes in 2015 in Kano, then governed by Mr Kwankwaso, who now seeks to govern Nigeria on the PDP ticket. Mr Kwankwaso, through his aide, was reacting to the transport minister, Rotimi Amaechi. Governor Nasir El-Rufai has described senators who defected from the All Progressive Congress (APC) as corrupt politicians who are afraid of being arrested if President Buhari wins his second term bid. The governor said President Buhari dislikes corruption and will not work with any corrupt politician to cheat Nigeria. PREMIUM TIMES reported how 14 senators and 37 members of the House of Representatives left the APC. Majority, including a Kaduna senator, Suleiman Hunkuyi, joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Mr El-Rufai described the defecting senators as enemies of President Buhari and Nigerians. He disclosed this while answering questions during a Hausa media chat aired on radio stations in the state on Thursday. According to him, Mr Buhari made only three promises to Nigerians during 2015 elections: address insecurity (Boko Haram), improve the economy and fight corruption. Why did these people (senators) leave APC? Its because they love bribe and were afraid of what President Muhammadu Buhari will do to them if he gets re-elected. This is just the truth. What joined them together is that they love bribery and corruption and they are afraid President Buhari will deal with them. Nobody will criticise this government for lack of performance because they are trying their best. If the senators were honestly supporting the president, he would have achieved more than what he currently achieved; but instead they are sabotaging his effort, he said. According to him, the Senate leadership under Senate President Bukola Saraki is the worst in Nigerias history. He gave them budget (2018), they sat over it for 7-8 months without passage. The House of Representative members are more honest and trustworthy. But those in the Senate have nothing in mind rather than looking for money. Senate leadership under Bukola Saraki is the worst and no good leadership in the Senate. Mr El-Rufais criticism of Mr Saraki has been replied by a pro-Saraki senator, Rafiu Ibrahim (PDP, Kwara). Mr Ibrahim alleged that Mr El-Rufai is angry at Mr Saraki because of the Senates refusal to approve $350 million loan sought by the Kaduna State Government from funders. Former Senate President, Bukola Saraki Speaking further on the defections, Mr El-Rufai said its not surprising because we have been hearing that many senators will defect. We heard about it even though some of the senators whose names appeared among those that defected denied it. We have been assured that our party (APC) still controls majority in the senate. I have confidence in our new party chairman Adams Oshiomhole that he will handle the issue well and any governor in his state will also take measures. Adams Oshiomhole We were also told that apart from the senators, there are also governors that will defect. We wish them well because we know those who cannot win election in their homes among them. They are only elected into Senate based on Buharis factor or popularity. Majority of them were elected because their election was conducted same day with President Buhari. If they think they can win alone, we wish them luck. The Kaduna governor also spoke on some federal lawmakers who defected from his state. In Kaduna, we have 11 APC House of Reps members. Later, (Adams) Jagaba left for PDP and two others too; leaving us with eight. We were told that there may be spies among those remaining but all we know is that President Buharis heart is clean and whoever plans to cheat him, God will expose him. The governor also hinted at possible reconciliation with aggrieved APC members in the state. One of the Kaduna senators expected to defect, Shehu Sani, declined to. Mr Sani, who has been having a running battle with Mr El-Rufai, said he was prevailed upon by APC leaders including Mr Oshiomhole that his grievances would be reviewed. The former senator representing Kaduna Central in the National Assembly, Shehu Sani So, we in Kaduna, whoever says he is with us in this party, we will give him a chance, Mr El-Rufai said. Even though our state party chairman has set up committee for reconciliation and we agree to that. This is because its possible there are party members that worked for the party but were forgotten because we are human being and so it is possible to offend some people. We know those who assisted the party and we know those who did not. We know those who collected money from PDP on election day but after we won the election they came out to claim they worked for the party. Suleman Hunkuyi representing Kaduna North. [photo credit: Daily Trust] Those we offended, we are ready to take corrections, anybody that worked for the party but we forgot to give him anything we will take measures and corrections. But we will not seat or reconcile with enemies of the people those who are against the people and are not ready to work for the masses We are not going to sit with selfish individual who only think of themselves because we came into politics to protect the interest of the masses. We cant share the masses wealth with such people because masses elected us not elites. A Nigerian senator who was feared kidnapped earlier this week has provided a blow-by-blow account of his unpleasant experience to PREMIUM TIMES. Dino Melaye, representing Kogi West Senatorial District, was widely assumed to have been abducted after his associates claimed he ran into unknown assailants as he travelled towards Kogi State. One of his Senate colleagues, Ben Murray-Bruce, who alerted the public to the development on Thursday morning, said the incident occurred along the Abuja-Lokoja Highway. Mr Melayes aides and family members later told PREMIUM TIMES the senator was attacked shortly after Gwagwalada, a major town in the FCT and home to the University of Abuja, while travelling to Lokoja. The senator said he was on his way to court for a third appearance in his ongoing trial for alleged criminal conspiracy. News of the purported abduction spread quickly, and many started drawing divergent conclusions as to what might have happened. His spokesperson, Gideon Ayodele, told PREMIUM TIMES the violence was reported at Gwagwalada police division, but did not elaborate on the specific account provided to the police. As at early Thursday afternoon when the news had become a trending topic, the police did not issue any statement on the reported attack on the senator. A statement later came in later Thursday, in which the police cast strong doubts about Mr Melayes abduction and also denied claims by Mr Melayes aides that the matter was reported. The police, however, said they would investigate Mr Melayes whereabouts and rescue him if necessary, urging citizens with actionable information to pass such to authorities. A police source told PREMIUM TIMES on Friday morning that plans were underway to uncover Mr Melayes location, especially since his family members did not say they received calls from anyone for ransom. But just before noon on Friday, Mr Melaye, whose social media accounts were missing in action since Thursday morning, suddenly posted an update on Twitter, announcing he had escaped attack and thanking the public for showing concern for his safety. The announcement shocked many, especially since there were already assumptions that Mr Melaye might have faked his own abduction to excuse himself from court appearance. Sources close to him also hinted PREMIUM TIMES that Mr Melaye had called in to inform them that he had escaped an attack, but needed time to recover from the shock before telling the public. Several conspiracy theories about what happened to Mr Melaye quickly shaped up, and by weekend, some of them, especially the part that said he made a poor attempt at escaping court appearance, had become entrenched in the Nigerian social media. Burn him, burn him down In a lengthy discussion with PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday afternoon, Mr Melaye narrated his own version of what he said unfolded along the Abuja-Lokoja Highway. In all, he confirmed he was not abducted, but that he was not the architect of his ordeal either. He said he was travelling from Abuja to Lokoja for a court appearance on Thursday morning and shortly after passing Gwagwalada, which is roughly 50 kilometres southwest of Abuja, a convoy of three vehicles drove recklessly by his vehicle, intercepting him on the highway and forcing him to stop. He said the assailants tried to open fire to force themselves into the vehicle, only to realise that it was a well-fortified vehicle with bullet-proof. Without much time to waste at the scene, the attackers devised an alternative. They started shouting that they wanted to burn me, they said burn him, burn him down, and crossed the road to look for tyres to set the vehicle on fire, Mr Melaye said. As the attackers dispersed in different directions to scavenge for tyres, Mr Melaye said he feared for his life and made instinctive calculation to jump into the bush and bolt, rather than remained in the car in defiance. I jumped into the bush, and I started running, Mr Melaye said. They pursued me and I was able to outmanoeuvre them and climb a tree. I was on top of the three when I saw them run past looking frantically for me. When they didnt find me, they also ran back. The senator said it was on the tree that he perched until his assailants left. While on the tree, he saw four of them passing, but remained hushed to avoid being detected. He would go on to spend 11 hours trying to ensure that he was no longer at immediate risk from his assailants and navigating his way out of the overgrown weeds. He also said he could not identify any of them, even if there is an identification parade by authorities, largely because he was more apprehensive of his survival than anything else at that traumatic moment. Mr Melaye said he believed those who attempted to attack him were police-sponsored elements. He said when he appeared in court on Wednesday for his attempted suicide trial at the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Apo, he saw some men trailing him after the proceeding. He described the vehicles the men were driving as two Toyota Hilux trucks and a Toyota Sienna minivan. They were exactly the same vehicle that were used to attack me on Thursday morning, he said. He was driving to Lokoja in a vehicle not previously known with him, in a bid to disguise his move to those who were trailing him. I was going in a totally different vehicle, but I asked my brother to drive behind me in an SUV as a back-up, he said. But I was shocked to see the attackers run into the middle, creating wall between my brother and I before attacking me. He said his brother immediately performed a U-turn, a task that was by and large seamless since he was not the target of the assailants. Illogical narrative Mr Melaye said he is still being haunted by the event of four days ago, and called on Nigerians to prevail on federal authorities to restore his security. He urged citizens to disregard the claims that he was somehow involved in planning the attack on him. It defies logical, the claim is illogical, Mr Melaye said. To begin with, the federal government and the police in particular have combined five cases against me in court, Mr Melaye said. I have never declined to appear in court for trial in all the five separate cases. He said the claim that he was trying to avoid court appearance should immediately ring false to lucid minds, especially since he was in court just a day before. Besides, Mr Melaye said, the court appearance in Lokoja was more about symbolism than substance. This was because he had learnt from his lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, that the case would not be heard on Thursday because prosecution lead had already written to notify of his unavoidable absence and seek adjournment. FILE: The Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara paid Senator Dino Melaye a visit at the hospital bed Alex Izinyon is the prosecutor and he had written to my lawyer to inform him that he would not be in court on Thursday and that the judge should adjourn the matter, Mr Melaye said. So why would I not want to be in court when I know that nothing would happen to me? Mr Melaye said. Moreover, Mr Melaye further told PREMIUM TIMES that Nigerians should remember that he was granted bail by the same court in Lokoja, which he had continued to enjoy and had made three previous appearances. I have been attending all previous court hearings. I have been told that the prosecutor wanted an adjournment. I have been granted bail long ago which I continue to enjoy. So why would I not want to go to court that day? There is no sense in that claim. It is completely against logic, Mr Melaye said. Right, not privilege Mr Melaye said as a citizen, he is entitled to security if he informed the authorities of a credible threat to his life. So now that I am even a senator of the federal republic, how do you withdraw my security and leave me exposed, especially when I have escaped four previous assassination attempts? Mr Melaye said. He said his security was withdrawn on April 22, at the peak of his confrontation with the police over alleged complicity in a series of capital offences traced to some persons the police identified as hardened criminals who once terrorised Kogi State. The suspects were arrested and they allegedly named Mr Melaye as their sponsor who supplied them with arms and funding. Mr Melaye strong rejected the claims, but the police continued to see him as a suspect, and later arraigned him in Lokoja. Mr Melaye said he had made several attempts to have police detail restored, but all without luck. He showed PREMIUM TIMES copies of letters he wrote to the Inspector-General Ibrahim Idris, informing him of threats to his life. He also decried his vulnerable security during a plenary at the Senate, which lawmakers promptly responded to by passing a resolution on July 11, calling on the police to provide security for him. I also asked for security from the Civil Defence authorities, but they refused to provide it because of the powers that be, he said. Mr Melaye vowed that he would not stop criticising President Muhammadu Buhari, no matter the cost to his personal comfort and safety. If I die today, 100 Dinos will rise tomorrow and take my place, the senator said. The federal government has assembled a 1000-strong military force, comprising the army, air force, police and the civil defence to launch fierce attacks on the bandits terrorising villages and towns of Zamfara State. Bandits suspected to be cattle rustlers have killed hundreds of people in villages across the state. Several villages have also been razed by the attackers who also kidnap for ransom. A statement by spokesperson to Mr Buhari, Garba Shehu on Sunday said following directives by President Muhammadu Buhari, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has begun the deployment of fighter aircraft to Katsina, the airport with the closest proximity to Zamfara State, to allow for immediate and effective response to the menace of the bandits. This had not been possible in the past because there was no fuel depot facility in Katsina, but NAF has devised a way around the problem, the statement said. The president has also authorised the engagement by NAF, of advanced satellite surveillance technology to help in accurate detection of movement and locations of the bandits. The government had to go to this extent because of the limitations of conventional surveillance, as the use of satellite technology could make the task of NAF less problematic. Following directives from the president, at the weekend, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Sadiq Abubakar, was in Gusau where he met the Deputy Governor of the State, Mr Shehu said. He also said the Chief of Air Staff reiterated the presidents pledge that he would never abandon victims of attacks to their fate, reaffirming that security remains one of the cardinal pillars of his campaign promises and no leader would be happy to see his own citizens killed by criminal groups across the country. It will be recalled that since his election, the president has kept faith with his promises to re-equip and motivate the countrys military and other security services. The army and other security services are now better equipped and motivated to face the challenges of their responsibilities. The presidency, therefore, appeals to all Nigerians to unite and speak with one voice on security issues and urges politicians to stop exploiting national security challenges. Those praying for the president to fail in this effort can be likened to one stabbing oneself in the heart and celebrating about it, Mr Shehu said. He also said security should not be reduced to petty politics as doing so could only embolden the terrorists and other murderous gangs. We therefore appeal to members of the Nigerian media to avoid unhelpful and deleterious sensationalism in the coverage of events that border on national security. The media should under no circumstances make the bandits or terrorists feel like super stars because doing so could hurt all of us. Terrorists seek to achieve maximum publicity and they do so by launching large scale attacks on soft targets and the media must resist every attempt to play into their hands unwittingly, the spokesperson said. At the peak of the Zamfara attacks, the state governor. Abdulaziz Yari, said he was resigning as chief security officer of the state as he was helpless about the insecurity in the state. Although the constitution recognises state governors as chief security officers, Nigerias unitary security structure means all the major security agencies are controlled by the president. Mr Yaris stance was, however, criticised by many including senators from the state who accused him of failing in his constitutional duty. The Enugu State Police Command has arrested a suspected fake currency note producer. The commands spokesman, Ebere Amaraizu, said in a statement in Enugu on Sunday that the suspect, Collins Oputa, was nabbed on July 26. Mr Amaraizu noted that the feat was achieved by police operatives of the Ogui Police Division of the Command. Oputa, who claimed that he is a native of Ohaji community in Imo State but residing at 4 Fatimo Close in Ijegun, Lagos State, was nabbed in Lagos. His arrest followed a manhunt initiated based on intelligence information gathered on his alleged criminal activities of producing and giving the fake currency naira notes to his agents for circulation, he said. Mr Amaraizu said that the suspect had been helping police operatives in their investigation in relation to his alleged criminal activities with his cohorts. On his part, Mr Oputa blamed the situation of his alleged involvement into the illicit act on the devil. He pledged to quit the illicit business if he was forgiven. (NAN) A community in Ebonyi State was on Sunday thrown into pandemonium following the murder of one Nwode Nwignoaka and his seven years old daughter by his 25 years old son, Julius Nwode. The incident happened at Ifelemenu community, Ekpaomaka in Ikwo Local Government Area of the state. According to an eyewitness, Julius went berserk killing his father and sister before attacking six other residents of the community who came to intervene in the matter. He inflicted serious machete cuts on the six other residents of the area before he was later gunned down by a husband of one of the victims of his attack, a source said. While the reason for his actions could not be ascertained, a source who did not want to be named, said the suspect had taken hard drugs when he came into the house. An altercation reportedly occurred between him and his father who asked him where he had been. When he was attacking his father with machete, Julius sister came out and asked him why he was attacking their father. And he descended on her and macheted her to death after killing the father. Some neighbours who saw what happened came to the scene. Julius attacked about six of them with the machete. As he was leaving the area wielding the machete, a man called Peter whose wife was among those macheted, went inside his house, brought his gun and shot him and he died instantly, he narrated. The corpses of the victims have been deposited at the Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki while the injured are currently receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital in the state. The spokesperson of the police in Ebonyi, Loveth Odah, confirmed the incident to PREMIUM TIMES. She, however, said Julius reportedly killed himself after killing his father and sister. The boy is about 25 years and he burns candle and reads some religious books. So he came home and attacked his father and seven years old sister with Axe and machete. Thereafter he killed himself, she said She said the police were still investigating the incident and she has not been properly briefed on the number of casualties. The Consul General of Nigeria in South Africa, Godwin Adama, has condemned the alleged killing of a Nigerian, Linus Chibuzor-Nwankwo from Enugu State by a fellow Nigerian, Lawrence Nwarienne from Anambra, in that country. Mr Adama, in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja, expressed shock over the killing. He said that the 42 years old Mr Chibuzor-Nwankwo was shot by Mr Nwarienne another Nigerian operating a bar in South Africa, in the early hours of Friday in Kempton Park, Johannesburg, South Africa. The envoy said Mr Nwarienne shot the deceased right at his bar for reasons not very clear, adding that the suspect was, however, immediately arrested by the police who had launched investigation into the case. The High Commissioner and the Consul General are very concerned on this development. We condemn this dastardly act and do not expect it from our nationals who are supposed to protect each other. This is a development that is becoming frightening and may make South African police authorities to blame other future killings on the same trend. We are taking it seriously, he said. He said that the mission was in touch with Nigerians and police authorities and encouraged them to properly investigate the murder and prosecute accordingly. According to him, this is to discourage future actions of that kind by any person irrespective of his nationality. We are monitoring the development and encouraging Nigerians to conduct themselves peacefully while we seek for justice. Mission has been in touch with Nigerians on the unfortunate development. Mission has already commenced discussions with Nigerian stakeholders to discourage this trend, he said He said that the situation had been calmed down to avoid reprisal attacks from other Nigerians and close relations and friends. The case is being monitored by Nigerian community in South Africa to ensure justice is done to avoid future occurrences. (NAN) The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), says over ten million names have been added to Nigerias voters register in the course of the continuous voter registration exercise being undertaken by the commission. The exercise is scheduled to end next month. This was revealed Saturday by the INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, at a bi-annual retreat of State House journalists with the theme covering electioneering campaign which held at EPE Resort, Lagos State. Represented by the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of INEC in Lagos, Samuel Olumekun, Mr Yakubu said as at 13th July, 2018, a total number of 10,292,647 (5,620,401 males, 4,672,246 females) prospective voters had registered. Mr Yakubu, however, said the commission still has a large number of uncollected Permanent Voters Cards in their various offices. He called on members of the press corps to use your networks and platforms to publicise this information and encourage the owners to come and pick them. Mr Yakubu said political activities are already gathering momentum in the country and very soon the electioneering campaigns will commence. He said he already came up with the timetable of activities for the 2019 general elections. He said the timetable indicates that the commencement of campaigns by political parties for presidential and National Assembly, and for governorship and State House Assembly elections are slated for November 18, and December 1 respectively. He called on the media to ensure an accurate coverage of political activities. Mr Yakubu said all over the world, the media are known as the cornerstone of democracy because they play critical roles in proper functioning of democracy. He said in facilitating the full participation of the citizenry in democratic elections, the media are specifically saddled with the responsibility of educating voters on how to exercise their democratic rights. He also said it is the duty of the media to provide platforms for political parties and candidates to communicate their messages to the electorate; as well as providing a platform for public feedback, concerns, opinions and needs to the political parties and candidates, the Election Management Body (EMBs), government, and others. The INEC chairman advised the media that as they carry out their duties they should provide information in a manner devoid of inflammatory language, and help to prevent election-related violence. Elections are not just about the right to vote. Knowledge of the voting process, information about political parties, candidates and their programmes are also crucial. Also required is the acquisition of the knowledge of how to vote. It is the sacred responsibility of the media to provide avenues and opportunities for citizens participation, political inclusion, and empowerment. The media should avail voters with adequate information about the electoral process and informed analysis on policies, political parties, and their candidates, to enable the citizens make informed choices, he said. Mr Yakubu also said INEC has improved with every election it has conducted so far. He said INEC under him is determined to make the 2019 general elections our best election ever but we cannot do it alone. He said the commission needs the support of all concerned. I wish to remind you that the role of the media in the forthcoming elections is challenging. Our expectation is that the media will set agenda for the political class and also play the role of peace building, to heal the cleavages that may have been raised from intense campaigns, he said. Also, a University lecturer, Abubakar Kari of the department of Sociology, University of Abuja, who made a presentation on Hate Speech, the Media and Nigerias Unity said the upsurge on hate speech in Nigeria presents a clear and present danger to the peace and unity of Nigeria. Everywhere and in all circumstances, hate speech pitches persons and groups often as us versus them. For a fragile polity such as Nigeria`s, which complex diversity seems forever a source of friction and which fate almost always hangs on the edge of a precipice, every dose and every moment of hate speech takes a huge toll on the social fabric of society, Mr Kari said. The don said the Nigerian media, just like their counterparts elsewhere, have been complicit in the matter of hate speech in a number of ways. He said the media often serve as veritable sources of offensive and toxic hate speech materials; as platforms and peddlers of same; and for encouraging, tolerating or being indifferent to something so atrocious. He said these things happen in spite of clear moral, social and legal issues associated with hate speech, and grave consequences the phenomenon easily elicits and instigates. Mr Kari described hate speech as any expression or picture or symbol that vilifies an identifiable group. If that is the case, then, Nigerian media, both print and broadcast, are full of them, he said. Mr Kari said the media in Nigeria sometimes publish and broadcast stuff that borders on hate speech such as news items and headlines that stereotype groups; feature stories that drip with prejudice and scapegoating; radio shows and audience-participatory programmes on topics and issues that easily provoke or precipitate exchange of insults and hatred. Radio and television shows hosts sometimes actually encourage or even lead the way through their handling (or mishandling) of proceedings, nature of questions asked, how the questions are asked, choice of words, etc. In certain instances, the very choice of guests to discuss an issue is guaranteed to generate hate speech, he said. The University lecturer said controversial figures are often given platforms to spew hate speech in the country. Mr Kari also lamented what he described as herdsmedia. These are media men and women that have made Fulani herders their bogeyman. Every act of violence and crime is blamed on the Fulani herdsmen regardless of evidence to the contrary. Gradually, the frontier of the scapegoating in the mischievous lens of the herdsmedia is being stretched to profile every Fulani man as a mindless killer and destroyer, he said. As a way out, Mr Kari said media practitioners should be educated and re-educated on media ethics on matters of balance, fairness and objectivity. He said they must also be trained on matters of public good, public safety and national security. Our reporters, writers and editors must appreciate the fact that freedom of speech is not absolute, and that no individual, group or medium has any right to publish or print materials that incite, precipitate disquiet or lead to break down of law and order. Journalists should be schooled in conflict-sensitive reporting and multi-cultural awareness. In particular, they must learn to avoid us against them reporting. They should exercise professional standards in articles they write, programmes aired and learn to speak to people without taking sides, he said. Mr Kari said the full weight of the law should always be brought to bear on perpetrators of hate speech and their collaborators. He expressed his support to a bill in the Senate, sponsored by Aliyu Abdullahi, which provides for death by hanging for any person found guilty of any hate speech that results in the death of another person. I support the speedy passage of the bill and its immediate assent, he said. Mr Kari said he has also observed that there is no provision against hate speech in the Code of Ethics of the Nigeria Union of Journalists. That is a serious anomaly that must be corrected forthwith, he said. Words Of Caution The chairman of editorial board of Thisday newspaper, Olusegun Adeniyi, who drew from his experience both as a State House correspondent and a presidential adviser advised members of the corps to be careful of information they receive from sources especially in the build up to the 2019 elections. He said anyone that comes up with a scoop but declines to be quoted is either lying or out to cause a problem. He advised the correspondents to always verify every information received before writing their stories. Mr Adeniyi said the Nigerian media is often seen as anti-government, saying, reporters should always be professional despite their personal opinions on any matter. He also disagreed with the position taken by Mr Kari on the efforts by the National Assembly to pass a bill against hate speech. He said the goal is not really to curb hate speech but to muzzle the press and it wont happen. Emeka Ndukwu, 46, a Nigerian-American based in Maryland, has been sentenced to four years in prison for engaging in business e-mail scheme and conspiring to launder more than $900,000 proceeds of scams. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in a statement, said Mr Ndukwu tricked seven companies in the United States and abroad into wiring more than $900,000 into accounts controlled by various co-conspirators. A co-defendant, Chuka Mbonu, 33, of Nigeria, remains at large, the U.S. authorities said. The FBI said: Ndukwu, a dual citizen of the United States and Nigeria, pleaded guilty in April 2018 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to one count of money laundering conspiracy. He was sentenced by the Honourable Timothy J. Kelly. Following his prison term, he will be placed on three years of supervised release. The judge also ordered Ndukwu to pay $791,870 in restitution to the companies. Additionally, Judge Kelly ordered Ndukwu to forfeit a 2014 Mercedes-Benz GL450 and to pay a forfeiture money judgment in the amount of $429,848, representing the share of the criminal proceeds that Ndukwu personally obtained. According to documents filed at the time of the plea, Mr Ndukwu participated in an ongoing conspiracy from 2013 through 2017 to receive and launder the proceeds of various cyber frauds, primarily arising from business e-mail (BEC) compromise schemes. In a typical BEC scheme, a co-conspirator tricks a company into transferring large sums of money into accounts controlled by others participating in the scheme. Using fake e-mails, often containing forged sender addresses, co-conspirators impersonate someone connected to the victims company and deceive an employee of that company into wiring funds. Soon after the wire transfers are completed, the co-conspirators drain the bank accounts and launder the criminal proceeds. This particular conspiracy targeted at least seven companies in the United States and overseas, including victims in Texas, Illinois, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, India, Japan, and China. The victims were fraudulently induced into sending $916,056 in wire transfers to accounts controlled by Ndukwu and other co-conspirators. The funds were then laundered through transactions conducted in Washington, D.C. and other jurisdictions, including layering through shell company accounts and accounts controlled by co-conspirators, the FBI said. According to the court documents, Mr Ndukwu used false aliases and forged Nigerian passports to facilitate these schemes, and he used encrypted messaging to communicate with co-conspirators. Mr Ndukwu was indicted in December 2017 and has been in custody since his arrest that month. The case is being investigated by the FBIs Washington Field Office, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Brown and Michael Marando are prosecuting the case, with assistance from Paralegal Specialist C. Rosalind Pressley, while former Assistant U.S. Attorney Natalia Medina participated in investigating the case. (NAN) Some irate youth in Zurmi town, Zurmi Local Government Area of Zamfara attacked the community police station demanding that officers should hand over the three suspected bandits arrested by the army to them. The Public Relations Officer of the state police command, Muhammad Shehu, who confirmed the incident to journalists in Gusau on Sunday said the police station was attacked on Saturday evening. Mr Shehu said that the angry youths also burnt down a vehicle and some motorcycles at the station. He said the three suspects were among the bandits who attacked villages in Mashema District of Zurmi local government area on July 24. Mr Shehu said when the news of the arrest of the suspects filtered into the town, some irate youths mobilised themselves to the police station. He said the Divisional Police Officer of Zurmi Local Government Area and other police officers at the police station escaped with the suspects through the back fence of the station. Mr Shehu said normalcy has been restored, while the suspects have already been handed over to the state police command for further investigation. The command enjoined members of the public in the state to be law abiding and avoid taking laws into their hands. NAN reports that over 12,000 internally displaced from 18 communities in Zurmi local government area are currently camped by the state government at some government facilities in Zurmi town. (NAN) A former Kaduna State governor, Balarabe Musa, has provided details of his discussion with Shehu Sani, which reportedly contributed to the latter not defecting from Nigerias ruling party, APC. Mr Sani had told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr Musa, APC national Chairman Adams Oshiomhole and party leader, Bola Tinubu, were among those who persuaded him not to leave the APC for the main opposition party, PDP. I told him not to decamp from the party if he is only going to the PDP, Mr Musa, Kaduna governor between 1979 and 1981, told PREMIUM TIMES by telephone Sunday morning. I did not ask him not to leave the APC. I only said that he should not defect to the Peoples Democratic Party. Mr Sani was amongst those expected to join a wave of discussion that hit the APC last week, having made several categorical statement that suggested the move was imminent. At least 14 senators and 37 House of Representatives announced their exit from the APC at the parliament on Tuesday. While most of those who severed ties with the ruling party joined the PDP, Nigerias main opposition entity, at least one senator and four House members moved to other political parties, especially the African Democratic Congress. While several other senators who were expected to decamp also failed to do so on Tuesday, it was Mr Sanis non-defection that drew the most insinuations from Nigerians. Furthermore, as political observers were still digesting and speculating what they saw as possible reasons for Mr Sanis continued stay in APC, the lawmaker joined 38 other senators who visited President Muhammadu Buhari to pledge their allegiance to his leadership of the party. The senator then came under a barrage of criticisms online, with many saying his decision to remain in the APC was not only hypocritical but also buttressed claims of his critics that he had little choice but to remain in APC because he had no personal political value of his own. Mr Sanis confrontation with his state governor, Nasir El-Rufai, remained one of the most vicious supremacy battles in contemporary Nigerian politics. The politicians, both part of the APCs unprecedented fortune at the 2015 general elections, snapped at each other shortly after settling own in their respective offices. Their political tussle, like similar ones in Kano, Kogi and other states in the country, sometimes turned violent. At some point, the state chapter of the party was factionalised, a division that reached its peak with the demolition of Mr Sanis faction office earlier this year. Messrs Sani and El-Rufai spent the most part of this year castigating one another. The crisis worsened in April when Mr Sani was identified by the police as a potential accomplice in a homicide investigation, a development that eventually led the senator to announce last month that he was all but out of the APC alleging a persecution the proportion of which almost equaled the biblical experience of the Israelite, On Friday, Mr Sani, a long-time rights activist widely seen as a newbie when he unveiled his political plan in the run up to the 2015 elections, moved to disabuse the public on the claims being peddled his critics, saying he was compelled to remain in the APC by those whose intervention he found difficult to resist. My defection was stopped by Asiwaju Tinubu, Oshiomhole and Balarabe Musa. First of all, they recognised and accepted the fact that an injustice has been done to me in Kaduna, Mr Sani said. Balarabe Musa invited me to his house, cautioned and counselled me against defection. Asiwaju did the same thing. Adams Oshiomole reminded me of my activism and the struggles. The senator said he was reminded of the gulf between his personal values and what the PDP represents, saying the leaders also promised to resolve the concerns he raised. They drew my attention to the fact that all those who defected to the PDP were once PDP members. I dont have the pedigree of PDP. Im an activist, he said. The assurance they gave me was that everything will be sorted out. They assured me that they will intervene on issues which I raised. Because of that I could not defect. Mr Tinubu was previously assigned the sole role of reconciling APC members in states beset by bitter rivalries. After a few months of effort, it became clear that he might not be able to resolve the crisis. The party proceeded to hold a national convention, amidst fears that doing so could leave it irreparably fractured before 2019 elections. Mr El-Rufais faction conducted the congresses and participated at the partys convention in Abuja last month, relegating Mr Sani and Suleiman Hunkuyi, another APC senator at loggerheads with the governor. Although Mr El-Rufai did not expressly kick against Mr Sanis reintegration into the partys mainstream, he demanded that it must be done with an apology. The governor said Mr Sanis alleged role in thwarting Kaduna State appeal for loan approval at the Senate constituted a political apostasy, saying he would remain suspended from the party until he apologised. Further clarifying what he told Mr Sani in an exchange with PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Musa said he asked the senator to join his Peoples Redemption Party (PRP). I told him not to decamp from the party if he is only going to the PDP, Mr Balarabe said. If he is going to PDP, I dont advise him to decamp from the APC. I left him to decide where he goes, but if he leaves the APC he should not go to the PDP. In other words, I told him that if he would leave the APC he should come to PRP. If he wants to leave APC, let him come to PRP where he belongs to, he added. He would be going from one thing to even worse if he moved from APC to PDP. Mr Sani, who said he would seek re-election to the Senate in 2019, did not immediately return PREMIUM TIMES requests for comments. A medical doctor, Olawale Raji, has been arrested alongside a nurse, Funmilayo Olusegun, for allegedly causing the death of a pregnant woman, through abortion. The Ogun State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, who confirmed this to journalists on Sunday, said the suspects were arrested on July 26, following a complaint by a sister of the deceased Police in Ogun state on the 26th of July arrested one Dr, Olawale Raji and a nurse Olusegun Funmilayo for carrying out an abortion that led to the death of one Aminat Iyanda Atisola. Their arrest followed a complaint from the the sister of the deceased one Bose Kazeem f of no 6, ireakari St Atan ota, Mr Oyeyemi said. The police spokesman said Ms Kazeem reported that her deceased sister was two months pregnant and contracted the service of the two suspects who work in a private hospital for abortion. She stated further that the suspects carried out the unlawful act right inside the house of the deceased, Mr Oyeyemi stated. He added that trouble started when the deceased started having complications shortly after the abortion. She was rushed to the Federal Medical Center Abeokuta for treatment but died on the way. On receiving the report, the DPO Onipanu Division SP Sangobiyi Johnson led his team of detectives to the scene where the two medical practitioners were promptly arrested, he said. Mr Oyeyemi stated that,the corpse of the 35 years old deceased has been deposited at the General Hospital morgue, Abeokuta for postmortem examination. He said the Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, has ordered that the suspects be transferred to Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for proper investigation and prosecution. He equally warned that abortion remains an unlawful act and whoever caught engaging in it without any medical justification will have the law of the land to contend with. The Commissioner further appealed to members of the public to always seek lawful professional advice on any health related issue. Abortion is largely illegal in Nigeria thus putting thousands of women at risk as they try to get abortion through unsafe means. The Chairman of the Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC), Buba Galadima, has said the cosy relationship between President Muhammadu Buhari and the national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is an afterthought. In a tell-all account in the current edition of The Interview magazine, Mr Galadima said he was principally responsible for the alliance between the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), against Mr Buharis wishes. Messrs Buhari and Tinubu were the leaders of CPC and ACN, two of the five legacy parties that formed the APC in 2014. Mr Galadima said, Buhari was the one against the alliance with Tinubu and I dont want to say anything. Let Buhari deny what I have said. I was for it and I organised it and wrote a memo that even produced a candidate for the vice presidency, this same Osinbajo. Mr Galadima gave a hint that Mr Buhari may have, in fact, pencilled in another running mate in the INEC form that was to have been submitted. In a statement, the MD/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview, Azu Ishiekwene, described the Galadima interview as the stuff of a broken love affair, with no closet details are spared. Using a slogan, Anybody But Buhari (ABB), Mr Galadima said he was planning to write an open letter to Buhari very soon, adding that the president was a floored candidate who will lose his deposit if he contests re-election. If he was raising cattle in Daura, I wouldnt bother about him. Im criticising him because hes the President of Nigeria and hes not doing very well, Mr Galadima said. He did not spare the Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, whom he described as a latter-day Buharist bent on hijacking the ship. In the same edition, the Executive President of Women in Africa, Hafsat Abiola-Costello, said she suspects the autopsy conducted on her father, MKO Abiola, was inconclusive, because not all poisons can be traced, lending credence to suspicions that the winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election may have been poisoned in detention. Mrs Abiola-Costello shared the last conversation she had with her mother, Kudirat, before she was murdered, the impact of her parents death on the family, and familys business, among others. Also in this edition, the wife of the Kaduna State governor, Hadiza El-Rufai, talked about her passion and role as wife, mother and first lady, saying, my husband is too honest. Nigerian Army say it killed 16 Boko Haram and recovered a weapons cache during its clearance operation in Mairari village in Monguno Local Government Area of Borno. Onyema Nwachukwu, Deputy Director Public Relations, Theatre Command Operation Lafiya Dole, disclosed this in a statement released in Maiduguri. Mr Nwachukwu, a colonel, said that the troops also recovered two gun trucks abandoned by the insurgents during the encounter. The insurgents in three vehicles, including Gun trucks had infiltrated and attacked the community, when troops at the formation were alerted by locals . The troops supported by the Air Task Force swiftly responded to the attack killing 16 insurgents and capturing two trucks loaded with guns abandoned by the insurgents, as they tried escaping, having been overwhelmed by the superior fire power from the troops. The gallant troops also recovered 163 Rounds of Anti Aircraft Gun Ammunition during the fierce encounter, he said. During the fire fight, he said, four civilians and a soldier unfortunately, sustained varying degrees of injury and have been promptly evacuated to a Military Hospital, where they currently receiving medical attention. The FOB has been further reinforced with additional troops, while fighting patrols are on the trail of the insurgents who fled the attack. He said that normalcy has been restored and the people of Monguno Local Government Area are enjoined to remain vigilant and report any suspicious person(s) or activities as they go about their normal business. (NAN) Two former governors of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso and Ibrahim Shekarau, met Saturday night in Abuja after their last chance meeting at Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport Abuja in 2011. Mr Kwankwaso was among members of the All Progressive Congress (APC) who recently decamped to the People Democratic Party (PDP), while Mr Shekarau had decamped from APC to PDP in 2104 before the general election of 2015. The meeting is coming at a period the presidency and leadership of APC are reportedly intensifying efforts to woo Mr Shekarau back to the party. The Saturday meeting was held at Mr Shekaraus Asokoro, Abuja, residence and it was a prelude to an extended meeting with other party leaders without any official statement issued from ongoing manoeuvres. Meanwhile, the presidency and the leadership of APC have reportedly kick-started an intensive lobby to woo the former two-term governor of Kano and Minister of Education, Mr Shekarau, to the ruling party as part of efforts to check and diminish the influence of Mr Kwankwaso ahead of the 2019 general elections. A presidency source who confided in PRNigeria in Abuja revealed that as part of the wooing plan, pending cases with anti-corruption agencies may be re-examined and stepped down to offer Mr Shekarau safe landing. The development is coming as the control of PDPs structure in Kano State may spring up in the ongoing negotiations over who leads the party structure in the state. In the bid to make Messrs Kwankwaso and Shekarau work together amicably, 51 per cent of control of PDPs structure has been reportedly conceded to Mr Kwankwaso as a serving senator and having the incumbent deputy governor, Hafizu Abubakar, and some legislators in the state among his strongest loyalists while 49 per cent of the control structure was reportedly offered to Shekarau and other groups in PDP. Mr Shekarau and former Governor of Sokoto State, Attahiru Bafarawa, were among the founding members of APC who decamped to PDP in 2014 after accusing the APC of giving the partys structures in their states to governors who had decamped from the PDP. The presidency source said: As part of the grand plan to bring Mallam Shekarau back into the APC fold where he was founding father, top government officials in Abuja and Kano are currently pleading with him while Governor Ganduje of Kano State and some National Executive Committee members of the party have been co-opted in the bring-back-Shekarau arrangement. Though Mr Shekarau had been in the South-west in recent time, it is not confirmed yet if he met with Bola Tinubu who has been given the mandate to lead the pack in wooing other erstwhile APC chieftains back to the fold. PRNigeria however gathered that the move may be an uphill task as Mr Shekarau is believed to be unhappy with the treatment meted on him when Mr Kwankwaso decamped to the APC and was given the party structure in Kano. In a recent interview, Mr Shekarau explained that he would like the senator representing Kano Central and others to return to PDP to remove APC from power next year. Since 2011 when we met at airport, we have never met each other again, Mr Shekarau had said. I did not defect to PDP from APC because of Kwankwaso. It is not true that we discussed his intention to return to PDP. But I will wish and pray Kwankwaso and others will return to PDP. Their return will give the party the power to dislodge APC, he said. The Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, has been commended for promoting the culture and traditions of the Ijaw people, as well as for being a true ambassador of his people. . A statement by the Chief Press secretary to the Governor, Francis Ottah -Agbo quotes the former Jigawa state governor, Sule Lamido, as making the commendation during the inauguration of a pavilion in the governors country home of Toru Orua in Sagbama Local Government Area of the state. Speaking at the event, Mr Lamido, a Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential aspirant, eulogised Mr Dickson for constructing the edifice, noting that through this singular act, the governor has endeared himself to the people. He said he was consumed by the magnificence of the pavilion which is aimed at promoting oneness, adding that Nigerians have the responsibility of promoting integration among the various people of the nation. Governor Dickson, who expressed appreciation to Mr Lamido for taking out time to inaugurate projects in the state, explained that the edifice was in honour of the founder of Toru Orua community and his great grand father, King Kpadia. He lamented that before the coming of Mr Dickson in 2012, communities use to hold meetings in non-conducive places, but now the narrative is changing with the new pavilions, which he described as landmark projects. According to the governor, the building named King Kpadia Memorial Square is for the people to hold meetings and other events, while urging the elders and people to take care of the facility In a brief remark, Commissioner for Works and infrastructure, Lawrence Ewrhudjakpo, said the pavilion is one of many built by the state governor, noting that, many of such pavilions would be Inaugurated during the planned Thank You Tour of the governor. Some students of the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, suspected to be members of cult groups, have been detained by the Osun State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Osogbo. The students, handed over by the universitys security unit on Wednesday and Friday, were alleged to be members of cult groups and also of assaulting certain persons. As confirmed by PREMIUM TIMES, the following students are in the custody of the states CID: John Udeh, a part two student of Social Studies Education; Tobi Oladoye, a final year student of English department; Ridwan Oluwatobi, a part two student of Local Government Studies and a reported graduate identified as Jaaga,. According to the Chairman of the Hall Executive Council, Akindipe Israel, the students arrested have had issues with the university security unit prior to the time of their arrest. Udeh reported that Tobi sent his guys to beat him up and sent his pictures to them, he said. Mr Akindipe also said the two, Mr Udeh and Mr Oladoye, had a clash, which led to one way-laying the other. Udeh, with his gang, beat up Tobi and he had to retaliate by biting Udehs finger. Udeh then took Tobis phone and wristwatch to the security unit to report him, he explained. They used to be best of friends as everyone knows. But all of a sudden, they started attacking one another. Mr Akindipe said the case of the duo led to the revelation of more suspected suspected cultists in the university. Some students have been sent letters through their department that they are under investigations, the official added. Also, PREMIUM TIMES learnt that for the past three weeks, the security unit of the school has invited several students for interrogation. One of the students invited, Michael Omowaye, told PREMIUM TIMES that he was summoned and that he denied being a member of any cult group except Kegites, the legal group of palm wine drinkers. Ive cleared myself at investigations. These guys are my friends like any random persons but Im not a cultist if they are. Mr Omowaye was also arrested by the state security operatives but has been exonerated on Saturday, it was learnt. All efforts to reach him after his release were unsuccessful after the confirmation of his release through the reported intervention of the Halls Executive Council. The Chief Security Officer of the school, Babatunde Oyatokun, has refused to comment on the arrest of the students. He didnt respond to calls put across by PREMIUM TIMES correspondent Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer of the University, Abiodun Olanrewaju, said the school had to resort to the states security unit for proper investigation. The security unit of our university gathered some intelligence information and acted on the basis of that intelligence gathering. And it paid off in the sense that they were able to arrest some students suspected to be members of cultists movements. We transferred the case to the state CID for professional investigation, which we will also act on afterwards, he said. He noted that some students confessed that they were forcefully initiated. That some were forcefully initiated speaks volume about us. That the school does not condone such and not cultism friendly. OAU has zero tolerance for cultism, exam malpractices, sexual harassment and any other thing that can constitute a breach of matriculation oath to our students, he said. Mr. Olanrewaju also said some steps are being taken to apprehend other suspects. This newspaper recently reported the remembrance event organised for five students of the university, who were gruesomely killed by cultists in 1999. The deaths of George Iwilade (Africa), the then Secretary-General of the students union, and four others elicited national outrage. Nobody has been convicted for their killing. school authorities say investigations are ongoing. Some students of the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, suspected to be members of cult groups, have been detained by the Osun State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Osogbo. The students, handed over by the universitys security unit on Wednesday and Friday, were alleged to be members of cult groups and also of assaulting certain persons. As confirmed by PREMIUM TIMES, the following students are in the custody of the states CID: John Udeh, a part two student of Social Studies Education; Tobi Oladoye, a final year student of English department; Ridwan Oluwatobi, a part two student of Local Government Studies and a reported graduate identified as Jaaga,. According to the Chairman of the Hall Executive Council, Akindipe Israel, the students arrested have had issues with the university security unit prior to the time of their arrest. Udeh reported that Tobi sent his guys to beat him up and sent his pictures to them, he said. Mr Akindipe also said the two, Mr Udeh and Mr Oladoye, had a clash, which led to one way-laying the other. Udeh, with his gang, beat up Tobi and he had to retaliate by biting Udehs finger. Udeh then took Tobis phone and wristwatch to the security unit to report him, he explained. They used to be best of friends as everyone knows. But all of a sudden, they started attacking one another. Mr Akindipe said the case of the duo led to the revelation of more suspected suspected cultists in the university. Some students have been sent letters through their department that they are under investigations, the official added. Also, PREMIUM TIMES learnt that for the past three weeks, the security unit of the school has invited several students for interrogation. One of the students invited, Michael Omowaye, told PREMIUM TIMES that he was summoned and that he denied being a member of any cult group except Kegites, the legal group of palm wine drinkers. Ive cleared myself at investigations. These guys are my friends like any random persons but Im not a cultist if they are. Mr Omowaye was also arrested by the state security operatives but has been exonerated on Saturday, it was learnt. All efforts to reach him after his release were unsuccessful after the confirmation of his release through the reported intervention of the Halls Executive Council. The Chief Security Officer of the school, Babatunde Oyatokun, has refused to comment on the arrest of the students. He didnt respond to calls put across by PREMIUM TIMES correspondent Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer of the University, Abiodun Olanrewaju, said the school had to resort to the states security unit for proper investigation. The security unit of our university gathered some intelligence information and acted on the basis of that intelligence gathering. And it paid off in the sense that they were able to arrest some students suspected to be members of cultists movements. We transferred the case to the state CID for professional investigation, which we will also act on afterwards, he said. He noted that some students confessed that they were forcefully initiated. That some were forcefully initiated speaks volume about us. That the school does not condone such and not cultism friendly. OAU has zero tolerance for cultism, exam malpractices, sexual harassment and any other thing that can constitute a breach of matriculation oath to our students, he said. Mr. Olanrewaju also said some steps are being taken to apprehend other suspects. This newspaper recently reported the remembrance event organised for five students of the university, who were gruesomely killed by cultists in 1999. The deaths of George Iwilade (Africa), the then Secretary-General of the students union, and four others elicited national outrage. Nobody has been convicted for their killing. 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. Los Angeles, July 29 : Actor Pierce Brosnan does not think the #MeToo movement will affect the James Bond franchise. Brosnan has portrayed the character of Bond in "Goldeneye", "Tomorrow Never Dies", "The World is Not Enough" and "Die Another Day". He hopes there will be more "respect between the genders" but though the iconic character has been criticised for being chauvinistic, he doesn't think the current climate will bring his former alter ego to an end. Asked if he thinks Bond can survive #MeToo, he told heat magazine: "Well, I have no idea if the new films are going to address these social issues. I think Bond will continue in the same vein. I would suspect so, because men will continue to be men and women likewise. "One hopes there will be more respect between the genders. You hope that good things will come out of this #MeToo movement." The #MeToo movement was started last year by actresses and models and other powerful women in Hollywood against sexual misconduct at work against celebrities like disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Despite playing such an iconic character, Pierce said it was not something that ever particularly impressed his kids, though his youngest two have now taken more of an interest, reports femalefirst.co.uk. He said: "It was never really a big issue. Dad played James Bond - I think they just accepted it. It was probably a little abstract to them. Now that they are older and they have seen the movies, I think they look back at it with greater interest." Chicago, July 29 : Lesbian, gay, bisexual and questioning youth are more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes, be obese and engage in less physical activity and more sedentary activities than heterosexual youth, a Northwestern University Medicine study has found. This is the largest study to date to report differences in levels of physical activity, sedentary behaviour and obesity by sex and sexual orientation among high-school-aged students, Xinhua reported. The researchers used national data from 350,673 US high-school students, predominantly ranging between 14 and 18 years old, collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey to detect disparities in diabetes risk factors by sexual orientation. The study found that on average, sexual minority and questioning students were less likely to engage in physical activity than heterosexual students. They reported approximately one less day per week of physical activity and were 38 to 53 per cent less likely to meet physical activity guidelines than heterosexual students. The number of hours of sedentary activity among bisexual and questioning students was higher than heterosexual students, with an average of 30 minutes more per school day than heterosexual counterparts. And lesbian, bisexual and questioning female students were 1.55 to 2.07 times more likely to be obese than heterosexual female students. Obesity and sedentary activity may be higher in this population because lesbian, gay, bisexual and questioning youth are subjected to minority stress. "Many of these youth might be taking part in sedentary activities like playing video games to escape the daily stress tied to being lesbian, gay, bisexual or questioning," said lead study author Lauren Beach, a postdoctoral research fellow at NU Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing. "Our findings show that minority stress actually has a very broad-ranging and physical impact." Cultural and environmental factors may also be at play. Teachers, parents and physicians should work together to ensure these youth have the tools they need to stay healthy, Beach said. Family support and identity affirmation: developing positive feelings and a strong attachment to a group, have been consistently linked to better health among LGBQ youth. The study has been published in the journal Pediatric Diabetes. Jerusalem, July 29 : Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi, convicted for assaulting Israeli soldiers, was released on Sunday morning after serving an eight-month jail term, prison officials said. Palestinian activists had described Ahed, 17, as a "symbol of resistance against Israeli occupation". The teenager and her mother were arrested together in December 2017 with another relative -- 20-year-old Nour Tamimi -- after they were filmed slapping and kicking Israel Defence Forces (IDF) soldiers in their village of Nabi Saleh in the West Bank. Ahed was sentenced in March to eight months in prison after a plea bargain, under which she pleaded guilty to one account of assault, one account of incitement, and two accounts -- unrelated to the December incident -- of obstructing soldiers. She also agreed to pay fine. The Tamimi family and Palestinian activists are preparing a hero's welcome for Ahed and her mother in Nabi Saleh, Arab News reported. Dozens of family members and supporters are expected to receive the two upon their release at an IDF checkpoint near Tulkarm and go in a convoy to Ramallah to place a wreath on the late President Yasser Arafat's grave. Afterwards, the convoy will head to Nabi Salah where there will be a festive reception and in the evening a press conference will be held at their house. Kuala Lumpur, July 29 : Over 150 undocumented immigrants have been detained in Malaysia after a series of overnight police raids outside Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. The operations were conducted under the code name "Op Mega 3.0" by the Immigration Department and the National Registration Department in Subang Jaya, about 10 km from here, Efe news reported. "A total of 157 illegal immigrants were detained for various offences and a total of 380 were screened," national media quoted Deputy Home Minister Datuk Mohd Azis Jamman as saying after the operation. The migrants were mostly from neighbouring Indonesia, as well as from the Philippines, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Among the items seized during the raids was a sword, media reported. The Deputy Minister added that 4,476 undocumented immigrants had been detained under "Op Mega" since it began on July 1 and over 1,500 police raids have been conducted over the past four weeks. In 2014, Deputy Director-General of Immigration Control Sakib Kusmi pledged to rid Malaysia of its estimated 2.5 million undocumented immigrants by 2020. Kabul, July 29 : The rate of child marriages in Afghanistan has declined by 10 per cent in the last decade but continues to be a challenge which needs multilateral policy intervention, according to a report published by UNICEF on Sunday. According to the joint study by UNICEF and the Afghan labour ministry in both urban and rural areas of five of the 34 Afghan provinces, 42 per cent of families have at least one member who was married before the age of 18, although the figure varies widely from region to region, Efe news agency reported. "Child marriage is slightly declining in Afghanistan, and we commend the relentless efforts of the Government to reduce this practice and their strong commitment to child rights," Adele Khodr, UNICEF representative in Afghanistan, said in a statement. "Yet, further consolidated action is needed by the different actors in society to put an end to this practice and reach the goal of ending child marriage by 2030," Khodr added. In 78 percent of cases, the father makes the decisions regarding marriage, while 56 percent of respondents agreed that the bride and groom should be consulted about the marriage. There remains a lack of understanding about the negative impacts of child marriage on girls, particularly in areas such as education, nutrition and economic development. Khodr said that convincing parents to send their daughters to school was key in reducing child marriage. "Ending child marriage will break the inter-generational cycle of poverty and will give girls and women opportunities to engage and participate fully in their society," the UNICEF representative said. Beijing, July 29 : The Chinese Premier visited the autonomous region of Tibet in a three-day tour, although the news was not officially revealed until on Sunday, two days after the trip ended. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited Tibet's capital Lhasa, the Yarlung Zangbo (Brahmaputra) river and the cities of Nyingchi and Shannan between July 25-27, Efe news agency cited a Xinhua report. Li said he hoped that Tibet could "achieve development and prosperity, safeguard national unity" and "enhance solidarity among ethnic groups". In Lhasa, Li visited the famous Potala Palace, traditional residence of the Dalai Lamas, and said that government would protect and promote cultural heritage. Human rights organisations and Tibetans in exile have frequently accused China of suppressing Tibetan religion and culture. The Premier also visited the Jokhang monastery in Lhasa, considered one of the holiest shrines in Tibet, which was hit by a fire this year; the extent of damage was unknown due to the lack of information on the incident as authorities maintain strict censorship on news related to Tibet. Li began his visit in Nyingchi, where he visited communities supported by the government's poverty alleviation programme, meeting residents and leaders of the area and stressing the need to promote sustainable development and improve Tibetans' quality of life, the report said. He inspected efforts for the conservation of water and the local ecosystem in the Yarlung Zangbo river and said ecological conservation should be strengthened further. Tibet has been closed to the foreign press since 2008, when dozens of Tibetans died after setting themselves on fire in protests against Beijing. Tibetan monasteries in western China, even outside the government-declared autonomous region, have been flashpoints of protests against Beijing's policies, with more than 100 monks and sympathizers immolating themselves in the last decade. Mumbai, July 29 : As Sanjay Dutt turned 59 on Sunday, his wife Maanayata Dutt showered praise on him for being a "darling husband" and a "comforting father". "A darling husband, a comforting father and the reason behind our smiles. Thank you for everything that you do for us. So blessed to have you in my life. Happy birthday love. Mom and dad will always be proud of you," Maanayata tweeted along with a photograph in which she is seen with Sanjay and their two children -- son Shahraan and daughter Iqra. On the background wall are photographs of Sanjay's late parents and actors Sunil Dutt and Nargis Dutt, who were a huge support system to him in his tumultous life. Sanjay celebrated his birthday midnight with friends and family members here. He was twinning in black with Maanayata at the party, where celebrities like R. Madhavan, Amrita Arora, Tanisha Mukerji, Chunky Panday and others were in attendance. Sanjay even greeted some of his fans. While his eldest daughter Trishala Dutt posted a photograph with him on Instagram, wishing her "Daddy Dukes' a "happy birthday", here's what some Bollywood celebrities tweeted on Sanjay's special day: Chitrangda Singh: Happy happy birthday to the the nicest, warmest person I've met. Sanjay Dutt, may God keep you happy, healthy and most of all loved always. Poonam Dhillon: Happy Birthday dear Sanju! Wish you a fabulous year ahead. Rohit Roy: Happy birthday Sanju sir. Lots of love always. Your 'jaadu ki jhappi' right back at you. Satyajeet Dubey: Happy birthday Sanjay Dutt. Grateful to you for embracing me, looking after me and having my back. Love you to the moon and back. You're a gem. R. Madhavan: Happy Happy Birthday and wish you an extraordinary year ahead bro Sanjay Dutt. May this year be the best one yet. Jakarta, July 29 : At least 13 people were killed and dozens injured while several buildings have collapsed after a magnitude-6.4 earthquake struck the Indonesian tourist island of Lombok on Sunday morning, officials said. The quake struck at 6.47 a.m. at a depth of 7 km. Its epicentre was located 50 km north-east of the city of Mataram on the island of Lombok, which has a population of 319,000, the Guardian reported. The tremors have also affected the neighbouring islands of Sumbawa and Bali. Tourists near Senggigi, gateway to the popular Gili Islands resorts, reported strong aftershocks. "We jumped out of our beds to avoid anything falling," said a tourist who was woken by the quake. The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported that in the four hours after the quake, the islands experienced 66 aftershocks and the earthquake was also felt in the neighbouring Bali. The agency confirmed the casualties and said 40 others were injured. Dozens of buildings have been damaged. Dwikorita Karnawati, head of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, issued a statement urging the people to remain alert, given the intensity of the aftershocks, with the strongest so far recorded reaching a magnitude of 5.7. Lombok Red Cross chief Aulia Arriani told Efe news agency that people were afraid and staying outside buildings, adding that the organisation would supply blankets, tarpaulins, sleeping bags and food packets to the affected families. Lombok, which is about 100 km east of Bali, is a popular tourist destination, although most resorts have not reported any damage as they are located on the south and west of the island. Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a zone of high seismic and volcanic activity, that experiences around 7,000 tremors mostly of moderate intensity every year. In 2004, a huge magnitude-9.3 earthquake under the sea triggered a tsunami which killed 168,000 people in Indonesia, and a further 50,000 people in various countries around the Indian Ocean. Kochi, July 29 : The Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), led by super star Mohanlal, will meet here on August 7 to take up issues that have riled some of its members in the recent past, including a section of actresses. AMMA has directed all its members not to issue any more public statements and instead raise their issues and grievances only within the association, an office-bearer told IANS. "All members want that whatever issues faced at present are settled quickly. As a first step, two rounds of meetings are planned for August 7," he said on the condition of anonymity. Actresses Revathy, Padmapriya and Parvathy will be called to discuss issues raised by them. Actor-Director Joy Mathew and Shammi Thilakan will also be called," he said. Mathew was critical of the manner in which AMMA was being run, while Shammi, son of late actor Thilakan, expressed displeasure over alleged mistreatment of his father by AMMA. An AMMA brochure contained a list of late actors, with no mention of Thilakan senior. Trouble stared soon after Mohanlal took over as AMMA President last month, as he took back into the AMMA fold actor Dileep, an accused in the actress kidnap case. Four leading actresses, including the victim, quit AMMA in protest whereas another 14 announced their decision to quit citing lack of fairness. Revathy, Padmapriya and Parvathy had sought an emergency meeting to discuss the revocation of the suspension. AMMA has 484 members, including 248 men. It gives monthly pensions of Rs 5,000 each to 143 members and a medical insurance cover to all its members. Paris, July 29 : Don't waste education on acting -- this was the initial reaction that Angela Bassett got from her family when she announced her decision to step into showbiz. But she didn't see it as an impossible mission. Be it "Black Panther" or the recently released "Mission: Impossible Fallout", the Oscar nominated actress is always seen in a strong position in the narrative. And Bassett says all the characters she has portrayed have been a "natural part" of her personality. Asked whether there was a 'mission impossible' in her life, the actress laughed and took a brief pause, before admitting her initial struggle. "I remember one of the first things that an aunt said to me was 'Don't waste an education on acting'. The whole idea of being an actress or an actor seemed impossible to someone of her generation. But to a young 19-year-old, it didn't seem impossible," Bassett told IANS in an interview during the "Mission: Impossible Fallout" global junket here. "You are full of wonder, determination, spirit, drive and passion and with those things, nothing is impossible," she added. Bassett has made a place for herself with projects like "The Jacksons: An American Dream", "The Rosa Parks Story", "American Horror Story", "Master of None", and earning an Oscar nomination for "What's Love Got to Do With It". She has entered the "Mission: Impossible" universe as a no-nonsense CIA director Erica Sloan. The Paramount Pictures movie is distributed in India by Viacom18 Motion Pictures. It opened in India on July 27 in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. Talking about her roles, she said: "I think they resonate with me... Who I am and from where I come from... You know from the south, from a single parent and an African-American. There are struggles that you have to overcome. "I think you have to have a great deal of strength and resilience to be able to take that journey and to take on some of these experiences and not be disillusioned or discouraged." She feels she "brings a lot of that" to her work. "The roles that I have played, they are just natural part of me. I think I have been able to use that in roles especially because it is something that I like to say in the world about what we as women are capable of." What are women capable of? "We are capable, we are strong, we have a voice -- and that we can be all those things and more. We can be mysterious, beguiling, brilliant, vulnerable and no-nonsense. We are complicated beings." The 59-year-old feels that the doors leading to a shift in things for women in Hollywood and the world has opened thanks to the discussions around women empowerment and gender parity. "I think this dialogue, this discourse upsets the status quo, and what is being going on is good. It is a wonderful thing and I think once you crack that door and once we see what we have seen, we can't unsee it and we can't close and lock that door again. "It will just broaden and that is good news." (The writer was in Paris at the invitation of Viacom18 Motion Pictures. She can be contacted at sugandha.r@ians.in) Rio De Janeiro, July 29 : Former Brazil centre-back Leandro Castan is close to joining Vasco da Gama after parting ways with AS Roma. The 31-year-old confirmed his departure from the Italian Serie A side on social media on Saturday, reports Xinhua news agency. Vasco will officially announce his signing in the coming days, according to Brazilian press reports. Castan, who has been capped twice for Brazil's national team, made 72 Serie A appearances for Roma after joining the club from Corinthians in 2012. In the past three years he has had loan spells at Sampdoria, Torino and Cagliari after falling out of favour with the Italian capital outfit. New Delhi, July 29 : As the Yamuna river continued to flow above the danger mark in Delhi on Sunday, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia took stock of the ongoing evacuation in low-lying areas. Over 1,000 families had been evacuated till Sunday morning. Sisodia also visited low- lying areas around Akshardham and Pandav Nagar and urged people to move to safer places. The river's water level rose to 205.50 meters on Sunday due to water discharge from Haryana's Hathnikund Barrage amid continuous rain in the catchment areas. It is expected to rise to 206.60 meters on July 31. Haryana had released six lakh cusecs of water at 6 p.m. on Saturday. The water released at Hathnikund barrage, which provides drinking water to New Delhi, normally takes 72 hours to reach the city. "More water is being released from the barrage every hour, which will have an impact on the Yamuna level in Delhi. We are keeping a close watch," a Flood and Control Department official told IANS. East Delhi's District Magistrate K. Mahesh also visited the low-lying areas and said that the situation is under control and the government is fully prepared to tackle emergency. "As many as 67 boats have been deployed at 23 locations. We have made arrangements to shift the affected persons to school campuses and night shelters," the official told the media. He said that although the river level was above the danger mark, the situation, as of now, is not worrisome. Quick response teams have been activated, the official said. The National Disaster Relief Force too is on a standby. "We have set up over 750 tents for about 1,000 families in East zone alone, apart from arrangements of food. We are shifting people living on the river bed to the nearest higher areas," Nodal officer (Preet Vihar) Arun Gupta told IANS. The evacuation started on Saturday following a rise in the water level. Heavy rains continued to lash many parts of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, forcing authorities to release more water from Haryana's Hathnikund barrage on Sunday. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday held a review meeting with officials concerned on the preparedness to tackle the flood-like situation in low-lying areas of Delhi. The Delhi government also requested the Army to be on standby for any emergency. New Delhi, July 29 : A staggering amount of Rs 15,167 crore amount belonging to policyholders is lying unclaimed with 23 life insurance companies, according to latest regulatory data. On the basis of this information, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has asked the companies to disburse old insurance claims after identifying the concerned policyholders or beneficiaries. As per the data released, of the total unclaimed amount of Rs 15,166.47 crore as on March 31, 2018, state-run Life Insurance Corporation towers over other companies in the unclaimed list with Rs 10,509 crore, while the 22 private sector insurers account for the remaining Rs 4,657.45 crore. Among private companies, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has Rs 807.4 crore of unclaimed insurance claims, followed by Reliance Nippon Life Insurance (Rs 696.12 crore), SBI Life Insurance (Rs 678.59 crore) and HDFC Standard Life Insurance (Rs 659.3 crore). Insurance companies are required to update information regarding unclaimed amounts on their websites on six-monthly basis. IRDAI has earlier asked the life insurance companies to provide a search facility on their website to enable policyholders or beneficiaries ascertain any unclaimed amounts due to them that are still lying with the firms. Gstaad (Switzerland), July 29 : Italy's Matteo Berrettini, World No. 84, upset second seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 7-6 (11-9), 6-4 on Sunday to win the Swiss Open, his first career title. Berrettini, who was playing his first-ever ATP final, needed one hour and 45 minutes to defeat Bautista Agut, world No. 17, and deprive the Spaniard of his third title this season, after his wins in Dubai and Auckland, reports Efe. "I'm really happy, I have to stay focused because of the doubles (final) and not think about this, but I am really happy," Berrettini, 22, said after the match. Bautista Agut lost his big chance in the first set, when he needed just two points to beat Berrettini, who has not dropped his serve during the whole tournament. Unseeded Berrettini defeated three seeded opponents in this tournament, although he had previously never reached a quarterfinal round. Following his loss, Agut said: "I want to congratulate Matteo. He played a great week and he has a great future in front of him. He deserved to win today." Later Sunday, Berrettini is to play alongside fellow Italian Daniele Bracciali in the Swiss Open men's doubles final against Igor Zelenay of Slovakia and Denys Molchanov of Ukraine. Chennai, July 29 : The DMK party on Sunday released the picture of its President M.Karunanidhi in an intensive care unit (ICU) in Kauvery Hospital here soon after Vice President M.Venkaiah Naidu met him. The party released the photo for the first time after the 94-year old Karunanidhi was shifted to the hospital on Saturday at 1.30 am after his blood pressure dipped. The picture released by DMK shows Karunanidhi in the ICU bed, Vice President Naidu, Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Karunanidhi's son M.K.Stalin, his sister Kanimozhi and her mother Rajathi, a doctor and nurses. The DMK had vociferously demanded release of late Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa's picture when she was admitted to Apollo Hospital for 75 days in 2016. However, the then AIADMK government or the AIADMK party refused to release a picture of hers in the hospital which aggravated the speculations about her health condition. But the DMK's release of Karunanidhi's picture is expected to put to rest the speculations and rumours about his health condition in the social media. "The party has released the picture to put an end to rumours about his condition," a party official told IANS. Kolkata, July 29 : A Trinamool Congress leader from West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district was brutally murdered and his body thrown into a septic tank inside a factory here, police said on Sunday. The body of Sudhir Das, who was missing since Saturday afternoon, was recovered on Sunday morning from inside a factory premises in North 24 Parganas's Madhyamgram, where he used to work as a watchman. "The body of Das, 68, a Trinamool Congress ward president in Madhyamgram aream was found from inside a septic tank, with his hands and legs tied together. There was a grievous injury mark on the deceased's head," an officer from Madhyamgram police station said. Police have detained one person so far after thoroughly examining the CCTV footage at the factory gate. The family members claimed that Das could have been murdered due to "political reasons". "He never used to discuss politics with me at length but I could feel that he was tense about the political situation here. Lot of people did not like him because used to protest against the wrongdoings of the syndicates," said Das' wife. Police said they have sent the body for autopsy and are interrogating the fellow workers of Das at the factory to find out the possible motive behind the murder. State Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim, expressing grief in the death of the veteran party activist, said Trinamool workers are sacrificing their life at many places while trying to fight against the corrupt. State BJP President Dilip Ghosh, however, claimed that such incidents are the proof of massive infighting that exists within the state ruling party. He also took a dig at the state government claiming there is no law and order in Bengal. Kolkata, July 29 : A gunrunner, who is a member of a gang selling illegal firearms, has been arrested from the city's Tiljala area and a countrymade firearm, two cartridges and a magazine seized from him, police said on Sunday. Acting on a tip-off, police kept a vigil near Gulmath area on Saturday evening and intercepted Mohammad Wahid, 28, a resident of Kolkata's Topsia Road. He was caught along with an improvised firearm and ammunition around 7.25 p.m. but his two accomplices managed to flee. His questioning revealed that the gang had come to the spot to sell firearms to some unknown buyers. "A case under the Arms Act was lodged at Tiljala police station against all three gang members. A hunt is on for the absconding two accomplices," a police officer said. New Delhi, July 29 : With Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserting that he was "not afraid of" publicly standing beside industrialists because his intentions were "noble", the Congress hit out at him, saying he should not lend his legitimacy and respectability to such corporates. "If the Prime Minister feels alright to be photographed with such people, who allegedly ripped off the banking system, and run away to Antigua and London or probably disappear from the earth, then I leave it to the Prime Minister's wisdom to lend his legitimacy and respectability to such people," Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said at a press conference. "The question is not the capitalists or industrialists. The question is what kind of capitalists or industrialists," he said, while stressing his party was not against industrialists and capitalists, but against "crony capitalists". "The Congress feels that private enterprise has a legitimate place in the developmental trajectory of the country. But what we are against is crony capitalism and the nexus between the suit and the boot. 'The Suit Boot ki Sarkar', when the government functions for the benefit of a few at the cost of many," he said. Tewari also hit out at Modi for comparing himself with Mahatma Gandhi, saying: "What is even more astonishing is that the Prime Minister went and compared himself to Mahatma Gandhi. "Its unfortunate because no politician should compare himself to the father of the nation. He said that even Mahatma Gandhi used to carry industrialists with him. Again the question is what kind of industrialists. They were those people who in the teeth of British tyranny, British imperialism, in the teeth of persecution were ready to stake in sacrifice everything they had for the freedom of India." These industrialists stood with Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress because their goal was the freedom of India, and were "not those industrialists who had gamed the banking system and runaway with thousands of crores of public money," he said. Slammed Modi over development issues, Tewari said that "the Prime Minister patted himself on the back saying that the country is developing splendidly", but this is not borne out by facts. "The facts are that farmers are forced to sell their crop below the minimum support price. The fact is that small and medium industry is closing down rapidly across the country." On Modi's visit to Uttar Pradesh, Tewari said when any Prime Minister visits a state seven times, six or nine months before the Lok Sabha elections, it is possibly the most "potent barometer of the nervousness" of both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Prime Minister of India. "This is perhaps the seventh trip that the Prime Minister is making to Uttar Pradesh in less than a month." He also criticised BJP President Amit Shah's interview to a newspaper where he mentioned the Rs 12 crore Mudra loans for youth, saying the question was "how many sustainable livelihoods have those loans created". Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala meanwhile tweeted: "Dear PM, your political career reeks of a culture of cronyism! From giving land to your crony friends at throwaway prices in Guj to GSCPC scam, from promoting select mobile wallets in DeMo to gifting largest defence contracts in Rafale! So spare us the lecture!" New Delhi, July 29 : The Delhi Lt. Governor's office on Sunday said the rules related to CCTV installation are only at a draft stage and it prescribed a reporting mechanism for camera installation, not a licensing mechanism. In a statement released on Sunday, the office said some misconception is being spread about the rules for regulation of installation of CCTVs, and the rules, only at a draft stage, have been put out for public suggestions/objections and feedback by the Committee formed under the Principal Secretary, Home. "The fact that more than two lakh cameras have already been installed in the city without coordination, highlights the need for a proper framework and information mechanism so that all CCTVs in public places installed in Delhi work optimally with a common objective of law enforcement, women safety, prevention and investigation of crimes and balance the same with the need to protect privacy while ensuring clear responsibility and accountability for all CCTVs installed including for images and data stored," it said. "There have been reported instances of misuse of CCTVs for intrusion on and compromises with privacy of individuals. The use of the surveillance camera system should not be permitted to become a tool to violate privacy of individuals which has been held to be a fundamental right by the Supreme Court," it added. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on SundayAhad called RWAs and Market associations from across the city to interact with them over the installation of CCTV Cameras in the national capital. During the public gathering, Kejriwal tore the report of a committee, formed by Lt Governor Anil Baijal, which suggested that the Delhi Police will be the custodian of all CCTV cameras in public spaces in the capital, including ones to be installed under AAP government's CCTV project. He also said he will sign on the CCTV file on Monday in which he will ensure that the cameras are installed at a location approved by the public without any licence required. Lucknow/New Delhi, July 29 : Hitting back for the first time at critics who questioned his perceived friendly relations with corporates, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that unlike "some people" he was "not afraid of" publicly standing beside industrialists and business magnates because his intentions were "noble". In response, the Congress responded to his remarks saying he should not lend his legitimacy and respectability to "crony capitalists" while Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Adami Party leader Arvind Kejriwal called it "an unsuccessful try" as people were now raising questions. In his address at a government-industry interface in Lucknow as he inaugurated several development projects for Uttar Pradesh, Modi said industrialists too contribute to nation building and it was not right to label them all as thieves but those who do wrong "will have to leave the country" or live in jail. "We are not the people who will be afraid of standing beside industrialists. You would be knowing some people (who are such) that you would not find a single photo of them with an industrialist/businessman. But there is not a single businessman in this country who would not have gone to these people's places and bowed to them in reverence," he said. "If your intentions are noble, you won't be tainted no matter with whom you are standing," Modi said, adding that Mahatma Gandhi never had any qualms about living in the Birla household. The opposition has been targeting Modi over his picture at Davos economic forum in January this year with fugitive diamondaire Nirav Modi who is at the centre of multi-thousand crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam besides the Prime Minister's perceived closeness with another fugitive, Mehul Choksi, whom he once publicly addressed as "Mehul bhai". The opposition has also been critical of Modi government's inaction while persons like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, Choksi, Jatin Mehta and Lalit Modi easily flew out of the country after being accused of committing huge financial frauds. The Congress has of late also targeting Modi for allegedly giving the offset contract in the Rafale jet deal with France to "one of his corporate friends" at the expense of state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. "Mahatma Gandhi never hesitated standing beside (Ghanshyam Das) Birlaji because his intentions were right. But those who do things behind the curtain and wish not to be seen publicly (with corporates), they are afraid," Modi said. "Just as much as the labour of a farmer, an artisan, a banker, a government employee or a labourer goes into the making of the nation, the efforts of industrialists too have a role in nation building. Should we insult them, call them thieves and robbers? Is this the way? "But yes, whoever (among corporates) does the wrong, he will either have too leave the country or live in jail. This would not happen earlier because a lot happened behind the curtains then." Addressing a media conference in Delhi later, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said "If the Prime Minister feels alright to be photographed with such people, who allegedly ripped off the banking system, and run away to Antigua and London or probably disappear from the earth, then I leave it to the Prime Minister's wisdom to lend his legitimacy and respectability to such people." "The question is not the capitalists or industrialists. The question is what kind of capitalists or industrialists," he said, while stressing his party was not against industrialists and capitalists, but against "crony capitalists". Tewari also hit out at Modi for comparing himself with Mahatma Gandhi. Kejriwal questioned Modi's closeness with those who looted the country and all the investigating agencies failed to nab. "Giving a contract of the Air Force to a 10-day old company and whose owner is a friend of PM. All these are raising questions among the people. Sir, your clarification is unsuccessful try," he said in a tweet in Hindi. Kevin Sobels, the legendary Australian winemaker, and wife, Margaret have their Hunter Valley winery, as they look towards delaying their retirement. The developer Romeciti has acquired the family-run winery in Pokolbin for $7.3 million, with plans to upgrade and convert the property into a luxury resort. The winery, which has a vineyard and a wine making facility, will continue to operate as normal, led by Kevin, Margaret and son Jason Sobels. This year marks the 170th unbroken run of Australian vintages by Sobels, with their son, Jason continuing the traditional family craft. Sobels is a fifth generation descendant of German immigrant winemaker, Carl August Sobels. The family name has been connected to Australian winemaking since the 1840s, beginning in South Australias Barossa and Clare Valley. Kevin Sobels arrived in the Hunter in 1972 from the Barossa. The 22ha Halls Road, Pokolbin offering, Kevin Sobels Wines, was started in the early 1990s by Kevin and Margaret on acreage offered to them by the Ross Jones family. I am confident that the end result of the system would lead to increase in quality of our Senior High School structure, president Akufo-Addo said at the 70th Speech and Prize Giving Day Celebration of the Ghana National College in the central region on Saturday, July 28, 2018. The free Senior High School (SHS) policy has come to stay. Contrary to what the motivated propagandists and the professional naysayers would have you believe, free SHS is going to be a permanent feature of the educational architecture of our country, the President added. The double-track system is a process where students and staff are in school or vacation at the same time within an academic year. But the double year-round system divides the entire student body and staff into two different tracks. So while one track is in school, the other is on vacation. Responding, the president said despite providing 96,403 mono desks, 33,171 pieces of dining hall furniture, 3,033 tables and chairs for teachers, 12,953 bunk beds, 4,335 student mattresses and 5,135 computer laboratory chairs to address the infrastructural deficit over the year, it has not been enough to address all issues of infrastructure. He added: In the 2018/19 academic year which begins in September, 472,000 new students, that is an increase of 31 per cent that will be admitted into senior high schools. He further justified the double track system saying it will reduce class size, increase contact hours between students and teachers and increase the number of holidays. We will start by breaking down Ephesians 5: 21 22 (KJV), the scripture that has been in the center of this subject or controversy, if you like. We will also look at it from the Message translation to get a better understanding of what Paul was trying to communicate. It is my understanding that Paul was not speaking of submission from the standpoint of oppression or lording over your wife. Submit might have been inserted Before we dive in fully, it will interest you to know that some bible scholars have suggested that the word Submit was missing in the Original Greek. According to Equality Work book,In the oldest available Greek manuscripts of the New Testament (Parchment 46 and Codex Vaticanus), Ephesians 5:22 does not say, Wives submit to your husbands.[ii] Neither the heading, Wives Submit to Your Husbands, nor the additional phrase in Ephesians 5:24 telling wives that they ought to be submissive can be found in any Greek manuscripts whatsoever. In this passage, the apostle Paul introduces the idea of submission in Ephesians 5:21. After telling all Christians to be filled with the Spirit in Ephesians 5:18, he then explains what this will look like: submitting one to another out of reverence for Christ (Ephesians 5:21). In other words, all Christians who are filled with the Holy Spirit are to relate to one another with Christ-like humility and a willingness to serve. Ephesians 5:22 then adds the phrase wives to your husbands as an example of what this mutual submission will look like. They further argue that be filled with the Spirit is the imperative verb; submitting one to another is a participle phrase (that describes being filled with the Spirit); and wives to your husbands is yet another phrase that qualifies submitting one to another by providing an example. Simply put, wives to your husbands is not a complete sentence; it cannot stand on its own as a separate command. "There is no new and separate command directed only to wives. Patriarchal translators create the illusion that there are two different kinds of commandsone in Ephesians 5:21 directed to all Christians, and another in Ephesians 5:22 directed exclusively to wives. The added command appears to reinforce a gender-based hierarchy in Christian homes. It is important to recognize that this is not grammatically possible in the Greek text of the oldest available manuscripts. It is only possible if a second imperative verb is inserted into verse 22.[iii] The submission that exists in marriage from wives to husbands is one example of the humility and loving service that all Christians who are filled with the Spirit are called upon to demonstrate. Also, one thing you must understand was the patriarchal nature of the Jews, which did not favour women at that time. You can see that played out in many instances in the scripture and in narratives which Paul himself made. This is not the subject of todays discussion though. From the beginning Let us also take out time to see Gods original intention about marriage. Gods intention for marriage was for the man and his wife to live together as one united entity, working together partners, co-heirs. You can see that in Genesis 2 vs 24: Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be[a] joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. The fall of man brought about these tussle for dominance. If you read Genesis 3:16. you will understand that God never intended for man to dominate woman or vice-versa. Genesis 3 Vs 16: Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. Death of Christ The death and resurrection of Christ however abolished the effect of Adam and Eves transgressions, because Paul also lets know in Galatians 3 that we are one in Christ. Galatians 3 Vs 27-28 : For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. Peter also highlighted that in 1 Peter. We will get to that. Meaning of submission Ephesians 5: 21-22 says Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord The word submit is derived from a Greek word that means to put yourself under, to subject yourself to ones control and it had two uses: 1. It was used as a military term meaning "to arrange [troop divisions] in a military fashion under the command of a leader". 2. It was also used in non-military way and it meant "a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden". So, using the non-military term, we could say that Paul adviced us to submit (assume responsibility, carry burden, have a voluntary attitude of giving in to each other) first in verse 21 of Ephesians 5. Then he asked wives to do likewise to their husbands, that is, working with the general understanding that the word submit was in the verse. As unto the Lord Now, someone is saying what of the word as unto the Lord used in verse 22? The proper explanation of that line is in Colossians 3:23. I will present several versions starting from the KJV, to give you a better insight. King James Version says: And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; NET Bible says: Whatever you are doing, work at it with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not for people, According to the Aramaic Bible in Plain English, And do all that you do with all your soul, as for Our Lord, and not as for the children of men. GOD'S Word Translation says: Whatever you do, do it wholeheartedly as though you were working for your real master and not merely for humans. Whatever you are doing, let your hearts be in your work, as a thing done for the Lord and not for men - Weymouth New Testament Another controversy in Ephesians 5:23 Another controversial verse is Ephesians 5 verse 23 which says: For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. The keyword to notice here, is Head (Kephale in Greek) which has been taken to mean rulership, boss or master, and it is not true. The Greek word Kephale, was translated from the Hebrew word Rosh, which also literally means the Physical head on a body. Rosh also could be used as leader, ruler, boss and whenever the translators were to use these terms, they used the Greek word, Archon and not Kephale. You must understand that Paul was talking to pagan Greeks who just converted to Christianity and he used the word, Kephale to properly pass his message because they understood and used it in the worship of their Gods. Most of the pagan Greeks saw the Gods they worshipped was their source. The Greek word translated Head in that scripture can also be likened to the physical head on your body. Use of the Greek word, Archon in the bible Archon can be translated as: ruler, official, magistrate, leader An example can be seen in 1 Corinthians 2 vs 8 which reads: The wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; The word ruler there is from the same Greek word Archon Also, Mathew 9:23 says When Jesus came into the official's house, and saw the flute-players and the crowd in noisy disorder You will find the word Archon used in several verses of the bible. Back to the Greek word, Kephale According to the translation from the new testament Greek, Kephale also connotes source or originator. According to scholars, it signifies is that the husband is the source of the wife as Christ is the source of the Church. In other words, the wife was created from the man, her husband, who is her nourisher, motivator just as Christ is the nourisher of the Church. Culture of love What Paul was actually communicating was a culture of love and not that of control, which he showed, by depicting Christs relationship with the Church. Christ never forces us, his Church and his bride to do anything. He never lords his will over us. He lovingly guides us. To make this clear, lets see how the Message translation puts Ephesians 5 vs 23. It says: The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing. So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands. In Colossians You can also see Paul depict Christ as the source of everything in Colossians 1 verse 16-18:For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. Can you see that the same word, head is used here also to kind of summarise what he said in verse 16 and 17. For those who would want to argue over the word, pre-eminence, in the Greek, it means: the first, foremost, number one. Colossians 2 Vs 19 The scripture says: And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God. Note that the word Head used here, is the same Greek word Kephale. The verse paints an exact picture of Christs relationship with the Church. From the verse, you will see that Christ nourishes, ministers to, knits together and causes his Church to increase. That is what the husband is expected to be or do to and for his wife. Paul was painting this picture when he said in Ephesians 5:23 that: For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Basically, he was saying treat your wife as Christ treated the Church. In 1 Corinthians You can also find the word Head being used in 1 Corinthians 11:3 where it says: But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. The word Head used here again, means source and not in a way of hierarchy. If it meant hierarchy, then you are saying that God is greater than Christ, which negates the oneness of the Trinity - the God head That is the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost being one united entity. Remember Jesus said in John 10:30: I and my father are one. Going back to Ephesians chapter 5 From the above explanations, you will understand that Paul started from verse 21 to advise Christians to submit themselves to God, knowing that this in turn will affect the way you treat each other in the marriage with the help of the Holy Ghost who he referred to in verse 18. 18And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. 22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. Simply put, you are first a Christian before a husband or wife and to live this life, you need the help of the Holy Spirit who will show you how to submit yourself to God first then, it will be easy to submit to one another. Heirs together 1 Peter 3 Vs 7-10 says: 7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered. 8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: 9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. 10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile. I will like you to notice that verse 7 advised the man, among other things, to see his wife as heirs together of the grace of life. It is my understanding that Paul also told the husband that his prayer might be hindered if he treats his wife badly. Summary Paul, in asking the wives to submit, was speaking in terms of one of the major needs of men Respect. Men want to be respected by their wives and to get the best out of your marriage, showing your husband respect will bring out the best in him. He also addressed the need of women to be loved as you will soon see in the scripture below, and also urged the man to love his wife. Paul also tried to show the effect which submitting yourself to God and the Holy Spirit would have on your marriage. If you submit to God, it will be easy for the husband to submit and serve the wife and vice-versa. He made it clear by also sharing how Christ leads the Church with love and not by force in verse 23. Here is what Ephesians 5 vs 25 33 (MSG) says: 25-28Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the churcha love marked by giving, not getting. Christs love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. Theyre really doing themselves a favorsince theyre already one in marriage. 29-33 No one abuses his own body, does he? No, he feeds and pampers it. Thats how Christ treats us, the church, since we are part of his body. And this is why a man leaves father and mother and cherishes his wife. No longer two, they become one flesh. This is a huge mystery, and I dont pretend to understand it all. What is clearest to me is the way Christ treats the church. And this provides a good picture of how each husband is to treat his wife, loving himself in loving her, and how each wife is to honor her husband. Nigeria's political landscape witnessed a flurry of defections that might affect the chances of the ruling party in the 2019 general elections. A former governor in Kenya mystriously disappeared when he was about to be arrested for fraud, while former South African president, Jacob Zuma, appeared in court over a $2.5-billion corruption case Here's a roundup of some of the notable stories about Africa this week: In Nigeria - The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) disclosed that the validity of Nigerian passports will be extended from five to 10 years. - A suicide-bomb attack at a mosque in the Mainari area of Konduga, Borno State, claimed the lives of eight worshippers. - The attack came only two days after troops killed scores of Boko Haram terrorists in Yobe State while countering an ambush staged by the insurgents. Troops suffered an unspecified amount of casualties. - 14 Senators of the All Progressives' Congress (APC)officially dumped the ruling party and moved to opposition parties. 37 members of the House of Representatives also dumped the APC just moments later. - Nearly a month after a fuel tanker explosion killed 12 in Lagos, the state government revealed the identity of the owner and revealed plans to prosecute him. He was later arrested in Kano. - The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), disclosed that cholera has killed 186 people in the country since the beginning of the year. - Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, also dumped the APC for the PDP after months of speculations. - The Rivers State Police Command disclosed that four of its officers were killed in three days. - Gunmen shot and killed , the APC chairman in Ideato North local government area of Imo State. - The Nigerian Army appointed Major-General Ahmed Dikkoas the new Theatre Commander of anti-Boko Haram mission, Operation LAFIYA DOLE. - Benue State lawmakers became fence climbers when police officers locked the gates of the House of Assemby complex. In Ghana - Thousands of Ghanians were at the Accra International Conference Center to pay their final respects to ex-Vice President Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur who was buried after his death in June. - Daniel Asiedu, the prime suspect accused of stabbing a member of parliament, the New Patriotic Party's Joseph Boakye Danquah-Adu, to death threatened to petition the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate those he claimed had hired him to kill the former MP. - The Ghanaian government has commenced the process to amend the controversial power deal that the administration of former president, John Mahama, signed with Ameri. - At least five people were killed in an accident at Ashaiman in the Greater Accra region. - The 2017 annual report by Ghana's Auditor General revealed that the government's School Feeding Programme made an illegal investment of GHC 16,000,000 in 2016. - Fredrick Godzi, the police officer who infamously abused a customer at the Midland Savings and Loans, pleaded not guilty to a charge of assault during his arraignement before Circuit Court 10. - A 36-year-old farmer accused the District Police Commander of Akontombra in the Western Region, ASP Dickson Obeng, of ordering police officers to flog a 14-year-old class 6 pupil, Stanley Antwi of the St. James Anglican Primary at Akontombra. - Officers of the Ghana Police Service were involved in a bloody clash with commercial motorcycle riders at the Ashaiman Divisional Police Headquarters in Accra. - New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyekum, disclosed that he will not seek re-election in 2020. In Kenya - Peter Kimiti Nyuguto, a Kenyan government official, was shot dead at a plantation located just a few meters away from his compound. - Former Nyandarua governor, Daniel Waithaka, mysteriously disappeared without a trace after police and EACC officials raided his Nyahururu home in attempts to arrest him over alleged fraud. He later surrendered himself to the state authorities. - Two ministers in the County Government of Vihiga were sacked over alleged corruption. - Former Kenya Power Managing Director, Ben Chumo, was rejected by the National Assembly's Finance Committee for the Salaries and Remuneration Commission job due to corruption allegations trailing behind him. - Police officers gunned down four thugs in Nairobi's Mathare and Buruburu areas in separate robbery incidents. - The Court of Appeal in Mombasa upheld the election of Nyali Member of Parliament (MP), Mohamed Ali. - A pride of lions wandered into Kenyatta High School in Mwatate after breaking out of the Tsavo National Park. - Some angry protesters blocked a section of Ngong Road while demonstrating over the delays in completion of road repairs. In other African countries - South Africa's former president, Jacob Zuma, appeared in court over a $2.5-billion corruption case linked to a 1990s arms deal. - Opposition leader, Nelson Chamisa, said Zimbabwe's election was threatened by fraud and accused electoral authorities of bias. The demands include: Ending non-core expenditure of the National Health Insurance Authority to parliamentarians and Ministry of Health Direct transfer of Health Insurance Levy to the NHIL account at the Bank of Ghana and not into the consolidated fund Equitable distribution of health professionals especially to deprived communities The roadmap designed for the strike noted that all doctors working in the public service shall withdraw Out-Patient services. From August 20, all emergency services shall be withdrawn, then on August 27, all services offered by doctors in the public health facilities shall be totally withdrawn. The statement by the medical association also touched on the working conditions of its members, raising concerns with the implementation of the conditions of service document signed in October 2015. The doctors want their market premiums to return to a factor percentage of basic salary. The above award was implemented for only a year, after which government unilaterally decided to make it a fixed figure, contrary to the ruling of the NLC, the statement said. In fact it never even came up, her name never even popped up. The President from the very get go had been very settled on Mrs Jean Mensa, shes been his first choice, shes second choice and third choice," he said. He also pushed back hard on media reports that Professor Henrietta Mensah-Bonsu was approached by the president for the job but she "diplomatically" turned down the offer. "Theres never been any instance where Prof Henrietta Mensah Bonsus name ever came up [for the job], Jinapor said on Saturday on Joy FM's news analysis show, Newsfile. The President engaged in broad, quite consultation in respect of what his thinking was and a view that others would have about his thinking or the direction that he intended to go, and that was the consultation," he noted. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) in particular, skewered him for settling on Mrs Mensa, saying they have an axe to grind with her and that if they were consulted, they would have brought to fore, their issues with her. "The country stands to benefit a lot because the forest provides water for a lot of people and that is not something that you can trade for bauxite. We are not against mining bauxite in totality, we think Ghana has got some reserve, and it is our right to exploit that and develop it for our own emancipation, and so it is so that they are trying to develop the bauxite reserve, leader of the group, Daryl Bosu, said. Vizcarra, an engineer by training, took office four months ago after his center-right predecessor, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, resigned amid a swirl of corruption allegations. The president said Peruvians would also vote on constitutional changes to set term limits for legislators, re-establish a bicameral Congress for the first time since 1993 and increase transparency in court decisions. "With these measures we will significantly reduce corruption in the administration of justice," Vizcarra said. "Enough with the pardons in exchange for money." Analysts said there was some doubt Vizcarra would be able to carry out the full slate of ambitious reforms, since he lacks a strong base of support in Congress, which is dominated by the far-right opposition party of Keiko Fujimori, daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori. The nation's judiciary has been mired in scandal since investigative website IDL-Reporteros early this month released more than 20 tapes on which several judges appear to discuss arranging lenient treatment for defendants in exchange for cash or favors. The Orthodox Church in Ukraine is split between the largest branch whose clerics pledge loyalty to the head of the Russian church, Patriarch Kirill, and one that is overseen by Kiev-based Patriarch Filaret. Poroshenko joined a procession of tens of thousands of believers organised by the Kiev church after the Moscow-based church held a similar procession on Friday. "I believe it is absolutely necessary to cut off all the tentacles with which the aggressor country operates inside the body of our state," Poroshenko said of the Russian church. He complained that it is "separated from the state only on paper" while in reality it "fully and unconditionally supports the Kremlin's revanchist imperial policy." In Moscow on Saturday, President Vladimir Putin headed a procession of worshippers with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, underlining their close relations. Kirill even drew attention to the fact that Putin shares a first name with Prince Vladimir, who brought Christianity to the pagan Slavic state of Kievan Rus in 988. "I think there is no such thing as a coincidence, especially when we are talking about people whose actions truly change the world," the Patriarch told Putin. He prayed for peace among those fighting in the conflict between Kiev's forces and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. The conflict has exacerbated tensions between the two churches, with Ukranian Patriarch Filaret once saying Putin was "possessed by Satan". The Kiev-based church supported the bloody popular uprising in 2014 that ousted a Kremlin-backed government in Ukraine. Kirill on Friday warned against attempts to drive a wedge between the two churches. The only person I spoke Spanish with was a cleaning lady and she moved back to Colombia. New Hampshire, like its neighbors Vermont and Maine, is nearly all white. This has posed an array of problems for new arrivals, who often find themselves isolated and alone, without the comfort and support of a built-in community. It has also posed problems for employers in these states, who find that their homogeneity can be a barrier to recruiting and retaining workers of different ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. The issue prompted about 100 business leaders, government officials and members of nonprofit organizations to meet Thursday to search for ways that New Hampshire which is 94 percent white might lure other racial and ethnic groups, as well as younger people. Will Arvelo, New Hampshires director of economic development, said the gathering appeared to be the first broad-based effort in New England, if not the country, to focus on how to diversify an entire state. With nonwhites poised to make up a majority of the U.S. population in the next three decades, he said, diversity has become a bottom-line imperative for companies competing for talent, especially for workers who can speak other languages. As it stands, New Hampshire is 3 percent Latino, 2 percent African-American and 3 percent Asian, according to the census, with some people identifying as more than one race. The nation as a whole is 17 percent Latino, 14 percent African-American and 6 percent Asian. New Hampshires future economy is dependent on our ability to set ourselves up as a welcoming state, Arvelo said at the meeting. We do a great job marketing ourselves around travel and tourism. How do we use those tools to attract talent? The project grew out of informal talks over the past few years among a racially diverse coalition of people, including Celentano, who say they want to change New Hampshires demographics. The effort is so new that it has no name. But it is drawing important players. The gathering took place at the offices of Eversource, the energy company, where 17 percent of the companys 8,000 employees are not white. We truly believe that this effort will be hugely beneficial to our business operations, said Paula Parnagian, diversity and inclusion manager for Eversource. For Jerri Anne Boggis, executive director of the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the participation of major companies is a sign of the urgency of the mission. Its not just the social justice groups that are doing this, its the businesses, she said. Were talking about the economic engine of our state, and we cant move forward without them. New Hampshires neighbors, Vermont and Maine, are 95 percent white, making northern New England collectively the whitest region in a nation where white residents make up just over 60 percent of the population, according to the census. Northern New England does contain pockets that are less monolithic. They are concentrated in the largest communities Portland, Maine; Burlington, Vermont; and in Manchester, New Hampshire. In Manchester, for example, the white population has dropped to 82 percent, down from 98 percent in 1980. Since then, other ethnicities have been increasing, and as of 2016, Manchester was nearly 8 percent Hispanic, nearly 5 percent black and more than 4 percent Asian. In Lewiston, the second-largest city in Maine, Somalis are well-established. Mostly, though, northern New England is nearly all white. The reasons stem from a variety of factors, including a lack of big urban areas, where jobs are more plentiful, a wider range of housing is available and cultural differences are a little more accepted than in smaller places. Northern New England is a huge collection of very, very small towns, said Peter Francese, a demographic analyst based in Exeter, New Hampshire. Housing is at the core of why there arent more immigrants theres no place for them, he said. An ethnic person who wants to come in with a family of four or five people is not going to find a home they can afford, and theres almost no rental housing whatsoever. In addition, northern New England has the nations highest concentration of second homes, making the housing market especially tight. And, he said, much of any newer housing is only for people 55 or older. If developers built housing for younger people, he said, they would likely have children, which means a need for schools, which means higher property taxes anathema in a place like New Hampshire, which has no income tax. Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire also have some of the nations oldest populations. More people are dying here than being born, forcing these states to grapple with the consequences of their limited demographics. The irony is that with their own populations stagnant, these states must look to outsiders if they want to grow. We have true workforce needs, said Loretta Brady, a psychology professor at St. Anselm College, who has worked with the Manchester Chamber of Commerce on matters of diversity and participated in Thursdays conference. We have 2.7 percent unemployment, an opioid crisis that has significantly impacted employability and the reality of an aging population that will absolutely require direct service care at some point, Brady said. And we dont have a pipeline of talent thats going to support that. Part of the problem, Rogers J. Johnson, president of the Seacoast NAACP, told the group, was a lack of recognition as to the seriousness of this problem. He said many people in New Hampshire view race as an issue in the South but not in the North. In workshops and panel discussions, people wrestled with ways New Hampshire could draw people of different backgrounds. Their suggestions included: a better understanding of licensing and skills that refugees bring with them so they could more easily work here; a system of rewarding businesses that hire a more diverse array of workers; a central location with a database, speakers bureau and training opportunities that could help companies understand what diversity and inclusion means and how it could benefit them, and a focus on keeping workers as much as hiring them in the first place, since many leave after finding the state inhospitable. We havent even talked about housing and transportation, Celentano, who used to teach cultural training in Massachusetts and is now a community relations specialist for Eversource, told the group. In the workshop she participated in, she said, people asked: How do we bring in millennials when they cant afford housing or cant get from Point A to Point B? She said in an interview later that the lack of certain basic services also made settling in places like New Hampshire difficult for minorities. These include hair salons that cater to African-American women, she said, as well as restaurants and supermarkets that offer ethnic foods and stores that sell traditional clothing. The next step? Another meeting soon. At some point we have to pull the string and say whats coming out of here, Arvelo, the state director of economic development, said. The pressure is on us to perform and to be able to prove that this is not a one-off meeting, that its a sustained effort. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. The VC made the statement during an interview session with newsmen in Akwa Ibom. He said students who intend to get admission into the university are thoroughly checked before being admitted. He added that the screening is done to check that they do not belong to a cult group. Speaking about the university and the courses it offers, Ibang said the National Universities Commission has accredited over 90 per cent of the university programmes. He added that the accreditation team from the NUC would visit the institution to complete the accreditation of the remaining three programmes. ALSO READ: The VC said, All faculties except three programmes have full accreditation and the management only admits students within its capacity. The university at present has 7,300 students. I count myself blessed to be a Vice-Chancellor of Akwa Ibom State University. We have autonomy. Without it, the institution will not succeed and the autonomy has been upheld by the government. The management of Akwa Ibom State University has free hands and autonomy to operate to achieve academic excellence. The Vice-Chancellor of the University, Muhammed Liman made the announcement on Saturday, July 28, 2018, in Lafia while presenting appointment letters to the beneficiaries. The beneficiaries according to the News Agency of Nigeria are William Yaji, Economics; Seyi Adediwura; Physics and Abdulaziz Zakari; Mathematics. Others are Mercy Jerry; English and Modern Languages, Bashir Sani; Microbiology and Ibrahim Salah; Mathematics. The University management also gave automatic employment to the best physically challenged graduate, Solomon Akoji, who had second class upper from sociology department. The Vice-Chancellor who was represented by the University Registrar, Mamuda Abubakar also said the gesture was in fulfilment of the promise made to the beneficiaries during the institutions maiden convocation on January 19, 2016. Responding on behalf of the beneficiaries, Yaji expressed gratitude to the management and said they had been waiting for the appointment. ALSO READ: He said rewarding excellence would go a long way in encouraging others to strive hard, believing that they would also be rewarded. The XPoNential Music Festival is WXPNs signature annual concert event that draws audiences from throughout the Greater Philadelphia area, Mid-Atlantic region, and Northeastern US. Performing on the River Stage, Femi Kuti and his band shut down the festival rendering a number of hit songs from his well grown catalogue. His set list included songs from his recently released 10th studio album, One People, One World like, 'Truth', 'Africa 4 Africa', 'Nothing to Show For It', 'Evil People', 'Corruption Na Stealing' and more.undefined This year's festival witnesses a strong line up of international artists from across the world including Bermuda Triangle feat. Brittany Howard (of Alabama Shakes), Becca Mancari and Jesse Lafser, The Lone Bellow / Margo Price, Lukas Nelson & Promise of The Real, Femi Kuti & The Positive Force and more. Femi Kuti's impressive stage musicianship was one of the major highlight of the three days festival. Before the day of the festival, Femi Kuti had began his tour with performances at the Ridgefield in Connecticut, US. He is expected to continue his tour of the United States with a performance at the Central Park in New York this evening, July 29, which will make it his sixth concert in a roll. This was made known by a Twitter user @mosco4all, who said The body of our dear sister Angela igweatu killed by Nigeria police while serving her father land will be laid to rest today in her home town Anambra state. Rest in the lord sister. Igweatu was allegedly shot by a policeman while she was travelling home with her friends on Wednesday, July 4, 2018. The young lady later died she died around 3am that same day in Mabushi area of Abuja. According to a report by Punch, Kpodo, a leader of the All Progressives Congress in Bayelsa State, was remanded by Magistrate E.T. Empire-Ugwa on two counts of unlawful detention and rape of the victim on Friday, July 27, 2018. Charges against Bayelsa APC leader, Kpodo According to the charge sheet, Kpodo, a former Security Adviser to the Bayelsa State Government, was alleged to have detained the victim on June 2 at the Etegwe area of Yenagoa with the intent to defile her and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 155 of the Criminal Code of the state. On count two, the politician was said to have, on the day he allegedly detained the lady, raped her, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 285 of the Criminal Code. Kpodo pleaded not guilty to the two charges when read to him during the court proceedings in Bayelsa on Friday, July 27. Kpodo remanded despite plea of bail on health grounds Despite plea by Kpodos lawyer, Julius Iyekoroghe, represented by Funlayeifa Seibokuru, for Kpodos bail on grounds of ill-health and self-recognition, Magistrate Empire-Ugwa remanded him in prison till August 10, 2018. ALSO READ: Life of NYSC member in doubt after 15 men raped her at lodge Though Kpodo's lawyer argued that he was hypertensive and suffered other sicknesses, the prosecution lawyer, Ayibatonye Jumbo, opposed the bail application. Jumbo argued that being a politician and influential businessman, granting Kpodo bail could jeopardise the case as he could interfere with the witnesses of the prosecution. This is a political attack - Kpodo The accused, Kpodo, has alleged that he was being victimised for criticising Governor Seriake Dicksons government. Kpodo, who made the statement outside the court premises said, This trial is politically motivated; the case was reported in June to the police. The girl in question made the allegation as a tool of blackmail to cover up a fraud allegation of N500,000 and the case was withdrawn when the family apologised to me. The deceased was identified as Chibuzo Nwankwo, a native of Enugu State in Nigeria. Nwankwo was reportedly shot in the early hours of Friday, July 27, 2018 at a local bar in Kempton Park, Johannesburg, following a disagreement with an unknown person. His death was confirmed by the Publicity Secretary of the Nigerian Union in South Africa, Habib Miller on Saturday, July 28, 2018. ALSO READ: Nigerian killed after jumping from 9th floor to escape police in Joburg Nigerian Union secretary narrates how Nwankwo was killed Narrating the circumstances surrounding Nwankwo's death, Miller said the deceased got drunk and harassed a female worker when things got out of hand. The deceased, a patron of the bar, got drunk and started harassing a female worker. Information available to the union said that Nwankwo was chased out by security personnel, but he kept on coming back; became very aggressive and rude before the ugly incident occurred. A murder case has been opened and investigation has started. We call on Nigerians to be calm and allow the law to take its course, Miller said. ALSO READ: South African policemen jailed over death of Nigerian 121 Nigerians killed in South Africa since 2016 Miller also said that Chibuzo Nwankwos death brings to 121 the number of Nigerians killed in South Africa since January 2016. Tuko reports that clergymen in Irewa village, Kiharu, Muranga County, Kenya, refused to perform Christian rites on the kidnapper, Wangari Muturi Karanja and her 26-year-old nephew, Sammy Mwangi Kangethe on Friday, July 27, 2018. The refusal of the local pastors in Irewa village to bury Karanja and Kang'ethe saw pastors from Kayole in Nairobi and in Naivasha officiating the burials ceremony. The late Karanja, Kangethe and another man from Njumbi village in Mathioya constituency were reportedly shot dead when armed police stormed the home of the deceased. ALSO READ: Kidnappers free pregnant woman Karanja and her nephew had reportedly kidnapped Margaret Waitherero from Samar village in Maragu. An AK 47 assault rifle, a homemade gun and several bullets were recovered from the grandmothers home during the raid. This was made known to newsmen by the minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed. According to the minister, the decision was reached after wide consultations. He also said that the APC chairman, Adams Oshiomhole is aware of the move. In May 2018, the APC in Kwara state held parallel congresses with members loyal to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki holding theirs at the Banquet Hall opposite the Government House, while those loyal to the minister of information held their congress at Arca Santa Event Hall. Fulani emerged the APC state chairman from Saraki's faction and Alh Bashir Bolarinwa was elected chairman from Mohammeds faction. In a statement issued to Vanguard, the minister of information said a new congress will be held to elect new state executives. According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mohammed said that all those who got appointments by deceit, hiding under the facade of being party men and women, should immediately resign such appointments or be fired. We also resolved that the recent gale of defections has now put the APC in a position of true majority in the National Assembly, as those who remain are the ones who are truly committed to the ideals of our great Party That all members and supporters of our great party restate their unflinching support for President Muhammadu Buhari and assure him of a harvest of votes from Kwara State in the 2019 General Elections. That all members should remain calm because there is no cause for alarm, he added. See Lai Mohammeds full statement obtained from Vanguard below: A meeting of stakeholders in Kwara State, held at Oro, on Sunday, 29 July 2018, resolved as follows: 1). That the Balogun Fulani-led Kwara APC executive committee be immediately dissolved and a fresh congress that will include all Kwara APC members and those who are just coming into the party be held at the various levels to constitute a new executive. 2). That all those who got appointments by deceit, hiding under the facade of being party men and women, should immediately resign such appointments or be fired. 3). That the recent gale of defections has now put the APC in a position of true majority in the National Assembly, as those who remain are the ones who are truly committed to the ideals of our great Party 4). That all members and supporters of our great party restate their unflinching support for President Muhammadu Buhari and assure him of a harvest of votes from Kwara State in the 2019 General Elections. 5) That all members should remain calm because there is no cause for alarm. On Tuesday, July 24, 2018, over 50 APC members in the National Assembly defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Speaking to supporters of the All Progressives Congress in kwara state, Mohammed said that the recent defection has exposed the fake members of the party. The minister also said that the defections will not affect the ruling party in anyway. He said Today is a special day. God has answered our prayers by exposing our political traitors. God has removed stones from our rice and sands in our cassava flakes. We are here today to assure that it is a new dispensation in Kwara APC politics. We are at home today to assure you that the party will be reorganised and repositioned. By exposing the enemies and traitors in our fold, God has given us the opportunities that we have been looking for to reposition our party . These are people who had never given us peace and progress. Today, by the Grace of God and with your support, APC will wax stronger in Kwara. What is in the offing is a mega party. The party belongs to you all. We therefore reassure you that God is with us and the people of Kwara are with us. Since the day they decamped, you can see those who have come to our camp are more than those who left." Company announced the expansion of its presence in Noida with the commencement of work on its new software development centre. Infosys will invest approx Rs 750 crore in the first phase of construction to build a 2.7 million square feet facility. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: India's second largest software services firm Infosys on Sunday said it will invest approximately Rs 750 crore in the first phase of its upcoming facility in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The company on Sunday announced the expansion of its presence in Noida with the commencement of work on its new software development centre, it said in a statement. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, felicitated Infosys' upcoming facility, as part of the 'Rising UP, Powering New India' event in Lucknow, aimed at boosting infrastructural capabilities in Uttar Pradesh. "As part of this project, Infosys will invest approx Rs 750 crore in the first phase of construction to build a 2.7 million square feet facility that can accommodate a total staff strength of 5,000," the company said in a statement. The project, for which the UP government has allocated 27.5 acres of land in sector-85, Noida, will be one the most sustainable projects in the region, with extensive efforts to minimise the facility's carbon footprint by leveraging innovation and technology in the construction process. "The facility is a critical part of our effort to enhance our presence in the national capital region and leverage the talent pool available in this market," the company said. According to Daily Sun, the spiritual leader said this while speaking to newsmen at a press conference in Ibadan on Friday, July 27, 2018. Maharaji also called on the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu not to abandon Fayose. He said A child that disrespects elders will suffer doom but I appealed to Tinubu and other elders in political circle to please forgive him. Fayose has erred but they should not disown him. This should be a lesson to others to respect elders so that they wont suffer doom like Fayose. Fulani herdsmen Maharaji also called for the immediate arrest of the leaders of the Fulani herdsmen group, known as Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN). He said The inertia so far exhibited by the government in the face of continuous killings by the Fulani perpetrators is highly intriguing. Why is the government not responding to criminality of Fulani murderers the way it did in the Niger Delta against agitators who did not kill but only torched machines and equipments to demand for decent conditions of living? Buhari will win in 2019 According to the spiritual leader, the President will win the 2019 presidential election, which he said will be peaceful. Maharaji also declared his support for Buhari, stating that he has performed well since he was elected as President. Speaking on the recent mass defection, the spiritual leader described those that left the APC as hungry politicians. Buhari tells supporters to stop all campaigns President Buhari has however asked his supporters to halt their campaigns for his re-election in the upcoming 2019 general elections. Amaechi, on Friday, July 27, 2018, said Buhari would win states like Kano, Bauchi, and Sokoto even if the President was on a sick bed. The minister said this in reaction to the mass defection in the National Assembly. According to PDP chairman, Uche Secondus, Nigerians want a healthy President who will be able to handle the countrys issues. If Amaechi could say that the President would win on a sickbed, then he knows the health status of his principal. He knows that we have a sick leader who will not be able to give his maximum attention to the country. We dont need such a man at this critical time. We need a President who will be able to work 24 hours and read all memos, stand at meetings and debate with people and the parliament. We dont need a figurehead president that the likes of Amaechi are praying for. I know that people like him want a president they can deceive, who will not be on top of happenings in their ministries and in the country. They want a president who wont watch television and who will not read newspapers. If that is what they want, they will meet their Waterloo in 2019, he added. RAPCs reaction In its response, the RAPC, through its spokesman, Kassim Afegbua said the country is ill as a result of bad leadership. Afegbua also said Unknown to Hon. Minister Amaechi, Nigerians do not want a man on sickbed, hence there is a general consensus that this present leadership should quit. The country is terminally ill as a result of bad and ineffective leadership. Nigerians have been prevailing on the President to sit down and offer leadership, but he has been racking his brain. Rikiji, who is also chairman of the state Damage Assessment and Relief Committee, gave the commendation while addressing the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at Government Arabic Secondary School Zurmi. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) report that more than 12,000 IDPs were displaced from 18 towns and villages in Zurmi local government area by the bandits. We thank the federal government for deployment of military personnel to these areas, we are still calling for more intervention and provision of sustainable security support in order to address the dwindling security situation facing the state, he said. He urged the IDPs to remain calm as government was working with security agencies and all stakeholders to ensure peace returns to the affected communities. We are also working with all stakeholders to improve your wellbeing while here in this camp. I want to thank the emir of Zurmi Alhaji Abubakar Atiku over his concern and support to his people. We all know the efforts he have been making to ensure protection of lives and properties of his people, since yesterday we have been going up and down with him despite his age to ensure the IDPs are settled, he said. The Emir of Zurmi, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku described the efforts of the federal and states governments as encouraging and also said, what we have seen today is really appreciative, we want government to sustain these efforts I am aware that the federal government deployed more than 350 military personnel to these areas, therefore we are hoping that the situation will be better, he added. Earlier, the state Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) Alhaji Lawal Liman urged the people to embark on prayers, we should pray to Allah so that to over come the incident. Liman lauded the orderly manner and cooperation by the communities where the camps are located. He urged the IDPs to remain calm and always cooperate with the officials in order to maintain peaceful coexistence. (NAN) The IDPs were camped by the state government at Government Arabic Secondary School Zurmi, Local Government Secretariat, MDGs Hospital and Primary Schools in Zurmi town. According to The Guardian, Aregbesola said that there is still light at the end of the tunnel despite the challenges in the country. The Governor also asked Nigerians to give President Buharis government the chance to make things right. He said Buhari can be trusted and that he is putting his best to make things better. According to the Governor, Nigeria would have been destroyed if Buhari did not come in at the time he did. He also said that the mess created by the previous administration will take more than one or two years to clear. Aregbesola said this while speaking with the Committee on South-West Youth and Women Sensitisation Programme, led by wife of the Deputy Governor of Katsina State, Hajia Mariya Buhari Munir. He said For whoever that has grievances with the present Federal Government, I want you to know that it is not always easy to correct an already damaged situation. It is obvious that there are challenges and pains, but I want us to see it as the challenge of building a new Nigeria. We should accept the hardships we are facing now as the price to pay for building a new Nigeria of our dreams; that country where everything will work the way it ought to is what our president is working hard to achieve. We shall get there and we shall all be better for it. We cannot give up on Nigeria at this time, we are almost there, lets have faith in our president; we can do it and I know it is possible. Nigeria is redeemable and the process has already started with the present administration. He, however, noted that the sentiment attached to indigene factor was robbing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of quality representation in the House of Representatives. We should disregard the seed of division of indigene versus non-indigene that had robbed us all of quality representation.We must see beyond party politics and brace up to nation building,Adeyeye said. According to him, residents of the FCT have for long been faced with poverty, corruption, insecurity, unemployment, religious and ethnic divisions, and poor political leadership and infrastructure among others. The aspirant said that it was about time abled, young, professional, dynamic and ready to serve youths in the country took over political leadership to enthrone good governance. He noted that rather than provide credible leadership, enabling environment and a platform for national economic development, the present crop of political leaders were only interested in defection from one political party to the another for personal interest. He, however, noted that the problems being faced in the FCT and other states of the federation were not different from those in China in the years of reformist Deng Xiaoping and in Singapore in the years of Lee Kuan Yew. The only difference is that in those countries, young men had dreams,vision and courage to take on the establishment and chat a new course for their nations. These young men im China,.Singapore and Dubai in their prime took actions, they questioned the statuesque,they dared and disrupted bad and wicked order of things. Now we the youths of FCT and Nigeria generally must follow in the footsteps of great heroes and these young men that librated their countries, he said. Adeyeye further charged youths in the country to stop being servitude to political godfathers and their money politics, adding that it was time youths took their destiny in their hands to save the future generation from slavery. He added that the reality of the future of Nigerian youths dictates that they use their diversity for innovative economic solutions and not to allow themselves to be used by greedy politicians. He said that the reality of the future of Nigerian youths required that they follow the examples of young professionals who had taken over their countrys leadership, citing France, Canada, Austria and Italy among others. He noted that these countries had realised that the future could only be sustained through systematic transfer of leadership from the old to the young people. In Nigeria, we the youth are also ready, prepared and not lazy, lets get it back, lets build our nation, lets dream and run with visions of our hero past, he said. Adeyeye said he believed in quality representation and legislative agenda for community development. Also speaking at the occasion, Prof. Vivian Kosoko, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Peoples Party (NPP) in the first republic, urged youths to always respect their elders. Riyadh and its allies are fighting alongside Yemen's government against the Iran-backed Huthis in a war that has claimed nearly 10,000 lives and pushed impoverished Yemen to the brink of famine. Saudi Arabia has come under increasingly frequent missile attacks launched by the Huthis from northern Yemen this year. The kingdom's air defence forces say they intercepted all missiles, and only one casualty has been reported. Saudi Arabia, the biggest crude exporter in the world, last week announced it had temporarily suspended oil shipments through the Bab al-Mandab Strait after a Huthi missile attack on an Aramco vessel. The strait connects the Red Sea to the Arabian Sea and is a crucial passage for oil and trade. "The coalition will not allow the Huthi militias to build military capabilities that threaten regional waters," read Sunday's coalition statement. All five have been sacked "and will appear before the courts" in connection with allegations of fraud, Hamza said. The decision to put them on trial has been taken following recommendations made by a ministerial committee, which issued a 28-page report after reviewing a series of complaints. Hamza said the committee recommended they be tried after coming across "(election) violations, fraud and corruption" in the districts which the five suspects headed. According to the ministerial report, a copy of which has been seen by AFP, some of the alleged fraud involved "vote buying" on behalf of the Minister of Commerce Salman Ali and his brother Issam. Iraq's May election were marred by allegations of fraud which prompted the supreme court to order a manual recount in several districts, including in the northern multi-ethnic city of Kirkuk. The election was won by populist Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr's joint list with communists, as long-time political figures were pushed out by voters seeking change in a country mired in conflict and corruption. The results were contested mainly by the old guard. The supreme court also ratified a decision by the outgoing parliament to dismiss Iraq's nine-member electoral commission and replace them with judges. "These elections are nothing other than the pursuit of a mirage and our peoples will reap nothing but illusions, as they are used to doing," said alliance leader Iyad Ag Ghaly. Ag Ghaly was the linchpin of the jihadists' operation to take control of much of the north of the country in 2012 who leads the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM), formed from a merger of several militant groups. The international community expects the winner to relaunch a peace accord signed in 2015 by the government and mainly Tuareg former rebels but whose application remains out of reach. Despite the accord, jihadist violence has continued and also spread out from the north towards the centre and south of the country amid repeated states of emergency, the unrest permeating neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger. Sole female Keita's chief rival according to polls is Soumaila Cisse, 68, a former finance and economy minister, who lost by a large margin in the second round in 2013. Djeneba N'Diaye, who has no political background, is the only female standing, urging voters to give a woman a chance "because the men have failed." More than eight million Malians are due to vote in the poll with provisional official results due August 3 at the latest with a second round on August 12 if required. Inter-ethnic communal violence has only added to a volatile mix in the Sahel nation. A midweek flare-up in central Mali saw 17 ethnic Fulani killed in an attack community associations and local authorities blamed on traditional hunters. On July 17, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) said at least 289 civilians had died in "inter-communal violence" since the start of the year, mainly in the central region of Mopti. 'Minimal' security conditions According to the security ministry, some 30,000 security personnel, including foreign troops, have been drafted for election day. But UN mission chief Mahamat Saleh Annadif urged vigilance in a radio interview in which he found only "minimal (security) conditions" were in place. In northern regions where the government has little say in local affairs, armed groups who signed the peace accord will also guard ballot boxes. Baba Mahamane Toure, a resident of Timbuktu, told AFP that "from 1990 until now, little effort has been made in terms of infrastructure for northern regions," adding he didn't know who to vote for. Top challengers to Keita, elected in 2013, aside from Cisse, include former transitional prime minister Cheick Modibo Diarra, an astrophysicist who held that office for eight months in 2012, and Aliou Boubacar Diallo, a businessman. Turnout is traditionally less than 50 percent in a country where less than one third of those aged over 15 are literate. The governor of the central region of Mopti (centre), General Sidi Alassane Toure, said he was "very optimistic" regional participation would be high, with more than three-quarters of voters having procured a voter's registration card. Not everyone shared his optimism. "We are going to vote but we are very afraid, afraid for our children, our husbands, our brothers, sisters, for everything," said Hawa Cisse, of the "Let's Save Mopti" platform. "We can't even go to the market, we can't go beyond the river" Niger, she complained, reflecting on a campaign that has seen rows over electoral lists and opposition claims of ballot rigging owing to differences between the physical voter list and the online variant. The government says there is only one list and any anomalies are down to an IT glitch. Bamako baker Moussa Diombele says he will reserve judgement. The minister was on a fact-finding visit to learn how police and the Red Cross are dealing with the influx of migrants. Earlier Saturday, the maritime rescue service said on Twitter it had rescued 334 people from 17 boats. On Friday coastguards picked up 888 people in a single day. "It was to be expected," minister Grande-Marlaska said, criticising the previous conservative government of Mariano Rajoy for a "lack of foresight". He said the government was working against the clock to open "a centre" in the port of Andalusia with room for 600 people. Earlier this week, more than 600 African migrants reached the Spanish territory of Ceuta after storming a double border fence with Morocco and attacking police. The scramble over the barbed wire-decked barrier on Thursday is the biggest in Ceuta since February 2017, when more than 850 migrants entered the Spanish overseas territory over four days. The incident further increases pressure on Spain, which has now surpassed Italy as the number one destination for migrants crossing the Mediterranean by boat. Steve Adams joins Vaughn to discuss Facebooks new investment to boost businesses in regional New Zealand. The provincially targeted scheme, labelled boost you business has a focus on small parts of NZ and aims to help kiwis use Facebook to market their businesses. Vaughn describes Steves work as going town to town like a travelling salesman Does this work? The program Steve is marketing involves them heading to a town, talking to local businesses, councils etc. and getting a conversation going. Facebooks investment scheme involves making videos and doing workshops for clients etc. to promote local businesses and using the business tools that the social media entity can offer to get your business up and running. The scheme wants to promote working as a community to boost businesses for local kiwis. Listen to the full interview with Steve Adams above. Sunday Social with Vaughn Davis, 7pm - 8pm on RadioLIVE and streaming live to the Rova app on Android and iPhone. RadioLIVE. A French hacker posted what he said was Sharmas 'personal address, phone number and his alternate phone number'. New Delhi: Taking the Aadhaar-privacy debate to a new level, Trai chairman R.S. Sharma on Saturday disclosed his Aadhaar number on Twitter and challenged activists to show how public disclosure of it could harm him. Soon, a French security expert, who goes by the nickname Elliot Alderson started posting what he said was Mr Sharmas personal address, phone number linked with the Aadhaar number given, and his alternate phone number and even Pan card details. He even claimed that no bank account was linked to the Aadhaar number he posted. However, Mr Sharma was dismissive about them, claiming that ethical hackers who are against Aadhaar, are not as good as they claim to be. It all started when a user on Twitter challenged the Trai chief on Twitter over his comments on the sanctity of personal information stored in the Aadhaar database. My Aadhaar number is XXXXXXXXXXXX. Now I give this challenge to you: Show me one concrete example where you can do any harm to me, tweeted Mr Sharma. Earlier in an interview to a news website, Mr Sharma had said that Aadhaar does not violate privacy and the government has a right to create such a database of residents since it gives subsidies.Tell me what harm can you do to me if you have my Aadhaar details? I will give you my Aadhaar number if you like, he said. In response to the interview, one of the Twitter users asked the Trai chairman to walk the talk and publish his Aadhaar details in public if he had so much faith in this secure system. However, soon people on Twitter started speculating Trai chiefs details. A French security expert, who goes by the nickname Elliot Alderson started posting what he claimed to be Mr Sharma personal address, phone number linked with the Aadhaar number given, and his alternate phone number and even Pan card details. However, he blacked-out most of the details. Some Twitter users posted Mr Sharmas voter ID details and his address and even one personal picture supposed to be his Whatsapp profile. People managed to get your personal address, DoB and your alternate phone number. I stop here, I hope you will understand why make your Aadhaar number public is not a good idea, Mr Alderson wrote. However, Mr Alderson claimed that no bank account was linked with the Aadhaar number provided by Mr Sharma. But Mr Sharma refuted Mr Alderson claim. Looks like you are not as good as you claim to be! All my bank accounts are linked to Aadhaar. Further, even if you know my bank account number, so what!, tweeted Trai chief. Mr Sharma said he did not challenge activists for phone number. I challenged them for causing me harm! So far no success. Wish them luck, said Mr Sharma. He said that voter list is available in public and given to all political parties at the time of elections. The purpose of this (challenge) is to debunk the theory that Aadhaar compromises the privacy of the person, he said. Trai chief who will be retiring next week is supposed to be front runner of Data Protection Authority an agency which would look at enforcement and implementation of the new data protection law. He was the first director-general of the Unique Identification Authority of India or UIDAI in 2009 to issue Aadhaar numbers. This week Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg finally got the whack across the nose that many had hoped Congress would give him back in April. WASHINGTON -- "He's been lying all week, he's been lying for years. ... I don't see how he has any credibility." Exactly. Rudy Giuliani, the president's current lawyer, was talking about Michael Cohen, the president's former lawyer. But if Cohen is so sleazy, and I don't disagree, why did Donald Trump keep the self-described fixer around for so long? As recently as April, Trump was calling Cohen a "good man." As recently as May, Giuliani called Cohen "an honest, honorable lawyer." Cohen's character didn't change. The damage he could inflict on Trump did. And here's the bigger problem with Giuliani's argument against Cohen: It applies to his own client. Trump lies -- constantly, flagrantly, provably. You might think that a smart lawyer, capable of seeing around a looming corner, would think twice before labeling someone else a "pathological liar." Especially since Trump's lies include the very subject on which Giuliani now claims that Cohen's alleged account should be discounted and Trump's credited. If Cohen tells you the sky is blue, check the color. In a swearing contest between Cohen and Trump about the Trump Tower meeting, Cohen's word alone isn't reliable. Still, if there are motives to lie on both sides, whose is bigger? I'd wager the one whose presidency may hinge on the outcome. And the one who has the longer track record of prevarication on this topic. Trump is implicated in -- he is the architect of -- the original lie, about the contents of the Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer. It was adoption, sure! Trump and his lackeys then lied about the lie, denying Trump's involvement in writing the initial misleading statement about it. "I do want to be clear that the president was not involved in the drafting of the statement," Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow said last July. That untruth was quickly overtaken by misleading spin from White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders: "The president weighed in, as any father would." Any father with zero fealty to the truth. Any father with political -- and perhaps criminal -- exposure of his own. It is no stretch, then, to imagine Trump lying about whether he knew in advance about the meeting he then lied about. In fact, that would be perfectly in character. Sometimes it is hard to understand why Trump bothers to lie, when the truth is so provable and obvious. But often Trump's lies simply reflect the primitive instinct of the cornered toddler with chocolate smeared on his face, insisting that he had not just raided the cookie jar. Deny first, with accompanying, if not convincing indignance. Deal with the consequences later. As Giuliani said of Cohen, "If his back is up against the wall, he'll lie like crazy. Because he's lied all his life." We saw this on display with Trump's handling of the Cohen-facilitated payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels. Asked in April about whether he was aware of the $130,000 to ensure Daniels' silence, Trump denied any knowledge. "You'll have to ask Michael Cohen. Michael is my attorney." The next month found Giuliani and Trump himself acknowledging that Trump had reimbursed Cohen for the payment he had just denied knowing about. Now comes Trump, on Twitter, doubling down on his denials about the Trump Tower meeting. "I did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don jr. Sounds to me like someone is trying to make up stories in order to get himself out of an unrelated jam (Taxi cabs maybe?)." Maybe. A smart prosecutor will seek corroborating witnesses -- Cohen reportedly says they exist -- and other indicia of truthfulness. In this case, what were the blocked numbers to which Donald Trump Jr. placed calls at key moments before and after the meeting? What motivated Trump to announce plans, the very day on which the meeting was arranged, for a "major speech," never given, about "all of the things that have taken place with the Clintons"? What would it mean if Trump knew about and approved of the meeting with a "Russian government attorney," as Natalia Veselnitskaya was described? It would show that Trump, like his son ("If it's what you say I love it"), was eager to obtain dirt on an opponent being peddled by a foreign agent. "Most people would have taken that meeting," the president said last year. "It's very standard." The dangled dirt was not forthcoming. That doesn't excuse a presidential candidate for seeking to procure it. Nor does it excuse a president for lying to the country for months about his role in this sordid transaction. (c) 2018, Washington Post Writers Group , We're sorry, this article is not currently available GOSHEN Wynton Marsalis once said, Through improvisation, jazz teaches you about yourself. And through swing, it teaches you that other people are individuals too. It teaches you how to coordinate with them. In the same vein, the Litchfield Jazz Festival has been improvising auspiciously and knowledgably since its start in 1996, featuring legendary performances by such jazz luminaries as Tito Puente, Dave Brubeck, Toots Thielemans, and Diane Krall. Litchfield Jazz Festival organizer, executive and artistic director of Litchfield Performing Arts Vita Muir supervised the proceedings. Prior to the event, Muir commented, Its astonishing, what they do. Emceed by WZBG-FMs Mike Gow, The Yoko Miwa Trio kicked off the music this year at the 23rd annual festival, held at the Goshen Fairgrounds Saturday afternoon. The weekend-long event includes Saturdays shows by Litchfield Jazz Orchestra, Trio Da Paz, the Jeff Tain Watts Trio, and a tribute to jazz great Dave Brubeck by his son Dan Brubeck & Friends. Sundays events include a Scat & Scramble Brunch and concerts by Kris Allen Trio, Doug Munro & Le Pompe Attack, and Orrin Evans. Saturdays jazz brunch as well as in-between main musical acts featured students from the Litchfield Jazz Camp, including 12-year-old piano prodigy Brandon Goldberg. Campers also played in the well-attended Student Tent across the Goshen Fairgrounds lawn. Its fun, watching the campers grow into their own music, said Muir. Every day, their repertoire gets better. They really knock my socks off. In the main stage tent, Japanese pianist Yoko Miwa made her Litchfield Jazz Festival debut. Miwa has played at Jazz at Lincoln Center, at Marian McPartland & Friends in New Yorks Coca Cola Generations in Jazz Festival; and has a regular gig at New Yorks Blue Note Jazz Club. Her rollicking repertoire, comprising her seven albums, included original and cover songs Log ORhythm and Court and Spark. In the 80-degree ,alternately-sunny-and-overcast weather, visitors watched from beach chairs, picnic blankets, and small tents. Visitor Aaron Fabas from West Hartford sat on the lawn with his wife Jen and daughters Juliana, 11, and Corinn, 8. This is our first time here. Hopefully, the kids will make it to the Brubeck tribute later, Fabas said. Juliana and Corinn are both musicians a trombone player and a cellist, respectively. When asked if they would like to play at the Litchfield Jazz Camp someday, Juliana said, Maybe. Fabas was joined in their semi-circle by in-laws Robert and Jeanne DAngelo of Waterbury, both former jazz musicians and teachers. Robert DAngelo, a drummer, said, We are happy to have our two granddaughters here and loving the music. I love it, Jeanne DAngelo said of the fest. The music was preceded by a Brunch Gala featuring food, wine, and beer along the grounds with a view of the scenic rolling hills. Tickets ranged from general-admission lawn tickets at $20; $300 Friend tickets, which provide prime reserved seating; and $500 Backstage tickets, which include a two-day pass backstage seating, personal wait staff, VIP parking, gift bag, and complimentary beverages. All ticket fees include a $2 donation to benefit the Litchfield Jazz Camp. The camp, established in 1997, was held this summer for one- to four-week sessions July 1 through 27 at The Gunnery School in Washington. It is taught by who is considered the best 50 jazz artists and educators in the country. Organizing the festivities with many volunteers, Muir said, With weather permitting, we do the best we can. Next onstage included the Litchfield Jazz Orchestra (or LJO), led by pianist Zaccai Curtis. Congas were played by Reinaldo De Jesus; bass, Avery Sharpe; drums, Steve Johns; alto sax, Albert Rivera; tenor sax, Don Braden; and vocals by Melinda Rodriguez. The orchestra began in 2013. It was the idea of guitarist/educator and Litchfield Jazz Camp faculty member, Doug Munro. A mainstay of their performances is a re-imagining of Big Band Django, Jean Reinhardts gypsy-inspired guitar music. This years orchestra leader, Zaccai Curtis, is an award-winning pianist who has performed with Donald Harrison, Cindy Blackman Santana, and Eddie Palmieri. A former jazz camp student, Zaccai has added, as an instructor, a Latin jazz program for the LJO. The LJO performed jazz classics with originals. Muir founded Litchfield Performing Arts in 1981. Aside from starting up the festival, she has developed and run many programs, including the Litchfield Jazz Camp, a non-competitive summer program hosting about 400 students and distributing $100,000 in need-based scholarship annually developed from grants and sponsorships. In January 2015, she won the Oprah Winfrey Award for Leadership & Exposure for affording opportunities to youth in the arts. Through the years, the jazz festival has featured a whos who of jazz names, including Dick Hyman, Marian McPartland, Tony Bennett, the New Black Eagle Jazz Band, Steve Kuhn (performing with Lewis Nash), and Lou Stein. Other concerts were by Ahmad Jamal, Christian McBride, The Tana Reid Quintet with Akira Tana, Rufus Reid, and Marty Ehrlich. Sundays events will include a special brunch and Doug Munro & Le Pompe Attack, joined by the Matthew Westerby Company Dancers; Orrin Evans; Emmet Cohen Trio with Jimmy Cobb; and Jane Bunnett & Maqueque. Muir said of the line-up: People watch and get exposed to the jazz at the Litchfield Jazz Fest and really grow in their tastes, seeking out new jazz acts. A long-standing tradition of theLitchfield Jazz Festival includes the after-party, which will be held nearby at the restaurant and bar HANQS at 131 Water St. in Torrington. The Litchfield Jazz Festival continues on Sunday, 10 a.m. through 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at www.litchfieldjazzfest.com. ATLANTA, GEORGIA The 13th class of Stamps Scholars includes 230 top students from across the country attending 30 partner universities. Selected from almost 300,000 applications, these Scholars have diverse academic interests such as medicine, education, engineering, history, public policy, and visual and performing arts. Olivia Lemieux of Torrington was awarded the Stamps Scholarship and will attend the University of Connecticut beginning in the fall of 2018. She plans to study environmental science. Stamps Scholars are chosen for their academic excellence, leadership experience, and exceptional character. The value of Stamps Scholarships to the new class of Scholars over their time in school is worth up to approximately $36 million. Given its selectivity and benefits, the Stamps Scholarship has become one of the most prestigious scholarships for high school seniors, said Don Bishop, associate vice president for enrollment at the University of Notre Dame, in a written statement. The Stamps Scholarships have become one of the most important and attractive offerings among our merit programs. At many partner universities, the Stamps Scholarship covers the total estimated cost of attendance for four years of undergraduate study and also includes an enrichment fund that Scholars can use for academic and professional development, ranging from study abroad to internships to independent research. The Stamps Foundation also supports scholarships for current students at several colleges and universities. Stamps Scholars benefit from a national network of peers and the opportunity to attend biennial conventions and other events where Scholars gather together and learn from recognized community leaders. Stamps Scholars are known for their significant contributions to their local campuses and communities around the world, and for many, the Stamps Scholarship allows them to study at the top colleges for their career path. Stamps Scholars are among the recipients of prestigious awards including Fulbright, Gates Cambridge, Goldwater, Marshall, Rhodes, Truman, and Schwarzman Scholarships. Stamps alumni are working with top companies and organizations such as Google, Goldman Sachs, and NASA and are pursuing graduate degrees at prestigious institutions such as Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and the University of Oxford. Through our strong partnerships with 40 exceptional colleges and universities across the country, we take great pride in our support of these remarkable young people. When we meet them, we so often hear about their deeply personal ambitions, which might be in music, science, design, business, or medicine. Penny and I love to learn about their unique goals, as we know that they, as Stamps Scholars, will have the financial support to pursue their ambitious aspirations. They will also benefit from the Stamps community, both on their campus and through the national network of Scholars, as well as from advice from faculty and alumni at their chosen university, said Roe Stamps, founder and chairman of the Stamps Foundation. Meet the Scholars: http://www.stampsfoundation.org/yearbook, or find out more at StampsFoundation.org. The government expects milk production to touch 254.5 million tonnes by 2021-22. Currently, the country has a stock of 2.30 lakh tonnes SMP and 60,000-70,000 tonnes of white butter. (Photo: Pixabay) New Delhi: Most states, including Rajasthan, have agreed to supply milk for two days a week through Mid-Day Meal and Anganwadi schemes in order to absorb surplus stock and ensure better prices to farmers, Animal Husbandry and Dairy Secretary Tarun Shridhar said. Farmers are in distress in key milk producing states like Maharasthra because of fall in the procurement rate amid surplus milk production, piling up of skimmed milk powder (SMP) and white butter stock. There was farmers' protest in parts of Maharashtra ten days back. "We had asked states to arrange for supply of milk and milk products through schools and Anganwadi networks under schemes like midday meal. Rajasthan government has already confirmed that they have done," Shridhar told PTI. Every state is keen to do it. "It is matter of having adequate supply of milk. The states are still working on logistic issues like converting SMP to milk, storage and other issues," he added. Currently, the country has a stock of 2.30 lakh tonnes SMP and 60,000-70,000 tonnes of white butter. Stating that the government is taking all possible measures to alleviate the distress of farmers, the secretary said import of whey milk powder has been hiked to 40 per cent from 30 per cent and also incentives have been provided to boost export of dairy products. While these are short term measures, a long term policy need to be framed to ensure that such a situation does not arise in future for farmers, he said. The top official observed that much of the focus so far has been on boosting milk production and not consumption. Though the per capita consumption in India, the world's largest milk producer, is above the global average of 330 grams, there is a scope for increasing the intake level to ensure nutritional security, he added. As per the official data, milk production is estimated to have increased by 6.6 per cent to 176.35 million tonnes during the last financial year. The government expects milk production to touch 254.5 million tonnes by 2021-22. Vancouver, Canada July 25, 2018 Endeavour Silver Corp. (NYSE: EXK, TSX: EDR - https://www.commodity-tv.net/c/search_adv/?v=298293) announces that near mine exploration drilling along the Calicanto, Santa Fe and Misie-Karla vein systems on the Calicanto property in Zacatecas State, Mexico (see Calicanto map here) continues to intersect high grade silver-gold mineralization along strike and down dip of positive drill results reported last year. The Calicanto property is located within close proximity to the El Compas Mine, and has the potential to provide further growth opportunities for the new mine. The best intercept to date returned 269 grams per tonne (gpt) silver and 5.5 gpt gold over 1.1 metres (m) true width (19.9 oz per short ton (opT) silver equivalent (AgEq) over 3.6 feet (ft) in hole CLT-35 (see Santa Fe, Calicanto, Misie and Karla long sections here). Drilling highlights for twelve drill holes are summarized in the following table. Calicanto Surface Drill Results Hole Structure From True width Au Ag AgEq (m) (m) (gpt) (gpt) (gpt) CLT-03 Santa Fe Including 229.65 1.2 10.50 42 829 230.30 0.6 15.70 48 1,226 CLT-11 Santa Fe Projection Including 204.95 1.0 4.39 20 349 204.95 0.3 12.60 55 1,000 CLT-12 Santa Fe Projection 203.30 1.0 2.65 15 214 CLT13 Santa Fe Projection Including 65.25 0.8 0.26 498 517 66.10 0.2 0.31 954 977 CLT-15 Santa Fe Including 186.20 1.0 0.76 172 229 186.65 0.6 1.23 238 330 CLT-16 Santa Fe Including 237.80 0.9 7.38 141 695 237.80 0.4 14.60 288 1,383 CLT-30 Calicanto Including 354.85 2.7 2.05 120 274 355.55 0.4 8.38 255 884 CLT-32 Calicanto Including 293.05 1.3 5.79 121 556 293.60 0.5 13.75 220 1,251 CLT-32 Santa Fe Including 271.90 1.3 1.35 116 217 273.00 0.3 5.20 510 900 CLT-34 Santa Fe Including 193.40 1.0 0.65 283 332 194.30 0.2 3.18 1,310 1,549 CLT-35 Santa Fe Including 253.95 1.1 5.54 269 684 253.95 0.2 28.10 1,345 3,453 CLT-37 Karla Including 72.65 1.0 0.30 569 592 72.65 0.3 0.59 1,320 1,364 Silver equivalents are calculated at a ratio of 75:1 silver: gold. All widths are estimated true widths. Luis Castro, Vice President, Exploration for Endeavour Silver, commented, These exploration drill results should have a positive impact on our resources for the Calicanto property, part of the El Compas mine. The high silver and gold grades, good continuity of mineralization and significant exploration upside to expand the resources reinforce our view that El Compas is a scalable asset. Drilling will be ongoing through the rest of 2018, to further grow the resource around our mineral endowed targets areas. El Compas Development Update The El Compas mine output is currently 250 tonnes per day (tpd) and a stockpile is available for processing. The La Plata plant completed commissioning of all circuits in June, but during ramp up in July has experienced recovery issues partially due to high amounts of wet clay in the low grade ore fed for commissioning, which clogs the crushers and screens, and withdraws metal from the flotation circuit. Shelters are now being installed to keep the rains off the stockpile and crushers, various circuits have been optimized and the day to day throughput is improving. As of July 20, the plant was processing 170 tpd with improving recoveries, but still below plan. Internal and external consultants are onsite to aid in the ramp up of planned tonnages and recoveries of the plant with a target to feed stockpiled high grade ore in the coming days. Management is targeting mill throughput of 250 tpd by the end of July and recoveries close to plan in August. While El Compas will not achieve commercial production in July, management forecasts commercial production will be achieved during the current quarter. Qualified Person Godfrey Walton, M.Sc., P.Geo., Endeavours President and COO, is the Qualified Person who reviewed and approved this news release and supervised the drilling programs in Mexico. A Quality Control sampling program of reference standards, blanks and duplicates is used to monitor the integrity of all assay results. All samples are split at the local field office and shipped to ALS-Chemex Labs, where they are dried, crushed, split and 50 gram pulp samples are prepared for analysis. Gold is determined by fire assay with an atomic absorption (AA) finish and silver by aqua regia digestion and ICP finish, over-limits by fire assay and gravimetric finish. About Endeavour Silver Endeavour Silver Corp. is a mid-tier precious metals mining company that operates three high-grade, underground, silver-gold mines in Mexico. The Company is forecasting 20% production growth to 10.2-11.2 million oz silver equivalent in 2018. Endeavour is currently developing the El Compas mine to become its fourth high-grade, underground, silvergold mine in Mexico and has a compelling pipeline of exploration and development projects, including the Terronera project, to facilitate its goal to become a premier senior silver producer. Our philosophy of corporate social integrity creates value for all stakeholders. SOURCE Endeavour Silver Corp. Contact Information - For more information, please contact: Galina Meleger, Director Investor Relations Toll free: (877) 685-9775 Tel: (604) 640-4804 Fax: (604) 685-9744 Email: [email protected] Website: www.edrsilver.com In Europe: Swiss Resource Capital AG Jochen Staiger [email protected] www.resource-capital.ch Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States private securities litigation reform act of 1995 and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Such forwardlooking statements and information herein include but are not limited to statements regarding Endeavours anticipated performance in 2018 including changes in exploration programs and the timing and results of various activities. The Company does not intend to, and does not assume any obligation to update such forward-looking statements or information, other than as required by applicable law. Forward-looking statements or information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Endeavour and its operations to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such statements. Such factors include, among others, changes in national and local governments, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments in Canada and Mexico; financial risks due to precious metals prices, operating or technical difficulties in mineral exploration, development and mining activities; risks and hazards of mineral exploration, development and mining; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, risks in obtaining necessary licenses and permits, and challenges to the Companys title to properties; as well as those factors described in the section risk factors contained in the Companys most recent form 40F/Annual Information Form filed with the S.E.C. and Canadian securities regulatory authorities. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable, including but not limited to: the continued operation of the Companys mining operations, no material adverse change in the market price of commodities, mining operations will operate and the mining products will be completed in accordance with managements expectations and achieve their stated production outcomes, and such other assumptions and factors as set out herein. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or information, there may be other factors that cause results to be materially different from those anticipated, described, estimated, assessed or intended. There can be no assurance that any forward-looking statements or information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements or information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. YEREVAN -- Representatives of jailed former Armenian President Robert Kocharian blasted his arrest, calling it "obvious political and personal persecution" and demanded his immediate release, as the government steps up actions against the countrys previous leaders. "It's a vendetta, political, and personal revenge that has no legal justification," Kocharian spokesman Victor Soghomonian told a Yerevan news conference on July 28. "Im sure you realize what is happening, realize why Robert Kocharian has been declared guilty, realize the speed with which this process took place and that it has nothing to do" with the killings of 10 people on March 1, 2008. Kocharian, who served as Armenias president from 1998 to 2008, was taken into custody on July 27, a day after being charged in connection with the deadly dispersion of opposition protests following the disputed presidential election in 2008. A Yerevan court ruled that the Special Investigative Service (SIS) could hold Kocharian for two months pending investigation into the crackdown that left 10 people dead, including two police officers. Kocharian has denied the charges of "overthrowing Armenia's constitutional order" and said they were a "vendetta" by the country's new leadership against him. Kocharian's was the most high-profile detention in a series of arrests of prominent officials since Nikol Pashinian, a longtime anticorruption campaigner, became prime minister in May. Pashinian was propelled into government on the backs of mass street protests by Armenians -- many of them young -- who were fed up with the country's persistent corruption and poverty. Transparency International in 2017 ranked Armenia 107th out of 180 countries on its Corruption Perceptions Index and said that "corruption in Armenia is endemic and widespread, permeating all levels of society." When he took office in mid-May, Pashinian immediately vowed to tackle the wrongdoing, and charges have followed against several people with ties to the former government. On the same day that Kocharian was taken into custody, Yuri Khachaturov, the Armenian chief of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), was charged, like Kocharian, with overthrowing Armenia's constitutional order related to the 2008 crackdown. Khachaturov, who was Armenia's deputy defense minister at the time, has also denied any wrongdoing. He was released after posting bail of about $10,000. The case dates back to late February and early March 2008 in the wake of a disputed election to determine Kocharian's successor. Kocharians ally, Serzh Sarkisian, was declared the winner, angering the opposition and setting off 10 days of nonstop protests. Kocharian is accused of illegally ordering the violent dispersal of demonstrators. He has claimed the action was necessary to prevent an illegal takeover of the government by his predecessor, Levon Ter-Petrosian. Pashinian, who was tried and convicted in 2010 of being an organizer of the 2008 protests, earlier this year demanded the authorities investigate Kocharians activities during the postelection violence. Prosecutors at the time said Pashinian, then an opposition figure in parliament, had no authority to seek such action. The situation changed, however, after the nonviolent Pashinian-led street protests toppled Sarkisian and led to his own election as prime minister. Early this month, the SIS issued an arrest warrant for retired General Mikael Harutiunian, who served as defense minister during the 2008 unrest. It charged Harutiunian with "illegally" using the armed forces against the protesters, saying that it also amounted to an overthrow of constitutional order. On July 9, a spokesman for Kocharian denounced the accusations leveled against the fugitive ex-general as a mockery of the law. Harutiunian is believed to be living in Moscow. Pashinian's administration has also brought cases against several close relatives of Sarkisian's family for a variety of alleged financial crimes, although Pashinian insisted that no particular family was being targeted. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country will stand up to the United States over the detention of an American pastor and accused President Donald Trump of conducting a "psychological war." On July 29, Turkish broadcaster Haberturk quoted Erdogan as also saying that the United States would be losing a "strong and sincere partner" if it does not change its attitude. Tensions have increased in recent days between the NATO allies over Ankara's detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson, who was transferred to house arrest after serving 18 months in a Turkish prison. Brunson, who has worked in Turkey for more than 20 years, was jailed in 2016 and was indicted a year later on terrorism and espionage charges. He was accused of aiding groups that Ankara alleges were behind a failed military coup in 2016. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on July 28 about Brunsons status. The State Department said the two were "committed to continued discussions to resolve the matter and address other issues of common concern." In his comments to Haberturk, Erdogan denied that Turkey had negotiated on the Brunson case and that any "attitude change" was "Trump's problem." The remarks come after Trump in a tweet threatened Turkey with unspecified financial penalties unless authorities there allowed the pastor to leave the country. "The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian, family man, and wonderful human being," Trump wrote in a tweet. "He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!" he added. Based on reporting by Reuters and Hagerturk Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the right-wing nationalist leader of Hungary, slammed what he called the "undemocratic" states of Western Europe, again pressing his vision of a Christian and illiberal" continent. "There is liberalism in the West, there is no democracy," Orban told a gathering of ethnic Hungarians during a trip to neighboring Romania. He said censorship has become common place" in Western Europe and that countries there have imposed "restrictions on freedom of expression. Orban specifically targeted the European Commission as a "symbol of failure." "The European Commission is going, we are coming," he said of the EU institution that proposes legislation and implements decisions and treaties, along with managing day-to-day business. Orban said next year's European Parliament elections would be dominated by "one serious common theme -- immigration." Orban called on right-wing parties to combine forces to "focus all of our attention on the European elections of 2019" and place migration at the top of the agenda. "Christian democracy is not liberal...It is illiberal, if you like," said Orban, who was elected in April to a third-consecutive term. He said the EUs political "elite" had failed to protect Europe from Muslim immigration. He said Christian democracy rejects multiculturalism and immigration and is anticommunist while standing for Christian values. Orban has taken a leading role among EU figures opposed to immigration. Hungary has fenced off its border and passed a series of laws against migrants and has opposed the operations of migrant-aid organizations. Based on reporting by dpa, Reuters, and AFP Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi has ordered the suspension of the country's electricity minister amid protests over poor public services and rampant corruption. Abadis office said on July 29 that Qassim al-Fahdawi will be suspended until an investigation into his role in the deterioration of utility services is completed. There was no immediate comment from Fahdawi. Iraq was hit by a wave of protests this month, partially due to poor electricity services during the hot summer. The demonstrations erupted in the oil-rich southern province of Basra before spreading to neighboring regions, with protesters demanding better electricity and water services, jobs, and an end to graft. Iraq has also been gripped by political tensions as politicians are struggling to form a new government following parliamentary elections in May that were marred by allegations of fraud, prompting a recount. Abadi, who is seeking a second term in office, is heading a caretaker government. Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, and dpa In the first five months of 2018 the carrier cancelled 1,824 flights, impacting 1,08,549 passengers, the highest among domestic carriers. Though it had the highest number of cancellations, compensation paid by IndiGo was only Rs 4.55 lakh. (Photo: File) New Delhi: Over 1.08 lakh passengers were affected because of the large-scale flight cancellations by IndiGo, government data has revealed. During the first five months of the year, up to May, the no-frills carrier cancelled 1,824 flights, impacting 1,08,549 passengers, the highest among the domestic carriers. The figures were shared by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. However, the reasons for the flight cancellations were not given in his reply. Asked for its response, an IndiGo spokesperson said, "A significant reason for flight cancellations from January to May was grounding of neo planes, delivery delays and bad weather conditions in different parts of the country at different times." Most of the cancellations, the spokesperson said, are planned in advance. The carrier, with a domestic market share of more than 40 per cent, grounded as many as 11 of its A320 neo aircraft in February and March this year due to Pratt & Whitney engine issues. In March alone, it grounded eight aircrafts following a directive from aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The grounding of the aircraft dealt a blow to the airline's schedule, as one plane is used for operating around 8 to 9 flights on an average. IndiGo operates around 1,000 flights every day. In the 2017 June quarter, IndiGo grounded nine A320 neo planes due to engine issues. It also resulted in the airline cancelling 84 flights on a particular day last year. GoAir, the other airline, which also has a fleet of A320 neo planes, grounded three of its aircraft in March this year following the DGCA directive. According to the data, 986 of its passengers were affected because of the cancellation of its flights -- 204. The overall number of passengers who were affected till May stood at 1,52,069, with 3,843 flights being cancelled by the domestic carriers. Last year, 52,489 passengers of IndiGo were hit due to over 1,934 flight cancellations. The government data showed that Rs 223.21 lakh were paid as compensation to passengers by the airlines till May this year. Though it had the highest number of cancellations, compensation paid by IndiGo was only Rs 4.55 lakh. SpiceJet, which saw only 11,754 passengers affected because of the cancellations, paid Rs 72.62 lakh. The IndiGo spokesperson said, IndiGo's compensation policy is in compliance with the civil aviation requirement rule. This weeks Majlis podcast was dedicated to the increasingly horrific human rights situation in Tajikistan. Weve discussed this before, but things appear to have gotten even worse in recent weeks. On July 11, independent journalist Hairullo Mirsaidov was sentenced to 12 years in prison on dubious charges that emerged after he wrote about local corruption in November 2017. The Dushanbe government also dismissed a call from the UN Human Rights Committee to release Zaid Saidov, a jailed businessman and former government official who was suddenly charged with a range of crimes in 2013, right after announcing he was forming an alternative political party. On top of this, Tajik officials have even denied permission for four-year-old Ibrohim Hamza Tillozoda to leave the country for cancer treatment, probably because Tillozoda is the grandson of Muhiddin Kabiri, the leader of the now banned Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, who fled the country in 2015. RFE/RL's media-relations manager, Muhammad Tahir, moderated a discussion on the rapidly deteriorating situation surrounding human rights in Tajikistan. We were joined from Denmark by Michael Anderson, who has been reporting and making documentary films about Central Asia for 15 years. Participating from Washington was Kate Barth, a human rights attorney and legal director at Freedom Now -- a group that has been advocating for the release of Tajikistan's political prisoners. I think the campaign during the last five years against Tajikistan's opposition -- and for that matter anyone who voices criticism of the Tajik government -- is one of the most under-reported stories in Central Asia. So I had some things to say as well. Listen to the podcast above or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes. Thousands of Orthodox Christian believers marched and chanted through the streets of Moscow, Kyiv, and other cities, marking the 1,030th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity in the region. The July 28 events commemorated the date in 988 of the baptism of Prince Vladimir, who was the leader of a federation of Slavic tribes known as Kievan Rus. Centuries later, the federation evolved into the Russian Empire. Underscoring how deeply politics have become intertwined with religion, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to thousands of clergy and believers in Moscow, at a statue dedicated to Prince Vladimir. Adopting Christianity was "the starting point for the formation and development of Russian statehood, the true spiritual birth of our ancestors, the determination of their identity. Identity, the flowering of national culture and education," Putin said. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, referenced the fact that Putin shares a first name with Prince Vladimir. "I think there is no such thing as a coincidence, especially when we are talking about people whose actions truly change the world," Kirill told Putin. The location where Prince Vladimir was reportedly baptized is located on the Crimean Peninsula, the Black Sea region in what is now Ukraine. Russia seized Crimea in 2014, and Putin has in the past referenced the baptismal site as part justification for the unrecognized annexation. In Kyiv, meanwhile, thousands of people marched through the streets carrying religious icons and Ukrainian flags. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko condemned the Russian Orthodox Church, calling it a threat to national security. The Orthodox Church in Ukraine is split between the largest branch whose clerics pledge loyalty to the head of the Russian church, and one that is overseen by Kyiv-based patriarch. With reporting by AP and AFP Pakistan opposition leader Imran Khan's party claims it has enough support from lawmakers to form a coalition government after taking the highest number of seats in the July 25 election but falling short of a majority. "People have voted us into power, and God willing, we will form a government," Fawad Chaudhry, the spokesman for Khan's Tehrik-e Insaf (PTI) party told the Associated Press on July 28. Chaudhry declined to reveal the exact number of commitments, saying details will be provided when the National Assembly meets next week to swear in elected lawmakers. Pakistan's elections commission on July 28 released final results of the vote, giving Khans party 115 of the 269 contested seats. The closest finisher was the current ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of jailed former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, with 64 seats. Former President Asif Ali Zardaris left-of-center of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) secured 43 seats. The elections were marred by delayed vote counting and violence as well as allegations of rigging by Khan's rivals. A group of Pakistani political parties on July 27 rejected the results and announced a protest demanding new elections. Pakistani election officials denied there was widespread fraud. Results 'Credible' Says Monitor Michael Gahler, the leader of a European Union team that monitored the balloting, said, "Overall, the election results are credible." But the monitors criticized the campaign, saying it was marred by intimidation of some candidates, an effort to undermine the former ruling party, and media self-censorship. Khan has criticized Pakistani liberals and embraced conservative Islam as a politician, promising a "new Pakistan" with an Islamic welfare state and an Islamic justice system. A populist who ran on an anticorruption campaign, he has allied himself with extremist religious groups with ties to militancy. He has characterized his campaign as a battle against a political elite -- dominated by long-established parties like the PML-N and PPP -- that he accuses of hindering economic development in the impoverished country of 201 million people. Khan is widely believed to be backed by the army, which fell out with Nawaz Sharif, who looked to curb the militarys traditional dominance in politics. Olive Branch Khan has offered an olive branch to arch-rival India, saying the two nuclear-armed nations should resolve a longstanding dispute over the Himalayan region of Kashmir. In a statement on July 28, Indias Foreign Ministry said it hoped Pakistan's new government would make clear efforts to end militant violence in the region. "We hope that the new government of Pakistan will work constructively to build a safe, stable, secure, and developed South Asia free of terror and violence," the ministry said in a statement on July 28. New Delhi frequently accuses Islamabad of arming, training, and sending fighters across the Line of Control to launch attacks on its soldiers in Kashmir, which is claimed by both and split between the two. "India desires a prosperous and progressive Pakistan at peace with its neighbors," the Indian statement said. Khan has been an outspoken critic of the U.S.-led war in neighboring Afghanistan and of U.S. drone strikes against militants in Pakistan, but he has vowed that his government will do "its best to bring peace in Afghanistan." Kabul and Washington accuse Islamabad of providing safe havens for militant groups like the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network that are fighting Afghan and U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on July 29 congratulated Khan on his victory and invited him to visit Kabul. "I extended an open invitation to Mr Khan and he expressed his wishes to visit Kabul soon," Ghani wrote on Twitter. "We both agreed to overcome the past and to lay a new foundation for a prosperous political, social, and economic future of both countries, he added. Analysts doubt Khan can radically change Pakistan's foreign policy, which is shaped by the military, which has ruled for approximately half the period since the countrys independence in 1947, staging coups three times. With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Maashal, Reuters, AP, AFP, and Dawn Meeting in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, representatives of Russia, Iran, and Turkey have kicked off two days of talks on issues related to the war in Syria. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the officials would discuss matters including the formation of a Syrian constitutional committee, the de-escalation zones established in Syria, and humanitarian issues at the July 30-31 talks. While backing separate sides in the Syrian conflict, Turkey, Russia, and Iran launched a negotiations process last year in the Kazakh capital, Astana, mainly dealing with battlefield issues, such as cease-fires and de-escalation zones. A separate UN-led round of talks addressing political issues has taken place in Geneva. The Russian delegation in Sochi is headed by the Kremlin's special envoy for Syria, Aleksandr Lavrentyev. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Ansari and his Turkish counterpart, Sedat Onal, were also expected to attend, along with the UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, and representatives of Syrian President Bashar al-Assads government. The gathering comes as Turkey announced on July 29 that it is planning to hold a summit with France, Germany, and Russia in early September to discuss the Syrian conflict and other regional issues. In comments published by Turkish media on July 29, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the meeting would take place in Istanbul on September 7. The Turkish leader gave no details about the issues on the agenda, but he said Turkey would continue dialogue with Russia, "outside of this foursome," according to the Hurriyet daily. There was no immediate confirmation from Russia, France, or Germany. Russia and Iran have given Assad crucial support throughout the war in Syria, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and uprooted millions since it began with a government crackdown on protesters in March 2011. Russia helped turn the of the conflict in Assad's favor when it launched a campaign of air strikes on his opponents and stepped up its military presence on the ground in Syria in 2015. Turkey backs rebel groups fighting Assads government, while the United States, France, and Germany also back rebel groups, although not always the same groups as Turkey. With reporting by AFP, dpa, TASS, and Interfax Serbian lawyers have declared a week-long strike to protest the killing of Dragoslav Ognjanovic, a prominent criminal lawyer who was once on the defense team of former strongman Slobodan Milosevic at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal. The Bar Association of Serbia said in a statement on July 29 that the 57-year-olds murder "showed in a most drastic way the circumstances in which lawyers in Serbia conduct their professional work." "This killing is only the latest in a series of attacks on lawyers, many of which have remained unsolved," the statement added, urging authorities to use "all possible resources" to find the killer. The Interior Ministry said Ognjanovic was shot down near his apartment building in Belgrades Novi Beograd neighborhood late on July 28. Ognjanovics 26-year-old son was wounded in the arm in the attack. Police said they were searching for the attacker and had no information on the motive for the incident. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on July 29 while attending an army shooting exercise that police have "some clues" and that the state will step up pressure to put a lid on organized crime and the drug trade. "The clan war over the drug market is becoming something that the state must deal with in a more brutal way," Vucic said. Ognjanovic served in the early 2000s on a legal team that helped to defend Milosevic during his trial before the ex-International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The former president of Serbia was arrested in 2001 and held at the UN court in The Hague, Netherlands, for genocide and other war crimes committed during the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. But Milosevic died in the tribunal's detention unit in 2006 before a verdict was reached. Ognjanovic also served as a defense lawyer in a number of high-profile mafia cases in Serbia and Montenegro. Several prominent members of Serbian and Montenegrin organized crime networks have been killed in Belgrade in recent years. Police described the killings as being part of a gang war over the illegal drugs market. In a joint statement, the heads of the Bar Association of Serbia and the Bar Association of Belgrade said the shooting of Ognjanovic was "the last in a series of numerous attacks on lawyers." "[We will] exert maximum pressure on the competent state authorities in order to find the perpetrators of this crime in the shortest possible time," Viktor Gostiljac and Jugoslav Tintor said. With reporting by Reuters Four foreign cyclists have been killed and three others injured in southern Tajikistan after being hit by a car that fled the scene afterward. The Interior Ministry said in a statement on July 29 that three cyclists were declared dead at the scene, while a fourth died later at a local hospital. The other three suffered minor injuries, the ministry said. A second statement said a 21-year-old male had been detained in connection with the incident. A statement from the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe said two of the dead were U.S. citizens. "Due to privacy concerns, we are unable to share further details. Our condolences go out to the victims' families, and we will continue to work with Tajik authorities in the ongoing investigation," the statement said. AFP, quoting an unnamed source at the ministry, had earlier reported that two Dutch nationals were in the group. It did not specify the nationalities of the other three members or the nationalities of those who were killed. The incident took place in the district of Danghara, 150 kilometers south of the capital, Dushanbe. With reporting by AFP HOPTIVKA, Ukraine -- Ukrainian border guard Oksana Ivanets winds her way past a 2-meter-tall green metal fence topped with coiled razor wire and through serpentine, timber-lined trenches to a bedroom-sized bunker built to withstand a direct hit from a 152-millimeter artillery shell. Out of a small window that looks north into a sprawling field of golden sunflowers, she points to a spot on the horizon where Ukraine ends and the territory of its adversary begins. "It's only about 400 meters to the Russian border," says Ivanets, dressed in a forest-green uniform. This outpost was a part of the first segment of an ambitious $520-million, four-year defense plan announced by then-Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk with great fanfare at the peak of the war in eastern Ukraine against Moscow-backed separatists in late summer 2014. Dubbed in its early days "Project Wall" and known also as "The European Rampart," the barrier was intended to fortify a significant section of Ukraine's porous eastern frontier while both literally and symbolically separating the country from its Soviet-era hegemon. But four years on, it's not exactly the bulwark the government planned. A struggling economy has forced a fourfold reduction in its budget and pushed its scheduled completion date to 2020. And an embezzlement scandal has put the entire project in question. Fresh indictments this month have brought it back into the public eye. For some, the section of the wall that stands today is more a physical reminder of the country's enduring corruption than a symbol of progress and security. Yatsenyuk responded in English via e-mail to RFE/RL questions about the project, insisting that it has been a success. "This is part of one of the greatest achievements of the post-Maidan government and the efforts of all Ukrainian people: restoring the country's defense capabilities," he argued, using the colloquial term for Ukraine's 2014 street uprising that ousted a Moscow-friendly president. 'It Can't Stop Tanks' As it stands, the wall project covers merely a fraction of Ukraine's 2,300-kilometer eastern border with Russia. It comprises 170 kilometers of trenches; 72 kilometers of fencing; a 165-kilometer patrol road; a 19-kilometer ground strip fitted with seismic sensors to detect objects of more than 60 kilograms; and four frontier posts with 17-meter-high watchtowers equipped with security and thermal-imaging cameras. There is also a 20-kilometer section of fencing and trenches in the war-torn Luhansk region to the south. In some places, there are natural boundaries that prevent crossings. "It would be naive to expect that this type of structure...would make any difference," Oleksiy Melnyk, a Ukrainian political and security analyst at the Kyiv-based Ruzumkov Center, a nongovernmental public-policy think tank, says of a possible Russian attack. "This so-called wall is not suitable, in military terms." Border guard Ivanets still views it with optimism. She says that even the work so far is better than nothing, adding that something needed to be done to try to safeguard Ukraine and, in particular, Kharkiv, from the same fate as occupied regions to the south. Kharkiv, an industrial city 480 kilometers from Kyiv, is the country's second-largest city with 1.4 million residents and a Ukrainian military stronghold. It withstood an initial attempt by pro-Russia separatists to seize control in 2014. Swaths of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions with more than 4 million inhabitants and a 400-kilometer border with Russia remains under the control of Moscow-backed separatists. Kyiv and international observers accuse Russia of exploiting Ukraine's loss of control there, slipping its forces and equipment easily across the border to back separatist offensives and even launch its own when those fighters need extra help against government troops. "It was determined that if a Russian attack against the Kharkiv region is initiated, they will try to go right through this point," says Ivanets. She concedes that the wall would not defeat a Russian offensive. But that's not its point. "It gives us time to organize the first line of defense while we wait for the [Ukrainian] Armed Forces to arrive," she says. "We understand very well that it can't stop tanks." 'For 100 Years We Didn't Need A Wall' It's this aspect of the project that has drawn ridicule from many Ukrainians. A well-known journalist and commentator called the wall a "pathetic fence," and a member of parliament described it as a "4 billion-hryvnya pit." It has also angered residents of border towns and villages who complain it's an eyesore and a barrier that has disrupted their lives. Some complain it keeps family and friends apart. Local farmers bemoan the loss of fields that stretched into Russian territory where their livestock used to graze. A major reason locals were able to move so freely across the border and constructing the project has been such a headache is that the countries' shared border was never properly demarcated after the collapse of the Soviet Union. "We lived here without a wall for 100 years. It's a big shame to [build it] now," 83-year-old Alisivka village resident Lyubov Dekhnich says during a break from picking raspberries outside the house her family built in 1955. Beyond the barrier itself, new bureaucratic procedures for crossing official border points have been put into effect, further limiting freedom of movement. Until recently, both Russian and Ukrainian citizens could cross the administrative border with internal passports. Today, to the chagrin of locals, they need international passports. "They must understand that that there's an aggressor on the other side," Ivanets says of such complaints, adding that she hopes critics will come around at some point. "We must keep Russia out." Corruption Allegations Project Wall's construction should have been faster, wider, and better, according to Ukraine's National Anticorruption Bureau (NABU). That FBI-trained anticorruption agency -- formed in the wake of the Euromaidan protests as Kyiv set out to implement crucial reforms to secure Western aid -- found that some of the patrol roads along the wall where border guards cruise in fourwheelers, for instance, were narrower than the planned three meters and that at least $365,000 was stolen from its budget. Eight people from the Border Guard Service of Ukraine and local contractors were detained in August and November 2017 for alleged embezzlement. On July 5, NABU announced it had completed its pretrial investigation into their actions and prepared an indictment for special anticorruption prosecutors to send to court. While it is unclear who was behind the alleged scheme -- especially since an order from the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) made all information about the wall project a state secret -- some point the finger at Yatsenyuk, as the wall was his idea. Yatsenyuk calls those who accuse him of orchestrating any wrongdoing "Goebbels-style" liars perpetuating "Kremlin propaganda." "Moscow openly does not want to have a border between Ukraine and Russia," he says. "Therefore, the Kremlin is making tremendous efforts to disrupt or discredit any border project." "Even if contractors and local officials had something stolen (the investigation will have to prove it in court), how could [a] prime minister be involved in this?" he adds in an e-mail. Russian Activity 'Practically Every Day' Yatsenyuk argues that his brainchild has also succeeded in halting smuggling and illegal migration while helping Ukraine secure a visa-free regime with the European Union and lay the groundwork for possible NATO membership. "Our partners have always made it clear that Ukraine has to create a reliable border with Russia," he says. Ukraine secured visa-free travel with the EU in June 2017, but it is unclear what role the construction of the wall played in that agreement. And with the conflict in Donetsk and Luhansk grinding on, NATO membership remains a distant prospect. Driving along the fence, Ivanets says the only border violators around there these days are wild boars and deer that roam the surrounding forests and tall grass. But a greater threat looms just over yonder. Ivanets says the most extensive and aggressive Russian military activity was observed along the Kharkiv border throughout 2014 and 2015, but that border guards still see men in military uniforms on the Russian side "practically every day," sometimes driving armored personnel carriers. A Completed 'Wall' By 2020 -- Maybe The war in eastern Ukraine is in its fifth year, with no end in sight. More than 10,000 people have been killed and a peace deal known as the Minsk II accord has failed to stick. Recently, the rhetoric from Moscow and Kyiv has become more aggressive, with Russian President Vladimir Putin predicting just days after his Helsinki summit with U.S. President Donald Trump a "serious risk of escalation" in eastern Ukraine. As Ukrainian troops continue still dug in and preparing for the worst, Ukraine is pressing on with Project Wall. The chief of the Ukrainian Border Guards Service, Petro Tsyhykal, predicted recently that the Kharkiv section of the wall would be completed by the end of this year, with more construction planned in Luhansk, Sumy, and Chernihiv scheduled for completion in 2020. "We understand that this is a matter of national security," he says, "so we need to complete it under any conditions." These Bangladeshi nationals were handed over to Bangladesh after completion of their verification process by both the countries. These Bangladeshi nationals were caught by the security forces after they entered India without valid documents and were lodged in different detention camps. (Representational Image | PTI) Guwahati: A day before the publication of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), at least 52 Bangladeshi nationals who were detained since 2012 in various detention camps in Assam were deported to Bangladesh on Sunday. Clarifying that it was not linked to NRC publication, the deputy commissioner of South Salmara district said that these Bangladeshi nationals were handed over to Bangladesh after completion of their verification process by both the countries. These Bangladeshi nationals were caught by the security forces after they entered India without valid documents and were lodged in different detention camps in the state in the past 4 to 5 years. Superintendent of Police (SP) of South Salmara Mankachar Amrit Bhuyan said that all 52 Bangladeshi nationals were deported to Bangladesh through the international border at Mankachar in Assams South Salmara Mankachar district on Sunday. Informing that Dhaka had deputed an officer of its external affairs ministry to complete the process of deportation, security sources said that most of them were waiting for diplomatic clearance to return back to their country. Imran Khan to be sworn in as Pak PM before Aug 14 Imran Khan will be sworn in as Pakistan's new Prime Minister before the country's independence day on August 14, his party has announced as it is trying to reach out to smaller parties and independents to form the next government. Though the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has emerged as the single largest party in the National Assembly after the July 25 elections, the party is still short of numbers to form its government on its own. PTI has emerged as the single largest party in the National Assembly Advertisement PTI leader Naeenul Haq told media last night that consultations are on to complete the number game. "We have done our homework and he will take oath as Prime Minister before August 14, Haq said. According to the complete preliminary results announced by the ECP, the PTI has obtained 115 general seats 12 short of a simple majority while the PML-N and PPP have won 64 and 43 seats, respectively. Pakistan's NA - the lower house of Parliament - comprises a total of 342 members, of which 272 are directly elected. A party can only form the government if it manages to secure 172 seats in total. Meanwhile, political activities are at full swing and parties are holding open meetings and secret parleys to arrange the political chessboard. Pakistan's two major parties -- the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are expected to meet in a couple of days to devise a joint strategy in a bid to give a tough time to the PTI in parliament, the Dawn reported. PTI has obtained 115 general seats 12 short of a simple majority Advertisement The Pakistani electronic media throughout the day yesterday kept on mentioning names of possible candidates for key government offices and possible members of the federal cabinet. The PTI leaders who have won more than one seat will have to vacate additional seats as the law allows an individual to retain only one seat. The Nalanda Medical College Hospital, considered as second-largest govt hospital in Patna, has been flooded after heavy rain. The room and corridors of the hospital, where a large number of patients come from across east Bihar for treatment, are inundated with water. (Photo: Twitter | @yadavtejashwi) Patna: The Nalanda Medical College Hospital (NMCH), reportedly considered as the second-largest government hospital in Patna, has been flooded after a heavy rainfall. The room and corridors of the hospital, where a large number of patients come from across east Bihar for treatment, are inundated with water. Moreover, in the hospitals intensive care unit (ICU) where cleanliness is of utmost importance, fish were seen swimming in water as patients were lying on the bed, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav slammed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the issue. In a sarcastic tweet, Tejashwi said: Bihars 2nd largest Hospital NMCH has turned into an aquarium that too filled with drain water. Hope the JD (U) doesn't declare this as a stunt by Lord Indra. Even Lord Indra is highlighting the wrong policies followed by this wrong government for 14 years," the tweet added. Bihars 2nd largest Hospital NMCH has turned into an aquarium that too filled with drain water. 14 pic.twitter.com/Ft3VgPwddt Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) July 29, 2018 Another tweet posted by Tejashwi said, Nitish Kumars model of development. ICU of NMCH is swimming in drain water, fishes seen in ICU. Nitish Kumars model of development. ICU of NMCH is swimming in drain water, fishes seen in ICU. Mind you, you cant question Nitish Kumar as his conscience is fast asleep and snoring with BJP. https://t.co/XucX31lZvb Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) July 29, 2018 Meanwhile, a health department official told news agency ANI, "The process for throwing water out of the place is underway. Pumping plant is working continuously." Heavy downpour in the city has halted the normal life since Friday, as water-logging and traffic snarls were seen in several parts of the state capital. As per reports, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) bulletin issued on Saturday warned heavy to very heavy rainfall in few places in Bihar till August 1. (With ANI inputs) A three judge bench headed by the Chief Justice Dipak Misra had rejected the CBI probe on April 19 and the present review is against this judgment. The apex court ruled that documentary material on the record indicates that the death of Judge Loya was due to natural causes (Photo: File) New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear on July 31 a petition filed by the Bombay Lawyers Association seeking review of its judgment dismissing the plea for an independent probe into the death of CBI special judge B.H. Loya. A three judge bench headed by the Chief Justice Dipak Misra had rejected the CBI probe on April 19 and the present review is against this judgment. The apex court ruled that documentary material on the record indicates that the death of Judge Loya was due to natural causes The review petition to be argued by senior advocate Dushyant Dave while reiterating the demand for CBI probe also sought deletion of the courts findings in the judgment that the petitions were a veiled attempt to launch a frontal attack on the independence of the judiciary and to dilute the credibility of judicial institutions. The Association said that the judgment has resulted in miscarriage of justice if not complete negation of justice on the facts of the case. It said its attempt was not to sensationalise the subject matter nor make a veiled attempt to launch a frontal attack on the independence of the judiciary or to dilute the credibility of judicial institutions. The petition said on the contrary, the whole attempt was to reassure the entire judiciary that the Association would stand behind every Judge in times of challenge in his or her life. The effort was for an independent enquiry to reassure all the Members of the Judiciary and nothing more. If the enquiry was ordered as prayed for and if it found that Judge Loya had indeed died of heart attack it would have set all doubts to rest but it would have sent a strong message to the Judiciary and to the country that individuals are willing to stand up for the judiciary and not desert it in time of challenge. As against that if enquiry had found some foul play it would have truly been a great service to the independence and impartiality of Judiciary and its Members. Either way the efforts of the Petitioner Association were to uphold the dignity and independence of judiciary and not otherwise, it said. The review petition said the Association was only questioning the veracity of the discreet enquiry report prepared by the Commissioner of Intelligence, Maharashtra Police, on the death and that was in no way to malign the dignity of the judges whose statements formed part of the report. If the said observations and findings stand, it will discourage persons in future from coming forward to protect this great Institution which is more often than not under attack from the other branches of the Democracy. Reiterating its stand that the enquiry report was an attempt to pre-empt a truly independent enquiry, the Association said the Supreme court had committed serious errors apparent on the face of the record in not giving any weightage whatsoever to various loopholes, gaps and shortcomings in the report. Bonanza awaits Central staff. Officials claimed that the proposal to allow government employees on leave to visit the Saarc countries was examined in detail by the Centre but the proposal was not found to be feasible, and hence it was dropped. (Photo: AFP) New Delhi: The Centre is working on a proposal to allow Central government employees to go abroad using their Leave Travel Concession (LTC). The department of personnel and training is said to have finalised a proposal in this regard and sought comments at the earliest from the home, tourism and civil aviation ministries and the finance ministrys department of expenditure. The proposal was initially moved by the external affairs ministry to include five Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbek-istan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in the LTC scheme of Central employees. Officials said the proposed move will help these employees to not just visit foreign countries but also help increase Indias presence in what is seen as the strategically important Central Asian region. In March, the government had dropped a similar proposal to allow its employees to visit Saarc countries. Under its LTC rules, eligible Central government staff are entitled to ticket reimbursement if they are travelling while on sanctioned leave. Officials claimed that the proposal to allow government employees on leave to visit the Saarc countries was examined in detail by the Centre but the proposal was not found to be feasible, and hence it was dropped. If the new proposal is cleared by the government, it will be a boon to a majority of 48.41 lakh Central government employees who are entitled to get LTC. Bartenders go to bars on their nights off, but only Atsuko Morita walks in with a view camera and tripod to spend an evening under the black hood. She works four nights a week behind the plank at Festa Karaoke Bar in Japantown to pay for the three nights she spends behind the camera, shooting the classic dives of San Francisco. "I feel like I should document them before they are gone, says Morita, who works in the large format like an indoor Ansel Adams in order to catch all of the accumulated detail in the barrooms of the Little Shamrock, the Geary Club, Pittsburghs Pub and all the other old-time neighborhood joints. She does not photograph the bar that she tends because karaoke has been done. So have barflies and bartenders. So have outdoor neon bar signs. Morita is interested in the interior still life of decay and clutter to be found on dusty liquor bottles, cocktail glasses, cash registers, pinup calendars, dim light bulbs, pool table felt and the worn-out leather on barstools. I want to show how the character of the bar reflects the owner and its customers, she says. She tends to go shortly after opening, or past midnight, when dives are uncrowded, and shell hit as many as three bars a night. She never drives, which makes it convenient that many of the best dives are near her home, a shared $1,600-a-month apartment on the first floor of a multiunit building on Bush Street below Nob Hill. More Information Silicon Valley Plastic Camera Show: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday. Through Oct. 12. Art and Art History Building Gallery, Santa Clara University, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara. 408-554-4000. www.scu.edu The Artist's Life is a recurring feature that will shine a spotlight on the talent who help make up the rich tapestry of the Bay Area's cultural life. See More Collapse "Rent control, is the first thing she says to a visitor admiring the woodwork in the lobby. Morita, 46, came from Osaka, Japan, 13 years ago to learn photography at the Academy of Art. She is still learning English, which costs $500 a month for lessons. Shed been a bartender in Japan and was a bartender here while shooting the Pacific Ocean with a pinhole camera she built. She wasnt looking for a project shooting bars. The project found her when she went to one of her hangouts, California Dreamn on California Street, only to find it out of business. "I didnt have time to capture it, she says. I realized so many bars are closing down. She is not the type to just barge in with her camera and set up her tripod. She will scout a location first and tell the manager about her project. To build her confidence she started with her own neighborhood High Tide, the Outsider and Hanaro. Talking to the regulars, she would learn other spots to hit. Bar people are happy to talk about bars, and they got more talkative when she brought in her gear and set up. So she started a side project with a Fuji Instax camera. When people would chat her up, shed take their picture with the Instax then ask them to sign and date it, and write about their personal history in that bar in a notebook she carries. She now has two notebooks full and is working on a third. Flipping through the books, she stops at a Polaroid of a man named Ron. In his entry, he described Gino & Carlo in North Beach as a place where everyone can find a common bond while wasting valuable time. At Aub Zam Zam in the Haight, Kristy wrote we come here to drink from the water of life or to seek answers when youve run out of your own. At the Casanova Cocktail Lounge on Valencia Street, a customer wrote This is the first bar I went to when I moved here. I had a beer in front of a velvet painting from the 70s and I knew I was home. The instant photos and confessionals are a nice distraction because it can take Morita hours to set up one shot. She works in sheets of film and is careful not to take too many because her Kodak Professional Portra film costs $4 an exposure and another $10 to develop it. If it is dark, which dives tend to be, it can take 30 minutes with the shutter open to gather enough light. She never knows exactly what mystery her camera will uncover until she prints an image in the shades of red and gold and blue that are the natural light in bars. The long exposure picks up scratches on the bar top and the tiny holes in the wall, left by errant throws at the dartboard. "Damaged floors or money pinned to the walls, she says. Everything means something. Morita always works in color film, and two of her pinhole images were jury selections for the Silicon Valley Plastic Camera Show, now under way at Santa Clara University. Her barroom work has not yet seen the light of day. Shed like to make a book, maybe have a gallery show at SF Camerawork or SOMArts, both of which have included her in group exhibitions. By now, Morita has shot 30 or 40 bars, some of which have closed during the three years shes been shooting. She recently had to return the large-format view camera, which was on loan, and is using a medium-format Mamiya, which doesnt require a hood. Shes been asked to leave a few places but has never had a drink poured over her head or on her camera. She knows how to handle herself in bars, but just to be on the safe side she usually brings along a few friends to protect her gear. She always buys, which adds to her overhead. "Free drinks for them, she says. The historic courthouse museum, general store, blacksmith shop and other ruins in the old mining town of Shasta sat remarkably unscathed Saturday in a sea of charred landscape left by the ferocious Carr Fire. Now a ghost town and State Historic Park, the once-bustling town was nearly wiped out as the deadly flames surged through Shasta County on Thursday and Friday. Its just fate, Gerrit Fenenga, a senior state archaeologist, said as he marveled how the fire had spared the onetime commercial center just 6 miles west of Redding. We spend a lot of resources to protect these, he said of the towns brick ruins, cemeteries and restored buildings. This area is historic and a big asset to the community because of the tourism it brings. But while the buildings of old Shasta were mostly spared, many nearby homes and structures along Highway 299 were not so lucky. Rows of houses nearby were leveled by flames. The surrounding foothills of the Klamath Range were blackened by the charred remnants of the fire surge. Whenever state historic structures come under the threat of wildfire, Fenenga gets a call to come in and record the toll. He usually does his assessment a week or more after a fire erupts, but he got called in early as the Carr Fire still raged to the north and south because of how historic the buildings are in Shasta. At its peak, Shasta was a major commercial and social hub of Northern California, with wagons traveling through en route to the gold-rich Sierra foothills. Gold was later discovered in nearby Clear Creek, 30 miles south. By the early 1850s, tents became houses and stores, hotels and saloons sprang up, creating the largest row of brick buildings in the state north of San Francisco. But as the gold dried up in the 1860s and the Central Pacific Railroad opted to cut through Redding, Shasta was abandoned and fell into disrepair. But several groups worked to restore the town over the years, and it was acquired by the California State Parks Commission in 1937. The public likes history, it doesnt matter what end of the political spectrum youre on, Fenenga said. You want to protect history. Thirteen miles northwest of Shasta, the historic town of French Gulch experienced a similar stroke of luck. Fire Tracker Follow wildfires across the state Latest updates on wildfires burning across Northern and Southern California These firefighters were the greatest, Lissa Carlson said as she smoked a cigarette outside the French Gulch Hotel and Saloon, one of the few establishments in the main town center. Across the street is a family-owned bar that has been there since the 1800s. As Carlson and a few others sat on the porch of the saloon Friday night, she said they watched an ominous red hue glowing from the mountains surrounding them. It got bad, said one man who walked out from the saloon Saturday afternoon. While a few homes were destroyed in French Gulch, the fire never made it down to the small towns church, mobile home park, cemetery or downtown leaving a place that Carlsons family has lived in for eight generations mostly intact. These firefighters were on point, she said. Trisha Thadani and Evan Sernoffsky are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle, esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani, @EvanSernoffsky A wildfire burned several structures and sent residents fleeing after erupting in a neighborhood south of Lake Berryessa Saturday afternoon, officials said. The 100-acre Steele Fire was reported around 4:30 p.m., prompting a mandatory evacuation order for residents on Steele Canyon Road between Rimrock Drive and Headlands Drive in the Berryessa Highlands neighborhood, said Sgt. Pat McMahon with the Napa County Sheriffs Department. The digital infrastructure will get a new direction with setting up of an IT centre for Internet service in Uttar Pradesh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Union home minster Rajnath Singh and UP governor Ram Naik at the ground-breaking ceremony to launch various projects worth Rs 60,000 crores at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan in Lucknow. (Photo: PTI) Lucknow: Firing back at Rahul Gandhi for his oft-repeated crony capitalism charge, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday slammed the Opposition for calling him a friend of capitalists and said that he is not afraid of publicly standing beside industrialists because his intentions are honest. Those who blame me of befriending industrialists are the same who also meet these people but behind closed doors. Mr Amar Singh is here and he knows very well who meets whom behind closed doors. Agar neeyat saaf ho to kisi ke saath khade ho, daag nahin lagta, he said. Kiske jahaj me log ghoomte pata nahi kya, (Are you not aware on whose plane, they used to travel), he said, without naming anyone, at a government-industry interface here as he inaugurated several development projects in Uttar Pradesh. The Prime Minister, while referring to Mahatma Gandhi, said that the latter was never apologetic of his friendship with industrialists. Gandhijis intentions were so pure that he never hesitated in staying with Birla family, he said. Mr Modi attacked Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, without naming him, and other Opposition parties for calling industrialists chor and luterey (thieves and fraudsters) and said that industrialists are equal partners in the development of the nation just like farmers, artisans, banker, financers, government employees and laborers and deserved to be respected. Inki bhi bhoomika hoti hai. Apmanit karenge? Kaun sa tariqa hai? Jo galat hain woh toh desh chhod kar chale gaye hain, (They also have a role. Will you insult them? Is this the way? Those who were in the wrong, have run away from the country), he said. The Opposition parties have been targeting Mr Modi over his picture at Davos economic forum in January with fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi who is at the centre of the multi-thousand crore rupee PNB scam. The Prime Minister has also been attacked for his perceived closeness with Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modis uncle and another fugitive businessman, whom he once publicly addressed as Mehul bhai. Rahul Gandhi has of late also hit at Mr Modi for allegedly giving the offset contract in the Rafale jet deal with France to one of his corporate friends. Addressing industry captains, the Prime Minister also took the opportunity to attack his political rivals who have been ridiculing his frequent visits to the state and saying that it smacked of his nervousness ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. As an MP from the state, I will come twice, five times, 10 times... I am your MP and will keep visiting (the state), he said. Asking industrialists to scale up their investment in agriculture, he said that during a recent visit to Mumbai he made a presentation before businessmen explaining how they could invest in agriculture to add value to farmer produce by spending on projects like warehousing, cold storage and packaging. During his visit to Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched 81 investment projects with over Rs 60,000 crore at a ground breaking ceremony in the presence of top industrialists. He termed it not only as a groundbreaking event but also a record-breaking one. People are calling this event a ground-breaking ceremony. But I call this a record-breaking ceremony. The manner in which development has been given an impetus in such a short span of time and old misconceptions have been changed in Uttar Pradesh is commendable, he pointed out. Giving a push to digitalization, the Prime Minister said that the projects that are being launched in Uttar Pradesh will carry forward the Digital India and Make in India schemes. The digital infrastructure will get a new direction with setting up of an IT centre for Internet service in Uttar Pradesh. Around 80 leading industrialists, including Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of Aditya Birla group, Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani group, Subhash Chandra, chairman of Essel group, and Sanjeev Puri, MD, ITC, besides top magnates of other major business houses, participated in the event, which comes after the Investors Summit that was held here in February. Wildfires in Mendocino and Napa counties raged into the evening Saturday, destroying structures and prompting evacuations as firefighters struggled to get the upper hand on the stubborn blazes. The Ranch and River fires west of Clear Lake combined Saturday into the 14,000-acre Mendocino Complex that crossed into Lake County and threatened the towns of Lakeport and Upper Lake, officials with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. Sutter Lakeside Hospital in Lakeport began evacuating patients around 4:15 p.m. because of the threat from flames as several neighborhoods east of town were under mandatory evacuation orders. Patients at the level-4 trauma center were taken to nearby hospitals, said Morgen Wells, a spokeswoman for Sutter Lakeside. Just south of Lake Berryessa in Napa County, a 150-acre wildfire exploded in the Berryessa Highlands neighborhood, burning several homes and forcing residents to flee for their lives. Now Playing: National Weather Service science officer for the greater San Francisco Bay region Dr. Warren Blier explains how pyrocumulous clouds can form over wildfires, and how they can influence the weather in surrounding areas. Video: Katie Wood / SFGATE The Steele Fire started around 4:30 p.m., forcing residents on Steele Canyon Road between Rimrock Drive and Headlands Drive to evacuate, said Sgt. Pat McMahon with the Napa County Sheriffs Department. Firefighters were attacking the flames from the air and on the ground, with several homes burning or damaged, McMahon said. A large plume of smoke could be seen for miles as aircraft made several passes over the growing flames. The fire was 10 percent contained, Cal Fire said. Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency Saturday for Napa, Mendocino and Lake counties to request federal assistance to support the communities affected by the Steele Fire and Mendocino Complex. The fires were just three of more than a dozen major wildfires that have scorched more than 150,000 acres around California, according to Cal Fire. Some 10,000 firefighters were fanned out around the state on the front lines. One of the problems that firefighters are facing right now is just a lack of resources, said Bryan May, a spokesman for the states Office of Emergency Services. With all of these fires burning across the state, they are tapped out. Firefighters, trucks and other resources were pouring into California from states as far away as Maryland, with more than 400 local government fire engines responding, he added. Rising temperatures have made conditions for firefighters particularly challenging. President Trump granted Browns request for federal assistance Saturday for the Carr Fire in Shasta County, where five people have died and 536 structures have been destroyed. The National Guard was deployed to battle the 83,800-acre fire, which was only 5 percent contained, Cal Fire said. Before mounting its attack on Lakeport, the Ranch Fire ignited around noon Friday at Old Lake County Highway and Highway 20 and grew to 5,000 acres. The flames prompted an evacuation advisory for the entire town of Upper Lake on Saturday night. The nearby River Fire started around 1 p.m. Friday, 13 miles away at Old Lake County Highway, 6 miles north of Hopland, and grew to 9,000 acres. Seven firefighters were injured while battling the blazes, four of whom were taken to hospitals for heat-related illness. No immediate information was released on the conditions of the other firefighters. The combined Mendocino Complex was 5 percent contained with nearly 1,000 homes under evacuation orders, said county Undersheriff Matthew Kendall. So far, one home and one outbuilding have been destroyed, and 386 structures remain threatened. Fire Tracker Follow wildfires across the state Latest updates on wildfires burning across Northern and Southern California Elsewhere in California, the wildfire threatening Yosemite Valley, which has caused the park to remain closed because of the unhealthy air quality, wont be fully contained for at least another two weeks, Cal Fire said. The Ferguson Fire, burning in Merced River Canyon, has scorched 51,671 acres and was 30 percent contained as of Saturday, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The National Park Service had originally hoped to reopen the valley Sunday but is now planning to delay the reopening until Friday. Flames are not threatening the valley, but the smoke has rendered the air quality unhealthy. Seven firefighters have been injured, and one was killed in the blaze. Braden Varney died fighting the Ferguson Fire on July 14, when his bulldozer rolled over. There was no immediate information on the injuries. One structure has been destroyed, and 5,245 are still being threatened by the blaze. The cause of the Marsh, River, Ranch and Ferguson fires is under investigation. The Cranston Fire in Riverside County which is one of the largest wildfires has burned 13,118 acres acres in San Bernardino National Forest and was 29 percent contained Saturday afternoon, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The cause of the blaze thats resulted in over 2,000 evacuations is arson, the Forest Service said. Sarah Ravani and Evan Sernoffsky are San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani @EvanSernoffsky Concord homicide detectives are investigating the death of a man they found while responding to a welfare check Friday night, officials said. A pair of Concord police officers responded to a residence located on the 1200 block of Pine Creek Way in Concord when they found the body of a man around 9:30 p.m. Friday, said Concord Police Lt. Sean Donnelly. Nia Wilson spent her last day doing what she did during so much of her life shouting in the face of tragedy. Just hours before she was fatally stabbed with breathtaking suddenness on a BART platform last Sunday, the 18-year-old had been at a poolside barbecue in Martinez with her family. She was honoring the memory of her high school boyfriend who died two years ago. Last week marked what would have been his 18th birthday, and in typical fashion for a woman who posted verses about staying strong through storms, she was choosing assertive optimism over tears. But that optimistic life ended at 9:38 p.m. as Wilson and one of her sisters were boarding a train at the MacArthur Station, headed home to Oakland. Striding quickly behind them, a young man stabbed both in the neck with thrusts from the side, then, after standing to watch for a moment, dashed away. Wilson collapsed into the arms of her wounded sister Lahtifa, 26. People around them were still screaming when police arrived and pointed in different directions to where they thought the attacker had fled. In minutes, Wilson had bled out and was dead on the platform. John Lee Cowell was snared the next evening in a region-wide manhunt. By then a national furor had erupted over the possible racial implications of the crime, with many assuming that Cowell, who is white, had targeted Wilson because she was black. Police say they have no evidence that race was a factor, but by weeks end many, from local activists to Hollywood celebrities, had taken to social media to cite the killing as an example of the violent oppression of black people in America. Overshadowed in the furor was the history of two lives that wound utterly separate paths and then, by the vagary of fate, intersected on that BART platform. Cowell, 27, now sits in Santa Rita Jail on murder and attempted murder charges, and has refused to speak to investigators about his possible involvement, motive or anything other than a request for a lawyer. Authorities say they have strong evidence in the form of lengthy video footage placing him at the scene and fleeing the station. Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle For Cowell, a guilty verdict would cap off a misbegotten life that was dealt a bad hand from an early age in Concord. Cowells father has done jail time for theft and drug crimes since Cowell was a child. His mother is a mentally ill felon. And since he was in middle school, Cowell has been in so much trouble he has rarely spent more than a few months at a time not being locked up. He had long been homeless when he was arrested Monday. Meanwhile, Wilsons large, extended family is faced with having to plan a funeral instead of a party for her expected graduation in December from Dewey Academy high school. I will never see my daughter again, said her father, Amsar El Muhammad. She will never be able to pursue her dreams. No parent would ever want to go through what Im going through. Growing up in a gritty stretch of East Oakland, Nia Wilson adopted the kind of edge kids gird themselves with to survive. Being a young, black woman in America, let alone a town awash with both poverty and wealth, carries a range of tough challenges, and friends say her daily walk to school was often an ordeal. Sometimes she and her classmates would get solicited by men. Crooks tried to rob them. Pimps tried to recruit them. Wilson responded to the challenges with buoyant confidence leavened by street-savvy assertiveness. Im not the kind of bitch that needs any kind of sympathy period, she wrote in one Facebook post. Ion need nobody to feel bad for me ... I then already been through storm & it aint no folding this way. Marrika Lopes, one of Wilsons Dewey Academy teachers, said that sort of spirit perfectly captured the woman she knew. Nia was full of life, Lopes said. She had her ups and downs like everybody, but when she was up, she was up. Wilson was her mother and fathers youngest child, and was adored by both of them, said her aunt, Johnette Wilson-Stitt. She was a daddys girl and a mommys girl, she said. Her parents were separated, and she typically lived with her dad, who works at Highland Hospital, or her grandmother. But Wilson recently spent about two weeks with her sister, Malika Harris. She came to visit because she wanted to go swimming and stuff, Harris said. She loved to swim. Harris laughed at their sisterly spats during that time, like Wilson taking her false eyelashes and makeup. Wilsons mother, Alicia Grayson, also recalled her daughters love for beauty, recalling the young womans many posts on social media in which she looked immaculately made up and model-worthy. Her makeup got on my nerves, Grayson said with a chuckle last week. I will miss that makeup. Along with that attention to appearance was an ambition to not only join the military after graduation, but to train as an emergency medical technician. Harris said her sister had completed CPR training and showed a penchant for healing. Wilsons young life was rocked two years ago when her boyfriend, Josiah JoJo Pratt-Rose, and his best friend, both 15, drowned in a lake outside Oakdale (Stanislaus County). The top of her Facebook page carries the names of the two boys in homage JoJoWorld and JamariWorld with the words, what doesnt kill you makes you stronger. But that particular heartbreak was soon followed by another. Standing outside after Pratt-Roses funeral in downtown Oakland, 16-year-old attendee Reggina Jefferies was killed in a shooting that shocked the city. Wilson had been standing right next to the girl, Harris said. It was Pratt-Rose she was honoring on Sunday before Wilson herself became a victim while catching what she thought would be a routine BART ride home. Cowell, raised on the downscale side of northern Concord, showed little of the sort of ambition that illuminated Wilsons life. His parents Robin Cowell, 55, and Anne Cowell, 54 filed for divorce in October 1992, one month after their sons second birthday. In the years that followed, court records show that both Cowell and his parents had a galaxy of run-ins with law enforcement in Contra Costa County that were accompanied by jail stints. In 1998, when his son was 8, Robin Cowell was sentenced to 90 days in jail for residential burglary. A year later, he was arrested for drug possession, and three months later, he got hauled in for grand theft, possession of stolen property and possession of a firearm by a felon. Prosecutors combined the charges, and he drew 210 days in jail. His rap sheet continued to grow in the years that followed. Anne Cowell, meanwhile, has been in and out of North Bay mental hospitals over the years. She was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and borderline personality disorder, records show. She is currently serving a three-year sentence in Sonoma County Jail for arson, her second such crime in four years. Both parents declined to comment. Friends and family described the couples son as troubled for as long as they could remember. The family issued a statement after Wilsons death expressing sympathy for the slain woman and asserting that John Cowell suffered from mental illness most of his life, being bipolar and schizophrenic. As bad as it is, Im not fully surprised that this (the killing) happened, said Robert, a classmate of Cowells at Glenbrook Middle School and Mount Diablo High School, both in Concord. Nobody I know is necessarily shocked. He was always in trouble, in fights. It was crazy. He was an angry, violent person. Robert, who didnt want his full name used because of the volatility of the situation around the killing, said Cowell was smoking methamphetamine and shooting heroin in sixth and seventh grade. It was crazy. Then when he was older, he wore a grill, thought he was really ... hood. Cowell has a tattoo reading, North Concord, a sign of affiliation with his rough-and-tumble neighborhood, and on his now-deleted Facebook page he posted what appeared to be barely coherent rap rhymes: Talk guap dollas rolled n knots, Holdin in smoke nose full up wit raw, Solid as a rock concrete off tops ... According to court files, John Cowell started his brushes with the law at age 14, when he was arrested for vandalism and released to a parent or guardian. What followed were more than a dozen arrests as a juvenile, with charges ranging from robbery to battery with gang enhancements. As an adult, he was arrested dozens of times in Concord, Pleasant Hill and Martinez, and his long rap sheet includes jail stints for methamphetamine use and assault, plus restraining orders filed against him. Authorities revoked his probation on numerous occasions, indicating he had not been out of jail for more than a few months at a time since he was a teenager. Many on social media, and some in Wilsons family, assumed the Sunday attack was racially motivated. But friends who knew Cowell in his younger years said they didnt see him exhibit racist behavior. Robert Goans, who was close to Cowell in junior high and high school, said a small army of former friends have challenged the racism narrative on social media. He and others said Cowells circle included friends of all races, and that Cowell dug rap culture. He was kind of a rapper, they shot a bunch of videos, Goans said. All of our other rapper friends were black, too. 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. Jameel, a friend who also asked to be identified only by his first name, said he never experienced racism from Cowell in the 15 years they knew each other. Jameel, who is black, recalled spending nights at each others houses, shooting rap videos. The two have matching tattoos behind their ears. Before the drugs took hold, Cowell was a normal skater kid who spent time outdoors in the skate park, and indoors on the Xbox in his trailer, Goans said. When very young, he was a funny outcast and had a way of making people feel comfortable around him, he said. That soured. Jameel said he hadnt spoken to his ex-friend in years, but spotted a familiar tattoo at the North Concord station a few weeks ago. It was Cowell. I just kept walking, Jameel said. He didnt look too good, and I didnt have much to say to him. There was no obvious indication of erratic behavior in the moments leading up to Wilsons death on the BART platform. BART Police Chief Carlos Rojas said the transit systems recently enhanced video network captured every moment of the attack and the aftermath. When Nia and Lahtifa Wilson boarded their earlier BART train at Concord Station, Cowell was on the same car, Rojas said. Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle From looking at the tape, it seems he showed no outward emotion ... from there to MacArthur, and there was no contact between him and the sisters, he said. It was only while the pair were walking toward the door of the Warm Springs-bound train they transferred to a third sister had already boarded that Cowell attacked, Rojas said. It was like a prison-yard assault, he said. Almost not even stopping to do the stabbing motion. Very quick, from behind. The assailant jabbed into the side of both womens necks, holding the knife in his right hand, and then stood for a moment to take in the sight before running away. Two veteran BART police officers were downstairs, heard screaming and dashed upstairs, but the attacker was already gone. One of the officers put a compress onto Nia Wilsons neck, but it was too late. Lahtifa Wilson was hospitalized and is expected to fully recover. What followed was a 21-hour manhunt that may not have ended so quickly if not for the video footage, the chief said. BART police investigators zeroed in on the attack images, then traced the suspect during his entire route. They watched as he dashed downstairs into the stations parking garage to ditch his backpack and a sweatshirt. Through this, police were able to not only capture high-quality images of Cowells face, but swiftly confirm the abandoned backpack was his. BART Community Service Officer Aliyyah Shaw crunched the voluminous video footage, tracking the suspect camera to camera, angle by angle, to assemble the narrative before, during and after the attack for detectives. Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle It was like a puzzle, and I had about five different cameras I depended on for this, she said. In all the commotion, people were thinking, Wait, is this the guy, or is that the guy, no maybe not. I knew we had to work fast. BART soon widely distributed pictures of Cowell to the public, and more than 50 officers from various law enforcement agencies began screening dozens of phoned-in tips. The next day at 6:27 p.m., after being spotted twice by passengers who tipped off the cops, Cowell was arrested at the Pleasant Hill BART Station. Police and prosecutors are still trying to figure out why Cowell allegedly unleashed such brutal violence on two apparent strangers, and they said theyre not ruling anything out. The motive continues to baffle everyone else involved in the case, too, from Cowells family to Wilsons. But the one man who could fill in some blanks on what happened and why last Sunday isnt offering up anything. Cowell made his first appearance in Alameda County Superior Court on Wednesday and entered no plea. His lawyer said he wont be commenting. Chronicle staff writer Otis R. Taylor Jr. contributed to this report. Kevin Fagan, Megan Cassidy and Evan Sernoffsky are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: kfagan@sfchronicle.com, megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com and esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @KevinChron, @meganrcassidy , @EvanSernoffsky While reading in The Chronicle about the new Virgin Hotel at 250 Fourth St., Paul OMalley was taken back to the era when he was a counselor and disease control investigator at the San Francisco City Clinic. During the wild days of sexual liberation in San Francisco, he wrote in an email, the Department of Public Health facility at 250 Fourth St., the site of the new hotel, was an STD/venereal disease clinic. The clinic confirms that it was located there from the 70s until 1982, when it moved to Seventh Street. The address, 250 Fourth Street, was used as a code, he writes. Receiving a phone call from a sex partner that stated, You need to go to 250 Fourth Street needed no further explanation. Id be surprised if the new hotel puts up a bronze plaque about the history of the site. Noting that composer John Adams opera was based on Richard Nixons historic 1972 journey to China, the Economist columnist Prospero suggests that Donald Trumps recent trip to Europe might provide fodder for Trump in Europe. That opera begins with the president at NATO meetings, after which he visits Queen Elizabeth II, launching into a duet in which he overshadows the elegant soprano of Her Majesty. While unfailingly polite and sung in a major key, her comments evoke the image of an elderly monarch trying to keep up with an unruly visitor. Act 3, which takes place in Helsinki, includes a duet in which Vladimir Putin and Trump sing in surprising harmony. The wily Russian leader is portrayed as a complex character, the role inhabiting menace, drama and humour. It is the kind of role that could make the career of an emerging tenor. Prospero concludes: Trump in Europe could be the biggest opera, the best opera. A terrific work. Did we mention it would be a crowd-pleaser? Responding to recent reports of Facebook trouble, including last weeks drop in stock prices, Gary Hanauer suggests: Because of the huge losses, Facebook and Twitter have decided to merge, along with Googles YouTube. The name of the new site: YouTwitFace. Most chilling pitch of the week: Unlike corks or decorative stoppers, Wine Condoms seals flush with the rim for easier fridge shelf storage. (This from the mother-and-son makers of Wine Condoms, which are replacements for corks.) Reading of the rescue of the Thai boys from the cave, Steven Short contemplated the prospects for movie companies, envisioning a blockbuster based on the rescue. Before the rescue, of course, comes Scene 1: getting lost. The graphic that follows, says Short, is a totally black monitor screen. Follow up on the Postal Service job fair announcement mentioned herein recently: Charles Himmelblau of Mountain View says that his notice for an event on July 21 and 22 arrived on July 23, but a little earlier in the day than usual. At 72, he says, he was pleased to read about life insurance and a retirement plan offered with the employment possibilities. The Asian Art Museum has sent word of Stroller Tours, at 9:30 a.m. before the museum is open, on the first Friday of every month. The Great Works tour will lead young visitors on an investigation of diverse and intriguing cultures as well as sacred and secular art across Asia, just the thing a toddler might like. Fussy babies are always welcome! the notice specifies. Although children are free, few will arrive in self-driving strollers; the adult price is $25, or $10 for members. Intrigued by the notion of museum programming for babies, I looked at the de Youngs site, and discovered that children between 18 and 36 months are invited to Toddler Tours, which is a guided gallery viewing of one or two works of art. This sounds a little less demanding than a tour of art across a whole continent and is followed by age-appropriate learning and art-making in our studio space. Adult companions are encouraged to feel free to bring what your toddler needs to feel comfortable, including snacks. It costs $40 for nonmembers, and $25 for members, with scholarships available. The de Young class is limited to 10 toddlers and their caregivers, an appropriate description because the tours take place (as do those at the Asian Art Museum) during work hours. PUBLIC EAVESDROPPING Well if you join my book club, you can still have time for your social justice stuff. Woman to woman, overheard in a Rockridge coffee shop by Thomas McGuire Leah Garchik is open for business in San Francisco, 415-777-8426. Email: lgarchik@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @leahgarchik San Francisco is about to lose another good one. Michael Deni, the musician who records and performs under the moniker Geographer, played his last concert as a local in front of a sold-out crowd at the Fillmore on Saturday, July 28. It was his farewell to fans and the city hes called home for the past 14 years. Its bittersweet, Deni said, sipping a cup of tea in the venues cramped backstage dressing room before the show as band members fluttered around. Its the end of an important era in my life. A few days ago, he broke the news to Geographers followers in a long Facebook post: Its time for a new adventure, San Francisco. Ive been dragging my feet on the move, and to announce it to the world was my way of forcing it to happen, he said Saturday. Leaving San Francisco is not a decision Deni takes lightly. Julie Schuchard This is the place where he started playing music after a series of deaths in his family back home in New Jersey drove him out West in 2005. Geographers earliest compositions were famously written on a keyboard he found on the street, as Deni diligently worked his way up the ranks, performing at open mike nights at Hotel Utah and bluffing his way into midsize clubs. He was in such a vulnerable place at that time, said Julie Schuchard, who released Geographers first 7-inch single, Kites, on her label Tricycle Records in 2010. The songs were his catharsis. As Deni fleshed out the dreamy, synth-driven sound of the act in albums such as 2012s Myth and 2015s Ghost Modern, Geographer found his audience. He went on several national tours and performed for capacity crowds at major Northern California music festivals such as Outside Lands, BFD, Noise Pop, First City and Treasure Island. Deni also became a regular headliner at Bay Area venues, including the Fox Oakland, Independent and the Fillmore. When I first moved here, it was so open and loving, he said of the city. I wouldnt have achieved what I achieved here somewhere else. But now that Deni is 36, what he describes as a crossroads age, he has decided that its time to leave. In August, he will relocate to Los Angeles. He doesnt have a place yet but hopes to eventually settle in Silver Lake or Echo Park, somewhere he can be around other musicians and creative types. Its easy to think that his departure is part of a larger exodus of artists from the Bay Area, and that is partially true. San Francisco is a tough place to survive for anyone, especially artists, Schuchard said. They just dont have the same opportunities here as they do other places. But for Deni, the move is more of a personal quest. While he has seen many peers flee San Francisco in the face of rising rents and a diminishing support system for aspiring musicians from shuttered practice spaces to cost-prohibitive recording studios he simply feels the need to be closer to the heart of the industry. Theres a lot of creative people in Los Angeles who are doing all kinds of things, he said. Ive been going down there for the past two years to write with other people, and Ive made a lot of friends. When youre there, things happen. At the Fillmore, fans who turned up to see Geographer off are rewarded with an epic, career-spanning set. With the recent release of the five-song Alone Time EP, Deni will no doubt return to a stage in the Bay Area in the near future in fact, he predicts he will play here more often than ever because he will miss it so much. The twist is the city will no longer be able to claim him as one of its own. My dreams came true here, Deni said. Once you achieve your dreams, you have to figure out how to nurture and grow those dreams. Aidin Vaziri is The San Francisco Chronicles pop music critic. Email: avaziri@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MusicSF The family held onto hope that their three loved ones had survived, even when they found their home reduced to ash. They searched hospitals and evacuation shelters. They posted notes on bulletin boards and desperate messages on social media sites. They hoped that, somehow, Melody Bledsoe and her two great-grandchildren, Emily Roberts, 4, and James Roberts, 5, had escaped the flames as the Carr Fire rushed into Redding on Thursday. On Saturday, the family members gathered at the Shasta County Sheriffs Office to learn their fate. Carla Bledsoe, an aunt to the children, arrived sobbing. We are waiting for them to tell us what they need to tell us, she said. The childrens mother, Sherry Bledsoe, shook with grief as she entered the building. My babies, she yelled. Now Playing: The mother and aunt of two children killed with their great-grandmother react to learning all three died in the Carr Fire. Video: SFChronicle About 30 minutes later, the family re-emerged. Theyre deceased, Sherry Bledsoe said, declining to comment further and asking for privacy. Melody Bledsoe had been at her home on Quartz Hill Road with the children Thursday evening while her husband, Ed Bledsoe, ran errands in town. As the fire grew closer, Ed Bledsoe raced back, but with flames bearing down, he was unable to reach the home. The 4-year-old, officials told the family, called 911 for help, but emergency responders were unable to reach them in time. Don Kewley, the boyfriend of one of the Bledsoes granddaughters, Cynthia Hoskinson, said he called the home as he watched the fire from about 2 miles away. She was screaming, Its getting closer, and you could hear the sirens, Kewley said. Then the phone went dead. Now Playing: Shasta County residents respond to the ferocious Carr fire. Video: Manjula Varghese Melody Bledsoe was sickly and not very mobile, requiring a walker to get around, and there was no other car at the house at the time, said Jason Decker, the boyfriend of Shelley Hoskinson, another granddaughter. The elder Bledsoes had raised Emily and James since they were babies, Decker said. The childrens mother had been incarcerated and was released Saturday to attend the meeting with sheriffs officials, according to family members. Fire Tracker Follow wildfires across the state Latest updates on wildfires burning across Northern and Southern California Before they learned that the bodies had been found, Decker said it was incomprehensible to think of the children as being gone. Theyre little kids, he said. Those kids deserve a good life. It brings me to tears thinking about it. Shelley Hoskinson, who posted a missing poster on social media, said they had gotten several leads from people who thought they might have seen the grandmother and children, but none panned out. She said earlier Saturday that her grandfather had been convinced all three would be found alive. Hes just like, OK, people go missing all the time. Were going to find them, Hoskinson said. At the same time, he just doesnt want to think the worst. The road to the Bledsoes home was closed Saturday, with authorities saying the area was considered a crime scene as they searched the area for bodies or other information on the whereabouts of the three family members. Decker said Emily and James were shy but fun kids who loved to ride dirt bikes and go fishing. The two were inseparable from their grandparents, he added. This is just the most horrible thing to happen, he said. Grandpa is such a good man. This is just the most horrible thing to happen. Jill Tucker and Melody Gutierrez are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com, mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker, @melodygutierrez KELSEYVILLE, Lake County Two wildfires burning along the rural border of Mendocino and Lake counties grew Sunday as firefighters struggled with high temperatures and scarce crews, threatening a handful of small communities. The Ranch Fire, northeast of Ukiah, grew to 16,300 acres as it chewed through dry grass and timber near Potter Valley, authorities said. The nearby River Fire, north of Hopland, expanded through similarly parched hills to 14,200 acres as it neared towns on the western shore of Clear Lake. About 1,379 firefighters were working to keep the two blazes in the hills, above homes and neighborhoods. But they both were just 5 percent contained Sunday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Theyre bringing in what they can to fight it, but its limited, said Lake County Supervisor Rob Brown, noting there are many fires across California that are demanding the attention of fire crews, including a blaze that broke out in Napa County on Saturday as well as the huge Carr Fire near Redding. Weve taken a lot of hits in Lake County, Brown said, referencing the several fires that destroyed thousands of homes in the county in recent years. But now the whole states on fire. Between the Ranch and River fires, dubbed the Mendocino Complex, six homes have burned and 10,200 structures remained threatened, according to Cal Fire. Thousands of people have been told to evacuate. In Mendocino County, the small community of Potter Valley and other areas north of Highway 120 remained under evacuation orders, while in Lake County the city of Lakeport and several neighborhoods west of Highway 29 were off limits. Mandatory evacuation orders were in place Sunday evening for much of western Lake County, including the communities of Blue Lakes, Upper Lake, Nice, Witter Springs, Bachelor Valley, Scotts Valley and Saratoga Springs. Now Playing: Firefighters use three basic types of aircraft to help fight fires from the air. From transporting fire crews to dropping water and fire retardant, helicopters and planes play a major role in combating serious fires. Video: Katie Wood / SFGATE By Sunday evening, local officials were prepping to protect the Lakeport structures as the Mendocino Complex Fire peeked over hills and pushed east toward the town. We have personnel, engines, dozers all staged out here in the town of Lakeport, said Will Powers, a Cal Fire spokesman. Its everything from clearing brush away from the houses to pulling wood away from the houses anything that might be flammable thats up against your home they might try to clear off. Sutter Lakeside Hospital was evacuated for the second time in two days Sunday evening, discharging or transferring one inpatient and seven emergency room patients to area hospitals. Staff was instructed not to report to work until further notice. Well, (were) always concerned because they didnt have as many firefighters on this fire at all, said Gus Baldwin, who fled his Lakeport home with his wife. There was hardly anybody on the fire, and thats why they evacuated so many people. The Baldwins were among about 150 people staying at Mountain Vista Middle School in Kelseyville, which was serving as an evacuation shelter. On Saturday night, the couple shuttled their cars to a friends house, packed up a few belongings and piled into their vintage RV. In Napa County, just south of Lake Berryessa, firefighters were battling a 150-acre wildfire that exploded in the Berryessa Highlands neighborhood Saturday. The Steele Fire destroyed at least eight structures and forced several residents to flee. As of Sunday evening, the fire was 65 percent contained. But elsewhere, Cal Fire officials acknowledged that headway was limited because of the outbreak of so many fires over the past week. Fire Tracker Follow wildfires across the state Latest updates on wildfires burning across Northern and Southern California A lack of available suppression and overhead personnel will slow firefighting efforts, Cal Fire officials said in a statement. On Sunday morning, a handful of RVs and trailers dotted the road into Mountain Vista Middle School, where about 150 Lakeport residents took shelter. Red Cross Supervisor Deborah Smith stood watch as volunteers installed a disabled-accessible shower. Others were working to secure wheelchairs, walkers and medical equipment to tend to the shelters tenants, many of whom had fled from a nearby senior mobile home park. The drill had become routine for Kimberly Downing, who shared a bench outside with two new friends. Her stay at the shelter marked her seventh evacuation in Northern California. She had moved to Lakeport three weeks ago, because she figured it doesnt burn there, but on Saturday she said, I looked at the sky and said,Oh, its coming. This time around, Downing required minimal prep time. She and several evacuees keep overnight bags at the ready. We have supplies to just walk out the door, she said. Its the only way to go in these fires. You just dont have time. Chronicle staff writer Dominic Fracassa contributed to this report. Megan Cassidy and Kurtis Alexander are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com, kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy, @kurtisalexander The case relates to mental, physical and sexual exploitation of girls residing in a shelter home run by Seva Sankalp Evam Vikash Samiti. The CBI has booked officers and employees of the shelter home. (Photo: Youtube Screengrab) New Delhi: The CBI has taken over investigation into the alleged abuse of minor girls at a shelter home in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, an official said on Sunday. The case relates to mental, physical and sexual exploitation of the girls residing at Balika Grih, Muzaffarpur. The CBI has booked officers and employees of the shelter home. "It is alleged that officials/employees of girl's children home run by Seva Sankalp Evam Vikash Samiti used to mentally, physically and sexually exploit the children residing there," a CBI spokesperson said. The matter had come to light earlier this year when the Bihar Social Welfare Department filed an FIR based on a social audit of the shelter home conducted by a Mumbai-based institute. The audit report stated that many girls at the shelter home had complained of sexual abuse. A special investigation team was formed to probe the complaints. Also read: Bihar shelter home case: Medical report confirms assault on 5 more victims The NGO running the shelter home in Muzaffarpur was blacklisted and the girls were shifted to shelter homes in Patna and Madhubani. Women staff members of the shelter home and Brajesh Thakur, who ran the NGO, were among those who were arrested by the local police in connection with the case. Deadly wildfires continued to rip through California from the northern border to mountain ranges in the south of the state as furious flames burned unchecked and tens of thousands of people continued to flee their homes. Capt. Brian Hughes, a 33-year-old firefighter from Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks, died after being hit by a falling tree Sunday. Hughes was a member of a tactical operation fighting the Ferguson Fire in Mariposa County. He was the eighth person killed in the recent spate of blazes. Seventeen large wildfires in California continued to upend summer for residents and visitors alike, as closure of Yosemite National Park had to be extended through Friday, and 50,000 people were ordered evacuated from Riverside County to the Oregon border. Statewide tallies released Sunday show that the wildfires have burned more than 200,000 acres, and that they destroyed 874 structures in the Redding area alone. Almost 20,000 homes remain under threat as fire evacuees are being sent to safety in Red Cross shelters, colleges and public schools. More than 12,000 firefighters are working to contain the dozen and a half fires authorities describe as significant. We are well ahead of the fire activity we saw last year, said Lynne Tolmachoff, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. This is just July, so were not even into the worst part of fire season. Continued hot and dry weather conditions, along with gusty winds in some affected areas, posed little promise for a quick quelling of the fires. They continue to rage from Riverside Countys San Jacinto Mountains in the south to Mendocino, Lake and Napa counties, and as far north as the California-Oregon border. The recent fires have injured more than a half-dozen firefighters injured and have caused the deaths of Jeremy Stoke, a fire inspector for the Redding Fire Department; Don Ray Smith, 81, a private bulldozer operator; and in the Ferguson Fire, 36-year-old Braden Varney, Cal Fire heavy fire equipment operator, and the unidentified firefighter. Other victims were a great-grandmother and siblings ages 4 and 5 in Redding, plus another Redding-area person whose name has not been released. The largest wildfire to date remains the Carr Fire in Shasta County, which was just 17 percent contained after consuming 95,368 acres. Since Wednesday, all visitors have been barred from one of Californias greatest natural wonders, the Yosemite Valley. Officials have extended closure of the valley through Friday because of the Ferguson Fire, burning in the Sierra National Forest. The Ferguson Fire broke out 25 miles west of the park on July 13. In what is increasingly becoming a grim routine, residents of Mariposa County faced a similar wildfire threat a year ago this month, when thousands fled the devastating Detwiler Fire. Troublesome air quality has affected the areas surrounding the fires and even farther afield, with unhealthy conditions reported as far as northwestern Nevada. The spread of fine particulates there prompted Washoe County health officials to issue warnings about the smoky air to people with lung disease, the elderly and children. North of the Bay Area in Lake County, a chalky haze nestled into the Lakeport area Sunday, and visibility became more difficult into the afternoon. Every so often the wind would carry a loose ember into Kelseyville, and some of the evacuees there chatted while wearing surgical masks. The Sutter Lakeside Hospital in Lakeport evacuated 13 patients from all departments aside from the emergency room and family birth center Saturday evening. On Sunday, the hospital was forced to evacuate the seven new patients who had arrived Sunday afternoon. So far, air quality in the Bay Area has not been impacted too significantly from the fires, said Ralph Borrmann, a spokesman for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. After consulting monitors Sunday afternoon, Borrmann said Bay Area counties remained in the good range, including Napa and Sonoma counties, where the impact would be most likely. The smoke from the fires up in Redding has been high aloft for the last couple of days, so it hasnt been impacting what we breathe down at ground level, Borrmann said. Despite some haze early on, it hasnt reached down to the breathing zone. Chronicle staff writers Megan Cassidy and Dominic Fracassa and the Associated Press contributed to this report. Karen de Sa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kdesa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @KarendeSa1 Kathleen Edwards gets a real kick out of her incredible kitchen designs. "It kind of looks like a sexy bar in here," she says. The red walls and granite countertops create an atmosphere of mystery in the room as evening falls, especially when the well-placed task lights cast their glow into various corners. That's when Kathleen rolls into the room in her wheelchair and sets about cooking dinner, a daily task that's also a hobby and a sheer delight. It was not something she was going to give up after a motorcycle accident eight years ago left her partly paralyzed. Her custom kitchen, one of nine that will be on the Rockridge Kitchen Tour on Sunday in North Oakland, was a big challenge and education for both her and husband David, who wound up helping their contractor come up with the proper appliances and measurements. "We got everything that we wanted, but the problems were excruciating," Kathleen said. "We just did a lot of the legwork. We went to dozens of appliance stores. It was pretty much our effort to pull all the elements together," said Kathleen, who was determined to be able to prepare meals in an enjoyable and painless fashion. Along with installing both cabinets beneath and above the counters that she could reach, the Edwardses sought out appliances that Kathleen could operate by swinging her legs underneath and leaning forward slightly or be able to reach easily from the side with her arms. The Jenn-Air cooktop is placed on a thin custom-made shelf so Kathleen has room to get her knees under it. The same goes for the Elkay double sink. David made a cutting board that fits into the top of the larger basin so Kathleen can chop and brush refuse sideways into the smaller vegetable basin. "I cannot cut at a regular counter surface. I would have to do it sideways," she said. The faucet handle, which would normally stick out to the side, was installed so it juts forward, easier for her to reach. The button for the garbage disposal is on the left corner of the sink instead of up on the wall. Two Fisher & Paykel DishDrawers, which are usually installed one on top of the other, are on either side of the sink so Kathleen can fill one, then turn around to fill the other. She also has no trouble using her Gaggenau oven because the door opens to the side instead of forward and down. Her custom-made cabinets include self-closing gliding drawers. One drawer slides out from the counter corner sideways about 3 feet, presenting all the pans on wooden shelves -- easy for her to grab. That was made possible when the contractor ripped out a wall and discovered dead space. The stucco house with two bedrooms was built in 1916, but period details in the kitchen were mixed and included oatmeal-colored tile, an old flour bin amid the cabinets and even a cold box or California cooler attached to the outside wall. The only thing that remains are the twin brass doorbells high on the wall above the door to the hallway. Everything in the old kitchen was ripped out, which really pleased Kathleen, who let her imagination run. "We could start from scratch. It was a blank canvas," she said. Even the two windows over the sink came out to make way for a large window that lets more light in. There are under-cabinet lights, pendant lights over the sink and a sinuous track of halogen lights over the center of the room. "I did not want to look up and see fluorescent light," Kathleen said. "And I didn't want anything straight and cold. I wanted something curved." She also favored romance and drama, choosing the rich red color for her walls from kitchens seen in foreign movies -- "it appealed to me, it was such a beautiful look." The Edwardses, who moved to Rockridge from San Francisco in 2001 because of its proximity to stores and activities, expect a lot of people in wheelchairs to visit their home on the tour. Those who wish to visit only this house can purchased a ticket for $5 at the registration desk Sunday only. They did consult an expert in universal design in the early stages for planning their kitchen, but "it got out of control as far as the cost," Kathleen said. They said they were happy to be able to figure it out for themselves even if it did cost $60,000, including $14,000 for the cabinets. And Kathleen Edwards is ecstatic that she was able to get exactly what she wanted. Rockridge Kitchen Tour The kitchen tour is a biennial event sponsored by the Rockridge Community Planning Council that features a walking tour of nine remodeled kitchens. Proceeds benefit the Rockridge-Temescal Greenbelt Park, Peralta Elementary School Spring Festival and Claremont Middle School student programs. -- Date and Time: 1 to 5:30 p.m. Sunday. -- Location: Registration desk is at 5951 College Ave. at Harwood, a few blocks from the Rockridge BART station. -- Admission: $25 in advance at www.rockridge.org through Friday. $30 day of the tour, beginning at 11 a.m. Tickets are $5 for admission just to Kathleen Edwards' house. -- Information: (510) 644-4228. Dapper Dan's outfits in the 1980s were original designs embossed with designer logos from Gucci, Fendi and Louis Vuitton. In this Thursday, July 19, 2018 photo, designer Dapper Dan is seen during an interview at his atelier in the Harlem neighborhood of New York. (Photo: AP) NEW YORK: In hip-hop's golden era, the artists responsible for rap's distinctive sound went to Harlem fashion designer Dapper Dan for the period's equally distinctive look. Now the fashion groundbreaker, who spent more than two decades out of the public eye, is back. He's got a partnership with Gucci and the likes of Beyonce among those wearing his designs, like the logoed jacket that is part of her costumes in her current tour with her husband, Jay-Z. It's a situation that Dapper Dan calls "amazing" and that observers say is a reflection of how hip-hop and street style have influenced global fashion, with him among the innovators. The couturier, whose real name is Daniel Day, now has a new Gucci-sponsored workshop in a Harlem brownstone, not far from the now-closed 125th Street boutique that once clothed Salt-N-Pepa, Eric B. & Rakim and LL Cool J. His operation now is a different one from the 24-hour-per-day shop that turned out custom-made jackets for those early rap superstars, but Dapper Dan said some things haven't changed. As a young man with a reputation for sharp dressing, "my first intention was to transform myself through clothes," he said. "I took that same concept in opening up a store, transforming people. When Gucci came along, I saw the opportunity to do this element of transformation on a larger scale." Dapper Dan's outfits in the 1980s were original designs embossed with designer logos from Gucci, Fendi and Louis Vuitton among others - without the brands' permission. He saw the pull of luxury and brand names and came up with the idea of putting the logos people coveted from bags and luggage on clothes to be worn. "None of the big brands were making coats and jackets. That wasn't available," Dapper Dan said. That "left the whole field open for me." His logo-draped fabrics also were used in everything from suits to car interiors, in styles and silhouettes that the labels themselves weren't even doing. "This is kind of the story of hip-hop," said Erik Neilsen, an associate professor at the University of Richmond, in Richmond, Virginia, who teaches African-American pop culture. "Dapper Dan took something that was there. He arguably made it better. ... He showed the brands all these possibilities it's clear they had never really considered." Dapper Dan insists what he was doing wasn't a knock-off. He wasn't like the people who were making counterfeit bags and belts. His creations were "knock-ups," he said. "I was creating things that when somebody wore it, they knew, 'Oh, no, Gucci doesn't even make pants and jackets and overcoats and things,'" at least not the way he was doing it. By the late 1980s, when his clients also included Mike Tyson, who got into a fight with another fighter at Dapper Dan's store, the brands had started to bring their power to bear against him. There were legal orders and raids, including one by Fendi, whose lawyer for anti-counterfeiting efforts was Sonia Sotomayor, now on the U.S. Supreme Court. After his store closed in 1992 because of the legal pressures, he said, he went "underground," with private clients including Floyd Mayweather. The Gucci partnership came about after Gucci's creative director, Alessandro Michele, put on the runway in May 2017 a jacket that was strikingly reminiscent of one Dapper Dan created in the 1980s using another brand's logo. The move prompted social media furor from those who demanded credit go to Dapper Dan and critiqued the fashion house for celebrating a look its original designer had been chastised for creating. Gucci said the jacket was an homage. But then it went a step further and reached out to Dapper Dan to see whether he would work with the brand officially. The Gucci-Dapper Dan collection launched in mid-July, available in Gucci stores and online. It's inspired by Dapper Dan's work from the 1980s and includes track suits and jackets that echo pieces he made then with price points going as high as several thousand dollars. An Oregon woman's tale of a close encounter with a mountain lion a species she described as "extremely psychic" went viral this week on social media after it was shared earlier in the month. The woman, Lauren Taylor, claims she used telepathy, energy fields and "feline speak eye-blinking" to coax the mountain lion into leaving her home after she found the animal behind her couch, where she allegedly napped for over six hours. Taylor wrote that the mountain lion drank from a fountain before wandering into the home, and might not have realized she was going indoors because the decor of the room, which has "huge plants" and "stairs built around real tree branches." Wildlife officials in California say that if you see a mountain lion, you should do what you can to make yourself appear larger, avoid running from or approaching the animal, speak in a calm voice, and fight back if attacked. But that's not exactly what Taylor did. She said one of her roommates reacted with alarm to the cat, creating a negative energy in the house, but that she was able to restore the cat's sense of calm by elevating the "energy field." "Cats are extremely psychic and perceptive of energy and this lion could have been dangerous in an energy field of fear or anger," she explained. "When I made noise, she woke up and looked startled so I consciously raised my frequency, gazed lovingly into her eyes, and communicated using feline-speak eye blinking to calm her," Taylor wrote matter-of-factly. "It was amazing to realize that this worked. I gazed lovingly then blinked hard and then she did it back! Then, she went back to sleep." "I sent telepathic pictures of the routes out of the house via open doors and the route out the backyard, across the creek, through an open field, and back up into the hills," she continued. "We got guidance that the way to rouse her and get her to leave her safe spot behind the sofa without panicking was through drumming." The cat responded by walking out of the house and away. The Humane Society recommends keeping vegetation neat, securing trash and food, and installing motion-sensitive lighting in dark areas to deter mountain lions from prowling near homes. Taylor clarified in her post that her intent was not to recommend her strategy to others. "I've been urged to point out that I have extensive experience working with energy and animals," she wrote, "and I'm not suggesting anyone seek out interactions with mountain lions." Officials say all encounters with mountain lions in California should be reported to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife's 24-hour dispatch center at (916) 445-0045. Filipa Ioannou is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at fioannou@sfchronicle.com and follow her on Twitter BRIDGEWATER, N.J. President Trump said Sunday that he would consider shutting down the government if Democrats refuse to vote for his immigration proposals, including building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Republicans, trying to protect their majority in Congress, are playing down the chance of a shutdown as the November election nears. Trump, however, isnt backing away from the idea. I would be willing to shut down government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall! Trump tweeted. Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country! Trump said. Trump returned to the idea of shutting down the government over the border wall after meeting at the White House last week with House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to discuss the fall legislative agenda. McConnell, asked about a shutdown during a Kentucky radio interview, said it was not going to happen. He did acknowledge, however, that the border funding issue was unlikely to be resolved before the midterm elections. Ryan said after the meeting: The presidents willing to be patient to make sure that we get what we need so that we can get that done. He added that money for the wall was not a question of if, its a question of when. Trump campaigned on the promise of building a border wall to deter illegal immigration and making Mexico pay for it. Mexico has refused. Congress has given the president some wall funding but far from the $25 billion he has requested. Trump wants changes to legal immigration, including scrapping a visa lottery program. In addition, he wants to end the practice of releasing immigrants caught entering the country illegally on the condition that they show up for court hearings. Trump also has demanded that the U.S. shift to an immigration system thats based more on merit and less on family ties. Democrats and some Republicans have objected to some of the changes Trump seeks. The federal budget year ends Sept. 30, and lawmakers will spend much of August in their states campaigning for re-election. The House is now in recess, returning after Labor Day. The Senate remains in session and is set to go on break the week of Aug. 6 before returning for the rest of the month. McConnell canceled most of the Senates recess to give senators time to work on the annual spending bills that fund government operations. Both chambers will have a short window to approve a spending bill before government funding expires. Trump would be taking a political risk if he does allow most government functions to lapse on Oct. 1 the first day of the new budget year roughly a month before the Nov. 6 elections, when Republican control of both the House and Senate is at stake. Some Republican lawmakers doubted the government would be forced to shut down. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said on CBS Face the Nation that he didnt think shutting down the government just before the elections would be helpful so lets try and avoid it. Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm for GOP House candidates, agreed. I think were going to make sure we keep the government open, but were going to get better policies on immigration, he said on ABCs This Week. The president, I think, wants us to have policies that work for America and work for Americans, and I think thats what we are going to move forward with. House Republicans released a spending bill this month that provides $5 billion next year to build Trumps wall. Democrats have long opposed financing Trumps wall but lack the votes by themselves to block House approval of that amount. They do, however, have the strength to derail legislation in the closely divided Senate. The $5 billion is well above the $1.6 billion in the Senate version of the bill, which would finance the Homeland Security Department. The higher amount matches what Trump has privately sought in conversations with Republican lawmakers, according to a GOP congressional aide who spoke on condition of anonymity. Two leading Democrats Reps. Nita Lowey of New York and Lucille Roybal-Allard of Los Angeles called the $5 billion a waste that only further enables this administrations obsession with cruel attacks on immigrants. Separately Sunday, Trump tweeted that there are consequences when people cross our Border illegally and claimed that many who do so are using children for their own sinister purposes. Trumps tweet came several days after the government said more than 1,800 children separated at the U.S.-Mexico border under Trumps zero-tolerance immigration policy have been reunited with parents and sponsors. A federal judge had ordered the reunions to be completed by last Thursday, but hundreds of children remain separated. The administration says some of their parents have criminal histories. Darlene Superville is an Associated Press writer. The court called it a classic case of an aged parent being harassed by their children and a copy of the plot of recent film '102 Not Out'. The court dismissed the appeal against a trial court order as completely frivolous, merit-less and an abuse of the process of law and directed the man to pay a cost of Rs 1 lakh to his mother within six weeks. (Representational image) New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has slapped a cost of Rs 1 lakh on a man for filing a frivolous appeal against his mother in a property dispute, saying it was classic case of an aged parent being harassed by their children and a copy of the storyline of recent Bollywood movie "102 Not Out". The court dismissed the appeal against a trial court order as completely frivolous, merit-less and an abuse of the process of law and directed the man to pay the amount to his mother within six weeks. "The present is a classic case of aged parent/mother being harassed by her children for property. Obviously, it is not unexpected any longer in this age that we are living in, and which is vividly depicted in a Hindi movie 102 Not Out'. Obviously this case is nothing else but a copy of the movie 102 Not Out'," Justice Valmiki J Mehta said. In the suit, the widow has two children -- a son and a daughter. The daughter had filed a partition suit of their Chitranjan Park property here which was supported by mother. In May, the trial court decreed the suit and the son challenged it in the high court. The high court said it failed to understand as to how a son could dispute the grant of half ownership rights in a property by the husband to his wife. "Even on merits, I fail to understand as to how a son can dispute the grant of half ownership rights in a property by the husband to his wife, because even for the sake of argument we take that the suit property was allotted to the husband because of being a displaced person on account of his having left a property in East Pakistan, surely a husband can take an ownership of a property jointly in his name with his wife and which will have the effect that he having gifted his half ownership rights in the suit property to his wife in this case," it said. The court said there does not arise any issue of the son challenging the lease deed, once the father in his life time got the lease deed executed jointly in his favour and his wife. The court noted that the counsel for the mother stated that the son left no stone unturned to harass and trouble her, and said the court should pass a judgment and clarify the ownership rights otherwise he will keep on harassing her. The court had also asked the son whether he wanted to press the appeal as the parties could repair their relationship, but he sought for a judgement to be passed. He had reviewed the reparatory activities with the principal secretaries of 20 high-burden states, including Delhi, on April 27. New Delhi: In view of the monsoon season, Union health minister J.P. Nadda has written to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, emphasising on the need for implementing preventive and control measures to check the spread of dengue and other vector-borne diseases. Mr Nadda has called for strengthening of vector-control activities with deployment of trained personnel and availability of logistics in the municipal corporations. The Union minister also asked the Delhi government to ensure that all identified laboratories are equipped with diagnostic facilities for testing of dengue, chikungunya and malaria. Mr Nadda asked Mr Kejriwal to ensure adequate number of beds, drugs and other relevant logistics in hospitals so that nobody is denied treatment at the health facilities. The Delhi government can, if need be, also utilise the services of master trainers from the ministry for training of clinicians on case management, he added. Mr Nadda also emphasised on carrying out information, education and communication (IEC) campaign with involvement of the community, including local bodies, RWAs and schools to ensure peoples participation in preventing mosquito breeding and taking precaution. It has been observed from the reports received by us that the number of dengue and malaria cases in Delhi is on the rise in recent times, the Union minister said in his letter. He had reviewed the reparatory activities with the principal secretaries of 20 high-burden states, including Delhi, on April 27. Again on May 12, the minister held a discussion with senior officials of the Delhi government and municipal corporations on the situation and the way forward for preventing dengue and other vector-borne diseases in Delhi. At least 29 cases of malaria have been reported in the first three weeks of July in Delhi, taking the total number of people affected by the vector-borne disease in the national capital this season to 75, according to a municipal report. Both dengue and malaria have different carriers. Therefore, it is not unusual for malaria cases to be reported in larger number compared to dengue, a senior doctor at a government-run hospital said. People must take precautions such as wearing full-sleeve clothes and not allowing breeding of mosquito larvae inside homes, he added. 24x7 emergency operation centre to monitor situation. Deputy CM Manish Sisodia reaches Nizamuddin Bridge to request people to evacuate the places along the Yamuna banks on Sunday. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: With the water level in the river continuing to rise due to the rains, traffic movement on Old Yamuna Bridge in Delhi was closed on Sunday, a day after the flow breached the danger mark, officials said. The government has set up a flood control room in the office of the district magistrate (East) at LM Bund in Geeta Colony. A 24x7 emergency operation centre has also been set up to monitor the situation, a senior official said. An order banning the movement of traffic on the bridge was issued after the flow in the Yamuna showed a rising trend, the officials said. All executive engineers and sector officers have been directed to keep in contact with the control room in relation to the discharge and water level at the Old Railway Bridge and the forecast from Central Water Commission (CWC) and MeT. In addition, they have been told to take appropriate steps to avoid a flood-like situation, according to a government advisory. Meanwhile, Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia took stock of the on-going evacuation operation in the low-lying areas of the city and appealed to the people to move to safer locations. Mr Sisodia also took stock of the evacuation work in the low-lying areas around Akshardham and Pandav Nagar, an official said. Many people have started moving to higher planes, an official said. In a meeting here, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that all the departments have been put on high alert. Mr Kejriwal held an emergency meeting with top officials, including the chief secretary, on Saturday, to evaluate the situation. LIVERMORE (BCN) Scarlett Lewis' life changed forever one December morning in 2012 when her 6-year-old son, Jesse, was killed along with 19 other children and six adults during the shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Lewis, who since founded the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement, will speak about "social emotional learning" at a community event at 7:30 p.m., Aug. 16 at the Bankhead Theater in Livermore. In the days following Jesse's death, Lewis discovered a sense of hope in three words her child had written on the kitchen chalkboard before school on that tragic day: "Nurturing, Healing, Love." Lewis became convinced that consciously choosing love instead of anger and hate was essential to creating a healthy, safe and happy world. She founded the Choose Love Movement, developing a school curriculum to teach children about the power of gratitude, forgiveness and compassion. This curriculum will be taught throughout all grade levels in the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District during the 2018-19 academic year. "The Sandy Hook tragedy started with an angry thought in a shooter's head. And an angry thought can be changed," Lewis said in a statement. The shooting occurred on Dec. 14, 2012, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot his mother at his Newtown, Conn., home before driving to the school and killing 26 people. Lanza later committed suicide. The massacre was one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history. The Bankhead talk is free, but seating is limited and tickets are required. Reserve a spot at www.lvpac.org. Copyright 2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Fire crews continue to report good progress in battling the Steele Fire, which has destroyed seven buildings, damaged another and burned 150 acres in the Berryessa Highlands area at the southern tip of Lake Berryessa in rural Napa County. The fire was 50 percent contained as of this morning, according to Cal Fire, up from 10 percent Saturday night. The fire, which was first reported about 4:30 p.m. Saturday, forced the evacuations of the Berryessa Highlands community and of the nearby Pleasure Cove Resort. Those evacuations remain in effect this morning. An evacuation center has been set up at Crosswalk Community Church, 2509 First St., Napa. The Berryessa Highlands area is about 14 miles north of Fairfield and 12 miles west of Winters. High temperatures and 17-mph winds made for a fast-spreading fire late Saturday afternoon. Road closures remain in effect this morning for Steele Canyon and Capell Valley roads. A total of 185 firefighters with Cal Fire, city fire departments from Vacaville, Dixon, Fairfield, Winters and Suisun City, the Napa County department and California Department of Corrections are involved. A 26-year-old woman released early Saturday morning from Santa Rita Jail was found dead later in the morning at the East Dublin BART station, BART officials said. The woman's body was discovered about 5:30 a.m. near the passenger pick-up/drop-off area at the station. The woman had a bump on her head, but no other signs of foul play were found, said BART spokeswoman Cheryl Stalter. Santa Rita Jail officials were reviewing their records to determine whether the woman had a bump on her head when she was released. The Marsh Fire, which destroyed one home and three outbuildings while burning 247 acres at the base of Mount Diablo east of Clayton in Contra Costa County, was declared 100 percent contained Saturday afternoon, according to Cal Fire. All evacuation zones and road closures brought on by the fire, which was first reported July 25, have been lifted. One firefighter received minor injuries in the blaze. A 61-year-old Pittsburg man who died from a gunshot wound after a reported confrontation at his home on Friday has been identified as Mark Gretler, Pittsburg police said Saturday. Police are searching for the victim's roommate, Rolando Aquino, who is suspected of shooting Gretler during a fight at the home they shared on Olivewood Drive and then fleeing in a car, police said. Investigators found that Gretler and Aquino had a history of confrontations, police said. Aquino, 61, has since been captured on surveillance video, in Pittsburg and San Pablo. Police said he should be considered armed and dangerous. Anyone with information about the suspect's whereabouts should contact the Pittsburg police tip line at (925) 252-4040. Concord police detectives were investigating the death of a man whose body was found Friday night at a home in Concord. The man, whose name was not released, was discovered about 9:30 p.m. during a welfare check at the home in the 1200 block of Pine Creek way, said Concord Police Sgt. Josh Graham. Police did not say why they were called for the welfare check. No information was available on how the man died or whether he lived at the home. Anyone with information can call Concord police Detective Kevin Giacoletto at 925-671-3040 or the anonymous tip line at 925-603-5836. Copyright 2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. A white SUV landed on its roof following a collision with a black Toyota on northbound Interstate 280 just south of Vista Point in Redwood City this afternoon, the California Highway Patrol reported. There was no information on injuries. The accident was blocking one lane. Copyright 2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Hails Sonias leadership, sounds hopeful of Opp. front for 2019. Kolkata: National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah has asserted that the Congress would be indispensable in the unity of all the anti-BJP parties to take on the BJP in the Lok Sabha (LS) Elections next year. Hailing UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi for her leading initiatives, he also made it clear that the oppositions unity would not be successful sans the Congress. Mr Abdullah, however, sounded optimistic about a grand formation of a concrete platform by the anti-BJP parties ahead of the LS polls. The former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers comments came a day after he met Trinamul Congress supremo Mama-ta Banerjee at the state secretariat: Nabanna on Friday, and discussed the prospect and strategies of Federal Front floated by the West Bengal chief minister to oust the BJP from power. On Saturday, he attended a seminar on federalism called Think Federal Conclave in the city. Replying to questions on Federal Front, Mr Abdullah told the media on the sidelines of the event, The question you asked about Mamata Didis proposal, is exactly what we are discussing that how best can the regional parties come together to take on the BJP in the forthcoming general election. Obviously no effort towards opposition unity will really succeed unless the Congress also is able to take the fight to the BJP in the way which we hope. So this is an ongoing coversation. When asked about the ongoing talks between the anti-BJP parties to come under one umbrella, he elaborated, You have seen a number of efforts made particulary by Mrs Sonia Gandhi to bring the opposition parties together. Most recently you have seen all the opposition parties coming together for the swearing-in of the chief minister of Karnataka. Mr Abdullah noted, There will be other attempts made in other states as well. It is an ongoing process. As we get closer to the general elections in 2019, I am sure it will take on a greater shape. Addressing the seminar earlier, he also lashed out at Modi government for making the country weak. The NC leader pointed out, We have a disbelief that a strong Union is required for a strong country. Of course we want a strong union. But a strong Union can not come at the cost of the states. He claimed, Where is the states say that for a strong union you have to have weak states? You can really have strong a Union if you have strong states. Today India is not as strong as it could be because we are facing problems in numerous states like the Maoist insurgency in parts of the country, problems in North-East or Jammu and Kashmir. Mr Abdullah added, Those states that have been weakened have held the Union back from progressing and proceeding the way we ought to have done. And if anything is needed to be done is to strengthen Indias federal structure. He also alleged that more youths in Jammu and Kashmir have been joining militancy than those during his tenure as the chief minister. K09 The simple fact is that the BSP is not yet a pan-Indian dalit party. There is much at stake for both the Congress and the BSP to the dalit constituency, and the negotiations will be tough. It does not make sense to blame either of them for defending their respective claims to represent dalit interests. In 2004, as then Congress president Sonia Gandhi went about building alliances, starting with walking over to her 10 Janpath neighbour, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and dalit leader Ram Vilas Paswan, she had a a relatively easy task reaching out to other parties. Of course, then too the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had remained outside the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). It was Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad Yadav who was upfront in aligning with the Congress and supporting Mrs Gandhi. However, 14 years later, her son and now Congress president Rahul Gandhi faces a much tougher task. The Congress is not strong in terms of numbers in the Lok Sabha 114 in 1999 to just 44 in 2014 though it was and remains the single largest party. In 2004, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and its Left Front allies were in a formidable position in West Bengal. They have been decimated there now. The prospects of an anti-BJP alliance look weaker than it was in 2004. The only bright spot is the fact that the irreconcilable local rivals in Uttar Pradesh, the SP and BSP, had banded together for the Lok Sabha byelections and won three of them, and the Congress and Ajit Singhs Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) have been part of it as well in 2017-18. So there has emerged a grand alliance or mahagathbandhan in the key state of Uttar Pradesh as there had been one for the Assembly elections in Bihar in 2015 between local rivals Janata Dal (United) of Nitish Kumar and the RJD. The Congress had joined that alliance. The Bihar formation had subsequently broken with Mr Kumar going back to his earlier alliance with the BJP. It is against this background that BSP president Mayawatis observation that her party would enter into an electoral alliance with the Congress for the forthcoming Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan only if the BSP was given a respectable number of seats to contest, and that alternatively her party would go it alone in these three states, should be seen. She did not say whether the grand alliance in UP would hold despite there being no alliances in these three states. At the moment, the BSP is a force to reckon with only in UP and nowhere else. Political pundits point out that there are at least 12 to 20 Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh where her partys presence would make a difference. But it remains an untested claim. The simple fact is that the BSP is not yet a pan-Indian dalit party. From the days of BSP founder Kanshi Ram, there have been determined efforts to expand the partys dalit base across the country, but it has not met with much success. It is rational, therefore, that Ms Mayawati keeps at the effort to create a dalit base for her party in states other than UP as well, and that the Congress should have reservations about sharing its own dalit votes with the BSP. Ms Mayawati is not making a demand that is beyond her capacity. What she wants is the recognition that she represents dalit interests. The Congress will have the delicate task of yielding a bit of the ground to her without sacrificing its own dalit base. It would, of course, be presumptuous to argue that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) does not have its own dalit base generally, but the cow vigilantes with their attacks on dalits over the issue of cow and beef have shown the BJP to be a party hostile to the dalit way of life. The shameful silence of the BJP and its ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), over the anti-dalit violence had not been helpful. The attempt of the BJP and RSS to nurture middle class dalit groups opposed to the BSP and the Congress havent been successful. Prime Minister Narendra Modis attempts to appropriate Dr B.R. Ambedkar by arguing that the Congress had not given due respect to the dalit icon has remained a propaganda gambit. The Congress has no clash of interests in terms of voter base either with the SP or RJD because the backward class or the intermediate caste vote was never with the Congress. It is not the same in the case of the dalit vote. The BSP had succeeded in taking away the dalit vote only in UP and not in other states. Many Congress leaders in their unguarded moments argue that the Congress is the only guardian of dalit interests, a claim that may not pass muster as social and political equations change. It would be unrealistic to argue that there cannot remain a distinct dalit political constituency as India becomes one of the top economies in the world. The social and political reality is unlikely to change and the politics for and against dalits, as in the case of other social groups, will only become sharper before it becomes better. Dalits in India remain in the same position as blacks or African-Americans in the United States. The issues are much too complicated to admit of simplistic answers. In the US, the situation has become complicated with the other immigrant groups like Latinos, Chinese, Indians, Koreans and Vietnamese jostling with the blacks much more than with the majority whites. Similarly, in India, the battle is no more between the old upper caste/class of brahmins et al but the confrontation is now between the middle castes and the dalits, which translates into conflict situations between Jats/Yadavs/Reddys/Kammas/Marathas on the one hand and the dalits on the other. There is much at stake for both the Congress and the BSP to the dalit constituency, and the negotiations will be tough. It does not make sense to blame either of them for defending their respective claims to represent dalit interests. But the two parties will have to yield a bit of the ground to face the BJP challenge in 2019. Mr Modi deserves to be applauded for his clearheaded, proactive and transformative outreach to Africa. While Indias relationship with its immediate neighbours in spite of Prime Minister Narendra Modis neighbours first policy has seen mixed results, our relations with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have improved. But relations with the Maldives, Nepal and Pakistan have worsened. However, Mr Modi deserves to be applauded for his clearheaded, proactive and transformative outreach to Africa. Indias historical, cultural and trade links with the African continent go back centuries. Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi are still remembered fondly in many countries for their inspirational anti-imperialist, anti-colonial and anti-apartheid crusade. Africans also appreciate the Indian governments scholarships to African students under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme and its decision to set up IT centres, pan-African E-network and assistance to combat HIV and AIDS. But obviously India didnt take full advantage of prevailing favourable factors to their full potential. Top Indian leaders visited some African countries but these visits were few and far between, and several countries didnt see any Indian leader for decades. Similarly, the bilateral visits by African countries to India were also few, the enthusiasm for receiving African leaders was shallow if not outright negative. In many African capitals we heard the same refrain India remembers us only when it needs our vote for its candidates election to the UN agencies. Fortunately, this mindset has changed. There is a visible paradigm shift. The third India-Africa Forum Summit in October 2015, which saw representation from 54 African countries, in 43 cases at the level of the head of state/government, was a watershed. In the last four and a half years, Indias President, vice-president and PM have visited 25 African countries and 32 heads of states and government from Africa have visited India. Indian companies have invested $54 billion and Indias trade with Africa has risen to $74 billion. During Mr Modis recent successful visit to Rwanda and Uganda, a slew of agreements were signed, credit lines and soft loans of around $200 million each were extended. Mr Modi became the first Indian PM to visit Rwanda, which is becoming a fast-growing economy and offers opportunities for trade and investment in agriculture, food processing, infrastructure, education and healthcare. Gifting 200 locally sourced cows to support Paul Kagames flagship Girinka programme was a smart, innovative, low-cost high-return diplomatic move. Mr Modi, the first PM of India to visit Uganda in the last 22 years and the first to address the Ugandan Parliament, assured that India would continue to support Uganda in the fields of agriculture, healthcare, education, training, infrastructure, energy, capacity building in government and training in defence and referred to Indias ongoing partnership with Africa including implementation of 180 credit lines worth $11 billion in over 40 countries. He announced the setting of a Gandhi heritage centre in Jinja. His enunciation of 10 basic principles that will guide India-Africa relations will have a positive impact: Africa to be Indias top priority with intense, sustained and regular engagement. Indias development partnership to be guided by African priorities, relying on African talent and skills. Open and easier access to Indian markets for African products and support to industrys investment in Africa. Support digital revolution in Africa with Indias digital experience: improvement in delivery services, expansion of education and health services, promote digital literacy and financial inclusion and drawing the marginalised sections in to the mainstream. Improve Africas agriculture. Cooperate with Africa to ensure a just international climate order to protect biodiversity and adopt clean and efficient energy sources. Mutual cooperation in combating terrorism, including cyber crime. Keep the oceans open and free for the benefit of all nations. Ensure Africa doesnt become the theatre of rival ambitions again and help African youth to fulfil their aspirations. Work together to help create a just, representative and democratic global order, which has a voice and role for Africa. Mr Modis speech at the 10th Brics summit held in Johannesburg on July 25-27 was partly a reiteration of his speeches at the World Economic Forum and the Ugandan Parliament recently. His views about globalisation, open markets, multi-polar world and rule-based international trading system similar to the views of the Chinese President have found place in the joint declaration. His stress on new technologies, education, skill upgradation and human values has found wider resonance. Brics, which initially focused on financial, economic, trade and investment-related issues, now devotes as much time on regional and global strategic issues. It associates many non-Brics countries as cooperative partners. At Fortaleza, Brazil invited regional economies; at Ufa, Russia invited Eurasian economies; India invited the Bimstec members in Goa; China invited five major developing economies from around the world and South Africa invited as many as 22 countries from Africa as well as Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia and Turkey. It looked like a mini UN. Johannesburg declarations commitment to foster a more representative, democratic, equitable, fair and just international political and economic order uphold multilateralism respect international law, promote democracy and Sustainable Development Goals is unexceptional. It reaffirms the need for a comprehensive reform of the UN, including the UNSC; China and Russia reiterated their support to the aspirations of India, Brazil and South Africa to play greater role in the UN; it is far from a strong and clear endorsement. Their reiteration to strengthen multilateral institutions, including the WTO, is well meaning but offers no suggestion to address Donald Trumps wont for unilateralism. It talks of an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned national peace and reconciliation process and supports an inclusive Syrian-led Syrian-owned political solution of the conflict in Syria. It welcomes the recent developments regarding the complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and urges all parties to fully comply with their obligations and effectively implement the JCPOA-Iran nuclear deal. Israeli-Palestrina relations and the conflict in Yemen have been flagged on predictable lines. Need of a universal legal anti-terrorist convention and cooperation in counter-terrorism, including cyber crimes sounds familiar; there was no mention of Pakistan-based terrorists. Has China retracted from its Xiamen declaration? Wishing universal energy access, energy security, energy affordability, and reduced pollution and environment conservations is fine, but how the countries transitioning to more environmentally sustainable energy systems can be helped isnt clear. Collaboration for the preservation of biodiversity, promoting ocean economy and protecting outer space from arms race are welcome, but the emphasis on promotion of democracy sounds ironic, as both China and Russia cant be called democracies. Similarly, if China pursues its territorial claims in the South China Sea with little regard to international laws, its advocacy of a rule-based international order sounds hollow. Above all, Brics should act on what it proposes. Getting ready for back to school is about having the right tools and supplies when children hit the classroom. There are all the basics such as backpacks, lunch kits, pens, pencils, notebooks, paper, folders and binders, but knowing the specifics is when it gets tricky. Starter tips are available in GoodHousekeeping.com's article, The Ultimate Back-to-School Shopping Lists from Kindergarten to College, which includes the ability to print, pin or add to a cart the school supplies needed to get the job done. Each school district has its own list for exact items. Though most are very similar, make sure to visit your district's home page and then choose your school location for each grade's specific needs. There are typically quite a lot of items on school supply lists, and if you're buying for multiple children, it can get costly, so take advantage of the Sales Tax Holiday Aug. 10-12. This year's tax-free weekend exempts most clothing, footwear, school supplies and backpacks priced less than $100 from sales and use taxes. For every $100 spent, shoppers could save an average of $8. Information on qualifying products under school supplies covered during the tax-free weekend and be found at https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/publications/98-490/. Get in the spirit while receiving school supplies for returning to the classroom at the Mayor's Back to School Fest slated to be held on Aug. 11. Pre-registration is required for the Mayor's Back to School Fest to receive important information about event location, free event parking and free rides courtesy of Metro. To register, go to www.houstontx.gov/btsf/registermystudent.html. School supplies will be given to pre-registered children in grades, kindergarten through fifth grade only. Each pre-registered student will receive one backpack with necessary school supplies. More information is available also by calling 713-837-0311. Back to school can hit a wallet hard by the time you add in clothes, shoes and the school supplies. The Huntington Bank Backpack Index reported that for 2017-2018 school year, costs were estimated as $662 for elementary school children, $1,001 for middle school children, and $1,489 for high school students. Houston non-profits are there to help and will have the resources to assist. The YMCA of Greater Houston is in process of collecting supplies for children in the community. Its goal is to impact 120,000 children so they can start school with the tools to be successful. The United Way of Greater Houston also will be hosting a Back to School Bash. Get more information and details about school supplies at these non-profit websites at Star of Hope at www.sohmission.org, Salvation Army at www.salvationarmyhouston.org, United Way of Greater Houston Community at www.unitedwayhouston.org, and YMCA of Greater Houston at www.ymcahouston.org. Heres a list of some school supplies items that qualify for the tax-free weekend (if priced less than $100): Binders Book bags Calculators Cellophane tape Blackboard chalk Compasses Composition books Crayons Erasers Folders expandable, pocket, plastic and manila Glue, paste and paste sticks Highlighters Index cards Index card boxes Legal pads Lunch boxes Markers (including dry erase markers) Notebooks Paper loose leaf ruled notebook paper, copy paper, graph paper, tracing paper, manila paper, colored paper, poster board, and construction paper Pencil boxes and other school supply boxes Pencil sharpeners Pencils Pens Protractors Rulers Scissors Writing tablets Find the full list of items that qualify here. Facebook plummeted 19 percent, after warning of slower growth ahead, erasing more than $100 billion in value. The Facebook logo on screens at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New Yorks Times Square. (Photo: Pixabay) The UK government should increase oversight of social media like Facebook and election campaigns to protect democracy in the digital age, a parliamentary committee has recommended in a scathing report on fake news, data misuse and interference by Russia. The interim report by the House of Commons media committee to be released Sunday said democracy is facing a crisis because the combination of data analysis and social media allows campaigns to target voters with messages of hate without their consent. Tech giants like Facebook, which operate in a largely unregulated environment, are complicit because they havent done enough to protect personal information and remove harmful content, the committee said. The light of transparency must be allowed to shine on their operations and they must be made responsible, and liable, for the way in which harmful and misleading content is shared on their sites, committee Chairman Damian Collins said in a statement. The study was due to be published Sunday, but a copy was leaked on Friday by Dominic Cummings, the director of the official campaign group backing Britains departure from the European Union. Social media companies are under scrutiny worldwide following allegations that political consultant Cambridge Analytica used data from tens of millions of Facebook accounts to profile voters and help U.S. President Donald Trumps 2016 election campaign. The committee is also investigating the impact of fake news distributed via social media sites. Collins ripped Facebook for allowing Russian agencies to use its platform to spread disinformation and influence elections. I believe what we have discovered so far is the tip of the iceberg, he said, adding that more work needs to be done to expose how fake accounts target people during elections. The ever-increasing sophistication of these campaigns, which will soon be helped by developments in augmented reality technology, make this an urgent necessity. The committee recommended that the British government increase the power of the Information Commissioners Office to regulate social media sites, update electoral laws to reflect modern campaign techniques, and increase the transparency of political advertising on social media. Prime Minister Theresa May has pledged to address the issue in a so-called White Paper to be released in the fall. She signalled her unease last year, accusing Russia of meddling in elections and planting fake news to sow discord in the West. The committee began its work in January 2017, interviewing 61 witnesses during 20 hearings that took on an investigatory tone not normally found in such forums in the House of Commons. The report criticized Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg for failing to appear before the panel and said his stand-ins were unwilling or unable to give full answers to the committees questions. One of the committees recommendations is that the era of light-touch regulation for social media must come to an end. Social media companies can no longer avoid oversight by describing themselves as platforms because they use technology to filter and shape the information users see. Nor are they publishers, since that model traditionally commissions and pays for content. We recommend that a new category of a tech company is formulated, which tightens tech companies liabilities, and which is not necessarily either a platform or a publisher, the report said. We anticipate that the government will put forward these proposals in its White Paper later this year. The committee also said that the Information Commissioners Office needs more money so it can hire technical experts to be the sheriff in the Wild West of the internet. The funds would come from a levy on the tech companies, much in the same way as the banks pay for the upkeep of the Financial Conduct Authority. Our democracy is at risk, and now is the time to act, to protect our shared values and the integrity of our democratic institutions, the committee said. 116 of the 270 contested seats won by Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Imran Khan declared his victory on Thursday and dismissed the allegations of fraud calling it the most transparent election in Pakistans history. (Photo: AP) Islamabad: Imran Khans party said it has begun talks with independents and small parties to form a coalition government after a resounding triumph in Pakistans general election, as rival parties planned protests over alleged vote rigging. However, an All Parties Conference (APC) hosted by Pakistan Muslim Lea-gue president Shehbaz Sharif on has decided not to take oath in the parliament after Wednesdays controversial election. Sources said that the proposal to not take oath was forwarded by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazal) chief Moulana Fazlur Rehman and Awami National Party (ANP) leader Asfandyar Wali Khan. The JUI-F chief said that worst rigging of the history was seen in Wednesdays general elections, adding that this was not public mandate, but the public mandate has been robbed. We wont let anyone hijack democracy, the JUI-F chief said and added we will again run campaign for elections. The cleric said that they had struggled for democracy and would not let any pawn of the establishment to run the government. Speaking on the occasion, ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan said that the best way of boycott was that all leader of all political parties dont take oath. Pak Sar Zameen Party chairman Mustafa Kamal also supported the suggestion. Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq said that they knew the results before elections were held, adding that we should have sit together before the polls. Dr Farooq Sattar, while presenting the Mutta-hida Qaumi Movement stance said that Pakistan Tehrik-e-Jnsaf leader Jahangir Tareen had contacted them. We have been ditched in the past, Farooq Sattar said but added they would support if all opposition parties reach consensus. PHNOM PENH, Cambodia The nations ruling party won Sundays general election, ensuring that long-ruling Prime Minister Hun Sen will serve another five year-term in a vote assailed by rights groups as illegitimate. Although 20 parties contested the election, the only one with the popularity and organization to mount a real challenge, the Cambodian National Rescue Party, was dissolved last year by the Supreme Court in a ruling generally seen as politically motivated. The government spokesman, Khieu Kanharith, confirmed that the Cambodian Peoples Party had topped the polls. He did not say how many of the of the 125 seats in the National Assembly the CPP had captured, but preliminary totals broadcast on state television showed the party won at least 70 percent of the vote in each of the countrys 25 provinces. Under the system of proportional representation, the party would likely grab more than 100 seats. Local and foreign rights groups, along with several Western governments, had criticized the election as not credible. Charging that the polls were neither free nor fair, the disbanded CNRPs former leaders had urged people not to vote in what was dubbed a Clean Finger campaign because those who did cast ballots had to dip a finger in ink, a practice meant to thwart multiple voting. According to totals released by the state National Election Committee, more than 6.8 million registered voters, or 82.2 percent, cast ballots. The figure, if correct, would suggest that the promotion by opposition forces of a poll boycott was ineffective. In the last general election in 2013, voter turnout was 6.6 million, or 68.5 percent of 9.7 million registered voters. Hun Sen said on his Facebook page before the results were announced that he welcomed the big turnout, and congratulated his countrymen for exercising their right to vote. Following the election, exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who had earlier urged Cambodians not to vote, called for peaceful protests, calling it a sham election with a foregone conclusion. Speaking from south of Paris in Freteval where he lives, Sam Rainsy told the Associated Press that it is a meaningless victory because (Hun Sen) won without any real challenger ... prior to the election he dissolved the only credible opposition party. Sopheng Cheang and Jerry Harmer are Associated Press writers. HARARE, Zimbabwe In a surprise address to the nation after months of silence, former President Robert Mugabe emerged just hours before Mondays historic election declaring that I will not vote for those who have illegally taken power and turning his back on the ruling party he long controlled. Slow and rambling, the 94-year-old Mugabe spoke to reporters Sunday with bitterness about his removal in November under military pressure and amid a ruling party feud. He was coy about endorsing anyone ahead of the election in which the former deputy that he fired, President Emmerson Mnangagawa, faces a 40-year-old lawyer and pastor, Nelson Chamisa. He indicated, however, that Chamisa was the only viable candidate. I cannot vote for those who have tormented me, Mugabe said in a reference to Mnangagwa, who took office with the militarys support. I cannot vote for ZANU-PF, the ruling party that has rejected him as well. Later on Sunday, Mnangagwa said in a video posted on Facebook that Chamisa had forged a deal with Mugabe and that a vote for the opposition leader amounted to an endorsement of the old order. Chamisa, meanwhile, said at a news conference that he welcomed the vote of Mugabe or any other Zimbabwean and that you dont discriminate against voters. Many in Zimbabwe knew no other leader but Mugabe, who led the country for 37 years after independence from white minority rule in 1980. What began with optimism crumbled into repression of the opposition, alleged vote-rigging, violent land seizures from white farmers and years of international sanctions. The southern Africa nation hopes that a credible vote on Monday could get those sanctions lifted and bring badly needed investment for a collapsed economy. Farai Mutsaka is an Associated Press writer. "Faced with the cry of hunger all sorts of "hunger" of so many brothers and sisters in every part of the world, we cannot remain indifferent and calm spectators, said Francis during the Angelus. Never throw away leftover food", Francis added. Instead, use it again or give it to those who can eat it, to those who need it. He called for prayers to the Virgin Mary so that programmes dedicated to development, food, and solidarity in the world prevail, not those of hatred, armaments and war." Tomorrow is the UN-sponsored World Day against Trafficking in Persons. Vatican City (AsiaNews) Pope Francis spoke to the crowd in St Peters Square before todays Angelus about the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish (John 6, 1:15), praising the courage of the boy who offered five loaves and the two fish and pushed Jesus to imitate him. In his address, the pontiff noted that Jesus had the leftover fragments of bread gathered, asking everyone to examine their conscience about what happens to leftover food in their own homes. "Never throw away leftover food", Francis said. Instead, use it again or give it to those who can eat it, to those who need it." Following the Marian prayer, the pontiff spoke to the pilgrims in St Peter's Square about the importance of tomorrows UN-sponsored World Day against Trafficking in Persons. At the beginning of his commentary on the Gospel of the day (17th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle B), he referred to the boy as "A good lad! Spirited. He too saw the crowd and saw his five loaves and said: 'I have this; if it is needed, here it is. This boy makes us reflect ... What courage ... Young people are like that; they have courage. We must help them carry this courage forward." "Through this Gospel passage, Francis explained, the liturgy leads us not to look away from Jesus who, last Sunday, in the Gospel of Mark, saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them (6:34). Even the boy with the five loaves understood this compassion and said: Poor people! I have this .... Compassion led him to offer what he had. In fact, today John shows us again a Jesus attentive to the basic needs of people. The episode stems from an actual fact: people were hungry and Jesus got his disciples involved so that people were fed. Jesus did not limit himself to giving this to the crowd. He offered his Word, his consolation, his salvation, and finally his life, but he certainly did this too: he took care of the food for the body. And we, his disciples, cannot turn a blind eye. Only by listening to the simplest demands of the people and by standing next to their actual existential situations can we be heard when we talk about higher values." "God's love for a humanity hungry for bread, freedom, justice, peace, and above all his divine grace, never fails. Jesus today continues to feed, makes himself a living and consoling presence and does so through us. Therefore, the Gospel invites us to be available and industrious, like that boy. Faced with the cry of hunger all sorts of "hunger" of so many brothers and sisters in every part of the world, we cannot remain indifferent and calm spectators. Christs proclamation, bread of eternal life, requires a generous commitment of solidarity to the poor, the weak, the last, the defenceless. This action of proximity and charity is the best proof of the quality of our faith, both at a personal and a community level. "At the end of the story, the Evangelist said that, when everyone was satisfied, Jesus told the disciples: Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted (John 6:12). I would like to propose this to you: gather the fragments left over so that nothing is wasted. My thoughts go to the people who are hungry and about how much leftover food we throw away ... Let each of us ask: the food that is left over from lunch, dinner, where does it go? At home, what do you do with leftover food? Do you throw it away? [I say] No. If you do this, let me give you some advice: talk to your grandparents who lived through the post-war years and ask them what they did with leftover food. Never throw away leftover food. Use it again or give it to those who can eat it, to those who need it. Never throw away leftover food. This is a suggestion and a way to examine your conscience. What do you do at home with food that is left over? Let us pray to the Virgin Mary so that programmes dedicated to development, food, and solidarity in the world prevail, not those of hatred, armaments and war." At the end of the Angelus, after the blessing, the Pope added: "Do not forget two things: an image, an icon, and a sentence, a question. The icon of the brave young man who gave what little he had to feed a great multitude. Have courage, always! And the sentence, which is a question, a way to examine your conscience: what do you do at home with the food that is left over? Thank you!" Before his greetings to the various groups, Francis noted that tomorrow is World Day against Trafficking in Persons. "This scourge, he said, enslaves many men, women and children through labour and sex exploitation, organs trafficking, begging and forced crime. Even here in Rome. Migration routes are also often used by traffickers and exploiters to recruit new victims of trafficking. It is the responsibility of all to denounce injustice and firmly oppose this shameful crime. NABI SALEH, West Bank Palestinian teen Ahed Tamimi, who became an international symbol of resistance to Israeli occupation after slapping two soldiers, was released from an Israeli prison Sunday. At an outdoor news conference near her family home, the 17-year-old briefly raised her fist and said the occupation must leave, speaking against against the backdrop of a large model of a slingshot that was loaded with a pencil rather than a stone, apparently to highlight education as a possible Palestinian tactic. However, she stopped short of committing to continued acts of protests and said her eight-month prison stint had taught her to appreciate life. Underlying her case are clashing narratives about Israels half-century rule over the Palestinians, the extent of permissible Palestinian resistance to it and the battle for global public opinion. Tamimis supporters see a brave girl who struck two armed soldiers in frustration after having just learned that Israeli troops seriously wounded a 15-year-old cousin, shooting him in the head from close range with a rubber bullet during nearby stone-throwing clashes. In Israel, she is seen by many as a provocateur, an irritation or a threat to the militarys deterrence policy even as a terrorist. Israel has treated her actions as a criminal offense, indicting her on charges of assault and incitement. In liberal circles, the hard-charging prosecution of Tamimi was criticized as a public relations disaster because it turned her into an international icon. Ahed and her mother Nariman also arrested in December in connection with the same incident were released from a prison in northern Israel. They were driven by bus to the West Bank and were given a heros welcome in their home village of Nabi Saleh. The resistance continues until the occupation is removed, Ahed said upon her return. All the female prisoners are steadfast. I salute everyone who supported me and my case. From her home, Ahed headed to a visit to the grave of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. She laid a wreath, kissed the headstone and recited a prayer from the Quran, the Muslim holy book. Ahed was 16 when she was arrested and turned 17 while in custody. Mohammed Daraghmeh is an Associated Press writer. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Birds of a feather flocked together Saturday at the Staten Island Zoo, where nature lovers young and old witnessed a predator presentation "free-for-owl." (Okay, I'll quit it with the bird predator-related puns, it's getting a little "hawkward." Sorry, NOW I'm done). The crowds of adults and children visited the West Brighton attraction for a special afternoon show of avian raptors in flight. Though the term "raptor" may conjure the image of the dinosaurs imagined in the Jurassic Park/World franchises, the birds on display at the Zoo were assuredly just as awesome a sight. Part of the Cool Zoo Summer Series, this Raptor show as seen at the NY Renaissance Fair toured the Zoo for a series of presentations from noon until 2 p.m. Audiences learned about the natural history of these birds of prey, their unique traits, and other natural abilities. Director of Education Jessica Hartmann was particularly excited for this installment in their Cool Zoo Summer Series. "We've been doing [summer programming] for several years now, and it's meant to really bring new things to the zoo and the people of the Staten Island community, giving them a chance to see exhibits we don't typically offer," Jessica said. "You know, we'll have a penguin visit every years since we don't have any penguins, but this particular event is a unique experience with these raptors." Kevin Gaines, host and owner of Wildlife Revealed, worked alongside his wife, Tiffany, and son, Tristan, in three consecutive shows Saturday afternoon. "I started [working with birds/raptors] full-time with an organization of people that did a show at the New York Renaissance Festival in 2002, volunteering with their crew prior to that for five years," Kevin said. "In 2006, the business partners split ways and I found myself doing things on my own." His work, which has presented him with opportunities alongside professionals like Jim Fowler, continues to bring him across the country. Though his partners in crime return to Texas in a few weeks' time for the start of the school year, Kevin travels across the country with his message of wildlife conservation. "We've done a raptors show before in the past, but this is something a very different than what people usually get to see," Jessica said. "Being around them as they fly -- it's such a cool opportunity." The demonstration featured the talents of hawks, owls, falcons, and vultures. Aside from learning the biology of these creatures, viewers also had the front-row seats as they watched them soar in free flight. "They're the ambassadors of the sky, so we try to educate people the best we can," Tiffany said. "A lot of people don't realize that they're up there, so for them to come down here and fly around them it's a cool project." Many of the birds fed off of the audience's excitement--some shrieked a distinctive cry, others flew close the heads of viewers. At one point, the vulture even waddled down the middle aisle instead of flying, leaving families thoroughly entertained at this unlikely move. The show concluded with the display of a baby Eurasian Eagle Owl. A mature one flew during the show, but at four months, this was her first interaction with an audience ever. "This is fun, I enjoy going to places like zoos, nature parks...it's the right audience," Kevin said "People are here because they want to learn, they want to see, because they're curious." "It's the right audience to take what they're curious about to the next level--to see the birds flying right in front of them, like the raptors, get close to you." This weekend was a busy one for the Zoo; in addition to their summer program, they hosted a soft opening of their new aquarium exhibits. Be sure to check out our gallery with exclusive pictures of the new facilities. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Almost three years after breaking ground, the Staten Island Zoo is finally preparing to reintroduce its new state of the art aquarium to the public, with a soft opening on Saturday. In an Instagram update Friday, the Staten Island Zoo posted: "Visit the Zoo this weekend for our SOFT OPENING of the aquarium. Guests will be allowed to walk through the new and improved section to see our four ceiling-to-floor tanks up close and meet all of our aquatic critters. Liberty, our aquarist, has been hard at work, but please keep in mind we are still adding fish and working on all of the finishing touches." *Check out the gallery above for for a first look at aquarium featuring species from five world habitats.* The project was funded by $7.74 million allocated by Mayor Bill de Blasio's office through the Department of Cultural Affairs, Borough President James Oddo's office, and council members Steven Matteo and Debi Rose. Vice President of Marketing and Development at the Zoo Brian Morris expressed his pride in the project: "One nice thing about aquariums is that things move; compared to the something like the foxes that sleep for 16 hours a day, a visual experience is really neat for kids." The renovation has replaced 15 smaller tanks with the four large containments that now surround visitors. Each tank holds 3,300 gallons of water and features species from distinct world habitats, including: Tropical Coral Reef; Pacific Kelp Forest; Southeast Asian Freshwater Habitat, and Atlantic/Caribbean Sea Life. "It's like a vacation on a budget," Morris said with a laugh. "One minute you're in the Atlantic and the next in the Pacific, without even leaving the Island." DYNAMIC PHOTO OPPS: Each environment will gradually reintroduce species native to the waters after a brief period of quarantine. Having donated almost all of their marine species in light of the reconstruction, Morris explained that the rebuilding project is an ongoing process. Zoo aquarist and dive safety officer Liberty Calakas was on hand early in the morning for a new facet of visitor interactivity -- hosting a Zoo crew member underwater with the fish to maintain the habitats (and offer a dynamic photo opp). Here since this past November, she said, "I love it here. I mean, building your own aquarium, what's better than that?" Unlike the previous model, aquarists like Calakas will be able to easily dive into the tanks for regular maintenance and provide a literally immersive educational experience for kids. "I dive three times a week," Calakos said. "I try to hit at least three tanks at a time, with primary focus on the two warmer tanks that grow algae a lot faster, and switching off between the other two." UPDATING THE INFRASTRUCTURE: The undertaking also overhauled the Zoo's dated infrastructure, replacing three existing boilers from its original opening in 1936 with new, high-efficiency sectional cast iron units that will greatly reduce annual energy consumption and help better control the climates of indoor exhibits. Additionally, the screens at each tank will be programmed to provide facts about the fish within, as part of the larger motion to improve educational programming. Two youngsters, Joseph and Anthony, were particularly excited about the reopening of the aquarium. "I love it here!" they exclaimed. "It's back!" While the aquarium is still working on its finishing touches and continuing to add to the displays, the public got its first glance at the progress made and the future of the Zoo's aquatic wing. "What the public will witness is a dynamic and colorful space that will surround and immerse them with vibrant marine life. It is something that I believe will add to our presence as the greatest little zoo in America," said William J. Frew Jr., president of the Staten Island Zoological Society, back in November 2016 during the groundbreaking. The Zoo has no intention of slowing down just yet. Aside from continually growing the aquatic wing with new species, Morris said they intend on sprucing up the south entrance on Clove Road, in an effort to make the Zoo as inviting as possible. "We want to bring everyone back to the zoo, especially those that haven't been here in many years," said Morris. We're highlighting some of the activities Staten Island students are engaged in -- both inside and outside the classroom. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Students of all ages across the borough tested their math skills at Staten Island Mathematics Tournament competitions. There were three held in recent months -- elementary, middle and high school events -- at the Borough President's Hall of Science at the Michael J. Petrides complex in Sunnyside. "We would like to provide our students more opportunities to have fun and think outside the box in solving problems in mathematics," said a spokesman for the Staten Island Field Support Center. View the photos above to see the students at the competitions. Here are the winners for each event. Elementary school The first-place elementary school team was PS 50, followed by PS 30 in second place and PS 36 in third place. The elementary school individuals who won were: Matthew Perani, of PS 50, in first place -- followed Nicholas Lee, of PS 36, and Sebastian Poget, of PS 29. Middle school The first-place middle school team was Paulo Intermediate School (I.S. 75), followed by Bernstein Intermediate School (I.S. 7) in second place, and Totten Intermediate School (I.S. 34) in third place. The first-place individual was Joseph Pecoraro, of I.S. 75. Michael Cavaliese, of Barnes Intermediate School (I.S. 24), placed second. And in third place was Tyrone Xue of Dreyfus Intermediate School (I.S. 49). High school The high school teams that won were Tottenville High School in first place, followed by Staten Island Technical High School and New Dorp High School. High school individuals who won were: Andrew Deck, of Tottenville High School in first place -- followed by Hamzah Nizami, of Susan Wagner High School, in second and Matthew Cherny, of Staten Island Technical High School, in third place. Here's a look at some other recent education-related happenings. CYBERSECURITY Staten Island Technical High School students learned aspects of cybersecurity during an elective course this past school year, taught by an expert in the field. Teacher Joseph Frusci served as an information technology specialist when he was an Army National Guardsman. After he served, he was recruited into the private sector as an information security/cybersecurity specialist in New York City. He recently received the new cybersecurity state teaching certificate. In the course, he taught advanced network design, which allows students to learn how to both defend and penetrate a network. "In addition to the technical aspects of this course, I also teach government and use this course to tie in other aspects of cybersecurity," Frusci explained. "Therefore, students also receive instruction for analytical thinking, such as reviewing laws for cyber crimes, as well as understanding what fake news is and how it impacts society." LEARNING ABOUT GOVERNMENT Four Staten Island high school students spent a week learning the inner workings of state, local and county government earlier this month. The students -- Ashley Arnone, Cierra Hinckson, Sarah Lawrence and Gabriella Venditti -- were among 360 young women selected to attend the 77th American Legion Auxiliary (ALA) Empire Girls State session. The conference is designed to provide practical insight into the workings of the government, promote youth civic engagement, instill a sense of pride in the United States and empower the next generation of women leaders. A key component were the mock legislative sessions, in which students wrote and debated bills. Hinckson, a rising senior at Curtis High School, was sworn in as the American Legion Auxiliary Empire Girls State Governor. "My week at ALA Empire Girls State has opened my mind to the vast knowledge and vigor of the political world, alongside hundreds of other awesome women," Hinckson said. Ashley Arnone, Cierra Hinckson, Sarah Lawrence and Gabriella Venditti attended the 77th American Legion Auxiliary (ALA) Empire Girls State session. (Photo courtesy of ALA Empire Girls State) Do you have a story idea for the new In Class education column? Email education reporter Annalise Knudson at aknudson@siadvance.com. FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- New Jersey is getting a new area code. To keep pace with demand, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) -- which regulates telecommunications -- is launching a 640 area code, which will be added to the region currently served by 609. The decision was made after it was projected that the 609 area code would max out its phone number options by the end of the year. The new area code will be implemented in central and southeastern parts of New Jersey, from Trenton to Cape May. Beginning Sept. 17, new telephone lines may be assigned numbers with the new area code. Those who already have a 609 number will not be affected. However, there will be a new dialing procedure which will require all calls within the 609 area code to dial the area code and telephone number beginning Aug. 18. (Currently, callers in that area code only need to dial seven digits.) If you do not include the area code, you will get a message saying your call cannot be completed. In addition, calls made from the 609 or 640 area code to any other New Jersey area code will need to add the "1" before the area code. The change also applies to people with an 856 area code making calls outside that area. WHAT WILL REMAIN THE SAME Existing telephone numbers, including the current area code, will not change. The price of a call, coverage area, or other rates and services will not change due to the overlay or change in dialing procedures. What is now a local call will remain a local call regardless of the number of digits dialed. FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - Leave it to Susan Molinari to perfectly sum up her father, the late Guy V. Molinari. After all, besides Guy's late wife, Marguerite, did anyone know him better? "He was like George Bailey," Susan Molinari said as she delivered one of the eulogies at her father's funeral in Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, New Dorp, on Saturday. "If George Bailey used foul language." Susan was of course praising Guy for being a Staten Island everyman who devoted himself to the borough, much as the fictional Bailey devoted himself to Bedford Falls in "It's a Wonderful Life." But Susan Molinari also acknowledged the saltiness that was a big part of Guy's persona. Guy had that edge to him. And even more to the point, perhaps, she said that if "George Bailey and Michael Corleone had a son," it would be Guy Molinari. A nod to the elder Molinari's Machiavellian political skills. A reference to "The Godfather" at a funeral for a Staten Island pol? What could be more fitting? Even for those who thought they knew Molinari, the last few days since his death on Wednesday at the age of 89 have been a revelation. As former Rep. Michael Grimm said during his eulogy, Guy was many things to many people. Here are some of the words used to describe Guy during the funeral Mass: Fierce competitor. Tough guy. Poppy. Mentor. Political counselor. Mischievous. Powerful presence. Marine. Sir. General. Warrior. Fierce advocate. And you thought he was just a former assemblyman, congressman and borough president. He was also a husband, father and grandfather. And as much as the funeral service was about Guy's political achievements, it was also about family. Presiding over the Mass, Bishop John O'Hara not only repeatedly offered up prayers for Guy, but also for Guy's late wife, Marguerite. Susan talked about how Guy doted on his granddaughters, Susan and Katie. How he was competitive in everything, from jogging to doing a crossword puzzle. And of course, there was politics. And for Guy, politics was family. It was the family business. How many Staten Island pols consider Guy a father figure? How many of them credit him with giving them their start in public life? We've seen them all pay their respects during this days of mourning: Grimm. Rep. Dan Donovan. Former Rep. Vito Fossella. So many others. Then there was Giuliani, whom Guy has called his greatest political achievement. Those who weren't around at the time might have trouble grasping just how big that moment was when Guy pushed Giuliani to run for mayor in 1989. And how big it was that the votes of Staten Island could make a mayor in 1993. It truly was a golden age that ensued. If it hadn't happened, the landfill would probably still be open. The city likely wouldn't have seen the renaissance that continues today. Because it was on Staten Island where that renaissance began. We were the template. Giuliani said there was a simple reason for it all: Fear. Rudy said that if he didn't close the landfill, he was afraid Molinari would "break my legs." He said that then-Deputy Mayor Joe Lhota, the City Hall point-man on closure, was "physically afraid" of Molinari. Maybe Rudy was kidding. But there's that "Godfather" thing again. Knowing how Island pols of all ethnicities venerate the films, it was refreshing to hear it all talked about in the open. And by a guy who made his bones busting the Mob, no less. Bishop O'Hara said that if you seek Molinari's monument, look around you. And it's hard to argue. The landfill. The new ballpark in St. George. The free ferry fare. All the protests he led. The unwanted projects he stopped. The schools built on his watch. And now Guy passes into history himself. You wonder how many people who saw all the commotion outside the church before and after the funeral even knew who Guy was, what he had done. How he did make the Island better. It's a shame if they don't. He should rest in peace. Suncorp is promoting an overhaul of its digital offering as giving customers "aggressive transparency" about the wide range of financial brands it owns, in a departure from the strategy commonly used by major financial institutions. While insurers have been accused of creating an "illusion" of competition through a plethora of brands that are actually owned by a few dominant players, Suncorp's new app does not shy away from the fact it owns 11 different brands in Australia. Suncorp's Pip Marlow said it would promote its wide stable of brands to customers, a change in approach. Credit:Janie Barrett Suncorp, which owns AAMI, Bingle, GIO, and APIA, is launching a new app that will present customers with products across the group, which spans insurance, banking and wealth. The move contrasts with the strategy it and other financial businesses with multiple brands - such as Commonwealth Bank and Westpac - have generally used, which is to keep customers contained to the one brand. The giant sand-coloured backdrop flies up and billows in ways that suggest the very land is breathing. Certainly the warm heart of H Lawrence Sumner's play is, despite The Long Forgotten Dream often being at its strongest when it at its most epic or ritualistic a ritual for leading us back towards the light of truth, acknowledgement, forgiveness and reconciliation. But its balance between the epic and the domestic, the dreaming and the prosaic, has not been fully resolved. Just as the backdrop shape-shifts, so does Sumner's story. On the surface it tells of the repatriation of the remains of King Tulla from England to Coorong, South Australia. Tulla (Ian Wilkes), the grandfather of Jeremiah (Wayne Blair) and great-grandfather of Simone (Jada Alberts) was murdered in a race-hate crime, and his body sold off like a hunting trophy. Simone has spent two years tracking down his bones so they can be buried where they belong. Beneath that surface seethe other stories. Not all feelings kindled by this prospective homecoming are positive, especially for Simone's father. Sumner's Jeremiah exemplifies how one emotional blockage can lead to a general emotional logjam. The unpicking of this lifting a scab on decades of grief, anger, guilt and frustration swells the play to its climactic scenes. When it hits those scenes it is mighty, as is Blair's performance. In the earlier going some of the dialogue, especially between Jeremiah and Simone, is overwritten: words spoken that could have more effectively been left unsaid, obliging the audience to connect the dots. Perhaps this overwriting along with the challenge of depicting emotional gridlock contributes to an archness in Blair's performance early on, before it rears up in potency, and becomes not only more convincing, but also moving and memorable. Alberts' character, an archaeologist, has no such trajectory, and her excessively flat delivery throughout, at odds with the character's warmth, keeps us at a distance that undermines the play's interrelationships. The number of international travellers flying out of Canberra Airport is booming, according to new government statistics. Between April 2017 and April 2018 there had been a 29.6 per cent increase in passengers flying out of the capital to international destinations, Canberra Airport managing director Stephen Byron said. Airport chief Stephen Byron said news of growth in international passenger numbers was "fantastic". Credit:Dion Georgopoulos Although the increase had come off a smaller base compared to larger airports, this was still the biggest increase in Australia for April, he added. When domestic and international flights were combined, there had been a 9 per cent increase in total passengers flying out of Canberra when April 2017 was compared with April 2018. Modern Slavery Bill: What business needs to do IF passed into law, Australias Modern Slavery Bill will require companies with an annual turnover of more than $100 million to report annually on the risks of modern slavery in their operations and supply chains, and on the actions to address these. The bill follows a parliamentary inquiry last year. As the UK had introduced a Modern Slavery Act in 2015, the parliamentary inquiry was specifically tasked with considering whether Australia should introduce comparable legislation. The bill also follows the NSW Modern Slavery Act which was passed on June 21, 2018. Australia has benefited from the lessons learned in the UK. The bill has addressed some of the shortcomings from the UK Act by including reporting obligations for Commonwealth entities, and a legislated and government-funded repository for the modern slavery statements. The lack of a central government repository for statements was felt to be a weakness of the UK legislation, although one is now managed by an NGO. According to the Australian bill, statements will be kept in an online repository that may be accessed by the public. What is modern slavery? There is often debate about what modern slavery actually means. The definition given in the bill is conduct which would constitute an offence under Division 270 or 271 of the Criminal Code. This covers offences such as slavery, servitude, forced labour, deceptive recruiting, trafficking in persons, debt bondage, forced marriage and organ trafficking. The definition also includes trafficking in persons, as defined in the international Trafficking Protocol and the worst forms of child labour. Around the world, it is estimated there are almost 25 million people in forced labour, working to produce goods or services for consumers like us. Long after Australia officially abolished slavery, the practice continues here and the Global Slavery Index estimates there are approximately 4,300 people trapped in modern slavery in Australia. Slavery in the Southeast Asian fishing industries (the top suppliers of shellfish to Australian supermarkets); the harsh working conditions of construction workers in Qatar; and closer to home, the underpayment of Australian workers employed by companies like 7-Eleven, Dominos and Pizza Hut are indicative of the oppressive working conditions that may amount to modern slavery. What will companies need to do? It is estimated more than 3,000 companies will have to report on modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains, and the action they have taken to tackle these. Depending on the speed of the passage of the legislation, the first reports could be due by January 1, 2019. Businesses with revenue of less than $100 million can opt to report voluntarily. The statements must describe the structure, operations and supply chains of the company, the risks of modern slavery practices in the operations and supply chains, and any entities the business owns or controls. They must also describe the actions taken by the company and any entity it owns or controls, to assess and address the risks. What are the bills shortcomings? The bill is a welcome step forward but does fall short in a few key areas. The first is there are no penalties for companies that fail to report. This means enforcement is effectively left to NGOs which could use the public repository to name and shame companies, and to shareholders or investors who could put pressure on the companies to comply with their reporting obligations. The second shortcoming is that unlike the UK, there is no provision for an anti-slavery commissioner who might otherwise help enforce the law. This raises questions about the efficacy of the mandatory scheme, which has no consequences for a failure to report. By contrast, the NSW Modern Slavery Act includes both provision for financial penalties for a failure to report and for the appointment of an Anti-Slavery Commissioner. Academics and NGOs have also stressed that although businesses are essential in identifying and tackling modern slavery, existing laws could be used more effectively to regulate workplaces and report on and prosecute cases of slavery and trafficking. Also in this edition of Australian Food News What are the international trends in this area? Australia is not alone in proposing such laws. Business reporting on human rights is a growing trend, with a number of jurisdictions having introduced reporting or due diligence requirements in recent years. Some Australian companies already report under the UK Act. In addition, comparable laws have been introduced across the European Union and in some states and sectors in the United States. Denmark has laws requiring corporate social responsibility reporting, and in Brazil, there is a dirty list enabling public shaming of businesses using forced labour. In 2017, the French parliament introduced a new due diligence law on human rights and the environment for businesses. Other European countries are also in the process of developing comparable laws, such as the Netherlands child labour due diligence laws. What happens next? If the Modern Slavery Bill passes, it will be a significant step for Australia in reconciling the need for business to operate in a manner that ensures respect for workers basic human rights. This is an opportunity for organisations to take their reporting obligations seriously. This means publishing reports that are the result of significant due diligence efforts that identify, track and monitor potential problems in their operations and supply chain. While the bill is significant, it is also not as strong as it should be, and the government must follow through with its promise to review its impact in three years. This article authored by Lecturer Fiona McGaughey (Law School, University of Western Australia) and Associate Professor Justine Nolan (UNSW) was originally published in The Conversation and is republished here with permission. 71% of modern slaves are women The man who allegedly stabbed another man to death in a unit in Sydney's west has had his bail formally refused. The victim's brother is also in custody for his alleged role in the fatal attack. William Hunuki, 27, died after his life support was switched off in Liverpool Hospital about 9pm on Saturday. William Hunuki was stabbed in the abdomen at a unit in Bankstown in the early hours of Saturday. Credit:Seven News He had been stabbed in the abdomen at a unit in Bankstown about 3am, police said. Turning the first sod: Harbour Bridge The ceremony [to turn] the first sod of the northern railway approach to the Sydney Harbour Bridge took place amidst every sign of popular interest and enthusiasm When Mr Ball pressed a beribboned shovel into the soft North Sydney soil the large assembly cheered again and again and when the band played Advance Australia Fair all present sang it with fervour" ... Today the Harbour Bridge Act was now the law of the land, said the Premier. News in brief Prevailing sickness has affected the attendance at the Superior Public School [in West Maitland]. One hundred pupils are absent suffering from influenza, 45 from measles, and 20 from mumps The construction of the woollen mills at Goulburn had progressed. The machinery had been ordered and plans for the mills completed. The ample water supply from Wollondilly was found to be suitable for both cloth production and scouring. Letter to the Editor Major train delays caused chaos for travellers on Sunday after a new signalling system implemented on Saturday night failed to be installed on time. The result was lengthy delays as trains were cancelled along a critical section of track between Central and Strathfield. Sydney Trains CEO Howard Collins said the delays were caused by a "massive change" of the signalling system. Passengers crowd platforms at Central station on Sunday. Credit:Seven News "The plan was from last night at 11pm to 6am this morning we'd get that work done. It took longer, there were some issues with the software," Mr Collins told Seven News. The chief executive of Sydney Trains says he will consider compensating Sydneysiders who were seriously inconvenienced by the major delays across the network on Sunday. A major operation to switch the four-decade-old signalling system to digital between 11pm on Saturday and 6am on Sunday was not completed until 9.30am on Sunday, causing knock-on delays around the train network. Sydney Trains chief executive Howard Collins told the Today show there was a good service on the rail network so far on Monday, but there were buses on standby in case there were more issues. "Everything is on hand just in case we have another blip," he said. Young Sydney surfer Jake Feher has the world at his feet. Just 11 years old and still in primary school, Jake competed at the NSW Grommet State Titles over the weekend. Ahead of the first day of competition on Friday, Jake's year six teacher asked if he wanted his classmates to come and watch him. Local Maroubra surfer Jake Feher rides a wave at the state titles at Maroubra Beach on Sunday. Credit:James Alcock To his father's surprise, he said yes and when he won his heat they made a guard of honour for him. Queensland artificial intelligence technology has joined forces with the state's world-leading medical research institute to tailor cancer patients' treatment and improve its effectiveness. The collaboration is an Australian first, according to the researchers involved, and will span at least two years after receiving $2.6 million in funding from the federal government last week. The project will bring together medical institutes and specialised Brisbane research companies. Credit:Phil Carrick Brisbane AI company Max Kelsen has partnered with the internationally renowned QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, precision-analytics start-up genomiQa, genomics researcher BGI Australia and the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital. Cancer patients' genetics will be analysed by AI in the hope of finding more complex patterns and therefore helping doctors to decide which treatment would be most effective for the individuals. Officers found a 56-year-old man dead at the scene and took a 52-year-old woman into custody. Emergency services were called to a private property on Newlands Road in the Moreton Bay suburb of Wamuran about 7pm on Saturday. A man has allegedly been run over and killed by a car driven by his de facto partner after they had an argument north of Brisbane. It will be alleged that, when officers arrived at the scene, they found the woman affected by alcohol and she later returned a blood-alcohol level of 0.241, almost five times the legal driving limit. The woman was charged with manslaughter and high range drink driving. She was due to appear in Caboolture Magistrates Court on Monday. In a similar incident, a man was also allegedly hit by a car after an argument in central Queensland. Police said the victim, a 63-year-old man, was involved in an argument with another man at a property on Oaka Lane in Gladstone about 6.20pm on Saturday. It will be alleged the man took a woman's car that was parked on the property and drove it at the victim, hitting and pinning him under the car. He's got the blues: men can suffer from Postcoital Dysphoria - sadness, tearfulness or irritability following sex, says a new study. The cliched Hollywood depiction of men after sex is of the blissful, smug stud, lying back on the pillows with hands behind his head. On-screen lotharios don't tend to cry or get tetchy, but it can happen in real life, according to a new study. Research claiming to be world first by Queensland University of Technology found that four in 10 men have suffered postcoital dysphoria, or PCD. It means feelings of sadness, tearfulness or irritability following sex. A "disgusting and vicious" one-punch attack has left a man staggering on a Frankston footpath. Police are investigating what Senior Constable Joel Barbera has described as a "very unprovoked" attack between four men outside a business on Nepean Highway at about 7.45pm on July 26. CCTV vision shows a man wearing a grey hooded top, black pants and runners being approached by three males and hit in the face. One of the men appears to smile as they walk away. I mean, clearly we look at it. The real test of a public opinion and political opinion is obviously at elections. Asked if he needed to rethink the company tax cuts, Mr Turnbull said the government was absolutely committed to its economic policy but avoided a specific pledge to keep the plan in its original form in the budget. Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne backed the tax cut policy on the weekend without declaring it would be kept all the way to the next election, while Social Services Minister Dan Tehan also avoided a definitive answer on the subject on Sky News on Sunday morning. One source on Sunday said there was some merit to the concept of giving up the tax cuts to big companies and using some of the funding to accelerate tax cuts to small business, sharpening a division with a Labor that leaves small employers with higher tax rates over the decade ahead. The government is heading toward a wider discussion of whether to redraft the policy or drop the tax cuts altogether in light of the way they were used to hammer Coalition candidates at the byelections. Mr Turnbull played down the threat at the general election by describing the swing in Longman as absolutely an average swing against the government at a byelection where it was trying to win a seat previously held by its opponents. Loading He also fended off claims the outcome was a significant loss to the government by noting he had always said the Coalition candidates were unlikely to win, adding that voters knew a byelection was a no risk choice to vote against the government without changing the government. Mr Shorten challenged the government to drop the shocking policy to cut taxes for big companies rather than spend money on the services voters wanted like health and education. They dont want to see corporations get large tax cuts, the Opposition Leader said of the message from voters. It renews my conviction that we need to make sure we prioritise the health of Australians over tax cuts for the big end of town. It renews my conviction that [the] education of our young people and the retraining of our adults is much more important than tax cuts at the top end. Australians want a political party who is on their side, and were going to go for that. Labor leader Bill Shorten says Australian voters don't want to see companies get big tax cuts. Credit:AAP Critics of the company tax policy within the Coalition have warned that the plan helps Labor repurpose the funding for its own policies, including spending on health and education, while making it easy to attack Mr Turnbull for helping big business. Loading Defenders of the company tax cuts warned it would be wrong to drop a policy that was good for the economy and thereby reward Labor because of byelection results that were not indicators of the outcome at the general election. One senior Liberal cautioned against projecting the swing in Longman to the results in other Queensland seats. The uniform swing argument is nonsense, he said. The campaign in Longman included heavy Labor and ACTU advertising to warn voters about the value of the tax cuts for the big banks, at a time of the royal commission into the financial services industry and debates over health and education funding. The tax cuts already legislated cost $29.8 billion in foregone revenue over the first decade of the plan, while the unlegislated cuts would sacrifice another $35.6 billion over the same decade. The tax rate was cut for companies with turnover of up to $25 million from July 2017 and was extended to the $50 million threshold at the beginning of this month. The LNP saw a 9.4 per cent fall in its primary vote in Longman to just 29.6 per cent, reflecting in part the increase in support for Pauline Hansons One Nation to 15.9 per cent, up by 6.5 per cent from the last election. Oh those crazy mixed-up gay KAPO republican quislings are at it again. Via Project Q Atlanta: Brian Kemp reiterated his support of anti-LGBTQ religious freedom legislation just as a gay Republican group endorsed the newly-named GOP gubernatorial nominee. Kemp signed a pledge to support religious freedom legislation last year. He stood by it at a Republican unity rally on Thursday after trouncing Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle in the GOP runoff for governor. My position on RFRA is not going to change. Im not going to change, Kemp told the AJC. Former House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, the Democrat who faces Kemp in the November general election, strongly opposes the legislation. As Kemp won the runoff on Tuesday, Georgia Log Cabin Republicans endorsed him the first candidate for governor the group has endorsed in its 23-year history. We would like to congratulate Brian Kemp on his hard-fought win tonight, the group wrote in a press release. We offer him our full endorsement and look forward to working hard to help him win in November against radical liberal Stacey Abrams. The voters who had to trudge out and cast a vote in the Super Saturday byelections were probably not thinking how lucky they were to have the opportunity to help decide who represents them in Parliament. They can be excused for being a bit annoyed because these elections were out of the ordinary cycle. Its easy to forget how many people around the world have no say in who represents them and through that who governs. Labor leader Bill Shorten and returned MP Susan Lamb celebrate as they arrive at their election night function in Caboolture, north of Brisbane, on Saturday. Credit:AAP The Super Saturday voters have done us all a favour. They reminded us, yet again, that pollsters are not as smart as they think. That might encourage more debate on issues as opposed to endless chatter about the polls. We can hope. Its true that if Labor had lost one of the seats, the most likely having been Braddon or Longman, it would have been the first time a government had won a seat off the opposition in nearly 100 years. Labor Leadership questions were lurking. A historic loss would not have played out well for Bill Shorten. He had good reason therefore to be jubilant on Saturday night. The leadership questions will not go away but at least theyre back in the stables for the moment. So his jubilant air punching exclamation four out of four was more an expression of personal relief than anything else. Equally, since an opposition hasnt lost a seat to the government in nearly a century, retaining the seats was no big deal. Retaining four out of four is what history tells us was likely. Labor candidates in the Perth and Fremantle 'Super Saturday' byelections have claimed victory, posting easy wins in the absence of Liberal party contenders. Labor candidate Patrick Gorman with wife Jess, Premier Mark McGowan and Burt MP Matt Keogh. Credit:Kate Hedley Patrick Gorman will replace former Labor MP Tim Hammond, who resigned the seat of Perth in May for family reasons. With 49.7 per cent of the two-party preferred vote counted, Mr Gorman was leading Green's candidate Caroline Perks by 61.7 to 38.3 per cent. He had collected 38.6 per cent of the primary vote when counting ended for the night, a swing of just one third of 1 per cent. Harare: One day in late December last year, Violet Gonda stepped off an airliner into the humid heat of a Zimbabwean summer. It was the first time Gonda, one of Zimbabwe's most prominent broadcasters, had set foot in her home country since she was exiled by Robert Mugabe nearly 20 years before - and she was not at all sure she would not be arrested. "But the immigration official knew exactly who I was. He just said 'Welcome back, Ms Gonda'. He wanted me not to do any journalism. When I objected, he wrote a note and told me to take it to the Media Commission for accreditation." Zimbabwean journalist Violet Gonda has returned to her country after decades of exile Credit:bulawayo24.com It was a slightly disorienting first encounter with what Emmerson Mnangagwa, the incumbent president, has called his "new dispensation" - a break with Mugabe-era violence and repression to build a new Zimbabwe of pluralism, free speech, and genuine democracy. Since then, she has been pondering the question every Zimbabwean has asked since Mugabe's 38-year reign was ended by a military coup in November: has Zimbabwe really changed? If so, how much? And will it last? Phnom Penh: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is set to strengthen his iron grip on the prime ministership and extend his 33 years in power, after an election that rights groups and analysts suggest marks the "death of democracy" in the south-east Asian nation. The United States, Japan, western European nations and Australia which has largely avoided criticising Hun Sen's regime in recent years all declined to send election monitors to observe this poll and there were widespread reports of intimidation and threats on Sunday to avoid voter turn out dipping below 50 per cent. President of the Cambodian Peoples Party Hun Sen raises his finger indicating he has voted. Credit:Kate Geraghty Indeed, on Friday Hun Sen warned "traitors" of consequences if people boycotted the election, despite voting not being compulsory in Cambodia. Hours after the polls closed, official government figures suggested turnout in the poll had reached 82.17 per cent, or about 6.8 million people suggesting calls for a boycott from the banned and disbanded Cambodian National Rescue Party, the only credible opposition, had failed as turnout had risen from 68.5 per cent in 2013. Phnom Penh: Cambodia's exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy has called for peaceful protests against the country's general election, calling it "a sham election with a foregone conclusion". It comes after the country's information minister said the ruling party won Sunday's election, ensuring Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has led the country for 33 years, will serve another five year-term. Hun Sen will continue to rule Cambodia. Credit:Kate Geraghty Sam Rainsy, speaking in Freteval, France, where he lives, told The Associated Press that "it is a meaningless victory because [Hun Sen] won without any real challenger ... prior to the election he dissolved the only credible opposition party." Beijing: Hundreds of retired racing greyhounds, including many from Australia, will be cared for in a new centre in Macau under a deal struck with animal welfare groups. Casino executive and Macau politician Angela Leong On Kei was facing a hefty fine from the Macau government for abandoning 533 greyhounds at the Macau Canidrome when it was shut down by the government a week ago. A greyhound at the 'Canidrome', Macau. Credit:Albano Martins/ Anima. She has now offered to pay for animal welfare group Anima, her chief critic over many years, to care for the greyhounds in an air conditioned centre until they can be adopted. The Macau canidrome had been condemned by animal welfare groups and the Australian greyhound regulator had banned the export of Australian greyhounds to Macau because of the poor conditions - but the ban had been ignored by rogue dog breeders who continued to sell hundreds of greyhounds to the Macau racing track. Kandahar: In a reversal of a long-standing policy, United States diplomats held face-to-face talks with Taliban representatives in Qatar a week ago without Afghan government officials present, according to two senior Taliban officials. The US State Department did not deny that its diplomats had taken part in such talks a significant shift in US strategy toward the Taliban in Afghanistan. "Any negotiations over the political future of Afghanistan will be between the Taliban and Afghan government," a state department spokeswoman, Stephanie Newman, said. The Afghan president's office said on Saturday that it welcomed any support for peace efforts. Fire authorities said Melody Bledsoe, 70, attempted to shield her great-grandchildren Emily, 5, and James, 4, with blankets that she had soaked with water. A firefighting helicopter makes a water drop as the sun sets over a ridge burning near Redding, California. Credit:AP The children's great-grandfather, Ed Bledsoe, told US media he had left the house to run an errand but was unable to return when the fire front unexpectedly swerved towards the property. Bledsoe wept as he told reporters he had spoken to the children on the phone to reassure them. "I talked to them until the fire got them," he said. "I was trying to get to them, I was trying to get to the fire." A National Guard specialist from the US Army speaks to a driver at a checkpoint as the Carr fire burns in nearby Redding, California on Saturday. Credit:AP The fourth victim in the Carr fire has not been named; authorities said it was a resident found inside an evacuated area who had received evacuation notices but had ignored them. Two more victims died at the Ferguson fire front on Monday; one a bulldozer driver whose vehicle tumbled during work on a defensive fire line, the other a member of the elite firefighting team the Arrowhead Hotshots. Though in broad terms this year's bushfire season has been physically smaller than last year's, it has been marked by unusual intensity. At one point the Carr fire created a "rotation updraft", a vortex of fire which resembles a tornado; such an event is similar to a weather event known as a mesocyclone, in which a funnel of air forms within a storm and draws more air upwards. In the case of a rotation updraft, the fierce wind pulls burning embers and other fire debris into the vortex and can propel them more than a mile from the main fire front. Glenn McGillivray from the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction said rotation updrafts were responsible for the fast spread of uncontrolled bushfires. "[The vortex] pulls burning embers up into the atmosphere, winds then blow these embers ahead of the fire front causing ignition of flammable items on or around homes," McGillivray said. "This is also how wildfires jump rivers, highways and fire breaks." Deer are caught in the smoke and flames as the Carr fire burns near Redding, California on Saturday. Credit:AP Authorities say 17 fires are burning in California, of varying sizes and degrees of containment; they are part of a larger span of fires almost 90 burning between Oregon, in the western US, and Texas, in the south. In addition to firefighting personnel, water-dropping helicopters are being used on the main fire fronts. However the smoky conditions which have helped increase containment of the Carr fire by acting as cloud cover and lowering temperatures were also hampering aerial operations because of the resulting poor visibility. At the Carr firefront alone there are 334 fire engines, 65 water tenders, 17 water-dropping helicopters and 68 bulldozers. In addition 800 personnel have been deployed by the California National Guard. The Ribbon fire in Riverside County is 85 per cent contained, the Roxie fire in Lassen County is 90 per cent contained and the Crestline fire in Shasta County is 97 per cent contained. The larger fires, however, are burning out of control. Three of the fire fronts the Ranch fire in Mendocino County, the River fire, in Mendocino and Lake County, and the Whaleback fire, in Lassen County are approximately five per cent contained. The largest fire, the Carr fire in Shasta County, which covers an area of approximately 36,095 hectares, is 17 per cent contained, authorities said, a significant gain from the weekend when a firestorm doubled its footprint and containment was at just five per cent. The Carr fire is located near Redding, California; Redding is approximately 260 kilometres north of the Californian capital, Sacramento. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection director Ken Pimlott told US media the Carr fire was "a long way" from over. "These are extreme conditions," Pimlott said. New York: Donald Trump has threatened to shut down the US government if Democrats refuse to back his demands to fund a border wall with Mexico. Trump has endured a series of setbacks in his efforts to tighten the US immigration system and deliver on his election pledge to build a wall along the southern border. In a Sunday morning tweet, he raised the stakes by tying the issue to funding the whole of government, which must be agreed by September 30, risking a political showdown just before November's crucial mid-term elections. "I would be willing to 'shut down' government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall!" he wrote. "Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country!" How AI and security guards work together using video analytics How AI and humans can work together is a longstanding debate. As society progresses technologically, theres always the worry of robots taking over jobs. Self-checkout tills, automated factory machines, and video analytics are all improving efficiency and productivity, but they can still work in tandem with humans, and in most cases, they need to. Video analytics in particular is one impressively intelligent piece of technology that security guards can utilise. How can video analytics help with certain security scenarios? Video analytics tools Before video analytics or even CCTV in general, if a child went missing in a shopping centre, we could only rely on humans. Take a crowded Saturday shopping centre, a complex one with a multitude of shops and eateries, youd have to alert the security personnel, rely on a tannoy and search party, and hope for a lockdown to find a lost or kidnapped child. With video analytics, how would this scenario play out? Its pretty mind-blowing. As soon as security is alerted, they can work with the video analytics tools to instruct it precisely With the same scenario, you now have the help of many different cameras, but then theres the task of searching through all the CCTV resources and footage. Thats where complex search functions come in. As soon as security is alerted, they can work with the video analytics tools to instruct it precisely on what footage to narrow down, and theres a lot of filters and functions to use. Expected movement direction For instance, they can tick a human field, so the AI can track and filter out vehicles, objects etc., and then they can input height, clothing colours, time the child went missing, and last known location. Theres a complex event to check too, under child kidnap. For a more accurate search, security guards can then add in a searching criterion by drawing the childs expected movement direction using a visual query function. A unique function like this enables visual criteria-based searches rather than text-based ones. The tech will then narrow down to the images/videos showing the criteria theyve inputted, showing the object/child that matches the data and filter input. Detecting facial data There are illegal demonstrations and troublesome interferences that police have to deal with A white-list face recognition function is then used to track the childs route which means the AI can detect facial data that has not been previously saved in the database, allowing it to track the route of a target entity, all in real time. Then, security guards can confirm the childs route and current location. All up-to-date info can then be transferred to an onsite guards mobile phone for them to confirm the missing childs movement route, face, and current location, helping to find them as quickly as possible. Often, there are illegal demonstrations and troublesome interferences that police have to deal with. Video analytics and surveillance can not only capture these, but they can be used to predict when they may happen, providing a more efficient process in dealing with these types of situations and gathering resources. Event processing functions Picture a public square with a number of entries into the main area, and at each entry point or path, there is CCTV. Those in the control room can set two events for each camera: a grouping event and a path-passing event. These are pretty self-explanatory. A grouping event covers images of seeing people gathering in close proximity and a path-passing event will show when people are passing through or entering. The video analytics tool can look out for large gatherings and increased footfall to alert security By setting these two events, the video analytics tool can look out for large gatherings and increased footfall to alert security or whoever is monitoring to be cautious of protests, demonstrations or any commotion. Using complex event processing functions, over-detection of alarms can also be prevented, especially if theres a busy day with many passing through. Reducing false alarms By combining the two events, that filters down the triggers for alarms for better accuracy to predict certain situations, like a demonstration. The AI can also be set to only trigger an alarm when the two events are happening simultaneously on all the cameras of each entry to reduce false alarms. There are so many situations and events that video analytics can be programmed to monitor. You can tick fields to monitor any objects that have appeared, disappeared, or been abandoned. You can also check events like path-passing to monitor traffic, as well as loitering, fighting, grouping, a sudden scene change, smoke, flames, falling, unsafe crossing, traffic jams and car accidents etc. Preventing unsafe situations Complex events can include violations of one-way systems, blacklist-detected vehicles Complex events can include violations of one-way systems, blacklist-detected vehicles, person and vehicle tracking, child kidnaps, waste collection, over-speed vehicles, and demonstration detections. The use of video analytics expands our capabilities tremendously, working in real time to detect and help predict security-related situations. Together with security agents, guards and operatives, AI in CCTV means resources can be better prepared, and that the likelihood of preventing unsafe situations can be greatly improved. Its a winning team, as AI wont always get it right but its there to be the advanced eyes we need to help keep businesses, premises and areas safer. NOAA says they have restored some performance in the primary Earth-facing instrument on the GOES-17 (formerly GOES-S) satellite, but have yet to fully correct the problem or determine its root cause. WASHINGTON Engineers have made some progress in restoring the performance of the key instrument on a weather satellite launched earlier this year, but have yet to fully correct the problem or determine its root cause, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced July 24. In a teleconference with reporters, NOAA officials said they had been able to improve the availability of infrared and near-infrared channels on the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument on the GOES-17 satellite since the agency first reported the problem two months ago. The spacecraft, originally known as GOES-S, launched in March. "ABI is already demonstrating improved performance from what was initially observed," said Pam Sullivan, director of the GOES-R system program. Currently, 13 of the instrument's 16 channels are available 24 hours a day, with the other three able to operate at least 20 hours a day. [GOES-S: NOAA's Next-Gen Weather Satellite in Photos] That will change, though, on a seasonal basis, depending on the amount of sunlight that shines into the instrument. By September, the hottest part of the orbit, only 10 of 16 channels will be available 24 hours a day, she said, with the other six available "most of the day." As one team works to improve the performance of the ABI on GOES-17, another team is tracking down the root cause of the instrument. Sullivan said the issue appears to be with loop heat pipes that contain propylene coolant. "It doesn't seem to be flowing appropriately through the loops," she said. She said that team has identified a "small handful" of likely causes for the lack of coolant flow. They include "excess non-condensable gas" or foreign object debris in the pipes. "Either one of those might prevent the fluid from traveling though the loop heat pipe as intended," she said. There could also be mechanical damage to the pipes. When NOAA first announced the problem with the ABI on GOES-17 in May, the agency said they did not see a similar problem with an identical instrument on GOES-16, the first of the GOES-R series of next-generation weather satellites launched in 2016. However, Sullivan said that, since then, engineers have seen "some evidence of reduced functionality" in the loop heat pipes in that spacecraft's ABI, but one that has not affected the performance of the instrument. Sullivan said, in the case of GOES-16, the problem had existed from the beginning of the mission but was only noticed when engineers took a closer look at the instrument's performance. "There's no signs at this point that the GOES-16 performance is changing now," she said. NOAA still expects to put GOES-17 into service later this year as GOES-West at 137 degrees west, replacing GOES-15 at that orbital slot. "Even during this checkout phase, GOES-17 is observing with more channels and a higher resolution with more rapid refresh than what we currently have with the current GOES-West satellite," Sullivan said. "While we're not going to get the full GOES-17 functionality, we are going to receive more and better data then we currently have." NOAA added that it can augment data from other sources, including other GOES satellites as well as from Japanese Himawari satellites, which also have a version of the ABI instrument. The National Weather Service doesn't expect this problem to have an effect on its ability to produce weather forecasts. "Right now, we have an operational constellation," said Joe Pica, director of the National Weather Service's Office of Observations. "We're able to carry out our mission today without any degradation." The problem, though, could delay the launch of the next satellite in the series, GOES-T, currently planned for 2020. "We haven't given up on that yet," Sullivan said of that planned launch date. "However, we really need to decide what modifications and what testing we want to do on the GOES-T instruments before we confirm those dates." "There's no doubt that the problems we are experiencing with the cooling system are disappointing, and not what we expected of GOES-17 when we launched," said Steve Volz, director of NOAA's Satellite and Information Service. "But we are committed to getting this right. We will figure out what happened on GOES-17 so that it doesn't occur again on our other GOES satellites." This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry. London, July 28, 2018 (SPS) - The United Kingdom has reiterated its position of respecting the decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) regarding the EU-Morocco trade agreements, which excludes Western Sahara and its adjacent waters from the agreement. In response to questions from parliamentarians of opposition parties, the State Secretary in charge of North Africa and the Middle East also stressed that the UK has always been clear that the recommendations of the Council of the European Union must be in conformity with international law. He reaffirmed that the UK accepts and respects the decisions emanating from the CJEU. The British Foreign Office also confirmed that imports originating from Western Sahara region bear the EH code. (SPS) 062/SPS/TRA STAMFORD Most children will say the best part of going back to school is the shopping: Picking out a new backpack, light-up sneakers, and even new underwear. For about 275 young Stamford students, this years new school clothes and supplies were made possible by the Back to School Shop. Davenport Ridge Elementary School was transformed into a department store for more than five hours on Sunday when these children, entering kindergarten through fifth grade, picked out school supplies, a backpack, a book and new winter clothes. Instead of providing hand-me-downs and donations, the Back To School Shop collects funds throughout the year to purchase new items for the students. Our program is unique in that its not just a handout, Back To School Shop co-founder Meryl Japha said. Theres many other backpack programs that run locally and theyre great programs, but theyre just handed out. Our kids get the opportunity to come in and literally choose. Its empowering for them and ultimately gives them a sense of confidence in what theyre wearing. The idea for the program was conceived in 2012 when Japha and Jane Levene visited a similar shop in New Jersey. Levene said she was drawn to how the Back To School Shop allows economically disadvantaged children to make choices about their clothes and supplies, reminding her of the excitement she saw in her own children when her parents would visit from Florida for a back-to-school shopping trip. That was a great treat for my kids, she said. We hope we can give a little bit of that to these kids that this is something special. The shop took two years to bring to life and began small with only 140 students invited the first year. The event grew to 240 students the following year and has continued to expand. In the beginning, it was a very conscious effort to keep it manageable, Levene said. The need is very great. We really want to make the childs experience personable. The group works with Stamford Public Schools where social workers identify candidates for the shop and invite them to attend. While students shop with the help of volunteers, parents can meet with community partners who can help them find local resources. Levene said they want to grow the shop each year with the help of more cash donations and volunteers like Susan Plutzer who has been with the Back to School Shop since its first year. Plutzer, a former special education teacher, helps with the setup and breakdown of the shop, as well as working with families and parents during the event. (It) helps level the playing field for these children because theyre not feeling theyre getting hand-me-downs and used items, Plutzer said. Theyre getting the same items as anyone else would. As an educator, I see how important that is for children. It helps their self esteem and then they arrive excited to start the new school year. erin.kayata@stamfordadvocate.com; (203) 964-2265; @erin_kayata Developers win, residents lose Stamfords zoning regulations sometimes seem to have been written with the intention of favoring developers and frustrating public interest. The current public controversy over the application to construct a large office building in the Cove-East Side area illustrates the point. The owners of the 1.9-acre site for the building Soundview Plaza have asked the Stamford Zoning Board of Appeals for a special exception to convert a two-family residential zone on the property to commercial. 21 years ago Judge explains why he denied Kellys appeal bond The judge in the Alex Kelly rape case yesterday defended the stiff 16-year prison sentence he imposed last week, calling the Darien man a threat to his victims safety and saying he did not believe any bond could assure Kellys appearance in court pending appeal. Judge Kevin Tierney also wrote that Kelly received more than a fair trial and that Kellys arguments in his intended appeal of his conviction for raping Adrienne Bak Ortolano in 1986 are not valid. Kelly received a fair statutory sentence, wrote Tierney, who imposed the 20-year maximum for sexual assault but suspended four of those years. Tierney also rejected defense attorney Thomas Puccios claim that the 10-year probation he imposed on Kelly was illegal because it was not the allowable standard when Kelly was charged 11 years ago. But Tierney said that if he was proved wrong by an appeals court, he would adjust the probation downward to the five-year maximum that was in effect when the crime occurred. 7 years ago Stamford police dog injures officer during training drill A police dog bit a city officer in the leg during a Thursday afternoon training exercise, causing several wounds that needed 33 stitches to close up. Officer Lou Scarano was treated and released from Stamford Hospital and placed on injured-on-duty leave, Assistant Chief Jon Fontneau said. Scarano was injured while volunteering as a fleeing suspect during an exercise and a police dog named Titan bit his lower right leg through protective "scratch pants." He also wore a "bite sleeve" on his right arm for protection, as well as heavy pants. "He is home and in a lot of pain," Fontneau said. erin.kayata@stamfordadovcate.com; (203) 964-2265; @erin_kayata T housands of cyclists today braved wet and windy weather to take part in a 100-mile bike ride on the second day of the annual Prudential RideLondon festival. Londoners - undeterred by the poor weather - took to the streets to cheer riders as they battled the rain on the route from London to Surrey. The two-day festival, now in its sixth year, is aimed at encouraging more healthy and active travel. Cyclists set out from Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park at 5.45am on Sunday, following the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 route through the capital and into Surrey's countryside. But the event was blighted by downpours after thunderstorms on Friday brought the UK heatwave to a dramatic end. The bad weather caused some issues on the country roads as stewards were forced to fill in slippery potholes for the riders, footage from the event showed. Surrey Live journalist Tom Smurthwaite shared a clip on Twitter, in which stewards are seen directing cyclists away from potholes before filling them in using temporary materials. The 100-mile route was made famous by the world's best cyclists at the London 2012 Olympics. The challenging event sees cyclists tackle leg-testing climbs into the south east county, before finishing on The Mall in central London. Setting out from east London, cyclists head past Canary Wharf, Piccadilly and Hammersmith before crossing the River Thames at Chiswick. Riders then pass through Richmond Park, Kingston-upon-Thames, Hampton Court Bridge and into Surrey. Following a climb up Box Hill, cyclists head north through Leatherhead, Oxshott and Esher, travelling back to London through Kingston and over Putney Bridge to follow the River Thames all the way along the Embankment. Since 2016, the event has also featured the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 46 a 46-mile sportive created specifically for newer and also younger cyclists. A burst water main has caused major flooding at Stratford Shopping Centre in east London - with dozens of shops affected after water gushed into the building. Ten fire engines and around 70 firefighters were called to the scene at Broadway in Stratford shortly after 9am. The shopping centre was closed to the public. Pictures and footage shared online showed water flowing down the street as firefighters battled the floods inside the building. London Fire Brigade said around 50 retail units and the shopping centre concourse were flooded, while the road outside is covered by eight inches of water. A burst water main sent water gushing into Stratford Shopping Centre on Sunday / Twitter/Tim Johnston Crews are using sandbags to prevent flood water from entering properties. Station Manager Clinton Walsh, who is at the scene, said: The Stratford Centre has been closed as the concourse has flooded. Crews are working hard to try and prevent flood water from entering the properties. Stratford Centre tweeted: "Stratford Shopping Centre is currently closed due to flooding. "We are working to get back open as soon as possible and will give a further update in due course." One witness, named Siobhan, reported see "water pouring through the ceiling" in a post on social media. In a statement, LFB said: "The Brigade was called at 9.17am. T he Army could be drafted in to deliver emergency food, fuel and medicine if Britain exits the EU without a Brexit deal. The military would be called in if blockages at ports after Britain leaves the EU led to shortages in supplies, ministers told the Sunday Times. Blueprints usually reserved for civil emergencies have been included as part of the no deal planning, the newspaper reported. Helicopters and army trucks could be used to carry medicine to vulnerable people outside the south-east. Under pressure: Theresa May took 'personal responsibility' for Brexit last week / Getty Images A Ministry of Defence source told the Sunday Times that "no formal request" to supply aid had been received but said the department has "a blueprint for us supporting the civilian authorities that can be dusted off". The revelation comes as supermarkets issued a warning to suppliers to stockpile customers favourite tea and coffee while the NHS said it would stockpile drugs brought in from outside the EU if Theresa May fails to strike a deal with Brussels. Jeremy Hunt warns no-deal Brexit 'now a real risk' Last week, health secretary Matt Hancock said he met with medical industry leaders to accelerate preparations for the possible outcome Health secretary Matt Hancock / Getty Images Mr Hancock said he was confident a deal would be reached but that it responsible to prepare for all outcomes. Speaking at the Health Select Committee on Tuesday, he said: Any responsible government needs to prepare for a range of outcomes, including the unlikely scenario of a no-deal Thousands of anti-Brexit activists march to Parliament in protest 1 /12 Thousands of anti-Brexit activists march to Parliament in protest Demonstrators head towards Parliament Square. REUTERS Signs include 'I love EU' REUTERS The pro-EU march began in Hyde Park Corner. Si Carrington 'NHS? Brexit Wrexit' Oliver Day The march took protesters through the streets of London. Oliver Day One protester brought along a papier mache Queen, in reference to the blue and yellow hat she wore at the State Opening of Parliament. Peter Bailey 'Exit Brexit' Jonathan Hawley The September sun shone as activists marched through the streets. Martin Tod Roads were blocked during the protest. Maggie Jones The campaigners set off shortly after 11am from Hyde Park Corner. Maggie Jones The rally saw the activists march through the streets of central London. Johann Ketel EU colours of blue and yellow were seen throughout the march. Judi Conner "We are working right across Government to ensure that the health sector and the industry are prepared and that people's health will be safeguarded in the event of a no-deal Brexit. "This includes the chain of medical supplies, vaccines, medical devices, clinical consumables, blood products. "And I have asked the department to work up options for stockpiling by industry. A Labour MP has accused Jeremy Corbyn of "supporting and defending" anti-Semites after it emerged he is facing possible disciplinary action. Dudley North MP Mr Austin, the son of adoptive Jewish parents who lost relatives in the Holocaust, said the row that has seen Labour castigated by a string of Jewish groups had left him "deeply ashamed" of the party. He accused Mr Corbyn of introducing to Labour a more "extreme" brand of politics, telling BBC Radio 4's The World This Weekend: "Somebody with views and history like his isn't really suited to the leadership of a mainstream political party." Asked whether he was speaking out just because he did not want Corbyn to lead the party, Mr Austin said: "He was never my choice to lead the Labour party that's true, but what do people think? That I'm so worried about his plans to nationalise the railways or something that I would invent all this stuff? "It's actually the other way around. It's because he has spent his entire time in politics on the extreme fringes of the Labour Party, supporting and defending all sorts of extremists and in some cases frankly, anti-Semites." Jeremy Corbyn is facing pressure over the party's policy on dealing with prejudice against Jews / PA Labour's governing body, the National Executive Committee (NEC), did not include within its new code of conduct the full definition of anti-Semitism - including illustrative examples - set out by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). Labour's code explicitly endorses the IHRA's working definition of anti-Semitism and includes a list of behaviours likely to be regarded as anti-Semitic copied word-for-word from the international organisation's own document. But it omits four examples from the IHRA list: - Accusing Jewish people of being more loyal to Israel than their home country; - Claiming that Israel's existence as a state is a racist endeavour; - Requiring higher standards of behaviour from Israel than other nations; and - Comparing contemporary Israeli policies to those of the Nazis. Labour insisted that while the examples are not reproduced word for word, they are covered in the new code. Mr Austin, who has represented the West Midlands seat since 2005, said allegations he had "screamed abuse" at chairman Ian Lavery, sparking the disciplinary proceedings, were false, but admitted there had been a "heated discussion". Mr Austin said: "I said that I thought the NEC's decision was a disgrace. "Am I upset about anti-Semitism? Yes I am. I am upset about that and I'm upset as well about the leadership's failure, I think refusal really, to deal with this properly. A six-year-old girl from south-east London has died after going into the sea at Margate Harbour, police said. Emergency services were called to the seaside town in Kent amid concerns for a child in the sea. The girl, from Erith, was rushed to hospital from the harbour on Saturday afternoon. The South East Coast Ambulance Service and the RNLI were part of the rescue effort. A spokeswoman for the ambulance service said the girl had been taken to the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in a serious condition. Kent Police confirmed in a statement on Sunday that she had died. The force added: "Her next of kin have been informed. "There are no suspicious circumstances and a report is being prepared for the coroner." It is the latest death in recent days concerning people in difficulty in the water. Two bodies were recovered on Saturday in separate incidents. The body of a 15-year-old teenager, provisionally named as Ben Quartermaine, was found near Clacton Pier in Essex after a search which began on Thursday. In Bedfordshire the body of a man aged in his late 20s was recovered from the Great Ouse river after reports someone had got into difficulty there on Friday afternoon. A Palestinian teenager who became an international symbol of the resistance against Israeli occupation after assaulting soldiers has walked freed from jail. Ahed Tamimi, 17, returned to her home in the West Bank on Sunday after serving an eight-month sentence for slapping and kicking Israeli soldiers . She became a symbolic figure for Palestinians after footage of her assaulting the soldiers outside her home went viral. But she was jailed for assault, with many Israelis believing she was trying to provoke the soldiers while her mother Nariman Tamimi filmed. On Sunday, Ahed and her mother were greeted with banners, cheers and Palestinian flags as they entered their home village of Nabi Saleh. "The resistance continues until the occupation is removed," Ahed said upon her return. "All the female prisoners are steadfast. I salute everyone who supported me and my case." "I will continue this path and I hope everyone will," she said. "The prisoners are fine and we hope the struggle for their release continues." A mural of Ahed Tamimi was painted on the West Bank separation barrier / AFP/Getty Images Her father, Bassem Tamimi, said he expects her to take a lead in the struggle against Israeli occupation but she is also weighing college options. He said she completed her high school exams in prison with the help of other prisoners who taught the required material. He said she initially hoped to attend a West Bank university but has also received scholarship offers from abroad. Since 2009, residents of Nabi Salah have staged regular anti-occupation protests that often ended with stone-throwing clashes. Ahed has participated in such marches from a young age, and has had several highly publicised run-ins with soldiers. Israeli Cabinet minister Uri Ariel said the Tamimi case highlighted what could happen if Israel lets its guard down. Bacoor, Cavite (CNN Philippines, July 29) Three of the 23 inmates who escaped from the Bacoor City Custodial Center surrendered to authorities Sunday. Dellon Divinagracia was turned over by officials of Barangay Kaingin to Bacoor City Police Chief SSupt. Vicente Cabatingan past noon. Meanwhile, Frederick Salondro was surrendered by his mother to the Bacoor City Police Station. Romeo Cabral was the last to surrender to authorities. As of posting time, nine of the 23 escaped inmates remain at large and are the subject of a nationwide manhunt. The other 14 inmates either surrendered to the police or were arrested since the jailbreak last Friday, July 27. All three inmates who recently surrendered said they did not mean to escape, but were just pushed by other inmates who wanted to get out of jail. They said they surrendered upon hearing about the police's manhunt operations and feared for their lives. Divinagracia managed to go to Laguna before returning to Bacoor to surrender, while Salondro sought refuge at his mother's residence in Las Pinas. Cabatingan urged the remaining inmates to surrender to authorities for their own safety, instead of continuing to run away from the law. In a phone interview on CNN Philippines' Newsroom on Saturday, Cavite Provincial Police Director Senior Supt. William Segun said, "Hindi ito planned. Hindi plano ito at nakakita lang sila ng pagkakataon," he said in a previous interview on Friday. [Translation: It was not planned, they just saw an opportunity to escape.] Hungary is interested in a strong and stable Romania able to stave off migration, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Saturday at the Tusvanyos Summer University in Baile Tusnad, Harghita County. "One thing we have to say from the very beginning: Hungary is interested in a strong and stable Romania. How long will orthodoxy here stand and how much will Romania be able to stave off the migration phenomenon? It is a matter of security, of national security both for Romania and Hungary, and it is also a key issue for the Austrians and the Germans, but Austria and Germany have yet to realise that, but we hope that this recognition on their part will not be delayed too long," said Orban, according to the official translation. He mentioned that he wished Romanians great success, recommending them, at the same time, to prevent "double economic deficit.""It is very important to rejoice that there is economic development in Romania, but if this development is based only on loans, it is very difficult to avoid this situation in which there will be a double deficit. It will be a big government debt and a lot of loans taken out at the same time (...) which is not good. We have fallen into this trap and it has been difficult to break the deadlock and we want Romania not to have the problems that we had," Orban said.He added that he wanted to have a "good and special relationship" with each political party in Romania and expressed his regret that neither Romanian politicians nor members of the Romanian government answered his invitation to attend the Baile Tusnad Summer University."It is a pity that we do not have a guest with whom to have a real dialogue, and we could indeed demonstrate that it is absolutely beneficial and valuable to have a dialogue. (...) It would be ideal to have an interlocutor, a representative , why not of the Romanian government or of someone else. (...) We have had such opportunities and we hope to have interlocutors in the future as well," said Orban. The Day of National Anthem was celebrated on Sunday morning in the Bucharest's Tricolour's Square in front of the National Military Circle, being attended by several dignitaries, through a military and religious ceremony. The religious service was delivered by the chaplain of the 30 Guard Brigade "Mihai Viteazul". "We celebrate today 170 years since through the Decision 10 of 1848 by the Ministry of Domestic Affairs of Wallachia, the day of 29th of July was declared Day of National Anthem, and the song <> the anthem of Romanians everywhere. (...) Over the years, the lyrics and music of this wonderful anthem have marked the key-moments of the fighting history of our people, encouraging and giving confidence to our soldiers on the battlefields. (...) The strong, mobilising message of the lyrics, the idea of freedom, unity and national rebirth have made it for the <> become not only a true Marseillaise of the Romanians, but also an anthem of the Balkans, the mobilising strength of which never knew boundaries," said Lieutenant Colonel Liviu Voicu.* * *President Klaus Iohannis says that in the year of celebration of the Greater Union Centennial the marking of the Day of National Anthem is a good occasion to renewing the commitment for the strengthening of a strong, European Romania, and to reaffirming the attachment to the principles of democracy and rule of law."Today, on 29th of July we celebrate the National Anthem, one of the fundamental symbols of statehood, independence, national sovereignty and unity, alongside the Flag, the State Coat and Seal. The days of the 1848 Revolution have sanctioned for the first time the singing on composer Anton Pann's music the lyrics of the patriotic poem composed by Andrei Muresanu. The song has had an important role in the revival of hope for a better life and for the collective dignity in key-moments of the Romanian history - the Independence War, the WWI and the WWII and the Revolution of December 1989 - which has fully justified the option of choosing it as national anthem in 1990," says President Klaus Iohannis in a release sent to AGERPRES, on Sunday, by the Presidential Administration.* * *The National Defence Minister Mihai Fifor, on Sunday stated that on the Day of National Anthem, the "Desteapta-te Romane", today's Romania's national anthem is one of our sacred national symbols.In his view, with an over 160 year-old history the long of the ages, "Desteapta-te Romane" has marked the key-moments of battling history of our nation, courage and confidence-inspiring to the soldiers on the battlefields at Grivita, Smardan, Marasesti, Oituz or Carei.* * *"The national anthem was the witness of certain key-benchmarks of our national history. The day of 29th of July is an occasion to show gratitude to our ancestors, to the heroes fallen on the WWI battlefields and to the fathers of the modern national unitary state, the memory of whom is motivating us to keep up our dignity, to cultivate respect towards the national values and look with confidence to the future," says a release by the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Eric ZUESSE The public have been so brainwashed by Big Brothers lies, so that many people wont believe this article unless they click onto the link wherever they happen to think that what it is alleging is false. Then, they will see the evidence, for themselves, and will recognize that theyve been fooled about that matter, and those readers will learn something important that they didnt know before including that Big Brother is real, and what it actually is, and how it came to be the way it is. This is about reality, the reality behind the screen of lies. * * * Todays Axis (the fascist powers) are the heirs of Hitlers failed Operation Barbarossa to conquer the Soviet Union. After World War II, Americas CIA, along with Britains MI6 and other governmental agencies, plus the Vatican, produced rat lines for key Nazis (including their collaborators in other countries) to resettle in U.S., Argentina, and Canada (and in other countries, too, as the CIA-edited and written account at Wikipedia focused upon), and for these former Nazis (who actually remained ideologically as nazis or racist fascists, and the CIA knew and welcomed this) to continue working to conquer the Soviet Union. These secret nazis carried out secret assignments not only for their new countrys military and against the Soviet Union, but also domestically against labor unions of all sorts, and against anything that the owners of the largest U.S.-and-allied international corporations wanted to be targeted. This was and is an officially secret extension of the internationally coordinated farthest far-right, the few people who actually control the international corporations. It consists of the operations on behalf of the Deep State, but the agents who carry out these instructions are only agents; consequently, everything that they know regarding what they are instructed to do is told to them only privately on a need-to-know basis, so that only the members of the Deep State itself are aware of what the broader objectives of any given operation are. For example, the CIAs operations arent part of the Deep State but particular ones of these operations represent the Deep State the instructions they execute on these operations come from the Deep State; the CIA is an agency for the international Deep State, but not all of what the CIA does represents the Deep State. Not even the U.S. President himself is necessarily aware of what the agents of the Deep State are doing not even of what the Deep States agents who are on the federal payroll are doing. For example, as soon as Franklin Delano Roosevelt died in 1945, the Deep State (the controlling owners of the largest international corporations) started to take over, and not everything that it was doing was known at the time by the leaders of the official (elected) American government. Even U.S. President Harry S. Truman though the sign on his desk said The BUCK STOPS here! and he meant it was kept in the dark, and was occasionally deceived, about some things that the OSS (precursor to the CIA) and the CIA were doing. For example, Truman probably didnt know that in 1948 the CIA perpetrated its first coup and this coup in Thailand established the off-the-books funding of the CIA from the international narcotics traffic, so that the CIAs actual budget wouldnt be restricted simply to the on-the-books funding, from U.S. taxpayers. This illegal funding-source has been crucial for many of the CIAs operations, and makes bribes untraceable. A subversive right-wing coup, centered in the United States but operating throughout all U.S.-allied countries, thus gradually took over in the formerly anti-Nazi U.S.-allied non-communist countries. This slow coup was internationally coordinated amongst aristocrats (the controllers of international corporations) from all participating countries. But it was internationally led by Americas aristocrats, starting when FDR died. Some of the major operations of the international Deep State were courageously reported in a rare and classic BBC documentary, in 1992, shown in this video. As it makes clear, these agents of the Deep State considered themselves to be revolutionaries. They were heroes, in their own eyes. Here are two brief excerpts from that video: 8:35-9:00: As the [Nazi] Germans withdrew, they left secret agents in the countries they had occupied For the retreating Germans, they were the staunchest elitists. They were selected from the SS and the fascist Black Legions. They were to become the footsoldiers in the next war, about to begin. 10:25-10:55: Then [OSS second-in-command] Jim Angleton [James Jesus Angleton] appeared in August [1945]. He started recruiting fascists, because he said that the best way to control the communists was to hire fascists. One of the most tough ones was Prince Valerio Borghese, who ran what was known as the tenth flotilla. These are the guys that would execute partisans [anti-fascists] and hang them from lamp posts all over Italy. So: within just months of FDRs 12 April 1945 death, The Wests Deep State was already in full start-up mode, to achieve ultimately a fascist victory, not only against the U.S.S.R., but also against Western countries themselves. This is the historical reality, about The West, after WW II. Angletons alleged father, James Hugh Angleton, had allegedly been assigned by OSS chief Bill Donovan to the OSSs X-2 operation to identify as many secret fascist operatives in Europe as he could; and, By the end of World War II, the X-2 had discovered around 3,000 Axis agents. The alleged son (Jesus) was now harvesting his alleged fathers crops, who have flowered to what we have today. However, the official U.S. Government record of Angleton, James H. Jr. Age: 28 Date: 4 Dec. 1945 (see page 4 there) indicates that he (Hugh) must have been born around 1917. And yet the official birth date of his alleged son, James Jesus Angleton, was 9 December 1917. The New York Times 7 March 1973 obituary, James H. Angleton Dead at 84; National Cash Register Officer, asserts that: As liaison officer between the O.S.S. and the Fifth Army he assisted the militarygovernment mission in Italy and captured codes, card files and documents important to American security. After the war he returned to Italy and worked for the restoration of Italian business and industry and for a stable, democratic government. He was for many years president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Italy. Instead of his having been born in 1917, he had actually been born in 1889, which is believable. So, one can reasonably infer that in 1945, the 56-year-old Hugh Angleton passed along to the 28-year-old Jesus Angleton, his contact list of approximately 3,000 secret operatives of Hitler and of Mussolini in Europe, and that this son (Jesus) proceeded promptly to recruit these secret Nazis and Fascists to work for the OSS. The father could retire rich, while the son went on to grow and harvest his crops, for Americas war against Russia (not actually against communism which was the cover-story). Jefferson Morleys trashy biography of Jesus, The Ghost, fails even so much as to mention that Jesuss father had been OSS, just like the son, and had passed his torch along to him, and that the son ran with his fathers torch. To Morley, that torch did not exist, and Jesus father was just a successful American businessman who happened to be living in Italy at the time of WW II. One cant take seriously anything thats published about such people, except that they recruited Fascists and Nazis into the CIA, and that Jesus continued on as a friend and supporter of Nazis and of pro-Nazis. This doesnt necessarily mean (as superficial persons might think) that Jesus was against Israel. Israel itself is Jewish racist-fascist nazi-Jewish, apartheid and all the rest of what racism and tribalism mean (just a different target for their racism, Palestinians, like Russians were the targets that the CIA hated), and, of course, it is capitalist. Jesus was out to conquer Russia, and he used nazis to the hilt, for that purpose. Thats the reality, which is fully consistent with all of the little thats reliably known about him. More is reliably known about his subsequent boss, Allen Dulles, who was nazi through-and-through, and who relied heavily upon Angleton. As David Talbot wrote, in his excellent biography of Allen Dulles, The Devils Chessboard (page 29), If their powerful enemy in the White House [FDR] had survived the war, the Dulles brothers would likely have faced serious criminal charges for their wartime activities. FDR didnt want Truman as his V.P., but the Partys big donors were rabid against the person he did want. So, Truman got the nod. And the billionaires got what they wanted, which was someone who was almost as much of a fool for President as his successor, Eisenhower (who handed foreign affairs over to the Dulles brothers), turned out to be. When the Soviet Union broke up and ended its communism in 1991 and thereafter, their former Warsaw Pact military alliance became gradually absorbed into Americas NATO alliance and now even a former part of the Soviet federation itself within the former Soviet Union (and which thus is no mere Warsaw Pact ally), Ukraine, is being invited into NATO, and is preparing for admission into the anti-Russia military pact into the U.S. alliance against Russia and hopes to conquer Russia totally. The name for the broader U.S. plan here (of which the takeover of Ukraine is only a part) is Nuclear Primacy the U.S. Governments goal is U.S. victory in a nuclear war against Russia, and this goal can be achieved only if the U.S. nuclearly blitz-attacks Russia, and if that blitz-attack eliminates Russias retaliatory weapons (sufficiently to meet the U.S. Governments top-secret standard of what would constitute acceptable damage to the U.S. from a Russian retaliatory attack). This is the ultimate strategic plan (and all details of it are prohibited from being made public). Nuclear Primacy replaces the prior meta-strategy, which was called Mutually Assured Destruction or M.A.D. the belief that the purpose of nuclear weapons is to prevent a World War III, not to win a WW III. This new meta-strategy starts from the assumption that the number of people killed in the U.S. and allied countries by a counter-attack from Russia responding to a sudden and unannounced blitz nuclear invasion of Russia, by the U.S. and its allies, will be worth that (currently secret) cost. Some experts say that since even the proponents of Nuclear Primacy have ignored instead of discussed nuclear winter, the only reason for the continuation of the Cold War (the potential for an intentional nuclear war between America and Russia) after the end of the Soviet Union and of its Warsaw Pact and of its communism, is in order to advance the stock-values of Lockheed Martin, Boeing, SAIC, and the other international corporations whose sole main sources of income are the U.S. Government and its allied governments. These government-dependent corporations have taken over the government, just like U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower publicly warned the American people against at the very end of his two terms of office, at a time when the process was, by then, already almost complete, and he himself had actually been the person who had done the most that anyone had yet done to advance the military-industrial complex. His famous military-industrial complex speech (and here is its broader context) urged future Presidents to try to undo what he himself had actually already set inevitably into motion in America. It was as if he was warning to close the barn door so that the horse wont get out, but the horse had already been stolen and was no longer even subject to this persons control. Sales of weapons that American corporations market to the American Government, and to its allied Governments, thus came to wag the tail of Americas future democracy; nobody any longer could stop this process from being completed. Now that the anti-Islamic-terrorist excuses for selling and buying their weapons and services are declining, the focus is, yet again, increasingly against Russia and its allies, in order that the owners of those corporations (the category of corporations that depend the most upon their Government) will continue to grow in wealth, and not to lose value of their investments. As the anti-Jewish writer Philip Giraldi said accurately (though I think he misunderstands how the Deep State, of which he used to be an operative, actually functions), Defense contractors need a foe to justify their existence while congressmen need the contractors to fund their campaigns. He interprets the corruption in a tribal way, rather than as corruption itself and of any type, as being the reason why the United States continues to try to achieve Nuclear Primacy. But that explanation would not explain why nuclear winter is not being discussed by the proponents of Nuclear Primacy. None of the publicly available estimates, behind the Nuclear Primacy meta-strategy, even discusses nuclear winter, which physicists say would follow such a nuclear war between U.S. and Russia, and would virtually eliminate agriculture and produce mass-starvation throughout the entire world, including in any victor country. It threatens all tribes. The published studies regarding the possibility of nuclear winter all concern the likely effect of a nuclear war between India and Pakistan, or other and even lesser pairings. Whether or not the U.S. Government has ever commissioned a study of what the likely effects of a nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia would be, is not publicly known. Possibly, this subject has been examined but the findings are not disclosed; but, also possibly, the U.S. Government does not want such a study to be done, at all, so that no one will know what the findings might turn out to be. The latter possibility might, for example, be the case if Americas weapons manufacturing and marketing firms control the U.S. Government. If constant increases in their sales is the objective that drives the U.S. Government, then there would be sound reason for the U.S. Government to prevent or at least suppress any such analysis of the global effects, inasmuch as its findings could crash those corporations stock-values, and the billionaires who control those firms and the U.S. Government, might suffer enormous losses. This assumes that the U.S. Government represents those owners and not the public. But in any case: marketing weapons that are suitable only for traditional, non-nuclear, wars, such as against regular jihadists, has apparently run its course and produced all of the sales-growth that that business-plan is likely to achieve; and, therefore, as has been the case since at least the time of the Obama Administration, the U.S. is actively gearing up for an invasion of Russia. The U.S. Government is behaving as if Americas weapons-producers own it. The weapons-producers (that is, the owners of the weapons-producers) seem to be in control of the U.S. Government. Whereas Giraldi and most other writers against U.S. imperialism against development of control over the entire world by U.S. billionaires allege that the origin of this imperialism is Jews (and specifically the Jews who joined together under the banner of neoconservatism after 1960), insufficient public attention has been devoted to the possibility that an even more crucial role in the Middle Eastern portion of the U.S. Governments plan is being played by the worlds wealthiest family, the royal Saud family of Saudi Arabia, who have the same obsession to conquer Iran that Israels Government does. Israels powerful lobby in the United States is pressing the same things that the Saud family do; each of the two (Israel and the Sauds) pushes the invade-Iran theme, and each is at least accepting of all the rest of the others foreign policies; but, whereas lobbyists for Jews are viewed somewhat sympathetically by the American public, no lobbyists for Muslims have anything like the same level of acceptance by the U.S. public. For a U.S. Senator or Representative to be championing Israel is accepted by the American public far more than is for that same person to be championing the Saud family, who own Saudi Arabia, or to be championing any of the 7 royal families who own UAE, or etc. (Kuwait, Qatar, or even non-Arab governments, such as Pakistan). Whereas the Gulf Cooperation Council of fundamentalist-Sunni Arab kings constitute, by far, the lions share of foreign buyers of U.S.-made weaponry, Israel not only doesnt have such enormous financial resources, but it even receives from U.S. taxpayers $3.8 billion in U.S. donations to Israels Government, each and every year, in order for Israel to be able to afford to buy from U.S. makers the weapons that it does buy. In contrast to Israels relative pauper-status there, U.S. President Donald Trump personally sold to the Saud family $350 billion of U.S. weapons shortly after becoming President, and increased that to $400 billion soon afterwards. His sale, to the Sauds, of U.S. weaponry, is overwhelmingly the largest military sale in all of world history. It is Trumps major achievement thus far in his Presidency. (Trump can meet privately with King Saud, and with Netanyahu, but the Deep State calls him a traitor for meeting privately with Putin. That Deep State hate Putin.) Furthermore, the people who would control Syria, if the U.S.-Saudi-Israeli war were to win and replace Bashar al-Assads secular, non-sectarian, Government, there, would be the Saud family not Israel, and not the U.S. The American Government is fighting in Syria for the Sauds to take over that country, an ally both of Russia and of Iran. Israel is part of that alliance the alliance for the Sauds. Americas proxy boots-on-the-ground in Syria have been trained and led mainly by Al Qaeda there. That has a long history going back even to before Al Qaeda existed 1949. Occasionally, ISIS in Syria has also received American assistance in order to advance regime-change there. Sometimes, U.S.-backed rebels in Syria have quit because U.S. forces were secretly transferring, to ISIS, weapons that the U.S. had originally supplied to less-fundamentalist groups. Moreover, the Saud family have been (and perhaps still are) the chief funders of Al Qaeda, and maybe even of its spin-off organization, ISIS. 9/11 did great things for the military-contracting firms, the companies whose biggest foreign market is the Saud family. Theyre on the same team. Though Israel has provided crucial assistance to both Al Qaeda and ISIS on some occasions, there is no publicly available evidence that Israel has been funding either group. But Israel provides, as its contribution, a huge portion of the teams lobbying. In addition: the financial bag-man for Al Qaeda up to the time of 9/11, the person who privately travelled to pick up each of the million-dollar-plus cash donations to Al Qaeda, specifically named Saudi Princes Bandar, Turki, Waleed, and Salman, among those donors, and he said that no Saudi Prince who lacks the endorsement of Saudi Arabias Wahhabist clergy can be considered by the Saud family to appoint as the next King, and that the Wahhabist clergy requested and received from Osama bin Laden a letter with bin Ladens recommendations before they advised the Saud family upon that matter (whom to select as the next King). As the major historian of contemporary geopolitics, Michel Chossudovsky, documented in an article, Secret Meeting on the Privatization of Nuclear War Held on Hiroshima Day 2003: Behind closed doors at Strategic Command Headquarters: On August 6, 2003, on Hiroshima Day, commemorating when the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima (August 6 1945), a secret meeting was held behind closed doors at Strategic Command Headquarters at the Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. Senior executives from the nuclear industry and the military industrial complex were in attendance. This mingling of defense contractors, scientists and policy-makers was not intended to commemorate Hiroshima. The United States Government was already preparing for the time when the then-raging U.S. military buildup in order to deal with terrorism would need to be supplanted with a return to the major-power, strategic nuclear, weaponry, which could carry U.S. weapons-manufacturers back to the good old days of unlimited defense spending, and unlimited war-profits to these firms. Dr. Chossudovsky continued: The Privatization of Nuclear War: US Military Contractors Set the Stage The post 9/11 nuclear weapons doctrine was in the making, with Americas major defense contractors directly involved in the decision-making process. The Hiroshima Day 2003 meetings had set the stage for the privatization of nuclear war. Corporations not only reap multibillion-dollar profits from the production of nuclear bombs, they also have a direct voice in setting the agenda regarding the use and deployment of nuclear weapons. The nuclear weapons industry, which includes the production of nuclear devices as well as the missile delivery systems, etc., is controlled by a handful of defense contractors with Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and Boeing in the lead. Unlike regular corporations, whose markets are either consumers, or else other firms, the markets that these firms sell to are mainly the U.S. Government (the military part of it), and the foreign governments that are allied to it the biggest of those foreign buyers being the Saud family itself (the owners of the Government of Saudi Arabia). So, this is a very exclusive team, of billionaires (trillionaires in the case of the Sauds), and of their agents throughout the world. These are weapons-systems that cost in the billions of dollars, rather than in the millions of dollars. Americas generals and national-security advisors and other individuals who take part in the U.S. Governments planning and weapons-purchases, rotate between official government posts and international corporate boards; and, basically, as professionals in their line of work, they play both sides of that revolving door (between the government and the private sector) so as to maximize their own future likely income streams. They are not peace-planners. Thats not really what they get paid to do avoid weapons-buildups and invasions. The people who get paid to do the peace-job dont have nearly as much to sell, and theyve got far fewer and poorer buyers for their services (maybe the public?). This is the reality of the free market. Another word for it is: corruption. Whenever and wherever wealth is extremely concentrated in a few, corruption reigns, the public does not. For a country to have vast inequality of wealth is to have vast corruption, and to be ruled by it. The CIA-controlled Wikipedia article on Nuclear Winter is written to deceive about the subject; and, therefore, for example, it opens one of its sections with a blatantly propagandistic title and introduction: Soviet exploitation [edit] See also: Soviet influence on the peace movement Claims of wider Soviet influence In an interview in 2000 with Mikhail Gorbachev (the leader of the Soviet Union from 198591), the following statement was posed to him: In the 1980s, you warned about the unprecedented dangers of nuclear weapons and took very daring steps to reverse the arms race, with Gorbachev replying Models made by Russian and American scientists showed that a nuclear war would result in a nuclear winter that would be extremely destructive to all life on Earth; the knowledge of that was a great stimulus to us, to people of honor and morality, to act in that situation.[216] However, a 1984 US Interagency Intelligence Assessment expresses a far more skeptical and cautious approach, stating that as the hypothesis is not scientifically convincing. Though the Wiki article discusses several studies that had been done in the 1980s modeling the consequences of an India-Pakistan nuclear war and comparably small ones, it mentions only dismissively the far-more-recent and inclusive study: In a 2012 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists feature, Robock and Toon, who had routinely mixed their disarmament advocacy into the conclusions of their nuclear winter papers,[18] argue in the political realm that the hypothetical effects of nuclear winter necessitates that the doctrine they assume is active in Russia and US, mutually assured destruction (MAD) should instead be replaced with their own self-assured destruction (SAD) concept,[200]. The propaganda is strictly by Wikipedia there, not at all by Robock and Toon, whose article does not argue to replace MAD with SAD nor with anything at all, but instead documents and affirms M.A.D. yes, Wikipedia outright lies, when it must and their article summarizes studies published between 1980 and 2010, none of which modeled a U.S.-Russia war, but all of which were consistent with the authors conclusion; namely, that even those, much smaller, wars, would make things vastly worse for both sides (both sides would enormously lose) and would also produce mass-starvation in broader areas of the planet. Then, the article which, as noted, was current as of 2012 (not just as-of those earlier periods) summarily stated, as follows, all work that had been done on the subject, up till that time (and not since supplanted): The new models show that a full-scale nuclear conflict, in which 150 million tons of smoke are lofted into the upper atmosphere [the minimum that a U.S.-Russia war would do], would drastically reduce precipitation by 45 percent on a global average, while temperatures would fall for several years by 7 to 8 degrees Celsius [13 degrees Fahrenheit] on average and would remain depressed by 4 degrees Celsius after a decade (Robock et al., 2007a). Humans have not experienced temperatures this low since the last ice age (Figure 2). In important grain-growing regions of the northern mid-latitudes [including both U.S. and Russia, as well as most of Europe], precipitation would decline by up to 90 percent, and temperatures would fall below freezing and remain there for one or more years. The number of weapons needed to initiate these climate changes falls within the range of arsenals planned for the coming decade (Toon et al., 2008). For instance, the use of 4,000 weapons (the rough total for US and Russian arsenals in 2017 under New START), each with a yield of 100 kilotons (a typical yield for submarine weapons, but at the low end for most nuclear weapons), against urban or industrial targets would produce about 180 million tons of soot [30 million higher than that 150 million estimate]. A single US submarine carrying 144 weapons of 100-kiloton yield could produce 23 million tons of smoke if these weapons were used on densely populated Chinese cities. The effects of the nuclear contamination itself are in addition to that estimation of the smoke-damages. The U.S. weapons-manufacturers and their agents might not want the public to know this (and so Wikipedia lies about it), but not only would both sides lose from a U.S.-Russia nuclear war, but the entire planet would lose and drastically. The cigarette-manufacturers long hid the harms of their business, but todays privatized weapons-manufacturing firms dwarf the corruption and harm that the tobacco-industry perpetrated. The liars get well-paid, but the truth is far grimmer, and far deadlier especially in this matter. Unlike the CIA-Wikipedia fictionalized version, M.A.D. wasnt Soviet exploitation it was instead the reality recognized by both sides, and is the reality even today, despite what the U.S. weapons-manufacturers and their enormous sales-forces have been deceiving their publics to believe since 2006. Consequently, I infer, from the evidence, that the leaders, of the operation to conquer Russia, are the controlling owners of Americas large defense contractors, and of those individuals largest non-U.S. customer, the Saud family. The Sauds biggest competitors in the international-energy markets (which are their own main markets) are: Russia and Iran. Those same two countries are also the main enemies that are targeted by the U.S. alliance. It makes sense for the Sauds to be the #1 foreign buyers of American-made weapons. Not only do they get the weapons, but they get control over the U.S. Government, which, in turn, determines which nations will be Americas enemies (the military-industrial complexs targets), and which nations will be Americas allies (the military-industrial complexs markets). The Sauds buy their allies wisely. Their business-plan includes, as the most important ally, Americas aristocracy; and (as a crucial ally to add greatly to the impact of Americas aristocracy, supplementing them to win the U.S. policies the Sauds need) Israels aristocracy. The combination of those two control-levers over the U.S. Government is powerful. Perhaps in the sudden global cooling from nuclear winter, the Sauds region will even become one of the worlds greenest and most fruitful. If anyone still exists then, at all. Where does the EU, and where does the anti-Russia NATO alliance, fit into this reality? Some of Europes aristocrats are benefiting from alliance with the U.S., but others are not. And, of course, Americas aristocrats benefit enormously from having their support i.e., from buying their support, bribing them in the legal ways. However, Europes aristocratic nazis werent supposed to have been the winners of WW II. So: nazi Europeans are Europes enemies, not its friends just as nazi Americans arent friends but instead enemies to the American people. That hasnt changed, and cant change. Only Europeans can decide what to do regarding nazi Europeans. And only Americans can decide what to do regarding nazi Americans. (One idea might be to refuse to vote for nazis, but, under existing circumstances, how would that even be possible?) Without constant deceit, this situation couldnt exist anywhere. And if people are constantly deceived, they are powerless. Deceit is the chief weapon of Operation Barbarossa II, the American aristocracys war, not the German aristocracys war (which was more overtly physical military and was only secondarily based upon deceiving the public). When the Sauds became Americas allies in 1945 via the secret Quincy Pact between FDR and Saud, FDR probably expected that it would move Saudi Arabia gradually toward democracy. What instead happened is that the Saud family and the losers of Operation Barbarossa became carried forward toward ultimate victory over The West, by an alliance between the Saudi and the American aristocracies. The Sauds and Americas aristocrats won; FDR and his democratic legacy and the American people ourselves, lost. The subterranean fascist forces turned out to be far more potent than FDR imagined. Perhaps the OSS had been deceiving him. Incidentally, any secret treaty (including the Quincy Pact) is unConstitutional. None of this happened democratically. It was a slow coup. Thats what created todays alliances, and todays targets. Thus, though Hitler lost, his cause (except for his anti-Jewish fixation) has been moving slowly and methodically toward victory, and its being led by the aristocracies of U.S. and Saudi Arabia. To understand the Deep State, its basic ideological principles need to be recognized. Under Hitler, hereditary rights and obligations were publicly recognized; and democracy, the rule over a land by the residents on that land, was publicly condemned. Not only the hereditary principle, but the imperialistic principle, the right of foreign conquest, was publicly honored. The two principles go naturally together. The main reason why the Sauds and the other (all of them fundamentalist Sunnis) Arab kings, want to conquer Iran, is that Shia Islam denies the right of hereditary rule. (This is also why in Syria, Bashar al-Assad claims no hereditary right to rule; if he were to do otherwise, hed violate Shia Islam and he would be rejected by Iran.) The main reason why Americas aristocracy wants to conquer Russia (other than the latters natural-resources wealth, which has always been a reason) is that Vladimir Putin insists that only the residents in a land should possess sovereignty there, but the U.S. and British aristocracies insist upon the right to conquer foreign lands. As an ideology, nazism totally affirms both the hereditary principle, and the imperialist principle. This is what the U.S.-Saudi alliance likewise affirms. And that is why, for example, the CIA has always favored monarchies and opposed democracies (or at least authentic ones, which the U.S. aristocracy cannot control). * * * So: what is Big Brother? It is the billionaires who own controlling interests in these companies. And that is why the most-respected of all institutions, in the United States (and by a substantial margin above any other) is the military. That is Big Brother, in the real world. Big Brother consists of a highly networked few extremely wealthy individuals, the majority of whom cannot be individually identified, because the ownership of these corporations is hidden behind layers of street name accounts and especially offshore accounts, but all being private financial entities whose profits are derived from sales to governments, instead of from sales to consumers, or to businesses whose customers are consumers. These firms function together like a highly networked cartel of secret arsonists who also make and sell the firefighting equipment. They thus secretly produce the market for their services. Thats the best type of business to be in. But it is also the most harmful type of business to be in. And they own that business and newsmedia and many other types of businesses that likewise are essential to the success of their core business, the one that accounts for the lions share of their real profits, the sales to governments. rinf.com Eric S. MARGOLIS President Donald Trump and his neocon advisors have been trying to provoke a war with Iran and Syria for many months. The neocons are echoing Cato the Elders cry, delenda est Carthago!. Iran must be destroyed. So far, Tehran and its ally Damascus have refused to respond to US naval and air incursions or Israels growing air attacks in Syria. But the war of words between the US and Iran has now reached a critical phase. Last week, Trump, who evaded military service during the Vietnam War, made his loudest threats yet against Iran, bringing the danger of war to the boiling point. On 21 May, the hard-line US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a thunderous ultimatum to Iran during an address to the US Heritage Foundation, a rich, influential arm of Americas Israel lobby. Pompeo made 12 totally unacceptable demands on Iran that were clearly designed to be rejected by Tehran. Not since Austria-Hungarys ultimatum against Serbia in 1914 have we seen such a clear effort to bring about war. Tehran quickly dismissed Pompeo as a gangster. We are by now used to blood and thunder rhetoric between Washington and Tehran. But this time White House policy is clearly being directed by pro-Israel American neocons who want the US military to crush Iran as it did Iraq. Crushing Iran will leave Israel with unfettered control of the Mideast and its oil unless Russia or Turkey intervene against Israel, which is most unlikely. Some think Russia and Israel and the US have already made a deal to divvy up the central Mideast. Let the Americans come, one Iranian militant told me, they will break their teeth on Iran. Very colorful but hardly accurate. The US and Israel will surely avoid a massive, costly land campaign again Iran, a vast, mountainous nation that was willing to suffer a million battle casualties in its eight-year war with Iraq that started in 1980 . This gruesome war was instigated by the US, Britain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to overthrow Irans new popular Islamic government. The Pentagon has planned a high-intensity air war against Iran that Israel and the Saudis might very well join. The plan calls for over 2,300 air strikes against Iranian strategic targets: airfields and naval bases, arms and petroleum, oil and lubricant depots, telecommunication nodes, radar, factories, military headquarters, ports, water works, airports, missile bases and units of the Revolutionary Guards. Irans air defenses range from feeble to non-existent. Decades of US-led military and commercial embargos against Iran have left it as decrepit and enfeebled as was Iraq when the US invaded in 2003. The gun barrels of Irans 70s vintage tanks are warped and cant shoot straight, its old British and Soviet AA missiles are mostly unusable, and its ancient MiG and Chinese fighters ready for the museum, notably its antique US-built F-14 Tomcats, Chinese copies of obsolete MiG-21s, and a handful of barely working F-4 Phantoms of Vietnam War vintage. Air combat command is no better. Everything electronic that Iran has will be fried or blown up in the first hours of a US attack. Irans little navy will be sunk in the opening attacks. Its oil industry may be destroyed or partially preserved depending on US post-war plans for Iran. The only way Tehran can riposte is by staging isolated commando attacks on US installations in the Mideast of no decisive value, and, of course, blocking the narrow Strait of Hormuz that carries two thirds of Mideast oil exports. The US Navy, based nearby in Bahrain, has been practicing for decades to combat this threat. China vows to keep buying Iranian oil in spite of the US blockade to be imposed this fall. This could put the US and China on a collision course. While Iran may be able to interdict some oil exports from the Arab states, and cause maritime insurance rates to skyrocket, its unlikely to be able to block the bulk of oil exports unless it attacks the main oil terminals in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf with ground troops. During the Iran-Iraq war, neither side was able to fully interdict the others oil exports. Direct western intervention in a major ground campaign seems unlikely. But the US and Israeli war plan would aim to totally destroy Irans infrastructure, communications and transport (including oil) crippling this important nation of 80 million and taking it back to the pre-revolutionary era. That was the plan for Iraq, the Arab worlds most industrialized nation. Today Iraq still lies in ruins. One recalls the words of the great Roman historian, Tacitus: they make a desert and call it peace. ericmargolis.com According to ABC, the US is going to strike Irans nuclear facilities. An operation may start as early as next month. The UK and Australia will participate in intelligence efforts, such as identifying targets. The US-Iran relationship took a nosedive after Iran threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz in early July. President Trump told the Iranian leadership in a tweet that he would respond with force if Tehrans hostile anti-US rhetoric did not stop. The closure of the strait will inflict significant economic damage on US allies but benefit American shale oil and gas producers with prices abruptly going up. About 20 percent of the world's oil supply goes through the Hormuz Strait. Half of its imports originate in the Persian Gulf. The blockade of the strait would deliver a crushing blow against China to make it slide into economic recession. The ABC report may be true. It wont be the first time. The US was behind the 1953 coup when Prime Minister Mosaddegh was overthrown. State Secretary Mike Pompeo has recently called on the Iranian people to rise and overthrow the government. There are other signs the US is going to interfere in whats happening in Iran one way or another. The geography protects Iran against ground invasion. According to Stratfor, Iran is a fortress. Surrounded on three sides by mountains and on the fourth by the ocean, with a wasteland at its center, Iran is extremely difficult to conquer. Obviously, the US would not be able to use the territory of Turkey. The coastline in the south is easily defendable. Unlike Iraq and Afghanistan, the US Army and Marines just cant go in and advance capturing key infrastructure objectives. Their mission will probably be controlling the Hormuz Strait and exercising control over the Iran-Iraq border. Knocking out nuclear sites, air defenses as well as key command and control facilities spread across the large territory would require repeated waves of air and ship-launched strikes over many days. The bases in Saudi Arabia and other the UAE could be used by US Air Force. Itll be the first time bunker buster bombes will demonstrate their efficiency. B-2 bombers will arrive from Diego Garcia, carrying 30,000-pound GBU-57 massive ordnance penetrators (MOPs) capable of penetrating rock and reinforced concrete to hit deep-under-earth installations. An air campaign can inflict a lot of damage but its not enough for achieving the strategic goal of regime change. Special operations forces (SOF) can greatly contribute, including knocking out Russia-supplied S-300 air defense systems. Hit squads and sabotage teams can inflict damage on nuclear sites and other objects but the Irans geographic position is also not their friend. The US will depend on Israels capabilities to conduct covert operations. Information warfare used to instigate uprisings is what the Irans enemies really need. The steps to influence the population are on the way. In late May, the US and Israel established a joint task force tasked with amplifying internal pressure on Iran. Khuzestan Province populated by Shia Arabs will be the prime target for information warfare offensive. The region is the main oil producer separated from the rest of the country by the Zagros Mountains. Airdropped US forces supported by aviation could establish control of heights. Actually, controlling the province, which is the economic heart of Iran, makes unnecessary the occupation of other parts of the country. But itll be a fierce battle. Besides, its not easy to convince the local people that they need Americans to make their life better. Iranian Kurds are another target for information warfare efforts. In theory, they could seize and hold the ground in areas adjacent to the Iraqi border. The current economic woes should be exploited by Irans ill wishers now before the situation is improved. Thats what sanctions are for to spark internal discontent. New punitive measures against Iran will be imposed by the United States in early August. All Iranian oil exports are to be cut off by November to make the country subject to economic blockade. With military actions limited to air, missile and SOF strikes in Iran, Syria is the place where fighting on the ground would most certainly spark. Its highly probable that pro-Iranian forces in Iraq, which has already been already hit by civilian unrest, would clash with US military. Proxy forces in other countries are Irans strong point. The hope that a short victorious campaign will boost the US presidents approval ratings and increase the GOPs chances for success at the midterm election in November has never been abandoned. Besides, striking Iran in Syria is the way to hinder the establishment of Syria governments control over the countys territory without clashing with Russia. This is especially important for the United States at the time a Kurdish delegation, including the US-supported Syrian Democratic Forces, is in Damascus to launch talks on reaching a peaceful deal to preserve Syrias territorial integrity. Stability with President Assad in power is not what would make the US and its allies happy. An attack against Iranian forces in Syria is the only way to disrupt the negotiation process. It would also hamper the Russia-led Astana process aimed at achieving peace in Syria. August could be the hottest month of 2018. Former US President Barack Obama was in South Africa last week for the centennial anniversary marking the birth of the late Nelson Mandela. Obama delivered a speech warning about encroaching authoritarianism among nations and the rise of strongman politics. Coming on the heels of the summit in Helsinki between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, media reports assumed that Obama was taking a swipe at these two leaders for supposed growing authoritarianism. Obamas casting of the strongman as a foreboding enemy to democracy is a variant of the supposed threat of populism that Western political establishments also seem concerned about. Trump, Putin, Turkeys Erdogan, Italys Salvini, Victor Orban in Hungary and Sebastian Kurz in Austria, among many others, are all lumped together as strongman politics, populists or authoritarians. Here we are not trying to defend the above-mentioned political leaders or to make out that they are all virtuous democrats. The point rather is to debunk the false narrative that there is some kind of dichotomy in modern politics between those who, on one hand, are supposedly virtuous, liberal, democratic, multilateralists, and on the other hand, the supposedly sinister strongman, authoritarian, or populist. In Obamas pompous depiction of world political trends, people like him are supposedly the epitome of a civilized, democratic legacy that is now under threat from Neo-fascists who are darkly rising to destroy an otherwise happy world order. That world order, it is presumed, was up to now guided by the magnificence of American political leadership. In short, the Pax Americana that prevailed for nearly seven decades following the Second World War. Following the Helsinki summit, the Western media went full-tilt in hysterics and hyperbole. Trump was assailed for embracing a dictator while repudiating Western democratic allies. In a Washington Post article, the headline screamed: Is Trump at war with the West? It was accompanied by a photograph of Trump and Putin, bearing the caption: The New Front. Meanwhile, a New York Times piece editorialized: His [Trumps] embrace of Putin is a victory dance on the Euro-American tomb. Another NY Times op-ed writer declared: Trump and Putin vs. America. The Western establishment political and media commentary promulgates the notion that the US-led Western order is breaking down because of populist, strongman Trump. In this alleged assault on the pillars of democracy and rule of law, Trump is being aided and abetted by supposedly nasty, like-minded authoritarians like Russian leader Vladimir Putin, or other nationalistic European politicians. The premise of this establishment narrative is that all was seemingly salubrious and convivial in the US-led order until the arrival of various renegade-type politicians, like Trump and Putin. That premise is an absolute conceit and deception. If we look at Obamas presidency alone, one can see how the supposed guardians of democracy and international order were the very ones who have actually done the most to decimate that order. Obama, you will recall, was the US president who notched up seven simultaneous overseas wars conducted by American military, arguably without a shred of international legal mandate. Under international law, Obama and other senior officials in his administration should face prosecution for war crimes. He also greatly expanded the executive use of assassination with aerial drones, reckoned to have killed thousands of innocent civilians in several countries, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and Somalia, merely on the suspicion of being terrorists. It was Obama who ramped up the covert war policy of his predecessor GW Bush in Syria, arming and directing terrorist proxies in a failed bid to overthrow the elected government of President Assad. That US-backed covert war in Syria, along with Obamas overt regime-change war in Libya, largely contributed to the refugee crisis that has destabilized the politics of the European Union. So here we have the supremely bitter irony. Obama now lectures audiences with his pseudo-gravitas about the specter of strongman politics and xenophobic populism, when in fact it was politicians like Obama who created much of the refugee problems that have given rise to anti-immigrant politics in Europe. It really is a conceited delusion among US and European establishment politicians, pundits and media that somehow a once virtuous, law-abiding US-led Western order is being eroded by rabble rousers like Trump, Salvini, Orban and so on, all being orchestrated by a strongman dictator in the Kremlin. For the record, Putin, the supposed strongman in the Kremlin, warned more than a decade ago in a seminal Munich speech that the international order was being eroded by rampant American unilateralism and disregard for law in its pursuit of illegal wars for US hegemony. That was at the height of US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which killed more than one million civilians and forced millions more into infernal destitution. In truth, the Pax Americana that is presumed to have prevailed over the past 70 years was never about order, peace or justice in the world. The notion that the US guided the world with its moral authority and maintained stability throughout is one of the most fatuous delusions of modern history. From the atomic holocaust in Japan and during subsequent decades, the US has waged wars non-stop in almost every year, whether from covert operations in Latin America and Africa, to full-on genocidal wars in Indochina. The past quarter-century has seen an acceleration and expansion of these US wars, sometimes with the assistance of its military axis in NATO, largely because Washington viewed that its license to kill for mass murder was unchecked after the collapse of the Soviet Union. This is the real dynamic underlying why the Western order is now seen to be collapsing. The US and its minions among European allies have destroyed any foundations of international order from their unabated wars and campaigns of mass murder. Their corporate-capitalist plunder has eviscerated the planet. The chaos from these wars, including economic impacts of gargantuan costs to Western populations, has created social conditions which engender politics of protest, anti-establishment, anti-austerity, anti-war, anti-immigration, and so on. If the supposed order is shaking for the establishment political class and its flunkies like Barack Obama it is because of their own criminal depredations depredations which have been going on for decades under the guise of Pax Americana. The writers at Monthly Review had it so presciently right years ago, when they analyzed the actual Western order as Pox Americana a diseased affliction. This is the historical context which accounts for why US and European establishments are decrying strongmen and populists. They are essentially scapegoating others for the historic failure of institutionalized Western criminality led primarily by democratic regimes in Washington. Russian President Vladimir Putin stands out as the one international leader who put a brake on the US-led criminal assault on global peace. Putins stand first emerged with his landmark speech in Munich in 2007, and then came into clear expression when he helped put an end to the US-led covert criminal war on Syria. That is why Putin is so vilified and demonized by the Western establishment. The poachers have been stopped from raiding the globe, and in their exasperation, they have whipped up all sorts of disparaging epithets like strongman and authoritarian. No one has practiced more fascist-style criminality and brutality towards law and peace than the polite-sounding pseudo-democrats who have been in office for the past 70 years in the US and Europe. The Western political establishment and its elite-driven capitalism is rotten to the core. Always has been. Its own erosion and oozing corruption is the source of the putrid smell that it now wishes to waft away by scapegoating others. After the ute he was driving lost control and plunged off a Cambridge road into the Waikato River - fatally injuring his girlfriend - Derek Keesing insisted the brakes had failed. "The first thing I know is I applied my brakes and I am absolutely positive I had no brakes. My foot went to the floor," he told police after the crash on Saturday, August 19, 2017. But by the time of his sentencing in the Hamilton District Court on Friday, Derek Ivan Keesing, 61, had changed his tune. He conceded there had been no mechanical mishap with the 2014 Nissan Navara and it was excessive speed that led to the death of Susan Donna Ramsay, 60. The former Tirau Community Board member was sentenced to six months of community detention and disqualified from driving for nine months, and was ordered to pay $7500 in reparation to the family of Ramsay, who died in Waikato Hospital two days later as a result of a brain injury. What Judge David Cameron described as "a tragic incident" happened at 12.25pm as Keesing headed west on Tirau Road in Cambridge, approaching the roundabout at Shakespeare Street. He hit the raised traffic island and the ute, along with the trailer it was towing, smashed through a protective railing and plunged down the steep bank and into the turbulent, 12-metre-deep water. "Those are the sad facts," Judge Cameron said. "The degree of carelessness is at least moderate." Having earlier pleaded guilty to a charge of careless driving causing death, Keesing came to court with no previous convictions and five references attesting to his good character. He and Ramsay had been in a relationship for about six weeks before the crash. As defence counsel David Allen put it, the pair were inseparable, bonded by their shared love of Ford Thunderbirds. Keesing, a self-employed electrician, suffered head and knee injuries in the crash and "is still struggling emotionally", Allen said. "He can't undo what has happened. He is deeply sorry for that." He wanted to participate in a restorative justice conference with Ramsay's family, but they were not keen. Despite that, Keesing was eager to liaise with them about the possibility of creating some sort of memorial for Ramsay, and had $7500 he could pay to her family immediately. While Ramsay's family had expressed reservations about accepting that money, the judge ordered it be paid regardless of whether they made use of it themselves or simply gave it away to charity. -Stuff/Mike Mather. ONONDAGA, N.Y. -- A driver died early Sunday morning in a single-vehicle crash after striking a tree with his or her vehicle, according to the sheriff's office. Deputies arrived at Southeast Townline Road near Collins Road in the Town of Onondaga around 4:05 a.m. this morning regarding a reported crash, said Onondaga County Sheriff's Office spokesman Sgt. Jon Seeber. The driver, who was alone in the car, died from his or her injuries. Deputies did not release the driver's identity. Seeber said more information will be released later. The investigation is in its beginning stages, he said. Rescuers from Navarino and Marcellus fire departments also assisted at the scene. ITHACA, N.Y. -- Ithaca police are investigating how a man found unconscious with significant head, neck and internal injuries suffered those injuries, according to Ithaca police. Officers are investigating the possibility that he was run over by a motor vehicle, police said. They responded to the 200 block of Prospect Street in Ithaca at 2:40 a.m. because of a report of an intoxicated man who was seriously injured, police said. Officers found the man, who could not tell officers how he had been injured and was unconscious, and he was taken to a local trauma center, police said. The Ithaca Police Department's crash reconstruction team was called to the scene, police said. SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The state Department of Transportation for three years has been collecting public opinions on what should be done to replace the aging, elevated Interstate 81 that divides Syracuse. The state has narrowed 16 options under consideration down to two: replace and widen the current elevated highway, or demolish it and send the traffic onto the city's street grid and around the city A decision won't be made until 2017, but there are a number reasons to think the state will tear down the 1.4-mile elevated section that each day carries 90,000 vehicles. Consider: In Rochester, Niagara Falls and the Bronx, the state's tearing down similar aging urban highways, sending traffic to city streets or other roads. Gov. Andrew Cuomo in August called the I-81 elevated highway in Syracuse a "classic planning blunder." U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx - who oversees the agency that will pay up to 90 percent of the cost of the project - has made removing highways to reopen divided neighborhoods a theme of his department. Other indicators Syracuse's elevated I-81 is doomed? It's about $400 million cheaper to move the traffic down to the city streets ($1.3 billion) than build another elevated highway ($1.7 billion). The ground option also would destroy only five building compared to 24 buildings with the new elevated highway option. State DOT officials, who are still holding meetings and collecting public opinion, say no decision has been made yet. They also won't say that state decision makers are leaning toward a plan to tear down I-81 in Syracuse. See our complete coverage on the replacement of I-81. Urban planners and other experts, however, interviewed by syracuse.com | The Post-Standard this month said the writing is on the wall. They believe I-81 will be coming down. Why? Just look around the United States and the world, they say. It's not a radical idea to tear down an urban, elevated highway, experts say. Highways have already come down in Boston, Milwaukee, Portland, Oregon, San Francisco and Seoul, South Korea. It's under consideration in Cleveland, Dallas, Texas, Detroit, New Orleans, Montreal, Tokyo and Paris. New York state is already going in this direction: Rochester: The Inner Loop East Transformation Project is converting a sunken section of expressway to the east of downtown to a street that will include bike and walking paths. Construction is expected to be completed soon. Ander Kazmerski floatinghomefilms.com Niagara Falls: In March, the governor announced a state plan to spend more than $40 million to remove two miles of the elevated Robert Moses Parkway transforming it into a park. Bronx: In April, the state's budget included $97 million to transform the elevated Sheridan Expressway into a surface boulevard. New York was one of the first states to build expressways through cities, so those roads have reached the end of their life span, said Alex McKeag, a program manager with the Congress for New Urbanism,a non-profit organization that promotes walkable, neighborhood-based development. That's why the state is on the forefront of taking them down, he said. "New York State's Department of Transportation, in specific regions, has shown to be more progressive and open to taking down elevated highways," he said. Tear downs work Urban planners say tearing down elevated highways reunites urban areas split for decades and often is an economic boost. They say opponents concerns that additional traffic will snarl city streets are unfounded. "There isn't a single highway tear down where they've gone back and thought it was a mistake to take it down," said Michael Kodransky, global research manager for the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy, a non-profit group that focuses on developing mass transit and promotes biking and walking "In all of the cases where they've taken down highways there have been massive successes," he said. "The neighborhoods that remained thrived and the traffic did not become Carmageddon." When elevated highways are removed it frees up swaths of land for development, experts said. It also makes cities pedestrian and bike friendly. The result drives up land values, they said. Why it is happening Syracuse's section of I-81 was built in the 1950s and 1960s. At that time, vehicles ruled. If trucks needed a wider area to make a turn at the corner, engineers made it wider regardless of whether grandma couldn't make it across the street before the light changed, urban designers said. Urban planners say designers now look more at how the roads affect the people who use them, cross them and live by them. Interstate highways were never meant to be put through cities. Archives show that President Dwight Eisenhower, the father of the interstate system, had never wanted highways to cut through cities. Putting up another elevated highway in Syracuse "would quite literally be stepping back in time," said Thomas Campanella, an associate professor of urban planning at Cornell University. "It's almost universally understood now that those massive expressways overlaid on the historical urban fabric, are all wrong. It did enormous damage to cities," he said. "Syracuse really underwent the most egregious self-mutilation. It was an apocalyptic-level of urban renewal." Campanella spent his undergraduate days on University Hill at Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF. "I-81 very much divides the city," he said. "The perception we had as undergrads there was you didn't cross that wall. It appeared to be a formidable barrier. When that disappears, I think you're going to see a great healing of the urban fabric." Still some I-81 opposition Some powerful people don't like either option that the state is now considering such as Sen. John DeFrancisco. He still favors a nearly $3 billion plan, twice the cost of the two alternatives still under consideration, to build a tunnel that would carry traffic under the city before surfacing at the Destiny USA mall. But even some opponents in Central New York admit they think the state is leaning toward tearing down the elevated highway. "It seems like they already have a preference. They certainly exhibited a preference," said Skaneateles Town Supervisor James Lanning, who vehemently opposes the option to take down the highway. If that happens he said he believes more truckers will take a shortcut through his town to avoid Syracuse. "I'm very concerned about the comments that the governor made during the State Fair criticizing the viaduct structure as being one of the dumbest things ever built," he said. Who makes the decision? After completing a series of meetings, the state will consider the all the comments from the meeting, emails and letters. Urban planners and others, however, say they believe the state will not go with a new elevated highway. "You had the governor come out and admit that this highway (I-81) was a mistake," said McKeag, the program manager with the Congress of New Urbanism. "That's really powerful statement from a governor." If the call to remove the highway is coming from the governor, it's an indication that the time is ripe to move in the direction of putting traffic back on city streets, Kodransky said. The state and the Federal Highway Administration work jointly on the project, with the feds having the final say in the option chosen, said Mark Frechette, the I-81 project director at the state DOT. It is pretty clear what Foxx, the federal transportation secretary and boss of the highway administration, thinks. He has spoken more than once about the damage done by highways dividing America's cities, particularly how they destroyed low-income neighborhoods. This spring, Foxx's department announced a design challenge called "Every Place Counts" to identify areas where roads divided communities and ways that transportation can help reunite them. This is personal for Foxx because the Charlotte, N.C. neighborhood where he grew up was one of those ripped apart by the highways in the early 1960s. "Federal money and state decision-making led to two highways surrounding the neighborhood, destroying the connective tissue," Foxx said in a speech at the Center for American Progress Washington, D.C. in late March. "Neighbors were separated from neighbors. The corner store was gone because the corner was gone." At the nation's infrastructure is aging, he said, the decision's on how to replace it must connect people, not separate people. "We can't change everything about the past, but we can certainly work as hard as we can today to repair our infrastructure to make it the connective tissues it ought to be," he said. Comments sought There's still plenty of time to comment on the DOT's recommendations. Public comments may be made by emailing I81Opportunities@dot.ny.gov, by letter at NYSDOT Region 3, I-81 Viaduct Project, 333 E. Washington St., Syracuse, NY 13202, or by calling the hotline at 855-481-8255. Contact Charley Hannagan anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-2161. BRIDGEWATER, N.J. - President Donald Trump threatened Sunday to shut down the federal government this fall if Congress does not pass sweeping changes to immigration laws, including appropriating more public money to build his long-promised border wall. "I would be willing to 'shut down' government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall!" Trump tweeted. "Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country!" Trump's shutdown warning - which he has made before - escalates the stakes ahead of a Sept. 30 government funding deadline, a political showdown before the November midterm elections that Republican congressional leaders had hoped to avoid. A funding fight also could prove a distraction from Republican efforts in the Senate to confirm Trump Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh by Oct. 1. Trump faced immediate words of caution from top Republicans, including Rep. Steve Stivers of Ohio, who leads the National Republican Congressional Committee, which coordinates campaign efforts for House Republican candidates. "I don't think we're going to shut down the government. You know, I think we're going to make sure we keep the government open, but we're going to get better policies on immigration," Stivers said on ABC News' "This Week." Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, told CBS News' "Face the Nation" that he supports the president's effort to pass conservative immigration policies but disagreed with his brinkmanship. "I don't like playing shutdown politics. I don't think it'd be helpful, so let's try to avoid it," Johnson said. On the other side of the aisle, Rep. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Democrats did not feel compelled to respond to Trump's threat. "Democrats wants to work together in a bipartisan way when it comes to comprehensive immigration reform," Lujan said on ABC News, adding that "Democrats are standing strong when it comes to a comprehensive immigration reform conversation with the American people that is fair, that is tough." Trump's declaration on Twitter surprised some lawmakers who have been eager to avoid a bruising funding fight and highlighted his intense desire to make progress on signature agenda items that have stalled. The president has not received from Congress as much funding as he has requested for his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump also has been advocating a number of changes to immigration laws, including ending the visa lottery program as well as "catch and release" - the practice of releasing from detention immigrants caught entering the country illegally if they agree to court hearings. Trump met Wednesday with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and discussed the upcoming spending fight. The president signaled in the White House meeting that he was on board with McConnell and Ryan's strategy to fund the government smoothly through "minibuses," or smaller packages of spending bills that had been moving through the House and Senate, according to a person familiar with the meeting. But in recent days, Trump has also spoken with several outside political allies who have urged him to strike a tougher line on the border wall as a means of pressuring Democrats and rallying his core voters in November, according to two people briefed on those discussions. Trump has sought to make immigration a core campaign theme heading into the midterms. He has defended his administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy, arguing that some parents who have been separated from their children under this policy are criminals. On Sunday, Trump tweeted, "Please understand, there are consequences when people cross our Border illegally, whether they have children or not - and many are just using children for their own sinister purposes. Congress must act on fixing the DUMBEST & WORST immigration laws anywhere in the world! Vote 'R.'" It is unclear whether simply threatening to shut down the government could push Democrats to agree to fund construction of the wall, particularly because Trump has backed down at the last minute during previous standoffs. Both last year and this year, Trump said he would shut down the government if Democrats didn't agree to fund construction of the wall. Both times, Democrats refused, and both times, Trump agreed to sign spending bills that did not include funds for a new wall along the southern border. Spending bills have appropriated funds to replace existing walls or barriers, something Trump has tried to promote to his supporters as signs of progress. The last spending bill funded $1.6 billion for border barriers, but that money does not apply to new construction. There was a brief government shutdown in January after Senate Democrats refused to back a spending package because of Trump's move to potentially force the deportation of immigrants who had been brought to the United States illegally as children. But Democratic solidarity over the matter did not last long. They backed down quickly. While congressional GOP leaders have worked over the past week to signal solidarity with Trump on immigration, they also struck notes of caution about the timing of any significant legislative progress. McConnell said Friday that talks over funding the wall would "probably" have to wait until after the midterms. "Probably, and that's something we do have a disagreement on," he said in an interview with a Kentucky radio station, referring to the timing of action on Capitol Hill. Ryan said Thursday that he believed Trump is "willing to be patient to make sure that we get what we need so we can that done." The House speaker added that the proposed border wall would eventually be built, calling it "not a question of if, it's a question of when." Congress reached an agreement in March to fund government operations through the end of September, and it must pass new legislation by then or the government will partially shut down Oct. 1, just five weeks before the midterm elections. The White House's demands for border funding have ranged widely, from around $2 billion to $25 billion, since Trump's inauguration. House Republicans are trying to appropriate $5 billion to begin construction of the wall, a figure Trump has endorsed. Some Senate Democrats have shown a willingness to partially fund construction of the wall in exchange for other immigration policy changes, but those talks have repeatedly broken down. During the presidential campaign, Trump frequently promised that Mexico would pay for construction of the wall, but the Mexican government has refused to do so. This has led Trump to demand that U.S. taxpayers fund construction of the wall, claiming he would recoup the money from Mexico through other means. Democrats believe they will make significant gains in the midterms, and any gains could make it more difficult for Trump to secure money for the construction of the wall. Trump's shutdown threat could be his last ploy to secure border-wall funding before the midterms. Trump has embraced a big-spending approach to government since taking office, allowing Democrats to secure funding for a number of their priorities in order for him to win a bigger budget for the military. This had helped dramatically expand the budget deficit, leading to complaints from conservatives. Trump said in March when he signed the last spending bill that he would not allow this to happen again, but Republicans have such a slim majority in the Senate that it makes it impossible to pass spending bills without any support from Democrats. Boston officials warn of possible measles exposure at two locations visited by a measles positive person. Measles is so contagious that 90 percent of people who are not immune to it and get in contact with a measles positive individual will get infected. Public Health Warning On July 27, the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) sent out a public warning concerning a potential measles exposure after receiving information on a confirmed measles case. Evidently, the patient visited the Tasty Burger at Boylston Street on July 19 between 7 and 11 in the evening, and passed through the Logan Airport on July 20 between 8:30 in the morning and 2:30 in the afternoon. According to the public health warning, people who passed through the said locations around those particular times may have been exposed to the virus, and could become ill between July 26 and until Aug. 10. Its worth noting that even if a person did not have direct contact with the ill person, the virus can stay in the environment for up to two hours after the ill person has left. Symptoms to take note of are runny nose, high fever, cough, and red eyes, followed by red skin rashes around three to five days later. The BPHC notes that anyone who suspects they have measles should immediately contact their health care providers via telephone, and to await for further instructions. Measles In the United States Measles remains to be a common illness in many parts of the world including Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Pacific. Worldwide, many people still contract measles, with almost 90,000 people dying from the disease each year, most of whom are children. In the United States, measles was actually eradicated by the year 2000 thanks to a successful vaccination program. However, measles still reaches the United States via unvaccinated Americans who get the virus from other countries and bring it back to the country, or by travelers who pass the illness on to other unvaccinated Americans. That said, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that even if a person does not travel internationally, an unvaccinated person may still get the virus from other people in the community. It is for this reason that vaccination remains a top priority when it comes to preventing the spread of measles in the country, the best protection being the Measles Mumps Rubella (MMR) vaccine which is often given to children between 12 and 15 months of age. Adults can also opt to get the vaccine if they have not been vaccinated as children, or before traveling internationally. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The president of the ICC, Omar Aziz, asserted that the report will be sent to the corresponding judicial bodies. | Read More Gov. John Bel Edwards told a news conference in the early morning hours of Tuesday, June 5, 2018, that he would call another special session after the Louisiana Legislature adjourned without approving any major revenue-raising measures. Michael Spiteris life has taken a new direction since he joined the ABCN mentoring program. At 14, Rachel Bonic was working part time to help support her family while attending high school. The daughter of a concreter and warehouse clerk, Bonic was raised in a single-parent family in working-class Sydney suburb Minto. Life changed for Bonic when she won a scholarship in 2014 with Australian Business and Community Network (ABCN), a Sydney-based non-profit connecting disadvantaged students to business mentors, broadened her understanding of career opportunities. Through the mentor I visited the workplace and set goals, Bonic, now nineteen and a law student, recalls. Illustration: Kerrie Leishman As I write this in a break during a workshop on chaos and change in careers in New Zealand I read that the owner of these newspapers, Fairfax, is proposing to merge with the Nine Network. Who would have predicted that five years ago? What will it mean for the future of both companies, their employees, listeners, readers and viewers? Change is not some abstract concept that people like me bang on about, but it is real and tangible. Careers are about change, about to change, and constantly changing. More troubling for some, this change is frequently unpredictable and non-linear. Seemingly small changes in one part of the system, can lead to profound effects down the line. Decisions made now for one purpose might have unanticipated and enormous effects elsewhere in the system. Equally, large changes can sometimes have next to no impacts beyond their immediate area. It is impossible to say whether the proposed merger will fall into the first or second categories, and nor can those responsible for steering the change. Not completely. Despite the inevitability of change, we still do precious little to equip people to thrive on change. There are skills we can teach people, from early school age onward that can help them confront change constructively, and indeed initiative change themselves. Final six Thrones fix HBO has confirmed the final six episodes of Game of Thrones will air in the first half of 2019. The conclusion to the epic fantasy series was expected next year but this is the first time HBO has confirmed a window for its global broadcast. HBO president Casey Bloys offered only this tiny soundbite: "It's pretty great." Game of Thrones is based on George R. R. Martin's book series A Song of Ice and Fire; the television adaptation launched in 2011; its upcoming eighth season will be its last. A prequel, developed by Martin and writer Jane Goldman, is being filmed as a pilot; the spin-off would be set in the fictional Westeros but thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones. Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan chat about their new show at Kisume restaurant. Credit:Eddie Jim Britton and Bana get star billing Netflix has secured the international rights to the television adaptation of The Los Angeles Times podcast Dirty John. The series, which NBC Universal is producing for the US channel Bravo, will star Connie Britton and Eric Bana. The series is based on a true crime podcast from reporter Christopher Goffard about a relationship between Debra Newell (Britton) and John Meehan (Bana), a charming suitor who is later proved to be not what he initially seemed. The television adaptation is to be written by Alexandra Cunningham; Jeffrey Reiner, whose credits include Friday Night Lights and The Affair, will direct the pilot. As new dad Mick Campbell cuddles his son William in the revamped maternity ward at Calvary Public Hospital, he says: "a hospital is just bricks and mortar. The people here are fantastic''. The staff at Calvary are indeed its heart and soul but a $2.6 million refurbishment of the maternity ward has also made things more comfortable for mums, bubs and dads. Queanbeyan couple Emma Weston and Mick Campbell with their newborn son William in one of the new single rooms in the revamped maternity ward at Calvary Public Hospital. With them is midwife Helen Stephenson. Credit:Jamila Toderas The revamp, in particular, does away with all the old rooms that used to have four mums and their newborns crammed into them. And makes it more a more enticing and closer place for expectant mums on the northside to give birth, especially those from the new Nappy Valley in Gungahlin. Tony Lyons, Lithgow I'm with Bill Shorten and 'punching the air.' Because no one killed Bill. Just the opposite in fact. And could somebody remind Mr Turnbull about his rejoicing with Barnaby 'the bands back together' Joyce when he was reelected at a recent byelection. Worked out well that. Wendy Atkins, Cooks Hill My Health Record very limited and oversold The experience Helen Pitt and her husband had regarding his health care was undoubtedly enhanced by the eHealth record they kept which included precise details of his treatment, all of which were of considerable value to them ("My husband's terminal illness", July 29). eHealth records containing this level of detail are essential when treating complex conditions such as those her husband had. Unfortunately, the My Health Record does not contain that amount of detail, it is a summary system with potentially some test results. The majority of a patient's health data is with their health providers. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of the patient to keep their My Health Record accurate and up-to-date, things that Ms Pitt and her husband did with his eHealth record. My Health Record has very limited capabilities and is being oversold by the government and some lobbyists from the medical community. It is worth noting that many, if not most, GPs are suspicious of the system because of the lack of value to them and the additional time and effort it takes to manage their patient's data. Very few specialists seem to be interested in using the system, many private hospitals have not embraced it. My Health Record has many privacy issues which might be acceptable if the system delivered major and significant benefits. That it does not, makes the privacy risk unacceptable to most Australians. Dr Bernard Robertson-Dunn, Australian Privacy Foundation Chair, Health Committee I disagree that arguments for opting out of My Health Record are the "hubris of the healthy" and are in fact a sensible response to a legislatively flawed initiative. I have opted out of My Health Record even though it is basically a good idea, however, before I opt in I would need to know why any other government or private organisations apart from those directly involved in health care would need access to my private information. In my opinion such organisations as the ATO, Police, Courts, etc, have no need or right to my medical history, or third parties such as Health Insurance Companies should not have access to de-identified information, which has been proved can easily be re-identified. Apart from the risks of hacking, as was recently the case in Singapore, I'm afraid that this government has a poor history with any IT related systems, the 2017 Census and the debacle that is the NBN, to cite two major failures. Currently, judging from the thousands of complaints by people unable to opt out online because of system failures, does not inspire any confidence that the government can run a secure system that ensures the privacy of its subscribers. Barrington Salter, Neutral Bay Fair system needs developing With so many Liberal MPs named by ICAC and this government now fully in control of nearly all planning issues in NSW we hope that Nick Kaldas will place his oversight of corruption issues beyond councillors ("Kaldas to head planning corruption purge", July 28-29.) I hope and I'm sure that all independent councillors and ratepayers will support a concentration on scrutiny for fairness in decision making by the recently introduced state government-controlled Independent Hearing and Assessment Panels, developer influence on government decision making and the outrageous the role of certifiers who rule overwhelmingly against community concerns to the benefit of developers. Certifiers work in a particularly anti-community way, stopping ratepayers from having any meaningful opposition to local development, denying them any democratic say over streetscapes that may contain Federation homes, ripping down these historic homes and plonking down cheaply built duplexes that spoil the very heart of so many inner city places. Government has re-inforced certification and Mr Kaldas must look at what so many communities see as their outrageous rule over NSW development. William Tuck, Mosman It is most encouraging that the proposed audit into planning corruption is to include examining whether there are aspects of overseas systems that could be incorporated into NSW . In order to implement its high-density policy NSW severely limits land release on the periphery of the city. The resulting land scarcity allows huge profits to be made by those developers who succeed in obtaining permission to build high density in low-density areas against community wishes. Such a system is an obvious recipe for corruption. The solution is to alleviate the government-created land shortage. Anyone on Sydneys outskirts should be allowed to subdivide land subject to reasonable constraints (as can be seen in the United States). The resulting increase in supply would remove the incentive to corruptly pull strings for what is presently scarce development permission. Tony Recsei, Warrawee Elizabeth Farrelly has fired me up to join the front-line of this battle for our land, our resources and our people ("Meeting at bowlo", July 28-29). The collateral damage is appalling, and government or company persuasion that it is all necessary for our Energy Certainty is frankly hogwash. One hundred years on from WW1, I will volunteer Elizabeth. Where do I sign up? Helen Lewin, Tumbi Umbi Yet another Sydney suburb destroyed by ill-conceived high rise (Eyesore of the east: the ruin of a suburb? July 29). Does Gladys ever open her eyes when she is out and about or has wearing too many fluoro vests blinded her from viewing such eyesores? Peter Miniutti, Ashbury Rail chaos...again Another weekend of chaos on the Sydney train network. "Trackwork" on multiple lines simultaneously, phantom trains that are cancelled "for today only" with one minute notice, replacement buses that never appear, and crowded platforms of frustrated passengers who are simply told to "reconsider your travel plans today". Mr Constance, as the minister charged with, and paid handsomely for, overseeing this shambles, it's time to admit that you don't have a clue, and step aside. The public transport system in this, the biggest city in Australia, has become an embarrassing joke. Andrew Hill, Dulwich Hill The Sydney to Melbourne train passes through Strathfield station, but for some reason no longer stops there for passengers on its way to or from Central station. On Saturday morning my 84-year-old sister got up and left at 5.30 am to get into Central in time for the Melbourne train at 7.35. On a previous visit she had missed the train because of the heavy traffic along Parramatta Road. The train now takes an hour or so longer than it did when the XPT was first introduced. My sister arrived in plenty of time at Central, but had to stand in the freezing cold, as there were no seats, nor a warm waiting room. In that enormous space, there is no warm shelter for anyone! What sort of country have we become? And please may we have the train stop at Strathfield again? Lauris Elms, Newington Ditch bad attitude Your article on Dick Smith described how he 'started a business based entirely on Australian suppliers' and then gave millions of dollars in profits away to various charities ("Smith blames Aldi as he shuts down line", July 27). He tried to save Australian jobs and give Australians good quality food grown here in Australia. For doing this your correspondent Alexander Elliot (Letters July 28-29 ) says 'perhaps we ought to put him in a balloon and not let him come down', another , Steve Ngeow, essentially says forget the emotion and get with the program Dick. I think these comments clearly illustrate exactly what the problem is for Australia today. With attitudes like this they will get the Australia they deserve, one in which they will not be able to afford a home, one with a continually degraded environment, and one that is completely run by foreign interests, in which they will eventually have to eat whatever they are damn well given. Andrew Cronin, Robertson Tap the flow now In regard to Peter Hannams article, with dam levels in the 60% range why isnt the state government implementing water restrictions before the situation becomes critical ("Odds point to big dry across east" July 27). Since the last lengthy dry spell our Sydney population has escalated greatly and will apparently continue to do so. With no rain in sight why wait until water regulations really hurt. Surely the state election in 2019 should not be a reason for not taking precautionary measures now. Annette Perkins, Killara Six-pack geriatrics rule My friends call me the Tin Man ("Bionic baby boomers", July 28-29). I have had both my knees, both my hips and both my shoulders replaced. Commonly designated as a geriatric six pack. Airport security loves me. One wonders what they will make of my body when dug up in years hence. Start of the cyborgs. Rob Smith, Canberra, ACT Before we move to yet more elections, I have one suggestion. It now seems de rigueur for supporters of political candidates to wear those crass T-shirts emblazoned with the name of the candidate and the political party. Surely we can improve on this ugly trend which does nothing for the poor people who have to wear them on national television. Michael Walsh, Ashfield On Saturday morning I saw the moon turn scarlet, and all else that day waned into insignificance. Meredith Williams, Dee Why Dining out on democracy Australia's medical specialists have called for a change in the national health advice on PFAS chemicals. Credit:United Firefighters Union A peak Australian doctors group has again challenged the Turnbull governments health advice on firefighting chemicals and has called for a national ban on firefighting foam containing the toxins. The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP), representing over 15,000 medical specialists across the country, has argued the health advice needs to reflect the string of possible health effects identified from exposure to per- and poly-fluoroalkyl chemicals (PFAS). In a submission to a parliamentary inquiry into the Turnbull governments handling of the issue, the RACP also queried why Australia had not signed a United Nations treaty banning the most toxic of the chemicals, even though 171 other countries have done so in the last decade. There is no information relating to why Australia has not followed international efforts in banning PFAS, the submission said. Mavris was drowning in more than $6 million in debt, owing everyone from the tax office, friends and development financiers charging more than 20 per cent interest on short-term loans. Now the Herald can reveal the extraordinary details around the desperate final weeks of Mavris life - from the arrival of the drugs in Sydney in late March to his death in a Sydney jail cell eight weeks later. They include an urgent trip to Colombia to find out what happened to his stash, signing short-term loans for millions of dollars to cover a property development, and the sorry tale of a desperate bid to offload nearly 1000 boxes of worthless spoiled Peruvian fish. Jim Mavris with his wife, Despina 'Debbie' Mavris. Whats more, his family has now dramatically lost control of Mavris $10 million property portfolio, after authorities secured an urgent asset freeze just hours before his widow Despina Debbie Mavris was due to receive $5 million from a property settlement. The sudden change in fortunes for the Mavris family stem from the March 23 arrival of two containers of fish which police were watching. They seized the cocaine and let the containers continue to their destination. Within days, Mavris came to collect them. Having realised his stash was missing, Mavris rang a confidante who asked if he had any news. Nothing good yet, its actually extremely bad at the moment, Mavris said. My head is numb. 'They're watching it' Gina Mavris was worried about her brother. For three days in late March the 48-year-old had been off the radar. What happened on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday? ... You putting out fires? she asked during a phone call, according to court documents lodged in the NSW Supreme Court by the Australian Federal Police as part of the asset freeze. Youve gone downhill ever since last week ... so somethings happened, Gina said. It was nothing more than a lack of sleep, Mavris replied, but sleep was the least of his worries. The father-of-three had been working desperately to find out what had happened to the millions of dollars of cocaine he had been expecting the previous week, and the pressure - financial and family - was mounting. I am just tired, man. I need to sleep and sleep and sleep, he told his sister. Only days earlier, Gina had pleaded with her brother to reveal what he was trying to pull off so she could help him find a solution, telling him his wife was stressed out and considering leaving him. She told him, [youve] borrowed from Peter to give to Paul which hasnt really worked out and now youre in f---ing shit. Later, Gina expressed worries about his business activities. "My only concern is that the products youre importing, she told her brother. Yeah, Mavris, who was born in Cyprus, responded. Suddenly, Gina switched to Greek, the police facts allege. Marketing material for the Mavris family apartment in Woolloomooloo that has been seized by authorities. Credit:Domain.com.au Like, vlepoune, Gina said, using the Greek phrase for theyre watching it. Its alright, its fine, Mavris assures her. Later in the conversation, Gina switches to Greek again: Yeah, enoia, meaning something on my mind. Mavris had been working his contacts hard for the best part of a week. Little did he know he was already in the sights of Operation Sawel, a multi-agency investigation, involving the AFP, the Australian Border Force and the Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce. The Onyx apartment block in Pyrmont. Credit:Dean Sewell Around 11am on Tuesday, April 3, Mavris headed to the NSW Art Gallery, not far from his Woolloomooloo home. Outside the gallery, federal police officers saw Mavris meet a man he had called several times. The meeting was anything but friendly as Mavris and the other man engaged in what appeared to be a heated conversation, police allege. Onlookers began to take an interest. As they conversed they both appeared conscious of passing pedestrians and wandered between the front of the Art Gallery and a nearby cycle path. Mavris was getting desperate. Court documents show he was under severe financial stress. He had a six-figure debt with the tax office, relating to unpaid luxury car tax on a Bentley. And a Pyrmont apartment development, The Onyx, which police allege Mavris used to launder money via a family company called Mazzco Investments, needed urgent refinancing. Without the pay day of the cocaine shipment, Mavris faced a credit crunch. Two days after the call with his sister, Mavris signed the first of two extraordinary short-term loans. On April 3, Mavris signed a $3.2 million two-month loan with the investment arm of Geelong fruitery business Costa Asset Management. Mavris agreed to terms including 24 per cent annual interest on the loan and a caveat being placed on the apartments. In addition, he agreed to a two-month loan of a further $550,000 from Triumph Commercial, a private investment group, with equally onerous terms - 3.5 per cent interest per month. In total, he would be up for more than $117,000 interest. What police say he didnt tell his wife was that he was also increasing the size of the mortgage on their luxury Woolloomooloo apartments by a cool $1.8 million. In discussions with his broker, Mavris said, shes freaking out. Marketing material for the Mavris family apartment in Woolloomooloo that has been seized by authorities. Credit:Domain I dont want to lose my house, you know, like, if I lose my house my wife will leave me and my lifes f---ed, its already half f---ed, he said. I dont know how Im gonna afford a $3 million loan here and a $4 million dollar loan there anyway, I just need to do it slow. Police allege Mavris arranged for his father-in-law to come and tell my wife to sign everything. Still, the deals bought him two months to come up with the money to pay off his debts. He began making plans for a trip to Colombia, booking airline tickets, cancelling them, then booking them again. But before he could go, there was something else he had to do. He had to sell some fish. 'Im pretty good at selling' Mavris wasnt lacking in confidence. A mechanic from Sydneys inner west, friends tell of a man who had interests in car hire businesses, scaffolding, and was also a qualified real estate agent. But for all the hats he wore, friends have said he was not a terribly good businessman. They noticed a change in his lifestyle around five or six years ago, upgrading from his Bexley North house to two conjoined apartments with harbour views in Woolloomooloo. His adult son drove a BMW. In fact, police say Mavris had been importing drugs since 2012. Loading Between May 2012 and January 2013 Mavris had used another business, Mavco Investment, to import at least nine shipping containers from Colombia which contained frozen cow hides. The true purpose, police allege, was ultimately to further his narcotics importation business. Red flags were raised with authorities when the cow hides arrived and he showed little interest in collecting them, running up nearly $40,000 in storage costs. In June 2013, the Department of Agriculture, Farming and Fisheries, reported an abandoned consignment of animal hides from Colombia, thought to be a test or decoy shipment for possible narcotics trafficking. Police allege there was no coincidence in the fact that Mavris' mortgage in Bexley North was paid off around the same time as the cow hide consignments arrived in Australia. In the space of a few years, the Mavrises had paid off the mortgage in Bexley North and upgraded to the luxury Woolloomooloo apartments, with Jim gifting his wife, who worked in a pharmacy, $820,000 to help finance the purchase. Today the flats are worth a combined $4.2 million. Police allege that the 2013 purchase of the first Woolloomooloo flat was grossly disproportionate to their incomes. Mavris tax returns for the five years to 2012 showed annual income of just $8717. But he could only sustain the lifestyle for so long and, faced with his own financial crisis, Mavris had two tasks: go to Colombia to sort out the missing cocaine, and sell a rapidly depreciating asset - $80,000 worth of fish. With no experience in importing frozen seafood, he had arranged nothing - failing to put in place pickup and storage plans. The 960 boxes were left in a Kingsgrove depot yard with no refrigeration for a whole week. The taped packages which were found in the consignments of fish. Credit:AFP Mavris hit the phones, calling around Australia to offload the mackerel and hake. The same day as the Art Gallery meeting, he rang a seafood wholesaler asking if mackerel and hake were types of fish people will buy. How would he go about selling the fish? How could he make money from it, he asked? Over the next few days, Mavris contacted 26 different cold storage businesses in NSW to find a place to keep the fish. Around midday on April 4, a Queensland fish wholesaler returned a call from Mavris. Hey, listen who do you know [anyone] that can buy frozen fish? Mavris asked. Wholesaler: "Youve got fish to sell?" The wholesaler broke out laughing before asking: Oh, God what kind of fish is it? Mavris replied: "Just hake its cheap." Loading The wholesaler set him straight: Whos going to buy frozen fish off you not knowing what it is? You know, youre not a fish supplier ... how did you get fish anyway? Oh, Ive got a mate whos got a mate that said they could get us cheap fish, Mavris replied, so "I just brought it in. I dont know. Weve sold a bit of it to a few of these bait shops. But Ive got more. It was all the wholesaler needed to hear. Oh, bait shops. So it must be pretty crap. It must be cheap stuff, he said, laughing. Sell it to the bait shops! After his arrest, police would ask Mavris about his fish importing experience. They pointed out that had he sold the fish at the price he was quoting he would have lost more than $57,000. So why did he think he could do it? Im pretty good at selling, he said. 'Emergency' dash to Colombia Selling the fish was a sideshow. With short-term loans secured on the Pyrmont properties, Mavris was on the next flight out of Sydney to Colombia. Police say he had significant criminal associations in Australia and internationally. Unexplained is why he was allowed to leave the country in May despite being under direct police surveillance since at least March 30 when he first inspected the container. The AFP declined to comment. On May 13, Mavris checked into the NH Collection Bogota Andino Royal Hotel, a four-star hotel in the heart of Bogotas Chico neighbourhood, offering spectacular views of the city. Police believe Mavris had travelled to Colombia for an emergency, a euphemism for meeting people involved in the importation of cocaine. When he did not arrive back in Sydney as scheduled five days later, his wife and sister peppered his travel agent with questions about his travel arrangements. They learned he never checked out of his hotel and he had missed his scheduled flight home. Its at this point two vastly different accounts emerge of what happenned next. Jim Mavris photographed in Colombia after his 'kidnap'. Local media reports told the tale of an Australian man kidnapped by armed rebels in Pereira, a western city of Colombia, and rescued by local El Valle Police from an abandoned house in the rural area of Campo Hermoso, Buenaventura, one of Colombia's most notorious drug-trafficking hubs. Mavris was photographed, smiling and wearing a police bulletproof vest after he was located. He told local police after resurfacing on May 17 that he had travelled to Colombia for one week of holidays, because my job is very busy. He went to Pereira for a coffee tour he had seen on the internet, he said, and took a walk in strong rain through Bogota's Bolivar Square, all before he was supposedly kidnapped during a taxi ride to see a popular local bridge. Two men he didnt know, armed with firearms, drove him five hours to a small country house. They locked me in [a] room, then they brought food and fruits I was always in the room until the [police] came and rescued me. Where Jim Mavris was located in Colombia. Credit:Fairfax Media Court documents in Australia tell a different story, contradicting the kidnapping story that he told Colombian and Australian police. Mavris was in fact arrested in Colombia for conspiracy to commit a crime, while in possession of a firearm, according to a criminal notice lodged by the Attorney-Generals Office of Colombia. AFP investigators now believe he attended the abandoned house voluntarily to meet with people regarding the missing cocaine from the March shipping consignment. They also allege his wife was aware that Mr Mavris had travelled ... for a purpose other than a holiday. Police allege that the same day he was picked up by Colombian police, Mavris and his wife discussed Mr Mavris transferring some of this stuff, which was assets, either in the form of funds or property, to [his sister] Gina Mavris and Mrs Mavris before he departed Colombia. The AFP declined comment on any co-operation with Colombian authorities concerning Mavris. With the so-called kidnapping ordeal behind him, Mavris headed for the airport. He had taken his last steps on solid ground as a free man. As he arrived at Sydney Airport shortly after 5pm on May 23, Mavris was apprehended by federal police. Within hours of his arrest authorities visited his wife at their Woolloomooloo apartment, seizing a number of items and interviewing her. In police custody, Mavris was shown the extent of the police brief against him, including video footage of him inspecting the containers of fish. He was charged with importing a commercial quantity of cocaine and faced life in prison. Mavris declined to answer questions about the drugs found in the containers but described his time in Colombia, including the kidnap, drawing locations for the officers of well-known drug locales, including Medellin, Cali (or Santiago de Cali) and Pereira. He admitted to having paid $US40,000 to import each container of fish, but denied any knowledge of the cocaine that had been inside. Shortly after 8.30pm, Mavris told officers he would like to ring his wife. Its the last reference in the court file of the couple speaking with each other. The police interview resumed 15 minutes later. Mavris was remanded in custody ahead of a scheduled bail application in court a week later. But he would be dead in his cell within 48 hours, on Friday, May 25, with police suspecting he took his own life. Included in the police file are details of a conversation Mavris had with a financier, in which he expressed concern about not being able to afford a $3 million loan and the impact on his wife. Id rather die than have her struggling, you know? Ivy League universities such as Harvard and Yale might be difficult for Australian students to get into, but they are nowhere near as difficult as Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music, one of the most selective colleges in the world. But Elizabeth Younan, 24, has defied the odds to become the first Australian woman admitted into Curtis' prestigious postgraduate program for composers. Elizabeth Younan is the first Australian woman to be selected for the most selective music program in the US. Credit:Louie Douvis Ms Younan, who recently completed her Master of Music (Composition) at the Sydney Conservatorium, said she was drawn to Curtis philosophy of encouraging students to use music as a means of communication. I think music is about communication because it has the capability to offer the world joy as we focus not on the man-made boundaries that divide us, but the innate qualities that make us human, Ms Younan said. In a series of text messages supplied to the Crime and Corruption Commission and forwarded to the Queensland Police Service, Senior Constable Punchard advised the man to just tell her you know where she lives and leave it at that. He then tells Robert that Jodie would flip out and "f---ing explode" when she realised her ex, who had a string of domestic violence orders, had her address. Loading In his text messages, Senior Constable Punchard also appears to offer advice to the man in dealing with the Family Court and offered to liaise with other police officers to assist him in any complaints. The police will contact you if they want to speak to you, he told Robert, then you give them my name. That is your get-out-of-jail-free card. "I have completed an email draft to send to the bitch that will hopefully make her shit herself, so I want to go over it with you before I send it to you, another text said. Jodie has been deemed a high-risk aggrieved person because of her ex-husbands violent past, which allows her to liaise directly with a police officer to ensure she is receiving the necessary support. The case has been investigated, Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said. Credit:AAP Call with the Queensland Police Commissioner She told Fairfax she previously discussed the case with Police Commissioner Ian Stewart and asked him why Senior Constable Punchard still had his job. In a recording of their meeting, Mr Stewart is heard to say to the victim: That matter was investigated ... criminally, at which point it was recognised there was not going to be evidence to put that matter before a criminal court. She then asks him if he oversaw that investigation and he responds: There was insufficient evidence to place it before a criminal court. We then took that down our discipline process. After the victim queries the disciplinary process, Mr Stewart is heard to say: I dont understand what is not satisfactory. When contacted by Fairfax Media to clarify his remarks, Mr Stewart said in a statement he took disciplinary matters and the impacts these have on complainants extremely seriously but he did not comment on discussions had during private meetings. In relation to the disciplinary action taken against the officer, Mr Stewart said: Before charging someone with a criminal offence, police must look at all available evidence and take advice on whether it is sufficient to ensure the matter can be brought before a magistrate." It is important to understand that the financial implications of a drop-in pay point are significant; often greater than a sentence that could be imposed by a court. A QPS spokesperson added that they issued a directive to all staff in 2016 about the appropriate use of police information. Members, sworn and unsworn, were warned that breaching the policy would be considered misconduct and may result in criminal charges. But after Robert failed to appear at court on May 19, Jodie said no one from Queensland police contacted her to tell her the outcome or where her ex-husband was, leaving her family in fear for their safety. Where is Robert? When she asked police for an update on the case and her ex-husband's whereabouts, Jodie was told the address was vacant and there was no furniture at the residence. The male police officer told the victim: As far as I can see, it looks like everyone has moved out of that address ... it looks like he hasnt got an address that we know of." According to the report, [police officers] looked inside. It looks vacant, he said. Theres no furniture in the joint or anything, according to the officers who have gone there looking for him. We have no contact phone number for him or anything. But a private investigator, who visited Roberts residence shortly after that conversation, discovered that various tables, outdoor settings and other furniture were still at the property, contradicting claims that there was no furniture. Uber to reach out to Queensland police Jodie also asked the officer if police had contacted Uber for information on his whereabouts given that he had previous convictions and was on the run but was told: [Uber] dont provide any information on any of their drivers thats the issue weve got with them. But Fairfax Medias inquiries established that the company had no record of a request from police for information on whether Robert was an Uber driver. Uber pledges to offer assistance to the Queensland Police Service. Credit:AP In a statement, a spokeswoman for Uber said: Uber is committed to the safety of everyone on the app. This individual is not active and his access has been removed from the app. In light of Fairfax Media's queries, she confirmed Uber would be reaching out to Queensland police to offer assistance on their active investigation. When Jodie asked if there was anything police could do to tell her if Robert was overseas or not, the officer conceded they could contact Australian Border Force but added: Other than that we have to wait until he appears. What could he do to the children? Jodie told Fairfax she was frightened and concerned for her familys safety while Robert remained on the run. I do feel really concerned because he has a firearm and numerous hunting knives, she said. If hes on the run and he thinks hes above the police, what could he do to the children? Jodie said their children had confided in her that he kept his weapons in the car, in case he ever saw her on the street. The children told me he showed them the knives. One was a heavy-duty Rambo-style knife, and he told them Im going to shank your mother with this, and Im going to rip her guts onto the floor', she said. Their school has a safety plan. They shut down the school if they see him and the children are taken to a private room and locked in, and the police are called immediately. The school understands the severity of this. But its always a worry for me every day when the children go to school. Its at the back of my mind that Robert will get to them. A spokesman for Australian Border Force could not comment on the specific case but said: If [Queensland police] wish to prevent an individual from departing Australia, they are able to place an alert to prevent their travel, which would then be enforced by the ABF if that person attempted to depart. When Fairfax contacted the Australian Federal Police to ask if Robert was under surveillance, or had been "flagged" due to the serious nature of his threats to place bombs on his children, a spokesperson said: Threatening to kill children as part of a family dispute is not considered terrorism. Fifteen questions to the Police Minister Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart (left) with Queensland Police Minister Mark Ryan at estimates hearings this week. Credit:AAP Another spokesperson on the AFPs media team refused to answer Fairfaxs specific questions, referring all inquiries back to the Queensland Police Service. Fairfax put 15 questions to Queensland Police Minister Mark Ryans office, which he declined to answer. Mr Ryan did not confirm whether or not he had received a briefing from the Police Commissioner about the case. He also refused to explain what measures are in place to notify a victim if a perpetrator returns to the country, or whose responsibility that would be. He also refused to say if Queensland Police would request ABF to flag Roberts passport in the event he returns to Australia. He declined to say whether he thought Senior Constable Punchards continuing employment was in line with the communitys expectations, how many complaints alleging misuse of QPRIME the QPS were handling, and whether or not he had informed his cabinet colleague, Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence Minister Di Farmer, about the disturbing case. Instead, in a statement, he said: I expect the highest professional standards to be met and maintained by all members of the Queensland Police Service at all times." But for this story, we dont have either. We have two sets of remains and two forensic experts desperate to find out who they are. Dr Dadna Hartman and Dr Soren Blau. Credit:Justin McManus The Sandy Point skeleton The institutes senior anthropologist, Dr Soren Blau, knows a well-preserved skeleton when she sees one. And this one was in extraordinary condition. When someone dies at sea, they dont often remain whole and so body parts often wash up a leg one day, a torso the next rather than a whole body at once. But this was a complete skeleton. There were no fractures, few bones missing, no soft tissue left and not a skerrick of clothing. Virtual reconstruction of skeleton found at Sandy Point. Credit:Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine A snorkeller found him or the remains of a man about 25 metres from the Sandy Point coastline, near Wilsons Promontory, in December 2017. His skull was sitting on the seabed and the rest of his skeleton was covered in more than 20 centimetres of sand. What on earth was this person doing there? asked Dr Blau. Dr Blau, with molecular biologist Dr Dadna Hartman and one of the institutes dental experts, was able to piece together some clues. They know he is a Caucasoid male, although that doesnt narrow it down much, because it means he could be from anywhere from North Africa to Europe or South Asia. He was in his 20s when he died. But he does have something distinctive: some interesting dental work, specifically a gold filling in his front tooth. The skull found at Sandy Point. Credit:Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine The forensic dentist said the dental work is not typical of Australian contemporary dental work," Dr Blau said. She says it was possible the skeleton itself is much older;that it's not someone who has lived in the past 50, 60 or even 70 years. He also had some staining on the back of his skull, which means he was in the one spot for some time, but it's possible he could have died far away, and the tides laid him to rest at Sandy Point. The skull found at Sandy Point. Credit:Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine His skull itself, Dr Blau said, could also tell a story. Using whats called cranial morphology judging someones ancestry by the shape of their head the scientists were told he was closely linked with someone from Italy. But the database they worked from contains no data from other northern Mediterraneans, so its safer to assume he may have originated from somewhere in the general region. Then Dr Hartman extracted an almost complete DNA profile amazing considering the potential for salt water degradation from a part of his bone. But that will only be useful when she can find a match. The lack of clothing is also interesting. Did he have clothes on and they have simply degraded? Or did he take a midnight skinny dip and run into trouble? Again, we have no hypothesis on who this person is or why they should be there, Dr Blau said. The purple scarf Dr Hartman and Dr Blau know this man by just one identifying feature: a purple scarf. This is a desperately sad cold case. The remains were found in 2006 near a tree during clearing for fire control in bush at Ferny Creek, in the Dandenongs. A noose was hanging nearby, wrapped in a purple scarf. Testing confirmed he was a man in his 20s. He was found wearing Country Road pants and socks with sandals. Labels found on the clothing of remains at Ferny Creek. Credit:Victorian Institute of Medicine. Police have no reports of missing people that match him. There were no sightings of anyone going into the bush at the time and he had no personal items on him, except for his purple scarf. Every now and then police would come to Dr Hartman with DNA from a family who was missing their loved one in the hope of finding a match. There were nine targeted inquiries like this and none have come back positive. This, Dr Hartman said, was an example of an instance where a national database for missing people could provide answers. Victoria has its own database and its considered one of the best in the country. It has the DNA profiles of from relatives of the missing, along with dental records and photographs to go along with some of the cases. A national database is close to starting, but scientists still cant easily run their missing people through other state holdings. Clothing found on unidentified remains at Ferny Creek in 2006. Credit:Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine Dr Blau and Dr Hartman said if they had a system that required authorities to collect relatives DNA, dental records and photographs and input these details in a national system, it would help solve cases. We are now on the cusp of being able to do that. Some of these cases will be solved because were now going to be able to compare them to interstate, Dr Hartman said. Judge Hinchey agrees. If there was a national database, with a clear set of standards for all cases to be entered and searchable, then of course, number one, itd be quicker and easier, and number two, all relevant information is captured and these searches can be done in a really timely way for these families, she said. The man with the purple scarf man was entirely identifiable, Dr Hartman said. We wait in the hope that a reference sample from a family is provided, she said. He had still not been identified, after more than a decade. Does his family know he has died? Did they realise he was missing? Do they even care? One assumes he took his own life, but is that what really happened? It is incredibly sad that such a young man ... dies like this. Its terrible, Dr Blau said. Theres something rotten in the state of this countrys politics when fear is the driver of word and deed. Throw fear into a persons mind and it takes root and spreads until it sublimates reason. It clouds judgment. It can direct a persons behaviour towards an outcome that promises the removal of that fear. To increase fears potency, magnify the threat. Do not talk softly, use megaphones and repeat the message: fear lives in Melbourne. Ganging up again to play the race card. Credit:Matt Davidson Some Sudanese young people have been causing trouble. They have been smashing up short-term rentals, being engaged in carjacking, home invasions and the vicious robbery of jewellery stores. This is not mere shoplifting. Victims are being left traumatised. However, Sudanese make up 0.1 per cent of the states population (6000 people). Figures from the Crime Statistics Agency show that Sudanese young people are over-represented in some areas of crime, but the numbers are very small. The top five offenders are Australia (overwhelmingly so), New Zealand, Indian, Vietnamese and then Sudanese. Two people have been arrested and charged after allegedly leading police on a car chase through Perth's northern suburbs that ended in a crash on Sunday. Just after 9.40am on Sunday morning, traffic officers patrolling in Scarborough saw a 2013 red Mazda station sedan on Corbett Street. The woman will appear in court next week. Police believed the car had been stolen, and turned on their lights in an attempt to stop the driver. It's been alleged the car then took off away from police, and travelled through Floreat, Wembley, Leederville and Yokine. Every director-general in the ACT public service is a member of the exclusive Qantas Chairman's Lounge, but the government denies more expensive flights are chosen because of the access. The ACT government has confirmed Kathy Leigh, head of service and director-general of the Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development directorate, was invited to become a member of the Qantas Chairman's Lounge, which operates on an invitation-only basis to leaders in governments and big business across the country. Head of the ACT public service Kathy Leigh requested all directors-general be invited to the Qantas Chairman's Lounge. Credit:Graham Tidy The directors-general of every other directorate are also members of the Chairman's Lounge, after Ms Leigh requested they also be granted membership. Under Treasurer David Nicol; Environment, Sustainability and Planning director General Ben Ponton; Education director general Natalie Howson; Transport Canberra and City Services director General Emma Thomas; Justice and Community Services director General Alison Playford; and ACT Health director general Michael De'Ath are all members of the Qantas Chairman's Lounge. Acting director general for the Community Services directorate, Bernadette Mitcherson, is not a member of the lounge, an ACT government spokeswoman said. Despite the request for membership for one major airline's exclusive club and not the other, the ACT government said this did not mean taxpayers weren't getting value for money. "Airlines chosen for official travel are not based on whether the traveller has memberships for the Qantas Chairmans Lounge or The Club," the ACT government spokeswoman said. According to the ACT's public sector management standards, directors-general are responsible for implementing policies around official government travel for their directorates, with policies varying across each department. However, the separate policies must still be in line with the standards set out in that document. The public sector management standards say the head of service, directors general and executives must choose the "lowest logical fare, economy class" for domestic trips shorter than four hours, and the "lowest logical fare, business class" for domestic trips longer than four hours. "I wanted somewhere that was safe for me and Lauren to go - being able to sleep at night without having to wake up and check on Lauren all the time from being scared someone was going to come and take her," Ms McClellan-Weaver said. The refuge gave Ms McClellan-Weaver a temporary place to stay somewhere permanent was found. During her time at the refuge, Ms McClellan was in debt and didn't have much money. "My friend and I decided to use a box dye to do our hair - I was originally blonde, and my hair turned green," she recalled. "I was so upset and I started crying to my case worker." Ms McClellan-Weaver couldn't afford to get her hair fixed, but her case worker told her about a partnership the refuge had with Kovu Hair in Narrabundah, where women from the refuge were given pamper sessions donated by the salon. That's where she met Kovu Hair co-owner Samantha Harvey. "They sat me down and Sam came over and spoke to me about what I wanted done, and she made me look so beautiful," Ms McClellan-Weaver said. "We had a great chat while she was doing my hair and I told her how I loved hairdressing and she offered me a job then and there but I turned it down because I just didnt think I was good enough to be a hairdresser." When Ms McClellan-Weaver left the salon, she had more confidence and better hair. Kalinda McClellan-Weaver and her 16-month old daughter, Lauren. After almost seven months at the refuge she was offered a permanent place to call home. She completed her year 12 certificate and a hairdressing course. "When I felt I was ready, I messaged Sam to see if she had remembered me and asked if she would take me on as an apprentice," she said. "She remembered me and said 'I'd take you any day of the week'." Ms Harvey, who was once in a similar situation, said she knew how important it was for young mums to socialise. "I myself used to be in a desperate situation with two young children, going through a difficult divorce," Ms Harvey said. "I isolated myself completely, I didn't at the time want to socialise, so going to things like a hair appointment would turn me off because I thought no-one was going to listen." When Ms Harvey started Kovu she wanted to support young mothers. "Belonging is so important, especially when you're a mum, when you're at home and you've got two little children, it's so easy to isolate yourself," Ms Harvey said. "When I saw Kalinda's application for the job I couldn't go past that. "I thought, giving a girl a go that you know so desperately needed that opportunity and had a passion for hairdressing to get back on her feet would change her life." Mining giant BHP has called on Labor to back the government's National Energy Guarantee amid industry fears that Bill Shorten's success in the weekends federal by-elections could scupper the energy reform and lead to deepening uncertainty. The series of wins for the Labor party in the electoral seats of Longman in Queensland, Braddon in Tasmania, and Perth and Fremantle in Western Australia has sparked industry concern that Labor now has the political capital to halt the adoption of the National Energy Guarantee (NEG) by the states. Industry is urging Bill Shorten not to torpedo the National Energy Guarantee as support for Labor rises following federal by-election success. Credit:AAP Labor does not support the policy in its current form and campaigned against it in the recent byelections saying it presents weak carbon emission reduction targets, will do little to curb spiralling energy prices and fails to support renewable energy. But it has also insisted it is willing to work towards a different policy. BHP and the peak body for Australian heavy industry, however, have backed the NEG, stating that it will act as a framework for investment and provides certainty for future energy policy, and called on Labor to support change. Catholic school leaders are considering a national strategy to repeat a critical intervention in the Longman byelection campaign, flexing their muscle as they demand a better school funding deal from the Turnbull government. Catholic education authorities believe their move on Friday to alert 2000 parents to the funding problems helped tip the balance in the Queensland seat, setting a template that could be taken to the general election. Labor leader Bill Shorten with newly elected member for Longman Susan Lamb. Credit:AAP The letter to parents told them Labor was committed to giving Catholic schools nationwide a $250 million funding increase over two years, in addition to increases already set in legislation. This funding will restore to Catholic schools the funding previously forecast and will ensure that fees in Catholic schools remain affordable, said the letter, sent by three school principals in the Longman electorate. When the Coalition launched a series of robocalls in Longman a few days before polls closed, it chose to use Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton to warn that Shorten would not turn back asylum seeker boats. Even Pauline Hansons One Nation embraced the negative strategy, calling in former Labor leader Mark Latham to voice a robocall telling voters that Shorten could not be trusted. National polls show Turnbull has a clear lead over Shorten as preferred prime minister. They also show Turnbull has stronger personal ratings than Shorten when voters are asked whether they approve of each ones performance. The fact that Labor prevailed on Saturday did not mean Shorten was popular it just meant he was popular enough. The policies counted more than the personalities. Whatever was thrown at Shorten and his candidates, Labor gained an edge with its message. It ran hard on cuts to hospitals, cuts to schools, the need for more apprenticeships and support for aged care. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Sunday. Credit:Brook Mitchell Shortens mantra on health, that it should be your Medicare card, not your credit card that determines good healthcare, resonated with the voters Fairfax Media spoke to in Longman. There was an echo of the Mediscare campaign because Labor relied on a dubious calculation to claim the government was cutting $2.9 million to the local hospital. The money going into Caboolture hospital is increasing. Even so, the message to voters was clear: more health funding from Labor and more school funding as well. The government continues to pay for broken election promises. No cuts to health, no cuts to education, said Tony Abbott five years ago. The years since then have seen Turnbull commit billions to both areas to try to erase the memory of the 2014 federal budget. It has not been enough. The totemic policies on the government side did not deliver clear results. One of them, to cut personal income taxes by $144 billion over 10 years, did not dominate the campaign. Another, to cut company taxes, mainly came up when it could be used as a weapon against the Coalition. Loading One logical decision would be to shelve the cuts to companies with more than $50 million if, as seems likely, the Senate rejects them again. Some of the revenue saved from this move could be used to accelerate tax cuts for small companies, sharpening a divide with Labor in a way that could help rally supporters. The Nationals party room may well agitate for this decision if the Liberals do not. One parallel is with John Howards experience as prime minister in 2001, when the government lost a byelection but staged a political recovery to win the general election. Success relied on many things, not least the Tampa affair, but it began with dropping an unpopular policy the indexation of fuel excise. The governments other policy options are more difficult to divine. Short of spending even more money on health and schools, there is no simple way to neutralise the Labor attacks on these two fronts. Turnbull tries to call out the Labor lies but his message to the media is not enough when Shortens claims are put up on billboards and carried to voters by door-to-door volunteers. The contribution of union volunteers should not be forgotten, because the ACTU estimated it had 300 volunteers in Longman by the end of the campaign and a similar number in Braddon. The NSW government has cut over $130 million from TAFE NSW in the form of staffing redundancies and restructuring costs since 2014, Treasury documents show, with a further $8.8 million in cuts budgeted for this year. The figures contrast with the commitment by the NSW government in the June budget to boost TAFE enrolments by funding 100,000 new apprenticeships at vocational institutions over the next four years. The Labor opposition leader Luke Foley accused the state government of having inflicted "savage cuts to staff and courses" since the last election. "It is a deliberate and subversive assault on the career aspirations of hundreds of thousands of young people in this state," Mr Foley said. In defending the cuts, the NSW government said the redundancy savings in the most recent two years which equalled $70 million between 2016 and 2018 were the result of removing duplicate layers of back office administration and management as part of the One TAFE reforms. London: The United Kingdom's political system cannot cope with the threats from fake news, according to a panel of British MPs investigating the effect of social media on recent elections. UK authorities have been looking for signs of Russian meddling in the 2016 Brexit referendum after reports that Kremlin-backed groups used social media to influence elections and sow discord in the US and other countries. Led by Damian Collins, chairman of the House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, the investigation has involved countless hearings with representatives from both sides of the Brexit referendum and major tech companies including Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet's YouTube. Beirut: The Syrian government has begun updating the records of tens of thousands of activists who disappeared during the early stages of its seven-year civil war, in the first tacit admission that many of them died while held by the regime. Families who have spent years awaiting answers over loved ones are now streaming into civil registry offices to collect the final official recognition of an estimated 13,000 deaths in detention. A poster of President Bashar al-Assad with Arabic that reads, "Leader of the victory," hangs on a street at Omayyid Square, Syria. Credit:AP Experts believe Russia has pushed Bashar al-Assad's government to draw a line under the deaths as a first step to possible "reconciliation", which a war-weary Moscow is eager to bring about. The 400 certificates issued so far have mostly recorded verdicts of heart attacks or strokes, but relatives suspect detainees were probably tortured to death or hanged without trial. None have had the bodies of loved ones returned or been told where they can find them. Amnesty International has described the Sednaya prison, outside Damascus, as a "human slaughterhouse", where detainees have been killed on an industrial scale. In a report released last year the civil rights group said at least 13,000 people had been executed in secret. Auto News You May Not Know, Week Ending July 29, 2018 Compiled By Larry Nutson AUTO CENTRAL, CHICAGO - July 29, 2018; Each Sunday Larry Nutson, Senior Editor and Chicago Car Guy along with fellow senior editors Steve Purdy and Thom Cannell from The Auto Channel Michigan Bureau, give you The Auto Channel's "take" on this past week's automotive news, in easy to "catch up" with news nuggets. For More search the past 25 year's millions of (Indexed By Google) pages of automotive news, automotive stories, articles, reviews, archived news residing in The Auto Channel Automotive News Library. TV viewers, you can now enjoy The Auto Channel TV Network On Amazon TV, Google TV, HULU, ROKU and "Free and Clear" on WHDT in Boston and South Florida as well as local cable systems. The Auto Channel Automotive News Digest Week Ending July 29, 2018 Executive Editor Larry Nutson * Dominating the automotive news scene this week was the untimely passing of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' CEO, Sergio Marchionne, who some call a miracle worker. He died at age 66 the result of an embolism after cancer surgery on his shoulder. For one of the best obits on Mr. Marchionne, see this story from our colleague Mark Phelan of the Detroit Free Press. One of Marchionnes most significant achievements was saving Chrysler from going belly up during the Great Recession of 2009. * Shortly before Marchionnes death, when he was in an irreversible coma, he was replaced as CEO of FCA by Mike Manley who had been head of the profitable Jeep and Ram brands. He had previously been in charge of product planning. He is expected to share leadership, according to Automotive News Europe reporting. Marchionne was scheduled to retire in April of 2019. * The Detroit Auto Show, aka the North American International Auto Show, is changing its dates to June starting in 2020. After over year of quiet planning and several months of intense discussions with more than 250 stakeholders the Detroit Auto Dealers Association made the change. Its a total relaunch of one of southeast Michigans signature events, a new approach that DADA hopes will keep the show relevant in the face of rising competition and social media outlets. * In what the EU chief called a "major concession," U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to refrain from imposing car tariffs while the two sides launch negotiations to cut other trade barriers, easing the threat of a transatlantic trade war. So it appears a truce, at least for now, has been agreed to with the goal to stop any increase in tariffs on automobiles which could lead to an out-and-out trade war. Along with the EU, the U.S. car industry is also against the tariffs. Automakers, suppliers and dealers argue that tariffs would drive up car prices for U.S. consumers. Tariffs would also cost American jobs impacting those who work for the over 300 plants in the U.S. owned by EU-based auto companies. * The Trump administration is taking steps to revoke California's authority...a waiver, to regulate auto emissions. California is expected to take this to court to protect its 48-year old ability to regulate tailpipe emissions. Also involved are the 2025 fuel economy requirements which Trump wants to roll back and that will ultimately impact the need for EVs. The proposal would curb Obama administration rules intended to mitigate the production of greenhouse gasses due to automobile emissions. The same proposal would curb federal fuel mileage standards. Approval of this roll-back of standards would certainly start lengthy court battles, say pundits.California and 16 other states as well as DC filed a lawsuit on May 2 to block this action. * Ford Motor Company announced it has created Ford Autonomous Vehicles LLC, a new organization charged with accelerating its AV business to capitalize on market opportunities. Ford Autonomous Vehicles LLC will include Fords self-driving systems integration, autonomous vehicle research and advanced engineering, AV transportation-as-a-service network development, user experience, business strategy and business development teams. The new LLC, which is structured to take on third party investment, will be primarily based at Fords Corktown campus in Detroit and will hold Fords ownership stake in Argo AI, the companys Pittsburgh-based partner for self-driving system development. Ford expects to invest $4 billion in its AV efforts through 2023, including its $1 billion investment in Argo AI. * GM has launched a new peer-to-peer car sharing program through its Maven mobility brand. It's an Airbnb for cars. The "Peer Cars" beta program allows owners and eligible lessees to rent their 2015 and newer Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac cars and trucks to Maven users for cash. The pilot is currently being offered in Chicago, Detroit and Ann Arbormain hubs for Maven, which operates in 17 cities in the U.S. and Canada and already has 150,000 members. * Results of J.D. Power's 2018 Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) study are out and were again dominated by luxury brands. Genesis, new in the top spot, was followed by Porsche, BMW, Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Volvo, Cadillac, Land Rover and Lexus. Mitsubishi, Dodge, Jeep, GMC and Toyota posted the biggest improvements. Chevrolet and GMC tied for top-ranked nonluxury brand. The six brands ranked at the bottom this year were Mitsubishi, Mazda, Jeep, Subaru, Nissan and Hyundai. * Worthy of note is that the 2018 Lincoln Navigator has been ranked by customers as the most appealing vehicle in the entire industry, marking the first time an American vehicle has ever dominated the J.D. Power Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) study. * The Automotive Heritage Awards were presented this weekend at the Concours dElegance of America at St. Johns, Plymouth, Michigan, one of the most prestigious classic and collector car shows in the country. Under the AHA will be four separate awards programs, Future Collectible Vehicle of the Year, Concept Vehicle of the year, 10 categories of Automotive Heritage Journalism and, most important according to organizers, the AHA Lifetime Achievement Award. That one goes to long-time Road & Track columnist, Peter Egan. For all the results go to: www.autoheritageawards.com. Two American cyclists and two others were killed in the Central Asian country of Tajikistan on Sunday when a car hit them before fleeing the scene, reports said. (Google Maps) 2 American Cyclists Among 4 Killed in Hit-and-Run in Tajikistan Four cyclists, including two Americans, were killed in the Central Asian country of Tajikistan on Sunday when a car hit them before fleeing the scene, reports said. Three foreigners were killed at the scene and another died in hospital, said the Tajikistan interior ministry, as quoted by the news agency, AFP. Two Americans among four tourists killed in a hit-and-run accident during a bike tour in Tajikistan https://t.co/2PgVZ68sj9 pic.twitter.com/q1GcTBQwK0 Siglov Freudivan (@DerangedRadio) July 29, 2018 The nationalities of the two other cyclists are not clear. Three others cyclists sustained minor injuries, the ministry stated to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. A 21-year-old man was detained in connection with the alleged hit-and-run, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. AFP, citing officials in Tajikistan, said that two other suspects in the incident were killed. One person has been arrested, two others resisted arrest and have been killed, the interior ministry said, without elaborating. Four foreign cyclists, including two Americans, have been killed in southern Tajikistan after being hit by a car that fled the scene afterward. https://t.co/gJ0TqZwd7e pic.twitter.com/ThmBg8337W RFE/RL (@RFERL) July 29, 2018 Due to privacy concerns, we are unable to share further details. Our condolences go out to the victims families, and we will continue to work with Tajik authorities in the ongoing investigation, the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe said in a statement. The accident took place in Danghara, 93 miles south of Dushanbe, the capital of the country. Tajikistan, a landlocked country, is bordered by Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, China, and Uzbekistan. It has been ruled for 26 years by President Emomali Rahmon, who was a Communist Party official when the country was part of the Soviet Union. The U.S. Department of State has described Tajikistan as an authoritarian state, and political life is dominated by President Emomali Rahmon and his supporters, saying that the government has a poor human rights record. 3 Children, 1 Adult Shot in Chicago During Single Incident: Reports Three kids and one man were shot on Friday night in the Chicago neighborhood of Lawndale, the Chicago Tribune reported, after two people opened fire at a group of people gathered on a street. A 12-year-old boy who was shot in the head was listed in critical condition, and a 10-year-old girl who was shot in the shoulder is in good condition, the Tribune reported. An 11-year-old boy was shot in the ankle. A 20-year-old man was shot in the hip and hands, and he was stabilized at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to the report. Family members were seen gathering outside Stroger Hospital after the shooting, ABC7 reported. No one is in custody. The Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times both reported that on Friday and Saturday, five people were killed and 13 were injured in shootings across the city, including the Lawndale incident. The last fatal shooting during the 24-hour period took place in Chicagos Back of the Yards neighborhood on the South Side at around 11:55 p.m. on Saturday, according to the Sun-Times. A 24-year-old man was standing outside on South Marshfield Avenue when someone came up to him and opened fire, said police. A man was shot and killed 30 minutes earlier on the Near West Side. Police found a 42-year-old man lying on the sidewalk with a gunshot wound to his head, police said. On Friday, a 25-year-old man, later identified as Brian P. Mosely, was shot and killed in the Rosland neighborhood on the Far South Side, said police. As of July 24, 1,607 people have been shot in Chicago in 2018519 fewer than 2017, according to the Tribunes figures. Austin Government Report on Confederate Monuments Proposes Renaming City A new report by a Texas government office has recommended city officials consider renaming the city of Austin amid a movement to take down Confederate statues. The report, released by the Austin Equity Office, also suggests renaming a number of streets, markers, and parks that honor the Confederacy. The city of Austin was named after Stephen Austin, who is known as the father of Texas. According to the Austin American-Statesman, Austin opposed an attempt by Mexico to ban slavery in the then-province of Tejas. Austin said that if slaves were freed, they would turn into vagabonds, a nuisance, and a menace. The report lists a number of streets and places to rename, including the Bouldin Creek neighborhood, the Barton Springs pool and bathhouse, and 10 streets named after William Barton, a slave owner who was known as the Daniel Boone of Texas, according to the Texas State Historical Association. The Austin City Council already authorized the renaming of two streets, one from Robert E. Lee Road to Azie Morton Road, honoring the first and only African-American to serve as U.S. Treasurer; as well as Jeff Davis Avenue to William Holland Avenue. [The] Equity Office recommends Council take immediate action to rename streets that were identified in the list for Assets Slated for Initial Review, the memo reads. Confederate Name Changes by CBS Austin Webteam on Scribd Other names of streets and places are designated for secondary review, including the city itself. City spokesman Andy Tate told Austin Business Journal said that the citys name wasnt recommended for removal or renaming, but for further review and analysis. The report authors note that the decisions already made were controversial, asking, Whats next and where do we stop? Any renamings of roads require public hearings and legislative action from the city council. Though the cost to the public is low, typically primarily for replacing street signs, homeowners and business owners have complained as they have to change their addresses. According to the American-Statesman, a majority opposed the authorized renaming of the two streets. A change to the name of the city would require an election, the media outlet stated, since Austin would have to be struck from the city charter and replaced. The authors also said that societal values are different today than they were when statues were erected and streets were named. It is also important to acknowledge that nearly all monuments to the Confederacy and its leaders were erected without a true democratic process. People of color often had no voice and no opportunity to raise concerns about the citys decision to honor Confederate leaders, they wrote. The movement has prompted a number of cities to remove statues commemorating Confederate leaders and streets named after Confederates. According to a running list kept by Fox News, more than 30 cities across the United States have removed or relocated Confederate statues and monuments, including Annapolis, MD; New York City; and multiple cities in Florida. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) speaks a hearing of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China regarding the human rights crisis in Xinjiang, China, on July 26, 2018 in Washington. (Jennifer Zeng/Epoch Times) Congressional Hearing: US Tech Giants Fueling Emerging Xinjiang Human Rights Disaster WASHINGTONU.S. companies came under sharp criticism for helping the Chinese Communist Party build surveillance infrastructure used for the detention of hundreds of thousands in concentration camps in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, at a hearing of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. An expert said the repression in Xinjiang likely includes mass, forced organ harvesting from Uyghurs. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said at the July 26 hearing: Its hypocritical for American corporations and multinationals doing business in China, who are fully prepared to boycott American cities and American communities because they dont like things that are happening here, to be okay to turn a blind eye to whats happening and not criticize the government of China and the Communist Party because they dont want to jeopardize their ability to sell products in that country. Its an outrage. Its an embarrassment. Rubio called out two companies: Google and Thermo Fisher Scientific. [Google] doesnt want to give AI technology to the [U.S.] military because, God forbid, we may use it some day to target a terrorist or someone who wants to harm America. But [Google] has no problem opening up a center of AI in China, knowing full well how anything you do in Chinaif its a benefit to the military, theyre going to use it; if its a benefit to the security services, theyre going to use it. Thermo Fisher Scientific is an American company supplying DNA sequencing equipment to Xinjiang police. According to Dr. Enver Tohti, a former surgeon from Xinjiang and head of the Uyghur Association in England, starting in June of 2016 the Chinese authorities began a physical exam project in which they conducted large-scale blood testing of 15-20 million Uyghurs living in Xinjiang. Rian Thum, associate professor at Loyola University, and a witness at the hearing, described the situation in Xinjiang as an emergency that calls for immediate action. Witnesses at the hearing testified to the existence of political reeducation centers or camps throughout Xinjiang where upwards of 800,000 to 1 million people are held and subjected to torture, medical neglect and maltreatment, solitary confinement, sleep deprivation, and other forms of abuse resulting in the death of some detainees. At the hearing, U.S. Representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council Kelley Currie admitted, The United States is deeply troubled by the Chinese governments crackdown on Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other Muslims in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, but complained that the United States has little support in the United Nations. We are relatively alone in this, as the CCP have been using all means to undermine U.S. efforts. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) said that the Global Magnitsky Act should be looked at as one of the tools to tackle the problem. He cited the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004, which he authored. Lukashenko, the dictator in Belarus, was sanctioned, along with about 200 other people. Smith described the Magnitsky Act as a tool of surpassing capabilities, and said that the United States should ask its embassy in Beijing to give us the names of who is responsible for this horrific carnage being imposed upon the Muslim Uyghurs. Ethan Gutmann, author of The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting, and Chinas Secret Solution to Its Dissident Problem and an investigative journalist who has spent more than a decade investigating live organ harvesting in China, spoke about the significance of the mass blood testing taking place in Xinjiang. He did not take part in the hearing, but commented by email on the situation in Xinjiang. He said, History appears to be repeating itself. For the years 2000 to 2008, I postulated that 450,000 to a million Falun Gong were incarcerated in the Laogai System at any given time. Now, the Congressional Executive Commission on China has confirmed that half a million to a million Uyghurs are presently incarcerated in re-education camps, or transformation facilities at any given time. And as anyone who has studied the Falun Gong closely will know, the tragedy lies behind these numbers. In Gutmanns book The Slaughter he makes the case that Falun Gong practitioners have been subjected to systematic forced organ harvesting, with their organs used in Chinas transplantation industry. Scholars have recently characterized that organ harvesting as a cold genocideone taking place slowly over time. Uyghur detainees have been reporting suspicious medical tests for two decades, Gutmann said. And the blood and DNA testing of the population was followed by the mass detention of Uyghurs. Now, there may be several uses for the DNA samples, including surveillance (of healththe Chinese official explanation). But the blood tests? Thats compatible with tissue matching for organ transplant. One more number: The Chinese Communist Party is building nine crematoriums in Xinjiang. The first one, near Urumqi, just became operational. And the Chinese are not hiring two or three security guards, as most crematoriums would. They are hiring 50. This is what a human rights catastrophe looks like. The signs are unmistakable. Driver Arrested and Charged With Attempted Murder After Road Rage Brawl Caught on Camera A New York City driver captured on video attacking another driver with a box cutter has been arrested and charged with attempted murder. Kevin McClean confronted a driver who he believed cut him off in the Greenpoint neighborhood of the Brooklyn Borough on Tuesday afternoon, police officers told the New York Post. Footage captured of the altercation shows McClean, 46, swinging the boxcutter as he attacks the driver of a Toyota after both men exited their vehicles. McClean then steals the other mans keys and hops into his car after about 30 seconds. As the other man reaches through the driver side window to try to grab his keys, McClean drives off. As McClean drives off, he swerves into the unidentified second driver, who is sandwiched between the moving car and a parked van, before being thrown over the hoods of both vehicles, losing his shoes in the process. Despite what appears to be a severe collision, he suffered only cuts and a bruised hip, officers said. McClean was charged with attempted murder, first-degree robbery, assault, first-degree reckless endangerment, second-degree menacing, and leaving the scene of an accident. Pix11 reported the victim was a 24-year-old livery cab driver who claimed he was cut off himself by McClean, who was driving a white Hyundai with Florida plates. McClean appeared before a judge on Friday and is being held on $100,000 bail, reported ABC. From NTD.tv Watch Next: How Doctors in China Turn into Murderers Former Chinese surgeon Enver Tohti said he was turned into a killing robot while thinking he was working for a great cause. 5 Dead as California Wildfire Consumes More Homes REDDING, Calif.The death toll from a Northern California wildfire rose to five with the discovery of human remains believed to be those of a missing elderly woman and her two great-grandchildren, even as fire crews battled on to quell flames that have devastated entire neighborhoods. More than 38,000 people remained under evacuation orders on Sunday in and around the city of Redding, about 160 miles north of the state capital Sacramento, from a blaze that has destroyed more than 500 buildings and continued to rage largely unchecked into a seventh day. The Carr Fire, the deadliest and most destructive of nearly 90 wildfires burning from Texas to Oregon, has charred 89,194 acres of drought-parched vegetation since erupting last Monday. More than 5,012 structures were threatened by the fire, officials said. The flames destroyed 517 structures and damaged 135. The weather on Sunday is expected to offer no relief for firefighters as it will hit more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit with low humidity and gusty winds, the National Weather Service said. An army of some 3,500 firefighting personnel and a squadron of 17 water-dropping helicopters had managed to carve buffer lines around just 5 percent of the fires perimeter as of Sunday. Fire officials say the erratic behavior of the blaze, stoked by high winds and triple-digit temperatures, has complicated efforts to contain the conflagration. President Donald Trump on Saturday declared the fire an emergency, authorizing federal funds for disaster relief efforts. At the height of its fury on Thursday night, the fire was whipped into a storm-like frenzy by gale-force winds that drove flames across the Sacramento River into the western end of Redding, as thousands of residents fled for their lives in a chaotic evacuation. The nearby town of Keswick, with a population of about 450, was reduced to cinders, and two firefighters were killed. On Saturday, Redding police said they were searching for 17 people still unaccounted for two days afterward. Fire-Ravaged Home Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko later confirmed the discovery of three bodies at a fire-ravaged home on the outskirts of Redding. Bosenko said they had not yet been positively identified but were believed to be remains of three victims identified by relatives in news media reports as 4-year-old James Roberts, his 5-year-old sister Emily and their great-grandmother, Melody Bledsoe, 70. The Los Angeles Times reported that Bledsoes family said she desperately put a wet blanket over the children as their home burned. The childrens mother, Sherry Bledsoe, was quoted by the Sacramento Bee as saying, My kids are deceased, thats all I can say, as she left the sheriffs office on Saturday. According to the newspapers account, Melody Bledsoes husband, Ed Bledsoe, wept as he recalled trying to get back to the familys house after he had left to run an errand on Thursday, only to learn that the fire was closing in on them. He told the newspaper that he spoke to the children on the phone as he raced in vain to return in time to save them. I talked to them until the fire got them, he was quoted as saying. I was trying to get to them, I was trying to get to the fire. So far this year, wildfires have scorched almost 4.3 million acres across the country, less than last year but still higher than the 3.7 million-acre average for the same period over the last decade. California has been particularly hard hit with several fierce blazes menacing large populated areas. One of those, the Cranston fire, prompted a rare closure of much of Yosemite National Park last week, while another forced mass evacuations from the mountain resort community of Idyllwild, east of Los Angeles. By Alexandria Sage A soldier carries an elderly woman as the evacuation of flood victims continues in Laos on July 27, 2018. (Reuters) Laos Continues to Evacuate Thousands of Flood Victims to Safety Laos military and rescue workers from neighboring Thailand on Saturday continued to evacuate more than 3,000 flood victims from the hardest hit villages south of a dam collapse in Attapeu Province, Laotian television reported. Most of the evacuees are from the worst-hit villages in Sanam Xai town on the Se Kong riverbank. The Laotian government has still not released a casualty update after stating earlier this week that 131 people were missing, and more than 3,000 rendered homeless. Ive Never Seen Anything Like This The first warning came at 4:00 p.m., one hour later the water started to flow through the village, and by late evening it was a torrent. Inpon Sivatan was at home on Monday afternoon when the village chief knocked on his door to warn that their remote hamlet on the southern tip of Laos was about to be flooded. The water came really fast. It just rushed through the village, said Inpon, 55, as he tidied his house in Khokong, one of seven villages that was all but obliterated when a nearby hydropower dam collapsed on Monday, sending a wall of water crashing across mountains, jungle, and rural communities. Ive lived here for 32 years and Ive never seen anything like this, Inpon said. A medical official in a nearby settlement, who asked not to be named, said locals received an alert about three to four hours before the dam burst but few took it seriously and did not expect the water to rise as high as it did. The Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy Power Company, a hydropower project that involves Laotian, Thai, and South Korean firms, on Monday told local officials in a letter written in English that one of its subsidiary dams was unsafe and had started to overflow, and requested that they inform downstream villages. It was not clear what time the letter, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, was delivered. At 8:00 p.m., according to state media, Saddle Dam Dpart of a network of two main dams and five subsidiary damsfailed, and the deluge began. The scale of the disaster in the southern province of Attapeu was still unclear on Friday, in part because of the inaccessibility of the area but also because reports from the isolated and poverty-stricken countrys state media have been scant, sketchy, and sometimes inconsistent. But in Khokong, the scale of the damage was palpable. Every inch of this sleepy farming community was covered in a swamp of viscous, burnt-orange mud. A dead baby water buffalo lay with its head buried in the thick clay. Dogs still trapped in wooden stilt houses howled for their owners. I lost everything, said Inpon, who tried in vain to rescue his car by driving it to the highest point in the villagea nearby gas station. There was not enough time to get out. My pigs, my crops. My house is ruined. Rag-tag Armada of Boats The unstoppable force of the water released from the dam devastated the meager road between Khokong and its nearest big town, Attapeu, complicating rescue efforts to bring food and water across dangerous, muddied, roads and the search for trapped survivors. The Lao army has set up checkpoints to filter the deluge of well-wishing volunteers who have driven overland from other parts of Laos and from neighboring Thailand into the secretive communist country. Some of those volunteers have donated a rag-tag armada of wooden fishing boats, jet-skis, and inflatable banana boats to navigate the sea of mud so rescuers can ferry drinking water to villages like Khokong. As Inpon fruitlessly mopped the porch of his waterlogged house, a young family evacuated their stilt home in the rain. Outside, two young girls used a broken oar to steer mud-sodden mattresses like rafts. Initial reports had suggested the death toll from the burst dam could climb to several hundred, and on Wednesday the Vientiane Times reported some 3,000 people were still waiting to be rescued from swirling floodwaters, many of them in trees and on the rooftops of submerged houses. But official media reported on Thursday said that 27 people were confirmed dead, 131 were missing, and all those who were stranded had been plucked to safety. On Friday, the Vientiane Times reported that the official death toll had risen to four. I heard some people died but I havent seen any bodies, said Inpon. I just stayed with my house. Nunes: Americans Will Be Shocked By Info Hidden Beneath FISA Redactions House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes believes that Americans will be shocked to discover the information beneath the redactions in the recently-declassified secret court documents which the FBI used in 2016 and 2017 to spy on former Trump presidential campaign volunteer Carter Page. Nunes made the remarks in a Fox Sunday Futures interview aired on July 29, days after the Justice Department released 412 heavily redacted pages of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) applications and warrants used to surveil Page, an American citizen, over the course of a year. The release of the documents confirmed that the bulk of the application to surveil Page relied upon an unverified opposition research dossier on then-candidate Donald Trump paid for by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee. The documents also revealed that the FBI failed to disclose to the court who funded the dossier. Nunes and the Republicans on the intelligence committee sent a letter to President Donald Trump on June 14 asking to declassify 20 pages of the FISC documents. The Justice Department declassified the documents more than a month later, but the document trove is still heavily redacted. Nunes claims that bombshells lie beneath. If people think using the Clinton dirt to get a FISA is bad, what else thats in that application is even worse, Nunes told The Wall Street Journal. Asked whether Trump is considering the committees request, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said on July 23 that Trump chose to remain uninvolved in the investigation. He said repeatedly that he wants the Department of Justice to be fully transparent with these requests from Congress, and hes going to continue, at this point, to remain uninvolved, Sanders said. However, he sees more and more, every single day, that this is proving further and further to be a total witch hunt, particularly because it was based on a false and unverified and discredited dossier, she added. Page has not been charged with any crime after a year surveillance. He disputed the claims in the FISC documents which paint him as a Russian agent. A group of 11 house lawmakers sent a criminal referral to investigate the officials involved in signing the warrant applications, including Comey, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, and former Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente. The lawmakers accuse the officials of depriving Page of his civil rights and of investigative misconduct. The FBI officially started the counterintelligence probe of the Trump campaign on July 31, 2016. The House Intelligence Committees investigation also revealed that the bureau ran informants against the campaign prior to that date. The counterintelligence probe was converted into a criminal investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller after Trump fired then-FBI Director James Comey in May last year. Mueller was tasked with investigating allegations of collusion between Trump campaign associates and Russia. After more than a year, the special counsel hasnt produced any indictments or evidence of the collusion claims. Trump has repeatedly called Muellers investigation a witch hunt. There is No Collusion! The Robert Mueller Rigged Witch Hunt, headed now by 17 (increased from 13, including an Obama White House lawyer) Angry Democrats, was started by a fraudulent Dossier, paid for by Crooked Hillary and the DNC, Trump wrote on Twitter on July 29. Therefore, the Witch Hunt is an illegal Scam! There is No Collusion! The Robert Mueller Rigged Witch Hunt, headed now by 17 (increased from 13, including an Obama White House lawyer) Angry Democrats, was started by a fraudulent Dossier, paid for by Crooked Hillary and the DNC. Therefore, the Witch Hunt is an illegal Scam! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018 Peter Strzok, the lead agent in the FBIs Trump counterintelligence probe was also briefly part of Muellers team. The special counsel removed Strzok after seeing text messages between Strzok and his mistress at the FBI, Lisa Page. Strzok expressed bias against Trump and in favor of Clinton while conducting the investigation. Strzok said that he will stop Trump from becoming president, believed that Clinton should win 100,000,000 to 0, discussed an insurance policy in case Trump won, and mused about impeachment days after joining Muellers team. Former mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani speaks at the Conference on Iran in Washington on May 5, 2018. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images) Rudy Giuliani Says Former Trump Lawyer Michael Cohens Credibility Is Destroyed Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, an attorney of President Donald Trump, took shots at former President Trump lawyer Michael Cohens credibility, describing him as a pathological manipulator and liar. We have complained to Cohens lawyers that hes violated the attorney-client privilege, publicly and privately, Giuliani told ABC News on Saturday. Cohen, he said, is in grave danger of being disbarred. Heres what happened: I found out, as everyone did, that he was surreptitiously recording his clients, which is a disbarrable offense, Giuliani also told Fox News on Sunday. Obviously, if I knew that I never would have said he was a reputable lawyer, Id have said he was a scoundrel. By recording his then-client, Trump, Cohen destroyed himself as a witness in federal investigations. His comments come in light of reports that he could cooperate with federal prosecutors. Ive prosecuted 5,000 cases. Id never prosecute a case on this guys testimony, Giuliani added. Hes contradicted himself so many times, youd begin the cross-examination by saying which lies are you going to tell us today, Michael?' Audio recordings seized from Cohen by the FBI during an April raid were handed over to federal prosecutors, according to reports at the time. Giuliani, in a separate interview with Fox News on Saturday, said the secretly recorded tape was played with. Since we dont have the original, we asked for it, the former NYC mayor added. Our expert analysis is done until we get the raw copy, which we are seeking. On Sunday morning, Trump resurfaced an old tweet from Cohen in 2017 that showed him praising Donald Trump Jr. for his transparency regarding a meeting with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower. Do you think the Fake News Media will ever report on this tweet from Michael? the president questioned. So proud of @DonaldJTrumpJr for being open, honest and transparent to the American people. This nonsense needs to stop! Cohen, who was Trumps lawyer at the time, wrote on July 11, 2017, which is the same day Trump Jr. shared emails about the meeting ahead of a New York Times report that was in the works. And on Friday, Trump wrote that Cohen is trying to make up stories in order to get himself out of an unrelated jam (Taxi cabs maybe?), adding that he even retained Bill and Crooked Hillarys lawyer, Lanny Davis. Gee, I wonder if they helped him make the choice! he added. Before, Trump blasted his former attorney for the secret recordings, suggesting that doing so might have been illegal. Former city comptroller John Liu attends The New York City Mayoral Forum on Cultural Sensitivity & Tolerance at the Museum of Tolerance on August 14, 2013 in New York City. (Taylor Hill/Getty Images) Senator Avellas Campaign Asks Officials to Investigate John Liu for Campaign Finance Violations NEW YORKThe re-election campaign committee for New York state Sen. Tony Avella, a Democrat, released a letter on June 26, asking officials to immediately investigate Democrat John Liu for campaign finance violations, recalling a similar case involving Liu from 2013. Liu, the scandal-ridden former New York City comptroller and council member, is running to unseat Avella, the senator for the states 11th district, who beat him in 2014. The political committee No IDC NY, spent a total of $11,693 on Lius behalf, according to a recent financial disclosure report. The money was used to provide petition services for Lius current election campaign. At issue is that the committees spending exceeds the primary limit contribution of $7,000, and any future donations will continue to violate the limits. Lius campaign also missed the deadline on July 16 to file its financial-disclosure statement with the New York State Board of Elections. It eventually filed the report 10 days later. Lius former campaign committees, Friends of John Liu and People for John Liu, also failed to file financial disclosure reports, despite the accounts being active, the letter alleges. According to the New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) website, any candidate who fails to comply with disclosure statement requirements may be subject to financial penalties. Avellas campaign committee called on the State Board of Elections and the Attorney Generals Office to investigate Liu for possible election law violations. The public has a right to know what scandal-ridden John Liu has spent this reporting period and whether he has made any other campaign expenditures, said Avella campaign spokesperson Jeff Frediani. Frediani said the investigation was warranted given the sordid history of Lius campaign breaking the law. In 2013, Liu was running for mayor but lost in the primaries after two of his top aides were sentenced for campaign finance corruptions that left his account dry. His campaign treasurer Jia Jenny Hou, and a fundraiser, Xing Wu Oliver Pan, were found guilty of using straw donors to illegally funnel contributions. Pan was sentenced to four months in jail and three years under supervision for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and attempting to commit wire fraud. Hou was sentenced to 10 months in jail and three years under supervision for the same charges, in addition to making false statements, and obstructing justice. Aside from the funding schemes, Lius aides also had ties to organized crime and Chinas communist regime. Pan, a businessman, was executive vice chairman of the Fukien American Association which is affiliated with the Fuk Ching gang, known for its involvement in human trafficking, extortion, and protection rackets, according to a report Chinese Transnational Organized Crime: The Fuk Ching by James O. Finckenauer at the National Institute for Justice. The Fukien American Association is also one of the main organizations in Chinatown that organizes events for visiting officials of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Lius dealings with the association continued in his 2013 mayoral campaign through Pan. Westerners dont know the CCPs tricks, Zhang Guowei, chairman of the Republic of China Central Military School U.S. Alumni Association, told The Epoch Times in 2014. If a pro-CCP person becomes a mayor or even a congressman, he would support issues that are favorable to the CCP. What would you do then? Last year, Liu was fined $26,000 by the CFB in relation to the straw donor scheme. In 2013, a federal investigation into Liu, himself, found no ties of fraud, but the special agent involved said he could have found evidence of higher corruption had the undercover operation not been prematurely shut down, according to The New York Times. The undercover operation could have gone on further, special agent John Chiue said. Chiue also sent an email to a colleague, saying, Everything points to the next level. Lius mayoral campaign was also found to have purchased print advertisements in Chinese newspapers for companies that donated to them, as a way of saying thank you. Another one of Lius aides, Sharon Lee, admitted to the scheme before the court in 2013. In the midst of the trial, witnesses from Chinese businesses confirmed they received print ads from Lius campaign after donating, and email records backed up the claims. In a Sept. 8, 2011, email shown to the court, Hou told a businessman that the Liu campaign would be publishing ads for his company in all major Chinese newspapers. The scheme fits in between a discussion with Pan and an undercover FBI agent, which was captured on July 27, 2011, by a hidden video camera. Pan tells the agent that Liu called him to make a strategy to help raise $4 million to $5 million for his mayoral campaign. I say, John, actually quite easy, people donate, we give something in return, Pan says in a transcript. FILE PHOTO: President-elect Donald Trump waves to the crowd after leaving a meeting at the New York Times on November 22, 2016 in New York. (Timothy Clary/AFP/Getty Images) Trump Meets With Times Publisher to Discuss Fake News President Donald Trump revealed on July 29 that he met with New York Times Publisher A.G. Sulzberger earlier this month to discuss the vast amounts of fake news being put out by the media. Had a very good and interesting meeting at the White House with A.G. Sulzberger, Publisher of the New York Times, Trump wrote on Twitter on July 29. Spent much time talking about the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, Enemy of the People. Sad! According to a statement from Sulzberger, the White House invited him to meet with Trump. He said such off-the-record meetings are not unusual and that previous presidents with concerns about media coverage have done the same. The publisher met with the president on July 20 and the meeting remained off the record until July 29. Sulzberger said that he accepted the meeting to express his concern with the presidents deeply troubling anti-press rhetoric. I told the president that his language was not just divisive but increasingly dangerous, Sulzberger said. I told him that though the phrase fake news is untrue and harmful, I am far more concerned about him labeling journalists the enemy of the people. I warned that this inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence. The New York Times endorsed Hillary Clinton for president in 2016 and, on Election Day, predicted the likelihood of Clinton winning was 85 percent. The New York Times is frequently mentioned when Trump lists fake news media, along with The Washington Post, CNN, and others. In the first four months of 2018, coverage of Trump by ABC, CBS, and NBC was 90 percent negative, according to a report by the Media Research Center. There has been little change in the tone of media outlets coverage, despite progress made on trade deals, a record-low unemployment rate, a booming economy, and Trumps historic steps toward denuclearizing North Korea. While Sulzberger has claimed that Trumps rhetoric will lead to violence against journalists, no recent incidents of that nature occurring in the United States have been widely reported. Conversely, the negative perception of the Trump administration, which the White House believes is created in large part by major media outlets, has led to more than 500 incidents of harassment or violence against Trump supporters and members of the Trump administration, as documented by Breitbart. Watch Next: President Donald Trumps Message to Family Members of the Fallen President Donald Trump paid a Memorial Day tribute at Arlington National Cemetery on May 28. Dozens of people flee into the sea to escape wildfires sweeping through the Greek resort of Mati, on July 23, 2018. (Elia Kallia via Reuters) Victims of Greece Wildfires Flee Into Sea to Escape Flames Video has emerged of dozens of people who fled into the sea to escape the flames of wildfires that swept through the Greek resort of Mati last week. The fires trapped people in cars and on the edge of cliffs, while others were forced to jump off to survive or rush into the sea from the beach. Video and stills shot by a survivor on July 23 show people huddled together in the sea to save themselves from the flames. Rescue crews are still looking for survivors of the blaze, which began on July 22 in Mati, 30 kilometers (17 miles) east of Athens, as the death toll rose to at least 91 with dozens more injured. Mourners gathered in a church on Sunday where they wept and lit candles in memory of those killed when a massive wildfire swept through the popular resort near Athens earlier this week. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is facing fierce recriminations for the governments response to the fire and has promised a national plan to avoid a repeat of the disaster. Some people survived but for those who died I wish they are well in heaven, said 77-year old Theano Tsikoulou. Fires were burning everywhere, my husband and I were going and putting them out so that our house would not be burnt, she said. A total of 25 people remain missing whilst 59 bodies have been identified and a further 28 are still to be named, the fire brigade said on Sunday. Another four people have died in hospital. Tsipras has accepted full political responsibility for the disaster and pledged a series of changes, including on illegal and haphazard construction, which is thought to have worsened the blaze. The main opposition New Democracy party, which leads in the polls, earlier called on the government to say how many people remain unaccounted for and criticized Tsiprass television appearance on the night of the fire as a sorry show. The wildfire left the area dotted with burnt-out trees, ashen earth, and destroyed buildings as a clean-up operation continues. Downpours on Sunday hit parts of the region after heavy rainfall and flash floods in areas on Saturday, making it harder for the authorities trying to locate survivors and locals hoping to salvage what they can from the disaster. But there were also signs of a return to normality as a childrens camp, which closed due to the blaze, was reopened on Sunday. The mayor of Athens invited youngsters affected by the fire to come along. The smiles should return, George Kaminis wrote on Twitter. There was soon to be few chances for Evoni Murray to enjoy a carefree nighttime stroll in Miami Beach. Murray was eight months pregnant Wednesday. And her Aug. 4 due date loomed as she walked in the sweltering summer heat with the father-to-be. Then the couple encountered off-duty police officer Ambar Pacheco. A confrontation began, during which, Murray says, Pacheco kicked her in the stomach. Murray, 27, was in severe pain, a responding officer wrote in a report, and was possibly having contractions on the street. The baby was coming - nine days early. Murray was rushed to a hospital, and Joseph Predelus III came into the world after seven minutes of labor, his father Joseph, 40, told WSVN. Across town, Pacheco, 26, was arrested and charged for aggravated battery, according to a Miami Beach Police Department affidavit provided to The Washington Post. North Miami Beach Police Chief William Hernandez fired Pacheco from the force less than two days later. "Due to Ms. Ambar Pacheco's recent off-duty actions, her employment with the City of North Miami Beach has been terminated effective immediately," Hernandez said Friday in a brief statement. She had been with the force less than a year and was in a probationary period, the Miami Herald reported. Details surrounding the incident are unclear. The arrest affidavit does not say how or why the confrontation started. But Ambar Pacheco told police that Predelus kicked her sister in the face, which prompted her violent reaction. "I saw red and beat the s- out of [Murray]," Pacheco said, according to the affidavit. She later said she couldn't recall who she kicked, the document says. Murray is described in the affidavit as "visibly pregnant." Predelus denied assaulting Pacheo's younger sister, 21-year-old Mikaela Pacheco, and suggested that the women were intoxicated. "I never did no kicking, nothing. I never touched nobody," Predelus told WSVN. "All I did was defend my baby mother and a child. To me, I don't put my hands on women, and that's how it should be, especially a pregnant woman, too." In an interview with CBS Miami, Murray speculated that the confrontation with the sisters began from a misunderstanding. "We were walking down the sidewalk enjoying the night and we saw them," she told the station. "These girls were crying. Then they thought we were talking about them, which was not true. They got belligerent and tried to jump because they thought I said something." A conviction for assaulting a known pregnant woman carries a maximum of 15 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine in Florida, according to law firm Hussein & Webber. Murray and the Pacheco sisters could not be reached for comment. Predelus told The Post that his newborn son and Murray are doing well, but he declined to comment further. Mount Sinai Medical Center, where Murray delivered her baby, did not respond to a request seeking comment. It is unclear if the alleged assault caused the premature birth, but physical trauma or injuries can contribute to early labor, according to a Mayo Clinic fact sheet. Murray told CBS that she hopes Pacheco gets help as she enters the criminal justice system. "It kind of troubles me to know that the people who are supposed to be serving and protecting us are hurting us," Murray she told the station. "I know it's not all of them and one apple doesn't spoil the bunch. It's just that sometimes you get a bad seed." Ad Investing Trends New this week - 353 interested 2021 Investor Alert: Amazon, Google, And Facebook Stockpile Strange Gas This odorless, colorless gas is critical for every piece of technology you own. However, the world's supply is running dangerously low. This is the time for investors to get in before the mainstream media. Faded architectural gems ROMANIA: In a spa town nestled near Romanias border with Bulgaria and Serbia, Oana Chirila puts on her hard hat and gets down to work with a dozen other young architects to try to save their countrys heritage. constructioncultureproperty By AFP Sunday 29 July 2018, 12:00PM The Constanta Casino, an emblematic Art Nouveau monument from the early 20th Century, is crumbling away, the rafters are home to nesting pigeons who flutter around the chandeliers, while the marble floor and elegant sweeping staircase are covered in the birds excrement and feathers. Photo: Daniel Mihailescu / AFP Some of the precious architectural gems they are striving to restore bore witness to centuries of Romanian history and the crowned heads who ruled it through the ages. Yet their sheer longevity has left many needing more than just a little tender loving care, which Chirila and her team have resolved to supply as they beaver away in a vaulted, once sumptuous hall at the heart of the charming but down-at-heel imperial Herculane Baths resort. Chirila has embarked on an ambitious project to restore lustre to the crumbling, neglected baths complex, built between 1883 and 1886, which has suffered from a combination of official apathy and unhappy privatisation. We must start off with urgent measures to rule out the threats and consolidate the building, says student architect Chirila, who hopes local authorities will help raise the 100,000 euros (B3.90 million) required for the first tranche of restoration. Described by the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I as Europes most beautiful spa resort, Herculane was already a favourite spot of the Romans, who were fans of the miraculous benefits of its thermal mineral waters, historian Dorin Balteanu said. Equally charmed by the picturesque mountainous surroundings was Empress Elisabeth, nicknamed Sisi, who made several visits during the 1880s to try to cure her rheumatism in the curative waters and enjoy long walks. According to local legend, a tired Hercules, the Roman hero, once came to the valley, where he enjoyed a bathe and a rest, hence the resorts name. A big bronze statue of him stands in the centre. Neglected during the communist era, thousands of architectural gems all over Romania have fallen prey to real estate developers, who local activists accuse of having made huge profits by pulling them down and building glass and steel high-rises instead, often with the approval of local authorities. Its a tactic of real estate developers let monuments go to rack and ruin in order to intervene afterwards, Maria Berza, an expert in cultural policy, said. At the Herculane Baths, several symbols disappeared under the communist regime, including statues of Romanian kings. And today, its hard to imagine the former imperial grandeur of the Franz Joseph era from looking at the rusting pipes, cracked walls and fractured red marble that once covered the around 30 thermal pools. Yet, says Balteanu, tourists are still drawn here, despite the controversial sale in 2001 of a sizeable stake in the resort to a company owned by businessman and politician Iosif Armas on the understanding that it would invest to restore the buildings. Armas is now awaiting trial on an embezzlement charge linked to the deal. A former town mayor has also been charged with corruption in connection with the case. Chirila is hopeful her project will bear fruit. Doing nothing is unthinkable. If we dont manage to save Herculane, a part of our identity will be lost for ever, she warned. At the eastern end of the country on the Black Sea, another architectural gem, the Constanta Casino, an emblematic Art Nouveau monument from the early 20th century, is crumbling away. Built at the start of the last century by Daniel Renard, an architect of Swiss origin, the site won the admiration of Russias Tsar Nicholas II on a visit in 1914. Today, the rafters are home to nesting pigeons who flutter around the chandeliers, while the marble floor and elegant sweeping staircase are covered in the birds excrement and feathers. We have been trying to find a viable solution for more than 10 years to restore this building to its former glory, says Constanta mayor Decebal Fagadau. In 2007, an Israeli company agreed a concession deal to modernise the casino. But four years later, the contract was annulled by the Constanta town hall without a cent of investment having been forthcoming. As the town hall and the government quarrel about what to do next, an association of young Romanian architects, Arche, has resolved to intervene. They have had the casino placed on a list of seven most endangered sites collated by heritage group Europa Nostra. The European experts will propose solutions for the casinos restoration to the town hall, architect Daniela Costea said. In the interim, Arche is organising concerts and lectures to encourage residents to reappropriate and make use of the site. The 1990s, which witnessed real estate speculation on a massive scale, were a disaster for historic buildings, Berza said. But she said she was encouraged by the ongoing mobilisation of support to save the countrys heritage. Whereas architectural heritage was for too long treated as a cultural Cinderella, today it is more a Sleeping Beauty, which is just waking up, Berza said. OTTAWAEven with hopeful signs on NAFTA and a trade detente between the U.S. and the European Union, Canada still isnt out of the woods on auto tariffs. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Thursday he hopes a deal in principle on the North American Free Trade Agreement is within reach, a day after Canadian and Mexican ministers indicated a pact could be signed in the next few months. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker also agreed Wednesday to suspend new levies while trade negotiations continue. But Canadians shouldnt breathe a sigh of relief just yet, according to Dan Ciuriak, senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. The latest moves by the Trump administration are tactics designed to shore up the presidents base ahead of midterm elections, he said, and nothing has changed on the U.S. inquiry into whether auto tariffs constitute a national security threat, known as a Section 232 investigation. Read more: Trump and European Union come to vague agreement to reduce trade tensions Trump tells EU leaders he wants a fair trade deal Facing Trumps auto tariff threat, Canadas response isnt so clear This is more pointing to the likelihood that the Americans would not move on the 232 auto tariffs before the election, Ciuriak said. Or if they do move, its going to be just at election time, before the pain has a chance to settle in. As part of the trade wars Trump is fighting around the world, his administration is said to be considering tariffs as high as 25 per cent on imported vehicles and components. Companies from General Motors Co. in the U.S., to Nissan Motor Co. in Japan and Daimler AG in Germany are already blaming the escalating battle for disappointing results. The imposition of tariffs has the potential to be really devastating for the global economy, Justin Trudeaus top diplomat said Wednesday in Mexico. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland spoke to reporters around the time the U.S.-EU agreement was announced, and said in response to several questions she hadnt seen the details, but that any act taken by the U.S. administration to pull back from imposing these 232 tariffs I think is a really good thing. However she gave no indication Canada would be offered a reprieve. Trumps threat hangs heavy over the Canadian economy. The auto sector accounted for almost a fifth of Canadas bilateral trade in 2017, according to Brian DePratto, senior economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank, who estimates tariffs of 25 per cent on motor vehicles and 10 per cent on parts would cause a minor recession in Canada in the second half of 2019 and lead to the loss of about 160,000 jobs, mostly in Ontario. Theres been speculation Trumps tariff push is partly designed to earn him concessions at the NAFTA bargaining table, where sticking points including a sunset clause that would see the deal revisited every five years and proposals on restructuring the auto sector remain barriers to wrapping up a new agreement. And after a two-month lull, there is sudden movement in talks to overhaul the 24-year-old pact. Hopefully, we are in the finishing stages of achieving an agreement in principle that will benefit American workers, farmers, ranchers and businesses, Lighthizer said Thursday in prepared testimony before a Senate committee. He also suggested a deal with the southern partner may happen first, criticizing Canadas steadfast position in the talks. I dont believe that theyve compromised in the same way the United States has or Mexico has. Trudeaus team hasnt compromised on the sunset clause, and Freeland said Wednesday the countrys opposition to that proposal has increased because it would interfere with automakers long-term investment plans. Ciuriak doesnt buy the idea a quick deal is at hand. To my knowledge theres been no pullback on the poison pill issues, he said, adding theres a 50-50 chance the U.S. proceeds with auto tariffs before the November midterm elections. Derek Holt, senior economist at Bank of Nova Scotia, argues the only reason Trump appeared to backpedal with the EU is because of domestic pressure. An alternative explanation of Trumps sudden about-face on auto tariffs is that he knew hed lost the battle domestically, or at least he was probably being told as much, Holt wrote Thursday in a note to clients. This is a civil war thats being fought within the U.S. on trade, Ciuriak said. If these tactics do shore up his base, then he would be emboldened to follow his instincts, and that would not be good for trade. An agreement on autos could nevertheless unlock the stalemate between Canada and the U.S., according to Jean Charest, former Quebec premier and now a Montreal-based partner at McCarthy Tetrault LLP. For Donald Trump, its first and foremost about the automotive industry, Charest told BNN Bloomberg on Thursday. When we talk about NAFTA were essentially talking about the auto industry, and solving that means 90 per cent of the job would be done and that would satisfy the administration. Read more about: For State Street Corp., the company that pioneered the $5 trillion (U.S.) exchange-traded fund industry, its been a long way down. Earlier this month, the Boston firms asset-management division reported that investors took out as much cash as they put into its $639 billion ETF business this spring. It was the worst showing among the three largest issuers and sent State Street Global Advisors share of the U.S. ETF industry to an all-time low. State Street launched the first ETF 25 years ago and dominated the market for a decade. Today, its slice of U.S. ETF assets is just 17.3% down from 49% 15 years ago. More worrying for its future, State Street captured just 5.9% of the $343 billion that poured into ETFs in the past year. By contrast, Vanguard Group and BlackRock Inc.s iShares took in a combined 67%. Even Charles Schwab Corp., a relative newcomer with just 22 ETFs, had a fatter haul. How State Street squandered its first-mover advantage for one of the most popular financial products ever created shows that being first can sometimes be as much of a hindrance as a head-start. Its easy to point out State Streets missteps in hindsight, but no one knew then how big the ETF industry was going to be, said Jim Ross, chairman of State Streets global SPDR business. If you go back 25 years, you can think of some things you might do differently, he said. To be sure, State Street is still the third-largest ETF issuer, but it has been hamstrung by a product suite thats vulnerable to market whims. It has struggled to connect with mom-and-pop investors. Some of its most popular funds are burdened by decades-old agreements that make State Streets funds more expensive than the competitions, a disadvantage in an industry where the cheapest funds win the most assets. State Street doesnt even own the brand name of its ETF franchise, and instead pays hefty fees to rent it from index provider S&P Global Inc. Nowhere are State Streets problems more apparent than in its flagship fund. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, best known by its ticker SPY, has swelled into a $269 billion behemoth and is one of the most-traded securities on the planet. But it has seen $4.2 billion in investor withdrawals in the past year while nearly identical products from BlackRock and Vanguard which cost half as much gained a combined $26.3 billion. Named after Standard & Poors Depositary Receipts, shortened to SPDR (pronounced spider), SPY was the first to package every company in the S&P 500 index into a single share that, unlike a mutual fund, could be bought and sold on the stock exchange. The now-defunct American Stock Exchange celebrated SPYs January 1993 debut by hanging a 9-foot inflatable spider over the trading floor and giving out hundreds of plastic spider rings. SPY was a far bigger hit than its inventors had predicted, and State Street followed with new ETFs pegged to other stock indexes, including the popular sector ETFs that invested in industries such as energy and technology. But there were early signs of trouble. The staid Boston institution has long treated its ETF business as an afterthought compared with its far larger businesses in trust banking and asset management for major institutional investors. Earlier in July, State Streets share price plummeted after the firm announced it was buying a financial-data firm and canceling planned share buybacks. In the earnings call that followed, ETFs were barely mentioned. The ETFs were a small part of a big bank that didnt get this business, said John Jacobs, a former Nasdaq executive who launched the popular Nasdaq 100 ETF in 1999. They were really, really conflicted about how much to put into the business and how much to go after it. When a quirky San Francisco offshoot of Barclays PLC rolled out dozens of new iShares ETFs in mid-2000, State Street was slow to perceive the threat. In the years that followed, the upstart hired a massive sales force, sponsored a Tour de France team (later dropped amid doping allegations) and backed a catamaran racing series that traveled the world, iShares emblazoned on the sails. IShares unseated State Street as the worlds largest ETF issuer in early 2004 and widened its lead in the years that followed. Vanguard, too, pushed into the market, and its low-cost funds quickly began gobbling up market share. State Street was caught flat-footed. Its ETFs were sold under multiple brand names. The ideas for its biggest successes, notably SPY and the sector ETFs, had come from outside the firm. In fact, State Street nearly declined the World Gold Councils idea for a bullion-backed ETF. The fund, better known by its ticker GLD, is now one of State Streets most lucrative. To amp up its brand recognition, State Street consolidated all of its ETFs under the SPDR name in 2007, but there was a downside: The SPDR trademark belongs to S&P. When it expanded its use of the name, State Street also extended until 2031 a contract under which S&P gets one-third of the fees paid by SPYs investors. S&Ps cut alone $3 a year for every $10,000 invested is almost as much as the entire fee BlackRock and Vanguard charge for their comparable funds. Between SPY and other fee-sharing arrangements, State Street paid almost $143 million to S&P last year, more than triple the licensing, data and other fees paid by Vanguard and almost double those of BlackRock, which bought iShares from Barclays in 2009. Those legacy contracts make it difficult for State Street to match aggressive price cuts from BlackRock and Vanguard, especially after BlackRock launched an ultra-low-cost ETF lineup in 2012. Compounding the problems, the fallout from the financial crisis left State Street financially hobbled. In 2011, activist investors urged the firm to sell off the investment-management division. Market share kept falling, along with morale in its ETF business. The firm hired a consultant to figure out where it had gone wrong. Some of the client feedback was scathing. Customers called State Street amateurish and plain vanilla compared to the rocket scientists at the competition, according to a copy of the 2013 report reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Executives summoned dozens of managers to a two-day meeting at Babson College in October 2013, a few miles from its Boston headquarters. The message: State Street needed a comeback. But some of State Streets ETF veterans grumbled that the firm had paid consultants to repeat what theyd been telling their bosses for years. Following the report, State Street recruited several new executives, among them iShares alum Rory Tobin, who is now head of the SPDR ETF business. Shortly after he arrived, Vanguard overtook State Street as the second-largest ETF issuer, and State Streets market share continued to fall as investors flocked to the cheaper ETFs offered by BlackRock and Vanguard. When I started here in December 2014, I was struck by the way it was organized or maybe the degree to which it was not organized the way iShares was, Mr. Tobin said. State Street has since restructured its fragmented ETF business, an ongoing process that included an overhaul of its sales force last year, Mr. Tobin said. One of the biggest changes was State Streets introduction of its own low-cost lineup last October, a move that industry analysts viewed as long overdue. The funds have since attracted more than $16 billion in new investor cash. But just as it took years for State Street to squander its lead, it will also take years to regain its former dominance, if it can. Its step by step, Mr. Tobin said. Im not going to say theres a silver-bullet answer that gets us back up to significant market share. BEIJINGChinese antitrust regulators weighed in on Qualcomm Inc.s busted acquisition of Dutch chip maker NXP Semiconductors with their own statement: Dont blame us. Chinas State Administration for Market Regulation the last of nine regulators around the world needed to green-light the deal said Friday that Qualcomms latest proposal failed to address competition concerns. The regulator said it had extended its own deal-review deadline to Oct. 14. Qualcomm and NXP decided to abandon the deal as the deadline the two parties agreed on expired. [We] regret this, the regulator said, adding that it had hoped to continue communicating with Qualcomm and resolve the remaining issues within the review period. Qualcomm and NXP didnt immediately respond to requests for comment. Qualcomm ditched its $44 billion (U.S.) bid Wednesday, the latest deadline it had set for completing the acquisition. It cited the stalled process in China, having extended the deadline in April while awaiting Chese approval. The acquisition had been announced in October 2016. The San Diego-based chip maker will pay a $2 billion termination fee to NXP. Chinese officials have publicly insisted that the delay had nothing to do with escalating trade friction with the U.S., but people with knowledge of the situation have told the Journal that the friction is the main reason for it. China cant keep pace with the U.S. on retaliatory tariffs it imports far less from the U.S. than the U.S. imports from China but it has other weapons including holding up U.S. M&A deals and business license approvals, these people say. For Beijing, seeking to develop its own semiconductor industry, blocking the NXP acquisition pays an added dividend: It hinders the growth of Qualcomm, which has a commanding position in cutting-edge chip technology, longtime China economist Christopher Balding has pointed out. With NXP, Qualcomm would have gained a company that reported $9.26 billion in revenue last year and employs some 30,000 people. Qualcomm itself had $22.29 billion in sales in its latest fiscal year, and a similar number of employees. In its statement, Chinas antitrust authority said it treats companies of home and abroad on an equal footing and will ensure fair competition for all. [We] welcome companies from all countries, including Qualcomm and NXP, to invest and do business in China. Read more about: CALGARYPolice are investigating after a man in his 40s died in a shooting at motel in Forest Lawn early Saturday morning. Police said officers were called to the 1800 block of 50th St. S.E., near International Ave., for reports of two men in an altercation and shots fired. When they arrived, they found the man, who died from his injuries in hospital. Investigators continue to speak to witnesses in an effort to release information to the public about a suspect description, said Calgary police in a press release They do not believe this is a random incident. Police said the victims identity will be released after an autopsy, scheduled for Monday. The death, if ruled a homicide, would be the citys seventh of 2018. Read more about: This is the second instalment of On Location, a series about art that thrives in creative spaces. Ed the Sock is giving a tour of his Thornhill, Ont., bungalow. The cosy home is filled with an immense toy collection, and also houses a dusty cabinet that is essentially the Ed The Sock museum. It features the puppet in all its incarnations since it first appeared in the 1990s. Thats the first one, when I didnt have eyebrows, says Eds alter ego and creator Steven Kerzner, before pointing to another version of the perennially scowling puppet with the classic green felt brows. In his tiny basement, Kerzner shows a camera rig that he created using a dollar-store magnifying glass and a GoPro-sized camera to film Ed. The reality is, you dont need a huge television studio and millions of dollars to be a broadcaster anymore, says Kerzner. Especially if you are doing grassroots media that speaks to people. Ed the Sock was Canadian TVs original television disrupter. Before the blitz of social media channels and online broadcasters, the foul-mouthed sock puppet voiced by Kerzner on Citys MuchMusic (now owned by Bell Media and renamed Much) provided an alternate, interactive universe for viewers. That included variety show Eds Night Party where guests would be interviewed in a hot tub, and Fromage, which mocked the cheesiest music videos of the era. MORE IN THE SERIES: The front porch becomes a venue for self-expression The grouchy sock, darned over the years by Kerzners writer-producer wife Liana, started life at tiny Newton Cable with a household subscriber base of 12,000. From there Kerzner would go on to greater fame at the scrappy, perennially underfunded City TV, another outlier in the world of conventional broadcasting. And the couple are still doing it, in their most ambitious attempt to shake up the status quo yet. The Kerzners are launching FUN, The FU Network, which could stand for a profanity, but is really just short, they say, For Us. That irreverence is the heart of the brand. Or as Ed would say, its just like classic MuchMusic before they sh-t the bed. So the partners are launching more than a dozen web series from their basement headquarters that include talk, cooking, game, and music video shows. Its not such a crazy idea. Jared Keesos sketch comedy Letterkenny shot in Sudbury, Ont., was a YouTube lark before it got picked up by Bell Medias CraveTV and now launched on a bigger stage by American broadcaster Hulu. Markhams Lilly Singh is one of the Top 10 grossing stars on YouTube in a venture than she started from her bedroom in her parents Markham home. But still, a whole network of shows? When I first started Ed, people laughed and said it would never work, says Kerzner. But there is a real hunger for shows that speak to people. Thats especially true in an age where most of the broadcasters are owned by media conglomerates. Productions such as MuchMusic, where you could be the person answering the phone one day and the veejay the next, dont exist any more. Conventional broadcasters seem to need scale to survive. But thats where Kerzner sees an opportunity. That whole space has been vacated by the big guys. They are focused on fiction, these big dramas and international co-productions thats what makes money overseas, says Kerzner. But we need to have stuff in the spirit of the original City-type shows that were ground level and honest. The first reality stars when you think about it were our Veejays. YouTube has largely supplanted that vision. But Kerzner sees an Ed The Sock brand that would lure viewers in to see shows that are meaningful to their generation, not unlike an Oprah channel for slackers, a brand premise where viewers tune in hoping to see something uplifting and positive. In our case, were a channel that viewers would like to have a beer with, says Kerzner. In the spirit of tiny Newton Cable, the labour so far is free. The shows, many of them still in development, have titles like Black Coffee, where Black People have coffee and talk about issues that affect them. There is the Is This Racist panel hosted by Ed The Sock to talk about hot button topics and Eclectic Circus, a spin off of MuchMusics Electric Circus, where dancers strut their stuff in front of cameras shooting their own selfies. Other shows are provocative (and silly) concepts, including Shooting the Sh-t, where celebrities like Mike Holmes and George Stroumboulopoulos are interviewed in a public washroom stall. Hosted by Adamo Barbieri and Aaron Rajan, its brilliantly awkward. Then there is Brew Wizards, a kind of liquored-up Waynes World hosted by Norm Reynolds and Kyle Kornic, who discuss beer and pop culture in the basement of their craft-beer-and-board-game cafe in Oshawa. To fund the shows, the couple hosted a social media fundraiser recently with a $35,000 goal. For that some $75 donors got Ed the Sock socks as a gift. For $1,000 you could get an actual Ed the Sock puppet. Or for $1,500 you could get Ed to go to your place to have a party. Were not being pigs about it. Its a proof of concept. It keeps us going for a little while so we can launch our shows. Everyone is working for nothing, its for love of the project, says Kerzner. In the cramped basement, the colourful set for Liana Ks Lady Bits show is prepped. The tiny set has a couch surrounded by pictures and a trophy wall. The show, which has 21,000 subscribers, looks at the depiction of women in the video game industry. There are pictures of viewers pets on the wall, a reminder of just how interactive digital media can be in connecting with viewers, something that mainstream broadcasters would find hard replicating. Fans are really passionate, theyre really invested, says Liana. And this allows them to see a piece of themselves in the show. The success of FUN hinges as much on Liana Ks production and technical expertise she is not just a host and game nerd, but the technical wizard behind the scenes, keeping the production running. She was the first to broadcast Ed the Sock in HD, a claim they say was the first weekly entertainment show to do so. And she also broadcasts her show in 4K definition, despite the fact that only 100 subscribers view it in that way. Its a sign that you might be small, but it doesnt mean you cant fight on the big boys turf. I think its important to push boundaries, says Liana K. Certainly, thats the goal of FUN network. The business model is lean. But the upside, particularly if some of the shows take off, could be huge. If FUN becomes a feeder network to conventional broadcasting, it could mean future upside as the Kerzners potentially take a piece of the action as producers. Who is grooming the next generation of Canadian talent? Thats the goal, says Kerzner. We are stepping in to fill a void. It wasnt too long ago that we were making cable TV shows with cardboard boxes. We dont look at something and see a lack of resources and say its impossible. We say this is going to be fun. Thats the heart of the network. We want to be a part of the Canadian media industry. Not apart from it. Community members are coming together in Parry Sound, Ont., as a persistent nearby wildfire approaches a major highway. The blaze, known as Parry Sound 33, sprang up on July 18. Ontario firefighters have been fighting it with the help of their counterparts from other provinces, as well as the United States and Mexico. While fire crews are working, community members are doing their best to support them. Matthew Derouin, who runs a Sobeys in Parry Sound, said he was contacted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and asked whether hed be interested in providing food for the firefighters. We jumped at the opportunity, said Derouin. This situation is affecting members of our community, a lot of customers, family members and friends. Since summer is the peak season for his store, Derouin said he did not have enough hands to help pack the food in boxes and coolers, so he put out a call to the community. I thought there might be 50 or 60 people who would come to help us, but I ended up with more than 200 people who came to volunteer their time, he said. It really was a community-driven event. The boxes and coolers were picked up Saturday morning and transported to the newly established command post in the nearby community of Britt, Ont. From there, they are flown to crews in the field. The fire is now 76 square kilometres, and water bombers are trying to cut it down, said Shayne McCool, a spokesman for the Ministry of Natural Resources. Its just seven kilometres away from a stretch of the Trans Canada highway, so the ministry and provincial police are monitoring the situation closely, he said. If the smoke is heavy enough, McCool said a portion of the highway could be closed. Derouin said he has already received orders for Sunday and will be continuing to provide food for the firefighters in the upcoming weeks. I think the seriousness and the severity around this fire is really starting to take shape, he said. We did have people here today that are most likely going to lose their buildings and cottages and homes. We also had people who were not directly affected, but simply wanted to help the best they could. MONTREALResearchers in Quebec are hoping a computer simulator that resembles a video game can help save the endangered St. Lawrence beluga whales. The project, which received funding from the provincial government this week, allows scientists to input known data about both whales and ships to see how theyll interact under different conditions. The model allows researchers to test out different scenarios by adjusting the number of whales, as well as factors such as ship speed and engine volume, to find the best way to minimize risk, according to the professor in charge of the study. From a visual standpoint, it looks like a video game, Clement Chion, professor at lUniversite du Quebec en Outaouais, said in a phone interview. You see the St. Lawrence and the Saguenay rivers in 3D, where each whale is represented as a separate entity, and each boat as well, and we move them around according to rules based on real data gathered on boat and whale behaviour. Chion said the simulator was originally developed about 10 years ago in order to minimize collisions between large whales and ships. Read more: Ottawa warns vessels to keep a safe distance from playful belugas, new regulations will begin Wednesday Now, the team is working to add a new dimension that will allow them to calculate each ships acoustic footprint to figure out how to reduce the impact of engine noise on the sensitive mammals. It will also add data about belugas, which have highly developed social behaviours and a much more complex use of their habitat than the large whales that were originally included in the simulator, he said. The project received a $2.1-million investment from the Quebec government this week enough to cover its operating costs for the next five years. Researchers will also hold consultations with marine industry stakeholders, whose co-operation Chion says is needed in order to save sensitive whale populations. Fisheries and Oceans Canada will provide data on boats and acoustics, while the data on beluga whales swimming, diving and behaviour patterns will be provided by the Quebec-based Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals. Robert Michaud, the marine groups director, said more research is needed to understand exactly how sound levels affect the endangered belugas, whose numbers were last estimated at around 900. He said scientists have long hypothesized that noise pollution from shipping can have an impact on the whales, who use sound to communicate, navigate and hunt. When we invade their habitat with more noise, were shrinking their acoustic habitat and maybe reducing their ability to find their food, he said. He said the simulator should help scientists understand how much time the whales spend in the acoustic footprint of each boat and evaluate whether policies such as adjusting boat speed could make a difference. He said the research has taken on more urgency as the Quebec government works to develop its maritime strategy, which could substantially increase boat traffic in the St-Lawrence. At heart, he said, the goal of the simulator is to help scientists, government and the marine industry find ways to reduce the impact of this traffic on marine mammals. Michaud said that will mean tough choices, comparable to the fishery closures that have been put in place in Atlantic Canada to try to save the endangered North Atlantic right whale. Do we want to maintain our fishing industry and go on the same way weve been doing, which we know will probably send the right whales down the drain very rapidly, and if not, how can we improve that? he said. We have the same situation with the St. Lawrence beluga whales. MONTREALThe historic cemetery atop Montreals Mount Royal offers a tranquil space for the dead to rest but management says the living arent being granted the same courtesy thanks to speeding cyclists who are soon to lose their privileges. The 166-year-old non-profit that manages the cemetery recently announced it would ban bicycles from the picturesque spot as of Aug. 1., citing flagrant disregard of the safety of pedestrians and of the character of the cemetery by certain cyclists who use the sacred ground for high speed training and other aggressive sports. In a statement on its website, cemetery management said it had sought to avoid a ban by repeatedly bringing up its concerns with cycling groups. We regret that these efforts have been unsuccessful and that we now must in the interest of safety proceed to a prohibition on cyclists, as we have previously indicated would be the consequence of failure to respect the rules, the statement read. But the news isnt sitting well with some of the citys cyclists, who said theyre being punished for the bad actions of a small group. As the cemetery buzzed with cars, electric scooters, dog walkers and picnickers enjoying the perfect Saturday weather, some cyclists who paused from their training wondered why they were being singled out. I find the cars much more dangerous than the cyclists, said Therese Ryan, a local cyclist who has been coming to the cemetery for 25 years. Share your thoughts She pinned the problem on a small number of elite cycling clubs, who train in large groups and at high speeds. But she said its unfair to ban regular riders from a famous and lovely spot that is beloved by all Montrealers, especially since the cemeterys winding hills and leafy pathways are one of the few spaces where average riders can train without many cars whizzing by. Patrick Prevost, a nearby resident who rides over the mountain on a near-daily basis, agreed. Its pretty much the only green spot we have (to cycle) within the city limits, he said as he paused on his ride. Its quiet, its peaceful, its fun to be here and theres not many cars. Prevost said he would be in favour of adding speed bumps and signs to slow down the truly fast riders, but argued the vast majority of cyclists are respectful. The cemetery should be available to everybody: runners, bikers, walkers whatever, as long as everybody respects everybody, and I think everybody does respect the grounds. But two other cyclists who rode through the cemetery on Saturday said they believed the ban was the right call, even though they were sad to lose one of their favourite spots. Lyne Raymond and Chantal Bergeron, who rode up the mountain together, said even they sometimes feel intimidated by the groups of competitive cyclists who blow by them at high speed. They dont stop, theyre cycling very fast, theyre not respectful of those (who are) in the cemetery to be there to take time with their family, Bergeron said. Raymond agreed, noting that a high-speed cyclist had almost forced her off the path that very morning. Its very sad, but I understand the decision, she said. Read more about: OTTAWAA longtime Conservative member of Parliament who once stood as then-prime minister Stephen Harpers government House leader is stepping away from politics. Ontario MP Peter Van Loan told a gathering of supporters at his farm on Sunday that he will retire from the House of Commons, effective Sept. 30. Van Loan was first elected in the riding of York-Simcoe in 2004. He became a cabinet minister in 2006 and remained in Harpers inner circle until 2015, when the Conservatives were defeated by the Trudeau Liberals. While he also held portfolios in international trade, public safety, intergovernmental affairs and sports, it was as House leader that Van Loan spent most of his time. Its also where he helped introduce some of the former governments most controversial legislation, including an ill-fated bill designed to ban women from wearing a niqab at citizenship ceremonies. Van Loan also caused a near brawl in 2012 when he stormed across the floor of the House of Commons to confront New Democrat MP Nathan Cullen over an attempt by the NDP to have a vote on the then-Tory governments omnibus budget bill ruled invalid. Born in Niagara Falls, Ont., Van Loan threw his support behind neighbouring Simcoe-Grey MP Kellie Leitch during the 2016 Conservative Party leadership race, when she proposed screening immigrants for Canadian values. Read more: Near-brawl erupts in Commons between Tory Peter Van Loan and NDPs Nathan Cullen Andrew Scheer won the leadership contest, and Van Loan said in a statement Sunday he was looking forward to seeing him defeat Justin Trudeaus Liberals in next years general election. The statement said Van Loan will return to practising law as a partner with the Aird and Berlis firm. One of the most difficult decisions for a Member of Parliament is when to retire. I am confident that now is that time for me, Van Loan said in the statement. I am proud of what I have accomplished, and I have never tired of the job. Read more about: VANCOUVERAn American lawyer is criticizing a long-held and unspoken convention allowing some Canadians to cross into the United States freely despite having publicly admitted to prior drug use while others are slapped with lifetime bans. Under U.S. federal law, Canadian travellers who admit to using cannabis or other illicit substances are inadmissible to the United States. But this law has always been applied inconsistently, said Len Saunders, a Blaine, Wash.-based immigration lawyer. Its this inconsistent application of the law that drives me crazy, he said. Margaret Trudeau, mother of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, was allowed into the United States in 2016 for a state dinner with President Obama, despite having admitted in writing to having used cannabis. And that, Saunders said, is maddening. Saunders, whose bread and butter is obtaining waivers for Canadians who receive lifetime bans after admitting to cannabis use at the border, said that based on how other Canadians are regularly treated, Mrs. Trudeau should not have been allowed into the United States. Mrs. Trudeau, rather than being turned away at the border, was welcomed to the White House and lauded by President Obama for her work on raising awareness around mental health issues, which led to a standing ovation from the dinner guests. Read more: Canadian cannabis workers targeted by U.S. border guards for lifetime bans Americans are expected to flock to Canada when cannabis becomes legal but heres how the U.S. border stands in the way Cannabis advocates and illicit growers have burning questions about government contracts Canadian Olympian Ross Rebagliati, on the other hand, was deemed inadmissible to the United States after admitting on American late night television to past cannabis use, Saunders said. The day after leaving Nagano, Japan, where the Olympics had been held, Rebagliati who won a gold medal in snowboarding at the 1998 Winter Olympics and who is one of Saunders clients admitted to past cannabis use during an interview on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Years later, attempting to cross the border to attend the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Rebagliati was told his past history of cannabis use made him inadmissible, and he was turned away. Like Mrs. Trudeau, Rebagliati had not admitted to using cannabis under questioning from the CBP. But unlike Mrs. Trudeau, Rebagliatis public admission sealed his fate. Only when a special letter of appeal was sent to the White House was he finally allowed in. Sanho Tree, director of the Drug Policy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C., said that without comment from U.S. enforcement agencies, ascribing intent is speculative. But by all appearances, he said, the situation Saunders describes is purely political. Doling out lifetime bans to Canadians, he said, is a practice designed to be as obnoxious as possible, but not to the point where it gets enough exposure that it causes blowback diplomatically. If politicians and their families started to receive the same treatment as average Canadians, Tree said, it could lead to questions from the Canadian government. And then they might point out that every U.S. president from 1993 until 2016 has consumed illicit drugs in quantities very often enough to trigger mandatory minimum sentences, he added. At a candidates forum in 1992, Bill Clinton admitted to smoking cannabis as a young man. In 2000, George W. Bush was surreptitiously taped referring to past drug use by his campaign biographer. And in 2007, as a presidential candidate, Barack Obama, referring to his past cannabis use, said, I inhaled frequently. That was the point. Tree pointed out that reams of other American officials have admitted to drug use, including former New York City mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, former vice-president Al Gore and senator John Kerry. Tree also noted that laws have always been applied unevenly. Theres discretion at every stage of law enforcement, he said. Otherwise theyd all be arresting jaywalkers. A spokesperson for the CBP said its officers enforce U.S. federal law, which states that use, possession or trafficking of cannabis is illegal. Determinations about admissibility (to the U.S. from Canada) are made on a case-by-case basis by a CBP officer based on the facts and circumstances known to the officer at the time, the spokesperson said. And although cannabis may be legal in a persons home country and may even be legal in the state to which theyre travelling that thin strip of dirt at the border is under federal jurisdiction, and federal drug law supersedes local and foreign determinations. But both Tree and Saunders, the immigration lawyer, said all bets are off as relations between the U.S. and Canada struggle to manage a peculiar confluence of differing drug policies and what Tree called the nativist policies of a new presidential administration. Saunders, who believes legalization of cannabis is a laudable move, said that the embrace of legalization in Canada and states such as Washington has caused a ramping-up of border bans for Canadians. Saunders said he now hears from Canadians seeking waivers for inadmissibility because of cannabis at least once or twice a week up from one or two cases per year 15 years ago. He attributes this partly to the legalization of cannabis in Washington, which has stirred CBP officers to pay much closer attention to the possibility of cannabis tourism. CBP officers are Blaine residents, Saunders said. They see Canadian licence plates in dispensary parking lots, and pay attention to the signs in the windows of those shops that say, Canadians welcome. And while Saunders feels CBP officers are good people who are simply doing their jobs, he also believes the hostility of the current presidential administration to drug use means there is a possibility the two-tiered tradition that has long protected politically-connected individuals from receiving bans may be eroding. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, he pointed out, has gone on record saying that good people dont use marijuana. President Trump, meanwhile, has amped up sentencing for opioid traffickers, and flirted publicly with the idea of the death penalty as a fitting punishment for drug dealers. With cannabis legalization set to take effect in Canada on Oct. 17, Saunders predicts a wild west at the border, with an exponential increase in the number of Canadians deemed inadmissible to the U.S. And ironically, he said, this could cause trouble for Prime Minister Trudeau himself. In 2013 Trudeau admitted he had smoked marijuana in the past and while he was an MP. As Prime Minister, Trudeau currently enjoys diplomatic immunity, meaning he is safe from lawsuits and criminal prosecution in his host country. But Saunders believes he may be a target once he returns to civilian life adding it might take a former top-tier politician experiencing the persecution so often levelled at average Canadians to spur the federal government into doing something about border bans. The U.S. Department of States guide for enforcement of diplomatic and consular immunity states, Criminal immunity expires upon the termination of the diplomatic or consular tour of the individual enjoying immunity. Therefore, obtaining an indictment, information or arrest warrant could lay the basis for a prosecution at a later date. e.g.: If the diplomat returns to the United States at a later date in a private capacity. Trudeaus past and public admission of cannabis use combined with the Trump administrations visceral condemnation of his personal character as a political matter of course means he would be an ideal target for inadmissibility, said Saunders. Such a development, while unprecedented, would both brazenly demonstrate the extent of American power and would send a strong message to Canadian travellers that Canadas leadership as the first G-7 country to legalize cannabis is not without consequences. Tree agreed that relations between the two countries has entered a kind of great unknown. And the idea that a Canadian prime minister could be targeted for future inadmissibility by the U.S. federal government, said Tree, while speculative, is not outside the realm of possibilities given what he called the walling off of America. The Trump administrations explicit animus for drug use and drug users, said Tree, could very well lead to emboldened directives for U.S. enforcement agencies, which would see action being taken that would have been unheard of under previous administrations the travel ban being one prime example. These are not globalists or internationalists, Tree said. They couldnt care less about our most important alliances. The U.S. Department of Justice declined a request for interview or comment, and the CBP likewise refused to answer questions on what the future might hold along the border. Saunders, however, said that perhaps even more troubling than the number of Canadian travellers being slapped with lifetime bans is the advice being given to Canadian travellers by federal politicians who are, as lawmakers and diplomats, ostensibly immune to persecution. Speaking to members of the House of Commons public safety committee in May, federal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale urged Canadians to answer questions at the border truthfully. I just think thats garbage, Saunders said. Im not telling people to lie, but Im telling them what their rights are. Canadians who are questioned at the border regarding cannabis use should know they have the right to withdraw their request to enter, he said. The worst that can happen in that case is a person has a lookout put on their file, and may at some later date be questioned further. And because border officers have the right to search travellers digital devices, they should be cleared of incriminating data, he said, or better yet, left at home. The federal governments failure to advise Canadians of the lifetime implications of telling the truth at the border, he added, is deeply irresponsible. Mr. Trudeau, he said, you be honest (at the border) too. Lets see what happens after youre prime minister. Read more about: From the day a young Mohamud Siraji landed in Dadaab after fleeing war-torn Somalia in 1992, his only goal was to make it out of the massive refugee camp, no matter what it took. A scholarship to come to Canada to study at York University in 2009 finally gave him a ticket out after 17 years of living with no hope and the constant fear of being forced to go back to the conflict zones he fled as a toddler and barely knew. Almost a decade after arriving in Toronto, Siraji, now a Canadian citizen, has left behind his comfortable life, young family and a successful career as an accounting analyst and returned to Somalia with a new goal to help rebuild his embattled homeland. I always knew I would go back to Somalia. Thats where I came from, said the now 30-year-old Siraji, who became a member of Parliament in Somalia in February. The MP for the district of Jubbaland, close to the Dadaab refugee complex in Kenya, spoke to the Star during a recent visit to see his wife, Sarah Hassan, and their 11-month-old daughter, Fowzia, in Toronto. It was a very tough decision. Somalia is not the safest place, continued Siraji, who has four armed security guards as escorts in Jubbaland. So many men and women have died, but I feel the responsibility to go back to rebuild the country. Someone has to make the sacrifice. Born in the port city of Kismayo, Siraji and his 10 siblings followed their parents to Kenya in 1992 after Somalias clan-based civil war broke out and the military regime under Siad Barre was overthrown. He and other children in the camps gathered under trees to attend classes run by the United Nations and CARE International, a major humanitarian agency. There were no classrooms, no chairs, no textbooks. Hundreds of kids all just learned outdoors, but it didnt matter because we all knew education was the best option out, recalled Siraji, who was among a minority of students who got to complete his studies at one of the three high schools because of his good grades. Although he was admitted to an American university program designed for refugee students abroad in 2008, the scholarship was rescinded as a result of the U.S. financial crisis. Canadian expatriates working at the Dadaab camp recommended Siraji apply for the World University Service of Canadas Student Refugee Program, which offered him a scholarship at York, where he began his bachelor of commerce degree in 2009. Since the scholarship covered only his first year of tuition and living expenses, he had to work multiple jobs to support himself to complete his education, while sending money to his family and paying for the university education of two brothers in Kenya. After he finished at York in 2014, he got a job as an analyst at an accounting software company and later married Hassan, who studied social work at York. Sirajis older brother Abbas, with whom he grew up in Dadaab, was a rising star and a cabinet minister in President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohameds government in May 2017, when the 31-year-old was shot dead by soldiers in Mogadishu. Tensions in the capital remain high between the fragile government and the terror group Al Shabab. Just this month, Al Shabab fighters killed 27 soldiers in a raid in Kismayo by detonating a suicide car bomb. I was in the U.S. on a business trip when Abbas was killed. I couldnt believe what happened to him. The pictures of the attack were so graphic to look at, recalled Siraji, who immediately flew to Nairobi to be with his family. I didnt have enough time to think straight. I was just overwhelmed by the news. With a baby on the way, it was hard for the young couple to talk about Sirajis return to Somalia and his run to replace his brother for the same Jubbaland federal seat, but Hassan knew she couldnt stop her husband. For safety reasons, they decided Siraji would go alone. He returned to campaign to replace his brother in a byelection last August and won the seat in February. His term will end in 2021. It was the toughest to leave my wife and girl behind when I went back to Somalia last August for the election campaign, said a still emotional Siraji. We were all literally crying. As an MP in Somalia, Siraji is paid $3,700 (U.S.) a month, but a good portion of his wages goes to paying his personal guards all government officials are Al Shabab targets, he says and airfare to visit his wife and child in Toronto three to four times a year. If none of us would go back to Somalia, the country would never have a chance to rebuild, noted Siraji, who has made education for young people a priority of his mandate and uses his connections in Canada to find resources for classrooms back home. When my daughter grows up and asks me, What did you do for Somalia? I would like to tell her I have helped rebuild Somalia and make it a better place, he said. Yes, I still fear for my safety every day but someone has to do it. Its worth the sacrifice. Taquisha McKitty was supposed to be taken off life support this weekend. A judge has ruled that the Brampton woman, who has been on life support since last September, was to be to be disconnected on July 26th. But at the eleventh hour, the 27-year-old womans family filed an appeal, claiming McKitty is still alive and saying that removing her from life support would be an infringement of her rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Court failed to recognize Taquishas individual wishes, values and beliefs as relevant to the decision to stop all life sustaining treatment, the notice of appeal reads. The appeal calls on the courts to rescind McKittys death certificate until her heart stops beating. McKitty was found unconscious on a Brampton sidewalk last fall after a drug overdose. Doctors at Brampton Civic Hospital ruled that she was dead by neurological criteria a week later. But the family says the doctors acted too quickly and got an emergency injunction to keep her on life support the next day. In a closely-watched court battle last fall, the McKitty family said their Christian faith considers everyone alive as long as their heart beats. Their lawyer, Hugh Scher, argued the doctors discriminated against them by using a medical definition of death. In June, Ontario Superior Court Justice Lucille Shaw dismissed the familys arguments and ruled that McKitty should be taken off life support. She gave them 30 days to appeal. There are serious issues of public interest and concern including the interpretation of religious freedom, equality and life itself, wrote Scher in an email to the Star. The notion that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Canadian values defined by the Charter would have no application in such circumstances is troubling and legally untenable. In the appeal filed last Thursday precisely 30 days later Scher wrote that Justice Shaw erred by applying a legal definition of death that fails to conform with a biological definition of death. Scher wrote that the court further erred by not allowing independent experts to videotape or assess McKittys movements, which differ in nature, quality and duration from spinal cord reflexes. Shaws ruling stated that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not apply to McKitty, because it only protects persons and McKitty, because she is clinically brain dead, is not legally a person. This puts the cart before the horse, Scher argues in the appeal, because McKittys Charter rights were breached in order to pronounce her dead. The Courts predetermination of Taquishas death to justify non-application of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms ... dehumaniz(es) Taquisha as a non-person from the outset, Scher wrote. Taquisha is an individual under the law deserving of Charter protection. The case has been closely followed by doctors because it could impact the factors they must consider before declaring someone dead. In her ruling, Shaw wrote that forcing doctors to keep patients on ventilation until their heart has stopped, as McKittys family desires, could have significant financial impact on the health-care system. There could be an indirect impact on those who require medical services or treatment if staffing and medical resources are required to maintain those who believe that a biologically functioning body is life, Shaw wrote. The McKitty family maintains that the medical definition of death is under constant debate and involved certain value-laden, limited, arbitrary, and evolving medical considerations. Crowds of tearful mourners gathered to remember Reese Fallon at a public visitation on Sunday, a week after she was killed in a shooting rampage in Torontos bustling Greektown neighbourhood. People lined up quietly inside the east Toronto funeral home, tissues in hand, to grieve the 18-year-old who died when a gunman opened fire on pedestrians and restaurant-goers on a busy Danforth Avenue last Sunday. Ten-year-old Julianna Kozis was also killed, and 13 others were injured some critically. The gunman was found dead of a gunshot wound nearby after exchanging fire with police. Two concurrent investigations into the incident one by Toronto police and the other by the provinces police watchdog are ongoing. At the visitation on Sunday, Fallon was remembered for her life rather than her death. A yearbook and other high school memorabilia lay on a table inside the funeral home, next to a T-shirt for Hamiltons McMaster University, where she was set to begin studying nursing in the fall. Photos of Fallon as a child and as a teen lined the hallway leading into the visitation room. Read more: Danforth shooting victim Reese Fallons family says she wont be forgotten GoFundMe for Danforth shooting victim raises more than $86,000 in one day How the Star covered the Danforth shooting The quote I think everybody should like everybody, attributed to Andy Warhol, was printed on the back of memorial cards handed out to those in attendance. Matthew Smith, a friend and classmate of Fallons who came to the visitation, said he last texted her three days before she was killed. The fact that shes not here now and the fact I cant talk to her now, its just devastating, he said. Smith spent more than an hour inside the funeral home on Sunday, and said the crowds that have shown up to see her indicate how important she was to many people. I feel like her legacy is so important to people right now, he said. She was kind ... She loved to make new friends. You can tell by looking at her picture. Smith said he knew Fallon because they both worked on student council together at Malvern Collegiate. She was a year older than him and encouraged him to participate in extra-curriculars. Among the people attending Sundays visitation were Toronto Mayor John Tory and former Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne. A funeral, which will also be open to the public, is scheduled for Monday morning. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is among those expected to attend. JAKARTA, INDONESIAA strong and shallow earthquake early Sunday killed at least 14 people and injured more than 160 on Indonesias Lombok island, a popular tourist destination next to Bali, officials said. The quake damaged more than 1,000 houses and was felt in a wider area, including on Bali, where no damage or casualties were reported. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck at a depth of only 7 kilometres. Shallow earthquakes tend to do more damage than deeper ones. East Lombok district was the hardest hit with 10 deaths, including a Malaysian tourist, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesperson for Indonesias Disaster Mitigation Agency. The number of casualties could increase as data was still being collected from other locations on the island, he said. At least 162 people were injured, including 67 hospitalized with serious injuries, Nugroho said. Read more: Shallow earthquake in Indonesia kills 3, damages hundreds of homes Indonesia rocked by strong magnitude-6.8 earthquake Earthquake hits Indonesias Java island killing at least 2 Canadian Nancy Martin travelled to the region with her family, arriving in Indonesia on July 21. After five days of touring through Lombok they made their way to the island of Gilli Air, where they are currently staying. The big issue here is the waters have been very rough and the fast boat service has been cancelled. This is affecting tourism as no one can come and go from the region easily, so the locals are feeling the financial implications, Martin said. Gilli Air seems unaffected, we walked the entire island today ... but several locals told us they came from villages in north Lombok and that (the damage) was very bad, Martin said. Martin and her husband were awake when the earthquake struck, though their two daughters slept through the initial tremors and subsequent aftershocks. The family is scheduled to head to Bali on July 31, but with no fast boats running due to winds and high waves, they will have to return to Lombok by motorboat. Martin said what should have been a 45 minute trip will now likely take eight to 10 hours. The quake caused blackouts in East Lombok and North Lombok districts and triggered a large landslide from Mount Rinjani, an active volcano. Rescuers were evacuating more than 800 tourists from the mountain. In East Lombok and the provincial capital of Mataram, the quake lasted about 10 seconds, causing residents to flee their homes onto streets and fields, Nugroho said. He said most of the fatalities and injuries were caused by falling slabs of concrete. Photos released by the disaster agency showed damaged houses and the entrance to the popular Mount Rinjani National Park, which was immediately closed for fear of landslides. Television footage showed residents remaining outside, fearing aftershocks, as the injured were being treated on mattresses taken out of their partially damaged houses and patients were wheeled out of a hospital. Eka Fathurrahman, the police chief in East Lombok, said the Malaysian woman who died was part of a group of 18 Malaysian tourists who had just visited Mount Rinjani when the quake jolted their guest house and toppled a concrete wall. Six other people were injured at the guest house. Fathurrahman said many injured people who were treated outside a damaged clinic were evacuated to the main hospital farther away after more ambulances reached the devastated location in East Lomboks Sembalun village. Residents refused to enter their houses as prolonged aftershocks are still being felt, he said. Indonesias meteorology and geophysics agency recorded more than 130 aftershocks. Like Bali, Lombok is known for pristine beaches and mountains. Hotels and other buildings in both locations are not allowed to exceed the height of coconut trees. Indonesia is prone to earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin. In December 2004, a massive magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries. With files from Jenna Moon Read more about: MIDDLETOWN, R.I. - A Black man yelled at former White House press secretary Sean Spicer in a bookstore and accused Spicer of calling him a racial slur when they were students at a prep school decades ago. Spicer was taken aback by the mans outrageous claim and had no recollection of him or of being in school with him, his publicist said on Saturday. Spicer was at a book signing in Middletown on Friday to promote his new book reflecting on his time at the press podium for President Donald Trump. Alex Lombard, who was standing behind a small group of people waiting in line to meet Spicer and get him to sign the book, called out Spicers name and said they went to Portsmouth Abbey School together. Spicer waved to him and said, Hey. Yeah. How are you? Lombard, a Newport native who now lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, then accused Spicer of calling him the N-word and trying to fight him when they were at school. You dont remember that you tried to fight me? Lombard asked. But you called me a (N-word) first. A security guard approached Lombard and led him away as he kept talking: I was 14 then. I was a scared kid then, Sean. Im not scared to fight you now. The Providence Journal reported Saturday that Lombard said he was a member of Portsmouth Abbeys class of 1990. It said Spicer was a member of the class of 1989. Phone and email messages left by The Associated Press for the school were not immediately returned. A Newport Daily News video of the encounter doesnt show how Spicer, who was seated at a table signing books, reacted to being accused of using the racial slur. But his publicist said he was shocked by the allegation. Spicer cant recall any incident like this happening and was not sure if this was just a stunt this man was pulling, Regnery Publishing publicist Lauren McCue said. She said Spicer has been in the news a lot the last couple of years and it was a very odd time for an accusation like this to be made. Spicer has been promoting The Briefing: Politics, the Press, and the President, which just came out. The book paints a rosy if sometimes thorny picture of Trump, describing him as a unicorn, riding a unicorn over a rainbow and a man to whom the regular rules of politics dont apply. Cambodias ruling party won an expected victory in an election Sunday widely considered illegitimate after the only credible opposition was silenced and which ensures that long-ruling Prime Minister Hun Sen will serve another five-year term. Although 20 parties contested the election, the only one with the popularity and organization to mount a real challenge, the Cambodian National Rescue Party, was dissolved last year by the Supreme Court in a ruling generally seen as political. Government spokesperson Khieu Kanharith confirmed to The Associated Press that the Cambodian Peoples Party had topped the polls. He did not say how many of the of the 125 seats in the National Assembly the CPP had captured, but preliminary totals broadcast on state television showed that the party had won at least 70 per cent of the vote in each of the countrys 25 provinces. Under the elections system of proportional representation, the party would likely grab more than 100 seats. Local and foreign rights groups, along with several Western governments, had agreed that the election would not be credible. The United States said it regretted the flawed vote and wound consider its responses, including expanding on visa restrictions that were announced in December. The statement from the White House press secretarys office said the U.S. was disappointed in the governments choice to disenfranchise voters, citing the exclusion of the principal opposition party, the jailing and banning of its officials, and threats to punish non-voters. The disbanded CNRPs former leaders had urged people not to vote in what was dubbed a Clean Finger campaign because those who did cast ballots had to dip a finger in indelible ink, a practice meant to thwart multiple voting. Read more: Cambodias sham election inspires boycott against Hun Sen According to detailed totals released by the state National Election Committee, more than 6.8 million registered voters, or 82.2 per cent, cast ballots. The figure, if correct, would suggest that the promotion by opposition forces of a poll boycott was ineffective. In the last general election in 2013, voter turnout was 6.6 million, or 68.5 per cent of 9.7 million registered voters. Hun Sen said on his Facebook page before the results were announced that he welcomed the big turnout, and congratulated his countrymen for exercising their right to vote. However, threats had previously been reported against anyone planning to boycott. In rural areas where the majority live, someone who didnt vote recognized by the lack of ink on their fingers might have been subject to retaliation by local officials who carry out civic functions, such as land registration. Voters in Phnom Penh, Cambodias capital and an opposition stronghold, were less susceptible to such threats because of their higher visibility and safety in numbers. However, according to the election committee, even there the turnout was about 80 per cent. Doubts are likely to be raised about the actual turnout because several established poll-watching groups as well as contingents from the United States and the European Union declined to take part in polls they viewed as illegitimate. One of the bigger Cambodian groups watching the polls is led by one of Hun Sens sons. Following the election, exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy called for peaceful protests, calling it a sham election with a foregone conclusion. Speaking from south of Paris in Freteval where he lives, Sam Rainsy told The Associated Press that it is a meaningless victory because (Hun Sen) won without any real challenger ... prior to the election he dissolved the only credible opposition party. Hun Sens Cambodian Peoples Party was alarmed by the results of the 2013 election, when the race was close enough for the opposition to claim that it would have won had the voter registration process not been manipulated. Along with fracturing the political opposition including pressuring Sam Rainsy into exile and jailing his successor, Kem Sokha Hun Sens government also silenced critical voices in the media. Over the past year, about 30 radio stations shut down, and two English-language newspapers that provided serious reporting were gutted, one forced to close and the other put under ownership friendly to the government. Just ahead of the polls, the government ordered the temporary blocking of 17 websites, citing regulations prohibiting media from disseminating information that might affect security. The blocked websites included those of the U.S. government-funded Voice of America as well as local media. Hun Sen, whose 33 years in power make him among the worlds longest-serving national leaders, promised peace and prosperity at a campaign rally Friday, but attacked the oppositions boycott call and called those who heed it destroyers of democracy. Hun Sen, 65, has said he intends to stay in power for at least two more five-year terms. He was a member of the radical communist Khmer Rouge during its successful five-year war to topple a pro-American government, then defected to Vietnam during Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pots 1975-79 genocidal regime that left nearly 2 million Cambodians dead. He became prime minister in 1985 in a Vietnamese-backed single-party communist government and led Cambodia through a civil war against the Khmer Rouge, which eased off with the 1991 Paris Peace Accords that also installed a democratic political framework. Read more about: NEW YORK Harvey Weinstein is locked in a messy battle with insurance companies over his steadily mounting legal bills. The insurance giant Chubb and other carriers that wrote liability policies for Weinstein and his film company are arguing in court that they shouldnt have to pay for his defence against allegations of rape and sexual harassment. The policies, they have written in court filings, specifically excluded coverage for such blatantly egregious and intentionally harmful acts. Mr. Weinstein has nevertheless repeatedly attempted to foist his defence of these lawsuits upon the plaintiff insurers, lawyers for the companies wrote. Weinsteins legal team, which denies that he assaulted any of his dozens of female accusers, has shot back that the insurers are trying to weasel out of their obligations and have unfairly sided with the accusers. In court papers, they said Weinstein and his company had paid the insurers a fortune in premiums during the past 25 years. At times, they have been indignant in claiming that he is entitled to millions of dollars in coverage. Mr. Weinstein has been left in an untenable position, and his patience has run out, they wrote in one court filing. Read more: Harvey Weinstein faces new charges, accused of forcible sex act by a third woman Opinion | Vinay Menon: Why is Harvey Weinstein smiling? Even in handcuffs, he still doesnt get it Harvey Weinstein arraigned on rape and other charges Weinstein has countersued Chubb and its affiliates, accusing the companies of breach of contract and bad faith. Weinstein, 66, has pleaded not guilty to attacking three women and is out on $1-million (U.S.) bail. A new count added this month, predatory sexual assault, carries a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum of 25 year to life. By the insurance companies latest count, Weinstein and the Weinstein Co. are facing 18 lawsuits and other claims filed just since last year. They include a suit by the New York attorney general accusing the company of failing to protect employees from sexual harassment and others by actresses Kadian Noble and Dominique Huett alleging sexual assault. Its unclear how much the legal firestorm is costing Weinstein. To fight the charges, Weinstein hired Ben Brafman, one of New York Citys most prominent defence attorneys. His team also includes private investigators trying to turn up evidence that backs his claims that the encounters with the alleged victims were consensual. Mounting a defence on multiple fronts can be enormously complex and expensive, said Los Angele-based attorney Thomas Mesereau. Mesereau, who helped Michael Jackson win acquittal in his 2005 child molestation trial and was on the legal team for Bill Cosby when he was convicted in his second sexual-assault trial, said that how the insurance feud turns out hinges on what constitutes criminal versus negligent behaviour. If Weinstein acted criminally, the insurers probably dont have to pay for his defence. The question about where one begins and the other ends can be fuzzy, he said. The insurance companies went to federal court this year to ask for a judgment finding they have no duty to pay to defend the rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment claims against Weinstein. One carrier that had promised to provide Weinstein with $300,000 in crisis assistance benefits in the event he faced a situation involving significant adverse regional or national media coverage has balked at paying up. Weinstein had a policy with another company, National Union, that offered $10 million for legal defence including criminal investigations, his lawyers said in court papers. They want the court to force the company to pay up, plus damages for withholding the money. Settlement talks are ongoing. Separately, an insurance company that covers the Walt Disney Co. has filed a suit in New York also seeking to avoid paying for Weinsteins defence. Weinstein ran the Miramax studio for Disney from 1993 to 2005. NABI SALEH, WEST BANKPalestinian youth activist Ahed al-Tamimi was released from an Israeli prison on Sunday after serving an eight-month sentence on assault and incitement charges and arrived home to a heros welcome. Tamimi, whose December arrest drew international attention, tearfully embraced relatives as a crowd of supporters jostled for selfies with the teen. Israeli authorities also released her mother, Nariman, who served a similar sentence for incitement. The mother and daughter were indicted by an Israeli military court after a video of the curly-haired teen kicking and slapping two armed Israeli soldiers in protective gear went viral on Facebook. Her mother was arrested shortly after she posted the footage on social media. Tamimi, 17, soon became a potent symbol of the Palestinian protest movement, her image gracing murals and posters around the globe. In her village in the West Bank, Nabi Saleh, activists and residents have staged weekly demonstrations since 2009, when Jewish settlers confiscated some of Nabi Salehs land, including a spring that served as its water source. Israeli troops and border police have confronted the demonstrators, firing tear gas, arresting stone-throwers and imposing curfews. Israel says the security measures around Nabi Saleh, which has a population of about 500, and other areas are necessary to prevent the kind of attacks that Palestinians have recently carried out in Jewish settlements across the West Bank. Read more: Israelis call her Shirley Temper. Palestinians call her a hero In the hours after Tamimis arrest in December, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said that the teen and her parents would not escape what they deserve and that anyone who was wild during the day would be arrested at night. But in the hours after her release from prison, Tamimi said Sunday sitting in the courtyard of her home that she knew a long time ago that she would be arrested for choosing this path of opposition to the Israeli occupation. Her eight-month sentence was the result of a plea deal struck to avoid a lengthy trial, her attorney said. Israel has occupied the West Bank since it captured the land in a 1967 war. Over the decades, it has built numerous settlements that crisscross land the Palestinians claim for a future state, including in places such as Nabi Saleh, which borders the Israeli outpost Halamish. As she spoke to reporters, Tamimis unruly blond curls fell over her black-and-white checkered scarf, long an emblem of Palestinian nationalism. Her face was pale and her eyes bloodshot. Nationalists songs blared from loud speakers, including one written especially for her. Despite the softness of your hands, your hands have shaken the world, the lyrics said. Your hands returned the slap to the occupier and returned esteem to the nation. But a sombre Tamimi acknowledged that life in prison was very difficult. Anyone who also chooses this path should prepare themselves to spend time in prison, she said. Israelis had nicknamed Tamimi Shirley Temper for her curls and repeated confrontations with Israeli soldiers. Officials, however, have deemed her a dangerous provocateur. A Sunday headline in the English-language Times of Israel declared that soldier-slapper Ahed Tamimi was released from prison. But rights groups said Sunday that her arrest highlighted Israels practice of detaining Palestinian minors, who are also subject to the military court system in the West Bank. According to statistics released by the Israeli rights group BTselem this month, 291 Palestinian minors were held in Israeli prisons as security detainees and prisoners. Ahed Tamimi has been released, but only after serving an unjust sentence based on the ridiculous premise that she posed a threat to armed and heavily protected soldiers, Saleh Higazi, Amnesty Internationals head of office in Jerusalem, said in a statement. Ahed Tamimis release must not obscure the familiar and continuing story of the Israeli military using discriminatory policies to lock up Palestinian children, said Higazi, who described her arrest as a blatant attempt by the Israeli authorities to intimidate those who dare to challenge the ongoing brutal repression by occupying forces. Tamimis father, Bassem, said he could not describe how happy he was to see his wife and daughter back home. We are still under occupation, he said. But his daughters confidence is very high. Read more about: HARARE, ZIMBABWEIn a surprise address to the nation after months of silence, Zimbabwes former leader Robert Mugabe emerged just hours before Mondays historic election declaring that I will not vote for those who have illegally taken power and turning his back on the ruling party he long controlled. Slow and rambling, the 94-year-old Mugabe spoke to reporters on Sunday with bitterness about his dramatic removal in November under military pressure and amid a ruling party feud. He was coy about endorsing anyone ahead of the election in which the former deputy that he fired, President Emmerson Mnangagawa, faces a 40-year-old lawyer and pastor, Nelson Chamisa. He indicated, however, that Chamisa was the only viable candidate. I cannot vote for those who have tormented me, Mugabe said in a reference to Mnangagwa, who took office with the militarys support. I cannot vote for ZANU-PF, the ruling party that has rejected him as well. Mugabe, who has backed a new political party that is part of a coalition supporting Chamisa, said of him: He seems to be doing well at his rallies ... I wish to meet him if he wins. And he added: Whoever wins, we wish him well ... And let us accept the verdict. Read more: Citizens of Zimbabwe celebrate as President Robert Mugabes resigns after 37 years in power Opinion | Rosie DiManno: Zimbabwes Robert Mugabe has finally overplayed his hand Zimbabwes governing party recommends expelling President Robert Mugabe Later on Sunday, Mnangagwa said in a video posted on Facebook that Chamisa had forged a deal with Mugabe and that a vote for the opposition leader amounted to an endorsement of the old order. We can no longer believe that his intentions are to transform Zimbabwe and rebuild our nation, the president said. Chamisa, meanwhile, said at a news conference that he welcomed the vote of Mugabe or any other Zimbabwean and that you dont discriminate against voters. Many in Zimbabwe knew no other leader but Mugabe, who led the country for 37 years after independence from white minority rule in 1980. What began with optimism crumbled into repression of the opposition, alleged vote-rigging, violent land seizures from white farmers and years of international sanctions. The southern Africa nation hopes that a credible vote on Monday could get those sanctions lifted and bring badly needed investment for a collapsed economy. Mnangagwa, a former Mugabe confidante, has tried to recast himself as a voice for reform, inviting back Western dozens of election observers and pledging a free and fair vote. Mugabe defended Zimbabwes election commission after Chamisa and the opposition raised concerns that the vote will be flawed, saying that it acts quite freely. And in a breathtaking statement, he asserted that his long stay in office had been free from meddling: It was not the army that ensured I remained in power. He blamed evil and malicious characters for his resignation, which was met with a joyous outpouring by thousands of people in the capital, Harare, and elsewhere. I was a fool to have him next to me, he said of Mnangagwa, whom he accused of conniving with the military chief to pull off a coup. Mugabe said he resigned to avoid bloodshed and defended his wife, Grace, who just months ago appeared to be positioning herself for the presidency: Leave, leave, leave my wife alone. Zimbabwes former leader, who appeared to have finally allowed his hair to go grey, spent the final question musing on his legacy, reminding people of his years in prison during the countrys fight for liberation and his work raising literacy and education standards. I tried to do my best, he said, as journalists began to drift away. While Mugabe, who has largely remained quiet in his Harare home since leaving power, spoke largely of the past, Zimbabweans are already impatient for the future and Mondays vote. Arctic Circle temperatures hit 30 C last week. Wildfires in Greece destroying villages and taking lives. British Columbia and Ontario battling forest fires that rage out of control. The extreme weather list goes on. The summer of 2018 is demonstrating that the consequences of climate change are devastatingly real. Two years ago, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees declared that population displacement is irrefutably linked to climate change, citing numerous slow and fast onset examples of climate-related incidents floods, storms, wildfires, extreme temperature, coastal erosion due to rising sea levels and climate change threat multiplier consequences, such as food insecurity and financial instability that exacerbate already-existing socio-political issues. The UNHCR pointed out that, climate change sows seeds for conflict [making] displacement much worse when it happens. According to the Lexis Nexis database of international newspapers, in the past month there were more than 4,600 articles with refugee or migrant in the headlines (a headline indicating the articles focus). But the total number of articles headlined with refugees or migrants and climate change? One. In the past month, U.S. newspapers published 866 articles with headlines related to refugees or migrants. The number of articles with headlines related to refugees or migrants and climate change in the same time period? Zero. The Canadian Major Dailies database shows a similar pattern in Canada. Over the past year Canadian newspapers published 774 migrant or refugee headlined articles but just a single article sharing the headline with climate change. Even acknowledging that headline searches are not exhaustive (there will obviously be articles that explore refugees/migrants from the context of climate change but lack these specific keywords in the headlines), the searches nonetheless illustrate an extreme paucity of such articles. Cognitive dissonance proposes that we experience discomfort when our beliefs and actions are incongruent. For example, most people believe if we can help alleviate another persons suffering, we should. Therefore, if we see someone who needs help, one way to avoid dissonance is to undertake a positive helpful action, thus allowing our beliefs and behaviours to align. When the person who needs help is known to us, the transition from thought to behaviour is easy. But what about strangers who need help? News coverage about exhausted, hungry, desperate refugees/migrants provides excellent examples of just such strangers. Most of us would agree that feeling compelled to flee ones home, putting oneself in extreme danger, having ones child forcibly removed, are horrendous tragedies. Therefore, if we know that people are fleeing and in danger, or children are being taken from loving parents, cognitive dissonance proposes that we will experience discomfort unless we can align our thoughts and behaviours. Alignment could take two fundamental forms: keeping our values intact by taking positive action to help (speaking out, writing letters, taking to the streets, making donations); or sitting idly by and shifting our values. How might we shift our values? We could decide that refugees/migrants do not deserve our actions because they are willingly choosing to flee their homelands. We could also decide that we do not need to take action because the crisis has nothing to do with us. Climate change, however, challenges both of these attempts to assuage our inaction dissonance. According to a 2015 Oxfam report, the wealthiest 10 per cent of the planets population contributes about 50 per cent of the carbon emissions; the poorest 50 per cent contribute about 10 per cent of global carbon. But the people most vulnerable to climate change are also most likely to experience extreme weather disasters and climate changes more generalized threat multiplying effect (food insecurity, heightened violence, etc., due to extreme weather). In other words, climate change has everything to do with the decision to flee ones home and those of us in more materially affluent parts of the world have everything to do with climate change. Yes, the refugee/migrant crisis is extremely upsetting, uncomfortable and dissonant for many of us, but we owe it to those who are suffering to take action. And we should include in our actions asking why news stories about refugees and migrants so rarely include a focus on climate change. Jennifer Good is an associate professor of Communication, Popular Culture and Film at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont. Read more about: Canadas premiers convened in New Brunswick this month to discuss a raft of issues, including national pharmacare. The meeting was attended by officials, including Dr. Eric Hoskins, appointed as chair of the national pharmacare council, who is being paid an annual salary of nearly $292,000. The culmination of the conference included an announcement that a national pharmacare blueprint would be unveiled in the spring of 2019. This time-frame suggests that pharmacare will represent a key pillar in the re-election campaign of the Liberal government. The drumbeat of advocacy for a national pharmacare program has been growing steadily louder over the past several years. The lack of universal drug coverage is a major concern for the medical community, and physicians have been outspoken with their support of initiatives that would enhance patients access to vital treatments. The parliamentary budget office estimates that pharmacare would save Canadians $4 billion annually because Health Canada would be able to negotiate for better drug prices in bulk. However, it will also come with an upfront cost of $20 billion, likely requiring higher taxes to foot the bill, which is why it is essential that leadership gets it right. Hoskins has begun a consultation period before submitting a proposal for what a national pharmacare program would look like. However, a glaring deficiency of this initiative is its lack of transparency, with the public and professionals having little access to ongoing deliberations. This is problematic because Health Canada has had a history of withholding information, with a federal judge ruling against the agency by criticizing its violation of Vanessas law. It is the superficial nature of these consultations, combined with the governments resistance to input from experts, that concerns many in the medical community. This was especially true during the aggressive timeline for cannabis legalization, which was a political calculation, despite consternation from physicians about safety. This lack of inclusion in decision-making is becoming a theme that has significant consequences. For example, Hoskins go-it-alone OHIP+ program was roundly criticized by health care leaders and resulted in a significant number of youth being denied treatment coverage. It is, therefore, curious that his committee is flirting with the same strategy that has already proven to be ineffectual. Additionally, the federal government is not yet prepared to increase federal health transfers to the provinces, despite an aging and growing population. Making matters worse, it has actually reduced funding growth compared with the previous administration. This creates a challenge for the Grits to claim that they believe in adequate and sustained funding when having done the opposite. There is no doubt that a national pharmacare program is one of the most important policy developments in recent history. It also has the potential to become a defining issue in next years election. The government should resist the temptation for making pharmacare a partisan issue and commit to adhering to its own inclusion and transparency framework it promised Canadians. To read relentless news of pedestrian and cyclist deaths and injuries in Toronto is to relive the citys early 20th century past. We see the same cause of the tragedy (motor vehicles), hear the same heartfelt condolences, and note the same bromide from constable, politician or lobbyist: cyclists and pedestrians must attend vigorously to their self-interest on hazardous streets. It never occurs to anyone that such platitudes have been rehearsed by civic leaders for over a century. To be fair, they have no other words. Automobilization in Toronto since the 1910s has rendered the citys community leaders virtually speechless. Why? Because there is only one impossible public policy to effect pedestrian and cyclist safety on streets dominated by motor vehicles: automobile prohibition. With prohibition as a workable policy left permanently off the table, what else can our leaders say? Torontonians have long felt the threat posed by automobilization, watching the slaughter on roadways and sidewalks. A century ago, children died by the dozens at the wheels of motorists (90 were killed between 1919 and 1921). The pedestrian and cyclist carnage continued through the 1920s and 1930s. Children especially were imperiled. City newspapers gruesomely described how motor vehicles flayed, crushed and dragged children to death. It wasnt always thus. Before the First World War, street traffic consisted primarily of walkers, slow-moving streetcars and horse traffic. Yet, by the end of the war, as motor vehicle ownership increased, collision statistics had risen precipitously. Drivers ran through intersections, failed to yield to streetcars and riders, jumped curbs, drove on both sides of the road and cut off or bumped cyclists. Importantly, pedestrians could not yet accurately assess the time and space compression of fast-moving cars, or the emerging danger of an automobilizing environment. Throughout the 1920s, the citys irresistible opportunities for work attracted migrants, further swelling the numbers of pedestrians on the streets. Alas, pedestrian populations and automobile ownership ballooned simultaneously, neither constrained by countervailing public policy. Compounding the situation, the automobile was seen as an excellent vehicle (as it were) for economic prosperity, enlivening the urban imaginations of Torontos politicians and business people. Newspapers promoted it as the perfect machine and the chariot of prosperity. The car had achieved its rightful prerogative over all other methods of transportation. Such hyperbole propelled the automobile into an actual, lethal conflict with traditional street users, including carefree children on their ancestral playground. So, what did policy-makers do to stop cars from killing children on the streets? Nothing, despite deputations to City Council by the Toronto Playground Association in 1920, and a 1928 motion by Alderman Pearce to ban automobiles from streets where children played. In every year between 1927 and 1934, dozens of toddlers died horribly in the streets. The closest that leaders came to policy was encouraging drivers to be careful, and admonishing pedestrians that The Game of Walking Has Been Speeded Up. This meant persuading children (including preschoolers who simply strayed onto streets chasing butterflies, blowing whistles or pushing doll prams) of the necessity of guarding against accidents by abstaining from contributory negligence, as the Ontario Safety League put it. This is why we look both ways before crossing the road a solitary policy legacy of a history that systemically privileged automobiles above pedestrians and cyclists in the urban hierarchy. Closely connected to looking up and down before crossing the road is an official predilection to blame pedestrians, cyclists and children for the horrors that befall them. To blame automobiles would be to confront them in policy. That wont happen. Call this what it is: political negligence. Any pedestrian or cyclist can tell you how to save lives in Toronto. Put severe restrictions on automobile use in pedestrian- and bicycle-heavy city neighbourhoods. This wont happen, either. A century ago, Toronto wouldnt enact policy to prevent the needless mangling of little ones, those innocent little tots of the streets who died by the hundreds. Dont expect policy-makers in 2018 to protect our adult bicyclists and pedestrians, equally precious, yet regarded by many as wilful and intrusive nuisances. Sick Kids website must reflect immoral research on Indigenous children, July 26 I understand Dr. Frederick Tisdall helped invent Pablum to combat infant malnutrition, which was wonderful. But I never understood that he was in charge of research on Indigenous children in northern Manitoba and James Bay, and in residential schools across Canada, where little children were starved and given his food to see how it worked on them. I hope that our new premier makes sure the history of what happened to our Indigenous children is made part of the Ontario curriculum. Growing up in Toronto, I never heard the terrible histories of our Indigenous people. I hope that in the near future all Ontario students will understand our history. NEW YORK (The Deal) -- Conventional wisdom holds that airline fortunes improve as fuel costs go down. But a gradual uptick in the price of jet fuel might be exactly what the industry needs right now to ease growing concern that some bad habits will re-emerge. A wave of consolidation that left just four airlines in control of more than 80% of U.S. domestic capacity, combined with the added benefit of declining fuel prices, sparked a near doubling of the NYSE ArcaAirline Index in 2014. But those same stocks have been stuck in neutral so far in 2015. Questions about where oil prices are heading are in part to blame for investor uncertainty. But a bigger fear is a return to the days when airlines would chase market share at any cost, which in past business cycles led to pricing erosion and contributed to a seemingly continuous wave of bankruptcies. Low fuel costs make marginally profitable routes more viable and allow airlines to utilize older, less-efficient aircraft for longer. That tempts airlines to throw more and more capacity into the system. So far the big three airlines, which are American Airlines (AAL) - Get American Airlines Group, Inc. Report, Delta Air Lines (DAL) - Get Delta Air Lines, Inc. Report and United Continental (UAL) - Get United Airlines Holdings, Inc. Report, have shown admirable restraint. But discounters are moving more aggressively. Cowen & Co.'s Helane Becker warns that passenger revenue per available seat mile, a common industry metric, could decline in the single digit range in the second quarter "as competition picks up and capacity creeps back into the system." And, Becker notes, promotional fares may pop up in a number of markets. The expansion moves, taken on their own, are rational enough. Virgin America (VA) is newly public and seeking growth to help diversify its operations, while companies such as Spirit Airlines (SAVE) - Get Spirit Airlines, Inc. Report and Allegiant Travel (ALGT) - Get Allegiant Travel Company Report have generated profits, bringing their lower-cost models to new markets. Frontier Airlines, which was largely stagnant after emerging from bankruptcy last decade, is under new private equity ownership with a mandate to expand opportunistically. And even taken together, expansion by these smaller airlines might not be enough to significantly move the domestic capacity needle or cause a new round of restructuring. But it could eat into profitability. The issue for the large airlines is that the expansion is unlikely to be spread evenly: It will be focused on the areas on the route map that are disproportionately profitable. An uptick in fuel costs could make these airlines reconsider their growth plans, and perhaps allow for enough pricing power to more than offset the higher fuel bill. Carriers including Southwest Airlines (LUV) - Get Southwest Airlines Co. Report will face decisions in the quarters to come about whether to let leases on older jets expire as originally planned, or to extend the leases while continuing to take new deliveries as scheduled. Those decisions, which will be driven in part by the expected price of fuel, will ripple through the system and influence capacity and pricing power for all participants. Nobody likes turbulence. But a fuel headwind right now might be exactly what the airlines need. Read more from: It is the beginning of a new industrial era for Uttar Pradesh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who took part in the ground-breaking ceremony of projects worth Rs 60,000 crore in Lucknow today, said that it is not the ground-breaking, but record breaking ceremony. He hailed Uttar Pradesh's efforts in launching development projects worth Rs 60,000 crore in such a short span of time in different sectors. This is an astonishing success for UP and the state is on its way to become a USD 1 trillion economy, the prime minister said on the occasion of the launch. PM Modi praised industrialists and said that their contribution is equal to those of farmers in the development of the nation. Many leading industrialists attended the ceremony. Modi also praised the Yogi Adityanath government for acquiring huge investments for these projects and made it clear that he is happy the way the Yogi government is functioning. The PM devoted a major portion of his speech hailing the Yogi governments efforts for a balanced development in Uttar Pradesh. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also spoke at the occasion and said that in the past couple of months, with regard to ease of doing business UP is in the fifth position in the country. Castigating his critics, Modi said that he is surprised when people criticise him as he has achieved much in just four years, which the Congress could not achieve in the past 70 years. In his address, he also hailed former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and said that Atal ji had always conceived a strong India that is why he emphasised on development of infrastructure. Vajpayee ji had once said roads were like lines on ones palm which would determine ones fate. That is why my government is working on various infrastructure projects, he added. Speaking about the energy scenario and the governments move to distribute LED bulbs to consumers, the prime minister said that when his government took over, the energy deficit was 4.2 per cent which has now come down to less than one per cent and distribution of LED bulbs have saved Rs 50,000 due to which consumers benefitted. Modi said that through these projects, about two lakh jobs will be generated in the coming years. He has promised the 22 crore citizens of Uttar Pradesh that he would return their love with interest. The event was a sequel to the investors summit that was held in UP in February to attract investments for various projects. Israel released from prison on Sunday Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi who was jailed late last year after she was filmed kicking and slapping an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank. Tamimi, 17, became a heroine to Palestinians after the December 15 incident outside her home in the village of Nabi Saleh was streamed live on Facebook by her mother and went viral. She was 16 at the time. She faced 12 charges, including aggravated assault, and in March plead guilty to a reduced charge sheet that included assault. She was sentenced to eight months in jail. An Israel Prison Service spokesman said Tamimi had left the Sharon prison and was enroute to the West Bank, where her family are veterans of protests against an Israeli settlement near their home. Palestinians want the West Bank for a future state, along with East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Most countries consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal, something Israel disputes. WEX Inc. provides financial technology services in North America, the Asia Pacific, and Europe. It operates through three segments: Fleet Solutions, Travel and Corporate Solutions, and Health and Employee Benefit Solutions. The Fleet Solutions segment offers fleet vehicle payment processing services. Its services include customer, account activation, and account retention services; authorization and billing inquiries, and account maintenance services; premium fleet services; credit and collections services; merchant services; analytics solutions with access to web-based data analytics platform that offers insights to fleet managers; and ancillary services and tools to fleets to manage expenses and capital requirements. This segment markets its products directly and indirectly to commercial and government vehicle fleet customers with small, medium, and large fleets, as well as with over-the-road and long haul fleets; and indirectly through co-branded and private label relationships. The Travel and Corporate Solutions segment provides payment processing solutions for payment and transaction monitoring needs. Its products include virtual cards that are used for transactions where no card is presented and that require pre-authorization; and prepaid and gift card products that enables secure payment and financial management solutions with single card options, access to open or closed loop redemption, load limits, and with various expirations. This segment markets its products directly and indirectly to commercial and government organizations. The Health and Employee Benefit Solutions segment offers healthcare payment products and software-as-a-service consumer directed platforms for healthcare market, as well as payroll related and employee benefit products in Brazil. The company was formerly known as Wright Express Corporation and changed its name to WEX Inc. in October 2012. WEX Inc. was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Portland, Maine. 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. 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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. TelefAnica Deutschland Holding AG provides integrated telecommunication services to private and business customers in Germany. It offers voice, data, and value-added services in mobile and fixed line networks; access to infrastructure and services for its wholesale partners; and digital products and services in the fields of Internet of Things. The company provides its products and services through a network of independently operated franchise and premium partner shops, and online and telesales channels, as well as indirect selling channels, such as partnerships and co-operations with retailers. It markets its products and services under the O2, Blau, AY YILDIZ, Ortel Mobile, FONIC, netzclub, and TArkeiSIM brand names. As of December 31, 2020, TelefAnica Deutschland Holding AG had approximately 47 million customers. The company was formerly known as TelefAnica Germany Verwaltungs GmbH and changed its name to TelefAnica Deutschland Holding AG in September 2012. The company is based in Munich, Germany. TelefAnica Deutschland Holding AG is a subsidiary of Telefonica Germany Holdings Limited. Read More Wall Street analysts have given iShares Floating Rate 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 Floating Rate Bond ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Hotel and home-sharing companies don't just want to sell you a room anymore. They also want to sell you an experience. Want a "Game of Thrones" walking tour of Dubrovnik, Croatia? Marriott can book it for you. Want to create your own perfume in Paris? Airbnb can help. Online operators like TripAdvisor and Expedia have been booking activities for more than a decade. But Marriott and Airbnb want a bigger piece of that business, so they've added thousands of offerings that travelers can book directly from their web sites. Airbnb debuted experiences in late 2016; it now offers more than 20,000 activities in 800 cities globally through the "Experiences" tab on its web site. There's a wide range, from a $12 yoga class on a Nashville porch to a $175 encounter with wolves near Seattle. Local hosts apply to Airbnb with tour ideas and Airbnb puts them on its site if they're accepted. The larger Marriott Moments program, which launched in October, offers 120,000 experiences in 1,000 destinations, from a $27 walking tour of Detroit to a $588 full-day tour of Tuscany. Marriott's partner, online tour search company PlacePass, finds and vets the experiences. Marriott still offers around 10,000 exclusive activities for its loyalty program members. Those offers like a pastry class at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris can only be booked with Marriott or Starwood points. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. On both sites, experiences cost the same as they would if travelers booked directly with tour providers. West Wine Tours, which gives tours of Sonoma and Napa, Calif., in a Volkswagen bus, charges $125 on its site and through Airbnb. Danielle Oteri runs a company called Feast on History that gives tours in Italy and New York City and has been offering tours of Italian food shops in the Bronx since 2007. She thinks the growing demand for experiences stems from the sameness of global cities, with chains like Starbucks on every corner. "When you travel it's so much harder to find places that are unique to the city," Oteri said. "It's helpful to have someone introduce you to that stuff." HEALTH CARE HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS INSURANCE COMPANY INC. Veronica K. Loughridge was named president and CEO. Loughridge joined in 2010 as vice president and chief operating officer. ALBANY MEDICAL CENTER Meera Menon joined as a pediatric surgeon in the Department of Pediatric Surgery, with special interests in neonatal and minimally invasive surgery, gastrointestinal surgery and pediatric oncology. Menon, who is a reservist with the U.S. Navy, previously worked at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip. PROFESSIONS PIERRO, CONNOR & STRAUSS LLC Peter Strauss joined as a senior partner. Strauss, who previously worked at Drinker Biddle and Reath, has more than 45 years of experience in estate planning and litigation, elder law and special needs planning. Theresa Skaine joined as of counsel in the Latham office. Skaine focuses her practice on areas of corporate law and business planning including formation, contract negotiation, purchases, leasing and business succession. Claude Weinstein joined as an associate attorney in the Latham office. Weinstein has more than 20 years of experience in high net worth estate planning, asset protection and tax planning. RENSSELAER COUNTY ONE STOP CAREER CENTER Brian Williams joined as director and commissioner of employment and training. Williams has more than 20 years of experience in the workforce development field assisting youth, adults and dislocated workers with workforce options, with specific expertise in employment and training program administration, youth programming, job development and career guidance. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. EYP INC. Kefalari (Kef) L. Mason, CPA, joined the Albany office as chief financial officer and will serve as the principal financial advisor and a key member of the senior management team for 15 offices across the United States and Europe. Mason has more than two decades of global experience in senior financial roles and previously served as chief financial officer at Ventech Engineers International, a Texas-based engineering, construction and procurement company. FINANCIAL FIRST NEW YORK FEDERAL CREDIT UNION Lucas Fiedler was promoted to manager of membership development. Fiedler previously served as membership development officer in the marketing department. Jennifer Patterson A voice for fairness It's a good thing that Public Service Commission Chair John Rhodes is shouting from the rooftops about Charter Communications and its progress meeting its promise to extend its Spectrum high-speed internet network to 145,000 new addresses in the state as part of its 2016 purchase of Time Warner Cable. That's because Charter has redacted almost all of the specific data that it files with the PSC on its progress on the project, which likely is costing Charter tens of millions of dollars. That means that the public doesn't really know exactly which addresses that Charter is adding to its network. Charter says that disclosure of such street-level information would put it at a competitive disadvantage, although it wasn't clear which company would take advantage of such data. Verizon, Charter's only competition for land line internet service, had to be coerced into expanding its own high-speed internet network as part of a deal with the PSC recently. Regardless, it turns out that Rhodes has to be the eyes and voice for New Yorkers who want to make sure they are getting a fair deal from Charter. Just a tad late It seems like the Rensselaer County Industrial Development Authority needs to hire someone just to update its web site. After being chastised by the state Authorities Budget Office for not posting adequate information on its web site, the Rensselaer County IDA is still having trouble. For instance, the IDA posted its July 19 meeting agenda on its web site on July 20, the day after the meeting. The IDA has a small staff so it's understandable that perhaps they cannot get the agenda online before the meeting takes place. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. But the real problem is one of public perception. It looks like the IDA is keeping information from the public, which we know the IDA isn't trying to do. But the public doesn't know that. It's only a suggestion Perhaps the best legal strategy that Alain Kaloyeros can take in the wake of his conviction on charges of bid-rigging on SUNY Polytechnic Institute charges is to argue that the whole process of awarding contracts was corrupt. Back when SUNY Poly named LPCiminelli the preferred developer to build the $750 million Solar City solar panel factory, the board vote was not held in accordance with the state open meeting law. Such votes have in the past been nullified by the courts. Kaloyeros and his legal team could argue that the LPCiminelli never really won the contract that was alleged to have been rigged, although its likely they have more promising appeal avenues to pursue. Washington President Donald Trump's trade policies are turning long-established Republican orthodoxy on its head, marked by tariff fights and now $12 billion in farm aid that represents the type of government intervention GOP voters railed against a decade ago. President George W. Bush increased the number of countries partnering with the United States on free trade agreements from three to 16. President Ronald Reagan signed a landmark trade deal with Canada that was later transformed into the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and expanded to include Mexico. Both those Republican presidents also enacted tariffs, but their comments on trade were overwhelmingly positive. "We should beware of the demagogues who are ready to declare a trade war against our friends, weakening our economy, our national security and the entire free world, all while cynically waiving the American flag," Reagan said in a 1988 radio address. Trump, by comparison, has called NAFTA "the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere," and his administration has opted to use tariffs as a tool intended to leverage more favorable agreements with virtually every major U.S. trading partner. He shredded the trade agreement the Obama administration tried to work out with Pacific Rim nations that had strong backing from farm groups and chief executives from major U.S. corporations. Republicans also have altered the priority of tackling the national debt, an issue the GOP hammered President Barack Obama on as the country struggled to recover from the 2008 economic crisis. "Our nation is approaching a tipping point," GOP Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, now the House speaker, said in January 2011 when the national debt hit $14 trillion. Today, the Congressional Budget Office projects the $21 trillion debt will rise to more than $33 trillion in 10 years. That estimate notes that the tax cut lawmakers passed in December would increase economic output but add $1.8 trillion to the deficit over the coming decade. The GOP's evolving priorities are not lost on some in the party. Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., who lost a close primary election this year after butting heads with Trump on some issues, said he finds it "perplexingly destructive" for the GOP brand. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. "It takes a long while to build a brand, but brands can be diminished or destroyed in relatively short order, and I think the administration is destroying bedrock cornerstones to what the party has historically stood for," Sanford said. "There is no conversation on the debt, deficit and government spending these days. That has been a cornerstone." Sanford made headlines as South Carolina governor when he said he would reject stimulus money approved during the financial crisis because he did not think the country should go into debt to fund recovery efforts. "Here we are now with a hypothetical $12 billion bailout package and you don't hear a word," Sanford said. "That is quite a transition in not so many years from decrying what the Obama administration had done with bailouts to now endorsing the idea of bailouts." Trump, in a Friday interview on Fox News' Sean Hannity's radio show, said the strong economy would help the U.S. reduce the deficit. Redding, Calif. The death count from a rapidly growing Northern California wildfire rose to five Saturday after two young children and their great-grandmother who had been unaccounted for were confirmed dead. "My babies are dead," Sherry Bledsoe said through tears after she and family members met with Shasta County sheriff's deputies. Bledsoe's two children, James Roberts, 5, and Emily Roberts, 4, were stranded with her grandmother Melody Bledsoe, 70, when fire swept through the area where they were staying Thursday. The three were among more than a dozen people reported missing after the furious wind-driven blaze took residents by surprise and leveled several neighborhoods. Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said he expects to find several of those people alive and just out of touch with loved ones. Officers have gone to homes of several people reported missing and found that cars were gone a strong indication they fled. The fire that was ignited Monday in forested hills grew overnight to 127 square miles. It pushed southwest of Redding toward tiny communities of Ono, Igo and Gas Point, where scorching heat, winds and bone-dry conditions complicated firefighting efforts. It's now the largest of more than 20 fires burning in California. The winds that aided firefighters in keeping the flames from more populated areas were propelling it forward at a frightening rate. "We're not getting a break with the weather," said Chris Anthony, a spokesman for Cal Fire, the state agency responsible for fighting wildfires. "It just continues to be really hot, really dry and we continue to get those winds. ... This fire's getting so big and there are so many different parts to it." Two firefighters were killed and the latest tally of 500 destroyed structures was sure to rise. A count by The Associated Press found more than 300 homes destroyed. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. About 37,000 people are under evacuation orders, 5,000 homes are threatened and the fire was just 5 percent contained. Meanwhile, about 120 miles southwest of Redding, two blazes prompted mandatory evacuations in Mendocino County. The fires, burning 30 miles apart, started Friday and are threatening more than 350 buildings. The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office ordered evacuations for people living in an area north of Highway 175 near Hopland. Residents in neighboring Benmore Valley were also told to leave Saturday. Cal Fire officials said more than 10,000 firefighters were on the line, making progress on 14 large wildfires across California. President Donald Trump issued an emergency declaration for California on Saturday, allowing counties affected by wildfires to receive federal assistance. Huge fires continued to burn outside Yosemite National Park and in the San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles near Palm Springs. As of Saturday morning, those fires had burned nearly 160,000 acres and destroyed over 500 structures. Yosemite Valley remained closed to visitors and won't reopen until Friday. Albany Hal Teitelbaum needed quick action from New York's government: the approval of an application allowing one of New York's fastest-growing health care companies, Crystal Run, to keep expanding. In the fall of 2011, Crystal Run's CEO was facing what's often a lengthy, bureaucratic process. His path, however, smoothed out considerably after the CEO wrote a $25,000 check drawn from Crystal Run's corporate funds to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's re-election campaign. Teitelbaum soon had a direct line to one of New York's most powerful people, top Cuomo aide Joe Percoco, who according to emails obtained by the Times Union quickly helped solve the problem. It was the first of several favorable interactions Crystal Run would have with the Cuomo administration, and the first of the company's many campaign donations to the governor. Following a series of Times Union articles last year raising questions about that relationship, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office and FBI are now investigating Crystal Run. A federal grand jury issued subpoenas seeking testimony from Crystal Run employees earlier this year, sources said. One issue at hand is the means by which Crystal Run officials have given $400,000 in campaign contributions to Cuomo. There is also the question of what, if anything, Crystal Run has gotten in return. Interviews and emails obtained by the Times Union raise provide details on both fronts. The bonuses factor The Times Union has learned that the ongoing criminal investigation is examining whether Crystal Run officials were reimbursed by company bonuses for a flurry of $25,000 donations they made to Cuomo's campaign in 2013. A civil lawsuit filed last December by six Crystal Run doctors, which the company quickly settled, made reference to that type of use of company funds. If that kind of transaction did occur, it would raise serious legal questions: New York election law requires political donations to be given in the "true name" of a donor so that campaign donation limits can't be circumvented through the use of so-called "straw donors." A Crystal Run spokesman, Loren Riegelhaupt, declined to comment on whether Crystal Run had reimbursed employees for their donations to Cuomo. He also declined to discuss whether such a tactic would be legal. "As we said then and as we believe now, Crystal Run Healthcare is always eager to work with any state or federal leaders who seek to advance initiatives and concepts to help assure a sustainable health care system for all New Yorkers," Riegelhaupt said in a statement. "We fervently believe in creating a cost-effective, value-based approach to health care that promotes quality of life and economic development within New York, and we proudly stand by that. Any accusation that Crystal Run engaged in a pay-to-play effort, or any other illegal or unethical conduct, to obtain state grants is absolutely false." Other donations In May, U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney gave away more than $35,000 in donations to his congressional campaign from Crystal Run executives, doctors or their spouses. Instead of returning the money to the company officials, however, the Hudson Valley Democrat donated it to the U.S. Treasury. Like New York state law, federal election law prohibits giving donations through straw donors. Occasionally, such donations have resulted in prosecutions on the state and federal level. Although smaller in amount, the Crystal Run gifts to Maloney who is currently seeking the Democratic nomination for state attorney general without abandoning his congressional re-election effort bear some striking resemblances to those given to Cuomo. Over a two-day period in October 2013, Crystal Run officials, doctors or their spouses gave Cuomo 10 donations of $25,000 apiece. The donations came during a Cuomo fundraiser, though the governor's campaign has repeatedly refused to discuss its location and details such as whether it was an exclusive Crystal Run event. Of the 10 Crystal Run donors to Cuomo, seven had not made a donation in a New York election in at least a decade. Similarly, several of Maloney's donors had never given before in federal elections, but in the fall of 2015 gave the congressman exactly $500 apiece. Maloney transferred not only those Crystal Run donations to the U.S. Treasury, but also gifts he'd gotten from Teitelbaum and his wife as well as the company's chief operating officer, Michelle Koury. (The two women were among Cuomo's spate of $25,000 donors in October 2013.) According to Maloney's office, Crystal Run officials told the congressman's office that the donations had been "incorrectly attributed." Maloney's spokeswoman did not have further information about what, exactly, that phrase meant. "When we heard there might be a problem from Crystal Run, we voluntarily gave the money to the Treasury Department rather than keep any questionable donations," she said. A Cuomo campaign spokeswoman, Abbey Collins, refused to answer questions about whether Crystal Run had similarly approached the Cuomo campaign concerning problematic donations. "If any wrongdoing is established, contributions will be donated," Collins said in a brief statement. There are also the questions of what Crystal Run has gotten from the Cuomo administration. The emails obtained by the Times Union are from 2011 and 2012, and center around communications between Teitelbaum and Percoco, a close Cuomo aide and friend who at the time was serving as the newly installed governor's executive deputy secretary. In March 2018, Percoco, who had left the Cuomo administration two years earlier, was convicted of taking more than $300,000 in bribes from two development firms seeking state favors. Crystal Run was not a part the Percoco case, and none of its officials have been charged with wrongdoing. Nor has Cuomo. Turnaround time The emails obtained by the Times Union do seem to show how a wealthy individual can gain quick access to the top tier of Cuomo decision-makers. On Oct. 21, 2011 four days after the initial $25,000 check from Crystal Run to the Cuomo campaign the governor held an evening campaign fundraiser in Orange County, where Crystal Run is based, according to Cuomo's public schedule. The schedule does not state other details of the event, but Cuomo's campaign finance report notes that Donna Applegate, the wife of Orange County affordable housing developer Jonah Mandelbaum, a day later reported incurring $4,000 in costs for a Cuomo event, suggesting that couple threw the campaign gathering for Cuomo. Mandelbaum, a Republican whose projects have often been picked for tax incentives by the Cuomo administration and prior governors, had previously thrown a Cuomo campaign fundraiser at the couple's home in 2010, the year he won his first term. In addition, Teitelbaum's emails state that he was introduced to Percoco by Mandelbaum. The timing suggests that the introduction occurred at the Cuomo campaign fundraiser just after Teitelbaum cut the $25,000 donation. Cuomo's campaign, Percoco's attorney and Teitelbaum did not provide more information about the 2011 event, however, and Applegate could not recall the exact details. In any case, Teitelbaum sometime in late 2011 told Percoco about his "certificate of need" application issue, which pertained to the opening of a Crystal Run ambulatory surgery center in Middletown, Orange County. In New York, the certificate of need process which can involve a comment period and lengthy department review regulates the growth of the health care industry, which in some places exceeds consumer demand. The emails state that Percoco set up a meeting between Teitelbaum and a top Department of Health official, Jim Introne, that occurred about a month after the Cuomo fundraiser. After the meeting, Teitelbaum wrote to Percoco that it had "led to significant streamlining of processes." Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. "I genuinely believe that resolution of the issue addressed with Mr. Introne is in the best interests of the citizens of New York, as well as in those of Crystal Run," Teitelbaum wrote to Percoco in December 2011. "Thanks again for your assistance." Notably, neither Teitelbaum nor anyone at Crystal Run has registered as a lobbyist in New York. That's despite Crystal Run employees having attended a number of meetings with New York government officials about regulations and contracts, and Teitelbaum having sent emails asking state officials for government action. If the well-paid Crystal Run employees spent more than $5,000 worth of their time in a year on lobbying, they would need to register, according to David Grandeau, the state's former top lobbying official. In another June 2012 email obtained by the Times Union, Teitelbaum politely told Percoco of other Crystal Run priorities that could benefit from subsidies by New York government. While never actually saying that Crystal Run needed state money for its private projects the doctor-owned firm is by all accounts thriving Teitelbaum did say that new building would be "significantly facilitated" by state funding and would create hundreds of new jobs. "I am writing to ask your advice regarding a project that I believe is in the best interests of New York and the State's continued recovery from the recession of the last few years," Teitelbaum wrote to Percoco. "As you may recall, we were introduced by Jonah Mandelbaum this past year, and you were most helpful .... " For one, Teitelbaum wanted to make sure that the state would provide a $4.2 million incentive package. According to meeting minutes for Empire State Development, New York's economic development arm, Crystal Run asked the authority in July 2012 for financial assistance in order to avoid a threatened move of the company's back-office operations to North Carolina. Just a month later, the company accepted the state's $4.2 million proposal to subsidize a 60,000-square-foot facility that would house the company's back-office operations in Orange County. Teitelbaum also told Percoco of a planned major health care facility Crystal Run wanted to build in the town of Monroe, Orange County. The CEO said he wanted to obtain state funding through Cuomo's Regional Economic Development Council process. "I would appreciate your advising me who, if anyone, I should speak with at the State level to assure that these projects ... receive appropriate consideration," he wrote to the Cuomo aide. Percoco forwarded the Teitelbaum email to Aimee Vargas, a Cuomo administration official at Empire State Development. Vargas responded that she had met with Teitelbaum and other Crystal Run executives, and had also been in touch with Brandon Stabler of Albany-based Columbia Development, which was building the facility for Crystal Run. Columbia is another major Cuomo campaign donor. ESD officials had "hope" the Crystal Run project would get state funding, Vargas told Percoco. Four years later, and through a different funding process, Crystal Run would indeed be awarded state money to build a much smaller, but similar, project to the one Teitelbaum had broached to Percoco in 2012. To some observers, the grant was extraordinary: The company was awarded $12.3 million by the Department of Health in March 2016 for the Monroe Integrated Medical Office Building, even though the project had already broken ground six months earlier and was well on its way to completion without any state money. On the same day in March 2016, the Department of Health awarded Crystal Run an additional $13.1 million to build the Rockland Integrated Medical Office Building in West Nyack. That project had also broken ground about six months before the state award. The Department of Health received 396 applications and made 63 awards totaling $547 million for the Capital Restructuring and Financing Program projects, which competed against one another to benefit projects outside New York City. From those applicants, the winners were all nonprofit organizations with one exception: Crystal Run. The Cuomo administration says the Department of Health awarded the capital money for health care projects in the exact order of the agency's scoring. Whether a project was being built without taxpayer subsidy was not part of the criteria. "Members of the administration routinely meet with those seeking to expand and create jobs in New York and as has been stated multiple times state assistance provided for this project went through the same process that every other project goes through at each of the relevant state agencies," said Cuomo government spokesman Rich Azzopardi. "These emails show nothing more than a regional representative conveying information about a regionally significant project. There is no link between state action and a donation of any size and any suggestion otherwise is counter to the facts." The federal probe into Crystal Run has become an issue in this year's race for governor, with both Cuomo's Democratic primary opponent, Cynthia Nixon, and his Republican challenger, Marc Molinaro, holding it up as a prime example of alleged "pay-to-play" fundraising that has helped Cuomo amass a $30 million campaign war chest. Brendan J. Lyons and Casey Seiler contributed reporting. cbragg@timesunion.com 518-454-5303 ALBANY - Two politically connected candidates are presenting distinct options to voters in the race to succeed retiring state Sen. Kathy Marchione. Halfmoon Republican Daphne Jordan and Brunswick Democrat Aaron Gladd are divided on abortion, speak about gun control in divergent terms, prioritize different issues and have competing visions for the state Senate. They are vying to represent the right-leaning 43rd Senate District, which includes Columbia County and parts of Rensselaer, Washington and Saratoga counties. The race for the seat didn't start until the end of April, when Marchione, a Halfmoon Republican, announced she would retire the post she held since 2013. The decision surprised local Republicans and kicked off an open competition for the party's nomination that wasn't resolved until a month later when Jordan, a Halfmoon Town Board member, muscled out the field to secure Republican support. Jordan decided to run because she thought she was the best candidate for the job, although it wasn't something she had considered while serving as Marchione's legislative director for the last six years. "I'd always joke and say, 'wow, this is a government major's dream,' the job that I have ... (Running for Senate is) taking it one step further now," she said. Gladd's ties to Albany include a two-year fellowship in the state Senate with the late Republican Sen.Tom Libous and most he recently spent three years as a deputy director of policy for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, which he left in May to focus on the race. In between those experiences he enlisted in the Army, rising to the rank of first lieutenant and serving as a ground-combat platoon leader in Afghanistan. The district has been in Republican hands for decades, with Marchione winning in 2016 by 25 percentage points, and the party enjoys an active voter enrollment edge of about 3 percentage points over Democrats. But Democrats believe the open competition is winnable and point to Gladd's overwhelming initial fundraising advantage over Jordan as evidence that they will have the necessary resources for a competitive campaign and evidence that contributors are betting on the seat to flip. On the issues The candidates are starkly divided on abortion, with Gladd supporting a woman's right to choose and Jordan describing herself as "strongly pro-life." Their beliefs put them on opposing sides of the Reproductive Health Act, which would codify Roe v. Wade and move abortion out of the state's penal code. The bill has passed the state Assembly, but it has been blocked from receiving a vote in the state Senate by the Republican majority. Jordan talks about gun control largely as an all or nothing proposition, saying, "Anything that begins to infringe on our Second Amendment rights I'm not in favor of. You start chipping and chipping away until then there is nothing." It's those reservations that made her hesitant to back the governor's "Red Flag" bill, which would allow a court to decide if certain individuals were too dangerous to possess a firearm. The measure is strongly opposed by the National Rifle Association. Gladd supports the "goals of the bill," but wants to be part of negotiations about the bill. With his background as a hunter and handling weapons in the military, he said he understands the nuances involved in regulating guns. He supports expanded background checks, restrictions on gun rights for perpetrators of domestic abuse and tax credits to purchase new gun safes. "When I think about guns, though, I'm not thinking about the Second Amendment. I'm thinking about gun safety," Gladd said Jordan's campaign has said her election is important because it is necessary to ensure a Republican majority in the Senate, which can provide a check on "Cuomo and (New York City Mayor) Bill de Blasio and his New York City Democrats." Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. She said this means holding the line on taxes and fees, which she claimed would be the priorities of a Democratic majority in the Senate. Gladd described the attack, which is used by many Republican campaigns outside of New York City, as hackneyed "political fearmongering." "What I'm talking about isn't Democrat or Republican. I'm talking about having an upstate voice at the table," he said when asked about standing up to his party's liberal New York City base. Both candidates support the property tax cap, with Jordan wanting to make it permanent and Gladd supporting some exemptions to provide more local flexibility. They each spoke generally about lowering state business and income taxes. Jordan identified the needs of the middle class as the most pressing issue for the district. "I think the middle class has been ignored," she said. Gladd highlighted the water crisis in Hoosick Falls, saying, "It's a statewide issue because Hoosick Falls could happen anywhere and clean water is essential" Jordan is against raising the tipped minimum wage and changing on-call scheduling regulations, while Gladd's comments revolved around finding middle ground and didn't stake out a definitive position on either issue. Jordan will appear on the Republican, Conservative, Independence and Reform party lines and Gladd has the Democratic, Working Families and Women's Equality lines. David.Lombardo@timesunion.com - 518.454.5427 - @poozer87 Brussels Former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont returned to Belgium Saturday to drum up support for Catalonia's separatist movement after Spain's bid to extradite him on rebellion charges from Germany failed. On arriving in Brussels, Puigdemont shook hands with other former members of his Cabinet who also fled Spain and the current regional president of Catalonia, Quim Torra, who had traveled from Spain to meet his predecessor. Puigdemont said he will continue to travel around Europe in an attempt to explain the separatist position in wealthy Catalonia, which has so far failed to garner any support from European governments or major political parties. "I have to continue doing my duty of fighting for fundamental rights denied by Spain," Puigdemont said, while adding he has yet to plan his next move. Puigdemont fled Spain in October following an illegal and ineffective declaration of independence by secessionist lawmakers in northeastern Catalonia. He had been in Germany since March when he was arrested on a Spanish warrant while traveling by car from Finland back to Belgium. But a Spanish judge withdrew the international warrant for Puigdemont and five other fugitive separatists after a German court refused to extradite him for rebellion. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. Puigdemont can be arrested, however, if he returns to Spain. He will now return to a residence he established in a house in the town of Waterloo. Spain has undergone a change in government since the Catalan political crisis exploded last year after conservative leader Mariano Rajoy lost a vote of confidence in June. Since then, Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has met with Torra in an attempt to relax tensions between Madrid and Barcelona. [July 29, 2018] Cellcom Israel Schedules Second Quarter 2018 Results Release for August 16, 2018 NETANYA, Israel, July 29, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE: CEL) (TASE: CEL) (hereinafter: the "Company"), announced today that it will be releasing its financial results for the second quarter of 2018 on Thursday, August 16, 2018, before the US markets open. The Company will be hosting a conference call at 9:00am Eastern Time (6:00am Pacific Time, 2:00pm UK time, 4:00pm Israel time). On the call, management will review and discuss the results and will be available to answer questions. To participate, please call one of the following teleconferencing numbers. Please begin placing your calls a few minutes before the conference call commences. If you are unable to connect using the toll-free numbers, please try the international dial-in number. US Dial-in Number: 1-888-668-9141 UK Dial-in Number: 0-800-917-5108 Israel Dial-in Number: 03-918-0610 International Dial-in Number: +972-3-918-0610 at: 9:00 am Eastern Time; 6:00 am Pacific Time; 2:00 pm UK Time; 4:00 pm Israel Time The conference will be broadcast live on the investor relations section of the Company's website: http://investors.cellcom.co.il. After the call, a replay of the call will be available under the same investor relations section. About Cellcom Israel Cellcom Israel Ltd., established in 1994, is a leading Israeli communications group, providing a wide range of communications services. Cellcom Israel is the largest Israeli cellular provider, providing its approximately 2.822 million cellular subscribers (as at March 31, 2018) with a broad range of services including cellular telephony, roaming services for tourists in Israel and for its subscribers abroad, text and multimedia messaging, advanced cellular content and data services and other value-added services in the areas of music, video, mobile office etc., based on Cellcom Israel's technologically advanced infrastructure. The Company operates an LTE 4 generation network and an HSPA 3.5 Generation network enabling advanced high speed broadband multimedia services, in addition to GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks. Cellcom Israel offers Israel's broadest and largest customer service infrastructure including telephone customer service centers, retail stores, and service and sale centers, distributed nationwide. Cellcom Israel further provides OTT TV services (as of December 2014), internet infrastructure (as of February 2015) and connectivity services and international calling services, as well as landline telephone services in Israel. Cellcom Israel's shares are traded both on the New York Stock Exchange (CEL) and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (CEL). For additional information please visit the Company's website http://investors.cellcom.co.il. Company Contact Shlomi Fruhling Chief Financial Officer investors@cellcom.co.il Tel: +972-52-998-9735 Investor Relations Contact Ehud Helft GK Investor & Public Relations cellcom@gkir.com Tel: +1 617 418 3096 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cellcom-israel-schedules-second-quarter-2018-results-release-for-august-16-2018-300688176.html SOURCE Cellcom Israel Ltd. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [July 29, 2018] BitMart Exchange Launches Mission X: The Community Listing Market GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands, July 29, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Even with the current rise in the value of cryptocurrencies, including the increase in the price of bitcoin, investors are still seeking new opportunities within the cryptocurrency market. Recently, the "trans-fee mining" model by FCoin Exchange has become a hot topic. Many investors have been attracted to the model, seeking exchanges that offer a listing process that both lets them take part and which is profitable to them. BitMart recognizes the wants and needs of its users and agrees with the concept of community listing. As such, BitMart Exchange is launching Mission X: The Community Listing Market. What is Mission X? To summarize, projects will be able to obtain investment from supporters in the form of BMX and use it to list their tokens on the BMX market as a trading pair for BMX. All transaction fees from the BMX market will go directly to the users who supported the project. In addition, successful projects will enter BitMart's main trading markets. Investment Lab Projects will first seek to obtain investment from supporters in the Investment Lab. Initially, projects will be limited to ERC-20, NEP-5, and Stellar smart contracts. Users will be invited to support their favorite projects by investing in them using BMX. The limit for investing in any given project will be 1 million BMX. Any BMX invested by supporters will be frozen for 90 days in order to allow the project enough time to reach the next stage. If a project does not reach 1 million BMX within that period, all BMX will be unfrozen and returned to investors. BMX Market Once investmentreaches 1 million BMX, projects may enter the BMX market, offering their token as a trading pair of BMX with a 0.1% trading fee. All transaction fees from the BMX market will be rewarded to supporters on a daily basis. To ensure transparency, BitMart will disclose all earnings, along with the anonymized email addresses of the supporters. Supporters will be allowed to redeem their BMX at this stage, however, if a project falls below 1 million BMX it will be delisted from the BMX market. Warnings will be issued 15 days beforehand, giving sufficient time for re-investment. Any delisted project will return to the Investment Lab until investment reaches 1 million BMX again. Additionally, BitMart will raise the investment cap to 5 million BMX for projects during the first 3 days of each month after being listed on the BMX market. Main Trading Markets After being listed on the BMX market, BitMart's Coin Listing Review team will review each project for BitMart's main trading market. If successfully listed on BitMart Exchange, projects can still trade on the BMX market as long as investment from supporters does not fall below 1 million BMX. What are the Benefits of Mission X? "This program gives users the ability to decide which projects they want to be listed on the exchange, creating a self-regulated market," said Sheldon Xia, Founder and CEO of BitMart. "It also allows projects newly out of their ICO stage to obtain listing on a major exchange early in their development path, spurring growth and innovation for blockchain technology." Any projects interested in BitMart's Community Listing Market can submit their applications by filling out the following Google form: https://goo.gl/forms/pn3d84NPNlJYKCyL2. About BitMart BitMart Exchange is a premier global digital asset trading platform in the cryptocurrency market with over 450,000 users worldwide and a top 40 ranking on CoinMarketCap. BitMart currently offers 53 trading pairs for coins and utility tokens only. BitMart has a global team with extensive industry experience from all over the world including the United States, Russia, South Korea, Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong. Since launching in March, BitMart has a total trading volume of over $760,000,000 USD and averages a daily trading volume between $25,000,000 and $35,000,000 USD. To learn more about BitMart visit their Website, Twitter or join their Telegram. Media Contact: Shirley Qian Marketing@bitmart.com View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bitmart-exchange-launches-mission-x-the-community-listing-market-300688072.html SOURCE BitMart [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Canadian retailer Canada Computers & Electronics accidentally listed AMD's flagship Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX processor on its website for a brief moment. The 32-core monster appeared with an eye-watering price tag of $2,399 CAD, which is roughly equivalent to $1,835 USD. The outlet listed the Threadripper 2990WX, which had been rumored to come with the "X" suffix, with part number YD299XAZAFWOF. The 2990WX is AMD's upcoming HEDT (High End Desktop) processor oriented to power users and professionals. Needless to say, the processor has been surrounded by a fair share of rumors and leaks about its specifications. This this is what we know so far: The Threadripper 2990WX utilizes AMD's 12-nanometer Zen+ architecture and doubles the core and thread count of the previous flagship Threadripper 1950X processor, meaning it has a total of 32 cores and 64 threads at its disposal. Depending on who you believe, the processor operates at a 3 GHz base clock with a 3.4 GHz all-core boost clock. Thanks to the latest information from Canada Computers & Electronics, it's safe to say that the Threadripper 2990WX comes with at least 80MB of cache (16MB of L2 + 64MB of L3 cache). Major motherboard manufacturers like ASRock, Gigabyte, and MSI recently began to release new BIOSes for their X399 motherboards to accommodate AMD's upcoming Ryzen Threadripper 2000-series processors. Although the Threadripper 2990WX features a 250W TDP (thermal design power), the processor should work fine on at stock settings on existing X399 motherboards. Overclocking capabilities will likely depend on the motherboard's power delivery subsystem, which differs from one motherboard to the next. Gigabyte and MSI have already prepared their respective X399 Aorus Xtreme and MEG X399 Creation motherboards for the task. The Threadripper 1950X debuted last year with a price tag of $999, and because the Threadripper 2990WX is basically two Threadripper 1950X's on a single multi-chip module, the Canadian retailer's $1,835 asking price is quite credible. Missouri Gov. Parson calls for defeat of U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill in November Sporting a Cardinals T-shirt, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson stood in the parking lot of a strip mall Saturday in south St. Louis County to make his pitch to a crowd of local Republicans. His message? That President Donald Trump is relying on Missouri voters to replace U.S. Sen. Once again, harder working and far more liked politicos have to campaign for AG Josh Hawley becauseHere's an important endorsement that hopes to deny the so-called "Blue Wave" against Prez Trump and his supporters.Take a look: WITNESS HORRIFIC KANSAS CITY WASTE AS NEW SIDEWALKS ARE TORN UP RIGHT AFTER THEY'RE PUT IN THANKS TO MISERABLE LOCAL PLANNING!!! Thought you'd like to see the city in action... 300 Block of North Lawn. June - Cut down three perfectly healthy sycamore trees to put in brand new sidewalks. July - Gas company shows up and destroys the new concrete with their work. Both the city and the gas company, I assume, have phones. Don't miss the point, THIS shows incompetent scheduling . . . And the city really can't manage all the projects all at once. ONCE AGAIN WE SEE KANSAS CITY THROWING AWAY SIDEWALK CASH AND BAD MANAGEMENT ON DISPLAY AT THE STREET LEVEL!!! Today our blog community offers an incredible glimpse of how City Hall is wasting taxpayer cash more than one year after a controversial general obligation bond election.Above all, Kansas City taxpayers were promisedto boost homeowner value and improve neighborhoods.And now . . .Very special thanks to anwho sent the photo and explains the sitch . . .And so . . .Looking back I'm not convinced that the vote wasn't totally rigged. Everybody who visited polling places that day reports that most of them were nearly empty yet KC claimed near record turnout in their upset victory . . . Regardless, what we've seen from City Hall after earning more cash by hook or crook is astonishing incompetence and waste followed up by upcoming requests fortax increases.Developing . . . editorial@tribune.com Rajinder S Nagarkoti Tribune News Service Panchkula, July 29 A day after the local Municipal Corporation began a trial run of paid parking, MC Commissioner-cum-Administrator Rajesh Jogpal has decided that they would now regulate parking lots without charging any fee. People want regulated parking but without paying fee. The MC is ready to regulate parking lots, he said. The decision was taken after political parties, residents welfare associations and traders body opposed the MC move. Jogpal said they would start a new arrangement from Tuesday onwards and the staff would be engaged for the purpose. He said the two-day trial run of paid parking system was successful. Earlier in the day, MLA Gian Chand Gupta also opposed the paid parking move. He said Urban Local Bodies Minister Kavita Jain told him that there was no proposal for introducing paid parking system in the town. The MLA assured the residents of Panchkula that the state government would not allow levying fee for parking here. On the MCs trial run, he said it was done to manage traffic in view of a religious function in Sector 5. MC officials, however, refuted the MLAs claim and stated that it was a two-day trial run. MC Commissioner-cum-Administrator Rajesh Jogpal said they would analyse the feedback received from people and different stakeholders during the trial run. They selected weekend for trial run as it witnessed comparatively more rush of vehicles and would help them know the problems in running the system, he added. But as people are against the move, the MC would regulate free parking lots, Jogpal said. Experts say that the Municipal Corporation was an autonomous body. After the term of the MC House expired in the first week of this month, the MC Administrator decided on the functioning of the MC. MC Commissioner Rajesh Jogpal said he took the decision to hold a trial run of paid parking system in the capacity of the MC Administrator. He clarified that MLA Gian Chand Gupta had no role in the decision. The MC is an autonomous, constitutional body and has been functioning as such. There has been no interference of the local MLA in its functioning, except for highlighting the grievances of people. It will be in the interest of the development of Panchkula if the issue is not politicised, he said. editorial@tribune.com Chandigarh, July 29 WWICS director Col BS Sandhu (retd) has been booked under the Immigration Act after a city resident lodged a complaint against him with the Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), which directed UT cops to register a case against Sandhu. According to the police, the complainant, Pardeep Sharma of Sector 49 here, alleged that the WWICS director was involved in illegal business on the pretext of sending people abroad. Inspector Maninder Singh, SHO, Sector 17 police station, said they had received directions through the MEA, following which a case was registered. The accused has been booked under Sections 10 (no person to function as recruiting agent without a valid certificate) and 24 (offences and penalties) of the Immigration Act-1983 at the Sector 17 police station. Sandhu had landed in soup earlier this year as well in a case of CTU staffer Abhishek Gulerias death. TNS Firms take The WWICS does not work as a recruiting agent that sends unskilled labour to Gulf countries. We only deal with permanent residency and student visas of countries like Canada and Australia. We will clarify our position with documents to the UT police. Digvijay Jamwal, head of brand & corporate communications, WWICS Group Alex Wong/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- This could be a bumpy ride. Special Counsel Robert Mueller and the presidents son, Donald Trump Jr., shared more than just turbulent headlines Friday morning -- they also appeared to be in pretty close quarters at Reagan National Airport. The two were spotted Friday nearby each other waiting to catch a plane out of Washington in a picture first published by Politico. Politico did not say who snapped the photo, but noted that it was taken at gate 35X. In the pic, Mueller appears to be perusing a newspaper in the photo. "That is Mr. Mueller, waiting to board a flight," the special counsel's office said in a statement. "If its accurate that the other person in the photo was Donald Trump Jr., Mr. Mueller was not aware of him and had no interaction with him." While it's unclear what headline he was mulling over as he sat at his gate this morning, much of America was busy digesting a recent claim from the presidents former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, about the controversial Trump Tower meeting that Trump Jr. participated in during the 2016 presidential race. Cohen made waves last night when reports surfaced that he claimed the president knew in advance about the meeting two years ago, when his father was a candidate for president, between Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, other Trump associates and Russian officials who claimed to have dirt on then Democratic-nominee Hillary Clinton. Trump has repeatedly denied any knowledge of the meeting, which has come under scrutiny from the special counsel's office. Trump Jr. initially claimed that the meeting was brief and had to do with adoption, but emails later revealed that he was promised dirt on Hillary Clinton. Trump lashed out in response to Cohens claim Friday morning, denying again that he knew in advance of the meeting. Trump Jr. has not been questioned as part of the ongoing Russia investigation. He has however answered questions about the meeting before both the House and Senate intelligence committee and the senate judiciary committee. Donald Trump Jr. has been professional and responsible throughout the Mueller and Congressional investigations," Trump Organization lawyer Alan Futerfas said in a statement. "We are very confident of the accuracy and reliability of the information that has been provided by Mr. Trump, Jr., and on his behalf. Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 29) Detained Senator Leila de Lima was recognized for her efforts in promoting human rights in the country. The senator on Saturday received the "Prize for Freedom" award by the Liberal International, a global federation of liberal groups. De Lima's brother Vicente and son Israel accepted the award on her behalf. She is the second Filipino to receive the award after late President Corazon Aquino in 1987. She is now among the roster of notable world leaders who received the award such as Nobel Peace Prize laureate and State Counselor of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi. In her speech read by her brother, De Lima thanked her supporters and vowed to continue fighting for human rights in the country. Meanwhile, the federation released a statement urging the administration to free the Senator. It was signed by political leaders and human rights advocates from around the world. "We urge the government of Rodrigo Duterte to release Senator De Lima and drop the fictitious allegations made against her," it said. Liberal International President Juli Minoves said they will send the statement to President Rodrigo Duterte in September. "We will send it of course to the President and to the executive offices, and from there we hope it will reach the offices of the Philippine government," Minoves said. Former President Benigno Aquino III and Vice President Leni Robredo were present at the event, along with leaders from the Liberal Party, De Lima's political party, and members of the Aquino administration's cabinet. Aquino said he is confident that the truth will unfold and free De Lima. "Gabi gabi po pinagdarasal ko si Senator Leila de Lima, ang ating mabuting kaibigan at tapat na public servant. Tayo'y buo ang tiwala na lalabas at lalabas ang katotohanan," Aquino said. [Translation: I've been praying every night for Senator Leila de Lima, our good friend and honest public servant. We are confident that the truth will eventually come out.] De Lima was detained in February 2017 for allegedly orchestrating the illegal drug trade inside the national penitentiary when she was Justice Secretary under the former administration. Her supporters, however, believe that the charges were borne out of President Rodrigo Duterte's vendetta against the Senator for initiating an investigation over the alleged extra judicial killings as a result of the government's war on drugs. monicakchauhan@gmail.com New York, July 29 An Indian-American senatorial candidate has been assaulted allegedly by a racist man who punched him in the face leaving him severely bleeding at a town hall in Massachusetts, according to media reports. Shiva Ayyadurai, 54, who is running Independent against powerful incumbent Elizabeth Warren from the Democratic party was attacked last week by her supporter, Boston.com reported. .@SenWarren YOUve got til MON. 7/30 5PM to unequivocally condemn THE attack & deliver my family & I a APOLOGY. A RACIST White guy attacked a Black Indian Man. INSTEAD OF condemning the attack, YOU sheltered him IN YOUR town hall. Do #BlackLivesMatter or do you exploit race? pic.twitter.com/zRQcA6W0Fz Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai,PhD (M.I.T.) Inventor of Email (@va_shiva) July 26, 2018 Ayyadurai, an eminent scientist and an outspoken critic, was punched by a man, wearing a t-shirt which said "liberal" and a Warren for Senate sticker. He approched Ayyadurai with an umbrella while he bullhorned a queue of Warren supporters outside a town hall in Great Barrington, where the Democratic Senator was scheduled to appear, the report said. "I was just punched in face by a racist @SenWarren supporter," Ayyadurai tweeted. "This is how these white privileged white supremacists react. What you just witnessed is how you white supremacists react when you don't want to hear the truth from a dark-skinned Indian guy. The same guy you claim you want to help. You guys are racists," Ayyadurai said. He received a bloody lip, swelling, and abrasions, the report said. The encounter played out as a crowd of Warren supporters waited to enter a center, the Great Barrington police said in a statement. Paul Solovay left the line, crossed Castle Street, and approached Ayyadurai. "Solovay allegedly engaged in a verbal confrontation that became physical when he pushed the bullhorn toward the speaker, striking his mouth," police said. "Officers acted quickly to subdue Solovay and place him into custody." "We don't produce enough engineers. We don't produce enough doctors. But we do produce a bunch of scumbag lawyer lobbyists like Elizabeth Warren, Ayyadurai says in the video before it cuts to Solovay shouting at him from across the street. When the two come face to face, Ayyadurai repeatedly calls Solovay a racist through the megaphone before the 74-year-old pushes it into his face, the video shows. Solovay, who was charged with assault and battery and disorderly conduct, pleaded not guilty on Monday in Southern Berkshire District Court. He was released on personal recognisance. PTI amansharma@tribunemail.com Tribune News Service Gurugram, July 28 Accusing Ramgarh MLA Gyandev Ahuja and VHP leader Naval Kishore of choreographing Akbar Khan's "lynching" in Alwar, Meo mahapanchayat has demanded registration of FIR against the two. The panchayat held at Akbar's native village, Kolgaon, was attended by senior Meo leaders and ulemas in addition to likes of Rajya Sabha MP Ali Anwar Ansari and Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav. Following massive discussion, the panchayat finalised an array of demands, prime being trial of the said two leaders. "Postmortem had proved that every single injury on Akbar's body was made by Ahuja's men. Local VHP leader who was amongst attackers became prime witness and wove a story of custodial death to save their skin. Police delayed in getting him treatment, for which they should be punished. The leaders who raise such an army of goons and get innocent people killed should also be booked," demanded panchayat members. Calling the compensation given by the Rajsthan government as meagre, the panchayat has demanded Rs 50 lakh or provision of funds to raise Akbar's children till they come of age. The panchayat also demanded an inquiry by a sitting senior judge in this matter. The leaders present ridiculed both the Rajasthan and Haryana government for shutting eyes to community-specific crimes and failing to curtail same. gspannu7@gmail.com Parveen Arora Tribune News Service Karnal, July 29 Former sarpanch and liquor contractor Suresh, alias, Babli, a resident of Anjanthali village, was on Sunday shot dead by unidentified assailants in an old enmity in the village, while another person identified as Subhash, a resident of the same village, received bullet injuries. The situation remained tense outside the post-mortem house at KCGMCH till the lifting of the body at around 7 pm by the family members. The family members were adamant not to lift the body till the arrest of the accused but with the assurance of Superintendent of Police Surinder Singh Bhoria, Nilokheri MLA Bhagwan Das Kabirpanthi of the arrest of all the accused at the earliest, the family members lifted the body at around 7 pm on Sunday. The SP constituted four teams headed by two DSPs Rajiv Kumar and Virender Kumar to arrest the accused. I have assured the family members of the arrest of the accused at the earliest. I have constituted four teams to arrest them. The main accused, Krishan, is among the most-wanted of the district carrying a reward of Rs 25,000, the SP said. Naresh Kumar, elder brother of the deceased, alleged in his police complaint that Krishan, a resident of Dadupur village in the district, his brother Pawan, Jabbar Singh, resident of Ladwa, Randeep, a resident of Kai village in Panipat, and others for killing his brother. We have registered a case against the five by name, including Krishan, under Section 302, 307, 147, 148, 149, of the IPC and 25/54/59 of the Arms Act, the SP added. Naresh alleged that Krishan along with his accomplices had attacked him also around two years back and he (Krishan) was a bail jumper in the case. The police have failed to arrest him resulting in the death of his younger brother, he maintained. In his police complaint, he said that his brother along with Subhash was sitting at a clinic in the village, meanwhile, the accused came in car and fired discriminatory on them. His brother received bullet in his head, arm and neck. He was taken to a private hospital in Karnal where he was declared dead. The news of Sureshs death spread like wildfire in the district, following which the community members, villagers, relatives, family members of Suresh rushed to hospital and demanded the arrest of the accused. SDM Narinder Malik, DSP Rajiv Kumar tried to pacify them, but the family members remained adamant on their demand. gspannu7@gmail.com Sumedha Sharma Tribune News Service Gurugram, July 29 Following repeated complaints of immoral activities such as prostitution being carried out of pubs and bars on MG Road, here police on Sunday paved the way for closure of 10 of them. Taking stern action after repeated raids and persistent demand of locals, Commissioner of Police KK Rao withdrew polices no objection certificate (NOC) from Prisom, IPSA, Odysee, Sydney, Ignite in Sahara mall; Absolute barbeque and Ion in JMD mall and Empire, Queen and Phantom in MGF Metropolitan mall. The local residents of adjoining societies and public have raised objections against these clubs for their alleged involvement in illegal activities. Furthermore, we conducted raids and three cases were registered under Immoral Trafficking Act against them but they are not ready to mend ways. Thus police has got an objection on their functioning and we have withdrawn NOC issued to them, said Commissioner KK Rao. It may be noted that police NOC is a mandatory document for any club or bar to run as it certifies that the entity concerned poses no security or law and order threat. The move has lead to huge uproar amongst bar and pub owners and even employees who will go jobless as they allege it to be a calculated move to benefit rivals. We are being witch-hunted to benefit a selected group of clubs. The police administration is after us but why have they not cared to venture to other party hubs like Sector 29 or Cyberhub. They talked of keeping tabs on all clubs but police only visited us but not other areas. None of bars or pub employees was involved in prostitution. What is our fault if women who come here secretly go out with somebody? Are we earning from them? Nobody can identify people involved in immoral trafficking and we cannot stop people from coming in on suspicion. They are snatching our earnings and rendering many jobless, said Pub Association representative Vijay Pal. Meanwhile, the residents of MG Road have lauded the decision and credited it to state minister and Baadshahpur MLA Rao Narbeer Singh. Ages ago this was family destination but today we cant step in any mall after 9 pm as people are openly involved in prostitution and brawls. We had pleaded for help to Narbeer and he had promised resolution within a week and it has been done, said Surender Yadav, member of MG Road RWA. It may be noted MG Road had in last five years developed a bad reputation after repeated instances of prostitution, under-age drinking, brawls, ruckus, eve teasing and abductions being reported. monicakchauhan@gmail.com Parveen Arora Tribune News Service Karnal, July 29 With Yamuna flowing above danger mark, several villages are flooded leading to losses to farming community and posing a threat to life of residents. Taking serious note of the situation, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday took an aerial survey to review the situation and assess the loss due to flood. He even ordered a special girdawari to determine the loss and to compensate the famers. "Before coming to Karnal, I have conducted an aerial survey from Hathnikund barrage in Yamunanagar to Karnal district and found that water has entered in 8-10 villages, while fields in dozens of villages have been undated. I have asked the authorities to conduct a special girdawari to determine the loss. The compensation would be provided to each and every farmer for the loss," said the CM after "Dhaan Kisan" rally in Gharaunda. The situation is worrisome for farmers as well residents in Kamalpur Gadrian, Japti Chapra, Nagli, Sayeed Chapra and Dera Halwani villages as these are separated from Randoli village which connects them to main road leading to the district headquarters. Even the cremation ground of Randoli village is submerged under around 3-ft water. The bridge that connects Shergarh Tapu to other villages is also submerged in water resulting in separation from other villages from one side. The administration has deployed boats at various places for people to commutate from one village to other. The situation is similar in Kundakalan and other villages. "Heavy rain continued to lash many parts of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana and after the release of water from Hathnikund barrage, the water level rose to more than 6 lakh cusec yesterday. The level rose further this morning at 5 am. No more water is being discharged from the barrage and the level is decreasing," said Isha Kamboj, SDM, Indri. "We have deployed boats at Randoli and other places to carry people from one village to other," she added. Adequate arrangements have been made to tackle any kind of situation, she maintained. Hundreds of acres of paddy, sugarcane, maize and vegetables have been waterlogged leading to a loss to the farming community. Bee-keeping farmers have to face huge loss due to a flood-like situation. Farmers who have lost their crop have sought compensation from the state government. They alleged that every year they have to go through such an ordeal, but the administration does nothing as no proper preparations are made. "I have cultivated paddy on 1 acre, but it was washed away. The farming on 1 acre of land is the only source of my income, but still it is submerged in around 5-ft water," said Raja Ram, a farmer from Randoli village. Similarly, Kala Ram, who has cultivated paddy and vegetables in 6 acre of land taken on lease, said the flood has led to a huge loss to him and other farmers as well. A bee-keeping farmer, Mahinder of Chaura village alleged that around 500 bee boxes with honey were also washed away in the flood that led to a loss of more than Rs 11 lakh to him. He demanded compensation from the government. Meanwhile, Minister of State for Food and Supplies Karan Dev Kamboj also took stock of the situation along with officials in various villages and assured the farmers for compensation. "I have requested the CM to conduct an aerial survey and also urged him for a special girdawari and the CM fulfilled my demand," said Kamboj while addressing "Dhaan Kisan" rally in Gharaunda. Manish Sharma, XEN, Indri Water Services Division Karnal, told that the water level has reached at 6.05 lakh cusec today in Karnal district and it was decreasing. Around 1.15 lakh cusec water was released at 4pm on Sunday from the barrage. The water level will reduce by tomorrow morning. monicakchauhan@gmail.com Tribune News Service Shimla, July 29 A doctor was on Sunday killed after a huge boulder fell on his car, almost crushing it, in the Kullu Valley. The doctor, identified as Rohit, was on his way to Shimla. Dr Rohit was posted at a primary health centre in Kullus Jaon. He was a resident of Sunni in Shimla district. More details are awaited. editorial@tribune.com Bhanu P Lohumi Tribune News Service Shimla, July 29 Gearing up for the Lok Sabha elections, the state BJP has started the process of fine-tuning its strategy. The party is also pondering weak and strong points. It is not only banking on the achievements of the Modi government and the state government, led by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, but also ensuring that no section of people remain untouched and beneficiaries of policies of the Centre and the state are targeted for buttressing support. Party incharge for organisational affairs Mangal Pandey got feedback from ministers, MLAs, heads of morchas, state office-bearers and other senior leaders. He also held a meeting with members of the core committee and asked specific questions regarding the development works undertaken after the BJP government came to power in the state and implementation of welfare schemes in constituencies, both new and continuing. Pandey also directed heads of various morchas to prepare strategies for reaching out to people and getting constant feedback from them regarding the performance of the government. Having a dig at the faction-ridden Congress, Pandey said: We dont know which Congress to fight, Sukhu Congress or Virbhadra Congress. We are prepared for the 2019 poll and win all four seats with huge margins. A large number of Congress leaders have joined panchayats and many more are in touch with the BJP. Lauding the performance of the Thakur government, Pandey said people of the state and party workers were satisfied with 30 new schemes launched for their welfare within seven months. When asked whether former Chief Minister PK Dhumal would be entrusted with any responsibility, Pandey said Dhumal was a senior and respected leader, but the decision would be taken by the Centre as he was only the state incharge. The names of candidates also figured during the meetings and feedback from MLAs about the situation in their respective segments. Thakur said the BJP was prepared for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and its candidates would win all four seats with increased margins as people were satisfied with the government on performance and delivery. State party chief Satpal Singh Satti said the broad strategy for the Lok Sabha elections was discussed at a series of meetings held by Pandey. He said the appointment of 30-32 chairpersons of boards and corporations was on the cards and the matter had been discussed with the Chief Minister and the party high command. ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM Sustainable agricultural growth is the need of the hour. Many farmers in Punjab have realised that the chemical-intensive, water-guzzler paddy is no longer sustainable. Some of them have shifted towards organic farming to avert the impending crisis. As a result, organic farmers' markets or kisan haats have been set up in several parts of the state for the direct sale of organic products. The organic movement is spreading mainly because of strong civil society. The government agencies had been dormant until recently. They have woken up only after the spread of organic farming by efforts of the civil society and individuals. The recently held consultation on organic farming by Punjab State Farmers Commission has been the first major step in the right direction. The erroneous approach towards food security has been a major roadblock for the growth of the organic farming. Overdependence on wheat and paddy cycles and its agro-chemical intensive agriculture for national food security is not good for the sustainable agriculture. This approach needs to be amended immediately as the existing model is not only unhealthy, but also damaging agro-ecology of the Green Revolution belt. It is high time that Punjab should dump this approach of food security and save itself from impending devastation. It should start looking for sustainable alternatives for food security in millets and other crops. Few steps can transform the state's chemical-based, water-intensive cultivation into ecological agriculture. First of all, the state should have organic farming board to spearhead the sustainable agriculture. The board should promote and establish organic farming on a large scale by fixing targets on an annual basis. It should also draft an organic farming policy for the state with wider consultations and after studying pros-and-cons of policy frameworks elsewhere. It should monitor the implementation of specific policy measures besides providing production-end support systems for the organic farming such as training, capacity building and extending support. This should also cover community-level input supply systems, including supporting new enterprises at the village-level for bio-inputs. Funds for this purpose can be leveraged from the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana', 'Prampragat Krishi Vikas Yojna', National Horticulture Mission, National Programme on Organic Farming (NPOF), the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) and the Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP) as well as state-level financial allocations. To provide knowledge and knowhow at grassroots, the government should adopt a participatory mode. In this regard, the organic model farms should be established in all blocks of Punjab. Experienced organic farmers, who have been doing organic farming for 5-7 years, would lead these farms. Preference would be given to the farmers who are into 100 per cent organic farming. These master organic farmers can also provide training on organic farming techniques to the other farmers. All Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) should be roped in to promote organic farming. Each KVK should have an organic farming advisory committee comprising practising organic farmers of that district. Growing food laced with pesticides is not the right approach towards the food security. If our agriculture is poisonous, our food cannot be free from toxins, a cause of unhealthy life. Punjab is facing severe health issues and contamination of its ecosystem. The organic farming is the right solution. The writer is Executive Director, Kheti Virasat Mission, Jaitu Number of producers 2.7 million in the world 8,35,000 in India, largest in the world Area under cultivation 57.8 million hectares in the world (1.2% of total agricultural land) 1.49 million hectares in India (0.8% of total agricultural land) Source: The World of Organic Agriculture Statistics and Emerging Trends 2018 Organic India growth 11.80 lakh tonne certified organic produce in 2016-17 8.53 lakh tonne certified organic produce in 2013-14 38% growth between 2013-14 and 2016-17 Source: Lok Sabha Clusters States No of Area No of clusters (in ha) beneficiaries Punjab 250 5000 12500 Haryana 20 400 1000 Himachal Pradesh 210 4200 10500 Jammu & Kashmir 28 560 1400 Uttarakhand 585 11700 29250 Delhi 500 10000 25000 Source: Lok Sabha Exports Year Exports Exports Exports (in MT) (in Rs crore) (in $ million) 2016-17 309767 2478.17 370 2015-16 263687 1975.87 298 2014-15 285663 2099.16 327 Source: APEDA amansharma@tribunemail.com Srinagar, July 29 Local youths joining terror groups in the Kashmir Valley this year stood at 110 till July 15, with the worst militancy-hit district of Shopian in south Kashmir accounting for the maximum of 28 recruits, officials said. The number of locals recruited was 126 last year and officials said they expected the figure to be higher this year. Reports of missing people have come down after Governor's rule was imposed in the state last month, they said, but added that some youths continue to join militant ranks. Security agency officials said highly volatile south Kashmir, comprising Shopian, Pulwama, Anantnag and Kulgam districts, besides Awantipora, remained a region accounting for a higher number of youths joining militant groups, including the ISIS-Kashmir and the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, an outfit which claims support of the al-Qaida. From these five areas, 91 youths joined various terror groups operating in the Valley, they said. The disappearance and subsequent joining of militant ranks by Ganderbal youth Rouf, who was in his fourth semester of a diploma course at a government polytechnic institute, was confirmed after his picture was seen on social media in military fatigues, the officials said. If this trend continues, 2018 may end up as the worst year in terms of number of youths joining various militant groups, according to the officials. Last year, a total of 126 youths had picked up the gun. It was the highest number since 2010, according to a recent data presented in the state Assembly and Parliament. There has been a steady rise in the number of youths taking up arms in the Valley since 2014 as compared to the period from 2010 to 2013 when the figures stood at 54, 23, 21 and 6, respectively. In 2014, the number shot up to 53 and in 2015, it reached 66 while in 2016, the figure was 88, the data showed. This year, youths who joined militancy included Junaid Ashraf Sehrai, 26, an MBA degree holder from Kashmir University, and son of Mohammed Ashraf Sehrai, who took over as chairman of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat from Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Tehreek-e-Hurriyat is a pro-Pakistan amalgam of separatist groups. The list also included 26-year-old PhD scholar Mannan Bashir Wani, hailing from Kupwara, the officials said. Wani was studying in Aligarh Muslim University. They said infiltration was on the rise and some of the terrorists had managed to sneak into the Valley from across the border in Poonch and Rajouri districts of the Jammu region as well as through the LoC in Kashmir. - PTI editorial@tribune.com Can Imran, the favourite of the Pakistan army, deliver on his words? Pakistans Prime Minister-in-waiting Imran Khan has attained both prestige and notoriety. After 22-year-long struggle, he now occupies centre stage in the political arena after the elections backed by the army, marred by terrorist violence and substantive charges of rigging. The international community has questioned the extraordinary delay in the declaration of the official results. The primary concern for us, however, is how the new government in Pakistan will be disposed towards India. Imran is the pampered boy of the Pakistan army. Pinning high expectations on him would be a mistake at the moment. During his victory speech on July 26, he took off on a right note as he spoke of improvement in ties with India and the possibility of enhanced trade between the two countries as a panacea to deal with the massive problem of poverty in the subcontinent. That, he adroitly remarked, should be the number one priority of any government (in Pakistan). Suddenly, it appeared that the ace bowler of yesteryear was reminded that he was bowling short length and that could be hit for a boundary. So, like all his predecessors and army Generals, he regurgitated the typical Pakistani charge against India for inflicting huge sufferings on Kashmiris through its military presence. First, he was violating his own stand of condemning constant blame game and also ignored the fact that the Indian Army was fighting Pakistan-armed militancy. Second, he made it look as if the Pakistan army was never in Swat, Balochistan and Waziristan. Imran took full advantage of the Indian difficulties in Kashmir caused by the proxy war that Pakistan has launched since the late 1980s. And to Pakistans advantage, New Delhi mishandled the place with its flip-flops. Former DGP of Jammu and Kashmir Gurbachan Jagat had told the Centre during the then US President Bill Clintons visit in March 2000 to convey it to the visiting dignitary that if Pakistan wanted, militancy could be over in Kashmir in 15 days time. Pakistan army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa had told Pakistani Senate on December 20, 2017: The military was ready to back political leaderships initiative for normalisation of relations with arch-rival India. He urged political leaders to try and improve relations with India and promised that their efforts would be fully supported by the army. Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was seeking to do that only, but then he was not the Armys man, Imran is. A cartoon in The Times, London, succinctly said it all about the change in Pakistans landscape. It depicted an oversized military General guiding a dwarfed Imran in handling the bat at the cricket pitch, and the caption read: opening partnership. Bluntly speaking, New Delhi cannot remain in an icy standoff state with Pakistan, though it has very valid reasons to maintain that talks and terrorism cannot go together. The real-time diplomacy demands that it should walk the talk but not because of those who want to put the cart before the horse. India should wait and watch how the new arrangement will pan out. This favourite factor can turn beneficial too as Imran has the support of the real establishment that calls the shots there. India should watch the developments closely, after all it has dealt with Gen Pervez Musharraf, who was a rare combination of military and civil power. Now, there are two faces Imran and the Army. The word reconciliation has to have a meaning. Let Pakistan take the first step in defusing tension, then India should not take two steps but hundreds of them to have a result-oriented round of walk the talk. There is an opportunity, but caution is necessary. editorial@tribune.com Srinagar, July 29 Local youths joining terror groups in the Kashmir Valley this year stood at 110 till July 15, with the worst militancy-hit district of Shopian in south Kashmir accounting for the maximum of 28 recruits, officials said. The number of locals recruited was 126 last year and officials said they expected the figure to be higher this year. Reports of missing people have come down after Governors rule was imposed in the state last month, they said, but added that some youths continued to join militant ranks. Security agency officials said the highly volatile south Kashmir, comprising Shopian, Pulwama, Anantnag and Kulgam districts, remained a region accounting for a higher number of youths joining militant groups, including the ISIS-Kashmir and the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, an outfit which claims support of the Al-Qaida. From this region, 91 youths joined various terror groups operating in the Valley. The disappearance of Ganderbal youth Rouf, who was in fourth semester of a diploma course at a government polytechnic institute, and his subsequent joining of militant ranks was confirmed after his picture was seen on the social media in military fatigues, the officials said. If this trend continues, 2018 may end up as the worst year in terms of the number of youths joining militant groups, according to the officials. Last year, 126 youths had picked up the gun. It was the highest number since 2010, according to a recent data presented in the state Assembly and Parliament. There has been a steady rise in the number of youths taking up arms in the Valley since 2014 as compared to the period from 2010 to 2013 when the figures stood at 54, 23, 21 and 6, respectively. In 2014, the number shot up to 53 and in 2015, it reached 66 while in 2016, the figure was 88, the data showed. This year, the youths who joined militancy included Junaid Ashraf Sehrai, 26, an MBA degree holder from Kashmir University, and son of Mohammed Ashraf Sehrai, who took over as chairman of the Tehrek-e-Hurriyat from Syed Ali Shah Geelani. The Tehrek-e-Hurriyat is a pro-Pakistan amalgam of separatist groups. The list also included 26-year-old PhD scholar Mannan Bashir Wani, hailing from Kupwara, the officials said. Wani was studying in Aligarh Muslim University. They said infiltration was on the rise and some of the terrorists had managed to sneak into the Valley from across the border in Poonch and Rajouri districts of the Jammu region as well as through the LoC in Kashmir. Number expected to rise The number of locals recruited was 126 last year and officials said they expected the figure to be higher this year. However, reports of missing people have come down after Governors rule was imposed in the state. PTI gspannu7@gmail.com New Delhi, July 29 Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Sunday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the alleged abuse of girls at a shelter home in Muzaffarpur. The story of ashwasan babu (the man of assurances) and susashan babu (the man of good governance)...We have heard that the one who was elected (Modi), has merely given the slogan beti bachao (save the girl child), Rahul said in a tweet. Nitish Kumar is often referred to as sushasan babu for his good governance plank. Congress has often accused Modi of making false promises and assurances which are never kept. In his tweet, the Congress president also posted a news report that claimed 34 minors were abused at a shelter home in Muzaffarpur. Meanwhile, the CBI has taken over the probe into the alleged abuse of minor girls at the shelter home in Muzaffarpur district, an official said today. The case relates to mental, physical and sexual exploitation of the girls residing at the shelter home, according to an official. The CBI has booked officers and employees of the shelter home. The matter came to light earlier this year when the Bihar Social Welfare Department filed an FIR based on a social audit of the shelter home conducted by a Mumbai-based institute. The audit report stated that many girls at the shelter home had complained of sexual abuse. A special investigation team was formed to probe the complaints. The NGO running the shelter home in Muzaffarpur was blacklisted and the girls were shifted to shelter homes in Patna and Madhubani. PTI uttara@tribuneindia.com MURKI/MUMBAI, July 29 In the tiny hamlet of Murki in Karnataka, Inspector VB Yadwad surveyed a pile of bricks and stones in a ditch where he and other police officers had been attacked earlier this month while trying to save a group of five men on a road trip from a violent mob. "We tried hard to stop them," said Yadwad, pointing to injuries on his back. "They wouldn't listen to anyone." Yadwad was one of eight policemen who rushed to the village on July 13 to try to control a mob of more than 200 that attacked the five friends, wrongly assuming they were child kidnappers. The vicious assault left one of the five men, Mohammed Azam, a UK-educated IT worker from India's tech hub in Hyderabad, dead, and at least two of the others badly beaten. All eight officers were injured, two seriously. Azam, who was 32 and worked for global consulting services firm Accenture, is one of the latest victims of a wave of lynchings in India, as ill-equipped and outnumbered police struggle to contain mob violence triggered by false messages about child kidnappings spread via platforms like Facebook's WhatsApp messaging service. The government says its not tracking data for lynchings, but data portal IndiaSpend has tallied more than 30 deaths from nearly 70 such incidents since January 2017. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration, which has been facing criticism from opposition parties and the public for failing to do enough to stop the lynchings, has blamed WhatsApp, warning the messaging service of legal action if it did not curb the spread of fake news. On July 20, WhatsApp said it was limiting the number of people someone can forward messages to simultaneously, and said it was considering more changes to curb the spread of fake messages in its largest market. But it is unclear how much this will restrain mob violence. Police probing the lynchings of Azam and others say they are often triggered by deep-rooted prejudices against minorities in India. Azam's own job at Accenture, according to his younger brother Akram, included reviewing the propriety of video content before it was uploaded to Alphabet Inc's YouTube. "India is already vulnerable due to religious and caste fault lines," said Rema Rajeshwari, a superintendent of police in the southern Telangana state, where some recent lynchings took place. "When you add WhatsApp to the mix, things can easily spiral out of control." Hit them' In Murki, messages circulating in a local WhatsApp group, late in the day Azam was killed, simply said: "Child kidnappers found in Murki". Videos and photos of Azam and his four friends, taken just before, were attached. The five, who were in a new cherry red SUV, had set out from Hyderabad that day for a drive into the countryside. While passing through a hamlet where they planned to picnic, they tossed chocolates towards a group of children, according to three of the survivors. What the men thought was a kind gesture in a poor village cost Azam his life, as a mob of angry villagers savagely attacked him and his friends. The assault began when the group stopped to take selfies amid lush green fields beside a pond, just after driving by the kids, according to interviews with the survivors, police, villagers and other eyewitnesses. Three villagers first walked up and started deflating their tyres. "We asked them why are you removing the air? They yelled: you men are child kidnappers," said retail worker Mohammed Afroz, one of the four survivors. While the five tried to plead their innocence, dozens of villagers gathered. Some carried pick-axes and sticks. Photos and videos of the five men were posted on a 180-member WhatsApp group named 'Mother Murki', according to police. That video, seen by Reuters, shows the five, most wearing western attire, trying to calm the crowd. It did not work. Salham Al Kubassi, a Qatari national who was friends with Azam, was among the first to be hit. While two of the friends tried to reason with the mob, Kubassi, who is a policeman in Qatar, jumped into the SUV with Azam and their friend Mohammed Salman, who works at a Hyderabad car repair shop, and sped away, according to police and the survivors. But a makeshift roadblock was set up at a nearby junction. The SUV careened off the road after it hit a tree trunk the villagers had put in the road and ended in a small, dry riverbed, police said. It was the attack here that claimed Azam's life. Many villagers, both men and women, threw bricks and rocks at the toppled SUV, shattering its windows. Some then tied ropes around Azam and Salman and dragged them out of the vehicle as at least 200 others gathered, hurling abuse at them, police said. "They came here to steal kids. Let's hit these bastards and kill them!" people in the mob shouted, according to a police report. "Don't let them go!" 'High alert, please share' While police say there were no child kidnappings recorded in or around Murki, child trafficking is a problem in India, and many children are sold into slavery, especially forced labour. About 250,000 children were registered as missing on the governments Track Child portal between January 2012 and March 2017. Villagers in Murki said they had been hearing about child kidnapping gangs for months. Photos and videos of the bodies of children being mutilated by alleged child abductors have been circulating via WhatsApp in many parts of India. Police showed Reuters some of the material they have gathered. One video purports to show the bloodied body of a boy with his mouth gagged, as a man leans in and repeatedly stabs his heart. The messages exhort viewers to share them, "High Alert. Please Share As Much as Possible," one said. In all the areas where the recent lynching cases occurred, there were no such gangs, and the messages and reports were all false, police said. The problem is that people may not be able to read or write, but everyone understands photos and videos," said Telangana Superintendent Rajeshwari. People made a mistake' In many recent lynchings, police say minority groups such as those from lower castes, have been targets. Hindu vigilantes have also killed over two-dozen Muslim people for transporting cows in the past year, accusing them of slaughtering the animals considered sacred in Hinduism. The Home Ministry issued a notice to police nationwide on July 4, calling lynchings over child kidnapping rumours "a serious concern", according to a copy reviewed by Reuters. The government also issued a statement on Wednesday urging action against "cow vigilantes". Azam's killing has sent a chill through Murki, where many fear discussing the attack following the arrest of more than 30 men and women from the area in the police investigation. No one has yet been charged. When asked why villagers attacked the men, Vijay Biradar, a village elder, said "people made a mistake". "Did you see the Qatari's face? His big beard?" he said. "He looked like a terrorist." Reuters pardeepdhull@gmail.com New Delhi, July 29 The CBI has taken over investigation into the alleged abuse of minor girls at a shelter home in Bihars Muzaffarpur district, an official said on Sunday. The case relates to mental, physical and sexual exploitation of the girls residing at Balika Grih, Muzaffarpur. The CBI has booked officers and employees of the shelter home. It is alleged that officials/employees of girls children home run by Seva Sankalp Evam Vikash Samiti used to mentality, physically and sexually exploit the children residing there, a CBI spokesperson said. The matter had come to light earlier this year when the Bihar Social Welfare Department filed an FIR based on a social audit of the shelter home conducted by a Mumbai-based institute. The audit report stated that many girls at the shelter home had complained of sexual abuse. A special investigation team was formed to probe the complaints. The NGO running the shelter home in Muzaffarpur was blacklisted and the girls were shifted to shelter homes in Patna and Madhubani. Women staff members of the shelter home and Brajesh Thakur, who ran the NGO, were among those who were arrested by the local police in connection with the case. PTI editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service & PTI Patna, July 29 The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday took over the probe into the alleged sexual exploitation of girl inmates at a Muzaffarpur shelter home. The number of victims sexually abused has gone up to 34 with five more medical reports coming out positive. The tests were conducted on 42 out of the 44 inmates at the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH). Two inmates were left out because of illness. On July 24, DGP KS Dwivedi had said 29 inmates of the state-funded home were raped. The medical reports of five more inmates have confirmed sexual exploitation, said Muzaffarpur SSP Harpret Kaur. A police officer said: The CBI sleuth took over the shelter home case probe and started its investigation on Sunday. They took possession of the FIR copy, list of accused and case study from investigation officer Jyoti Kumari of Mahila police station in Muzaffarpur. A social audit report of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) had exposed sexual exploitation at the Bihar government-funded shelter home in Muzaffarpur having 44 girl inmates. The TISS had completed social audit of all 110 stay homes of the state over seven months and submitted its report to the state government. editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Guwahati, July 29 The final draft of the updated National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam will be published on Monday as per the directive of the Supreme Court that has been monitoring the entire process. It has been a massive exercise involving over 55,000 government employees, besides a large number of technically qualified persons. Assam happens to be the first state in the country to undertake updating of the NRC of 1951. This has put the state under global lens as regards adverse fallout of the process. Apprehension prevails among cross-sections of people living in Assam although CM Sarbananda Sonowal and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh have assured if any genuine Indian citizens name was left out, they could get themselves enrolled in accordance with the procedure prescribed by the apex court. The NRC is being updated with the objective to make it easier to separate genuine Indian citizens and illegal migrants who sneaked into the state after March 24, 1971, (as per Assam Accord). Assam is plagued with the vexed problem of illegal migration from Bangladesh. The Registrar General of India (RGI) has been carrying out the exercise to update the NRC of 1951 in Assam with March 24, 1971, as the cut-off date. In all, 3.29 crore people living in Assam have applied for inclusion of their names in the updated NRC. The first part of the draft NRC published on December 31, 2017, contained of 1.9 crore Indian citizens living in the state. The state government and the Centre are wary of a section of unscrupulous people/groups who may try to spread disharmony among people in the name of caste, religion over NRC updating. About 30,000 central armed paramilitary force personnel have been deployed all over the state even as the Assam Police have carried out massive awareness campaign in coordination with district administrations. vermaajay1968@gmail.com Rajmeet Singh Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 29 The Chief Ministers of Punjab and Haryana are pushing for a road encircling Chandigarh-Mohali-Panchkula tricity on the Delhi pattern. In separate proposals, they have sought a 100-km-long ring road touching the Chandigarh-Ropar, Chandigarh-Ambala, Nalagarh-Baddi and Panchkula-Nariangarh highways to ease inter-state traffic. Citing the Chandigarh Master Plan: 2031, UT Administrator VP Singh Badnore too has taken up the matter with Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, say sources. Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has shot off a demi-official letter to Gadkari, saying the proposed road would ease the traffic flow from the national capital into Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, and back. Punjab PWD Minister Vijay Inder Singla said they had urged the Centre to declare it a Centrally-funded project, inclusive of the cost of land acquisition. Since the project is of national importance and involves land acquisition in two states, it requires Central intervention, he held. Citing the recommendation for a bypass by a joint committee for Chandigarh regions integrated development, Punjab has pointed out that it will not only reduce congestion on Chandigarhs arterial roads, but also link GMADA expressway near Mullanpur and Banur up to Baddi in Himachal Pradesh and some parts of Haryana. amansharma@tribunemail.com Ravi S.Singh Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 29 The Centre's initiative to strengthen the law, which includes confiscation of properties of relatives of NRIs abandoning their wives in order to force them to subject to country's justice system, has hit a roadblock on account of questions raised by the Law Ministry. Top sources say the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Women and Child Development and Ministry of Home Affairs are in touch with the Law Ministry to find out a way to get over the hump. The four ministries agree, in principle, to strengthen the law, but the country's existing jurisprudence, including the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), does not provide for confiscation of properties of relatives of accused. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said at conference here on Friday that the new law will be enacted in the Winter Session of Parliament. The conference was also addressed by WCD Minister Maneka Gandhi. In the interregnum, an inter-ministerial committee of officers under the nodal authority of Women and Child Development Ministry will look into complaints against NRIs for leaving behind wives, and subjecting them to physical abuse. Constitution of a Group of Ministers (GoM) to prepare a report to be submitted to the Cabinet in under government's consideration. There practice of NRIs duping women in the name of marriages has assumed alarming proportions. There have been reports galore if mount-bank hubbies furnishing fake address of the residences abroad during marriages. Consequently, court summons and warrants to them get mis-directed, and never responded which allows them escape the law. Maneka Gandhi, who is also pushing for beefing up the law along with Swaraj, accepted that the Law Ministry has reservations with regard to confiscation of properties of relatives of accused NRIs. To this she said: "Why shouldn't relatives of such NRIs be penalised? Generally, the marriages are arranged. The parents are part of the marriage process. How are we going to stop the menace?" "We will sort out the issues and the concerns of the Law Ministry," she added. Related is the issue of trafficking of women and illegal immigration. In this regard, Swaraj said a new phenomenon of "asylum seekers" has come to notice where youngsters of the age group 20-25 are trying to get to US Mexico and are getting caught at the border. "We have come across three batches of around 500 people, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, who are illegally trying to get into US," Swaraj said. vermaajay1968@gmail.com Ahmedabad, July 29 Two persons, allegedly with a criminal background, were attacked by a mob on Saturday night, resulting in the death of one and serious injuries to the other in Kali Mahudi village in Jhalod Taluka in the tribal-dominated Dahod district. According to the police, about a dozen people had planned to commit robbery and had gathered at the village. But, the local people got wind of it and around 100 people, armed with sharp weapons, gathered in the village. As soon as they saw the group of robbers, the villagers chased them. Most of them managed to flee but two were caught. The villagers beat them up mercilessly, resulting in the death of Ajmal Mohaniya and serious injuries to Bharu Mathur Palas. The assault continued till the police arrived. The police claimed both victims had come out of Dahod sub-jail recently after serving their sentence. An FIR has been lodged against 100 unidentified persons. TNS vermaajay1968@gmail.com Shahira Naim Tribune News Service Lucknow, July 29 Stoutly defending his friendship with industrialists, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said while some people preferred to meet them behind closed doors, he met them publicly. Agar neeyat saaf ho toh kisi ke saath khade ho, daag nahi lagta (If your conscience is clear, you can stand along anybody without a blot on your name). The PM was hitting out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who has often criticised him for shaping policies to help capitalist friends. Speaking at the launch of 81 investment projects worth over Rs 60,000 crore for Uttar Pradesh, the PM, while referring to Mahatma Gandhi, said since his conscience was clear, he stood with the Birla family without hesitation. He emphasised that industrialists deserved respect for they were as much partners in the nations growth as were farmers, artisans, bankers, employees and labourers. Inki bhi bhoomika hoti hai. Apmanit karenge? Kaun sa tariqa hai? Jo galat hain woh toh desh chhod kar chale gaye hain (They also have a role. Will you insult them? Is this the way? Those who were in the wrong have already fled the country). Who knows better than Amar Singh, sitting here, how other parties hobnob with industrialists behind closed door, he pointed out, referring to former Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singhs proximity with industrialists. Favouring a dialogue with industry to encourage investment where needed most, he pointed out that investment in agriculture was an abysmal 1 one per cent. He took on his rivals for ridiculing his frequent visits to Uttar Pradesh, claiming it betrayed his nervousness ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. As a member of Parliament from the the state, I will come twice, five times, 10 times... I am your MP and will keep visiting (the state), he declared on his sixth visit to Uttar Pradesh in a month. Inki (industrialists) bhi bhoomika hoti hai. Apmanit karenge? Kaun sa tariqa hai? Jo galat hain woh toh desh chhod kar chale gaye hain. Narendra Modi, PM 6th UP VISIT IN MONTH gspannu7@gmail.com Bijay Sankar Bora Tribune News Service Guwahati, July 29 The complete draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) that is being published on Monday, is a result of the direct supervision of Honourable Supreme Court of India and the active role of Registrar General of India along with the joint cooperation of the Central and the state governments, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal commented here this evening. Terming it a landmark even in the history of Assam, Sonowal hailed the efforts of 55,000 officials engaged in NRC updating process besides the people of the state. I am confident that the NRC, which has become the instrument to safeguard the interest of greater Assamese society, would be able to create a positive atmosphere and it will also pave the way for realising the hopes and aspirations of the genuine Indian citizens, he said. The resilience and struggle of the people of Assam are intrinsically involved with the matter of NRC. The issues of providing a constitutional safeguard to Assam and preparation of an error free NRC without the names of foreigners were included in the Assam Accord, which was signed as a result of the tumultuous six years of Assam agitation, Sonowal commented He informed that both the Central and the state governments had been extending their support from the beginning for preparing a correct NRC and pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had always been emphasising on the importance of preparing an error-free NRC where the names of all genuine Indian citizens are included. Apart from providing necessary funds by the Central Government for the purpose, the home minister took part in discussions with the Assam Government several times. On the other hand, the top officials of Assam Governments Home Department also frequently met their counterparts in Union Home Department for taking forward the process. This is an undeniable fact that positive initiatives taken by the Central Government have facilitated the whole process towards expediency, the CM said. After the publication of first draft of NRC, people cutting across all castes and tribes, religious, linguistic divides residing in the Barak and Brahmaputra valleys, plains and hills of the state showed tremendous unity and harmony, he said. Sonowal hoped the people will maintain the same harmonious environment after the publication of the complete draft on Monday. I would like to remind the people of the state that this is only a draft. No one should panic if his or her name does not appear in NRC. Genuine Indian citizens would get full opportunity to include their names through the subsequent process of claims and objections. Both the Central and state governments would extend full cooperation in this regard. Already, Union Home Minister has categorically stated that no one would be sent to the detention camps even if their names do not appear in NRC, he said. Stating that NRC is a national programme and every Indian citizen is duty bound to ensure its successful completion, Sonowal assured, We have made repeated requests to all sections of the society to desist from making any inflammatory or communal remarks regarding the NRC. Some disruptive elements of the society are trying to create conflict among various sections by circulating rumours and misinformation about NRC. I urge the people to stay united to defeat all such evil designs. I am sure that this complete draft of NRC, which is prepared after 70 years of Indias Independence, will be able to safeguard the future of each and every citizen of Assam. amansharma@tribunemail.com New Delhi, July 29 A little over 1,000 'fast track special courts' need to be set up across India as part of a new scheme to try cases related to rape of children and women, the Law Ministry has estimated. These courts are to be set up as part of a larger scheme to strengthen infrastructure for better investigation and swift prosecution in such cases. The Department of Justice in the Law Ministry has estimated an expenditure of Rs 767.25 crore to set up these special courts. The Centre will have to shell out Rs 474 crore as central funding, the department has told the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). "... It is estimated that a total of 1,023 FTSCs (fast track special courts) are required to be set up for disposing of rape and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act cases with an estimated expenditure of Rs 767.25 crore out of which Rs 474 crore as central funding on the pattern of centrally sonsored scheme," said a Law Ministry document. The details worked out by it have been forwarded to the MHA. The new scheme is part of an ordinance recently promulgated to allow courts to award death penalty to those convicted of raping children aged up to 12 years. The Criminal Laws (Amendment) Ordinance amended the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), the Evidence Act and the POCSO Act. While bringing out the ordinance, the government had decided to frame a scheme to set up an "appropriate" number of fast track courts to try rape cases in the states. The scheme will include components, including strengthening of the physical infrastructure and prosecution machinery, provision of the required number of judicial officers for lower courts, additional posts of public prosecutors, dedicated investigators and special forensic kits. A senior government functionary said 524 fast-track courts are already functional in the country to try cases related to women, SCs and STs, the marginalised and senior citizens. Quoting a written response of Law Minster Ravi Shankar Prasad in Parliament in March 2017, the functionary pointed out that of the 524 fast track courts, 100 are in Maharashtra, 83 in Uttar Pradesh, 39 in Tamil Nadu, 38 in Andhra Pradesh and 34 in Telangana. The special fast track courts proposed now as part of the ordinance would specifically deal with rape and child rape cases, the functionary said. In April, the government had issued an ordinance to provide stringent punishment, including death, for those convicted of raping minors up to the age of 12 years, amid a nationwide outrage over cases of sexual assault and the murder of minors in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua and Gujarat's Surat, and the rape of a girl in Unnao in Uttar Pradesh. New fast-track courts will be set up to deal with such cases and special forensic kits for rape cases will be given to all police stations and hospitals in the long term, according to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance. It stipulates stringent punishment for perpetrators of rape, particularly of girls below 16 and 12 years. The death sentence has been provided for rapists of girls under 12 years. The measure also provides for speedy investigation and trial. The time limit for investigation of all cases of rape has been prescribed and has to be now completed within two months. The deadline for the completion of trial in all rape cases will be two months, officials said. A six-month time limit for the disposal of appeals in rape cases has also been prescribed. New posts of public prosecutors will be created and special forensic kits for rape cases given to all police stations and hospitals in the long term, the officials said. Dedicated manpower will be provided for investigation of rape cases in a time-bound manner. Special forensic labs exclusively for rape cases would also come up in each state. - PTI uttara@tribuneindia.com Shahira Naim Tribune News Service Lucknow, July 29 Defending his friendship with industrialists, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday alleged that some people preferred to meet them behind closed doors while he met them publicly. Agar neeyat saaf ho toh kisi ke saath khade ho, daag nahi lagta (If your conscience is clear you can stand with anyone without getting tarnished) said Modi at the Ground Breaking ceremony attended by leading industrialists. Recalling Mahatma Gandhi, Modi said that as his conscience was clear he was never apologetic of his friendship with industrialists. He stood with Birla without any hesitation, the Prime Minister said, saying industrialists were equal partners in the development of the nation, on par with like farmers, artisans, banker, financers, government employees and labourers. Inki bhi bhoomika hoti hai. Apmanit karenge? Kaun sa tariqa hai? Jo ghalat hain woh toh desh chod kar chale gaye hain, (They also have a role. Will you insult them? Is this the way? Those who were in the wrong have run away from the country) Modi said. #WAICTH: PM Modi in Lucknow says, "we aren't the ones who are scared of standing next to industrialists. Jab niyat saaf ho,irade nek ho, to kisi ke saath khade hone se daag nahi lagte. People who don't meet industrialists in public but do everything behind curtains remain scared" pic.twitter.com/mpUfQxZLf0 ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) July 29, 2018 Modi was clearly hitting out at Congress President Rahul Gandhi, who frequently criticises Prime Minister Modi for shaping policies to help his capitalist friends, the latest being during his no confidence motion speech in parliament. Who knows better than Amar Singh sitting here how other parties hobnob with industrialists behind closed door, Modi said, referring to former Samajwadi party general secretary Amar Singhs closeness to industrialists. Favouring a dialogue with industry to encourage investments where it was needed most, Modi informed that industrys investment in agriculture was just one per cent, which was the lowest among other countries. He said that recently during a visit to Mumbai he called industrialists where he made a presentation before them explaining how they could invest in agriculture to add value to the farmers produce by spending on projects like warehousing, cold storage, packaging which would benefit them as well as farmers. Describing the Ground Breaking ceremony as a record breaking one Modi said that turning intent into investment in such a short period was indeed remarkable. During the UP Investors Summit in Lucknow on February 21-22, 2018, also attended by Modi industrialists had signed MOU with UP government to the tune of Rs 4.28 lakh crore. Of this foundation bricks were symbolically laid for 81 projects worth Rs 60,000 crore on Sunday. amansharma@tribunemail.com Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 29 Poor quality of judgments delivered by high courts continues to bother the Supreme Court which has emphasised that a verdict should clearly narrate facts of the case; issues involved; submissions of the parties; legal principles and reasons for reaching a conclusion. "Indeed, in the absence of any application of judicial mind to the factual and legal controversy involved in the appeal and without there being any discussion, appreciation, reasoning and categorical findings on the issues... It is difficult for this court to sustain such order," said a Bench headed by Justice AM Sapre which set aside an order passed by a Division Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court's Indore Bench. Sending back the case relating to Provident Fund contribution to the high court for deciding it afresh, the top court bench, also comprising Justice Navin Sinha, said courts need to pass a reasoned order in every case which would enable the parties involved in the litigation to understand as to "why one party has won and other has lost". "Time and again, this court has emphasised on the courts' the need to pass reasoned order in every case which must contain the narration of the bare facts of the case of the parties, the issues arising in the case, the submissions urged by the parties, the legal principles applicable to the issues involved and the reasons in support of the findings on all the issues arising in the case and urged by the learned counsel for the parties in support of its conclusion," the top court said. Not the first time Top court sends a case back to MP HC as verdict didn't record facts, issues, submissions, legal principles and reasons for conclusion In April 2017, it had remanded a case back to Rajasthan HC for de novo adjudication for similar reasons In yet another case, SC was forced to send a case back to Himachal Pradesh HC for deciding it afresh as it was written in an incomprehensible English Terming it "really unfortunate", the bench said, "Such order, in our view, has undoubtedly caused prejudice to the parties because it deprived them to know the reasons as to why one party has won and other has lost." "This only proves that that there are many incompetent judges in the system. It also reflects on the poor judicial appointment process which remains completely opaque. Unless the selection process made transparent, we will continue to get such incompetent judges," said advocate Prashant Bhushan, who has been fighting for judicial accountability and transparency. This is not the only case of poor quality judgment by an HC. In April last year, the top court had remanded back a case to the Rajasthan High Court after it found that the verdict under challenge neither set out facts nor did it give any reasons for the conclusions reached. It was surprised to see that the Rajasthan High Court's judgment didn't even record the submissions of the parties or examined the issues involved in the context of relevant legal provisions. The top court had taken strong exception to the fact that both the Single Bench and Division Bench of the Rajasthan High Court had dismissed the petition at the threshold without proper hearing. In yet another case, the Supreme Court was forced to set aside a Himachal Pradesh High Court's verdict last year for its sheer inability to comprehend it due to poor quality of language in a tenant-landlord dispute. Such was the quality of the English language used in the Himachal Pradesh High Court's verdict that even the lawyers representing both the parties had failed to understand or assist the judges understand it. vermaajay1968@gmail.com Islamabad, July 29 Jailed former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was today admitted to the countrys top hospital here, after his health deteriorated due to heart trouble in the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. Sharif, 68, was shifted to the Cardiac Centre of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad this evening, where his condition is said to be stable, a hospital official said. The three-time Pakistan premier is serving a 10-year jail term in a corruption case over his family's purchase of luxury apartments in London. He has been lodged in the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi since July 13. Last week, it was reported that Sharif is on the verge of a kidney failure. PTI editorial@tribune.com Shubhadeep Choudhury Tribune News Service Kolkata, July 29 Shubhra Deys face lit up when she heard that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had mentioned about martyred protesters of Silchar in a speech in the Assembly on Thursday. Eleven persons, including a woman, had died on May 19, 1961, when the Assam Police opened fire on people demonstrating near Silchar railway station against the Assam Governments decision to make Assamese the only official language of the state. Shubhra Dey is a native of Karimganj, which is 56 km from Silchar. According to Sushmita Dev, Lok Sabha member from Silchar, the name of only 29 per cent of people of Barak Valley figure in the draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) published on December 31 last. In contrast, names of 70 to 80 per cent of the people living in Assamese majority districts of upper Assam have appeared in the draft NRC. Many people from Barak Valley, who are Shubhra Deys friends or known to her, have found their names missing in the draft list. One such person is Sumana Roy, a teacher from Karimganj. Sumana is right now in Kolkata on holiday. Born in Karimganj in mid-sixties, Sumanas father was a freedom fighter and a recipient of the Tamra Patra, certificate given to freedom fighters by PM Indira Gandhi in 1972. A large number of Bengalis from the Barak Valley area of Assam have made Kolkata their home and they are acutely concerned about what is happening to their brethren back home. SPN Majumdar, a native of Silchar, has bared his heart in a Facebook post. Employee of a university in West Bengal, Majumdar wrote that many people whose name had not appeared in the NRC list published on December 31 would find it difficult to sleep on Sunday worrying sick whether their names will appear in the final draft on Monday. amansharma@tribunemail.com Our Correspondent Jaipur, July 29 At least 20 spectators were on Sunday injured when a tin shed, on which they were sitting while watching a tractor show, collapsed at Padampura Grain Mandi in Sriganganagar district. Hundreds of farmers were watching a tractor display-cum-competition organised by private firms to attract buyers when huge shed built on pillars broke from the middle at 1.30 pm. #WATCH: Tin shed collapses during a tractor race in Sri Ganganagar's Padampur earlier today. Many feared injured. #Rajasthan pic.twitter.com/rel9ChXhnD ANI (@ANI) July 29, 2018 Though local TV news channels reported seven persons feared killed, there was no official confirmation. Reacting to the mishap, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, who initially expressed her condolence on deaths (number unknown), later revised the statement expressing shock and ordered a probe into the incident. Meanwhile, Special DG (Law and Order) N R K Reddy denied of any casualty in the mishap. Of the 17 injured shifted to the hospital, the condition of seven was serious, Reddy said, adding a detailed report is awaited. There were thousands of farmers attending the event, he said. amansharma@tribunemail.com Chennai, July 29 DMK president M Karunanidhi faced a 'transient setback' in his clinical condition and his vital signs are normalising with medical support, the hospital said. "There was a transient setback in the clinical condition of DMK president M Karunanidhi. With active medical support, his vital signs are normalising. He continues to be closely monitored and treated by the panel of expert doctors," a medical bulletin issued by Kauveri Hospital said. Following a dip in his blood pressure, Karunanidhi was admitted to the hospital early yesterday. On July 18, he had undergone a procedure at the same hospital to change his tracheostomy tube. Earlier in the day, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu visited the hospital to inquire about the health condition of Karunanidhi. The DMK, meanwhile, released a photograph, the first after Karunanidhi's hospitalisation early yesterday, showing Naidu standing beside the 94-year-old leader in his hospital bed. Party cadres outside the hospital were enthused by the release of the image. They said the picture did not feature any "life support system like a ventilator" and it was reassuring that their Thalaivar (leader) was recuperating well. DMK had, during the hospitalisation of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in 2016, asked why no photograph of her in the hospital was released. The party had said that release of a picture would have helped put at rest speculations about her health status. Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, DMK working president M K Stalin, party Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi, the nonagenarian leader's wife Rajathi Ammal and Karunanidhi's personal physician Dr Gopal are also seen in the picture. "Visited Kaveri Hospital and met former Chief Minister Thiru Kalaignar Karunanidhi. Met his family members and doctors and enquired about his health. Doctors said he is stable. Wish him a speedy recovery," Naidu tweeted. - PTI amansharma@tribunemail.com Suresh Dharur Tribune News Service Hyderabad, July 29 Frustrated over denial of Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh, a daily wage earner has committed suicide at his home in Chittoor district. The police recovered a suicide note from the pocket of Sudhakar (29) who was found hanging from a ceiling fan at his residence in Madanapalle town on Saturday. Sudhakar was working as a daily wage worker at a handloom weaving firm while his parents Ramachandra and Sarojini Amma are both sanitation workers. "Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh is our right. Nobody is responsible for my death," he wrote in the suicide note. Both his parents were away when he took the extreme step. Sudhakar's family members told police that he was actively participating in the agitations for special category status to AP. "He even spoke at the meeting of handloom weavers recently, where he raised his voice for the special status," they said. The police also recovered a receipt from his body which showed that he had donated Rs 5,000 to Chaitanya Orphanage and Rehabilitation Centre at Madanapalle on July 21. He was involved in various social and philanthropic activities. Expressing grief over the suicide, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh from the state government and another Rs 5 lakh from his Telugu Desam Party to the bereaved family. "We will stand by his family and support them all through," he said. "The betrayal by the Centre has caused emotional disturbance among the people. I appeal to people not to commit such acts, but continue the fight against the Centre till justice is done," the Chief Minister said, while addressing "Dharma Porata Deeksha" rally at Ongole town on Saturday. The opposition YSR Congress president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy also expressed shock over the incident. He appealed to the people not to resort to such an extreme step but join the ongoing fight for special status to the state. editorial@tribune.com Vikramdeep Johal Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 29 Books, films, songs, memorials, welfare societies Shaheed Udham Singh has remained in focus over the decades, growing in stature as an iconic revolutionary. However, fact and fiction have become intertwined in the narrative of the Sunam-born Ghadarite, who was hanged in Englands Pentonville prison on July 31, 1940. Udham Singh is best remembered for avenging the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by gunning down Sir Michael ODwyer, an imperialist who had a controversial tenure as Punjabs Lieutenant Governor. As per popular belief, the youngster was present on the spot in Amritsar on April 13, 1919. He was actually abroad on the fateful day, says Dr Navtej Singh, the author of Challenge to Imperial Hegemony (1998). According to his research, Udham Singh worked in the North Western Railway from 1917 to 1922 and received the India General Service medal for the Waziristan campaign of 1919-20. He did return to the holy city a few months after the momentous incident, which undoubtedly influenced him deeply and determined the course of his life, he adds. Panchkula-based historian Prof Malwinder Jit Singh Waraich says Udham Singh told the judge, Mr Justice Atkinson, during the trial: When the shooting took place I had gone to East Africa I wasnt in India... Both scholars also reject the contention that he mistook ODwyer for General Reginald Dyer. In his book, Hanged at Pentonville (2008), British crime historian Steve Fielding writes: It was when he (Udham Singh) was questioned as to the motive that detectives believed it had been a case of mistaken identity Singh had noted Dyer in his diary as ODyer, believing the speaker (at Caxton Hall) was the General. A similar assumption appears in Gordon Honeycombes 1982 title Murders of the Black Museum. Dr Navtej Singh says there was no question of a mix-up as Dyer had died in 1927 (13 years before ODwyers assassination), a crucial development Udham Singh couldnt have been unaware of. There is also apparently no truth in the story that he had concealed his Smith and Wesson revolver in a big book before entering Caxton Hall on March 13, 1940. Talking to The Tribune, Paul Bickley, curator at the New Scotland Yards Crime Museum, says, We have with us his Belgrave pocket diary. Its far too small to hide a gun. Udham Singhs revolver and knife are also among the exhibits in this private museum. The UK Metropolitan Police have already turned down Indias requests to return these items, saying that these are case properties. Another book, film on the way Shaheed Udham Singh is the subject of British journalist Anita Anands book The Patient Assassin: A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge and the Raj, which will be published by Simon & Schuster UK early next year. Bollywood director Shoojit Sircar (Vicky Donor, Piku) is working on the revolutionarys biopic, which will reportedly have Irrfan Khan in the lead role. The martyr was played by Raj Babbar in Chitraarths Shaheed Udham Singh (1999) and Parikshit Sahni in Balraj Tahs Jallian Wala Bagh (1977). In both films, Udham Singh is shown as a survivor of Jallianwala Bagh massacre. He Never worked for ODwyer In its March 14, 1940, edition, UKs The Times newspaper reported that ODwyer was murdered by his chauffeur. This gave birth to the legend which has survived to this day that Udham Singh had worked in some capacity for his quarry. Roger Perkins contradicted the claim in his 1989 book, The Amritsar Legacy. He asserted that Udham Singh had served as a chauffeur to a retired Indian Army officer, but what he certainly did not do was to go anywhere near Sir ODwyer, a fact confirmed by the Irishmans family. editorial@tribune.com Aparna Banerji Tribune News Service Jalandhar, July 29 Upset over action against more than 1,370 chemists in the state till Thursday, the Punjab Chemists Association which will observe a statewide bandh on Monday has declared that in case the government remains unresponsive to its demands, it will launch an indefinite strike after five days. For the past almost a month, chemists have been demanding that the online sale of medicines be stopped and the crackdown against them be discontinued. The association has about 25,000 members. During a meeting held in Ludhiana on Friday, the chemists decided to intensify their stir after giving a five-day ultimatum to the government. Association president GS Chawla said: Of the over 1,350 chemists targeted in the state, a majority are innocent. We are for action against the erring persons. But very few arrested persons are licence holders. Many arent even members of our association. He added that though only drug department officials were authorised to carry out inspections, SDMs, patwaris, tehsildars and police officials were randomly conducting checks and videographing the proceedings. They come and look for blue tablets even if they dont even know the tablets names. In the name of Mission Tandarust Punjab, licensed chemists are being targeted. Why arent any of the suppliers or wholesale peddlers nabbed? Surinder Duggal, general secretary of the association, said: We met the Health Secretary, Health Minister and the Drug Controller, but have got only assurances. Neither has the online sale been stopped nor the big suppliers nabbed. Why the protest editorial@tribune.com Parvesh Sharma Tribune News Service Sangrur, July 29 Families of freedom fighters, under the banner of the Punjab Freedom Fighters and Descendants Association (PFFDA), on Sunday demanded a high-level inquiry to find out how seven distant relatives of Shaheed Udham Singh had got government jobs. The association has decided to hold a protest against the Congress government during the state-level function to be held in Sunam on Tuesday to mark the martyrs death anniversary. Seven persons, posing as the martyrs close relatives, have got jobs. It has happened with the connivance of some officers, who have taken lakhs of rupees. Orphaned at a tender age, Udham Singh died a bachelor. As per rules, jobs can only be given to close family members, said Harinderpal Singh Khalsa, PFFDA president, after a meeting at Sunam. He alleged that some officers were forwarding cases of fake freedom fighters for government benefits, even as genuine ones were still struggling for basic amenities. Genuine freedom fighters and their families are still fighting to get houses, free electricity, toll exemption, free medical and education facilities and jobs. Our repeated requests to CM Capt Amarinder Singh for a meeting have fallen on deaf ears. We will protest in Sunam on July 31 and also take out a march against the government, Khalsa added. uttara@tribuneindia.com Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 29 Delhi deputy chief minister and incharge of Aam Aadmi Party Punjab affairs, Manish Sisodia on Saturday held a meeting in Delhi with a group of eight party MLAs, including and led by Sukhpal Khaira, on the issue of the latter's removal as the Leader of Opposition. The meeting was on till the reports last came in. Earlier, it was reported that all Punjab MLAs have been called for meeting with Sisodia and national party president Arvind Kejriwal. Party sources said only Khaira and MLAs supporting him were called. Jai Kishan Rodi, AAP MLA from Garhshankar, who earlier supported Khaira did not go with him today. Earlier, Mansa MLA Nazar Singh Manshahia, who is among the eight MLAs supporting Khaira, said his party's legislators were on way to Delhi for the meeting. Infighting within the party came out in the open earlier this week after the party announced it was replacing Khaira with Dalit leader and Dirba MLA Harpal Singh Cheema as Leader of Opposition. Khaira and eight other legislators had called the decision arbitrary and demanded a review. Although AAP has cited no reasons for its decision, the move came after Khaira accused Punjab co-president Balbir Singh of levelling unsubstantiated corruption allegations. gspannu7@gmail.com Kulwinder Sandhu Tribune News Service Moga, July 29 Moga police on Sunday arrested Kultar Singh Goldi, an Australian NRI, who was wanted in the infamous Nabha jailbreak case. He was accused by the police of harbouring gangster Gurpreet Singh Sekhon, alleged mastermind of November 2016 Nabha jailbreak. While confirming this to The Tribune, SSP of Moga Gurpreet Singh Toor and SP (Investigation) Vazir Singh said that an FIR under Sections 130, 212, 216 and 216-A of the IPC was registered against him and his associate Gurwinder Singh alias Gori, resident of Dashmesh Nagar, Moga. It may be mentioned that Gurpreet Sekhon and three of his associates, Manveer Sekhon, Rajwinder Raja and Kulwinder Singh, all wanted in Nabha jailbreak case were arrested by the counter intelligence wing of the state police on February 12 last year from Goldis residence at Dhudike village. When the investigations of Nabha jailbreak case were in progress, the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed the arrest of Kultar Singh Goldy on April 8, 2017, with a direction to him to appear before the police for investigations. But, he did not appear before the police. His counsel Pratham Sethi had told court that Goldy was in Australia from July 10, 2009, though he visited India in between and last came on January 23, 2017, months after the jailbreak. The court was also told that he was away from his house to Ludhiana the day when the escaped convicts were arrested from his house. However, the local police claimed that it has seized four pistols and a gun along with cartridges from Sekhon and his associates from his residence. The arms and ammunition were provided to them by a Moga gun seller Karanpal Singh, who was owner of Punjab Gun House in Moga. The gun house owner was also arrested by the local police. Later, during the course of investigations it was established that Goldy knowingly provided shelter to the gangsters. The legal proceedings to declare him a proclaimed offender were initiated by the cops. He was declared a proclaimed offender in December 2017 by a local court, here. The SSP further said that Goldi will be produced before a local court on Monday for seeking a police remand for further investigations. Presently, he was being interrogated by senior police officials in the CIA-Staff at Mehna village. It may be mentioned that Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harminder Singh Mintoo, who recently died of cardiac arrest in jail, another militant Kashmir Singh and gangsters Vicky Gounder, Gurpreet Singh Sekhon, Neeta Deol and Amandeep Dhotian had escaped on the morning of November 27 in 2016. The gangsters, three of them dressed as policemen, broke open the high security jail and freed the six inmates after indiscriminate firing. uttara@tribuneindia.com Washington Fully operations research robots are often left unsecured on the internet, making it possible for hackers to remotely command these machines to move around and even spy on camera feeds. Researchers from Brown University in the US ran a worldwide scan in search of hosts running the Robot Operating System (ROS), a popular research robotics platform. During the scans, which were performed over three different periods in 2017 and 2018, they found as many as 100 exposed systems running ROS, up to 19 of which were considered to be fully operational robots. The researchers showed that it is possible to control these robots remotelyto spy on camera feeds and even send commands to move the robots around. "Though a few unsecured robots might not seem like a critical issue, our study has shown that a number of research robots is accessible and controllable from the public internet," researchers said. "It is likely these robots can be remotely actuated in ways that are dangerous to both the robot and the human operators," they said. The findings are a reminder that everyone needs to be mindful of security in an increasingly connected digital world, researchers said. ROS is the dominant platform used in research robotics. It can be thought of like a robot's central nervous system. The platform aggregates all of a robot's various components - its cameras, sensors and actuators - and ties them to a central computing node. Through an external computer and a network connection, an operator connects to the central node to give commands to the robot. "ROS is a great tool for robotics research, but the designers explicitly left security to the end users," said Stefanie Tellex, a roboticist at Brown. "It doesn't require any authentication to connect to a ROS master, which means if you're running ROS and it's not behind a firewall, anyone can connect to your robot," said Tellex. Researchers set to find out how many robots running ROS might be out there and accessible via the internet. They performed the scan on three different occasions and found around 100 exposed systems running ROS. One of the robots detected turned out to be in the lab of one of Tellex's collaborators, Siddhartha Srinivasa, a computer science professor at the University of Washington. To find out if it were actually possible to take control of a robot remotely, Tellex contacted Srinivasa and asked his team to leave some of the robot's functions online for a test. Tellex showed that she could access the robot's camera, move its neck and even make the robot speak using a ROS speech function. That kind of access can be dangerous, researchers said. "These robots can potentially be moved in ways endangers to the robot, as well as to the people operating the robot," Tellex said. Securing these robots is not particularly difficult, researchers said. They just need to be running behind a firewall or on a virtual private network. However, that requires users to be mindful of security, and the researchers hope this study will encourage people to be just that. PTI vermaajay1968@gmail.com In our last issue we published a telegraphic summary of the manifesto on the reforms scheme which has just been issued by a number of Bombay leaders including Sir Dinshaw Wacha and Sir Narayan Ohandavarkar. We have the text of this manifesto, and while there is much in it from which we dissent, there is also much in it with which we are in agreement. Reserving detailed notice for a future issue, we may point out that the manifesto easily divides itself under three heads. Under the first head it enumerates those reforms which have for a long time been insisted upon by the Congress and the League, and which are now either partially or wholly embodied in the official scheme. vermaajay1968@gmail.com We desire to accord out sincere and whole-hearted congratulation to the organisers of the special provincial Conference, which held its sittings at Amritsar on Saturday and Sunday, on the magnificent success which has attended their labours. Alike in point of numbers, of the representative character of the assembly, of the earnestness and enthusiasm which characterised the processings, and above all of the nature and quality of the work done, the special Conference challenged comparison with, if it did not, indeed, surpass, any preceding session of the Conference. All or most of all who count in nationalist politics in this Province were present, and by the manner in which they conducted themselves took a part in the solution of the most momentous question of our time and generation for which the Province as a whole cannot fail to be deeply beholden to them. It is usual to judge the work of a Conference by three standards: the quality of the speeches made, the character of the resolutions, and the manner in which the one and the other are received by the House. shalender@tribune.com NABI SALEH, West Bank, July 29 A Palestinian teenager released by Israel on Sunday after completing a prison term for kicking and slapping an Israeli soldier said she wanted to become a lawyer so she could continue her struggle against the occupation of the West Bank. Ahed Tamimi, 17, became a hero to Palestinians after the incident last December outside her home in Nabi Saleh, a village that has for years campaigned against land seizures by Israel, leading to confrontations with the Israeli military and Jewish settlers. Israelis regarded the incident, which Tamimi's mother relayed live on Facebook, as a staged provocation. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas described Tamimi as a model of peaceful civil resistance ..., proving to the world that our Palestinian people will stand firm and constant on their land, no matter what the sacrifice. He made the statement published by the official news agency Wafa after he met Tamimi and her mother. Wearing her trademark black-and-white chequered Arab scarf when she returned home, Tamimi greeted dozens of well-wishers. Outside the home of a villager killed by Israeli forces, she urged continued struggle against Israel's occupation. At a news conference later, she spoke in front of a bare two-pronged tree that had been shaped like a giant slingshot, with the trunk covered in a Palestinian flag and with a tyre at its base. I will continue my university tuition and I will study law so that I can address the cause of my country in all of the international forums and to be able to represent the prisoners' cause, Tamimi said. Prison taught me a lot of things, I was able to figure out the right way to deliver the message of my homeland. Tamimi faced 12 charges but in March pleaded guilty to a reduced charge sheet that included assault. She was sentenced to eight months. Tamimi was arrested in the early hours of December 19, four days after the incident. She was 16 at the time. Her mother Nariman was also arrested, as was her cousin Nour, who was freed in March. Israels military said the soldiers were in the area on the day of the incident to prevent Palestinians from throwing stones at Israeli motorists. The video shows the cousins approaching two soldiers and telling them to leave before shoving, kicking and slapping them. Ahed Tamimi is the most aggressive of the two in the video. The heavily armed soldiers do not respond in the face of what appears to be an attempt to provoke rather than seriously harm them. The scuffle took place amid clashes and protests against US President Donald Trumps controversial recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital. Tamimis case drew global attention and Amnesty International said after her conviction that her sentence was at odds with international law. Amnesty said that imprisonment of a minor must be used only as a last resort for the shortest appropriate period of time. Reuters Resistance is continuing until the occupation is removed. All the female prisoners in jail are strong, and I thank everyone who stood by me while I was in prison. Ahed Tamimi Italians who painted teens mural held shalender@tribune.com Phnom Penh, July 29 Cambodians voted on Sunday in an election set to extend strongman premier Hun Sens 33 years in power after the only credible opposition party was dissolved, effectively turning the country into a one-party state. Hun Sen, who came to power in 1985 in a country still plagued by civil war, has cracked down on dissent in the run-up to the poll, pressuring civil society, independent media and his political opponents. The 65-year-old, a one-time defector from the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, has pointed to stability and growth as gifts of his rule-a message that resonates with his base. A National Election Commission spokesperson said preliminary turnout with two hours left was more than 70%, just surpassing the final figure in 2013 of roughly 69%. The opposition, whose leaders are in jail, underground or in self-exile, has urged a clean-finger boycott as the only safe form of protest. The ruling CPP has won every election since 1998. AFP pardeepdhull@gmail.com Islamabad, July 29 The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which emerged as the single largest party but short of simple majority in the National Assembly elections, was yet to seek formal support from smaller parties or Independents to form the next government. Earlier, the party leaders had maintained that they will not need support of any other party, the final preliminary results issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan on Saturday showed that the party was short of 22 seats to form government on its own. On the other hand, two other major parties, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), are expected to meet in a couple of days to devise a joint strategy in a bid to give a tough time to the PTI in parliament, Dawn reported. According to various TV reports, senior PPP leader Syed Khursheed Shah will meet PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif in Islamabad on Sunday. The Pakistani media throughout the day on Saturday kept on mentioning names of possible candidates for key government offices and possible members of the federal cabinet, however, the PTI sources told Dawn that no names were discussed in meetings held in Banigala, residence of Imran Khan, as the party was still busy in making calculations. When contacted, the PTIs Shafqat Mehmood claimed that no formal meeting had taken place in Banigala and that they (PTI leaders) had a general discussion on the challenges the party could face after formation of the government, but no names of federal ministers or chief ministers were discussed. According to the complete preliminary results announced by the ECP, the PTI has obtained 115 seats 22 short of a simple majoritywhile the PML-N and PPP have won 64 and 43 seats, respectively. The PTI leaders who have won more than one seat will have to vacate additional seats as the law allows an individual to retain only one seat. The Prime Minister-in-waiting Imran Khan has won five seats and he will have to vacate four. Ghulam Sarwar Khan of Taxila has also won two NA seats by defeating former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and he will also have to vacate one seat. Former Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has won both National Assembly and provincial assembly seats. If the PTI decides to nominate him again for the previous office, he will also have to vacate the NA seat which means that the partys seats will be reduced to 109. It was after these calculations that the PTI leadership has now decided to reach out to other smaller groups and independents since the party has already declared that it will not join hands with the PPP and the PML-N. IANS It was also reported by various outlets that PTI leader Jahangir Tareen had established contacts with independents and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) which has won six seats. There are 13 independents who emmerged winners in July 25 polls. The sources said Khan had himself contacted Mumtaz Bhutto of the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) to formally invite the alliance to join the coalition government. If the PTI obtains support of the GDA, MQM-P, PML-Q and the Awami Muslim League, the number of its seats will become 122 - still 15 short of the required numbers, which is more than the independents who have won the elections. IANS pardeepdhull@gmail.com Nabi Saleh (West Bank), July 29 A Palestinian teenager released from prison by Israel on Sunday after completing a sentence for kicking and slapping an Israeli soldier called for Palestinians to continue their struggle against occupation of the West Bank. Ahed Tamimi, 17, became a heroine to Palestinians after the incident last December outside her home in Nabi Saleh, a village which has campaigned for years against land seizures by Israel, leading to confrontations with Israels military and Jewish settlers. Israelis saw the incident, which Tamimis mother relayed live on Facebook, as a staged provocation. Tamimi, who was 16 at the time of her detention, faced 12 charges, including aggravated assault. In March, she pleaded guilty to a reduced charge sheet that included assault and was sentenced to eight months imprisonment, dating back to her arrest in December. Wearing her trademark black-and-white chequered Arab scarf, Tamimi greeted dozens of well-wishers in brief remarks outside the home of a Nabi Saleh villager killed by Israeli forces. From this martyrs house, I say: resistance is continuing until the occupation is removed, she told reporters. All the female prisoners in jail are strong, and I thank everyone who stood by me while I was in prison. She scheduled a news conference for 4 p.m. (1300 GMT). Palestinians want the West Bank for a future state, along with East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Most countries consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal, something Israel disputes. Tamimis case drew global attention and Amnesty International said after her conviction that her sentence was at odds with international law, saying imprisonment of a minor must be used only as a last resort for the shortest appropriate period of time. Reuters pardeepdhull@gmail.com Phnom Penh, July 29 Polls closed in Cambodias contentious national election on Sunday with rights groups saying the vote was neither free nor fair in the absence of any significant challenger to Prime Minister Hun Sen and voter intimidation. Hun Sens opponents called for an election boycott. The National Election Commission (NEC) said in a document sent after polls closed that voter turnout was 70.41 percent nationwide. But scenes on the ground in the capital Phnom Penh painted a different picture. At a polling station near the river, election workers outnumbered voters and a slow trickle of people arrived throughout the day. Another polling station at a school was quiet with a handful of voters casting their ballot in the mid-afternoon heat. One Dutch tourist visiting Cambodia on holiday said he did not realise it was election day. Is it election day? I didnt know. Seems very quiet, like a normal Sunday, said the tourist, who declined to be identified to protect his privacy. Critics say the election is a backward step for democracy in Cambodia, marred by intimidation by the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) and the dissolution last year of the main opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) and the jailing of its leader, Kem Sokha, on treason charges. ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said in a statement that the vote took place in a highly repressive political environment. Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge commander who defected from Pol Pots murderous regime, has ruled Cambodia for more than 30 years and is the worlds longest serving prime minister. Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watchs Asia Division, told Reuters in an e-mail that many voters grudgingly went to the polls out of fear. Authorities have warned that anyone boycotting the vote will be seen as a traitor. One voter at a polling station by the river at Preap Sisowath Quay in Phnom Penh said not voting was too much trouble. I did not want to vote but I did vote, said the man, who asked not to be identified. CPP is banking on a high voter turn-out to bestow a veneer of legitimacy on the election. Some 8 million people are registered to vote. Nearly 70 percent cast their ballot during the last general election in 2013. Nineteen political parties ran against Hun Sens ruling CPP, but none are strongly critical of the government. The opposition CNRP, appealing to younger voters and those seeking change, narrowly lost the last general election in 2013. The 2018 election is the countrys sixth since 1993 when it emerged from decades of war, including the 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge regime which is blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people. The National Election Committee will announce preliminary results at around 6 pm local time. Official results are expected in mid-August. Reuters shalender@tribune.com Karachi, July 29 Five empty ballot boxes and over a dozen papers have been found by the roadside in Pakistans Karachi and Sialkot, raising suspicion over the poll bodys claims of having conducted free and fair general elections. Alleging poll rigging and threatening country-wide protests, a multi-party meeting which included the Pakistan Muslims League-Nawaz (PML-N) has rejected the results and demanded a transparent re-election. PPP candidate for NA-241 seat Moazzam Ali Qureshi informed the police about the recovery of a dozen ballot papers from a garbage dump near a famous superstore in Qayyumabad area of the city, DIG police Amir Farooqui was quoted as saying by Dawn news. In Sialkot, people found five empty ballot boxes near Kashmir Park in the Cantonment area, the report said. PTI shalender@tribune.com HARARE, July 29 Former President Robert Mugabe said he would vote for Zimbabwes opposition in Mondays election, turning on one-time allies in the government ahead of the first vote since they ousted him in a de facto coup. The election will see 75-year-old President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a long-time Mugabe ally, face 40-year-old Nelson Chamisa, a lawyer and pastor who is vying to become Zimbabwes youngest head of state. Polls, which are unreliable, give former intelligence chief Mnangagwa only a slim lead over Chamisa, making a runoff on September 8 a possibility. Mugabe, whose 37-year rule came to an end when he was forced to resign in November, told reporters at his mansion in Harare on Sunday that Mnangagwas government was unconstitutional and ruled by the gun. I hope the choice of voting tomorrow will throw, thrust away the military government and bring us back to constitutionality, said a frail looking Mugabe, in a rambling off the cuff speech that lasted almost an hour. I said I cant vote for those who have caused me to be in this situation ... so there is Chamisa left. Mugabe, one of the last Big Men of African politics, still looms large over Zimbabwean politics and he may yet influence the first vote without his name on the ballot paper since the country gained independence from Britain in 1980. Though he became increasingly unpopular with most Zimbabweans as mismanagement and corruption sent the economy into decline, he retains support in his rural heartland where supporters remain bitter about the manner of his removal. Mnangagwa, known as the crocodile, an animal famed in Zimbabwean lore for its stealth and ruthlessness, was removed as vice-president by Mugabe last November to make way for his wife, Grace, to seize power, analysts say. Mugabe on Sunday said it was total nonsense that he wanted his wife to succeed him and claimed that he was preparing to resign at a ZANU-PF congress in December. Reuters I hope the choice of voting tomorrow will throw, thrust away the military government and bring us back to constitutionality. Robert Mugabe, former President GOR alone with daughter 8yo from Melbourne GOR alone with daughter 8yo from Melbourne Hi, we, me and my daughter Nicole who is 8 yo, will be in South Australia in a month. We will arrive in Melbourne with flight from Uluru at 4:00 pm on 30th of August and depart from Melbourne by plane to KI on monday 3rd of September. I would rent a car (I'm a bit worried because I will be alone and I live in Europe so don't know left driving..). Where do you think should we go? Nicole loves animals, I would like to see also the landscapes.. Thank you!!! Silvia Are you aware that December is the wet, stinger and cyclone season up North? It will be hot and humid for sure and the odd tropical downpour. You cant go on the water without a stinger suit, but as you will be diving, you will be wearing a suit anyway. Port Douglas is far nicer as a base than Cairns and you are closer to the world heritage Daintree Rainforest (highly recommended).so whilst its not the best time of year to be going, people still do and have an enjoyable trip. Alternatively you could look at the Southern End of the Reef at somewhere like Lady Elliot Island. Conversely although LEI is closer to Sydney than Cairns is, its quicker and easier to get to Cairns because there are regular direct flights from Sydney. With LEI youd need to fly to Hervey Bay then take another flight to the island. So what you could do to fit in your musts Fly SYD to CNS and transfer to Port Douglas for at least 3 nights and do Daintree and full day diving trip. You may also enjoy the Atherton Tan Nlelands and Mossman gorge if youre prepared to spend more time here. Fly CNS to AYQ for minimum 2 nights but longer would be better so that you can include Kata Tjuta and Kings Canyon. Next fly AYQ to either Hobart or Launceston depending on where in Tasmania your friend lives (there are no direct flights, youll need to connect in either DYD or MEL). Spend your 5 nights here. Fly back to SYD. You absolutely cannot drive between locations with your time frame. You have to fly. You should hire a car at each place so you can explore. If you have 3 or 4 days leftover, you could consider not just connecting in MEL for your flight to Tasmania but stopping there and driving a loop of the Great Ocean Road. Or spend more time in Tasmania. 5 days isnt enough to see the whole island as its bigger than most realise. New York and Vernont in August with young children New York and Vernont in August with young children Hi We're planning a trip to Montreal-Vermont - New York - Niagara Falls - Toronto in mid to late August. What would be your top tips? We have so far only booked to fly into Montreal and fly home from Toronto 2wks later. We're thinking 2-4 days at each location. We have 4 and 7 year old boys who are active and who will want to be entertained - what child friendly things are there to do? My husband and I enjoy good food and drink, art, architecture, outdoors activities etc. We want to do some adult centric things but realise there will need to be a fair balance! Posting in this forum mainly for tips on where to stay and what to do on the Vermont/New York legs. I've looked at Lake George - looks very family friendly. Friends have said New York itself isn't great for small kids, which I'm sure cannot be true! Thanks for your help! No problem Houndy. To start you off, here's a list of 100 specialty dishes of Viet Nam. On the left is the name of the Province or major cities (VN has 5 major cities that report directly to the central government and 58 provinces.) Here's the map that show them: You can use google search, combining the name of the dish with name of the province/city (when needed). You will get either some videos, images (sometimes embedded within an article). That ought to last you a while. :) Come back for any question. Cheers, John The Most Extensive and Reliable Source of Information Related to the Mexican Drugs Cartels. You will not find this level of coverage anywhere else, join us! Send information, pictures or videos, you remain 100% anonymous. Envia fotos, videos, notas, enlaces o informacion todo 100% Anonimo. Want to be a contributor or citizen reporter for Borderland Beat? We love to have you in our team, send Sol Prendido or HEARST an email! WARNING: Posts may contain strong violent material, discretion is advised. COMMENTS: We do not publish all comments, and we do not publish comments immediately. Is it possible to travel from Canada (any place) to Vietnam (any place) by sea? If you know where can I check more about it, I would be very happy to hear. I've been trying to google it in a lot of different ways but no results. Thanks a lot! -:- Message from Tripadvisor staff -:- This topic has been closed to new posts due to inactivity. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one. To review the Tripadvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason. Being dropped for 8 hours in a foreign culture with different language and even a different alphabet is tough the first few times. Even figuring out where you are or want to go to is a challenge the first few times. Japan is a totaly different place than any you have been to... its not like Europe or other countries it is packed with people, and contested beyond your belief. It has great public transport but figuring out how to use it and figure out its schedules is not all that easy. I was very experienced in travel when I got to Japan and it was a real challenge to fugure things out the train stations can be down right scary with thousands rushing in and out constantly Tokyo is a very complex place for a beginner to figure out in a few days. You will spend almost half your time just trying to figure where your at and how to get there from here plus the added pressure that your on s very tight schedule and that it is easy to make mistakes under that sort of pressure makes tension run high . The big problem is that if you make a mistake you miss getting back to the ship and it leaves without you...they only wait for passengers who book the ships tours. You do it your self tour , to save could end up costing thousands. The first time take a guided tour from the ship.....all things considered it will be the most enjoyable. not the cheapest. If shopping is your primary reason for the trip, then I would make the trip about shopping about different areas of the city, and tag some sightseeing on to it, rather than making sightseeing the focus and one whole day about shopping, if that makes sense. He may have loved the outlet shopping in Orlando, but New York City is a very different place. Experience the city you have come to see. So many cool shops of all types in the city itself. On Monday, before (or instead of) Greenwich Village, I would head to Soho, which your son will love for shopping. Then stroll into Greenwich Village, Nolita, or the NYU/Washington Square Park area for dinner afterward. I agree that the Met and AMNH are too much for one day. I would make Tuesday the Met, and Central Park, and then shop/view store windows down Fifth Avenue. Then TOTR, making a stop at the hotel first to drop off bags. Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, might be a good day to visit AMNH. You may not be aware, but that is the area where they inflate the balloons for the parade. It can be quite fun to view, but it has turned into a major event in its own right, so there are lots of crowds. But it would be great to combine the AMNH with this. There is lots of great shopping to be had, discount and otherwise on the Upper West Side too. I think you need to get a good tourist's map with the sights printed on there, so you can better plan. An excellent one is the Red Map of NYC. It's laminated, and you can fold it into the size of a #10 envelope (4.5" x 11"). I would think very carefully about bringing the boys to the 9/11 Museum. It's very emotionally intense and may cause nightmares in some sensitive people. Personally I don't recommend it for anyone under 18, as even some adults find it too overwhelming. Some people lose their appetite. Almost everyone needs to have some "down time"/"decompression time" afterwards -- prayer or meditation, a long walk, etc. The Memorial is beautiful and a very moving tribute. If you do decide to bring the kids to the Museum anyway, I would not have a schedule "set in stone" afterward. They might want a break. A trip on the Staten Island Ferry could be refreshing, and would give you a chance to sit down (or stand outside looking over the harbor, with a nice strong breeze, beautiful view of the buildings). - Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i said Kenya would not tolerate harassment of its citizens by Ugandan police - The CS said Uganda was wrong on taking Kenya's humility for weakness - He vowed to completely stop invasion o Kenyan territories by Ugandan police officers - According to Matiang'i the State has obligation to protect all its citizens Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i has said Kenya will not allow further harassment of its citizens by Ugandan police on the controversial Migingo island along Lake Victoria. Matiang'i warned that Uganda had taken Kenya's humble and gentle approach in resolving territorial disputes around the island for granted which was unacceptable. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens. READ ALSO: Betty Kyalo awaacha 'team mafisi' kwa mate midomoni kwa kunengua kiuno kwa madaha Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i said Kenya had an established plan to end invasion in Migingo Island by Uganda police. Photo: DCI/Facebook. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: ODM MPs want Uhuru to beef up Matiang'i's security, say contraband cartels are after his life Speaking in Homa Bay county on Friday, July 27, Matiang'i announced the government had worked on a comprehensive plan to stop external aggression along Lake Victoria. "We have worked on a plan to secure all our people. We will step up security and patrol around Lake Victoria. It is sad sometimes when you are humble people think you are not able. I think if our friends have been thinking we because we are humble we are weak," said Matiang'i. Homa Bay Woman Representative Gladys Wanga had decried increasing mistreatment of Kenyans in Migingo Island and questioned Matiang'i how citizens could be bullied in their own turf yet there was a stable government. Interior Cabinet Secretary said Kenya would not allow its citizens to be treated as Stateless in their own home. Photo: Uganda National Police/Facebook. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Slain IEBC official Msandos family to build IT Foundation in his memory "Our fishermen are being frustrated and forced to eat even raw fish by Ugandan police who keep on invading our country. Ugandans are bullying our people and I know you cannot allow such to continue," Wanga told Matiang'i. The CS assured Kenyans living along the shores of Lake Victoria the government was in charge and urged them to stay calm. "Our neighbours will soon know they were wrong. They will know we were just humble and not unable," the CS said. Rangwe MP Lillian Gogo and her Kasipul Kabondo counterpart Eve Obala prevailed on Matiang'i to take charge of the situation saying they would offer legislative support in case he needed any to secure Kenyans 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. Catherine Njeri: I've Slept With Over 100 Men, Tried Taking Away Myself 5 Times | Tuko TV Source: Tuko - The ODM party settled on Ochillo Ayacko as its candidate for the upcoming by-election - The party cited time and financial constraints as reason why it handpicked Ayacko - Ayacko's nomination was however not welcomed by all members of the opposition party - Migori senator's seat fell vacant following death of Ben Oluoch Okello - At least eight candidates including Oluoch's relatives had shown interest in the seat A major showdown looms in the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party ahead of the Migori County senatorial by-election in October 8, 2018, following the nomination of Ochillo Ayacko as the party's candidate. Migori County governor Okoth Obado, who humiliated Ayacko in the August 8, 2017, gubernatorial race, scoffed at the nomination of his political rival and openly expressed his objection arguing the process through which Ayacko landed the party ticket was not democratic. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens READ ALSO: Mtangazaji wa Ebru TV amuonyesha Eric Omondi uchi wake kwenye video, Wakenya hawaamini The ODM National Elections Board on Friday, July 27, handed direct nomination to Ayacko who lost a gubernatorial seat in 2017 to Governor Okoth Obado. Photo: Ochilo Ayacko/Facebook. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Late Migori senator's family members clash over who should replace him as ODM prepares another candidate Obado, who was addressing his supporters in Migori Town on July 26, said he would not recognise Ayacko as the ODM party's candidate for the Migori senatorial by-election. I will not be party to a boardroom decision arrived at by a few individuals in Nairobi. I do not recognise Ayacko as ODM's candidate, Obado told residents of Migori in an apparent campaign against the ODM party nominee. Migori County governor Okoth Obad opposed the nomination of his political rival Oochilo Ayacko to fly ODM party's flag in the October 2018 senatorial by-election in Migory. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Ochillo Ayacko on verge of becoming Migori senator as ODM picks by-election candidate Ayacko's direct nomination also angered other aspirants in the by-election including former Rongo MP Dalmas Otieno who vowed to enter the race as an independent candidate. Members of the late Senator Ben Oluoch Okello, among them his son Willis Oluoch, nephew Mark Okundi and widow Hellen Oluoch, were also salivating for the vacant seat with each hoping to get a direct ticket from the ODM party in which Okello belonged. The party's decision to hand over the ticket to Ayacko therefore came as a major disappointment to the Okellos too. READ ALSO: It is not true I declined Uhuru's job offer - former minister Ochilo Ayacko In its defense, the ODM party's National Elections Board cited time and financial constraints as the reason why the party handpicked Ayacko to fly its flag. The Migori senator's seat which fell vacant following the death of Okello on June 18, attracted eight aspirants. "None of the eight candidates was asked to pay the nomination fee. However, having been nominated, Ochillo will pay the nomination fee," ODM party's national chairman John Mbadi said. Mbadi on Saturday, July 28, told Obado that Ayacko's nomination was final and therefore anyone who had plans to oppose him should be ready to face off with ODM in the October by-election. 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. Raila Odinga Is a Project Employed Under Uhuru Kenyatta - Nazlin Umar - On Tuko TV Source: Tuko News - The Central Kenya MPs say they are united to help Uhuru achieve his Big Four Agenda - They argue Jubilee is united and Ruto will receive the regions support in his 2022 bid - Kiharu MP says no external forces will break the Jubilee party ahead of the 2022 elections - Muranga governor called on Kenyans to ignore reports of a rift between Uhuru and Ruto and focus on development At least 40 legislators from Mount Kenya region have dismissed reports of rifts in Jubilee Party after the handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Opposition leader Raila Odinga. Speaking on Saturday, July 29, in Kiharu constituency, the MPs jointly faulted the narrative that there was a Jubilee faction aligned to President Uhuru and another behind DP William Ruto terming it as ill-advised. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens. READ ALSO: Mtangazaji wa Ebru TV amuonyesha Eric Omondi uchi wake kwenye video, Wakenya hawaamini Muranga Governor Mwangi wa Iria (l) said that anyone who had the mind of driving a wadge between the President and DP Ruto (c) was destined to fail. Photo: William Ruto Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Sulking Kamba leaders ditch Uhuru, troop to NASA as new alliance takes shape Led by area MP Ndindi Nyoro, they remained firm that the pact between the two leaders was not going to interfere with their political calendar and that DP Ruto was their bet for 2022 presidency. Those claiming that there is Jubilee side for Kenyatta and the other for Ruto are misinformed. Jubilee is one family and we are working together. We will move forward together beyond 2022. No external hand will divide this family, stated Nyoro. READ ALSO: Moses Kuria bashes Duale, tells him to stop meddling in vetting committees' affairs Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria warned other legislators from retrogressive politics noting that time was nigh for service delivery to the electorate. We are not going to do politics from one election period to another. The 2017 elections are now behind us. We are after making Kenya better. If we must do any politics, it must be gainful to this country, said the vocal lawmaker. Murang'a Governor Mwangi wa Iria (l), DP Ruto in the company of Mt Kenya MPs. The legislators have vowed to thrown their weight behind Ruto's 2022 presidential bid. Photo: William Ruto Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Wetangula turns his guns on Uhuru, urges him to fight graft without side shows Muranga Governor Mwangi wa Iria who also remarked during the thanks giving fete of the local MP, said anyone who had the mind of driving a wedge between the President and his Aide was destined to fail. He claimed that the relationship of the duo had been cemented on a tedious political journey and thus could not be threatened by any external force. READ ALSO: Kakamega man stabs relative to death for not calling him father Claims of confusion and separation in the ruling party have recently been rife with Senate majority leader Kipchumba Murkomen fronting the narrative that there were Jubilee MPs trying to create bad blood between President Uhuru and Ruto. However, Ruto himself has stood his ground and reassured that all was well within the party. 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. Faces of Kenya: Meet The Man Behind The Matatu Barbershop | Tuko TV Source: Tuko Newspaper - Wetangula claimed Kenya's opposition leader had been captured and therefore he had assumed the role - It is understood the Bungoma senator was referring to Raila as the leader who got captured by the state - Raila signed peace deal with Uhuru and the two resolved to end bitter political rivalry for the sake of the country - Since signing of unity agreement, Raila stopped fighting the government and opposition grew weak - Wetangula, who fell out with Raila following his ouster as Senate Minority leader, feels it is time to take over ODM leader's role - Thirdway Alliance party boss Ekuru Aukot had also declared himself the official opposition leader Bungoma senator and Ford Kenya party leader Moses Wetang'ula has crowned himself the new official Opposition chief as his fight with the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party boss Raila Odinga escalates. Wetangula who has in the past few weeks been embroiled in ugly spat with leaders of the ODM party for persistently throwing tantrums at former prime minister, also reiterated he would be a presidential candidate in 2022. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens READ ALSO: Mtangazaji wa Ebru TV amuonyesha Eric Omondi uchi wake kwenye video, Wakenya hawaamini Ford Kenya party leader Moses Wetang'ula on July 29 declared himself the new official Opposition leader claiming ODM leader Raila Odinga had been captured by the state. Source: Original READ ALSO: Raila meets Uhuru, agree to end dissent Speaking at his home in Bungoma County on Sunday, July 29, the Bungoma senator claimed the opposition leader had been captured by the enemy (government) and therefore he had officially taken over the role. "I am leading the opposition and we are fighting for Kenyans. In history, we have people who fight and in the process of the fight, however strong and lethal they are, they get captured. And once they are captured, they distort the process of the fight, but eventually others emerge and lead the fight," Wetangula argued. Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader Raila Odinga on March 9, 2018, signed peace deal with President Uhuru Kenyatta and the two resolved to end bitter political rivalry. Source: Twitter READ ALSO: NASA leaders finally accept Uhuru as the legitimate president, agree to move on Although the Ford Kenya party leader did not mention anyone in particular, TUKO.co,ke understands he was referring to the ODM party boss, Raila. Raila's role as the opposition leader however weakened when the former prime minister on March 9, 2018, signed a peace agreement with President Uhuru Kenyatta to end bitter political rivalry for the sake of the country. READ ALSO: I am ready to work with Uhuru Kenyatta - Charity Ngilu Wetangula argued Raila's decision to join hands with Uhuru meant he had been captured by the enemy and therefore was no longer effective in fighting for Kenyans as the opposition leader. "We are here to lead Kenyans into the next level of leadership that would make sense. Those who have been captured we wish them well in their state of capture," Wetangula said. The other politician who had also declared himself the official opposition leader is the Thirdway Alliance party leader Ekuru Aukot. Aukot crowned himself opposition chief after Raila boycotted the October 26 repeat presidential election that saw Uhuru return to State House for a second term. 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. Top 5 Facts About Uhuru Kenyatta - Raila Odinga Pact - On Tuko TV Source: Breaking News - Wetangula has turned his attention from the foiled relationship with Raila to the tedious question of corruption - The Bungoma Senator urged the president to quit side shows and take on the war on graft head on - He also called on the DPP to thoroughly investigate individuals implicated in corruption scams Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang'ula has called on President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto to stop dramatizing war on corruption and instead stump their authority over the vice. Addressing the press in his Bungoma town home on Sunday July 29, Wetang'ula said that war on graft should target all levels in government and not just junior people. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens READ ALSO: Mtangazaji wa Ebru TV amuonyesha Eric Omondi uchi wake kwenye video, Wakenya hawaamini The Ford Kenya party leader said that his party totally supports war on corruption and wants all suspects who have amassed public wealth illegally be arrested and forced to surrender it back to the state. Bungoma senator Moses Wetang'ula addressing the press at his Bungoma town home on Sunday July 29, 2018. Photo:Titus Oteba/Tuko Source: Original READ ALSO: Uhuru receives rare symbolic welcome from KDF to show he is in charge moments after Raila's swearing-in "The war against corruption should be in all levels, the President and his deputy should take drama out of war on graft, let us be serious when tackling graft because it is ruining our economy," he warned. He took issue with how the National Youth Service KSh 8.5 billion scandal had been handled without any seriousness. "We need to be serious in fighting corruption, we can't tell Kenyans that the country lost KSh8.5 billion in the NYS fraud yet the suspects have been charged with stealing only a paltry Ksh 600 million, where is the other money, is it a diversionary tactic and drama to hoodwink Kenyans?" asked Wetang'ula Wetangula feels the war against graft is not being won because leaders are engaging in side shows. Photo: Titus Oteba Source: Original READ ALSO: NASA leaders fearing for their lives - Moses Wetangula He took issue on how Busia governor Sospeter Ojaamong and some people were arrested for allegedly minting KSh8 million. "It was inhuman to handle a county boss like that, we know of people who have stolen billions in government parastatals and agencies yet they have not been nabbed, the government should not be discriminative in its fight against corruption," he noted. READ ALSO: Raila planned, executed my ouster as Senate Minority leader - Moses Wetangula Wetang'ula called on the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Noordin Hajji to tackle serious corruption scandals that is currently bedeviling the country instead of playing hide and seek with suspects. Wetangula turns his guns on Uhuru, urges him to fight graft without side shows Source: Original READ ALSO: Betty Kyalo's sensual dance on the beach leaves team mafisi salivating for more "If we want to slay the corruption syndicate in the country, let all people who are believed to have amassed wealth through graft to surrender them for the sake of their freedom, joking with people who have illegally acquired public money through the back doors will land this country into serious economic problems," said Wetang'ula. READ ALSO: It's over between me and Raila - Moses Wetangula He said that Ford Kenya supports the Government's four agendas and it will only come to fruition if corruption is tackled mercilessly. Story by Titus Oteba/Tuko correspondent Bungoma County. 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 Chaos at Muthurwa Market as Hawkers protest | Tuko TV: Source: Tuko Kenya A Kenyan man has been left pants down after a conversation of his and his bae leaked online causing a stir on social media. From the explosive chat, TUKO.co.ke gathered the desperate guy was in dire need of money and turned to his lady for some cash. READ ALSO: Mombasa man found romping with married woman in car given dogs beating READ ALSO: Mtangazaji wa Ebru TV amuonyesha Eric Omondi uchi wake kwenye video, Wakenya hawaamini His lady was however in a foul mood and was not willing to pony up the money the guy required. Why you may ask? Well, his dear girlfriend did not find it fit for a man to go around asking for a loan from his bae. READ ALSO: Betty Kyalo's sensual dance on the beach leaves team mafisi salivating for more Another reason she gave was her boyfriend once asked for money before and promised to pay but ended up refusing to live up to his end of the bargain. The last time you came to my place you bragged about how you went out with your friends and downed a bottle of alcohol, the angry lady wrote. She later proceeded to insult her lover stating the only thing he brought to the table was a steamy bedroom session once in a while and that did not warrant any financial support from her. Have you ever spent even KSh 50 on me ever since we met? the lady asked. The million-dollar question however goes out to the men, is a lady required to financially support their lover? 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. Penne Pasta With Minced Meat Sauce: An Amazing Recipe From Chef Rachel | Tuko Lifestyle Source: Breaking News The prime minister is expected to discuss the failure of the tourist season and deplorable state of infrastructure in Crimea, according to local media. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has arrived in the city of Sevastopol in Russian-occupied Crimea. On July 28, Medvedev took part in a concert dedicated to the 1,030th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus, the so-called "leader" of Russian-occupied Crimea Sergey Aksyonov wrote on Facebook. Read alsoRussian annexation of Crimea violates norms of international law: German FM The prime minister also attended the parade in honor of Russia's Navy Day held in Sevastopol on Saturday, July 29. Meanwhile, Russian-controlled local media, referring to Kremlin analysts, write that Medvedev's participation in official events is only a formal occasion for the visit. The true purpose of his visit is to discuss the failures of the federal target program for the development of the city. Among the main challenges are deplorable state of infrastructure, "disappearance" of RUB 2 billion allocated for the construction of treatment facilities, as well as failure of the tourist season. As UNIAN reported earlier, on May 22-24, 2016, Medvedev paid a visit to the temporarily occupied Crimea. In particular, he visited the Aivazovsky National Art Gallery in Feodosia. He was confronted with pensioners who complained about low pensions. Medvedev said that "there is no money," and the government plans to raise payments "across the country, not in a particular region." In a statement widely ridiculed in social media, he told the senior citizens: "Be strong!" and wished them well, instead of actually addressing the issue. Four enemy troops were reportedly killed and another six were wounded in fighting with Ukraine's Joint Forces. Russia's hybrid military forces mounted 25 attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas in the past 24 hours, with two Ukrainian soldiers reported as killed in action (KIA) and another two as wounded in action (WIA). Read alsoMilitants blow up on own mines when trying to penetrate line of contact - Ukraine intel The enemy used weapons proscribed by the Minsk accords three times, the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation said in an update on Facebook as of 07:00 Kyiv time on July 29, 2018. The militants opened aimed fire mainly from grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and small arms at the defenders of the towns of Svitlodarsk, Avdiyivka and Maryinka, and the villages of Krymske, Pisky, Lebedynske, Hnutove, Shyrokyne, Pavlopil and Vodiane. The occupiers also used 82mm mortars near Krymske and Vodiane. In addition, a sabotage and reconnaissance enemy group made an attempt to seize Ukrainian positions near Krymske. Ukraine's Joint Forces had to use fire weapons. The invaders were forced to retreat, having suffered losses. Four enemy troops were reportedly killed and another six were wounded in fighting with Ukraine's Joint Forces. Since Sunday midnight, Russian-led forces have mounted five attacks on the Ukrainian positions near Krymske, Opytne, and Pavlopil, the report said. No casualties among Ukrainian servicemen have been reported. Russia's hybrid military forces attacked Ukrainian army positions in Donbas three times from 07:00 to 18:00 Kyiv time on Sunday, July 29. Read alsoUkraine announces successful final testing of anti-tank guided missiles (Photo, video) The occupiers fired large-caliber machine guns and small arms at the Joint Forces positions near the villages of Krymske and Lebedynske," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation (JFO) said in an update on Facebook as of 18:00 Kyiv time on July 29, 2018. "There have been no casualties among the Ukrainian troops. The situation in the area of the Joint Forces Operation remained under control," the press center said in a statement. The circumstances of the accident have not yet been determined, police says. Four people died when their light aircraft crashed into the summit of a glacier in the Swiss Alps, police said Saturday, in the latest fatal accident to hit the popular tourist region. Read alsoBoeing 737 crashes after taking off from Havana media The plane went down 3,300 metres (10,800 feet) above sea level at 4:45 pm (1445 GMT) on Friday in an area known as the Dunand Pass, police in southern Valais canton said in a statement, as reported by the Local. They identified the plane as a four-seater made by the French firm Robin and which had taken off from Sion airport for "a pleasure flight." After receiving an alert, authorities dispatched rescue teams to the summit but found the pilot and three passengers dead at the scene. "The circumstances of the accident have not yet been determined," police added. The victims have not yet been formally identified. The accident comes after an unusually deadly winterseason in the Swiss Alps that saw multiple hikers killed in a series of avalanches. | BY Ricki Green | As consumers increasingly expect to be able to connect with brands 24/7, new research from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Google has found that while many businesses are investing in some form of digital marketing, some are failing to reap the full benefits. The study, to be presented at the Advertising Week conference this week in Sydney, also found that the most mature brands report significant benefits from data driven marketing, with an average incremental 15% revenue impact and 12% in cost efficiencies. The team surveyed more than 40 brands from Australia and New Zealand, across 9 industries, and found only two per cent of organisations have developed digitally mature brands that is, those that exceed consumer expectations by consistently delivering coordinated, relevant and sequenced experiences across a range of online and offline channels. Says Chris Mattey, a partner and managing director in BCGs Sydney office: While many companies see the value of digital marketing, most arent doing it as well as they could. Very few fall into the most mature category, where they are able to achieve meaningful connections with consumers, and realise a step-change in cost and revenue uplifts. Says Aisling Finch, marketing director, Google Australia and New Zealand: We know that consumer expectations are rising. Consumers want fast, relevant, seamless experiences. This research sets out a clear path for brands to tap into this opportunity and keep pace with these rising expectations. The study identified three technical and three organisational factors common to digitally mature brands: Says Mattey: Interestingly, brands that are more mature in the people and organisation dimensions report three times higher revenue uplifts than those that are less mature in these areas. But its not just a matter of having a great digital marketing team. Digitally mature brands have buy-in from the highest C-Suite levels and cross-functional and empowered teams working on complex problems to drive business not just marketing outcomes. They dont see this as a marketing problem, but a true collaboration with a program mindset. Through this research, BCG and Google have identified some clear steps on a path to digital maturity. The least mature brands can get started by setting the foundations, including identifying a senior sponsor, leveraging partners to fill capability gaps, understanding available data and building on that by implementing the back-end technology and analytics required to progress. Then brands can build connections both in bringing cross-functional teams together and connecting data to drive automation by breaking down barriers between traditional and digital marketing capabilities, embedding scarce skills such as data scientists, and using them to define common KPIs and a measurement framework that feeds into message delivery and optimisation. To reach the highest level of maturity, brands can make every moment matter by identifying signals across online and offline data, understanding the value of each moment through sophisticated attribution, and measuring this against tangible business outcomes, and ad technology can help in facilitating this. (@ChaudhryMAli88) ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 29th Jul, 2018) Organised by the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi, DCT Abu Dhabi, the Summer Reading Challenge, part of the "Around the World Summer" Programme being held at the emirates public libraries, has achieved great success among all participating libraries in the capital. The young participants in the Summer Reading Challenge have been challenged to read 30 books by authors from across the world this summer. The Challenge has already seen almost 400 children register and a large number of books have been read by all participants. The initiative is part of Abu Dhabi Summer Season 2018, which seeks to encourage children and teenagers to read more during the school summer break, while also introducing a range of activities and events that will feature international authors, books, and cultures from around the world. The programme is being held at Abu Dhabi libraries, including Al Wathba Library, Al Marfa Library, Mazyad Library, Al Bahia Library, Khalifa Park Library, and Al Ains Zayed Central Library, and will continue until 31st August. Additional activities and events include the Young Librarian programme, which invites children aged eight to 14 to become librarians for a month at their closest library, and the "Around the World Summer" Programme, which presents a variety of workshops covering arts, crafts, language, storytelling and innovation at all libraries this summer. In addition, each library will host weekly cultural themes celebrating a country or region, teaching children the nuances of language and culture through activities, workshops and assigned books to read. (@ChaudhryMAli88) The Emirates Red Crescent, ERC, on Saturday launched a humanitarian operation to provide food baskets to needy people in the Karsh area of the Lahej governorate as part of its Year of Zayed activities in Yemen. LAHEJ, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 28th Jul, 2018) The Emirates Red Crescent, ERC, on Saturday launched a humanitarian operation to provide food baskets to needy people in the Karsh area of the Lahej governorate as part of its Year of Zayed activities in Yemen. The food assistance is consistent with the UAE's humanitarian response to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people. Speaking during the launch ceremony, Brigadier Abdul Hakim Musam, Commander of Karsh Front, said that the UAE and its humanitarian arm, the ERC, were making significant humanitarian efforts to help the Yemeni people since the break out of the war, launched by the Iran-aligned Houthi militia. ''Food baskets will be distributed to the underprivileged and displaced Yemenis in the liberated areas of the governorate,'' he stated. ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 29th Jul, 2018) The Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies has praised the UAEs significant role in realising reconciliation between Eritrea and Ethiopia. The Forum also highlighted the efforts of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to stop bloodshed and unify the word, as part of the UAEs international humanitarian efforts. ''The historic achievement is yet another addition in the UAE's humanitarian record,'' the Forum said in statement to honour the UAEs patronage of the reconciliation efforts between Ethiopia and Eritrea. The forum stressed that this historic accomplishment symbolises the value of peace and the meaning of the words of Allah Almighty, "Make peace between your brethren," while affirming to the world that the path of peace begins in Abu Dhabi, as the UAE is a country of peace and harmony. The statement praised the UAEs role in creating a culture of harmony and promoting peace throughout the region, and the world. ''This reconciliation is an example to be followed and a model for conflict areas around the world, because peace is the foundation of coexistence and cohesion.'' "The Forum received, with utmost happiness, the news of the reconciliation between Ethiopia and Eritrea. This reconciliation will prepare their fertile lands for the planting of the tree of peace, which their peoples will use for shade, and will lead to their development and happiness." (@FahadShabbir) ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 29th Jul, 2018) H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, and Faihan Shalhoub, Ambassador of Colombia to the UAE, have discussed ways to further promote bilateral ties. In a meeting, the two sides discussed means of developing relations especially in the trade, economy, tourism and investment sectors, for the interest of both nations and their peoples. The meeting was attended by Sultan Al Humairi, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Presidential Affairs for the Support Services Sector. (@FahadShabbir) ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 29th Jul, 2018) Abu Dhabi Airports has welcomed the resumption of Turkmenistan Airlines biweekly flights between Ashgabat International Airport, ASB, and Abu Dhabi International Airport, AUH, connecting the two nations capitals with flights operating every Friday and Sunday Saoud Al Shamsi, Acting Chief Commercial Officer of Abu Dhabi Airports, commented, "The resumption of Turkmenistan Airlines flights to Abu Dhabi reflects the citys status as a key destination and transit hub for business and leisure travelers, as well as our own commitment to deploying world-class smart travel solutions, relaxing lounge spaces, and attractive retail offerings." Turkmenistan Airlines will operate the route using its Boeing 737-800 aircraft, which will employ a bi-class business and economy configuration. On Fridays, Flight 825 is scheduled to depart ASB at 13:00 local time, arriving at AUH at 15:30 local time, while Flight 826, will departure AUH at 17:00 and arrive at ASB at 19:30. On Sundays, Flight 827 is scheduled to depart ASB at 07:50 local time, arriving at AUH at 10:20 local time, while Flight 828, will departure AUH at 11:50 and arrive at ASB at 14:20. Al Shamsi added that the additional service is part of Abu Dhabi Airports strategy to attract new airlines that will support tourism growth in Abu Dhabi. "These flights are forecasted to attract around 20,000 passengers annually between the two cities, which will extend an opportunity to passengers between Abu Dhabi and Ashgabat to experience a convenient and entertaining travel experience through Abu Dhabi International Airport, and enjoy what Abu Dhabi has on offer as a leading destination for leisure and business." Ekayev Shohrat, Representative of Turkmenistan Airlines in the UAE, said, "We are delighted to be working again with Abu Dhabi Airports to resume our twice-weekly flights to the UAEs capital. The flights play a key role in our growth strategy and are designed to increase interconnectivity between both destinations. We look forward to welcoming business and leisure travelers aboard Turkmenistan Airlines." QUETTA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Jul, 2018 ) ::A coal miner died due to electrocution inside a coalmine in Duki area of Loralai district on Sunday. According to Levies sources, the victim namely Abdul Salam resident of Afghanistan was working in the coalmine when he touched an open wire of electricity and suffered electric shocks which caused his death. The body of the deceased was handed over to the heirs after completing medico legal formalities. Levies force has registered a case. Santiago, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Jul, 2018 ) :The workers' union of Minera Escondida, the Chilean copper mine that is the highest-producing in the world, threatened an "imminent" strike after rejecting the latest proposal from controlling firm BHP. "The strike is imminent, we have not been able to meet with the company," Carlos Allendes, a union spokesman, told AFP on Saturday. The stoppage would affect production at a mine where 5 percent of the world's copper is produced. After nearly six weeks of negotiations with Anglo-Australian company BHP, the nearly 2,500 members of the mine's largest union on Saturday began voting on whether to reject or approve the firm's latest proposal. Balloting is to continue until August 1, but union leaders have recommended rejecting it. If the workers do reject the offer, mediation will begin. If an agreement is still not reached, the union could strike again, as happened last year, paralyzing the company for 44 days. "We have made an effort as a company and we are confident that our workers will consider it," Patricio Vilaplana, Escondida's vice president for corporate affairs, said after the company delivered its latest proposal. The union is calling for a five percent salary increase and a conflict termination bonus of four percent of dividends received by shareholders last year, or about $34,000 per worker. The company has increased its initial offer of 13.5 million Chilean pesos to 15 million ($23,000) per worker as a bonus for ending the negotiation. The mine is located in the Atacama desert at an altitude of about 3,100 meters (10,100 feet). Acapulco, GRO, Mexico (UroToday.com) Ashish Kamat, MD, talked about the frequency of bladder variant histology to be as high as 7,500-18,000 cases per year in the USA, representing 10-25% of all cases. Also remarked the discordance between transurethral resection and cystectomy in 39-47%.The frequency of non-recognized histological subtypes by a community pathologist is an astonishing 44% of all the biopsy samples. This remark left a take-home message: Ask your pathologist if there is a histological subtype such as lymphoepithelial, plasmacytoid, nested variant, micropapillary and small cell histology.The later information takes importance when considering they have worst outcome regarding the higher propensity of locally advanced disease, greater degree of lymph node metastasis, an HR of 2.7 of upstaging at radical cystectomy and considering the different responses to therapy on this strains (Fig 1)Figure 1:Micropapillary bladder cancer was first described at MD Anderson Cancer Center in 1994 as a rare subtype. It has two histological features that made this variant peculiar: the micropapillae without central vascular cores and the consisting lymphovascular invasion present in the micropapillary areas. Dr. Kamat showed evidence describing the poor performance of BCG in this variant, with 89% of recurrence and 67% of progression, 22% of them with metastasis (Fig 2), and the disease-specific survival (DSS) after progression is 24% at 5 years. Dr. Kamat dramatically depicted the chance of surviving micropapillary bladder cancer is lower than playing Russian roulette when treating MPBC with BCG only. The consensus of the best treatment for cT1MPBC was the radical cystectomy, and BCG only in very selected patients.Figure 2:The Small Cell Carcinoma differs biologically from urothelial carcinoma, for early metastasis, rapid growth and the unique metastasis sites (brain and bone). Approximately 50% of patients have metastasis at cystectomy, despite clinically organ-confined disease, thus, is considered initially as a systemic disease, and CNS image is mandatory for all patients. In this variant, the neoadyuvant chemotherapy (NAC) improves the overall survival (OS) (159.5 vs 18.3 months) and DSS at 5 years (79 vs 20%), the drugs of choice are cisplatin with etoposide, followed by radical cystectomy. For patients unable to undergo cystectomy, NAC followed by chemoradiotherapy is an alternative.The squamous differentiation is found very common in urothelial cancer, found in up to 60%, often mixed with glandular differentiation. The biology of this tumor portends more aggressive behavior, nevertheless, has no impact in DSS, therefore it should be treated similarly as stage-matched urothelial bladder cancer, and NAC should be considered.Dr. Kamat concluded his talk by stating the importance of awareness of bladder cancer variant histology and the impact in prognosis, and the treatment should be personalized by each patientSpeaker: Ashish M. Kamat, MD, Professor of Urologic Oncology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TXWritten by: Ashmar Gomez Conzatti, MD, Urology Resident, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y Nutricion Salvador Zubiran, Mexico City & Ashish M. Kamat, MD, Professor of Urologic Oncology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX at the 2018 Congreso de la Asociacion Mexicana de Urologia Oncologica July 25-28, 2018, Acapulco, GRO Mexico Thousands took to the streets of Nicaragua's capital on Sunday to voice their support for the Catholic Church that is mediating in the National Dialogue Process between the government and the opposition. In Nicaragua thousands of anti-government protesters have taken part in a march to show support for the Catholic Church. The government accuses Catholic bishops of siding with the opposition and encouraging protests. Followers of other religious denominations and non-believers also joined the march in the capital, Managua. More than 300 people have died since protests against President Daniel Ortega began in April. Bishop Carlos Aviles who heads the commission for National Dialogue said the Churches will remain open for all who need shelter and reiterated that "The Church will continue to support dialogue, even if it is criticised." The Catholic Church in Nicaragua has been acting as a mediator in talks between the opposition and the government. It has called for an end to violence on both sides, but has been critical of the way the authorities handled the unrest. Meanwhile, as James Blears reports, the Brother of Nicaragua`s President Daniel Ortega is urging him to curb rampaging pro government armed militias, who are worsening the unrest and violence, in this ongoing three month dispute. President Daniel Ortega`s younger Brother Humberto is well qualified to talk about this issue. An ex Sandinista, he`s also the former Minister of Defence. Humberto is urging the Authorities to step in to insure the paramilitaries step down. But older brother is accusing the Opposition and drug cartels of funding the paramilitaries, denying they come under his jurisdiction. Humberto who retired as Defence Minister back in 1995, is urging that Elections be brought forward. But the President and his Wife Vice President Rosario Murillo, refuse to step down. The opposition are demanding their resignations. More than 300 people have died in protests, while hundreds more have been wounded or arrested. Turkish coast guards save survivor refugees after their boat sunk of the coast (ANSA) Three babies were among six dead after a boat carrying 16 people en route to a Greek island capsized off the northwestern coast of Turkey. Pope Francis has repeated appealed for international intervention to halt the continuing tragedy in the Mediterranean. By Nathan Morley Local media reported that least six people died when a dinghy carrying 16 people from the Turkish coast en route to the Greek Island of Lesbos capsized. Turkish radio said that three babies were among those killed. Coastguards managed to rescue nine others, but one passenger remains missing and a search is continuing. Two of those rescued from the boat are understood to have been people-smugglers. So far this year, at least 54 migrants have been killed trying to cross to Europe from Turkey. Earlier this month, 19 migrants drowned when their boat carrying 160 people sank off the northern coast of Cyprus. On that occasion rescuers managed to save 103 of the passengers, while 25 of them still remain missing. In a separate development, Spanish authorities said they have rescued more than 1,200 migrants from the Mediterranean Sea over the past 48-hours. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) says that more than 19,580 people have landed on the coast of Spain so far this year. The same agency said 2018 marks the fifth straight year that at least 1,500 migrants have died attempting the perilous Mediterranean crossing to Europe. In recent days, WWE superstar Roman Reigns has engaged in a Twitter battle against New Japan wrestler Tama Tonga. There are multiple speculations as to the nature of the social media feud. Reporters have yet to confirm if the "Twitter beef" between these two are personal or just for show. The dispute has caught the eye of another New Japan wrestler, who seems confused on how to react to the situation. A rivalry between companies Tama Tonga has recently been locked out of his Twitter account for reasons that are still unknown. Once Tonga was able to gain access to his account again, he sent out a tweet stating that he was on the lookout to find the rat. Later that day, Tonga would post a tweet with a promo he cut during the G1 Climax Tournament. Reigns jumps in Roman Reigns would then retweet Tonga's post with an added comment saying, Sounds like something from a Drake album.ohhhhh wait, it is This is in reference to Drake's song entitled 8 out of 10 from the album Scorpion, which Reigns clarified to a fan later that day. Return fire Tonga, the leader of the Firing Squad would not let Reigns dig go unnoticed. Tonga accused Reigns of being the snitch, but it didnt stop there. Your bark cant seem to get Over your Yard for me to hear you. My yard has no focus, come test your skills here any time Jealousy is a bitch trait what album is that from? Tonga responds. Reigns though would keep his comments simple and reserved to protect the image of the company he represents. I actually doubled your Lil videos views for your interest four hours. You should be thankful. Thanks for the laughs though! Reigns said. Tonga would then fire back one last time saying Thanks for keeping and view counting, must be looking for new material...writers give up on you? If you need more laughs just continue fist cocking, it gets funnier every time. Confusion on the outside looking in This may not have been much of a battle, but it isnt too often that WWE performers engage in such exchanges, especially Roman Reigns. This Twitter beef has caught the attention of fellow New Japan wrestler Kenny Omega, who isnt quite sure how to look at the situation. Omega posted a tweet with a gif of The Rock: If the enemy of my enemy is my friend but my new friend hates me more than my enemy does, is he still my friend? This can possible be a cryptic message as Omega was known to have made rivals of both Reigns and Tonga. Kenny Omega has Omegas problems with Tonga are obvious since the Firing Squad attacked the Bullet Club at NJPW G1 special, earlier this month. Omegas rivalry with Reigns was established earlier this year, after Reigns made a comment in an interview with Corey Graves about being the best in-ring performer. Omega was not pleased with this statement and spoke out against Reigns a month later. Tonga and Omega friends by mutual discord So does this make Omega and Tonga friends? Tama Tonga has left this social media battle to a standstill saying My enemies enemy is stock holders. My rivals enemy is himself and the imaginary. It was a response not entirely directed to Omega. He may not have dropped any names, but it doesn't take a genius to know why Tonga made this remark. For now neither Roman Reigns, nor Tama Tonga have made anymore jabs at one another. Roman Reigns vs Tama Tonga, which side are you on? Let us know your thoughts. For more Wrestling News, click here for the latest updates. In Ariksat commune, the CNRP won 2,813 votes to the ruling Cambodian Peoples Partys 2,576 in a 2017 local election, when the main opposition party won about 44 percent of the popular vote. I am a bit afraid of being spotted by local authorities if I dont have an inked finger, but it is my right, he said, referring to the ink used to mark voters fingers after they cast a ballot. I will not go to vote, says Heng, who did not give his real name for fear of repercussions, tells VOA. Theres no party that I can vote for, he added, referring to the dissolution of the countrys only serious opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party, last November. In the corner of the cafe, a pro-government news network shows a loop of footage of happy voters. I am a bit afraid of being spotted by local authorities if I dont have an inked finger, but it is my right ARIKSAT COMMUNE KANDAL PROVINCE, CAMBODIAWhile millions of Cambodians headed out to vote at thousands of polling stations across the country on Sunday, Heng, in his 50s, nursed a cup of black iced coffee and sat alone at a cafe here in Ariksat commune, Kandal province. When some of Hengs friends show up at the cafe, some have inked fingers and others do not. Chet, who decided to cast a vote, was wary of speaking critically about the election in public, but admitted that he had spoiled his ballot. Honestly speaking, I didnt write or tick anything on the ballot, he said. The election is not free and fair due to the absence of the opposition party. I go to vote since it is my obligation as a citizen that I have to fulfill, he said. If we dont go to vote, they will accuse us of supporting the opposition party [CNRP], he added. I hate that party. That is why I drew a cross since I wanted it to be an invalid ballot At a polling station inside a nearby school, Sambath Kanika, 30, is selling sugarcane to children. Her finger is inked. But she said she also tried to spoil the ballot, but later realized under the rules laid out by the National Election Committee, the marks she made on the voter slip will count as a vote for the ruling party. I hate that party. That is why I drew a cross since I wanted it to be an invalid ballot, said Kanika, who dropped out of school at grade eight. I really regret it and I wanted to cry, she added. She said she felt pressured to attend the polling station. I actually didnt want to come to vote, said Kanika, who has two kids. If I didnt come, local authorities will spot me, she added. More than 82 percent of those registered to vote cast a ballot in the election, according to the latest figures from the NEC. In the 2017 local election, turnout was 90 percent. The number of spoiled ballots submitted Sunday has not yet been announced by the NEC. But polling observers claimed that the number will be higher than in the local election in 2017. In 2017, there were some 130,000 invalid votes. Here Sunday in Kandal provinces Ariksat commune, local election officials told VOA that 656 ballots were declared invalid. In the 2017 local elections, 110 ballots were designated as spoiled in this commune. Former CNRP president Sam Rainsy, who has been living in exile since 2015, has repeatedly called on Cambodians to boycott the election through an online campaign known as the Clean Finger Campaign. Threats and intimidation of people supporting the campaign have been reported, including the threat of withheld state services if people do not vote, despite boycotting the election being legal. The election is not free and fair without the main opposition party Thong Sarun, the former CNRP Ariksat commune chief, said voters in the area were also given bribes and pressured to vote. They went to vote because they are afraid that local authorities will not sign the documents for their land sale or documents for any ceremonies they have, he said. They want to get the ink so that they will not face any pressure. The election is not free and fair without the main opposition party, Thong Sarun added. Polls opened Sunday for Cambodians to vote for all 125 seats in the country's National Assembly, in a process widely criticized for the lack of a significant opposition to the ruling Cambodian People's Party. In the hours before the vote was to begin, the government ordered internet service providers to block the websites of 15 independent news outlets, including Voice of America, Radio Free Asia and the Phnom Penh Post. Phos Sovann, chief of the Information Ministry's Department of Information and Broadcasting, confirmed the news, which VOA obtained through a Ministry of Information memo. With the Supreme Court's dissolution last year of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, Prime Minister Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party is largely expected to stay in power. The party has won the four previous elections, held at five-year intervals. Hun Sen himself has been in power for three decades. While 20 parties were expected to run in Sunday's parliamentary elections, the CNRP was seen as the only serious threat to Hun Sen's party and leadership. Supporters of the opposition urged voters to boycott the process. A low voter turnout would indicate low support for the ruling party. Vote criticized The United Nations criticized the election as fundamentally flawed because of the legal action against the CNRP and its leaders. The United States and the European Union withdrew funding for the election. This week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure calling for sanctions on the ruling party. Human Rights Watch also called the election flawed and said the lack of significant opposition would make the vote meaningless. Cambodia's government said about 220 election observers from 52 countries would be on hand to watch for irregularities in the vote. But critics said many of the observer groups had ties to the ruling party. Phnom Penh Police Chief Chuon Sovann told Reuters that security forces would be deployed across the capital to maintain order during the voting. He said police would stop any protests or anyone urging others not to vote. Cambodians headed to the polls Sunday for an election in which the only viable alternative party has been banned. Thats helped the countrys prime minister of more than three decades to extend his reign even longer. There was little doubt that the countrys ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) would win the ballot in a landslide following the dissolution of the only viable opponent, the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) late last year. But the shadow the CNRPs dissolution has cast over the credibility of the election was magnified even further this weekend when the government suddenly blocked the websites of more than a dozen critical news outlets. Shortly after polls opened Sunday, Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has ruled for 33 years, arrived at his local station on the outskirts of Phnom Penh with his wife Bun Rany to cast a vote that many rights groups and observers say signals the death knell for democracy in Cambodia. They dont allow us to say anything today, we must follow the law, Hun Sen told reporters before quickly leaving in a van. Watch related video by David Boyle: US reaction The White House released a statement Sunday, saying the Cambodia elections were "neither free nor fair and failed to represent the will of the Cambodian people." It further said, "The flawed elections, which excluded the countrys principal opposition party, represent the most significant setback yet to the democratic system enshrined in Cambodias constitution. ..." "The United States will consider additional steps to respond to the elections and other recent setbacks to democracy and human rights in Cambodia, including a significant expansion of the visa restrictions announced on December 6, 2017," the statement said. It also called for the government to allow independent media to work uninhibited and for the release of opposition leader Kem Sokha and other "political prisoners." Under Cambodias election law a 48-hour freeze is placed on campaigning on the day before and day of the election. The government used this provision as a justification for blocking 15 news websites, including the Voice of Americas Khmer service, over the weekend while allowing pro-government outlets to continue reporting online unimpeded. Outside a polling station, National Election Committee spokesman Dim Sovannarom defended the selective blocking of online news websites. NEC has the right, has the law, article 42, to do everything to, to do every means to ensure the free and fair election, he said, without specifically addressing why only certain news websites had been targeted. In the absence of the CNRP, which was dissolved in November by the Supreme Court on accusations it had plotted with the United States to overthrow the government, the focus of the election has largely shifted from the result to the turnout. When polls closed, officials said voter turnout was 82 percent. 'Clean finger' boycott The CNRPs leaders have launched a clean finger boycott campaign that the government claims amounts to obstruction of voters, though voting is not compulsory in Cambodia. So Saonara, a 36-year-old resident of Phnom Penhs Sen Sok district, said the turnout looked significantly down from last years commune elections. It looks like it is going fast. Last year you had to stand in a long queue, he said. In its battle to legitimize the widely derided election the CPP has pursued those calling for a boycott with criminal charges. It has also brought in more than 539 election observers, largely from outright autocracies or highly precarious democracies, following the withdrawal of the United States, the EU, Japan, Australia and others. Lebanese observer Youssef Awad, who is part of a delegation from the International Conference of Asian Political Parties, declined to tell reporters yesterday who had paid for him to perform his duties during the election. I mean, lets be honest about this. How do you know, this political party, where do they get their money from? Nobody knows. But whats important is the men in power are doing a clean job and they're serving their people," Awad said. Pressed about who had financed the observation mission, Awad asked, Are you from the IRS? Thats an irrelevant question, you have to ask about the elections and not ask, how did I pay for my ticket. This is none of your business. Maybe I pay my own. Why, why you ask me this question? he said. 'Unnecessarily disturbing' Another observer, Nepalese Parliamentarian Arjun Thapa, said he had never spoken to anyone from the CNRP though he had received a resounding vote of confidence in the electoral process from some of the 19 minor parties participating. A developing country like Cambodia or Nepal or third-world country, some way or other, the political outfit who is not in the mainstream political party, they keep on unnecessarily disturbing the election process, he said. One surprisingly frank observer said the more than 80 percent turnout figure was marred by rates of spoiled ballots of between 20 and 35 percent at every station he inspected. It was also very notable during the count that the second largest party in Cambodia is the spoiled-ballot party, said John McAuliff, executive director for the Fund for Reconciliation and Development. CNRP Vice President Mu Sochua said it was clear to people both within and outside Cambodia that the election was a sham. To vote or not to vote. Intimidation, threats, cajoling, vote buying, promises of all forms and shapes by CPP to justify their legitimacy have been intense and it will continue till the polls close today at 3 p.m., she said in an email. VOAs Khmer Service and White House Bureau Chief Steve Herman contributed to this report. The death count from a rapidly growing Northern California wildfire rose to five Saturday after two young children and their great-grandmother who had been unaccounted for were confirmed dead. "My babies are dead,'' Sherry Bledsoe said through tears after she and family members met with Shasta County sheriff's deputies. Bledsoe's two children, James Roberts, 5, and Emily Roberts, 4, were stranded with her grandmother, Melody Bledsoe, 70, when walls of flames swept through the family's rural property Thursday on the outskirts of Redding. The three were among more than a dozen people reported missing after the furious wind-driven blaze took residents by surprise and leveled several neighborhoods. Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said he expected to find several of those people alive and just out of touch with loved ones. Officers have gone to homes of several people reported missing and found cars gone a strong indication they fled. 'Burning in every direction' The fire sparked Monday by a vehicle in forested hills grew to 127 square miles (328 square kilometers). It pushed southwest of Redding, the largest city in the region, toward the tiny communities of Ono, Igo and Gas Point, where scorching heat, winds and bone-dry conditions complicated firefighting efforts. It's now the largest fire burning in California. The winds that aided crews in keeping the flames from more populated areas were propelling the inferno at a frightening rate in unpredictable directions. "I don't know why it's doing what it's doing,'' Cal Fire Chief Steve Crawford said. "It's burning in every direction, all at the same time. ... It's burning as if it's got strong wind on it, even when there's no wind.'' Two firefighters were killed in the blaze, including a bulldozer operator who was helping clear vegetation in the wildfire's path. He was identified Saturday as Don Ray Smith, 81, of Pollock Pines. Redding Fire Inspector Jeremy Stoke was also killed, but details of his death were not released. About 38,000 people were under evacuation orders, 5,000 homes were threatened and the fire was just 5 percent contained. The latest tally of 500 destroyed structures was sure to rise. A count by The Associated Press found at least 300 of those structures were homes. Meanwhile, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Redding, two blazes prompted mandatory evacuations in Mendocino County. The two fires, burning 30 miles (50 kilometers) apart, started Friday and were threatening more than 350 buildings. Cal Fire officials said more than 10,000 firefighters were on the line, making progress on 14 large wildfires across California. Emergency aid President Donald Trump issued an emergency declaration for the state Saturday, allowing counties affected by wildfires to receive federal assistance. Big fires also continued to burn outside Yosemite National Park and in the San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles near Palm Springs. As of Saturday afternoon, those fires had burned nearly 100 square miles (260 square kilometers). Yosemite Valley remained closed to visitors and won't reopen until Friday. In the Redding area, authorities were investigating reports of looting in evacuated areas. Police Chief Roger Moore said people were reportedly driving around evacuation zones and breaking down doors of houses still standing. No arrests had been made, but they have identified several suspects. About 100 law enforcement officers and 260 National Guard soldiers were helping with evacuations and providing security in empty neighborhoods. Moore was among the many who lost homes. Greg and Terri Hill evacuated their Redding home of 18 years Thursday night with little more than medications, photo albums, clothes and firearms, assuming they'd be back home in a few days. They returned Friday to find little more than ash. "It's pretty emotional,'' Terri Hill said. "But we'll make new memories and get new stuff. Everybody's safe.'' Carr Fire's march The Carr Fire wiped out forest around much of Whiskeytown Lake, burning dozens of boats docked at a marina, and then swept through the historic Gold Rush-era town of Shasta and destroyed nearly all of Keswick, a hamlet just west of Redding. The fire blew across the Sacramento River and burned a path to the property where Melody Bledsoe was living with her great-grandchildren. Bledsoe's husband, Ed, who had the couple's only car, had gone to buy supplies before any evacuation order was issued, family members said. His great-grandson phoned him at the store to say the flames were approaching and "we need your help,'' according to Jason Decker, who is dating one of Bledsoe's granddaughters. Bledsoe rushed home, but was turned back by police because the fire was raging. He spent Friday searching in vain for the three at shelters while Decker's girlfriend posted desperate messages on social media for any help locating them. Decker took his motorcycle up to view the property and found smoldering ruins too hot to enter. "It looked like a war zone,'' he said. "I couldn't smell death in the air, which is good.'' While he discussed the worst-case scenario of the three staying put as the flames closed in, Decker held out some hope Saturday morning until he got the word they were dreading. "We got horrible news. I have to go,'' he said, and hung up. U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh says he recognizes that gun, drug and gang violence "has plagued all of us.'' Still, he believes the Constitution limits how far government can go to restrict gun use to prevent crime. As a federal appeals court judge, Kavanaugh made it clear in a 2011 dissent that he thinks Americans can keep most guns, even the AR-15 rifles used in some of the deadliest mass shootings. Kavanaugh's nomination by President Donald Trump has delighted Second Amendment advocates. Gun law supporters worry that his ascendancy to America's highest court would make it harder to curb the proliferation of guns. Kavanaugh has the support of the National Rifle Association, which posted a photograph of Kavanaugh and Trump across the top of its website. The Supreme Court has basically stayed away from major gun cases since its rulings in 2008 and 2010 declared a right to have a gun, at least in the home for the purpose of self-defense. Gun rights advocates believe Kavanaugh interprets the Second Amendment right to bear arms more broadly than does Anthony Kennedy, the justice he would replace. As a first step, some legal experts expect Kavanaugh would be more likely to vote for the court to hear a case that could expand the right to gun ownership or curtail a gun control law. Kavanaugh would be a "big improvement'' over Kennedy, said Erich Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America. Kennedy sided with the majority in rulings in 2008 and 2010 overturning bans on handgun possession in the District of Columbia and Chicago, respectively, but some gun rights proponents believe he was a moderating influence. "Kennedy tended to be all over the map'' on the Second Amendment, Pratt said. 'Dangerous views' Former U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords, the Arizona Democrat who was gravely wounded in a 2011 shooting at a constituent gathering, said in a written statement that Kavanaugh's "dangerous views on the Second Amendment are far outside the mainstream of even conservative thought.'' She predicted that Kavanaugh would back the gun lobby's agenda, "putting corporate interests before public safety.'' In his 2011 dissent in a case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Kavanaugh argued that the district's ban on semiautomatic rifles and its gun registration requirement were unconstitutional. That case is known as "Heller II'' because it followed the Supreme Court's 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller striking down the city's ban on handguns in the home. Kavanaugh said the Supreme Court held that handguns are constitutionally protected "because they have not traditionally been banned and are in common use by law-abiding citizens.'' "Gun bans and gun regulations that are not long-standing or sufficiently rooted in text, history and tradition are not consistent with the Second Amendment individual right,'' he wrote in a point rejected by the majority. Critics contend Kavanaugh's analysis is flawed because AR-15s were not around during the early days of the republic. Constitutional limit In his dissent, Kavanaugh wrote that he had lived and worked in Washington for most of his life and was "acutely aware of the gun, drug and gang violence that has plagued all of us.'' He said few government responsibilities are more significant than fighting violent crime. "That said, the Supreme Court has long made clear that the Constitution disables the government from employing certain means to prevent, deter or detect violent crime,'' he wrote. He said it was unconstitutional to ban the most popular semiautomatic rifle, the AR-15, since it accounted for 5.5 percent of firearms by 2007 and over 14 percent of rifles produced in the U.S. for the domestic market. He said semiautomatic rifles had been commercially available since at least 1903, "are quite common in the United States'' and the Supreme Court said in a 1994 ruling that they "traditionally have been widely accepted as lawful possessions.'' Semiautomatic rifles were used in several mass shootings in recent years, including the February killing of 17 people at a Florida high school. Kavanaugh rejected the majority's reasoning that semiautomatic handguns were sufficient for self-defense, saying: "That's a bit like saying books can be banned because people can always read newspapers.'' He belittled the description of the guns as "assault weapons,'' saying that handguns could be called the "quintessential" assault weapons because they are used much more than other guns in violent crimes. He was equally dismissive of Washington's gun registration protocol, saying it had not been traditionally required in the nation and "remains highly unusual today.'' Machine guns Still, Kavanaugh supported the ban on full automatics or machine guns, reasoning that they "were developed for the battlefield and were never in widespread civilian use.'' In 2016, Kavanaugh dissented when two of his colleagues lifted an order blocking the city from enforcing a limit on issuing licenses to carry concealed firearms. The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence said the dissent shows Kavanaugh believes the district's "good reason'' requirement for concealed-carry permit applicants is unconstitutional. His views on that subject drew more scrutiny after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 days ago in a Hawaii case that people have the right to openly carry guns in public for self-defense. Phil Mendelson, a Democrat and chairman of the D.C. Council, said Kavanaugh's dissent made clear that "his views on gun control are on the extreme side.'' Councilmember Mary M. Cheh, a Democrat and professor of constitutional law at George Washington University, said she's "worried about the shift to the right, for sure.'' Some legal experts believe Kavanaugh's confirmation would make it more likely the court would hear another potentially groundbreaking Second Amendment case. Only four of nine justices need to vote in favor of reviewing a case. UCLA law school professor Adam Winkler, author of Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America, said Kavanaugh could become that crucial fourth vote because three justices Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito Jr. all have voiced support for the court to take on Second Amendment cases. Still, it takes five justices to win a case and Chief Justice John Roberts may turn out to be as reluctant as Kennedy to further define the law. Georgia State University law professor Eric Segall said the court's recent silence on gun laws has fueled speculation that neither the conservative justices nor their liberal colleagues knew how Kennedy would vote. Segall suspects the Supreme Court would be more likely to review a Second Amendment case if Kavanaugh is confirmed because there is less uncertainty about where he stands compared with Kennedy. "The lower courts are just all over the place, reaching different results on different gun laws. The court has to provide guidance at some point, and it will,'' Segall said. Sundus Filfleh, a schoolteacher and a mother from Latakia city in western Syria, struggles to support her two daughters and overcome the stigma of serving time in prison for her civil activism. "After I was released from prison, the first question people asked me was whether I was raped," Filfleh told VOA. "Society looks at a released woman in a suspicious way. There is a social rejection of the women who are released from prison." Syrian government forces arrested Filfleh during a peaceful protest in 2011 as she was trying to escape with other anti-government protesters. She said security forces opened fire on unarmed peaceful protesters to disperse their gathering. She was imprisoned for about a year by the Syrian regime for her civil activities. She said prison profoundly changed the way her family and other people view her as a person. "My husband never accepted me again. We were separated after I was released. A lot of inmates were abandoned by their spouses and families after they were released as well," she said. Filfleh said her family members tried to get her out of prison, but turned their backs on her when she was released. Torture and delivery Filfleh was pregnant with her daughter when she was arrested, and she gave premature birth to her child inside the prison as a result of severe beating and torture by prison guards. Now out of prison, Filfleh tries to find meaning and purpose in life. She lives in northern Syria's Idlib province, one of the last rebel held strongholds in Syria. She works as a social worker, helping other women who went through gender-based violence during the country's war. But social work brings its own challenges, and she fears that her work might provoke extremist groups who disapprove of women's activism and advocacy for rights. "Surviving the experience of detention took fear out my heart. We must fight back this extremist thought," Filfleh said. A recent U.N. report said Syrian women have suffered many abuses, including sexual violence, torture and trauma, by different warring factions in the country. The report also echoed Fifleh's experience that prison takes a heavy toll on inmates and changes women's lives forever. "Owing to social norms and honor codes, however, men tend to be celebrated by their community upon their release, whereas women face shame, stigma and rejection by husbands or parents, who assume that they were raped in custody," the report said. Gulden Sonmez, a lawyer who organized the Conscience Convoy, an all-female march, in Turkey's border region with Syria earlier this year, told Turkish media outlets that about 14,000 women had been imprisoned by the Syrian regime and that most of them had died because of torture and abuse. A cause Rejection by the community has prompted abandoned Syrian women to band together to help heal some of psychological trauma. Some have established organizations to help former prisoners raise awareness about their situation and experiences. Walaa Ahmad, a former prisoner and founder of the Idlib-based Release Me Foundation, started her nonprofit organization to provide psychological healing and education for women who suffered during and after detention in Syria. "The greatest challenge these women face is the acceptance of society. Many of these women are divorced by their husbands, neglected by their parents, and found themselves cut off without a place to live," Ahmad said. "Some of these women are imprisoned with their children, and this creates a greater pressure on them after their release from prison," Ahmed added. Ahmed was arrested in late 2014 for her civil activism and was finally released in early 2017. She said she was arrested at a military checkpoint by government forces and taken to the notorious Adra prison in northeast Damascus. Ahmed was hesitant to go into the details of her experience in prison, but like Filfleh, she finds comfort in helping other women with similar experiences overcome their struggles in post-prison life. 140,0000 detainees The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based rights group monitoring developments in Syria since 2011, has documented more than 140,000 cases of people being detained by the Syrian regime. The group charges that detainees have been subject to torture and that nearly 15,000 people, including women and children, have died as a result. The group also says the 15,000 figure represents only cases that can be documented. It says the actual number of detainees who died in government prisons could be several times higher. VOA could not independently verify the authenticity of these figures. Many international organizations are urging the Syrian government to release prisoners incarcerated by the regime during the country's civil war, which broke out in 2011. In March 2017, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, told a Geneva forum that in order for the Syrian people to find peace, there must be accountability and justice. "Today, in a sense, the entire country has become a torture chamber, a place of savage horror and absolute injustice," Al Hussein said. Syrian local sources said that the fate of thousands of Syrian detainees might be revealed as the government regains most of the land it lost to various rebel groups in the past few years. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is vowing not to back down to Washington's demand to release American Pastor Andrew Brunson, who is on trial on terrorism charges. U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday, threatened "severe sanctions" if Brunson was not released. "We will not take a step back when faced with sanctions, "Turkish state broadcaster TRT on Sunday quoted Erdogan, "They should not forget that they will lose a sincere partner." The Turkish President is currently on a tour of African countries. Erdogan's comment coincides with an escalation of anti-U.S. rhetoric. Five pro-government newspapers Sunday all carried the same headline, "We are not tied from our stomachs (by an umbilical cord) to the U.S." "Turkey, won't take a knee before anybody," said Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu. Ankara insists Brunson's detention and trial is a matter for the courts. The American pastor is on trial on charges of supporting conspirators behind the 2016 failed coup attempt and being linked to Kurdish insurgents. Earlier this month a court released Brunson and put him under house arrest after being jailed for nearly two years. However, Washington is demanding the pastor's immediate release, describing the charges as "baseless." The deepening diplomatic dispute between the two NATO allies comes as relations are already straining over a myriad of differences. However, observers say Erdogan's resolute stance against Washington pressure could be a sign of Ankara's diplomatic weakness. "Pastor Brunson himself is not important, but he became an important political asset," said former senior Turkish diplomat Aydin Selcen who served in Washington. "Maybe with the exception of cooperation with the U.S. in Syria, that [the release of Brunson] is all Turkey can offer to the U.S. However, there are so many files so to speak waiting to be solved and the single asset Ankara has, is Brunson." Ankara is pressing Washington for the extradition of U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed for 2016 failed coup attempt. Gulen denies any role in the coup. Turkey is also lobbying to minimize an expected multi-billion dollar fine by the U.S. Treasury against the Turkish State-owned Halkbank for violating U.S. sanctions on Iran. Neither Erdogan nor his ministers have so far directly criticized President Trump over the Brunson case. "Turkey saw Trump as a savior," political analyst Atilla Yesilada of Global Source Partners said. "Trump has a kinship empathy with strong macho leaders, so he got along with Erdogan despite several policy differences." Analysts suggest Erdogan is likely to see his best chance of resolving Brunson case through direct talks with Trump. "You have to open the way for more talks, shouting each other is not the way, both sides have to get to their senses and not play to their own crowds," former Turkish diplomat Selcen said. "But unfortunately both [Trump and Erdogan] are facing elections in the coming months, I don't know how that will play out." The United States in November has Congressional elections, and the release of Brunson is important for evangelical Christians, a vital part of Trump's Republican Party voting base. Erdogan is already eyeing March municipal elections for Turkey's main cities and will be reluctant to bow to Washington's threats. The escalating dispute over Brunson is threatening to exacerbate other disputes between the two NATO allies. Ankara's deepening ties with Moscow including the purchase of Russia's S 400 missile system has caused alarm in Washington, raising questions over Turkey's commitment to its western allies. Turkish ministers have also ruled out complying with new U.S. sanctions against Iran. Differences between the two sides remain over Syria. Analysts point out Washington had until now sought to contain the simmering tensions through dialogue. However, the threat of sanctions over Brunson could herald a change in approach towards Ankara. "They [Ankara] are quite justifiably afraid that stepping back would lead to further concessions in the future," analyst Yesilada said. "If [Brunson is released], that happens American pressure will double," Yesilada continued, "there is the S 400 case, there are three local U.S. consular employees in detention [in Turkey]. Of course Turkey's flirtation with Russia, the Syrian conflict and most important Turkey's defiance of Iranian sanctions. If the United States gets what it wants in the Brunson case, then similar methods will be used again." In the midst of unprecedented political and social reforms, Ethiopia has a message for its diaspora: The country is open for business. At a dinner Friday for the Ethiopian business community at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed highlighted opportunities in Ethiopia and urged the diaspora to come back and invest. Scholars, entrepreneurs and professionals at the gathering greeted Abiy warmly and embraced his call to contribute to their country. But some are looking for additional changes, and others have expressed doubts about whether the stability achieved in the past four months will last. Time to get together Fitsum Arega, Abiys chief of staff, told VOA that differences have held Ethiopia back for too long, and the moment has come for communication that builds understanding. Its time for Ethiopians and the diaspora community to get together, Fitsum said. In the last decade and a half, the economy has been growing very fast. But when it comes to inclusiveness, there are people left out, unable to get jobs, Fitsum added. And we believe, Prime Minister Abiy believes, this time is an important time in the history of Ethiopia to build on human capital, to build on democracy. Since he assumed office in April, Abiy has spearheaded broad reforms that have touched on internal politics, security, regional affairs and business. Hes also brought a message of unity and reconciliation to a country thats long struggled with conflict along ethnic and political lines. The result, with breathtaking speed, has been a rebranded country that appears more inclusive of its citizens and more hospitable to outside investment. Abiys financial reforms have included moves to privatize state-owned enterprises, including the telecom industry, and initiatives to build public-private partnerships for investors. Hes also secured $3 billion in financing from the U.A.E., including a $1 billion cash infusion in the country's central bank. Too much, too soon? Just four months ago, Ethiopias future was shrouded in uncertainty. Unrest in two of the countrys largest regions, and violent crackdowns on protesters, led to a state of emergency and the abrupt resignation of the previous prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn. But conflict continues to affect many Ethiopians, and nearly a million people have been displaced from their homes in the southern part of the country due to ethnic rifts. Lingering discontent and the sudden reversal in the countrys trajectory have left some wondering whether the pace of change can be sustained. Others are looking for more strides toward democratization. Yilma Midekssa is an opposition member with the Oromo ethnic group. A trained pilot and lawyer, Yilma sought asylum in the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s and hasnt been back to Ethiopia in 28 years. Hed like to return, but hes also looking for more commitments from the government. We need some preconditions to go back. It is concerning of safety, it is concerning of how we go back and work with them. For Abiys government, though, quick action is necessary and builds momentum toward long-lasting stability. We cannot afford to move at a snails pace, Fitsum said. We have to move forward as fast as we could. What [Abiy] has achieved in the last three and half months no other government has achieved it in Africa, maybe in 10 years time. Intertwined politics For some, investment opportunities cant be separated from political reform both realized and potential. Tura Luco is a member of the Oromo Liberation Front opposition group. He flew from Minnesota to hear Abiy speak in Washington. He said Abiy has provided hope, and he wants to be part of the movement toward inclusive politics. But that means seeing democratically elected leaders at different levels of government, Tura said. Its all about the freedom, Tura told VOA. My great grandfathers, my forefathers, my fathers. Im also fighting for the freedom. Mehabub Abawajy, also a member of the OLF, has lived in the U.S. for 17 years. Every time an Ethiopian leader came to America, Mehabub told VOA, wed go against him. Wed protest. But this time there is engagement. Mehabub underscored Abiys willingness to listen. But until the government makes core institutions the military, judiciary and election commission separate from politics, Mehabub said he cant return home. If these conditions are met, and these government institutions are independent of political parties, then well go back to our country. Mehabub, a lawyer, managed a multi-million dollar business in South Africa with 70 employees. I can bring this skill, this experience back home and try to create jobs for a lot of people, he said. Diasporan role Officials hope many will invest in Ethiopia, but they see a special role for the diaspora. We may tell them: This is what we have. But with their exposure and experience, they may see beyond, Fitsum said. Their connection to such a huge, important market as the U.S. gives them an export opportunity [and] network opportunities, he added. There might be bureaucracies here and there. But the government is ready to tackle [them] together. And, I think, the higher the risks, the higher the profit as well. Fitsum emphasized that now is the time to seize opportunities. At the early stages, the benefits they can secure is so huge because there is a market gap. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has made his first visit to the United States, speaking to thousands of members of the diaspora in Washington, D.C. on Saturday. The trip coincides with the recent easing of tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea. From Washington, VOAs Jill Craig has more. Agriculture ministers from the G-20 countries criticized protectionism in a joint statement Saturday and vowed to reform World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, but did not detail what steps they would take to improve the food trade system. In the statement, they said they were "concerned about the increasing use of protectionist nontariff trade measures, inconsistently with WTO rules." The ministers from countries including the United States and China, in Buenos Aires for the G-20 meeting of agriculture ministers, said in the statement they had affirmed their commitment not to adopt "unnecessary obstacles" to trade, and affirmed their rights and obligations under WTO agreements. The meeting came amid rising trade tensions that have rocked agricultural markets. China and other top U.S. trade partners have placed retaliatory tariffs on American farmers after the Trump administration put duties on Chinese goods as well as steel and aluminum from the European Union, Canada and Mexico. U.S. growers are expected to take an estimated $11 billion hit due to China's retaliatory tariffs. Last week, the Trump administration said it would pay up to $12 billion to help farmers weather the trade war. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the meeting that Trump's plan would include between $7 billion and $8 billion in direct cash relief that U.S. farmers could see as early as late September. Despite the payments, the measures are "not going to make farmers whole," Perdue said. Citing the Trump administration's relief measures, German Agriculture Minister Julia Kloeckner said farmers "don't need aid, [they] need trade." "We had a very frank discussion about the fact that we don't want unilateral protectionist measures," Kloeckner said in a news conference after the meeting. The ministers, whose countries represent 60 percent of the world's agricultural land and 80 percent of food and agricultural commodities trade, did not specify which measures they were referring to in the statement. Asked for details, Kloeckner said the ministers did not want to "criticize a single country." "We all know what happens if a single person or country doesn't adhere to WTO rules, trying to get a benefit for themselves through protectionism," she said. "This will usually lead to retaliatory tariffs." In the statement, the ministers said they agreed to continue reforming the WTO's agricultural trade rules. "Independent of all the news there was surrounding [the meeting], we managed to reach a unanimous consensus," Argentine Agriculture Minister Luis Miguel Etchevehere said. U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker struck a surprise deal on Wednesday that ended the risk of further escalating trade tensions between the two powers. After the meeting, Trump said the European Union would buy "a lot" of U.S. soybeans. Earlier, Kloeckner told Reuters that the trade relationship between the United States and the European Union was improving, but that there was no guarantee the bloc would import the quantity of soybeans that Washington expects. Zimbabwes former president, Robert Mugabe, lashed out Sunday at the political party he founded, saying he could not vote for the ruling ZANU-PF in Mondays poll. This election is the first in 38 years without Mugabe on the ballot as head of ZANU-PF. Mugabe, now 94, resigned in November under pressure from the military. His longtime deputy, 75-year-old Emmerson Mnangagwa, took over and is now running for president. WATCH: Anita Powell's video report I cannot vote for those who have tormented me, said Mugabe, who invited journalists to his Blue Roof mansions in a wealthy Harare suburb. He spoke, slowly but uninterrupted, for more than two hours, as an aide intervened occasionally to prop up his slumping body with tiger-print cushions. When asked directly who he would choose in Mondays poll, Mugabe demurred. Although 23 candidates registered to run for president, the poll has effectively come down to a two-man contest, with Mnangagwa facing stiff competition from the new head of the largest opposition party, 40-year-old Nelson Chamisa. I cannot vote for ZANU-PF, Mugabe said. I cannot vote for those who have cause me to be in this condition. He said ruled out several other candidates: I have also said, Ma [Joice] Mujuru and Ma [Thokozani] Khupe dont offer very much. So there is Chamisa left. Mugabe both directly and indirectly denounced his party and its new leader, saying, it was a thorough coup dEtat that saw him lose power. He complained of his treatment over the last seven months, saying family members had been harassed and intimidated, and bemoaned that his government pension amounted to $460,000 and two houses. His Chinese-built mansion, identifiable by its pagoda-style blue roof, he said, is falling down. He also bemoaned the state of affairs in Zimbabwe, saying freedoms and rule of law have eroded since his departure. But critics and rights groups have repeatedly and credibly accused Mugabes regime of human rights abuses, of stifling free speech, and of rigging elections. The U.S. and European nations put Mugabe and his top cronies on sanctions lists over those allegations. Mugabe said he hoped the election would bring a new day for Zimbabwe which is the same thing many candidates, and many voters, are also hoping for. I have, during all this time, cried for a return, our return to constitutionality, our return to legality, our return to freedom for our people, an environment in which our people would be free Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 29) The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has called on its supporters to meet about the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL). The rebel group had a consultative assembly on the BOL in its main base at Camp Darapanan, Sultan Kudarat on Sunday. The MILF hopes to seek the support of the people for a favorable referendum of the proposed Bangsamoro Government for the plebiscite that could be held either late December or early January next year. MILF Peace Panel Chair Mohagher Iqbal said 85 percent of the BOL is compliant to the original draft of the bill, which makes it acceptable to their group. President Rodrigo Duterte is set to officially appoint those who will be a part of the 80-member Bangsamoro Transition Authority which will serve as the interim government until 2022. The MILF Central Committee will recommend Chairman Al Hadj Murad Ebrahim for the position of Interim Chief to the Transition Authority. Duterte announced that he had signed the law during a speech in July 26. The historic law abolishes the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) established in 1989, to be replaced by the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. It is the result of decades-long peace talks, and institutionalizes provisions of the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro, the 2014 peace agreement signed by the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The Bangsamoro government will be parliamentary-democratic in form, a first in the country's political history. It will be headed by the regional leader called Chief Minister, who will preside over an 80-member parliament. READ: The Bangsamoro Organic Law: Everything you need to know A Palestinian teenager who was videotaped last year slapping two Israeli soldiers has been released from prison. For Israelis she's a provocateur, for Palestinians a protest icon. Seventeen-year-old Palestinian Ahed Tamimi got a hero's welcome in the West Bank after she was released from an Israeli prison. Tamimi served eight months for slapping and kicking an Israeli soldier. A video of the assault went viral on social media and turned her into a protest icon. Addressing the crowd of supporters waving Palestinian flags, Tamimi was defiant. She vowed that "the resistance will continue until the [Israeli] occupation is removed." While Palestinians are jubilant, many Israelis are angry. Cabinet Minister Uri Ariel said Israel is way too lenient toward what he described as "terrorists" like Tamimi. He said allowing girls to attack Israeli soldiers makes the army look weak and harms deterrence. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, responding to a threat by U.S. President Donald Trump to slap sanctions on Ankara if it did not free an American pastor, said his country would stand its ground, Haberturk TV reported Sunday. The friendship between the United States and Turkey is on the line in this dispute, Erdogan said, according to TRT Haber and other media. "We will not take a step back when faced with sanctions," Erdogan was quoted as saying. "They should not forget that they will lose a sincere partner." American pastor Andrew Brunson, who was transferred to house arrest this week after 21 months of detention in a Turkish prison, has worked in Turkey for more than two decades. He has been accused of supporting the group Ankara says was behind a failed military coup in 2016, and of supporting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The pastor, who has denied the charges, faces up to 35 years in jail if found guilty. Diplomats have been working to settle the tense dispute, and on Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed the status of the pastor with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, the State Department said. Also Sunday, Haberturk TV quoted Erdogan as saying that Turkey would resort to international arbitration if the United States blocked the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Ankara. Erdogan also said Turkey had asked for U.S. help in securing the return to Turkey of Turkish citizen Ebru Ozkan, detained in Israel, Haberturk reported. A landmark project mapping Indigenous massacres by European settlers in Australia between 1788-1930 now includes 250 sites. Extensive new research has detailed killings in Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory. The research team at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales has been contacted by hundreds of Australians offering insights about where Indigenous groups were killed. The research is uncovering some of the darkest chapters in Australian history. Of the 250 massacres, all but 10 were perpetrated by white settlers on Australia's original inhabitants. Each listing details the number of victims and seeks to identify those responsible, their motives and the weapons they used. Information has been corroborated through various sources, including newspaper reports, court records and letters. Historians at the University of Newcastle believe many of the attackers were motivated by thoughts of genocide. Professor Lyndall Ryan is leading the study. "It is important to compile the map because we really do not know what happened in colonial Australia. This is all new information and when you put all the dots on the map, they have accumulated to an extraordinary number. I come from a generation that knew very little about the frontier in Australia. I thought that Australia was peacefully settled, that there were very few massacres. And that on the whole Aboriginal people simply faded away. I think that my project is now showing that was not the case," said Ryan. Professor Ryan defines a massacre as the "indiscriminate killing of six or more undefended people in one operation". Her team unveiled stage one of the map a year ago, showing atrocities in eastern Australia, and have now added 81 more after painstaking investigation and feedback from the public. The number of mass killings is expected to grow to about 500 before the project is finished, including those committed up until 1960. Researchers hope the survey will help with education and creating monuments to those killed in Australia's so-called Frontier Wars.' Aboriginal Australians currently make up about 3 percent of the national population, and suffer high rates of poverty, imprisonment and ill-health. Somalia and Eritrean leaders agreed Saturday to resume their diplomatic ties and open embassies in their capitals. The decision was made during a summit in Asmara, Eritrea, where Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo began a historic three-day visit Saturday. The two nations have not had diplomatic ties for nearly 15 years. Speaking to VOA Somali, Somalia Information Minister Dahir Mohamed Geelle said, "You will see Eritrean and Somali ambassadors in both capitals very, very soon." He said the leaders also discussed regional security and changing relations among Horn of Africa countries.The region is of importance to the wealthy nations just across the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, who are interested in a strategic foothold in East Africa through its very busy shipping lanes. The leaders are scheduled to continue tallks Sunday. Stabilizing the Horn Farmajo's visit comes after longtime rivals Eritrea and Ethiopia restored diplomatic ties. The two nations have a long and complicated history, which has had a destabilizing influence on the Horn of Africa. One point of contention has been Ethiopia's military presence in Somalia. Backed by the West, the country's military is supporting the Somali government fight against al-Shabab militants. Eritrea has criticized this intervention, claiming that Ethiopia's presence in Somalia is doing more harm than good. Ethiopia has accused Eritrea of supporting the terrorists. Over the years, this proxy war between the two countries has had the potential to spark regional conflict. The conflict between the two nations also spilled over into neighboring Djibouti. One of Ethiopia's main economic allies, Djibouti has been engaged in a war with Eritrea over a border area claimed by both countries. Ultimately, the prospect of peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea may have a calming effect on the Horn. If stability is achieved, Ethiopia, a country with an estimated population of over 100 million, could realize its potential as a regional economic and military power. This could, in turn, transform the region into a united economic powerhouse. One hundred days from now, we should be better able to answer the following question: What does the country really think about the presidency of Donald J. Trump? Midterm congressional elections are on November 6th and party control of both the Senate and House of Representatives is at stake, not to mention the fate of the Trump presidency for the next two years. Opposition Democrats enjoy some key advantages three months out. When voters are asked which party they will support in the November elections, Democrats hold a seven point edge over Republicans in the latest polling average calculated by the non-partisan website Real Clear Politics. In a recent Quinnipiac poll, Democrats held a 51 to 39 percent generic ballot lead over Republicans, and other surveys have shown the Democratic advantage widening in recent weeks. Referendum on Trump Democrats and Republicans don't agree on much but they do see eye-to-eye on one thing, and that is that President Trump will be the defining issue in this year's midterms. With that in mind, Trump has been busy rallying his base and urging them to get out and support Republican candidates in November. "We won't back down, we won't give in, and we will never, ever, surrender," Trump told supporters at a recent campaign rally in Great Falls, Montana. "We will never, ever, quit. We go forward to victory." The president touted some good economic news on Friday when the Commerce Department reported that the U.S. economy surged last quarter to an annual growth rate of 4.1 percent, the fastest pace since 2014. "We have accomplished an economic turnaround of historic proportions," Trump told reporters at the White House. Energized Democrats But the good economic news seems to be doing little to blunt enthusiasm for the upcoming midterms among opposition Democrats. Democrats have undertaken an intensive grassroots organizing campaign for November to get out the vote, and that includes high-profile names like Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who ran for president in 2016. "This fight about who controls the House is unbelievably important and it could literally come down to one or two elections," Sanders told an enthusiastic crowd in Kansas recently. "If you guys can do what I know you can. This will be an election heard not only all over this country but all over the world." Democrats need to pick up about two dozen seats to retake the majority in the House, and gain two seats to have a majority in the Senate. WATCH: US Midterm elections In addition to being energized, analysts predict that Democrats also have history on their side. "The midterms generally are good for the out party, the party out of the White House, and in this case Donald Trump is a particularly unpopular president among Democrats," said John Fortier with the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington. "They are motivated, they don't like him and they want to come out to vote." Trump's polls And then there is the issue of the president's poll numbers, which appear to have slipped slightly since his controversial summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Real Clear average has Trump's approval at 43 percent, with 53 percent disapproving. But in two polls last week, Trump dropped below 40 percent approval, a reversal after improving his poll numbers in the last few months. The latest Quinnipiac survey had the president's approval at 38 percent, with 58 percent disapproving. And the Marist Poll found Trump's approval at 39 percent with 51 percent disapproving. Marist also had the president under 40 percent approval in three key Midwestern states: Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Trump narrowly won Michigan and Wisconsin as part of his Electoral College triumph in the 2016 presidential election. Rallying the base As Trump campaigns around the country on behalf of Republicans, he is urging supporters to defy history and turn out in strong numbers to show support for his agenda. It is clear that both parties now see the midterms as a referendum on the president. "We have rarely had a president who was so centered on an election and so essential to it," said University of Virginia analyst Larry Sabato via Skype. "He is the Sun. Everything else revolving around the Sun is a planet or a moon." While Trump will be center-stage in the campaign, recent polls show Americans concerned with a range of issues including the economy, immigration, health care, guns and taxes. Optimistic Democrats Given Trump's low approval rating and the historical trend of presidents suffering losses in midterm elections, many experts predict that Democrats should make gains. "I think the question is, is there a Democratic wave or is it a Democratic tsunami?" said Brookings Institution scholar Elaine Kamarck. "Do Democrats take the House with a margin of five (seats) or do they take the House with a margin of 30? That I don't think anybody can tell yet." But given the president's loyal base and his apparent interest in campaigning, some Trump supporters caution that Republicans could do better than expected. "I think the Democrats will gain some seats. But right now, if the election were held today, the Republicans may hold the House by one or two," said former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. He spoke with VOA's Georgian Service. All 435 House seats and about a third of the 100 Senate seats are at stake in November, and the outcome will have a major impact on the next two years of Trump's presidency. U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday he recently told the publisher of The New York Times how he came to describe the mainstream news media as the "Enemy of the People," but the news executive said he in turn told Trump his language was "inflammatory" and "increasingly dangerous" for journalists around the world. In a Twitter comment, Trump described his July 20 meeting at the White House with A.G. Sulzberger as "very good and interesting." The U.S. leader said he "spent much time talking about the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, 'Enemy of the People.' Sad!" Later Sunday afternoon, Trump sent multiple tweets attacking the media, and mentioning the "failing New York Times" and "the Amazon Washington Post." Sulzberger, perhaps the most prominent publisher in the U.S., said that in keeping with the "long tradition" of Times publishers meeting with past U.S. presidents, the conversation was "off the record," at Trump aides' request, meaning it was not intended for publication. But the publisher said that with Trump's tweet putting the meeting on the record, he decided to respond to give his account of the conversation from notes he took, along with those of the newspaper's editorial page editor, James Bennet, who also attended the meeting. "My main purpose for accepting the meeting was to raise concerns about the presidents deeply troubling anti-press rhetoric," Sulzberger said. "I told the president directly that I thought that his language was not just divisive but increasingly dangerous." The publisher said, "I told him that although the phrase 'fake news' is untrue and harmful, I am far more concerned about his labeling journalists 'the enemy of the people.' I warned that this inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence." Sulzberger added, "I repeatedly stressed that this is particularly true abroad, where the presidents rhetoric is being used by some regimes to justify sweeping crackdowns on journalists. I warned that it was putting lives at risk, that it was undermining the democratic ideals of our nation, and that it was eroding one of our countrys greatest exports: a commitment to free speech and a free press." He said that "throughout the conversation, I emphasized that if President Trump, like previous presidents, was upset with coverage of his administration, he was of course free to tell the world. I made clear repeatedly that I was not asking for him to soften his attacks on The Times if he felt our coverage was unfair. Instead, I implored him to reconsider his broader attacks on journalism, which I believe are dangerous and harmful to our country." Trump often disparages news accounts he does not like as "fake news," while calling Sulzberger's paper the "failing New York Times." As he spoke to a veterans group last week, Trump pointed to reporters and told his crowd, Stick with us. Dont believe the crap you see from these people, the fake news. To accompanying boos of reporters, Trump said, What youre seeing and what youre reading is not whats happening. Sulzberger did not say how Trump reacted to his comments at their White House meeting. The five Capital Gazette employees killed in an attack in their newsroom last month were "friends of the people,'' and "not one of them deserved to be seen as an enemy,'' the executive editor of The Washington Post said Saturday at a benefit concert for the victims' families and colleagues. While Martin Baron didn't mention President Donald Trump by name while speaking to an audience from the concert stage, he clearly had the president in mind. Trump has repeatedly denounced the press as the "enemy'' of the American people. Baron spoke of all five of the victims by name, and he described them as "friends of the people, the people of Annapolis and beyond.'' "Not one of them deserved to be seen as an enemy because of the profession they choose or the place they worked,'' Baron said to applause from the audience. "Not one of them deserved to be seen as an enemy by the man who killed them, and not one of them deserved to be called an enemy by anyone else, either: Nor does anyone else in our field deserve to be labeled that way.'' Baron added: "To demean people like these, to demonize, to dehumanize them, is to debase yourself.'' The day after the shooting, Trump said journalists shouldn't fear being violently attacked while doing their job. He also said the attack "shocked the conscience of our nation and filled our hearts with grief.'' The benefit concert was held a month after the June 28 shooting, which was one of the deadliest attacks on journalists in U.S. history. Olivier Knox, president of the White House Correspondents' Association, told the audience the nearly 400 members of the organization stood behind the Capital Gazette. Knox also saluted first responders, who also were being honored by the concert. Knox said some reporters also run toward danger and face threats. "Still, I divide threats against journalists into two eras: before Feb. 17th, 2017 and after Feb. 17th, 2017,'' Knox said. "That's because on Feb. 17th, 2017, the president of the United States, using his Twitter account, declared us enemies of the American people.'' The suspect, Jarrod Ramos, had a history of harassing the Capital Gazette's journalists. He filed a defamation suit against the paper in 2012 that was dismissed as groundless, and he repeatedly targeted the paper's staff members in profanity-laced tweets. A grand jury indicted Ramos on 23 counts, including murder, attempted murder and assault in the deaths of Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, John McNamara, Rebecca Ann Smith and Wendi Winters. Journalists spoke between musical performances at the event in downtown Annapolis. Elisabeth Bumiller, the Washington bureau chief of The New York Times, said her office grew silent when they first heard reports of the shooting. She said staff at the newspaper's office felt solidarity with the reporters and editors at The Capital. "They were part of a community that we are all a part of and who remind us that the work we do is so vital to our towns, our cities, our country and our democracy,'' Bumiller said. The event was titled "Annapolis Rising: A Benefit for the Capital Gazette and Free Press & First Responders.'' Maryland-bred rockers Good Charlotte were headlining the concert Saturday evening. Officials in Mali are counting the votes from Sunday's presidential election, marred by violence, rocket attacks, threats and suspected fake polling places. President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita is seeking a second term. Twenty-four other candidates are challenging him. Voter turnout was reported to be light across much of Mali, including the capital, Bamako. Only about half the voters in two regions received voter cards, meaning more than 800,000 people may have been unable to cast ballots. Voting was briefly suspended in a northern village after militants fired rockets at a nearby United Nations mission camp. No one was injured. In several other villages, election officials were beaten up, ballot boxes burned and armed groups stopped election supervisors from entering polling stations. Some candidates and European election monitors also reported fake voting stations were set up in several spots and took steps to warn voters against them. The international community is hoping for an overall successful presidential election in Mali. A positive outcome would help solidify a peace agreement between the government, pro-government forces and former Tuareg rebels in combating Islamic extremists in the largely lawless north. Initial results of Sunday's vote are expected later this week with a final result coming by Friday. If no one wins more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff is scheduled for August 12. Bram Posthumus in contributed to this report from Bamako. Zimbabwe holds its first general election without its founding leader Robert Mugabe on the ballot Monday. Mugabe took the oath of office in 1980 as Zimbabwes first leader after independence. He was to be the countrys head for the next 37 years until November last year when military pressure led him to resign. Until his sudden address to reporters Sunday Mugabe had largely been quiet, except in March when he said his successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa, had taken power through a coup. On Sunday he said he would not vote for Mnangagwa and ZANU- PF, a party he formed in the 1960s. WATCH: Anita Powell's video report Jealousy Mawarire of the National Patriotic Front which is largely associated with the former first family, says the 94-year-old former leader still has a role to play. He is a very important factor [in this election] in the sense that they are millions of people who were within ZANU-PF who respected him and believed in his pro-people stunts, says Mawarire. While during the election campaign Mnangagwa has avoided mentioning Mugabe, his ZANU-PF party has said the main opposition leader, Nelson Chamisa of the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance, is the one closest to the former president. In his final rally Saturday, Chamisa said he talks to Mugabe but there is no reason for the ruling ZANU-PF to disown its old man. We understand that Mugabe was wrong in some of his actions, but he was not alone, he was with Mnangagwa. But that is not my focus, the focus is not the past, the focus is the future," he said. "Past mistakes we correct, past omissions we remedy, past omissions we relieve but when we move forward we ask those who ruled first, where they went wrong thats how we solve things as we are moving forward. ZANU-PF supporters are divided about Mugabe. When I think of Mugabes time we had become slaves, housing stands were taken away from us. This was painful and is still very painful to us, we feel that this is not good, says Everson Chimungungu from Epworth, just outside Harare. I dont want to hear about Mugabe because Im now 48 years old and I feel that he is responsible for who I have become because I have never worked in my life, said Zvichemo Homani from Mutoko, about 200 km east of Harare. And 73-year-old Helen Katandika from Arcturus mining-farming area just outside Harare who says she will vote for Mnangagwa. "During the Mugabe era we were living quite well here because we have our land," she said. "We are fairly outsiders when it comes to whether Mugabe rule was good or bad, it was amongst his colleagues in Harare who saw that he was old and needed him to retire." While the ZANU-PF party might try to disown Mugabe, Alexander Rusero, a senior lecturer of journalism and international politics at Harare Polytechnic College says this election is crucial for Mnangagwa. ZANU-PF is trying to legitimize itself because by and large what happened after the ouster of Robert Mugabe you have a government that has questionable legitimacy, political legitimacy this government desperately needs," he said. "Mnangagwa is in desperate need of endorsement to say that at least we are governing through the concern of the people, through the consent of the electorate, so this election is equally important to them should they win it because it will clear the dark episode of what happened in November. Results of Monday's first post-Mugabe general election are expected by Saturday. The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. Zimbabwe's main political campaigns hold final rallies in the capital, two days before Mondays historic elections, the first in 38 years without Robert Mugabe on the ballot. Anita Powell and Paul Ndiho report from Harare. Zimbabwes former president, Robert Mugabe, lashed out Sunday at the political party he founded, saying he could not vote for the ruling ZANU-PF in Mondays poll. His sharp words came just hours ahead of the nations most critical election in decades -- the the first one in which Mugabe is not running. VOAs Anita Powell was there, and brings us this report from Harare. (( At a press conference at his Blue Roof mansion, with his wife Grace present, former Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe made a last ditch effort to steer voters away from his former Zanu-PF party and toward the opposition, naming MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa as a viable candidate, over others. Former Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama, who is heading the Commonwealth Group of observers for Zimbabwes 2018 elections, describes them as one of the most important and watershed elections in the history of the nation. Mahama says Zimbabwes elections will act as a barometer to the maturity of the country's democracy following the forced resignation of former President Robert Mugabe. Mr. Mahama, who lost his countrys last election after one term in office but peacefully conceded, says the elections will also give legitimacy to the winner and a fresh mandate to continue economic and democratic reforms. Zimbabwe is not a member of the Commonwealth having withdrawn in 2003 after it was suspended for being in breach of the Harare Declaration, which sets out the Commonwealths core principles and values. But Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has written to the Commonwealth expressing his desire to rejoin the group. In an interview with Blessing Zulu of VOAs Zimbabwe Service, Mr. Mahama applauded the peaceful nature of the elections. Blessing Zulu (BZ): Your Excellency, what is your initial assessment of the situation in Harare, ahead of the elections tomorrow? (Monday) President John Mahama (Fmr. Pres. Mahama): Well, the situation is peaceful and I guess that the campaigning has gone smoothly. All the political parties have had the opportunity to canvas for votes across the whole country and there have been no no-go areas. I mean they have been able to freely access every part of the country to campaign. So, its been a peaceful atmosphere, and I guess today is quiet today, there is no campaigning allowed and the election is tomorrow. So, so far, so good. BZ: The opposition had what they were calling serious concerns about the manner in which the elections were being conducted by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. What is your take on that? Pres. Mahama: Well that is normal. I guess that all parties you know, have concerns, you know, even the elections I have witnessed, but as much as possible the election commission must carry everybody along, as long as it is within the law. Thats why I commented the other time, that it wasnt unjustified for the MDC to continue to push for electoral reform, as long as its within the ambit of the law. They were asking, they were complaining that they have not been involved in the printing of the ballots, and then they were also asking to be able to accompany the ballots as they were distributed, you know. And so, once they didnt infringe the law, I didnt think that these demands were unjustified. But, I guess that the Electoral Commission and the authorities concerned took the various decisions that had to be taken and the parties all agreed to go forward with the elections, and so that is a good thing. BZ: And what is your overall mission in Harare as the Commonwealth? Pres. Mahama: Well, we are to observe the election and issue a report, based on the various commitments that Zimbabwe has made in terms of its commitment to regional protocols for the elections and the international agreements on elections, and our report, our final report will be presented to the secretary general. Well present an interim report after the elections and then a final one will be presented to the secretary general. BZ: Can this also determine if the Commonwealth will be able to accept or reject Zimbabwes bid to become a member again? Pres. Mahama: That will be a decision of heads of government. Our mandate here is to observe the election and come up with a report as to what happened, and give our recommendations. Once we are done and the report is presented to the secretary general, I believe that it might be one of the issues, instruments used to assess Zimbabwes readiness to rejoin the Commonwealth, but like I said, that essentially will be a decision of Heads of Government. BZ: And, how significant is this election for Zimbabwe and Africa, in general? Pres. Mahama: I think its one of the most important elections that Zimbabwe is having historically. It is the election that is going to mark a watershed as to how Zimbabwes democracy has matured. I dont think after the events of November last year there has been a process of economic and democratic reforms and I believe that this election is going to give legitimacy to whoever, you know, wins, to continue moving Zimbabwe along the path of democratic and economic reform. BZ: Any initial concerns that you have noted? Pres. Mahama: We discussed with all the stakeholders, including the civil society organizations, faith based groups and the political parties, and all the concerns that were brought to our attention were passed on to the authorities concerned. And so the (Zimbabwe) Electoral Commission, the Zimbabwe Police service, and all of them, we have engaged with them. And I believe that largely, a lot of those concerns have been addressed. But let me say that the parties have a role in ensuring the integrity of the poll, because instruments are provided for them to be able to police the poll. For instance, the ballots are going to be counted at the polling station, and so immediately, at the end of voting, the ballot boxes are going to be open right there at the polling station, and the counting will be done, and then the results are going to be counted, posted on the wall of the polling station. I think that this, I mean, to a large degree, creates an opportunity for the political parties to be able do their own tallying of the results from all the polling stations, and at the end of the process be able to compare whether anything untoward has happened, that is if their figures are violently different from the figures of the Electoral Commission. So, I think that there are more safeguards in this election to have a fair and credible election than existed in the past. BZ: So what will you be doing on voting day, tomorrow? Pres. Mahama: Tomorrow, early in the morning, we are going to go out, and witness, we call it the opening of the poll, and so there are procedures that must be followed when the poll is opened, and so we are going to make sure that those procedures are followed and that the opening of the poll is done in a transparent and credible manner. And then afterwards we are going to stay at the polling stations, of course going round multiple polling stations to see how the voters queue, whether they are able to have easy access to the polling station, do people get frustrated because the queues are so long, they get tired and decide they wont vote at all, or people are going to remain in the queues and take their time and vote? Will everyone have the opportunity during the time frame to be able to vote? And well also look at the voting process, how the polling station is laid out, does it make it possible for people to cast their votes secretly, without somebody, you know, watching what you voted for? And then at the end of the poll, we would go to through closing procedures, there are procedures they go through to close the poll. And then we will also stay and witness the counting. Is the counting done in a transparent and fair manner? Are the party agents there? Are they able to inspect every ballot, you know, and agree on rejected ballots, and all that. So well watch all those processes, and after that, of course, it follows the transmission of the results, how are the results transmitted to the districts and then to the wards and then from the wards to the national tallying center before the results are eventually announced. So its a very complicated and laid-out process, and as observers, we are supposed to witness the process from beginning to end. Some organizations are targeting youths in Zimbabwe to take part in the first post-Robert Mugabe general election Monday in which the issues of unemployment and political stability are likely going to determine voting patterns. A "Go Out and Vote" campaign was active at a free concert in Mbare, an underdeveloped town. While politicians target big cities and popular places asking for votes ahead of the July 30 polls, the Youth Empowerment and Transformation Trust and other local NGOs have embarked on a nationwide campaign to ensure that young people participate in the election. In Mbare, Charles Chisale of the trust explains the "Go Out and Vote" campaign, which he calls a dialogue. "We are going to be discussing all the youths' concerns, what the youths want after the 2018 elections so please come and witness, please come and share so that we can all build the Zimbabwe we all want," said Chisale. Hashton Gumira, a youth leader in this township who refuses to reveal his political affiliation - welcomes the idea of encouraging Zimbabwe youths to vote on Monday. "Young people we have suffered and we have suffered enough, now it's time to use our demographic dividend, 60 percent of the 5.5 million of voters in this election they are young people aged between 18 and 40 so it is very important because for me as a young person I think the issues which affect us as young people are similar so when you go and vote we have to go and vote for our issues, the issues of youth employment," said Gumira. In the Monday election, 75-year-old President Emmerson Mnangagwa faces 22 presidential challengers, including 40-year-old Nelson Chamisa of the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance. Results of Monday's general election are expected by next Saturday. The country's constitution requires the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to release results within five days of the closing of polls. Thirty-four years later, Ellis Ndlovu still cannot bear to look at the tree in the schoolyard where Zimbabwean soldiers killed her son. They hung him with his legs up and then with his legs down and they were beating him, said Ndlovu, bent over and frail at 91. They beat him until he died. Her memories are stronger these days, with the approach of Mondays election in Zimbabwe. The reason: President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the leading candidate, is widely blamed for the armys brutal killings in Matabeleland, which left 10,000 to 20,000 civilians dead. I fear that they are going to elect somebody who may repeat the same act, said Ndlovu, speaking in the Ndebele language. I blame the person who sent those people to kill my child. The trauma of the Matabeleland massacres is still raw for survivors. Many say they cannot vote for Mnangagwa, who was state security minister at the time. Zimbabwes elections look too close to call. The Ndebele people of Matabeleland, representing about 15 percent of registered voters, could be a decisive vote for the opposition. Of all the scars from former leader Robert Mugabes 37-year rule of Zimbabwe, the deepest is the Matabeleland killings. The armys Operation Gukurahundi the early rains that blow away the chaff, in the local Shona language ran from 1983 through 1987, when the Fifth Brigade rampaged through the southwestern provinces of Matabeleland. The residents of villages were rounded up and forced to attend all-night rallies for Zimbabwes ruling party, ZANU-PF. Community leaders were beaten and sometimes killed in front of the gatherings. Men, young and old, were forced to dig graves, then shot and buried in them. Survivors were forced to dance on top of the fresh graves, sometimes until the blood of the dead seeped through. Some families were pushed into huts that were set on fire and they either burned to death or were shot dead when they tried to escape. The Fifth Brigade consisted of 3,000 troops, virtually all ethnic Shona, who make up about 70 percent of Zimbabwes population. The brigade received counter-insurgency training by North Korean advisers and was known as the elite praetorian guard of Mugabe, directly answerable to his office. Their arms and uniforms were different from the rest of the army, including their distinctive red berets. With its prolonged, deadly campaign in Matabeleland, the Fifth Brigade was trying to stamp out rural support for anti-government rebels. Gukurahundi also was viewed by many as an attempt by Mugabe to weaken any opposition to his stated aim of a one-party state. The armys campaign did not succeed in winning the Ndebele vote for Mugabe in the 1985 polls or succeeding elections. As Zimbabwe goes to the polls again, the Ndebele people of Matabeleland are still viewed as a solid vote against ZANU-PF and its presidential candidate, Mnangagwa. Zimbabwean opposition politician David Coltart said enduring resentment across Matabeleland will be evident in the elections. What we need from Mnangagwa is an admission of what happened, an apology and communal reparations for the victims of that time, said Coltart. Im not convinced that prosecuting someone like Mnangagwa is going to heal our nation at this time. Those at the head of the chain of command have not been held to account. Mugabe never accepted responsibility or apologized for the killings, but he did call them a moment of madness. Mnangagwa has also refused to accept responsibility and has opposed a new investigation, saying it would re-open old wounds. Perence Shiri, the head of the Fifth Brigade during the killings, rose in power to become the head of Zimbabwes Air Force and now is the minister of agriculture, appointed by Mnangagwa. The most authoritative report on the Matabeleland killings is Breaking the Silence, published in 1997 by Zimbabwes Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace and the Legal Resources Foundation, drawing on interviews with more than 1,000 people and many documents. Much remains to be done to heal the scars of the killings, said Shari Eppel, the reports main author, who continues to do forensic research into the killings as director of the Solidarity Peace Trust. At her office in Bulawayo, Eppel unwrapped canvas to reveal the skull and bones identified as the remains of a Gukurahundi victim, soon to be given a proper burial. Julius Mvulo Nyathi died in 1984, which was when the Fifth Brigade was deployed in Matabeleland South, Eppel said. We heard that his arms and ankles were tied with wire and he was severely beaten by the Fifth Brigade, soldiers who came in uniforms with red berets and they accused him of being a dissident. ... He also had burning plastic dripped onto his legs and he was then dragged away. Nobody actually saw his death, but his body was found in the hills and he was buried in a shallow grave above a secondary school in Matopo district. Eppel said many in Matabeleland say the region is haunted by angry dead. The angry dead are the people buried in the wrong place and who havent had the right rituals at the time of their murder and burial, said Eppel. She said hundreds of reburials are needed to assuage families: People say these angry dead are the ones who make bad things happen in the family and the community, to keep reminding them; Im in the wrong place, I need to come home. Isaia Nkomo, 60, remains unsettled by the death of his brother, Simimba, 36 years ago. I was at work and my brother was at home. So they came and took him from our homestead and killed him in the bush, said Nkomo. We still havent located the place where here is. His family, he said, is not feeling well because we keep thinking about him. Other peoples remains have been found and we are still looking for him. He might have been eaten by dogs or some other people removed him and put him somewhere else. Nkomo said he will not vote for Mnangagwa or ZANU-PF. Voting for Mnangagwa, I cant do that because my brother was killed at that time by the people who currently want us to vote for them, those that are in power. Id rather vote for someone in the opposition. If you havn't done it yet,to get one of the fastest volcano news online: Our world-wide map continuously detects shallow earthquakes near volcanoes. These could be early signs of unrest and often precede eruptions. Fine art prints, gifts and other photo products from a selection of our volcano photos. Check out the new website volcano-photo.com A volcano is the term for any place on the surface of the earth, where hot molten rock (magma) reaches the surface. 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: 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. Across Europe, prisons are the latest battleground in the evolving fight against Islamist-inspired terrorism. Beginning five years ago, Western countries saw thousands of their citizens migrate to Iraq and Syria to join the Islamic State or other Islamist groups. Since 2016, hundreds have returned, but the mood at home has changed. Traumatized by terrorist attacks and a swelling refugee crisis, European countries since 2016 have taken a hard line on returnees, enacting tough laws that require criminal charges and incarceration for anyone who traveled to the Middle East or sought to support Islamists groups abroad. Until 2016, many returnees were simply allowed to go home if there was no proof they had been fighters or involved in terrorist acts. Soon after arriving, he filled his office with Trump campaign memorabilia, which he later removed after colleagues suggested it was not appropriate for a federal office, according to officials at the agency at the time who spoke on the condition of anonymity. During a staff town hall meeting last year, Blau, who was then director of operations, described himself as a partisan conservative Republican and complained that certain media were out to get Trump every day, according to a routine recording of the meeting made by the agency. As a boy, Winiecki used to walk through the dilapidated campus on the way to school. In 2007, he started Googling the German name of his hometown and Oflag 64 and discovered the Oflag 64 Association, a long-standing American group of Kriegies and their families. He eventually began corresponding with several Kriegies, including Sharpe. One former POW sent Winiecki a 17-page handwritten letter detailing his experiences in the camp. Then several members of the Oflag 64 Association visited Szubin to see the site. I want to hug him. Hes a hugger, I know, so I want to hug him, said Kassa, a researcher at North Carolina State University. When Kassa first came to the United States in 2000, he never thought he would go back to his homeland. But Abiys ascension has changed his mind, he said. He plans to visit his home in the Amhara region next year, and bring his children, 12 and 14, with him. Air travel has become so horrible that its a thing to be endured, not enjoyed. I had an aisle seat in the four-seat middle row on my eight-hour flight back to Dulles or at least I did until the guy next to me explained that his girlfriend was sick and would be getting up a lot to use the bathroom. Could she have my aisle seat? According to testimony Friday, Porter was sitting behind the wheel of his gray Infiniti vehicle in a parking lot in the 2200 block of Savannah Terrace SE when he pulled out a gun and shot through the window of his SUV while backing up. The bullets flew toward Mosby and his friends. Todays Headlines The most important news stories of the day, curated by Post editors and delivered every morning. Email address By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy What she didnt say in that post was how she has wrestled with those words. She has been filled with hatred and anger at what she has witnessed under the Trump administration, she said. She has seen, along with the rest of the country, immigrant families torn apart, videos of people spewing racist insults at others and the same white nationalists who led a deadly gathering in Charlottesville plan a march in the nations capital. Government forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, have been advancing in the area in recent weeks as they battle the Iran-allied rebels, known as Houthis. The fighting has escalated as government forces try to retake the port city of Hodeida, the main entry point for food in a country teetering on the brink of famine. Jailed since February 2017, Hamza Ulucay is a 37-year veteran of the U.S. diplomatic service. Dollar bills found in his home were offered up by Turkish authorities as proof that Ulucay had something to do with the attempted July 15, 2016, coup detat against the Erdogan government. It is especially bizarre that Ulucay is alleged to have connections both to the network of Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric living in the United States whom the government accuses of organizing the failed coup, and to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the insurgency movement deemed terrorist by both the United States and Turkey. The Gulen network has historically been a fierce opponent of the PKK and is loathed by most of the Kurdish population in Turkeys southeast. Harris does not face Senate reelection until 2022, but she has become one of the most aggressive online fundraisers this year, after spending more than $1.8 million on two Web advertising firms since the start of 2017, according to Federal Election Commission reports. In the second quarter of this year, she reported raising $926,835 in contributions under $200, the usual level returned because of email pleas. Her aides say she has expanded her email list to more than 1 million after a 2016 election in which she relied on more traditional fundraising. The comments by Giuliani the presidents lawyer handling the ongoing probe by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III into Russian campaign interference and possible obstruction of justice came days after Cohens legal team released a recording of a September 2016 conversation between Trump and Cohen that makes it appear that Trump was familiar with a deal model Karen McDougal made to sell the rights to her story of an alleged affair with him. At a gathering of hundreds of donors at the Broadmoor resort here, officials reiterated their plans to spend as much as $400 million on policy issues and political campaigns during the 2018 cycle. Earlier this year, they announced heavy spending aimed at helping Republicans to hold the Senate. But in a warning shot at Trump and the GOP, network co-chair Brian Hooks lamented tremendous lack of leadership in Trumps Washington and the deterioration of the core institutions of society. Wilkie, who will be sworn in Monday, wants to form his own leadership team, these people say, and to ease lawmakers continued concern that VA, historically a nonpartisan corner of the government, has become highly politicized. He discussed the proposed personnel moves with Trump in recent days aboard Air Force One, while en route to a veterans convention in Kansas City, Mo., said an official close to the White House who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. The publisher went on to say: Throughout the conversation I emphasized that if President Trump, like previous presidents, was upset with coverage of his administration he was of course free to tell the world. I made clear repeatedly that I was not asking for him to soften his attacks on The Times if he felt our coverage was unfair. Instead, I implored him to reconsider his broader attacks on journalism, which I believe are dangerous and harmful to our country. The president has not received from Congress as much funding as he has requested for his proposed wall along the Mexican border. Trump also has been advocating for a number of changes to immigration laws, including ending the visa lottery program as well as catch and release the practice of releasing from detention immigrants caught entering the country illegally if they agree to court hearings. But the pace and intensity of Iranian recruiting have slowed considerably as the Syrian regime has consolidated power. At first, Hussain said, the authorities would take anyone, young or old, Shiite or Sunni. We would register in the morning, and they would send us for training in the afternoon. Now, he said, the program is more selective. Additional incentives to keep fighting, recruits say, include offers of work or residency permits that are no longer available to most Afghans. The White House has repeatedly called for the release of Brunson, who is from North Carolina and has lived in Turkey for more than two decades. U.S. officials were taken aback when a Turkish court released Brunson from prison last week but ordered him kept under house arrest while his trial continued, rather than being acquitted or deported to the United States. I must say very clearly that I cannot vote for those who have tormented me, Mugabe said of the current leaders of ZANU-PF, the party he led from Zimbabwes independence in 1980 until former allies forced him to resign in November. He later implied that he would vote for Nelson Chamisa of the Movement for Democratic Change, or MDC, the only viable alternative. Cambodians on Sunday were offered the opportunity to vote for their next government, but many have chosen not to and others have spoiled their ballots to protest what has been widely decried as a sham election engineered to extend the run of Prime Minister Hun Sen, whose tenure of more than three decades makes him one of the worlds longest-serving rulers. A spokesman for his party told The Washington Post on Sunday night that preliminary results show the party winning about 100 out of 125 available seats a landslide. But in the hours after her release from prison, Tamimi sitting in the courtyard of her home said Sunday that she knew a long time ago that she would be arrested for choosing this path of opposition to the Israeli occupation. Her eight-month sentence was the result of a plea deal struck to avoid a lengthy trial, her attorney said. Helen Pitt's husband William Oliver and son Liam in 2003. When I lived in northern California, not far from Silicon Valley, my husband enrolled in a masters program in digital technology and in early 2005 developed a program similar to the Australian governments My Health Record. Because of his experience living with a brain tumour for a decade he and his study partner created what they called an e-health record a tool which he knew from practical experience would help anyone with a life threatening or chronic illness. Wed both spent so many hours in doctors' surgeries, hospital rooms and specialist clinics with him recounting his treatment regimen and health history: the radiation doses hed had, the chemotherapy and immunotherapy regimes. The precise details not only helped his clinical team with his treatment but also helped determine which clinical trials he was eligible for. His doctors, some of the best brain surgeons and neuro-oncologists in the world, thought it was a brilliant idea. They got him introductions to venture capitalists in Silicon Valley and Stanford University medical specialists who were keen to fund the idea. He was paid to fly to Washingtons National Institute of Health to examine the clinical trials he was eligible for, and while there met healthcare professionals who were really bullish about his idea. Hed become a healthcare advocate in the later stages of his life, working for a San Francisco non-profit established to help people with AIDS, and everyone from clients to the CEO supported him. As controversy continues to swirl this month around the right to privacy, data/accessibility issues surrounding the program, I was plunged back to the July 13 years ago when he died. May 18, 2005 was the day I had to call in hospice services to our home to help care for him as I was struggling to cater for his healthcare needs and that of our energetic toddler. Everyone in that hospice program we came into contact with praised his program and wondered why no one had thought of doing it before. As he slipped into a coma in our home, I struggled to remember the doses and types of medications hed taken which were the questions I was asked constantly. I was in deep shock but lucky I had his e-health record. The hospice people, our doctor, friends and neighbours who filled our home in his final days, spoke glowingly of his foresight. Sadly, it has taken some time to gain greater recognition and worldwide use. I assume people who oppose My Health Record, such as politicians Walt Secord and Tim Wilson, have never walked with a loved one on the difficult path of a terminal illness. Or had a chronic illness theyve needed to manage themselves. Conder man and former army officer Shane Stroud half-jokes when he explains he is riding across Australia on a recumbent bike because "I'm a middle-aged fat man". "It will be a lot more comfortable and a lot more forgiving on my body when I'm planning to do 150km a day," he said. Canberra man and former army officer Shane Stroud will be raising money for Legacy and the Salvation Army as part of his epic journey The 54-year-old public servant on Saturday begins the drive to Perth. He'll be doing the return 4000km trip on his recumbent bike, with his 77-year-old father Garry as support crew. They will leave Perth on August 3 and plan to take 25 days to get to Moruya, starting from one ocean and finishing at another. Police were called to a teen's house party in Reservoir on Saturday night after a group of gatecrashers caused a disturbance at the property. The birthday party was interrupted when gatecrashers arrived at the Edwardes Street property. Police said that four uninvited guests showed up to the party, however, some witnesses said they believed there were more. Between 50 and 70 teenagers were invited to the party. The woman who lives at the property, who did not wish to give her name, was hosting the party for her friend's 16-year-old son. She said the gatecrashers came from the parkland area at the back of the house, kicking in the fence and entering her backyard. The Adelaide Hills social media chat rooms were agog on Friday night and Saturday at an angry, last-minute Facebook intervention by Alexander Downer in the byelection for Mayo, the South Australian seat he once held. Mr Downer, father of Liberal candidate Georgina Downer, was apparently inflamed by insults aimed at his daughter, who has failed to win back the seat for the Liberal Party. In a Facebook post, Mr Downer a former foreign minister and long-time diplomat blamed supporters of the Centre Alliance candidate Rebekha Sharkie for bringing horrible hate to the district. New Delhi: India said it hoped the new government of Pakistan would "work constructively" to end militancy in South Asia, in its first comments following the general election in Pakistan. Cricket star-turned-politician Imran Khan, who won the disputed election, has called for better ties with India. "We hope that the new government of Pakistan will work constructively to build a safe, stable, secure and developed South Asia free of terror and violence," India's foreign affairs ministry said in a statement. Incoming Pakistan president Imran Khan has called for better ties with neighbouring India. Credit:AP India accuses Pakistan of backing several anti-India militant groups and helping them to infiltrate the divided Kashmir region to stoke violence. Pakistan denies the charge. On Thursday, as he declared victory in the election, Khan said India and Pakistan should resolve the Kashmir dispute through talks. India and Pakistan have fought three wars since their independence in 1947, two of them over Kashmir, which they both claim in full but rule in part. Clashes between their forces in Kashmir largely stopped after a 2003 ceasefire but exchanges of fire have been more common in more recent years. India's foreign affairs ministry did not directly comment on Khan's call for talks, but said it welcomed that "the people of Pakistan have reposed their faith in democracy through general elections". "India desires a prosperous and progressive Pakistan at peace with its neighbours," the statement said. Tel Aviv: Ahed Tamimi, the Palestinian teenage girl turned protest symbol who was filmed hitting Israeli soldiers last year, has been released after serving an almost eight-month prison sentence. Israeli prisons spokesman Assaf Librati said Tamimi, 17, and her mother Nariman who was also jailed over the incident, had been released and were being taken to the West Bank on Sunday. Tamimi has been touted by Palestinians as a symbol of resistance to Israel's military occupation while many Israelis accuse her of being an agitator seeking to provoke soldiers on camera. It is enticing to suggest (glibly so) that London author William Atkins, unhappy in love, ran away to join the Foreign Legion in the desert as so many young men and B-movie actors have done. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/7/2018 (1186 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Tim Johnson / MCT files In the harsh Sonoran Desert, Will Atkins worked with the No More Deaths charity, leaving survival packs for illegal Mexican immigrants. It is enticing to suggest (glibly so) that London author William Atkins, unhappy in love, ran away to join the Foreign Legion in the desert as so many young men and B-movie actors have done. In fact Atkins, unhappy in love, travelled to eight deserts on five continents to produce a compelling book that combines natural history, historical background and reporting. His flight to some of the worlds driest, hottest places the Empty Quarter of Oman, Great Victoria Desert of Australia, Gobi Desert and Taklamakan Desert of China, the Aralkum of Kazakhstan, the Sonoran Desert and Black Rock Desert of the United States, and the Eastern Desert of Egypt was propelled by recovery and discovery. Besides the obvious dangers we all associate with desert travel, such as disorientation, dehydration and death, Atkins adds nuclear waste, forced desertification and chemical poisoning, border guards and the annual Burning Man festival. Sergey Ponomarev / The Associated Press files The Aral Sea was desertified in the 1960s as rivers were diverted to boost cotton yields. Travel writer Atkins is not a fan of adventurers, that "new breed of fanatic: rangy, large-toothed guys seeking not knowledge, or even territory, but novelty, managed to suffer, experience, material, sponsorship." Rather, he is interested in the history and culture of the desert and the often-fatal interaction of Indigenous inhabitants and the outsiders who came to explore but ended up desecrating those wild places. The author has done his research on the natural aspects of the deserts, and he spends time learning and telling the stories of the people who live, and lived, there. It is a travelogue in a sense, but a more realistic one that gives a truer picture of what he calls forsaken places, but places he loves for their austerity and the clarity of thought they allow. In writing about the Empty Quarter, he describes entering the dunes and almost instantly finding it impossible to tell which direction he and his guide had just come from: "I was reminded that one of the Arabic words for desert is a synonym of labyrinth." He adds that the desert "leaves you dazed and yet it quickly becomes apparent that, just as the desert is not silent, it is far from being still." On a more practical note, Atkins can explain that the grains of sand are composed of quartz with a rind of ferric oxide that gives the desert its distinctive reddish tinge. Atkins asked himself: "Without witnesses, how do you conduct yourself? I found I was drawn to the lawlessness of the desert; not only the way norms might be suspended but how, in the absence of regulation or judgment, the word good itself was loosed from meaning. Liberty isnt only for the virtuous." Australias Great Victoria Desert is the perfect example, with its Maralinga nuclear test sites operated by British and Australian scientists in the 1950s and 60s, described as "a ruined place whose silence is less tranquillitys than that of a battlefield where the killing has just ended." The ancestral ground of the Indigenous Anangu became a massive nuclear-waste site where members attempt to live and keep traditions alive on its periphery. Deserts have long been ruined by nuclear tests since the first in 1947 in New Mexico. Just ask residents of Nevada, Kazakhstan, French Sahara and India. In the Soviet Union, the Aral Sea was desertified in the 1960s as rivers were diverted to boost cotton yields. The economic plan targets were met, but the river basins were poisoned with fertilizer and weed killer. In the Sonoran Desert, mankind displays a different inhumanity. Atkins works with the No More Deaths charity, leaving survival packs for illegal Mexican immigrants, only to follow them into a courthouse where they are sentenced to repatriation. The Burning Man festival in Utahs Black Rock Desert seems like an odd choice for this book and mostly it is, with its description of generally outlandish behaviour and debauchery but he finds the same impulse to get away from it all that drove monks into the desert centuries ago. Atkins gives readers a sociological, political look at his chosen deserts rather than simply a natural history and a what-to-pack itinerary. The deserts come to life in their own right, their natural right and in the reality of the damage done to them by unthinking, greedy outsiders and in the reality of those still trying to make a life in the forsaken places. And to his credit, Atkins likes camels: "It is the imperiousness of camels that people dislike; and it is that imperiousness that they will not be cowed and cannot be humiliated that I love." Chris Smith is a Winnipeg writer who has set foot in the Sonoran Desert, just not like William Atkins. MANAGUA, Nicaragua More than three months of political turmoil, demonstrations, looting and street battles have convulsed the Central American nation of Nicaragua. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/7/2018 (1185 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. MANAGUA, Nicaragua More than three months of political turmoil, demonstrations, looting and street battles have convulsed the Central American nation of Nicaragua. President Daniel Ortega, the leader of the leftist Sandinista revolution who has long dominated the countrys political scene, has rejected opposition demands that he step down as leader of this country of six million. Here is a brief overview of the crisis, and the developments that led up to it: Question: What are anti-government protesters seeking? Answer: The protests began in April against Ortegas proposed reforms to the nations reeling social security system. Under pressure, Ortega withdrew his proposals for increased contributions from social security participants. But the protest movement evolved into broader demands for the resignation of Ortega and his Sandinista leadership. Q: What is the chief criticism of Ortegas government? A: Critics say Ortega, 72, has become an autocratic leader who has lost touch with the people and is intent on imposing a family dynasty in Nicaragua. His wife serves as vice-president and other family members hold various key business and media posts. The opposition charges that Ortega has throttled dissenting voices, overseen mass repression in recent months, consolidated power in the legislative and judicial branches and pushed for an end to presidential term limits that allowed him to run successfully for a third five-year term in 2016. Detractors say the one-time leftist icon has become a septuagenarian mirror-image of former dictator Anastasio Somoza, overthrown by Ortega and other Sandinista revolutionaries in 1979. The opposition says its ranks include a broad array of Nicaraguan society, including merchants, peasants, middle-class professionals and former Sandinista loyalists who have rejected Ortega. The government says it retains majority support among Nicaraguans and calls the opposition largely an upper-class movement backed by Washington. Q: How many people have died in the recent violence? A: About 300 people have been killed, mostly by pro-government gunmen, according to human-rights groups and the opposition. But the government says dozens of police and Sandinista loyalists have been killed by opposition "bands" and "terrorists." Q: What is the situation now? A: An uneasy calm reigns as government security forces have moved in recent weeks to evict protesters from university campuses and other sites where the opposition had become entrenched. Hundreds have been arrested and some may face terrorism charges under new laws. Street rallies for and against the government continue, and many Nicaraguans remain fearful of going out at night. Q: What is Ortegas response to opposition demands? A: Ortega has rejected calls that he step down or move up presidential elections next scheduled for 2021. He has accused opponents of mounting a "coup" with the support of the U.S. government and the Roman Catholic Church. He has said he is open to "dialogue," but not with coup backers, and has denied persecuting church leaders. He says his Sandinista leadership retains popular support. Q: What has been the response of the Catholic Church? A: The church remains a powerful institution in this overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country, and Ortega has identified himself as a Catholic. Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, the archbishop of Managua, has denied any church backing for a coup and labelled as a "falsehood" Ortegas charges that some churches housed armed protesters. The church says it remains ready to serve as a mediator. Q: How has Washington responded? A: The Trump administration has put the blame squarely on Ortega and called for "early, free, fair, transparent elections and the protection of universal human rights in Nicaragua," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Tuesday. Washington "condemns the violence and intimidation by the Ortega-controlled armed groups in Nicaragua," Nauert said. She also assailed the "arbitrary arrests" of 700 government opponents and the "cowardly" attacks on the Catholic Church. Ortega was a commander of the Sandinista uprising that swept to power in 1979, toppling the Somoza family dictatorship that had long ruled with U.S. backing. Ortega, once a mustachioed idol of the international left, led the country from 1979 to 1990, when he lost a re-election bid. Ortega modified his Marxist political stance, reached out to business leaders and Washington, and was again elected president in 2006. He is now serving his third consecutive term. Ortega won in a landslide election in 2016 amid an opposition boycott and allegations of fraud that the government denied. Ortegas wife, Murillo, 67, serves as the vice-president. She is especially despised by many in the opposition, who view her as the real power behind the president and a possible successor to Ortega. Anti-government protesters gleefully toppled many of the metal structures that represent her signature civic beautification initiative the so-called Trees of Life, multi-coloured, stylized sculptures of trees, including one embedded with the image of late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, that adorn streets and parks in Managua. Q: Who are Ortegas major foreign allies? A: Ortega has received strong support from the left-wing governments of Venezuela, Cuba and Bolivia. Last week, as Ortega marked the anniversary of the triumph of the Sandinista revolution, Bolivian President Evo Morales condemned U.S. "criminal strategies" against "brother" Ortega. 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. Q: Has Nicaragua been a stable country? A: Until this years protests, Nicaragua had experienced relatively stable times during Ortegas presidency, despite criticism of what opponents call his authoritarian leadership. While Nicaragua remains one of the poorest countries in the Americas, its economy had been growing steadily and Nicaragua lacked the major crime problems that have devastated neighbouring El Salvador and Honduras. However, the economy has suffered major losses since the crisis erupted, as businesses have been shuttered and infrastructure and commercial establishments damaged. Once-substantial financial aid from Venezuela has also dried up, as that South American nation faces its own crisis. Q: What was the "Contra" war? A: The U.S. administration of then-president Ronald Reagan viewed the emergence of the left-wing Sandinista government in Managua as a threat to Washingtons regional interests during the Cold War. U.S.-backed forces known as Contras fought the Sandinista government during much of the 1980s, resulting in more than 30,000 deaths. Reagan lauded the Contras as "freedom fighters," despite allegations linking the CIA-backed forces to human rights abuses and drug trafficking. Los Angeles Times Wall Street analysts have given Compagnie de Saint-Gobain a "Buy" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but Compagnie de Saint-Gobain wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Oasis Petroleum Inc., an independent exploration and production company, focuses on the acquisition and development of onshore unconventional oil and natural gas resources in the United States. It operates through Exploration and Production(E&P), and Midstream segments. The E&P segment engages in the acquisition and development of oil and gas properties. The Midstream segment offers midstream services, such as natural gas gathering, compression, processing and, gas lift supply; crude oil gathering, terminaling, and transportation; produced and flowback water gathering, and disposal; and water distribution. As of December 31, 2020, the company had 401,766 net leasehold acres in the Williston Basin; and 24,396 net leasehold acres in the Permian Basin, as well as approximately 152.2 million barrels of oil equivalent of estimated net proved reserves. The company sells its crude oil and natural gas to refiners, marketers, and other purchasers that have access to pipeline and rail facilities. Oasis Petroleum Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. 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Ltd., EnerSys S.r.l., EnerSys SARL, EnerSys SNC, EnerSys South East Asia Pte. Ltd., EnerSys de Mexico II S de R.L. de CV, EnerSys de Mexico S de R.L. de CV, EnerSys s.r.o., EnerSys sp. z o.o., EnerSystem Chile Ltda., Enersys Aku Sanaya Dis Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Esfinco LLC, Hawker GmbH, Hawker Power Systems Inc., Hawker Powersource Inc., Hawker Systems GmbH & Co. KG., ICS Industries Pty Ltd, ICS Industries Pty Ltd., ICS Sheet Metal Pty Ltd., Industrial Battery Holding Ltda., International Communication Shelters Australasia Pty Ltd., Lancord Pty Ltd., Lenmic Pty Ltd., MIB Energy Sdn Bhd, N Holding AB, National Infrastructure Pty Ltd., National Infrastructure Services Pty Ltd., NaviSemi Energy Pte Ltd., NaviSemi Inc., New Pacifico Realty Inc., NorthStar Battery Company LLC, NorthStar Battery Company LLC, NorthStar Battery DMCC, Outback Power Technologies Inc., Powercom (NSW) Pty Ltd., Powersonic S de R.L. de CV, Purcell Systems, Purcell Systems Inc., Purcell Systems International AB, Quallion LLC, Riverfront Holding S. de R.L. de C.V., Shenzhen Huada Power Supply Mechanical & Electrical Co. Ltd. , SiteTel Shanghai Co Ltd., SiteTel Sweden AB, Telecomponents & Supply (Hong Kong) Ltd., The Enser Corporation, UTS Holdings Sdn Bhd, UTS Technology (JB) Sdn Bhd, UTS Technology (PG) Sdn Bhd, YCI Inc., and Yecoltd S. de R.L. de CV. UPDATE 1:20 P.M. The man who crashed his Cessna 180 float plane northwest of Vernon Monday night has been released from hospital. Transportation Safety Board spokesman, Bill Yearwood, says he spoke to the pilot, Seth Malmock. Malmock told him the flight originated in Fort Chipewyan, AB. He made a stop in Prince George before continuing on to Vernon. He had engine trouble and lost altitude. According to his Facebook page, Malmock, the owner of the plane, works for McMurray Aviation based out of Fort McMurray, AB. He lives in Campbell River. He suffered only minor injuries after the plane crashed. Yearwood says the TSB will not attend the crash site but may inspect the wreckage once it is removed. He adds the insurance company is in charge of arranging for the removal of the wreckage. UPDATE 11:40 A.M. JULY 29 The 52-year-old pilot from the Campbell River area was flying from Northern Alberta to Okanagan Lake where he was planning on landing. The pilot reported the engine stopped and he went down in the trees in an area near Six Mile Creek Rd. He received non-life threatening injures and was taken to hospital he has since been released. The Vernon/North Okanagan RCMP continue to investigate this case. The Transportation Safety Board will not be attending the crash site but are in contact with the RCMP and the pilot. UPDATE: 9:10 P.M. Castanet has confirmed the pilot of a small plane is being transported to hospital after his plane crashed 6km northwest of Vernon. Lt. Navy Greg Menzies with the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria confirmed the discovery shortly after 9 p.m. Monday. Menzies says a single witness report was made to authorities stating they were concerned about a low flying plane in the area. The witness then stated hearing two thuds and believed the plane had gone down. Menzies says two aircraft were dispatched from 19-Wing in Comox, however, both have since been ordered to stand down. Castanet news editor Trevor Rockliffe says the pilot had been bandaged around the head but was seen walking around. He was transported by ground to hospital. The plane is believed to be a Cessna float plane. Photo: Trevor Rockliffe - Castanet This pilot walks away after his Cessna went down near Vernon Monday evening Castanet is heading to the scene of what is being reported as a downed airplane in the Westside Road area near Vernon. Reports are sketchy at the moment, however, Fire Information Officer, Kayla Pepper has confirmed an initial attack crew has been dispatched by the Wildfire Management Branch to the Vernon area. Pepper says those crews will be assisting local ambulance and firefighting crews with an incident involving an airplane. RCMP spokesman Gord Molendyk says the reports are, at this time, unconfirmed. "We are trying desperately to confirm this," says Molendyk. Molendyk says a search is underway in the Six Mile Creek area off Westside Road after a single report of a plane going down. RCMP and Vernon Search and Rescue are involved in the search. More details when they become available. Wall Street analysts have given iShares North American Tech-Software 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 North American Tech-Software ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Capital One Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 1.42%. Capital One Financial has been increasing its dividend for 2 consecutive year(s), indicating that it does not yet have a strong track record of dividend growth. The dividend payout ratio of Capital One Financial is 41.45%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%. Based on earnings estimates, Capital One Financial will have a dividend payout ratio of 13.56% next year. This indicates that Capital One Financial will be able to sustain or increase its dividend. View Capital One Financial's dividend history. The following companies are subsidiares of American Tower: 10 Presidential Way Associates LLC, 3267351 Nova Scotia Company, 3286208 Nova Scotia Company, 3298099 Nova Scotia Company, 52 Eighty LLC, 52 Eighty Partners LLC, 52 Eighty Tower Partners I LLC, ACC Tower Sub LLC, AT Kenya C.V., AT Netherlands C.V., AT Netherlands Cooperatief U.A., AT Sao Paulo C.V., AT Sher Netherlands Cooperatief U.A., AT South America C.V., ATC Africa Holding B.V., ATC Africa Shared Services (Pty) Ltd, ATC Antennas Holding LLC, ATC Antennas LLC, ATC Argentina C.V., ATC Argentina Cooperatief U.A., ATC Argentina Holding LLC, ATC Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., ATC Atlantic C.V., ATC Atlantic II B.V., ATC Atlantic III B.V., ATC Backhaul LLC, ATC Brasil Servicos de Conectividades Ltda., ATC Brazil Holding LLC, ATC Brazil I LLC, ATC Brazil II LLC, ATC Burkina Faso S.A., ATC CSR Foundation India, ATC Chile Holding LLC, ATC Colombia B.V., ATC Colombia Holding I LLC, ATC Colombia Holding LLC, ATC Colombia I LLC, ATC EH GmbH & Co. KG, ATC Ecuador Holding LLC, ATC Edge LLC, ATC Ethiopia Infrastructure Development Private Limited Company, ATC Europe B.V., ATC Europe LLC, ATC European Holdings Inc., ATC Fibra de Colombia S.A.S., ATC France Cooperatief U.A., ATC France Holding II SAS, ATC France Holding SAS, ATC France Reseaux SAS, ATC France SAS, ATC France Services SAS, ATC GP GmbH, ATC Germany Holdings GmbH, ATC Germany Services GmbH, ATC Ghana ServiceCo Limited, ATC Global Employment B.V., ATC Heston B.V., ATC Holding Fibra Mexico S. de R.L. DE C.V., ATC IP LLC, ATC India Infrastructure Private Limited, ATC Indoor DAS Holding LLC, ATC Indoor DAS LLC, ATC International Cooperatief U.A., ATC International Financing B.V., ATC International Financing II B.V., ATC International Financing II Holding LLC, ATC International Holding Corp., ATC Iris I LLC, ATC Kenya Operations Limited, ATC Kenya Services Limited, ATC Latin America S.A. de C.V. SOFOM E.N.R., ATC MIP III REIT Iron Holdings LLC, ATC Managed Sites Holding LLC, ATC Managed Sites LLC, ATC MexHold LLC, ATC Mexico Holding LLC, ATC Niger Wireless Infrastructure S.A., ATC Nigeria C.V., ATC Nigeria Cooperatief U.A., ATC Nigeria Holding LLC, ATC Nigeria Wireless Infrastructure Limited, ATC On Air + LLC, ATC Operations LLC, ATC Outdoor DAS LLC, ATC Paraguay Holding LLC, ATC Paraguay S.R.L., ATC Peru Holding LLC, ATC Polska sp. z o.o., ATC Ponderosa B-I LLC, ATC Ponderosa B-II LLC, ATC Ponderosa K LLC, ATC Ponderosa K-R LLC, ATC Sequoia LLC, ATC Sitios Infraco S.A.S., ATC Sitios de Chile S.A., ATC Sitios de Colombia S.A.S., ATC Sitios del Peru S.R.L., ATC South Africa Investment Holdings (Proprietary) Limited, ATC South Africa Services Pty Ltd, ATC South Africa Wireless Infrastructure (Pty) Ltd, ATC South Africa Wireless Infrastructure II (Pty) Ltd, ATC South America Holding LLC, ATC South LLC, ATC Spain LLC, ATC TRS I LLC, ATC TRS II LLC, ATC TRS III LLC, ATC TRS IV LLC, ATC Tanzania Holding LLC, ATC Telecom Infrastructure Private Limited, ATC Tower (Ghana) Limited, ATC Tower Services LLC, ATC Uganda Limited, ATC Uganda ServiceCo (SMC) Limited, ATC Watertown LLC, ATC WiFi LLC, ATS-Needham LLC, ActiveX Telebroadband Services Private Limited, Adquisiciones y Proyectos Inalambricos S. de R. L. de C.V., Agile Airband Ohio LLC, Agile Connect LLC, Agile IWG Holdings LLC, Agile Network Builders LLC, Agile Networks Indiana LLC, Agile Networks Site Development LLC, Agile Towers LLC, Alternative Networking LLC, American Tower Asset Sub II LLC, American Tower Asset Sub LLC, American Tower Charitable Foundation Inc., American Tower Delaware Corporation, American Tower Depositor Sub LLC, American Tower Guarantor Sub LLC, American Tower Holding Sub II LLC, American Tower Holding Sub LLC, American Tower International Holding I LLC, American Tower International Holding II LLC, American Tower International Inc., American Tower Investments LLC, American Tower LLC, American Tower Management LLC, American Tower Mauritius, American Tower Servicios Fibra S. de R.L. de C.V., American Tower Tanzania Operations Limited, American Tower do Brasil - Cessao de Infraestruturas Ltda., American Tower do Brasil Communicacao Multimidia Ltda., American Towers LLC, BR Towers, Blue Sky Towers Pty Ltd, Blue Transfer Sociedad Anonima, Broadcast Towers LLC, CNC2 Associates LLC, California Tower Inc., Cell Site NewCo II LLC, Cell Tower Lease Acquisition LLC, Central States Tower Holdings LLC, Colo ATL LLC, Colo Atl, Communications Properties Inc., Comunicaciones y Consumos S.A., Connectivity Infrastructure Services Limited, DCS Tower Sub LLC, Eaton, Eaton Towers (Lilongwe) Limited, Eaton Towers Ghana (M) Limited, Eaton Towers Ghana Limited, Eaton Towers Holdings Limited, Eaton Towers Kenya Limited, Eaton Towers Limited, Eaton Towers Niger S.A., Eaton Towers Uganda Limited, Essar Telecom Infrastructure, Eure-et-Loir Reseaux Mobiles SAS, GTP Acquisition Partners I LLC, GTP Acquisition Partners II LLC, GTP Acquisition Partners III LLC, GTP Costa Rica Finance LLC, GTP Infrastructure I LLC, GTP Infrastructure II LLC, GTP Infrastructure III LLC, GTP Investments LLC, GTP LATAM Holdings B.V., GTP LatAm Holdings Cooperatieve U.A., GTP Operations CR S.R.L., GTP South Acquisitions II LLC, GTP Structures I LLC, GTP Structures II LLC, GTP TRS I LLC, GTP Torres CR S.R.L., GTP Towers I LLC, GTP Towers II LLC, GTP Towers III LLC, GTP Towers IV LLC, GTP Towers IX LLC, GTP Towers V LLC, GTP Towers VII LLC, GTP Towers VIII LLC, GTPI HoldCo LLC, Ghana Tower InterCo B.V., Global Tower Assets III LLC, Global Tower Assets LLC, Global Tower Holdings LLC, Global Tower LLC, Global Tower Partners, Global Tower Services LLC, Gondola Tower Holdings LLC, Grain HoldCo LLC, Grain HoldCo Parent LLC, GrainComm I LLC, GrainComm II LLC, GrainComm III LLC, GrainComm LLC, GrainComm Marketing LLC, GrainComm V LLC, Haysville Towers LLC, IW Equipment LLC, IWD Equipment LLC, IWG Holdings LLC, IWG II Holdings LLC, IWG II LLC, IWG Miami LLC, IWG Towers Assets I LLC, IWG Towers Assets II LLC, IWG-TLA Australia Pty Ltd., IWG-TLA Canada Corp., IWG-TLA Encanto 1 LLC, IWG-TLA Encanto 2 LLC, IWG-TLA Encanto 3 LLC, IWG-TLA Encanto LLC, IWG-TLA Holdings LLC, IWG-TLA Media 2 LLC, IWG-TLA Media LLC, IWG-TLA Telecom LLC, IWL-TLA Telecom 2 LLC, Idaho Tower Company LLC, InSite (BCEC) LLC, InSite (MBTA) LLC, InSite Borrower LLC, InSite Co-Issuer Corp., InSite Guarantor LLC, InSite Hawaii LLC, InSite Issuer LLC, InSite Licensing LLC, InSite Towers Development 2 LLC, InSite Towers Development LLC, InSite Towers International 2 LLC, InSite Towers International Development LLC, InSite Towers International LLC, InSite Towers LLC, InSite Towers of Puerto Rico LLC, InSite Wireless Development LLC, InSite Wireless Group, InSite Wireless Group LLC, Insite Wireless LLC, Invisible IWG Holdings LLC, Invisible Towers LLC, JT Communications LLC, LAP Inmobiliaria Limitada, LAP Inmobiliaria S.R.L., LL B Sheet 1 LLC, Lap do Brasil Empreendimentos Imobiliarios Ltda, Lease Advisors-AU PTY LTD, Loxel SAS, MATC Digital S. de R.L. de C.V., MATC Infraestructura S. de R.L. de C.V., MATC Servicios S. de R.L. de C.V., MC New Macland Properties LLC, MCSU Properties LLC, MHB Tower Rentals of America LLC, MIP III Iron Holdings LLC, MIP III U.S. Iron LLC, Microwave Inc., Municipal Bay LLC, Municipal-Bay Holdings LLC, New Towers LLC, PCS Structures Towers LLC, R-CAL I LLC, RSA Media Inc., Repeater Communications Group I LLC, Repeater Communications Group II LLC, Repeater Communications Group III LLC, Repeater Communications Group IV LLC, Repeater Communications Group LLC, Repeater Communications Group V LLC, Repeater Communications Group VI LLC, Repeater Communications Group of New York LLC, Repeater IWG Holdings LLC, Richland Towers LLC, Signum/IWG Tower Corp., Southeast Network Access Point LLC, SpectraSite Communications, SpectraSite Communications LLC, SpectraSite LLC, T8 Ulysses Site Management LLC, TLA PR-1 LLC, TLA PR-2 LLC, Telecom Lease Advisors Management 2 LLC, Tower Management Inc., Towers of America L.L.L.P., Transcend Infrastructure Holdings Pte. Ltd., Transcend Towers Infrastructure (Philippines) Inc., Turris Sites Development Corp., Turris Sites IWG Corp, Tysons II DAS LLC, UNIsite, Uganda Tower Interco B.V., Ulysses Asset Sub I LLC, Ulysses Asset Sub II LLC, UniSite LLC, UniSite/Omnipoint FL Tower Venture LLC, UniSite/Omnipoint NE Tower Venture LLC, UniSite/Omnipoint PA Tower Venture LLC, Vangard Wireless LLC, Verus Management One LLC, Viom Networks, and Virdi IWG Holdings LLC. Bank of America Corp. is a bank and financial holding company, which engages in the provision of banking and nonbank financial services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth and Investment Management, Global Banking, Global Markets, and All Other. The Consumer Banking segment offers credit, banking, and investment products and services to consumers and small businesses. The Global Wealth and Investment Management provides client experience through a network of financial advisors focused on to meet their needs through a full set of investment management, brokerage, banking, and retirement products. The Global Banking segment deals with lending-related products and services, integrated working capital management and treasury solutions to clients, and underwriting and advisory services. The Global Markets segment includes sales and trading services, as well as research, to institutional clients across fixed-income, credit, currency, commodity, and equity businesses. The All Other segment consists of asset and liability management activities, equity investments, non-core mortgage loans and servicing activities, the net impact of periodic revisions Read More Photo: Contributed RCMP have recovered a body from Mabel Lake. According to a post on their Facebook page, Vernon North Okanagn RCMP recovered a body near the Lumby end of the lake. Police said the death is not deemed suspicious and the BC Coroners Service has now taken over of the file. Vernon teacher John Keeley went missing on Mabel Lake last week, however, the identity of the deceased has yet to be confirmed by authorities. Authorities launched an extensive search for Keeley and were able to locate his locked car and unattended kayak, but there was no sign of the 58 year old. The following companies are subsidiares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.: 2235158 Alberta Limited, A.J. Amer Agency, AHC Digital LLC, AIX Limited, AJG Coal LLC, AJG Financial Services LLC, AJG Meadows LLC, AJG North America ULC, AJG RCF LLC, AJGRMS of Louisiana LLC, ARM RE Ltda., AVIATION INSURANCE SERVICES, AVRECO, Ace IRM Insurance Broking Group, Acumus Holdings Limited, Acumus Interco Limited, Acumus Ltd, Adams & Associates International, Adaptive Marketing LLC, Adco General Corporation, Advanced Benefit Advisors, Aequus Trade Credit, Affinity Marketing Group, Ahrold Fay Rosenberg, Aires Consulting Group, Alesco Risk Management Services Limited, Alize Limited, Allied Claims Administration Inc., Alternative Market Specialists, Altman & Cronin Benefit Consultants, American Freedom Carriers Inc., American Security Services Corp., American Wholesalers Underwriting Ltd, Andrew-Anthony Insurance Agency, Anthony Hodges Consulting Limited, Antrobus Investments Limited, AquaSurance, Argentis, Argentis Financial Group Limited, Argentis Financial Management Limited, Argus Benefits, Armstrong/Robitaille/Riegle, Artex (SAC) Limited, Artex Cedar Hill, Artex Corporate Services (Malta) Limited, Artex Corporate Services Limited, Artex Holdings (Gibraltar) Limited, Artex Holdings (Malta) Limited, Artex Insurance (Guernsey) PCC Limited, Artex Insurance (Tennessee) PCCIC Inc., Artex Insurance Brokers (Malta) PCC Limited, Artex Insurance ICC Limited, Artex Intermediaries Ltd, Artex Risk Solutions (Bermuda) Ltd, Artex Risk Solutions (Cayman) Limited, Artex Risk Solutions (Gibraltar) Limited, Artex Risk Solutions (Guernsey) Limited, Artex Risk Solutions (International) Ltd, Artex Risk Solutions (Malta) Limited, Artex Risk Solutions (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Artex Risk Solutions (UK) Limited, Artex Risk Solutions Inc., Arthur J Gallagher (Norway) Holdings AS, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (AUS) Ltd, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (Bermuda) Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (Illinois), Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Insurance Brokers of California Inc., Arthur J. Gallagher (Aus) Pty Ltd, Arthur J. Gallagher (Bermuda) Holding Partnership, Arthur J. Gallagher (Life Solutions) Ltd, Arthur J. Gallagher (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Arthur J. Gallagher (U.S.) LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher (UK) Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher Asesoria S.A.C., Arthur J. Gallagher Australasia Holdings Pty Ltd., Arthur J. Gallagher Brokerage & Risk Management Services LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Broking (NZ) Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher Financial Services Professionals Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Group Quebec ULC, Arthur J. Gallagher Holdings (UK) Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher Insurance Brokers Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher Latin America LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Management (Bermuda) Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher Real Estate Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services (Hawaii) Inc., Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services Inc., Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services of Utah Inc., Arthur J. Gallagher School Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Service Company LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Services (UK) Ltd, Ashmore & Associates Insurance Agency, Atlantic Risk Management Corp., Atrex Insurance (Cayman) SPC Limited, Avantek Pty Ltd, Axe Insurance PCC Limited, BIS Insurance Services, Baker - Tillys employment benefits solutions, Ballard Benefit Works, Bankers Financial Benefits, Barmore Insurance Agency, Behnke & Co. Inc., Bellisle Pty Ltd, Belmont Associates Consultants, Belmont Insurance Holdings Limited, Belmont International, Belmont International Limited, Benefit Development Group, Benefit Management Group, BenefitLink Resource Group, Benefits Planning & Insurance Agency, Benefits Unlimited, Bennett & Shade Co., Bergvall Marine, Bergvall Marine A.S., Besselman & Little Agency, Big Savings Insurance Agency Inc., Blenheim Park Ltd, Blenheim Park Services Limited, Blue Holdings Pty Ltd, Blue Horizon Insurance Services, Blue Water Benefits, BluePeak Advisors, Blueleaf Consulting Pty Ltd., Bluewater Incorporated Cell Insurance Company, Bollinger Inc., Bollinger Insurance Services Inc., Bowen Miclette Britt & Merry of Arkansas Inc., Brendis & Brendis, Brim AB, Broker Benefit Services, Brokerage Professionals, Brown Hobbs & McMurray Insurance, Bultman/Bell Associates Inc., Burkwald & Associates, Burns-Fazzi Brock & Associates, Bushong Insurance Associates, C&B Consulting Group, CGM Gallagher Insruance Brokers (Trinidad & Tobago) Limited, CJM Solutions Inc., CMA Solutions LLC, Cairnstone Financial, California Insurance Center, Capital Bauer Insurance Agency, Capitol Benefits Group, Capsicum CRLA LLP, Capsicum Re Brasil Participacoes Ltda, Capsicum Re Latin America Corretora De Resseguros Ltda, Capsicum Reinsurance Brokers Bermuda Limited, Capsicum Reinsurance Brokers Miami Inc., Carefree Marketing Inc., Carpenter Cammack & Associates, Cashan & Co., Castle Insurance Associates, Centennial Insurance Agency, Charity First Insurance Services Inc., Charles Allen Agency, Charter Lakes Insurance Agency, Chris Schroeder Insurance, Christie-Phoenix, Cintran Claims Canada Limited, Classic Insurance Services, Cleaveland Insurance Group, Cohen & Lord Insurance Brokers, Cohn Financial Group, Coleman Group Holdings Limited, Coleman Holdings Limited, College and University Scholastic Excess Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Commercial Insurance Brokers, Complete Benefit Alliance, Complete Financial Balance, Complete Financial Balance Pty Ltd, Consolidated Casualty Specialties LLC, Construction Risk Solutions, Contego Underwriting Limited, Contego Underwriting Ltd, Continental Excess & Surplus, Convergence Risk Services Ltd, Copper Mountain Assurance Inc., Cornwall & Stevens Co., Corporate Benefit Advisors, Corporate Life Consultants, Countrywide Accident Assistance Limited, Coverdell & Company Inc., Coverdell Canada Corporation, Cowles and Connell, Craig M. Ferguson & Co., Crist Elliott Machette Insurance Services, Crombie Lockwood (NZ) Limited, Davis-Poston & Associates, Denman Consulting Services, Detlefs Johnson & Partners, DiBrina Group, Dickinson & Associates, Discount Development Services L.L.C., Discovery Benefit Solutions, Dodson-Bateman & Co., Donald P. Pipino Co. Ltd., E. S. Susanin Inc., EHE Holdings LLC, EHS Holdings Limited, Elantis Premium Funding (NZ) Limited, Elantis Premium Funding Limited, Elite Benefits Insurance Marketing Services, Employee Benefits Analysis Corp., Employee Benefits of The Carolinas, Encore Insurance & Bonding, Everett James, Evolution Risk Services Limited, Evolution Technology Services Limited, Evolution Underwriting Group, Evolution Underwriting Group Limited, Evolution Underwriting Limited, Excel Insurance Services, FYI Direct Canada Corporation, FYI Direct LLC, Farallone Pacific Insurance Services, Fenchurch Faris Limited, Fidelity Benefits & Insurance Services, Financial Profiles Inc., Finergy Solutions Pty Ltd, First Agency, First Iowa Insurance Agency, First Premium Inc., First Premium Insurance Group, Fish & Schulkamp, Fishermans Insurance Services, Foley Healthcare Limited, Fortress Financial Solutions Pty Ltd, Fortress Insurance LLC, Foundation Strategies, Fox Lawson & Associates, Franklin-Case Agency LLC, Fraser MacAndrew Ryan Limited, Friary Intermediate Limited, Fuller & O'Brien, G.S. Chapman & Associates Insurance Brokers, G.S. Levine Insurance Services, GBS (Australia) Holdings Pty Ltd, GBS Administrators Inc., GBS Insurance and Financial Services Inc., GBS Retirement Services Inc., GBS Specialty Markets LLC, GGB Finance 1 Limited, GGB Finance 2 Limited, GGB Finance 3 Limited, GGB Finance 4 Limited, GPL Assurance, GPL Assurance Inc., Gabor Insurance Services, Gale Smith & Co. Inc., Gallagher (Bermuda) Insurance Solutions Ltd., Gallagher - Grace/Mayer Insurance Agency, Gallagher Bassett Aires Inc., Gallagher Bassett Canada Inc., Gallagher Bassett Insurance Services Ltd., Gallagher Bassett International Ltd., Gallagher Bassett NZ Pty Ltd., Gallagher Bassett Services Inc. , Gallagher Bassett Services Pty Ltd., Gallagher Bassett Services Workers Compensation Victoria Pty Ltd., Gallagher Benefit Services (Canada) Group Inc., Gallagher Benefit Services (Holdings) Limited, Gallagher Benefit Services Inc., Gallagher Benefit Services Management Company Limited, Gallagher Benefit Services Pty Ltd, Gallagher Benefits Consulting Limited, Gallagher Bomford Couch Wilson, Gallagher Burgess, Gallagher Canada Acquisition Corporation, Gallagher Caribbean Group Limited, Gallagher Clean Energy LLC, Gallagher Communications Limited, Gallagher Community Clinic RPG LLC, Gallagher Consulting Ltda, Gallagher Corporate Services LLC, Gallagher Coyle, Gallagher CyberRisk, Gallagher Energy Risk Services Inc., Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC, Gallagher Holdings (UK) Limited, Gallagher Holdings Bermuda Company Limited, Gallagher Holdings Four (UK) Limited, Gallagher Holdings Three (UK) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (Barbados) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (St. Kitts & Nevis) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (St. Lucia) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (St. Vincent) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers Jamaica Limited, Gallagher International Cash Management s.r.l., Gallagher International Holdings (US) Inc., Gallagher Investment Advisors LLC, Gallagher Inwest Group, Gallagher Koster, Gallagher Lambert Group, Gallagher Madison Risk & Insurance Services, Gallagher Mauritius Holdings, Gallagher Mississippi Brokerage LLC, Gallagher RE Colombia Ltda Corredores de Reaseguros SA, Gallagher Risk & Reward Limited, Gallagher Risk Group LLC, Gallagher Risk Placements Pty Ltd, Gallagher SKS, Gallagher Service Center LLP, Gallagher-Tarantino, Galtney Group, Game Day Insurance Inc., Gardner & White Corp., Gardner Marine Agency, Garza Long Group, Gatehouse Consulting Limited, Gault Armstrong Kemble Pty Ltd, Gault Armstrong SARL, Giles Group, Giles Holdings Limited, Giles Insurance Brokers, Gillis Ellis & Baker Inc., Goodman Insurance Agency, Grandy Pratt Co., Greenseed Alternative Mangaers Platform Ltd, Grossman & Associates, Group Benefits of Arkansas, Group Insurance Associates, Gruppo Marcucci, HLG Holdings Limited, HMG-PCMS Limited, HPF Investments LLC, HR Owen Insurance Services Limited, Hagan Newkirk Financial Services, Hagedorn & Company, Hardman & Howell Benefits, Harlequin Insurance PCC Limited, Hartstein Associates Inc., Healthcare Professionals Purchasing Group LLC, Healthcare Risk Solutions, Heath Lambert Group Ltd., Heath Lambert Limited, Heath Lambert Overseas Limited, Heiser Insurance Agency, Henderson Phillips Fine Arts Insurance, Herbruck Alder & Co., Heritage Insurance Brokers (CI) Limited, Hesse & Partner AG, Hesse Consulting, Hexagon ICC Limited, Hexagon Insurance PCC Limited, Hill Chesson & Woody, Hogan Insurance Services, Home & Travel Limited, Honour Point Limited, Horseshoe Corporate Services Ltd, Horseshoe Fund Services (Cayman) Ltd, Horseshoe Fund Services Ltd, Horseshoe Fund Services USA Inc., Horseshoe ILS Services UK Ltd, Horseshoe Insurance Advisors US LLC, Horseshoe Insurance Advisory Ltd., Horseshoe Insurance Services Holdings Ltd, Horseshoe Insurance Services Holdings US Inc., Horseshoe Management (Gibraltar) Limited, Horseshoe Management (Ireland) Ltd, Horseshoe Management Ltd., Horseshoe PCC Limited, Horseshoe Re Limited, Horseshoe Services (Cayman) Ltd, Horseshoe Services (Pty) Ltd, Horton Insurance Agency, Housing Authorities Services Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Human Resource Management Systems, I-Protect Underwriting Pty Ltd, IBIS Advisors, IBS Reinsurance Singapore Pte Ltd, ILS Fund Services Ltd., ISG International, ITI Solutions, Igloo Insurance PCC Limited, Independent Benefit Services, Independent Fiduciary Services, Ink Underwriting Agencies Limited, InsSync Group Pty Ltd, Inspire Underwriting Limited, Instrat Insurance Brokers, Instrat Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd, Instrat Integration Holdco Pty Ltd, Insurance Acquisitions Holdings Limited, Insurance Associates Inc., Insurance Dialogue Limited, Insurance Dialogue Ltd., Insurance Plans Agency, Insurance Plus Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Insurance Point, Insurance Risk Managers of Missouri Inc., Insure My Villa Limited, Insure Pty Ltd, Integrated Healthcare Strategies, InterNational Insurance Group, InterPacific Underwriting Agencies, Intermountain Financial Benefits, Interstate Insurance Underwriters, JPGAC LLC, James F. Reda & Associates, James R. Weir Insurance Agency, Jenkins and Associates, Joe E. Martin Inc., John P. Woods Co. Inc., Jones Brown, Jones Brown Group Inc., Jones Brown Insurance Solutions Inc., Joseph Distel, Joseph James & Associates Insurance Agency, Just Landlords Insurance Services Ltd, KDC Associates, KRW Insurance Agency, Kahl Insurance Services, Kaler Carney Liffler & Co. Inc., Kane Group - Insurance Management Operations, Kelly Financial, Kent Kent & Tingle and RBS, Keyser Benefits Corp., Kingspark Enterprises Pty Ltd, L&R Benefits, LSG Insurance Partners, Learn About Money Limited, Lewis & Associates Insurance Brokers, Leystone Insurance & Financial, Life Plans Unlimited, Lincoln Financial Management, Longfellow Financial, Lucas Fettes Limited, Lucas Fettes and Partners Limited, Lutgert Insurance, MA Underwriting Pty Ltd, MDM Insurance Associates, MG Advanced Coal Technologies-1 LLC, MGA Insurance Services, MRS Holdings Ltd., Madison Scott & Associates, Managed Healthcare Solutions, Mannequin Insurance PCC Limited, Marchetti Robertson & Brickell Insurance, Marine Insurance Service, Martin Gordon & Jones Inc., McDowall Associates Human Resource Consultants, McIntyre Risk Management, McLean Insurance Agency, McNeary, McPherson Benefits Group, McRory & Co., Mecacem Insurance SPC Ltd, MedInsights Inc., Melton Insurance Associates, Memberworks Canada LLC, Merit Insurance, Metcom Excess, Metzler Bros. Insurance, Meyers-Reynolds & Associates, Mid America Group, Midwest Surety Services, Mike Henry Insurance Brokers, Mike Henry Insurance Brokers Limited, Mike Henry Insurance Funding Limited, Miller Buettner & Parrott, Miller-Harrison Insurance Services, Milne Alexander Pty Ltd, Minvielle & Chastanet Insurance Brokers, Monument Insurance (NZ) Limited, Monument Llc, Monument Premium Funding Limited, Mortgage Insurance Agency, Murphy Consultants, Mutual Insurance Services, NationAir Aviation Insurance, National Administration Co., National Ethics Association, National Transportation Adjusters, Nelson/Monarch Insurance Services, Nicoud Insurance Services, NiiS/Apex Group Holdings, Nonprofit Insurance Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Noraxis Capital Corp, Nordic Forsakring & Riskhantering AB, North Alabama Insurance, Nourse Insurance Brokers, O'Gorman & Young, OAMPS (UK) Limited, OAMPS Gault Armstrong Pty Ltd, OAMPS Limited, OAMPS Special Risks Ltd, Offshore Market Placements Limited, Optimum Talent, Orb Financial Services, Orb Financial Services Limited, Osprey Insurance Brokers Limited, Oval Group, Oval Healthcare Limited, Oval Insurance Broking Limited, Oval Limited, Oval Management Services Limited, Oxygen Insurance Managers, P2 Group, PEN Insurance Management Advisors Ltd, PT IBS Insurance Broking Service, Pacific Insurance Agency, Palmer Atlantic Insurance, Palmer Atlantic Insurance Ltd, Palmer Atlantic Risk Services Ltd., Park Row Associates, Parkstar Enterprises Pty Ltd, Parmia Pty Ltd, PartnerSource, Pastel Holding (NZ) Company, Pastel Holdings Pty Limited, Pastel Purchaser (NZ) Limited, Pastel Purchaser Pty Limited, Pavey Group Holdings (UK) Limited, Pavey Group Holdings Limited, Pavey Group Limited, Pearson Dunn Insurance Inc., Pen Underwriting Canada Limited, Pen Underwriting Group Pty. Ltd., Pen Underwriting Limited, Pen Underwriting Pty Ltd, Persing Dyckman & Toynbee Inc., Personal Advice Services Pty Ltd, Petty Burton Associates, Pointer Insurance Agency, Portmore Insurance Brokers (Wilshire) Limited, Portmore Insurance Brokers Limited, Potter-Holden & Co., Powell Insurance Agency, Premier Insurance Services Inc., Premier Risk Services, Premium Finance Corporation, Preston-Patterson, ProSource Financial, Professional Agents Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Professional Claims Managers, Proinova AB, Proinova Agency AB, Pronto California Agency LLC, Pronto California General Agency LLC, Pronto Florida Claims LLC, Pronto Florida General Agency LLC, Pronto Franchise LLC, Pronto General Agency Ltd, Pronto General Agency Management LLC, Pronto Holdco Inc., Pronto Holding California LLC, Pronto Holding Florida LLC, Pronto Insurance Agency of Laredo Inc., Pronto Premium Finance LLC, Property & Commercial Ltd., Property Insurance Initatives Limited, Property and Commercial Limited, Protected Insurance Company, Protection Plan Association Inc., Protek Group Limited, Providium Consulting Group, Ptarmigan Underwriting Agency Limited, Ptarmigan Underwriting UK Limited, Purple Bridge Claims Management Limited, Purple Bridge Finance Limited, Purple Bridge Group Limited, Purple Bridge Investments Limited, Purple Bridge Online Services Limited, Purple Bridge Publishing Limited, Quantum Underwriting Solutions Limited, Quillco 226 Limited, Quillco 227 Limited, R. L. Youngdahl & Associates, R.G. Speno Inc., R.W. Scobie, RA Rossborough (Guernsey) Ltd., RA Rossborough (Insurance Brokers) Ltd, REGENCY Group inc., RGA Referencing Limited, RGA Underwriting Limited, RIL Administrators (Guernsey) Ltd., RJ Dutton Inc., RSM Insurance Services Limited, Reassurance Holdings Inc., Rebholz Insurance Agency, Reid Manson Ltd., Reimbursement Services, Rentguard Limited, Reward Management Limited, Reynolds & Rodar Insurance Group, Riley & Associates, Rio 587 Limited, Rio 588 Limited, Risk & Reward Group, Risk Management Partners Limited, Risk Placement Services Inc., Risk Planners, Risk Services (NW) Limited, Risk Services (NW) Ltd., Risk Solutions Group Limited, Robert A. Schneider Agency, Robert Keith & Associates, Roberts & Roberts Insurance Service, Robinson-Adams Insurance, Rossborough Healthcare International Ltd, Rossborough Insurance (IOM) Ltd., Rossborough Insurance Services Ltd. (Jersey), S. A. Freerks & Associates, SEG Insurance Ltd, SGB-NIA Insurance Brokers, SHILLING Ltd, SKANCO International, SMERI AB, SRS Underwriting Pty Ltd, Secure Enterprises Pty Ltd, Securitas Re, Sellers Group, Sentinel Indemnity LLC, Septagon Insurance PCC Limited, Shuford Insurance Agency, Sigma II Insurance Agency, Sinclair Billard and Weld Limited, Sobieski & Bradley, Solid Benefit Guidance, Spanjers Insurance Agency, Spataro Insurance Agency, Specialised Broking Associates, Specialty Risk, Stackhouse Poland, Stackhouse Poland Bidco Limited, Stackhouse Poland Group Limited, Stackhouse Poland Holdings Limited, Stackhouse Poland Midco Limited, Stackouse Poland Limited, Stanton Group, Stark Johnson & Stinson Inc., Steel Agency, Strata Solicitors Ltd, Strategic Health Plans Corp., Strathearn Insurance Brokers, Strathearn Insurance Brokers (Qld) Trading Trust, Strathern Insurance Group Pty Ltd, Strathern Integration Holdco Pty Ltd, Strathern Unit Trust, Strong Financial Resources, Summit Insurance Group, Sunday and Associates, Sunderland Insurance Services, Super Advice Corporate Services Pty Ltd, Taylor Benefits, Texas Insurance Agency, Texas Insurance Managers, The BeneTex Group, The Buchholz Planning, The Chapman Group, The Commonwealth Consulting Group, The Daniels Group Inc., The EHE Group LLC, The EHE Insurance Agency LLC, The Eagle Insurance Agency LLC, The Eriksen Group, The Forker Company, The Gleason Agency, The Great Lakes Agency, The HR Group, The Hawk Agency, The Human Capital Group, The Lance Group, The Levitt/Kristan Co., The MW Bagnall Company, The Old Greenwich Consulting Group, The Parks Johnson Agency, The Plus Companies Inc., The Presidio Group, The Producers Choice, The Rains Group, The Splinter Group, The Titan Group, The Treiber Group, The Woodsmall Companies Inc., Title & Covenant Brokers Ltd., Title Investments Limited, Tom Sherwin Insurance Agency, Total Reward Group, Total Rewards Group (Holdings) Limited, Towle Agency, Transwestern, Tri-State General Insurance Agency, Triad Insurance Agency, Triad USA, Tribeca Strategic Advisors, Trinder & Norwood, Trip Mate, Trissel Graham & Toole, Tropp & Co., Tudor Risk Services, Tyloma Holdings Limited, Uni-Care Inc., Unison Inc., Universico Group, Unoccupied Direct Limited, V2V Holdings LLC, VEBA Service Group, Vasek Insurance Services Limited, Velo ACU LLC, Velo Holdings Inc., Verbag AG., Vertrue LLC, Victory Insurance Agency, Vincent L. Braband Insurance, Vital Benefits, Voluntary Benefits Solutions, W. E. Kingsley Co. Inc., WM. W. George & Associates, Walker Taylor Agency, Welling Associates, Wesfarmers Insurance - Insurance Brokerage Operations, Western Benefit Solutions, White & Company Insurance, Whitehaven Insurance Group, William Gallagher Associates Insurance Brokers, William H. Connolly & Co., Williams Insurance Agency Inc., Williams-Manny Insurance Group, Winn & Company Insurance Brokers, Wischmeyer Benefit Partners, Woodbrook Underwriting Agencies, Woods & Grooms, WorkCare Northwest, Worksite Communications, Y. S. Liedman & Associates, YOA Capsicum Reinsurance Broker Limited, Zenor Limited, Zuber Insurance Agency, and e3 Financial. The following companies are subsidiares of Crown: Adularia Inversiones 2010 S.L., Angleboard Sweden AB, Bates Cargo-Pak ApS, Butimove, CMB Machinery and Technology (Shanghai) Co Ltd, CROWN AP (Thailand) Company Limited, CROWN Aerosols & Promotional Nederland, CROWN Aerosols Italia Srl, CROWN Aerosols Nederland BV, CROWN Aerosols UK Limited, CROWN Americas LLC, CROWN Arabia Can Company Ltd, CROWN Asia Pacific Holdings Pte. Ltd., CROWN Asia Pacific Investments (T) Limited, CROWN Bevcan Espana S.L., CROWN Bevcan France SAS, CROWN Bevcan Slovakia s.r.o., CROWN Bevcan Turkiye Ambalaj Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, CROWN Bevcan and Closures (Thailand) Company Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans (Cambodia) Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans (Dong Nai) Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Beijing Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Changchun Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Danang Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Hangzhou Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Hanoi Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Heshan Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Hong Kong Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Huizhou Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Malaysia Sdn Bhd, CROWN Beverage Cans Nanning Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Putian Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Saigon Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Shanghai Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Sihanoukville Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Singapore Pte. Ltd., CROWN Beverage Cans Ziyang Limited, CROWN Beverage Packaging LLC, CROWN Beverage Packaging Puerto Rico Inc., CROWN Cans Ghana Limited, CROWN China Holdings (Hong Kong) Limited, CROWN Commercial Belgium BVBA, CROWN Commercial France SAS, CROWN Commercial Germany GmbH & Co. KG, CROWN Commercial Hungary Kft, CROWN Commercial Netherlands B.V., CROWN Commercial Vermogensverwaltung GmbH, CROWN Cork & Seal USA Inc., CROWN Embalagens Metalicas da Amazonia S.A., CROWN Emballage France SAS, CROWN Emirates Company Limited, CROWN Envases Mexico S.A. de C.V., CROWN Famosa S.A. de C.V., CROWN Food Packaging (Thailand) Public Company Limited, CROWN Foodcan (Hat Yai) Company Limited, CROWN Foodcan (Nakhon Pathom) Company Limited, CROWN Foodcan Germany GmbH, CROWN Foodcan GmbH, CROWN Imballaggi Italia Srl, CROWN Imgallaggi Italia Srl, CROWN Italy Finance srl, CROWN Khmer Beverage Cans Limited, CROWN Maghreb Can, CROWN Magyarorszag Csomagoloipari KFT, CROWN Metal Packaging Canada Inc., CROWN Metal Packaging Canada LP, CROWN Middle East Can Co. Ltd., CROWN Packaging (Barbados) Limited, CROWN Packaging Holdings LLC, CROWN Packaging Investment (H.K.) Limited, CROWN Packaging Ireland Ltd, CROWN Packaging Jamaica Limited, CROWN Packaging Polska Sp.z.o.o., CROWN Packaging Technology Inc., CROWN Packaging Trinidad Limited, CROWN Packaging UK Limited, CROWN Promotional Packaging UK Ltd, CROWN SIEM, CROWN Senegal, CROWN Societe Malgache d'Emballages Metalliques, CROWN Speciality Packaging BV, CROWN Speciality Packaging Investment Pte. Ltd., CROWN Specialty Packaging UK Ltd, CROWN TCP Beverage Cans Company Limited, CROWN Verpakking Belgie NV, CROWN Verpakking Nederland B.V., Caretex Asia Ltd., CarnaudMetalbox Engineering Ltd, CarnaudMetalbox Food South Africa (Pty) Limited, CarnaudMetalbox Group UK Limited, CarnaudMetalbox Overeseas Limited, CarnaudMetalbox Overseas Limited, Cierres Hermeticos S.A. DE C.V., Constar International, Crown Americas Capital Corp., Crown Americas Capital Corp. II, Crown Americas Capital Corp. III, Crown Americas Capital Corp. IV, Crown Americas Capital Corp. V, Crown Americas Capital Corp. VI, Crown Brasil Holdings Ltda., Crown Canadian Holdings ULC, Crown Closures Spain S.L., Crown Colombiana S.A., Crown Comercial de Envases S.L., Crown Commercial Italy Srl, Crown Commercial Polska Sp. z.o.o., Crown Consultants Inc., Crown Cork & Seal Company (DE) LLC, Crown Cork & Seal Company Inc., Crown Cork & Seal Deutschland Holdings GmbH, Crown Cork & Seal Receivables (DE) Corporation, Crown Cork & Seal de Portugal Embalagens S.A., Crown Cork Kuban, Crown Cork and Seal Receivables II LLC, Crown Developpement SAS, Crown European Holdings, Crown Food Espana S.A.U., Crown Foodcan Turkey Ambalaj Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Crown Hellas Can Packaging SA, Crown Heshan Trading Company Limited, Crown Holdings Italia Srl, Crown Holdings Spain S.L., Crown International Holdings B.V., Crown International Holdings Inc., Crown Luxembourg Holdings, Crown Mexican Holdings S. de R.L. de C.V., Crown Overseas Investments B.V., Crown Packaging Commercial UK Limited, Crown Packaging Distribution UK Limited, Crown Packaging European Division GmbH, Crown Packaging European Division Services SAS, Crown Packaging European Holdings GmbH, Crown Packaging Lux I S.a.r.l., Crown Packaging Lux II S.a.r.l., Crown Packaging Lux III S.a.r.l., Crown Packaging Manufacturing UK Limited, Crown Packaging Maroc, Crown Receivables III, Crown Services Iberia, Crown UK Holdings Limited, Crownway Insurance Company, Dacro B.V., EMPAQUE, Fabricas Monterrey S.A. de C.V., Form Koruyucu Ambalaj Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Foshan Continental Can Co. Limited, Foshan Crown Easy-Opening End Co. Limited, Glass & Silice S.A. DE C.V., Globoplastt s.r.o., Gunther S.A.S., Haloila Bulgaria EOOD, Interstrap B.V., Josef Kihlberg AB, Kiwiplan GmbH, Kiwiplan Inc, Lachenmeier ApS, Liljendals Bruk AB, Litec France S.A.S., Mezger Heftsysteme GmbH, Mima Films S.a.r.l., Mima Films Sprl, Mima Packaging Systems S.A.S., Mivisa, Nordic S.A.S., Norsk Signode AS, Oy M. Haloila AB, PT CROWN Beverage Cans Indonesia, Package Design and Manufacturing, Prolatamex S.A. DE C.V., Quandel Verpackungs- und Foerdertechnik GmbH, SMB Schwede Maschinenbau GmbH, SMP Schwede Maschinenbau Weischlitz GmbH, SPG Denmark, SPG France Holdings SAS, SPG Germany Service Management GmbH, SPG Industrial Packaging S.a.r.l, SPG Netherlands B.V., SPG Packaging Ireland Limited, SPG Packaging Systems GmbH, SPG Packaging UK Ltd, Scybele S.A.S., Shippers Europe S.p.r.l., Signode BVBA, Signode Brasileira Ltda, Signode Hong Kong Limited, Signode Industrial Group, Signode Industrial Group AB, Signode Industrial Group Colombia S.A.S., Signode Industrial Group GmbH, Signode Industrial Group Holdings Lux S.a.r.l., Signode Industrial Group Holdings US Inc, Signode Industrial Group Lux S.A., Signode Industrial Group Mexico, Signode Industrial Group Sweden AB, Signode International Holdings LLC, Signode International IP Holdings LLC, Signode International Investment LLC, Signode Kabushiki Kaisha, Signode Korea Inc, Signode NZ Limited, Signode Netherlands B.V., Signode Packaging (Qingdao) Co., Signode Packaging (Shanghai) Co., Signode Packaging Espana S.L., Signode Packaging Group (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Signode Packaging Group Australia Pty Ltd, Signode Packaging Group Canada ULC, Signode Packaging Group NZ, Signode Packaging Systems Limited, Signode Pickling Holding LLC, Signode Polska sp. Z.o.o., Signode Singapore Pte. Ltd., Signode Sweden Holdings AB, Signode System GmbH, Signode System Packaging GmbH & Co. KG, Signode Systems (Thailand) Ltd., Signode US IP Holdings LLC, Silice De Veracruz S.A. DE C. V., Silice Del Istmo S.A. DE C.V., Silices De Veracruz, Societe Civile Immobiliere Rousseau-Ivry, Societe Civile Immobiliere des Baquets, Societe de Participations CarnaudMetalbox, Stopak India Pvt. Ltd, Strapex Austria GmbH, Strapex Embalagem L.d.a., Strapex Holdings Limited, Strapex S.A.S., Strapex Srl, Superior Investments Holdings Pte. Ltd., Superior Multi-Packaging Limited, TopFrame LLC, V.A.C. B.V., Vichisa S.A. de C.V., and Warehouse Automation Iberia S.L.. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 29) Former President Benigno Aquino III called on the Duterte administration to be more transparent in its negotiations with China on the West Philippine Sea issue. "Pakiusap. Baka pwede ipakita ang negosasyon nila, mas maging transparent tayo dito. Para mawala ang agam agam ng mga kababayan natin. Ang kawalan ng impormasyon, medyo kung ano ano ang papasok sa kaisipan," Aquino said. (Translation: Perhaps, they can show us their negotiations to be more transparent so we can address the people's concerns. A lot of thoughts may come in people's minds with the lack of information.) The former president was among the guests during Liberal International's awarding ceremony, where Sen. Leila De Lima was bestowed the "Prize for Freedom" award. Without naming anyone, Aquino criticized a statement of an official who said that the Filipino fisherfolk are anyway permitted by China to fish in Scarborough Shoal. On June 11, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque brought fishermen from Zambales in the Palace briefing to attest that they can fish freely in Scarborough Shoal, following reports on Chinese coast guards taking their catch. "Tulad isang beses, may nabasa ako. Isang myembro ng kasalukuyang administrayon, sinabi na ngayon mas maganda na napapahintulutan na tayong mangisda sa tubig natin. Medyo hindi ako kumportable doon sa sinabing ganung statement," Aquino stressed. (Translation: Once I read a member of the current adminsitration saying it's good that Filipino fishermen are permitted to fish in our waters. I am somehow uncomfortable with that statement.) "Sa'yo ito, di ba exclusive economic zone, papahintulutan kang mangisda sa exclusive mo, parang may mali ho yata sa statement na 'yun." (Translation: It's ours, it's in our exclusive economic zone, then they will allow you to fish within your exclusive territory. There seems to be something wrong with that statement.) The former president also revealed, after the arbitration, China and the Philippines has started conducting preliminary meetings on the creation of the Code of Conduct in the West Philippine Sea. "Noong pagbaba ko sa pwesto, tapos noong arbitration, sinabi ng China na patungo na tayo doon," he said. (Translation: When I stepped down as the president, during the arbitration, China said we were heading there.) The former president wishes to know how far the Duterte administration has gone in terms of drafting the rules. "Matanong lang, andon na ang intensyon na magkikita na tayo. In 2002, may intensyon na noon. 2012 pinaalala ko sampung taon na ang tumakbo, wala pa rin tayong meeting d'yan. Nasa 2018 na tayo, papunta na nga ba talaga tayo doon na merong konkretong code of conduct?" (Translation: Let me ask, the intention was there for the two countries to meet. There was already an intention back in 2002. In 2012, I reminded that 10 years have already passed, but still we had no meetings on that. It's now 2018, are we really going to have a concrete code of conduct?) The code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the norms, responsibilities and practices governing the disputed West Philippine Sea. During a 2002 summit, China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed to set up a code of conduct in the South China Sea. Aquino said the set of rules have not materialized that year, instead, it was watered down into a Declaration of the Conduct of Parties. Aquino said there's a need to pursue the formal meetings with China to discuss and set up the binding rules. 'It's Arroyo's last term anyway' The former president also downplayed House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's return to power, saying this is his predecessor's last term in Congress. Arroyo is on her last term as a Pampanga district representative. A representative can only be elected for three consecutive terms. "May more or less, effectively, ano pa ba ang magagawa sa kongreso sa natitirang period na ito na nagbukas ang session," Aquino said. (Translation: What can be done effectively with the remaining period in the Congress when it opened? After vacating the presidency in 2010, Arroyo ran and won as the Representative of the second district of Pampanga. Despite her sickness and while under hospital arrest, Arroyo won the 2013 elections. Her bid for a third term came easy as she was unopposed during the 2016 elections. "Tanong natin dito, sana ho wala namang paspasan dito sa natitirang maiksing panahon," Aquino said. (Translation: We hope nothing will be rushed in the remaining short period.) Aquino also dismissed conspiracy theories about Arroyo eyeing to become the Prime Minister of the new federal government. "Masyado po 'atang speculative naman 'yan. Hindi pa naman nakakasiguro kung tayo ay magkakaroon ng bagong Saligang Batas," he said. (Translation: That's too speculative. It's not even certain yet if we will have a new constitution.) Aquino deferred commenting on the proposed federal constitution. However, he stressed the need to thoroughly scrutinize the draft federal charter. The former president also lauded the signing of the Bangsamoro Organic Law. Photo: The Canadian Press FILE - In this Tuesday, June 20, 2017, file photo, then-White House press secretary Sean Spicer smiles as he answers a question during a briefing at the White House, in Washington. A black man has accused the former White House press secretary of calling him a racial slur when they were students at a Rhode Island prep school. Spicer was at a book signing in Middletown on Friday, July 27 to promote his new book reflecting on his time at the press podium for President Donald Trump. Cambridge, Mass., resident Alex Lombard yelled out SpicerAos name and accused Spicer of calling him the N-word and trying to fight him when they attended Portsmouth Abbey School. A black man yelled at former White House press secretary Sean Spicer in a bookstore and accused Spicer of calling him a racial slur when they were students at a prep school decades ago. Spicer was "taken aback" by the man's "outrageous claim" and had no recollection of him or of being in school with him, his publicist said on Saturday. Spicer was at a book signing in Middletown on Friday to promote his new book reflecting on his time at the press podium for President Donald Trump. Alex Lombard, who was standing behind a small group of people waiting in line to meet Spicer and get him to sign the book, called out Spicer's name and said they went to Portsmouth Abbey School together. Spicer waved to him and said, "Hey. Yeah. How are you?" Lombard, a Newport native who now lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, then accused Spicer of calling him the N-word and trying to fight him when they were at school. "You don't remember that you tried to fight me?" Lombard asked. "But you called me a (N-word) first." A security guard approached Lombard and led him away as he kept talking: "I was 14 then. I was a scared kid then, Sean. I'm not scared to fight you now." The Providence Journal reported Saturday that Lombard said he was a member of Portsmouth Abbey's class of 1990. It said Spicer was a member of the class of 1989. Phone and email messages left by The Associated Press for the school were not immediately returned. A Newport Daily News video of the encounter doesn't show how Spicer, who was seated at a table signing books, reacted to being accused of using the racial slur. But his publicist said he was shocked by the allegation. Spicer "can't recall any incident like this happening" and was "not sure if this was just a stunt this man was pulling," Regnery Publishing publicist Lauren McCue said. She said Spicer has been in the news a lot the last couple of years and it was "a very odd time" for an accusation like this to be made. Spicer has been promoting "The Briefing: Politics, the Press, and the President," which just came out. The book paints a rosy if sometimes thorny picture of Trump, describing him as "a unicorn, riding a unicorn over a rainbow" and a man to whom the regular rules of politics don't apply. Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. is an international offshore energy company. It focuses on subsea construction, maintenance and salvage services to the offshore natural gas and oil industry. The firm also provides specialty services to the offshore energy industry, with a focus on well intervention and robotics operations. The company operates through three segments: Well Intervention, Robotics and Production Facilities. The Well Intervention segment offers vessels and related equipment that are used to perform well intervention services primarily in the Gulf of Mexico and North Sea regions. The Robotics segment involves four chartered vessels and also includes ROVs, trenchers and ROVDrills designed to complement offshore construction and well intervention services. The Production Facilities segment includes its investment in the Helix Producer I and Kommandor LLC. Helix Energy Solutions Group was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Houston, TX. Read More 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 The following companies are subsidiares of CVS Health: @Credentials Inc., ACS ACQCO CORP., ADMINCO Inc., AE Fourteen Incorporated, AHP Holdings Inc., AMC - Tennessee LLC, APS Acquisition LLC, ASCO HealthCare LLC, ASI Wings LLC, AUSHC Holdings Inc., Accendo Insurance Company, Accordant Health Services L.L.C., Active Health Management Inc., Administrative Enterprises Inc., AdvancePCS SpecialtyRx LLC, AdvanceRx.com L.L.C., Advanced Care Scripts Inc., Aetna, Aetna (Beijing) Enterprise Management Services Co. Ltd., Aetna (Shanghai) Enterprise Services Co. Ltd., Aetna ACO Holdings Inc., Aetna Asset Advisors LLC, Aetna Behavioral Health LLC, Aetna Better Health Inc., Aetna Better Health Inc., Aetna Better Health of California Inc., Aetna Better Health of Florida Inc., Aetna Better Health of Kansas Inc., Aetna Better Health of Michigan Inc., Aetna Better Health of Missouri LLC, Aetna Better Health of Nevada Inc., Aetna Better Health of North Carolina Inc., Aetna Better Health of Oklahoma Inc., Aetna Better Health of Texas Inc., Aetna Better Health of Washington Inc., Aetna Capital Management LLC, Aetna Card Solutions LLC, Aetna Corporate Services LLC, Aetna Dental Inc., Aetna Dental of California Inc., Aetna Financial Holdings LLC, Aetna Florida Inc., Aetna Global Benefits (Asia Pacific) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Bahamas) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Bermuda) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Europe) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Middle East) LLC, Aetna Global Benefits (Singapore) PTE. LTD., Aetna Global Benefits (UK) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits Limited (DIFC UAE), Aetna Global Holdings Limited, Aetna Health Holdings LLC, Aetna Health Inc., Aetna Health Insurance (Thailand) Public Company Limited, Aetna Health Insurance Company, Aetna Health Insurance Company of Europe DAC, Aetna Health Management LLC, Aetna Health and Life Insurance Company, Aetna Health of California Inc., Aetna Health of Iowa Inc., Aetna Health of Michigan Inc., Aetna Health of Ohio Inc., Aetna Health of Utah Inc., Aetna HealthAssurance Pennsylvania Inc., Aetna Holdco (UK) Limited, Aetna Holdings (Thailand) Limited, Aetna Inc., Aetna Insurance (Hong Kong) Limite, Aetna Insurance (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Aetna Insurance Company Limited, Aetna Integrated Informatics Inc., Aetna International Inc., Aetna Ireland Inc., Aetna Korea Ltd., Aetna Life & Casualty (Bermuda) Ltd., Aetna Life Assignment Company, Aetna Life Insurance Company, Aetna Medicaid Administrators LLC, Aetna Multi-Strategy 1099 Fund LLC, Aetna Network Services LLC, Aetna Partners Diversified Fund LLC, Aetna Pharmacy Management Services LLC, Aetna Resources LLC, Aetna Risk Assurance Company of Connecticut Inc., Aetna Rx Home Delivery LLC, Aetna Services (Thailand) Limited, Aetna Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Aetna Student Health Agency Inc., Aetna Ventures LLC, Aetna Workers Comp Access LLC, Alabama CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Alaska CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Allina Health and Aetna Insurance Company, Allina Health and Aetna Insurance Holding Company LLC, American Continental Insurance Company, American Drug Stores Delaware L.L.C., American Health Holding Inc., Arbor Drugs, Arizona CVS Stores L.L.C., Arkansas CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Badger Acquisition LLC, Badger Acquisition of Kentucky LLC, Badger Acquisition of Minnesota LLC, Badger Acquisition of Ohio LLC, Banner Health and Aetna Health Insurance Company, Banner Health and Aetna Health Insurance Holding Company LLC, Banner Health and Aetna Health Plan Inc., Beauty Holdings L.L.C., Best Care LTC Acquisition Company LLC, Busse CVS L.L.C., CCI Foreign S.a R.L. (R.C.S. Luxembourg), CCRx Holdings LLC, CCRx of North Carolina LLC, CHP Acquisition LLC, CP Acquisition LLC, CVS 2948 Henderson L.L.C., CVS 3268 Gilbert L.L.C., CVS 3745 Peoria L.L.C., CVS AL Distribution L.L.C., CVS AOC Corporation, CVS AOC Services L.L.C., CVS Albany L.L.C., CVS Bellmore Avenue L.L.C., CVS Care Concierge LLC, CVS Caremark Advanced Technology Pharmacy L.L.C., CVS Caremark Indemnity Ltd., CVS Caremark Part D Services L.L.C., CVS Caremark TN SUTA LLC, CVS Foreign Inc., CVS Gilbert 3272 L.L.C., CVS Health Solutions LLC, CVS Indiana L.L.C., CVS International L.L.C., CVS Kidney Care Advanced Technologies LLC, CVS Kidney Care Health Services LLC, CVS Kidney Care Home Dialysis LLC, CVS Kidney Care LLC, CVS Manchester NH L.L.C., CVS Media Exchange LLC, CVS Michigan L.L.C., CVS Orlando FL Distribution L.L.C., CVS PA Distribution L.L.C., CVS PR Center Inc., CVS Pharmacy Inc., CVS RS Arizona L.L.C., CVS Rx Services Inc., CVS SC Distribution L.L.C., CVS State Capital L.L.C., CVS TN Distribution L.L.C., CVS Transportation L.L.C., CVS Vero FL Distribution L.L.C., Campos Medical Pharmacy LLC, Canal Place LLC, Care Pharmaceutical Services LP, CareCenter Pharmacy L.L.C., Carefree Insurance Services Inc., Caremark Arizona Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Arizona Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark California Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Florida Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Florida Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Hawaii Mail Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Hawaii Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark IPA L.L.C., Caremark Illinois Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Illinois Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Irving Resource Center LLC, Caremark Kansas Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark L.L.C., Caremark Logistics LLC, Caremark Louisiana Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Maryland Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Massachusetts Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Michigan Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Minnesota Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark New Jersey Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark North Carolina Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Ohio Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Pennsylvania Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark PhC L.L.C., Caremark Puerto Rico L.L.C., Caremark Puerto Rico Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Redlands Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Repack LLC, Caremark Rx L.L.C., Caremark Tennessee Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Texas Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Texas Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Ulysses Holding Corp., Caremark Washington Specialty Pharmacy LLC, CaremarkPCS Alabama Mail Pharmacy LLC, CaremarkPCS Health L.L.C., CaremarkPCS L.L.C., Central Rx Services LLC, Claims Administration Corp., Cofinity Inc., Compscript LLC, Connecticut CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Continental Life Insurance Company of Brentwood Tennessee, Continuing Care Rx LLC, Coram Alternate Site Services Inc., Coram Clinical Trials Inc., Coram Healthcare Corporation of Alabama, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Florida, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Greater D.C., Coram Healthcare Corporation of Greater New York, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Indiana, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Massachusetts, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Mississippi, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Nevada, Coram Healthcare Corporation of North Texas, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Northern California, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Southern California, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Southern Florida, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Utah, Coram LLC, Coram Rx LLC, Coram Specialty Infusion, Coram Specialty Infusion Services L.L.C., Coventry Consumer Advantage Inc., Coventry Health Care National Accounts Inc., Coventry Health Care National Network Inc., Coventry Health Care Workers Compensation Inc., Coventry Health Care of Illinois Inc., Coventry Health Care of Kansas Inc., Coventry Health Care of Missouri Inc., Coventry Health Care of Nebraska Inc., Coventry Health Care of Virginia Inc., Coventry Health Care of West Virginia Inc., Coventry Health Plan of Florida Inc., Coventry Health and Life Insurance Company, Coventry HealthCare Management Corporation, Coventry Prescription Management Services Inc., Coventry Rehabilitation Services Inc., Coventry Transplant Network Inc., D & R Pharmaceutical Services LLC, D.A.W. LLC, Delaware CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Delaware Physicians Care Incorporated, Digital eHealth LLC, District of Columbia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., E.T.B. INC., Echo Merger Sub Inc., Eckerd Corporation of Florida Inc., Employee Assistance Services LLC, Enloe Drugs LLC, Enterprise Patient Safety Organization LLC, EntrustRX, Evergreen Pharmaceutical LLC, Evergreen Pharmaceutical of California Inc., Express Pharmacy Services of PA L.L.C., FOCUS HealthCare Management Inc., First Health Group Corp., First Health Life & Health Insurance Company, First Script Network Services Inc., Florida Health Plan Administrators LLC, Garfield Beach CVS L.L.C., Generation Health L.L.C., Geneva Woods Health Services LLC, Geneva Woods LTC Pharmacy LLC, Geneva Woods Management LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Alaska LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Washington LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Wyoming LLC, Geneva Woods Retail Pharmacy LLC, Georgia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., German Dobson CVS L.L.C., Goodhealth Worldwide (Asia) Limited, Goodhealth Worldwide (Global) Limited, Goodyear CVS L.L.C., Grand St. Paul CVS L.L.C., Grandview Pharmacy LLC, Group Dental Service Inc., Group Dental Service of Maryland Inc., Health Care Management Co. Ltd., Health Data & Management Solutions Inc., Health Re Inc., Health and Human Resource Center Inc., HealthAssuance Pennsylvania Inc., Healthagen LLC, Highland Park CVS L.L.C., Holiday CVS L.L.C., Home Care Pharmacy LLC, Home Pharmacy Services LLC, Hook-SupeRx L.L.C., Horizon Behavioral Services LLC, Idaho CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., IlliniCare Health, Indian Health Organisation Private Limited, Innovation Health Holdings LLC, Innovation Health Insurance Company, Innovation Health Plan Inc., Interlock Pharmacy Systems LLC, Iowa CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., JHC Acquisition LLC, Kansas CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Kentucky CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., LCPS Acquisition LLC, Langsam Health Services LLC, Lo-Med Prescription Services LLC, Lobos Acquisition LLC, Longs Drug Stores, Longs Drug Stores California L.L.C., Louisiana CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., MHHP Acquisition Company LLC, MHNet Life and Health Insurance Company, MHNet Specialty Services LLC, MHNet of Florida Inc., Managed Care Coordinators Inc., Managed Healthcare LLC, Martin Health Services LLC, Maryland CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Med World Acquisition Corp., Medical Arts Health Care LLC, Medical Examinations of New York P.C., Melville Realty Company Inc., MemberHealth LLC, Mental Health Associates Inc., Mental Health Network of New York IPA Inc., Meritain Health Inc., Merwin Long Term Care LLC, MetraComp Inc., Minor Health Enterprise Co Ltd., MinuteClinic, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Alabama L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Arizona LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Florida LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Georgia LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Hawaii L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Illinois LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Kentucky L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Louisiana L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Maine L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Maryland LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Massachusetts LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Nebraska L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of New Hampshire L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of New Mexico L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Ohio LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Oklahoma LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Oregon LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Pennsylvania LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Rhode Island LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of South Carolina L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Texas LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Utah L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Virginia LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Washington LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Wisconsin L.L.C., MinuteClinic L.L.C., MinuteClinic Online Diagnostic Services LLC, MinuteClinic Physician Practice of Texas, MinuteClinic Telehealth Services LLC, Mississippi CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Missouri CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Montana CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., NCS Healthcare LLC, NCS Healthcare of Illinois LLC, NCS Healthcare of Iowa LLC, NCS Healthcare of Kansas LLC, NCS Healthcare of Kentucky Inc. (Oh, NCS Healthcare of Montana LLC, NCS Healthcare of New Mexico LLC, NCS Healthcare of Ohio LLC, NCS Healthcare of South Carolina LLC, NCS Healthcare of Tennessee LLC, NCS Healthcare of Wisconsin LLC, NIV Acquisition LLC, Navarro Discount Pharmacy, Nebraska CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., NeighborCare Holdings Inc., NeighborCare Inc., NeighborCare Pharmacy Services Inc., NeighborCare Services Corporation, NeighborCare of Indiana LLC, NeighborCare of Virginia LLC, New Jersey CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Niagara Re Inc., North Carolina CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., North Shore Pharmacy Services LLC, NovoLogix LLC, OCR Services LLC, Ocean Acquisition Sub L.L.C., Ohio CVS Stores L.L.C., Oklahoma CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Omnicare, Omnicare Holding Company, Omnicare Inc., Omnicare Indiana Partnership Holding Company LLC, Omnicare Pharmacies of Pennsylvania East LLC, Omnicare Pharmacies of Pennsylvania West LLC, Omnicare Pharmacies of the Great Plains Holding LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy and Supply Services LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy of Tennessee LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy of the Midwest LLC, Omnicare Property Management LLC, Omnicare of Nebraska LLC, Omnicare of Nevada LLC, Omnicare of New York LLC, Oregon CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., PE Holdings LLC, PHPSNE Parent Corporation, PP Acquisition Company LLC, PRN Pharmaceutical Services LP, PT Aetna Management Consulting, Pamplona Saude e Beleza LTDA, Part D Holding Company L.L.C., PayFlex Holdings Inc., PayFlex Systems USA Inc., Pennsylvania CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Performax Inc., Pharmacy Associates of Glenn Falls LLC, Pharmacy Consultants LLC, Phoenix Data Solutions LLC, Precision Benefit Services Inc., Prime Net Inc., ProCare Pharmacy Direct L.L.C., ProCare Pharmacy L.L.C., Prodigy Health Group Inc., Professional Risk Management Inc., Pt. Aetna Global Benefits Indonesia, Puerto Rico CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Red Oak Sourcing LLC, Resources for Living LLC, Rhode Island CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Roeschens Healthcare LLC, RxAmerica, Schaller Anderson Medical Administrators Incorporated, Scrip World LLC, Sheffield Avenue CVS L.L.C., Shore Pharmaceutical Providers LLC, Silverscript Insurance Company, Soma Intimates, South Carolina CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., South Wabash CVS L.L.C., Specialized Pharmacy Services LLC, Spinnaker Bidco Limited, Spinnaker Topco Limited, Stadtlander Drug Company, Stadtlander Pharmacy, Sterling Healthcare Services LLC, Superior Care Pharmacy LLC, Sutter Health and Aetna Administrative Services LLC, Sutter Health and Aetna Insurance Company, Sutter Health and Aetna Insurance Holding Company LLC, T2 Medical Inc., TCPI Acquisition LLC, TargetPharmacy, Tennessee CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Texas Health + Aetna Health Insurance Company, Texas Health + Aetna Health Insurance Holding Company LLC, Texas Health + Aetna Health Plan Inc., The Vasquez Group Inc., Thomas Phoenix CVS L.L.C., Three Forks Apothecary LLC, U.S Healthcare Holdings LLC, U.S. Healthcare Properties Inc., UAC Holding Inc., UC Acquisition LLC, UNI-Care Health Services of Maine LLC, Universal American - Medicare Part D Business, Utah CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., VAPS Acquisition Company LLC, Value Health Care Services LLC, Vermont CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Virginia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Virtual Home Healthcare L.L.C., Warm Springs Road CVS L.L.C., Washington CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Washington Lamb CVS L.L.C., Weber Medical Systems LLC, Wellpartner LLC, West Virginia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Westhaven Services Co LLC, Williamson Drug Company LLC, Wisconsin CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Woodward Detroit CVS L.L.C., Work and Family Benefits Inc., ZS Acquisition Company LLC, Zinc Health Services LLC, Zinc Health Ventures LLC, bSwift LLC, and iTriage LLC. Embraer SA engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of aircraft and its parts for commercial, defense, and executive aviation sectors. It operates through the following segments: Commercial Aviation, Defense and Security, Executive Jet Business, Service & Support and Others. The Commercial Aviation segment is involved in the development, production, and sale of commercial jets; and the provision of support services to regional aviation and aircraft leasing. The Defense and Security segment engages in research, development, production, modification, and support for defense and security aircrafts, as well as other integrated products and solutions including satellites and information and communication systems. The Executive Jet Business segment deals with the development, manufacture, and sale of executive jets. The Service & Support segment provides after-service solutions and support to its customers through a comprehensive portfolio of innovative and competitive solutions to ensure operational efficiency of products manufactured by Embraer and by other aircraft manufacturers, extending the useful life of commercial, executive and defense aircraft. The Others segment refers to Read More Standard Chartered PLC, together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking products and services primarily in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East. The company operates through Corporate & Institutional Banking, Retail banking, Commercial Banking, and Private Banking segments. It offers retail products, such as deposits, savings, mortgages, credit cards, and personal loans; wealth management products and services that include investments, portfolio management, insurance and advices, and planning services; and transaction banking services, such as cash management, payments and transactions, and trade financing products. The company also provides corporate finance products and services that comprise structured and project financing, strategic advising, and mergers and acquisitions; and financial market services, such as investment, risk management, debt capital markets, and securities services. In addition, it offers digital banking solutions. The company serves corporations, financial institutions, governments, investors, small businesses, and individuals. It operates through approximately 1,026 branches. The company was founded in 1853 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom. Read More The pomp and pageantry of military bands is on full display this weekend during the fifth annual Okanagan Military Tattoo. The Tattoo kicked things off with a show Saturday evening with thousands of people in attendance. A second show takes place this afternoon at 2 p.m. in Kal Tire Place. The term Tattoo evolved from a European tradition dating back to the 17th century when Low Country innkeepers would cry Doe den tap toe! or Turn off the taps! as the fifes and drums of the local regiment signalled a return to quarters. Today, the word Tattoo refers to a ceremonial performance of military music by massed bands. Each Tattoo is influenced by the culture of the country they represent. The Okanagan Military Tattoo is ranked as the largest Tattoo in Western Canada and organizer Norm Crerar said one of the important aspects of the event is to honour veterans past and present. We do a special tribute to the veterans and it's very important to us and it's important to the people and this year the Salvation Army Gospel Band is going to anchor that segment, said Crerar. Lt. Stephan Reid with the Vernon Salvation Army said this is the first time the 30-piece brass band from the Lower Mainland will perform in Vernon. We are also going to be having a non-denominational church service on Sunday morning at Kal Tire Place at 10 a.m. where the community is welcome to come out, said Reid. We will be taking up a free-will love offering for the local food bank. The Bank of New York Mellon pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 2.29%. The Bank of New York Mellon does not yet have a strong track record of dividend growth. The dividend payout ratio of The Bank of New York Mellon is 33.92%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%. Based on earnings estimates, The Bank of New York Mellon will have a dividend payout ratio of 29.44% next year. This indicates that The Bank of New York Mellon will be able to sustain or increase its dividend. View The Bank of New York Mellon's dividend history. Southcross Energy Partners, L.P., together with its subsidiaries, provides natural gas gathering, processing, treating, compression, and transportation services in the United States. The company also offers natural gas liquid (NGL) fractionation and transportation services. In addition, it supplies natural gas to industrial, commercial, and power generation customers, as well as local distribution companies. The company operates 2 gas processing plants, 1 fractionation plant, and gathering and transportation pipelines in South Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama. Southcross Energy Partners GP, LLC operates as a general partner of Southcross Energy Partners, L.P. The company was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Southcross Energy Partners, L.P. is a subsidiary of Southcross Holdings LP. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of General Dynamics: 42SIX LLC, ARMA Global Corporation, Advanced Technical Products, Aeromil (Australia) Pty Ltd, Aeromil Aircraft Engineering Pty Ltd, Aeromil Aviation Services Pty Ltd, Aeromil IT Services Pty Ltd, Aeromil Marine Pty Ltd, Aeromil Pacific Pty Ltd, American Overseas Marine Company LLC, Anteon International Corporation, Applied Physical Sciences, Applied Physical Sciences Corp., Ascend Intelligence, Australian Avionics Pty Ltd, Autonomic Resources LLC, Avion Logistics Limited, Avjet Corporation, AxleTech International, Axsys, BATH IRON WORKS CORPORATION, BP-HP Pte Limited, Bath Iron Works, Bath Iron Works Australia Corporation, Bath Iron Works Canada LLC, Bluefin Robotics Corporation, Blueprint Technologies Inc., Braintree I Maritime Corp., Braintree II Maritime Corp., Braintree III Maritime Corp., Braintree IV Maritime Corp., Braintree V Maritime Corp., Buccaneer Computer Systems & Service Inc., CSC Computer Sciences Venezuela S.A., CSRA, CSRA (Costa Rica) S.A., CSRA (Guyana) Inc., CSRA (Middle East) LLC, CSRA Argentina S.R.L., CSRA BH d.o.o., CSRA Bahamas Limited, CSRA Bahrain S.P.C., CSRA Belgium SPRL, CSRA Bolivia S.R.L., CSRA Brazil Servicos de Tecnologia Ltda., CSRA Canada Inc., CSRA Caribbean Inc., CSRA Chile SpA, CSRA Colombia SAS, CSRA Commerce 2010 LLC, CSRA Consular Services Holding Company LLC, CSRA Consular Services Inc., CSRA France SARL, CSRA Guatemala Solutions Sociedad Anonima, CSRA Honduras Sociedad Anonima, CSRA Inc., CSRA Information Systems LLC, CSRA Information Technology Spain SL, CSRA Ireland Limited, CSRA Italy S.R.L, CSRA Kosovo L.L.C., CSRA LATAM LLC, CSRA LLC, CSRA Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., CSRA Netherlands B.V., CSRA Nicaragua Sociedad Anonima, CSRA Panama Inc., CSRA Peru S.R.L., CSRA Senegal SARL, CSRA South Africa (Pty) Ltd, CSRA State and Local Solutions LLC, CSRA Systems & Solutions LLC, CSRA Trinidad & Tobago Limited, CSRA Turkey Bilisim Teknolojileri Limited Sirketi, CSRA Uruguay S.R.L, CSRA Visa Services Israel Ltd., CSRAIT - Information Services Portugal Unipessoal LDA, Centauri Solutions LLC, Command System, Computing Devices International, Concord I Maritime Corporation, Concord II Maritime Corporation, Concord III Maritime Corporation, Concord IV Maritime Corporation, Concord V Maritime Corporation, Convair Aircraft Corporation, Convair Corporation, Creative Technology, Customer Services Ecuador CSRA S.A., Devcor, Diamond Fortress Technologies, DynPort Vaccine Company LLC, EB Groton Engineering Inc., EBV Explosives Environmental, ELCS-CZ s.r.o., Eagle Enterprise Inc., Earl Industries - Ship Repair and Coatings Division, Ebv Explosives Environmental Company, Electric Boat - Australia LLC, Electric Boat - UK LLC, Electric Boat Canada LLC, Electric Boat Corporation, Electric Boat France LLC, Electrocom Inc., Engineering Technology, Expro Finance Inc., FBD Fahrzeug und Bremsendienst GmbH, FC Business Systems, Fidelis Cybersecurity, Force Protection, Force Protection Europe Limited, Force Protection Inc., ForeSight Technology Services LLC, Freeman United Coal Mining Company LLC, GD Brazil Holdings LLC, GD European Land Systems - Steyr GmbH, GD European Land Systems Holding GmbH, GDOTS Services Corporation, GM GDLS Defense Group L.L.C., GPS Source Inc., GTE Government Systems, GWA-Datatrac FAST LLC, Galaxy Aerospace Company, Gayston Corporation - Defense Operations, General Dynamics - OTS (Global) Inc., General Dynamics AIS Australia Pty Ltd, General Dynamics Canadian Finance Inc., General Dynamics Canadian Holdings Inc., General Dynamics Commercial Cyber Services LLC, General Dynamics European Finance Limited, General Dynamics European Land Systems - Austria GmbH, General Dynamics European Land Systems - Bridge Systems GmbH, General Dynamics European Land Systems - Czech s.r.o., General Dynamics European Land Systems - Denmark ApS, General Dynamics European Land Systems - Deutschland GmbH, General Dynamics European Land Systems - FWW GmbH, General Dynamics European Land Systems - Mowag GmbH, General Dynamics European Land Systems Romania S.R.L., General Dynamics European Land Systems S.L., General Dynamics Global Force LLC, General Dynamics Global Holdings Limited, General Dynamics Global Imaging Technologies Inc., General Dynamics Government Satellite Services LLC, General Dynamics Government Systems Corporation, General Dynamics Government Systems Overseas Corporation, General Dynamics Information Technology Canada Limited, General Dynamics Information Technology Inc., General Dynamics Information Technology Limited, General Dynamics Installation Services LLC, General Dynamics International Corporation, General Dynamics Itronix LLC, General Dynamics Land Systems - Australia Pty. Ltd., General Dynamics Land Systems - Canada Corporation, General Dynamics Land Systems - Canada Services Inc., General Dynamics Land Systems - Canadian Services Limited, General Dynamics Land Systems - Force Protection Inc., General Dynamics Land Systems Customer Service & Support Company, General Dynamics Land Systems Inc., General Dynamics Limited, General Dynamics Marine Systems Inc., General Dynamics Mission Systems Inc., General Dynamics Mission Systems International Limited, General Dynamics Mission Systems Overseas Company LLC, General Dynamics Motion Control LLC, General Dynamics OTS (Aerospace) Inc., General Dynamics OTS (California) Inc., General Dynamics OTS (DRI) Inc., General Dynamics OTS (Niceville) Inc., General Dynamics OTS (Pennsylvania) Inc., General Dynamics One Source LLC, General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems - Canada Inc., General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems - Canada Valleyfield Inc., General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems - Simunition Operations Inc., General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems Inc., General Dynamics Overseas Systems and Services Corporation, General Dynamics Properties Inc., General Dynamics Robotic Systems Inc., General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies Inc., General Dynamics Satcom Technologies Asia Private Limited, General Dynamics Satellite Communication Services LLC, General Dynamics Saudi Holdings S.L., General Dynamics Shared Resources LLC, General Dynamics Support Services Company, General Dynamics Swiss Financial Management Limited, General Dynamics United Kingdom Limited, General Dynamics Worldwide Holdings Inc., General Dynamics-OTS Inc., General Motors Defense, Gulfstream 100 Holdings LLC, Gulfstream Aerospace, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation (CA), Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation (DE), Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation (GA), Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation (OK), Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation of Texas, Gulfstream Aerospace Hong Kong Limited, Gulfstream Aerospace LLC, Gulfstream Aerospace LP, Gulfstream Aerospace Ltd., Gulfstream Aerospace Services Corporation, Gulfstream Aerospace Sociedad de Responssabilidad Limitada de CapitalVariable (S. de R.L. de C.V.), Gulfstream Do Brasil Servicos De Suporte E Manutencao A Aeronaves Ltda., Gulfstream International Corporation, Gulfstream Leasing LLC, Gulfstream Product Support Corporation, Gulfstream Services Corporation, Gulfstream Tennessee Corporation, Gulfstream-California Inc., Hawker Pacific (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Hawker Pacific Aircraft Management Pte Ltd, Hawker Pacific Airservices Limited, Hawker Pacific Airservices Pvt Ltd, Hawker Pacific Asia Holdings Pte Ltd, Hawker Pacific Asia Pte Ltd, Hawker Pacific Australia Pty Ltd, Hawker Pacific Aviation Services Pty Ltd, Hawker Pacific NZ Limited, Hawker Pacific Pty Ltd, IPWireless, IPWireless PTE. Limited, Information Services Consulting Limited, Interiores Aereos S.A. de C.V., International Manufacturing Technologies Inc., Itronix, Janteq Australia PTY Limited, Janteq Corp., Jet Aviation, Jet Aviation (Asia Pacific) Pte. Ltd., Jet Aviation (Bermuda) Ltd., Jet Aviation (Hong Kong) Ltd., Jet Aviation (Malaysia) SDN BHD, Jet Aviation 125 Services LLC, Jet Aviation AG, Jet Aviation Brazil Holdings Inc., Jet Aviation Business Jets (Hong Kong) Limited, Jet Aviation Business Jets AG, Jet Aviation Business Jets FZCO, Jet Aviation California LLC, Jet Aviation Dulles LLC, Jet Aviation Flight Services Inc., Jet Aviation France SAS, Jet Aviation Holding GmbH, Jet Aviation Holdings USA Inc., Jet Aviation Houston Inc., Jet Aviation International Inc., Jet Aviation Malaga SA, Jet Aviation Management AG, Jet Aviation Netherlands B.V., Jet Aviation Savannah Holding LLC, Jet Aviation Services GmbH, Jet Aviation St. Louis Inc., Jet Aviation Teterboro LP, Jet Aviation Texas Inc., Jet Aviation of America Inc., Jet Aviation/Palm Beach Inc., Jet Professionals LLC, Kylmar, Longreach Energy LLC, MAYA Viz, Maricom Systems Incorporated, Material Service Resources Company LLC, Matthews Land Company, Mediaware International, Mediaware International Pty Ltd, Metro Machine, Metro Machine co, Midwest Properties Sales LLC, NASSCO, NASSCO Holdings Incorporated, NES Associates LLC, National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, Network Connectivity Solutions Corp., Newberry Holdings LLC, OOO Jet Aviation Vnukovo, Open Kernel Labs, Page Europa Srl, Patriot I Shipping Corp., Patriot II Shipping Corp., Patriot IV Shipping Corp., Plane 79 LLC, Praxis Engineering Technologies LLC, PrimeX Technologies, Prodelin India Private Limited, Proyectos Prohumane Mexico S.A. de C.V., Quincy Maritime Corporation III, Raven Acquisitions LLC, SENTECH INC., SRA International Inc., Saco Defense, Santa Barbara Sistemas S.A., Savannah Air Center LLC, Signal Solutions LLC, Southern Illinois Recovery Inc., Spectrum Astro, St. Marks Powder Inc., Stabilo Pty Ltd, Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeug AG & Co KG, Sydney Jet Charter Pty Ltd, Tadpole Computer, Tecnologias Internacionales de Manufactura S.A. de C.V., Tenacity Solutions Incorporated, The Depth of Ideas for General Trading LLC, TriPoint Global Communications, Vangent, Vangent Servicios de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Veridian, Vertex Antennentechnik GmbH, ViPS, Vulnerability Research Labs LLC, and Weco LLC. GlaxoSmithKline Plc is a healthcare company, which engages in the research, development, and manufacture of pharmaceutical medicines, vaccines, and consumer healthcare products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceuticals; Pharmaceuticals R&D; Vaccines and Consumer Healthcare. The Pharmaceuticals segment focuses on developing medicines in respiratory and infectious diseases, oncology, and immuno-inflammation. The Pharmaceuticals R&D segment focuses on science related to the immune system, the use of human genetics and advanced technologies, and is driven by the multiplier effect of Science x Technology x Culture. The Vaccines segment produces pediatric and adult vaccines to prevent a range of infectious diseases including, hepatitis A and B, diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough, measles, mumps and rubella, polio, typhoid, influenza, and bacterial meningitis. The Consumer Healthcare segment develops and markets brands in the oral health, pain relief, respiratory, nutrition and gastro intestinal, and skin health categories. The company was founded in 1715 and is headquartered in Middlesex, the United Kingdom. Read More Augusta Gold Corp., a junior exploration company, engages in the acquisition and exploration of mineral properties in the United States. It primarily explores for gold, silver, and other metals. The company holds interests in the Bullfrog gold project located in the north-west of Las Vegas, Nevada. It also owns, controls, or has acquired mineral rights on Federal patented and unpatented mining claims in the state of Nevada for the purpose of exploration and potential development of metals on a total of approximately 7,800 acres of land. The company was formerly known as Bullfrog Gold Corp. and changed its name to Augusta Gold Corp. in January 2021. Augusta Gold Corp. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Banco Santander: 2 & 3 Triton Limited, A & L CF (Guernsey) Limited (f), A & L CF June (2) Limited, A & L CF June (3) Limited, A & L CF March (5) Limited, A & L CF September (4) Limited, AFB SAM Holdings S.L., ALIL Services Limited (b), AN (123) Limited, ANITCO Limited, Abbey Business Services (India) Private Limited, Abbey Covered Bonds (LM) Limited, Abbey National, Abbey National Beta Investments Limited, Abbey National Business Office Equipment Leasing Limited, Abbey National International Limited, Abbey National Nominees Limited, Abbey National PLP (UK) Limited, Abbey National Property Investments, Abbey National Treasury Services Investments Limited, Abbey National Treasury Services Overseas Holdings, Abbey National UK Investments, Abbey Stockbrokers (Nominees) Limited, Abbey Stockbrokers Limited, Ablasa Participaciones S.L., Administracion de Bancos Latinoamericanos Santander S.L., Aduro S.A., Aevis Europa S.L., Afisa S.A., Albert., Aljardi SGPS Lda., Alliance & Leicester, Alliance & Leicester Cash Solutions Limited, Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank Limited, Alliance & Leicester Investments (Derivatives) Limited, Alliance & Leicester Investments (No.2) Limited, Alliance & Leicester Investments Limited, Alliance & Leicester Limited, Alliance & Leicester Personal Finance Limited, Altamira Santander Real Estate S.A., Alternative Leasing FIL, Amazonia Trade Limited, Amherst Pierpont, Andaluza de Inversiones S.A., Aquanima Brasil Ltda., Aquanima Chile S.A., Aquanima Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Aquanima S.A., Arcaz - Sociedade Imobiliaria Portuguesa Lda., Argenline S.A. (b), Asto Digital Limited, Athena Corporation Limited, Atual - Fundo de Invest Multimercado Credito Privado Investimento no Exterior, Atual Servicos de Recuperacao de Creditos e Meios Digitais S.A., Autodescuento S.L., Autohaus24 GmbH, Auttar HUT Processamento de Dados Ltda., Aviacion Antares A.I.E., Aviacion Britanica A.I.E., Aviacion Centaurus A.I.E., Aviacion Comillas S.L. Unipersonal, Aviacion Intercontinental A.I.E., Aviacion Laredo S.L., Aviacion Oyambre S.L. Unipersonal, Aviacion Real A.I.E., Aviacion Santillana S.L., Aviacion Suances S.L., Aviacion Triton A.I.E., Aymore Credito Financiamento e Investimento S.A., BEN Beneficios e Servicos S.A., BRS Investments S.A., BZW Bank, Banca PSA Italia S.p.A., Banco Bandepe S.A., Banco Madesant - Sociedade Unipessoal S.A., Banco PSA Finance Brasil S.A., Banco Popular, Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A., Banco Santander (Mexico) S.A. Institucion de Banca Multiple Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico como Fiduciaria del Fideicomiso 100740, Banco Santander (Mexico) S.A. Institucion de Banca Multiple Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico como Fiduciaria del Fideicomiso 2002114, Banco Santander (Mexico) S.A. Institucion de Banca Multiple Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico como Fiduciaria del Fideicomiso GFSSLPT, Banco Santander - Chile, Banco Santander Consumer Portugal S.A., Banco Santander International, Banco Santander International SA, Banco Santander Mexico S.A. Institucion de Banca Multiple Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico, Banco Santander Peru S.A., Banco Santander Rio S.A., Banco Santander S.A., Banco Santander Totta S.A., Banco Santander de Negocios Colombia S.A., Banco de Albacete S.A., Bansa Santander S.A., CCAP Auto Lease Ltd., Canyon Multifamily Impact Fund IV LLC, Capital Street Delaware LP, Capital Street Holdings LLC, Capital Street REIT Holdings LLC, Capital Street S.A., Carfax (Guernsey) Limited (f), Carfinco Financial Group, Carfinco Financial Group Inc., Carfinco Inc., Casa de Bolsa Santander S.A. de C.V. Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico, Cater Allen Holdings Limited, Cater Allen International Limited, Cater Allen Limited, Cater Allen Lloyd's Holdings Limited, Cater Allen Syndicate Management Limited, Centro de Capacitacion Santander A.C., Certidesa S.L., Chrysler Capital Auto Funding I LLC, Chrysler Capital Auto Funding II LLC, Chrysler Capital Auto Receivables LLC, Chrysler Capital Master Auto Receivables Funding 2 LLC, Chrysler Capital Master Auto Receivables Funding 4 LLC, Chrysler Capital Master Auto Receivables Funding LLC, Cobranza Amigable S.A.P.I. de C.V., Community Development and Affordable Housing Fund LLC (g), Compagnie Generale de Credit Aux Particuliers - Credipar S.A., Compagnie Pour la Location de Vehicules - CLV, Comunidad Laboral Trabajando Argentina S.A., Comunidad Laboral Trabajando Iberica S.L. Unipersonal en liquidacion (b), Consulteam Consultores de Gestao Lda., Consumer Lending Receivables LLC, Crawfall S.A. (b), Cantabra de Inversiones S.A., Cantabro Catalana de Inversiones S.A., Darep Designated Activity Company, Decarome S.A.P.I. de C.V., Deva Capital Advisory Company S.L., Deva Capital Holding Company S.L., Deva Capital Investment Company S.L., Deva Capital Management Company S.L., Deva Capital Servicer Company S.L., Digital Procurement Holdings N.V., Diners Club Spain S.A., Direccion Estratega S.C., Dirgenfin S.L. en liquidacion (b), Ebury, El Corte Ingles, Elavon Mexico, Electrolyser S.A. de C.V., Entidad de Desarrollo a la Pequena y Micro Empresa Santander Consumo Peru S.A., Erestone S.A.S., Esfera Fidelidade S.A., Evidence Previdencia S.A., Financeira El Corte Ingles Portugal S.F.C. S.A., Financiera El Corte Ingles E.F.C. S.A., Finsantusa S.L. Unipersonal, First National Motor Business Limited, First National Motor Contracts Limited, First National Motor Facilities Limited, First National Motor Finance Limited, First National Motor Leasing Limited, First National Motor plc, First National Tricity Finance Limited, Fondos Santander S.A. Administradora de Fondos de Inversion (en liquidacion) (b), Fortensky Trading Ltd., Fosse Funding (No.1) Limited, Fosse Master Issuer plc, Fosse Trustee (UK) Limited, GTS El Centro Equity Holdings LLC, GTS El Centro Project Holdings LLC, Gamma Sociedade Financeira de Titularizacao de Creditos S.A., Gesban Mexico Servicios Administrativos Globales S.A. de C.V., Gesban Santander Servicios Profesionales Contables Limitada, Gesban Servicios Administrativos Globales S.L., Gesban UK Limited, Gestion de Instalaciones Fotovoltaicas S.L. Unipersonal, Gestion de Inversiones JILT S.A., Gestora de Procesos S.A. en liquidacion (b), Getnet Adquirencia e Servicos para Meios de Pagamento S.A., Global Vosgos S.L. Unipersonal, Grupo Empresarial Santander S.L., Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico S.A. de C.V., Grupo Financiero Santander SAB de CV, Guaranty Car S.A. Unipersonal, HQ Mobile Limited, Hispamer Renting S.A. Unipersonal, Holbah II Limited, Holbah Santander S.L. Unipersonal, Holmes Funding Limited, Holmes Master Issuer plc, Holmes Trustees Limited, Hyundai Capital Bank Europe GmbH, Iberica de Compras Corporativas S.L., Independence Community Bank Corp., Insurance Funding Solutions Limited, Interfinance Holanda B.V., Inversiones Capital Global S.A. Unipersonal, Inversiones Maritimas del Mediterraneo S.A., Isla de los Buques S.A., Klare Corredora de Seguros S.A., Landcompany 2020 S.L., Langton Funding (No.1) Limited, Langton Mortgages Trustee (UK) Limited, Langton Securities (2008-1) plc, Langton Securities (2010-1) PLC, Langton Securities (2010-2) PLC, Laparanza S.A., Liquidity Limited, Luri 1 S.A. en liquidacion (b) (e), Luri 6 S.A. Unipersonal, Master Red Europa S.L., Mata Alta S.L., Merciver S.L., Mercury TFS, Mercury Trade Finance Solutions S.A. de C.V., Mercury Trade Finance Solutions S.L., Mercury Trade Finance Solutions S.p.A., Moneybit S.L., Mortgage Engine Limited, Motor 2016-1 PLC, Motor 2017-1 PLC, Mouro Capital I LP, Multiplica SpA, NW Services CO., Naviera Mirambel S.L., Naviera Trans Gas A.I.E., Naviera Trans Iron S.L., Naviera Trans Ore A.I.E., Naviera Trans Wind S.L. (b), Naviera Transcantabrica S.L., Naviera Transchem S.L. Unipersonal, NeoAuto S.A.C., Norbest AS, Novimovest Fundo de Investimento Imobiliario, Open Bank Argentina S.A., Open Bank S.A., Open Digital Market S.L., Open Digital Services S.L., Operadora de Carteras Gamma S.A.P.I. de C.V., Optimal Investment Services SA, Optimal Multiadvisors Ireland Plc / Optimal Strategic US Equity Ireland Euro Fund, Optimal Multiadvisors Ireland Plc / Optimal Strategic US Equity Ireland US Dollar Fund, PBE Companies LLC, PECOH Limited, PI Distribuidora de Titulos e Valores Mobiliarios S.A., PSA Bank Deutschland GmbH, PSA Banque France, PSA Finance UK Limited, PSA Financial Services Nederland B.V., PSA Financial Services Spain E.F.C. S.A., PSA Renting Italia S.p.A., PagoFX Europe S.A., PagoFX HoldCo S.L., PagoFX UK Ltd, PagoNxt Merchant Solutions S.L., PagoNxt S.L., Parasant SA, Patagon.com, Pereda Gestion S.A., Pingham International S.A., Popular Spain Holding de Inversiones S.L.U., Portal Universia Argentina S.A., Portal Universia Portugal Prestacao de Servicos de Informatica S.A., Prime 16 Fundo de Investimentos Imobiliario, Punta Lima LLC, Punta Lima Wind Farm LLC, Retop S.A., Return Capital Servicos de Recuperacao de Creditos S.A., Return Gestao de Recursos S.A., Riobank International (Uruguay) SAIFE (b), Rojo Entretenimento S.A., SAM Asset Management S.A. de C.V. Sociedad Operadora de Fondos de Inversion, SAM Investment Holdings S.L., SAM UK Investment Holdings Limited (b), SANB Promotora de Vendas e Cobranca Ltda., SCF Eastside Locks GP Limited, SDMX Superdigital S.A. de C.V., SMPS Merchant Platform Solutions Mexico S.A de C.V, Sancap Investimentos e Participacoes S.A., Santander (CF Trustee Property Nominee) Limited, Santander (UK) Group Pension Schemes Trustees Limited, Santander Ahorro Inmobiliario 1 S.A., Santander Ahorro Inmobiliario 2 S.A., Santander Alternatives SICAV RAIF, Santander Asesorias Financieras Limitada, Santander Asset Finance (December) Limited, Santander Asset Finance plc, Santander Asset Management - S.G.O.I.C. S.A., Santander Asset Management Chile S.A., Santander Asset Management LLC, Santander Asset Management Luxembourg S.A., Santander Asset Management S.A. Administradora General de Fondos, Santander Asset Management S.A. S.G.I.I.C., Santander Asset Management UK Holdings Limited, Santander Asset Management UK Limited, Santander Back-Offices Globales Mayoristas S.A., Santander Banca de Inversion Colombia S.A.S., Santander Bank & Trust Ltd., Santander Bank National Association, Santander Bank Polska S.A., Santander Brasil Administradora de Consorcio Ltda., Santander Brasil Gestao de Recursos Ltda., Santander Brasil Tecnologia S.A., Santander Capital Desarrollo SGEIC S.A. Unipersonal, Santander Capital Structuring S.A. de C.V., Santander Capitalizacao S.A., Santander Cards Ireland Limited, Santander Cards Limited, Santander Cards UK Limited, Santander Chile Holding S.A., Santander Consulting (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Santander Consumer (UK) plc, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2013-B2 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2013-B3 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2018-L1 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2018-L3 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2018-L4 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2018-L5 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2019-B1 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2019-L2 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2019-L3 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2020-B1 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2020-L1 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2020-L2 LLC, Santander Consumer Bank, Santander Consumer Bank AG, Santander Consumer Bank GmbH, Santander Consumer Bank S.A., Santander Consumer Bank S.p.A., Santander Consumer Banque S.A., Santander Consumer Credit Services Limited, Santander Consumer Finance Benelux B.V., Santander Consumer Finance Global Services S.L., Santander Consumer Finance Oy, Santander Consumer Finance S.A., Santander Consumer Finance Schweiz AG, Santander Consumer Financial Solutions Sp. z o.o., Santander Consumer Finanse Sp. z o.o. (b), Santander Consumer Holding Austria GmbH, Santander Consumer Holding GmbH, Santander Consumer International Puerto Rico LLC, Santander Consumer Leasing GmbH, Santander Consumer Mediacion Operador de Banca-Seguros Vinculado S.L., Santander Consumer Multirent Sp. z o.o., Santander Consumer Operations Services GmbH, Santander Consumer Receivables 10 LLC, Santander Consumer Receivables 11 LLC, Santander Consumer Receivables 3 LLC, Santander Consumer Receivables 7 LLC, Santander Consumer Receivables Funding LLC, Santander Consumer Renting S.L., Santander Consumer S.A., Santander Consumer S.A.S., Santander Consumer Services GmbH, Santander Consumer Services S.A., Santander Consumer Technology Services GmbH, Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc., Santander Consumer USA Inc., Santander Consumo S.A. de C.V. S.O.F.O.M. E.R. Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico, Santander Corredora de Seguros Limitada, Santander Corredores de Bolsa Limitada, Santander Corretora de Cambio e Valores Mobiliarios S.A., Santander Corretora de Seguros Investimentos e Servicos S.A., Santander Customer Voice S.A., Santander Digital Assets S.L., Santander Drive Auto Receivables LLC, Santander Equity Investments Limited, Santander Espana Merchant Services Entidad de Pago S.L. Unipersonal, Santander Espana Servicios Legales y de Cumplimiento S.L., Santander Estates Limited, Santander F24 S.A., Santander Facility Management Espana S.L., Santander Factoring S.A., Santander Factoring Sp. z o.o., Santander Factoring y Confirming S.A. E.F.C., Santander Finance 2012-1 LLC, Santander Financial Exchanges Limited, Santander Financial Services Inc., Santander Financial Services plc, Santander Finanse Sp. z o.o., Santander Fintech Holdings S.L., Santander Fintech Limited, Santander Fundo de Investimento SBAC Referenciado di Credito Privado, Santander Gestion de Recaudacion y Cobranzas Ltda., Santander Global Consumer Finance Limited, Santander Global Facilities S.A. de C.V., Santander Global Facilities S.L., Santander Global Operations S.A., Santander Global Services S.A. (b), Santander Global Sport S.A., Santander Global Technology Brasil Ltda., Santander Global Technology Chile Limitada, Santander Global Technology S.L., Santander Global Trade Platform Solutions S.L., Santander Guarantee Company, Santander Holding Imobiliaria S.A., Santander Holding Internacional S.A., Santander Holdings USA Inc., Santander ISA Managers Limited, Santander Inclusion Financiera S.A. de C.V. S.O.F.O.M. E.R. Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico, Santander Insurance Agency U.S. LLC, Santander Insurance Services UK Limited, Santander Intermediacion Correduria de Seguros S.A., Santander International Products Plc. (d), Santander Inversiones S.A., Santander Investment Bank Limited, Santander Investment Chile Limitada, Santander Investment I S.A., Santander Investment S.A., Santander Investment Securities Inc., Santander Investments GP 1 S.a.r.l., Santander Inwestycje Sp. z o.o., Santander Lease S.A. E.F.C., Santander Leasing LLC, Santander Leasing S.A., Santander Leasing S.A. Arrendamento Mercantil, Santander Lending Limited, Santander Mediacion Operador de Banca-Seguros Vinculado S.A., Santander Merchant Platform Operations S.A. de C.V., Santander Merchant Platform Services S.A. de C.V., Santander Merchant Platform Solutions Mexico S.A. de C.V., Santander Merchant Platform Solutions S.A., Santander Merchant Platform Solutions Uruguay S.A., Santander Merchant Platform SolucoesTecnologicas Brasil Ltda., Santander Merchant S.A., Santander Mortgage Holdings Limited, Santander Paraty Qif PLC, Santander Pensiones S.A. E.G.F.P., Santander Pensoes - Sociedade Gestora de Fundos de Pensoes S.A., Santander Private Banking Gestion S.A. S.G.I.I.C., Santander Private Banking UK Limited, Santander Private Banking s.p.a. in Liquidazione (b), Santander Private Real Estate Advisory & Management S.A., Santander Private Real Estate Advisory S.A., Santander Real Estate S.A., Santander Retail Auto Lease Funding LLC, Santander Rio Asset Management Gerente de Fondos Comunes de Inversion S.A., Santander Rio Trust S.A., Santander Rio Valores S.A., Santander S.A. Sociedad Securitizadora, Santander Secretariat Services Limited, Santander Securities LLC, Santander Seguros y Reaseguros Compania Aseguradora S.A., Santander Servicios Corporativos S.A. de C.V., Santander Servicios Especializados S.A. de C.V., Santander Technology USA LLC, Santander Tecnologia e Inovacao Ltda., Santander Tecnologia Argentina S.A., Santander Tecnologia Espana S.L.U., Santander Tecnologia Mexico S.A. de C.V., Santander Totta SGPS S.A., Santander Totta Seguros Companhia de Seguros de Vida S.A., Santander Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych S.A., Santander Trade Services Limited, Santander UK Group Holdings plc, Santander UK Investments, Santander UK Operations Limited, Santander UK Plc, Santander UK Technology Limited, Santander Wealth Management International SA, Santander de Titulizacion S.G.F.T. S.A., Santusa Holding S.L., Services and Promotions Delaware Corp., Services and Promotions Miami LLC, Servicio de Alarmas Controladas por Ordenador S.A., Servicios de Cobranza Recuperacion y Seguimiento S.A. De C.V., Sheppards Moneybrokers Limited, Shiloh III Wind Project LLC, Sociedad Integral de Valoraciones Automatizadas S.A., Sociedad Operadora de Tarjetas de Pago Santander Getnet Chile S.A., Socur S.A., Sol Orchard Imperial 1 LLC, Solarlaser Limited, Sovereign Community Development Company, Sovereign Delaware Investment Corporation, Sovereign Lease Holdings LLC, Sovereign REIT Holdings Inc., Sovereign Spirit Limited (f), Sterrebeeck B.V., Suleyado 2003 S.L. Unipersonal, Summer Empreendimentos Ltda., Super Pagamentos e Administracao de Meios Eletronicos S.A., Superdigital Argentina S.A.U., Superdigital Colombia S.A.S., Superdigital Holding Company S.L., Superdigital Peru S.A.C., Suzuki Servicios Financieros S.L., Swesant SA, TIMFin S.p.A., TOPSAM S.A de C.V., Taxagest Sociedade Gestora de Participacoes Sociais S.A., Teatinos Siglo XXI Inversiones S.A., The Alliance & Leicester Corporation Limited, The Best Specialty Coffee S.L. Unipersonal, Time Retail Finance Limited (b), Tonopah Solar I LLC, Toque Fale Servicos de Telemarketing Ltda., Tornquist Asesores de Seguros S.A. (b), Totta (Ireland) PLC, Totta Urbe - Empresa de Administracao e Construcoes S.A., Trabajando.com Mexico S.A. de C.V. en liquidacion (b), Trabajando.com Peru S.A.C., Trans Rotor Limited (b), Transolver Finance EFC S.A., Tresmares Growth Fund Santander SCR S.A., Tresmares Santander Direct Lending SICC S.A., Tuttle and Son Limited, Universia Brasil S.A., Universia Chile S.A., Universia Colombia S.A.S., Universia Espana Red de Universidades S.A., Universia Holding S.L., Universia Mexico S.A. de C.V., Universia Peru S.A., Universia Uruguay S.A., Uro Property Holdings SOCIMI S.A., WIM Servicios Corporativos S.A. de C.V., WTW Shipping Designated Activity Company, Wallcesa S.A., Wave Holdco S.L., Waypoint Insurance Group Inc., and Wirecard (Technological Assets). Wall Street analysts have given iShares Core MSCI Europe 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 Core MSCI Europe 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 iShares MSCI Japan 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 MSCI Japan ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Photo: Washington State DNR A wildfire burning near Lake Chelan, Wash., is now estimated to have burned 1,842 acres and is 40 per cent contained. As many as 200 firefighters were battling the fire on Saturday, Washington state's Department of Natural Resources tweeted. The fire is burning between Lake Chelan and Orondo, Wash. Boaters are asked to stay clear of the Beebe Bridge on the Columbia River, as the area is being used by skimmer planes and bucket helicopters. There was some rain Friday night which slowed the fire's growth, but evacuations remain in place. Highway 97, which had been closed due to the fire, reopened on Saturday. Contributed Randy Millis Emergency crews responded to a motor vehicle crash in West Kelowna early Sunday morning. The incident occurred at Mission Hill Road and Boucherie Road at about 1 a.m. A witness says the occupants fled the scene by foot. "Initially, rescue were searching for the victims thinking perhaps they have been thrown from the vehicle," said Randy Millis, who was on scene after the incident occurred. The road was briefly shut down while emergency crews cleaned up the area. It is unknown if the crash resulted in any injuries or if the occupants have been found. Nuveen Virginia Quality Municipal Income Fund is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched by Nuveen Investments, Inc. The fund is co-managed by Nuveen Fund Advisors LLC and Nuveen Asset Management, LLC. It invests in the fixed income markets of Virginia. The fund invests primarily in municipal securities rated Baa/BBB or better. It invests in securities that provide income exempt from federal and Virginia income tax. The fund employs fundamental analysis with bottom-up stock picking approach to create its portfolio. It benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the S&P National Municipal Bond Index and the S&P Virginia Municipal Bond Index. The fund was formerly known as Nuveen Virginia Premium Income Municipal Fund. Nuveen Virginia Quality Municipal Income Fund was formed on January 12, 1993 and is domiciled in the United States. Read More Photo: Pixabay Montreal police say three young children have been bitten by coyotes in the last week. They say all three incidents occurred in parks in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough in the north of the city. The most recent attack occurred Saturday when a three-year-old boy was wounded by a coyote at about 6:30 p.m., and police say his injuries are minor. A boy and a girl, both age 5, were also bitten in separate incidents last week. Police say they both suffered minor injuries. The City of Montreal says such attacks are rare, but it recommends that people keep their dogs on leashes and refrain from feeding or approaching coyotes in order to minimize incidents. Wall Street analysts have given PSA 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 PSA Group wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Randgold Resources Limited is engaged in gold mining, exploration and related activities. The Company's activities are focused on West and Central Africa. The Company operates through the gold mining segment. The Company operates various mines, such as Morila, Loulo, Gounkoto, Tongon and Kibali. The Company is exploring in African countries, such as Mali, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Company also holds an interest in the Massawa project. The Company holds Morila Limited, which holds interests in the Morila mine in Mali. As of December 31, 2016, Morila mine has produced 122,370 ounces (oz) of gold. The Company holds a controlling interest in the Loulo mine, located in Mali, through Societe des Mines de Loulo SA (Loulo). The Loulo mine is mining from over two underground mines. As of December 31, 2016, Loulo mine has produced 350,604 oz of gold. It has a controlling interest in the Gounkoto mine through Societe des Mines de Gounkoto SA. Read More Photo: Contributed The evacuation alert for all 933 properties impacted by the Yates Road Fire in the Wilden area of Kelowna has been rescinded. As of 11:30 a.m. Sunday morning fire officials deemed the area safe for the public. The blaze is now considered under control. While the evacuation alerts have been rescinded, conditions in the Central Okanagan continue to be hot and dry. Residents and visitors should be aware that the fire hazard remains extreme. A regional campfire ban is in place effective today at noon. All campfires are prohibited throughout the Regional District of Central Okanagan. If you see smoke from a wildfire, report it at *5555 from a cell phone or 1-800-663-5555. If there is threat to life call 9-1-1. The following companies are subsidiares of Centene: APS Parent Inc., AWC of Syracuse Inc., Absolute Total Care Inc., AcariaHealth Inc., AcariaHealth Pharmacy #11 Inc., AcariaHealth Pharmacy #12 Inc., AcariaHealth Pharmacy #13 Inc., AcariaHealth Pharmacy #14 Inc., AcariaHealth Pharmacy Inc., AcariaHealth Solutions Inc., Access Medical Acquisition LLC, Access Medical Group of Florida City LLC, Access Medical Group of Hialeah LLC, Access Medical Group of Lakeland LLC, Access Medical Group of Miami LLC, Access Medical Group of North Miami Beach LLC, Access Medical Group of Opa-Locka LLC, Access Medical Group of Perrine LLC, Access Medical Group of Tampa II LLC, Access Medical Group of Tampa III LLC, Access Medical Group of Tampa LLC, Access Medical Group of Westchester LLC, Accountable Care Coalition Direct Contracting LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Chesapeake LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Community Health Centers II LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Community Health Centers LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers II LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers III LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers IV LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers V LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers VI LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers VII LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Florida Partners LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Georgia LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Maryland LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Maryland Primary Care LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Mississippi LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of New Jersey Inc., Accountable Care Coalition of North Texas LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Northeast Georgia LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Northeast Partners LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Northwest Florida LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Prime Health LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Quality Health II LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Quality Health III LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Quality Health LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Southeast Partners LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Southeast Physician Partners LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Southeast Texas Inc., Accountable Care Coalition of Southeast Wisconsin LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Tennessee LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Texas Inc., Agate Resources Inc., AirLogix, Ambetter of Magnolia Inc., Ambetter of North Carolina Inc., Ambetter of Peach State Inc., America's 1st Choice California Holdings LLC, American Progressive Life and Health Insurance Company of New York, Apixio, Apixio Inc, Arch Personalized Medicine Initiative LLC, Arkansas Health & Wellness Health Plan Inc., Arkansas Total Care Holding Company LLC, Arkansas Total Care Inc., B2B Gestion Integra S.L.U., B2B Salud S.L.U., Bankers Reserve Life Insurance Company of Wisconsin, Blackcrow Asistencia Medica S.L, Bridgeway Health Solutions LLC, Bridgeway Health Solutions of Arizona Inc., Buckeye Community Health Plan Inc., Buckeye Health Plan Community Solutions Inc., CCTX Holdings LLC, CMC Real Estate Company LLC, CT Poprad s.r.o., CT Presov s.r.o., Calibrate Acquisition Company, California Health and Wellness Plan, Cantina Laredo Clayton LP, Cardium Health Services, Care 1st Health Plan of Arizona Inc., Care1st Health Plan Administrative Services Inc., Carolina Complete Health Holding Company Partnership, Carolina Complete Health Inc., Casenet LLC, Casenet S.R.O., CeltiCare Health Plan Holdings LLC, CeltiCare Health Plan of Massachusetts Inc., Celtic Group Inc., Celtic Insurance Company, Cenpatico Behavioral Health LLC, Cenpatico Behavioral Health of Arizona LLC, Cenpatico of Arizona Inc., Centene Center I LLC, Centene Center II LLC, Centene Center LLC, Centene Company of Texas LP, Centene Europe Finance Company Limited, Centene Health Plan Holdings Inc., Centene Institute for Advanced Health Education LLC, Centene International Ventures LLC, Centene Investments LLC, Centene Management Company LLC, Centene Venture Company Alabama Health Plan Inc., Centene Venture Company Florida Inc., Centene Venture Company Illinois Inc., Centene Venture Company Indiana Inc., Centene Venture Company Kansas Inc., Centene Venture Company Michigan Inc., Centene Venture Company Tennessee Inc., Centro Inmunologocia De La Comunidad Valenciana S.L., Centurion Correctional Healthcare of New Mexico LLC, Centurion Detention Health Services LLC, Centurion LLC, Centurion of Arizona LLC, Centurion of Delaware LLC, Centurion of Florida LLC, Centurion of Kansas LLC, Centurion of Minnesota LLC, Centurion of Mississippi LLC, Centurion of New Hampshire LLC, Centurion of Pennsylvania LLC, Centurion of Tennessee LLC, Centurion of Vermont LLC, Centurion of West Virginia LLC, Centurion of Wyoming LLC, Chrysalis Medical Services LLC, Clinica Santo Domingo De Lugo S.L., Collaborative Health Systems IPA LLC, Collaborative Health Systems LLC, Collaborative Health Systems of Maryland LLC, Collaborative Health Systems of Virginia LLC, Comfort Hospice of Missouri LLC, Comfort Hospice of Texas LLC, ComfortBrook Hospice LLC, Community Medical Group, Community Medical Holdings Corporation, Comprehensive Health Management Inc., Comprehensive Reinsurance Ltd., Coordinated Care Corporation, Coordinated Care of Washington Inc., Country Style Health Care LLC, Discare CZ a.s., District Community Care Inc., Dr Magnet s.r.o., Elche-Crevillente Salud, Envolve Benefits Options Inc., Envolve Captive Insurance Company Inc., Envolve Dental IPA of New York Inc., Envolve Dental Inc., Envolve Dental of Florida Inc., Envolve Dental of Texas Inc., Envolve Health, Envolve Holdings Inc., Envolve Inc., Envolve Optical Inc., Envolve PeopleCare Inc., Envolve Pharmacy IPA LLC, Envolve Pharmacy Solutions Inc., Envolve Total Vision Inc., Envolve Vision Benefits Inc., Envolve Vision IPA of New York Inc., Envolve Vision Inc., Envolve Vision of Florida Inc., Envolve Vision of Texas Inc., Essential Care Partners LLC, Exactus Pharmacy Solutions Inc., Family Nurse Care II LLC, Family Nurse Care LLC, Family Nurse Care of Ohio LLC, Fidelis Care, Forensic Health Services LLC, Foundation Care LLC, Godgrace Asistencia Medica S.L., Golden Triangle Physician Alliance, Grace Hospice of Austin LLC, Grace Hospice of Grand Rapids LLC, Grace Hospice of Illinois LLC, Grace Hospice of Indiana LLC, Grace Hospice of San Antonio LLC, Grace Hospice of Virginia LLC, Grace Hospice of Wisconsin LLC, Granite State Health Plan Inc., Growly Asistencia Sanitaria S.L., HHS Texas Management Inc., HHS Texas Management LP, Hallmark Life Insurance Company, Harmony Behavioral Health IPA Inc., Harmony Behavioral Health Inc., Harmony Health Management Inc., Harmony Health Plan Inc., Harmony Health Systems Inc., Health Care Enterprises LLC, Health Net Access Inc., Health Net Community Solutions Inc., Health Net Community Solutions of Arizona Inc., Health Net Federal Services LLC, Health Net Health Plan of Oregon Inc., Health Net LLC, Health Net Life Insurance Company, Health Net Life Reinsurance Company, Health Net Pharmaceutical Services, Health Net of Arizona Inc., Health Net of California Inc., Health Plan Real Estate Holdings Inc., HealthSmart Benefit Solutions Inc., HealthSmart Benefits Management LLC, HealthSmart Care Management Solutions LP, HealthSmart Information Systems Inc., HealthSmart Preferred Care II LP, HealthSmart Preferred Network II Inc., HealthSmart Primary Care Clinics LP, HealthSmart Rx Solutions Inc., Healthy Louisiana Holdings LLC, Healthy Missouri Holdings Inc., Healthy Washington Holdings Inc., Heritage Health Systems Inc., Heritage Health Systems of Texas Inc., Heritage Home Hospice LLC, Heritage Physician Networks, Home State Health Plan Inc., HomeScripts.com LLC, Hospice DME Company LLC, Hospinet S.L., Hospital Polusa S.A., Hospital Povisa S.A., Hudson Accountable Care LLC, IAH of Florida LLC, Illinois Health Practice Alliance LLC, Infraestructuras y Servicios de Alzira S. L., Integrated Care Network of Florida LLC, Integrated Mental Health Management LLC, Integrated Mental Health Services, Interpreta Holdings Inc., Interpreta Inc., Iowa Total Care Inc., Kentucky Spirit Health Plan Inc., LBB Industries Inc., LifeShare Management Group LLC, LiveHealthier Inc., Louisiana Healthcare Connections Inc., MH Services International Holdings (UK) Limited, MHM, MHM Correctional Services LLC, MHM Health Professionals LLC, MHM Services Inc., MHM Services of California LLC, MHM Solutions LLC, MHN Government Services LLC, MHN Services LLC, MHS Consulting International Inc., MHS Travel & Charter Inc., MR Centrum Melnick s.r.o., MR Poprad s.r.o., MR Zilina s.r.o., Magnolia Health Plan Inc., Managed Health Network, Managed Health Network LLC, Managed Health Services Insurance Corporation, Maryland Collaborative Care LLC, Maryland Collaborative Care Transformation Organization Inc., Mauli Ola Health and Wellness Inc., Medicina NZ spol s.r.o., Meridian Health Plan of Illinois Inc., Meridian Health Plan of Michigan Inc., Meridian Management Company LLC, Meridian Network Services LLC, MeridianRx IPA LLC, MeridianRx LLC, MeridianRx of Indiana LLC, Michigan Complete Health, Mid-Atlantic Collaborative Care LLC, Nebraska Total Care Inc., Network Providers LLC, New York Quality Healthcare Corporation, Next Door Neighbors Inc., Next Door Neighbors LLC., North Florida Health Services Inc., Northern Maryland Collaborative Care LLC, Novasys Health Inc., OB Care, OB Klinika, Ohana Health Plan Inc., Oklahoma Complete Health Inc., One Care by Care 1st Health Plans of Arizona Inc, Operose Health (Group) Ltd., Operose Health (Group) UK Ltd., Operose Health Ltd., OptiCare Health Systems - Managed Vision Business, PANTHERx Rare Pharmacy, Panther Pass Co LLC, Panther Specialty Holding Co LLC, Pantherx Access Services LLC, Pantherx Specialty LLC, Parker LP LLC, Peach State Health Plan Inc., Penn Marketing America LLC, Pennsylvania Health and Wellness Inc., Phoenix Home Health Care LLC, Pinnacle Home Care LLC, Pinnacle Senior Care of Illinois LLC, Pinnacle Senior Care of Indiana LLC, Pinnacle Senior Care of Kalamazoo LLC, Pinnacle Senior Care of Missouri LLC, Pinnacle Senior Care of Wisconsin LLC, Premier Marketing Group LLC, PrimeroSalud S.L., Pro Diagnostic Group A.S., Pro Magnet CZ s.r.o., Pro Magnet s.r.o, Pro RTG s.r.o, Progress Medical A.S., Prowl Holdings LLC, QCA Healthplan Inc., Qualchoice Life and Health Insurance Company, Quincy Coverage Corporation, R&C Healthcare LLC, RMED LLC, RX Direct Inc., Rapid Respiratory Services LLC, Ribera Lab S.L.U., Ribera Salud II, Ribera Salud Proyectos S.L., Ribera Salud S.A., Ribera Salud Tecnologias S.L.U., Ribera Slaud Infraestructuras S.L.U., Ribera-Quilpro UTE, Salus Administrative Services Inc., Salus IPA LLC, Secure Capital Solutions 2000 S.L.U., SelectCare Health Plans Inc., SelectCare of Texas Inc., Seniorcorps Peninsula LLC, Servicios De Mantenimiento Prevencor S.L.U., SilverSummit Healthplan Inc., Social Health Bridge LLC, Social Health Bridge Trust, Specialty Therapeutic Care GP LLC, Specialty Therapeutic Care Holdings, Specialty Therapeutic Care Holdings LLC, Specialty Therapeutic Care LP, Sunflower State Health Plan Inc., Sunshine Health Community Solutions Inc., Sunshine Health Holding LLC, Sunshine State Health Plan Inc., Superior HealthPlan Community Solutions Inc., Superior HealthPlan Inc., The Practice Properties Limited, The WellCare Management Group Inc., Torrejon Salud S.A., Torrevieja Salud S.L.U., Torrevieja Salud UTE, Traditional Home Health Services LLC, Trillium Community Health Plan Inc., U.S. Medical Management Holdings Inc., U.S. Medical Management LLC, UAM Agent Services Corp., US Script, USMM Accountable Care Partners LLC, Universal American Corp., Universal American Financial Services Inc., Universal American Holdings LLC, WCG Health Management Inc., WellCare Health Insurance Company of America, WellCare Health Insurance Company of Kentucky Inc., WellCare Health Insurance Company of Louisiana Inc., WellCare Health Insurance Company of Nevada Inc., WellCare Health Insurance Company of New Hampshire Inc., WellCare Health Insurance Company of New Jersey Inc., WellCare Health Insurance Company of Oklahoma Inc., WellCare Health Insurance Company of Washington Inc., WellCare Health Insurance Company of Wisconsin Inc., WellCare Health Insurance of Arizona Inc., WellCare Health Insurance of Connecticut Inc., WellCare Health Insurance of Hawaii Inc., WellCare Health Insurance of New York Inc., WellCare Health Insurance of North Carolina Inc., WellCare Health Insurance of Southwest Inc., WellCare Health Insurance of Tennessee Inc., WellCare Health Plans, WellCare Health Plans of Arizona Inc., WellCare Health Plans of California Inc., WellCare Health Plans of Kentucky Inc., WellCare Health Plans of Massachusetts Inc., WellCare Health Plans of Missouri Inc., WellCare Health Plans of New Jersey Inc., WellCare Health Plans of Rhode Island Inc., WellCare Health Plans of Tennessee Inc., WellCare Health Plans of Vermont Inc., WellCare Health Plans of Wisconsin Inc., WellCare National Health Insurance Company, WellCare Pharmacy Benefits Management Inc., WellCare Prescription Insurance Inc., WellCare of Alabama Inc., WellCare of Arkansas Inc., WellCare of California Inc., WellCare of Connecticut Inc., WellCare of Florida Inc., WellCare of Georgia Inc., WellCare of Illinois Inc., WellCare of Indiana Inc., WellCare of Kansas Inc., WellCare of Maine Inc., WellCare of Michigan Holding Company, WellCare of Mississippi Inc., WellCare of Missouri Health Insurance Company Inc., WellCare of New Hampshire Inc., WellCare of New York Inc., WellCare of North Carolina Inc., WellCare of Ohio Inc., WellCare of Oklahoma Inc., WellCare of Pennsylvania Inc., WellCare of Puerto Rico Inc., WellCare of South Carolina Inc., WellCare of Texas Inc., WellCare of Virginia Inc., WellCare of Washington Inc., Wellcare Health Plans Inc., Western Sky Community Care Inc., Windsor Health Group Inc., Winning Security S.L., Worlco Management Services, and nirvanaHealth LLC. Freeport-McMoRan, Inc. engages in the mining of copper, gold and molybdenum. It operates through the following segments: North America Copper Mines, South America Mining; Indonesia Mining, Molybdenum Mines, Rod and Refining, Atlantic Copper Smelting and Refining and Corporate, Other and Eliminations. The North America Copper Mines segment operates open-pit copper mines in Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita and Miami in Arizona and Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico. The South America Mining segment includes Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile. The Indonesia Mining segment handles the operations of Grasberg minerals district that produces copper concentrate that contains significant quantities of gold and silver. The Molybdenum Mines segment includes the Henderson underground mine and Climax open-pit mine, both in Colorado. The Rod and Refining segment consists of copper conversion facilities located in North America and includes a refinery, rod mills, and a specialty copper products facility. The Atlantic Copper Smelting and Refining segment smelts and refines copper concentrate and markets refined copper and precious metals in slimes. The Corporate, Other and Eliminations segment Read More Wall Street analysts have given Gafisa 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 Gafisa wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Sprint Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides various wireless and wireline communications products and services to consumers, businesses, government subscribers, and resellers in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. It operates in two segments, Wireless and Wireline. The Wireless segment offers wireless data communication services, including mobile productivity applications, such as Internet access, messaging, and email services; wireless photo and video offerings; location-based capabilities comprising asset and fleet management, dispatch services, and navigation tools; and mobile entertainment applications. It also provides wireless voice communications services that include local and long-distance wireless voice services, as well as voicemail, call waiting, three-way calling, caller identification, and call forwarding services. In addition, this segment offers voice and data services internationally through roaming arrangements; and customized wireless services to large companies and government agencies, as well as sells handsets, tablets, and hotspots. The Wireline segment provides wireline voice and data communications, which comprises domestic and international data communications using various protocols, including multiprotocol label switching technologies, Internet protocol (IP), managed network services, Voice over IP, session initiated protocol, and traditional voice services to other communications companies and targeted business subscribers. Sprint Corporation offers its services under the Sprint, Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile, and Assurance Wireless brands. The company was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas. Sprint Corporation is a subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp. Read More Photo: Contributed The 13th annual Greater Vernon Open Charity Bocce Tournament on Saturday was a huge success. The GVO is Western Canada's largest single-day bocce tournament while raising thousands for the Canadian Mental Health Association's Ride Don't Hide campaign. The tournament organizers, Ed Schratter and Bill Trickey were pleased with the turnout as teams from all over B.C., Alberta and competitors from as far away as Scotland and Austria battled it out on the grass. Every year, more and more people are booking their holidays to the Okanagan around the GVO said Schratter. "Like many families, weve struggled with the impact that mental illness can have, not only on the person suffering but on family members as well. We know that the first way to help is to acknowledge the illness; to address it without shame or guilt, so that it can be dealt with in the open like any other illness. The tournament took place at Coldstream Park near Vernon. Since 2010 Okanagan Spring Brewery has partnered to help make the charity event such a big success. We cannot express enough how grateful we are to our hometown brewery, Okanagan Spring, said Trickey. The support that we receive from Okanagan Spring allows us the opportunity to divert funds to Ride Dont Hide. It is great when local businesses team up with local charity events like the GVO and the combination of beer and bocce is hard to beat." Local boys, Dave Hentschel and Ryan Best went up against two brothers from Surrey. The Vernon duo ended up securing the win. 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. The following companies are subsidiares of Sysco: 2234829 Alberta ULC, 2234842 Alberta ULC, A. M. Briggs Inc., A.M. Briggs, Almacen Fiscal Frionet Caldera S.A., Almacen Fiscal Frionet Limon S.A., Appert's Foodservice, Arnotts (Fruit) Limited, Asian Foods, Bahamas Food Holdings Limited, Bahamas Food Services Limited, Brake Bros, Brake Bros Foodservice Ireland Limited, Brake Bros. Foodservice Limited, Brake Bros. Holding I Limited, Brake Bros. Ltd., Brakes Foodservice NI Limited, Buchy Food Service, Buckhead Beef Co., Buckhead Meat & Seafood of Houston Inc., Buckhead Meat Company, Buckhead Meat Midwest Inc., Buckhead Meat of Dallas Inc., Buckhead Meat of Denver Inc., Buckhead Meat of San Antonio LP, Buzztable Inc., CAKE Corporation, Central Seafood Co., Christys Wine & Spirits Limited, Clafra Aktiebolag, Colorado Boxed Beef Co - Specialty meat-cutting division, Corporacion Frionet Sociedad Anonima, Crossgar Foodservice, Crossgar Foodservice Limited, Crown I Enterprises Inc., Cucina Acquisitions (UK) Limited, Cucina Finance (UK) Limited, Cucina French Holdings Limited, Cucina Fresh Finance Limited, Cucina Fresh Investments Limited, Cucina Lux Investments Limited, Curleys Quality Foods Limited (Third Party), Davigel Belgilux S.A., Davigel Espana S.A., Desert Meats & Provisions, Distagro, Doerle Food Service, Doughtie's Foods Inc., Dust Bowl City LLC, Eko Fagel Fisk o mittemellan AB, Enclave Insurance Company, Enclave Parkway Association Inc., Enclave Properties LLC, European Imports, European Imports Inc., Figg Inc., Freedman Meats, Freedman Meats Inc., Freedman-KB Inc., Fresh Direct (UK) Limited, Fresh Direct Group Limited, Fresh Direct Limited, Fresh Holdings Limited, FreshPoint, FreshPoint Arizona Inc., FreshPoint Atlanta Inc., FreshPoint California Inc., FreshPoint Central California Inc., FreshPoint Central Florida Inc., FreshPoint Connecticut LLC, FreshPoint Dallas Inc., FreshPoint Denver Inc., FreshPoint Hawaii LLC, FreshPoint Inc., FreshPoint Las Vegas Inc., FreshPoint North Carolina Inc., FreshPoint North Florida Inc., FreshPoint Oklahoma City LLC, FreshPoint Pompano Real Estate LLC, FreshPoint Puerto Rico LLC, FreshPoint San Francisco Inc., FreshPoint South Florida Inc., FreshPoint South Texas Inc., FreshPoint Southern California Inc., FreshPoint Tomato LLC, FreshPoint Vancouver Ltd., Freshfayre Limited, Fruktservice i Helsingborg AB, GHS Classic Drinks Limited, Gilchrist & Soames Inc., Gilchrist & Soames UK Limited, Guest Packaging LLC, Guest Supply, Guest Supply Asia Limited, Guest Supply Singapore Pte. Ltd., International Food Group, Isakssons Frukt & Gront AB, J & M Wholesale Meats, J. Kings Food Service Professionals, J. Kings Food Service Professionals Inc., Kent Frozen Foods, Les Ateliers Du Gout, Liquid Assets Limited, M&J Seafood Holdings Limited, M&J Seafood Limited, Manchester Mills LLC, Mayca Autoservicio S.A., Mayca Distribuidores S.A., Menigo Foodservice AB, Mitshim Etatu Supply LP, Newport Meat Company, Newport Meat Northern California Inc., Newport Meat Pacific Northwest Inc., Newport Meat Southern California Inc., Newport Meat of Nevada Inc., North Star Holding Corporation, North Star Seafood, North Star Seafood Acquisition Corporation, North Star Seafood LLC, PFS de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Palisades Ranch Inc., Pallas Foods, Pallas Foods Farm Fresh Unlimited Company, Pallas Foods Unlimited Company, Pauleys Produce Limited, Promotora del Servicios S.A. de C.V., Restaurangakdemien AB, Restaurant of Tomorrow Inc., Rohan Viandes Elaboration SAS, SMS Bermuda Holdings, SMS GPC International Limited, SMS GPC International Resources Limited, SMS Global Holdings S.a.r.l., SMS International Resources Ireland Unlimited Company, SMS Lux Holdings LLC, SOTF LLC, SYY Netherlands C.V., SYY Panama S. de R.L., Serca Foodservice, Servicestyckarna I Johannes AB, Servicios Ameriserve S.A. de C.V., Shenzhen Guest Supply Trading Co. Limited, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) Bianchi Montegut, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) De Boiseau, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) De Garcelles, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) J.D. Lanjouan, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) Le Dauphin, Specialty Meat Holdings LLC, Stockflag Limited, Stockholms Fiskauktion AB, Supplies on the Fly, Sysco Albany LLC, Sysco Asian Foods Inc., Sysco Atlanta LLC, Sysco Autoservicio S.A., Sysco Baltimore LLC, Sysco Baraboo LLC, Sysco Bermuda Partners L.P., Sysco Boston LLC, Sysco Canada Holdings S.a.r.l., Sysco Canada Inc., Sysco Central Alabama LLC, Sysco Central California Inc., Sysco Central Florida Inc., Sysco Central Illinois Inc., Sysco Central Pennsylvania LLC, Sysco Charlotte LLC, Sysco Chicago Inc., Sysco Cincinnati LLC, Sysco Cleveland Inc., Sysco Columbia LLC, Sysco Connecticut LLC, Sysco Corporation, Sysco Corporation Director's Deferred Compensation Plan Trust, Sysco Corporation Employee's 401(k) Plan Trust, Sysco Corporation Executive Deferred Compensation Plan Trust, Sysco Corporation Good Government Committee Inc., Sysco Corporation Retirement Trust, Sysco Corporation Supplemental Executive Retirement Trust, Sysco Corporation Supplemental Unemployment Benefits Plan Trust, Sysco Detroit LLC, Sysco Disaster Relief Foundation Inc., Sysco EI VI S. s.r.l., Sysco EU II S.a.r.l., Sysco EU III S.a.r.l., Sysco EU IV Capital Unlimited Company, Sysco EU IV S. s.r.l.., Sysco EU V S. s.r.l., Sysco Eastern Maryland LLC, Sysco Eastern Wisconsin LLC, Sysco Foundation Inc., Sysco France Holding SAS, Sysco France SAS, Sysco George Town II LLC, Sysco George Town Limited S. s.r.l.., Sysco Global Finance LLC, Sysco Global Finance LLP, Sysco Global Holdings B.V., Sysco Global Resources LLC, Sysco Global Services LLC, Sysco Grand Cayman Company, Sysco Grand Cayman II Company, Sysco Grand Cayman III Company, Sysco Grand Rapids LLC, Sysco Guernsey Limited, Sysco Guest Supply Canada Inc., Sysco Guest Supply Europe Goods Wholesalers LLC, Sysco Guest Supply Europe Limited, Sysco Guest Supply LLC, Sysco Gulf Coast LLC, Sysco Hampton Roads Inc., Sysco Hawaii Inc., Sysco Holdings II LLC, Sysco Holdings LLC, Sysco Indianapolis LLC, Sysco International Food Group Inc., Sysco International Inc., Sysco Iowa Inc., Sysco Jackson LLC, Sysco Jacksonville Inc., Sysco Kansas City Inc., Sysco Knoxville LLC, Sysco Labs Europe Limited, Sysco Labs Pvt. Ltd., Sysco Leasing LLC, Sysco Lincoln Inc., Sysco Lincoln Transportation Company Inc., Sysco Long Island LLC, Sysco Los Angeles Inc., Sysco Louisville Inc., Sysco Memphis LLC, Sysco Merchandising and Supply Chain Services Canada Inc., Sysco Merchandising and Supply Chain Services Inc., Sysco Metro New York LLC, Sysco Minnesota Inc., Sysco Montana Inc., Sysco Nashville LLC, Sysco Netherlands Partners LLC, Sysco North Central Florida Inc., Sysco North Dakota Inc., Sysco Northern New England Inc., Sysco Philadelphia LLC, Sysco Pittsburgh LLC, Sysco Portland Inc., Sysco Raleigh LLC, Sysco Resources Services LLC, Sysco Riverside Inc., Sysco Sacramento Inc., Sysco San Diego Inc., Sysco San Francisco Inc., Sysco Seattle Inc., Sysco South Florida Inc., Sysco Southeast Florida LLC, Sysco Spain Holdings SLU, Sysco Spokane Inc., Sysco St. Louis LLC, Sysco Syracuse LLC, Sysco Technologies Cayman Ltd., Sysco Technologies LLC, Sysco UK Holdings Limited, Sysco UK Limited, Sysco UK Partners LLP, Sysco USA I Inc., Sysco USA II LLC, Sysco USA III LLC, Sysco Ventura Inc., Sysco Ventures Inc., Sysco Virginia LLC, Sysco West Coast Florida Inc., Sysco Western Minnesota Inc., The SYGMA Network Inc., Upsys, Victua SAS, Walker Foods Inc., Waugh Foods, and Wild Harvest Limited. TAKKT AG operates as a B2B direct marketing company for business equipment in Germany, rest of Europe, and the United States. The company operates in two segments, Omnichannel Commerce and Web-Focused Commerce. The Omnichannel Commerce segment offers pallet lifting trucks, universal cabinets, desk chairs, environmental cabinets, and containers to hazardous materials for transport, plant, warehouse, and office equipment; transport packaging solutions, such as collapsible boxes, package padding, shipping pallets, and stretch films; desk chairs, desks, conference tables, and furniture for reception areas that are used in automotive suppliers, service and retail companies, public institutions, government agencies, health care sector, schools, and churches; and serving platters and food baskets, as well as kitchen stoves and freezers. The Web-Focused Commerce segment provides desks, shelves, and advertising banners; display stands, and mobile exhibition stands and displays; and office furniture, such as chairs and cabinets in its web shop. It offers its products through catalog, web shops, telephone, and telemarketing sales. The company was founded in 1945 and is based in Stuttgart, Germany. TAKKT AG is a subsidiary of Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH. Read More Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA engages in the traditional banking businesses of retail banking, asset management, private banking, and wholesale banking. It operates through the following segments: Spain, the United States, Mexico, Turkey, South America, and Rest of Eurasia. The Spain segment includes mainly the banking and insurance business that the group carries out in Spain. The United States segment consists of the financial business activity of BBVA USA in the country and the activity of the branch of BBVA SA in New York. The Mexico segment refers to banking and insurance businesses in this country as well as the activity of its branch in Houston. The Turkey segment reports the activity of Garanti BBVA group that is mainly carried out in this country and, to a lesser extent, in Romania and the Netherlands. The South America segment comprises of operations in n Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The Rest of Eurasia segment includes the banking business activity carried out by the group in Europe and Asia, excluding Spain. The company was founded in 1857 and is headquartered in Madrid, Spain. Read More MAXIMUS, Inc. engages in the operation of government and human services programs. It operates through the following segments: U.S. Services; U.S. Federal Services; and Outside the U.S. The U.S. Services segment offers a variety of business process services, and appeals and assessments for state, provincial and national government programs. The U.S. Federal Services segment includes process solutions, program management, as well as system and software development, and maintenance services for various United States federal civilian programs. The Outside the U.S segment comprises of national, state, and county human services agencies with a variety of business process services, and related consulting services for welfare-to-work, child support, higher education institutions, and other human services programs. The company was founded by David V. Mastran in 1975 and is headquartered in Reston, VA. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Zimmer Biomet: Abbott Spine, Beijing Montagne Medical Device Co. Ltd., Beijing Montagne Medical Device Co. Ltd., BioMet, Biomet 3i Australia Pty. Ltd., Biomet 3i Belgium N.V., Biomet 3i Benelux Holdings N.V., Biomet 3i Dental Iberica SL, Biomet 3i LLC, Biomet 3i Mexico S.A. de C.V., Biomet 3i Netherlands B.V., Biomet 3i Nordic AB, Biomet 3i Portugal Lda, Biomet 3i Switzerland GmbH, Biomet 3i Turkey, Biomet 3i UK Ltd., Biomet 3i do Brasil Comercio de Aparelhos Medicos Ltda., Biomet Acquisitions (Unlimited), Biomet Argentina SA, Biomet Australia Pty. Ltd., Biomet Biologics LLC, Biomet Brazil Medical Device Ltda., Biomet C.V., Biomet CV Holdings LLC, Biomet Cementing Technologies AB, Biomet Chile SA, Biomet China Co. Ltd., Biomet Deutschland GmbH, Biomet Deutschland Holding GmbH, Biomet Fair Lawn LLC, Biomet Finance US LLC, Biomet France Sarl, Biomet Global Supply Chain Center B.V., Biomet Healthcare Management GmbH, Biomet Holdings B.V., Biomet Hong Kong CBT Ltd., Biomet Hong Kong Holding Ltd., Biomet Hong Kong No. 1 Ltd., Biomet Inc., Biomet Insurance Ltd., Biomet International Inc., Biomet International Orthopedics LLC, Biomet Leasing Inc., Biomet Manufacturing LLC, Biomet Mexico S.A. de C.V., Biomet Microfixation B.V., Biomet Orthopedics LLC, Biomet Orthopedics Puerto Rico Inc., Biomet Spain Orthopaedics S.L., Biomet Sports Medicine LLC, Biomet Trauma LLC, Biomet U.S. Reconstruction LLC, Biomet UK Healthcare Ltd., Biomet UK Ltd., CD Diagnostics, CD Diagnostics Inc., CD Laboratories Inc., Cayenne Medical, Cayenne Medical Inc., CelgenTek Innovations Corporation, Centerpulse Ltd, Changzhou Biomet Medical Devices Co. Ltd., Citra Labs LLC, Clinical Graphics, Compression Therapy Concepts Inc., Compression Therapy Products, D.S. Comp Ltd., Dornoch Medical Systems, Dornoch Medical Systems Inc., EBI Holdings LLC, EBI LLC, EBI Medical Systems LLC, EBI Patient Care Inc., ETEX Corporation, ETEX Holdings Inc., Electro-Biology LLC, Endius, Espanormed S.L., Etex, ExtraOrtho, Hakuho Company Ltd., IC Guided Surgery SRL, Implant Concierge LLC, Implant Innovations Holdings LLC, Implex, InnoVision Inc., Interpore Cross International LLC, JERDS Luxembourg Holding Sarl, Kirschner Medical Corporation, Knee Creations, LDR Brasil Comercio Importacao e Exportacao Ltda., LDR Holding, LDR Medical Hong Kong (branch), LDR Medical S.A.S., LVB Acquisition Inc., Lanx Puerto Rico LLC , Lanx Srl, Medical Compression Systems Inc., Medtech SA, Medtech SAS, Medtech Surgical GmbH, Medtech Surgical Inc., NORMED Medizin-Technik GmbH, ORTHOsoft ULC, Ortho Transmission, Orthopaedic Advantage LLC, Ospol Participacoes Ltda., Representaciones Zimmer Inc. S. de R.L. de C.V., Respondwell, SM Re Ltd., Scandimed Holding AB, Shanghai Biomet Business Consulting Co. Ltd., Synvasive Technology, Synvasive Technology Inc., ZB COOP C.V., ZB COOP LLC, ZB Cayman (Asia) Holding Ltd., ZB Cayman Island CBT 2 Ltd., ZB Dental India Private Limited, ZB EMEA 1 LP, ZB EMEA Finance UK 1 Ltd., ZB EMEA Finance UK 2 Ltd., ZB EMEA Finance UK 3 Ltd., ZB EMEA US UK LLC, ZB Hong Kong CBT 2 Ltd., ZB Hong Kong Holding Ltd., ZB Hong Kong Ltd., ZB Manufacturing LLC, ZB UK Group Holdings Limited, ZH2LX Barbados Branch (branch), Zfx, Zfx GmbH, Zfx Innovation GmbH, Zhejiang Biomet Medical Products Co. Ltd., Zimmer (Shanghai) Medical International Trading Co. Ltd., Zimmer Asia (HK) Ltd., Zimmer Australia Holding Pty. Ltd., Zimmer Biomet (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Zimmer Biomet Asel Alarabiya Limited Company, Zimmer Biomet Asia Holding B.V., Zimmer Biomet Asia Holdings Pte. Ltd., Zimmer Biomet Austria GmbH, Zimmer Biomet BVBA, Zimmer Biomet CBT, Zimmer Biomet CBT 2, Zimmer Biomet CMF and Thoracic LLC, Zimmer Biomet Canada Inc., Zimmer Biomet Centroamerica SA, Zimmer Biomet Comp Ltd., Zimmer Biomet Denmark ApS, Zimmer Biomet Dental Canada Inc., Zimmer Biomet Dental K.K., Zimmer Biomet Deutschland GmbH, Zimmer Biomet Distribution LLC, Zimmer Biomet Finance Srl, Zimmer Biomet Finance US Holding Inc., Zimmer Biomet Finland Oy, Zimmer Biomet France Holdings SAS, Zimmer Biomet France SAS, Zimmer Biomet GK, Zimmer Biomet Global Holdings Switzerland GmbH, Zimmer Biomet Hellas SA, Zimmer Biomet Ireland Limited, Zimmer Biomet Italia Srl, Zimmer Biomet Korea Ltd., Zimmer Biomet Nederland B.V., Zimmer Biomet New Zealand Company, Zimmer Biomet Norway AS, Zimmer Biomet OUS Holdings AG, Zimmer Biomet Polska Sp. z.o.o, Zimmer Biomet Portugal Unipessoal Lda, Zimmer Biomet Pty. Ltd., Zimmer Biomet Romania S.R.L., Zimmer Biomet South Africa (Pty) Ltd., Zimmer Biomet Spain S.L., Zimmer Biomet Spine Inc., Zimmer Biomet Sweden AB, Zimmer Biomet Taiwan Co. Ltd., Zimmer Biomet UK Ltd., Zimmer Biomet US 2 Holding Inc., Zimmer CBT I Holding Inc., Zimmer CBT II Holding Inc., Zimmer CEP USA Holding Co., Zimmer CEP USA Inc., Zimmer CIS Ltd., Zimmer CV Inc., Zimmer Caribe LLC, Zimmer Cayman Islands Holding Co. Ltd., Zimmer Co-op Holdings LLC, Zimmer Colombia SAS, Zimmer Czech sro, Zimmer Dental (Shanghai) Medical Device Co. Ltd., Zimmer Dental Chile Spa, Zimmer Dental GmbH, Zimmer Dental Inc., Zimmer Dental Italy Srl, Zimmer Dental Ltd., Zimmer Dental SAS, Zimmer Finance Ireland, Zimmer France Manufacturing Sarl, Zimmer Germany Holdings GmbH, Zimmer GmbH, Zimmer GmbH Euro IP Branch (branch), Zimmer GmbH Winterthur Branch (branch), Zimmer Gulf FZ LLC, Zimmer Inc., Zimmer India Private Ltd., Zimmer International Logistics GmbH, Zimmer Investments LLC, Zimmer Knee Creations Inc., Zimmer Luxembourg II Sarl, Zimmer Luxembourg Sarl, Zimmer Manufacturing B.V., Zimmer Manufacturing B.V. (branch), Zimmer Medical Malaysia SDN BHD, Zimmer Netherlands Cooperatief U.A., Zimmer Orthobiologics Inc., Zimmer Orthopedics Manufacturing Limited, Zimmer Production Inc., Zimmer Pte. Ltd., Zimmer Slovakia sro, Zimmer Southeast Florida LLC, Zimmer Spine Next Inc., Zimmer Spine SAS, Zimmer Surgical, Zimmer Surgical Inc., Zimmer Surgical SA, Zimmer Switzerland Holdings LLC, Zimmer Switzerland Manufacturing GmbH, Zimmer Tibbi Cihazlar Sanayi ve Ticaret AS, Zimmer Trabecular Metal Technology Inc., Zimmer Trustee Ltd., Zimmer UK Limited, Zimmer US Inc., and Zimmer do Brasil Comercio Ltda.. Grow Worland meeting Monday City invites adjacent residents to consider annexation WORLAND City of Worland officials are inviting adjacent residents to come to a meeting and listen to how those residents can help Grow Worland. Mayor Jim Gill said, We have this Grow Worland initiative. Its an important aspect for the community. We are concerned about maintaining our status as a city. He said Worland is ranked 17th out of 17 cities in Wyoming based on populat... The New York Times has published a piece on Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trumps White House experience thus far that is one part puff, one part backhanded look at the disconnect between their public and work lives. There were items we already knew (the left is mad at them, they dont always get what they want from the president) and some we didnt (they now plan to stay in Washington, theyre ready to play bigger roles in the White House). Below are the dramatic pieces of inside the Beltway gossip you need to know. 1. The Couple Traded Ethics For Power That Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were poised to be the compassionate heart of the administration was no coincidence the couple created that brand themselves. They themselves promoted the idea that they would save us, Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen told The New York Times. But as a flurry of advisors have come and gone in the hectic administration, the couple has instead chosen to remain silent and toe the administration line in exchange for the President Donald Trumps ear. Ivanka Trump positioned herself as the administrations champion for families and women, but stayed silent on the family separations at the border until her father said hed stop it, indicating she doesnt personally support the policy, but wont go against the president either. Taking complicity a step further, Ivanka Trump reportedly betrayed her position as the defender of womens interests by meeting with Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards in hopes of bribing her to cut abortion services from the national womens health organization entirely in exchange for federal funding. The pay-off for handing over their moral standing is favor with the president. The Times article describes the couple as being the only people in Washington to consistently have President Trumps ear, making them a powerful proxy even Republican legislators have to go through to get a few minutes on the phone with the commander in chief. Story continues 2. Theyve Transformed Into Political Creatures Initially, the business-minded couple made it clear they had no plans to make a life in politics. With thriving businesses based in New York, Ivanka Trump once said she and Kushner had no intention of staying in D.C. long enough to become political creatures who are so principled that they get nothing done, a source close to the couple told The New York Times. But the couple have quickly reduced Manhattan to a pit-stop and made Washington their home. Ivanka Trump officially shut down her namesake fashion brand earlier this week, letting all employees go with severance. This marks a permanent change for the presidents daughter, as she steers further away from business and towards politics. Video: Ivanka Trump Shutters Fashion Company, Focusing on White House Role For more news videos visit Yahoo View. Eighteen months later, theres no question Ivanka Trump and Kushner are staying. They have managed to stick around as experienced aides come and go and, as family members, even had some expectations lowered on their behalf. Any suggestion that they were going to leave the White House was just ridiculous, treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin told the Times. 3. The Couple Is Image Obsessed The couple has been in the public eye for years, and they are laser-focused on their image. Determined to be the likable face of a hectic administration, the couple entertains lawmakers and Washington influencers to ease tensions, over cocktails and comfort food. Cautious not to alienate, these get-togethers reach across the aisle, including apparent enemies of President Trump like Democratic legislators, Cecile Richards, and A.G. Sulzberger, publisher of the (as President Trump would say, failing) New York Times. On occasions when their power temporarily wanes, the couple goes to great lengths to keep up appearances to the contrary. Kushners team recently used misleading language to infer to press that his security clearances had been restored long before they actually had. They also know how to work President Trumps fixation on his own own image to their advantage. Kushner was responsible for steering Kim Kardashian West into a well-publicized Oval Office meeting to discuss pardoning Alice Marie Johnson, knowing that the celebrity power would grab Trumps attention despite his advisors disapproval. Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here? 21 Signs From Americans Fed Up With Trump At Families Belong Together Marches Parkland Survivor Calls Donald Trump A Professional Liar New Revelations Show Golden State Killer Had Toxic History With Women Curiosity and awe have greeted a complete lunar eclipse, the longest one of this century and visible in much of the world. The so-called blood moon, when it turns a deep red, was visible at different times in Australia, Africa, Asia, Europe and South America when the sun, Earth and moon lined up perfectly, casting Earths shadow on the moon. The total eclipse lasted 1 hour and 43 minutes, with the entire event lasting closer to four hours. (AP) See more news-related photo galleries and follow Yahoo News Photo on Twitter and Tumblr. If something newsworthy happens, but it doesnt involve Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump or Russia, does it still make a sound? You bet. Lately, though, those sounds have been muffled, buried under a pile of incriminating recordings of Trump authorizing hush money payments for women with whom he allegedly had relationships. While we were all distracted by the latest shiny Cohen disclosure a claim that Trump knew in advance of his sons June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer promising dirt on Hillary Clinton here are five other stories you might have missed: Seven hundred kids are still in government detention The Trump administration patted itself on the back for a job well done Thursday, ahead of a court-ordered midnight deadline to reunify more than 2,000 children with their parents after having forcibly separated them at the U.S.-Mexico border. But while officials congratulated themselves for reuniting 1,400 eligible families, more than 700 children arent considered eligible, and are therefore still in government custody. These children have parents who have been deported or released, who failed a background check or who otherwise havent been located. Of the 460 who have been deported, there is a very high likelihood that those parents are not going to see their children again, former Immigration and Customs Enforcement director John Sandweg told CBS Thursday. The government shouldnt be proud of the work theyre doing on reunification, American Civil Liberties Union attorney Lee Gelernt told reporters Thursday. This is a disaster that they created. Betsy DeVos thinks for-profit colleges are better unregulated Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos wants to scrap Obama-era regulations on for-profit colleges that require them to prove they provide gainful employment for their graduates. The Obama rule, which was never fully implemented, would have forced for-profit schools to publish data about their students post-graduation employment rates. Programs whose graduates fare poorly in the job market and that have a high degree of student loan debt could see their federal aid slashed potentially forcing them to close. Story continues At its peak, the for-profit college industry received up to $32 billion a year via student grants and loans, paid by taxpayers. Critics maintain these schools lured in prospective students with the promise of high-paying jobs upon graduation, but the careers they were promised rarely arrived. Instead, students graduated saddled with debt. Under DeVos proposal, instead of schools having to prove their value, the burden would fall on students to prove their schools showed reckless disregard in any application for debt forgiveness, according to The Hill. Russian hackers are targeting Democrats ahead of midterms In an unsubstantiated tweet this week, Trump claimed Russia will be pushing very hard for the Democrats in the 2018 midterm elections: Im very concerned that Russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming Election. Based on the fact that no President has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for the Democrats. They definitely dont want Trump! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2018 But early evidence points to Russian President Vladimir Putin once again engaging in information warfare to benefit the GOP, as Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) confirmed this week that Russias GRU intelligence agency unsuccessfully tried to infiltrate her Senate computer network in August 2017. McCaskill is facing re-election this year in a state that swung heavily for Trump in 2016. Her status as a vulnerable Democrat may have attracted Russias interest. The Russians saw 2016 as a success, and theyll be back in 2018, unless we do far more to protect ourselves than were currently doing, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the chief Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, told The Associated Press. Unfortunately, the lack of leadership from the White House means that we still have no all-of-government approach to addressing this threat. California is on fire again Blazes in both Northern and Southern California have forced thousands of residents from their homes. At least one firefighter has died and three have been injured fighting the Carr Fire in Northern Californias Shasta County. As of Friday afternoon, the 44,450-acre fire had destroyed 65 structures and damaged 55, with an additional 4,978 threatened. When it hit, people were really scrambling, Cal Fire spokesman Scott McLean said. There was not much of a warning. McLean described the inferno as a wall of flames thats taking down everything in its path. A second blaze, burning in central Californias Mariposa County and labeled the Ferguson Fire, has grown to 45,911 acres and forced closures in Yosemite National Park. Seven firefighters have been injured fighting in very rough terrain, according to a government incident report. One firefighter has been killed. And to the south, the 11,500-acre Cranston Fire continues to burn about 90 miles east of Los Angeles, where its forced at least 3,200 people to evacuate and is threatening 2,100 homes. Authorities arrested 32-year-old Brandon McGlover of Temecula, California, on Wednesday. They believe he started the fire intentionally. McGlover pleaded not guilty to the charges Friday. In a hearing that barely lasted 3 minutes, Cranston fire arson suspect Brandin N. McGlover pleaded not guilty to all charges. Bail was set at $3.5 million, an increase from $1 million. pic.twitter.com/6yLOz3Q2Vz Brian Rokos (@Brian_Rokos) July 27, 2018 Nicaraguan violence continues South of the border, horrific state-sponsored violence in Nicaragua shows no signs of abating. In a rare interview granted to Fox News, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said he doesnt intend to step down or hold early elections, despite widespread protests calling for him to leave his post. Ortega has been in power since 2007. In 2014, he pushed through reforms that ended term limits and permitted him to run for a third term in office. He won, and his wife, Rosario Murillo, was elected vice president. At least 300 civilians have died and 2,000 have been injured in the violence since April violence meted out by paramilitary groups operating with the active or tacit support of and in coordination with the police and other state authorities, according to the United Nations high commissioner for human rights. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Thousands of people will fill Brooklyns Barclays Center on July 27 and July 28, but not for basketball, not for hockey and not for a concert. Theyll be there for the Grand Finals of the Overwatch League, an e-sports league video game developer Blizzard Entertainment runs with its popular team-based, first-person shooter, Overwatch. The sold-out finals will mark an end to the Overwatch Leagues first season, with teams from Philadelphia and London (city-based teams are a league hallmark) set to compete for $1.4 million in prizes. Matches will be broadcast live on ESPN and Disney XD, marking the first time e-sports have been broadcast live on ESPNs main channel in primetime, Blizzard says. Ahead of the big event, TIME sat down with Blizzard Entertainment President and CEO Michael Morhaime to talk about the tournament, Overwatch, and the gaming industry more broadly. The following questions and answers have been lightly edited for length and clarity. What do you think about e-sports in terms of its cultural moment right now? It feels like its just on the cusp of going mainstream. Gaming is mainstream now. That has been a shift. If you go back 20 years ago, gaming wasnt [mainstream], really, outside of a few places in the world, South Korea being one of them. But theres been a gradual movement of the popularity of gaming more and more into the mainstream. Its as big as other forms of entertainment, and so I think its only natural that organized competitive play would follow. I think people are interested in watching what they know and what they care about, so as you have more people where gaming is a huge part of their life, they want to see what the top players in the world are able to do. Theres been some controversy over inclusiveness and over players saying some things they shouldnt. Did that surprise you at all, and how do you react to that? We want gaming and e-sports to be something that is welcoming and appropriate for everybody who wants to come and watch. I am surprised by the level of toxicity sometimes that exists online, especially where people can say things anonymously. That is something that were spending a lot of time talking about at Blizzard, and I think there are some good ideas that will start to make an impact on reducing that. Story continues For some of the players, all of a sudden being in a spotlight like this, thats probably something that surprised them. But they have to come to terms that they are public figures now, and are representing more than just themselves, and so they have to take that responsibility seriously if they want to be part of a professional organization. Were going through some growing pains as an industry right now, but I think its necessary and important. Its important to be inclusive for business reasons, too you want to sell games to female players, to LGBTQ players. We do, for sure. But even more than the business reasons what kind of world do we want to live in? What kind of world do we want our kids to grow up in? And when you think about expanding gaming to a larger audience, you think about people going online and having their first experience, and what should that experience be? You dont want them exposed to this sort of stuff. Overwatch League has taken steps towards making sure players are well-compensated in terms of pay, benefits and so on. Why is that important to you? Its really important that the top players, we provide them with stability so that they can focus on being the best. If you look at traditional sports, this is something that traditional sports does very well. You get signed to a team and you have a lot of things that are just like a regular job, where youre focusing on being the best that you can be. So having a minimum salary, having health benefits, having this good environment [helps] to focus on building teamwork with the team. Has there ever been a challenge where maybe something feels right for the competitive side of Overwatch but doesnt feel right for the average casual player? Thats something we deal with in all of our games that are e-sports. Its critical that at the professional level, the game is well-balanced. And we also have to look at all levels of play, and how the decisions that were making impact those levels as well. So its definitely a balancing act, but its something that the design team is constantly thinking about. Do you play often? I do, yeah. Have you tried to play against some of these players? That wouldnt even be entertaining to watch. But you know, one of the awesome things that I love about Overwatch is, regardless of your skill level, you can go in there and have a really fun experience. And I do. Im able to go in there, and Im able to win matches, and Im able to play with my nephew, who is quite a bit younger than me, and we can go in there and just have a great time. And Im not very good at the game, so its pretty awesome that I can have such a great time playing and walk away not feeling that Im really as bad at the game as I probably am, if you were to match me with people who really knew what they were doing. Adrian Beltre must have a lot on his mind right now. The longtime Texas Rangers third baseman has seen and heard his name mentioned in trade rumors for several weeks. Now though, its getting to be crunch time. With less than three days remaining until the non-waiver trade deadline, he might soon be asked to make a major decision that will impact his baseball future. [Yahoo Fantasy Football leagues are open: Sign up now for free] That decision, of course, is whether he wants to waive his full no-trade clause. If the Rangers reach a trade agreement involving Beltre, it will have to go through Beltre for final approval. Theres no indication such a trade is close to happening or will happen at all, but Beltres situation really highlights the intensity that surrounds the trade deadline. A lot can change in a matter of seconds. A process that can take weeks or even months to develop, can completely change with one urgent phone call. For many players involved in trade talks and rumors, theres no time to ponder what happens next. Its on to the next place, no questions asked. As a 21-year major leaguer, a member of the 3,000 hit club and a potential future Hall of Famer, Beltre has at least earned the time to ponder his future. According to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star Telegram, as it stands right now, Beltre is torn between loyal and an opportunity to maybe, just maybe, win a World Series. Its a decision Beltre is not taking lightly, because he knows a trade doesnt guarantee that chance. Ultimately, for me, its I want to win, Beltre said before Saturdays game against the Houston Astros. And Im caught up in between the organization that gave me the chance to win for many years, the organization that trusted me enough to sign me to multi-year contracts multiple times. The fans, I could ask nothing better than the way the Texas fans have received me in this state. But, ultimately, I do want to win. Its a difficult situation for me. And, obviously, if I get traded to a team that has a chance to win, we might not end up getting there. Its going to come along if the right situation works for both parties. Story continues Opting for a chance to win seems like an easy decision, but theres something to be said too for seeing through the commitment Beltre and the Rangers made to each other. If a trade clearly benefits both sides, thats the scenario in which Beltre seems most likely to leave. But it wont be easy getting to that point. Is Adrian Beltre spending his final weekend in a Texas Rangers uniform? That decision could be up to him. (AP) Beltre added that hes not yet been approached about even considering waiving his no-trade clause. The urgent phone call from a contender, which many speculate will be the Atlanta Braves, hasnt come just yet. But it could any moment before or even after the non-waiver deadline. Beltres a candidate to be traded in August because the remainder of his $18 million salary would likely help him slip through waivers. In the meantime, whatever added stress there might be hasnt been showing on the field. Beltre is still approaching the game with the same childlike silliness that weve all grown to expect and appreciate. That was on display again Saturday when Beltre turned a strikeout against Justin Verlander into a hilarious standoff with Houston Astros catcher Max Stassi. We got an old-fashioned standoff and of course it involves Adrian Beltre. pic.twitter.com/hM9UMI50zV MLB (@MLB) July 28, 2018 Whatever the Rangers do. Wherever Adrian Beltre goes. We hope he never changes. More from Yahoo Sports: LeBron Jr.s basketball game cancelled amid security concerns Red Sox manager ticked at Orioles postponing game Boston led 5-0 Kevin Durants latest social media feud: McCollum called him soft Conor McGregor reaches plea deal in NYC assault case An investigation published Friday afternoon by The New Yorker claims that the CEO of CBS Corporation, Leslie Moonves, engaged in several instances of sexual misconduct. It also describes a culture in the news division that tolerated abusive behavior. The story by Ronan Farrow cites six women with allegations against Moonves that date from the 1980s to the 2000s. In one case, in 1997, the actress and writer Illeana Douglas told Farrow that Moonves assaulted her during a business meeting. "In a millisecond, he's got one arm over me, pinning me," Douglas said. "What it feels like to have someone hold you down you can't breathe, you can't move," she said. Douglas told Farrow that Moonves was "violently kissing" her, and then, "aroused, pulled up her skirt and began to thrust against her." Douglas ultimately got away, but Douglas told Farrow that she lost her agent and future work with CBS as a result of the incident. In a statement to The New Yorker, CBS said that Moonves acknowledges trying to kiss Douglas, but that "he denies any characterization of 'sexual assault,' intimidation, or retaliatory action." In another case, in 1985, the writer Janet Jones also described Moonves trying to kiss her during a business meeting at his office. "He came around the corner of the table and threw himself on top of me. It was very fast," Jones told Farrow. She said she pushed Moonves away and when she tried to leave, found his office door locked. She told Farrow she recalled Moonves unlocking the door from his desk or a nearby bureau, and said his assistant had left. She told Farrow: "I just thought, Oh, my God. This wasn't like a little momentary boo-boo. It was this well-thought-out thing." Jones told Farrow that Moonves later called her and threatened her career, saying "'I'm warning you. I will ruin your career. You will never get a writing job. No one will hire you. Do you understand what I'm saying to you?'" Story continues In a statement to The New Yorker, CBS said that Moonves has no recollection of the interactions with Jones. Farrow spoke to four other women who described sexual misconduct by Moonves. Two described forcible kissing or touching, and two claimed they received unwanted advances. In a statement to The New Yorker, Moonves said: "I recognize that there were times decades ago when I may have made some women uncomfortable by making advances. Those were mistakes, and I regret them immensely. But I always understood and respected and abided by the principle that 'no' means 'no,' and I have never misused my position to harm or hinder anyone's career." CBS Corporation is the parent company of CBS News. In a statement before The New Yorker story was published, CBS Corporation's Independent Directors said they would investigate the claims. "All allegations of personal misconduct are to be taken seriously," said the statement. "The Independent Directors of CBS have committed to investigating claims that violate the Company's clear policies in that regard. Upon the conclusion of that investigation, which involves recently reported allegations that go back several decades, the Board will promptly review the findings and take appropriate action." Moonves' wife, Julie Chen, who is also the host of the CBS show Big Brother and co-host of The Talk, issued a statement on Twitter supporting her husband: "Leslie is a good man and a loving father, devoted husband and inspiring corporate leader. He has always been a kind, decent and moral human being. I fully support my husband and stand behind him and his statement." Moonves, 68, joined the former CBS Corporation in 1995 as President of CBS Entertainment. He has been president and CEO of CBS Corporation since 2006. Farrow also spoke to 30 current and former CBS employees who described a culture that tolerated harassment, gender discrimination, or retaliation. Reported instances touch on major divisions, including "CBS Evening News" and "60 Minutes." Farrow reported that Jeff Fager, Executive Producer of 60 Minutes, protected men accused of misconduct, including men who reported to him. One former female senior producer told Farrow that Fager promoted another senior producer who had been physically abusive toward her and advised her to not go to human resources with her concerns. She also claims that Fager told her to apologize the other producer to "mitigate conflict in the office." Six former employees told Farrow that Fager would touch employees in ways that made them uncomfortable at company parties, and in one instance made a drunken advance toward one junior staffer. In a statement to The New Yorker, Fager said, "It is wrong that our culture can be falsely defined by a few people with an axe to grind who are using an important movement as a weapon to get even, and not by the hundreds of women and men that have thrived, both personally and professionally, at '60 Minutes.'" Fager went on to call the accusations "false, anonymous, and do not hold up to editorial scrutiny." Last year, CBS fired Charlie Rose as co-anchor of CBS This Morning after multiple allegations of sexual misconduct were detailed in an investigation by The Washington Post. Subsequent reporting raised questions about the response to those allegations by managers at CBS. The story comes at a time when CBS is in a legal battle with Viacom. The two companies merged in 1999 and split up just a few years later, in 2005. Shari Redstone is a major shareholder in both media companies, and has been seeking to combine them again. CBS owns the CBS TV network, cable network Showtime and the publisher Simon & Schuster. Viacom controls several major cable networks, including Comedy Central, MTV and BET, and movie studio Paramount. Moonves has fought the merger. The statement from the Independent Directors acknowledged the dispute. "The timing of this report comes in the midst of the Company's very public legal dispute," the statement from the directors said. "While that litigation process continues, the CBS management team has the full support of the independent board members. Along with that team, we will continue to focus on creating value for our shareowners." Shari Redstone issued a statement supporting an investigation into the allegations against Moonves and countering any claims that she played a role in the report: "The malicious insinuation that Ms. Redstone is somehow behind the allegations of inappropriate personal behavior by Mr. Moonves or today's reports is false and self-serving. Ms. Redstone hopes that the investigation of these allegations is thorough, open and transparent." CBSi and Entertainment Tonight are both owned by CBS. Related Articles: New York (AFP) - For a long time, Apple appeared to be flying solo to a $1 trillion market value, but Amazon is right at its heels -- and experts have no fears of a tech bubble. Apple, at $939 billion, remains the highest-valued private company on the global markets -- and could well cross the $1 trillion finish line after it releases its quarterly results Tuesday. But Amazon is right behind: on Friday, its market cap reached $917 billion, before finishing at $882 billion, thanks to quarterly figures well received by investors. Google's parent company Alphabet ($886 billion) and Microsoft ($827 billion) are also on track, while Facebook ($505 billion) is out of the race, having shed $119 billion in value after results released Thursday. The biggest traditional economic players -- billionaire Warren Buffet's holding company Berkshire-Hathaway ($492 billion) and bank JPMorgan Chase ($395 billion) -- have been relegated to mere spectators. State oil company PetroChina briefly broke the $1 trillion barrier in 2007 during its initial public offering, but has since dropped back down. - Safe haven - According to TDAmeritrade's mid-year review, online commerce giant Amazon's stock was the most popular buy in the first half of 2018, with Apple the second most popular sell. "The retail trader who is buying that stock is also the same person who is probably an Amazon client," said JJ Kinahan, a chief market strategist for TDAmeritrade. "They see a stock that has plenty of upside and benefitting from the money people have to spend with the economy and the job market improving," he added. But Apple, which unveils record high after record high when it comes to quarterly results, holds its lead. Ken Berman, Gorilla Trades strategist, is convinced that Apple will reach the $1 trillion mark after its Tuesday results, thanks to its range of iPhones, growing interest in the iPad and strength in its services. "I don't think Apple stock is that expensive," said Nate Thooft of Manulife Asset Management. Story continues "The tech sector is the safe haven of the equity market right now." Analysts insist the situation is a far cry from that in the late 1990s, when several start-ups exploded on Wall Street -- only for the "dot.com" bubble to burst. - New business model - "The big problem with the internet bubble was that the majority of businesses did not have revenues, did not have profits, many just responded to a fashion phenomenon," said Gregori Volokhine of Meeschaert Financial Services. "That's not the case with all these companies that today have an essential place in people's lives," Volokhine said. "Most of the leading tech companies in the late 1990s were trading at 100 times earnings," added Edward Jones investment strategist Kate Warne. "Very different than today." Apple's price/earnings ratio stands at 18.62, underperforming the S&P 500 (20.86), the index representing the 500 biggest businesses on Wall Street. But even in case of economic crisis, the technology sector is in a good place, according to Maris Ogg, founding principal of Tower Bridge Advisors. "If you start to see the economy slowing, if companies have to cut cost, to fire people, they will invest in technologies towards more automation," she said. For Nicholas Colas of DataTrek Research, it is also hard for investors to evaluate the business strategies with a fairly new business model. "Equity valuations for FANG (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google) stocks and other internet-enabled business models is a fundamentally new challenge for investors," he said. "At their core, they are ideas created by a handful of people, developed/maintained by perhaps 10,000 coders (and sometimes much less), but then used by billions around the world. This is a new phenomenon, and we suspect equity markets do not yet understand what 'correct/normalized' valuations should be." Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site. Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site. You dont have to spend $1,000 to get a really good dishwasher. But if you want a top-performer thats very quiet and stylish, you'll find the most number of options above this threshold. Dishwashers that cost $500 or less will get your dishes sparkling clean, but they can be noisy. Spend a bit more$600 to $900and youll typically get a quieter dishwasher with added features that boost convenience, and styling that blends in with any kitchen. And then there's reliabilityhow likely is a brand to break within the first five years of owning the dishwasher? CR's latest dishwasher survey reveals the most and least reliable brands. "Our survey suggests that paying more for a dishwasher does not necessarily mean it's going to be a more reliable machine," says Simon Slater, manager of CR's survey research. "And in general, we found that consumers pay more to get expensive dishwashers repaired." Viking, Electrolux, and Samsung dishwashers, for example, received our lowest rating for predicted reliabilitya Poor. Because of that, CR cannot recommend dishwashers from these bands. And we can't recommend models from Blomberg and Beko, given that they rated only Fair in reliability. Our survey results are based on CR members' experiences with 74,880 dishwashers purchased between 2007 and 2017 and not covered by a service contract. To make it easier for you to choose the best dishwasher before swiping your credit card, we now incorporate lab test results, predicted reliability, and owner satisfaction into a single Overall Score. Each of the 100-plus models in our dishwasher ratings has this new all-in-one rating. Lab Tested for Your Home Consumer Reports test engineers spend 28 hours testing each dishwasherevaluating cleaning performance, energy use, water consumption, and how well the model dries plastics, which are more difficult to dry than glass and ceramic. Story continues After a cycle, dishes are put through a proprietary test that uses photo imaging to determine precisely how clean they are upon unloading. On top of that, a panel of experts listens to an entire cycle. Manufacturers provide an average decibel level; our experts gauge how noisy the appliance is in real time, noting any peaks in volume, which consumers tell us they find annoying. Everything but the Kitchen Sink With high-end dishwashers, youll have your choice of finishes and handle styles. Some have a recessed pocket handle instead of a bar handle so that the dishwasher can fit seamlessly in a kitchen with stainless appliances from other brands. Stainless steel tubs, soil sensors, adjustable racks, and ample silverware baskets are standard. Expect to see most of the following features on any model, excluding WiFi connectivity, which we expect more high-end dishwashers to have in the next two years. Hidden controls. The controls are across the top of the door and cant be seen when the door is closed, for a look that's sleek and clean. Some models have a small light on the front of the door that glows when the machine is running, or a light that shines a small spot on the floor. Additional cycles. An express cycle that quickly cleans lightly soiled loads, and one meant for fine china, are two weve seen. LED lights. They shine light on the dishes when you open the door. Special wash zones. Part of the dishwasher is designated for heavily soiled items that need a special cycle. The zones dont necessarily run during the entire cleaning cycle, and with some models the special cycle lasts only a few minutes. In our labs, these wash zones worked as promised. WiFi connectivity. This allows you to receive updates regarding the status of the wash cycle or control your machine remotely from your smartphone. For example, the GE Profile PDT855SSJSS, $1,350, works with an app that allows you to check status, receive alerts, and reorder dishwasher detergent using your phone and Amazon's Alexa. The Bosch 800 Series SHEM78WH5N dishwasher, $1,185, also works with an app that enables remote control, and issues warnings if your dishwasher is leaking. And if you want, it will automatically reorder your favorite dishwasher detergent tabs on Amazon when the dishwashers tab-counter function says its time. 4 High-End Dishwashers to Consider We selected the four dishwashers below, which appear in alphabetical order, because they rate Very Good or Excellent overall. Bosch 800 Series SHXM98W75N Price: $1,080 CR's take: Bosch stands out as one of the most reliable dishwasher brands in our survey and gets high marks for owner satisfactionone of only three brands to earn this distinction. This dishwasher cleans like a champ without using much energy and needs 160 minutes to complete a normal cycle. It's among the quietest in this price range, rating Excellent in our noise tests. You won't know it's on unless you put your ear right up against the door. The exterior is stainless and has a bar handle, and like all the dishwashers highlighted here, the controls are on the top edge of the door, and hidden when the door is closed. KitchenAid KDPM354GBS Price: $1,130 CR's take: KitchenAid is only average in terms of predicted reliability, according to our member survey, but the brand rates Very Good in owner satisfaction. This dishwasher is similar to the KitchenAid KDTM354DSS we tested, so we expect it to perform similarly. Cleaning is top-notch, it's energy efficient, and it runs fairly quietly. It takes 125 minutes to clean a load. This dishwasher aces our drying tests, which means there's no need to reach for a towel when the cycle is complete. Available in stainless and black stainless, this KitchenAid offers a bold take on the pocket handle. Unlike most models we tested, this one has a self-cleaning filter. KitchenAid KDTM704ESS Price: $1,645 CR's take: This model rates similarly to the KitchenAid above in our tests for cleaning, energy use, and noise, and gets the job done in 110 minutes, the fastest of this group. But it rates only Good in our drying tests, so be sure to use a rinse aid to boost drying. Available in stainless and black stainless, this model has a stylish handle. There's also a self-cleaning filter and a special zone for washing bottles and tall glasses on the upper rack. Miele Futura Crystal G6665SCVlSF Price: $1,600 CR's take: Miele garners a Very Good rating in brand reliability, and of the 20 brands in our survey, Miele is one of three to get top marks for owner satisfaction. This dishwasher performs well in our tests for cleaning, plus it's an energy miser and runs fairly quietly. It takes 140 minutes to do a load, and when done, the door pops open slightly to allow the moisture to escape, which improves drying. This dishwasher comes in stainless, or in a version that's ready for you to add a custom panel to match your cabinets for a fully integrated look. You'll see more choices in our full dishwasher ratings, from these brands and others. Use the filters to narrow your options by price, brand, features, and more. More from Consumer Reports: Top pick tires for 2016 Best used cars for $25,000 and less 7 best mattresses for couples Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright 2018, Consumer Reports, Inc. A new bill would make it illegal for federal law enforcement officials to have sex with people in their custody, targeting a legal loophole that has allowed authorities to claim that instances of alleged assault or rape were consensual. California Rep. Jackie Speier, a Democrat, and Virginia Rep. Barbara Comstock, a Republican, introduced the bill to the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, their offices announced. This bill makes clear what should always be the legal standard those in police custody should never be subject to sexual abuse or rape from law enforcement officers, Comstock said in the statement. It is common sense that those under arrest are legally incapable of consenting to sexual acts with officers who hold enormous power over them. We can never tolerate predators in any profession. The bill, called The Closing Law Enforcement Consent Loophole Act, was inspired by a BuzzFeed News story about an 18-year-old New York City woman who said she was raped by two police officers in 2017 while handcuffed in their custody. Because there was no law in New York preventing police officers from having sex with people in their custody, BuzzFeed reported, the men were able to claim the sex was consensual. Both officers have since been fired and pled not guilty to sexual assault charges, BuzzFeed reports. New York, along with several other states, has since made it explicitly illegal for officers to have sex with people in their custody. Thirty-one states, however, still have loopholes like the one that existed in New York, according Speier and Comstocks statement. The new bill would address that issue by making sexual acts between a federal law enforcement official and anyone in his or her custody punishable by a fine, up to 15 years in prison or both. The policy would also direct additional funding to law enforcement agencies in states that pass laws closing this loophole at the state level, and compel states to report complaints of sexual misconduct brought against officers. Story continues Currently, there is no law that broadly prohibits federal law enforcement officials from using the consent defense in instances of alleged sexual assault involving people in custody, according to the representatives statement. It is, however, illegal for federal corrections officers to have sex with inmates. Law enforcement members wield incredible power in their ability to detain individuals, Speier said in the statement. Our bill ensures that police will act accordingly in their official duties, as befitting their role as officers of the law, and that any such abuse of this power will not be tolerated. Its not clear when the new bill will be put to a vote. DIRIAMBA, Nicaragua (AP) A pro-government mob shoved, punched and scratched at Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes and other Catholic leaders as they tried to enter the Basilica San Sebastian. "Murderers!" people shouted. An auxiliary bishop was slashed on the arm with some sort of sharp object. The ugly scene in the normally sleepy town of Diriamba, an hour's drive south of Nicaragua's capital, was a dramatic example of how rapidly a wave of unrest has soured relations between the Roman Catholic Church and beleaguered President Daniel Ortega. The church has tried to play a mediating role between Ortega's Sandinista government and protesters who have increasingly demanded his ouster amid demonstrations and clashes in which about 450 people most of them protesters have been slain. Instead it finds itself increasingly targeted by Ortega and his backers, reviving a hostility between the Sandinista base and the church establishment that burned hot during the 1980s but seemed to have been overcome in recent years, when the former guerrilla commander had formed a sort of alliance with once-critical bishops. Brenes, the archbishop of Managua, went to Diriamba on July 9, a day after speaking to priests there by phone and hearing gunshots and ambulances. He found doctors and nurses who had tended to wounded protesters and now were sheltering inside the basilica, surrounded by pro-government forces. "There was a fear that they would enter the church to snatch the people who were sheltering here," said the parish priest, the Rev. Cesar Alberto Castillo Rodriguez. Despite the scuffle at the door, Brenes' delegation, which included the Vatican's top diplomat in Nicaragua, was eventually able to evacuate people from the church. Two weeks later, despite a massive police presence, the church is covered with pro-government graffiti. "My commander stays," reads one scrawl, an allusion to Ortega, and others contain vulgar insults. They're signed "JS" for the Spanish-language initials of the Sandinista Youth, a pro-government organization that has acted as shock troops against protesters. Story continues The basilica eventually resumed services, but like many parishes in Nicaragua, it has stopped holding Mass in the evenings when police and armed pro-Ortega mobs rule the streets. "We realized that the people weren't coming," Brenes said. The church, essentially the last independent institution trusted by a large portion of Nicaraguans, is witnessing the whiplash-inducing shifts of Ortega, who appears to have regained his footing amid the most serious challenge to his power in the decade-plus since he regained office. In April the president asked the church to mediate peace talks. But the dialogue quickly broke down when it became clear he would not move up elections scheduled for 2021. Last week Ortega accused bishops of being in league with coup-plotters and allowing weapons to be stockpiled in churches without offering any evidence and said they were "disqualified" as mediators. Days later he reversed course again, saying he hoped the church would continue mediating and insisting that the government was not persecuting it. "Ortega's strategy with the church has always been to either charm or to intimidate," said Henri Gooren, an anthropologist at Oakland University in Michigan and editor of the Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions. "I think he found out that charming isn't working ... so all that he can do now is try to intimidate them, try to take away their credibility." Through his verbal attacks, Ortega is "telling his followers, especially the (pro-government gangs), 'You can go ahead and beat up priests and bishops and vandalize church buildings without any punishment,'" Gooren said. This week Brenes and his bishops met and agreed to continue pursuing dialogue, the only option he sees for stopping the violence. While discussion of "democratizing" Nicaragua has gone nowhere over Ortega's refusal to leave office, he said negotiators have been able to secure help for arrested protesters, peaceful removal of some barricades and access by international monitors such as the OAS. The way he sees it, without the dialogue even more would have been killed. The 69-year-old cardinal can also take a long view, because he's been through this before. Interviewed on the patio of his modest home in Managua, Brenes recalled how decades ago as a young priest, he harbored youths who supported Ortega's Sandinista Front when they were pursued by national guard troops from the Somoza dictatorship. And in 1979, after transferring to a parish in Jinotepe, armed Sandinista fighters took over his church. Once a sniper trapped him in the rectory with a woman and a young girl he had pulled inside. They hid under a washbasin for three days surviving on cookies and a bag of pinol, a cornstarch and chocolate powder mixed with water or milk. In 1991, Brenes helped mediate between the Sandinista army and U.S.-backed Contra rebels, traveling into the mountains of Matagalpa and running back and forth between representatives of two sides that refused to even approach each other. After Ortega's speech calling the bishops coup plotters, Brenes said that he looked up the Spanish word, "golpista," in the dictionary, and what he found was the antithesis of what he's trying to do. "I read there: 'Someone who acts to take power,'" Brenes said. "Well, that's not me. That's not us." Ortega clashed repeatedly with the church's conservative authorities when his socialist-oriented Sandinistas governed in the 1980s a time when many young leftist priests openly backed the former guerrillas, infuriating Pope John Paul II. But Ortega worked to mend relations with the church after he lost elections in the 1990s, and by the time he regained power in 2006, he was making frequent public displays of piety and had forged a friendship with the Nicaraguan church's leader, the late Archbishop Miguel Obando y Bravo. When the new wave of protests broke out in April initially over cuts to the social security system government forces and Sandinista Youth struck back hard. On April 20, hundreds of student protesters sought refuge at Managua's cathedral, where the church was collecting donations to support demonstrators. When police and Sandinista Youth descended, the students retreated inside, leaving only after clergy negotiated their safe passage. Brenes and several bishops made public statements against violence and in favor of dialogue. The Episcopal Conference later issued a more forceful condemnation of the crackdown and urged authorities "to hear the cry of the young Nicaraguans." The Vatican has been mostly quiet about the conflict, deferring as it usually does to behind-the-scenes diplomacy while the local church manages the situation on the ground. Last week Pope Francis' ambassador to Nicaragua did put out a statement expressing the pontiff's "deep concern for the grave situation." The same day as the attack in Diriamba, Ortega supporters sacked the Santiago Apostol parish in Jinotepe, tossing pews down the front steps while shouting that the church was harboring terrorists. The most harrowing incident occurred at the Jesus of Divine Mercy church in Managua. For nearly 15 hours overnight on July 13-14, armed government backers fired on the church while 155 student protesters who had been dislodged from a nearby university lay under the pews. A student who was shot in the head at a barricade outside died on the rectory floor. Brenes made sure they arrived safely at the city's cathedral. The Divine Mercy's facade is still pocked from hundreds of bullet impacts. A small chapel behind the main sanctuary sustained the heaviest fire; rounds pierced a painting of Jesus Christ and ricocheted off the gold-plated box holding the sacrament. On a recent Sunday, parishioner Nelly Harding, 56, wiped away tears as she stepped outside the chapel: "If they don't respect the house of God, don't respect the lives of defenseless people, what can we hope for?" Parish priest Erick Alvarado Cole said police have not come to investigate and the building's scars will be left just as they are. "These holes in the walls, the Christ, the side chapel, the windows, are going to stay this way as proof of the pain of the Nicaraguan people," Alvarado said. "If it's repaired, it's like nothing happened." ___ Associated Press writer Nicole Winfield contributed to this report from Rome. MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (AP) A black man yelled at former White House press secretary Sean Spicer in a bookstore and accused Spicer of calling him a racial slur when they were students at a prep school decades ago. Spicer was "taken aback" by the man's "outrageous claim" and had no recollection of him or of being in school with him, his publicist said on Saturday. Spicer was at a book signing in Middletown on Friday to promote his new book reflecting on his time at the press podium for President Donald Trump. Alex Lombard, who was standing behind a small group of people waiting in line to meet Spicer and get him to sign the book, called out Spicer's name and said they went to Portsmouth Abbey School together. Spicer waved to him and said, "Hey. Yeah. How are you?" Lombard, a Newport native who now lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, then accused Spicer of calling him the N-word and trying to fight him when they were at school. "You don't remember that you tried to fight me?" Lombard asked. "But you called me a (N-word) first." A security guard approached Lombard and led him away as he kept talking: "I was 14 then. I was a scared kid then, Sean. I'm not scared to fight you now." The Providence Journal reported Saturday that Lombard said he was a member of Portsmouth Abbey's class of 1990. It said Spicer was a member of the class of 1989. Phone and email messages left by The Associated Press for the school were not immediately returned. A Newport Daily News video of the encounter doesn't show how Spicer, who was seated at a table signing books, reacted to being accused of using the racial slur. But his publicist said he was shocked by the allegation. Spicer "can't recall any incident like this happening" and was "not sure if this was just a stunt this man was pulling," Regnery Publishing publicist Lauren McCue said. She said Spicer has been in the news a lot the last couple of years and it was "a very odd time" for an accusation like this to be made. Spicer has been promoting "The Briefing: Politics, the Press, and the President," which just came out. The book paints a rosy if sometimes thorny picture of Trump, describing him as "a unicorn, riding a unicorn over a rainbow" and a man to whom the regular rules of politics don't apply. Athens (AFP) - Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Friday said he assumed "political responsibility" for the country's deadliest wildfires as a bitter debate raged over who was to blame for the tragedy. The opposition earlier accused the government of refusing to take responsibility after it said that the worst of the fires, which killed scores this week east of Athens, was the result of arson. Deputy Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Toskas on Thursday suggested that arson had played a role in the tragedy in which at least 87 people perished. At a cabinet meeting broadcast live on Friday, Tsipras said he wanted "to assume completely before the great Greek people the political responsibility for this tragedy". "I believe that is what the prime minister and the government should do," he added. Forensics experts pressed ahead Friday with the difficult task of identifying the bodies of those who perished in the catastrophe. An official in the identification effort told Greek radio that most of the bodies were completely carbonised, meaning the task will likely take several more days to complete. - 'Left us at God's mercy' - Amid public anger over the government's handling of the aftermath, Toskas told reporters on Thursday that "a serious piece of information has led to us opening an investigation" into possible "criminal acts". Officials citing information from satellite maps have said that 13 fires broke out at the same time across the region of Attica -- which includes Athens -- on Monday. But the government has come in for strong criticism over its response to the disaster despite a 40-million-euro relief fund for those affected. Defence Minister Panos Kammenos was heckled as he visited the coastal region of Mati, where most of the fatalities occurred. "You left us to God's mercy, there's nothing left," shouted one resident. But Kammenos went on the counter-attack, telling the BBC that illegal construction in the past was also to blame for the disaster. Story continues The "majority" of houses on the coast had been built without the proper licences, he said. "After this tragedy I think it is the moment to understand that it's dangerous for them and for their families to not follow the rules and the laws," the minister said. Experts have said that a mix of poor urban planning, including a lack of proper access routes and the construction of too many buildings next to combustible forest areas, contributed to what were Europe's worst wildfires this century. "The whole area needs to be redesigned," said Interior Minister Panos Skourletis. "Roads need to be opened, routes to the sea need to be reopened." The region's mayor Evangelos Bournos told Greek radio Friday that the emergency responders had inadvertently trapped residents by closing a main road near the fires. "We are all responsible, the government, the emergency services, and citizens," he said. Police and firefighting officials had earlier denied closing the route. - 'Deplorable spectacle' - The opposition New Democracy party reacted stingingly to Toskas's claim that the fires were the result of criminal acts. "This deplorable spectacle of rejecting any responsibility can only provoke anger," it said in a statement. The party said questions were raised over the number of firefighters available and evacuation procedures. Fofi Gennimata of the opposition Socialist party called for the government to resign over the disaster. No ministers have resigned so far. "This government is dangerous and must go," Gennimata said. The opposition daily Ta Nea ran a front-page image of government ministers with the headline: "Incompetent provocateurs". The fires struck coastal villages popular with holidaymakers and burned with such ferocity that most people fled to the safety of the sea with just the clothes on their backs. Survivors spoke of harrowing scenes including entire families burned alive in their homes. "We were alone, there was nobody to help us. Everybody did what they thought they had to do to survive on their own," resident Evi Kavoura told AFP. The disaster unleashed a wave of solidarity and many survivors were being looked after by voluntary organisations, who were providing them with accommodation, clothing and food. Amid mountains of food and baby nappies in a gymnasium in Rafina, near Mati, one of the volunteers, Joanna Kefalidou, an English teacher on holiday, said: "We're Greeks and Greeks tend to come together in times of need and help each other as much as they can." Blue Ivy Carter redefined what vacation goals are when she was photographed sipping a cool drink in a crystal blue pool in a picture posted on Beyonces website. In the photo, the six-year-old heir to the Knowles-Carter dynasty and accomplished freestyle rapper wore a black and white ruffled swimsuit, a pair of chic sunglasses, and held a refreshing orange beverage, looking unbothered and completely in her element. The photo appeared to be taken during the European leg of the Carters On the Run II tour. As might be expected, the Internet couldnt get enough of Blue Ivys chill and casually bougie summer vibes and quickly turned the already iconic photo into the summers most aspirational meme to express their most luxurious and carefree feelings. Staff: maam you cant bring glass near the pool... Blue Ivy: pic.twitter.com/OGeXqIt6V6 Twitney (@Wh1tneyyy) July 26, 2018 Blue Ivy is 6 years old and sippin her drink on a $1.2 million dollar a week yacht, in Italy CRIES IN POOR ???????? pic.twitter.com/FVN2omKHOH JACOBI WARE (@jacobiware1) July 26, 2018 Blue Ivy is a whole MOOD. pic.twitter.com/MVqj2IwwgG Maya. (@mayathemuse) July 26, 2018 By Norihiko Shirouzu BEIJING (Reuters) - German carmaker BMW said it will raise the prices of two U.S.-made crossover sport-utility vehicles in China to cope with the additional cost of tariffs on U.S. car imports into the world's biggest auto market. In a move due to take effect on Monday, BMW said in a statement to Reuters over the weekend that it will increase maker-suggested retail prices of the popular, relatively high-margin X5 and X6 SUV models by 4 percent to 7 percent. The rates of increase suggest that BMW is willing to absorb much of the higher costs stemming from bringing the SUVs to China from its factory in South Carolina, underscoring the fierce competition among luxury car brands in China. BMW's move comes after China imposed new tariffs earlier this month on about $34 billion of U.S. imports, from soybeans and cars to lobsters, as part of a widening trade row. Beijing, which this year cut tariffs on all automobiles imported into China, slapped an additional 25 percent levy on U.S.-made cars as of July 6. As a result, China now levies a 40 percent import duty on all cars imported from the United States. "BMW stands for free (trade) but can't stand still without taking actions to respond to the market changes," a BMW spokeswoman said in an email message to Reuters. BMW imports X4, X5 and X6 crossover SUV models from the United States for sale in China where demand for SUVs has been booming. Last year, the German automaker shipped more than 100,000 vehicles from the United States to China. The company made no reference to pricing of its X4 model. BMW's decision to absorb much of the impact of the higher tariffs echoes an earlier move by U.S. carmaker Ford Motor Co , which said it would not increase its prices for now in an effort to sustain its business momentum. China-based car dealers told Reuters that German rival Mercedes Benz, operated by Daimler AG , moderately raised the price in mid-July of its GLE, a sporty midsize SUV produced in the state of Alabama, in China. A Daimler spokeswoman referred Reuters to comments made by the company last week. Daimler's chief executive Dieter Zetsche said last Thursday the car maker was looking at ways to mitigate the impact of the trade war. This would include a review of whether to shift some U.S. production to China. Daimler also said last week its 2018 pre-tax profits would fall from last year because the new Chinese import tariffs would hurt sales of Mercedes-Benz SUVs. (Reporting By Norihiko Shirouzu; editing by Richard Pullin) For years, Chase Utley has been one of the faces of old school baseball. He takes hit-by-pitches with no visible pain, he leads by example in the Los Angeles Dodgers clubhouse and he slides hard into the bases (probably harder than he should). That reputation apparently took a hit on Saturday, when Utley and his Dodgers teammates dared to wear T-shirts during batting practice? In a bizarrely somber commentary complete with multiple prepared clips of the Dodgers before Saturdays game, Atlanta Braves announcer Joe Simpson spent a full minute calling the Dodger organization unprofessional and an embarrassment for wearing T-shirts and shorts during batting practice at SunTrust Park. The rant was captured by Dodgers Digest and The Athletic blogger Chad Moriyama. Simpson, who spent the first four seasons of his career as an MLB player with the Dodgers, criticized Utley in particular and implied he no longer thinks Utley plays the game the right way. Simpsons broadcast partner Chip Caray also lamented MLBs loss of exposure for their batting practice uniforms, which are priced at $99.99. Dodgers BP wear lamented by Braves announcers Here are Simpsons comments in full: SIMPSON: You know that I grew up in the Dodger organization and certainly was taught how to play professional baseball and do things the right way. I want you to look at some things that were going on today in batting practice here with the Dodgers. What do you see? T-shirts. You see Chase Utley with no socks and pants up over his knees. This was prevalent with their whole team. And I think about fans that come to SunTrust Park who are Dodgers fans and want to see their players. They had no idea who any of them were. Nobody had any kind of uniform or batting practice shirt with their name on their jersey. They look very unprofessional. I think I can say this because I know what the Dodger organization was all about- CARAY: Theres the bunt, it is perfect. SIMPSON: But if I were a Dodgers fan, Id be embarrassed. And I dont know how Major League Baseball allows such attire when the gates are open and the fans are watching. Chase Utley, I have nothing but respect for him, his whole career, thinking hes a great player and I thought he always played the game the right way. That was an embarrassment what he had on today during practice. CARAY: You think of all the merchandise Major League Baseball does with their batting practice uniforms and the batting practice jerseys, Im with you. Its called a uniform for a reason. Story continues Caray later doubled down on his opinions on Twitter, mocking the Dodgers wardrobe choices and betting Dodgers broadcast legend Vin Scully would have liked to see them in uniform, even though the team wore basically the same BP clothes during Scullys final season with the team in 2016. Im not the guy taking BP in Capri-mimicking pants, no socks, and no uniform. My partner merely pointed it out. Only mlb teamhesxseen be so non-uniform. Why not wear MLB-issued BP jerseys with names on road so paying customers know whos who? Lighten up. https://t.co/s40vjMFbVP Chip Caray (@kapaya1234) July 29, 2018 Love Vin. Ill bet he liked seeing players wear uniforms too. https://t.co/9IoEEj2RZe Chip Caray (@kapaya1234) July 29, 2018 While Simpson and Caray are entitled to their opinions, theres an unfortunate fact they missed about Utleys shirt. Chase Utley and the Dodgers wardrobe choices came under fire Saturday in Atlanta, for some reason. (Getty Images) Chase Utley was wearing Dodgers K Cancer T-shirt What Simpson very clearly did not realize about Utleys T-shirt while calling him an embarrassment is that it was the teams K Cancer T-shirt, part of a collection featuring designs for all 30 MLB teams. Including the Braves. Utleys wardrobe choice was pointed out by former Braves reliever Jason Motte, whose foundation uses funds from the shirts to fund cancer research. The Dodgers shirt in particular is sponsored by Enrique Hernandez and benefits the San Juan Childrens Hospital. Chase Utley repping his @MotteFoundation @kikehndez #KCancer shirt and showing his support for those in the fight against cancer. Looks pretty good if you ask me!!! Get yours at https://t.co/KQvhf1wDtf and join the fight. #KCancer pic.twitter.com/JstkXC0Yer Jason Motte (@JMotte30) July 29, 2018 Dodgers manager Dave Roberts takes criticism personally After the Dodgers 5-1 win over the Braves, manager Dave Roberts was asked about Simpsons comments. He did not seem amused about what Simpson had to say. Dave Roberts was legit pissed when informed about BattingPracticeTshirtGate. I take it personally when someone questions our professionalism, Roberts said. Andy McCullough (@McCulloughTimes) July 29, 2018 The studio team of Dodgers television affiliate SportsNet LA also blasted the Braves announcers comments, saying the Braves had no place telling the Dodgers how to run their own team. Worry about your team. Theres a lot to worry about the Braves right now, former Dodgers player Jerry Hairston said. So many guys on this team play the game the right way and its unfortunate that some other network is starting to pick on our players. Thats not their place. Even Braves pitcher and former Dodger Brandon McCarthy rebuffed Caray on Twitter, noting that Utley is the consummate example of professionalism in baseball. Chip, it was Chase Utley. The near universal choice for how to conduct yourself as a professional baseball player. Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) July 29, 2018 In case you were wondering or hoping, there will be no batting practice before the Dodgers series finale on Sunday against the Braves since its a day game. Thats unfortunate, since at least two members of the Dodgers had creative ideas for what they were going to wear in response. Hey @kikehndez you got a pair of overalls i can borrow? pic.twitter.com/legFHeYENb Justin Turner (@redturn2) July 29, 2018 More from Yahoo Sports: Air Force player comes out as gay: I did not think this day would ever come Dez Bryant blames Cowboys garbage ass play calling for struggles in Twitter rant Is a Jimmer Fredette NBA comeback possible? Yankees fans go after pitcher on Twitter who hit Aaron Judge The Washington Nationals have been wearing their frustrations on their sleeves throughout this difficult and disappointing season. Never was it more apparent than Saturday night, when after suffering another devastating loss this time 2-1 to a Miami Marlins thats 16 games under .500 superstar outfielder and free agent-to-be Bryce Harper let loose with an apparent criticism of the teams front office. [Yahoo Fantasy Football leagues are open: Sign up now for free] The game-winning hit was delivered by Marlins All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto. If youve been following the MLB trade rumor mill even somewhat casually, youll probably recognize Realmuto as a name frequently connected to the Nationals as a potential upgrade at catcher. Well, in Harpers opinion, Realmuto should already be with the Nationals. Because if he was wearing the Nationals uniform Saturday night, he would have not been responsible for beating them. Bryce Harper on J.T. Realmutos walk-off single: If that guy was on our side, that wouldnt have happened. Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) July 29, 2018 Hes not wrong, either. The comment is clearly frustration driven, but it doesnt just stem from one loss either. Its the build up of a now 52-52 season, which puts Washington five games out of first place in the division entering play on Sunday. The season is not yet a lost cause by any stretch of the imagination, but its a troubling predicament for a team many pegged to win the NL East. Heck, some even thought they would finally make the World Series under new manager Davey Martinez. Theyre nowhere close to that level right now. As a result, theyve officially reached the most critical point in their season. With a little more than 48 hours left before the non-waiver trade deadline, they have to figure out if theyre buying all the way in or perhaps even selling. Story continues Based on Saturdays loss, theres not a lot of room left for optimism. Based on Harpers comments, he may have already lost faith in the front offices ability or willingness to help out. Even if the Nationals dont buy or sell in the next two day, theres still time for them to put all of the drama and disappointment behind them. But the way this season is trending, they seem destined to fall short again. Only this time, it could be compounded by an unhappy Harpers exit in free agency. Bryce Harper was not happy that rumored Nationals trade target J.T. Realmuto helped beat them Saturday night. (AP) More from Yahoo Sports: LeBron Jr.s basketball game cancelled amid security concerns Red Sox manager ticked at Orioles postponing game Boston led 5-0 Kevin Durants latest social media feud: McCollum called him soft Conor McGregor reaches plea deal in NYC assault case Employees prepare food at a Z-Burger location in the Washington DC area. The chain recently came under fire for using an image of a journalist beheaded by Isis in one of its advertisements: JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images A Washington DC burger chain has apologised for its use of an image of a photojournalist beheaded by Isis in a tweet advertisement. Z-Burger had put an image of slain reporter James Foley, who was captured by Isis in 2012 while covering the conflict in Syria. A video of his brutal 2014 murder was distributed by the group. Chain owner Peter Tabibian took the tweet down and said in a statement: An apology has been sent to some of you from a contracted marketing company over an unfortunate incident, a post in very poor taste that was not approved by me before being uploaded to our Twitter account. On 21 July the company's Twitter account posted an advertisement with an image of Mr Foley wearing an orange jumpsuit and kneeling facing the camera with a member of Isis wearing a full mask over their face. It was superimposed with an image of two hands holding a burger. The tweet read: When you say you want a burger and someone says okay lets hit McDonalds" accompanied by an emoji of eyes. The caption of the photo read: "You disgrace me". The reaction on social was swift and harsh, as expected and Mr Tabibian issued an apology later that day. (Screenshot/Twitter ) A message from our owner - Peter pic.twitter.com/09yMYBYBHK zburger (@zburger) July 22, 2018 Mr Tabibian wrote that he had "taken immediate steps to ensure that this never happens again". He also provided his email address for customers to contact him about the matter or any other issues. The owner said the "inappropriate and offensive" advertisement was posted by Valor Media, a firm Z-Burger uses for social media promotions. That company is run by Michael Valor, 23, a so-called social media influencer who also posted an apology on Twitter in the form of a series of videos. "This was a Valor Media issue. Not an external issue from [Z-Burger]," Mr Valor said in the first video. Story continues The self-professed "young gun" claimed the company had an "influx of volume" in the work the company received in the two weeks before the offensive advert was posted and said they "pulled on a new art director to the staff" who was to blame. The tweet was taken down quickly but not before Mr Foley's mother, Diane Foley saw it. She responded on Twitter via the James Foley Legacy Foundation's account, writing that she was "very saddened" by the image and its use as an advertisement for hamburgers. I am very saddened that @Zburger would be so insensitive and ignorant of others pain while marketing their hamburger. I look forward to hearing an apology from Peter Tabibian and Michael Valor and their promised donation to the foundation #inspiring moral courage. -Diane Foley JamesFoleyFoundation (@JamesFoleyFund) July 24, 2018 But, she noted she "looked forward" to the promised donations to the charity by Mr Tabibian and Mr Valor. The foundation advocates for safe return of Americans captured abroad, particularly independent journalists covering conflicts who do not have the support of a full news organisation, and educates the public on threats to freedom of the press. Valor Media has also agreed to sponsor future events for the charity as well. Missed Delivery? If missed delivery or wet paper please call our office 909-628-5501 ext 110 Leave a detailed message with name, address, and phone number. Readers must call before 1 p.m. on Saturday. Re-deliveries are available for Chino residents until 1 p.m. Saturdays. Click Here The Daily Beast FBIWarning: This story contains descriptions of sexual assault.A U.S. Embassy staffer accused of drugging and sexually assaulting at least 24 women over a 14-year period was in fact a longtime CIA employee, the FBI announced Monday, as the bureau urged any possible victims to come forward in the case.Serial molester Brian Jeffrey Raymond, 45, was arrested Oct. 9, 2020, in La Mesa, California, where he had been staying with his parents after abruptly quitting his job at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico By Prak Chan Thul and Amy Sawitta Lefevre PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - At the Toul Kork Primary School in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh volunteers swept classrooms and laid out wooden desks on Saturday, transforming rooms into polling booths ahead a general election Prime Minister Hun Sen is expected to easily win. "I believe voters will come out to vote," Yos Vanthan, head of the school's election committee, told Reuters. Hun Sen's critics have called for an election boycott, saying that without any real opposition to the government, the poll will be a shame. Voting is not mandatory, but authorities have warned that anyone who boycotts the vote will be seen as a "traitor". Nineteen political parties are running against Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) but none are strongly critical of the prime minister or the government. His main challenge the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which narrowly lost the last election in 2013, was dissolved by the Supreme Court last year and many of its lawmakers banned from politics for five years. Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge commander who eventually defected from Pol Pot's murderous regime, has been in power for more than 30 years and is the world's longest serving prime minister. Many CNRP leaders have fled abroad and are living in self-imposed exile and its leader, Kem Sokha, was jailed in September on treason charges, leaving Hun Sen, who has ruled for 33 years, with no significant opponent. Some Western countries and the United Nations have questioned the credibility of the election because of the lack of any significant opposition. Rights groups have criticized restrictions placed on independent media and civil society. Officials say they don't expect any violence on election day, but last week authorities put on a show of power, with police displaying anti-riot gear and assault rifles in the capital in a move meant to discourage any street protests. Police on Saturday arrested four farmers and accused them of planting a grenade at a polling station in the country's northern Preah Vihear province, provincial police chief Ying Samnang said in police report. The device did not explode. Dim Sovannarom, a spokesman for the National Election Committee, who inspected the Toul Kork Primary School in Boeung Kak 1 commune on Saturday, said the commission expects more than 60 percent of registered voters to cast their ballot. Nearly 70 percent cast their ballot during the last general election in 2013. "We expect more than 60 percent in the whole country," Dim Sovannarom told reporters, before unveiling grey metal polling boxes donated by the Japanese government. But some Cambodians see no point in voting and a low-voter turnout could undermine the CPP's claims to legitimacy. "Why should I vote? It makes no difference," said an airport taxi driver from the southwestern province of Takeo. He declined to be named for fear of repercussions. Mu Sochua, CNRP deputy president, said any country that does not denounce the election cannot call itself democratic. "Any country supporting, or that is hesitant to denounce the election as a sham, should not call itself on the side of democracy," Mu Sochua told Reuters. Critics, including exiled opposition members, have called for targeted sanctions against Hun Sen's government and its allies following his pre-election crackdown. On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a long-awaited Cambodia Democracy Act, paving the way for sanctions to be imposed against Hun Sen's inner circle. This week Japan said it would not send observers to the election despite doing so in numerous elections in the past. (Writing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Michael Perry) The captain of the duck boat tour that ended with 17 drowned both checked the weather and referenced life jackets before the doomed trip, investigators have revealed. The National Transportation Safety Board on Friday said recordings recovered from the boat reveal the captain made a reference to checking the weather radar as passengers boarded the amphibious vessel the evening of July 19. Per the Springfield News-Leader, Captain Kenneth McKee was told by someone who briefly stepped onto the boat to give the water part of the tour first. The boat entered Table Rock Lake near Branson at 6:55 p.m., nearly a half hour after a thunderstorm warning was issued for the area by the National Weather Service. The NTSB report also notes that McKee referenced life jackets before the boat entered the water, though it does not indicate if he told passengers they wouldn't need them, as survivors have reportedly said. "The briefing included the location of emergency exits as well as the location of the life jackets," said the report. "The captain then demonstrated the use of a life jacket and pointed out the location of the life rings." In a press release, the NTSB was careful to note that these findings are very preliminary. "The information does not contain analysis," the NTSB said. "As such, no conclusions regarding the cause of the accident should be made from this preliminary information." The duck boat company has chosen not to comment. Video analyzed by the NTSB cuts off at 7:08 p.m., just before the boat sank, leaving the captain dead along with 16 others. Also among the dead were nine members of a single family. Only two of the 11 members of the Coleman family survived after nearly hurricane-force winds capsized the boat. Tia Coleman, who lost her husband and three young children, spoke out from the hospital following the life-altering ordeal. "This big huge waves choppy, everybody started getting like hey, this is getting a little bit too much," Coleman recalled to KOLR. "And then it got really choppy and big swells of water started coming in to the boat, then a really huge wave swept over." Story continues Victims from the Coleman family were identified as Maxwell Coleman, 2; Reece Coleman, 9; and Evan Coleman, 7; Angela Coleman, 45, Belinda Coleman, 69, Ervin Coleman, 76, Glenn Coleman, 40, and Horace Coleman, 70. Tia Coleman and her 13-year-old nephew were the only family members to make it to shore alive. RELATED STORIES More Than $500,000 Raised for Tia Coleman, Sole Survivor of Her Family in Duck Boat Sinking After Duck Boat Tragedy, Passengers Grappling With Survivor Guilt Survivor From Family Decimated in Duck Boat Disaster Speaks Out Related Articles: MANILA (Reuters) - China has donated four 12-meter-long boats and 30 rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers to the Philippines, continuing the closer relations between the two countries under President Rodrigo Duterte. The donation, which follows the provision last year of about 6,000 assault rifles and hundreds of sniper rifles, also included small arms and ammunition, said Navy spokesman Commander Jonathan Zata. "They are brand new equipment," he told reporters, adding the military was assessing how to integrate the material and provide long term logistical support. The Chinese rifles went to the Philippine National Police (PNP), helping to fill a shortfall after U.S. legislators blocked the sale of about 26,000 M4 rifles to the police in 2016. The freeze on the sale came amid concerns about the United States arming a police force accused of widespread human rights abuses during Duterte's fierce war on drugs, which has killed thousands of Filipinos. Duterte, who has been critical of the Philippines alliance with the United States, is eager to develop closer trade and political ties with old foe China. China's donation is part of a new wave of diplomacy to engage a country with which Beijing has a bitter history of territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Beijing's donations so far remain small compared with arms transfers from the United States, a defense treaty ally with the Philippines since the 1950s. Washington has in the past five years provided 15 billion peso ($282 million) of military aid, including drones, ships, surveillance planes and assault rifles. Washington and Manila have for decades held joint exercises, as many as 300 a year, and the programs remain intact despite repeated threats last year by Duterte to cancel them and abrogate bilateral defense pacts. ($1 = 53.1970 Philippine pesos) (Reporting By Manuel Mogato; editing by Richard Pullin) North Korean leader Kim Jong Un guides on the spot the underwater test-fire of strategic submarine ballistic missile in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on April 24, 2016. KCNA/via REUTERS. ATTENT Sebastien Roblin Security, Asia As in ballistic missile submarines. Coming Soon: North Korea's Nukes Could Go Underwater In the summer of 2018 a flurry of reports confirmed that North Korea has continued construction of a second ballistic-missile submarine, designated the Sinpo-C by intelligence analysts after the shipyard in eastern North Korea. South Korean representative Kim Hack-yong told the Wall Street Journal that South Korean intelligence officials had reported activity and new materials around the construction site of the submarine. For context, Kim is a member of a conservative party which is skeptical of President Moon Jae-ins diplomatic outreach to Pyongyang. The Sinpo-C is estimated to displace more than 2,000 tons and have a beam of 11 meters, making it the largest vessel in the Korean Peoples Navy. The KPN operates roughly 70 submarines, technically giving it one of the largest submarine fleets on the planetbut most of the submarines are very small types incapable of sailing far from the Korean Peninsula. The existence of the new submarine had first been publicized in October 2017 by Ankit Panda of the The Diplomat based on U.S. military intelligence reports passed on by government sources. Then in November the website 38North published detailed satellite photos showing new construction and testing activity at Sinpo, including 7-meter diameter components which may be segments of the pressure hull. Multiple submarine ejections tests were observed earlier that year, including a failed launch in September that reportedly killed one Korean according to Japanese newspaper Asahi Simbun. Then in 2018, a launch tube likely for a new type of Pukkuksong Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) was seen installed on a test facility. This is only the latest report confirming the unsurprising reality that North Korea is covertly proceeding with the development of nuclear warheads and delivery systems despite vague promises made at the summit between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un to denuclearize. For example, late in June five intelligence agents told NBC in June that North Korea is actually accelerating its production of enriched uranium, while seeking to conceal the extent of its program. The nuclear weapons, and the rocket technology to deliver them, are extremely expensive investments by Pyongyang, and the Kim dynasty is unlikely to give them up entirely because they are seen as guarantors against a U.S. attack. Story continues The new submarine would be a successor to the Gorae (Whale) or Sinpo-B, first identified from satellite photos in 2014. The 1,700-ton submarine is believed to have been inspired by the older Soviet Golf-class submarine, several of which were transferred to North Korea for scrapping. The 68-meter long vessel is thought to be intended primarily for testing rather than operational deployment. A launch tube is visible in the Goraes sale (or conning tower). This configuration makes it easier to fit in vertically launched ballistic missiles without having to build a larger hull, but limits the payload to just a few missilesor even just one. A crew photo released by North Korea implies a complement of seventy to eighty personnel. More challenging to develop than the submarine itself would be its Pukkuksong-1 (or KN-11) submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM), which can be fired from underwater (see this photo). The name itself means North Star or Polaris, which probably-not-coincidentally happens to be the name of the United States first operational SLBM. A special raft was even built to test launch the SLBM, and multiple test firings were observed. Experts estimate that the 9-meter long missile, painted white with snubby black tips, can strike targets up to 750 miles away, and would surely be armed with a nuclear warhead. Theres even a photo of Kim Jong-un observing a Pukkuksong launch. Though North Korea initially tested a liquid-fuel rocket apparently inspired by the Soviet R-27 SLBM, the Pukkuksong-I ended up being a two-stage solid-fuel rocket. Though heavier, solid fuel rockets can be fired on very short notice compared to liquid fuel rockets which need to be gassed up prior to launch (the fuel cant be left in the tanks as it is highly corrosive) and pose major safety hazardstraits that place their survivability versus a first strike in question. However, designing solid fuel rockets is technically very challenging as the fuel must be built into the casing and air bubbles, warps and cracks can easily lead to catastrophic failures. In fact, the Pukkuksong-1 was considered such a breakthrough on this front that a land-based Pukkuksong-2 variant was developed. Recommended: Why No Commander Wants to Take On a Spike Missile Recommended: What Will the Sixth-Generation Jet Fighter Look Like? Recommended: Imagine a U.S. Air Force That Never Built the B-52 Bomber The reports of a new Sinpo-class submarine coincided with suggestive photos released by North Korea of an inspection by Kim Jong-un. One photo has a display to the right detailing plans for a succeeding Pukkuksong-3 missile. Another shows off a rocket which appears to have an advanced wound-filament casing. In general, expert speculate the Pukkuksong-3 would be a lighter rocket due to use of composite materials, allowing for greater striking range. These background revelations were surely intentional, and could be deceitful. In fact, this degree of exposure is a feature rather than bug from the point of view of Pyongyang, which wants Washington and Seoul to know it has SLBM capability to deter from being attacked in a first place. After all, actually launching nukes would only likely occur in a scenario where the regime would likely not be long for the world. Its important not to exaggerate the capabilities of the Gorae and its successor, however. These submarines and their missiles possess limited range and speed, and would surely prove fairly noisy compared to Russian or American submarines. Lacking air-independent or nuclear propulsion, they would need to snorkel or surface every few days to recharge their batteries, exposing themselves to detection. At best, they could attempt to sail out a modest distance to enter within striking range of Australia or Hawaii, though at great risk of being hunted down by patrol planes, surface warships and submarines of Japan, South Korea and the United States. On short patrols around the rocky, shallow waters of the Korean Peninsula, however, the Gorae could prove more difficult to track. Its most threatening tactic would be launching a missile attack on South Korea or Japan from an unexpected direction. For example, U.S. THAAD anti-ballistic missile batteries are deployed to intercept attacks from the north, but not from other vectors. As a test platform, the Gorae is unlikely to see much operational use except under desperate circumstances. North Korea will need to build multiple improved Sinpo-C submarines if it wishes to possess a credible and survivable sea-based nuclear deterrence. However, such deterrence is highly valued as submarine delivery systems make it difficult for foreign adversaries to have confidence they can wipe out nuclear-retaliation capability with a first strike. Thats why its unsurprising that North Korea is quietly proceeding with the development of the Sinpo-C and Pukkuksong-3 despite ambiguous promises to denuclearize. Sebastien Roblin holds a masters degree in conflict resolution from Georgetown University and served as a university instructor for the Peace Corps in China. He has also worked in education, editing, and refugee resettlement in France and the United States. He currently writes on security and military history for War Is Boring. Image: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un guides on the spot the underwater test-fire of strategic submarine ballistic missile in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on April 24, 2016. KCNA/via REUTERS. ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THIS IMAGE. SOUTH KOREA OUT. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY Read full article Mark Anthony Ravens, 31, a resident of McDonald, Tennessee, passed away on Thursday, July 26, 2018. Mark served our country proudly in the U.S. Army. He currently worked at Toyota of Cleveland, as a Service Tech. He had a great love for racing and working on cars, he often enjoyed spending time with his daughter while working on his vehicle. He was dearly loved and will be greatly missed by all who knew him. He was preceded in death by his grand fathers, Ray Ravens and Emil Anthony Knott. He leaves behind to cherish his memory, his loving wife of seven years, Felisha and daughter, Amora; parents, Jerry (Diane) Ravens and Janice (Lebron) Cooper; brother, Hunter and step-sister, Katie; special friends, Bobby (Chelsea) Randolph, JR. Cranfill and Kevin Hill. He also leaves behind several grandparents as well as many aunts, uncles, cousins and extended family as well as his faithful K9 Companions, Duke and Nara. There will be a visitation for the family held on Monday, July 30, from 4-7 p.m. at Companion Funeral Home: Cleveland Chapel. A private graveside service will be held at a later date for the family at Chattanooga National Cemetery. By Alexandria Sage REDDING, Calif. (Reuters) - A 70-year-old woman and her two great-grandchildren were among six killed when a wildfire raged through an area of northern California and engulfed entire communities, officials and family members said. Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko told a news conference in the city of Redding at the edge of the blaze on Sunday that one more person had died in a residence consumed by fire, bringing the total to six, including two firefighters. He said the latest victim had not complied with an evacuation order. Bosenko said authorities are still looking for seven people after finding nine others who had been reported missing. More than 38,000 people remained under evacuation orders on Sunday in and around Redding, a city of 90,000 people about 160 miles (257 km) north of the state capital Sacramento. The Carr Fire, which has destroyed more than 500 buildings, is the deadliest and most destructive of nearly 90 wildfires burning from Texas to Oregon. The Carr Fire has charred 89,194 acres (36,095 hectares) of drought-parched vegetation since erupting last Monday. Redding Police Sergeant Todd Cogle confirmed that three bodies discovered at a fire-ravaged home on the outskirts of Redding were two children and their great-grandmother. The victims identified by relatives on Facebook and in news media reports were James Roberts, 5, his sister Emily, 4, and their great grandmother, Melody Bledsoe, 70. Bledsoe's granddaughter, Amanda Woodley, said on Facebook the elderly woman desperately put a wet blanket over the children as their home burned. "Grandma did everything she could to save them she was hovered over them both with a wet blanket," Woodley said in a Facebook post. The children's mother, Sherry Bledsoe, was quoted by the Sacramento Bee as saying: "My kids are deceased. That's all I can say." UNPREDICTABLE The weather on Sunday is expected to offer no relief for firefighters, with temperatures over 100 Fahrenheit (37.7 Celsius), low humidity and gusty winds, the National Weather Service said. "We are simply not getting a break," said Chris Anthony, a division chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). The blaze remained unpredictable, he said by telephone from Redding. "Under these conditions that we are seeing right now, it's not going to take much for the fire to have the extreme spread that we saw a couple of days ago." Officials battling the blaze told the news conference in Redding they were feeling more optimistic on Sunday afternoon and starting to gain ground on Carr Fire. They pledged to return people to their homes as soon as possible. An army of some 3,500 firefighters and a squadron of 17 water-dropping helicopters had carved buffer lines around just 5 percent of the fire's perimeter as of Sunday. President Donald Trump on Saturday declared the fire an emergency, authorizing federal funds for disaster relief efforts. Officials at the news conference said over 160 fire departments from California and around the country have been deployed to help quell the week-long blaze. At the height of its fury on Thursday night, the fire was whipped into a "fire tornado" by gale-force winds that drove flames across the Sacramento River into the western end of Redding, as thousands of residents fled for their lives in a chaotic evacuation. The nearby town of Keswick, with a population of about 450, was reduced to cinders. "We have seen really extremely explosive fire behavior on this particular fire, but its not unique any more to what we are seeing on fires in California," Cal Fire's Anthony said. "That is kind of that new normal that we are dealing with in California." FIRE-RAVAGED HOME Bledsoe's husband wept as he recalled trying to get back to the family's house after he had left to run an errand on Thursday, only to learn that the fire was closing in on them. Ed Bledsoe told the Sacramento Bee that he spoke to the children on the phone as he raced in vain to return in time to save them. A Go Fund Me effort, launched overnight to help Ed Bledsoe, had raised almost half its $30,000 goal by midday Sunday. It said the elderly couple had been caring for the great grandchildren for years in their rental home. So far this year, wildfires have scorched almost 4.3 million acres (1.7 million hectares) across the country, less than last year but still more than the 3.7 million-acre (1.5 million-hectare) average for the same period over the last decade. California has been particularly hard hit with several fierce blazes menacing large populated areas. The Carr Fire is among 17 major fires blazing in California with more than 200,000 acres burning, the National Park Service noted during a press conference. One of the California fires prompted a rare closure of much of Yosemite National Park last week, while another forced mass evacuations from the mountain resort community of Idyllwild, east of Los Angeles. (Reporting by Alexandria Sage; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Barbara Goldberg, Bernie Woodall, Brendan O'Brien, Rich McKay and Letitia Stein; Editing by Bill Tarrant and Susan Thomas) By Mubasher Bukhari LAHORE (Reuters) - Pakistan's main opposition party called on Sunday for a judicial investigation into what it said was rigging at an election this week that it lost. Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or Pakistan Movement for Justice, emerged as the largest single party in Wednesday's vote, defeating the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) party of jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. During the campaign, Sharif said the military had influenced the judiciary to deny him a second term. The military denied this. It has ruled Pakistan for about half the time since the country's formation in 1947. "We demand constitution of a judicial commission to probe incidents that took place on July 25," senior party leader Khawaja Asif told reporters in Lahore. "We will issue a white paper on the election rigging and other incidents." "PML-N will not accept these elections as legitimate and we are ready to ... start movement along with other parties," Mushahid Ullah Khan, a senior leader, told reporters. PTI did better than expected to win 16.86 million votes and beat PML-N, which got nearly 13 million votes. PTI opened coalition talks with at least one smaller party and independent politicians on Saturday. European Union observers were critical of the political climate in the run-up to the vote, saying that some parties had been disadvantaged. The United States voiced similar concerns. "Pakistan witnessed the most disputed elections in the country's history," Ahsan Iqbal, a senior leader of PML-N and former interior minister, told reporters. Sharif was taken to hospital in Islamabad on Sunday with a possible heart problem, said a government official and Sharif's party. Sharif and his daughter Maryam were arrested on July 13, minutes after they returned from Britain seeking to revitalise their flagging PML-N party ahead of a July 25 election. An anti-corruption court sentenced him on July 6 to 10 years while his daughter and political heir was sentenced to seven years over the purchase of luxury flats in London in the 1990s. They were moved to Adiala jail in the garrison town of Rawalpindi. "After initially refusing to be shifted to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences ... Sharif agrees to be treated outside prison after consulting with his personal doctor," said a PML-N tweet on Sunday night. "Doctors at Adiala jail have observed changes in the ECG (electrocardiogram) of Nawaz Sharif," Punjab Chief Minister Hasan Askari Rizvi told Reuters. An ECG checks the heart's electrical activity. "We cannot take any risk about Sharif's health," Rizvi said. (Writing by Syed Raza Hassan; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg) While surveying whales and dolphins off the Hawaiian Islands, scientists spotted a creature they've never seen before: a peculiar hybrid between a dolphin and a small whale. In 2017, before future naval officers trained on submarines in the waters around Kauai a place called the Pacific Missile Range Facility the U.S. Navy hired marine researchers from the Cascadia Research Collective to study the native animals in these seas. After encountering a large pod of melon-headed whales, the researchers tagged two of them, to see where they might go. It was then that the researchers noticed something curious about one of the creatures. It wasn't quite a melon-headed whale. Nor was it exactly a rough-toothed dolphin, which are common to the area. They collected some tissue from the animal, and after returning to shore and performing genetic testing, discovered it wasn't either species, but both. SEE ALSO: Iceland gets away with killing dozens of huge, endangered whales. Here's why. Melon-headed whales swimming in tropical waters (not hybrids). Image: Noaa The hybrid was especially rare because of its melon-headed genes: The toothed-whales are rarely seen in these Hawaiian waters, the researchers wrote. Both species belong to the Delphinidae (oceanic dolphin) family, but the report notes that cross-species unions between them are unusual: It's only the third recorded example in the Delphinidae family, and the first between these two species. The hybrid, however strange, certainly wasn't treated as an outcast. The marine scientists tagged the hybrid with satellite tracking GPS, along with a companion, to see where they might go. And it appears they stayed together, travelling some 475 miles over eight days, and diving thousands of feet beneath the surface. Prototypes of Donald Trump's border wall standing in San Diego - AP President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to shut down the government if Democrats refuse to back Republican demands to fund a border wall with Mexico. Mr Trump has endured a series of setbacks in his efforts to tighten the US immigration system and deliver on his election pledge to build a wall along the southern border. His morning tweet represents a huge gamble. By tying the issue to funding the whole of government, which must be agreed by September 30, he risks a political showdown just ahead of Novembers crucial midterm elections. I would be willing to shut down government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall! he wrote. "Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country! His comments stand in contrast to his own leaders in the House and Senate who both previously signalled the issue would have to wait until after the midterms. He made the same promise to close the government last year if his wall was blocked only to subsequently back down. Funding for the border wall so far falls far short of the $21 billion the Department of Homeland Security says it would cost, although Democratic estimates put the price as high as $70 billion. Mr Trump has also repeatedly demanded an end to the visa lottery programme, which allocates 50,000 green cards to applicants at random, and to move away from a system that prioritises visas for people with relatives in the US. But last month a Republican immigration bill failed to make it through Congress. At a glance | Donald Trumps border wall And Democratic opposition has hardened since earlier this year when party leaders suggested they would be willing to vote for $25 billion of wall funding in return for offering citizenship for young, undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers. Meanwhile, Republicans this month unveiled a spending bill that would provide $5 billion next year to build Mr Trump's wall. Story continues It faces considerable hurdles in the Senate, where Mr Trumps party has a wafer thin majority and would need the support of 10 Democrats to pass the bill. Analysts suggested Mr Trumps brinkmanship might be designed to mobilise his base ahead of the November vote, while Democrats said shutting down government would only help their chances of picking up seats. I would be willing to shut down government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall! Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018 Republicans sounded as if they had been blindsided by the threat. Ron Johnson, the Republican chairman of the Senate Homeland Security committee, said it would not be helpful for party hopes in the midterms. So lets try to avoid it, he told CBS's Face the Nation. Steve Stivers, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said he didn't believe the shutdown would happen. I think were going to make sure we keep the government open, but were going to get better policies on immigration," he said on ABCs This Week. Dustin Poirier picked up where he left off against Eddie Alvarez, finishing him with a second-round TKO. (Getty Images) Dustin Poirier came close to stopping Eddie Alvarez the last time he fought the ex-UFC lightweight champion. On Saturday in Calgary, Poirier finished the job in impressive fashion. Poirier overcame adversity in which Alvarez had him in a neck crank and then was in full mount near the cage, to score a vicious second-round finish. Poirier landed his patented lead left hand to start the finishing flurry. He followed that with a knee to the body, another big left hand and a second knee. Alvarez is often hurt, but has become renowned for his ability to fight back from danger and turn the tables on his opponent. As is his custom, Alvarez attempted to punch his way out of trouble, but Poirier was far too composed and on top of his game. He was firing punches, knees and kicks at Alvarez, who wound up covering up and trying to circle away on the cage. Poirier didnt give him the opportunity to make a dramatic escape and referee Marc Godard jumped in to stop it at 4:05 of the second round. After the bout, he called out lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Where you at, Khabib? Poirier shouted in exultation. It was sweet revenge for Poirier, who had Alvarez in big trouble in the second round of their first fight, on May 13, 2017, at UFC 211 in Dallas. Alvarez was staggering around after Poirier landed two lefts. As they were fighting by the cage, Alvarez landed two illegal knees. The bout was stopped and called a no-contest. This time around, there was a bit of controversy, as Alvarez threw a 12-6 elbow when he was in mount, forcing Godard to step in and stand up the fighters. Freed from the adverse position, Poirier went after Alvarez very quickly and finished the fight. Excluding the no-contest, it was Poiriers fourth consecutive win. He beat Jim Miller at UFC 208, knocked out Anthony Pettis and then finished Justin Gaethje before taking out Alvarez. Pettis and Alvarez are each ex-UFC lightweight champions and Gaethje held the World Series of Fighting lightweight belt. Story continues Just look at my track record, Poirier said. Eddie Alvarez, former champ. Anthony Pettis, former champ. Justin Gaethje, former champ. Eddie Alvarez, former champ. Thats four champions in a row. What else do I have to do? Poirier made a strong argument for himself for a title shot. Former champion Conor McGregor had his legal situation cleared on Thursday and is the leading contender to fight Nurmagomedov for the belt. But Poirier, who entered the bout ranked fourth behind No. 1 Tony Ferguson, No. 2 McGregor and No. 3 Alvarez, has no doubt earned it. It was his 21st fight in the UFC and what he said was his 39th overall. He said he has fights on his record that havent been recorded. All that experience has turned him into one of the sports most dangerous men. I felt good coming in here and this was the most calm Ive ever been, Poirier said. This is my 30th pro fight, but Ive had a bunch of fights in Louisiana and Mississippi that arent on my pro record, but this is my 39th fight. Im a young veteran and I feel at home in here. More from Yahoo Sports: Air Force player comes out as gay: I did not think this day would ever come Dez Bryant blames Cowboys garbage ass play calling for struggles in Twitter rant Is a Jimmer Fredette NBA comeback possible? Yankees fans go after pitcher on Twitter who hit Aaron Judge Madrid (AFP) - Ecuador is in talks with Britain over the fate of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been holed up at Ecuador's embassy in London since 2012 when he was granted political asylum, the country's president said in an interview published Sunday. "The issue of Mr. Assange is being treated with the British government and I understand that we have already established contact with Mr. Assange's lawyers so we can find a way out," Ecuador President Lenin Moreno told top-selling Spanish daily newspaper El Pais. "Mr. Assange has been in this situation for over five years and we have to find a way out for him. A way out that defends his rights, mainly his right to life, and which at the same time can give Ecuador the possibility to not have what, without a doubt, represents a problem for our country." Assange, 47, sought refuge in Ecuador's London embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden to face sexual assault allegations, which he denies. The Australian computer programmer claims the accusations were politically motivated and could lead to his extradition to the United States to face imprisonment over WikiLeaks's 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. 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 particularly drew the ire of Ecuador by angering the Spanish government with his support for separatist leaders in Spain's Catalonia region who sought to secede last year. Moreno, who visited Spain and Britain last week, said the "ideal" solution would involve Assange accepting a "penalty" for having breached British bail conditions and then be "extradited to a country where he does not face any danger." By Ezgi Erkoyun ISTANBUL (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey will stand its ground after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to slap sanctions on Ankara if it does not free an American pastor, broadcaster Haberturk reported on Sunday. Relations between the United States and Turkey are on the line in the dispute over pastor Andrew Brunson, Erdogan was quoted as saying by TRT Haber and other media. Trump on Thursday threatened to impose "large sanctions" on Turkey unless it freed Brunson, who has worked in Turkey for more than 20 years and has been accused of helping the group Ankara says was behind a failed military coup in 2016. The pastor, who has denied the charges, is now under house arrest and faces up to 35 years in jail if found guilty. "We will not step back when faced with sanctions," Erdogan was quoted as saying. "They should not forget that they will lose a sincere partner." Brunson, who is from North Carolina, was transferred to house arrest last week after 21 months of detention in a Turkish prison. Diplomats have been working to settle the tense dispute and on Saturday U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo discussed the status of the pastor with Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, the State Department said. Brunson's detention has deepened a rift between Washington and Ankara, which are also at odds over the Syrian war and Turkey's plan to buy missile defenses from Russia. It was not clear what would be the nature of sanctions threatened by Trump but Washington was already working on bills related to Turkey due to other issues of concern. The U.S. Senate has demanded a block on sales of F-35 jets to Turkey unless Trump certifies that Turkey is not threatening NATO, purchasing defense equipment from Russia or detaining U.S. citizens. Also, a U.S. Senate bill to restrict loans to Turkey from international financial institutions passed through a committee, an important early step for the bill to become legislation. Erdogan said that Turkey would resort to international arbitration if the United States does not deliver an agreed sale of F-35 fighter jets to Ankara, broadcaster Haberturk reported. "(If the U.S. blocks F-35 jets) We said we would go to international arbitration. If it comes to that point, there are other alternatives," Erdogan was quoted as saying. Israel confirmed on Friday that Trump had requested Israel to release a Turkish woman it accused of ties to Hamas. Israel deported Ebru Ozkan on July 15 and media reported that Washington was hoping that Turkey would release Brunson in exchange. Erdogan confirmed that Turkey had asked for U.S. help in securing the return to Turkey of Ozkan, broadcaster Haberturk reported, but denied any form of deal to release Brunson in exchange. "We told the U.S. that they might help for released and innocent Ebru to get back her passport and return to Turkey," Erdogan was quoted as saying by Haberturk. "However, we did not say we will give you Brunson in return." (Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun in Istanbul and Patrick Rucker in Washington; Editing by Sandra Maler and Susan Fenton) ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey will stand its ground after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to slap sanctions on Ankara if it does not free an American pastor, broadcaster Haberturk reported on Sunday. The United States would be losing a strong and sincere partner if it does not change this attitude, Erdogan was quoted as saying by TRT Haber and other media. Andrew Brunson, who was transferred to house arrest this week after 21 months of detention in a Turkish prison, has worked in Turkey for more than two decades. Brunson has been accused of supporting the group Ankara says was behind a failed military coup in 2016 and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The pastor, who has denied the charges, faces up to 35 years in jail if found guilty. (Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Sandra Maler) Eric Church performs during Pepsi's Rock The South Festival in Alabama: Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Rock the South Festival Country music star Eric Church has called out the National Rifle Association (NRA), saying he blame[s] the lobbyists for not stopping mass shootings like the one at a Las Vegas music festival he headlined last year. Mr Church took on Americas biggest gun rights lobbying group in a new interview, saying they were part of the reason few gun control measures were passed after the October mass shooting. I dont care who you are you shouldnt have that kind of power over elected officials, Mr Church told Rolling Stone of the lobbying group. He added: At this point in time, if I was an NRA member, I would think I had more of a problem than the solution. I would question myself real hard about what I wanted to be in the next three, four, five years. The 41-year-old headlined the multi-day Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas where a lone gunman opened fire in October, killing 58 people and wounding more than 800. While Mr Church had played his last show two days earlier, he said he was wrecked by the knowledge that his fans were among the victims. The shooting galvanised calls for gun control reforms in the US, which only grew louder after a mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida four months later. A major target of outrage was the NRA, which spends millions of dollars each year fighting against stricter gun laws. The gunman in the Las Vegas shooting was Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old man who rented a room in a nearby hotel, and secretly stockpiled dozens of firearms in the week before. Mr Church said he was a supporter of the Second Amendment a provision in the US Constitution that guarantees the right to bear arms but added that in Mr Paddocks case, nobody should have that many guns and that much ammunition and we dont know about it. Somethings gotta be done so that a person cant have an armoury and pin down a Las Vegas SWAT team for six minutes, he said. Thats f***ed up. The Independent has reached out to the NRA for comment. London (AFP) - Italy's far right deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini has accused the European Union of attempting to "swindle" the United Kingdom out of the Brexit people voted for in the landmark 2016 referendum, The Sunday Times reported. "My experience in the European parliament tells me you either impose yourself or they swindle you", Salvini told the weekly as he urged prime minister Theresa May to take a harder stance in negotiations to sever ties with the trading bloc. May and her ministers are scrambling to forge agreements with each of the EU's 27 member states after a week which saw her already fragile "Chequers plan" for Brexit knocked back by Brussels chief negotiator Michel Barnier. On Thursday Barnier rejected May's plan to keep the border between EU member Ireland and the UK province of Northern Ireland open, with a dual system of taxes levied by each side for the benefit of the other. But League party leader Salvini has urged May to consider taking a hard line, potentially leaving the EU without securing a deal. "Because on some principles there is no need to be flexible and you should not go backwards, he told The Times. The paper said he also implied the EU is attempting to punish Britain for seeking to leave, claiming: "There is no objectivity or good faith from the European side." "I hope the negotiations end well for the UK to serve as an example of the people coming out on top of the EU," he added. "I remember the referendum stage as an example of participation and freedom; I hope it can be an opportunity for the British." Barnier has attempted to scupper May's plan to circumvent Brussels in striking a deal with the member states, insisting that there is not a "sliver of difference" between him and the 27 nation leaders. But according to The Times Salvini has said he would welcome one-on-one talks with May, undermining Barnier's authority as the head of talks. By MacDonald Dzirutwe HARARE (Reuters) - Former president Robert Mugabe said he would vote for Zimbabwe's opposition in Monday's election, turning on one-time allies in the government ahead of the first vote since they ousted him in a de facto coup. The election will see 75-year-old President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a long-time Mugabe ally, face 40-year-old Nelson Chamisa, a lawyer and pastor who is vying to become Zimbabwe's youngest head of state. Mnangagwa accused his former boss of striking a deal with the opposition leader, but did not provide any evidence. "The choice is clear, you either vote for Mugabe under the guise of Chamisa or you vote for a new Zimbabwe under my leadership and ZANU-PF," Mnangagwa said in a video on his official Facebook page. Polls, which are unreliable, give Mnangagwa, a former intelligence chief and defense minister only a slim lead over Chamisa, making a runoff on September 8 a possibility. Mugabe, whose 37-year rule came to an end when he was forced to resign in November, told reporters at his mansion in Harare on Sunday that Mnangagwa's government was unconstitutional and ruled by the gun. "I hope the choice of voting tomorrow will throw, thrust away the military government and bring us back to constitutionality," said a frail looking Mugabe, in a rambling off the cuff speech that lasted almost an hour. "I said I can't vote for those who have caused me to be in this situation ... so there is Chamisa left." Mugabe, one of the last "Big Men" of African politics, still looms large over Zimbabwean politics and he may yet influence the first vote without his name on the ballot paper since the country gained independence from Britain in 1980. Though he became increasingly unpopular with most Zimbabweans as mismanagement and corruption sent the economy into decline, he retains support in his rural heartland where supporters remain bitter about the manner of his removal. Mnangagwa, known as "the crocodile", an animal famed in Zimbabwean lore for its stealth and ruthlessness, was removed as vice president by Mugabe last November to make way for his wife, Grace, to seize power, analysts say. This was too much for army generals who rolled military vehicles through the streets of Harare and kept Mugabe under house arrest until he resigned facing imminent impeachment. VIOLENCE FEARS Mugabe on Sunday said it was "total nonsense" that he wanted his wife to succeed him and claimed that he was preparing to resign at a ZANU-PF congress in December. Such is the draw Mugabe retains even seven months after stepping aside, he became the focus of questions at a parallel press conference held by Chamisa. "Mr. Mugabe's wishes are his wishes. I am going to accept any voter with open hands. The more the merrier," Chamisa said in response to a question about Mugabe's endorsement. Elections under Mugabe were often undermined by violence, rigging and voter intimidation. Chamisa's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has already cast doubt on the election process, accusing the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) of bias. There have been reports of intimidation and coercion, and state media is biased toward the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANUPF). But there is consensus that the process has been better than before. Mnangagwa has welcomed in foreign media and international observers from the EU, United States and the Commonwealth, while opposition parties have been freely allowed to campaign. If Chamisa disputes the result or no one candidate gets more than 50 percent and there is a runoff, there are fears of street protests and possible violence. Dozens of people were killed in the lead up to a runoff in 2008 between Mugabe and MDC founder Morgan Tsvangirai, who died in February. Tsvangirai pulled out of the contest before the vote in an effort to end the bloodshed. "A run-off election is becoming more probable, which also increases the risk of violence as it has in previous election cycles," said Robert Besseling, analyst at EXX Africa. "Although an outbreak of widespread violence as in 2008 is not expected ... incidents of localized violence are increasing in frequency and intensity." (Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg) BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) This is the story of a drug dog with a bounty on its head. Sombra, a six-year-old German shepherd, has helped Colombia's police detect more than 2,000 kilos of cocaine hidden in suitcases, boats and large shipments of fruit. But as the dog sniffs her way toward record cocaine interdictions, she has also become the latest target of Colombia's most powerful drug gang. Colombian police recently revealed that the Gulf Clan, a cartel that boasts its own guerrilla army, has offered a reward of $7,000 to whoever kills or captures the savvy hound. The threat prompted officials to relocate Sombra whose name in Spanish means Shadow from a busy port on Colombia's Caribbean coast to the capital city, where she now uses her extraordinary talent to sniff through suspicious cargo at Bogota's El Dorado International Airport. After her six hour shift is over, Sombra is transported in a van with tinted windows back to her kennel. She is usually accompanied by two armed guards. "We are responsible for her safety," said officer Jose Rojas, Sombra's 25-year-old handler. Sombra's detective work is needed now more than ever as Colombia wrestles with soaring coca production that is testing traditionally close relations with the United States. A recent White House report found the amount of land where peasants and drug traffickers harvest the plant used to make cocaine rose 11 percent in 2017 to 209,000 hectares (516,450 acres), despite $10 billion in U.S. counter-narcotics work. "President Trump's message to Colombia is clear: The record growth in cocaine production must be reversed," warned Jim Carroll, deputy director for the drug policy office. President-elect Ivan Duque is promising a tougher approach to speed up eradication with strategies that could include aerial spraying and the use of drones. But even with advanced technology, experts say on-the-ground detective work like that performed by Sombra is critical. Story continues Some of Sombra's recent busts include uncovering over five tons of Gulf Clan cocaine destined for Europe and concealed in crates of bananas. Officers also credit her incredible nose with more than 245 drug-related arrests at two of Colombia's biggest international airports. "Her sense of smell is far beyond that of other dogs," Rojas said. Drug cartels like the Gulf Clan have taken note. After learning there was a price on Sombra's head, Colombia's national police director ordered her to be transferred to a new post earlier this year, according to local news reports. Investigators uncovered the threat against Sombra through an intercepted phone call. "Sombra the German shepherd has become the terror of criminal organizations," a recent story in Colombia's El Espectador newspaper proclaimed. On a typical day, Sombra is up by 6 a.m. and shuttled from a kennel to work at El Dorado airport inspecting packages and cargo. With her neon reflective vest, pointy ears and gaping mouth, she looks more like a beloved family pet than a veteran drug-sniffing police dog. Since she was transferred in January, the canine sleuth has sniffed thousands of pounds of cocaine out of the dark, helping her handlers find the drug hidden in boxes full of sneakers and wooden necklaces. A few months ago, the tenacious hound also detected 77 kilos of cocaine placed deep inside an industrial machine. The work is risky: Colombia's national police estimates they've lost at least 1,800 officers over the past two decades and a number of dogs to the war on drugs. Some officers were killed by hitmen acting on the orders of drug traffickers, while others died in attacks like bombings on police stations. Several dogs have been killed while helping officers eradicate coca crops. Sombra's victories have turned her into somewhat of a media darling, and as she struts around Bogota's airport with her handler, fans occasionally stop her for a selfie. Rojas said the star-like attention hasn't gotten to Sombra's head. "Sombra in comparison to other dogs is much easier to work with," he said. "She understands orders." By Ernest Scheyder HOUSTON (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp, two of the world's largest oil producers, reported quarterly profit on Friday that fell far short of Wall Street's expectations. The disappointing results come as much of the U.S. oil industry has been recovering from a three-year downturn in the energy sector, bolstered by higher production and crude prices. Exxon's troubles highlight ongoing issues the company has been having to boost operations, whereas Chevron's miss was fueled by a slight rise in expenses that likely will not be repeated, analysts said. Exxon shares fell 2.5 percent to $82.09 shortly after midday, while Chevron's recovered from an early drop and were up about 2 percent at $126.34. Both stocks are components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The results were particularly weak at Exxon, which has been trying to boost operations in a bid to revive a stock price trading at about the same level it was a decade ago. "Exxon's definitely sticking out like a sore thumb right now," said Edward Jones energy analyst Brian Youngberg. "It's just hard to find anything good in the quarter." Despite rising oil prices, Exxon's production dropped 7 percent and it spent more than $600 million to upgrade refineries in France, Canada, Texas and Saudi Arabia. Exxon called the quarter a "challenging" one for its operations and "well below market expectations." Neil Chapman, an Exxon executive and member of the company's management committee, said he is "not happy" about the ongoing refinery maintenance, adding there is "nothing systemic" about the repairs that would reveal weakness in the refining division. "We are absolutely all over these reliability incidents," Chapman said on a conference call with investors. Exxon earned 92 cents per share, while analysts expected earnings of $1.27 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Story continues At Chevron, oil production rose 2 percent and profit spiked, but higher corporate expenses surprised Wall Street. Still, the company announced a $3 billion stock buyback program, long awaited by Wall Street. "We believe annual share repurchases of $3 billion can be sustained over most reasonable price scenarios," Chevron Chief Financial Officer Pat Yarrington told investors on a conference call. Chevron earned $1.78 per share, while analysts expected $2.09 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Royal Dutch Shell, a key rival, posted second-quarter profit on Thursday far below forecasts due in part to weakness in refining. British oil major BP Plc is set to report quarterly results next week. On Thursday it agreed to buy U.S. shale oil and gas assets from global miner BHP Billiton for $10.5 billion. (Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Nick Zieminski and James Dalgleish) Photo credit: JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images - Getty Images From Popular Mechanics A brutal fire has caused mass evacuations and at least two deaths in northern California, growing to 44,450 acres by Friday morning. Containment of the fire, known as the Carr Fire, has dropped from 6 percent to 3 percent. One man who died was a private bulldozer contractor who was killed while "working on an active section of the fire, according to a statement from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) made on Twitter. Another member of the Redding Fire Department has also died, according to Cal Fire. As we mourn the loss, we also battle a fire that is moving extremely quickly and erratically into western Redding, said Cal Fire Incident Commander Chief Brett Gouvea. The fire has destroyed 65 structures, damaged 55, and is threatening nearly 500 more. These numbers are expected to rise the fire continues on its path of unmitigated destruction, updates can be found on Cal Fire's website. Photo credit: JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images - Getty Images A firefighter attempts to stop the growth of a structural fire on Ridge Dr. in Redding, Calif. #carrfire pic.twitter.com/nkWMQ8Kn1c - Daniel Myungkyu Kim (@so_dakim) July 27, 2018 Fire tornadoes ripping through the town of #Redding as the #CarrFire explodes to nearly 28,000 acres and only 6% contained; Live coverage on #TODAYinLA at 6 on @NBCLA Channel 4 https://t.co/A3ujbLG8Sv pic.twitter.com/817EERbn1s - Mekahlo Medina (@MekahloNBCLA) July 27, 2018 Story continues The weather is only exacerbating matters. The temperature in Redding today is expected to reach 108 degrees, according to the National Weather Service, and will hit similar highs over the next several days. The Carr Fire has become so immense that it appears to be creating its own internal weather patterns, which help explain its power. Photo credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images - Getty Images Heavy smoke from the fire is hindering firefighting planes, although Cal Fire spokesman Scott McLean says that they will be flying today. "I dont want to give you false hope. We have a long way to go," McLean told the press. Climate change has played a role in exacerbating extreme weather across the planet, and fires are no exception. A study from 2016 offered evidence that "observed warming and drying have significantly increased fire-season fuel aridity, fostering a more favorable fire environment across forested systems." As fires rage from northern California to Greece, it's crucial for fire-prone communities everywhere to realize that these increasingly powerful flames are the new normal. Source: Sacremento Bee ('You Might Also Like',) (Reuters) - Five people were shot dead, including the suspected gunman, in a Friday night attack at a Texas nursing home and the home of one of the people slain, city officials said. Police in Robstown, Texas, outside Corpus Christi, responded to reports of an active shooter at a nursing home about 7 p.m. local time (midnight GMT), where they found two men and a woman dead, said Herman Rodriguez, city secretary, in a video interview with the Caller Times of Corpus Christi. Officers later found two more bodies at a home connected to one of the people slain at the nursing home, Rodriguez said. "We do feel the crimes are related," Rodriguez said. Officials said the shooter was a male and that it was a murder-suicide. No further details were available. (Reporting by Bernie Woodall in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Scott Malone and Diane Craft) I lay all that out to say that Taylors Rick Stone the Blues Man, the loosey-goosey summer attraction at Black Ensemble, is a tribute to a man with a long history at this particular theater. Stone has not grown any shorter with the passing years, and his famously gangly frame has not lost any of its ability to shimmy, duck, weave or otherwise move uniquely through time and space. Nor has he lost his humility. Nor his voice, except that his instrument now is closer to that of Howlin Wolf. GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) Thousands attended funerals Saturday of three Palestinians killed by Israeli army fire in a border protest a day earlier, including an 11-year-old, a 17-year-old and a man on crutches. More than 140 Palestinians, most of them unarmed, have been killed and several thousand wounded by Israeli troops since March in such protests led by Gaza's Islamic militant Hamas rulers. The Gaza Health Ministry said the latest deaths brought to 18 the number of minors, age 18 and under, killed in the past four months. Human rights groups have accused Israel of the unlawful use of lethal force against the protesters. Israel says it is defending its border and accuses Hamas, a group sworn to its destruction, of using the protests as cover for attempts to breach the border fence and attack civilians and soldiers. Gaza's Health Ministry said Saturday that Moumin al-Hams, 17, was shot in the chest in the protest on Friday along the fence that separates Gaza and Israel. Images shared on social media by his friends and relatives show him venturing toward the fence, setting tires ablaze and pushing them toward Israeli forces. Funerals were also held Saturday for Majdi al-Satari, 11, whose age was previously announced as 14, and for Ghazi Abu Mustafa, 43. The Health Ministry initially gave Majdi's age as 14. On Saturday, it said his age was 12. A relative said the boy had been born Oct. 3, 2006, meaning he was 11 when he was killed. Al-Mezan, a Gaza-based rights groups, confirmed Majdi's age as 11. Alaa Abdel-Fattah, a witness, said that on Friday protesters were trying to cut razor wire about 50 yards away from the actual fence. He said Majdi was watching from about 100 meters away. "There were two gunshots from a sniper. One hit one of those cutting the wire in the leg and the other gunshot hit the boy in his head," he said. Women gathered under the corrugated zinc roofing of the al-Satari's family's house for the funeral. Story continues Majdi's mother, Kholoud, wearing a black robe and face veil, sat on a mattress. "I don't know what he did to them (the Israeli soldiers)," she said as she burst in tears. She added that his family tried to prevent him from going to the protests and on one occasion tried to lock him indoors. "It's his fate," she sighed. "He is a child. He had no bullets or weapons," said the boy's grandmother, identified as Umm Ramzi. "He was standing like all children watching. They shot him from afar. Isn't he a child? Why are they targeting children?" In a nearby town, resident Hassan Najjar said he witnessed the shooting of 43-year-old Abu Mustafa. He said soldiers shot at a group of Palestinians who rushed to the border and a bullet hit the man sitting about 250 meters away. He said the man had sustained leg wounds at a previous protest and was still using crutches. Hamas has led border protests aimed in part at drawing attention to the Israeli-Egyptian blockade imposed after Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007. The demonstrations have been fueled in large part by pervasive despair caused by the blockade which has caused widespread economic hardship. Last week a Palestinian sniper killed an Israeli soldier. Another soldier was wounded by Palestinian fire on Wednesday. ___ Associated Press writer Fares Akram reported from Amman, Jordan. MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) Republican Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Friday dismissed a challenge to debate Democratic Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox ahead of the gubernatorial election, saying only reporters and her opponent care about debates. "There are only two people that ever bring up the subject. Y'all in the media and my opponent," Ivey said in response to a question about it. Ivey, who automatically became governor last year when then-Gov. Robert Bentley resigned in the fallout of a scandal, faces Maddox in the November election. The Tuscaloosa mayor, who is running on a platform of establishing a state lottery to fund education programs, challenged Ivey this week to a series of four debates. Asked twice if she would be willing to debate Maddox, Ivey repeated a statement from her campaign that Maddox should instead debate "himself" because he had been inconsistent on issues. "When he finishes debating himself he can talk," Ivey said. Speaking to reporters after a Friday speech in Montgomery, Ivey said she believes the people of Alabama support her agenda. She cited a poll that showed her to be one of the most popular governors in the nation. Ivey did not debate her opponents in the GOP primary. Incumbent governors perceived as front runners sometimes avoid debates with challengers. In 2014, Bentley refused to debate his Democratic challenger Parker Griffith. Griffith responded by erecting a giant inflatable duck in downtown Montgomery to jab Bentley for "ducking" a debate with him. Griffith lost. During the GOP primary, Ivey's Republican primary challengers argued that unlike elected incumbents Ivey has never been vetted for the position of governor. Cambodian leader Hun Sen has outlasted the murderous Khmer Rouge, sidelined the monarchy and crushed his opponents in a 33-year rule defined by patronage, political agility and repression and set to be prolonged by Sunday's election. The 65-year-old strongman smiled as he held up an inked finger at a polling booth on Sunday morning in an election devoid of his only serious opposition. Hun Sen is part of a small coterie of world leaders to hold power for three decades, adapting to the shifting political landscape in the poor Southeast Asian country since the Cold War. His ruling Cambodian People's Party is set to win big on Sunday after the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was dissolved by the Supreme Court in November 2017. In his final campaign speech days before the poll, Hun Sen was in typically bombastic form, bragging about the legal action to "eliminate traitors who attempted to topple the government". Critics say victory will be the culmination of years of state-sponsored violence, intimidation and deft legal footwork by Hun Sen to head off an opposition which emerged as a serious threat at the last election in 2013. It will also mark a nadir for Cambodian democracy. "Few of Hun Sen's opponents have had the combination of ruthlessness, guile, and political acuity that have carried him through repeated cycles of Cambodian history," said Sebastian Strangio, author of "Hun Sen's Cambodia". He was a cadre in the Khmer Rouge, an ultra-Maoist organisation that overthrew the US-backed government of Lon Nol and killed one quarter of the population from 1975 to 1979. But to escape ever-deeper purges he defected to Vietnam, returning as their army toppled the Khmer Rouge and taking credit as Cambodia's saviour from a group he once belonged to. The ambitious former fighter was installed as prime minister in 1985, aged just 32. - 'Uncle' wants your vote - Story continues Hun Sen lost the first election he ever ran for in 1993, the UN-sponsored vote meant to be the dawn of a new democratic era. But he seized control in a bloody 1997 coup, a year before the death of Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot. He's been accused of stacking the military with fiercely loyal allies, while handing key security roles to relatives and his sons in an attempt to build a dynasty. China has in recent years turned Cambodia's patron ladling out cash and soft loans for infrastructure that left Hun Sen less reliant on a critical West. A visible presence across the country, he travels frequently to the provinces, giving straight-talking speeches riddled with warnings that without him Cambodia will crumble. As times change he has remodelled his approach, spreading his message via a Facebook page with 10 million "likes" -- on a platform that could have served the opposition. He has even co-opted garment workers who once marched with the opposition, raising wages for the near three quarters of a million people employed in the key sector. "I love him the same as my parents," said garment worker Phoeung La during a recent visit by the premier to nearly 25,000 labourers in Kampong Chhnang province. Ever-attuned to populist opportunities, Hun Sen handed out $5 in envelopes, while pregnant employees were given $200 by a premier who called himself "uncle" to the crowd. "You ask for schools from uncle, you ask for roads from uncle, so uncle asks for votes back," he said. - Genius of survival - The ruling Cambodian People's Party has won every election from 1998 onwards. But frustration with corruption among a young population with little memory of the horrors of the Khmer Rouge era gave an opening to new challengers. Formed in 2012, the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) won more than 44 percent of the vote in 2013 and almost the same in local 2017 polls. But their emerging threat was snuffed out. Sam Rainsy, who co-founded the CNRP but now lives in self-exile in Paris, said Hun Sen's years in the Khmer Rouge were formative in creating a culture of violence and impunity which defines Cambodian power. A nemesis through endless thwarted years of opposition, Rainsy strikes a reluctant note of admiration for Cambodia's enduring strongman. "Hun Sen's strength, I would even say his genius, is to survive," he said. Islamabad (AFP) - Imran Khan's party said it has begun talks with independents and small parties to form a coalition government after a resounding triumph in Pakistan's general election, as rival parties planned protests over alleged vote rigging. Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) won 116 seats in Wednesday's ballot, short of the 137 needed for a simple majority but a surprisingly strong showing that helped fuel suspicion of rigging. The latest tally, which was updated Saturday afternoon following long delays, showed the outgoing Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party in distant second place with 64 seats. Khan's party has begun reaching out to potential coalition partners to form a government, according to spokesman Fawad Chaudhry, a task that analysts said should be straightforward. "We have contacted small parties and independent members, they will soon meet party leaders in Islamabad," Chaudhry said late Friday. A PTI representative later added that the party was hoping to form a government within two weeks before Pakistan's independence day celebrations on August 14. "We expect that Imran Khan will take the oath as a prime minister before August 14," PTI representative Naeem ul Haq told reporters Saturday. Haq's comments followed an announcement by rival parties a day earlier vowing to launch a protest "movement", after foreign observers voiced concerns about the contest. More than a dozen parties calling themselves the All Parties Conference (APC) promised to protest over the results. However the group remained divided with some parties pledging to boycott joining the National Assembly and others calling for a new vote. The PML-N announced its support for the group but stopped short of saying it would boycott the new parliament. And the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which was notably absent from the APC, said in a separate announcement that it rejected the results, but vowed to try to convince the other parties to participate in the parliamentary process. Story continues - 'No stamina' - Retired general and analyst Talat Masood said the APC may succeed in sparking pockets of unrest but did not see the movement upsetting stability at the national level. "Opposition parties are divided and they are not genuinely in a mood to form any major opposition. I don't think they have this stamina and the support of the people for going for a big movement," said Masood. The protests announcement late Friday came as the United States, the European Union and other observers aired reservations over widespread claims that the powerful military had tried to fix the playing field in Khan's favour. Khan's victory represents an end to decades of rotating leadership between the PML-N and the Bhutto dynasty's PPP that was punctuated by periods of military rule. The vote was meant to be a rare democratic transition in the Muslim country, which has been ruled by the powerful army for roughly half its history. But it was marred by violence and allegations of military interference in the months leading up to the vote, with Khan seen as the beneficiary. The former cricket star will face myriad challenges, including militant extremism, an economic crisis with speculation that Pakistan will have to seek a bailout from the International Monetary Fund, water shortages and a booming population. He will also have to contend with the same issue as many of his predecessors: how to maintain a balance of power in civil-military relations. How do you get a 400lb tiger into the back of a truck? Its an elaborate process that involves dozens of personnel, carefully calibrated tranquilizer darts, a custom-made cage and a handful of elephants. All that was in place on June 20 when MB2, a three-year-old male tiger, was transported from Kanha Tiger Reserve in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh to the Satkosia Tiger Reserve in the eastern state of Odisha in the first ever such relocation. It was a very smooth operation, Sanjay Shukla, a field director at the Kanha Tiger Reserve and the man who oversaw the relocation, tells TIME. We gave MB2 the first tranquilizer shot and, after he became calm, we used the elephants to guide him towards the cage in the truck where we administered the second shot. The tigers vital statistics were quickly recorded before he was fitted with a radio collar and sent on a 22-hour road trip to his new home. Shukla and his team spent weeks selecting MB2 and preparing for the move. They needed a suitable male to introduce to Satkosias two aged female tigers in the hopes of reviving the animals population in the park. We wanted a tiger that was about three years old and that hadnt really marked a territory yet, Shukla explains. It was also crucial to have a genetically strong animal to ensure that new populations would have good survival chances. That relocation was the latest step in a concerted effort to protect Indias endangered national animal. But its not just an Indian story. With more than half of the worlds approximately 4,000 tigers roaming its forests and grasslands, Indias role in ensuring the survival of the big cat is globally crucial. For much of the last century, the tigers future hasnt been so bright: in their native Asian habitats, tigers face poaching, unchecked deforestation, increased human encroachment and disappearing prey. But recent national and international programs have helped the species find some footing. In 2010, 13 Asian nations that are home to tigers, including India, joined together in the Global Tiger Recovery Program, pledging to double the global tiger population by 2022 the next Year of the Tiger per the Chinese horoscope. The group also decided to annually mark July 29 as Global Tiger Day. Story continues Indian school children hold placards during a rally held to raise awareness for the protection of tigers and forests in India, in New Delhi, July 11, 2006. Indias track record with tiger populations has been encouraging. Numbers have steadily risen in census reports since 2006 with the 2014 survey finding an estimated 2,226 wild tigers across the country. The 2018 All India Tiger Estimation is currently underway and is said to be the worlds largest wildlife survey in terms of coverage, intensity of sampling and quantum of camera trapping. The striped cat has been a part of Indias culture for as long as anyone can remember. The warrior goddess Durga is often depicted riding one. Rudyard Kipling, author of The Jungle Book, cast the tiger as the villain in his famous collection of stories, perhaps inspired by the creatures that roamed his birthplace of Mumbai (then called Bombay) in the 18th and 19th centuries. Kings across India hunted the tiger for its prized coat and bragging rights. That trend worsened under British Crown rule beginning in the late 1800s. Long lines of elephants would carry sahibs and wealthy Indians through dense forests on hunting expeditions. King George V reportedly killed 39 tigers in 10 days while traveling through India to Nepal in 1911. Poaching soon became another menace that contributed to the tigers disappearance. By some estimates, tiger numbers dropped from between 50,000 to 100,000 at the end of the 19th century to just 1,800 at the start of 1970s. George V (1865 - 1936) with the day's bag of three tigers, after a hunt during the Durbar celebrations. The hunters are mounted on elephants. Around that time Prime Minister Indira Gandhi became aware of the plight of the tiger. She set up Project Tiger, a government program to protect the animal, and in 1973 and created reserves throughout India with rangers to patrol them. Since then, the big cat has seen a steady revival. Some reports suggest that the final findings of the ongoing national census, to be released in January 2019, could put the population at more than 3,000 across 50 reserves. Its a good start, though multiple threats remain. We dont take it seriously enough Im proud of what India has done because weve secured our tiger population, Prerna Singh Bindra, a leading conservationist and a former member of the National Wildlife Board, tells TIME. But, she adds, No tiger is safe as long as there is demand around the world. Tiger bones and other parts are sought-after ingredients in traditional East Asian medicines and, sadly, tiger skins are still prized trophies for hunters everywhere. The Wildlife Protection Society of India has been tracking yearly poaching deaths since 1994 and recorded a maximum of 121 deaths in 1995 and a minimum of 13 in 2011; 37 tigers were killed by poachers last year. Poaching was, at least partly, the cause for Rajasthans Sariska Tiger Reserve losing all its big cats in the early 2000s. Concerned experts and naturalists alerted the government to the disaster, which led to the creation of the National Tiger Conservation Authority in 2005. The body oversees nation-wide conservation efforts now. Bindra says that India and other tiger range countries need to do more. We dont take it seriously enough the conviction rate in poaching cases is less than 1% and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau is not empowered enough, she says, adding that reserves are often short staffed and guards are not trained sufficiently or given proper equipment to fight poachers. Many times, poachers arent outsiders but villagers living in tribal communities within the tiger reserves and national parks. Tough lives with little or no access to basic necessities like medical facilities, electricity and schools push some to use their knowledge of the land and offer up their services to shady buyers. Read more: As the World Mourns Cecil the Lion, Asia Is Taking Steps to Protect Its Own Big Cats At the same time, these villagers are usually among the first casualties in human-animal conflicts. Tigers have been known to attack livestock, crops and occasionally humans, who retaliate by killing the big cats. Sometimes the government intervenes and resettles affected communities, but as Krithi Karanth, an associate conservation scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society, and an explorer with the National Geographic Society, points out, Displacement, forced relocations and voluntary resettlement have resulted in a mixed bag. Villagers claim they are not given adequate compensation or enough new land. For every success story like the relocation of 400-odd families from the Bhadra Tiger Reserve in south India there are conflicts. More than 300 members of the Baiga community an ethic group in central India recently protested for two days against a plan to remove them to make way for a proposed tiger corridor. Another major threat to the tiger in India is habitat fragmentation and destruction. With aspirations of becoming a global economic power, India has been pushing countless infrastructure projects, some of which, environmentalists say, disturb the ecological balance. For example, the Ken-Betwa river-linking project, being built in the heart of the Panna Tiger Reserve in central India, will affect 30% of the park with more than one million trees being felled in the process. Similarly, there are plans and proposals for highways, canals and railway tracks through vital tiger corridors and forests in other parts of the country. Hotels and resorts are also mushrooming on the fringes of national parks. Tiger tourism can be big business in India; Karanths studies have found that nearly 1.5 million people visited tiger reserves in India in 2014-15, making up 32% of all wildlife visits in the country. This kind of tourism pumps some money into local communities and stirs interest in conservation, but despite good intentions it also encroaches on wildlife habitats. We need to reinvent tiger tourism in a way that leaves a minimal footprint, Bindra says. On Global Tiger Day, experts will be figuring out how to balance commerce and conservation in a way that ensures Indias tiger population will continue to grow. We have a responsibility to the world, Karanth says, to ensure that the tiger doesnt die out. The man was on the sidewalk in the 600 block of West Belden Avenue just before 2:45 a.m. when he was stabbed in the left side of his ribs and the right side of his chest, police said. An Indonesian person scrambles over the collapsed ruins of a house as others look on following an earthquake in Lombok - AFP British tourists have described their terrifying escape from a maqnitude 7 earthquake which struck the Indonesian holiday islands of Lombok and Bali on Sunday evening, killing at least 98 people. Amid chaotic scenes, thousands, including many foreign tourists, were still waiting to be evacuated from the worst affected areas of Lombok on Monday night, as rescuers frantically rushed to save the injured and buried. An estimated 20,000 are now homeless and more than 200 injured, with some being treated for gruesome crush injuries out in the open, next to damaged hospitals. Dozens are feared to still be trapped under a mosque in the village of Lading-Lading which collapsed during evening prayers. Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the national disaster agency spokesman, tweeted a horrifying video of the ruins, telling reporters that the number of victims across the earthquake zone was expected to rise. Among the tourists who had a narrow escape was Hannah Small from Bournemouth, who described to the Telegraph how she had been in the bathroom in her hotel in Ubud, Bali, when the walls began to sway. I was in the bath and the whole room started shaking viciously. Parts of our ceiling were falling down and the walls were cracking, she said. An Indonesian person scrambles over the collapsed ruins of a house as others look on following an earthquake in Lombok Credit: AFP My partner grabbed me out of the bath with a towel and we ran down three flights of stairs to reach the ground floor for safety. The hotel staff were panicking, which made the guests even more worried, Ms Small added. Once the quake was over everyone was scared to go back to their bedrooms and spent a few hours sat outside together. Through the night there were small aftershock rumbles which kept everyone up. Ms Small was able to leave on Monday for the safety of Singapore. Tourists and locals in Lombok, particularly in the less accessible tropical Gili islands, host to popular diving resorts off the northwest coast, faced a traumatic evacuation, however. Mr Sutopo said that 2,700 tourists had been removed from the islands so far. But many remained trapped for a second night outside. Story continues Were still trying to get back to Bali from Lombok. Theres a lot of scared and battered people around, tourist Becky Morris tweeted on Monday night. Throughout the day dramatic footage emerged of frightened crowds jostling on palm-fringed sandy beaches and pushing over each other to access a limited number of rescue boats. Helen Milne from Oxfordshire told the BBC that her daughter, Laura, was trapped on the island of Gili Trawangan. She said: "They are stuck on the island and are reporting rioting, fighting, and people can't get on boats. There's no water, no food, the shops have been ransacked. It's a rapidly deteriorating situation out there for them." Mads and Tanni Jacobsen, from Denmark, told the Telegraph of scenes of panic as they tried to escape from Gili Air with their two children Alma, 3, and Signe, 11. Wake up in the morning with the shaking bed ! Got called from farm and so many facility broke down..#agendafreetv#lombok#earthquakepic.twitter.com/GbANUMLpxW Reyn (@suharja_reynard) July 28, 2018 The family had spent Sunday night sheltering with locals in a nearby school, petrified by conflicting reports of an approaching tsunami. Ms Jacobsen, a nurse, had helped to treat badly injured victims with a First Aid kit before the family joined the throngs waiting to be rescued from the beach. We stood in line and waited for two hours. It was difficult with the kids as people didnt have good behaviour at that moment. Everyone was shoving, swimming with life jackets to catch the boat, said Mr Jacobsen. The family were then charged $100 for one seat on a rescue vessel. The Jacobsens are now in the relative safety of Lomboks main airport in the town of Mataram, sleeping on floors with hundreds of other tourists waiting to fly out. Fears are rising, however, for residents of the north of the island, a more residential and less developed area close to the earthquakes epicentre, which is difficult for rescue teams to reach due to damaged roads. Endri Susanto, who runs an organisation helping the relief efforts, told CNN that he had found a totally broken hospital in the north. I saw about 80 per cent of the houses, 80 per cent of the buildings had fallen down or collapsed because of the earthquake, he said of the surrounding area. DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's currency hit a new record low on Sunday, dropping past 100,000 rials to the U.S. dollar as Iranians brace for Aug. 7 when Washington is due to reimpose a first lot of economic sanctions. In May, the United States pulled out of a 2015 deal between world powers and Tehran under which international sanctions were lifted in return for curbs on its nuclear programme. Washington decided to reimpose sanctions upon its withdrawal, accusing it of posing a security threat. It has told countries they must halt imports of Iranian oil from Nov. 4 or face U.S. financial measures. On Sunday, the rial plunged to 112,000 on the unofficial market, down from about 97,500 rials on Saturday, according to foreign exchange website Bonbast.com. Other websites said the dollar was exchanged between 108,500 and 116,000 rials. The rial has lost about half of its value since April because of a weak economy, financial difficulties at local banks and heavy demand for dollars among Iranians who fear the effects of sanctions. The central bank blamed "enemies" for the fall of the currency and a rapid rise in the prices of gold coins and the judiciary said 29 people had been arrested on charges that carry the death penalty. "The recent developments in the foreign exchange and gold markets are largely due to a conspiracy by enemies with the aim of exacerbating economic problems and causing public anxiety," the central bank said in a statement read on state television. Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei told state television: "29 people have been arrested for economic disruption and will be soon put on trial ... More may be arrested tonight and tomorrow." "Many of them face the charge of 'spreading corruption on earth'," Ejei said, referring to a capital offence under Iran's Islamic laws. Besides the currency fall, the expected return of sanctions has triggered street protests including by bazaar traders usually loyal to the Islamist rulers, and a public outcry over alleged profiteering and corruption. Story continues On Saturday, Ejei said 18 people had been arrested over alleged profiteering from foreign exchange dealings and the illegal importing of luxury cars. U.S. President Donald Trump has called the agreement one of the worst deals ever negotiated but in a bid to salvage the accord, Irans European partners in the deal are preparing a package of economic measures. But France said this month it was unlikely European powers could put the package together before November. On Aug. 7, Washington will reimpose sanctions on Iran's purchase of U.S. dollars, its trade in gold and precious metals and its dealings with metals, coal and industrial-related software. Sanctions also will be reapplied to U.S. imports of Iranian carpets and foodstuffs and on certain related financial transactions. Irans oil exports could fall by as much as two-thirds by this year due to sanctions, straining oil markets amid supply outages elsewhere. (Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg) Baghdad (AFP) - Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Sunday sacked his minister of electricity, his office said, following weeks of protests against corruption and chronic power outages. A statement from Abadi's office said the premier sacked Qassem al-Fahdawi -- whose departure was demanded by protesters -- "because of the deterioration in the electricity sector". Iraq has been gripped by three weeks of protests during which demonstrators have railed against power shortages, unemployment, a lack of clean water and state mismanagement. The protests first erupted in the oil-rich but neglected southern province of Basra, home to Iraq's only sea port, before spreading to neighbouring regions and north to Baghdad. Power shortages have become chronic in Iraq, a country wracked by a series of conflicts that have devastated its infrastructure. Since the ouster of dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003, Iraq has allocated in state budgets a total of $40 billion to rebuild its power network, according to official figures. But households continue to get only a few hours of electricity a day as some of the funds appear to have been embezzled. The country has also been gripped by political tensions as its awaits the results of a partial recount of May 12 elections, while political factions jostle to cobble together a coalition. The ministry of electricity has been a key one in previous governments. At least two previous electricity ministers have been accused of corruption, including over fake contracts worth millions of dollars. In 2010, one of Fahdawi's predecessors, Karim Wahid, resigned after a wave of protests across central and southern Iraq against draconian power rationing. These shortages have forced Iraqis to buy electricity from private entrepreneurs who run power generators that can be seen on most street corners. Electricity consumption has gone up in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam, as Iraqis make more use of household electronic equipment, including computers and mobile phones. Iraqi officials say that a drop in oil revenues means less money in state coffers to rebuild the country's infrastructure. They also criticise Iraqis who they say are not paying their utility bills. By Ali Sawafta NABI SALEH, West Bank (Reuters) - A Palestinian teenager released by Israel on Sunday after completing a prison term for kicking and slapping an Israeli soldier said she wanted to become a lawyer so she could continue her struggle against the occupation of the West Bank. Ahed Tamimi, 17, became a hero to Palestinians after the incident last December outside her home in Nabi Saleh, a village that has for years campaigned against land seizures by Israel, leading to confrontations with the Israeli military and Jewish settlers. Israelis regarded the incident, which Tamimi's mother relayed live on Facebook, as a staged provocation. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas described Tamimi as "a model of peaceful civil resistance ..., proving to the world that our Palestinian people will stand firm and constant on their land, no matter what the sacrifice". He made the statement published by the official news agency Wafa after he met Tamimi and her mother. Wearing her trademark black-and-white chequered Arab scarf when she returned home, Tamimi greeted dozens of well-wishers. Outside the home of a villager killed by Israeli forces, she urged continued struggle against Israel's occupation. At a news conference later, she spoke in front of a bare two-pronged tree that had been shaped like a giant slingshot, with the trunk covered in a Palestinian flag and with a tyre at its base. "I will continue my university tuition and I will study law so that I can address the cause of my country in all of the international forums and to be able to represent the prisoners' cause," Tamimi said. "Prison taught me a lot of things, I was able to figure out the right way to deliver the message of my homeland." Tamimi, who was 16 at the time of her detention, faced 12 charges but in March pleaded guilty to a reduced charge sheet that included assault. She was sentenced to eight months, dating back to her arrest in December. Israeli police said two Italian artists arrested by border police on Saturday after they drew a mural of Tamimi on the wall in the West Bank town of Bethlehem must leave the country within 72 hours or be deported. The two and a Palestinian were arrested while trying to escape in their car "on suspicion of defacing the wall on the Palestinian side after they were seen painting on it while their faces were covered", a police statement said. Palestinians want the West Bank for a future state, along with East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Most countries consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal, something Israel disputes. U.S.-sponsored negotiations on founding a Palestinian state alongside Israel have been stalled since 2014. Tamimi's case drew global attention and Amnesty International said her sentence was at odds with international law. Separately on Sunday, an Israeli naval vessel intercepted a civilian boat bound for the Gaza Strip that had set off from Europe. Israel maintains a maritime blockade of the Strip and said the boat was being towed to the port of Ashdod. (Additional reporting by Rami Amichay; Writing by Dan Williams and Ori Lewis; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg) Three adults and one child were on the plane. None was killed in the crash, and all were taken to Missouri hospitals. Police said the injuries do not appear very serious. Jose Aldo knocked out Jeremy Stephens at 4:19 of the first round (Getty Images) Jose Aldo delivered a none-too-subtle reminder Saturday that despite three recent losses, he remains one of the elite fighters in the world. Aldo had lost three of his last four, including his last two, and was given up for dead by many. But in a toe-to-toe slugfest Saturday with Jeremy Stephens at the Saddledome in Calgary, Aldo delivered a reminder of his historic championship run atop the UFCs featherweight division from 2010 through 2015, stopping Stephens with a pair of pulverizing body shots at 4:19 of the first round. It was vintage Aldo exchanging concussive punches with Stephens for the first four minutes before catching Stephens with a pair of shots to the body. Aldo landed a right and followed with a left hook he turned into, and Stephens turned, winced and fell to the canvas in a fetal position. Aldo joined Zuffa, the company that owns the UFC, and fought for its World Extreme Cagefighting company because the UFC didnt have featherweights. He won his first 15 fights in the WEC and UFC, and was rarely challenged. In his last three, he was knocked out at UFC 194 in just 13 seconds by Conor McGregor on Dec. 12, 2015. He scored a five-round decision over Frankie Edgar at UFC 200, then lost a pair of championship fights, at UFC 212 and UFC 218, to Max Holloway. Stephens entered the fight on a roll, having won three in a row, and believing hed finish Aldo to make a statement and earn a title shot. Conor took his head, Max took his heart and Im going to take his soul, Stephens told Yahoo Sports before the fight. Look at his face: Its drooping. Hes been in a lot of wars. Hes been in a lot of fights. Hes got a lot of damage [from fights] but not only that, its also from the training camps that hes had. Ill get my chance to expose him and Ill do exactly what I said. It wasnt to be, though. Aldo didnt look diminished a bit, and survived a brief moment of concern midway through the round when Stephens landed a pair of uppercuts that rocked him. Story continues Hes been fighting since 2004 and the poise and patience hes gained in those 14 years paid off. He slipped out of danger and went back to firing big shots at Stephens. It was the body shots, however, that did Stephens in. Stephens wasnt happy with the finish, but he was clearly in trouble and Aldo was in a dominant position. It was reminiscent of his heyday, when he made nine consecutive successful defenses of his WEC/UFC featherweight crown. He alluded to that in the cage following the win. The champion is back, Aldo said. He has plenty of work yet to do, but on this night, at least, it was vintage Aldo. And that was not only more than enough to beat Stephens, it is likely enough to beat just about everyone at featherweight. More from Yahoo Sports: Air Force player comes out as gay: I did not think this day would ever come Dez Bryant blames Cowboys garbage ass play calling for struggles in Twitter rant Is a Jimmer Fredette NBA comeback possible? Yankees fans go after pitcher on Twitter who hit Aaron Judge European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker reportedly used brightly coloured flash cards to explain international trade to US president Donald Trump. The pair met at the White House earlier this week for trade negotiations and Mr Juncker used cards with simple language and easy-to-understand explanations, according to a senior EU official who was at the meeting and spoke to the Wall Street Journal. Each card had at most three figures about a specific topic, such as trade in cars or standards for medical devices, the paper reported. The official said the EU team of negotiators was aware it was not an academic seminar. The meeting, according to the senior EU official, went well with Mr Trump appearing charming and well-briefed. Mr Juncker took the opportunity, according to the official, to tell the US leader both sides should stop with retaliatory tariffs since it only hurts domestic producers. If you want to be stupid, I can be stupid, as well, Mr Juncker said. After the meeting, Mr Trump announced he would not increase tariffs on European cars. The EU also said it would buy more US soybeans and liquefied natural gas. The pair held a joint press conference and said they would "work together toward zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods." During the course of the three-hour meeting, Mr Trump appeared to have changed his mind after calling the EU his foe just weeks ago at the G7 meeting in Montreal, Canada, and the North Atlantic Organisation Treaty (Nato) meeting in Brussels. The de-escalation of trade tensions comes after Mr Trump increased tariffs on European steel and aluminium, to which the EU threatened to do the same on Kentucky bourbon, Levis jeans, and orange juice among other signature American products. The EU officials description of dumbing things down for Mr Trump joins with his critics perception that he is not the most academic of presidents interested in nuances of diplomacy or crucial details of domestic policies. Story continues On at least one occasion Mr Trump said, during a major fight in Congress over the fate of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, nobody knew healthcare could be so complicated. He also did not understand the criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike about his performance during a joint press conference in Helsinki, Finland, with Russian President Vladimir Putin. After the meeting, Mr Juncker said there was hope for lessening the tariffs on European steel and aluminium and noted he and Mr Trump have a good personal relation. COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) The conservative Koch brothers are no more even if they remain a political powerhouse. The Democrats' super villains for much of the last decade have quietly launched a rebranding effort that may vanquish the "Koch brothers" moniker from American politics. The catalyst came earlier in the year when ailing billionaire conservative David Koch stepped away from the family business, leaving older brother Charles as the undisputed leader of the Kochs' web of expanding political and policy organizations. There were already few, if any, clearly identifiable links between the Kochs and their most active spinoff organizations such as Americans for Prosperity, Freedom Partners or the LIBRE Initiative. But in the days after the younger billionaire's retreat, company officials quickly began pushing journalists across the country to change references from "Koch brothers" in their coverage to "Koch network" or one of their less-recognizable entities. Asked about the shift on Saturday, Koch's chief lieutenants explained that 82-year-old Charles Koch was always far more involved with their political efforts than his ailing brother. The elder Koch addressed the shift directly as he welcomed hundreds of donors to an invitation-only summit at a luxury resort in the Rocky Mountains. "I am not getting weak in the knees. ... Truly I am not," Charles Koch said with a smile. He added: "We're just getting started." Regardless of its name, the conservative network remains one of the nation's most influential political forces, a conservative powerhouse simultaneously playing the long- and short-game in a way that ensures it will remain a dominant force long after President Donald Trump is gone. And in sharp contrast to the Republican president who is eager to put his name on his accomplishments, the Kochs are happy to do it in the dark. While much of the network operates out of sight, the Charles Koch Foundation announced Saturday that it would begin publicly posting all multiyear grant agreements with universities. Last year, the foundation gave $90 million for projects on 300 campuses. Story continues An estimated 500 Koch donors each having committed at least $100,000 annually gathered for the weekend "seminar" that featured a handful of elected officials and high-profile influencers. As is customary for the bi-annual meetings, guests were required to give up their cell phones during some presentations. And while The Associated Press joined a handful of media organizations allowed to witness some activities, photos and videos were strictly prohibited. Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn, both Republican Senate candidates, led the list of elected officials on hand. Senate Republican whip John Cornyn of Texas, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin were also on the guest list. The money behind the Kochs' push to transform education, philanthropy, immigration, health care, tax laws, courts, government regulation, prisons and the economy has long been cloaked in secrecy. Koch officials have vowed to spend between $300 million and $400 million to shape the 2018 midterm elections. But there's no way to verify how or where the money is spent because most of its organizations are registered as nonprofit groups, which aren't required to detail their donors like traditional political action committees. While they have long been closely aligned with the Republican Party's far-right flank, they oppose the Trump administration's policies on spending, trade and immigration. On Saturday, network leaders seized on Trump's push to apply billions of dollars in tariffs on America's top trading partners. The burgeoning trade war has sparked an outcry from business leaders across the nation, and in a new video Charles Koch lashes out at what he calls the "destructive" rise of "protectionism." Koch official Brian Hooks warned that, on trade and immigration, "the divisiveness of this White House is causing long-term damage." Democrats who invested extraordinary time and resources into attacking the Koch brothers in recent years concede that, in the era of Trump at least, the billionaire industrialists are no longer the left's No. 1 enemy. Adam Jentleson, who previously worked for former Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, said Koch's quiet rebranding effort represents "a small victory." "Sen. Reid was always very clear that drawing the Koch brothers out of the shadows was a big part of his strategy," Jentleson said. "He thought people deserved to know who was behind the dark money. This seems like a recognition that they're uncomfortable being out front and are scurrying to get back in the shadows." Multibillionaire Charles Koch, pictured in a 2007 file photo, founded the donor network to fund conservative causes. (Photo: Wichita Eagle via Getty Images) COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. Leaders of the Koch Network of conservative megadonors opened the groups annual summer summit with harsh criticism of President Donald Trump, slamming his rhetoric as divisive and his push for a trade war as misguided. This years gathering of donors was the networks largest ever, with more than 500 donors pledging more than $100,000 apiece toward the networks efforts, which include everything from backing nonprofits and universities to lobbying for regulatory rollbacks to attacking Democratic senators. The network, which has spent millions over the past 15 years to shape the GOP in its image, has had an up-and-down relationship with the president. It refused to back his election bid in 2016, but has succeeded in filling the Trump administration with allies who share its economic libertarian vision, often with the help of Vice President Mike Pence. Its praised the presidents judicial selections and has said it will spend heavily to promote the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court as well as the GOP tax cuts. But it has broken with him on immigration and trade. In a briefing for reporters, top Koch network officials said the Trump administrations rhetoric was making it more difficult for politicians and Americans to find common ground. The manner in which people engage public policy matters, said Brian Hooks, the co-chair of the Seminar Network, the umbrella group that hosts the gatherings. And its gone way beyond tone, way beyond tactic. The divisiveness of this White House is causing long-term damage. When in order to win on an issue, somebody else has to lose, it makes it very difficult to unite people to solve the problems in this country, Hooks said. HuffPost, along with other news organizations, was invited to attend the event after accepting ground rules set by the Koch Network, including not identifying donors unless they agree to an interview. A number of prominent Republican officials were set to attend the event, including Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who is the GOP nominee to challenge Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson in November; Rep. Marsha Blackburn, who is running against Democratic former Gov. Phil Bredesen in Tennessees Senate race; and Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, who is challenging Democrat Steve Sisolak for the Silver States governorship. Story continues Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, Texas Sen. John Cornyn and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott were also in attendance. The Koch officials reserved much of their ire for the presidents trade policy, which has sparked talk of a trade war with China. James Davis, a network spokesman, blasted Trumps tariffs as a tax and said they would hurt the economy. Alarmed by the presidents actions, the network recently started a multiyear, multimillion-dollar effort to promote the benefits of free trade, including seminars for conservative activists across the country. Protectionism is bad trade policy, Hooks said. David Koch, 78, the younger of the two brothers who originally gave the network its name, recently stepped down from his roles with the donor network and with the familys conglomerate due to ailing health. He and his brother Charles both made a fortune with Koch Industries, and have estimated net worths in the tens of billions of dollars. It was Charles who first founded the network, gathering prominent businesspeople in 2003 to raise concerns over the Bush administrations steel tariffs and what they saw as government overspending. We see some similarities today, Davis said at the start of the briefing. Related Coverage The Right-Wing Millennial Machine The Koch Network Is Going After One Of Trumps Favorite Congressmen Koch Network Plans To Spend Millions Backing Trumps Court Pick Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Billionaire industrialist Charles Koch and the network of advocacy groups that enjoy his backing are doing little to mask their disgust with President Donald Trump and fellow Republicans who go along with his antics. There are even signs of retribution afoot against Republicans who have enabled Trumps notions on spending, trade, immigration and foreign policy. As the Koch-backed Seminar Network began a three-day summit in the Rockies, officials on Saturday had tough words for Republican-dominated Washington, especially on the escalating trade wars. Although the 500 donors gathered here still stand ready to spend as much as $400 million on politics and policy ahead of Novembers elections, few are enchanted with the GOPs hold on power. Although theyve spent billions to shape the current political scene, the Trump Administration is far from what they had hoped for. Stand by our principles and whatever cost. Resist all temptations in short-term gain, Charles Koch told guests gathered at the grand Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs, Colo. Thats exactly what were doing. (To be sure, there are flashes where this network is in agreement with the White House, especially when it comes to senior adviser Jared Kushners work on prisons and criminal justice. Repeatedly, longtime Koch adviser Mark Holden name-checked Trumps son-in-law, who has a West Wing office. But the overlap is narrow and is insufficient to paper-over very deep disagreements with how the President is using his powers.) In some ways, this disillusionment with Washington is part of a cycle inside Koch World. These Koch-convened seminars started in 2003, when Charles Koch invited like-minded businessmen to kvetch about trade policy and government spending under President George W. Bush, a Republican. Now, 15 years later and facing another Republican in the White House taking similar actions, Koch is no happier. This time, though, Koch has a well-funded political machine at his disposal. Americans for Prosperitys permanent grassroots army outpaces anything else in Republican politics, Freedom Partners pushes a business-friendly agenda and i360 has thousands of pieces of data on every American over the age of 18. Story continues And these groups can make life tough for those in its way. For instance, the Koch-backed groups have spent millions criticizing Republicans who voted for a $1.3 trillion GOP spending bill earlier this year and have not done more to pre-empt Trumps trade war. They helped shepherd to passage a massive package of tax cuts, tanked a border tax that was a darling of House Speaker Paul Ryan, helped a criminal justice bill through the House and are stepping up their pressure on lawmakers to return to the table on immigration talks. But with polls showing an energized Democratic electorate, less enthusiasm among Republicans, history leaning against Republicans holding their majorities and Trump roiling Washington an unpredictable politician, many officials and donors are bracing for a potential divided government. Its radical, especially given the divisive climate that were in right now and how polarized and factionalized the country is in many ways, but we want to focus on radically and aggressively finding areas of common interest and where we can make progress on some of these issues, even if we disagree on other issues, said James Davis, the Koch networks top spokesman. These twice-a-year seminars are by invitation-only. Donors-pony up $100,000 for three days of wonky policy talks, pitches from social service groups and hallway encounters with politicians. Under federal election law, these donors identities do not need to be disclosed. As a condition of attending, TIME has agreed not to identify donors who did not wish their names used. Trump, who famously claimed incorrectly he had turned down an invitation to meet with this group in 2016 at this very site, got no pass. The Koch network sat out the 2016 presidential race and seems likely to do the same in 2020. In a video officials planned to show donors on Sunday, Charles Koch looks directly into the camera with a tough rebuke for protectionism. Were seeing a rise in protectionism, where countries, organizations and individuals are trying to protect themselves from these changes. Theyre doing whatever they can to close themselves off from the new, to hold onto the past and to prevent change, Charles Koch says in the video. This is a natural tendency, but its a destructive one because when people act in protectionist ways, they erect barriers, which makes everyone worse off. Although Koch never utters the Presidents name, his aides do little to dodge the connection. Was it subtle? said Brian Hooks, a top Koch lieutenant and co-chairman of the Seminar Network. Theres nothing subtle about it. Protectionism is bad trade policy. Such policy is deeply offensive to Koch and his pals. Long a foe of subsidies they call corporate welfare, Trumps direct payments to farmers to offset their losses in the trade war are a class apart and a transparently political answer to a disaster of Trumps own making. Its a bail-out to bad policy, Davis said. You cant make this up. We put tariffs supposedly to put pressure on China and then it actually hurts farmers here. Crops waste away in the field. Then you pull a Depression-era program out to bail out famers and make them whole. But whos underwriting our debt? (That would be China.) Still, as much as these donors protest, most will still begrudgingly back him as individuals when Trump runs for a second term. The 2020 presidential race could be well underway before these super-rich patrons meet again, likely early next year. And, when facing a choice between an eventual Democratic nominee someone who may emerge from a race to the Left among the party and Trump, its highly doubtful many here could bring themselves to vote for a Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren. Disclosure: Time Inc., TIMEs parent company, was acquired by Meredith Corp. in a deal partially financed by Koch Equity Development, a subsidiary of Koch Industries Inc. Demonstrators join students and gun control advocates for the 'March for Our Lives' event in Washington DC: Reuters US gun safety campaigners have expressed their anger over Congress' failure to regulate the manufacture of 3-D printed guns. Following a multi-year legal battle, the federal government last month entered into a settlement with Defense Distributed founder, Cody Wilson. Mr Wilson rose to fame after manufacturing the the first fully 3-D printed pistol in 2013, when he was just 25. Within days of publication, Mr Wilson's design files had been downloaded more than 100,000 times. The settlement allows Mr Wilson to publish his arsenal of fire arm blueprints online from 1 August. With no serial numbers the blueprints are nearly impossible to trace, gun-control campaigners have warned. A federal judge has since rejected an emergency injunction brought forward by gun-control groups. One campaigner outraged by law-makers' acquiescence was Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter was killed in the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida. "I don't know how we got to this place and no one was paying attention," Mr Guttenberg lamented. "This is the safety of this country and its citizens who are now at risk in their offices, in courthouses and on airplanes." Democratic senator for New York, Charles "Chuck" Schumer, was equally as critical of Congress' inaction. "Ghost guns are as scary as they sound a terrorist, someone who is mentally ill, a spousal abuser, or a felon can essentially open a gun factory in their garage. No background check, no training," he said. Five other Democratic senators Edward Markey, Bill Nelson, Richard Blumenthal, Chris Murphy, and Dianne Feinstein have sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, demanding he explain the government's decision to settle. Senator Nelson also plans to introduce a bill that would prohibit online publication of any digital file that can be downloaded or programmed to print a 3-D gun part. "All the letters are nice, but they do nothing," Mr Guttenberg reflected. "At 12:01 on the 1st of August, it's going to be too late." Story continues The Department of Justice declined to comment. "Once the plans are up on the Internet, it's impossible to un-ring the bell," said Jonathan Lowy, vice president of litigation at the Brady Center, a Washington-based gun-control campaign group. "The genie is out of the bottle and you can't put it back in." The Washington Post "How can they deal with such a horrific, traumatic crisis? This family, they got a Jesus connection. It's not the end; rather it's the beginning of a new life. That's the hope of this family. Let God be their comfort today," Hill told the congregation. Belgrade (AFP) - A leading lawyer who defended former Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic on charges of war crimes has been shot dead in Belgrade, police said Sunday. Dragoslav Ognjanovic, who was gunned down Saturday night outside the apartment block where he lived, also represented a senior underworld figure, Serbian media reported. "The police are searching for the person who killed... lawyer Dragoslav Ognjanovic and wounded his 26-year-old son in the arm," said Serbian police official Dejan Kovacevic. The authorities did not link the murder of the 56-year-old to his work for Milosevic or Luka Bojovic, who is reportedly serving 18 years in a Spanish prison for possessing weapons. The daily newspaper Vecernje Novosti said Bojovic is one of the main players in a battle between two gangs from Kotor in Montenegro that has left several dead. The war reportedly erupted after 300 kilogrammes (660 pounds) of cocaine disappeared from a Spanish port. Another Serbian lawyer, Vladimir Zrelec, who represented a top member of the rival gang, was murdered in December 2015 in Belgrade. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said police had several leads for the murder. "The security situation is good," he told reporters. "But there is something which concerns me greatly: it's this war between two gangs over the drugs market which is becoming ... something the state must confront in a much more brutal manner." Viktor Gostiljac, who heads the Serbian bar association said the entire profession" was "in shock after this murder". Lawyers would go on strike for a week, he said, calling for a meeting with the ministers of the interior and justice to protect the profession. "The shot fired at Dragoslav Ognjanovic is a shot fired at all lawyers," said a statement from the association which demanded that the killers be caught quickly. Ognjanovic served in Milosevic's team of legal advisers but the Serbian leader represented himself before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, a UN court that dealt with war crimes in the Balkans during the 1990s. Milosevic died on March 11, 2006, in his cell at the tribunal in The Hague facing charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the conflicts over the breakup of Yugoslavia that left 130,000 dead. Even at 33 years old, with multiple NBA titles and enough awards to fill a museum, LeBron James still gets nervous for the first day of school. Granted, James hasnt been a student since 2003, but his role in the education system will drastically change come Monday when his public school officially opens in Akron, Ohio. The I PROMISE School will educate 240 of the Akron Public School Districts most academically at-risk third- and fourth-graders in its inaugural year and James will be on hand to welcome each student on their first day. As the schools largest donor, James has been integral in the development of the program and has committed to popping in routinely throughout the year. LeBron James legacy off the court is taking another seismic leap with the opening of his I PROMISE school in Akron, Ohio. (via AP) From missing classes to molding champions The fact that the school is only serving third- and fourth-graders has some added significance to James as well. LeBron tweeted earlier on Sunday that he missed 83 days of school when he was that age or nearly 45 percent of the school year. The jitters before the first day of school are real right now!!! Tomorrow is going to be one of the greatest moments (if not the greatest) of my life when we open the #IPROMISE School. This skinny kid from Akron who missed 83 days of school in the 4th grade had big dreams https://t.co/PwmRaHRfng LeBron James (@KingJames) July 29, 2018 and it doesn't get bigger than opening day tomorrow (until the next thing we dream of ) I'm so unbelievably proud and excited to see my kids, my home, and the 330 tomorrow. THANK YOU! Let's get it. Lets go @IPROMISESchool #WeAreFamily #IPROMISE LeBron James (@KingJames) July 29, 2018 While only two age groups will be educated at the school this year, there are plans to expand the program for academically at-risk youth in his hometown. In the meantime, the school is structured to not only give students more options and resources, but to provide students with longer days and more activities to keep them out of negative environments. Story continues From the Chicago Tribune: Where a typical Akron public schools average class size is 23 students, James foundation will provide four additional teachers so that the I Promise School will have 20 students per class. It recently received its STEM curriculum designation and will also include a family resource center. The school will be nearly year-round with curriculum offered from July 30 to May 17, with a seven-week camp for additional academic support to allow kids who have fallen behind to catch up. Admitted students were randomly selected from a pool of public school children with lower test scores. Does this story get any more heartwarming? It most certainly does. The Twitter accounts for both James and the LeBron James Family Foundation has been sending out numerous videos of students and faculty preparing for the transition to the I PROMISE School and to call it inspiring would be wholly underselling it. Humbled & unbelievably proud to announce the #LJFF I PROMISE Institute at @UAkron!! Go back. invest. Rebuild. Change. thats our duty. pic.twitter.com/4wND9HXiBH LeBron James (@KingJames) October 12, 2016 Here's a first look at a classroom inside @KingJames' I PROMISE School in Akron. The @LJFamFoundation has started the 7-week transformation of the Akron school ahead of its scheduled opening at the end of July. @wkyc https://t.co/E8YJGmhCtR pic.twitter.com/2bb2MiocSi Amani Abraham (@AmaniAbraham) June 12, 2018 With six weeks left until the first day of school, weve come a long way to bringing @KingJames vision of changing urban public education to life. And were not done yet! #IPROMISE #WeAreFamily pic.twitter.com/yBWK5Ec6cO LJ's Fam Foundation (@LJFamFoundation) June 23, 2018 LeBron has famously made a name for himself academically by paying for more than 1,000 kids from Ohio to go to college. With the I PROMISE School he has doubled down on his commitment to both his hometown and the power of education overall. The King may be moving on to Los Angeles, but hes not done making his mark in Akron. Blake Schuster is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at blakeschuster@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! By Latief Apriaman SEMBALUN, Indonesia (Reuters) - A powerful 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck the popular tourist island of Lombok in Indonesia on Sunday killing 14 people and sending villagers fleeing from their beds into open fields to avoid collapsing buildings. The quake, which rocked the island early in the morning when many people were still asleep, injured 162 people and damaged thousands of houses. Electricity was cut off in the worst-hit area, Sembalun, a sparsely populated area of rice paddies and the slopes of Mount Rinjani on the northern side of the island. A 30-year-old Malaysian woman visiting Mount Rinjani, a popular trekking destination, was among those killed, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the disaster mitigation agency spokesman. He said the area was temporarily closed to climbers because there were reports of landslides. Hundreds of climbers are being evacuated from the Rinjani national park and 115 have been safely escorted out, Nugroho said. "The most pressing needs now are medical personnel, stretchers, health equipment, kids wares and food," Nugroho said. An emergency tent was set up on a street in Sembalun to treat the injured because the local hospital was damaged, and those in a critical condition were taken to other hospitals. "It happened so suddenly at around 6 in the morning. Suddenly everything simply collapsed," said Siti Sumarni, a Sembalun resident. "My child was inside the house, thankfully he survived." Standing outside a green tent set up on a dusty field, she said nothing was left of her house. Video footage showed ambulances lining the streets of Lombok and many houses damaged with only parts of brick walls standing. "We jumped out of our beds to avoid anything falling on our heads," said Jean-Paul Volckaert who runs a hotel near Senggigi on the western side of Lombok. "Ive been walking around but so far there is no damage. We were very surprised as the water in the pools was swaying like a wild sea. There were waves in the pools but only for 20 to 30 seconds," he told Reuters by telephone. A magnitude 6.4 earthquake is considered strong and is capable of causing severe damage. The Lombok quake struck at 6:47 a.m. (2247 GMT on Saturday) and was only 4.35 miles deep (7 km), a shallow depth that would have amplified its effect. It was centered 50 km (31 miles) northeast of the city of Mataram, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, but it was also felt strongly to the west on the neighboring island of Bali, Indonesia's top tourist destination. Over a hundred of subsequent tremors were recorded, with the largest aftershock recorded at 5.7 magnitude, Indonesia's Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysics Agency said. The earthquake was on land and did not trigger any waves or tsunami. Earthquakes are common in Indonesia, which is located on the seismically active "Ring of Fire" that surrounds the shores of the Pacific Ocean. (Additional reporting Agustinus Da Costa and Fransiska Nangoy in JAKARTA, Alison Bevege in SYDNEY; Editing by Michael Perry and Richard Pullin) By Tim Cocks and Tiemoko Diallo BAMAKO (Reuters) - Vote counting began in Mali on Sunday evening after an election to determine whether President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita will win a second term, amid ethnic and jihadist violence that has dramatically worsened since he came to power five years ago. Two dozen other candidates were contesting the presidency in a largely Saharan desert nation that has been fractured by a Tuareg rebellion and Islamist militancy across its north and central zones since the last poll in 2013. In some parts of Mali, the vote simply did not happen owing to a lack of security, and the European Union observer mission urged the government to publish the places that would be unable to vote, to quell suspicions by candidates. In a news conference on Sunday night, a campaign director for candidate Soumaila Cisse, 68, seen as mounting the strongest challenge to Keita, estimated at least 644 polling stations out of some 23,000 had been unable to open owing to a lack of security. "We invited them (the government) to state in which communes it was impossible to hold elections. We haven't yet had a response," Tiebile Drame said. "We deplore this dysfunction." Authorities were not immediately available to comment. Voting was briefly suspended at a polling station in the village of Aguelhok in the northern region of Kidal after militants fired 10 mortar bombs, U.N. mission spokesman Olivier Salgado said. No one was hurt. The attack was the kind that has become routine in Mali in the months leading up to the vote. "One mortar landed around 100 metres from a polling station so there was a bit of panic," Salgado said. Eight million people were registered to vote. The candidates included businessmen, an astrophysicist, and just one woman. Counting started in the riverside capital, Bamako, soon after polls closed at 6 p.m. (1800 GMT). In one polling station at a school, officials tallied votes on a blackboard. But results may not come out for days - candidates are forbidden from announcing anything before the official tally. SCARED TO VOTE The threat of violence was on the minds of voters, in a country where on average only 40 percent turn out. "I was scared to come and vote because of the insecurity, but I feel relieved because everything went well," said 26-year-old housekeeper Mariam Cisse in the northern medieval Islamic city of Timbuktu, whose mud-walled mosques were tourist attractions until it became beset by Islamist militancy in 2012. She voted for Soumaila Cisse. A Reuters reporter said it was calm in Timbuktu on Sunday after days of unrest leading up to the polls. One thousand km (600 miles) southwest, in Bamako, 32-year-old Hama Diallo just hoped for a safer future. "I hope the president-elect makes security a priority, without which nothing is possible." The head of the EU observer mission, Cecile Kyenge, said the mission had been informed of certain incidents in the north and centre, on which she declined to elaborate. In the past three years, jihadist attacks have tripled in Mali and violent deaths doubled, according to the civil society website Malilink. Islamists have spread from the north to the centre and even targeted Bamako - as in 2015, when gunmen killed 20 people in a raid on a hotel - as well as Mali's neighbours. ISLAMIST THREAT Islamist groups are seen as the biggest threat to Western interests in the Sahara. They have hit foreign targets and kidnapped scores of Westerners, often holding them for years until they get multimillion-dollar ransoms. Last month, a suicide bomber drove a vehicle laden with explosives into the headquarters of the regional G5 Sahel anti-terrorist force in Severe, central Mali, killing three people. Growth has averaged 5 percent under Keita, and Mali's key exports of gold and cotton have flourished, as have agricultural staples such as rice, but insecurity has taken the shine off. The United Nations peacekeeping mission to Mali has suffered more deaths than any in history, and some 170 peacekeepers have died, more than 100 by "malicious acts". Human rights groups have raised the alarm over alleged executions by security forces. The Defence Ministry promised to investigate. Malian elections, however, have so far been generally peaceful. Yet opposition candidates have alleged tampering with the electoral list, and Cisse told thousands of supporters on Friday the government was planning to steal the election. "Every Malian must stay vigilant in the face of this attempt at electoral fraud. This historic election cannot be pilfered," he said, voting in his home town of Niafunke, near Timbuktu. Keita rejected Cisse's accusations as he voted in his home constituency of Sebinikro outside Bamako, a neighbourhood of dirt roads where chickens peck at piles of trash. "This sterile polemic is perfectly useless. There has only ever been one electoral roll in Mali," he told journalists, wearing his trademark white kaftan and skull cap. On Saturday, a spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged "all political actors in Mali to commit to making this poll a peaceful, free and transparent process." (Reporting by Tim Cocks and Tiemoko Diallo; Additional reporting by Marina Depetris in Bamako and Maita Moro in Timbuktu; Editing by Edward McAllister, William Maclean, Kevin Liffey and Peter Cooney) Bamako (AFP) - Malians voted Sunday in a crucial presidential election as attacks disrupted polling in areas already beset by deadly ethnic and jihadist violence. Counting has started in some of the 23,000 polling stations which closed at 1800 GMT. First results are expected within 48 hours and the official outcome is set to follow on Friday at the latest. Despite the deployment of 30,000 security personnel throughout the country, several incidents were reported in the north and centre. Rockets were fired on the UN mission (MINUSMA) camp in Aguelhok, in the northeast, according to a UN security source who added that "there are no casualties and the rockets did not fall into the camp." Elsewhere, the burning of polling stations and violence against election officials halted the vote. In total, 105 polling stations stayed closed because of security concerns, according to state TV ORTM citing the ministry of security. President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, 73, leads a crowded field of 24 candidates -- including one woman -- bidding for re-election to the post he has held since 2013. He voted in Sebenicoro, near the capital Bamako, surrounded by journalists and supporters. Keita's record on security has been a dominant theme, with opponents, including several former ministers, accusing him of incompetence. The international community hopes the poll will strengthen a 2015 accord that Mali, a linchpin state in the troubled Sahel region, sees as the cornerstone for peace. On the campaign trail, Keita -- commonly known by his initials IBK -- highlighted the achievements of the peace agreement between the government, government-allied groups and Tuareg former rebels to fight jihadist fighters in the country's north. - Polling station, ballots burned - Armed groups severely disrupted voting in central Mali's Mopti region. In Fatoma village, voting was halted after election officials were assaulted, according to Malian observers and the regional governor. Story continues Violence also struck the village of Gandamia, further east, where polling stations were destroyed and staff were attacked, the sources said. "Four villages could not vote after armed groups banned state administrators" in the same region, the mayor of Bourema Napo town told AFP. And there was no voting in the village of Lafia, in the northern Timbuktu region, after the ballot boxes were set on fire, local authorities said. "Overnight Saturday, armed men arrived at the town hall where the ballot boxes and electoral material were held," a local official told AFP. The source added the boxes were burned after men he said were jihadists fired shots into the sky. "One of them said 'God does not like elections'." Violence also marred the lead-up to the vote, despite the presence of 15,000 UN peacekeepers and 4,500 French troops and a heralded five-nation anti-terror G5 Sahel force. A state of emergency will enter its fourth year in November. More than 300 civilians have died in ethnic clashes this year, according to UN figures and an AFP toll. Many deaths have occurred in the Mopti region involving the Fulani nomadic herder community and Bambara and Dogon farmers. Jihadist violence, meanwhile, has spread from northern Mali to the centre and south of the country and spilled over into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, often inflaming communal conflicts. The main Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist alliance made its presence felt on the final day of campaigning Friday, dubbing the election a "mirage" that would do nothing for the Malian people. In Mali's north, where the state is barely present, armed groups who signed the peace accord helped to ensure security. - Main challenger Cisse - Voter participation was low throughout the day, according to electoral observers and AFP journalists. Official participation figures are yet to be published. Turnout has never exceeded 50 percent in a presidential election first round since the advent of democracy in 1992. Observer teams are in place from the European Union, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the International Organisation of La Francophonie. "The European observer mission calls for the Malian authorities to publish the list of polling stations where voting did not take place," Cecile Kyenge, the mission's head, told reporters late Sunday. In Mbera, the world's biggest Malian refugee camp in southeastern Mauritania, more than 7,000 voters were registered at 28 polling stations, Ahmedou Ag Boukhary, a camp official, told AFP. Keita's challengers are led by Soumaila Cisse, 68, a former finance and economy minister, who lost by a wide margin in the second round of the 2013 election. Cisse urged all sectors of society to prioritise better health care and education as motors of development, while rejecting all-pervasive corruption. Cisse's team have warned of possible election fraud, claiming that there are two electoral lists and hundreds of fake polling stations. If no candidate gains more than 50 percent of the vote in Sunday's first round, a second round will take place on August 12. It's a great time to be a stargazer. The longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century will take place this week, on Thursday, June 26 into Friday, June 27. At that time, this months full moon also known as the blood buck moon will pass through the center of the Earth's shadow. When it does, the moon will turn a burnt orange color, as it did during Januarys Super Blue Blood Moon. However, this eclipse will last for a very long time: one hour and 43 minutes. Sadly, if you live in the Northern Hemisphere, youll miss the lunar eclipse because it will take place during our daylight hours. But fear not, because the stars above still have a special event planned just for you. On Tuesday, July 31, Mars will make its closest approach to Earth in 15 years, according to NASA. At that time, the planet will be just 35.8 million miles away, which means it will be making its closest approach since 2003. At that time, it came within 34.6 million miles of earth, marking its closest approach in 60,000 years. As the space agency further explained, the red planet will be at its brightest from July 27 to July 30, meaning you can likely simply go outside, look up, and get a great view of our neighboring planet with the naked eye. Its magnificent. Its as bright as an airplane landing light, Harry Augensen, Widener University astronomer, told the Associated Press. Not quite as bright as Venus, but still because of the reddish, orange-ish-red color, you really cant miss it in the sky. Of course, those viewing Mars through a telescope will get a better view. However, it may not be entirely worth it. As the Weather Channel reported, a massive dust storm has engulfed much of the planet, meaning viewing many fine details of its surface will be extremely difficult. If you for some reason dont get to view the planet this weekend fear not, as it will continue to shine brightly in the night sky well into August. And, if you still miss it, thats OK too, as it will be making another incredibly close pass at Earth in 2020 when it will be just 38.6 million miles away. In its way, Kemp's strategy resembles that of Trump himself. In advance of 2016, much of the GOP thought it had to reach out to Latinos and other voters whom the party had shunned, but Trump calculated correctly that there was at least one more election to be won by putting white resentment at the center of a presidential candidacy. In his victory speech, Kemp invoked the terrifying specter of "Hillary Clinton, George Soros and Nancy Pelosi," asking, "Do you really want a governor who's bought and paid for by liberal billionaires and out-of-state socialists? This is the state of Georgia: We are a red state." In case you're wondering whether there will be any reaching out to voters in the middle. LAS VEGAS Five miles from Las Vegas gleaming neon decadence, past the strip malls and noodle shops on the fringes of town, LeBron James entered a remote high school gym on Saturday and sparked an immediate buzz. Flanked by security, his longtime business partner Maverick Carter and a few friends, James settled into a section of bleachers roped off for college coaches. James appearance at an obscure 16-Under grassroots game in the Fab 48 Tournament in a half-empty gym held a powerful symbolic meaning. James came to watch the next great player with Akron ties, 14-year-old Chris Livingston, who is considered perhaps the top eighth-grade player in the country. Thats a position James once held, and the former Akron basketball prodigy traveling to a far-flung gym to watch the next one doubled as Livingstons christening on the grassroots scene as the next great player from Ohio. Livingston is a 6-foot-5 wing who is a pure shooter, natural scorer and has a frame and strength that belies his age. James sat in the ninth row of the bleachers at Desert Oasis, wearing a red hat pulled over his eyes and Beats headphones on his ears. When James left in the waning minutes, he stopped at the bench, grabbed Livingstons arm and whispered some words. It was humbling, Livingston told Rivals.com recruiting analyst Corey Evans. I just wanted to play hard and show my talent, not be nervous and play my game. Chris Livingston appears to be the prize recruit of the 2022 basketball recruiting class. (Credit: Corey Evans/Rivals.com) Livingston scored 15 points in the victory for his grassroots team, We All Can Go, over the Colorado Chaos. He had a dunk and showed the athleticism and fluidity that have led both Akron and UAB to already offer scholarships. (Being just 14, Livingston said he has a few other scholarship offers but couldnt remember them.) He said he planned to visit Ohio State in August, a place he said he liked a lot because theyre my hometown team. Coaching circles were buzzing about Livingston long before LeBron dropped by his game on Saturday. Hes viewed as the next guy since LeBron in Ohio to be in that category of, maybe, a transcendent player, said a college head coach. Its hard, you want to be careful to stay away from Harold Minor and Michael Jordan comparisons. But hes got that degree of that talent at the age. Youd be hard-pressed to find a better player in his class right now. Story continues To be clear, its unfair to cast Livingston as the Next LeBron. But those familiar with his game project that in these embryotic stages hes likely to be a high-level player in the class of 2022. Livingston grew up in Kentucky but hell play basketball at Akron Buchtel High School as a freshman in the fall. His mother, Julia, attended Buchtel, the same school that James wife, Savannah, attended. Forecasting four years in advance is not easy, nor is it fair, but the talent level and two-way abilities is evident, Evans said. If he does what he has to do, which is show incremental improvements, Livingston has a chance to be one of the best backcourt prospects in recent years. Livingston has shown well this summer playing up two grades on the We All Can Go team. (We All Can Go is a Nashville-based team, which Livingston plays on because of his Kentucky roots.) Coach Quinton Thompson told Yahoo Sports that he compares favorably in terms of potential with another former player, Marvin Bagley III, at this stage of his career. I think hell be the most special player weve had besides Marvin, Thompson said. Hes right there with [him]. Maybe a little more special with scoring. A college coach in attendance on Saturday echoed those thoughts to Yahoo Sports: We can argue about the legitimacy of ranking kids that young, as there are so many variables in their development. But when you perform against kids two years older as he has, thats a really good sign of his potential. LeBron James takes in an grassroots game featuring Chris Livingston. (Credit: Corey Evans/Rivals.com) NBA stars appearing at AAU games around Vegas during this week of grassroots tournaments isnt uncommon. Dwyane Wade has been watching his son, Zaire, and James Harden was at Desert Oasis at the same time as James on Saturday watching his Team Harden. There was a black Bentley with a driver idling outside Desert Oasis on Saturday, giving the secluded school a bizarre paparazzi feel. Many of the college coaches in the gym were a bit confused about James showing up for a game between a Nashville and Colorado AAU team. James has been a fixture at 13-Under games of his son, Bronny, around the grassroots circuit this summer. But Bronnys team wasnt in the gym on Saturday. Colorado coach Tad Boyle sat a few rows in front of James among the coaches scattered in the section. (Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott was in the gym for his sons game later in the day and didnt realize James was there until a reporter pointed him out.) Livingston and his teammates had been given a heads up that James would be coming. LeBron is his favorite player, Joe Livingston said of his grandson. It meant a lot to watch him play and perform. To have him come to a game is very, very important. As for the inevitable comparisons to James while playing in Akron, Chris Livingston shrugged them off. Im not really too worried about that, he said. Im just trying to get better. No pressure at all. Im trying to get better every day. After LeBron gave Livingston a quick chat, he exited out a back door before the game ended and jumped into a Cadillac Escalade. While he drove off into the 111-degree heat, his appearance marked the arrival of another star from Akron. More from Yahoo Sports: Air Force player comes out as gay: I did not think this day would ever come Dez Bryant blames Cowboys garbage ass play calling for struggles in Twitter rant Is a Jimmer Fredette NBA comeback possible? Yankees fans go after pitcher on Twitter who hit Aaron Judge [SOUND] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [BLANK_AUDIO] On August 4, 2018, Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, will turn 37 years old. The special occasion will not only signify another year older, but also her first birthday as a member of the royal family. Last year, Prince Harry went all out for Meghan's 36th birthday, with a trip to South Africa. He planned everything to the tee during the couple's three-week romantic getaway: a safari in Botswana, a detour to Victoria Falls, you get the point. However, her upcoming birthday reportedly won't be as over-the-top. According to Hello!, Meghan will be celebrating someone else on her special day, as the newlyweds will attend the wedding of Harry's friend Charlie Van Straubenzee and Daisy Jenks. Charlie and Harry have been friends since they were young, attending Ludgrove Prep School in Berkshire together as children. And Harry will be extra preoccupied on Meghan's birthday while serving as Charlie's best mana favor he's returning since Charlie and his older brother, Thomas, were ushers during the royal wedding in May. Royal photographer Tim Rook, aka "Rookie," broke the news that Charlie's big event coincides with Meghan's birthday in a tweet on Thursday. "Unfortunately I will be missing the wedding of Charlie Van Straubenzee and Daisy Jenks where Prince Harry will be best man on August 4th in Churt Surrey as I will be on the beach. Can't do everything!" he wrote. Unfortunately I will be missing the wedding of Charlie Van Straubenzee and Daisy Jenks where Prince Harry will be best man on August 4th in Churt Surrey as I will be on the beach .Can't do everything! Rookie (@royalfocus1) July 27, 2018 While Harry will have to split his attention on Meghan's official birthday, we're sure he has something special up his sleeve for their major first milestone as a married couple in the near future. Perhaps a trip to the duchess's ol' stomping grounds in Canada? We're staying tuned! LANSING, Mich. (AP) As both parties continue pumping funds into the 2018 race, Michigan Democrats hope to cash in on another kind of green. A proposal to legalize marijuana will be on Michigan's November ballot, putting the state on the cusp of allowing recreational use of the drug for those 21 and older. If approved, Michigan would become the 10th state and the first in the Midwest to allow its recreational use. The ballot measure could also entice more younger voters to show up to the polls, which likely would help the Democrats. And in Michigan's first general election in two years, the lure of legal weed could be a surprise tool for the minority party to redeem itself in a battleground state that narrowly swung to President Donald Trump in 2016. One of the ballot's committee leaders, Jeff Hank, said the initiative is nonpartisan but that Michigan politicians running on anti-marijuana messaging all of whom are Republicans should beware. "It's the most sensible thing to do," Hank said. "Politicians who don't support this proposal are on the wrong side of history, and that's too bad." Having a cannabis-injected voter bump is an easy gift for Michigan Democrats, who by and large support legalizing marijuana as a civil liberty, a criminal justice reform and a fertile source of tax revenue. It also helps that legalizing marijuana, a once-fringe issue associated with the anti-war counterculture movement, has quickly solidified into a lasting political cause. Two years ago, the share of Americans living in a state with recreational marijuana laws swelled to almost a quarter of the country, thanks to successful 2016 election ballot initiatives in four states that raised the total to nine states plus the District of Columbia. Thirty-one states have legalized medical marijuana, including Michigan, which has allowed it for a decade. Legalizing recreational marijuana boasts a 61 percent approval rating among Michiganders, according to EPIC-MRA polling. The partisan breakdown showed three-fourths of both Democrats and independents favor legalization, while just under half of Republican respondents approve. Story continues "It's likely to increase participation among young voters, who are very Democratic," EPIC-MRA president Bernie Porn said. It's difficult to draw on successful marijuana ballot initiatives elsewhere because most succeeded in western states during extraordinary election years. A Brookings Institute study found that 2012 proposals increased liberal and young voter turnout in Colorado and Washington. Recent events in Lansing suggest that Republicans are worried. Last month, the GOP-controlled Legislature found itself in an unenviable bind when it received the certified ballot proposal and had to either vote yes and risk appearing marijuana-cozy or send it to a popular vote this November and potentially boost Democratic turnout. Ultimately, the lower chamber resisted adopting the legislation, with House Speaker Tom Leonard saying there wasn't enough support. But that won't be the last that Leonard, a DeWitt Republican running to be Michigan's next attorney general, hears of the weed question. Should he get the GOP nomination, his opponent in November will be one of the loudest marijuana proponents on the state ballot. Dana Nessel, the Democratic attorney general nominee and a civil rights lawyer who won the case overturning Michigan's same-sex marriage ban, said she has favored legalizing marijuana for decades and believes that unwavering support makes her the most-trusted candidate to defend Michigan's marijuana policy. "I didn't believe legalization was important back then just because I put my finger in the air and decided it to be politically popular," she said. "I ran on it because this was important in Michigan." Leonard has said he does not personally support legalizing recreational marijuana but that he'd uphold whatever law is in place if he's elected. That's a message Michigan Republicans running for other offices are giving and the reason state GOP spokeswoman Sarah Anderson said the party isn't worried. Pro-marijuana Republican voters will still show up for GOP candidates who promise to champion the will of the people in this ballot initiative, she said. "There could be a small net increase for Democrats, but it's not insurmountable," Anderson said. "(Marijuana) is a personal issue that won't necessarily favor one side or another." If voters are satisfied with that, perhaps those praying for a weed vote to bolster a Democratic reckoning against GOP control in Lansing and Washington are simply blowing smoke. But whether or not there's a liberal "blue wave," many contend there surely will be a green one. "Even the most ardent opponents of marijuana legalization say this is coming," said Porn, the pollster. "There's no way this isn't going to take place." ___ Follow Alice Yin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/byaliceyin (SODUS TOWNSHIP, Mich.) A fire that swept through a southwestern Michigan motel early Saturday killed five children and their mother, authorities said. The Cosmo Extended Stay Motel in Sodus Township was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived shortly after receiving a 911 call at 1:45 a.m., the Berrien County sheriffs office said. Kiarre Curtis, 26, and five children ranging in age from 2 to 10 years old likely succumbed to smoke inhalation, Chief Deputy Robert Boyce said. Her husband and a 1-year-old child survived. All eight were in the same room. Its tragic. It tears at your heart, Boyce said. Any time you have children, its worse. When its multiple children, its even worse. The motel is off Interstate 94 in the southwestern corner of Michigan, roughly 100 miles (160 kilometers) from Chicago. Authorities said 27 rooms were occupied and 90 percent of the property was damaged by smoke, fire or water. Boyce described the two-story motel as a place for people with low incomes to get back on their feet. Eight people were treated for smoke inhalation and released from a hospital. The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Curtis husband, Samuel Curtis, was the father of some of the children who died, Boyce said. His whole worlds been turned upside down, the chief deputy said. A motel resident, Sarah Sanders, said she fled after a friend shouted at her to get out. By the time we get outside, the end of the building exploded, Sanders told the South Bend Tribune. The glass shattered out and there was big whoof of flame. Another resident, Robert Payne, said the fire started just a few doors from his room. He said he liked the children and sometimes gave them money for candy. They never talked back; perfect, Payne said. It breaks my heart that I aint going to see them no more. Thats a shame. Mikey Garcia defeated Robert Easter in a lightweight unification bout at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Saturday and insisted he wants to face welterweight Errol Spence Jr. next. (Getty Images) LOS ANGELES Mikey Garcia cruised to a decision win over Robert Easter on Saturday, unifying a pair of lightweight titles and solidifying him as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world. And then he called out Errol Spence Jr. Why, Mikey? Why follow up a brilliant performance at 135-pounds by picking a fight with the young, hungry 147-pound bully on the block? This isnt a revelation, of course. All week Garcia has told anyone with a microphone that he wanted a piece of Spence, the 28-year old title-holding former U.S. Olympian with the unblemished professional record. This isnt Garcia jumping up two weight classes to fight one of the best in the division. This is him angling for a fight with arguably the best. So why, Mikey? This isnt a pen-toting, out of shape sportswriter declaring this a bad idea. As Garcia told the Yahoo Sports Boxing Podcast this week, everyone in his family thinks a move to welterweight is too much. His father, Eduardo, the patriarch of the great Garcia boxing family has told him not to do it. His brother, Robert, a former titleholder himself and Garcias longtime trainer, has declared it a bad idea. Minutes before Garcia faced Easter, Shawn Porter, arguably the most physical fighter at 147-pounds, was asked about Garcia campaigning at welterweight. Mikey is a great fighter, Porter told Yahoo Sports, smiling. But I think he should try 140-pounds for a while. Garcia craves the biggest challenges. And thats admirable. But theres a challenge at 135-pounds that is just as formidable and might even represent more money: Vasiliy Lomachenko. Lomachenko at worst the co-pound-for-pound king, alongside Terence Crawford holds a piece of the lightweight title. Hes shelved, for now, with a shoulder injury, and when he returns, his promoter, Top Rank, has earmarked him for the winner of next months Ray Beltran-Jose Pedraza fight, which will give Lomachenko a chance to fight for the final piece of the 135-pound crown. Story continues Yes, Lomachenko fights for Top Rank, which is just a few years removed from a bitter split with Garcia. Lomachenko also fights on ESPN, while Garcia has been fighting on Showtime. Still, this is exactly the level of fight that should bring fighters together, promoters together, even networks together. Recently, Robert Garcia has been training fighters on Top Rank promoted shows. Asked by Yahoo Sports if he has talked to Top Rank officials about Garcia-Lomachenko, Robert said he had not spoken to CEO Bob Arum or president Todd duBoef, but claims in conversations with other officials at Top Ranks shows, hes told Garcia would win that fight. Still, Garcia-Lomachenko will only happen, Robert says, when it is too big not to. Vasiliy Lomachenko is among the potential opponents that Mikey Garcias camp should be considering. (Getty Images) So why not try to make Garcia-Lomachenko? Garcia could return in the fall, perhaps against Richard Commey, the twice-beaten former title challenger who will attempt to pick him his third straight win next weekend. Lomachenko can face the winner of Beltran-Pedraza, and if both come through unscathed, a Garcia-Lomachenko showdown will emerge in the spring as one of the biggest fights in boxing and arguably its most significant. Could Garcia face Lomachenko after fighting Spence? Perhaps, but lets be realistic: If Garcia moves to 147-pounds, his days at 135 are over. Lomachenkos handlers have been clear that Lomachenko who had all he could handle against Jorge Linares earlier this year wont stray a pound above lightweight. If Garcia jumps up, Garcia-Lomachenko vanishes into the fantasy fight ether. Theres another reason for Garcia to steer clear of Spence: Its the kind of fight that could damage his career forever. Too hyperbolic? Flashback to summer 2016. Kell Brook, a reigning welterweight champion, jumped at the chance to fight Gennady Golovkin, the middleweight destroyer. To Brook, Golovkin represented a challenge, and boatload of money. Brook faced Golovkin in September and Golovkin broke his face. Brooks trainer, Dominic Ingle, described Brooks injury officially a broken eye socket as akin to one suffered in a car crash. Brook described the surgery as one where doctors literally removed his eye to fit a titanium plate. In Brooks next fight, he lost to Spence. At 32, his days as an elite fighter could be over. A cautionary tale? Maybe. Spence isnt the savage puncher Golovkin is, but he has prodigious power and knows how to use it. Garcia is a skilled defensive fighter, but he has been down before and admitted this week that against Sergey Lipinets, he felt true 140-pound power. Spence? He loves the fight. Why wouldnt he? I dont really see anything that concerns me, Spence said. Its definitely going to be an easy fight. The welterweight division is a deep one, but an injury to Keith Thurman and the upcoming showdown between Porter and Danny Garcia has Spence searching for an opponent. Mikey Garcia represents a big name for his resume and a big payday for his bank account. He will be pound-for-pound No. 1 if he beats me, Spence said. But its not going to happen. Politics makes Spence-Garcia easy, but lets hope common sense prevails. Lets hope Lomachenko who dictates his opponents to Top Rank more often than any fighter in its stable pushes his promoter to cut a deal with Garcia. Lets hope Garcia exercises patience for the end of the year. Spence-Garcia is a big fight. Garcia-Lomachenko is much bigger. Errol Spence Jr. loves the idea of fighting Garcia, who would have to jump from 135- to 147-pound. (Getty Images) More from Yahoo Sports: Air Force player comes out as gay: I did not think this day would ever come Dez Bryant blames Cowboys garbage ass play calling for struggles in Twitter rant Is a Jimmer Fredette NBA comeback possible? Yankees fans go after pitcher on Twitter who hit Aaron Judge BAMAKO (Reuters) - Militants fired 10 mortar shells around the village of Aguelhok in the northern Mali region of Kidal, including one that exploded near a polling station set up for Sunday's presidential election, said U.N. mission spokesman Olivier Salgado. No one was killed, but voting was temporarily suspended after the blast, he said. No group claimed responsibility for the attack. (This version of the story was corrected after MINUSMA clarifies location of mortar attack as Kidal region, not town) (Reporting By Tim Cocks; Writing by Edward McAllister; Editing by Kevin Liffey) The movie theater ticket app MoviePass suffered an outage Thursday when its parent company couldnt afford to pay for its customers tickets, CNN reported. That parent company, Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc., never paid the contractors who process their customers payments, so the contractors stopped processing them, leaving MoviePass customers unable to purchase tickets. The company was forced to borrow $5 million to pay the Companys merchant and fulfillment processors, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. With MoviePass, customers pay a flat $9.95 monthly subscription fee for the ability to see one movie a day, every day. The business model leaves many wondering how this could possibly be profitable. The companys own auditor isnt sure that it is possible with the current model. MoviePass currently spends more to retain a subscriber than the revenue derived from that subscriber, and [other] MoviePass sources of revenue are currently inadequate to offset or exceed the costs of subscriber retention, said the auditor in a Helios and Matheson company report released in April. As of Friday, MoviePass services were back up and running. For now. We are happy to report we have resolved the issues with card check-ins and our service has been restored. Please note some showtimes will not be available for check-in. We thank you for your patience. You may read below for more information:https://t.co/2hpb6JXtpa MoviePass (@MoviePass) July 27, 2018 Also on HuffPost Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Harare (AFP) - Zimbabwes former president Robert Mugabe, who was ousted by the military in November, made a surprise intervention Sunday on the eve of key elections, calling for voters to throw his old party out of office. In his first live appearance since being forced to resign by his generals, Mugabe, 94, spoke slowly but appeared in good health sitting in a pagoda in the grounds of "Blue Roof", his sprawling mansion in Harare. "I hope the choice or the voting which will be done tomorrow... will thrust away the military form of government and bring us back to constitutionality," he said. In the country's first election since Mugabe was ousted after 37 years in power, Zimbabwe goes to the polls on Monday amid mounting allegations of voter fraud and predictions of a disputed result. President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Mugabe's former ally in the ruling ZANU-PF party, faces opposition leader Nelson Chamisa of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in the landmark vote for the southern African nation. Zimbabwe's generals shocked the world last year when they seized control and ushered Mnangagwa to power after Mugabe allegedly tried to position his wife Grace, 53, to be his successor. "I cannot vote for those who tormented me," Mugabe said, hinting he could vote for MDC. "I can't vote for ZANU-PF... what is left? I think it is just Chamisa." "It was a thorough coup d'etat," Mugabe said of his dethroning, adding it was "utter nonsense" that he wanted his wife as his successor. Grace Mugabe posed for photographs beside her husband after his two-hour press conference. - Close race? - Mnangagwa, 75, who promises a fresh start for the country despite being from the ZANU-PF elite, is the front-runner with the advantage of covert military support, a loyal state media and a ruling party that controls government resources. But Chamisa, 40, who has performed strongly on the campaign trail, hopes to tap into a young population that could vote for change. Story continues The vote is Zimbabwe's first without Mugabe, who led ZANU-PF to power in the country's first election after independence from British colonial rule in 1980. As Zimbabwe's hectic politics reached fever pitch, Mnangagwa on Sunday claimed that Mugabe's remarks proved that Chamisa was in an alliance with Mugabe. "The choice is clear -- you either vote for Mugabe under the guise of Chamisa or you vote for a new Zimbabwe under my leadership and the ZANU-PF," Mnangagwa said in a video message. But Chamisa also spoke out saying: "I have nothing to do with what president Mugabe would want to say as a voter. He is a citizen." Elections during Mugabe's authoritarian rule were often marred by fraud and violence, and this year's campaign has also been dominated by accusations that the vote would be rigged. The MDC has repeatedly raised allegations of a flawed electoral roll, ballot paper malpractice, voter intimidation and bias in the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). - International observers - Campaigning has been relatively unrestricted and peaceful compared with previous elections, and some analysts point to pressure for the vote to be judged credible to draw a line under the international isolation of the Mugabe era. Polling in Zimbabwe is uncertain, but a recent Afrobarometer survey of 2,400 people put Mnangagwa on 40 percent and Chamisa on 37 percent, with 20 percent undecided. Mnangagwa, who is accused of involvement in election violence and fraud under Mugabe, has vowed to hold a fair vote and invited in international observers -- including the previously-banned European Union team. "After years of stasis the events of November 2017 gave Zimbabwe the chance to dream again," Mnangagwa said Sunday in an address on state radio. "As we have always said the elections will be free, non-violent and credible." Chamisa has vowed not to boycott the vote, saying his party would still win despite accusing Mnangagwa and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) of trying to fix the result. Both Mnangagwa and Chamisa, the two leading contenders in a field of 23 presidential candidates, held large final rallies in Harare on Saturday. With 5.6 million registered voters, the results of the presidential, parliamentary and local elections are expected by August 4. A presidential run-off vote is scheduled for September 8 if no candidate wins at least 50 percent in the first round. Harare (AFP) - Zimbabwe's former president Robert Mugabe, 94, is to give a surprise press conference Sunday on the eve of the country's first election since he was ousted from office last year, a spokesman said. "He is giving a press conference at Blue Roof (his private residence in Harare)," the spokesman, who requested not to be named, told AFP. Zimbabwe goes to the polls Monday in its first election since Mugabe was forced to resign last November after 37 years in power, with allegations mounting of voter fraud and predictions of a disputed result. President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Mugabe's former ally in the ruling ZANU-PF party, faces opposition leader Nelson Chamisa of the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) in a landmark vote for the southern African nation. Zimbabwe's military generals shocked the world in November when they seized control and ushered Mnangagwa to power after Mugabe, who is in frail health, tried to position his wife Grace, 53, to be his successor. In his only previous press interviews since his fall, Mugabe admitted in March that "some errors were done" under his authoritarian rule, and said he thought his country was now "topsy turvy". "I never thought (Mnangagwa) would be the man who turned against me," he added. ST. LOUIS (AP) Video and audio recordings from a fatal tourist boat accident in Missouri show that the lake went from calm to deadly dangerous in a matter of minutes, the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday. The NTSB cited preliminary findings gathered from the video recorder camera system salvaged by divers after the duck boat sank July 19 at Table Rock Lake near Branson. Seventeen of the 31 people on board died, including nine family members from Indianapolis. The material was examined at a lab in Washington, but the agency has not yet analyzed the findings and no conclusions about the cause of the accident, one of the nation's worst maritime accidents in recent decades, can be drawn. The findings, though, paint a chilling picture of the final few minutes before the boat went under. The captain and driver boarded the vessel at 6:27 p.m. The excursion begins on land at a terminal in Branson. Normally, the vessel tours the popular country music and entertainment community first before going to the lake for about a 20-minute boat ride. The driver drives the vehicle on land, and the captain takes over on the water. But the video recordings show that at 6:28 p.m., someone briefly stepped onto the rear of the vehicle and told the crew to take the water portion of the tour first. A minute later, with passengers boarding, the captain made a reference to looking at the weather radar prior to the trip. The vessel arrived at the lake a few minutes before 7 p.m. and the captain briefed passengers on the location of emergency exits and life jackets, then demonstrated use of life jackets and pointed out the location of life rings. The vessel entered the water around 6:55 p.m. at a time when the water appeared calm, the NTSB said. In fact, over the next five minutes the captain allowed four different children to sit in the driver's seat. But suddenly just after 7 p.m., whitecaps rapidly appeared on the water and winds increased, the NTSB said. The captain returned to the driver's seat. Story continues The driver lowered plastic side curtains and at 7:01 p.m. the captain made a comment about the storm. At 7:03 p.m. the captain made a call on a handheld radio but the content was unintelligible. A minute late, an electronic tone associated with the bilge alarm activated, until about a minute later when the captain reached down and the alarm stopped. The captain made another call on a handheld radio at 7:05 but the content was again unintelligible. Over the next couple of minutes, water splashed inside the passenger compartment. At 7:07 p.m. an electronic tone associated with the bilge alarm activated again. At 7:08 p.m. the inward-facing video recording ended as the vessel was still on the surface of the water. Ripley Entertainment, the owner of Ride the Ducks of Branson, declined to comment about the video. A private inspector who examined 24 duck boats for Ripley Entertainment in August, including the one that sank, said that when the bilge alarm went off, it would be a sign that, "There's a significant amount of water in the hull." "It just wasn't getting evacuated," said Steve Paul, owner of Test Drive Technologies in the St. Louis area. ___ Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas. NABI SALEH, West Bank (AP) Palestinian teen Ahed Tamimi, who became an international symbol of resistance to Israeli occupation after slapping two soldiers, walked out of an Israeli prison Sunday and told throngs of journalists and well-wishers that she now wants to study law to defend her people. The curly haired 17-year-old said that "resistance continues until the occupation is removed," but refrained from saying she would slap soldiers again. The teen, who is on probation, said her eight months in prison were tough and helped her appreciate life. At an outdoor news conference near her family home, she spoke against the backdrop of a large model of a slingshot that was "loaded" with a pencil rather than a stone, apparently to highlight education as one of the possible Palestinian tactics. Underlying her case are clashing narratives about Israel's half-century rule over the Palestinians, the extent of permissible Palestinian resistance to it and the battle for global public opinion. Tamimi's supporters see a brave girl who struck two armed soldiers in frustration after having just learned that Israeli troops seriously wounded a 15-year-old cousin, shooting him in the head from close range with a rubber bullet during nearby stone-throwing clashes. In Israel, she is seen by many either as a provocateur, an irritation or a threat to the military's deterrence policy even as a "terrorist." Israel has treated her actions as a criminal offense, indicting her on charges of assault and incitement. In liberal circles, the hard-charging prosecution of Tamimi was criticized as a public relations disaster because it turned her into an international icon. Her release comes at a time when Palestinian hopes for an independent state appear dimmer than ever. Israeli-Palestinian talks on setting up a state in lands captured by Israel in 1967 the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem have been deadlocked since hard-line Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to power in 2009. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas suspended contacts with the U.S. after President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December in what Palestinians denounced as a display of blatant pro-Israel bias. Abbas, meanwhile, has stepped up financial pressure on Gaza, controlled since 2007 by his bitter domestic rival, the Islamic militant Hamas. Story continues Many Palestinians are disillusioned by their leaders in both political camps and feel exhausted after years of conflict with Israel. Alternatives have arisen, including calling for a single state for both peoples between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, but haven't gained a mass following. In this context, the idea of so-called popular resistance regular demonstrations, including stone-throwing by unarmed protesters has only caught on in a few West Bank villages, including Nabi Saleh, home to the extended Tamimi clan. Since 2009, residents of Nabi Salah have staged regular anti-occupation protests that often ended with stone-throwing clashes. Ahed has participated in such marches from a young age and has had several highly publicized run-ins with soldiers. One photo shows the then 12-year-old raising a clenched fist toward a soldier towering over her. In a sign of her popularity, a pair of Italian artists painted a large mural of her on Israel's West Bank separation barrier ahead of her release. Israeli police said they were caught in the act along with another Palestinian and arrested for vandalism. On Sunday, Israel canceled the visas of the two Italians and ordered them to leave the country within three days, police said. Ahed and her mother Nariman also arrested in December in connection with the same incident were released Sunday morning from a prison in northern Israel. They were driven by bus to the West Bank and were given a hero's welcome in Nabi Saleh. "The resistance continues until the occupation is removed," Ahed said upon her return. "All the female prisoners are steadfast. I salute everyone who supported me and my case." From her home, Ahed headed to a visit to the grave of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. She laid a wreath, kissed the headstone twice at the request of photographers and recited a prayer from the Quran, the Muslim holy book. She was then taken with her family to a meeting with Abbas at his headquarters in Ramallah. The 83-year-old Abbas praised her as a symbol of resistance to occupation even as he faces growing domestic criticism for not walking away from continued security coordination between his forces and Israeli troops against Hamas, a shared foe. In an afternoon news conference, Ahed said that she completed her high school exams in prison, with the help of other prisoners. Palestinian inmates typically organize study courses to complete high school and even university degrees. "I will study law to defend my people and defend my Palestinian cause in international forums," she said. She said her prison experience was tough, and that she missed her old life in the village and her friends. She said she underwent three lengthy interrogations without a female officer present, in violation of Israel's own rules. At one point Sunday, Ahed received a call from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who congratulated her on her release, said her father. Tamimi's scuffle with the two soldiers took place Dec. 15 in Nabi Saleh. At the time, protests had erupted in several parts of the West Bank over Trump's recognition 10 days earlier of the contested city of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. She was arrested at her home four days later, in the middle of the night. Ahed was 16 when she was arrested and turned 17 while in custody. Her case has trained a spotlight on the detention of Palestinian minors by Israel, a practice that has been criticized by international rights groups. Some 300 minors are currently being held, according to Palestinian figures. Israeli Cabinet minister Uri Ariel said the Tamimi case highlighted what could happen if Israel lets its guard down. "I think Israel acts too mercifully with these types of terrorists. Israel should treat harshly those who hit its soldiers," he told The Associated Press. "We can't have a situation where there is no deterrence. Lack of deterrence leads to the reality we see now ... we must change that." Her supporters see a brave girl who struck two armed soldiers in frustration after having just learned that Israeli troops seriously wounded a 15-year-old cousin, shooting him in the head from close range with a rubber bullet during nearby stone-throwing clashes. In Israel, however, she is seen by many either as a provocateur, an irritation or a threat to the militarys deterrence policy even as a terrorist. Israel has treated her actions as a criminal offense, indicting her on charges of assault and incitement. Her eight-month sentence was the result of a plea deal. In Nabi Saleh, supporters welcomed Tamimi home Sunday with Palestinian flags planted on the roof of her home. Hundreds of chairs were set up for well-wishers in the courtyard. The resistance continues until the occupation is removed, Ahed said upon her return. All the female prisoners are steadfast. I salute everyone who supported me and my case. From her home, Ahed headed to a visit to the grave of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. She laid a wreath and recited a prayer from the Quran, the Muslim holy book, and was then taken with her family to a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at his headquarters in Ramallah. I will continue this path and I hope everyone will, she said. The prisoners are fine and we hope the struggle for their release continues. Her father, Bassem Tamimi, said he expects her to take a lead in the struggle against Israeli occupation but she is also weighing college options. He said she completed her high school exams in prison with the help of other prisoners who taught the required material. He said she initially hoped to attend a West Bank university but has also received scholarship offers from abroad. Since 2009, residents of Nabi Salah have staged regular anti-occupation protests that often ended with stone-throwing clashes. Ahed has participated in such marches from a young age, and has had several highly publicized run-ins with soldiers. One photo shows the then 12-year-old raising a clenched fist toward a soldier towering over her. Story continues In a sign of her popularity, a pair of Italian artists painted a large mural of her on Israels West Bank separation barrier ahead of her release. Israeli police say they were caught in the act along with another Palestinian and arrested for vandalism. Abbas, after meeting Ahed on Sunday, called her a symbol for the Palestinian struggle for freedom and independence. The popular and peaceful style of struggle that Ahed Tamimi and her village and nearby villages have been practicing, proves to the world that our people will remain steadfast in this land, defending it no matter how much needs to be sacrificed, he said. Tamimis scuffle with the two soldiers took place Dec. 15 in Nabi Saleh, which is home to about 600 members of her extended clan. At the time, protests had erupted in several parts of the West Bank over President Donald Trumps recognition 10 days earlier of the contested city of Jerusalem as Israels capital. She was arrested at her home four days later, in the middle of the night. Ahed was 16 when she was arrested and turned 17 while in custody. Her case has trained a spotlight on the detention of Palestinian minors by Israel, a practice that has been criticized by international rights groups. Some 300 minors are currently being held, according to Palestinian figures. Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinians are increasingly disillusioned about efforts to establish a state in those territories, after more than two decades of failed negotiations with Israel. Israeli Cabinet minister Uri Ariel said the Tamimi case highlighted what could happen if Israel lets its guard down. I think Israel acts too mercifully with these types of terrorists. Israel should treat harshly those who hit its soldiers, he told The Associated Press. We cant have a situation where there is no deterrence. Lack of deterrence leads to the reality we see now we must change that. Nabi Saleh (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi left prison Sunday and was greeted by crowds of supporters after serving eight months for slapping Israeli soldiers, an episode that made her a symbol of resistance for Palestinians. Tamimi, 17, and her mother Nariman, who was also jailed over the incident, arrived in their village of Nabi Saleh in the occupied West Bank, where they were mobbed by journalists. Easily recognisable by her shock of reddish hair, Tamimi wore a Palestinian-style keffiyeh around her neck, at times appearing relaxed but at other moments overwhelmed as television cameras followed her. "The resistance continues until the fall of the occupation, and of course the (female) prisoners in jail are all strong," Ahed Tamimi said, her voice barely audible above the crowd. "I thank everyone who supported me in this sentence and supports all the prisoners." Her father Bassem put his arms around Ahed and her mother as they walked together along a road, while a crowd of around 100 chanted "we want to live in freedom". At a press conference later at a square in the village, Tamimi sat at a table behind a forest of microphones, a translator providing an English version of her remarks. She declined to take questions from journalists from the Israeli media because of what she said was unfair coverage of her and her family's cause. She said she planned to study law to hold Israel's occupation accountable. "Of course I am very happy that I came back to my family, but that happiness is partial because of the prisoners who are still in prison," she said. Tamimi also visited the tomb of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Ramallah and laid flowers there, before meeting Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. - 'Jailing of a child' - Israeli authorities appeared keen to avoid media coverage of the release as much as possible, and conflicting information had meant supporters and journalists scrambled to arrive on time at the correct location. Story continues Tamimi and her mother had been driven early on Sunday from Israel's Sharon prison into the West Bank, authorities said. But the location of the checkpoint where they were to cross into the territory was changed three times before it was finally announced they were being taken to a crossing at Rantis, about an hour's drive from the initial location. In a sign of the sensitivity of the case, Israeli authorities on Saturday arrested two Italians and a Palestinian for painting Tamimi's image on the Israeli separation wall cutting off the West Bank. The trio were released by Sunday evening, Italian and Israeli officials said. Both Tamimi and her mother were sentenced to eight months by an Israeli military court following a plea deal over the December incident, which the family said took place in their garden in Nabi Saleh. They were released some three weeks early, a common practice by Israeli authorities due to overcrowded prisons, Tamimi's lawyer Gaby Lasky said. Video filmed by Tamimi's mother of the December incident went viral, leading Palestinians to view the teenager as a hero standing up to Israel's occupation. But for Israelis, Tamimi is being used by her activist family as a pawn in staged provocations. They point to a series of previous incidents, with older pictures of her confronting soldiers shared widely online. Many Israelis also praised the restraint of the soldiers, who remained calm throughout, though others said her actions merited a tougher response. Rights activists condemned Tamimi's jailing. Omar Shakir of Human Rights Watch tweeted on Sunday that "Israel's jailing of a child for 8 months -- for calling for protests and slapping a soldier -- reflects endemic discrimination, absence of due process and ill-treatment of kids." "Ahed Tamimi is free, but 100s of Palestinian children remain locked up with little attention on their cases," he said. - Embassy protests - Tamimi was arrested in the early hours of December 19, four days after the incident in the video. She was 16 at the time. Her mother Nariman was also arrested, as was her cousin Nour, who was freed in March. Israel's military said the two soldiers had been in the area on the day of the incident to prevent Palestinians from throwing stones at Israeli motorists. The video shows the cousins approaching them and telling them to leave, before shoving, kicking and slapping them. Ahed Tamimi is the most aggressive of the two in the video. The heavily armed soldiers do not respond in the face of what appears to be an attempt to provoke rather than seriously harm them. They then move backwards after Nariman Tamimi becomes involved. The scuffle took place amid clashes and protests against US President Donald Trump's controversial recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Relatives say that a member of the Tamimi family was wounded in the head by a rubber bullet fired during those protests. sh-he-jod-mjs/dwo/del By Prak Chan Thul and Tom Allard PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia's ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) said on Sunday that it had won a general election that rights groups said was neither free nor fair due to voter intimidation and the absence of any significant challenger to Prime Minister Hun Sen. With no real opposition to speak of, Hun Sen was widely expected to win. But the election was widely criticized as a sham because of a campaign of intimidation by Hun Sen and his allies against critics and the dissolution of the main opposition last year. CPP spokesman Sok Eysan said the party won an estimated 100 out of 125 parliamentary seats. "The CPP won 80 percent of all the votes and we estimate we will win not less than 100 seats," Sok Eysan told Reuters in a telephone interview. Results from around the country were still being announced by the National Election Commission on Sunday and official results aren't expected until mid-August. Hun Sen's opponents had called for an election boycott. The National Election Commission (NEC) said in a statement that voter turnout was 82.71 percent. Earlier in the day it put the figure at 80.49 percent. In the previous general election in 2013 turnout was 69.61 percent. "This is the success of the election," Sik Bun Hok, chairman of the NEC, said in a televised news conference. 8.3 million people were registered to vote on Sunday. "This time is higher," he added. "Cambodia should be proud." Yoeung Sotheara, an election analyst and legal expert who previously worked as a poll monitor in Cambodia, said Sunday's result was best compared with the result of the nationwide local government elections in 2017, where turnout was 90 per cent, or 7.1 million voters. Electoral reforms in 2016 made it easier for people to register where they lived and cleaned out dead people and "ghost" names from the voter list, he said. Scenes on the ground in the capital Phnom Penh painted a different picture than that presented by the government. At a polling station near the river, election workers outnumbered voters and a slow trickle of people arrived throughout the day. Another polling station at a school was quiet, with a handful of voters casting their ballots in the mid-afternoon heat. Critics say the election is a backward step for democracy in Cambodia, marred by intimidation by the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and the dissolution last year of the main opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) and the jailing of its leader, Kem Sokha, on treason charges. The number of spoiled votes will be closely watched amid reports of Cambodians being told to vote or face adverse repercussions from employers and local government officials. Some Cambodians told Reuters they planned to enter the voting booth, have their finger stained with ink but file an incomplete ballot paper as a protest. The United States, the European Union and Japan all said they would not be sending observers to the election. Cambodia said this week that observers from 52 countries would monitor the election. Many of the foreign observers spoken to by Reuters - some of which were from European populist and far-right parties - expressed support for the election. 'HOLLOW' VICTORY The 2018 election is the country's sixth since 1993 when it emerged from decades of war, including the 1975-1979 rule of the Khmer Rouge, which is blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people. Sam Rainsy, a self-exiled former opposition leader who lives in France, said in a statement that the election would hand a "hollow" victory to Hun Sen. "A victory without contest is a hollow one," he said. "For the first time in the 25 years since the elections organized by the United Nations in 1993, Cambodia lacks a legitimate government recognized by the international community," he added. Hun Sen, a Khmer Rouge commander who defected, has ruled Cambodia for more than 30 years and is the world's longest serving prime minister. Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia Division, told Reuters in an e-mail that many voters grudgingly went to the polls out of fear. Authorities have warned that anyone boycotting the vote will be seen as a "traitor". One voter at a polling station by the river at Preap Sisowath Quay in Phnom Penh said not voting was "too much trouble". "I did not want to vote but I did vote," said the man, who asked not to be identified. CPP is banking on a high voter turn-out to bestow a veneer of legitimacy on the election. The NEC's Sik Bun Hok said the high voter turnout on Sunday put to rest doubts about the election's legitimacy. "This answers the international community's question about whether Cambodia loves democracy," he said, adding that all polling stations in the country "operated without any obstruction." In a message on Facebook after polls closed Hun Sen thanked Cambodians for voting in "overwhelming numbers". "You have truly chosen the path of democracy," said Hun Sen. Nineteen political parties ran against Hun Sen's ruling CPP, but none are strongly critical of the government. The opposition CNRP, appealing to younger voters and those seeking change, narrowly lost the last general election in 2013. (Additional reporting by Amy Sawitta Lefevre, Juarawee Kittisilpa and Tom Allard in PHNOM PENH; Writing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre in PHNOM PENH; Editing by Michael Perry and Philip McClellan) Newlyweds Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harrys congratulatory kiss at the Sentebale charity polo match in Windsor on Thursday was not only a rare instance of royal PDA, but also the inspiration for the Internets latest meme. Harry and Meghans kiss followed Meghans presenting the trophy to Prince Harry and team captain Nacho Figueras after their team won by 5-4. Figueras holding the trophy while Harry and Meghan shared an intimate smooch sums up what weve all felt when weve been the third wheel, something the Internet felt intensely and made into a meme accordingly in less than a days time. The meme might have been best employed by none other than Figueras, however. A powerful earthquake on the Indonesian tourist island of Lombok killed at least 10 people, injured dozens and damaged hundreds of homes on Sunday, officials said. The shallow 6.4-magnitude quake, which jolted the island in the early morning, sent people running outside in panic and triggered landslides on popular mountain hiking routes. The initial tremor in the north of the island was followed by two strong secondary quakes and more than 100 aftershocks. "The earthquake killed at least 10 people, some 40 people are injured and hundreds of houses were damaged," said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency. "We estimate the number will keep rising because we are not done collecting data," Nugroho said. A 30-year old Malaysian woman was among the dead, he said, adding those hurt were hit by debris. As authorities scrambled to assess the damage to buildings and infrastructure, popular trekking trails on Mount Rinjani were closed because of landslides, according to the disaster agency. One local trek organiser described how rocks rained down on two Spanish hikers and their guide as they were caught on a mountain trail. "My trekking guide who was accompanying two tourists from Spain suffered from minor injuries during the jolt. They were hiking from Segara Anak Lake to Plawangan and rocks were falling on them during the quake," said Karyadi, the owner of a guesthouse near Rinjani where the pair were staying. "Our guests were in shock because of the incident," said Karyadi, who like many Indonesians goes by one name. "There have been almost non-stop tremors since this morning," he said. The epicentre of the earthquake struck 50 km (30 miles) northeast of Lombok's main city Mataram, the United States Geological Survey said, far from the main tourist spots on the south and west of the island. USGS said two of the aftershocks measured more than 5-magnitude. Story continues The jolt was felt some 100 km (60 miles) away in the bustling holiday island of Bali, although there were no immediate reports of damage there. "The earthquake was very strong... and everybody in my house panicked, we all ran outside," said Zulkifli, a resident of North Lombok, close to the epicentre. "All my neighbours also ran outside and the electricity was suddenly cut off," Zulkifli told AFP. - Aftershocks - No tsunami alert was issued, according to Indonesia's geophysics and meteorology agency. "People in East Lombok and Mataram felt the strong quake for 10 seconds, residents were panicking and running outside of their homes," Nugroho said earlier, adding people had run for open spaces like football fields. At the holiday island's hotels, tourists raced outside as the quake struck. At the Katamaran Hotel & Resort in Senggigi beach, some 30 guests gathered in the lobby for around half an hour before venturing back to their rooms. "They calmed down and returned to their rooms once we explained the earthquake did not trigger a tsunami. Everything is back to normal now," receptionist Ni Nyoman Suwarningsih told AFP. The quake also rocked the tiny Gili islands off northeast Lombok, which are popular with honeymooners. "Fortunately there was no panic during the earthquake even though it was quite strong," said Lilis Letisha, receptionist at the Ombak Paradise Hotel on Gili Air island. Indonesia, an archipelago of thousands of islands, sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a seismic activity hotspot. It is frequently hit by quakes, most of them harmless. However, the region remains acutely alert to tremors that might trigger tsunamis. In 2004 a tsunami triggered by a magnitude 9.3 undersea earthquake off the coast of Sumatra in western Indonesia killed 220,000 people in countries around the Indian Ocean, including 168,000 in Indonesia. VATICAN CITY (AP) Revelations that a prominent U.S. cardinal sexually abused and harassed his adult seminarians have exposed an egregious abuse of power that has shocked Catholics on both sides of the Atlantic. But the Vatican has long been aware of its heterosexual equivalent the sexual abuse of nuns by priests and bishops and done little to stop it, an Associated Press analysis has found. An examination by the AP shows that cases of abused nuns have emerged in Europe, Africa, South America and Asia, demonstrating that the problem is global and pervasive, thanks to the sisters' second-class status in the church and their ingrained subservience to the men who run it. Yet some nuns are now finding their voices, buoyed by the #MeToo movement and the growing recognition that even adults can be victims of sexual abuse when there is an imbalance of power in a relationship. The sisters are going public in part to denounce years of inaction by church leaders, even after major studies on the problem in Africa were reported to the Vatican in the 1990s. "It opened a great wound inside of me," one nun told the AP. "I pretended it didn't happen." Wearing a full religious habit and clutching her rosary, the woman broke nearly two decades of silence to tell AP about the moment in 2000 when the priest to whom she was confessing her sins forced himself on her, mid-sacrament. The assault and a subsequent advance by a different priest a year later led her to stop going to confession with any priest other than her spiritual father, who lives in a different country. The extent of the abuse of nuns is unclear, at least outside the Vatican. However, this week, about half a dozen sisters in a small religious congregation in Chile went public on national television with their stories of abuse by priests and other nuns and how their superiors did nothing to stop it. A nun in India recently filed a formal police complaint accusing a bishop of rape, something that would have been unthinkable even a year ago. And cases in Africa have come up periodically; in 2013, for example, a well-known priest in Uganda wrote a letter to his superiors that mentioned "priests romantically involved with religious sisters" for which he was promptly suspended from the church until he apologized in May. Story continues "I am so sad that it took so long for this to come into the open, because there were reports long ago," Karlijn Demasure, one of the church's leading experts on clergy sexual abuse and abuse of power, told AP in an interview. The Vatican declined to comment on what measures, if any, it has taken to assess the scope of the problem globally, or to punish offenders and care for victims. A Vatican official said it is up to local church leaders to sanction priests who sexually abuse sisters. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak on the issue, said the church has focused much of its attention on protecting children, but that vulnerable adults "deserve the same protection." "Consecrated women have to be encouraged to speak up when they are molested," the official told AP. "Bishops have to be encouraged to take them seriously, and make sure the priests are punished if guilty." But being taken seriously is often the toughest obstacle for sisters who are sexually abused, said Demasure, until recently executive director of the church's Center for Child Protection at the Pontifical Gregorian University, the church's leading think tank on the issue. "They (the priests) can always say 'she wanted it,'" Demasure said. Demasure said many priests in Africa, for example, struggle with traditional and cultural beliefs in the importance of having children. Novices are particularly vulnerable because they often need a letter from their parish priest to be accepted into certain religious congregations. "And sometimes they have to pay for that," she said. And when these women become pregnant? "Mainly, she has an abortion. Even more than once. And he pays for that. A religious sister has no money. A priest, yes," she said. There can also be a price for blowing the whistle. In 2013, the Rev. Anthony Musaala in Kampala, Uganda, wrote a letter to members of the local Catholic establishment about "numerous cases" of alleged sex liaisons of priests, including with nuns. He was suspended until he issued an apology in May, even though Ugandan newspapers regularly report cases of priests caught in sex escapades. Archbishop John Baptist Odama, leader of the Ugandan conference of bishops, told the AP that allegations against individual priests should not be used to smear the whole church. "Individual cases must be treated as individual cases," he said. The reports in the 1990s were prepared by members of religious orders for top church officials. In 1994, the late Sr. Maura O'Donohue wrote about a six-year, 23-nation survey, in which she learned of 29 nuns who had been impregnated in a single congregation. Nuns, she reported, were considered "safe" sexual partners for priests fearing infection with HIV from prostitutes or other women. The reports were never meant to be made public, but the U.S. National Catholic Reporter put them online in 2001. To date, the Vatican hasn't said what, if anything, it ever did with the information. ___ Muhumuza reported from Kampala, Uganda. Have a confidential tip? Contact Amy Forliti at The Associated Press at 612-332-2727 or aforliti@ap.org Harvey officials talk about water shortages for the first time, say the problem is in Dixmoor Dixmoor's water provider Harvey addresses issues affecting thousands in South Chicago suburbs for first time Prince Harry and Meghan Markles romance is one for the ages, according to their pal Nacho Figueras. The Argentine polo star, who appeared alongside the couple at the 2018 Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup on Thursday, July 26, raved about the couple on Instagram and Twitter after the match, saying their love story serves a greater purpose. This girl really rocks. The more I know you, the more I am convinced that you both found each other to change the world, he captioned a photo of himself presenting a trophy to the Duchess of Sussex. Lets push the envelope!! Lets make the world a better place. Figueras, who is also a Ralph Lauren model, was on Harrys team the winning team at Thursdays match for Sentebale, an organization founded by the Duke of Sussex and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho. Sentebale aims to become the leading organization in the provision of psychosocial support for children living with HIV in Southern Africa, according to its website. Thursdays match raised more than 1 million for the charity. @sentebale currently reaches nearly 4,000 young people a year with our unique programme of psychosocial support, so they can live long, happy, healthy lives, Figueras captioned another photo. On a throwback pic of himself with Harry, he added that it was an honor to be the captain of the @stregishotels Polo Team playing with this great man for a great cause. Figueras made headlines earlier this week when a photo of him with the royal couple went viral and sparked a series of memes. The image showed Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan celebrating his teams victory with a kiss, as Figueras stood next to them awkwardly, trying to hand them the trophy. Fortunately, the athlete had a good sense of humor about the situation and even joked about being the newlyweds third wheel in one of his posts. When you wished the trophy would turn into a violin, he quipped. What an incredible love story. (photos via Chris Jackson/Getty Images) By Andrey Ostroukh MOSCOW (Reuters) - Thousands protested in central Moscow on Sunday against a proposed increase to the retirement age and the crowd chanted slogans critical of President Vladimir Putin whose approval ratings have been dented by the bill. The rally organized by the opposition Libertarian Party chanted "Putin is a thief" and "away with the tsar," slogans common at anti-Putin and anti-government protests. The retirement age proposal is politically sensitive for Putin, who was re-elected in March, because it has prompted a series of protests across Russia since it was announced on June 14, the day Russia played the first match of its soccer World Cup. Around 90 percent of the population oppose the bill, according to a recent opinion poll, and a petition against it has attracted 3 million signatures online. More than 6,000 people came to Sunday's rally some 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) from the Kremlin, according to White Counter, an NGO that counts participants at rallies using metal detector frames. Police put the number at around 2,500. People held placards with slogans against the higher retirement age and one read: "stop stealing our future". Authorities detained two protest organizers, Vladimir Milov, a former deputy energy minister and now an opposition campaigner, told Reuters. The proposal to raise the retirement age, to 65 from 60 for men and to 63 from 55 for women, is part of an unpopular budget package designed to shore up government finances that is backed by lawmakers. Putin, who once promised not to raise the retirement age, has tried to distance himself from the pension plan. This month he said he did not like any of the proposals. He said Russia could avoid raising the retirement age for years, though a decision would have to be made eventually. "We have to proceed not from emotions, but from the real assessment of economic conditions and prospects of its development and (the development of) the social sphere," Putin said. On Saturday, more than 12 thousand rallied on the same street in Moscow, according to the White Counter data. The changes to the retirement age would be introduced gradually, starting in 2019, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said when presenting the plan. Officials said the measure should help to raise an average pension in Russia, now at around 14,400 rubles ($229.52). (Additional reporting by Valery Stepchenkov and Gennady Novik; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg) Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin: AP Russian president Vladimir Putin has invited US president Donald Trump to Moscow for a meeting, he has said, but the conditions "need to be right". Speaking during a visit to Johannesburg, South Africa, he also said of Mr Trump's invitation to the White House that he is "ready to go to Washington". Mr Trump had invited Mr Putin to the White House last week, after a controversial joint press conference held by the two world leaders in Helsinki. During the conference, Mr Trump refused to denounce Russia for meddling in the 2016 presidential election. After receiving sharp public backlash for appearing to not accept conclusions from US intelligence agencies that Russia did indeed meddle in the US election, the US president later backtracked, claiming he misspoke in Helsinki. Mr Trump clarified his comments while speaking at the White House, saying he accepts conclusions from US intelligence agencies. The White House has since announced that Mr Trump had postponed his meeting with the Russian president on US soil. The postponement announcement came shortly after Russian officials appeared to cast doubt on whether Mr Putin would accept the invitation to the White House for a follow-up summit. "The president believes that the next bilateral meeting with President Putin should take place after the Russia witch hunt is over, so weve agreed that it will be after the first of the year, said Mr Trump's national security adviser in a statement regarding the postponed invitation. "So weve agreed that it will be after the first of the year." A number of top Republicans have publicly criticised Mr Trump's performance at the Helsinki summit. John McCain, a senator from Arizona, called the US president's comments made side-by-side Mr Putin "disgraceful". "Todays press conference in Helsinki was one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory," he said. Story continues He added, "President Trump proved not only unable, but unwilling to stand up to Putin. He and Putin seemed to be speaking from the same script as the president made a conscious choice to defend a tyrant against the fair questions of a free press, and to grant Putin an uncontested platform to spew propaganda and lies to the world." Mr Putin was in the South African city for a meeting of the BRICS nations - made up of the five major developing global economies; Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. During the conference, Mr Putin said that sanctions against his country have turned currency "into a weapon". President Donald Trumps legal team has warned his former fixer, Michael Cohen, to stop speaking out and violating lawyer-client confidentiality, the presidents attorney Rudy Giuliani told ABC News Saturday. The warning comes just six days after Trumps team waived lawyer-client privilege concerning a recorded conversation between Cohen and his former boss apparently about a payment to former Playboy model who has said she and Trump had a long-running affair. We have complained to Cohens lawyers that hes violated the attorney-client privilege, publicly and privately, Giuliani told the network. Giuliani said Cohen is in grave danger of being disbarred. But Cohens attorney, Lanny Davis, told HuffPost in a statement that Giuliani seems to be confused. Giuliani expressly waived attorney-client privilege last week and repeatedly and inaccurately as proven by the tape talked and talked about the recording, forfeiting all confidentiality, Davis said. The secretly recorded conversation, obtained by CNN, appears to involve a discussion between Cohen and Trump about buying the rights to former Playboy model Karen McDougals story about her alleged affair with Trump before he became president. Giuliani has insisted that the tape clears the president of any wrongdoing. As Trumps chief legal defender, Rudy Giuliani has espoused a number of positions that seem to belie stances he took when he was charged with enforcing the law, an @ABC analysis of years of court filings and transcripts shows. https://t.co/xHT7F7nYVb pic.twitter.com/flBz0OAIw7 ABC News (@ABC) July 28, 2018 After the tape was released, sources told CNN that Cohen claimed Trump knew in advance about the Trump Tower meeting during his 2016 campaign involving his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and a Kremlin-linked attorney who was to provide damaging information on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Story continues If thats the case, it could have serious repercussions in special counsel Robert Muellers probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russias interference in the election. Trump has denied knowing about the meeting ahead of time. It may be this information that the legal team warned Cohen about, though Giuliani wasnt clear in his ABC interview. Giuliani also told ABC that Trumps team has hired multiple experts to analyze the recordings of conversations between Cohen and Trump. Giuliani has insisted that Trump told Cohen on the released tape dont pay with cash. An expert used by CNN determined that Trump said, Ill pay with cash. That part of the tape is muddled in the recording, but Cohen is then heard clearly saying, No, no, no. Cohen also talks about apparently setting up some kind of shell operation to hide the payment. In any case, both men appear to be agreeing to pay to suppress the story that was reportedly purchased for $150,000 by The National Enquirer but never published. Giuliani said hes aware of the subject matter of 13 Cohen tapes that have been seized by the government, but that only one affects the president. The Washington Post reported that the FBI seized more than 100 recordings of Cohen conversations with a number of people. Giuliani also noted, in case anyone suspected otherwise, that the joint defense agreement between Trump and Cohen is over. Clarification: Language in this story has been amended to clarify that Cohen has not publicly claimed Trump knew in advance about the 2016 Trump Tower meeting. Also on HuffPost Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Kelly said workers are finishing up improvement projects at the school and will be ready by the first day of school. The kitchen will be finished in a matter of days. New gutters will be installed, along with improvements to the landscaping and outdoor play areas. The largest project remaining is the painting of the buildings interior, she said. Charlie Gao Security, Europe We take a look. Is Russia's Su-25 Really Similiar to the A-10 Warthog? The Su-25 is one of the most visible signs of the Russian Air Forces might. Since its debut during the Soviet-Afghan War in the 1980s, the Su-25 has seen service in every conflict involving Soviet or Russian forces, from Chechnya to Georgia to Syria. Observers have often compared it to the A-10, but that comparison misses some of the nuances of how they are employed. Regardless, the Russian defense ministry plans to keep the Su-25 around in the foreseeable future. But how does it plan on accomplishing that goal? The development of the Su-25 roughly mirrors that of the A-10. The Soviet Air Force saw the need for a survivable low-level attack aircraft to supplement its current attack fleet. Before the Su-25, Soviet attack aircraft relied on speed for survivability. Aircraft like the Su-17, Su-22, MiG-23BN, and MiG-27 all had only one engine and no armor (the latter being redesigns of the MiG-23 airframe for ground attack). Combat experience in Afghanistan showed that such configurations were vulnerable to ground fire when conducting missions at low altitude. Armor and two engines needed to be added to improve survivability at the cost of speed. Enter the Su-25, an aircraft built from the ground up to conduct ground attacks at low altitudes and speeds. It featured significant armor on the bottom and the front of the aircraft and had two heavy duty engines for increased survivability. The design featured straighter wings than those used on fast jets, allowing for better maneuverability and increased lift at the lower speeds the Su-25 was expected to operate at. A laser designator/rangefinder similar those used on the MiG-27 was installed in the nose to allow for use of laser-guided missiles. However, the Soviets thirty millimeter rotary cannon the GSh-6-30 had problems on its mounting on the MiG-27, so Sukhoi opted to put the simpler, lower-rate-of-fire Gsh-2-30 on the Su-25 instead. Regardless, the primary weapons the Su-25 was expected to employ in support of ground forces were the rockets and bombs on its wings, not the cannon. Story continues The main problem with the Su-25 is that while it had a decent complement of weapons for air-to-ground attack in the 1980s, it was being left behind in the dust by newer developments in weapons such as the Vikhr anti-tank missile. The ECM systems also were becoming antiquated. As a result, attempts to modernize the Su-25 were made. The first was the Su-25T, a version that focused on improving the anti-tank capability of the Su-25. To accomplish this, the Su-25T mounted the Shkval and Mecury electro-optical systems that allowed the plane to detect and track targets from much longer ranges, providing functionality similar to that given by Western targeting pods. These systems were controlled through a monitor in the cockpit, mirroring the ground attack MFDs in the A-10C. The Su-25T could also fit a much wider fit of weapons, including the Vikhr anti-tank missile that could be carried in two six-packs on each wing and the advanced R-73 anti-air missile. However, the Su-25T project was canceled after only a few examples were produced due to the great cost of electro-optical systems installed. Thus the regular Su-25 would continue to serve in Chechnya and Georgia under the same configuration as in the 1980s. While there was the short-lived Su-25TM line that also featured advanced avionics, the primary upgrade route for the Su-25 would be found in the Su-25SM. Su-25 Modernizations: The Su-25SM was conceived as a way to modernize the Su-25 without being as complex as the earlier attempts. The key feature was the integration of an onboard radar and a vastly improved avionics fit. The onboard radar, while not nearly as powerful as those on dedicated fighters, allows the Su-25SM to shoot the R-77 and R-27 air-to-air missiles. But the greatest improvement was the Bars navigation system that includes a digital moving map and a satellite navigation receiver. With these features, the Su-25SM is able to get to the target, get off the tarmac faster, and generally just perform better and more efficiently as the workload of the pilot is reduced. Recommended: What Will the Sixth-Generation Jet Fighter Look Like? Recommended: Imagine a U.S. Air Force That Never Built the B-52 Bomber Recommended: Russia's Next Big Military Sale - To Mexico? Other upgrades included an anti-surge system for the engines, which expanded the envelope in which the pilot could safely employ various weapon systems without worrying about the gasses affecting the engine and a new radar warning station (L-150 Pastel). As Su-25SMs are being produced, Russia is looking to the future with the Su-25SM3 upgrade. This can be seen as a further iteration on the same improvements featured on the Su-25SM. Survivability and anti-missile countermeasures are improved by the addition of UV missile launch detectors in the Vitebsk-25 SEAD/ECM set and an updated version of the L-150 Pastel. The targeting package in the nose is further improved in the SOLT-25 module which adds thermal imaging and improved zoom. Also added is the new SVP-24 Gefest precision dumb-bombing system. The Gefest uses precise information about the flight characteristics and position of the aircraft to set a computer calculated release point (CCRP) for a bomb, which can allow it to deliver a bomb onto a specific grid with good accuracy. While Russian media has hyped this system up to allow for dumb bombs to be as effective as precision bombs, this is only really true on static targets and ignores the other benefits PGMs have in hitting moving targets. With the Su-25SM3 upgrade, the Russian Air Force finally has a solid kit that could upgrade their fleet of vintage Su-25s to a modern standard. Compared to the A-10C, the Su-25SM3 is faster and has the advantage of having its targeting system being stuffed into the nose, as opposed to relying on an external pod. However this also means that the targeting system has a more limited range of motion as its looking out of a small window in the nose. The level of integration of electro-optical PGMs is probably less mature as well as the A-10C has been using similar systems for almost twenty years now and was originally built to utilize the electro-optical Maverick missile. Conversely, the Su-25 always focused more on laser-guided munitions. EO munitions have the advantage of being fire and forget, once the electro-optical seeker is locked on the target, the missile will guide regardless of the motion of the plane. With a laser, the plane must guide the missile in with a laser designator and keep flying towards the target until it hits. Overall, while the planes are broadly similar, one can see how the strengths of each plane diverge when looking into which subsystems are more developed. The A-10, which focuses on the gun and delivery of electro-optical PGMs, versus the Su-25, which focuses on accuracy of dumb bombs and rockets from the wings and laser-guided weaponry. Charlie Gao studied political and computer science at Grinnell College and is a frequent commentator on defense and national-security issues. Image: Wikimedia Commons Read full article A participant wears a sticker with the word Ted Galen Carpenter Security, Europe Today's Russia is weak and not an existential threat. The messianic, superpower of the USSR was. Russia Is Not the Soviet Union The American public and U.S. policymakers both have an unfortunate tendency to conflate Russia with the Soviet Union. That habit emerged again with the media and political reaction to the Helsinki summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trumps critics accused him of appeasing Putin and even of committing treason for not doing enough to defend American interests and for being far too solicitous to the Russian leader. They regarded that as an unforgivable offense because Russia supposedly poses a dire threat to the United States. Hostile pundits and politicians charged that Moscows alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. elections constituted an attack on America akin to Pearl Harbor and 9-11. Trumps supplicant behavior, opponents contended, stood in shameful contrast to the behavior of previous presidents toward tyrants, especially toward the Kremlins threats to America and the West. They trotted out Ronald Reagans evil empire speech and his later demand that Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall as examples of how Trump should have acted. The problem with citing such examples is that they applied to a different country: the Soviet Union. Too many Americans act as though there is no meaningful difference between that entity and Russia. Worse still, U.S. leaders have embraced the same kind of uncompromising, hostile policies that Washington pursued to contain Soviet power. It is a major blunder that has increasingly poisoned relations with Moscow since the demise of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) at the end of 1991. One obvious difference between the Soviet Union and Russia is that the Soviet governing elite embraced Marxism-Leninism and its objective of world revolution. Todays Russia is not a messianic power. Its economic system is a rather mundane variety of corrupt crony capitalism, not rigid state socialism. The political system is a conservative autocracy with aspects of a rigged democracy, not a one-party dictatorship that brooks no dissent whatsoever. Story continues Russia is hardly a Western-style democracy, but neither is it a continuation of the Soviet Unions horrifically brutal totalitarianism. Indeed, the countrys political and social philosophy is quite different from that of its predecessor. For example, the Orthodox Church had no meaningful influence during the Soviet erasomething that was unsurprising, given communisms official policy of atheism. But today, the Orthodox Church has a considerable influence in Putins Russia, especially on social issues. The bottom line is that Russia is a conventional, somewhat conservative, power, whereas the Soviet Union was a messianic, totalitarian power. Thats a rather large and significant difference, and U.S. policy needs to reflect that realization. An equally crucial difference is that the Soviet Union was a global power (and, for a time, arguably a superpower) with global ambitions and capabilities to match. It controlled an empire in Eastern Europe and cultivated allies and clients around the world, including in such far-flung places as Cuba, Vietnam, and Angola. The USSR also intensely contested the United States for influence in all of those areas. Conversely, Russia is merely a regional power with very limited extra-regional reach. The Kremlins ambitions are focused heavily on the near abroad, aimed at trying to block the eastward creep of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the U.S.-led intrusion into Russias core security zone. The orientation seems far more defensive than offensive. It would be difficult for Russia to execute anything more than a very geographically limited expansionist agenda, even if it has one. The Soviet Union was the worlds number two economic power, second only to the United States. Russia has an economy roughly the size of Canadas and is no longer ranked even in the global top ten. It also has only three-quarters of the Soviet Unions territory (much of which is nearly-empty Siberia) and barely half the population of the old USSR. If that were not enough, that population is shrinking and is afflicted with an assortment of public health problems (especially rampant alcoholism). All of these factors should make it evident that Russia is not a credible rival, much less an existential threat, to the United States and its democratic system. Russia's power is a pale shadow of the Soviet Union's. The only undiminished source of clout is the country's sizeable nuclear arsenal. But while nuclear weapons are the ultimate deterrent, they are not very useful for power projection or warfighting, unless the political leadership wants to risk national suicide. And there is no evidence whatsoever that Putin and his oligarch backers are suicidal. Quite the contrary, they seem wedded to accumulating ever greater wealth and perks. Finally, Russias security interests actually overlap substantially with Americasmost notably regarding the desire to combat radical Islamic terrorism. If U.S. leaders did not insist on pursuing provocative policies, such as expanding NATO to Russias border, undermining longtime Russian clients in the Balkans (Serbia) and the Middle East (Syria), and excluding Russia from key international economic institutions such as the G-7, there would be relatively few occasions when vital American and Russian interests collide. A fundamental shift in U.S. policy is needed, but that requires a major change in America's national psychology. For more than four decades, Americans saw (and were told to regard) the Soviet Union as a mortal threat to the nation's security and its most cherished values of freedom and democracy. Unfortunately, a mental reset did not take place when the USSR dissolved, and a quasi-democratic Russia emerged as one of the successor states. Too many Americans (including political leaders and policymakers) act as though they are still confronting the Soviet Union. It will be the ultimate tragic irony if, having avoided war with a totalitarian global adversary, America now stumbles into war because of an out-of-date image of, and policy toward, a conventional, declining regional power. Yet unless U.S. leaders change both their mindsets and their policies toward Russia, that outcome is a very real possibility. Ted Galen Carpenter, a senior fellow in defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute and a contributing editor at the National Interest, is the author of 10 books, the contributing editor of 10 books, and the author of more than 700 articles on international affairs. Image: A participant wears a sticker with the word "Obey!" during an opposition protest on Revolution square in central Moscow February 26, 2012. Thousands of Russians joined hands to form a ring around Moscow city centre on Sunday in protest against Vladimir Putin's likely return as president in an election next week. REUTERS/Denis Sinyakov (RUSSIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST ELECTIONS POLITICS) Read full article (BELGRADE, Serbia) Lawyers in Serbia declared a weeklong strike Sunday to protest the killing of a prominent attorney who was on the legal team that defended former Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal. Dragoslav Ognjanovic, 56, was gunned down late Saturday outside his home in the new part of Belgrade, the Serbian capital, police said. Ognjanovics 26-year-old son was wounded in the arm during the shooting, police said in a statement. Police said they were searching intensively for the killer. Serbian media reported that police sealed off the area near the home Saturday night and blocked exits from the city. The search continued Sunday. Ognjanovic was part of the legal team that defended Milosevic at the U.N. tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, where Milosevic was tried for war crimes committed during the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Milosevic died of a heart attack in 2006 before the end of the court proceedings. Ognjanovic has also defended well-known crime figures in Serbia. Serbian media said his killing might have been the latest in a series of Mafia-style executions that took place amid an ongoing war among criminal gangs in Serbia and in neighboring Montenegro. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Sunday that police have certain leads in the investigation. Vucic added that the state would step up pressure to curb crime. The clan war over the drug market is becoming something that the state must deal with in a more brutal way, Vucic said, according to news channel N1. The Bar Association of Serbia said Ognjanovics slaying showed in a most drastic way the circumstances in which lawyers in Serbia conduct their professional work. This killing is only the latest in a series of attacks on lawyers, many of which have remained unsolved, the statement said, urging Serbian authorities to use all possible resources to find the killer. The lawyers protest strike starts Monday. The association also said it would offer a reward for information on Ognjanovics killing. Bratislava (AFP) - Slovak prosecutors said on Friday that they had charged the leader of a far-right party that holds seats in parliament with promoting extremism after he handed out cheques for a figure allegedly known as a neo-Nazi symbol. Lawmaker Marian Kotleba was charged with "promoting sympathy towards a movement aimed at suppressing fundamental rights and freedoms," prosecutor's office spokeswoman Jana Tokolyova told AFP on Friday. The charge stemmed from a 2017 charity event organised by the Kotleba-People's Party Our Slovakia (LSNS), where Kotleba handed out cheques to families in need made out for 1,488 euros ($1,733). "In a school located in Banska Bystrica, Kotleba handed out the three larger-than-life, symbolic cheques for 1,488 euros to three families in front of nearly 400 guests," Tokolyova said. "The number 1,488 is a well-known neo-Nazi symbol," she added. If a court accepts the charges, Kotleba will be tried and faces up to three years in prison if convicted. The former governor of his native central region of Banska Bystrica, who has been charged with hate speech in the past, is known for having led street marches with party members dressed in black neo-Nazi uniforms. He is hostile to both Slovakia's large Roma minority and the established elite and has spoken warmly of former president Jozef Tiso, who agreed to deport tens of thousands of Jews to Nazi Germany during World War II. His party has campaigned heavily against letting migrants into the country and won seats in parliament for the first time in March 2016. Last year, prosecutors also set in motion a case asking the Supreme Court to ban the LSNS. There is evidence that it "is an extremist political party with fascist tendencies," Andrea Predajnova, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor general, said at the time. Wikimedia Commons Steve Weintz Security, Africa A nuclear program that is not well understooduntil now. How South Africa Built Nuclear Weapons (And Then Gave Them Up) Apartheid-era South Africa had all the qualities necessary for a secret nuclear weapons program: an authoritarian government, a hostile international climate, a large and inventive arms industry and abundant deposits of uranium ore. Like other nuclear states. South Africa early on acquired necessary technology and materials through international cooperation, but fell back on its own resources when that cooperation ended. Unlike any other nuclear state, however, South Africa publicly and permanently gave up the bomb. The former Dutch colony at the southern tip of Africa took a decidedly different turn from the path other Western nations forged after World War II. In 1948, the same year President Harry Truman ordered the desegregation of the American military, the National Party won power in South Africa. As in the Communist takeovers in eastern Europe taking place, the National Party took power by a narrow margin then and swiftly imposed its radical white-supremacy rule on a colonial but diverse society. That same year the new government established an Atomic Energy Board to manage the development of nuclear energy. A decade later in 1957, under its Atoms for Peace program, the Eisenhower administration agreed to supply to South Africa a forty megawatts research reactor and nuclear fuel. That is how the Pelindaba Nuclear Research Center came to exist in 1961; not long after it was created, the center began a secret uranium-enrichment program. Acquiring fissile material is half the nuclear secret. The other half of the secret is that nuclear weapons actually work. (The United States spent the money and manpower to get the first and prove the second. Other powers just need the first.) Separating the minute amounts of fissile Uranium 235 from Uranium 238 is a key step in fissile material production. Uranium can be combined with fluorine to create the chemical uranium hexafluoride, a toxic, corrosive, heavy gas. This gas can be forced through a very long series of filters or sieves that separate the lighter U-235 from the heavier U-238. Diffusion plants are the size of auto factories and consume more electricitytheyre hard to hide. Story continues Centrifuge diffusionmade famous by Irans nuclear enterpriseuses centrifugal force to separate out U-235 from U2F6. A spinning rotor hurls the gas molecules away from its central duct, sending the heavier U-238 atoms to the cylinder walls and the U-235 out an axial tube. Gas centrifuges are much more compact and their installations harder to spot than gaseous-diffusion plants. The South Africans chose a technique unlike the gaseous-diffusion or gas centrifuge separation methods. Vortex diffusion resembles gas-centrifuge separation but instead of a spinning rotor a near-supersonic jet of gas swirled in a stationary cylinder to force the U-238 out to the sides. The vortex separation method proved both less efficient and more costly than conventional methods, which made the result in weapons-grade uranium very dear indeed. But for apartheid South Africa cost was no object in the path to autonomy. Beginning in the early 1960s the regime came under increasing international isolation for its racist practices. The South African nuclear program ostensibly focussed on power generation and peaceful nuclear explosives (PNEs) for mining and demolition, it was always guided by geopolitics. As a major uranium producer South Africa needed only an indigenous enrichment program to acquire bomb fuel. The Y-Plant uranium-separation plantsolely intended for weapons-grade productionbegan construction in 1970 and produced its first highly-enriched uranium (HEU) in 1974. In 1971 the Minister of Mines authorized research into PNEs. In 1974 Prime Minister Vorster secretly authorized the development of PNEs. Indias successful test that year of its own PNE solidified both public and private rationales; the Indians always intended a weapon, and so did the South Africans. As Carey Sublette of the Nuclear Weapons Archive writes, The fact that South Africa conducted this work in secret from the outset, making its existence public only when further secrecy was infeasible and never submitted this program to international safeguards from its inception until 1991 is incompatible with South African claims of original peaceful intent during its early period. The mid-1970s accelerated events in Southern Africa. In 1975 Portugal withdrew from the African colonies it had held for five centuries, leaving Marxist insurgencies eager to join the Soviet orbit. This external threat coupled with its growing isolation from its Western allies, hardened South African resolve to get the bomb. In 1976 U.S. concern about South African nuclear activities stopped nuclear fuel shipments. Americas concern at the time was less with apartheid and more with nuclear proliferation. Recommended: What Will the Sixth-Generation Jet Fighter Look Like? Recommended: Imagine a U.S. Air Force That Never Built the B-52 Bomber Recommended: Russia's Next Big Military Sale - To Mexico? The 1970s also saw a growing relationship between South Africa and Israel. After the United States was cutting off nuclear supplies to South Africa, the country normalized relations with Israel and began a close nuclear cooperation whose nature and details are still murky. It is known that during 1977 and 1978 South Africa supplied Israel with some six hundred tons of uranium, some in exchange for thirty grams of tritium gasH-bomb fuel. By 1977 a test site was under construction in the Kalahari Desert. Like other nuclear test sites the Vastrap military base housed a landing field, barracks, labs, shelters and a two shafts drilled into the desert rock. What Vastrap didnt have was any kind of camouflage, which is very odd. The Soviets found Vastrap with their recon sats and relayed their find to the Carter administration. Huge pressure from the United States, the USSR and France forced the closure of the test site for a decade. In 1979 a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance satellite, part of the Vela constellation of nuclear explosion detectors, spotted a mysterious flash in the southern Indian Ocean near some remote South African islands. Publicly, although the Vela sat seemingly detected what it was designed to detect, the U.S. government declined to declare this event a secret nuclear test. Decades later this response appears at odds with the conclusions of American weaponeers. During the 1980s, as international opinion turned against South Africas domestic policies, work continued on the nuclear program. A send gaseous diffusion plant was constructed but failed to meet its designed output. Armscor (now Denel, Ltd.) the state armaments firm, established a bomb building facility close to the capital Pretoria, where explosive implosion, bomb components and health physics were handled. By 1982 South Africa had built three nuclear devices: an unnamed test unit for cold-testing (using low-fissile U-238) reputed to weigh three tons, a true test device named Melba or Video less than half the weight of the first, and its first G.I.-proof weapon Hobo or Cabot. These gadgets were shaped by South Africas unusual deterrence policy. In its first phase the nation would, like Israel, maintain strategic ambiguity by neither confirming nor denying its possession of the bomb. If South Africa faced imminent threat from its neighbors or the USSR, in the second phase allies like the United States would be secretly informed of the nuclear deterrent. If after the secret reveal the United States and its allies failed to help South Africa, a demonstration detonation of the weapons would take place. Unmentioned is Phase Four: the field use of nuclear weapons on military targets. A a result of this Dance of the Seven Veils strategy the South African bombs had a large element of prop-making. Like the first U.S. bomb Trinity, the first South African devices were crude, but perhaps deliberately so. The six bombs eventually added to the South African arsenal were long thought to have been clunky things suitable for getting kicked out the back of a plane in one accounts words. The only public photos of the South African nuclear bomb casings do indeed show bombs the size of trash cans and likely heavy as SUVs. But in a recent blog post Jeffrey Lewis questions this assumption. Lewis sizes up Nic von Wiellighs revelations and concludes the operational bombs were no props but small, lightweight devices deliverable by glide bombs (gravity bombs fitted with wings) and possibly by ballistic missile if the South African HUSKY project had finished before the end of apartheid. Phase three would have been a nasty surprise for the nuclear club as well as the intended targets. So what happened to South Africas bombs? With the triumph of Nelson Mandelas long fight and the end of apartheid approaching, the whole program was dismantled and soon made public. Was this done to deny the coming black majority government the nuclear weapons South Africa had so laboriously acquired? Or was it due to the changing currents of international relations, which once required a calculated performance and now required a denuclearized future? Likely both are true. A quarter-century after Mandelas victory South Africa at least need not worry about hiding and fighting the bomb. Steve Weintz is a frequent contributor to many publications such as WarIsBoring, is a writer, filmmaker, artist, animator. Image: Wikimedia Commons Read full article JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's former president Jacob Zuma said on Friday his lawyers had faith they would get the case against him dropped after making his third appearance in court on corruption charges relating to a $2.5 billion arms deal. Zuma, who wore a dark suit and red tie, faces 16 charges of fraud, racketeering and money laundering relating to a deal to buy European military hardware to upgrade South Africa's armed forces after the end of apartheid in 1994. The case in Pietermaritzburg, the capital and second-largest city in KwaZulu-Natal province, is a rare example of an African leader being held to account for his actions. Zuma, who was ousted by the ruling party, denies any wrongdoing. Judge Mjabuliseni Madondo adjourned the case to Nov. 30, giving time to Zuma's new legal team to file an application to throw out the case against Zuma. "A permanent stay is a very realistic option and has great prospect of success," said Zuma's lawyer Mike Hellens, who is part of a legal team that replaced a previous one led by the former president's long-time lawyer Michael Hulley. Zuma later addressed hundreds of his supporters in the city, saying the case against him has been pending for a long time. "Justice delayed, is justice denied," he told the crowd, saying he now had a top-notch new legal team. "They, the lawyers, have faith that they will win this case so that it ends." The former president led the crowd in song, including a rendition of "Umshini wami", made popular by the ANCs armed wing during South Africas decades-long struggle against apartheid and which translates as "Bring my machine gun". His supporters carried placards emblazoned with the words: "Zuma is us. We are him" and "Solid ANC Leader". Zuma, whose nine years in power were marked by economic stagnation and credit rating downgrades, has previously said he is the victim of a politically motivated witch-hunt. The charges against Zuma were originally filed a decade ago but then set aside by the National Prosecuting Authority shortly before he successfully ran for president in 2009. After his election, his opponents fought a lengthy legal battle to have the charges reinstated, finally succeeding in 2016. Zuma countered with his own legal challenges. The speed with which prosecutors have moved against Zuma is a sign of his waning influence since he was replaced as head of state by Cyril Ramaphosa, his former deputy, in February. Ramaphosa has made the fight against corruption a priority as he seeks to woo foreign investment and revamp an ailing economy. (Reporting by James Macharia; Editing by Stephen Powell) There's been an exciting, new development in the action-packed world of geometric shapes. Researchers from the the University of Seville and Seville Institute of Biomedicine have discovered a new shape that's been dubbed the "scutoid." And what a wonderful little discovery it is. SEE ALSO: The science behind Star Trek technobabble Scutoid is the shape adopted by epithelial cells the cells that line the inside and outside of your body, helping to define its shape to allow tissue to fold and curve. "The epithelial cells are the 'construction blocks' with which an organism is formed," said University of Seville faculty member Luisma Escudero in a press release announcing the discovery. "They are like pieces of Tente or Lego from which animals are made." As an organism grows into a more complex being, epithelial cells "start moving and joining together." This process makes whatever surface they're helping to form more stable. Meet the scutoid, a newly discovered geometric shape. Image: university of seville It had previously been believed that epithelial cells were "prism-shaped" or "truncated pyramids." But researchers at the University of Seville discovered that their form is more complex than that. The press release notes that they could be best described as "twisted prisms." While it's cool and vaguely funny to talk about this news of there being a new shape on the block, the scutoid revelation could help aid future discoveries. As scientists gain a better understanding of how organs are formed during development, they can potentially use that information to help come up with new disease treatments. The University of Seville researchers already have a plan in place for their next steps. They want "to find the molecules that cause the cells to adopt the escutoide shape. So, in the medium term, we will be able to begin to try to apply this knowledge to the creation of artificial tissue and organs in the laboratory, a great challenge for biology and biomedicine." Story continues Note that this full study just published this past week in the journal Nature Communications. You can read it here. What stood out to me was that he said it was so cold he would wear three pairs of socks and would help unload box cars to try to keep warm, Caulfield said. And it was touching that he was eating candy he had from his Christmas package sent from home. Caracas (AFP) - Zapping five zeros off Venezuela's almost worthless currency is nothing but a half-hearted measure and won't solve the country's chronic hyperinflation, analysts have told AFP. President Nicolas Maduro initially announced in March that he would strike three zeros off the bolivar bank notes, before upping that to five. Having predicted earlier this year that Venezuela's inflation would hit 14,000 percent in 2018, the International Monetary Fund adjusted that projection earlier this week to a mind-boggling one million percent. As the country grapples with a financial and humanitarian crisis, shortages of food and medicines, and failing public services such as water, electricity and transport, the question is how will this drastic move help drag Venezuela into recovery? Prices and inflation are rising so fast that the highest denomination bank notes emitted in 2016 are already practically worthless. The biggest of those, 100,000 bolivars, would have bought five kilograms (11 pounds) of rice in 2017, now it's barely enough for a single cigarette. - 'Obsolete by December' - "If inflation continues at 100 percent a month," the new 500 bolivar note, which will be the largest following the currency redenomination on August 20, "will be obsolete by December," said economist Leonardo Vera. Currently, a pair of reading glasses can cost one billion bolivars (about $300 on the black market). It would require 10,000 of the country's largest bank note to pay for those in cash. Some shops had resorted to weighing bank notes to determine their value rather than arduously counting them out. Unsurprisingly, cash has practically vanished and electronic transfers reign. But few people could afford to buy those glasses anyway given they cost 200 times the minimum wage of five million bolivars a month. The government's move to rub out some zeros is merely a "partial acknowledgement" of the hyperinflation crisis but "needs to be accompanied by economic reform in order to stop it," said Henkel Garcia of economics consultancy Econometrica. Story continues Venezuela has already been down this road, 10 years ago when Maduro's predecessor Hugo Chavez tried the same trick by deleting three zeros. "The redenomination in 2008 was a failure because we still ended up with hyperinflation," said Asdrubal Oliveros, an economist with Ecoanalitica, another economics consultancy. "The redenomination was made without accompanying policies to combat inflation so it didn't tackle the causes." In the short term the move was a "transactional success," said Garcia, but by "not containing inflation, that was completely lost." The government blames inflation on the opposition and the United States but, in reality, financing of the fiscal hole caused the monetary base to increase 250 fold in two years. For industry and production minister Tareck El Aissami said the redenomination aims to "improve the spending power of the working classes." One tangible advantage, though, will be to ease the pressure on technology systems that are at breaking point due to transactions that run into billions of bolivars. Many supermarkets, for example, have to divide sales into more than one transaction as their systems are limited to figures of 20 million. - Risk of collapse - "The monetary redenomination is to prevent the collapse of businesses' financial systems: every transaction costs hundreds of millions or billions," said Vera. Banking is affected too, with a source telling AFP that "there's a real possibility of collapse." Practically the only product untouched by the inflation in this oil-rich country is petrol, which is why it is the cheapest in the world. A single dollar at its black market value could buy 3.3 million liters of petrol. Absurdly, once the redenomination is complete, a half bolivar -- currently 50,000 bolivars, or less than two cents on the black market -- would buy 50,000 liters. Such a distortion makes it likely the government will be forced to adjust the price of fuel and other heavily-subsidized goods and services. What could complicate matters, though, is if the government decides to run the old and new currencies concurrently, affecting small payments. Currently it costs 50 bolivars to fill the tank of a small car. That transaction under the new currency would cost a half centimo -- but the bolivar subunit centimo was long made obsolete by inflation. Maduro has shown limited signs of applying measures to confront the crisis, suggesting he might ease controls on currency exchange, currently monopolized by the government. Imports of raw materials and machinery will be exempt from tariffs to try to encourage production in the country. But these measures will only work "if there is economic stability that attracts investment," said economist Luis Vicente Leon. Lombok (Indonesia) (AFP) - A powerful earthquake which struck the Indonesian tourist island of Lombok on Sunday killed at least 14 people, injured scores and damaged thousands of homes, officials said. Five children were among those killed by the shallow 6.4-magnitude early-morning quake, which sent people running outside in panic and triggered landslides on popular mountain hiking routes. Scores of aftershocks sparked fear among survivors. More than 120 were recorded, the biggest with a magnitude of 5.7, Indonesia's meteorology agency said. Local officials have declared a three-day state of emergency. President Joko Widodo is due to visit the island Monday morning, his spokesman said. "Based on reports, 14 people died, 162 were injured and thousands of homes were damaged," Indonesian disaster mitigation agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a statement, adding that five of the dead were children. One Malaysian was killed and six injured, the Malaysian foreign ministry said. "All of them were at the foot of Mount Rinjani when the incident happened," it said, referencing the spectacular volcano that dominates the island. The 30-year-old victim was inside a restroom when the entire building collapsed and crushed her, the New Straits Times quoted another Malaysian climber, Khairul Azim, as saying. Khairul said his own group was unable to leave the Sembalun area because many roads including the main one had been damaged. The constant aftershocks sparked terrified shouts among scores of people made homeless in the eastern village of Sembalun in the district of the same name, an AFP reporter said. Some 200 people from 35 families whose house were damaged or destroyed had pitched tents there. The roof of a health clinic had collapsed and its walls had cracked. "People are traumatised and too scared to return home for fear the aftershocks could destroy their homes completely," the reporter said. Story continues "Everytime there is an aftershock they cry out in fear and tremors can still be felt constantly." Evacuees told AFP they badly needed blankets and instant food because there was no time to bring anything when they fled their homes. Popular trekking trails on Mount Rinjani were closed because of landslides, according to the disaster agency. One local trek organiser described how rocks rained down on two Spanish hikers and their guide as they were caught on a mountain trail. "My trekking guide who was accompanying two tourists from Spain suffered from minor injuries during the jolt. They were hiking from Segara Anak Lake to Plawangan and rocks were falling on them during the quake," said Karyadi, the owner of a guesthouse where the pair were staying. The two Spaniards were also slightly hurt. "Our guests were in shock because of the incident," said Karyadi, who like many Indonesians goes by one name. The epicentre of the earthquake struck 50 km (30 miles) northeast of Lombok's main city Mataram, the United States Geological Survey said, far from the main tourist spots on the south and west of the island. USGS said two of the aftershocks measured more than 5-magnitude. The jolt was felt some 100 km (60 miles) away in the bustling holiday island of Bali, although there were no immediate reports of damage there. - 'We ran outside' - "The earthquake was very strong... and everybody in my house panicked, we all ran outside," said Zulkifli, a resident of North Lombok near the epicentre. "All my neighbours also ran outside and the electricity was suddenly cut off," Zulkifli told AFP. No tsunami alert was issued. "People in East Lombok and Mataram felt the strong quake for 10 seconds, residents were panicking and running outside of their homes," Nugroho said earlier, adding people had run for open spaces such as football fields. At the holiday island's hotels, tourists raced outside as the quake struck. At the Katamaran Hotel and Resort in Senggigi beach, some 30 guests gathered in the lobby for around half an hour before venturing back to their rooms. "They calmed down and returned to their rooms once we explained the earthquake did not trigger a tsunami. Everything is back to normal now," receptionist Ni Nyoman Suwarningsih told AFP. The quake also rocked the tiny Gili islands off northeast Lombok, which are popular with honeymooners, divers and partygoers. "Fortunately there was no panic during the earthquake even though it was quite strong," said Lilis Letisha, receptionist at the Ombak Paradise Hotel on Gili Air island. Indonesia, an archipelago of thousands of islands, sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a seismic activity hotspot. In 2004 a tsunami triggered by a magnitude 9.3 undersea earthquake off the coast of Sumatra in western Indonesia killed 220,000 people in countries around the Indian Ocean, including 168,000 in Indonesia. New US research has found that the average pregnant women has 56 different suspect chemicals in their blood, which may be hazardous to themselves or their unborn child. Carried out by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, the study used a new testing method which can screen an individual's blood for hundreds of chemicals at once to look at blood samples from 75 pregnant women. The technique identifies chemicals by their molecular weight, and enabled the team to test the blood for 696 chemicals in one screening, a much larger number than previous methods, which typically screen around a dozen chemicals at a time. The chemicals looked at included environmental organic acids (EOAs), which are widely used in pesticides and consumer products. Many individuals are exposed to these and other similar chemicals by using products, eating contaminated food, drinking contaminated water, or breathing contaminated air and dust. Some EOAs, such as bisphenol-A, methylparaben, and triclosan, are thought to have chemical structures that are similar to hormones which can disrupt the endocrine system, which suggests that they could also interfere with the development of fetuses. From the initial screening the researchers found that the pregnant women had between 32 and 73 chemicals in their blood, more than previously identified, with an average of 56 different chemicals found. A second, more refined method also found that six of the chemicals that had not been found previously in the blood of pregnant women, two of which -- 2,4-Dinitrophenol and pyrocatechol -- may cause genetic defects, harm fertility, damage the fetus, or have carcinogenic effects. A third chemical found in the study, 2,4-Di-tert-butylphenol, is used in food-related plastic products, as well as plastic pipes and water bottles. In Europe, it has been found that the chemical can leach from water bottles and electric kettles made from chemical substitutes for bisphenol-A -- an endocrine disruptor that is being phased out. Story continues Despite tens of thousands of chemicals being manufactured in or imported into the United State each year, little is known about which chemicals may enter people's bodies or how they affect human health. According to the team, the method used in the new study will improve our ability to better assess chemical exposures in pregnant women and to identify exposures that may pose a health risk. "Our success with the current suspect screening approach indicates that this method can provide new insights regarding human exposures to potentially dangerous chemicals. Our results raise concerns about pregnant women's chemical exposures and can be used to inform evidence-based approaches to protect human health," commented senior author Tracey Woodruff. The results can be found online in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. For those concerned, the Toxic Matters brochure series from PRHE provides information on how to reduce chemical exposures. After years of rising use, federal data suggests that opioid prescriptions are beginning to drop off in the U.S., perhaps in an effort to curtail a substance abuse epidemic that continues to get worse. But new research suggests that many doctors are still prescribing these powerful drugs even for relatively minor injuries. In fact, a quarter of patients treated for ankle sprains between 2011 and 2015 left the hospital with an opioid prescription, according to a paper published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine. To reach that finding, University of Pennsylvania researchers analyzed private insurance claims filed by almost 31,000 patients who had been treated in an emergency room for a sprained ankle. All of these patients were older than 18, and none had filled an opioid prescription during the prior six months. Overall, 25.1% of these patients received an opioid prescription, the researchers found. The average opioid prescription was relatively low-dose and supplied about 15 pills, or enough for three days, but a small number received prescriptions equivalent to more than 30 tablets of mid-strength oxycodone which the Drug Enforcement Administration says has high potential for abuse. Almost 5% of patients in the study who received prescriptions of this strength progressed to prolonged opioid use, compared to about 1% of patients who were written more moderate prescriptions and 0.5% of individuals who did not get an opioid prescription, the paper says. Prescription habits also varied widely from state to state, the researchers found: In Arkansas, for example, 40% of patients walked away with opioid prescriptions, compared to almost 3% of people in North Dakota. The paper also notes that overall prescription rates dropped during the study period, from 28% of patients in 2011 to 20.4% in 2015. In 2016, a year after the research period ended, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new, stricter guidelines for prescribers. And in 2017, CVS pharmacy began limiting access to opioids. The study, which was in part funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), is the latest to demonstrate how doctor-prescribed opioids can contribute to long-term substance use. An estimated 80% of people who eventually use heroin first misused prescription drugs, according to NIDA. Despite the prevalence of opioid medications, however, research suggests that over-the-counter painkillers are just as effective for most injuries, and that many Americans would prefer to treat pain without drugs. HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) A high school student has designed an online resource to help immigrant children and teenagers learn how to prepare for the possible deportations of parents or guardians. Sixteen-year-old Jody Bell, who will be a senior this fall at Greenwich High School, said she came up with the idea after hearing firsthand the concerns of some close friends who were afraid to speak with guidance counselors or adults about their fears surrounding deportation. Many, she said, have family members who are at risk of being deported, as President Donald Trump's administration has taken a harder line on immigration. "They would talk to close friends, like me and some others," Bell said. "And that, I think, was one of the first times that I recognized that this was an issue." Bell, who turns 17 next month, said she knew she wanted to "take action" on the immigration issue but was unsure what to do. That was around the time a guidance counselor told her about a new Connecticut-based organization called Girls With Impact , a program billed as a "12-week mini-MBA" in which teenage girls create businesses, nonprofits or projects that will affect the world and their success in life. Bell was among the first group of graduates, finishing the program in the spring of 2017. She launched her website, In Case of Deportation, this month. The online program is geared toward children ages 8 to 18 and is written in a way young people can understand, Bell said. It explains what deportation is, how to talk to family members about it, what a child's options are if a parent or guardian is deported and what should be considered when making a deportation preparedness plan for a child. Bell writes, "In some situations, your parent/guardian may be detained and arrested awaiting deportation without even saying goodbye or having just a few minutes to prepare you. Before this abrupt detainment happens, it's important that you and your family are prepared in case of emergency deportation." Story continues Bell suggests practical steps like making sure children have keys to their houses and copies of their medical records and know how to find legal help and financial assistance. She came up with information through months of her own research and discussions with experts, including advocacy groups, immigration lawyers and state officials. The teen's platform, which she plans to continue evolving and updating, is already being used by several school districts, including Greenwich and New Rochelle Schools of New York, said Girls With Impact CEO Jennifer Openshaw, a tech entrepreneur and financial expert who started the nonprofit program. Openshaw said girls like Bell, who have participated in the program, have a "huge leg up" in college because they've created a real business plan and launched something tangible, like Bell's online program. Operating for about a year, Girls With Impact works with about 15 girls per class, who live all across the country. The organization has plans to run 10,000 girls through the year-round program by 2022. A new class begins in the fall. Photo credit: Daniel Zalkus From Road & Track The joke goes that we live in the future. You know, that cliche we trot out for anything amazing and tech-related-mind-blowing gifts, seemingly ahead of schedule. The telephone-supercomputer that lives in everyones pocket. Or how Googles self-driving-car arm, Waymo, recently announced a deal to put up to 20,000 autonomous Jaguars on the road by 2020, for public ride-hailing. (I dont know whats more amazing-that goal, or the fact that, in 2018, it seems only half insane.) Or even just that recent moment one evening after dinner, when my coffee grinder broke. I cracked open my laptop, and two hours later, Amazon Prime had dropped a new one at my door. That last one thrills me perhaps a little too much. The world of tomorrow, shipped to you today! Or maybe just tomorrows coffee, when you feel like giving Je Bezos one more detail of your private life in exchange for not waiting another sleep for more teeth-staining bean water. Funny how the mind can ignore the rational in the face of want. The novelist Warren Ellis once noted that the future sneaks up on us, in the fringes of daily life. I like that line. It suggests keeping a weather eye open for reasons to be stoked, wary, or both. Like the Tesla Model 3: An affordable electric sedan that resembles neither doofy novelty nor commuter penalty box, with real battery range. Discount emotion and brand hype, and the Tesla resembles the similarly priced Chevrolet Bolt. But car buyers rarely discount emotion or hype. The Model 3 looks like a stylish, adult device. More than half a million people put down a deposit to buy one. The Bolt looks like a cartoon beaver that ate too many doughnuts, and it isnt exactly flying off lots. Im told the Chevy drives well, but to paraphrase Coco Chanel, its a lot easier to sell pretty than it is to sell Good Lord, Helen, Why Did You Wear That? The Tesla isnt perfect, but its undeniably a milestone. Assuming, of course, that Elon Musk, Teslas CEO, can meet demand before another carmaker builds something better. Also assuming that he can keep his company from collapsing into a steaming pile of unprofit and technical-service bulletins. (TSB: a postproduction quality update recommended by the manufacturer. At press time, the 3s TSB list was . . . telling.) Story continues I tried a Model 3 recently, in L.A. My car was privately owned, rented for a test. It had a few assembly niggles and was thus a better representation of real-world Teslas than some pampered media loaner. An untrimmed door seal, with loose rubber flashing near the window. Funky panel gaps. But the car was still impressive. On a fun-to-drive scale, somewhere between a Civic Si and an old 3-series. I was reminded of a Sixties Mini, in terms of democratization of a form factor. And ideas around which others pivot. So many questions, though, if youre of a certain bent. Good EVs prompt this stuff, because they work like ordinary cars, no excuses or caveats. Your brain moves from the singular product to the situational long tail. Say, for example, that the gasoline-powered car becomes so uncommon that its infrastructure withers. Gas stations grow rare, fuel and insurance exorbitantly priced. Will I live to see debate over the legality of the human-driven, gas-powered automobile? Will we talk about the internal-combustion engine and human driving like we talk about guns? (Either backed as necessary freedom, by an organization like the NRA, or reviled as dangerous social flotsam.) Will people start electric-motor-swapping old Mustangs and Miatas just to keep them alive, the running costs on a combustion car too much to bear? One school of thought holds that the automobile as we know it will go the way of horses, a leisure item kept in specialized parks. In 2018, most people cant afford a horse. How rich will you have to be to go fast and make loud noises? I first drove a practical electric car almost a decade ago. Years later, the silence is still the strangest part. EVs are almost noiseless in traffic, so you listen more and focus on what you hear. Which is largely the collective grumble of thousands of dirty little explosions, exhausting under nearby bumpers. If you possess an ounce of logic, you think, Hell, what are we doing? Digging up large bits of the planet just to burn them? Pipes pumping stinko gases into the air? Who thought this madness was sustainable? Of course it should come to an end. No matter how much we like it. Perhaps this is the thing with the Model 3. Even with issues of quality and company, the car is enough of a solved question to make you look at the calendar. Its a lens into a world where cars like it take over. It feels real, and it makes you feel sheepish for a want, however small, to hold on to the old. At the end of my second day with the Tesla, somewhere in West Los Angeles, I found myself at a stoplight behind a first-generation Mazdaspeed 3. Its windows were tinted, and the hatch glass held a cartoonish decal of a turbocharger. Another sticker sat beneath that one, in a serif-heavy font. It read Blow Me. (Get it? Forced-induction sex joke!) The car was running rich enough to smell. I chuckled, and then the light turned green. The Mazda left the line with a fruity bark. I was reminded of a few old girlfriends, and how those relationships felt as they approached their respective ends. That hazy sense of a ticking clock. Where two parties realize they would damage the other in the long run, but letting go isnt easy, because the good bits of the relationship were so good. Irrational, of course. But then, what love isnt? ('You Might Also Like',) Thomas Markle claimed that the Duchess of Sussex has stopped speaking to him - Good Morning Britain Thomas Markle, the father of the Duchess of Sussex, has claimed he has not spoken to his daughter for more than ten weeks, and that the number he used to contact her on has been "cut off." He told The Mail on Sunday: "I'm really hurt that she's cut me off completely. I used to have a phone number and text number for her personal aides at the Palace, but after I said a few critical words about the Royal Family changing Meghan, they cut me off. "Those numbers were disconnected, they no longer work. I have no way of contacting my daughter." The 73-year-old said he worries he has been frozen out of the family, and thinks he will not get to meet any children Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have. He said: "What's sad is that some time in the next year Meghan and Harry will have a baby and I'll be a grandfather, and if we're not speaking I won't see my grandchild." He believes he has been cut off from the Royal Family because of staged paparazzi photos which emerged in the weeks before the Royal Wedding, and for the statements he made to the press afterwards. Mr Markle, who lives in Mexico, made headlines around the globe last month when he gave an explosive interview to Good Morning Britain. He claimed that Prince Harry had once told him to give Donald Trump a chance, and also alleged the sixth-in-line to the throne had seemed open to the idea of Brexit. Thomas Markle Snr and his daughter Meghan Markle, in pictures Mr Markle used the interview as an opportunity to apologise for his about his own actions before the wedding, saying: "I accept full responsibility. I can say I'm sorry for those things for the rest of my life, but I'm paying for those things for the rest of my life. "But as long as they're happy and have a great life and have some beautiful children and do good things in the world, I'm can't ask for more." Managua (AFP) - Thousands of Nicaraguans marched through their capital on Saturday in a show of support for the country's bishops whom President Daniel Ortega has accused of aiding an attempted "coup" against him. The rally brought together Catholics, evangelicals and non-Christians under images of the Virgin Mary and Nicaraguan flags, and cries of "freedom" and "Bishop, buddy, the people are with you." It was another display of popular opposition to Ortega, who has become reviled by large sections of Nicaragua's population of six million for a brutal three-month crackdown on anti-government protests in which more than 300 people have been killed. The president has been able to impose a period of relative calm on the country after police and loyalist paramilitaries firing weapons crushed opposition hubs in Managua and the nearby city of Masaya this month. One of the raids targeted youths taking shelter in a church in the capital, killing two. After those operations, Ortega this week declared "the turmoil is over." He also accused the country's bishops, who have been trying to bring about a peaceful solution by mediating talks between the government and the opposition, of helping those challenging him, whom he called "coup-mongers" and "terrorists." - Persecution - "Given this supremely critical situation, (the church) has, yesterday, today and forever, given life and voice to those who have no voice," said one priest taking part in Saturday's march, Silvio Fonseca. An evangelical, Henry Aguilar, 55, told AFP that non-Catholic churches had joined the "pilgrimage" demonstration in support of the Catholic bishops "because we are Nicaraguans, and the same system attacking them is also attacking us." Daily protests continue against Ortega, demanding he step down and early elections be held. While the violence has diminished, at least four deaths have been reported since the security blitzes. Story continues Rights groups say state-sponsored persecution of people suspected of taking part in the protests, or of helping them, has been stepped up, forcing thousands to flee over the southern border into Costa Rica. Doctors at a state-run hospital in the northwest city of Leon told AFP on Friday that more than a dozen medics, nurses and technical personnel have been fired for treating wounded protesters and, in some cases, voicing opinions that "freedom" and dialogue was needed in the country. - Call for early polls - The bishops, through their Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua, support elections being brought forward from 2021 to next year. The United States and the Organization of American States back that call, with Washington warning of further sanctions on Nicaragua if Ortega does not yield to the demand. But Ortega, 72, has rejected early polls, saying they would only increase insecurity. He accuses the United States of financing opposition militia he says are intent on toppling the government he leads with his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo. The leftwing leader, who first came to power in 1979 after his Sandinista guerrillas swept aside a US-backed dictatorship, has ruled Nicaragua for 22 of the past 39 years. The unrest is posing the biggest challenge to his authority since he returned to office in 2007, not least because the business sector that had underpinned previous economic stability is now spurning him over the violence. New York (AFP) - The US economy may be roaring ahead, but American consumers face the prospect of paying more for everyday goods, due in part to trade tariffs. Big companies reporting earnings over the last week or so described price hikes on everything from soda to airplane tickets to household paint and tools. Some of the price hikes are still in the planning stages and not all companies are sure they will be able to make higher prices stick due to competitive pressures. "We have implemented price increases for these implemented tariffs," said Donald Allan, chief financial officer at Stanley Black & Decker, whose products include hammers, saws and power tools. The 175-year old Stanley expects to generate $190 million more in revenues in 2018 from price hikes, Allan said on a conference call this month. Soda giant Coca-Cola also recently enacted price hikes in North America, in part because of tariffs on steel and aluminum that raised costs of cans and some production processes. Coca-Cola chief executive James Quincey acknowledged that retailers were not thrilled with the development. "Clearly these conversations are difficult, I think it's working its way through," he told analysts this week. "Ultimately the beverage industry is not the only industry that is facing pressure from changing imports and the need to take pricing," he said. "That's just partly the general environment." At paint company Sherwin-Williams, executives hinted at price hikes due to inflation in petroleum-linked commodities. "Our historic practice has always been to talk with our customers first and then the investment community," chief executive John Morikis told Wall Street analysts. "We are going to protect our margins and we're going to talk to consumers first. And you can connect the dots from there." - Prices already elevated - Analysts see a number of factors behind higher commodity prices, with US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports a frequently-cited catalyst. Story continues But while trade actions by US President Donald Trump have gotten much of the attention, analysts note that prices of many goods -- including steel and oil -- were already elevated before the trade war took center stage. Higher inflation also typically accompanies increased macroeconomic growth, which was estimated on Friday at 4.1 percent in the second quarter by the US government, the fastest level in six years. Inflation also surfaced as a concern in the first- quarter earnings season, but more companies are now discussing price hikes and some companies said the problem has worsened as Trump has expanded the attack to more countries and regions and as the steel and aluminum tariffs moved from threat to reality. JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade, said it was still premature to view inflation as a major worry. "What makes me hesitant on inflation is not how it starts but that it can rise really quickly," he said. Economists fear that a sudden surge in prices could spark more aggressive interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve, which could itself derail growth. - Companies face dilemma - For companies, the issue of how to respond to elevated commodity prices has compelled difficult choices between accepting lower profits, cutting other spending and lifting retail prices. General Motors suggested this week that it expects to eat at least some of the hit from $2 billion in higher costs due to metals tariffs and the strong dollar. GM trimmed its 2018 profit forecast, a move that sent shares diving. GM has managed to offset about half the $2 billion through negotiations with suppliers and hopes consumers will shoulder at least some of the rest, said chief financial officer Chuck Stevens. "To the extent we can, we're recovering that through pricing," Stevens said. "Obviously the market in the United States is challenging." American Airlines responded to $2 billion in additional fuel costs this year by cutting some planned additional capacity and defer deliveries of new planes. These moves will trim $1.2 billion in capital spending over the next three years. Executives said they also hoped to lift prices on tickets. "We see a strong demand for the product, and so we're optimistic that there's the chance to recover some of the cost of the increase in the price of jet fuel," said president Robert Isom. "But over the long run, it depends on the economy and it depends on how much supply is out in the marketplace." Berlin (AFP) - Gay Pride in Berlin welcomed thousands of people on Saturday, among them a Syrian transgender refugee, Katia, who now calls the famously open-minded city a safe haven. "Here, we get support," said Katia, who described how it was impossible in war-torn Syria to discuss her predicament, let alone do anything about it. But in Berlin it is a different story and Katia now lives openly as a woman while waiting for transgender surgery in six months time. "I will be operated on in six months after my hormone therapy is finished. And then it will be even more natural then ever, I will be a true woman," Katia Al Shebaby told AFP. In Syria, Katia had to keep her "secret" to herself and those very close to her, among them her twin brother Nour, who is homosexual. When the then two brothers decided to flee the country in 2015 with their father, "nobody in the family really knew who we were ... In Germany, we decided to come out," she says. They got here the hard way, along with hundreds of thousands of others from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan who mostly got to Greece via Turkey that year and then travelled via the Balkans towards Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the doors to some one million refugees in 2015. "It was a trip which took three months, very hard," said Nour, who lives with his partner in Dresden in east Germany. The authorities have allowed Katia, Nour and their father to stay for three years. Their mother arrived this year and her status remains undetermined. - Germany offers sanctuary - For Katia, Berlin could not be more different from Syria and Arab society in general in its attitude towards homosexuality. "In society, not only in Syria but in the Arab world generally, one does not look kindly on" homosexuals or transgender people, she says. "But in Germany, there is support, there are associations which help us, there is no unease ... In Syria, if we had said something, I don't know what would have happened to us." Story continues This year's Gay Pride in Berlin, where it goes by the name of the Christopher Street Parade, was organised around a slogan seemingly made for Katia -- "My body, my Identity, my Life." Just two days ago, a nervous Katia saw her mother again. "I was afraid, I had the impression that my mother was going to reject me ... I was trembling, my heart was beating fast. "For a moment she said nothing and then she relaxed. She accepted my new state. She said: 'now I have a son and a daughter, I am very proud,'" Katia says, smiling. As for her father, who she has not seen since her transformation, that is a very different proposition. "I have not seen him (since my change) because he will not accept it at all," she said. As for the future, what does she hope for? "Well like me, so that everyone can live as they wish and that in my country, peace returns." Wild critters are having a rough time under the Trump Administration. After the administration proposed dramatic changes to the decades-old Endangered Species Act last week, on Friday the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) canceled an Obama-era rule that made industries pay for damages inflicted onto refuge lands. In short, the "Mitigation Policy" allowed a company, say a mining operation, to damage certain resources as long as the company committed to improving nearby land to compensate for the damages done. SEE ALSO: 2018 is only halfway over, but a troubling climate change trend is already apparent The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) which oversees the most public land in the nation tossed out a similar rule on Tuesday. "This change is exactly what it appears to be the administration is removing frameworks that sought to establish a consistent methodology to hold companies accountable for damaging public lands (in the case of BLM) and adversely impacting wildlife and habitats (in the case of FWS)," Caitlin McCoy, an environmental law expert at Harvard University's Environmental and Energy Law program, said over email. It's not as if any company now has free-reign to destroy public lands while seeking resources or engaging in disruptive activity on these lands. When a company applies for a permit to use or work in public areas, the Fish and Wildlife Service will still try to avoid any adverse impacts to wildlife habitats, said McCoy. Sometimes the permit will be altered to avoid destruction of habitats; a last resort would have been requiring a company to improve land somewhere else to pay up for their damages. But companies no longer have to pay. Pronghorns at the Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge in Wyoming. Image: Tom Koerner/USFWS The Fish and Wildlife Service, in their decision, said this Obama-era rule "is inconsistent with current Executive branch policy," which seeks to "better balance conservation strategies and policies with job creation for American families." Story continues The Trump Administration, then, is being quite candid about prioritizing the use of public lands for resources, over the conservation of wildlife habitats or protection of other resources, like water and fossils. This aim was perhaps most evident when, in December 2017, Trump flew to Utah to announce slashing the size of Bears Ears National Monument previously protected by President Obama by over one million acres, decreasing the monument's size by 80 percent. This opened the fossil-rich land back up to development, or exploitation of resources. In the realm of the Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees animal refuges all over the nation, the killing of the land mitigation rule could very well mean more damaged land, with little effort to minimize this harm, said McCoy. Lacking a coherent mitigation policy, "it is likely [the government] will shrug and say that these impacts are the 'cost of doing business/making progress/creating jobs/a healthy economy' and that's it," she said. "If there is unforeseen massive destruction, maybe they will pursue some kind of enforcement action for natural resource damages, but short of that, it is unclear." (Bloomberg) A draft proposal by federal regulators to roll back U.S. automobile efficiency requirements contends that their preferred plan would reduce societal costs by roughly half a trillion dollars through 2029, while increasing U.S. fuel consumption by 500,000 barrels per day. The assertions are detailed in an undated draft of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Environmental Protection Agency forthcoming joint proposal to halt higher auto efficiency requirements after 2020. The draft was obtained and published earlier by the New York Times. Sources familiar with the administrations planning say the document appears to be a version sent to the White House for review in May, and cautioned that its contents could change somewhat by the time its released next week. The agencies are poised to propose a dramatic overhaul of tough efficiency rules set during the Obama administration freezing mileage targets from 2020 through 2026 instead of raising them each year. As Bloomberg reported on July 23, the plan will also propose revoking Californias authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from cars and light trucks and its mandate for electric vehicle sales in the state. Different Information Put simply, the information available today is different from the information before the agencies in 2012, and even from the information considered by EPA in 2016 and early 2017, the agencies wrote in the draft. Under the proposal, new cars and light trucks would be required to average about 37 miles per gallon from 2020 through 2026, instead of increasing over time to roughly 47 mpg under standards adopted by the Obama administration, according to the draft. In the preamble, the administration says the changes would reduce societal costs by about half a trillion dollars and reduce highway fatalities by up to a thousand lives annually. The estimate required projecting costs out through 2029. Societal costs can include elements including estimates of rising or falling air pollution, traffic accidents, road congestion, noise and energy security threats. Story continues NHTSA and EPA submitted their joint proposal for review by White House regulatory officials in late May. That process is still ongoing, according to a government website that tracks those reviews. 700 Pages The 700-page draft details the rationale for the rollback and the estimated effects on automakers, car buyers and society more broadly. The largest single source of the estimated savings comes from future spending on technology by the auto industry that can be averted by abandoning the Obama administrations standards. Those savings are mitigated in part by higher consumer spending on fuel, the draft shows. The proposal is based on a new analysis by the agencies, the draft says. It draws significantly different conclusions about costs and benefits than were made during the Obama administration, which estimated the rules would result in net benefits of about $98 billion. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the Association of Global Automakers, two carmaker trade groups, declined to comment on the draft proposal. In May, the Alliance said that automakers support continuous, year-over-year improvements in fuel economy, but future standards must account for marketplace realities. Why Trump Attacks Californias Anti-Pollution Powers: QuickTake Dan Sperling, a member of the California Air Resources Board, disputed the administrations claims about cost savings. All the government analyses that were done on the Obama standards in 2011 and 2012 showed that the savings at the gas pump for consumers were far greater than the extra cost of the technology, he said. The administrations proposal reduces chances that California and Trump officials can find a middle ground that would allow them to keep linking their tailpipe emission goals, Sperling said. Its hard to image how this can lead to negotiation or discussion. Luke Tonachel, a staff scientist for the Natural Resources Defense Council disputed the administrations claims that rolling back the higher fuel standards would make U.S. roads safer. Theyre creating a bogus and false choice. We have cleaner and safer vehicles today, and we can continue to have them under the current fuel-economy standards, he said. The administrations plan will prompt yearslong lawsuits that will delay the delivery of gas-saving technologies to consumers, Tonachel said. This proposal will increase what Americans have to pay at the pump and it will only benefit the oil industry, he said. It increases pollution and threatens our health. Children form a line as undocumented immigrant families are released from detention at a bus depot in McAllen, Texas, U.S., June 22, 2018: REUTERS Donald Trump's administration has taken credit for meeting a court-ordered deadline to reunite thousands of migrant families it separated at the border despite hundreds of children remaining apart from their parents. More than 700 migrant kids have not been reunified with their parents since the White House launched a "zero tolerance" policy along the US-Mexico border. That policy began the systematic separation of families, including those legally seeking asylum, forcing children into immigrant detention centres and makeshift tent cities. The administration said it reunified all eligible migrant children nearly 1,800 with their family members by Wednesdays 6.00 p.m. deadline, claiming the more than 700 outstanding cases could not be resolved due to outside circumstances. In some instances, children could not be reunited due to a parent or guardians criminal record or suffering from a communicable disease. However, in the majority of cases, families have not yet been reunited because the parent was deported or left the country without their child. At least 431 cases involved parents that were no longer in the US after being separated from their kids at the border, according to Wednesdays court filing. Guatemalan migrant Maria del Carmen Tambriz reacts after being returned from the U.S. without her daughter after they were separated by U.S. border officials in Guatemala city, Guatemala, July 26, 2018. (Reuters) Another 120 include parents allegedly signing paperwork to "waive reunification." The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which sued Mr Trumps administration over its zero tolerance policy, has expressed concern that some of those parents may have been coerced or unaware of what they were signing. "One father was told that if he didnt sign the form presented to him, then he would not see his daughter again," Kathryn Shepherd, a lawyer with the ACLU, wrote in a court affidavit. Mr Trump's administration previously failed to meet an earlier deadline to reunify migrant children under the age of five-years-old with their families, though it now claims to have fulfilled that order. Story continues Of those 100 toddlers, 57 were reunited with their parents while 46 were deemed ineligible for similar claims in the latest court filings. Still, the federal government has said it met all legal requirements put forth by US District Court Judge Dana Sabraw, who ordered the reunification deadlines. "By the court deadline this evening we are on track to reunite all eligible parents within ICE custody," Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Chris Meekins said in a statement on Thursday. For now, it remains unclear what may happen to the 711 children who cannot be reunified with their families. Many remain in the custody of HHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Experts have said there's a high probability many of those children will never be reunified with their parents while under US care. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will convene his national security advisers on Friday for a high-level meeting on election security, less than four months until Americans vote to determine whether his fellow Republicans maintain control of Congress. The White House meeting comes amid new accusations of Russian meddling in U.S. elections. On Thursday, Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill was identified as the target of a hacking attempt ahead of the November midterm elections. A top Microsoft official last week said Russian hackers have targeted at least three candidates but did not name them. Questions persist over whether U.S. states are prepared to thwart cyber attacks even as debate rages over alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, which Trump won. The stakes in the midterm elections are high. Republicans hold majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, but if historical patterns hold true, Democrats, as the party out of power, could gain ground in the contests. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election through a campaign of hacking and disinformation to try to help elect Trump. The U.S. Special Counsel's Office is investigating Russian actions and any potential collusion with Trump's campaign. The probe has so far resulted in multiple indictments and guilty pleas by several Trump associates. Several congressional committees also have opened investigations. Russia has denied any interference while Trump has denied collusion and blasted the investigation as a "witch hunt," a sentiment he tweeted again on Friday ahead of his meeting. Trump has alternated between citing Russian President Vladimir Putin's denials and saying that he backs the American intelligence community's findings. U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller earlier this month indicted 12 Russian officers from Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU. In February, Mueller charged 13 Russians and three Russian companies in an elaborate conspiracy to interfere in the election. Story continues Tom Burt, vice president of customer security and trust at Microsoft Corp, last week told the Aspen Security Forum the company uncovered phishing activity targeting campaign staffers. Microsoft believed the effort was originated by a group associated with GRU officers, he said. On Thursday, the Daily Beast identified McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat who has been critical of Trump and Putin, as the target of an unsuccessful hacking attempt. "Russia continues to engage in cyber warfare against our democracy," McCaskill said on Thursday. "While this attack was not successful, it is outrageous that they think they can get away with this." A spokesman for McCaskill, whose tough re-election bid is one of a handful of critical races in the narrowly divided Senate, did not respond to request for comment on Friday. The United States already has imposed sanctions on Russia, and Congress is considering additional penalties in case U.S. authorities determine the Kremlin has meddled again. Congress also is grappling with funding to shore up election systems for U.S. states, which conduct elections. U.S. lawmakers earlier approved $380 million to safeguard systems, but this month rejected a Democratic push to provide more funds. Earlier on Friday, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon the administration was taking steps to protect the elections from interference but did not provide details. "Rest assured there are actions underway to protect our elections or to expose any external any, by anybody - external efforts to influence the American public," Mattis said. Twenty-one states were targeted in 2016, although there was no evidence that voted were changed, according to DHS, which unveiled its new cyber security strategy earlier this year. Trump, offering no evidence, this week said he believed Russia will seek to boost Democrats ahead of the November election, rather than target his fellow Republicans. (Writing by Susan Heavey and Eric Beech; Additional reporting by Kara Carlson, Phil Stweart, Joseph Menn; Editing by Dan Burns, Bill Trott and Jonathan Oatis) WASHINGTON (AP) Rarely has an RSVP been so complicated. President Donald Trump is open to visiting Moscow if he gets a formal invitation from Vladimir Putin, the White House said. Russian President Putin said he's game for a trip to Washington but his answer came only after Trump retracted his invitation for a fall sit-down. The awkward back and forth is the latest round of summit drama flowing from the two leaders' controversial first meeting in Helsinki this month. It underscores Trump's eagerness to forge a warmer relationship with Putin, though the Russian does not appear to share the urgency and Trump's allies in Washington are watching with frustration. Trump's tentative yes to a Moscow trip comes even as lawmakers are still pushing for details about what he and Putin discussed in Helsinki. The president has been widely criticized for failing to publicly denounce Russia's interference in the 2016 U.S. election and appearing to accept Putin's denials of such activity. Trump's response to the criticism an abruptly announced invitation for a second meeting in Washington in the fall got an ice-cold reception from Republicans in Congress facing tough elections in November. Moscow was lukewarm and did not immediately accept. Then National Security Adviser John Bolton said Wednesday that plans for a fall visit would be delayed until 2019. He cited special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election meddling as the reason, using Trump's favorite term for the probe: "witch hunt." But the possibility of a Trump trip to Moscow emerged Friday after Putin said he was ready to invite Trump or to visit Washington if conditions are right. "I understand very well what President Trump said: He has the wish to conduct further meetings," Putin said while traveling in Johannesburg. "I am ready for this. We are ready to invite President Trump to Moscow. By the way, he has such an invitation, I told him of this. I am prepared to go to Washington, but, I repeat, if the appropriate conditions for work are created." Story continues White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded that Trump "looks forward to having President Putin to Washington after the first of the year, and he is open to visiting Moscow upon receiving a reciprocal formal invitation." But it's just talk at this point. It's part of "a power game between Putin and Trump," said Dr. Alina Polyakova of the Brookings Institution. She said the Kremlin basically drove the entire process in Helsinki, and "we're seeing that again now." Trump is hardly in a strong position because "the Helsinki summit was such a fiasco," said James Goldgeier of the Council on Foreign Relations. A Putin visit to Washington between now and January "could have a lot of poor optics," he said, and "it's really hard to see the upside" of a Trump trip to Moscow. The spectacle of Trump in the Russian capital the site of unproven salacious allegations in an anti-Trump dossier compiled by a former British spy was likely to raise eyebrows and alarm on Capitol Hill. Just two days earlier, lawmakers from both political parties unsuccessfully demanded details of the Helsinki meeting from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who stonewalled nearly all those inquiries at a contentious hearing by maintaining that the president has a right to private conversations. Since Helsinki, Trump has tried to walk back at least some of his comments. And Pompeo told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that despite Trump's public statements that allegations of Russian interference are "a hoax" he accepts that Russia did meddle in the 2016 election. Trump met Friday with his national security team to discuss threats to the 2018 congressional midterm elections, the first such session he has convened amid warnings from intelligence officials that Russia is again intent on interfering in the U.S. democratic process. The White House released a statement saying Trump "made it clear that his Administration will not tolerate foreign interference in our elections from any nation state or other malicious actors." Republican lawmakers have made it clear they are not eager to see Putin, who intelligence officials say was aware of the 2016 interference, just weeks before Election Day 2018. Putin "will not be welcome" at the Capitol, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters. House Speaker Paul Ryan said such invitations are reserved "for allies." The Republican leaders appear to be increasingly relying on public signals, rather than private phone calls or Oval Office chats, to catch the White House's attention and communicate with Trump especially when they are at odds with the president's approach or policies. Ryan has said he did not speak to the president in the days after the Helsinki summit. Moscow has portrayed its tensions with Washington as a result of Trump being hobbled by domestic political disputes and a widespread "Russophobia" perpetrated by holdovers from the Obama years - echoing Trump's penchant to blame his predecessor for many problems. By saying that he's willing to go to Washington if conditions are "appropriate," Putin underlines that stance and effectively puts pressure on Trump to try to stamp out opposition. His invitation for Trump to come to Moscow - whether the invitation has been formally tendered or is only in spirit - also appears to pressure Trump to show whether he is bold and disruptive enough to buck intense criticism at home. ___ AP writers Ken Thomas, Jill Colvin and Darlene Superville in Washington and Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report. While we do not expect recognition or awards for the job we do every day to serve our community, its a great tribute to the men and women of our organization, as well as other local supporting agencies, to be recognized for the response on this critical incident, Winthrop Harbor Police Chief Justin Stried said. We thank Flight for Life and their personnel for assisting on this difficult call, as well as the team at Advocate Condell Medical Center for giving this patient a chance at survival and recovery. ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's foreign minister told U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in their call on Thursday that Turkey "will not bow down to anyone's threats", a foreign ministry source said, after President Donald Trump threatened to slap sanctions on Ankara. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also told Pompeo that the rule of law applies to everyone without exception, the source said on Friday. Trump has threatened "large sanctions" against Turkey unless it freed an American pastor on trial for terrorism charges. The comment prompted angry responses from Ankara and escalated tensions between the two NATO allies. (Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz; Writing by Ali Kucukgocmen; Editing by David Dolan) Twitter Inc (NYSE: TWTR) shares plummeted 12 percent Friday morning after the company reported a drop in active users in the second quarter. While Twitter has been making major improvements to its platform, analysts say the stock is pricing in unrealistic growth expectations, and the latest numbers seem to confirm that belief. Twitter reported second-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 17 cents, in line with consensus analyst estimates. Revenue of $711 million beat Wall Street expectations of $698.2 million. Revenue was up 24 percent from a year ago. [See: Artificial Intelligence Stocks: The 10 Best AI Companies.] Despite the revenue beat, investors zeroed in on Twitter's 335 million monthly active user count, which came up well short of consensus expectations of 338.5 million and was 1 million less than the 336 million the company reported a quarter ago. The lost MAUs came primarily from the U.S., where MAU count fell from 69 million in the first quarter to 68 million in the second quarter. Investors had been concerned that reports Twitter had been suspending as many as 1 million fake accounts per day in the second quarter could negatively impact reported user numbers. Twitter said it removed a total of about 70 million accounts in the second quarter but said most of those accounts were never included in active user counts because they were less than one month old. "Our second-quarter results reflect the work we're doing to ensure more people get value from Twitter every day," CEO Jack Dorsey says in a statement. "These efforts contributed to healthy year-over-year daily active usage growth of 11 percent and demonstrate why we're investing in the long-term health of Twitter." Looking ahead, Twitter guided for third-quarter earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of between $215 million and $235 million. Twitter is now forecasting full-year capital expenditures of between $450 million and $500 million, up from its previous range of between $375 million and $450 million. Story continues [See: The 10 Most Valuable Tech Companies in the World.] Bank of America analyst Justin Post says TWTR stock is pricing in growth that simply isn't there. "While we agree that the clean-up efforts are a long-term positive for the platform, we still have concerns on Twitter's reach and anticipate pressure on MAU growth as suspension headwinds continue," Post says. Bank of America has an "underperform" rating and $27 price target for TWTR stock. Wayne Duggan is a freelance investment strategy reporter with a focus on energy and emerging market stocks. He has a degree in brain and cognitive sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and specializes in the psychological challenges of investing. He is a senior financial market reporter for Benzinga and has contributed financial market analysis to Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha and InvestorPlace. He is also the author of the book "Beating Wall Street With Common Sense," which focuses on the practical strategies he has used to outperform the stock market. You can follow him on Twitter @DugganSense, check out his latest content at tradingcommonsense.com or email him at wpd@tradingcommonsense.com. U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin shake hands as they meet in Helsinki, Finland July 16, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo Paul J. Saunders Security, Eurasia If the Kremlin wants a less hostile United States, then its leaders may do well to spend considerably more time assessing the predictable consequences of Russias actions. U.S.-Russia Summitry Is at Center Stage Again U.S.-Russia summitry has again moved to center stage. Unfortunately, while some think they are watching a comforting sequelCold War II, perhapsand expect a similarly satisfying ending, todays confrontation between Washington and Moscow has many new plot elements. More important, if the postCold War era has taught Americans anything, it should be that history has no final act (unless, of course, humanity manages to destroy itself). That means there is no final U.S. move or final political event in Moscow that will solve our Russia problem. Policymakers in the administration and the Congress owe it to the country to take the U.S.-Russia relationship much more seriously. In fairness to the actors in the U.S.-Russia drama, there is no script for the unprecedented situation in which the United States and Russia, and their leaders, find themselves. Nevertheless, each side will have to do far better if they are jointly to salvage this situation. And it is not immediately obvious that staying under the bright stage lights and in front of an expectant audiencewhether through a summit in Washington, as President Donald Trump has suggested, or in Moscow, as Russias President Vladimir Putin just proposed, is the best approach. One hopes that U.S. leaders will think carefully about how to proceed. Reflecting on the recent Helsinki summit would be a useful place to start. The meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin has become a massive political liability primarily because the administration mishandled its public aspects. This was most visible but probably least consequential in the presidents poor performance at his postsummit press conference with Putin. (A performance which, among other things, distracted attention from the flaws in Putins.) Story continues More significant than the presidents bad day before the cameras was the administrations failure to shape domestic and international narratives surrounding the summit either before or afterward. The underlying problemsomething at the core of President Trumps political problems in managing U.S.-Russia relationsis that neither the president nor his top aides have effectively explained their objectives in the U.S.-Russia relationship or the American national interests at stake. Trump has done this only occasionally and incompletely in references to how great it would be to work together in Syria and how dangerous nuclear weapons remain. Senior officials never elaborate this, however, as they appear focused on using their public statements about Russia to balance the presidents optimism about U.S.-Russia relations with reasonable (and more politically palatable) skepticism. This deprives the administrations supporters of credible arguments even as it encourages its detractors to fill in the blanks with their own explanations for Trumps policy. More narrowly, the administration said very little about the Helsinki summit after it took place. Indeed, in the days following the meeting, nearly all the revelations about discussions there came from Moscow. As a result, whatever the Russian government decided to say about the summitwhether for domestic political purposes inside Russia or to appear more influential internationallydefined public discussion. Perversely, however, the Kremlin has been less effective in exploiting this than Trumps domestic political opponents, who have used the administrations relative silence to justify their outraged histrionics. Demands to interview President Trumps Helsinki interpretersomething that even Trump opponent Sen. Lindsey Graham sees as an unacceptable infringement on the executive branchs ability to manage foreign policyflow directly from the administrations failure to explain what it is doing and why. The Trump administration wont be able to manage the U.S.-Russia relationship successfully if it cant manage its own messaging. Moreover, while additional presidential-level meetings may be useful and even necessary for the U.S.-Russia relationship, it is difficult to understand how President Trump could have viewed inviting Putin to Washington as a good idea. How many protesters did the president expect outside the White House as Putins motorcade attempted to reach it? And how would the ensuing spectacle persuade Putin that Trump is less constrained politically than he appears? Such an invitation might make sense as a private gesture to Putin, to demonstrate Trumps determination to rebuild the U.S.-Russia relationship, but only with an understanding that the invitation would remain a private one until the U.S. political climate has cooled. If there was such an understanding, and the Russians violated it, then the president and the administration should have responded more forcefully. If there wasnt, then they were reckless in not announcing the invitation themselves first. That would also have been quite controversial, though it might have come across primarily as a big middle finger to the presidents political opponentsin other words, quintessential Trumpian politicsrather than looking like something the administration wanted to hide. If Trump wanted to meet Putin again, then he could have done so equally effectively and at less political cost by suggesting a neutral venue. There are many options with historic significance (Icelands Reykjavik, for example, where former President Ronald Reagan met Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, or perhaps Malta or Geneva). There are other locations that would allow a symbolic meeting in the United States while discouraging big public protests, such as Alaska (which the United States purchased from Russia, of course) or Fort Ross, California (a relatively isolated former Imperial Russian fort, also originally among Moscows North American colonies, that has already hosted some nongovernmental U.S.-Russia dialogue meetings). Putins very public invitation to Trump to visit Moscow may look like a no-lose proposition for the Russian president. On the surface, Putins invitation appears reciprocallike Trump, he is expressing interest in another summit meeting. One level below this, Putins invitation demonstrates to Russias elites and public that their president has a new line of communication with his American counterpart, something essentially rejected by the Obama administration following Russias seizure of Crimea and later intervention in eastern Ukraine. Since Putin issued the invitation at a meeting of heads of state of the so-called BRICS countriesBrazil, Russia, India, China and South Africahe was simultaneously able to make this point to them. This may be especially important to Putin in dealing with Chinas Xi Jinping, in that Moscows terrible relationship with Washington has stimulated a growing dependency on Beijing. Two levels down, the Russian president has further stoked American anxieties about U.S.-Russia relations and especially Trumps contacts with Putin. (Especially among those who think that meeting people from whom you want something is a concession.) Whether Putin intended this last result or not, it highlights the extent to which Russias efforts at political influence in the United States seem counterproductive to Moscows long-term interests, almost no matter what one thinks Russias objectives may be. If Russias election interference and later social-media activity aimed to produce more favorable U.S. policies, then it has failed. If its goal was chaos and weakness, it has generated hostility and resolve. That Russian authorities at any level would not expect this backlash in the worlds sole superpower is particularly remarkable in view of their own resentment of U.S. attempts to shape Russias political evolution. This in turn makes clear that if the Kremlin wants a less hostile United States, then its leaders may do well to spend considerably more time assessing the predictable consequences of Russias actions. Thinking about what Moscow could do to encourage genuine and lasting positive change in U.S. attitudes toward Russia rather than provoking hostility would also be helpful. Based on his experience in dealing with four successive U.S. administrations, Vladimir Putin may well have persuaded himself that meaningful cooperation with America is impossible. Yet for Russia, like for the United States, there are profound differences between a lack of meaningful cooperation and a reflexively hostile relationship in which each government is actively working to undermine the others interests and objectives. The latter relationship could present the most extreme dangers, up to and including a nuclear conflict. Putin cant afford to forget that and neither can administration officials or members of Congress, particularly if they truly believe what they say about Vladimir Putins nefarious intent. Indeed, the most important summits between leaders in Washington and Moscowduring the Nixon and Reagan administrationstook place precisely when the two governments recognized the dangers of inveterate mutual hostility and sought to limit them. Can they do so again? Paul J. Saunders, associate publisher of the National Interest, is executive director of the Center for the National Interest. Image: U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin shake hands as they meet in Helsinki, Finland July 16, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo Read full article Kiev (AFP) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Saturday condemned the influential Russian Orthodox Church, which counts millions of believers, as a threat to national security. The influence of the Russian Orthodox Church is a "direct threat to the national security of Ukraine", Poroshenko said during ceremonies marking 1,030 years since conversion to Christianity, adding that "this obliges us to act". The Orthodox Church in Ukraine is split between the largest branch whose clerics pledge loyalty to the head of the Russian church, Patriarch Kirill, and one that is overseen by Kiev-based Patriarch Filaret. Poroshenko joined a procession of tens of thousands of believers organised by the Kiev church after the Moscow-based church held a similar procession on Friday. "I believe it is absolutely necessary to cut off all the tentacles with which the aggressor country operates inside the body of our state," Poroshenko said of the Russian church. He complained that it is "separated from the state only on paper" while in reality it "fully and unconditionally supports the Kremlin's revanchist imperial policy." In Moscow on Saturday, President Vladimir Putin headed a procession of worshippers with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, underlining their close relations. Kirill even drew attention to the fact that Putin shares a first name with Prince Vladimir, who brought Christianity to the pagan Slavic state of Kievan Rus in 988. "I think there is no such thing as a coincidence, especially when we are talking about people whose actions truly change the world," the Patriarch told Putin. He prayed for peace among those fighting in the conflict between Kiev's forces and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. The conflict has exacerbated tensions between the two churches, with Ukranian Patriarch Filaret once saying Putin was "possessed by Satan". The Kiev-based church supported the bloody popular uprising in 2014 that ousted a Kremlin-backed government in Ukraine. Kirill on Friday warned against attempts to drive a wedge between the two churches. "Attempts to artificially tear the Ukrainian Orthodox Church away from the Moscow Patriarchate can lead to a catastrophe," he said. REDDING, Calif. (AP) The death count from a rapidly growing Northern California wildfire rose to five Saturday after two young children and their great-grandmother who had been unaccounted for were confirmed dead. "My babies are dead," Sherry Bledsoe said through tears after she and family members met with Shasta County sheriff's deputies. Bledsoe's two children, James Roberts, 5, and Emily Roberts, 4, were stranded with her grandmother Melody Bledsoe, 70, when fire swept through the rural area where they were staying Thursday. The three were among more than a dozen people reported missing after the furious wind-driven blaze took residents by surprise and leveled several neighborhoods. Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said he expects to find several of those people alive and just out of touch with loved ones. Officers have gone to homes of several people reported missing and found that cars were gone a strong indication they fled. The fire that was ignited Monday in forested hills grew overnight to 127 square miles (328 square kilometers). It pushed southwest of Redding toward tiny communities of Ono, Igo and Gas Point, where scorching heat, winds and bone-dry conditions complicated firefighting efforts. It's now the largest of more than 20 fires burning in California. The winds that aided firefighters in keeping the flames from more populated areas were propelling it forward at a frightening rate. "We're not getting a break with the weather," said Chris Anthony, a spokesman for Cal Fire, the state agency responsible for fighting wildfires. "It just continues to be really hot, really dry and we continue to get those winds. ... This fire's getting so big and there are so many different parts to it." Two firefighters were killed and the latest tally of 500 destroyed structures was sure to rise. A count by The Associated Press found more than 300 homes destroyed. About 37,000 people are under evacuation orders, 5,000 homes are threatened and the fire was just 5 percent contained. Story continues Meanwhile, about 120 miles (200 kilometers) southwest of Redding, two blazes prompted mandatory evacuations in Mendocino County. The two fires, burning 30 miles (50 kilometers) apart, started Friday and are threatening more than 350 buildings. The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office ordered evacuations for people living in an area north of Highway 175 near Hopland. Residents in neighboring Benmore Valley were also told to leave Saturday. Cal Fire officials said more than 10,000 firefighters were on the line, making progress on 14 large wildfires across California. President Donald Trump issued an emergency declaration for California on Saturday, allowing counties affected by wildfires to receive federal assistance. Huge fires continued to burn outside Yosemite National Park and in the San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles near Palm Springs. As of Saturday morning, those fires had burned nearly 160,000 acres (64,700 hectares) and destroyed over 500 structures. Yosemite Valley remained closed to visitors and won't reopen until Friday. Nationally, 89 active large fires have consumed nearly 930,000 acres (376,000 hectares) in 14 states, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. So far this year, nearly 37,000 wildfires have burned more than 4.25 million acres (1.7 million hectares). The Carr Fire destroyed nearly all of Keswick, a hamlet just west of Redding, which is about 250 miles (402 kilometers) north of San Francisco. Redding Police Chief Roger Moore was among those who lost homes. Greg and Terri Hill evacuated their Redding home of 18 years Thursday night with little more than medications, photo albums, clothes and firearms, assuming they'd be back home in a few days. When they returned Friday, virtually nothing was left but fine particles of ash. It was so hot, they couldn't walk through it to see if anything survived. "It's pretty emotional," Terri Hill said. "I know it's just stuff. A lot of memories. But we'll make new memories and get new stuff. Everybody's safe." ___ Melley reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writers Martha Mendoza in Redding; Olga Rodriguez and Janie Har in San Francisco; Don Thompson in Sacramento; Amanda Lee Myers in Los Angeles also contributed to this report. An SDF commander at the iconic Al-Naim square in Raqqa on October 2017. The Kurdish group are in talks with the regime over the contested northern regions for the first time - AFP The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are holding talks with the government in Damascus for the first time on the future of huge swathes of northern Syria under their control. The Kurdish-majority SDF, founded with the help of the US to fight Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) in northeastern Syria, now controls almost a third of the country and is looking to negotiate a political deal to preserve its autonomy. "We are working towards a settlement for northern Syria, said Riad Darar, the Arab co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council, the SDFs political wing. "We hope that the discussions on the situation in the north will be positive," Mr Darar said, adding that they were being held "without preconditions". The SDF now controls 27 per cent of the country, accord to the UK-based monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, having seized Raqqa and much of the eastern province of Deir Ezzor from Isil militants with the help of US airpower. Members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), backed by US special forces, celebrate at the frontline in the Islamic State Credit: AFP The Kurds have used the cover of the Syrian war to carve out a semi-autonomous enclave in the northeast of the country, which it calls Rojava. Before the conflict, Kurds faced state persecution for years, banned from speaking their own language in schools and mosques. The regime has largely left the Kurds alone while focusing their attention on rebel-held areas. People walk near a portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hanging in a street in the Syrian capital Damascus in May Credit: AFP And while the Kurds say they are seeking a political deal that will safeguard their autonomy, not full independence, Damascus views Kurdish aspirations with suspicion. Earlier this President Bashar al-Assad threatened to resort to force if necessary to prevent SDF-held areas breaking away. He has repeatedly said that he intends to reclaim every inch of Syria. The Syrian Kurds have grown wary of the US, which has sent mixed messages of its intended future support. President Donald Trump has said he wants to bring home the troops the US has in Syria supporting the SDF once the fight against Isil is wrapped up. Washington also opposed an independence bid by Kurds in neighbouring Iraq. Any deal agreed between the Kurds and the regime will raise fresh questions for US policy in Syria. VATICAN CITY (AP) In a move seen as unprecedented, Pope Francis has effectively stripped U.S. prelate Theodore McCarrick of his cardinal's title following allegations of sexual abuse, including one involving an 11-year-old boy. The Vatican announced Saturday that Francis ordered McCarrick to conduct a "life of prayer and penance" before a church trial is held. Breaking with past practice, Francis decided to act swiftly on the resignation offered by the emeritus archbishop of Washington, D.C., even before the accusations are investigated by church officials. McCarrick was previously one of the highest, most visible Catholic church officials in the United States and was heavily involved in the church's yearslong response to allegations of priestly abuse there. Francis received McCarrick's letter offering to resign from the College of Cardinals on Friday evening, after a spate of allegations that the 88-year-old prelate had for years sexually abused boys and had sexual misconduct with adult seminarians. The pope then ordered McCarrick's "suspension from the exercise of any public ministry, together with the obligation to remain in a house yet to be indicated to him, for a life of prayer and penance until the accusations made against him are examined in a regular canonical trial," the Vatican said. The McCarrick case posed a test of the pontiff's recently declared resolve to battle what he called a "culture of cover-up" of similar abuses in the Catholic church's hierarchy. McCarrick had already been removed from public ministry since June 20, pending a full investigation into allegations that he fondled a teenager more than 40 years ago in New York City. McCarrick has denied these allegations. Another alleged victim, James , says McCarrick exposed himself to him when he was 11 and continued a sexually abusive relationship with him for more than two decades. McCarrick has not responded publicly to these accusations. Story continues Asking to be identified by only his first name to protect his family's privacy, James told The Associated Press on Saturday that he hopes the pope's approval of McCarrick's resignation will help other victims "become free." "Basically, truth always prevails," said James, who lives in Virginia. "Thankfully, everybody in today's world is more understanding of the harm done by individual priests, and now we can start to heal," he added. McCarrick's alleged sexual misconduct with adults was reportedly brought to the Vatican's attention years ago, including before McCarrick was appointed to the prestigious archbishop post in the U.S. capital in 2000 by then-pontiff John Paul II. Two dioceses in New Jersey, Newark and Metuchen, say they have settled two of three complaints of misconduct by McCarrick toward adults. The Vatican on Saturday didn't say where McCarrick would be confined nor when a church trial might begin, and its brief statement did not even allude to the grave accusations against the prelate. McCarrick rose steadily and swiftly up the U.S. church's ranks, from auxiliary bishop in New York City, to bishop in Metuchen, to archbishop of Newark, and then to Archbishop of Washington, D.C. A Catholic University canon law expert, Kurt Martens, noted this was the first time an order of penance and prayer had been issued before a church trial. Other U.S. Catholics who follow sexual abuse scandals hailed stripping McCarrick of his cardinal's rank as an unprecedented shift in how the Vatican has dealt with allegations against top churchmen. "The Vatican almost never moves at this speed," said Terence McKiernan, of BishopAccountability.org.Inc., a Massachusetts-based group that tracks clergy sexual abuse cases. The pope appears to "understand the gravity of the situation and further harm to the Catholic church's status," he told the AP. McKiernan wondered if the church investigation will reveal who among its hierarchy knew about the sex allegations against McCarrick and whether the Vatican will move to punish those clerics as well. He noted that the Vatican statement didn't spell out why the pope was disciplining the cardinal. "We're still in the old world," McKiernan said, referring to the Vatican's avoidance of details about the abuse allegations against McCarrick. "(Still) it's a remarkable development." In the case of Scottish Cardinal Keith O'Brien, accused by former seminarians in 2013 of sexual misconduct, Francis only accepted his resignation after the Vatican's top abuse prosecutor conducted a full investigation, two years after the first revelations, and after the prelate himself relinquished the privileges that come with a cardinal's rank. O'Brien, who died earlier this year, still remained a cardinal, however. The Rev. James Martin, editor-at large at America Magazine, which covers church issues, noted in a tweet that Bernard Law was allowed to stay a cardinal after he resigned as Boston archbishop, following revelations that he had sanctioned the systematic cover-up of pedophile priests while presiding over that U.S. diocese. After resigning from his Boston post, Law was transferred to a prestigious job at a Rome basilica, an appointment that triggered outrage from many abuse survivors. That happened under Pope John Paul II, who was widely considered to have underestimated the scope of the sex abuse scandals worldwide. One of Francis' closest advisers, Cardinal George Pell, is the highest-ranking Catholic in the world to be charged in the church's global abuse scandal. The 77-year-old faces trial in his native Australia on decades-old child sex abuse allegations. Pell has denied wrongdoing. Details of the allegations haven't been made public. Bishops have been implicated in the sexual abuse scandals that have stained the Catholic church's reputation worldwide for decades, most often for their roles in covering up for pedophile priests by shuffling them from parish to parish and keeping the faithful in the dark about the allegations. Earlier this month, an Australia bishop became the most senior Roman Catholic cleric to be convicted of covering up child sex abuse. Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson was sentenced to 12 months in detention by an Australian court in a landmark case seen as a strong warning to institutions that fail to protect children. Critics of the Vatican's handling of abuse cases point out that despite recommendations from its advisory panel, the Holy See still hasn't set up a tribunal or other system to deal with accused bishops or cardinals. It still is unclear just what church tribunal would decide McCarrick's case. "That system is going to (have to) be created exactly for this most embarrassing and prominent case," McKiernan said. ___ Richmond, Virginia-based reporter Sarah Rankin and Rome-based reporter Nicole Winfield contributed to this report. ___ Frances D'Emilio is on twitter at www.twitter.com WASHINGTON (AP) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has spoken to his Turkish counterpart about an American pastor detained on terrorism and espionage charges. It could be a possible indication the NATO allies are trying to ease tensions that flared this week after President Donald Trump said the U.S. would impose sanctions in retaliation. Turkey has called that a "cheap threat." The State Department says Pompeo spoke Saturday with Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (MEHV'-loot chah-voo-SHOH'-loo) and they "committed to continued discussions to resolve the matter and address other issues of common concern." Andrew Craig Brunson was detained in the aftermath of a failed 2016 coup against Turkey's government. He denies the charges. Brunson was let out of jail Wednesday after 1 1/2 years and transferred to house arrest. Trump says that's not enough. Virgin Galactic passed a major milestone in commercial spaceflight this week after leaving the stratosphere and entering the mesosphere, 32 miles off the ground. The companys goal is to transport space tourists beyond the Karman Line, the demarcation which represents the boundary between Earths atmosphere and outer space at 62 miles high. From there passengers will experience weightlessness and the curvature of the Earth. Until now Virgin Galactic has only achieved 114,500 feet, but this week its Unity spacecraft reached 170,800 ft at Mach 2.47, almost two and a half times the speed of sound. Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson said: Its so impressive to see our spaceship breaking her previous records and witness the exciting progress being made with every flight. Ive been determined to go into space ever since I was a teenager watching the moon landing and I still have to pinch myself every time Virgin Galactic completes another test flight. A view from the Mesosphere Credit: Virgin Galactic The Mesopshere is often referred to by scientists as the ignorosphere, because it is an under-studied atmospheric layer above the range of balloon flight. Pilot Mike Masucci said: Having been a U2 pilot and done a lot of high altitude work, or what I thought was high altitude work, the view from 170,000 ft was just totally amazing. Virgin Galactic's Third Powered Flight on July 26th 2018 Credit: Virgin Galactic The flight was exciting and frankly beautiful. We were able to complete a large number of test points which will give us good insight as we progress to our goal of commercial service. In April Virgin Galactic completed its first powered flight since a fatal crash nearly four years, a milestone which Sir Richard said brought space tantalisingly close. The company has struggled to re-establish itself following the death of co-pilot Michael Alsbury, 39, who was killed when his aircraft crashed into the Mojave Desert in California in October 2014. Sir Richard Branson watched the launch with his grandchildren Etta and Artie Credit: Richard Branson However this weeks flight saw a clean release from carrier aircraft VMS Eve at 46,500 ft, and the pilots were able to successfully light the spaceships rocket motor, before pulling up into a near vertical climb . Story continues The planned 42 seconds rocket burn took pilots and spaceship out of the Stratosphere, higher than the company has ever flown before. After a safe landing back at Mojave Air and Space Port, Chief Pilot Dave Mackay said: It was a thrill from start to finish. Unitys rocket motor performed magnificently again and Sooch (Masucci ) pulled off a smooth landing. "This was a new altitude record for both of us in the cockpit, not to mention our mannequin in the back, and the views of Earth from the black sky were magnificent. He was pronounced dead at about 1 a.m. at St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago, according to a coroners release, which said he sustained a gunshot wound. A great-grandmother and her two beloved great-grandchildren are the latest to be named among victims of the wildfire ripping through a vast expanse of Northern California. Melody Bledsoe, 70, had been listed as unaccounted for since Thursday along with her great-grandchildren James Roberts, 5, and Emily Roberts, 4. On Saturday, Bledsoe's husband had the sad duty of identifying the remains. Im just devastated, Eddy Bledsoe told the Redding Record Searchlight. "All she lived for were them kids and me." Bledsoe had been holding out hope since the Carr fire overtook their home on the outskirts of Redding when he briefly left to go to the store. Bledsoe said he didn't believe the fire could jump the nearby Sacramento River. "Within 15 minutes, it burned my house down," he recalled. Two firefighters have also been killed in the blaze. They've been identified as bulldozer operator Don Ray Smith, of Pollock Pines and Redding fire Inspector Jeremy Stoke. The AP reported Saturday that an estimated 38,000 people were under evacuation orders with 5,000 homes threatened and the fire only 5 percent contained. RELATED STORIES Orphaned Fawn Saved From Raging California Wildfire Thanks Officer With a Kiss Authorities Find Bodies of 26 Family Members, Some Hugging, During Greek Wildfires Couple Refuses to Let Wedding Go Up in Smoke as They Marry During Wildfires Related Articles: REDDING, Calif. (Reuters) - Authorities in Northern California have found human remains believed to be that of an elderly woman and her two great-grandchildren at a home destroyed by the wildfire raging in and around the city of Redding, the Shasta County sheriff said on Saturday. The bodies have yet to be positively identified, but their discovery raises the confirmed death toll from the Carr Fire to five, including a bulldozer operator and a firefighter who were killed when the blaze swept into Redding two days ago. (Reporting by Alexandria Sage; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Sandra Maler) Ying Zhou teaches a Geology 101 class to students at Virginia Tech, but after peering deeply into the subterranean world beneath the Yellowstone volcano, Zhou says she needs to modify her lesson plans for Yellowstone, anyhow. Yellowstone is one of the most heavily-researched volcanoes in the world, and it's believed to be responsible for few mega-eruptions in the last two million years. Volcanologists understand its behavior quite well, and there's agreement that any sort of eruption would be likely be proceeded by months or even years of warning. But scientists still aren't sure exactly how the volcano came to be, though many suspect its hundreds of geysers and steaming springs are fueled by a great plume of hot rock emanating from the deep Earth, which rises up to a surface "hotspot." Yet Zhou, a theoretical seismologist, has found otherwise. SEE ALSO: Cannibalism, infanticide: The dark side of Alaskas bear cam In a study published last week in the journal Nature Geoscience, Zhou describes how she used seismic measurements from earthquakes around North American and beyond to build a visual representation of an inaccessible, mysterious place: the world deep beneath Yellowstone. And what Zhou found, was unexpected. Yellowstone National Park's Great Fountain Geyser. Image: nps/jacob W. Frank "I was puzzled," said Zhou in an interview. She thought she might see the great plume of intensely hot rock, similar to the plume feeding Hawaii's Kilauea volcano. "But we saw something different," said Zhou. She found a massive slab of ancient Earth crust, some 250 to 270 miles beneath the ground. It had broken into giant pieces, but one slab dropped deep beneath Yellowstone, digging into the deep Earth and apparently triggering a welling up of the Earth's mantle the hot rock beneath the crust. There was no clear sign of a single, large plume feeding Yellowstone, and it's famous national park. Story continues "The argument has been going on for a long time," John Wolff, a volcanologist at Washington State University who had no role in the research, said in an interview. "While its true that the plume hypothesis tends to dominate, theres always been this alternative view." "I'm really on the fence," Wolff added. But Zhou isn't. "If there is a plume, it would explain things nicely," said Zhou. "But here we dont see the plume so in that sense, the plume theory is open to challenge." The triangles show a track of volcanoes formed in the last 16.5 million years, with ages shown in millions of years. Yellowstone is the youngest. Image: virginia tech In fact, no one has ever actually seen the plume, nor the chunk of Earth's crust Zhou thinks is there. Earth's deep underworlds are mostly distant and inaccessible. So what any geologist knows is largely based upon studying rocks on the surface and detecting seismic activity beneath the ground to build a picture of what might be transpiring below. That's why the science isn't yet settled. "Both theories involve explaining a feature that formed over the past 15 to 20 million years ago when there was nobody around to take notes or images of what was going on," Stanley Mertzman, a geoscientist at Franklin and Marshall College who had no involvement in the research, said over email. "So scientists are doing their level best to explain this feature based on rather indirect evidence." Mertzman speculated that this could potentially be "the opening salvo in a debate" between Zhou's recent findings and researchers persuaded by the hotspot theory, which has decades of evidence behind it. "This paper is not going to end the argument," said Wolff. An illustration of a plume (red) feeding Yellowstone's volcanic activity. Image: NPs Peter Nelson, who studies geoscience at the University of Texas at Austin, recently added even more evidence to the hotspot theory. In research also published in Nature Geoscience back in March, Nelson concluded that a "single narrow, cylindrically shaped" structure some 250 miles diameter which is the great plume feeding the volcano sits beneath Yellowstone. Like Zhou and every other geologist Nelson and his team have no hope of digging a tunnel to depths beneath Yellowstone, so they used a method similar to Zhou's to measure how seismic waves moved through the ground. They found that in this peculiar, cylinder-like area, seismic waves traveling through the Earth move notably slower than the rock around it. "It's like doing a CT scan of peoples' heads," said Nelson in an interview, referencing the medical imaging that reveals different internal structures by analyzing how X-ray waves move through tissue, like the brain. And Nelson's scans of the deep Earth support a plume of hot rock "extending from the core of the Earth all the way up to Yellowstone," he said. But Zhou's technique which she described as "putting special glasses on the seismometers so you can see the detail better" found a subterranean structure, seemingly like a chunk of Earth's crust, that extended all the way from Yellowstone to Oregon. Yellowstone's Lone Star Geyser erupting. Image: Nps "If it was a plume, you would just see an unusual structure just right under Yellowstone, not all the volcanoes extending to Oregon," she said, referencing a curving line of volcanoes reaching southwest from Yellowstone. This healthy scientific debate will only continue, as Mertzman noted scientists are trying to make sense of a "long and complicated" geologic history. "Zhou's work is really the tip of the iceberg," he said. Though, a passageway leading 400 miles beneath the surface if it were ever to exist would certainly clear up a lot of debate, mused Mertzman. "What does it really look like in the walls of that descending passageway through rock that have been pushed and pulled through a very active 500 million years of Earth history?" he wonders. HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa promised a "thunderous victory" as he and main challenger Nelson Chamisa on Saturday rallied supporters one last time ahead of Monday's election in a country seeking to move past decades of economic and political paralysis. The vote will be a first for the southern African nation: Longtime leader Robert Mugabe won't be on the ballot after resigning in November following a military takeover and pressure from the ruling ZANU-PF party that once backed him. The majority of Zimbabwe's 5 million voters grew up under Mugabe's 37-year rule. Supporters of the 75-year-old Mnangagwa, a former Mugabe deputy, and the 40-year-old Chamisa, the leader of the opposition MDC party, rallied at separate venues in Harare, the capital. A credible vote could help Zimbabwe to shed its longtime status as a global pariah and spur recovery for its collapsed economy, while a contentious election would prevent the lifting of years of international sanctions. "We have opened the country to the world," Mnangagwa declared Saturday, claiming that hundreds of investors had poured into the country since he took office with billions of dollars in commitments. Many in once-prosperous Zimbabwe, however, have yet to see any effects as they continue to stand or sleep in long lines to access dwindling cash. "Allow him to finish the job he started," said one supporter of the president, Erica Chindoma, who like many was bused in by the ruling party to attend the stadium rally under heavy security. In an interview with The Associated Press on Friday, Chamisa alleged that Zimbabwe's electoral commission is biased in favor of Mnangagwa, which the president and the commission deny. Chamisa vowed to hold peaceful protests if the election is flawed. Past elections under Mugabe were marred by violence and intimidation against the opposition and by alleged vote-rigging. Foreign observers were shunned. Story continues Now Mnangagwa, once Mugabe's enforcer, praises "this beautiful democratic process" and dozens of foreign observers have spread throughout the country, including teams from the United States, the European Union, the Commonwealth and the African Union. "We are aware of the issues that have been raised by opposition parties, however we hope that the elections will be free and fair," U.S. Senator Jeff Flake told reporters on Saturday. Concerns have focused on the military's influence, especially in rural areas, and on the lack of transparency in the voters' roll and ballot paper. When asked whether Mnangagwa is better than Mugabe, Flake replied: "No comment. That's pretty low-bar." Mnangagwa himself remains under U.S. sanctions. Not everyone was joining Zimbabwe's election excitement. "l will not waste my time queuing to vote. These politicians are all the same, they lie," said Jackson Mundopa, a 33-year-old who said he would use the extended weekend to visit family. Monday has been declared a national holiday. ___ Follow Africa news at https://twitter.com/AP_Africa By MacDonald Dzirutwe HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his rival Nelson Chamisa held final election rallies on Saturday and both vowed to rebuild an economy shattered by Robert Mugabe's long rule. Monday's vote is the first since Mugabe was forced to step down in November after a de facto coup and, as such, is a major national test. Mnangagwa is favorite although the latest opinion poll said the race was too close to call. The run-up to the presidential and parliamentary election has been peaceful compared to previous polls but there are reports of intimidation and coercion in rural constituencies, and state media is biased towards the ruling ZANUPF party. A run-off will be held in September if neither candidate wins outright. Tens of thousands of MDC supporters in the party's red colors converged in downtown Harare in a carnival atmosphere, dancing to music denouncing ZANU-PF. "Today we are celebrating. Change is inevitable, victory is certain. If we miss our chance on Monday we are doomed for life," Chamisa told supporters and urged them to stay at polling stations to prevent vote fraud. A few miles away, ZANU-PF supporters met at the national stadium in green, yellow and red party regalia as the party tries to win in the capital for the first time since 2000. Little separates the two men's policies but Mnangagwa is 75 and represents the war generation that has ruled since independence in 1980, while Chamisa, a 40-year-old lawyer, embodies the hopes of many young people. The election could confirm the country's rehabilitation after years as a pariah under Mugabe and help unlock foreign investment, especially if Western observers, monitoring for the first time since 2002, declare it fair. Mnangagwa held senior positions in Mugabe's governments as head of internal security and vice president but since coming to power has cast himself as a reformer with his Zimbabwe is "open for business" mantra. "This coming Monday we will win the election. We are voting for the future. We are voting for generations to come. Together we will unlock the potential for our beloved homeland," Mnangagwa told his party supporters. Mnangagwa has outspent Chamisa on the campaign trail, buying all-terrain double cab vehicles for more than 300 ZANU-PF parliamentary candidates. He has occupied most billboards in major towns and dominated the airwaves with adverts. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg) Harare (AFP) - Nothing would demonstrate that Zimbabwe has entered a new era since Robert Mugabe's ousting more than a clean election. But the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), which was synonymous with fraud, secrecy and bias under Mugabe, has again been engulfed by allegations of malpractice that threaten the credibility of Monday's vote. In the last elections in 2013, it was accused of allowing the ruling ZANU-PF party to oversee voter registration and of delaying the release of an electoral roll full of ghost names, dead people and duplicates. It also allegedly allowed ZANU-PF to assist many supposedly illiterate people to vote, rejected many legitimate votes and printed millions more ballot papers than needed. This year, it has struggled to present an image of the open, fair election that President Emmerson Mnangagwa has repeatedly promised to deliver since he succeeded long-time leader Mugabe in November. "The key tenets for a credible election are transparency and accountability -- and ZEC is averse to both," Tawanda Chimhini, head of Zimbabwe's Election Resource Centre monitoring body, told AFP. "Zimbabwe could have seen a departure from the old way, and ZEC could have been much more transparent -- that would have built public confidence. "But the commission is making the same mistakes. The credibility of the election will be in dispute regardless of who wins." - Chequered history - Back in 2008, ZEC also attracted international ridicule for declaring that year's election free and fair after then opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of the presidential run-off when more than 200 of his MDC supporters were killed. This time around, ZEC has dismissed criticism that its new biometric voters' roll is riddled with errors, that the ballot paper illegally puts Mnangagwa's name at the top of a column, and that it is running the election opaquely. Two weeks ago ZEC announced that the printing of ballot papers had been completed, and the following day furiously denied postal voting was already underway -- only to backtrack and admit that it had started. Story continues "From the voters' roll to ballot papers and postal voting, ZEC has been found wanting," said UK-based political analyst Alex Magaisa. "Regrettably, ZEC has so far failed to handle its enormous obligation as an impartial referee. "There is a broad perception of bias which owes much to history but is also cemented by current indiscretions." ZEC's failure to ensure balanced state media coverage has also been clear, with the state-run Herald newspaper and Zimbabwe television running fawning coverage of Mnangagwa and either ignoring or attacking Chamisa. - On 'Team ZANU-PF'? - The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has kept up a barrage of complaints about ZEC throughout the campaign, describing it as playing on ZANU-PF's "team". "ZEC has failed us in fundamental ways," party spokesman Douglas Mwonzora told AFP, alleging ZEC has been staffed with former military personnel close to the generals who ousted Mugabe in favour of Mnangagwa last year. "They have not released the exact copy of the voters' roll to us. They have not allowed us to observe the transportation, storage and safekeeping of the ballot papers," he added. Many Zimbabweans are looking to international monitors from the European Union, African Union and others to keep the election on track, but the observer missions stress that the process is entirely run by ZEC. ZEC commissioner Qhubani Moyo strongly defended its conduct to AFP, saying it has been following "the letter of the law". "Our job is cut out for us in the constitution and the electoral act and any deviation is unacceptable," he said. "We are an independent body and we are not going to lose sleep over some of the criticism we get." The ruling ZANU-PF party vouched its support for the commission. "We have confidence in ZEC and we have no doubt they will carry out their mandate as expected," party spokesman Paul Mangwana told AFP. The head of the ZEC Priscilla Chigumba is a respected high court judge but, with both parties promising certain victory, she may face tough days ahead with the election results due by August 4. Israel released from prison on Sunday Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi, who was jailed late last year after she was filmed kicking and slapping an Israeli soldier in the West Bank. Tamimi, 17, became a heroine to Palestinians after the December 15 incident outside her home in the village of Nabi Saleh was streamed live on Facebook by her mother and went viral. She 16 at the time. An Israel Prison Service spokesman said Tamimi had left the Sharon prison and was enroute to the West Bank. Two Palestinians were killed overnight Saturday during an IDF attack in northern Gaza near the border fence, as Israeli jets struck targets at the end of a tense weekend that saw protest on Temple Mount in Jerusalem and deadly riots held on the border. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The two bodies of the 24-year-old Palestinians were found this morning at the site of the attack. The IDF issued a brief statement on the incident saying: The IDF does not address foreign reports. Palestinian protests (Photo: AFP) The incident took place after a tense weekend on the border during which three Palestinians were killed during clashes with IDF soldiers in the southern Gaza Strip. The three Palestinians who were killed over the weekend were identified as Moumin al-Hams, 17, Majdi al-Satari, 11, whose age was previously announced as 14, and Ghazi Abu Mustafa, 43. The same evening, gunshots were fired from the strip at Israeli security forces, prompting the IDF to send jets to attack observation posts in north of the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave. The IDF said some 7,000 Palestinians took part in clashes, hurling stones at Israeli forces and burning tires on several spots along the border. During the rioting, pipe bombs, a Molotov cocktail and a grenade were thrown at IDF soldiers. All fell inside the strip. Rioters also waved placards bearing pictures of 17-year-old Mohammad Tareq Yousef, the terrorist who last week stabbed to death 31-year-old Yotam Ovadia in the Israeli settlement of Adam. Israel released from prison on Sunday Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi, who was jailed late last year after she was filmed kicking and slapping an Israeli soldier in the West Bank. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Tamimi, 17, became a heroine to Palestinians after the December 15 incident outside her home in the village of Nabi Saleh was streamed live on Facebook by her mother and went viral. She was 16 at the time. Ahed Tamimi released from prison (: ) X Speaking in front of the microphones before her supporters who had turned out to welcome her, Tamimi issued a brief statement. I am grateful to everyone who came to welcome me today. I hope that everyone comes to the press conference at 4pm so I can talk in more detail and convey my message and that of the female prisoners who sent me messages all over the world. Thank you," she said. Her mother, Nariman, who was also arrested during the assault on the IDF officer last December for filming the incident and posting it on Facebook. An Israel Prison Service spokesman said Tamimi had left the Sharon prison and was enroute to the West Bank. On the eve of Tamimi's release from prison, the father of the Palestinian teen provocateur, Bassem, said Saturday that he expects her to take a lead in the struggle against Israel but that the 17-year-old is also weighing college options. In Tamimi's village of Nabi Saleh, supporters prepared for Sunday's homecoming, planting Palestinian flags on the roof of her family home and setting up hundreds of chairs for well-wishers in the courtyard. Bassem said Saturday that after her release from prison, "we expect her to lead and we will support her to lead" in the fight to end the "occupation." He did not say what this would entail. Meanwhile, Israeli troops on Saturday detained two Italian artists who had painted a large mural of Ahed Tamimi on Israel's security barrier, according to local activist Munther Amireh and amateur video posted online. Ahed was charged with 12 different counts for six different incidents in January, including aggravated assault, hindering a soldier in the line of duty, incitement, threatening a soldier's life and stone-throwing. According to the indictment, which was filed at the Judea Military Court, Tamimi threw stones at Israeli security forces, threatened them, participated in violent rioting and incited others to participate in the clashes. Ahed Tamimi and her mother Nariman (Photo: AFP) Nariman Tamimi was also indicted for her involvement in the assault, as well as for another incident she was involved in along with her daughter. She was also charged with incitement to terrorism on Facebook. 21-year-old Nur Tamimi, Ahed's cousin, who took part in the assault, was charged with aggravated assault of a soldier and hindering a soldier in the line of duty. Tamimi was sentenced to 8 months in prison in March. The plea bargain concluded that the months during which she had been placed under arrest would be included in her overall setence. She was also ordered to pay an NIS 5,000 fine. Her mother was ordered to pay NIS 6,000. Nur Tamimi (Photo: AFP) Ahed Tamimi's trial began January 31. The testimonies of the company commander and soldier involved in the incident were revealed mid-January. Education Minister Naftali Bennett dismissed Saturday evening a resignation announcement by the Arab Israeli MK Zouheir Bahloul (Zionist Union/Labor) from the Knesset in protest against the Nationality Law , with the minister saying The Israeli Knesset wont cry over it. So hell resign. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Enraged by the law which critics argue is racist, Bahloul announced that his resignation will go into effect immediately and that he will not be running for a spot on his party's list in the next election. Theres unjustifiable outrage about the Nationality Law, which now includes the resignation of Zouheir Bahloul who said that his Palestinian identity is stronger than his Israeli one. The Israeli Knesset will not cry over it. So hell resign, a nonchalant Bennett said. Minister Naftali Bennett and MK Zouheir Bahloul (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg, AFP) The Nationality Law is an essential law in light of the continued erosion by High Court of Justice rulings on the national foundation of the State of Israel, Bennett said, who has been a staunch critic of the court. Bereaved parents from the Druze village of Beit Jann also called on the Israeli government to immediately revoke the Nationality Law and prevent the disintegration of trust between the Druze community and the government. The right direction for fusion with the Druze public is a special law recognizing the importance of the covenant with the Druze community and every other minority that has a connection with the destiny of the State of Israel, not changing the Nationality Law, the Bayit Yehudi leader suggested. Last Wednesday, I gave the prime minister a proposal on this and I will work to implement it, he promised. On Friday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Mowafak Tarif at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem in an effort to mend the rift between the Druze community and the State of Israel surrounding the law. Bahloul said that he intends to continue making a difference from outside the legislature. "This is a painful moment. If I'm giving up, it means all hope is lost. The Knesset has become the private estate of (Prime Minister) Netanyahu and his cohorts," Bahloul accused. "The entire series of legislation that excludes others, which is so dangerous to the democratic features of the state, has brought anxiety to the State of Israel," the Arab lawmaker continued. "I was burned, I cannot remain silent anymore, and it's better for me to escape before this ship sinks. It may still remain above water, but I won't be on it," Bahloul insisted. But he stressed he wasn't completely abandoning political life. "I will be one of the founders of the popular movement that is supposed to rise in this country. This will be a popular movement of Arabs and Jews who will prove that eventually, in spite of Netanyahu and his friends' opposition, we can live here together and direct this ship to other places," he explained. The Labor Party said it was "sorry to hear about MK Zouheir Bahloul's choice." "The Nationality Law is a kick in the head to over one fifth of the population of Israelwhich is a Jewish country with or without it. When we return to the government, we will amend this law as well and add what should've been obviousthe word 'equality,'" the party said in a statement. Labor Party leader Avi Gabbay promised that his party will "make sure in the next election as well that there is appropriate representation to the Arab population." A Druze doctor told a crowd of hundreds of demonstrators on Satruday night that the community will march on Jerusalem, launch a hunger strike and block roads if the recently-passed Nationality Law is not nullfied. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Hundreds of people demonstrated in Tel Aviv's Habima Square as part of the Druze community's protest against the controversial law which has been the subject of significant scrutiny. Dr. Sami Awad, a 54-year-old Druze father of three and a human resources expert from Daliat al-Carmel, delivered a speech at the protest, telling the crowds: "We will go up to Jerusalem, start a hunger strike, and block roads if the law stands; we demand equality for all minority groups." Dr. Sami Awad speaking to the public at the demonstration (Photo: Matan Turkia) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet on Sunday with the heads of the coalition factions in an effort to mend the rift between the Druze community and the government surrounding the law. At 4pm, a meeting will be held with heads of local authorities from the Druze community, and immediately after that, the various parties will begin formulating the solution "I was discharged from the army about four years ago after a 32 years' service, since 1982," Dr. Awad the angered demonstrators. "I give lectures to many organizations, colleges, and universities, in Israel and abroad. I'm an organizational consultant, but I also prepare young Druze for their IDF service," he explained. Druze protesting against the Nationality Law (Photo: The Druze Community in Israel Facebook page) "I want to tell you that the army is the only place where I felt equal, but not completely equal. I served with my Jewish friends, and I would go back home to a house without a construction permit, without legal electricity connections, to a neighborhood without Infrastructure and without basic services," he continued. "When I travel to the center of the country, I see new neighborhoods in Yokneam and cities like Harash and Modi'in. And in my town, they are still dealing with water and electricity connection problems, at best. When I travel abroad, my name is marked and I am constantly questioned until I take out my ID card," he added as he listed examples of discrimination he says he has suffered. "The education I received and absorbed at home, like the other young Druze in this country, focused on the importance of donating, giving back, and the love of the homeland," Dr. Awad said. "In the 1950s, my father served as a fighter in the IDF, my grandfather also served. Despite all this, the feelings were difficult today. To constantly witness discrimination, feel discrimination, feel different, and hurt over the injustices Despite all this, I was filled with pride and I spent many years in the military because I felt that it was mine, that Israel is my country," he added. Druze combat fighters (Photo: Dan Bronfeld) The bond between Jews and the Druze community is natural, the doctor told his listeners, drawing parallels between his community's minority status and that of Jews around the world. "The existence of the state of Israel was never guaranteed despite the Holocaust that accelerated the country's establishment." "What happens now? Now that the nationality bill passed, emotions are very high. Why? The law permits discrimination, without anyone's discretion. The law simply says: discriminate between a Jew and a non-Jew. The law is terrible not because of what it states, but because of what it lacks," Dr. Awad argued. "The law doesnt mention equality and there is no word about other minorities, only Jews. Article 1c, the most damaging one, states that only Jews have the right to national self-determination in the State of Israel. What does this mean? That means I cannot define myself, I have no definition. I, who served 32 years in the IDF, do not know how to define myself at all," he bemoaned. "Am I a mercenary? A temporary guest here? Passerby? Have I served for 32 years for my country for nothing?," he asked, describing the feeling that has ensued as a result of the law as "dreadful." "How can I persuade young Druze to enlist in the army now, to contribute to this country that this law states is not mine? How will I look at my son, and in eight years time, when it his time to enlist, explain to him that after 32 years in the army I do not want him to enlist because it's not ours anymore? What will happen next? What will happen in 10-20 years?" The protest against the Nationality Law in Tel Aviv (Photo: Matan Turkia) Dr. Awad also asked what would be of the soldiers currently serving in the IDF, how they will look upon the flag, "when, according to the definition of this superfluous and divisive law, they are simply mercenaries." The doctor also shared personal losses which he had suffered while serving in the army. "I lost soldiers in the battlefield and accompanied bereaved families for years, I felt their pain What will happen in this new reality, I do not know, the Druze street is outraged today, there is no point in doing anything if I do not have my full rights as an equal citizen," he said. The speaker further highlighted the Druze contribution to the military and the country. "It's true that we are only 125,000 people, but we have a lot of rights in this country: There are 142,000 Druze in Israel, two generals in the IDF, 18 brigadier generals; one of the developers of the Iron Dome is a senior Druze officer from a village in the north," he explained. Officers, engineers in various security forces, and ambassador were among the prominent professions to which he said the Druze community had contributed. Highlighting that 427 Druze people had perished in Israeli wars, Dr. Awad hailed their presence in the medical, academic and scientific fields. Netanyahu meets with Druze leaders (Photo: Kobi Gideon/GPO) Turning to the prime minister, Dr. Awad said he had one small message, reminding him that he was only alive due to actions carried out by a Druze. "I want to remind him that 50 years ago, when he was commander of the Sayeret Matkal commando unit on Mount Hermon, he was caught in a snowstorm. If he had stayed there, he and his entire team would not be with us today. The person who came to his aid is one of the north's residents, Salim Shufi, a young Druze who rescued him and his entire crew. How can you not remember Salim while approving this new and appalling law?" he asked. "We built this country together with the Jews, we are not against the state, under any circumstances We are in favor of equality for all residents regardless of religion The Declaration of Independence is the foundation, and it is our Nationality Law." 'Druze soldiers feel like mercenaries in the IDF' Last Wednesday Brig. Gen. (Res.) Amal As'ad, former commander of the Coordination and Liaison Administration, also expressed his anger saying, "After we built this home together with Jews, the Nationality Law excludes the Druze community from that home and put it outside the fence. "We encourage the fact that Israel is a Jewish state even prior to its establishment and we will continue doing so with or without the law," As'ad elaborated. "But, for some reason the Druze community was left behind. I've served in the IDF for this country for 26 years and I have the right to demand for it to mine exactly as it is yours," he went on to say. Amal As'ad "We intend to take further measures, without making any reckless moves. We are thinking together about our next steps to amend the law," the former commander of the coordination and liaison administration explained. "Most peopleincluding ministers, are starting to understand that this law is bad for the state, bad for the Jewish citizens, and bad for other minorities," he stated. According to As'ad, there are Knesset members, lawyers, heads of local authorities and officers who petitioned the High Court on the matter. "I am proud to be a member of the Druze community ... The Nationality Law has hurt us, we do not want separate laws ... We are proud of the flag, the national symbols, and the Declaration of Independence. The state should be a state for its entire peopleJewish and non-Jewish citizens living there," he insisted. Protest against the Nationality Law in Jerusalem (Photo: The Druze Community in Israel Facebook page) Shaher Mahameed, a Haifa-based MDA paramedic, also shared his feelings regarding the controversial law. "I have been working in this field for more than 20 years, treating Jews and Arabs without any difference. I saved the lives of Jews many times. After they recovered, they even gave me certificates of appreciation. Unfortunately, the government approved a racist law that discriminates between Arabs and Jews. Instead of respecting us, Israel continues to disparage us. " 'The law is racist, we lost our faith in the country' Angered by the law, a Bedouin soldier said he was ashamed of the government which he said had proved it was racist. "Why should I serve in a country that spits in our faces? I prefer not to remain in the army for another minute if this law stands. The government is shooting itself in the foot," he complained. Bedouin soldiers swearing-in ceremony (Photo: EPA) No agreements have been made regarding changes to the Nationality Law, according to the Prime Minister's Office. Netanyahu and Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, who led the legislation process, have stated their opposition to changing the newly passed law. Instead, Netanyahu and the other officials discussed the possibility of adding to a law passed in May that sets a day in the State of Israel's official national calendar celebrating the Druze community and their contribution to the country. Alternatively, a complementary law will be added to the Nationality Law to establish the Druze community's status in the country. The secondary law will be formulated by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit and a legal advisor from the Druze community. Netanyahu meets with MKs and ministers to discuss the Druze community (Photo: Haim Tzah, GPO) In addition, the government will consider promoting legislation that gives preference to Druze who serve or served in the IDF. Minister of Finance Moshe Kahlon will work on a solution to a range of issues raised by senior members of the Druze community, with concerns mainly regarding infrastructure in Druze villages, setting a unique program for the employment of Druze women, and more. 800 Ethiopians are demonstrating near the government compound in Jerusalem in a protest against the government's failure to implement governmental decisions regarding the immigration of Ethiopian Jews from Ethiopia. The demonstration, titled "Bibi: You Promised, keep your word!" includes activists from the Ethiopian community and families of refuseniks. Due to the demonstration, Jerusalem's Kaplan Street, between Rabin Zussman and Knesset Square, is blocked. The widow of Yotam Ovadia who was stabbed to death last Thursday by a terrorist in the settlement of Adam said on Saturday that she does not know what I will do now as far as my children are concerned. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Speaking a day after her husband was buried in Givat Shaul Cemetery in Jerusalem, Tal, a mother of two, said I dont know how to continue and to be strong for the children. We were everything to him. The home was his kingdom. Tal Ovadia (Photo: Amit Shabi) Ovadia was killed by 17-year-old Mohammad Tareq Yousef from Kobar in a stabbing attack on Thursday night while he was on his way to his parents house to collect items he bought for a romantic dinner he had prepared to surprise his wife to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Tu BAvsimilar to Valentine's Day. Tal described Yotam as a decent, modest and humble man of work. He loved me and the children in a way I had never seen in my life, said the grieving widow, who is now raising her two sonsHarel aged two and ten months, and Itay aged seven monthalone. Everything he did was for us. He always made sure that things were good. He always put himself last, she said. Yotam and Tal with their two sons Tal noted that the day on which Yotam was killed, he came home from work with a bunch of flowers and chocolates to celebrate Tu BAv. We took a photo together and he was happy. After I put the children to sleep he went to get things from his parents but he didnt manage to make it to them, she added. Everything I wanted or asked for he did and he loved me in a way that does not exist, Tal repeated. He fulfilled every dream for me. I would always say to him: You are the one, the only and special one for me. According to eyewitnesses who were present at the attack, Yotam also tried to fight the terrorist, which prevented him from breaking into homes in the settlement to carry out more stabbings. Security forces are still investigating how Yousef managed to enter the settlement. While investigating attack, cop discovered victim was his cousin When Chief Superintendent Eli Ovadia, commander of the Binyamin Police Station, launched the investigation into the incident, he discovered that the man who had been seriously wounded in the attack was his cousin, who later succumbed to his wounds. While I was getting ready to leave my home, I was giving instruction to the forces who arrived at the scene, supt. Ovadia said. At this point I had not yet spoken to my cousins. As I was approaching the community I realized it happened on the street where my cousins liveAvraham and KarmellaYotams parents who live a few houses away from them, but I didnt want to believe it, he added. Eli Ovadia (Photo: Elisha Ben Kimon) I arrived at the scene and immediately one of the neighbors said to me that Yotam was the wounded man. It was a shock. Total shock. I almost exploded inside and my stomach was torn, said the policeman. Ovadia continued to preside over the investigation, he said, while praying for Yotams welfare. On the one hand I have to maintain my composure and continued to manage the area. But the uncles already started calling me. It is a moment I dont wish on anybody. I was in the field and had to work while at the same time pray for my beloved nephew, Ovadia recalled. Two hours later, Ovadia received the news that Yotam had succumbed to his wounds. No one can digest the fact that Yotam is no longer with us. We hugged each other and since then we have been crying, he said. I always thought I was immune from crying. When its your family your stomach turns over. You know that you are on the job and you cant work on emotion, but inside its a storm. It was a difficult moment. Police arrested another suspect in the arson of the Jerusalem hotel on Friday morning, which seriously injured two children and their parents. He is suspected of conspiring to commit a crime and is currently under police investigation. Later in the day, the suspect will be brought to the city's Magistrate's Court for a remand hearing. Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman held a meeting with the Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, the Commander of the Southern Command, the Southern Command Headquarters, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, and the Shin Bet. The purpose of the meeting was to assess the situation in the Southern Command. Lieberman emphasized the importance of preparing the army for any event along the Gaza border, especially in light of recent developments in the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected again on Sunday criticism against the recently-passed Nationality Law and called on his ministers to stop apologizing and to fight for the truth. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter There is constant defiance against the Nationality Law. The one-sided discourse and the shallow discussions in the studios are accompanied by ignorance, Netanyahu said in his opening remarks at meeting of Likud party ministers. "We have determined the personal equal rights of Israeli citizens in a series of laws including Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, laws that ensure full equality before the law, beginning with the right to vote and be elected to the Knesset and ending with all other personal rights in the State of Israel," Netanyahu said, before highlighting that Israel had never determined the national rights of the Jewish People in its land in a basic law "until now." Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with heads of the Druze authorities who have expressed outrage over the Nationality Laws passage, which they say demotes them to second-class status despite their interggration and contribution to the military and Israels public and private sector. "The State of Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people, with full equal rights for all of its citizens. This is the meaning of the words 'a Jewish and democratic state,'" he said. PM Netanyahu (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky) We are in talks with Druze representatives. The nation-state is a bedrock of our existence, Netanyahu added. The prime minister also devoted his comments to defending the law which caused controversy for declaring that only Jews have the right of self-determination in the Israel. "What is the meaning of national rights? They define the flag, the national anthem, the language and, of course, the fact that one of the basic goals of the state is the ingathering of exiles of our people and their absorption here in the land of Israel. This is the meaning of the Zionist vision," the prime minister declared. "Does determining that our flag bears the Star of David somehow abrogate the individual right of anyone among Israel's citizens? Nonsense, but determining this ensures that there will not be another flag," he stated. "Does determining that Hatikvah is our national anthem detract from the personal rights of any person in Israel? Nonsense, but it does determine that there will not be another anthem. Already there are proposals to replace the flag and the anthem in the name of equality, as it were," Netanyahu continued. "There is opposition to the idea of a nation-state in many countries, but first of all in the State of Israel, something that undermines the foundation of our existence, and therefore, the attacks emanating from left-wing circles that define themselves as Zionist are absurd and expose the nadir to which the left has sunk," Netanyahu continued. PM Netanyahu meets with Druze community representatives (Photo: Kobi Gideon/GPO) For decades, the Israeli premier complained, the opposition had preached to Israel to return to the pre-1967 border in order to ensure that Israel remained a Jewish state and the national homeland for the Jewish people. Then suddenly when we pass a basic law to ensure exactly this, the left cries out in protest? What hypocrisy, Netanyahu said. The Israeli Left, he argued, must "search within itself and ask itself why the basic term of Zionism, 'a Jewish national state of the Jewish people in its land', has become a rude term for it, a rude word, a principle that one should be ashamed of. We are not ashamed of Zionism. We are proud of our state, that it is a national home for the Jewish people, which strictly upholdsin a manner that is without peerthe individual rights of all its citizens. He also addressed the grievances voiced by members of the Druze community, which he said touch my heart. "I want to tell them: There is nothing in this law that infringes on your rights as equal citizens of the State of Israel, and there is nothing in it that harms the special status of the Druze community in Israel. The people of Israel, and I among them, love and appreciate you. We very much esteem the partnership and the covenant between us," he said in a bid to reassure the concerned citizens. "I am aware of the feelings coming from the community. Therefore, I met with the head of the community and I will continue this dialogue today as well, in order to find solutions that will meet the concerns and give expression to the special partnership between us. I promise you that this partnership of fate will only strengthen," he vowed. You are here: Arts A series of cultural events will be held during an international theater arts exchange month program in Fuzhou city in east China's Jiangxi Province from Sept. 28 to the end of October. Performing groups from Russia, United Kingdom, Spain, France, Canada and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea will present their work. "The exchange was designed to promote communication, friendship and business cooperation between Jiangxi and the world," said Wu Zhongqiong, vice governor of Jiangxi Province. The exchange month program was named after Tang Xianzu, a prominent Ming dynasty playwright born in Fuzhou and a contemporary of William Shakespeare, active in the late 16th to early 17th century. In China, Tang is considered one of the three masters who died in the same year, along with Shakespeare and Spanish writer Cervantes. Recital competitions and singing games of works by Tang, Shakespeare and Cervantes will also be held. Accordng to Shaare Zedek Medical Center, the condition of the mother and two children injured in the Jerusalem hotel fire has imporved. They are no longer anesthetized, but they remain in intensive care units. The father, who was also injured in the fire, was transferred to the burns unit at Sheba Tel Hashomer Hospital. Prime Minister Netanyahu, Ministers Yariv Levin and Ayoob Kara met with the Druze community's leadership, as part of Netanyahu's round of talks with members of the Druze community. "The consultations will continue, we will establish a team headed by Chief of Staff Yoav Horowitz that will soon recommend a course of actions that will strengthen the ties between us," said the prime minister. "The Nationality Law ensures that Israel remains the nation-state of our people - that is the purpose of the state," concluded Netanyahu. The father of the Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi, who was released on Sunday morning after serving an 8-month prison sentence in Israel for physically assaulting , along with her cousin, an Israeli soldier, has said that his daughter did not make a mistake. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Tamimi, 17, became a heroine to Palestinians after the December 15 incident outside her home in the village of Nabi Saleh was streamed live on Facebook by her mother, Nariman, and went viral. She was 16 at the time. Nariman was also arrested during the assault on the IDF officer for filming the incident and posting it on Facebook. She was released from prison the same day as her daughter. Ahed, Bassem and Nariman Tamimi (Photo: Reuters) We are happy, we are going to the grave of Yasser Arafat to lay a wreath and perhaps we will meet President Mahmoud Abbas, said Aheds father, Bassem Tamimi. Asked whether his daughter would continue to stage protests against IDF soldiers and behave in a similar fashion to that which has propelled her to a celebrity status in Palestinian society and turned her into a symbol of the Palestinian cause worldwide, Bassem said if necessary. If that is what is required, she will do. I dont think that she made a mistake and thats why she doesnt need to change. She will continue her normal life and she will follow her beliefs, the father said. Shortly after her release, Tamimi met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in his headquarters in Ramallah. Ahed Tamimi meets President Abbas (Photo: Reuters) The President praised Ahed and described her as a model of the Palestinian struggle for freedom, independence and statehood, a statement said on the Palestinian Wafa news agency. He stressed that nonviolent resistance which Ahed embodies has proven to be an ideal and vital weapon in facing the repression of the Israeli occupation. According to the statement, Abbas said: You are a model for emulation of the civil resistance. You prove that the Palestinian people will stand firm for their rights, no matter what the price will be. Gabi Leski, Tamimis defense attorney, said after his clients release that it was sad that we have had to get to a day like this in which the State of Israel arraigns minors for resisting occupation. However, she also added that the soldier who had been assaulted by Tamimi and those in the area were deserving of praise for acting with restraint. They knew that there was no pretext at all to fight with a minor when a short time before the incident her cousin was shot in the head, and that they were inside the yard of her home, Leski said. Unfortunately, the whole story of Ahed Tamimis trial is a lot more political than judicial and its a shame that politicians didnt have the wisdom and restraint that the soldiers had. A spokesman for the right-wing Israeli Im Tirzu grassroots Zionist movement issued a statement on the trial. This is a family of terrorists and Ahed is one soldier in this family. One uncle murdered an Israeli who was on his way to a shop to buy eggs and milk and after murdering him he burned his body, said spokesman Alon Schwartz. Another aunt assisted a terrorist on the way to carry out a terror attack on the Sbarro restaurant and was happy that she murdered eight children there. And obviously, the father of the family was himself convicted for attacking soldiers. Schwartz said that while the war on terror and wars are generally often unpleasant for civilians, it was important to remember the words of Israels first prime minister, David Ben Gurion. Its not important what the nations say, its important what the Jews do. The war on terror is hard, but we must deter it all the time. The Israeli deterrence, unfortunately, is not strong enough, Schwartz said. Speaking in front of the microphones before her supporters who had turned out to welcome her, Tamimi issued a brief statement. I am grateful to everyone who came to welcome me today. I hope that everyone comes to the press conference at 4pm so I can talk in more detail and convey my message and that of the female prisoners who sent me messages all over the world. Thank you," she said. As tensions between the US and Iran soar following US President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear agreement, the US administration is looking at military options in order to keep vital waterways in the Middle East open, reports CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Concerns have been growing for days in the wake of attacks on Saudi oil tankers by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, and increasing verbal threats made by Iranian officials against shipping in the Persian Gulf. Iran threatened to block all of its competitor's oil exports in the Gulf if the US sanctions are imposed. Iran also made specific threats regarding shipping through the choke point at the Strait of Hormuz, which is a very important oil transport route. Gen. Joseph Votel, head of US Central Command, and commander of US military operations in the Middle East, visited the region this week, and met with his counterparts to discuss US security concerns. CNN's report also says that apart from stepping up their rhetoric, Iran's Wednesday attack on two Saudi oil tankers, each of which could carry up to two million oil barrels, is a cause for greater concern. One tanker sustained minor damage, and no oil spilled. US Defense Secretary James Mattis (Photo: Motti Kimchi) US officials stress that if any military action will take place, it would be carried out by US allies in the region, such as the Saudis, and not by US forces. The US military already provides support in the form of intelligence sharing to the Saudis in their fight against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. According to these officials, any long-term military effort would require the involvement of other nations. US Defense Secretary James Mattis stressed that the US intends to keep international oil shipping lanes open. General Qasem Soleimani (Photo: AFP) On Friday, Mattis said that "Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz," and that Tehran has tried to stop shipments in the past only to be met by an international military response. Mattis emphasized that the Pentagon would continue to cooperate with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE in order to minimize Iranian impact in the region. Earlier this month, Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander, General Qasem Soleimani said that if the US imposes their boycott on Iranian oil, the Revolutionary Guards are prepared to implement a policy that would completely prevent any oil shipment from the region. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (Photo: Reuters) Soleimani praised President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, on Sunday, for threatening to disrupt oil traffic from Iran's neighbors in the Persian Gulf, if Washington continues to persuade its allies to boycott Iran's oil. Soleimani also claimed he was prepared to ban oil shipment if necessary. Saudi Arabia has reassured Arab allies it will not endorse any Middle East peace plan that fails to address Jerusalem's status or refugees' right of return, easing their concerns that the kingdom might back a nascent US deal which aligns with Israel on key issues. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter King Salman's private guarantees to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his public defense of long-standing Arab positions in recent months have helped reverse perceptions that Saudi Arabia's stance was changing under his powerful young son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, diplomats and analysts said. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with President Trump (Photo: Reuters) This in turn has called into question whether Saudi Arabia, birthplace of Islam and site of its holiest shrines, can rally Arab support for a new push to end the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, with an eye to closing ranks against mutual enemy Iran. "In Saudi Arabia, the king is the one who decides on this issue now, not the crown prince," said a senior Arab diplomat in Riyadh. "The US mistake was they thought one country could pressure the rest to give in, but it's not about pressure. No Arab leader can concede on Jerusalem or Palestine." Palestinian officials said in December that Prince Mohammed, known as MbS, had pressed Abbas to support the US plan despite concerns it offered the Palestinians limited self-government inside disconnected patches of the West Bank, with no right of return for refugees displaced by the Arab-Israeli wars of 1948 and 1967. Such a plan would diverge from the Arab Peace Initiative drawn up by Saudi Arabia in 2002 in which Arab nations offered Israel normal ties in return for a statehood deal with the Palestinians and full Israeli withdrawal from territory captured in the 1967 Six-Day War. Saudi officials have denied any difference between King Salman, who has vocally supported that initiative, and MbS, who has shaken up long-held policies on many issues and told a US magazine in April that Israelis are entitled to live peacefully on their own land - a rare statement for an Arab leader. The Palestinian ambassador to Riyadh, Basem Al-Agha, said that King Salman had expressed support for Palestinians in a recent meeting with Abbas, saying: "We will not abandon you ... We accept what you accept and we reject what you reject." He said that King Salman naming the 2018 Arab League conference "The Jerusalem Summit" and announcing $200 million in aid for Palestinians were messages that Jerusalem and refugees were back on the table. The Saudi authorities did not respond to a request for comment on the current status of diplomatic efforts. Red lines Diplomats in the region say Washington's current thinking, conveyed during a tour last month by top White House officials, does not include Arab east Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state, a right of return for refugees or a freeze of Israeli settlements in lands claimed by the Palestinians. Senior adviser Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, has not provided concrete details of the US strategy more than 18 months after he was tasked with forging peace. A diplomat in Riyadh briefed on Kushner's latest visit to the kingdom said King Salman and MbS had seen him together: "MbS did the talking while the king was in the background." Independent analyst Neil Partrick said King Salman appears to have reined in MbS' "politically reckless approach" because of Jerusalem's importance to Muslims. "So MbS won't oppose Kushner's 'deal', but neither will he, any longer, do much to encourage its one-sided political simplicities," said Partrick, lead contributor and editor of "Saudi Arabian Foreign Policy: Conflict and Cooperation". Kushner and fellow negotiator Jason Greenblatt have not presented a comprehensive proposal but rather disjointed elements, which one diplomat said "crossed too many red lines". Instead, they heavily focused on the idea of setting up an economic zone in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula with the adjacent Gaza Strip possibly coming under the control of Cairo, which Arab diplomats described as unacceptable. In Qatar, Kushner asked Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to pressure the Islamist group Hamas to cede control of Gaza in return for development aid, the diplomats said. One diplomat briefed on the meeting said Sheikh Tamim just nodded silently. It was unclear if that signalled an agreement or whether Qatar was offered anything in return. "The problem is there is no cohesive plan presented to all countries," said the senior Arab diplomat in Riyadh. "Nobody sees what everyone else is being offered." Kushner, a 37-year-old real estate developer with little experience of international diplomacy or political negotiation, visited Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and Israel in June. He did not meet Abbas, who has refused to see Trump's team after the US embassy was moved to Jerusalem. In an interview at the end of his trip, Kushner said Washington would announce its Middle East peace plan soon, and press on with or without Abbas. Yet there has been little to suggest any significant progress towards ending the decades-old conflict, which Trump has said would be "the ultimate deal". "There is no new push. Nothing Kushner presented is acceptable to any of the Arab countries," the Arab diplomat said. "He thinks he is 'I Dream of Genie' with a magic wand to make a new solution to the problem." A White House official told reporters last week that Trump's envoys were working on the most detailed set of proposals to date for the long-awaited peace proposal, which would include what the administration is calling a robust economic plan, though there is thus far no release date. Israel's military says it has intercepted a ship carrying activists en route to Gaza aiming to violate the legal naval blockade on the coastal territory. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said the ship had been monitored and was detained according to the international law. "The IDF forces clarified to the activists on the ship that they are violating the legal naval blockade and that any humanitarian equipment can be transferred to Gaza through Ashdod Port," the statement read. Freedom Flotilla The incident incident passed "without exceptional events" and the ship was taken to the Port of Ashdod. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, an umbrella group comprising pro-Palestinian and Islamic charities from around the world, said on Twitter that Israel had "hijacked" the vessel. It said there were 22 activists from 14 countries, mainly from Europe but also Malaysia, the US and Israel, carrying 100 boxes of medical aid for Gaza, on board of the Al Awda ship, which is only a few days ahead of another boat also making its way to the strip in an effort to break the blockade. Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade on Gaza after the Islamic militant group Hamas took over the territory in 2007. Israel says it is crucial to prevent Hamas, a group sworn to Israel's destruction, from arming. Critics say it is collective punishment of Gaza's 2 million people. There have been several attempts to sail to Gaza in recent years, most notably in 2010 when nine Turkish nationals died during a violent confrontation with Israeli naval commandos. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Tourism Minister Yariv Levin and Communications Minister Ayoob Kara met Sunday with Druze local council heads as part of the Prime Minister's ongoing talks with Druze community leaders over the Nationality Law. "There are unending attempts to rescind the definition of the State of Israel as the national state of the Jewish people. We passed the Nation-State Law in order to ensure that Israel will remain the national state of our peoplethis is the purpose of the state's existence. The law does not detract at all from the individual rights of anybody. It is designed to make the necessary legal balance, the time for which has come, in order to ensure the character of the State of Israel," the prime minister said. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Sunday Palestinian teen Ahed Temimi who was released from prison after serving eight months for assaulting an IDF officer. Erdogan congratulated Tamimi for her courage and her steadfastness, according to the official Turkish news agency. Ahed Tamimi who had been released on Sunday morning after serving an 8-month prison sentence in Israel for physically assaulting an IDF officer in the West Bank held a press conference during which she said that her message is "to continue the fight for liberation, and to hold Israel accountable for its war crimes." Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter When asked whether she would slap an IDF soldier in the future, Tamimi replied, "I don't know what will be in the future. I hope the occupation will end so I won't need to act like that. I look forward to peace, for everyone to live without fences and without the occupation, that everyone will do what is best for them." Ahed Tamimi in a press conference after her release (Photo: Zvika Tishler) Among the teen provocateur's supporters was Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who called to congratulate her for her "courage and steadfastness." "I plan to study law to defend my people and the Palestinian cause," Tamimi stated. She also added that the Nationality Law passed recently in the Knesset is a "racist Apartheid law." "Jerusalem was and forever will be the Palestinian capital. I will always be with (The Palestinian) prisoners," she went on to say. "The message of the female convicts in Israel's prisons is (to promote) Palestinian unity, unity in our battle and to support the prisoners' fight for freedom," Tamimi explained. Ahed Tamimi: 'I'll continue fighting for liberation' (Photo: Zvika Tishler) The 17-year-old Palestinian thanked those who supported her during the eight months she served in prison. "I thank all the people who launched campaigns for me and showed their presence outside the prison. I thank all the journalists who covered my story and held campaigns in the media for me," she said with gratitude. Tamimi also expressed her gratitude to her mother Nariman. She was also arrested during the assault on the IDF officer for filming the incident and posting it on Facebook and was also released from prison Sunday. "She was in prison while her children were left (alone). It's a very hard situation to be in. (Nevertheless), she has continued promoting the Palestinian issue out loud," Tamimi elucidated. Tamimi was released in a plea bargain that concluded that the months during which she had been placed under arrest would be included in her overall sentence. She was also ordered to pay an NIS 5,000 fine. Her mother was ordered to pay NIS 6,000. The Druze community leaders met with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Sunday in order to once again express their position over the Nationality Law which they describe as discriminatory Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The Nationality Law, states that the State of Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people and that Hebrew is the official language of the state. Arabic was defined as having a special status, with the official state use of Arabic to be determined in separate legislation. The Druze community leaders had asked to meet the president following their meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu on Friday. President Rivlin and Druze community leaders (Photo: Mark Neiman/GPO) The president greeted them at the President's Residence and reiterated his support for the community. The partnership between us is ingrained in the foundation of this country. This is the basis, to live in cooperation, in the country we have established in full partnership with all those who live in this good country, which is good to everyone and we can retain this equation with no problem. "I made my position clear during the latest round of discussions in the Knesset, when I sent a letter to expressed my opinion on the subject ... I have no doubt that you are equal to us from a legal standpoint and we must make sure that you feel equal as well, Rivlin exclaimed. Chairman of the Forum of Druze and Circassian Authorities and head of the Horfeish Council, Mufid Mar'i, told the president at the meeting: "What hurts the Jews hurts the Druze, and what hurts the Druze hurts the Jews. We feel the embrace and connection." Head of the Daliyat al-Karmel Regional council, Rafik Halabi, said after the meeting that the Druze community cannot live in a country that blatantly discriminates against them. "We expressed our concerns regarding the law, which we see as discriminatory, that does not acknowledge our citizenship, our sense of belonging and we clearly said (to the president-ed) that we want equality for everyone. We will not be able to continue to live in a country where a large part of the populationwho is loyal to this country, feels excluded, Halabi explained. President Rivlin and Druze community leaders (Photo: Mark Neiman/GPO) Halabi went on to say that the sentiment over the law is shared among other Arab speaking communities. "Weve come to you to express our pain and distress, which is felt by not only the heads of local councils, not only by the officers and religious leaders, but rather by the entire Arab and Circassian population in Israel. There are professors, hospital department heads what will you say to them? That they are not citizens? That they are not equal? Basic legislation should apply to everyone, not only to a majority," he concluded. The president listened to the arguments and promised to do as much as he can in order to make the feelings of the community known to the relevant authorities. "This partnership and a sense of partnership are part of our souls," the president emphasized. Earlier, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Mowafak Tarif at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on Friday in an effort to mend the rift between the Druze community and the State of Israel surrounding the Nationality Law. President Rivlin and Druze community leaders (Photo: Mark Neiman/GPO) Other prominent figures from the Druze community were also at the meeting, including Brig. Gen. (res.) Amal Asad, former Labor MK Shachiv Shnaan and Communications Minister Ayoob Kara (Likud). No agreements have been made regarding changes to the Nationality Law, according to the Prime Minister's Office. Netanyahu and Minister Yariv Levin, who led the legislation process, don't think it's right to "open" the law at this time and make changes to it. Instead, Netanyahu and the other officials discussed the possibility of adding to a law passed in May that sets a day in the State of Israel's official national calendar celebrating the Druze community and their contribution to the country. Alternatively, the coalition could propose new legislation to establish the Druze community's status in the State of Israel. In addition, the government will consider promoting legislation to give preference to Druze who serve or served in the IDF. The first China International Import Expo (CIIE)will be held in Shanghai in 100 days' time, from November 5 to 10, as a significant measure and action for China to actively open its market to the world. The event, to be held by China's Ministry of Commerce and Shanghai Municipal Government, has already created much anticipation in the preparatory period. Enjoying great popularity worldwide "Once announced, the news of the CIIE was greeted with high praise and an enthusiastic response in the international community. Businesses are eager to register and participate in the exhibition," Wang Bingnan, vice minister of Commerce told a press conference to mark the start of the 100-day countdown in Shanghai on July 27. "Now, registration is progressing smoothly with an outcome far exceeding expectations," he added. So far, over 2,800 companies from over 130 countries and regions across five continents have confirmed their participation in the company exhibition, which will cover an area of 270,000 square meters, according to Wang. Preliminary data indicates the participants will bring along over 100 new products and techniques, and unveil a number of world- level cutting-edge products and services. By June, when the official application period for attending the company exhibition ended, there were still many companies queuing up, said Wang in stressing the popularity of the event. According to the introduction of the expo organizer earlier in the week, the only option available now for these particular companies will be to make an early reservation for the second session of the expo scheduled to be held in 2019. In addition to individual companies, approximately 38 trade delegations and 150,000 individual purchasers will be attending the first CIIE, Wang added. Malfunctioned security cameras and a fence that was established in the 1980s are only some of the security problems in the settlement of Adam where 31-year-old Yotam Ovadia was stabbed to death by a Palestinian terrorist who penetrated the community Thursday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The recent stabbing attack only stresses the security failures existing in other settlements in the West Bank. Shortly after the terror attack in Adam, it became clear that the 17-year-old terrorist Mohammad Tareq Yousef climbed over the fence and ran towards the settlement's houses. Fence through which the terrorist penetrated Adam The fence surrounding Adam does not have any infiltration alerts. "Even prior to the terror attack we had prepared an elaborated plan (to upgrade-ed) the security measures in our community," said the settlement's Committee Chairman Beber Vaanunu. "However, there is no allocation of budgets and everything is stuck." "Some part of the fence were established in the early 1980s. The (security) cameras have malfunctions," he elaborated. Nevertheless, Vaanunu acknowledges that no matter how sophisticated the fence will be, "if they have the will to harm, they will harm." Vaanunu said that during the Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot and the sector commnder's visit to Adam they had committed to improving the existing security systems. "We are surrounded with Arab villages. Therefore, the security elements should be hermetic. Apart from that, We've asked to add more than 1,000 housing units. This is precisely the time to expand Adam and connect it to Jerusalem," he opined. The Yesha Council, an umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, is also fighting for security budgets, which have yet to be allocated. The security cost of each community is estimated at millions. Yotam Ovadia with his family The West Bank Division's security officer Shlomo Vaknin explained that, "After the terror attack in settlement of Neve Tzuf (Halamish) I said that we better pray for another terror attack not to happen." He added that the defense minister had formulated a comprehensive plan to meet the needs of all Jewish communities in the West Bank. However, its cost is estimated at billions of Shekels. "It wasn't presented before the Security Cabinet. Today, 60 of the west Bank's communities have the same fences as in Adam. The communities are not protected, despite that as opposed to other communities in Israel, the infiltration threat here is the most critical one," he elaborated. NIS eight million are transferred every year to the west Bank's communities to bolster the existing security systems. However, According to Vaknin, the security maintenance cost for each settlement is estimated at NIS four million per year, which means "that all the existing security systems will be upgraded only within a decade." Turkey's president said his government would not back down and was willing to "go its own way" if the United States imposes sanctions over an American pastor who is being tried on espionage and terror-related charges. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ended his silence late Saturday on the escalating diplomatic dispute involving Andrew Craig Brunson, 50. The evangelical pastor was arrested in December 2016 and jailed until he was released to home detention last week. "They cannot make Turkey back down with sanctions," Turkish media quoted Erdogan saying during an official visit to southern Africa. The Population and Immigration Authority canceled on Sunday the residence permits of the two Italian citizens who were arrested on Saturday on suspicion of damaging the separation wall in the West Bank. The two had been arrested along with a Palestinian man after they drew a graffiti of Ahed Tamimi on the wall. The decision to destroy one of the David's Sling interceptor missiles in midair last Monday was the right decision, according to the Israeli Air Force's (IAF) comprehensive debriefing following the system's failure to intercept two SS-21 Syrian missiles its first attempt. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Israel's launched its David's Sling air defence system for its first ever operational mission on Monday as a precauation against rockets fired within neighboring Syria, setting off sirens in northern Israeli communities, the IDF said. The rockets fell inside Syrian territory and were part of internal fighting, a military statement said. "After identifying the threat and considering our tight schedule, the decision-making process was correct," IAF officials said. It was published last week that the decision to destroy one of the interceptor missiles near the Kinneret might be the wrong decision, as in hindsight the interceptor could have continued its flight until possibly hitting the large target coming from the southeast. "The additional technical aspects of the incident cannot be published out of information security considerations. All conclusions drawn in the debriefing will be implemented in the aerial defense system," The IDF's Spokesperson's Unit asserted. The cause of the failure is likely technological in nature, and not related to the Air Force operators of the system, who made a reasonable decision to launch the two interceptor missiles from the David's Sling permanent site in the north. David's Sling in action Unlike the Iron Dome system, David's Sling is not mobile. But much like the Arrow systems, David's Sling provides coverage from its stationary location to the entire country. The initial investigation found that the predicted impact point of the two Syrian missiles, which were in the air for 1-1.5 minutes, was deep in Israel's northern region. Therefore, the decision to launch the interceptor missiles was justified, though it might not have been economically justified, since the cost of each missile is $1 million. The operators' decision not to take any chances stemmed from range calculations. The distance between the location of the David's Sling in the north of Israel and the possible interception point with the two Syrian missiles was over 100 km, whereas the maximal range of the SS-21 missiles is 70 km, meaning that the David's Sling's flying speed was critical. Inquiry teams made up of representatives from the manufacturer Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, the Defense Ministry's Missile Defense Organization (MDO) and the Israel Air Force launched an investigation into the incident Monday morning over the Golan Heights. David's Sling (file photo) (Photo: Defense Ministry) David's Sling was used last Monday in order to intercept the two Soviet-made surface-to-surface SS-21 missiles, which were fired by the Syrian army against the rebels. The missiles, which are called SS-21 by NATO, are called "Tochka" in Russian, meaning "dot"an indication of their precision. The SS-21 missiles were developed in the 1970s by the Soviet Union and sold to the Syrian army. The missile's range is 14-70 kilometers. It weighs 2.5 ton, 480 kilograms of which make up the warhead that scatters spray as it hits its target. Its diameter is 65 centimeters. The SS-21 is fired from a single launcher, such as a truck, and is directed in air by wingtip devices. The Israeli defense systems can recognize and categorize the SS-21 missile within seconds and respond accordingly. . News Washington, DC - Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo: "On behalf of the Government of the United States, I congratulate the people of Peru on the anniversary of your independence. Our people share a long-standing friendship that is at the core of our excellent bilateral relationship. Today, we celebrate your countrys rich history, cultural diversity, and democratic values. "I would like to extend my gratitude for the gracious hospitality of the Peruvian people at Aprils Summit of the Americas. Perus leadership of the Lima Group has shown the Hemispheres commitment to helping the Venezuelan people. We also appreciate Perus condemnation of the violent attacks by Ortegas armed groups against the Nicaraguan people. We look forward to continuing to strengthen our strong partnership in combating corruption, advancing security for both our countries, and defending human rights and democracy throughout the Hemisphere. "I offer my best wishes to the Peruvian people on this special day." News Washington, DC - Friday, the United States hosted a trilateral cyber experts meeting with Japan and the Republic of Korea on cybersecurity in Washington, DC. The three countries reaffirmed their commitment to promoting an open, interoperable, reliable, and secure Internet. They also committed to advancing trilateral cooperation to enhance international cyber stability, deter malicious activities in cyberspace, and counter cyber threats, including from state actors. Participants also discussed cybersecurity of the 2018 and 2020 Olympics, capacity building efforts, and regional cyber policy coordination. The meeting builds on President Trumps, Prime Minister Abes, and President Moons commitment to enhance cyber cooperation. The U.S. delegation included representatives from the Departments of State, Homeland Security, Justice, and Commerce. News Bisbee, Arizona - A Border Patrol agent assigned to the Brian A. Terry Station in Bisbee reported finding an unexploded MK2 37mm ordnance round from World War II near the international boundary fence Friday afternoon. While patrolling near the international border, an agent reported finding what appeared to be an unexploded explosive round of ammunition. Cochise County Sheriffs deputies provided agents with assistance in setting up a safety perimeter. On Tuesday morning, an Airman assigned to the Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit from Davis Monthan Air Force Base responded to the scene and confirmed the ordnance was a live round. After determining its current location was the safest place for disposal, the EOD Airman detonated the round in place. Public safety is the first priority for all law enforcement personnel. This incident provided an opportunity for the U.S. Border Patrol, Cochise County Sheriffs Office, and the Department of Defense to join forces in order to achieve a harmless outcome while keeping the community safe. Anyone finding any type of explosive is advised to not touch it and alert authorities right away. Border News Nogales, Arizona - Nogales Border Patrol agents apprehended a previously-deported, and convicted sex offender Friday night in downtown Nogales. Victor Rivera-Hernandez, a 29-year-old Mexican national, was convicted in two separate incidents in West Covina and Los Angeles, California in 2008 for indecent exposure. He was sentenced to eight years probation and one year in jail. Rivera will remain in federal custody to face charges for illegal re-entry of an aggravated felon. All persons apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol undergo criminal history checks using biometrics to ensure illegal immigrants with criminal histories are positively identified. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials welcome assistance from the community. Citizens can report suspicious activity to the Border Patrol and remain anonymous by calling 1-877-872-7435 toll free. Border News San Luis, Arizona - U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested a Mexican national in a failed attempt to smuggle nearly 75 pounds of drugs into the U.S. through Arizonas Port of San Luis Tuesday. Officers referred a 21-year-old man for additional questioning as he attempted to enter the U.S. from Mexico in a Mercury SUV. When officers searched the vehicle, they discovered 9 pounds of heroin, 65 pounds of methamphetamine, and almost 70 suspected fentanyl pills concealed in the vehicles quarter panels. The heroin has a street value of nearly $150,000 and the methamphetamine has an approximate value of $195,000. CBP officers seized the drugs and vehicle. The subject was arrested and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security Investigations. Border News Nogales, Arizona - U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Arizonas Port of Nogales arrested two female U.S. citizens and a male Mexican national in separate failed attempts to smuggle methamphetamine into the United States over the weekend. On Friday, CBP officers at the Dennis DeConcini Crossing referred a 40-year-old woman for further questioning at the pedestrian lanes, where a CBP narcotics detection canine alerted to an odor it was trained to detect. The subject agreed to remove half-a-pound of methamphetamine from her vaginal cavity. The drugs have an estimated value of $1,400. Similarly, on Saturday, officers at the Morley Pedestrian Crossing referred a 25-year-old woman for additional inspection, where a CBP canine alerted to an odor it was trained to detect. The subject volunteered to remove half a pound of methamphetamine from her vaginal cavity. The drugs have an estimated value of nearly $1,400. Also on Saturday, officers at the Mariposa Crossing referred a 37-year-old male for further inspection of his Ford truck. A CBP canine alert led to the discovery of more than 36 pounds of meth, which was concealed within the trucks tailgate. The value of the meth is more than $108,000. Officers seized the drugs and vehicle. The subjects were all arrested turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security Investigations. China's top legislator Li Zhanshu has called for giving full play to the important role of the people's congresses in advancing law-based governance in all fields, under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. Li, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, stressed the significance of people's congresses in providing rule of law measures for high-quality development, reform and opening-up, and socialist modernization. Li, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the comments during a tour in east China's Fujian Province from Wednesday to Saturday. Visiting cities of Quanzhou, Fuzhou and Nanping, Li looked into the development of reform and opening-up and the work of people's congresses in these cities. The first stop of Li's tour is Jinjiang, a city administered by Quanzhou. He visited the Jinjiang City Exhibition Hall and a number of private enterprises, holding talks with officials, the people and entrepreneurs to gain an in-depth understanding of the "experience of Jinjiang" summarized by comrade Xi Jinping. When Xi worked in Fujian between 1985 and 2002, he inspected Jinjiang seven times. Summarizing Jinjiang's success story in 2002, he said the city's achievements were due to a localized market-oriented economy, hard-working locals, honest market players and effective local government. "The 'experience of Jinjiang' summarized by Xi serves as a guide to the reform and development of Jinjiang and Fujian as a whole, and is still playing a guiding role at present," Li said, calling for more efforts in learning Xi's theories and practices during his work in Fujian. Li also visited new material and new energy enterprises, the Internet-of-Things industrial base and the big data industrial park, trying smart products and learning the development of digital economy. He encouraged the enterprises to accelerate industrial transition and upgrading, and raise the ability of making innovations. During his tour, Li visited staff of the provincial people's congress and heard advice of officials and deputies to people's congresses at provincial, city, county and township levels. "As the organs of state power, people's congresses and their standing committees are at the forefront in developing democracy and the rule of law, playing a major role in advancing law-based governance in all fields," Li said. "We must ensure the Party's leadership over lawmaking and the leading role of people's congresses in lawmaking, adapt to the needs for reform, development and stability, and make constant efforts to improve the system of laws," Li said. Li told lawmakers at local levels to make laws according to actual conditions and feature local characteristics while taking the overall interests into account. Encouraging lawmakers to exercise the right of oversight endowed by the Constitution to crack hard nuts, Li urged them to ensure that the Constitution and laws be implemented effectively, and that all work be carried out in accordance with law. Li called for efforts to vigorously promote education of rule of law, carry forward the spirit of the Constitution and increase the public's awareness of rule of law. Health News Washington, DC - Preliminary findings from a large clinical trial, the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) Memory and Cognition IN Decreased Hypertension (SPRINT MIND) study will be presented at the Alzheimers Association International Conference in Chicago on July 25. The findings suggest that intensive lowering of blood pressure may reduce the risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and the combined risk of MCI and dementia, but not dementia alone. The SPRINT MIND study was funded by the National Institutes of Health. The participants in SPRINT were adults at high risk for cardiovascular disease and the study previously reported that aggressive blood pressure control reduced cardiovascular events and mortality. In addition to the reduction in the risk of cognitive impairment, the SPRINT MIND preliminary results also suggest that intensive blood pressure control significantly lowered increases in cerebral white matter abnormalities as seen on MRI among a subgroup of participants without diabetes. These abnormalities have been reported to increase the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia. NIH spokespeople can provide important context about these preliminary findings including: Explaining the preliminary nature of these results, their limitations and the importance of peer review Sharing details about the SPRINT, SPRINT MIND and SPRINT Alzheimers, Senior and Kidney (ASK) studies Reviewing how a growing body of research has pointed to a link between hypertension-related cerebrovascular disease and dementia Describing NIHs Mind Your Risks health campaign to increase awareness of the link between vascular disease and brain health Laurie Ryan, Ph.D., chief, Dementias of Aging Branch, Division of Neuroscience, NIA NIA is one of the primary funders of SPRINT MIND and sole funder of the SPRINT ASK follow-up study Lawrence J. Fine M.D., DrPH, chief, Clinical Applications and Prevention Branch, Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, and Joni K. Snyder, clinical trials specialist, Clinical Applications and Prevention Branch, Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, NHLBI NHLBI is the primary funder of SPRINT Clinton B. Wright, M.D., M.S., director, Office of Clinical Research, and Claudia S. Moy, Ph.D., program director, Office of Clinical Research, NINDS SPRINT MIND funder and sponsor of the Mind Your Risks public health campaign to increase awareness of the links between vascular and brain health Paul Kimmel, M.D., M.A.C.P., program director, Division of Kidney, Urologic, and Hematologic Diseases, NIDDK SPRINT funder NIH-funded researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, will present preliminary data at an Alzheimers Association International Conference (link is external) (AAIC) press briefing in Chicago, July 25, 2018, 8 a.m. Central Time/9 a.m. Eastern Time. They will discuss two related abstracts which preview results that aim to directly address the link between hypertension-related cerebrovascular disease and dementia. In the first abstract, researchers from Wake Forest School of Medicine suggest that a systolic blood pressure target of <120 mmHg (compared to a target of <140 mmHg) may reduce the risk of mild cognitive impairment and the combined risk of MCI and dementia. For the second, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania suggest that the lower blood pressure target reduced the increase in total volume of cerebral white matter lesions on MRI scans. How these results generalize to other high-risk populations or those without major cardiovascular risk awaits detailed analysis and publication of the final results in a peer-reviewed journal. It is anticipated that these findings will be submitted for peer-reviewed publication later this year. Yuma News Yuma, Arizona - On Friday, July 27, 2018 at approximately 1:39 p.m. Yuma Police Department responded to the area of 23rd Street and 1st Avenue in reference suspicious subject. When officers arrived they found a male subject with injuries. The victim was transported to Yuma Regional Medical Center with unknown injuries. The incident is still under investigation. The Yuma Police Department encourages anyone with any information about this case to please call the Yuma Police Department at (928) 373-4700 or 78-Crime at (928) 782-7463 to remain anonymous. Remember if your information leads to an arrest you may receive up to a $1,000 cash reward. Yuma News Yuma, Arizona - U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Wellton Station Interstate 8 and Blythe Station Highway 78 Immigration Checkpoints seized more than 47 pounds of hard narcotics in two separate smuggling events Thursday. The first event occurred at approximately 11:30 a.m., when Wellton Station agents working at the Interstate 8 Immigration Checkpoint referred a shuttle van to the secondary inspection area for an immigration check of its passengers. During the inspection, a Border Patrol canine positively alerted to a seat occupied by a male 44-year-old United States citizen. A subsequent search of his luggage yielded a 2.2 pound package of heroin. The heroin is valued at $38,448. In the second event at approximately 6:35 p.m., Blythe Station agents working at the Highway 78 Immigration Checkpoint sent a red 2002 Ford Explorer to the secondary inspection area after a Border Patrol canine positively alerted to an odor it was trained to detect. A subsequent search of the vehicle discovered an aftermarket body compartment near the gas tank. The compartment was filled with 30 bundles of 35.3 pounds of methamphetamine, 5.3 pounds of cocaine, and 5 pounds of heroin. The driver, a 26-year-old United States citizen female from Imperial, California, was also found with $8,840 in her purse. The narcotics have a combined worth of $254,144. Both subjects were arrested and all contraband was seized. Federal law allows agents to charge individuals by complaint, a method that allows the filing of criminal activity charges without inferring guilt. An individual is presumed innocent unless or until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents effectively combat smuggling organizations attempting to illegally transport people and contraband through southwestern Arizona and California. Citizens can help the Border Patrol and U.S. Customs and Border Protection by calling 1-866-999-8727 toll-free to report suspicious activity. Callers may remain anonymous. - Kumawood actor Yaw Dabo has finally confirmed his real age - The actor indicated this in an interview with Delay Popular diminutive Kumawood comic actor, Yaw Dabo, has put the matter of rumors surrounding his age to bed after he confirmed his real age in a recent interview with popular TV personality, Deloris Frimpong Manso. Speaking in an interview on the Delay Show, Yaw Dabo, in answering the question concerning his age appeared shocked when Delay mentioned it to him. According to Delay, Yaw Dabo was reported to be 19 years of age even though there had been a thousand and one speculations on the subject. Yaw Dabo. Photo Credit: Supplied READ ALSO: Vivian Okyere stuns fans yet again with 'wild' 'Tundra' photos Yaw Dabo, who was marveled, asked how Delay managed to get that vital information about his life. In a wide-ranging interview, Yaw Dabo revealed his family background and how he dropped out of school after completing JHS 3. He added that his father, who used to be a worker at the Electricity Company of Ghana, lost his job due to an issue and it cut short his academic career due to constraints on the familys finances because he had 8 other siblings. Video Credit: YouTube/GhPage The actor recently took his first trip outside Ghana to France with Kofi Aamoah and they were both elated over the trip. During the trip the actor jokingly revealed that even his complexion had already started changing just three hours upon his arrival in the foreign country. READ ALSO: Top pastor on the run after leaking adult video with married woman on social media Not too long ago, YEN.com.gh sighted a video of the diminutive actor with his supposed Kumawood sweetheart, Vivian Okyere. The two were seen all over each other even though Vivian Okyere had claimed in an earlier video that she was not dating the comic diminutive actor. In yet another video, the couple were seen together as they celebrated his birthday in a room in an all loved-up position. Yaw Dabo is noted as one of Kumawoods top comic actors after having starred in over 100 Kumawood-produced movies. He has had the opportunity to show off his acting talent alongside some of the industrys top names including Kwadwo Nkansah, Michael Boadi, Nana Ama McBrown and Benedicta Gafah. READ ALSO: Lordina Mahama is the one taking care of me John Mahama Watch: Ghana News: Sulley Muntari Gave $2.200 To Accra Hearts Of Oak Players | Yen.com.gh YEN is building a platform where Ghanaians can share local news and own experiences with each other. Witnessing an incident? Want to tell about a local problem? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Send us a message via YENs official Facebook page. Source: Yen.com.gh - Major parts of Accra have been hit with an acute water shortage - Residents of affected areas have had to sacrifice time in search for water - The water company says the situation is because of illegal structures on water pipelines Residents at the Adabraka, Asylum Down, Bubuashie and Dansoman suburbs of Accra have experienced an acute shortage of water. Thousands of these frustrated residents have had to sacrifice time of their normal schedules and even productive work hours to go on a hunt for fresh water. Yen.com.gh has learned that these areas have been without water for the past two weeks. In fact, residents from all affected townships have appealed to the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) to for swift intervention especially when some pipes of the company are being under maintenance. READ ALSO: 6 types of Ghanaians under 35 exposed to HIV/AIDS As it stands now, we do not know when the problem will be rectified. We have only been told that the management of GWCL is working to address the challenge, a resident told Graphic.com.gh. Meanwhile, the GWCL, in a statement said it had begun an exercise to service all its valves that supplied water within the Adabraka enclave to identify the problem. According to the company, the challenge came about due to some unauthorized structures causing the blockage and consistent bursting of the pipelines, leading to low pressure and erratic flow in some areas. Use of prepaid water meters The minister for sanitation and water resources, Joseph Kofi Adah has hinted at the introduction of prepaid water meters before the end of the year. In an interview with Joy FM, the minister revealed that 80,000 prepaid units will be installed across all densely populated areas in Accra, Kumasi, the Volta Region among others. The issue of using prepaid water meters attracted grave opposition when it was first brought up in the Mahama administration as Ghanaians complained about the effect it would have on the poor and marginalized. READ ALSO: The magical walking stick and all the presidential pictures captured during Nana Addo's tour of N/R The minister insists the installation of these meters will ensure the proper streamline of water distribution and usage in the country. Ghana News: Sulley Muntari Gave $2.200 To Accra Hearts Of Oak Players | Yen.com.gh Have national and human interest issues to discuss? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: Yen YEN.com.gh has sighted an inspiring photo of a senior high school graduate Theresa Frimpong, who has excelled greatly at the 2018 WASSCE. The photo is seen on the Facebook page of one Charles Mogxy, who aptly captioned it: We must commend hardwork. Theresa has scored AI (the highest score) in seven subjects at the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). READ ALSO: You look beautiful without make-up Fans praise Moeshas look in new video The eight subjects are: Elective Mathematics, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Core Maths, Integrated Science, Social Studies, and English which she scored B2 (second highest). The subjects indicate that Theresa Frimpong was a General Science student. She attended Galaxy International School in Accra. READ ALSO: Midland compensates assaulted Patience Sarfo with house and cash to avoid suit Though YEN.com.gh has not gathered all personal details about Theresa, judging by her look in the photo, it could be said that she is between sixteen and seventeen years old. It is very uncommon to see such brilliant performance at the WAASCE, especially on the part of a female student. Interestingly, reports suggest that many students failed at this years WASSCE, especially in science and mathematics. This led to pressure being mounted on the Education Minister, Matthew Opoku-Prempeh, by the Minority in Parliament, to resign. READ ALSO: Lordina Mahama is the one taking care of me John Mahama Part of the problem was blamed on the poor-quality Free SHS policy, lack of teacher motivation, and also bad attitude on the part of the students. Despite many failures, Theresa has proven to be a hardworking girl, and indeed she deserves commendations. Meanwhile, Galaxy international is one of brilliant school in Ghana. YEN.com.gh wishes Theresa all the best in her endeavours. READ ALSO: Matilda Amissah-Arthur was right with her tribute rant Lawrence Tetteh Ghana News: Sulley Muntari Gave $2.200 To Accra Hearts Of Oak Players | Yen.com.gh READ ALSO: Fans warn Efia Odo over another video of her chopping love with Revloe Have national and human interest issues to discuss? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page Source: Yen.com.gh - Final funeral rites of the late Stacy Offei-Darko have been held - Kennedy Agyapong and his six-year-old daughter were in attendance to pay their last respects - The young lady broke down into tears after seeing the crowd the mortal remains of her mother Many sympathizers were saddened as daughter of late Stacy Offei-Darko, could not hold back her tears upon arrival at the funeral grounds of her late mother. The 6-year-old-daughter of late Deputy CEO of the National Entrepreneurship Innovation Program (NEIP) and MP for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong broke down in tears after realizing that her mother is truly no more when the body was laid in state. The grief-stricken young girl wailed holding tightly on to her dad - Kennedy Agyapong who consoled her in the process. Late Stacy Offei-Darko. Photo Credit: Supplied READ ALSO: Midland compensates assaulted Patience Sarfo with house and cash to avoid suit Final burial rites for the late Statcy Offei-Darko took place at the forecourt of the Statehouse in Accra on 28th July 2018. The service attracted top ranks from the country's political landscape including Chief of staff, Frema Osei-Opare who paid their final respects to the former Deputy NEIP boss. News about the demise of the Deputy CEO of NEIP, Statcy Offei Darko shook many as she was not reported sick, according to the family. READ ALSO: Lordina Mahama is the one taking care of me John Mahama Statcy was reported dead at the Obengfo hospital on May 21, 2018 while undergoing liposuction. It was however reported that owner of the facility, Dr Dominic Obeng Andoh, better known as Dr Obenfo, ordered the body of the deceased to be deposited at the morgue without the familys knowledge. The embattled medical practitioner who has since been charged with murder was yesterday granted bail by an Accra High Court. READ ALSO: Meet Theresa Frimpong; the SHS leaver who scored A1 in 7 of her WASSCE subjects Watch: Ghana News: Sulley Muntari Gave $2.200 To Accra Hearts Of Oak Players | Yen.com.gh YEN is building a platform where Ghanaians can share local news and own experiences with each other. Witnessing an incident? Want to tell about a local problem? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Send us a message via YENs official Facebook page. Source: Yen - The University of Cape Coast has awarded 86 retiree staff of the university - The awards night saw the longest serving staff, who served the university for 44 yeras take home a deep freezer The University of Cape Coast (UCC) has rewarded 86 retiring staff with various prizes, including a deep freezer. Eighty-six long service workers, who have served the institution in various areas of operation for 15 to 44 years, were recognized and awarded. MyNewsGh.com reports that one Kwaku Essoun emerged as the longest serving staff of the University, having served for 44 years. The Vice Chancellor of UCC, Prof Joseph Ghartey Ampiah presenting deep freezer to the longest serving staff, Mr. Kwaku Essoun. Photo Credit: Mynewsgh.com READ ALSO: Lordina Mahama is the one taking care of me John Mahama He was subsequently presented with a deep freezer as a thank you package for his services to the institution. Mr. Essoun was full of praise of the University authorities for recognizing his contribution to the development of the institution. In all, 86 retirees were rewarded, comprising of 34 junior and 34 senior staff, who were presented with items ranging from double door fridges, deep freezers, cash, citation plaques and living room furniture. Vice Chancellor of UCC, Prof Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, thanked all the retirees for their years of dedication and service to the University. There have been ups and downs during your active working life in this University but we thank God that he has sustained and protected you to come this far, he remarked. READ ALSO: Meet Theresa Frimpong; the SHS leaver who scored A1 in 7 of her WASSCE subjects Prof Ghartey Ampiah gain encouraged the retirees to join University of Cape Coast Pensioners Association and clubs to enable them fraternize and stay healthy. He further made a presentation of GHc10,000 to the UCC Pensioners Association to assist its operations. On his part, Pastor Prof Peter Kofi Kwapong on behalf of the retirees expressed profound gratitude to UCC for the opportunity granted them to serve on various capacities by way employment. Ghana News: Sulley Muntari Gave $2.200 To Accra Hearts Of Oak Players: READ ALSO: Midland compensates assaulted Patience Sarfo with house and cash to avoid suit Have national and human interest issues to discuss? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: Yen.com.gh Ghanaian actress Jackie Appiah looked splendid as she joined the panel of judges for the 2018 Miss Malaika pageantry preliminaries. The award-winning actress was selected as one of the judges to oversee the selection of ladies who make the cut for this years Miss Malaika pageantry. Jackie was part of a star-studded team, including fellow actresses Joslyn Dumas, Naa Ashorkor and host Berla Mundi. READ ALSO: Mahama paid GH568,000 salary - Government The semi-final auditions for the revered pageantry came off on Saturday, as many young ladies slugged it out for a place in the final. But whiles Jackie Appiahs eloquence in asking questions was something worthy of note, it was her outfit that caught the eyes of many. The star actress arrived at the event in a nice dress with a small handbag to compliment it. She later took to Instagram to post a photo, insisting she had a great time acting as a judge for the Miss Malaika pageantry. Jackie Appiahs photo was accompanied by the caption: Had a great time being a judge for Miss Malaika Ghana. Thinking of taking a shot at Ghanas most rewarding and most prestigious crown in beauty pageantry? Ghana news: President Akufo Addo Asked For More Prayers: READ ALSO: Kennedy Agyapong's daughter breaks down into tears at her mother's funeral Have national and human interest issues to discuss? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page Source: Yen.com.gh - Officials of Narcotics Control Board have set on fire 124 sacks containing seized marijuana - The large consignment of marijuana was burnt on the orders of an Accra Criminal High Court The Narcotics Control Board (NACOB), have destroyed over 500kg of marijuana and other banned drugs seized by the Ghana Police Service in separate operations. The large quantity of the drug consignment were set ablaze by NACOB official on Friday July 27, on the orders of an Accra Criminal High Court. According to 3news.com report, Justice Justin K. Dorgu, ordered for the destruction of the substance together with 100kg of khat, a drug which contains alkaloid cathinone and a stimulant. Some of the seized drugs being set on fire by NACOB officials (Photo credit: 3news.com) READ ALSO: Bulldog sacked from Zylofon Media? In a statement signed and released by NACOM the monetary value of the destroyed drugs estimate at over Five Hundred Thousand Cedis (500,000). The statement further explained that, the exercise was done in collaboration with the Ghana Police Service, the Military, Ghana Standard Authority (GSA), Judicial Service, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the media. The statement which was sighted by 3news.com noted that, NACOB in December 2017 impounded a truck full of dried leaves suspected to be cannabis at Buokono, near Asesewa in the Upper Manya Krobo District of the Eastern Region. This was upon a tip-off that a boat from Dzemeni in the Volta Region was loaded with cannabis and had offloaded its content onto a truck at a village near Asesewa with its final destination being Ashaiman in the Greater Accra Region. In all, about 124 sacks of cannabis were retrieved from the truck (Photo credit: 3news.com) READ ALSO: Female SHS graduate blows minds of Ghanaians with her impressive WASSCE results This the statement said, prompted NACOB and the District Police Command at Asesewa to intercept the said truck with registration number ER 105-13 and arrested the driver, one Stephen Narteh Sangmortey, while his accomplice fled upon sensing danger. In all, 124 sacks all containing dried leaves suspected to be cannabis sativa (wee) were retrieved from the truck. These comprised 72 sacks of compressed dried leaves and 52 sacks of uncompressed dried leaves, all suspected to be cannabis. The 72 sacks of compressed dried leaves were further found to contain 4,326 slabs of compressed cannabis. The purported owner of the consignment, one Nicholas Lartey has since been at large. 72 sacks of compressed 'wee' and 52 sacks of uncompressed awaiting destruction (Photo credit: 3news.com) READ ALSO: Kennedy Agyapong's daughter sparks emotions as breaks down into tears at her mother's funeral Ghana News: Sulley Muntari Gave $2.200 To Accra Hearts Of Oak Players | Yen.com.gh Yen.com.gh is building a platform where Ghanaians can share local news and own experiences with each other. Witnessing an incident? Want to tell about a local problem? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Message us on Facebook or Instagram Source: Yen.com.gh An ongoing expo in Taiwan is putting emphasis on the practical experiences of college students. The University Social Responsibility (USR) Expo 2018 began Saturday in Taiwan University, drawing a large crowd. The expo presents 93 social practice projects conducted by college teachers and students in Taiwan. "Our students helped grow environmentally friendly paddy rice in the rural areas of Tainan," said Chu Kuo-wei, who participated in the project of Cheng Kung University. "The project not only produced healthy products, but also improved local environment, because we used no pesticide." Chen Shih-ming, an associate professor of the university, said that the social practice project allowed students to walk out of classrooms, and work and live with farmers. "They used their knowledge to help the farmers, and the experiences also laid a solid foundation for their career development," Chen said. Students from Taiwan's Providence University presented a project that focused on the ageing population. "Students from the university's food department prepared recipes specially designed for the elderly," said Yu Kuan-chieh, a student of Providence University. "We also helped the senior people make new friends, and show their talent, which is conducive to the healthy development of the ageing population." "Through this expo, we hope to convey the message that college students not only focus on academia, but can also get close to the livelihood in rural areas," said Cheng Chih-wen, with the university. Several forums and public speaking events will also be held during the expo, which will conclude on Sunday. An interlocutory application filed to halt entrance exams into the Ghana School of Law (GSL) has been dismissed by the Supreme Court. The ruling means the Ghana School of Law entrance exams, which is slated for today, Friday, July 27, 2018, will go on as planned. US-based Ghanaian lawyer, Professor Stephen Kweku Asare filed the application to place an injunction on the exams. Law school exams: Injunction dismissed, exams proceed. Source: Graphiconline.com READ ALSO: Mahama paid GH568,000 salary - Government He argued that entrance exams and interviews which were requirements for admission into the GSL were illegal and unconstitutional. He held that the General Legal Council (GLC) was in contempt of a judgement delivered by the court on June 23, 2017. In the said June 23, 2017 judgement, the Supreme Court declared as unconstitutional a requirement by the GLC that persons seeking to enter the GSL needed to pass an entrance examination and an interview. The court also ordered the GLC to take steps within the next six months to review the process of admission to the Ghana School of Law. In Prof. Asares application, he held that the GLC failed to meet the six months deadline given by the apex court, hence his call for an injunction on the entrance exams. READ ALSO: Meet Theresa Frimpong; the SHS leaver who scored A1 in 7 of her WASSCE subjects According to him, the new Legislative Instrument (L.I), governing the admission into the GSL, contravenes the judgement of the Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the injunction application by the Professor. A five-member panel at the court, held that the new law was duly enacted, explaining that on the balance of convenience, the GLC stood to suffer more and cannot be compensated if the entrance exams were halted. All five judges unanimously decided to throw out the application to place on the Ghana School of Law entrance exams. Ghana News: Sulley Muntari Gave $2.200 To Accra Hearts Of Oak Players | Yen.com.gh READ ALSO: Jackie Appiah steals show at Miss Malaika Ghana 2018 audition 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 - The secretariat deals with perennial problem of personnel requesting reposting every year - The NSS has directed that some individuals could however be reposted due to circumstances The National Service Secretariat (NSS) has issued a caution to all deployed personnel to desist from looking forward to reposting. According to the secretariat, it is incumbent on national sevice personnel to abide by their posting no matter the district they find themselves in. In a report first made by mynewsgh.com, the head of the Ashanti Regional directorate of the NSS, Mr Opoku Mensah said the strict adherence to posting is important for the smooth running of the programme. In a campaign dubbed, Lets all of us go and serve the country, everywhere is Ghana the NSS hopes that Ghanaians would consider the scheme as their national duty. It charged people to embrace the patriotism that comes with service. READ ALSO: Mahama paid GH568,000 salary - Government NSS posting has alwasy been fraught with problems. Photo credit: Google Images According to the Ashanti Regional Director of NSS, people like pregnant women, nursing mothers, and married women who need special attention from their husband would be considered for reposting. He went on: Let me make it clear that reposting is not a feature of National service program. It is peculiar to certain people which are bias to women. He continued: These are the people and not those in good condition seeking for reposting. No No .., lets all of us go and serve the country everywhere is Ghana. Lets go and serve the country. But sometimes people complain of being posted to villages. Lets go and serve our nation. READ ALSO: Afia Schwar drops wild unclad photo National service personnel posted this year are expected to begin work September 3rd to serve in the various sectors both private and public. Ghana News: Sulley Muntari Gave $2.200 To Accra Hearts Of Oak Players | Yen.com.gh: Your stories and photos are always welcome. Send us a message via YENs official Facebook page. Source: Yen.com.gh - Ms Mensa needs tap from the expersience of Charlotte Osei, according IMANI boss - Franklin Cudjoe is hesitant to believe the EC's problems just have to do with a change in leadership President of IMANI President, Franklin Cudjoe has given a word of advice to the Electoral Commission (EC) Chairperson nominee, Jean Mensa to seek from the experience of the immediate past EC boss, Charlotte Osei. Speaking on Citi FM's according to citinewsroom.com, Mr Cudjoe indicated that he did not expect the problems at the EC to quiet down with Ms Mensa's coming. However, he believes that understanding the problems is a requirement to solving them. For Ms Mensa to calm down the problems at the commission, she would need to understand how it is to run the commission. READ ALSO: New IEA boss Prof Gyampo maintains his innocence after accusations prove false Charlotte Osei was dismissed from her position at theEC due to accusations of serious misconduct. Photo credit: Supplied Cudjoe reportedly said: She should look to what happened to Charlotte and be guided but it." "I encourage her [Jean Mensa] to speak to Charlotte. Jean Mensa is the former executive director of the Institute of Economic Affairs, (IEA). She was nominated as the new Chairperson after a turbulent period at the Commission that saw Charlotte Osei being sacked by President Akufo-Addo. The cases brought against Charlotte Osei included those accusations of financial embezzlement. However, since her removal others including Abdul-Malki Kweku Baako, have taken the president on in court. Mr. Cudjoe noted that he did not expect the sources of the turbulence at the EC to disappear with the nomination of the new EC Chairperson. READ ALSO: Mahama paid GH568,000 salary - Government He continued: She must try to see that the EC needs total renewal because I still believe there are hawks still there Mensa's nomination has been met with opposition from some political parties including the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Convention People's Party (CPP) Watch: Ghana News: Sulley Muntari Gave $2.200 To Accra Hearts Of Oak Players | Yen.com.gh: Do you have a story you would like us to publish on YEN.com.gh? Please contact us on Facebook. Source: Yen.com.gh As part of the United Accord 2018 activities, some soldiers of the United States of America have donated set of school desks to some basic schools in Accra. The US soldiers, drawn from the 353rd Civil Affairs Command, North Dakota National Guards 188th Engineer Company, built and donated the learning materials to the Mallam-Gbawe L&A Memorial Academy. READ ALSO: Bulldog fired from Zylofon Media? The US soldiers in a group photo with the school kids (Photo credit: US Embassy /Facebook) The educational donation was done by the US soldiers, together with their counterparts, 231st Brigade Support Batalion and 141st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, as well as the Royal Netherlands Army constructed the desks while on special operation in Ghana. In a related development, another Ghanaian born member of the US soldiers, Dennis Duku, in similar exercise has donated a set of educational materials to the Dadwen Schools Complex, at Nsuta Wassa, in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality of the Western region. One of the US officers presenting the donation (Photo credit: (US Embassy/Facebook) The items which include over 400 school bags, crayons among others were donated for supply to children in the Kindergarten unit, in support of the physical and academic development of the School. Officer Denis Duku, who was accompanied by some US military colleagues said it has been a lifelong desire to offer his support to the development of local education, and his alma mater. READ ALSO: Female SHS graduate blows minds of Ghanaians with her impressive WASSCE results Some of the school kids excited after being presented with the desks (Photo credit: US Embassy/Facebook) In addition, the Ghanaian born US soldier gave 100 bags of cement to assist in the construction of decent washroom facility for both teachers and students of the school. He also promised to assist the school to set up a functional ICT facility to enable the students to have a practical ICT education in preparation of their examination as well as personal development. Dennis Duku, together with about 800 US soldiers this year arrived in Ghana to participate in a training mission. One of the US officers in a 'selfie' mood with the school kids (Photo credit: (US Embassy/Facebook) READ ALSO: NACOB burns 500,000 marijuana and other narcotic drugs Ghana News: Sulley Muntari Gave $2.200 To Accra Hearts Of Oak Players | Yen.com.gh Yen.com.gh is building a platform where Ghanaians can share local news and own experiences with each other. Witnessing an incident? Want to tell about a local problem? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Message us on Facebook or Instagram Source: Yen Ghana - The former minister says it was more hurtful to witness a gender advocate lose an election - Betty-Mould Iddrisu is now the first vice chairman of the National Democratic Congress Ghanas first female Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Betty-Mould Iddrisu has revealed that the defeat of Hillary Clinton to Donald Trump in the American elections of November 2016 was more hurtful to her than that of John Mahama. Both elections were only a month apart with Ghana's happening in December of the same year. But Iddrisu served as a minister under John Mahama and is a staunch member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) which lost the elections. Speaking to Ghanaweb in an interview,the former Justice minister revealed that she actually wept bitterly over Mrs Clinton's defeat. Her pain stemmed from the defeat of the agenda of making a woman the most powerful person in the world. READ ALSO: Mahama paid GH568,000 salary - Government Betty-Mould Iddrisu was Ghana's first ever Justice Minister. Photo credit: Supplied Betty-Mould Iddrisu believed that a Clinton victory would have been a massive plus for people like her who championed equal rights over the years. She said: The defeat of Hillary Clinton I wept that night as more than I wept when we were defeated Yes, I did.. Because for me as a gender person, I am totally gendered I know Hillary personally.. I have been following this fight of hers to climb to the top all the years when she was 1st lady of America. Iddrisu has been a gender rights champion advocate for over two decades. She said of the fight in Ghana: Ghana has made progress despite our cultural and traditional environment over the past 40 years regarding the issue of women in general. READ ALSO: Miss Ghana 2017 blasts organisers and regrets her reign as beauty queen She continued: I would also want to say a word about women being empowered about gender exclusion and inclusion I want to say that we have come over long way from my time when I started out as assistant state attorney. Betty-Mouls Iddrisu is now the first vice chairman of the opposition NDC. She adds that apart from women's empowerment, she is looking to put her shoulders to the wheel to get the NDC into power in 2020. Ghana News: Sulley Muntari Gave $2.200 To Accra Hearts Of Oak Players | Yen.com.gh: Your stories and photos are always welcome. Send us a message via YENs official Facebook page Source: Yen.com.gh - The directive had come for foreigners to leave the retail market by July 27 - But the government revoked its order citing lack of education Nigerian traders in the country have expressed gratitude to the government for suspending its directive to sack foreign retailers from the various markets in the country. The suspension comes in the wake of pressure groups advancing the cause of foreign retailers. The Trade Ministry had issued a directive to foreign traders operating in the market to move out by July 27. The rationale given then was that the retail business was one reserved for local traders. But the ministry later suspended the directive, citing low education and inadequate consultations. But not everyone is happy. READ ALSO: Betty-Mould Iddrisu cried when Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 US elections Among others, the Kumasi Central Market is one of the biggest retail points for foreigners. Photo credit: Google Images The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), according to citinewsroom.com, has expressed its disappointment over the current development and has asked members to defend their businesses. It is not clear what the union means by "defending" businesses. Local traders on their part in the retail industry have been calling for the removal of their foreign counterparts. They have also accused the foreigners of evading taxes. But a leader of the Nigerian Traders Group in Ghana, Yahaya Alhassan has assured that it has begun a scheme to get Nigerian traders to pay their taxes. Alhassan speaking to Citi Business News said that the pressure being mounted on government by GUTA is unnecessary. READ ALSO: Miss Ghana 2017 blasts organisers and regrets her reign as beauty queen He went on: "the Nigerian traders are many so we cannot control all of them but we will make sure that they all do the right things. we are very law abiding and we mean no evil. I understand their frustration but they should understand that God gives and will give all of us our share of the market. He also thanked the Nigerian high commissioner for negotiating with government on their behalf. Ghana News: Sulley Muntari Gave $2.200 To Accra Hearts Of Oak Players | Yen.com.gh: Your stories and photos are always welcome. Send us a message via YENs official Facebook page. Source: Yen.com.gh - The Speaker of Parliament has paid for fine slapped on the pregnant woman after fighting her 'rival' - The pregnant woman was thrown to Nsawam prison for her inability to pay GHC3400 fine by the court The Speaker of Parliament, Prof Mike Aaron Oquaye, has released from jail an expectant mother who has been left to struggle in cells at the Nsawam Female Prison. Akosua Sarfowaa who is carrying a five-month-old pregnancy and a mother of a one-and-half-year-old boy was sentenced to two years in prison following her inability to pay a fine of GHC3400 despite her condition. A report by Crime Check Foundation reveals Akosua was charged with assault for hitting her husbands girlfriend with a sandal during a fight. Akosua Sarfowaa after her release from Nsawam Prison READ ALSO: Sarkodie and Tracy look very happy as they step out for the first time after their lavish wedding (Video) Speaking to Crime Check Foundation about her ordeal, Akosua said, her husband brought in his girlfriend into the house and gave the lady her dress to wear. She couldn't believe what was unfolding in her eyes and could not contain the humiliation. She confronted the lady and a fight ensued. In the course of the struggle, she hit the lady with a sandal she laid hands on. She was then arrested and put before a circuit court in Suhum where she was convicted for assault and asked to pay a total fine of GHC3400 or in default serve two years in jail. The heavily pregnant woman was, however unable to pay her fine and had to go to jail along with her one-and-half-year-old son. Following the report by the Crime Check Foundation, news on Akosuas condition went viral on social media and upon reaching the Speaker of Parliament, he decided to pay the fine and get the vulnerable young expectant mother released. READ ALSO: Anas to drop another 'explosive' undercover video He paid the fine of GHC1400 and another GHC2000 for the injuries caused to victim, making it a sum of GHC3400. Prof Mike Aaron Oquaye with the Executive Director of the CCF In an interaction with the Executive Director of the Crime Check Foundation (CCF), Ibrahim Oppong Kwarteng, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye expressed concern about the gaps in Ghana's laws which have seen many people serving various jail terms instead of committing them to community sentences. Why should a pregnant woman and her unborn child be committed to prison sentence when other alternatives could be explored to save the situation? Prof. Oquaye quizzed. He, therefore, promised Parliament will quicken the passage of the Non-Custodial Sentencing Bill into law to save the poor and vulnerable from being jailed wrongfully. READ ALSO: Bulldog fired from Zylofon Media? Ghana News: Sulley Muntari Gave $2.200 To Accra Hearts Of Oak Players | Yen.com.gh Yen.com.gh is building a platform where Ghanaians can share local news and own experiences with each other. Witnessing an incident? Want to tell about a local problem? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Message us on Facebook or Instagram Source: Yen.com.gh - The Police officer, who was wrongfully dismissed after her alleged involvement in a a cocaine case has been reinstated by the police administration after 5 years - The then DSP Gifty Mawuenyega Tehoda, was interdicted and subsequently dismissed from the Ghana Police Service in 2012 after she was named as an accomplice in the 44,000-dollar cocaine incident in late 2011 DSP Gifty Tehoda, who was dismissed from the Ghana Police Service in 2012 for her alleged involvement in the cocaine-turned-baking soda saga, has been reinstated and promoted to the rank of Chief Superintendent. Her reinstatement comes after she was cleared from any wrong doing by the Human Rights Court in Accra, on Friday, March 31, 2018. DSP Tehodas case began on September 27, 2011, when one Nana Ama Martins was arrested for possessing large parcels of a substance suspected to be cocaine, which later mysteriously turned into bicarbonate or baking soda, in police custody. READ ALSO: Mahama paid GH568,000 salary - Government She was linked with the disappearance of the cocaine after it was found that the stuff had turned into baking soda. Subsequently, she was interdicted and dismissed from the Police Service for after she was accused of being involved with the disappearance of the cocaine. However, DSP Tehoda appealed her dismissal in court and was cleared of any wrong doing by a Circuit Court. DSP Tehoda sued the Ghana Police Service for wrongful dismissal, and prayed the court, among other things, to compel the service to reinstate her. She has now been reinstated into the Police Service and also promoted to the rank of Chief Superintendent. READ ALSO: Jackie Appiah steals show at Miss Malaika Ghana 2018 audition The court also awarded a cost of GHS23,000 in damages and cost against the Police Service. In addition, the court ordered that she be compensated with GHS5,000 and GHS10,000 respectively, for her 45-day detention at the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI). Ghana news: President Akufo Addo Asked For More Prayers: READ ALSO: Ajumako-based notorious robber called Otumfuo, 3 others busted 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 China on Sunday sent twin satellites into space via a single carrier rocket, entering a period with unprecedentedly intensive launches of BeiDou satellites. The Long March-3B carrier rocket lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 9:48 a.m., the 281st mission of the Long March rocket series. The twin satellites are the 33rd and 34th of the BeiDou navigation system. They entered orbit more than three hours after the launch. After a series of tests, they will work together with eight BeiDou-3 satellites already in orbit, said the launch service provider. A basic system with 18 BeiDou-3 satellites orbiting will be in place by the year end, which will serve countries participating in the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. Named after the Chinese term for the Big Dipper, the BeiDou system started serving China in 2000 and the Asia-Pacific region in 2012. It will be the 4th global satellite navigation system after the U.S. GPS system, Russia's GLONASS and the European Union's Galileo. The satellites and the rocket for Sunday's launch were developed by the China Academy of Space Technology and China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, respectively. Flash Chinese President Xi Jinping said in Port Louis on Saturday that China is willing to always be a good friend and a good partner of Mauritius and promote the bilateral friendly cooperative ties to continuously reach new heights. Xi made the remarks when meeting with Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth during his friendly visit to the country. Xi spoke positively about the remarkable achievements Mauritius has made since it gained independence 50 years ago, and expressed appreciation for the friendly policy the successive Mauritian governments have followed toward China. He pointed out that the two countries and two peoples enjoy profound friendship and cherish a close bond of affection for each other. Since China and Mauritius established diplomatic ties 46 years ago, the two sides have witnessed increasingly deepened political mutual trust and fruitful results in exchanges and cooperation in various areas, Xi said. Both as developing countries, China and Mauritius have similar development processes and tasks, he said. The two countries now face new important opportunities for the development of their relations, Xi pointed out. The Chinese president said that the two countries should maintain the momentum of high-level exchanges, strengthen exchanges between government departments, legislative bodies and at sub-national level, and continue to understand and support each other on issues involving respective core interests and major concern. The two sides should explore the potential for practical cooperation, improve the standard of bilateral trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, negotiate about and sign a bilateral free trade agreement at an early date, leverage the unique geographical advantage of Mauritius in participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, strengthen communication and aligning, and deepen cooperation in a wide range of areas, Xi said. The two countries should also enhance people-to-people exchanges and mutual understanding, he said. China stands ready to strengthen South-South cooperation on climate change with Mauritius, increase coordination in international affairs and safeguard the common interests of developing countries, he said. On China-Africa relations, Xi said that China and Africa are a community with a shared future in which the two sides go through thick and thin together, and are also a community of shared interests in which the two sides carry out win-win cooperation. No matter how the international landscape changes, and no matter how much progress China has made in development, China will always stand together with Africa and other developing countries, and will be a sincere friend and reliable partner of Africa forever, Xi said. He said that China and Africa have decided to hold the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in September, and he looks forward to discussing the China-Africa cooperation plan in the new era with African leaders including Prime Minister Jugnauth. Jugnauth again extended his warm welcome for President Xi's stopover in and historic friendly visit to Mauritius, saying that the two countries enjoy a long history of friendship based on historical inheritance and people-to-people bond. He said that since the two countries established diplomatic ties, the two sides have developed a close and vigorous relationship on the basis of mutual trust and mutual respect. Mauritius thanks China for its long-term strong support and assistance, pays high attention to China's development in the new era, admires China's tremendous achievements, and speaks positively of President Xi's proposal to build a community with a shared future for mankind, he said. Mauritius will continue to firmly uphold the one China policy, welcomes the Belt and Road Initiative, and is willing to deepen mutually beneficial and friendly cooperation with China, Jugnauth said. The prime minister said that he eagerly looks forward to attending the FOCAC Beijing Summit to jointly build an even closer Africa-China partnership. Mauritius is the last stop of Xi's five-nation Middle East and Africa tour. He has visited the United Arab Emirates, Senegal, Rwanda and South Africa, and attended the 10th BRICS summit in Johannesburg. Flash Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will visit Singapore soon to sign documents on Iran's joining the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC), official IRNA news agency reported Saturday. Ministers of foreign affairs of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will convene in Singapore on Monday for six days to discuss regional and trans-regional issues related to ASEAN and the TAC. According to IRNA, there is a consensus among Southeast Asian countries to accept Iran as a party to the treaty. This is an indication of the significance of interaction with Iran as an influential country in regional and international equations, it said. Iran is an observer state in the TAC and part of the upcoming meeting will be about the full membership of the observer states including Iran. Flash Chinese President Xi Jinping is leaving Mauritius on Saturday, the last stop of his visit to the Middle East and Africa. During his 11-day trip, Xi paid state visits to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Senegal, Rwanda, South Africa and a friendly visit to Mauritius during a stopover. He also attended the 10th BRICS summit in Johannesburg. The visit opens new prospect for the South-South cooperation and promotes the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. ENHANCE CHINA-ARAB TIES Xi's visit to the UAE brings bilateral ties to a higher level and gives a demonstration for cooperation between China and Arab countries, Wang said. It is Xi's first visit to the UAE, and the first by a Chinese head of state in 29 years to the Arab state. During the visit, the two countries issued a joint statement on establishing a comprehensive strategic partnership, which provides political guidance and overall plans for the development of bilateral relations in the next stage. They signed a memorandum of understanding on implementing the Belt and Road Initiative, and decided to dovetail their development strategies and strengthen communication on industrial policies. China and the UAE will accelerate the establishment of the first Belt and Road international exchange in Abu Dhabi, which will provide financial services to the construction of Belt and Road in the Middle East and the Gulf region. Earlier this month, Beijing hosted the eighth ministerial conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum at which China and Arab countries agreed to establish a "future-oriented strategic partnership of comprehensive cooperation and common development." Xi told the conference that China is willing to join hands with Arab states to build the Belt and Road, and to build a community with a shared future for China and Arab countries. Xi's UAE visit is a lively interpretation and a successful roadshow of China's policy toward Arab states, Wang said. DEEPEN CHINA-AFRICA FRIENDSHIP Xi has attached great importance to China-Africa relations. He chose Africa as the destination of his first foreign visit both after he was first elected Chinese president in 2013 and after his re-election this year. China and Africa are sincere partners on their path of development and natural allies in international affairs, Wang said. During his African tour, Xi emphasized that it is China's long-term and firm strategic choice to develop ties with African countries. No matter how the international situation changes, China will continue to uphold its African policy and concept of sincerity, concrete results, affinity and good faith, uphold justice and pursue shared interests, promote the construction of a closer China-Africa community with a shared future, so as to realize win-win cooperation and common development, Xi said. During the visit, China and the four African nations have agreed to strengthen the alignment of their development strategies, further tap their economic complementarities and expand the scope of cooperation. Another key achievement of Xi's African tour is the signing of cooperation documents regarding the Belt and Road Initiative. Senegal and Rwanda respectively signed memorandums of understanding with China on the initiative and Mauritius reached agreement with China to sign the cooperation accord on the initiative at an early date. Senegal is the first West African country to sign a Belt and Road cooperation document with China, and it is expected to have a driving effect in the region, said Wang. During his visit, Xi and his African hosts have seen the signing of some 40 cooperation documents, he added. At every stop of his African tour, Xi was given grand welcome ceremonies by the governments and was received with exceptional hospitality by the local people, which is a valid proof that China's role in Africa is by no means neo-colonialism, according to the Chinese foreign minister. EXPAND BRICS COOPERATION During his visit to South Africa, Xi attended the 10th BRICS summit in Johannesburg, which opened up the second "Golden Decade" for BRICS cooperation. The summit of the bloc of emerging market economies from Wednesday to Friday gathered leaders from its members -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- to discuss ways in seeking common development and prosperity amid new global challenges. While addressing the BRICS Business Forum at the summit, Xi said that the next decade will be a crucial one in which new global growth drivers will take the place of old ones, seeing faster changes in the international landscape and the international alignment of forces, and witnessing a profound reshaping of the global governance system. Xi also called for building an open economy, rejecting unilateralism and protectionism, boosting international exchanges and cooperation in innovation, easing the impact of application of information technology, automation and smart technology on traditional industries, as well as pursuing inclusive growth to deliver benefits to people of all countries and promoting international development and cooperation. He also urged to uphold multilateralism, support multilateral trade regime and fully observe collectively adopted international rules. "A trade war should be rejected, because there will be no winner. Economic hegemony is even more objectionable, as it will undermine the collective interests of the international community; those who pursue this course will only end up hurting themselves," Xi said, in response to the rising unilateralism and trade protectionism. The Johannesburg summit has yielded fruitful outcomes, with the BRICS countries confirming to forge a partnership on the new industrial revolution. The establishment of such a partnership will become a flagship project that will push forward cooperation among the BRICS countries, Wang said. Meanwhile, he said, the Johannesburg Declaration voiced the bloc's determination to pursue common development, preserve equity and justice, stick to multilateralism and improve global governance, injecting positive energy to the world amid great uncertainties. The BRICS summit also invited other developing countries including other emerging market economies and African nations to participate in the "BRICS Plus" dialogue, further expanding the BRICS circles and strengthening the partnership between the BRICS and African countries, Wang added. It is a historic visit during which China has strengthened strategic cooperation with developing countries and emerging economies, and which will have significant and positive impact on the transformation of international landscape and the progress of mankind, Wang said. Flash The 10th summit of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, or collectively BRICS, was held in Johannesburg from Wednesday to Friday, with the Johannesburg Declaration issued, mapping out a blueprint for the emerging-market bloc's second "Golden Decade." The international community highly regarded the outcomes of the summit, saying that this summit marks that the BRICS countries are taking new steps in strengthening innovation and industrialization, sending a clear message for defending multilateralism and opposing trade protectionism, and it will further BRICS cooperation and play a key and positive role in boosting the world economic growth and improving global governance. "For the BRICS as a whole, the strong emphasis on technology and the impact on manufacturing and employment was key in driving the group's agenda forward," said Cyril Prinsloo, a researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs. "There have been several important outcomes at this summit," said Alissa Xinhe Wang, chair of BRICS Research Group based at the University of Toronto in Canada, adding that the establishment of the BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution is a firm step made by the BRICS to catch the opportunities brought by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The BRICS mechanism has played a positive role in boosting the BRICS countries' economies and international trade, said Ronnie Lins, director of the China-Brazil Center for Research and Business. The BRICS countries enjoy increasingly closer cooperation in financial and economic realms, with the economic cooperation remaining the focus, Lins said. They will play a more important role in boosting global economic growth and establishing a new world financial and economic order in the future, he said. In the Johannesburg Declaration issued on Thursday, BRICS leaders said that they will join hands to strengthen multilateralism and push for a fairer, more equal, more democratic and more representative world order. Prinsloo believed that the Johannesburg Declaration reiterated the BRICS stance on the World Trade Organization (WTO) and expressed the BRICS resolve to strengthen the multilateral trade regime, which "signifies the BRICS intent in the face of increasing protectionism that threatens the global trading regime." "Over the past decade, the cooperation has matured and deepened. Presenting a unified voice and agenda on key issues impacting not only on BRICS, but equally (for) all countries globally, illustrates the BRICS' commitment to forging a better world," Prinsloo said. It is encouraging that the BRICS countries have expressed their voice and joined hands to face challenges, said BRICS Business Council Co-Chair Onkar Kanwar. BRICS Business Council Chair Iqbal Surve said that it is worrying that some countries install trade barriers and this act not only snuffs out healthy enterprises, but also hurts the ordinary people. The BRICS Summit in Johannesburg has shown the world that the BRICS countries unanimously oppose trade protectionism and remain a powerful force for maintaining the multilateral trade system, Surve said. Lins said that the BRICS countries have changed the long-standing dominance over the world by developed countries, and they also create a successful case for the developing countries to seek economic cooperation and enhance international influences. Somadoda Fikeni, a political analyst with the University of South Africa, said that the BRICS Summit hosted by the African continent "means Africa is not going to be marginalized and its value will start being recognized." Fikeni expected that the BRICS' New Development Bank will play a major role in the infrastructure development in Africa. Nele Noesselt, a German professor at the University of Duisburg-Essen, said that this year's BRICS Summit focused not only on the interests of emerging economies, but also on those interests of other countries. When the global governance runs into problems, the BRICS countries can put forward some new ideas and measures to improve it and that will play a constructive role in reforming the global governance, Noesselt said. 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 ATHENS - Greece was on Thursday counting the cost of its deadliest wildfires in living memory, as emergency crews searched incinerated homes and vehicles for the missing after at least 81 people were confirmed to have died. Firefighters were still dealing with pockets of flames from the unprecedented outbreak around Athens as the government announced a raft of measures to compensate those affected. The fires, which broke out on Monday, struck coastal villages popular with holidaymakers and burned with such ferocity that most people fled to the safety of the sea with just the clothes on their backs. Survivors spoke of harrowing scenes including entire families burned alive in their homes. One resident of Mati, the village worst affected, described it as "a night of hell". A fire service spokesman said on Thursday that a blaze near Kineta, 25 kilometers west of Athens, was largely being managed, though it was still working to extinguish pockets of flames. There was still no official word on the number of people missing after the catastrophe, but the death toll of 81 already makes this Greece's worst fire outbreak in decades. Among those killed was a newly married Irishman who had been on honeymoon in Mati when his car was caught in the wildfires. Although his wife Zoe managed to escape to a nearby beach, she was taken to hospital with burns, according to British media. An emergency services spokeswoman said firefighters were still searching for people reported missing by their relatives. She added that relatives of those missing had been asked to provide DNA samples to help authorities identify bodies. A website set up by residents lists 27 people still unaccounted for, including a pair of 9-year-old twin girls. Chinese help The Chinese community in Greece has demonstrated its solidarity with Greek society, as the country is trying to cope with the wildfires. Representatives of the community had gathered in a square in Athens and started to collect clothes, shoes, personal care items and money to buy medical supplies for the victims of the fire. "We are together, together we will succeed" was the slogan of the effort, while many Chinese like He Ai, owner of a travel agency, visited the affected areas to offer help. "We came here to help the people, if we can do just a little thing to help them we will feel much better," she said. "Up to now, about 500 Chinese donated money or other things. There will be more to come of course," said Chen Feng, president of the Chinese community of Greece. "Greece is our second home, we should contribute to the people who lost everything in the fires." More than 71 people are still being treated in hospital as of Wednesday evening, including almost a dozen children, most of whom were in a "serious condition", the fire services said. Afp - Xinhua An aerial view shows burned houses and trees following a wildfire in the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece, on Wednesday.Antonis Nicolopoulos / Eurokinissi Via Reuters (China Daily 07/27/2018 page12) 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. Alex Wong/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- The publisher of the New York Times says he told President Trump during a meeting at the White House that his language toward the media is not just divisive but increasingly dangerous. A.G. Sulzberger said he gave the president a stern warning that his rhetoric could lead to journalists being physically harmed, according to a statement provided to ABC News. I told him that although the phrase 'fake news' is untrue and harmful, I am far more concerned about his labeling journalists 'the enemy of the people.' I warned that this inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence, Sulzberger said. Enemy of the people is a phrase -- which has Soviet Union roots -- Trump often uses toward the media. The statement by the Times came in response to a tweet by the president Sunday morning. He tweeted that he had a very good meeting with A.G. Sulzberger, and said the two spent time talking about what Trump repeatedly calls fake news. Had a very good and interesting meeting at the White House with A.G. Sulzberger, Publisher of the New York Times, Trump tweeted from Bedminster, New Jersey. Spent much time talking about the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, Enemy of the People. Sad! In the statement sent to ABC News, a spokesperson for the New York Times said Trump requested a meeting with Sulzberger at the White House on July 20 to discuss concerns about coverage. Trump often criticizes the Times coverage of the White House - for which it won a Pulitzer Prize -- and gave it the nickname the failing New York Times. The meeting, which is commonplace for media executives to have with the White House, was supposed to be off the record, at the request of the presidents aides, but Trumps tweet allowed Sulzberger to speak on the record about their conversation. Sulzberger says he also told Trump during their meeting that his hostile words against the press were common in undemocratic regimes where journalists are killed. I repeatedly stressed that this is particularly true abroad, where the presidents rhetoric is being used by some regimes to justify sweeping crackdowns on journalists. I warned that it was putting lives at risk, that it was undermining the democratic ideals of our nation, and that it was eroding one of our countrys greatest exports: a commitment to free speech and a free press, Sulzberger said. Throughout the conversation, I emphasized that if President Trump, like previous presidents, was upset with coverage of his administration he was, of course, free to tell the world," he added. "I made clear repeatedly that I was not asking for him to soften his attacks on The Times if he felt our coverage was unfair. Instead, I implored him to reconsider his broader attacks on journalism, which I believe are dangerous and harmful to our country. Trumps seemingly unprompted tweet about the New York Times meeting comes in the wake of the White Houses decision last week to bar a CNN reporter from covering an event because they took issue with her questioning. Bill Shine, the White House's deputy chief of staff for communications, argued that they never used the word ban against Collins, although in a statement the White House says they made it clear to the reporter she would not be welcome to participate in event coverage. The White House Correspondents Association, made up of members of the press who regularly cover the White House, called the incident inappropriate. "This type of retaliation is wholly inappropriate, wrong-headed, and weak. It cannot stand," WHCA President Olivier Knox said. In the hours since the New York Times response, Trump has continued to attack the media on Twitter, including the "dying newspaper industry," "Amazon Washington Post" and "failing New York Times." The Washington Post is owned by Jeff Bezos, not Amazon. Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. BEIJING, July 29, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2018 Tang Xianzu International Theater Exchange Month will be staged in Fuzhou City in southeast China's Jiangxi Province from September 28 to late October this year. The province held a press conference for the event in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on the morning of July 28. Fuzhou is the hometown of Tang Xianzu, a famous playwright, litterateur and thinker of the Ming Dynasty. After marking the 400th anniversary of Tang's death in 2016, Fuzhou organized the Tang Xianzu theater festival and launched an exchange program lasting for about one month in 2017 as part of efforts to mark the 45th anniversary of the establishment of ambassadorial diplomatic relations between China and Britain. As part of efforts to further integrate excellent Chinese traditional culture into the Belt and Road Initiative, promote excellent Chinese traditional culture overseas and facilitate cultural exchanges and integration, Jiangxi provincial government this year will continue to organize the Tang Xianzu International Theatre Exchange Month by working with the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries with strong support from the China Theatre Association. The event is expected to highlight the Tang Xianzu cultural brand, boost the development of cultural industry and continuously enhance cultural self-confidence. By keeping organizing the Tang Xianzu International Theatre Exchange Month, Fuzhou aims to promote excellent traditional culture, tell Chinese stories in a more engaging manner and carry out Chinese and foreign cultural exchanges and cooperation to bring domestic and global attention to Tang Xianzu, Fuzhou, Jiangxi and Chinese culture, thus increasing Chinese culture's presence and influence, according to Xiao Yi, vice chairman of the Jiangxi Provincial People's Political Consultative Conference and secretary of the Fuzhou Municipal CPC Party Committee. In more than one month since last September 24 last year, over 20 wonderful plays from home and abroad were staged in Fuzhou, featuring performances played by groups from the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Romania, Albania, Egypt, Mauritius, Colombia and other countries. This year's exchange month aims to organize an innovative, diverse, dynamic and classic event, and the theme of this year's event is to cultivate the Tang Xianzu cultural brand, expand Linchuan culture's influence, deepen cultural exchanges at home and abroad and facilitate cultural tourism industry development. The event will feature international elements and be organized in a market-oriented manner and for mass participation. This year's theatre exchange activities will deepen people's understanding of Tang Xianzu's thoughts and artistic achievements, promote Jiangxi culture overseas, and further facilitate cultural, friendship and economic exchanges between Jiangxi and the rest of the world, Wu Zhongqiong, deputy governor of Jiangxi Province. Jiangxi hopes to add some local cultural elements to the world culture while making its own culture more globally appealing, Wu added. The theatre exchange month will further deepen the "dialogue" between Tang Xianzu and Shakespeare, enhance cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and foreign countries, promote cultural trade development, support Jiangxi culture's overseas dissemination and bring global attention to the province's economic and social development, according to Chi Hong, head of Jiangxi's culture department. The 2018 Tang Xianzu International Theatre Exchange Month will feature Chinese and foreign classic performances, parade activities, tea-picking opera shows, culture-experiencing trips for foreign cultural officials in China, and the performances of award-winning opera pieces, exhibition of the Jiangxi's intangible cultural heritages as well as various mass cultural activities. In recent years, Fuzhou has actively promoted excellent traditional cultures, created the cultural brand of Tang Xianzu, aiming to become a national historical and cultural city and "China's City of Plays". The city made into the top ten most culturally competitive cities in China in 2017. The city has helped develop two exchange programs which bring people to visit Fuzhou's Linchuan District to research and study local culture and experience oriental and western cultures represented by Tang Xianzu and Shakespeare respectively. The two routes have seen 283 train trips with over 100,000 research and study visits since last year. Continue Reading Below Advertisement What you're looking at above is the second test. George did one beforehand without the suit, and it went perfectly. But during the suited-up run, a valve in his breathing apparatus got stuck and started venting his air supply. Something important to note: The mask had to be airtight. Considering the massive amounts of methane in Darvaza, the crew didn't know if the air would be breathable, so Kourounis had to bring his own air down with him. It also meant if his air ran out, he couldn't just yank off his mask. During the test, it was the same. He was wearing thick, cumbersome gloves, so he couldn't undo the clips holding the mask in place. Continue Reading Below Advertisement Dangling over a chasm, rapidly leaking his air supply, in constant radio communication with his crew -- Kourounis was basically living out a Stargate: SG1 episode. His crew pulled him back out and got the mask off in time (obviously -- it would be weird if the article just ended here), and they declared the test a success. "We knew what went wrong, and thought we knew how to prevent it," says Kourounis. "You really don't want that to be the last test, but we were pressed for time." On to the Turkmenistan, location of Earth's beautiful, fiery butthole! The National Health Commission of the PRC has published Teams arrive to check major vaccine producer. Excerpt: Update: The BC Centre for Disease Control has posted an alert on its website: Parents of young children from China advised to check immunization records for recalled vaccine. Excerpt: If your child resided in Chongqing, Shandong or Hebei in the period from March to October 2017, was under 2 years old during that time, and was vaccinated during that time, please check your childs immunization record. If you do not have their record, you may be able to obtain it from Chinese public health authorities as outlined in the paragraph above. If your childs record indicates that they received DTP vaccine with an affected lot number (see above), or if a lot number is not recorded but DTP vaccine was given any time from March to October 2017, please contact your local health unit or immunization service provider to arrange for additional vaccination. Doses of affected lots may not have provided full protection, and your child may be offered additional doses of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis-containing vaccine, depending on their vaccination history in Canada and their current age. There are no safety concerns related to these vaccines. China has not reported more cases of diphtheria, tetanus or whooping cough in relation to the use of these vaccines. It is a black day for democracy when any Member of Parliament is put under police protection. Yet this is the abysmal position in which Rotherham MP Sarah Champion finds herself. Her 'crime'? Her courageous decision to speak out about the British-Pakistani grooming gangs who have lured, entrapped and sexually ravaged vulnerable young white girls in northern towns. So poisonous is the public discourse on this difficult issue that Champion who has already been forced to resign as Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities has been accused of 'industrial scale racism'. Some in her constituency want her deselected as MP. Sarah Champion was accused by activists of industrial-scale racism for highlighting the common ethnic heritage of those involved in Rotherhams sexual abuse scandal Now, following death threats, Scotland Yard has intervened. The attacks on her began last year when she dared to write a newspaper article saying that 'Britain has a problem with British Pakistani men raping and exploiting white girls'. 'There, I have said it,' she added. 'Does it make me racist?' No, it doesn't, is the only reasonable answer. She should, in my view, have expressed herself more moderately, but Champion cannot and must not be condemned for speaking uncomfortable truths. Instead of vilifying her, we should confront instead the wrong-headed activists who think we can beat racism by burying gruesome secrets. I know more than most about the vituperative attacks suffered by those who raise their head above the parapet. Last year I interviewed for this newspaper three wives and a daughter of British-Pakistani men who had been jailed for their part in these evil sex gangs. A judge said the four-man gang, who also included Saheem Ratyal (left) and Sohail Ali (right), treating the young girls they abused 'like trophies' Taiyab Hussain and Mohammed Hizar are among four men jailed for grooming young girls How, I wanted to know, did the men treat the women in their family behind closed doors? Cruelly and oppressively, was the short answer. The men, all husbands and fathers, did not care about consent and sex equality. The response was as angry as it was irrational. I was mauled for 'inviting people to hate Pakistani men' and for harbouring prejudiced attitudes. An uncompromising Asian and Muslim anti-racist, I had somehow mutated into a self-loathing bigot. I was even accused of disloyalty a charge I freely admit. Loyalty is an oath of silence. I have never taken that oath. One must be fair and, when necessary, fearlessly critical of oneself, our communities and the nation. It is true that people of colour suffer and survive discrimination and humiliation. They feel beleaguered. They circle the wagons, watch out constantly for enemies and traitors. Even so, there is no excuse for the gale of criticism directed at anyone who attempts to shine a light on what is truly going on. In fact, most Asian feminists I know back Champion and admire her courage. We understand how tough it is for white MPs to comment on or condemn the behaviours of those in minority communities. Haji Khan, left, got 10 years for rape. Kamran Khan, right, got eight years for false imprisonment and indecent assault Meanwhile, I brace myself every time a new grooming case reaches the courts because I know I will have to endure fresh racial onslaughts. It was a Muslim Pakistani, Nazir Afzal, who, as one of the lawyers working at the Crown Prosecution Service, got the first prosecutions and convictions of groomers a breakthrough dramatised in the BBC film, Three Girls. He, too, was slandered, and labelled a race traitor and stooge. Yet I am confident that there are thousands more unseen and unheard victims. There are hundreds of perpetrators still at it. The calculated, appalling crimes committed against white girls, often troubled and vulnerable, need to be exposed and the perpetrators punished. It is they not those who criticise them who are to blame if their activities are recruiters for the racist hard Right. Izar Hussain, 31, one of the alleged members of a Pakistani grooming gang outside Bradford Crown Court earlier this year Their depravity and their lack of humanity is inexcusable. I would urge British Muslims to care about these white victims as if they were their own daughters. Many do so already. One Muslim woman who is fostering one of these broken, sexually abused teenagers, told me recently: 'I look at this child and don't even want to pray sometimes. I feel shame for my culture.' Two conversations with university students, both from Yorkshire, also ring in my ears. Sandra, a young white woman seethes as she tells me she is thinking of joining the EDL: 'What did we white girls ever do to your guys? Why do the bastards want to rape me?' They don't, of course. Not all such predators, I reminded her, were Pakistanis. Jimmy Savile was a lifelong abuser, after all. A Muslim student let's call her Iman was also incandescent. 'They go out, do what they want to white girls and protect their own,' she raged. She explains how, following the revelations about the Rotherham grooming gangs, her own brother had been targeted by white thugs in a racist backlash. 'Who suffers? We do men like my lovely father and two brothers. Those sex beasts are making us not safe. I want them killed.' Violence is not an answer to violence. But in this way, Iman is right: if these gangs really cared about their faith, their families and communities, they would not give succour to inflammatory groups such as the English Defence League and Britain First. The appalling racist and sexual crimes of these grooming gangs are wrecking all our futures. Those trying to punish Champion are on the wrong side of history. Genuine anti-racists must support her. So must Muslims who believe in universal human rights. If we don't, we become complicit in the vilest of crimes against vulnerable girls. In the end it took 11 years of legal wrangling to get fanatic Abu Qatada, with his very nasty opinions, out of the country You may recall the fuss Theresa May made about getting rid of the Islamist preacher Abu Qatada. In the end it took 11 years of legal wrangling to get this fanatic, with his very nasty opinions, out of the country. Without her personal intervention at the end, he would probably still be here. Why, then, is the British Government seriously considering welcoming into this country an unknown number of men who have been I put this at its mildest closely associated for several years with an armed faction linked to Al Qaeda, or with others perhaps even worse? Was all the fuss about Abu Qatada just a public relations front? Or does the right hand just not know what the left hand is doing? Heres what is going on. Last week the new Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, put his name to a very odd statement about a very odd event. I think the nicest thing to say here is that Mr Hunt is a bit inexperienced. The statement said that Britain would be protecting a group of White Helmets, supposedly civil defence workers from Syria. Thats what they call themselves, anyway. The 400 people involved (a quarter of them said to be White Helmets) had been caught by the sudden collapse of Islamist jihadi rebel forces in a southern corner of Syria next to the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. And, despite the defeated rebels being Islamist jihadi fanatics, they were mysteriously allowed to cross into Israel so that they could escape to Jordan. Israel? Such people normally regard Israel with violent hatred, a feeling Israel returns with interest. As far as I can discover, other defeated groups of Syrian rebels and their hangers-on have been bussed under safe conducts to the rebel-held north of Syria, under Turkish and Russian supervision. Why not this time? Later, the Jordanian government revealed that some of them would now be resettled in Britain. Its spokesman announced that Britain, Germany and Canada made a legally binding undertaking to resettle them within a specified period of time due to a risk to their lives. Legally binding, eh? What was this risk? What were they so worried about? Why do they need to come to Britain when the whole Arab Muslim world must presumably long to welcome these glorious, self-sacrificing heroes? For, according to the Foreign Office, and many others, the White Helmets are the good guys. They like them so much they have so far spent 38.4million of your money and mine on supporting them. The FO is in a mess over this. It has for years been backing the Islamist rebels against the Syrian government, a policy which involves supporting exactly the sort of people we would arrest if we found them in Birmingham. White Helmets recovering bodies in Zardana, in Syria's Idlib province, in June Perhaps that is why it claims the White Helmets are volunteers (they are often paid) and that they have saved over 115,000 lives during the Syrian conflict and done brave and selfless work to save Syrians on all sides of the conflict. When I asked them to provide independent, checkable evidence for these assertions, they came up empty after three days of searching. This is not surprising, as the White Helmets generally operate only in areas controlled by unlovely bodies such as the Al-Nusra Front, until recently an affiliate of Al Qaeda, and the equally charming Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam), famous for putting captured Syrian Army soldiers in cages and using them as human shields. Independent Western observers, whether they are diplomats or journalists, cant really go to these zones, because they are quite likely to end up very dead and probably headless. So you can choose whether to believe the White Helmets and their flattering picture of their own goodness, or wonder why exactly they are in such need of protection that these much-feted and saintly humanitarians are willing to be evacuated through a country that most Arab Muslims loathe and despise, rather than rely on the mercy of their own countrymen. Is it possible (I only ask) that, while undoubtedly brilliant at public relations, and at making slick videos showing themselves rescuing wounded children, the White Helmets are not quite as nice as they say they are? Even the USA, which has for years (like us) helped the Syrian rebels, refused entry to the leader of the White Helmets, Raed Saleh, when he arrived at Washingtons Dulles Airport in 2016. They wont say why. The FO tells me that the Home Office, not them, will be vetting those chosen to come here. I hope they are careful when they do so. I am sure that future Home Secretaries will not be grateful if any of the new arrivals turns out to have the same opinions as Abu Qatada. In any case, it is time the British Government came clean about who it has been helping in Syria. Exposed: The great grammar school lie Enemies of good schools never cease to go on about the alleged cruelty of academic selection. Why arent they just as annoyed about all the other forms of school selection which have replaced it? Above all there is the icy, utterly unfair finality of selection by wealth. If your parents cannot afford to live in the right area, then you are excluded from almost all the better state schools from the start. But there are plenty of other things going on. Last week, hardly noticed, it was revealed that state schools are now excluding thousands of pupils, often by backdoor methods which do not show up on the books, as well as pushing them off the rolls to boost their exam results. Selection can happen after the age of 11, as well as before it. And what do you think all those well-publicised rows about hairstyles and uniforms are really about? They are schools signalling to their areas that they dont really want pupils from certain sorts of homes. Well, can anyone tell me how this is fairer, more open, or better for Britain than selection by ability that still happens in successful, well-educated countries such as Germany and Switzerland? Any form of selection will hurt somebody. But selection will always happen in some form, so why dont we choose the fairest and most rational sort? Advertisement What a lot of garbage is being talked about Tini Owens and her slightly delayed divorce. Marriage law in this country is pathetically weak already, and takes the side of the contract-breaker against the spouse who wants to keep his or her promise to stay together. The only unusual thing about this case is that the deserted spouse is not immediately giving in, as most do, so Mrs Owens cant get remarried for a couple of years. So what? That is all divorce is permission to get married again, after breaking your original promise. It is not as if the courts are forcing the couple to have breakfast together every day. The case is being misrepresented by people who want to get rid of marriage altogether, and replace it with some sort of state-registered partnership, stripped of the ancient power of the Christian marriage vow. If you want to comment on Peter Hitchens click here. Labour's moderates have finally snapped. 'The Corbynites have miscalculated,' one senior rebel explained to me on Friday. 'They thought we had no option but to stick with the party. That, because nobody walked, we would just sit back and take it. 'Well, that's not going to happen any more. This is the last summer with the Labour Party in its current form.' Up to 20 Labour MPs are preparing to break with their party over Corbynism The breaking point has proven to be the latest grotesque chapter in Labour's ongoing anti-Semitism crisis. Last week, the Corbynites successfully redefined how to hate Jews. Sections of the internationally recognised IHRA definition on anti-Semitism were rewritten by Labour's ruling executive to allow party members to oppose Israel's right to exist and brand Jews 'Nazis'. Accusing Jews of being traitors to the UK was according to the party no longer anti-Semitic, just a bit 'wrong'. As another moderate told me: 'It's not about politics. It's about when I get up in the morning, can I look at myself in the mirror.' A colleague said: 'I'm now a member of a racist party. And I can't accept that.' Anti-Semitism has proven the catalyst. But other factors have convinced what I'm told is an initial tranche of between a dozen and 20 MPs to take the fateful decision to break with their party. One is the realisation that proposed constitutional changes by the Corbynites mean Labour is beyond resuscitation. According to a former Shadow Minister: 'It's time to face facts. We're not getting our party back.' Jeremy Corbyn faced mounting anger over Labours anti-Semitism row last night as it emerged the dispute has led to a bizarre call to throw him off his allotment A second is that the final pieces are being moved into place to begin a round of symbolic deselections. Discretely, the Unite trade union has been creating numerous affiliated 'branches' in key constituencies. As soon as Team Corbyn gives the nod, Len McCluskey will issue the order, and the cull will commence. And then there is the sheer mental and physical exhaustion of enduring the relentless, living nightmare that is Corbynism. 'People are aware what this means,' said one MP. 'It involves potentially sacrificing careers, and walking away from a party many have been members of for decades. 'But we've come to the view that being on the outside can't be worse than remaining on the inside. This just can't go on.' There will be no move immediately. Those who have signed-up to be the first wave of Labour's liberation movement intend to tread carefully. 'We have to do this properly,' one said. 'There's no point charging off randomly in the middle of summer recess. People need to sit down, get a plan in place, and then launch it properly.' A fundamental part of this is what form the initial breakaway will take, with a range of options being considered. The latest anti-Semitic drama was the tipping point for fed-up moderates who are planning to leave the party in the near future At one end of the spectrum is a formal, public disavowal of Corbyn. Under this proposal, the breakaway grouping would issue a public declaration they would not support him in a confidence motion and would never vote for his elevation to Prime Minister similar to the pledge Barrow MP John Woodcock made at the last Election, before resigning from the party a fortnight ago. A second option is a formal resignation of the Labour whip, and establishment of an independent parliamentary grouping. This would be followed by a direct challenge to Labour in a subsequent Election by some of the group's members, and by a departure from politics for others. And then there is that hardy progressive perennial, the establishment of a new political party. I'm told this remains live, and that covert discussions are taking place across party lines, as well as within Labour's moderate faction. 'It's been a bit odd,' says an MP privy to this delicate courtship. 'You'll have a senior Minister coming up to you, saying, 'This is a disaster, the Conservative Party's about to split. We need to talk about doing something together.' The next day one of our lot will go up to one of them and say, 'God, you think you've got it bad. It's horrendous over here. You and I have got to find a way of pulling in the same direction.' ' But at the moment, Labour moderates are focusing on their initial escape from the Corbynite Gulag. 'Yes, people are talking about a new party,' said one, 'but the first thing we need to do is break from Corbyn in a clean and public way, and a way that the allows the British people to understand that we believe this man is a danger to the country.' The moderates currently have two dates ringed. One is this September, when the Parliamentary Labour Party is scheduled to pass a motion writing the full IHRA anti-Semitism definition into its own standing-orders. They will then dare the Corbyn dominated NEC to rescind their decision. 'This is the moment,' one MP said. 'Either Corbyn backs down unlikely or that's the trigger.' One is the realisation that proposed constitutional changes by the Corbynites mean Labour is beyond resuscitation. According to a former Shadow Minister: 'It's time to face facts. We're not getting our party back' The next highlighted date is March 29, 2019, and a second moment of decision on Brexit. 'However it plays out, it seems pretty certain we're going to be leaving on that date,' says a Labour Remainer, 'and at that point there's no reason to put things off any longer.' The members of the Labour first wave are less concerned at the reaction of the Corbynites 'we know they're coming for us whatever happens' than they are at the response of their more malleable colleagues. 'The problem is those MPs like Tom Watson and John Spellar who think this is just a rerun of the 1980s. They think all we have to do is keep our heads down for ten to 15 years, and then everything will sort itself out,' one lamented. Labour does not have 15 years. It may not have 15 months. This week I spoke to a senior member of the Jewish community. For the first time, his anger was not directed solely at Corbyn, but also at his community's erstwhile allies. 'What will it take before they act?' he said. 'Do they need to put us in Parliament Square and start lining us up?' Hopefully not. Enough really is enough. The days of thinking it is possible to simultaneously challenge Corbyn while working for his election as Prime Minister are over. As is the currency of the tired mantra 'I'm not leaving, it's my party.' If you are a moderate, it's not your party. I had a front-row seat during a previous Labour takeover the transformation to New Labour. The likes of Dennis Skinner and, yes, Corbyn, were encouraged to make the same self-satisfied protestation. At worst they were tolerated, at best indulged. And for one purpose. To con the Left this was also 'their' party. To convince them to break their shoulders upon the New Labour wheel. And it worked. New Labour would not have achieved half as much without them. That is the role the moderates are playing in today's Labour. The Corbynites have different tactics. They prefer intimidation to flattery and detached tolerance. But their strategy is the same. To fool moderate Labour supporters into believing they still have a stake in the rancid, anti-Semitic cesspit of Corbynism. This weekend, dozens of Labour MPs are realising they do not. If we take them at their word, we are witnessing Labour's last summer. Having their pictures taken constantly and being in the public eye means that for most celebrities, the look of their skin is a number on priority. But instead of purchasing some of the bigger named labels from overseas, Australian actress' and TV personalities are turning to some of our homegrown heroes. Erin Norden, founder of Clean Beauty Market, told FEMAIL that for many of our favourite celebs, beauty starts from within. Scroll down for video Erin Norden, founder of Clean Beauty Market, (pictured) told FEMAIL that for many of our favourite celebs, beauty starts from within 'The Beauty Chef do inner wellness powders and beauty liquids, with some of their fans including Naomi Watts and owner of Goop, Gwenyth Paltrow,' Ms Norden said. 'Mayella is also an up-and-coming skincare line with active ingredients. Their brand ambassador is Jessica Green who is an Aussie actress based on the Gold Coast. She's got a huge Instagram following and is working in the US at the moment in television.' The Calm Compound, which is a range of mists and roll on's with essential oils, are well-liked by Jesinta Campbell, Bec Judd, Pia Miller, Kate Richie and Megan Gale. Bec Judd (left) loves the range of mists from The Calm Compound and Naomi Watts drinks The Beauty Chef wellness powders (right) All of these products are 'green' by nature and don't contain the chemicals and additives that regularly worshiped chemist brands do. Chocolate Sun Faux Tan is enjoyed by Jessica Alba and Kirsten Davis, Kjaer Weis is used by Reese Witherspoon, Soapwalla is an ingenious find from Emma Watson and OSEA Malibu is a favourite of Kate Hudson, Halle Berry and Jessica Biel. 'Clean beauty is so important for our health and wellbeing,' Ms Norden continued. Pia Miller (pictured) also uses the essential oils from Australian brand The Calm Compound Another devotee! Jesinta Franklin keeps her skin in top shape by applying The Calm Compound 'We don't need to choose chemical-laden products when these high performing, sleek and innovative clean beauty products are available. 'Clean beauty also represents more quality in terms of the ingredients that make up the product. 'Less cheap and unnecessary fillers, they are often cruelty free and eco-friendly too, which more and more people are becoming aware of and demanding when it comes to beauty products they choose to buy.' Even if you're not ready to throw out your entire beauty cabinet and start from scratch, there are five traditional products you should consider swapping. Even if you're not ready to throw out your entire beauty cabinet and start from scratch, there are five traditional products you should consider swapping DEODORANT 'Ditch the parabens, fragrance, triclosan, sulphates and aluminium and switch to formulas that contain vegetable powders, charcoal, and oils selected for their moisture absorbing and odour control qualities,' Ms Norden explained. BODY CREAM 'Products used on a large surface of the body are a sensible and important swap,' she said. Body oils, Natural body creams and balms are much better alternatives. FACE MOISTURISER 'Fragrance, silicones, chemical preservatives and some alcohols are just some of the ingredients to avoid in face creams as they are super irritating and can potentially affect our health,' she detailed. 'Products used on a large surface of the body are a sensible and important swap,' Ms Norden said Go natural with powders! Ingesting beauty liquids is now considered just another step in your beauty regime PERFUME 'Perfumes can contain a myriad of various chemicals which are not necessarily labelled on the ingredient list so it can be tricky for the consumer to know what chemicals are actually in their perfume,' she reiterated. LIPSTICK 'Avoid sythentic dyes, waxes, parabens and preservatives like BHA and BHT which have been linked to detrimental health affects,' she said. 'Choose plant oils, waxes and natural pigments which look and feel amazing.' You can purchase these makeup and skincare products from Clean Beauty Market. A sibling of two of the world's most famous models is now making his own mark on the world of fashion. Anwar Hadid, younger brother of Bella and Gigi Hadid, will join the stellar line-up set to descend the David Jones runway for Spring Summer 2018. This will be the 19 year old's first professional Australian debut and it will take place on Wednesday August 8 in Sydney. He will join the likes of international supermodel, Karolina Kurkova, and David Jones Ambassadors Victoria Lee and Jessica Gomes. Scroll down for video Anwar Hadid (middle), younger brother of Bella (right) and Gigi Hadid (left), will join the stellar line-up set to descend on the David Jones runway for Spring Summer 2018 This will be the 19 year olds first professional Australian debut on Wednesday 8 August in Sydney Although in the past Anwar has remained under the radar, this has changed in recent months The Californian-local was signed with IMG modelling agency in 2016 when he was just 16, joining his sisters. He is proving that he is forging his own path in the modelling world, having already worked for international brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, HUGO by Hugo Boss and Fenty Puma. 'Anwar represents the future and evolution of the male fashion industry and we are thrilled to be welcoming him to Sydney to celebrate the launch of new season walking in David Jones' latest menswear trends,' David Jones General Manager of Menswear and Childrenswear, Chris Wilson, said. The Californian-local was signed with IMG in 2016 when he was just 16, joining his sisters He will join the likes of David Jones Ambassadors Victoria Lee (left) and Jessica Gomes (right) He is proving that he is forging his own path in the modelling world, having already worked for international brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren Although in the past Anwar has remained relatively under the radar, this has changed in recent months. This is partly thanks to his more than two million followers on Instagram and the fact he made tabloids everywhere when he kissed with Kendall Jenner at a party. Previously his mother, former model Yolanda Hadid, said she couldn't convince him to join his sisters in making a cameo on her modelling competition show. Anwar boasts over two million followers on Instagram and made tabloids everywhere when he made out with Kendall Jenner at a party 'It's just not part of his nature. Anwar's actually kind of shy. Unless I push him into things, he likes to be in the background and do his thing,' she told W Magazine earlier this year. Anwar isn't the first international model to grace the David Jones runway as the likes of Jordan Barnett have done so previously. Previously, ambassador Victoria Lee told the Daily Telegraph she's looking forward to following in the footsteps of previous David Jones icons like Megan Gale and Miranda Kerr. 'They're such inspirational women that I've looked up to,' she gushed. Advertisement Gone are the days when social media couldn't be a lucrative business endeavour, with more millennials than ever abandoning their regular jobs for a life wandering the globe or collaborating on a fitness guide. Chiefly among them are a group of young - and wealthy - individuals who made it onto Hopper HQ's Instagram Rich List for this year. Makeup connoisseur Kylie Jenner, who has a following of 110 million, topped the list overall with the suggestion she earns an astonishing $1 million per post on the photo-sharing application. But three Australian women also made the list in their selected categories of travel and fitness; including Bikini Body Guide founder Kayla Itsines, photographer Lauren Bullen and former design student Tara Whiteman. But three Australian women also made the list in their selected categories of travel and fitness; including Bikini Body Guide founder Kayla Itsines (pictured) At 27 years old, personal trainer and entrepreneur Kayla Itsines runs a business empire worth more than $63 million. And according to Hopper HQ her 9.9 million Instagram fan base earns her $15,000 per post and sixth place on the list. At 27 years old, personal trainer and entrepreneur Kayla Itsines runs a business empire worth more than $63 million Speaking to Collective Hub previously, Kayla said it's her authenticity, helpfulness and ability to 'stick to my morals' that have helped her relate to others online and in business Speaking to Collective Hub previously, Kayla said it's her authenticity, helpfulness and ability to 'stick to my morals' that have helped her relate to others online and in business. 'People could see me who knew me years ago and still be like, "You're the same person then as you are today". When they meet me, they're like, "Youre exactly the same",' she said. 'I'm literally just doing what I love, 'cause I love helping people. I'm weird. Like, if you said, "Oh, my nail's chipped" I would run - run - go get you nail polish remover and repaint your nails. 'Nothing is beneath me. So, yeah, I just like helping people.' Kayla, whose main focus is helping women become 'strong' rather than 'skinny', has also revealed her top meal tips for sculpting a healthy summer body Speaking to Sporteluxe Kayla said each day begins at 5am followed by a round of boot camp with like-minded friends Meanwhile Lauren Bullen, from Lennox Head in New South Wales, is a self taught photographer and runs a blog called Gypsea Lust. She and her boyfriend Jack Morris made the list at fourth and fifth respectively, beating out a number of other travel bloggers. Jack earns $8,250 per post and Lauren rakes in slightly less at $6,000. Four years after leaving the UK in search of a new adventure, UK-born and bred Jack met Lauren in Fiji. The 25-year-old embodies the travel, fashion and lifestyle mantra showcasing the most incredible destinations around the world. Meanwhile Lauren Bullen, from Lennox Head in New South Wales, is a self taught photographer and runs a blog called Gypsea Lust She and her boyfriend Jack Morris made the list at fourth and fifth respectively, beating out a number of other travel bloggers Combining their Instagram accounts, Jack and Lauren have almost five million followers. 'I think it was because it was mixing the photography up with Lauren and people enjoy seeing a couple and it works for us,' he said. Jack and Lauren's jaw-dropping photography and enviable lifestyle drew the admiration of plenty of brands who inundated the pair with opportunities over the last year. Global brands such as Royal Caribbean Cruises, Disney, Air NZ, AirBnB, NRMA insurance and other headlining acts have all approached the duo. Lauren even has to turn down fashion brands. Four years after leaving the UK in search of a new adventure, UK-born and bred Jack met Lauren in Fiji The 25-year-old embodies the travel, fashion and lifestyle mantra showcasing the most incredible destinations around the world 'I think it was because it was mixing the photography up with Lauren and people enjoy seeing a couple and it works for us,' he said Jack and Lauren's jaw-dropping photography and enviable lifestyle drew the admiration of plenty of brands who inundated the pair with opportunities over the last year 'She has to turn down a lot of brands, if she wouldn't wear it she won't work with it as she tries to keep it authentic,' Jack said. While they are now based in Bali, the pair travel the world showcasing the globe's most desirable destinations and painting them in an even better light. The pair have taken a dip in the pristine waters of Greece, enjoyed the food in Italy and France, taken a stroll on the Great Wall of China, braved the mountains of Kenya and even camped out in vastness of the Sahara desert. But their joint favourite location was basking in the aura of the ancient pillar city of Cappadocia in Turkey. Global brands such as Royal Caribbean Cruises, Disney, Air NZ, AirBnB, NRMA insurance and other headlining acts have all approached the duo While they are now based in Bali, the pair travel the world showcasing the globe's most desirable destinations and painting them in an even better light The pair have taken a dip in the pristine waters of Greece, enjoyed the food in Italy and France, taken a stroll on the Great Wall of China, braved the mountains of Kenya and even camped out in vastness of the Sahara desert Former design student Tara Whiteman, who goes by the name Tara Milk Tea on Instagram, rounded out the top ten of the Hopper HQ influencers for the travel segment, earning $3,000 per upload. Speaking to Daily Mail Australia previously, the globetrotter - who has explored more than 30 countries - has given a glimpse into her travels - and how her hobby blossomed into an enviable life. 'I love the experience. I feel like travelling teaches you so much, and makes me so appreciative of life,' she said. 'I've always loved the creative side, and being able to turn photography from a hobby into my job has always been a dream. I also enjoy the ability to share these experiences online so others might be inspired to visit as well. Former design student Tara Whiteman, who goes by the name Tara Milk Tea on Instagram, rounded out the top ten of the Hopper HQ influencers for the travel segment, earning $3,000 per upload 'The world is incredible and I'm always excited to see new places. It's endless and I'm still not over it. I don't think I'll ever stop travelling, even if it becomes once a year, or once every few years,' she said 'The world is incredible and I'm always excited to see new places. It's endless and I'm still not over it. I don't think I'll ever stop travelling, even if it becomes once a year, or once every few years. 'I do have a rough plan for my future, but I'm always open to change.' Her sumptuous Instagram feed reveals jaunts throughout Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand - and every photograph has been perfectly set up for the frame. But how does she take snaps of herself in busy locations with no one else in the frame? Tara insisted she doesn't have any 'secrets' behind taking the perfect snaps - and she ensures all her images match on Instagram by posting photos that are bursting with bright colours 'I love vibrant imagery, so I don't have a particular style or theme. When I've been in New Zealand you'll see my images become more green and blue, and I like how that flows at a particular time,' she said 'I love exploring cities in the early morning, when there are less tourists about,' she said. 'This is usually before 8am. I find places can be much more charming with less people around or, you'll tend to find locals out and about, which can tell you so much more about a place. 'However, sometimes I like to take photos in busy places because it captures the essence of a city.' Tara insisted she doesn't have any 'secrets' behind taking the perfect snaps - and she ensures all her images match on Instagram by posting photos that are bursting with bright colours. 'If I'm going to be in the photo, I might frame it first, and he'll then take it. But he has a really good eye so I just let him work his magic with the camera,' she said Her sumptuous Instagram feed reveals jaunts throughout Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand - and every photograph has been perfectly set up for the frame 'I love vibrant imagery, so I don't have a particular style or theme. When I've been in New Zealand you'll see my images become more green and blue, and I like how that flows at a particular time,' she said. 'I travel with my partner and we've both always enjoyed photography. I take photos of him, and he takes them of me. Strangers offer to take photos of us together, which is really nice. 'If I'm going to be in the photo, I might frame it first, and he'll then take it. But he has a really good eye so I just let him work his magic with the camera.' From Angelina Jolie to Jennifer Aniston and Juliette Lewis, Brad Pitt has romanced some of Hollywood's leading ladies, and now an eagle-eyed Twitter user has spotted something rather unusual about his string of high-profile relationships. Sarah McGonagall, a photographer from New York, found an old newspaper cutting which highlighted how Brad has always adapted his look to resemble the woman he's dating. One image showed him beaming with ex wife Jennifer Aniston as they attended the 51st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards in 1999, both sporting textured sun-kissed hair and golden tans. Meanwhile an image of him with ex-girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow showed a remarkable likeness between the duo, with them showing off matching blonde cropped hair. Taking to Twitter Sarah shared a picture of the article, writing: ' I saw this news article about Brad Pitt and now I can't stop thinking about it'. The tweet quickly garnered 386,000 likes, 122,000 retweets and 1,400 comments with followers amazed by his chameleon-like abilities. Sarah McGonagall, a photographer from New York, found an old newspaper cutting which highlighted that Brad appeared to adapt his style according to who he was dating at that moment (seen with Angelina Jolie in 2013, both sporting light brown shoulder-length hair) Brad is seen with ex wife Jennifer Aniston in 1999, both sporting textured sun-kissed hair and golden tans The collage showed Brad sporting light brown shoulder-length hair, chiseled features and green eyes as he posed with estranged wife Angelina Jolie at a World War Z premiere in 2013 in London. Going back even further, Brad was pictured with voluminous hair just like that of then-girlfriend Jitka Pohledek in 1994, just a year after showing off a shorter do much like ex girlfriend Juliette Lewis. And Twitter was quickly flooded with comments from astounded fans, sharing their own snaps of him 'twinning' with his partners, as well as hilarious memes. 'Couples usually end up looking alike. Singles their dog. Subconscious mimicry. Humans are weird', one follower explained. Brad with ex-girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow in 1997 showed a remarkable likeness between the duo, with both showing off blonde cropped hair and similar expressions. In 1994 Brad was spotted showing off a shorter do much like ex girlfriend Juliette Lewis as he attended a premiere Boho chic! Brad was pictured with voluminous hair just like that of then-girlfriend Jitka Pohledek in 1994 Taking to Twitter Sarah shared a picture of the article, writing: ' I saw this news article about Brad Pitt and now I can't stop thinking about it'. Another wrote:' The Paltrow one is my favorite, although the one with Aniston looks like you could do a face swap and not notice'. Commenters were quick to share their own examples, with one pointing out that he and Jennifer Aniston had 'matching highlights' on their wedding day. Another claimed that his copycat style extended beyond girlfriends, sharing a snap of him and Tom Cruise looking almost identical when they filmed Interview With The Vampire together. Twitter was quickly flooded with comments from astounded fans, sharing their own snaps of him 'twinning' with his partners, as well as hilarious memes One person joked: 'My sister pointed this out before Angelina. Hes like Julia Roberts in Runsway Bride with the eggs.' Brad, 54, has had a colourful dating history, courting the likes of Christina Applegate, Thandie Newton and even Sinitta in his youth. Brad dated actress Juliette Lewis for three years from 1990-1993, when she was only aged 17 and he was ten years her senior before starring in the 1993 film Kalifornia together. He then dated Czech model Jitka Pohledek in 1994, taking her to the 1994 premiere of Legends of the Fall, however told Vanity Fair at the time that he was still in love with Juliette Lewis. Meanwhile one theorised: 'It's been said he's a character actor trapped in a leading man's body. He's just getting into character! ' In 1995 he met Gwyneth Paltrow on the set of Se7en, and called her his 'angel, the love of my life,' when he picked up his Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe for 12 Monkeys in 1996. The couple even got matching haircuts and he proposed that December but the couple split in 1997, with Gwyneth claiming she wasn't ready. His next significant relationship was with Jennifer Aniston, who he met on a blind date in 1998 before marrying in 2000. However in 2005 they announced their split. Brad went onto wed Angelina Jolie, who he met in 2004 on the set of Mr and Mrs Smith, before marrying in 2014. The couple split in 2016 and their divorce terms were reportedly agreed in April 2018 following a two year custody battle over their six children. She's been keeping a low profile in recent weeks as she takes a well-earned summer break from public duties. But today the Queen was spotted publicly for the first time in over two weeks as she attended a church service at Crathie Kirk near her Balmoral estate. The monarch, 92, looked elegant as ever in a bright blue coat with a matching hat trimmed with a floral adornment. She teamed the ensemble with her trusty string of pearls, and the Jardine Star Brooch and was joined in the car by a female companion, also in blue. Her Majesty's last public engagements were on 13th and 14th July, when she welcomed overseas visitors - most notably President Donald Trump - to Windsor castle. The Queen, 92, looked elegant in a bright blue coat and matching hat as she was driven to Crathie Kirk near Balmoral for Sunday service Her Majesty was spotted leaving the service at Crathie church in Aberdeenshire near her Balmoral Estate - her first public outing in over two weeks The monarch greeted the US president and his wife Melania in the quadrangle of the royal residence ahead. A Guard of Honour, formed of the Coldstream Guards, gave a Royal Salute and the US national anthem was played as the US visitors arrived for the engagement. The Queen and President Trump inspected the Guard of Honour before watching the military march past. Mr and Mrs Trump then enjoyed a private teas with the Queen inside the castle. The monarch looked relaxed as she chatted to a female companion during the drive to church A day later, Her Majesty welcomed King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium for an audience at the castle, before departing to Balmoral for her summer break. The Queen spends her summer months at the private residence and is frequently joined by other members of The Royal Family. Crathie Church lies next door to Balmoral and the Queen is a regular presence at services during her annual holiday. Charles and Camilla also have a home, Birkhall, on the Balmoral Estate and will no doubt be spending time with the monarch over the coming weeks. Last year the Queen departed for Balmoral in mid July and did not end her annual Highland summer holiday until the first week in October. Welcoming US president Donald Trump and his wife Melania to Windsor Castle on 13th July was one of the Queen's last engagements before her summer break There are some things even feminism cannot fix. I think this every summer, staring into a mirror on our little boat and catching sight of what looks like a botched experiment by Dr Frankenstein. Then I look around at male relatives and, after the same sail (or hike or scramble), they look rather fabulous. Young men with a ruffled, soldierly dash to them, the rain taking no appeal away from their Hugh Grant-esque locks; older ones with silver hair contrasting handsomely with a mahogany tan, or sporting a rakish hat over the bald bit. Theyre just as tired and weather-beaten, but they look like something out of a Hollywood action film, while we females look like wet hens: hair limp, mascara long gone, any tan stopping at the line of the scarf, while weatherproof layers create an unerotic silhouette. Libby Purves questions the difference in appearance between men and women when embracing outdoor activities such as hiking or sailing (file image) As a veteran sailing lady sadly said to me, Men! Why is it that in a gale their eyes look bluer and jaws firmer, while were fit for landfill? After all, magazines and travel brochures are full of glorious women lounging on foredecks, posing prettily with ropes or grinning triumphantly on crags. Their hair floats on the breeze (or a wind machine), their eyes are wide with happiness and three tons of expertly applied liner and shading, and their waterproofs cling alluringly. They are styled. Very few women who have just climbed a crag actually look like that. Unless they are very young, with amazing hair and the kind of irresistible bone structure that as Raymond Chandler once said would make a bishop kick a hole in a stained-glass window. And there are not many real women like that. Which is why it is so galling that outdoorsy men look, lets face it, absolutely great. Sickening. A 'no shell' version of Skittles, the sweet known for its crunchy exterior and chewy centre, has hit the UK for the first time leaving fans divided over the biggest change to the popular treat in 20 years. 'Skittles Chewies' come with the words 'No Shell' emblazoned on the pack, which contains five flavours: orange, lime, lemon, blackcurrant and strawberry. An eagle-eyed fan spotted the new release, and a snap was quickly shared on New Foods UK's Instagram account, where it quickly garnered almost 5,000 likes and dozens of comments. 'Brand new product alert - new Skittles Chewies No Shell! Literally just saw them being put out in Asda. These taste exactly like skittles just without the shells. After trying these, I now prefer Skittles with no shell', the caption read. One commenter said they were immediately making their way to the shops to get their hands on a packet, while one said: 'I need these beautiful sugar treats in my life.' However others weren't so sure and questioned the change to such a popular classic, with many arguing that the shell is the best part. 'What sort of wizardry is this', one person wrote, while another said: 'You just killed Skittles.' Scroll down for video Confectionery giant Mars have released a soft 'no shell' version of Skittles, known for its crunchy exterior and multi-coloured flavours An eagle-eyed fan spotted the new release, and it was quickly shared on News Food UK 's Instagram account, causing a storm with sweet-toothed fans The product was uploaded to the food account, where it quickly garnered almost 5,000 likes and dozens of comments The new release marks the biggest change to Skittles in 20 years, and they reportedly boast 'a lighter texture and a less intense flavour than the originals'. Available in the classic small pack and a larger 'shareable' version, they are now on sale in supermarkets across the country. Dan Newell, from Mars Wrigley Confectionery, said: Having undertaken extensive research, we found that retailers and consumers alike were looking for something with an alternative texture that still retained the fruity flavours of our much-loved brands. Skittles were first made commercially in 1974 by a British company before being sold in Europe that year. Named Skittles Chewies with the words 'No Shell' emblazoned, they come in five flavours including orange, lime, lemon, blackcurrant and strawberry They were then introduced in North America in 1979 as an import confectionery and in 1982, domestic production of Skittles began in the United States. However, another change to the classic formula which was made to celebrate Pride in June 2017 did not go down well with some customers Manufacturers released white versions of the colourful sweets to send out the message that 'during Pride, only one rainbow matters', referring to the LGBT rainbow. Some followers of the account weren't so sure about the change, questioning why Mars has changed such a popular classic 'Let me tell you something Im on my way to grip them things right now', one follower wrote, while many added 'Oh my god' Skittles turned white in June 2017 to celebrate LGBT Pride month, but some commenters argued the choice of colour was 'racist' as white does not represent equality Skittles have become the unlikely focus of a race row after Twitter users objected to white versions of the sweets being sold to mark Pride month. However, several Twitter users suggested that choosing the colour 'white' for the neutral Skittles was racist. Podcaster Tora Shae started the debate by arguing that the colour white has never represented 'equality', tweeting: 'Why should whiteness mean equality?! That's the f***ing problem! Jo and Sarah answer real questions from readers: to put your query, go to beautybible.com Q My partner has discovered moisturiser (quite late in life) and now wants one with an SPF as he spends a lot of time outdoors. What are the best options which I might use as well? A Well, hats off (or rather on.) to him. We don't know enough British men whove really got the message about sun protection unlike Aussies, who are watching their older counterparts dealing with skin cancers. And thinking of that, please make sure your partner dabs it on his ears and also eyelids, both commonly missed and very vulnerable to UV. For more information follow Beauty Bible online here or on Facebook and Twitter There is a range of mens moisturisers with an SPF, including American Crew Al-in-One Face Balm Broad Spectrum SPF15, which is currently on special offer at feelunique.com, 15 for 170ml. A colleagues husband is keen on this one. Murray Clark, Digital Style Editor at Esquire, recommends Aesop Facial Hydrating Cream SPF15, 27 for 40 ml. Heavy-duty sun products dont translate well from body to face. Aesops facial hydrating cream is a little more delicate on the old mug, and wont leave pores feeling clogged or oily afterwards. But since your partner is outside a lot, he might be better with a higher SPF, either 30 or 50. Ultrasun products come in unisex packaging, are long-lasting (although every sunscreen should be reapplied after swimming or umm sweating) and combine sun protection with great moisturisation. Ultrasun Face Mineral is an ultra-light sunscreen, based on a physical mineral screen. It comes in SPF30 or 50 versions, at 26 for 40ml. If your chap is really into natural products, we suggest award-winning Green People Facial Sun Cream Scent Free SPF30, 18 for 50ml. And finally, for chaps with less hair, a brush on powder works well, eg Susan Posnick Brush On Block SPF30, currently 22.50. Beauty Bible loves ESPA Beauty Explorer Collection, 65. All travel kits are not created equal. (Although to be fair, most travel kits prove to be an excellent way of trialling products before swinging for the full size. Or, importantly, NOT as the case may be.) But we're going to stick our (nicely-moisturised) necks out, here: this is one of the best travel kits we've ever seen/swooned over/used. It helps that it's from ESPA and at some point or other, we've probably individually reviewed everything in this really well-designed grey zip-up travel bag, on the site. ESPA Beauty Explorer Collection , 65. We're going to stick our (nicely-moisturised) necks out, here: this is one of the best travel kits we've ever seen/swooned over/used These are generous sizes definitely enough for over a week away. And there's not one thing that we feel is superfluous to requirements, or a waste of packing space that's how well edited it is. So, inside, find... Purifying Shampoo and Nourishing Conditioner (50 ml each) Jo happens to keep full sizes of this at our hairdresser in her own private 'stash'. (Sssssshh.) Pink Hair and Scalp Mud (30 ml) what can we say? A legend and a Beauty Bible Award-winner several times over. Energising Shower Gel (30 ml) we love the eucalyptus and peppermint zing of this, which would be brilliant after a long flight. Skin Rescue Balm (15 ml) - you might want to take this out of the grey bag and stow it in your hand luggage, actually, as a great multi-tasker. Smooth and Firm Body Butter (30 ml) super-rich, wonderfully nourishing, an excellent after-sun skin quencher as well as an all-round fab body treat. Optimal Skin ProCleanser (30 ml) a three-in-one effective cleanser, scrub and mask. Hydrating Flora Spafresh Spritzer (12 ml) one of the only facial spritzes we'd give shelf-space to, frankly. Optimal Skin ProSerum (10 ml) powered by omega 3, 6 and 9 oils, and wonderfully replenishing. Optimal Skin ProMoisturiser (15 ml) that drink of water holiday (and in-flight) skin really needs. You could cram it all into one of those plastic in-flight bags (just) but we'd recommend keeping out the moisturiser and Rescue Balm. Hopes are rising that Royal Bank of Scotland will this week pay its long-suffering shareholders their first dividend since the days of former chief executive Fred Goodwin. A payout would delight the City and pave the way for the Government to further reduce the taxpayer's stake by selling off another chunk of shares later this year. The bank has not paid a dividend since the early months of 2008. It was bailed out with 45billion of public money in the thick of the financial crisis just months later. Analysts said the bank now has enough cash to comfortably pay a dividend Several City experts are predicting a dividend will be announced when RBS releases its half-year results on Friday. Analysts at investment bank Morgan Stanley said it could pay 2 pence per share, which would net shareholders a total of 240million. Such a payout would represent a boost of almost 150million to the public finances as the Treasury still holds a 62 per cent stake. It is believed the bank feels it can pay dividends again because it has now settled with the US Department of Justice over sub-prime mortgage issues. RBS is paying a 3.6billion fine over its sale of financial products linked to risky mortgages. There had been fears that the fine would be much larger, meaning the bank would not want to funnel cash into dividends. Analysts said the bank now has enough cash to comfortably pay a dividend. Morgan Stanley said RBS's core capital ratio a measure of its financial strength will be 15.6 per cent when it reveals its numbers this week. Chief executive Ross McEwan is aiming to keep the ratio at 14 per cent, meaning it will have an excess to use for a dividend. The announcement of a dividend could make it possible for the Chancellor to sell more shares. Under the terms of the last sale in June at 271p per share, the Treasury cannot launch a new offering until September. The shares are trading at 249.6p, but the price is likely to rise if the dividend returns as they will then become attractive to investors keen on earning an income. But some observers believe shareholders will have to wait longer as Ewen Stevenson the bank's chief financial officer who would lead any decision to make a payout is leaving to join HSBC. Facebook is braced for a $5.7billion tax bill in the US over its Irish subsidiary and tax changes in Europe could force it to overhaul its business, the company said. Last week, the social media giant disclosed the litany of tax issues it is facing in its first half results. Its shares fell on Thursday by more than 20 per cent, wiping $120billion (90billion) off its market value as growth at the firm slowed. Tax affairs: Facebook UK paid just 2.5million in corporation tax last year The US company, led by Mark Zuckerberg, is being pursued by the tax authorities in the US over its Irish arm, which owns the global rights to the income from Facebook's business outside America. US tax officials believe these were handed to the Irish division at a knockdown price to minimise tax liabilities and are seeking payments of $5billion for 2010 and $680million for 2011 to 2013. Facebook contests the bills. The arrangement had implications in Britain. Under the structure, UK advertisers placing ads aimed at UK users paid the Irish business a structure that kept payments to the Revenue at a minimal level. Demands: Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg, pictured with wife Priscilla Chan The firm has since moved many UK payments onshore following a British Government crackdown. Facebook says this will increase its UK corporation tax bill. Facebook UK paid just 2.5million in corporation tax last year. The Internal Revenue Service, America's equivalent of Revenue & Customs, is investigating Facebook's US tax returns for 2014, 2015 and 2016. The Irish tax authorities are investigating its tax returns between 2012 and 2015. Facebook said changes to tax regimes for digital firms could 'require us to change the manner in which we operate' and it warned that the European Commission's investigations into tax breaks awarded by EU member states could affect the company. Competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager has ordered Apple to pay the Irish tax authorities 13billion, saying it struck an unfair deal with the US tech giant. Facebook declined to comment. Advertisement A four-year-old boy sits behind the wheel, steering a ute across a barren paddock as his mum shovels stock feed out the back and wonders if this drought will ever end. This is the stark reality of Australia's devastating drought, which is destroying rural properties in the eastern states, and forcing women like Jess Taylor to find more creative ways to keep the farm, viable until the rains return. Several times a week this scene in the Taylor's paddock plays out. While little Charlie peers over the dash and keeps the ute in a straight line with the engine in low gear, his mother Jess shovels out the cotton seed to feed the diminishing number of cattle on their dusty central New South Wales land. 'You can walk faster than the car, it putts along,' Ms Taylor who lives on the farm, located at Coonabarabran, 500km northwest of Sydney, told Daily Mail Australia, defending putting her boy at the wheel. 'It's got to be done ... it was a matter of him having to (learn how to drive). It's a big open paddock, nothing to hit, he's not going around trees.' The stark reality of Australia's devastating drought is destroying rural properties in the eastern states, and forcing families to find creative ways to keep farms viable until the rains return (pictured is Heidi Taylor, 7, on her family farm outside Coonanarabran, New South Wales) Young children are having to help on the farm (pictured) during the drought where they are trading days off school for work and four-year-old Charlie (back) even drives the ute The Taylor children (pictured) from Coonabarabran, 500km northwest of Sydney, are attempting to keep their property in business Several times a week, Charlie, four, drives a ute through the paddock and keeps it in a straight line in NSW while his older siblings (Harry, six, pictured) work on the farm Charlie knows if he doesn't help his family, 'the cows will die'. The four-year-old's older siblings, Heidi, seven, and Harry, six, also lend an extra hand on the farm instead of going to school. The pair rotate between each other to take days off in an attempt to keep the property. 'The kids help as much as they can, they're just little kids but they get in and they help load the cotton seed on the trailer, feed poddy lambs and horses, help shovel it out and roll the hay out,' Ms Taylor said. 'It's part of everyday life.' While Charlie steers the ute, his mother, Jess Taylor (pictured), feeds the livestock from the back tray in a desperate attempt to keep them alive Charlie (pictured front with his mother and brother in the background) knows if he doesn't help his family, 'the cows will die' 'The kids help as much as they can, they're just little kids but they get in and they help load the cotton seed on the trailer, feed poddy lambs and horses, help shovel it out and roll the hay out,' said the children's mother. Harry is pictured 'A lot of people are in a lot of trouble. Australia is in a lot of trouble if nothing is done soon,' Ms Taylor said (her son Harry is pictured) The mother-of-four said her two eldest children take one day off a fortnight but the 'bush school' is understanding because all the students are in the same situation. 'It's pretty tough. We've still had a lot of harder grass and ground cover but every day it's disappearing, we notice it every day,' she said. 'On the other side there's nothing, not a blade of grass, just dirt. 'A lot of people are in a lot of trouble. Australia is in a lot of trouble if nothing is done soon.' 'The government really needs to do something, we are exhausted, we've exhausted all our options, we just need a little bit of help to stop feeling so alone,' Ms Taylor said The mother-of-four said her two eldest children (Harry, six, pictured) take one day off a fortnight but the 'bush school' is understanding because all the students are in the same situation Ms Taylor, 36, and husband Robert, 35, were forced to sell three-quarters of their livestock and said they'll be forced to sell more 'when it comes to the pinch' (their property pictured) The Taylor family farm is located at Coonabarabran, 500km northwest of Sydney, and has been hit by the state's severe drought Ms Taylor, 36, and husband Robert, 35, were forced to sell three-quarters of their cattle and said they would be forced to sell more 'when it comes to the pinch'. 'It's been pretty hard, we have enough feed to see us through to the end of winter and then I'm not sure,' Ms Taylor told Daily Mail Australia. 'The government really needs to do something, we are exhausted, we've exhausted all our options, we just need a little bit of help to stop feeling so alone.' The mother, who comes from generations of farmers, said she spends five hours a day feeding cattle - a job she would only have to do a few times a week if it weren't for the drought. 'The kids wish it would just rain, if it rains we could have a holiday - the poor kids have never been on a holiday,' she said. While the farmers are battling the dry conditions, deemed the worst in NSW since records began, Ms Taylor said the country will continue to feel the effects for another few years. 'The kids (Harry pictured) wish it would just rain, if it rains we could have a holiday - the poor kids have never been on a holiday,' she said 'The kids wish it would just rain, if it rains we could have a holiday - the poor kids have never been on a holiday,' said Ms Taylor about the family's dire farming situation About 60 per cent of NSW is on drought watch forcing farmers to fork out about $10,000 a week to maintain livestock Businesses are currently being forced to sell their cattle in poor conditions. When it does rain, the mother-of-four said farmers will hold on to their stock to breed and make up for their losses - creating a national shortage in meat supplies. 'Probably in six to 12 months time ... there will be a shortage,' Ms Taylor said. 'It's in the best interest of the country if they help us now so we don't have to sell everything. 'The whole economy will suffer. The cost of living is already expensive, there aren't even crops planted yet so imagine how much a loaf of bread will go up.' About 60 per cent of NSW is on drought watch forcing farmers to fork out about $10,000 a week to maintain livestock. Ms Taylor said her family had to truck in hay from South Australia and Western Australia, costing them $6 per kilometre. 'The government needs to step up, bring in freight subsidies ... it's not sustainable to continue to do this,' she said. While the farmers are battling the dry conditions (pictured), deemed the worst in NSW since records began, Ms Taylor said country will continue to feel the effects for another few years The mother, who comes from generations of farmers, said she spends five hours a day feeding cattle - a job she would have to do a few times a week if it weren't for the drought (pictured) When it does rain, the mother-of-four said farmers will hold on to their stock (pictured) to breed and make up for their losses creating a national shortage in meat supplies As much as 90 per cent of NSW is reported to be suffering from the drought as many families have been forced to escape the debt crippling conditions - creating an onset of mental health issues 'There will be a major food shortage ... and it's going to be six years at least before farmers start to come out of this after the rain.' The mother-of-four explained it was not just the farmers hurting, small communities were also feeling the effects. 'Money is not being spent in towns. It's wonderful people are collecting food and bringing it out but it stops money being spent in town ... it's a double edged sword,' Ms Taylor said. As much as 90 per cent of NSW is reported to be suffering from the drought as many families have been forced to escape the debt crippling conditions - creating an onset of mental health issues. Under the state government scheme, farmers can borrow up to $50,000 interest free from the state government but it has been deemed by those suffering as less effective then a freight subsidy. Ms Taylor, along with other farmers, said the government is essentially 'doing nothing' to help. If you or someone you know needs help, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. For help with depression, please see Beyond Blue for a list of organisations that can assist. Under the state government scheme, farmers can borrow up to $50,000 interest free from the state government but it has been deemed by those suffering as less effective then a freight subsidy The citizens of Melbourne were already living in fear of Japanese invasion during World War II when the first of three women were found murdered in May 1942. About 15,000 cashed-up American troops were based in the city and it was one of those soldiers, Private Eddie Leonski, who would be exposed as the serial killer known as the 'Brownout Strangler'. Leonski's title came from the wartime practice of keeping lights low of an evening and he would go down as the first and only foreign citizen to be tried and executed in Australia under the laws of another country. The smiling psychopath who violently silenced three women by strangulation would be revealed to have had a twisted fascination with female voices, especially when they were singing. US soldier Private Eddie Leonski strangled three women in Melbourne during World War II Newspapers covered the trial of Eddie Leonski whose crimes engrossed Melbourne in 1942 US soldier Eddie Leonski was hanged on the same gallows as bushranger Ned Kelly (above) Leonski was hanged at Pentridge Prison on the same gallows that had been used to execute his bushranger hero Ned Kelly at Old Melbourne Gaol in November 1880. His first victim, 40-year-old Ivy McLeod, was found dead and partially naked in Albert Park on May 3. She had been strangled and brutally beaten. Six days later 31-year-old Pauline Thompson was strangled after being seen on a night out in the company of a man with an American accent. As the city was gripped by panic, Gladys Hosking, 40, was murdered on May 18 while walking home from work at a Melbourne University library. The description of a witness who saw a dishevelled American approach Hosking on the night of her murder matched that of those given by other women who had survived recent attacks. Those descriptions led police to 24-year-old Leonski, who was picked out of a line-up of American servicemen and charged with the three murders. Leonski, who confessed to the killings, was tried on Australian soil under American military law. He was sentenced to death by a court martial on July 17, 1942. Eddie Leonskis bed frame at Melbourne's Camp Pell where his unit was stationed during World War II. The yellow mud stains along the side would serve as evidence to secure his conviction Private Eddie Leonski was hanged on the gallows in Melbourne's Pentridge Prison (pictured) Serial killer Eddie Leonski offered no proper motive for murdering three Melbourne women One psychologist found that Leonski's crimes were motivated by hatred of his mother, who had been overprotective and controlling, but he was ruled sane. Leonski, who never properly explained a motive for his crimes, said of his second victim Thompson: 'She told me I had a baby face but I was wicked underneath.' Born in New Jersey, Leonski had grown up in an alcoholic and abusive family in which one brother was committed to a lunatic asylum. Leonski was executed at Pentridge on November 9, 1942. His body was first buried at Springvale Cemetery, then on Melbourne's south-eastern outskirts but was reinterred a month later in the American servicemen's section of the same cemetery. His remains were moved again to Manson Park Cemetery in Ipswich, Queensland, at the end of the war then one last time to the Post Cemetery at Schofield Barracks in Honolulu. Author Ian W. Shaw has now written a book about the Brownout Strangler called Murder At Dusk. Eddie Leonski shared tent 16 (second from left) in row 4 at Camp Pell with three other soldiers Murder at Dusk by Ian W. Shaw is published by Hachette Australia. RRP $32.99 This is an edited extract from Murder at Dusk by Ian W. Shaw published by Hachette Australia. RRP $32.99. After the Warrant of Execution was read to Eddie Leonski in his cell on the Friday evening, he is supposed to have said, 'I hope they get it over and done with in a hurry so I won't have to go on like this.' Any doubts he may have harboured about a long, drawn-out process would have been laid to rest on the Saturday morning when his guards were increased from two to their original complement of six. Later in the morning, he was visited by a US Army medical officer, who gave him a general examination, finishing it off by taking exact measurements of Eddie's height and weight, checking several times that the latter was exactly 175 pounds (79 kilograms). Finally, when Father Hannan called in to visit Eddie on Saturday afternoon, he had another priest with him, Father Tom Shanahan, who had been flown down from Brisbane by the US Army. What Eddie had no way of knowing was the amount of work that his army had done in the background to make certain that his death went according to a predetermined process. He would have found it interesting, as he did most things where he was the centre of attention. Early on in that process, it became obvious that there were no US Army facilities in Australia that were even remotely suitable for a formal execution by hanging. This first problem was solved by the Victorian government, who offered the Americans the use of the execution chamber at Pentridge Prison, located on the outskirts of the city at Coburg. It would be ideal for the purpose. The facilities at Pentridge had been used for all executions in Victoria since 1924, when the gallows, beam and trap had been relocated from the Old Melbourne Gaol. They had also been used for most of the executions carried out at the Old Melbourne Gaol, meaning that Eddie would be executed on the same apparatus as his hero, Ned Kelly. Pentridge Prison was chosen as the site for Private Eddie Leonski's execution in May 1942 There were also issues around who would actually perform the execution. It was decided not to use the official Victorian hangman, as Victoria had surrendered some of its sovereignty and probably did not want to add to its responsibilities at this late stage. Instead, a hangman was sourced from another state, probably South Australia. That hangman was guaranteed anonymity, a guarantee that has lasted over seventy-five years. All that we know about the man is that he was short and solid, and that he brought with him his own tools of the trade. Among these was a coiled nylon rope; it was brand new and it was two centimetres thick. All those who spoke to Eddie after he was told of his imminent execution on the Friday night were struck by his calmness and lack of any visible emotion. He had studied the mechanics of execution by hanging and knew that over the weekend of 78 November a gallows had been prepared for him somewhere, probably not too far away from where he was spending his last few days and hours of life. He knew that those gallows were being tested over and over again, that hinges and bolts and levers were being oiled, and a rope was being stretched with a weight attached to its end. And he knew that somewhere, maybe even in this very building, a man was doing the calculations which would ensure that his death was quick and clean: a snapped neck - cervical displacement - based on his weight and how far his body would have to drop for that death to occur. Eddie knew that sometimes executioners had miscalculated, and death had been from slow strangulation or by a bloody decapitation. Eddie knew all this and it did not appear to have had the slightest impact on him. Experts compared clay found in a trench with that found at the scene of one of his crimes Fathers Shanahan and Hannan had entered the condemned man's cell with Eddie, and the three men huddled together and spoke in hushed tones. Quickly and quietly, the priests celebrated a Thanksgiving service with Eddie. When it was over, one of the guards offered Eddie a cigarette, which he accepted with thanks, adding that he hoped that he would have enough time to finish it. He didn't. He had taken only a puff or two when the same guard patted him on the arm and nodded towards the cell door. A young US Army officer entered and, in a nervous voice, read from a formal document, saying, 'Private Leonski, in the name of the United States, you are now called upon to have the verdict of the court carried out.' One of the Army officers then produced a copy of the Warrant of Execution, and read it aloud. It was a brief document, a short legal statement, and reading it took only a few seconds. When he had concluded, the officer asked Eddie if he had anything to say. Eddie's answer was a simple shake of the head. As that officer stepped back, the executioner stepped forward. Even in those unusual circumstances, he presented an unusual figure - workmen's clothes and dustcoat, leather gloves and leather mask. He worked quickly. Firstly, he placed a black cloth cap on Eddie's head and then he stooped down to pinion Eddie's legs both above and below the knees. Standing up again, he pulled the black cap down, revealing it to be more of a cloth mask, one that covered Eddie's head and fell down almost to his shoulders. Before that mask fell, Eddie nodded his head slightly towards two US Army doctors who stood at the wall behind the hangman. He also turned his head slightly towards Father Shanahan and gave him a faint smile. Both Fathers Shanahan and Hannan were now praying aloud in Latin. The original gates of Camp Pell where Eddie Leonski was stationed with the 52 Signal Battalion As the black cloth fell down over Eddie's face, the hangman turned to his side, found the rope and noose, and lifted them up before placing the noose, carefully and almost gently, over Eddie's head. As he did so, the military policeman nearest Eddie said quietly, 'I'm sorry, buddy,' to which Eddie replied, also softly, 'It's quite OK, pal. Carry on.' The hangman, again carefully, adjusted the noose so that it sat quite closely around Eddie's neck, with the knot sitting snugly under the angle of the jaw on the left side of Eddie's neck. Satisfied that everything was as it should be, he stepped back from the trapdoor as the MPs did the same. He grasped a large lever with a locking handle and in one fluid movement squeezed the handle and pulled the lever. The trapdoor snapped open and Eddie's body dropped from sight in a sudden, brutal cacophony. Amongst that noise was the squeal of the various hinges and levers, the crash of the trap-door and the snap of the rope as it took the full force of a heavy object falling a short distance. It was the sound of a man dying suddenly and it was a sound that no one there would ever forget. Murder at Dusk by Ian W. Shaw is published by Hachette Australia. RRP $32.99. A new suspect has emerged in the grisly murder of an underworld kingpin who was gunned down at a crowded shopping mall. Walid 'Wally' Ahmad, 41, was shot dead in a 'well-planned ambush' outside a cafe at Bankstown Central Shopping Centre in April 2016. The contract killer originally accused of his murder - Hamad Assaad - was gunned down in a hail of bullets outside his home while taking his 12-year-old son to school. Walid 'Wally' Ahmad (pictured), 41, was shot dead in a 'well-planned ambush' outside a cafe at Bankstown Central Shopping Centre in April 2016 This is the moment Ahmad was gunned down publicly at a shopping centre in 2016 Almost two years after the 29-year-old's bloody death, police no longer suspect Assaad and are probing a new suspect, according to The Sunday Telegraph. The new suspect is thought to be a small-time Comanchero bikie holed up in a luxury apartment in Sydney's CBD. It is though Assaad was gunned down in a mistaken revenge attack by those loyal to Ahmad. Police have confirmed Assaad was not at the scene of Ahmad's murder. Police believe Ahmad was killed in retaliation for the shooting of a member of a rival clan at his A Team Smash Repairs business three weeks before his death. Ahmad's execution saw the kingpin shot more than a dozen times and left his bodyguard and a 31-year-old woman reported to be his girlfriend with injuries. Pictured: Ahmad Contract killer Hamad Assaad (pictured) was the original suspect of Ahmad's murder 'We believe this murder was a contract killing and related to previous shootings that were part of an escalating dispute between two local crime groups,' Homicide Squad Detective Superintendent Scott Cook said. Ahmad's public execution saw the kingpin shot more than a dozen times and left his bodyguard and a 31-year-old woman reported to be his girlfriend with injuries. After the attack, shocking footage emerged of the moment paramedics tried to resuscitate Ahmad. Distressing images show Ahmad, who went into cardiac arrest immediately after he was shot, lying on the ground covered in blood while a man performs CPR on his chest. His family and friends could be heard in the footage screaming 'Walid, Walid! Don't die on me Walid!' A young struggling musician at university who finished his degree without any work said his turning point was when he paid $275 to print business cards. Fady Hanna, 30, is now the owner of advertising company Flagship Digital - which rakes in $3 million a year and is reportedly worth upwards of $12 million. His creative branding business works with high-profile billion-dollar clients like Coca-Cola, Adidas and Citibank. But just six years ago Fady's life was very different. It all started when Fady was in his final year of university where he was studying a Bachelor of Popular Music at the Queensland Conservatorium, in Brisbane. A young struggling musician at university Fady Hanna (pictured with his wife) who finished his degree with no job said his turning point was when he spent $275 and he has never looked back Fady (left) has met with prime minister Malcolm Turnbull (pictured right). He was also the former Gold Coast's Young Entrepreneur of the Year Fady told Daily Mail Australia that he never finished university before starting his business. 'I actually never finished my degree, I did the certificate and dropped out,' Fady said. With no job lined up, he decided to spend what little cash he had to kick-start his own business. The former Gold Coast's Young Entrepreneur of the Year paid $275 on the business cards and worked from home to bring to life his dream - to strengthen the way businesses value and communicated with their customers. Fady had previously worked in marketing at a string of companies but believed that each one lacked a customer-centric focus which is how he came up with Flagship. Flagship which now has offices internationally in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, U.S. and Australia, works to provide business solutions for clients in all aspects of branding, design, marketing and consultancy. Fady Hanna (pictured), 30, is the owner of multi-million-dollar advertising company Flagship Digital and former Gold Coast's Young Entrepreneur of the Year (Pictured) (Pictured) Fady's music setup at his place in Brisbane while he studied at the Queensland Conservatorium in 2012 The young entrepreneur told Daily Mail Australia that the question ''how did I get here?'' crosses his mind everyday. 'Even having the privilege of doing a TEDx talk is something that I never thought would be achievable,' he added. And while Fady never finished his music degree, he said music is still his creative outlet. 'I knew creating music was always going to be a big part of who I am but I didnt want to have it as a career path. I have a recording studio today which is my creative outlet,' he said. 'I was doing it out of my home. I spoke to a bunch of people that had full-time jobs already who offered to send me work after-hours,' he said Fady's first tip for a successful business is to understand that at the start you might not pay off the bills - you have to put in the effort before you see any return. He also said understanding your customer and what they value is also key. 'I think too many people focus on just trying to pay the bills. For me it was, what can we change or sell or create in order to show value? Revenue is a by-product of showing someone value,' he told news.com. Fady also recommends not doing it alone. 'Surround yourself with good friends, and people who support you, youll need it,' he said. While Fady said he has enjoyed working with big clients like Coca-Cola, he said working with the movers and shakers like start-ups is the most 'rewarding' and exciting. He still remembers what it was like to dream big and start small. 'Have grand dreams as to where you can go but back them up with steps today towards that goal,' he concluded. A Florida mother-of-three has died after paramedics allegedly refused to rush her to the hospital because they believed she couldn't afford the ambulance ride. Instead 30-year-old Crystle Galloway - who gave birth to a son just days prior to her medical emergency - was driven to the hospital by her frantic mother Nicole Black. Galloway, from Tampa, arrived to the hospital on July 4 where doctors found bleeding in her brain and she fell into a coma and died five days later. She passed away on July 9, three days before her 31st birthday. Now Black is claiming that the paramedics' neglect cost her daughter's life. Crystle Galloway, 30, suffered a stroke-like medical emergency on July 4 but the paramedics that arrived to her door failed to rush her to the hospital Doting mom: The mother-of-three had given birth to a baby boy just days prior to her incident Her mother Nicole Black drove Galloway, above, to the hospital. She blames her child's death on the neglect of the paramedics who failed to take her vitals and rush her to the hospital She exhibited symptoms of a stroke after undergoing a Cesarean section days earlier, and yet was not rushed to the hospital via ambulance, according to the Tampa Bay Times. 'They never asked us if we had insurance, which we do,' Black said to WPBF, adding that she felt stereotyped by the fire-rescue medics that responded to the emergency call. 'The whole conversation as the EMS drivers put my child in my car was that was best for us because we couldn't afford an ambulance. My daughter begged for her life, she begged,' Black added. 'She was 30 years old, she just graduated from college, she had her whole life ahead of her,' her mother said. The day of the incident Galloway called her mother saying something was wrong, and she promptly called police. Black called 911 saying she found her daughter with swollen lips and drooling from the mouth. Galloway's mother Black said: 'I really feel like the officers and the EMS fire rescue department failed to help me. Because of them and their negligence, my daughter died' Never forgotten: Black shared these commemorative images of Galloway who died three days before her 31st birthday A GoFundMe page has been started to help support Galloway's three children, pictured above 'They didn't take any vitals, they didn't take her blood pressure, they didn't take her temperature,' Black said on the paramedics that arrived to her doorstep. Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill admitted that that was the first grave mistake the four fire-rescue medics on site made. The medics then allowed Black to drive her daughter to Brandon Regional Hospital without signing a consent form, which she says was the medics' idea. Galloway's condition was so dire, she was flown by helicopter afterwards across town to Tampa General Hospital where she passed away. However, paramedics argue that Black volunteered to drive her daughter to the hospital if they helped bring Galloway down the three flights of stairs of her apartment. Those four paramedics were Lt. John 'Mike' Morris, 36; Fire Medic Justin Sweeney, 36; Fire Medic Andrew J. Martin, 28; and acting Lt. Cortney Barton, 38. Black, left, said she drove her daughter, right, to the hospital because paramedics said 'that was best for us because we couldn't afford an ambulance' At the hospital Galloway, above with daughter, was found with bleeding in her brain and fell into a coma. She was flown to another hospital where she died days later The four paramedics who responded to Galloway have been suspended and a disciplinary hearing is scheduled, as announced by the Hillsborough County administrator They had all worked for the the Fire Rescue medical department for five to nine years and have since been suspended after the county's Human Resources Department learned of the incident on July 11. An investigation found they failed to take Galloway's vitals and incorrectly handled paperwork - where they wrote the patient hadn't been found, even though she had, according to the Tampa Bay Times. 'I deeply regret that this has happened and clearly this is unacceptable,' Administrator Merill said on the incident. 'You can tell me you're sorry, you can give me your condolences, but you still have to work this out with God,' Black said. Black has started a GoFundMe page to help provide for the three children her daughter has left behind. 'I really feel like the officers and the EMS fire rescue department failed to help me. Because of them and their negligence, my daughter died,' Black, who also goes by Nicole Benhamou, wrote. 'I cannot trust these individuals to work under my medical license. I feel they do not meet the minimum standards set by myself and the department,' Michael Lozano, Fire Rescue medical director, said in a statement. A disciplinary hearing is tentatively scheduled for July 31. A rugby league legend has admitted to breaking into a heavily secured sniffer dog headquarters to escape the cold after attending a State of Origin party. Ben Kennedy, who won a premiership with the Newcastle Knights, broke into the Australian Border Force's detector dog base near Sydney Airport on June 3. The 44-year-old was wearing shorts and thongs in chilly 13C temperatures, and smashed the window of a government-owned ute in a bid to escape the cold. NRL legend Ben Kennedy (pictured) has been charged for illegally entering the Australian Border Force's Detector Dog base and smashing a car window The Sunday Telegraph reported that when Kennedy faces court on Monday, he will say that alcohol reacted with his back medication, leaving him in a disoriented state. The NRL premiership winner appeared as a special guest at a State of Origin function earlier in the evening. Following a 'couple of schooners' at the venue, he left the function and made his way towards the secured facility. It is still unknown how Kennedy found his way inside the ABF base on McPherson St, as security is in place as well as 2.5 metre-high spiked fences. Court documents say that Kennedy was found by officers who told police he was cooperative when they found him. The officers believed that the 44-year-old was trying to keep out of the cold, the documents said. Kennedy's lawyer, Paul McGirr, told The Sunday Telegraph that the former NRL player is currently suffering a debilitating back injury. The 44-year-old was wearing shorts and thongs in cold 13C temperatures, and proceeded to smash the window of a Toyota Hi-Lux in a bid to escape the cold He is suffering from a degenerative lumbar disc disease, that he takes heavy-duty medication for. 'The heavy- duty medication he is prescribed and takes for the condition created an adverse reaction with the alcohol where he was not able to make reasonable decisions. I will be tendering a medical certificate in court on Monday to confirm this,' Mr McGirr said. The NRL legend pleaded guilty to the charges, which include unlawfully entering enclosed lands and damaging government property. A 58-year-old woman has given birth to a son after paying 4,500 for IVF in India because she'd been denied treatment in the UK. Carolyne Hess forked out for the 'embryo adoption' procedure abroad after the NHS and private clinics at home turned her down for being too old, The Mirror reports. The single mother gave birth to her son Javed in November after three donor embryos fertilised by a sperm donor were implanted into her womb at the International Fertility Centre in New Delhi in March last year. She said her eggs came from a 21-year-old Indian woman who liked dancing and her sperm donor was a 6ft tall white American man who worked in IT. Carolyne Hess (pictured) gave birth to her son Javed at the age of 58 after forking out 4,500 for IVF in India Javed was delivered via a planned C-section when Ms Hess was 37 weeks pregnant after his growth slowed down. 'I had given up home that anyone would call me Mummy,' she told the newspaper. As a teenager, she had hoped to start a family while in her 20s, but didn't meet her now ex-husband until she was 30. Although they tried to get pregnant, she was told my doctors that she had 'unexplained infertility' which led to her marriage breaking down. Finding herself single and childless, Ms Hess tried to meet another man she wanted to start a family with but when she didn't, she moved to Sydney. Ms Hess paid for the 'embryo adoption' procedure abroad after the NHS and private clinics at home turned her down for being too old. Stock photo Three donor embryos fertilised by a sperm donor were implanted into her womb at the International Fertility Centre (pictured, file photo) in New Delhi in March last year 'I made friends, but it devastated me to hit 50 and still not be a mum,' she said. So when a friend suggested embryo adoption, she decided to go for it but the procedure is only offered to women her age in India and Cyprus. Her story comes as the world marks 40 years since the first IVF baby Louise Brown was born. But while Louise's birth was celebrated as a medical marvel, Ms Hess' story raises concerns about whether a procedure aimed at helping infertile and same-sex couples have a family should also be offered to older women who may otherwise not have children. Ms Hess argues that she has as much right to have a baby as a younger woman. 'People may question whether I'm 'playing God' but anyone of any age needing fertility assistance depends on IVF to help,' she added. Amsterdam turns into a 'lawless jungle' after dark with the police powerless to intervene against crime and violence, the city's ombudsman has warned. Around 18 million tourists visit each year - more than the population of the Netherlands - and authorities have been introducing strict penalties for 'public disturbances'. They claim groups of 'unruly' young men 'frequently from the UK and other parts of the Netherlands' are causing trouble during stag parties and pub crawls, particularly in the Red Light district. Amsterdam becomes a 'lawless jungle' after dark according to the city's official ombudsman Official ombudsman Arre Zuurmond told Dutch paper Trouw problems have increased including illegal car and bike racing and open drug trading. He said: 'The city centre becomes an urban jungle at night. Criminal money flourishes, there is no authority and the police can no longer handle the situation. Mr Zuurmond said authorities set up three cameras in the busy Leidseplein square ringed by bars and clubs to monitor problems and were shocked at the results. He said: 'One night we counted 900 offences, mainly between the hours of 2am and 4am. The atmosphere is grim, and there is an air of lawlessness. Arre Zuurmond, pictured, said there were 900 offences committed between 2am and 4am on one night observed by cameras 'Scooters race through the pedestrian areas. There is a lot of shouting. Drugs are being bought. There is stealing. People pee and even poop on the streets. 'There is violence but no action. You can even pee on the van of a mobile (police) unit and the driver won't say anything.' Mr Zuurmond, who has moved into the heart of the city for two weeks this summer to observe the problem first hand, also said 2,000 illegal taxis are roaming the streets at nights for fares and a flourishing black market with racketeers dealing in wads of cash. In the Red Light district 'the streets are so packed in the evenings that there is a very unsafe public situation in the event of a fire or a heart attack as emergency services cannot get through,' he added. He pointed to measures to clean up the New York underground 20 years ago, by focusing on one station at a time. Such a plan could be put into action in Amsterdam, moving through one area at a time, perhaps starting with the central Leidseplein, he suggested. Boris Johnson was accused of bare-faced cheek last night over claims that he agreed to write a joint article with arch Cabinet foe Philip Hammond praising Theresa Mays Chequers Brexit deal before quitting. Mr Johnson resigned as Foreign Secretary two days after initially going along with Mrs Mays controversial proposed agreement with the EU hammered out at a Cabinet summit earlier this month. Last week he stepped up his revolt, urging fellow Conservative MPs to chuck Chequers because Mrs Mays blueprint would leave the UK in vassalage, satrapy, colony status to the EU. Boris Johnson and Chancellor Philip Hammond leave 10 Downing Street last year His comments led to an enraged response from senior Westminster sources who claimed that Mr Johnson agreed at the meeting at the Prime Ministers official country residence that he and pro-European Chancellor Mr Hammond would issue a written joint rallying cry backing Mrs Mays new offer to Brussels. The aim of the Hammond-Johnson double-act was to spearhead the Cabinets charm offensive to sell the deal to voters, Tory MPs and Brussels. Allies of Mr Hammond say he was shocked to discover 48 hours later that Mr Johnson had resigned, accusing Mrs May of a sell-out. Anti-Brexit Tory MP Anna Soubry said last night: Boris Johnson has got a bare-faced cheek. He doesnt know if he is Arthur or Martha all he knows is hes all for Boris. Friends of Mr Johnson strongly disputed the allegation. A source close to the Uxbridge MP said: The first he saw of the joint article was the morning after the Chequers summit. He immediately told No 10 he would not put his name to it. It was actually the moment he decided to resign from the Cabinet. He has always been clear: the Chequers deal must be chucked because it is bad for Britain. It is not the first time Mr Johnson has been accused of inconsistency. Before backing Brexit in the 2016 referendum he prepared two draft articles one arguing in favour of Remain, the other in favour of Leave. He has also been accused of about-turns on other EU issues. Critics say he changed his mind twice over the Chequers deal. Mr Johnson resigned as Foreign Secretary two days after initially going along with Mrs Mays controversial proposed agreement with the EU Early in the talks, he called Mrs Mays plan a turd, before backing the deal only to change his mind again and resign 48 hours later. In a separate development yesterday, Mr Johnson was linked to a new Brexit plot involving former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon. Mr Johnson declined to comment on a claim that Mr Bannon made contact with him during a recent trip to London. Mr Bannon, said to be planning to set up an office in Brussels to promote Right-wing populism in Europe, praised Mr Johnson during interviews in the UK last week. According to the Reuters news agency, he said he had been in direct contact with Mr Johnson and fellow Tory Brexiteers Michael Gove and Jacob Rees-Mogg, describing them as talented potential Tory leaders. Boris Johnson is one of the most important persons on the world stage today, said Mr Bannon. He had texted a lot with him and spoken on the phone. Leading doctors last night warned that the treatment of thousands of cancer patients could be dangerously delayed in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Critical supplies of radioactive medicines used to treat a range of tumours are at risk of being held up if the UK crashes out of the European Union. Some of the treatments only work for a matter of days after being created, meaning any delay in transporting them can diminish their effectiveness. Cancer specialists fear there will be hold-ups when the UK exits the Euratom agreement, which allows 'medical isotopes' to be whisked across borders. Critical supplies of radioactive medicines used to treat a range of tumours are at risk of being held up if the UK crashes out of the European Union The NHS sources most of the nuclear medicines from Europe and they benefit around 10,000 cancer patients a year. Some would not survive without them. Certain isotopes are also used in around 700,000 scans a year to help diagnose cancer as well as conditions including lung clots and osteoporosis. Dr Jeanette Dickson, vice president of clinical oncology at the Royal College of Radiologists, said: 'These medicines are like a burning fuse. 'They start off with a certain amount of radioactivity and you have a set time to get them to hospital when they are still effective. If you delay them for a few hours, you begin to lose activity.' Under Euratom, potentially dangerous medical isotopes can cross EU borders 'without prior warning or consent'. They are usually imported via the Channel Tunnel at night 'without touching customs', said Dr Dickson, who warned leaving Euratom could add lengthy checks. Dr John Buscombe, a consultant at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, said not knowing when the medicines would arrive could jeopardise treatments. He said: 'Let's say I'm using a medical isotope to help scan a child with a rare cancer who's booked in for a particular day. If that medicine is delayed, the patient will miss their slot.' Cancer specialists fear there will be hold-ups when the UK exits the Euratom agreement, which allows 'medical isotopes' to be whisked across borders Booking a new time might take 'another week or two', he said. 'And if we can't get these scans done, these children can die.' Doctors fear added bureaucracy may lead to manufacturers raising prices or reducing NHS supplies. The biggest impact could be from disruption to supplies of Technetium-99m, used in 80 per cent of nuclear medicine scans. Other treatments that could be affected are types of targeted radiotherapy for cervical and prostate cancer. One, called brachytherapy, is used as a knock-out blow for cervical cancer. Up to 1,500 women a year benefit from it. The treatment helped cure Kerry Danns, 39, of cancer. The mother-of-three from Ruislip, West London, said: 'Without that, I don't know what situation I'd now be in.' The warnings come days after Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the NHS was looking to 'stockpile' medicines to prepare for a no-deal Brexit. Conservative peer and former minister Ros Altmann said radioactive isotopes could not be stockpiled and said the issue 'could be life-threatening'. The Government confirmed in January that the UK would be leaving Euratom, which is closely tied to the EU. A Department of Health spokesman said: 'The UK's ability to import medical isotopes from Europe and the rest of the world will not be affected.' A British four-year-old girl has died after drowning in a swimming pool in the upmarket Spanish resort of Marbella. The youngster was on holiday with her parents just off the resorts well-known Golden Mile which runs between Marbella and Puerto Banus. The family are thought to have been coming to the end of a month-long break in the area when the tragedy occurred on Saturday morning. The alarm was sounded around 10.30am local time. A British four-year-old girl has died after drowning in a swimming pool in San Joaquin Street, pictured, in Marbella She was already out of the water when emergency responders arrived and they tried to revive her using CPR but were unable to save her life. An autopsy has yet to take place but police sources said everything was pointing to the girls death being the result of a tragic accident. The street where the incident occurred - San Joaquin Street - is between a petrol station and a supermarket popular with British holidaymakers a five-minute walk from the beach. One local report said it had happened at a pool belonging to a private villa, although most of the properties in the road are believed to be gated residential apartment blocks with communal swimming pools. News of the tragedy involving the British youngster emerged just hours after a five-year-old British boy who was on holiday with his parents drowned near the resort of Silves on the Algarve. The incident happened near the resorts famous 'Golden Mile' area, pictured He was pronounced dead after being pulled out off the water at a privafe villa on a resort known as the Amendoeira resort near the historic town of Silves. The alarm was sounded just after 4.30pm this afternoon/yesterday afternoon (SAT). Emergency responders raced to the scene and practiced CPR on the boy, who had been playing with two brothers, but were unable to save his life. GNR police have launched a routine investigation but say everything is pointing towards the death being the result of a tragic accident. A British photographer has helped solve the riddle of a 74-year-old tragedy at the bottom of the Adriatic. Steve Jones descended 230ft to capture this haunting image of a Second World War bomber which was downed by anti-aircraft fire during a sortie over Yugoslavia in 1944. His shots were so powerful that they were highly commended in last year's Underwater Photographer of the Year competition, and subsequently published in magazines and online. Accompanying articles mentioned that the body of the co-pilot, US Army Air Force Second Lieutenant Ernest Vienneau, was still inside the wreckage. One of the pieces was seen by a friend of one of the members of the Vienneau family in America, who had never been officially told what became of him. Steve Jones descended 230ft to capture this haunting image of a Second World War bomber which was downed by anti-aircraft fire during a sortie over Yugoslavia in 1944 Mr Jones, 47, of Aberdare, South Wales, said: 'I was stunned when the organisers of the competition passed on an email from Ernest's nephew, Robert Vienneau, who was trying to track me down after a friend of theirs recognised the unusual surname in the magazine. 'I've been in touch with Ernest's family ever since. 'These images meant so much to them, as they had not until that point known about nor seen the final resting place of Ernest, who like so many others had his life cut short at a young age.' Mr Jones took the photos alongside a Croatian diving instructor in September 2016 and vividly remembers seeing the downed B-17 Flying Fortress for the first time just off the coast of the Croatian island of Vis. 'The aircraft was in such remarkable condition. It was as if it had just landed,' he recalled. 'The pilot had made a skilled water landing after they lost power to the last engine while trying to land at Vis airfield, a place where many crippled bombers headed for after being shot up over Europe during the war. Accompanying articles mentioned that the body of the co-pilot, US Army Air Force Second Lieutenant Ernest Vienneau, was still inside the wreckage. Plane pictured 'Ernest's body was left on board as the crew had no time to evacuate him before the aircraft filled with water and sank. 'The dive was a solemn experience as we knew Ernest's remains were on board. The whole experience had a personal dimension for me as my own grandfather was a gunner on RAF bombers in the Second World War.' Second Lieut Vienneau, who died when he was just 25, grew up in the papermill town of Millinocket in Maine and served with the 340th Bomber Squadron, part of the 97th Bomber Group. Searches for his remains were conducted after the war but had been unsuccessful and his family were told only that he had died at sea, despite writing letters to the US Army asking for details of his death. It was Robert Vienneau who, while living in London, discovered Second Lieut Vienneau's details had been recorded at the Florence American Cemetery in Impruneta, Italy. Robert, 76, said: 'Ernest's parents wrote letters to the Army asking for details of his death but were advised he was lost at sea and not much more. 'There have been discussions about retrieving his remains. 'Should that happen, he has a grave waiting for him in Millinocket and the veterans' group have agreed to have an honour guard and escort for him.' The manager of a Missouri restaurant was fired after he was filmed kicking out a black customer from the premises and telling her to 'get out.' 'I honestly feel like I was discriminated against and racially profiled,' Xzaviera Vaqua, 37, told The Kansas City Star on Friday. Shelly Bloom, co-owner of Tomfooleries of Kansas City, confirmed that the manager, identified only as Preston, had his employment terminated from the eatery. Shelly Bloom, co-owner of Tomfooleries of Kansas City, confirmed that the manager, identified only as Preston, was fired on July 22 Bloom, however, refused to provide the exact reason why Preston was fired when asked by The Kansas City Star The incident was filmed and uploaded to social media, garnering more than 100,000 over the weekend Bloom, however, refused to provide the exact reason why Preston was fired on July 22 to the City Star. The incident, which was uploaded to social media before the start of the weekend and has already garnered more than 100,00 shares, took place on July 19 after Vaqua requested to pay for her bill upfront. As the footage shows, Vaqua tells a person identifying himself as the manager that she doesn't feel 'comfortable' handing over her credit card as she impatiently taps the top of a dinning table with her fingernails. According to Vaqua's Facebook page, a server informed her that she was unsure of the restaurant's policy concerning upfront payments. That's when Vaqua asks to speak to the manager before she begins filming. In the five minute clip, Preston the manager informs Vaqua that she must 'secure a tab' before dining. 'I can't just pay for my food?' Vaqua inquires. A demonstration was subsequently held where at least 10 protesters picketed outside the restaurant on July 21 'You can pay for it after you eat. We don't have to use the credit card but we have to secure the tab,' the manager replies. 'I'll pay for my food, cash, up front. I don't feel comfortable with nobody walking around with my card all night,' she replied. 'All night?' the manager asks. 'You gonna be here all night?' The manager continues by saying that the restaurant closes at one in the morning, but the bar stays open until 2.30am. 'OK, that's what I asked. What time do you close' Vaqua says, before Preston fires back, 'You know what, we're done. Go ahead and go.' Xzaviera Vaqua said after the confrontation that she felt 'discriminated against and racially profiled' He then adds 'get out,' and states 'I don't need to explain s--- to you' after Vaqua asks why she's being told to leave the restaurant. 'I don't even understand what just happened,' she says after the exchange. After turning off the camera, Vaqua claims that the manager followed her outside to the parking lot and continue harassing her, acting 'super aggressive.' The incident subsequently led to at least 10 protesters demonstrating outside the restaurant on July 21, according to the Star. One of the demonstrators, Catina K. Taylor, called for a boycott of Tomfooleries to send the message that 'allies and black people ... will not tolerate this type of behavior from any business in this city.' The protest was briefly interrupted after a white customer got into a scuffle with some of the protesters, who claimed the man was drunk. The altercation erupted after the supposedly drunk customer 'sarcastically' used a 'typical' Islamic greeting to a number of female Muslim protesters, the Star reported. A man stepped in on the ladies' behalf, escalating tensions which led to a brief fight that spilled onto the street. It remains unclear if anyone was arrested in the incident, but the Star reported that a punch was thrown at the white man before police arrived. The protest was briefly interrupted after a white customer got into a scuffle with some of the protesters, who claimed the man was drunk Threats to lift the ban on trophy-hunters killing elephants in Botswana Prince Harrys second home have outraged conservationists and celebrities. The southern African country is considering scrapping protection for about 230,000 elephants because they damage crops. Conservationists Bill Oddie and Chris Packham have signed an open letter to Botswanas government, urging it to keep the ban in place. Threats to lift the ban on trophy-hunters killing elephants in Botswana Prince Harrys second home have outraged conservationists and celebrities Other signatories include Stephen Fry, Ricky Gervais, Joanna Lumley and Sir Ranulph Fiennes. Since the ban was introduced four years ago, Botswana has become a safe haven for elephants from neighbouring, war-torn Angola and Namibia, where they were used as target practice by soldiers and their tusks sold. Now there are fears of an impending conservation disaster. Mr Oddie warned: Elephants are fast approaching a pre-extinction phase. Theyve disappeared from much of Africa. Youve got small, isolated groups separated from one another. That means the species as a whole is more prone to disease, more prone to the growing effects of climate change and so on. He added: Trophy-hunting in the one place, Botswana, where they are relatively thriving could spell disaster. Absolutely Fabulous actress Ms Lumley branded trophy-hunters the lowest of the low, adding: Weasel words and twisted evidence will try to show the benefits of this hateful pastime, but the truth is as plain as can be killing animals for fun is just disgusting. Killer king: Juan Carlos, right, poses in front of an elephant he shot in Botswana Comedian Mr Gervais said: If trophy-hunting elephants in Botswana is made legal again, we might as well say goodbye to them now. It will be the end for African elephants and all because some rich psychopath enjoys murdering a magnificent animal. In 2012 the WWF conservation group in Spain removed King Juan Carlos as its honorary president after pictures emerged of him standing in front of an elephant he killed in Botswana. In the 1970s, there were more than a million elephants across the continent. But a survey of 18 African countries in 2014 found there were just over 350,000. Prince Harry is patron of Rhino Conservation Botswana. He first visited the country with his father, Prince Charles, when he was just 13, two months after his mother, Princess Diana, died. It is also where Prince Harry cemented his relationship with Meghan Markle whisking her away for romantic trips before their engagement. A Mercedes with Romanian number plates was seen near former spy Sergei Skripal's home several times in the week before he was poisoned with a nerve agent, it has emerged. According to witnesses, one of the four occupants of the dark-coloured car was a woman. Police hunting the would-be assassins who poisoned Mr Skripal and his daughter Yulia in March have been scouring CCTV footage from a Shell garage in Salisbury where the Mercedes was seen. A Mercedes with Romanian number plates was seen near former spy Sergei Skripal's home several times in the week before he was poisoned with a nerve agent As it emerged the huge investigation codenamed Operation Fairline has already cost 7.5 million, the detective leading the hunt faced questions about the sightings at a public meeting. But Detective Chief Superintendent Kath Barnes said: 'I can't comment on any individual report like that.' A woman told the meeting that the Mercedes was seen 'four times in one week prior to the week it [the Skripals attack] happened'. She added: 'One time was in the Wilton Road garage. The car had Romanian number plates and there were four people in the car. There's CCTV. He paid by credit card. 'They were seen four times around Salisbury early morning, like 6.30 in the morning, also late at night between 11 and 12... you wonder whether they were doing some kind of reconnaissance. 'An Eastern European car, travelling with four people, at that time, on several occasions, close to where the Skripals live, is surely relevant.' Dawn Sturgess (pictured) died after spraying a bottle of Novichok that was disguised as perfume Charlie Rowley (pictured after his release from hospital) said the nerve agent took just 15 minutes to poison Ms Sturgess after she sprayed the 'oily' substance on to her wrists Det Chief Supt Barnes said: 'When we catch the people responsible and get them into court and the evidence is being heard, that's when the full story will emerge. I do not want to jeopardise any opportunity of that end result.' Police believe the Novichok nerve agent was smeared on the door handle of Mr Skripal's home over the weekend of March 3 and 4. Mr Skripal, 66, and Yulia, 33, are recovering at a secret location. The meeting was held in Amesbury where Charlie Rowley, 45, and Dawn Sturgess, 44, were struck down last month after finding and opening a branded, sealed perfume bottle containing Novichok. Miss Sturgess, whose funeral will be held in Salisbury tomorrow, suffered a fatal dose after spraying herself with the 'oily' substance. A unnamed builder has become the third Brit to livestream his own suicide on Paltalk A father has killed himself live on the internet after being goaded by cruel trolls, becoming the third Briton to broadcast their death on the same website. The 43-year-old builder from Cardiff hanged himself on Paltalk, a controversial chat site where users can stream video to strangers. The victim, who had not been named last night, set up a webcam and beamed his suicide to other users around the world as online bullies taunted him. The trolls including some based in Britain encouraged him to go through with it, saying: 'Why don't you just do it? Your life isn't worth it.' The shocking case yesterday prompted campaigners to call for better protection for vulnerable adults online. It is understood the man originally started using Paltalk because he was lonely and depressed and wanted to make new friends. The US-based website allows users to talk to others via video, text or voice chats. But fellow members said it wasn't long before he was 'bullied mercilessly'. A friend he met online, who was not named, told the Sunday People: 'These chatrooms need to be shut down. This is the third person to die. He would still be alive if it wasn't for the vicious people who drove him to his death. 'He was a very funny guy. He was a character. He would do charades and impressions of people. He was just a lovely, fun, good person, such a gentle soul. What happened is so incredibly sad.' Gregory Tomkins (pictured) took his life while live on PalTalk on Christmas Day last year Another friend told the newspaper how the victim would move to different chatrooms to try to escape the bullies, but they would follow him and continue the abuse. When he opened up about being 'desperate' after splitting with his partner, they would tell him to kill himself. The friend said: 'You could see they were making him the next target to push to suicide. That's what they do. They pick on someone who is weak and make a game out of it. He was driven to his death.' She claimed that the bullies even started to contact their victim in the real world, phoning him and also his potential building clients, falsely telling them he was a drug addict. She added: 'He was heartbreakingly honest about what was going on in his life and would say things like this was the only form of social interaction he had. 'He was very open about the fact he was depressed. Sometimes he would even cry on camera. The man was egged on by other users of the video chat forum Paltalk (pictured, file photo) 'The vile people that use this chatroom used to tell him to kill himself. Since he died, they've been laughing about it, saying things like, 'He was a loser, he deserved it'.' The first British man to commit suicide on the site was Kevin Whitrick, 42, in 2007 It is believed the alarm may not have been raised with staff at Paltalk while the suicide was taking place. However, users did eventually get a message to the police, who found the man's body in his flat on Wednesday. South Wales Police said: 'We can confirm the sudden death of a 43-year-old man at a property on July 25. There are no suspicious circumstances.' A neighbour, who declined to be named, said: 'He was always on Paltalk he showed me the site last year. 'People go on it for banter but it turns into abuse and can get nasty. You could hear him screaming at people. The language was alarming.' The tragedy comes seven months after south London plasterer Gregory Tomkins, 39, killed himself on Paltalk on Christmas Day. And in 2007, 42-year-old electrician Kevin Whitrick, from Wellington in Shropshire, died on the site as dozens of users watched. Internet safety campaigner Dr Linda Papadopoulos called for more protection from online bullying. 'We rightly care about the impact on children a lot, but that vulnerability extends to adults, too,' she said. Paltalk could not be reached for comment yesterday. For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details Britain's first official transgender students officer has been suspended over allegations that she posted explicit photographs on an online blog. Jess Bradley, who was born male but refers to herself as a nonbinary trans woman, was the first person to be elected to the full-time paid role by the National Union of Students (NUS). But she was suspended from her post last week while the NUS carries out an internal investigation into claims that she published pictures of male genitalia under the headline Exhibitionizm on her personal blog. Britain's first official transgender students officer has been suspended over allegations that she posted explicit photographs on an online blog Shocking images on the site show an individual flashing while sitting in a train carriage, in a public park and at a bus stop. Another photograph shows male genitals being exposed in an office close to a curved wooden desk that is strikingly similar to a picture of a work desk that Ms Bradley posted on her Facebook page. When The Mail on Sunday set out the allegations in detail to the NUS, a spokesman confirmed Ms Bradley, 29, had been suspended from her post pending an investigation, adding: The matters pertaining to the investigation are confidential to allow for a fair and impartial process. NUS will continue to support Jess, full time officers, staff and volunteers during this time. Ms Bradley declined to comment, but has instructed libel lawyers Carter Ruck. The law firm sought to prevent the publication of the story on privacy grounds. As part of its argument, it cited last weeks High Court ruling that the BBC had infringed on the privacy of Sir Cliff Richard by reporting a police raid on his home. Carter Ruck argued that, based on the judgment, a report on Ms Bradleys suspension and the NUS investigation relating to it would be an infringement of her privacy. Legal experts have warned that the High Court ruling on Sir Cliff could have serious implications for journalism in Britain. Gavin Millar QC, who led the BBCs legal team, said: The risk is a severe chilling effect on the freedom of the press in relation to reporting police investigations. Media law expert David Banks, who has worked as a consultant for Government departments and other public bodies, said: It is worrying if the lawyers for people in these situations are trying to use the Cliff Richard case as a means of shutting down potentially legitimate press attention into matters of legitimate public interest. The concern is that the Cliff Richard ruling is creating general rules about the rights to privacy because we anticipated it would create this chilling effect on stories that do deserve to be publicised. Ms Bradley was elected as the NUS transgender students officer at the Trans Students Conference in March last year and was reelected this year. The majority of the NUSs 24 million annual income comes from selling discount cards to students and membership fees paid by student unions. Full-time NUS officers are typically paid about 24,000 a year. Ms Bradley previously attracted controversy when she defended an attack by transgender activist Tara Wolf, who was born male, on a 60-year-old feminist campaigner in Londons Hyde Park last September. Following the incident, Ms Bradley wrote online that Ms Wolfs actions had been an act of selfdefence caused by anti-trans activists... riling up the trans community and provoking that trans person to take a swing at someone. Her comments sparked criticism from feminists on Twitter who accused her of inciting violence against women. After the Mail on Sunday went to print, Ms Bradley issued the following statement: A Venezuelan escort, 25, was found shot dead and lying in a pool of blood inside at a drive-through sex motel in Cancun. According to the Quintana Roo prosecutors office, emergency responders answered a 911 call at aproximately 8pm local time reporting that Mayerlin Luisiana Maria Padilla Pinango had received multiple gunshot wounds. Authorities found four bullet casings near a flight of stairs where she was laying down sideways at the Bombay motel. The low budget hotel that is located in a residential area charges a rate of $24 to $45 for an eight-hour stay in three of its rooms, including one that comes with a jacuzzi. A full day reservation will cost between $75 and $136. Mayerlin Luisiana MarIa Padilla Pinango, 25, (above)was found shot dead while working as an escort in Cancun The Bombay hotel (above) charges $24- $45 for an hour-stay and $75-$136 for an entire day Padilla Pinango was reported to have fled her native land in hope of seeking better working and living conditions away from President Nicolas Maduros repressive regime. She showed up at the hotel Tuesday night accompanied by an unidentified man, who later fled the scene. Since 2017, six sex workers, including five from the South American nation, have been killed in Mexico, according to Cultura Colectiva. In February, Kenny Finol,26, who had also emigrated from Venezuela and worked as an escort as well, was found dead in Mexico City. Padilla Pinangos death comes on the heels of whats already been a hellish year in Cancun, where over 100 people have already been killed. All of the rooms at the Cancun-based Bombay hotel (above) have their own garage doors One of the many rooms at the low budget Bombay drive-through motel in Cancun Jacuzzi rooms at the Bombay hotel costs between $75-$136 for an entire day reservation Despite the horror, tourists continuing to flock to Mexican City off the Yucatan Peninsula that has always been a favorite landing spot for Americans. In two separate incidents that occurred on the night of July 19, armed thugs killed eight people, while one person resulted injured. A shootout out of a Wild West scene between about 15 gunmen left at least six dead and four injured on the same night the Padilla Pinango lost her life. On Friday night, a firefight at a restaurant left six dead, including two officers. ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie has been revealed as one of 28 high-paid government officials entitled to free first-class flights at the expense of taxpayers. An analysis of Remuneration Tribunal pay deals exposes government executives listed as 'tier-one' can expense their domestic or international first-class flights. They are also entitled to a hotel allowance of up to $430 a night in Australian capital cities or overseas. Michelle Guthrie (pictured), managing director of ABC, has been revealed as one of 28 high-paid government officials entitled to receive taxpayer-funded travel benefits Another 24 executives were are listed as 'tier-two', meaning they are entitled to taxpayer-funded business-class flights. The report from The Daily Telegraph reveals that Guthrie, outgoing SBS managing director Michael Ebeid and Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate are among the 28 officials receiving these benefits. In December, the ABC disclosed the annual salary received by the top executives under the Renumeration Tribunal. Ms Guthrie had been paid $890,987 in the 2016-2017 financial year. 'I am the highest paid person at the ABC under a salary set by the Remuneration Tribunal,' Ms Guthrie said in November. 'Tier-one' officials are entitled to first-class flights, while another 24 'tier-two' officials can fly business-class (stock image) This comes only months after it was revealed taxpayers forked out $122million for public servants to fly business class across Australia and abroad in just a three month period. If that trend continued for the rest of the financial year, taxpayers could have paid as much as half-a-billion dollars in flights for government officials. It was a projection that has been annually rising since 2012-2013, in which $377.2million was spent. Australians are being warned to brace for a miserable start to the week with forecasts of thunderstorms, floods, roaring winds and fog. The nation's south-east will be worst hit, while the NSW coastline is expected to be lashed with storms and strong gusty winds from Sunday until Monday morning. Mohammed Nabi, a meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, told Daily Mail Australia a sweeping cold front will hit south-east NSW and the ACT. Australians are to brace themselves as south-eastern parts of the country will be lashed with thunderstorms and winds on Sunday Mohammed Nabi meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology told Daily Mail Australia thunderstorms and strong gusty winds are expected to hit New South Wales on Sunday Sydney and New South Wales has experienced very little rainfall - less than 10mm He said a trough of low pressure is moving east, bringing thunderstorms and possible gusty winds in the state's north-east which should last until Sunday evening. A severe weather warning for damaging winds has been issued in the Illawarra ranges, parts of the Southern Tablelands and Snowy Mountains from Sunday until the early hours of Monday morning, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. Mr Nabi said a fresh layer of snow also dropped in Thredbo and Perisher over night. And while thunderstorms are expected in the state's north-east, beautiful weather is being forecast for those living in Sydney. A thick fog blanketed Brisbane in the early hours of Sunday morning (pictured) The unseasonably warm winter days won't be coming to an end anytime soon for Sydneysiders. The meteorologist said we will remain sunny for the entire week ahead with little rainfall - less than 10mm Cold evenings will continue along south-east part of the nation. (Pictured) pundits in South Australia bracing the cold The unseasonably warm winter days won't be coming to an end anytime soon. Mr Nabi said Sydney will remain sunny for the entire week ahead with little rainfall - less than 10mm. He said average temperatures will be around 20C in the day while cool temperatures will remain at night. Sydney's temperatures have been unusually higher than average this winter. The maximum average in July is 17C but today it's forecasted for the mercury to hit 24C in the city, according to the meteorologist. Mr Nabi said more high pressure systems are responsible for the warm Winter weather across the nation's south-east. 'The reasons why days are warm is because the high pressure systems are a dominant weather feature for Sydney and New South Wales this winter,' he said. Mr Nabi said a fresh layer of snow also dropped in Thredbo and Perisher over night 'What they do is bring in still and clear air (not much clouds and winds) which bring colder nights and warmer days,' he continued. He said because there are few clouds, they can't blanket the heat from the day which explains the cooler than average nights. Meanwhile a thick fog blanketed Brisbane in the early hours of Sunday morning. A chance of showers and some winds are forecasted for Queensland's capital for the rest of the day. In Victoria, fierce winds at 100km/h are expected in the Central, South West and Gippsland regions of the state, 9 News reports. Blizzard warnings have been forecasted for the alps and snow resorts in New South Wales and Victoria. The low pressure system moving across Tasmania has also triggered flood warnings in the region's north. A farmer who was about to shoot 1,200 sheep before they wasted away due to drought has received a last-minute donation to keep the flock alive. Les Jones, from Goolhi, New South Wales, said mass shooting was his only option because his land was too dry to produce food, he could not afford to buy it, and the sheep were too weak to be sold. He made a public appeal for help earlier this month as 10 of his sheep starved to death every day - and on Saturday received a truck-load of feed from Victoria. Goolhi sheep farmer Les Jones (pictured) said he had no choice but to shoot his sheep - but thanks to donations flooding in, his stock have a new chance at life Salvation at last: On Saturday the farmers received received a truck-load of feed from Victoria Les Jones (pictured), from Goolhi, New South Wales, said mass shooting was his only option because his land was too dry to produce food Mr Jones' wife Laura (pictured) wept with relief as the truck arrived providing them with a way to keep their sheep alive The donation was made by the Lions Club Need for Feed Disaster Relief. Mr Jones' wife Laura wept with relief as the truck arrived. She told 7News: 'When they turned up today I couldn't believe that they came all the way from Victoria that they travelled all these days to get here just for us. 'And that means so much.' Before the aid arrived, hundreds of Australians donated money to the couple who were crippled by the worst drought in New South Wales for 30 years. Mrs Jones said she was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support. 'I've cried a thousand tears of joy this morning, you'd think I would have flooded our barren farm,' she told The Daily Telegraph. Mrs Jones even brought the weakest lambs inside the home, where she cared for them day and night (a lamb in poor condition is pictured at the property) Les Jones is pictured feeding grain to his starving sheep on their drought-stricken property 'I can't remember the last time I felt so overwhelmed with joy and so humbled.' The support was a welcome relief for the Jones family, who has struggled to keep their property running in harsh drought conditions. Farming charity Aussie Helpers founder Brian Egan, who has worked closely with the family, said the donations were the difference between life and death. 'They won't have to shoot the sheep. We'll have three road trains of barley for farmers in Goolhi within 10 days,' he said. He said the donations would go a long way to buy increasingly scarce hay and increasingly expensive grain. Laura Jones (centre) and her daughter Lilly (right) talk with Aussie Helpers volunteer Krystal (left) Mrs Jones (with daughter Lilly and volunteer Krystal) said 'words can't express how grateful we are for this kind of support' Mrs Jones said 'words can't express how grateful we are for this kind of support'. 'All of our feed options are almost completely gone, so for something like this to come along and help keep us going is really something special,' she told the NV Independent. Before their story went public, the Jones family was working round-the-clock to keep their stock alive. Mrs Jones even brought the weakest lambs inside the home, where she cared for them day and night. As a result, their home was badly soiled. Sadly, the Jones family's plight is not unique. The family is just one of many across the nation working tirelessly to keep their stock alive and business afloat. The drought has ravaged large parts of New South Wales, forcing farmers to fork out thousands of dollars to keep their stock alive. The added financial pressure forced many to close up shop altogether. While heartbreaking, the Jones family's plight is not unique (deceased sheep are pictured at the Goolhi property) The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said the first three months of 2018 were the driest NSW had experienced for more than 30 years. With conditions worsening across the nation, the drought has not been contained to NSW. BOM said the drought, dubbed the Millennium Drought, was starving land right across the country. Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane were all affected by persistent or periodic episodes. 'The drought conditions were particularly severe in the more densely populated southeast and southwest, and severely affected the Murray-Darling Basin,' BOM said. 'Most particularly in the southwest where winter drying has persisted for more than four decades.' Calls for the federal government to take action have flooded in. 'This is so so so sad. Brokenhearted for the farmers and for the animals. Extremely angry that the government helps and supports methadone and injecting rooms and our poor farmers are giving up their livelihoods,' one commenter said. 'Such a sad, desperate situation.' Therapists across the United States say that ever since president Donald Trump took office patients have been experiencing more anxiety - and it's affecting both Trump critics and supporters. Several therapists spoke to Canada's CBC News saying that many of their patients have a fear about the country's future and if Trump will 'blow us all up.' 'There is a fear of the world ending,' DC therapist Elisabeth LaMotte said. 'It's very disorienting and constantly unsettling.' LaMotte said there is a 'collective anxiety' about how Trump's decisions could affect everyone. Patients and therapists refer to it as 'Trump Anxiety Disorder', although it is not an official diagnosis. Therapists say that more and more patients are experiencing an increase in anxiety due to president Donald Trump She said the 'disorder' has been on the rise since the 2016 election, and mimics patients who have been raised by a parent with a personality disorder. LaMotte said those patients typically display traits such as 'grandiosity, excessive attention-seeking and severe lack of empathy.' 'Whether it's conscious or not, I think we look to the president of the United States as a psychological parent,' she said. Clinical psychologist Jennifer Panning, of Illinois, wrote a 2017 essay on Trump Anxiety Disorder saying the symptoms include patients feeling a loss of control and helplessness, and fretting about what's happening in the country. She said they also spend an 'excessive' amount of time on social media. LaMotte said one patient experiencing Trump-related anxiety asked her: 'Is he gonna blow us all up?' In January, Twitter users called on Twitter to block Trump's account or remove his tweet after he told North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un that his nuclear weapons button was 'bigger and more powerful'. 'North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times. Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works,' the president tweeted. Many people feared that Trump's Twitter post could lead to a nuclear conflict. Last week, Trump tweeted a warning to Iranian president Hassan Rouhani: 'NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!' One therapist said her patient asked her if Trump was going to 'blow us all up' after his tweet (above) to Kim Jong Un that his nuclear button was 'bigger and more powerful' Another patient said she was constantly checking social media because of her increased anxiety about what Trump was saying Therapists said the disorder called Trump Anxiety Disorder affects both Trump critics and supporters Last week, Trump tweeted the above warning to Iranian president Hassan Rouhani not to 'ever threaten the United States' John Hawkins, a therapist in Mississippi said his LGBTQ patients worry that Trumps policies could 'void' their marriages. Panning said the same, telling the CBC that one of her lesbian patients is 'significantly concerned about the legitimacy of their marriage in the future'. Kevon Owen, a therapist in Oklahoma City, said a lot of his patients fear there could be a war. Another therapist located in Kentucky said Trump comes up quite a bit in his sessions. Both from people feeling the president is being persecuted and people just beside themselves with worry about the direction of the country, he said. Connie Sherman, the manager of a dental practice in San Diego, told the outlet that she's been having trouble sleeping since Trump took office and found herself constantly checking her phone all times of night. 'When [special counsel] Robert Mueller's indictments news dropped, I wound up staying up in the middle of the night when I should have been sleeping, just thinking about it, just worried for our country,' she said. Trump Anxiety Disorder is also affecting those who are in favor of the president. LaMotte said one patient who is a Trump supporter expressed feeling 'socially or familially isolated'. Steven Stosny, who works in DC, said a Trump official said he felt anxious at work because of the high-pressures of the job and the criticism directed towards the White House. The official also said his support of led to his daughter hating him and him and his wife filing for divorce, even though he left his position at the White House. Jaime Gale, a Trump supporter in Ohio, said her symptoms remind her of how she felt following the September 11 attacks when she felt fear of the unknown and unfamiliar. It scared the crap of me. Now Im scared of getting pounced on by somebody who doesnt like me because of Trump,' she said. The Russian government has sold off the vast majority of its holdings of US Treasury securities for reasons that remain mysterious, in a dramatic move that experts are calling unprecedented. A US Treasury report released on July 18 shows that Russian holdings of Treasury securities declined by 84 per cent between March and May, down to just $14.9 billion from March holdings of $96.1 billion. The report was issued quietly amid the controversy surrounding President Donald Trump's July 16 meeting with Russian President Valdimir Putin in Helsinki, dropping Russia from the list of major Treasuries holders without comment. Benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields saw a spike during mid-May to a seven-year high of 3.11 per cent, possibly indicating excess supply during the sell off. But yields quickly stabilized, indicating that any Russian bond dumping had little effect on the overall market or the US government's cost of borrowing. Two days after Trump's July 16 meeting with Putin in Helsinki (above), the US Treasury reported that Russia had sold off most of its Treasury securities in April and May, baffling investors The chart above shows Russian holdings of US Treasuries from 2011 through May of this year Investors are mystified by the move, which reduced Russia's Treasury holdings to levels lower than those of Kazakhstan, Peru or Colombia at the end of May, according to government data. Some are speculating that Russia was reacting to US sanctions, in a possible preemptive move to divest assets before they could be seized. Russia's financial sector, including some top state banks, are essentially barred from US capital markets by the sanctions. A new round of sanctions took effect in April, targeting 24 Russian oligarchs and 12 related companies, in response to accusations of 'worldwide malign activity' by the Russian government. It's also possibly that Russia has moved its Treasury holdings offshore, wrote Bloomberg columnist Brian Chappatta, noting that the Cayman Islands' holdings are up $20 billion over the past two months. The yield on a 10-year Treasury note is seen above from January 1 to present. A massive sell-off would be expected to create a spike in yields, raising the cost of borrowing for the US government. The spike above in mid-May represents a seven-year high, but soon stabilized The third possibility is that Russia predicted a move in the market, and hoped to take advantage. If so, such a market move has yet to materialize. If the Treasuries dump was an attempt to drive up the cost of US borrowing, it failed. The 10-year yield rose only 11 basis points from the end of March to the end of May. 'The market now has the answer to what would happen to Treasuries if a major holder decided to sell everything,' Ian Lyngen at BMO Capital Markets jokingly told Chappatta. The answer, in this case: essentially nothing. China remains by far the largest holder of US Treasury securities, holding $1.18 trillion at the end of May. Japan is second, with $1.06 trillion. The lawsuit, filed by Lonnie Hamilton's (pictured) father on Friday, squarely places the blame on two prison guards the night his son died Two New York correctional officers are allegedly to blame for the death of a suicidal man who they mercilessly taunted just hours before he killed himself. According to a lawsuit submitted on Friday, Lonnie Hamilton 'suffered malicious, sadistic, degrading and premeditated abuse' by prison guards Joseph Mead and Alfred Zeina in March 2016. The lawsuit, filed by Hamilton's father to the Bronx Supreme Court, squarely places the blame on the two guards on shift the night his son died. Hamilton, who was serving two to six years for robbery, used a torn bedsheet to hang himself from a ceiling vent on March 18, 2016, according to The New York Post. Hamilton was placed on suicide watch two days earlier and was on at least four different anti-depressants at the time of his death. Court records show that while Hamilton was on suicide watch, Mead and Zeina had allegedly stripped him of his clothes, denied him outside recreation time and food, sprayed him with a fire extinguisher and blasted the air conditioning into his cell. Prison guards Joseph Mead and Alfred Zeina were on duty the night Hamilton used a torn bedsheet to hang himself from a ceiling vent in March 2016 Hamilton was placed on suicide watch two days earlier and was on at least four different anti-depressants at the time of his death. 'I thought you're going to kill yourself,' the officers allegedly yelled at the troubled man. 'You should just kill yourself,' 'You don't need food, you're going to be dead anyway,' 'Do us a favor and kill yourself.' When both officers found Hamilton's lifeless corpse the next morning, they allegedly refused to call help for nearly a half hour 'in an effort to avoid paperwork,' Lonnie Hamilton Sr. states in his lawsuit. A former inmate who supposedly heard the abuse agreed to tell NY1 what transpired on March 18 on the condition of anonymity. 'I woke up to him screaming, yelling like, 'Why y'all wetting my cell? Why y'all wetting my cell?'' And they sprayed the fire extinguisher in there and turned the AC on,' the ex-convict said. The former prisoner said he decided to come forward with his story once he learned the correctional facility failed to notify Hamilton's family for two months after his death. Hamilton's father said he now believes the New York Corrections Department conspired to cover up his son's death and is seeking damages for his shattered family. 'To me it seems like they didn't call us in the beginning on purpose. To me it makes sense that they tried to cover it,' he told NY1. An alleged notorious graffiti gang allegedly responsible for $30,000 in damage to Melbourne's train network has been dismantled by a police operation early on Friday morning. Transit police had been monitoring the group for 12 months in the lead up to the raids, in which police searched residences and seized evidence including vehicles. A 35-year-old man from Bayswater in Melbourne's east has been charged in connection with over 70 offences and is facing 220 charges. A notorious graffiti gang allegedly responsible for $30,000 in damage to Melbourne's train network has been dismantled by a police operation early on Friday morning Transit police had been monitoring the group for 12 months in the lead up to the raids, in which police searched residences and seized evidence including vehicles The charges include criminal damage, burglary, trespass, possess anything with the intent to destroy or damage property. A second man, 22, from Forest Hill has been charged with criminal damage. Both men have been bailed to appear at Ringwood Magistrates' Court on 10 January 2019. A third man, 19, from South Morang has been charged with over 10 offences resulting in 106 charges and is to appear at Melbourne Magistrates' Court on 12 November. A 35-year-old man from Bayswater in Melbourne's east has been charged in connection with over 70 offences and is facing 220 charges Electronic equipment was seized as evidence during the arrests The crew had allegedly been operating since July last year with the graffiti attacks resulting in numerous delays to the rail network. Electronic equipment was seized as evidence during the arrests, along with an orange Holden sedan at Bayswater and a silver Ford sedan at South Morang. Metro trains data shows graffiti and vandalism has been responsible for, on average, 49 delays and eight cancellations per month, according to The Herald Sun. Commuters are encouraged to report suspicious behaviour on public transport to local police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or www.crimestoppersvic.com.au An orange Holden sedan was confiscated at Bayswater and a silver Ford sedan at South Morang was also taken as evidence Police dogs have a reputation for snarling and baring their teeth at criminals, but one canine has broken the mold. Banshee, an adorable German Shepherd, was kicked out of police academy for being 'too friendly' for active duty, constantly licking trainers instead of biting them. She's gone into early retirement, according to the Australian Federal Police's social media pages, and now spends her weekends fishing with her new owner. Banshee was deemed 'too friendly' for active duty, constantly licking pretend criminals instead of biting The Facebook post announcing the move was commented on by almost 500 people, mostly lamenting that they wish they could adopt her. 'I'm available to take any other babies that fail,' one said. Banshee has already found a new home, with the AFP saying that most police dogs end up with their assigned handlers, due to forming a strong bond. While she seems to have taken up fishing, people were quick to comment other possible career paths for Banshee. Banshee has gone into early retirement, and now spends weekends fishing with her new owner 'I think Banshee would make a great therapy dog and visiting the sick in hospitals and the elderly,' someone wrote. Police dogs who are not cut out for active duty or retire are adopted out to good homes, with plenty of suitors waiting, says NSW Police. NSW Police Dog Unit frequently advertise dogs up for adoption on their Facebook page. Actress Marina Squerciati made a name for herself on crime show Chicago PD and despite the fame, she kept her family life a secret. But the 36-year-old actress has recently claimed that she is the daughter of Wall Street mogul John R. Jakobson, who at just 25 became one of the youngest people to buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange in 1955. Although she was sworn to secrecy for years, she is breaking her silence after her alleged late father broke his promise and failed to include her in his will. Actress Marina Squerciati, 36, who plays Officer Kim Burgess on Chicago PD, claims financier John R. Jakobson was her father The actress kept her father's identity a secret but is speaking out after she was not listed as a beneficiary in his will after he passed away in 2017 following a bout with pneumonia In court filings Marina's lawyers say keeping her father's identity a secret came at an 'extraordinary' price, pictured above on set of Chicago PD The Manhattan financier died of pneumonia in 2017 at the age of 86 and left part of his $100million fortune for his three children from his two marriages - including actress Maggie Wheeler who famously played the role of Janice on the sitcom Friends. But Marina, his alleged love child, was absent from his will. According to the New York Post, Jakobson was a ladies man who had several affairs including one with former Miss America Bess Myerson. Marina is the allegedly product of his affair with her mother Marie Squerciati, who wrote for TV in the 1970s and 80s and wrote for the Village Voice as well as the New York Times. Her sister says Marie was the prize of many men's affections. 'My sister is and was a very beautiful and talented woman. Guys were always beating down her door,' her sister Gloria Maloney said to the Post. The affair allegedly lasted for a year and led to Marina's birth in August 1981. Jakobson went on to marry his widow Joan Jakobson in 1983 with whom they shared a son named Nicholas. From his first marriage with college sweetheart Barbara Jakobson he had three children, one of whom has passed away. For her entire life Marina kept her father's identity a secret as he allegedly paid her mother $1,200 a month for more than 20 years - money used for Marina's nanny and for her rent-controlled apartment on the Upper West Side. She claims Wall Street mogul John R. Jakobson, who at just 25 became one of the youngest people to buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange in 1955, was her father, pictured with his second wife Joan Jakobson Jakobson, pictured left, allegedly paid for her schooling and paid Marina's mother $1,200 every month for more than 20 years In his will Jakobson included money for his three living children including actress Maggie Wheeler, who plays Janice in the sitcom Friends, but not Marina Marina, pictured above with her mother Marie Squerciati, who allegedly had an affair with Jakobson Jakobson also reportedly paid for Marina's schooling including the $175,000 tuition for Dalton School, then $131,000 for her education at Northwestern University, where she graduated from in 2003 with a bachelor's degree in theater. He sent flowers and birthday gifts as well to Marina, and even invested in a play she appeared in . Despite oral promises that he'd provide a 'substantial' trust for Marina in his will, it seems the Wall Street mogul neglected to do so. When Marina got engaged, her mother allegedly asked Jakobson for a gift to which he allegedly reaffirmed that she 'would receive money under his will.' His will however includes money for his first and second wives, three surviving children and stepdaughter, but not for Marina. In her court filings she said that the price of her silence was 'extraordinary' and that she missed out on the opportunity to build a relationship with her alleged father and was denied 'any relationship whatsoever with her half-siblings'. Despite these claims, Jakobson's widow Joan says she was unaware of the existence of her late husband's supposed love child. 'I'm not aware of it at all. She said she was John's daughter? This has all hit me, like, I don't know - a snowstorm,' she said to the Post. Jakobson's lawyers have said that Marina's allegations have 'no basis in fact or law' Lawyers added that even if Marina could prove that Jakobson was her father, she lacks written evidence of his promise to leave her money in his will, Marina pictured on Chicago PD The mogul's widow Joan Jakobson says she was unaware of his alleged love child The bombshell news led the Squerciatis to reach out to his estate in September to inquire whether Marina was named a beneficiary, according to court papers. Nicholas Jakobson, the executor of his father's estate, has 'devoted substantial time and ...considerable legal expense in analuzing the claim'. Court filings by the estate say Marina's allegations have 'no basis in fact or law' and 'amounts to nothing more than an avaricious attempt to enforce an alleged, vague oral promise made to [her] mother, rather than to herself, and which resulted in no legally recognizable injury to her'. Lawyers added that even if Marina could prove that Jakobson was her father, she lacks written evidence of his promise to leave her money in his will, saying she had 'ample opportunity as an adult' to have her father put his word in writing. Marina was offered a $50,000 settlement by the Jakobson lawyers. 'She may have wished to avoid the opprobrium, which, although unfair and unjustified, is often cast upon nonmarital children,' lawyers said in court filings. 'As a successful actor, [she] may have been especially sensitive to this given her public persona and position in popular culture,' they added. The Squerciati family is yet to respond to the case and Marina is yet to address it on her social media. President Donald Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani has said that he believes a tape released by Michael Cohen may have been tampered with. Guiliani made the claim on Saturday evening in a phone interview with Fox News, saying two experts and retired FBI agents who have examined the secret recording believe it was 'played' with. The tape was recorded covertly by Cohen in 2016 prior to the election, and involves discussion of a payment to the National Enquirer to ensure former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal's claims of an affair with Trump did not get out. Giuliani said he believed that the tape released on Wednesday in a leak to CNN is a recording of a recording, which would mask any signs that Cohen had turned the recorder on and off during the conversation, or had later erased portions. Rudy Giuliani has said that he believes a tape released by Michael Cohen may have been tampered with Cohen (center) secretly recorded a meeting with Trump to discuss a payment to suppress an affair allegation from Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal 'Since we don't have the original, we asked for it,' Giuliani told Fox News. 'Our expert analysis [isn't] done until we get the raw copy, which we are seeking.' The president's lawyer confessed that his hopes for actually obtaining the original tapes were thin. The version released by CNN is of notably poor quality and seems to end after a brief and abrupt cut. 'Now that we've seen the full scope of [Michael] Cohen and Lanny Davis' deception, we don't trust anything,' Giuliani said, referring to Cohen's lawyer. Cohen is under a federal investigation probing allegations of bank fraud, wire fraud and violations of campaign finance law, and prosecutors are said to have seized many covert recordings in an April raid on his Manhattan office and hotel room. However, Giluliani said that the tape released on Wednesday is the only one that involves a substantive conversation with Trump. The others involve conversations with third parties regarding payments connected to claims from McDougal and porn star Stormy Daniels that they had prior sexual affairs with Trump. Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal is seen with Trump over a decade ago Cohen formed a shell company in September 2016 in order to pay the National Enquirer for the rights to McDougal's story, after the tabloid paid the Playmate $150,000 for exclusive rights to the tale. However, Trump and Cohen never ended up making the payment, when fears proved unfounded that Trump ally David Pecker, CEO of the Enquirer's parent company, would be stepping down. The most controversial part of the brief recording released on Wednesday was Trump's mention of 'cash' when Cohen raised the subject of 'financing'. Giuliani has said that cash merely refers to a one-time payment as opposed to ongoing 'financing' over time. In the event, no payment was made. Cohen's legal team did not respond to Fox's inquiries about the tape-tampering allegations on Saturday night. Earlier in the week, Cohen's attorney Davis tweeted: 'Just as Richard Nixon learned, tapes dont lie!' Forensic specialists have shed light on two mysterious cases they have never been able to solve - one involving an almost perfectly preserved skeleton and another body found hanging from a purple scarf as a noose. The Victorian Institute for Forensic Medicine has collected DNA samples from families of over 300 missing people, as well as remains of dead bodies that are waiting to be identified. DNA samples are collected so that families will have more chances of finally locating a loved one's missing body. Two cases have left forensic specialists puzzled over their identities - one case involved a perfectly-preserved skeleton and another involved a noose hanging by a tree, wrapped in just a purple scarf Sometimes, a DNA match is made, but in other bizarre cases, forensic specialists are left to speculate. Two cases in particular involve an almost perfectly-preserved skeleton and a body left hanging by a tree with only a purple scarf wrapped around it. Senior forensic specialist Dr Soren Blau told Daily Mail Australia the skeleton was found near the Sandy Point coastline and that it was complete and did not have an inch of clothing on it. 'It's unusual because this is a full skeleton located in a water environment,' Dr Blau explained. She added that, usually, only body parts are recovered in watery environments - not a full skeleton. There was also no evidence that the body had been scavenged by animals, nor were there any associated belongings with it. What was distinctive about the skeleton, however, was that the man had a gold filling in his front tooth, according to The Age. The results of a cranial morphology also show that the he could be related to someone from Italy, The Age reported. Molecular biologist Dr Dadna Hartman worked with Dr Blau in extracting DNA from one of the skeleton's bones, but it will only prove to be useful if the sample finds a match from the institute's DNA collection. The Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine made a visual reconstruction of the well-preserved skeleton found near the Sandy Point coastline (pictured) Another mysterious case involves remains that were found near a tree in the bushland, where a noose was also found hanging nearby with a distinctive purple scarf wrapped around it. The Age found that the man, who was in his 20s, was wearing Country Road pants and sandals. Aside from this and his purple scarf, there were no other items found on him. When asked about any leads, Dr Blau says that the complexity of the identification process makes it difficult to identify some bodies. Detailed antemortem reports provide great help in identifying bodies. Such reports are usually provided by family members, who can give information on the missing person's dental history, age, distinctive features and medical history. Another mysterious case involves remains that were found near a tree in the bushland, where a noose was also found hanging nearby with a distinctive purple scarf wrapped around it (pictured) Comparing an antemortem report with a postmortem report so that a comparison can be made, thus increasing the chances of matching the DNA extract with the DNA samples of family members. 'Unless we have good antemortem and postmortem information, it is very, very difficult to identify some bodies,' Dr Blau said. The preservation of a body is also crucial in identifying and possibly extracting DNA, but there are a lot of factors that the remains are usually exposed to. An example that Dr Blau gives would be if a person had not been recovered for a long time, with its remains repeatedly exposed to sun, rain or saltwater. While others might find forensics to be a morbid job, Dr Blau says this isn't the case for her. In fact, she says it is a privilege to examine and identify deceased bodies and match it with families who have been looking for a long time. 'It's a privilege to use this expertise and to work with others to provide names,' She said. Three divers went missing off Victoria's coast this afternoon, sparking a major search operation in stormy weather. The coast guard, water police and a police helicopter team were called at 12pm after the divers failed to resurface at Bellarine Peninsula, a well-known diving spot. But by 3.20pm the divers were found safe and well on land after drifting in the choppy water. The coast guard, water police and a police helicopter team were called at 12pm after the divers failed to resurface at Bellarine Peninsula near Queenscliff (pictured) One dive company RedBoats cancelled all its dives this morning due to the stormy weather. 'It is borderline, but the forecast has kept changing so we are going to err on the side of caution as we value your safety and comfort levels too much to gamble with it,' the company said on its Facebook page. It is not clear if the divers were with a different company or diving independently. It's hard to image, but comedian Sacha Baron Cohen is causing more controversy with his new show after tricking one Arizona town into believing investors want to build a mosque in their community. In the latest episode of 'Who Is America?,' Cohen heads to Kingman, Arizona and invites local residents to discuss a new multimillion-dollar project that could provide 'huge economic growth' to their town, posing as a member of a development firm. There's only one problem the people of Kingman have with the '$385 million investment: the proposed project calls for 'the world's largest mosque outside the Middle East' to be constructed in their small town. n the latest episode of 'Who Is America?,' Sacha Baron Cohen (pictured) heads to Kingman, Arizona and invites local residents to discuss a multimillion-dollar investment project The only problem is for Kingman locals is that the proposed project calls for 'the world's largest mosque outside the Middle East' to be built in their town As the mood quickly turns from disappointment to anger, one man chimes in by associating the word 'mosque' with 'terrorism,' while another says the project will bring 'problems.' Those in the room quickly become more and more agitated as the segment goes on, especially after Cohen informs them that Kingman 'will become a hub for tourism for Muslims around the world.' 'We don't want that s**t here,' the man who associated Islam with terrorism chimes in angrily. 'You bring in Muslims, we might have problems - we probably will have problems,' states another with the same fervor. One woman declares that if a mosque is built in the community, 'we'll all be moving out of this state' to a round of applause. As the mood quickly turns from disappointment to anger, one man chimes in by associating the word 'mosque' with 'terrorism' Cohen, in full disguise, doesn't help things by noting that the mosque will be funded partly by the government of Saudi Arabia and The Clinton Foundation Cohen, in full disguise, doesn't help things by noting that the mosque will be funded partly by the government of Saudi Arabia and The Clinton Foundation. 'That's even worse than the mosque,' a man in the back of the room adds. Things turn ugly when one Kingman residents, without hesitation, unequivocally states that he's 'racist against Muslim.' To say the least, officials from Kingman were not happy, slamming Cohen for taking advantage of their community and 'baiting' local residents. The city defended itself by condemning the discriminatory statements a number of individuals made during the episode, but said that its unfair to characterize the whole community with the same broad brush. To say the least, officials from Kingman were not happy, slamming Cohen for taking advantage of their community and 'baiting' local residents 'Every city has resident voices that challenge respect and dignity for others. They are wrong and unfortunate. That was no exception on Sunday's 'Who Is America?' show on Showtime in which an actor baited purported residents to vociferously oppose a fictitious, supersized mosque in our city,' the City of Kingman posted to Facebook. 'No matter the instigation or that numerous focus group participants dont even live in Kingman,' the statement continued, 'the shows characterization in the words of one member of our Kingman City Council broke her heart. Why? Because our community has made great strides to erase previous perceptions.' 'We do have a mosque. We do have a robust Latino community. We do welcome tourists from all over the world, especially more and more from Asia fascinated by our Route 66 history. We do have African-Americans applying for leadership positions with the city. This is the Kingman of today, not of yesterday.' The city defended itself by condemning the discriminatory statements a number of individuals made during the episode A convicted murderer nicknamed 'Black Widow' could be freed from prison just 25 years into a life sentence. Patricia Byers, 72, has made four parole applications throughout her sentence, with concerns that the most recent one could be successful. She was moved to South Australia prison in 2009 to be closer to her son, Alan Byers. But laws introduced in 2015 could provide a loophole that sees her face a parole board. If she does face a parole board, 9News has reported that she may be released within months. Convicted murderer Patricia Byers (pictured right) could be released from a life sentence early should a loophole in Adelaide's 'no body, no parole' law allow her to face a parole board The 'no body, no parole' law was introduced in July 2015 to prevent convicted murderers who deliberately hide details of missing bodies from getting parole. When she was convicted in 1999 for the murder of her partner Carel Gottgens, she denied it, saying that he had run off with another woman and she didn't know his whereabouts. His body was never found. However, hoping to succeed with her latest parole attempt in 2016, Ms Byers confessed to his murder, saying she disposed of his body in Queensland's Logan River. She claims she struck him with a machete in the back of the head causing his body to slump into the water and sink. However, Mr Gottgens' blood was found in the couple's home at the time. Carel Gottgens' (pictured) body was never found, after Byers was found guilty and confessed to his murder in 1990 Whether Ms Byers is being honest is being called into question. 'We conducted a search after she gave us the information,' Acting Superintendent Damien Hansen said at the time. 'We did not find any remains and we have reported that back.' In 1993, in a ploy for then-partner John Asquiths life insurance, Ms Byers shot him in the head at close range with a sawn-off shotgun while he slept. Mr Asquith survived, called the authorities and later testified against her in court. Evidence that Ms Byers had forged documents to claim Mr Gottgens boat and house in his will was produced in court. His children appealed and it was reverted to their father's name. Should she be granted bail, the families of her victims are concerned for their safety. SA Police cannot discuss Ms Byers' parole application. However, 7News reported she had been transferred to a facility to prepare for parole. Similar 'no body, no parole' laws have been passed in almost every Australian state, with Queensland most recently passing the law last August. The market looks grim for potential home buyers in what used to be one of Australia's most affordable capital cities. According to the latest data, Hobart is booming after housing prices rose by a dramatic 12.7 per cent in just a year. Over the same twelve months, availability on the market dropped by a staggering 30.7 per cent, leaving future home buyers looking to alternatives. Unfortunately, the news isn't looking good for renters also with rent surging 12.2 per cent over the past year. The market looks grim for potential home buyers in what used to be one of Australia's most affordable capital cities This is going to make it even harder for prospective home buyers to save and enter the market, news.com.au reported. While this is making life tough for Hobart locals, tourism in Australia's second-smallest capital has exploded. Struggling to cope with the sudden popularity, Tasmania was caught almost completely off guard by the surge in property prices. National research manager at PRDnationwide, Dr Diaswati Mardiasmo said that NSW and Victoria have had a rise in property growth since 2014. Because of this, people began to look for alternative options for investing their money and wanted to buy things they wouldn't be 'priced out of'. States such as Queensland, South Australia and Victoria looked promising for prospective buyers, so people began to invest in those areas. 'But the thing is, Queensland and South Australia expected this to happen and so they began planning for increased interest to absorb that interstate investment demand,' Dr Mardiasmo said. While this is making life tough for Hobart locals, tourism in Australia's second-smallest capital has exploded 'Tasmania, however, hasn't really planned that well and so affordability decreased there the most out of all the states.' Dr Mardiasmo said that the Tasmanian market is still much more promising than other parts of Australia, but the price surge has forced first home buyers out of the market. According to founder of the Australian Housing Initiative, Ian Ugarte, the price boom is affecting renters the most, but says that it's a 'perfect storm' for investors. Mr Ugarte said that there had always been problems with Tasmania's rental market, but low vacancy rates and supply and demand issues caused investors to flock to the state. 'Some people's rent went from $250 to $400 per week literally overnight, and while most said no, they didn't realise they might not be able to afford another place,' he said. Struggling to cope with the sudden popularity, Tasmania was caught almost completely off guard by the surge in property prices He says that holiday-makers are partly to blame, with Airbnb also being at fault. Hobart currently has 800 short stay availabilities on Airbnb, which has taken options away for long-term renters. Another issue causing renters to struggle, is a 'market mismatch' between what people want, and what is available on the market. This could mean that people are forced to rent out entire houses, when they only need to occupy one or two rooms. Mr Urgarte said that 80 per cent of the houses on the market have between three and five bedrooms, and there needs to be more smaller homes on the market. He also predicts that the next property hot spot in the state is going to be Launceston. A man has shockingly left a woman alone after she slipped off a mountain ledge during their first date in a national park. The man decided to impress the woman by taking her out to a morning hike at Glass House Mountains, north of Brisbane, for a climb on Friday. Unfortunately, the woman slipped and fell off a mountain peak where she badly hurt her hand, Courier Mail reports. A man has shockingly left a woman alone after she slipped off a mountain ledge during their first date in a national park north of Brisbane, Queensland (pictured) The man didn't stay and said he had to leave otherwise he would be late for work. Ecologist Brian Coulter was the real gentleman on the poor woman's failed first date. The ecologist from Brisbane said he was climbing with three friends on the mountain when he spotted the woman fall. 'She told us she was actually on a first date and that he [her date] was the one that had decided to take her up the mountain,' Mr Coulter said. Mr Coulter said it was a challenge for emergency services to rescue her because they were on a remote and steep part of the mountain, yet they safely managed to abseil down with her (pictured) 'But apparently he [her date] was running late for work so he left her there while we attended to her injuries,' Mr Coulter told the Courier Mail. The former department of environment wildlife officer said his three friends were all firefighters and so they helped the injured woman before calling on their team of local firies to help out. Mr Coulter said it was a challenge for emergency services to rescue her because they were on a remote and steep part of the mountain, yet they safely managed to abseil down with her. The woman was taken to Caboolture Hospital. Mr Coulter said it was safe to say the woman would not be giving the runaway man a second date. An unprovoked attack in south-east Melbourne has left a man drifting in and out of consciousness on the sidewalk. The victim was walking on the footpath towards three other men on Thursday evening, when one took a swing at him, knocking him to the ground. CCTV footage captured the assault on Frankston's busiest highway, and has been released in hopes of finding the attacker. A man has been attacked in an unprovoked assault in the south-eastern suburb of Frankston on Thursday night (victim pictured) The footage starts with the victim in a grey hoodie walking towards the three men. One of them puts himself in the path of the victim, lurching towards him and knocking him to the ground with one punch. He falls to the ground and appears to lose consciousness for a few seconds, before sitting with his head in his hands, looking in the direction the three men were heading. As the three men approach the camera, they can be seen looking over their shoulders at the victim, laughing. The victim was punched in the face by one of the three men, who is wearing a jacket with high-visibility sleeves The two men who did not participate in the assault seem undisturbed by the sudden and violent attack, one of them laughing and holding his jaw. The attacker, wearing a high visibility jacket, can be seen puffing out his chest. The floored man eventually gets up and walks off, leaving his broken dentures at the scene, according to Victoria Police. The three men appeared unperturbed by the attack, laughing and looking over their shoulders at the floored man, while one jokingly holds his jaw The man, who has not been identified by police, appears to drift in and out of consciousness before getting up and leaving under his own strength Both the victim and the attacker has not been found, with Victoria Police uploading the CCTV footage to Facebook on Sunday in an effort to identify them. 'What a nasty lowlife,' one person commented. Police are urging anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Ministers have contemplated using the army to deliver food and medical supplies if Britain crashes out of the EU with 'no deal'. Plans have been drawn to use helicopters and army trucks to take supplies to vulnerable people outside the south east who might need medicine, according to The Sunday Times. The startling revelations will provoke fresh claims from Brexiteers that the government is scaremongering over a 'no deal' Brexit. Scroll down for video Prime Minister Theresa May insisted the government is being 'responsible and sensible' while trying to get a good deal with the EU Plans have been drawn to draft in the army (pictured left) to deliver food, medicine and fuel Supermarkets have also warned suppliers to start stockpiling fuel, food and medicine A Ministry of Defence source acknowledged that there was 'a blueprint for us supporting the civilian authorities' but said they had received 'no formal request' to supply aid. Ministers have repeatedly played down the risk of shortages in the event of a sudden hard Brexit next March. There are fears a no deal Brexit could stop imports of food and other supplies, such as medicine, to Britain. Last week Brexit secretary Dominic Raab insisted there would be adequate food supplies. Asked whether the Government was considering stockpiling food to cope with a 'no deal' Brexit, Mr Raab said: 'It would be wrong to describe it as the Government doing stockpiling. 'What we will make sure - and of course the idea that we only get food imports into this country from one continent is not appropriate - but we will look at this issue in the round and make sure that there is adequate food supply.' In an interview with 5 News on Wednesday, Prime Minister Theresa May did not deny stockpiling is happening. But she insisted the Government is being 'responsible and sensible' while still trying to get a good deal with the European Union. Mrs May said: 'Far from being worried about preparations that we are making, I would say that people should take reassurance and comfort from the fact that the Government is saying we are in a negotiation, we are working for a good deal - I believe we can get a good deal - but... because we don't know what the outcome is going to be... let's prepare for every eventuality.' Italy's deputy prime minister has accuse the EU of trying to 'swindle' Britain out of Brexit. Hardline interior minister Matteo Salvini told the Sunday Times Theresa May should be adopting a tougher stance during negotiations - saying she needed to 'impose herself'. 'My experience in the European parliament tells me you either impose yourself or they swindle you,' Salvini said. Scroll down for video Matteo Salvini said Theresa May would need to be more robust in her negotiating stance towards the EU Salvini, a former MEP, also said Mrs May should be prepared to walk away if she doesn't get a good deal. 'Because on some principles there is no need to be flexible and you should not go backwards,' he added. He also said the EU was trying to Punish Britain for leaving the bloc and said there had been 'no goof faith or objectivity' shown from negotiators in Brussels. Salvini, who has caused controversy with his anti-immigration policies since his appointment earlier this year, said Britain could rely on Italy to be a 'friend' during crunch talks with the EU. He also said he would be open to holding one-to-one talks with Theresa May if needed. 'I hope the negotiations end well for the UK to serve as an example of the people coming out on top of the EU,' Salvini said. The federal electorates of Perth and Fremantle will go down in political history for the wrong reasons following the Super Saturday by-elections. They are on track to record the lowest voter turnout in a by-election since compulsory voting was introduced into Australia in 1924. Perth recorded voter turnout rates of 62.46 per cent with counting of all 46 polling booths completed by Sunday night, according to the Australian Electoral Commission website. In Fremantle, the voter turnout was only slightly higher at 64.82 per cent with votes of all 40 polling places now counted. New federal MP Patrick Gorman (pictured) had his seat of Perth record the lowest voter turnout in a by-election since 1924 Josh Wilson's (pictured on Saturday) seat of Fremantle recorded the second lowest voter turnout since compulsory voting was introduced in Australia The lowest previously recorded turnout in a by-election was 69.5 per cent in the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's Sydney seat of Wentworth in 1981. The other by-elections in Braddon (87.93 per cent), Longman (81.36) and Mayo (79.22) attracted much higher voter turnouts. Around 6801 people in Perth pre-polled 46 per cent down on the 2016 rate. In Fremantle, only 6365 voters did the same. The government chose not to field Liberal candidates in either seat, which were both easily won by Labor. 'We have much less financial resources available to us than Labor, and so the WA party decided not to run in two seats which they believed they had no prospect of winning,' Mr Turnbull said. New Perth MP Patrick Gorman (pictured) celebrates his by-election win with wife Jess (right) and supporters on Saturday night Not even the promise of a cup of coffee could interest voters to attend this polling booth (pictured) in the seat of Fremantle on Saturday People who don't vote in a federal election face a $20 fine, which increases to $50 if they've failed to vote previously. Political analyst Professor David Black was not surprised about the 'spectacularly low' voting turnout and believes people weren't aware the by-election was on. 'I think for a very significant part of the population the by-election almost didn't exist,' Mr Black told the ABC. AEC said it conducted the same communication campaigns in both electorates as it did for the other by-elections in Tasmania, Queensland and South Australia. 'We'll continue doing all those things we have been doing and we will look at improvements we can make, but it's a shared responsibility between us, political parties, the media and the public to get people's intentions into Parliament,' WA state manager Fleur Hill Hill told the ABC. Fremantle MP Josh Wilson said he would have liked to have seen a better voter turnout in his electorate Of the 103,226 voters in Fremantle (electorate map pictured), only 64.83 per cent voted Of the 100,737 voters in the Perth electorate (map pictured), only 62.46 per cent per cent voted Patrick Gorman is the new Perth MP after party colleague Tim Hammond resigned just two years into his first term for personal reasons. He won 62.9 per cent in the two-party preferred vote against Greens candidate Caroline Perks. Former dual citizen and Labor MP Josh Wilson comfortably held onto his Fremantle electorate with 66.8 per cent of two-party preferred vote against Greens candidate Dorinda Cox. Mr Wilson would have liked to see a better voter turnout, but took bigger issue with the delay getting to the by-election. Australia's biggest banks have reportedly been used to transfer millions from a sophisticated money laundering scheme involving the Russian mafia. That's the claim from a man described as Russian President Vladimir Putin's enemy number one, who has called for a criminal investigation into Australian links into the $230million scheme. American-born British financier and billionaire whistleblower Bill Browder has traced some of the stolen proceeds from the Kremlin to Australia via a maze of international companies following an eight year investigation. The $230million stolen on Christmas Eve 2007 by criminals falsely claiming they own some of Mr Browder's Russian companies was the largest tax refund request in the history of the country. Bank records obtained in an international investigation by Sunday Night show $4.7 million in payments to 11 Australian accounts from foreign accounts suspected to have received proceeds from the $230million Russian treasury fraud. The companies range from aluminium manufacturers to a business specialising in travel to Russia. One of the biggest transactions was $1.2million to an Australian business from companies he claims are in the money-laundering business. Billionaire whistleblower Bill Browder (pictured) has contacted the authorities for the transactions to be investigated 'What is very suspicious about this is they got more than a $1million, and it comes from a company, an Estonian bank account of a company called Megacom Transit Limited and Everfront Sales,' Mr Browder told Sunday Night. It appears Australian-based recipients were innocent parties in the money-laundering scheme. Most of these companies have since gone out of business, and those still operating insisted that the payments were legitimate. Many of Australia's major banks received funds, which came under fire from Mr Browder for not having better procedures to realise what was going on. 'Basically, nobody was asking any questions,' Mr Browder said. Mr Browder has been in touch with Australian Federal Police and Australia's money-laundering authorities to request the Australian transactions be investigated. Australia's major banks received funds, which came under fire from Bill Browder for not having better procedures to realise what was going on Foreign Minister Julie Bishop declined the program's repeated requests for an interview about Australia's safeguards against Russian money-laundering. 'I think that, like politicians and government officials it's easier to avoid action. But we're going to hold the government to account. We're going to make this thing happen in Australia,' Mr Browder said. Mr Browder is lobbying for Australia to pass a Magnitsky Act in honour of Sergei Magnitsky, the lawyer he hired to find out how the monumental fraud was pulled off before he was arrested a few months later and beaten to death in jail. The US, Britain and Canada have all passed the legislation, which aims to stop money laundering out of Russia into foreign banks. Doctors are giving out nearly 500,000 prescriptions a year for toiletries such as shampoo, toothpaste and body wash, official figures reveal. The NHS is spending 3.5million a year on the items, even though many can easily be bought at chemists and supermarkets. This bill described as absurd by campaigners has risen seven-fold in a decade. Figures from NHS Digital show a total of 470,678 prescriptions for toiletries were handed out last year, up from 79,341 in 2007. Many of these were for branded items including Colgate toothpaste, Neutrogena shampoo and Ambre Solaire aftersun. Campaigners said the NHS should not be prescribing these items when they could be easily bought by patients. The figures show 1.64million was spent on 195,091 prescriptions for Aveeno body wash. This is specifically recommended for patients with eczema but it is available from Boots and Superdrug at less than 10 a bottle. A further 270,000 was spent on 50,000 prescriptions for Neutrogenas T/Gel shampoos for dandruff, sensitive scalps or greasy hair. The same shampoos can be bought from high street chemists for 7 per bottle. Other branded products prescribed on the NHS included E45 Junior Foaming Bath Milk, Bio Oil Skincare Oil and Vagisil Feminine Wash. The NHS spent more than 3m last year on toiletries such as toothpaste and shampoo John OConnell, chief executive of the TaxPayers Alliance, said: It is absurd that items which are so readily available at highstreet shops are still being prescribed. Clearly, many primary care treatments will require specialist medicines, but this spending on branded toiletries is not on. Mark Littlewood, director general of the Institute of Economic Affairs think-tank said: Just a matter of weeks after the Prime Minister promises to commit 20billion more a year to our healthcare system, we hear yet another example of how careless NHS spending is. Rather than squandering significant amounts of money on body wash and fancy toothpaste, this money would be better spent on investing in new technology and improving patient care. The spending surge is a result of doctors handing out free prescriptions for toiletries like toothpaste at a rate of nearly one a minute In May, NHS England which runs the health service told GPs to stop prescribing 35 types of products including hay fever remedies and cough mixture. The restrictions didnt cover toiletries however, although officials are hoping to extend the ban at some point. Last month Theresa May promised to invest billions extra into the NHSs budget over the next five years following warnings of an unprecedented funding crisis. But critics say the health service is too wasteful with its money, particularly on prescriptions and agency staff. The figures also show 75 prescriptions were made for Colgate Total toothpaste, including 22 for Colgate Pro Gum Health toothpaste. This could have been for patients who went to their GP with gum problems, or may have been prescribed by NHS dentists. Another 22 was spent on two prescriptions for 200ml bottles of Ambre Solaire after-sun lotion, which costs 5 per bottle in high street stores. The owner of high street chain Boots billed health bosses 1,579 for a 500ml tub of skin ointment which is regularly prescribed across Britain for just 1.73. Stock picture Ash Soni, president of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said there had been a significant drop in prescriptions for branded products and an increase in the number of patients buying products for themselves in recent months. Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said: GPs are acutely aware of how much money prescriptions cost the NHS, and will always encourage patients who can afford to buy over the counter products to source them themselves. An NHS England spokesman said: The NHS in England is already one of the most efficient health systems in the world, but we will always seek better value for taxpayers, which is why we introduced strict guidelines earlier this year to help GPs make smarter prescriptions, which alone will free up 100million to reinvest in better mental health, cancer and A&E services. A bus driver has spoken of how he is so scared of an obssessed stalker he now lives like a recluse and will 'never feel safe'. Imre Marton, 33, also covers the windows of his home with black curtains so people can't see inside and wears a stab proof vest. Despite his tormentor Charlie Howells being locked up for a second time, he fears she has people on the outside ready to do him harm. Mr Marton told the Sunday Mirror: 'I never feel safe. I know she won't stop and this is never going to end. I am living in fear, always looking over my shoulder. Imre Marton (pictured) in his stab vest when appearing in the BBC documentary about stalking Charlie Howells (pictured right) with a former X-Factor finalist Jahmene Douglas. She has now been jailed for a second time 'I am sure that one day she will kill me. It's the end goal for her. Her mission is for us to die together.' The nightmare scenario started in 2012 when Howells, 24 began stalking Mr Marton after she boarded his No32 bus in Oxfordshire. Howells would discover which journeys Mr Marton was driving each day and wait for him at bus stops along each of his routes. She also sent him more than 500 Facebook messages. Howells messaged Mr Marton after he appeared on a BBC documentary to raise awareness of the problem. On the documentary he said he now wore a stab proof vest She persistently ignored a restraining order not to contact him or board any bus being driven by him. In August 2014, Howells was slapped with a two-year restraining order preventing her from contacting Mr Marton in any way, including specifically via social media, and from boarding any bus being driven by him. However, she persistently ignored the court order, which was made after she was convicted of harassing the bus driver. Recalling how the campaign started, he said: 'I'd feel her breath on me. She was like a ninja, she would appear from nowhere. She was always there.' After his rejection, Howells began turning up in shops and cafes Mr Marton was visiting. On the bus she played One Direction songs and handed him notes. Howells was jailed in May 2016. Judge Pringle jailed Howells for two years for breaching the restraining order and gave her a concurrent two-month sentence for harassment. Howells (pictured) would discover which journeys Mr Marton was driving each day and wait for him at bus stops along each of his routes Howells was also made the subject of a new restraining order against Mr Marton, to last for the next five years. Earlier this month Howells was jailed again for three years at Oxford Crown Court and given a ten-year restraining order. The 33-year-old added: 'I take no comfort in her getting three years. 'It just gives her more time to plan what she is going to do next and that terrifies me.' Despite blocking all communication with Howells, Mr Marton continued to receive messages and her declare her love for him. After he appeared in a BBC documentary called Stalker and Me in 2017 to raise awareness of the issue, the messages became worse. She chillingly told Mr Marton they were going to 'die together'. Despite the new sentence Mr Marton doesn't think it is long enough and wants to start a family in his native Hungary- but is concerned about possible retribution from Howells. He is being supported by charity Paladin. He added: 'I can't even think about looking for love again. I have too many trust issues and bad memories. 'Her behaviour has also cost me 10,000 a year because of missed shifts, avoiding overtime and changing jobs. 'It's left me almost bankrupt, meaning I can't afford to move back to my family in Hungary.' Despite the torment he has suffered Mr Marton is determined to speak out and help others who have been impacted by similar situations. Thames Valley Police said: 'Charlie Howells has subjected the victim to a sustained period of harassment which has had a significant impact on his life. 'She has never shown any remorse but multiple investigations and increasing sentence lengths demonstrate that this behaviour will not be tolerated.' According to Paladin, the National Stalking Advocacy Service, 700,00 women are stalked each year. And one in five women and one in ten men will experience stalking in their adult lives. Criminals are impersonating police officers in record numbers in a bid to carry out violent crimes, it has been revealed. Using fake police badges, uniforms and lights, it is believed perpetrators use the disguises to coerce potential victims. In fact, police impostor offences have reached a five-year high in Victoria, according to the Herald Sun. During 2017, police impersonation offences soared 80 per cent in the state with police issuing 95 charges for the infraction. Criminals are impersonating police officers in record numbers in a bid to carry out violent crimes, it has been revealed Using fake police badges, uniforms and lights, it is believed perpetrators use the disguises to coerce potential victims The illegal practice is said to be aided by a steady supply of fake uniforms on sites like eBay and Gumtree (pictured) The illegal practice is said to be aided by a steady supply of fake police property on sites like eBay and Gumtree. Just last month, three thugs pretending to be police officers assaulted a man while he was driving to buy his wife a present in Melbourne's north. The 25-year-old victim initially pulled over after seeing what he believed were police lights in his rear view. After speaking to a man through his car window, he opened the car's door when the thug demanded money. Following the victim's refusal he pulled him from the car, punched him and pushed him to the rear of the vehicle. Last month, three thugs pretending to be police officers assaulted a man while he was driving to buy his wife a present in Melbourne's north The trio then all started beating the victim before quickly fleeing the scene. Earlier this month a man was allegedly caught bringing imitation police property including fake Victoria Police badges into Melbourne Airport. He is reportedly now being investigated by the Australian Federal Police. As thousands of Californians continue to flee from a raging deadly fire, one retired US Marine is running towards the flames to save stranded horses. Tucker Zimmerman has been venturing into evacuation zones to save panicked livestock that others have had to leave behind. The Carr fire, which continues to rip through northern California, has already taken the lives of a woman and her great-grandchildren as well as two firefighters. Retired US Marine Tucker Zimmerman has been rescuing stranded horses as the Carr fire continues to rip across northern California But despite the daunting task, Zimmerman is modest about his accomplishments. 'I'm just the guy who moves stuff around,' he said. Zimmerman uses a large trailer borrowed from his job selling tractor equipment to rescue the animals. On Saturday he had just delivered five horses to safety when he received a call to pick up others nearby. The horses were being taken to stables, rodeo grounds, and ranches whose owners have opened their property to the steady stream of livestock rescued by Zimmerman since Wednesday. 'He restored my faith in humanity,' said Noah Urban, an Oregon resident whose stranded six-year-old horse named Bolt was saved by Zimmerman. Zimmerman has been venturing into evacuation zones to save panicked livestock that others have had to leave behind. Pictured are some of the horses he has rescued Zimmerman uses a large trailer (pictured) borrowed from his job selling tractor equipment to rescue the animals 'You're not just helping the animals, he's helping people to alleviate their stress,' Urban said. 'It would be like losing your children. If you had to leave them behind, I can't even think about it.' Zimmerman is not alone. Communicating through social media, text messages, radio and word-of-mouth, a network of animal lovers and animal-control authorities have banded together to rescue as many stranded animals as possible. An empty storefront in an Anderson outlet mall is currently being used as overflow housing for the animals of Haven Humane Society. Besides their usual charges seeking full-time homes, volunteers were accepting dogs and cats brought in by evacuated residents unable to care for their pets while displaced. Despite the daunting task, Zimmerman is modest about his accomplishments and says he's just the 'guy who moves stuff around' The horses were being taken to stables, rodeo grounds, and ranches whose owners have opened their property to the steady stream of livestock rescued by Zimmerman Meanwhile, Zimmerman has been helping rescue more than just the horses. 'I saved a guy named Matt. He was trying to water down his house' Zimmerman recalled. 'I said, "Let's go!'' The Carr Fire, the deadliest and most destructive of nearly 90 wildfires burning from Texas to Oregon, has destroyed more than 500 buildings and charred almost 84,000 acres of since erupting last Monday. More than 38,000 people remained under evacuation orders in and around the city of Redding on Sunday. The weather on Sunday is expected to offer no relief for firefighters as it will hit more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit with low humidity and gusty winds, according to the National Weather Service. As of Saturday night, an army of some 3,500 firefighting personnel and a squadron of 17 water-dropping helicopters had managed to carve buffer lines around just five percent of the fire's perimeter. The Carr Fire has destroyed more than 500 buildings and charred almost 84,000 acres of since erupting last Monday Melody Bledsoe, 70, and her great-grandchildren James Roberts, 5, and Emily Roberts, 4, were killed in the California wildfire Family members said Melody and the two kids were at the home alone without any transportation when the fire engulfed their home. Pictured is where the home once stood Fire officials say the erratic behavior of the blaze, stoked by high winds and triple-digit temperatures, has complicated efforts to contain the conflagration. At the height of its fury on Thursday night, the fire was whipped into a storm-like frenzy by gale-force winds that drove flames across the Sacramento River into the western end of Redding, as thousands of residents fled for their lives in a chaotic evacuation. The nearby town of Keswick, with a population of about 450, was reduced to cinders, and two firefighters were killed. On Saturday, Redding police said they were searching for 17 people still unaccounted for two days afterward. Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko later confirmed the discovery of three bodies at a fire-ravaged home on the outskirts of Redding. More than 38,000 people remained under evacuation orders in and around the city of Redding on Sunday In the communities scorched by the blaze, such as Lake Keswick Estates in Redding (pictured), the Friday air was thick with the smell of smoke and chemicals Family members said Melody Bledsoe, 70, and her two great-grandchildren, James Roberts, 5 and Emily Roberts, 4, were home alone when they fire engulfed their home in Shasta County. Melody's husband, Ed Bledsoe, had taken the only working car to get supplies unaware that officials had ordered people in their area to evacuate. Bledsoe wept as he recalled trying to get back to the family's house after he had left to run an errand on Thursday, only to learn that the fire was closing in on them. He spoke to his great-grandchildren on the phone as he raced in vain to return in time to save them. A Cal Fire firefighter mops up hot spots after the Carr Fire moved through the area on Saturday 'I talked to them until the fire got them,' he told the Sacramento Bee. 'I was trying to get to them, I was trying to get to the fire.' 'I was trying to get to them. The fire was just, the whole damn place was nothing but fire,' he said. 'I'd give my life for them. I just don't know what I've done wrong. I get two little angels like that and I leave them in the damn fire'. Authorities confirmed on Saturday that Melody and the two kids had died in the fire. The family home, which was reduced to ash and rubble in the wake of the blaze, is now blocked off by red police tape. Officials said the neighborhood the Bledsoe family lived in experienced a 'flash fire' leaving residents little time to escape. David Rosenberg, a Labour activist in Jeremy Corbyn's constituency One of Jeremy Corbyn's closest allies has accused a Jewish minister of using the Holocaust as a 'weapon' to attack the embattled Labour leader. Dame Margaret Hodge was blasted by David Rosenberg, a Labour activist in Corbyn's constituency, in an article which appeared in the Morning Star. In the article, he accused Dame Margaret of 'cynically drawing on her family's direct experience of the Holocaust to bolster her special right to pronounce on the subject.' Earlier this week she was threatened with disciplinary action after calling Jeremy Corbyn a 'racist and anti-semite' during a heated exchange in the Commons. Mr Rosenberg was in attendance during a controversial Passover meeting in April between Mr Corbyn and Jewdas - a group who have previously called for the destruction of Israel. In January Mr Corbyn attended his sixtieth birthday party and gave what Mr Rosenberg described on Facebook as a moving speech. Dame Margaret Hodge caused uproar earlier this week after accusing Jeremy Corbyn of being an anti-semite in Parliament In the article Mr Rosenberg said Dame Margaret, the MP for Barking had 'legitimised' claims made by the British National Party by saying in 2007 that British families have more rights to social housing than migrants. 'It is just a tad embarrassing and tasteless even that a politician who wields her family's Holocaust history as a weapon to give her licence to say what she likes in arguments with fellow Labour MPs was being criticised then by leading refugee bodies for bolstering the racism of a party whose roots were in classical nazism,' Mr Rosenberg wrote. '... this is not really about anti-semitism but is a battle to defeat the left of the Labour Party and defend Israel from criticism,' he claimed. Hodge's lawyers wrote to the Labour party to describe the disciplinary threat last week as a veiled attempt to silence a dissenting voice. The MP stood by her criticism of her leader, saying she had always disagreed with those who called him an anti-Semite but people have to be judged on what they do and not what they say. Dame Margaret told the BBC she blew her top when she found out Labour would not be adopting the international guidelines on anti-Semitism. She added: I thought, rather than do what politicians usually do, and talk each other down behind our backs, I would go and confront him. A security guard was left with a bloodied face after she was violently attacked when a boy's 16th birthday party was gatecrashed. The event was being held at a home in Edwardes Street, Reservoir, in Melbourne's north, on Saturday night when a group of uninvited youths stormed a back fence. The gatecrashers were of African appearance, according to witnesses who spoke to the Herald Sun. Police are investigating after a boy's 16th birthday party in Edwardes Street, Reservoir (pictured), was gatecrashed on Saturday night 'We saw people going in, they started hitting people,' partygoer Salz said. 'They were all guys, there was a lot of them. They had dark skin.' Police said there were four gatecrashers but witnesses reported there were 20. A female security guard at the event who asked the gatecrashers to leave was attacked and suffered injuries to her face. A male security guard was also injured. Police were called about 8.30pm, with the gatecrashers fleeing the scene. The party, which had about 70 teenagers, was being held at the home of a friend of the boy's mother. The property owner told The Age the gatecrashers smashed down her back fence which adjoined a park. She said they were at the property for about 10 minutes and appeared to be about 14 to 16-years-old. Victoria Police were called to the property about 8.30pm on Saturday (stock image) 'I don't know how many there were, everybody was just scared and they all ran out,' she said. Police are continuing to investigate the incident. 'Police remained in the area and monitored the behaviour of party goers as they left with no further incidents,' a police spokeswoman told the Herald Sun. A metal fence has been erected at a danger spot outside a Magaluf apartment block where three Brits have plunged to their death this year. Apartment owners agreed to install the fencing on a walkway above a 70ft drop after being asked by the local council to take urgent remedial action. Advisors working for the Eden Roc block are expected to present a long-term safety plan to Calvia Council, which covers the Magaluf area, in the next fortnight. The low wall which has caused the deaths of three British youngsters already this year has been made safe by a fence The obvious safety flaw was highlighted by the father of third victim Thomas Channon in a recent visit to the scene of his son's death plunge, which happened as the 18-year-old from Rhoose near Barry, South Wales, jumped over a low wall separating him from the abyss in a flawed attempt to reach his hotel following a night out. Thomas Channon, 18 is the third UK holidaymaker to die in the apartment complex this year in a series of falls The other youngster who died, Welshman Tom Hughes, 20, was staying at the same hotel next to Eden Roc and lost his life on June 3 in almost identical circumstances. But an unnamed resident of the private block, which is next to Hotel Florida where the holidaymakers were staying, showed not everyone was happy with the changes by telling Majorcan paper Ultima Hora: 'These private apartments now seem like a jail. 'We've been here all our lives and nothing has ever happened. Politicians could look at the state of the street. And the other disasters that affect local residents every day.' The paper also said Eden Roc was seeking to prevent 'balconing' - the Spanish term used to describe revellers who jump from their hotel balconies into swimming pools or leap between balconies - even though there is no evidence any of the three Brits were engaging in the dangerous practice. Town hall chiefs revealed earlier this month they had ordered owners at Eden Roc to make urgent changes and come up with a long-term safety improvement plan within the next four weeks. The fencing is a temporary measure which has been brought in while authorities come up with a long-term plan The first Brit death occurred on April 27 when Scots bar worker Natalie Cormack, 19, lost her life after trying to edge her way along an overhang around a locked entrance door after she discovered she didn't have keys to get in. Thomas Owen Hughes, 20, from Wrexham was found lying dead in the same spot as Mr Channon A glass panel was subsequently erected at the spot where she died in a bid to avoid a fresh tragedy. Mr Hughes, from Wrexham, was just two days into his holiday when he lost his life. Thomas Channon was found dead on July 12. His dad John said after visiting the scene: 'I arrived the day after my son's death and there was no cordoned-off area, no sign of any investigation and no safety measures put in place.' Calling his son's death 'needless', he added: 'Tom wasn't trying foolishly to climb between balconies or leap from a great height into a hotel pool. It seems likely that he was just trying to get back. 'If the police had said he had been beaten up or there had been a road accident, that would be one thing. 'What's terrible about this is that it was preventable.' A Calvia Council spokesman said, ahead of the fence going up: 'Although the building is a private apartment block and not a hotel, the council can require modifications be made to address safety issues, Advisors working for the Eden Roc block are expected to present a long-term safety plan to Calvia Council within two weeks 'A letter went out on July 13 requesting fencing is put up around the most dangerous areas within 10 days and a safety project is presented to the local authority within a month.' Calvia Mayor Alfonso Rodriguez confirmed alcohol was to blame for '100 per cent' of the party resort death falls this year after the first two Brits and a French teenager died in the resort. The 19-year-old Frenchman died after plunging from a four-star hotel in a different part of Magaluf. Mr Rodriguez spoke out after a meeting earlier this month with local police, hotel owners and a British diplomatic representative before the latest of the three tragedies at the Eden Roc block which have claimed the lives of Brits. Deputy mayor Andreu Serra has also met Britain's Ambassador to Spain Simon Manley in Majorca to discuss the problem. A baby has miraculously survived a horrific road accident that saw her ripped from her mother's womb and thrown on the grass. The heavily pregnant woman was a passenger in a truck carrying planks of wood. The driver lost control and capsized on a motorway near Cajati, between Sao Paulo and Curitiba in southeast Brazil, it was reported yesterday. A baby, named Giovanna by hospital staff, has miraculously survived a horrific road accident that saw her ripped from her mother's womb and thrown on the grass As a result of the impact the mother was thrown from the truck's cabin before being crushed by the wood that the truck was carrying. This tore the baby from the womb, leaving shocked medics to discover a crying baby girl on a grass verge metres away from her mother, according to reports. The infant was found without a scratch and her umbilical cord appeared to have severed during the crash. The girl is now being treated at Pariquera-Acu regional hospital's neonatal intensive care ward. Her mother was 39 weeks pregnant at the time and without any documents. Police and social services are reportedly trying to identify the child's dead mother. They have appealed for relatives of the woman. If none are found, she will be buried as unidentified and the baby girl will be sent to an orphanage and put up for adoption, according to police . The girl's mother was travelling in a truck loaded with wood when the driver lost control of the vehicle Elton Fernando Barbosa, the paramedic who was first on the scene of the accident on the BR-116 highway on Thursday, told Brazil's A Tribuna newspaper that the accident was serious. Mr Barbosa said that the driver was seen to by first-aid and he looked for the deceased. He said: 'I went looking for the fatal victim who was underneath the wood, when I heard the cries of a baby. It was which total apprehension, because there had been no reports of a third victim.' He said he found the baby several metres away from the mother, and quickly called for an ambulance to take her to hospital. He even said it was a miracle that the little girl survived. The driver, Jonathan Ferreira, has been charged with manslaughter. He told rescue crews that he didn't know the woman and was only giving her a lift Mr Barabosa said: 'I'll be honest. It was God. By what I saw, I have no idea how she came out alive. The mother was underneath several planks of wood. I don't know how this child got out of their with her life.' He said it was emotional and while they couldn't save the mother they did save the child. Staff have given the baby the name Giovanna which means 'protected by God', according to Solange Batista, a nurse at the Pariquera-Acu hospital. The driver, Jonathan Ferreira, has been charged with manslaughter. He told rescue crews that he didn't know the woman and was only giving her a lift. A helicopter search for a woman requiring urgent medical treatment missing from an inner-city Brisbane hotel has ended after she was found safe and well. Police had been trying to locate 27-year-old Mia Vicencio from northside Brisbane after she was reported missing on Sunday afternoon. A police spokeswoman has confirmed she has been The helicopter broadcasted an urgent call for Ms Vicencio to suburbs Aspley, Carseldine and Chermside, the Brisbane Times reported. Mia Vicencio (pictured) from northside Brisbane has been found after she was reported missing on Sunday afternoon Ms Vicencio was last seen wearing pyjamas and ugg boots, with a black backpack. She was spotted in Brisbane's Queen Street after spending the night at an inner-city Brisbane hotel on Saturday night. A helicopter search is underway for a woman requiring urgent medical treatment who is missing from an inner city Brisbane hotel (stock image) By Sunday afternoon, her family had reported her missing. 'Mia Vicencio was last seen at an address on Queen Street at around 6am Sunday morning and has not been seen by friends or family since,' Queensland's police media said. 'Preliminary investigations indicate she may have travelled to the northside of Brisbane.' An Arkansas woman has been charged with capital murder after she admitted to fatally shooting her husband because he repeatedly purchased video pornography. Patricia Hill, 69, called 911 on Saturday afternoon around 3pm in Jefferson County to report that she had shot her husband Frank, 65, according to a police statement. Responding deputies found Patricia in the backyard and immediately detained her. Frank's body was found on the floor of a shed on the property, having suffered at least two gunshot wounds to the leg and head. Patricia Hill, 69, called 911 to report that she'd shot her husband Frank, 65, on Saturday afternoon in Jefferson County, Arkansas. Frank was later pronounced dead at the hospital Paramedics transported Frank to the hospital where he was pronounced dead around 3.15pm. Patricia was taken into custody, where she waived her rights and agreed to speak with investigators. She revealed that while she and Frank had never had any physical altercations, they had recently gotten into a disagreement when she noticed he had purchased pornographic videos through their cable provider. Patricia cancelled that order but later discovered Frank had placed it again. 'Mrs Hill stated that she entered the shed and asked her husband to leave but he refused. Mrs Hill admitted that she then returned inside the residence, where she armed herself with a .22 caliber pistol. 'She went back to the shed a short time later, where she entered and shot her husband twice, striking him once in the leg and once in the head. 'Immediately following the shooting, Mrs Hill stated that she returned inside the residence, where she returned the weapon and called 911 to report the shooting.' Hill is currently being held without bail Saturday at the Jefferson County jail. Prime Minister Theresa May is facing an open revolt from grassroots members of the Conservative Party over her Brexit plan. A total of seven local chairmen of cabinet ministers Conservative Associations told The Sunday Telegraph they either did not support the plans in their current form or would withdraw support if further concessions were given to Brussels. In an uncomfortable turn of events for the Prime Minister, the chairman of Mrs May's Maidenhead Conservative association Richard Kellaway said: 'If it were to be diluted, it would ultimately not be acceptable.' The unhappiness among the grassroots members of the party could make for an uneasy homecoming for some Cabinet members. Theresa May's Brexit woes have followed her on holiday to Lake Garda, in Italy, where she is pictured today taking a leisurely stroll with her husband Philip Theresa May (pictured today) will be hoping she can speed away from her Brexit problems while enjoying the weather at Lake Garda in Italy Patricia Soby, the Tory chairman in the Devon constituency of Geoffrey Cox, the Attorney General, said: 'This constituency conducted our own survey and practically everybody was against the Chequers deal.' Meanwhile Environment Secretary Michael Gove was apparently accused of 'beatrayal' in his Surrey constituency after supporting Mrs May's plan. The warnings come after Michel Barnier has already blown a hole in Theresa May's Chequers plan. Central to the Prime Minister's plan, set out in a white paper a fortnight ago, is a 'facilitated customs arrangement' under which tariffs charged at the border would be passed on to either the British or EU authorities depending on the destination of imported goods. Appearing alongside new Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab following their second round of talks in Brussels, Michel Barnier left no doubt that this was not acceptable to the EU. He said: 'The EU cannot and the EU will not delegate the application of its customs policy and and rules and VAT and excises duty collection to a non-member who would not be subject to the EU's governance structures,' he said. At a summit designed to unify her party around the future relationship with the EU. the Prime Minister gathered cabinet members to try and agree a way forward in June. Richard Kellawaythe chairman of Mrs May's Maidenhead Conservative association Richard Kellaway said if Brexit plans were diluted further they would not be acceptable Some of the key features of the plan being pushed by the government are a new free trade area based on a 'common rulebook'- requiring the UK to commit to a treaty to match EU rules. But this would not include banking or legal services, meaning the UK could set our own regulations. Also a new 'facilitated customs arrangement' removing the need for customs checks at EU-UK ports. It would allow differing UK and EU tariffs on goods from elsewhere in the world to be paid at the border. And continued use of the EHIC health insurance card. The details hammered out at Chequers became part of the government's Brexit White Paper which was released to much criticism. The plan upset senior Conservatives who favour a harder Brexit, leading to the resignation of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Brexit Secretary David Davis. New rules ending freedom of movement but allowing UK and EU citizens to travel freely without visas for tourism and temporary work. David Davis,supposedly warned the Prime Minister about the position she was taking. He said: : 'On customs and on goods the paper is not in line with the Government's core promises to take back control of its laws and to have an independent trade policy.' He added: 'The Government should be up front that this meant the harmonisation of legislation with the EU and being a rule taker for swathes of the economy.' The levels of discomfort among grassroots members of the party is sure to alarm the Prime Minister and her team during the summer break. Despite the concerns the Prime Minister seemed to be in good spirits on her week long walking holiday. The Mays were spotted arriving at a luxury hotel on Lake Garda, the shores of which are home to a host of exclusive hotels. The PM is well known for her love of walking holidays and last summer went to the Swiss alps. Theresa May, who is well known for her stylish footwear, stepped out in 50 white canvas flats for the walk on the shore of the fashionable Lake Garda. The photograph taken in Desenzano del Garda continued the less posed style she has adopted since being in Number 10, in contrast to images released by her predecessor David Cameron when he went away. She paired her trainers with beige three-quarter length trousers, a white short-sleeved shirt and large square sunglasses for a low-key look as they took in the small resort town that the couple visited last year. Philip walked beside her wearing dark blue trousers and loafers, with a short-sleeved blue checked shirt and smaller sunglasses. The couple will spend around a week in Italy before she returns to work in her constituency and Downing Street. Mrs May is also due to attend a First World War memorial event to mark the battle of Amiens, which began on August 8 1918 and helped to secure victory. They will then jet off for two weeks in Switzerland. The holiday plans are a repeat of last year's getaway for the couple. But in slightly more positive news for Mrs May and just prior to her holiday, she managed to secure the agreement of Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz who said that Brexit should be discussed by EU leaders at an informal meeting in Salzburg on September 20. It means that the Prime Minister has an extra gathering of leaders of the EU 27 in which to convince them to support her Brexit plan. Philip May points something out to his wife and Prime Minister Theresa May as they embark on a walking holiday at Lake Garda, Italy (pictured today) The next meeting is a gathering of EU leaders in Brussels in October by which time it has been hoped a Brexit deal will be hammered out. A Downing Street spokesman said: 'Following their dinner at Downing Street three weeks earlier, the Prime Minister and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz had a positive conversation ahead of the Salzburg Festival. 'The Prime Minister updated on the White Paper, and Chancellor Kurz confirmed that Brexit would be on the agenda for the informal European Council which Austria would host on 20 September.' Mrs May also pitched her deal planning to her Czech and Estonian counterparts, Andrej Babis and Juri Ratas, during talks at the Salzburg Festival. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is not expected to unveil his holiday plans. MPs return from their summer break on September 5. Advertisement Thousands of comic book fans have transformed themselves into their favourite superheroes for the Cosplayer Comic Con in Manchester this weekend. The event at Manchester Central on Saturday and Sunday is expected to be attended by 40,000 people across the weekend and gives those attending the chance to meet the stars of Hollywood blockbusters and the creators of comics and animations. Fans have been dressing up as weird and wonderful characters ranging from Mexican Deadpools, Power Rangers and Star Wars characters. Visitors were able to meet stars such as Benedict Wong from Doctor Strange and Avengers Infinity War, Khary Payton and Cooper Andrews from the Walking Dead as well as Christopher Judge from Stargate. Voiceover artists, publishers and illustrators are also attending the event. The event held at Manchester Central on Saturday and Sunday is expected to be attended by 40,000 people. Guests at the Comic Con in Manchester include Benedict Wong of Doctor Strange and Avengers: Infinity War Voiceover artists, publishers and illustrators are also attending the event at Manchester Central Cosplayers posing together dressed as Ashitaka and Princess Mononoke of Studio Ghibli's Princess Mononoke A woman dressed in red takes a selfie with cosplayer dressed as a Mexican Deadpool outside the Comic Con Ready for action: Cosplayers dressed as the green, red and black Power Rangers pose outside the conference yesterday Costumes, props and works of art from the Steampunk Emporium are on show at the event held in Manchester. Pictured one of the event-goers enjoy a drink The Comic Con included a kids zone which gave people the chance to meet their superheroes with face-painting, soft-play, toys and books This woman dressed as the Supergirl character - who plays a supporting role in various DC Comics publications, including Action Comics and Superman The Comic Village gave people the opportunity to get face-to-face with artists and writers including Marc Ellerby, Sarah Graley & Mike Garley But it wasn't fun for everyone that attended... An event-goer dressed as Darth Vader forces a man to do push-ups. He was just one of the many to attend dressed as Star Wars characters The event draws in thousands of fantasy film and comic fans with the chance to meet some of their favourite stars This sinister looking clown was one of those dressing up as their favourite characters Wednesday Addams, a character from the Addams Family, is joined by Chewbacca, who was part of a group of rebels in the Star Wars films Fans dressed as a wide range of characters and were seen filing their way into the busy exhibition centre yesterday afternoon A man dressed as Father Ted, the main character from the hit Channel 4 comedy series, holding his entrance ticket The event gave those attending the chance to meet the stars of Hollywood blockbusters and the creators of comics and animations Fans dressed up as a wide array of characters for the event One of those who attended dressed as a Deadpool version of American president Donald Trump Reaching for the sky: a cosplayer dressed as an Ewok from the Star Wars Return of the Jedi film strikes a pose for the camera This woman dressed as Princess Mononoke, the main character from the animated epic historical fantasy film of the same name Visitors have come from around the world for event in Manchester which is celebrating comic books, films and game These women came along dressed as Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Moon, characters in the the Sailor Moon Manga series The event draws in thousands of fantasy film and comic fans who are given the chance to meet some of their favourite stars Guest at the event donned make-up and weird and wonderful costumes One of the highlights of the event is the FrightFest with exclusive clips, guests and discussions for the scarily good celebration. Pictured two fans who dressed as their favourite characters at the event These two women dressed as sinister looking characters for the event which is expected to attract 40,000 people President Donald Trump is trolling his former personal attorney Michael Cohen on Twitter, reminding him he once defended his son, while hitting the 'fake news media' for its coverage of the saga. 'Do you think the Fake News Media will ever report on this tweet from Michael?,' Trump wrote on Sunday morning with a retweet of Cohen from July 11, 2017, where the attorney posted a picture of Donald Trump Jr. with the words: 'So proud of @DonaldTrumpJr for being open, honest and transparent to the American people. This nonsense needs to stop!' The back-and-forth between the presidential and his former fixer has reached soap opera like proportions as concerns grow that Cohen has turned on his former boss. Trump reminded Cohen he defended his son at the time the Trump Tower meeting was reported Michael Cohen is Trump's former personal attorney Trump took to the social media network to remind Cohen he had defended his son at the time the infamous Trump Tower meeting was reported. In July 2017, a few days before Cohen's tweet that the president referenced, The New York Times reported Donald Trump Jr. met with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer - who claimed to have damaging information on Hillary Clinton - at Trump Tower during the height of the presidential campaign. That June 9, 2016 meeting has become a major headache for the president. The Washington Post reported he personally crafted the response to the story from aboard Air Force One. Both meeting and its fallout have become a major part of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's role in the 2016 election and whether the president obstructed justice. Trump denied on Friday that he had any advance knowledge of the now-infamous 2016 meeting attended by his son, his son-in-law, his campaign chairman and the Russian attorney. Reports based on unnamed sources swirled Thursday night that Cohen is prepared to tell Mueller that the president knew about the meeting ahead of time and approved of it. Cohen, under the thumb of a federal investigation springing from a payoff to a porn actress who claimed before the 2016 election that she had bedded Trump, has become a reluctant apostate. He has turned on his former longtime boss in an effort to appease Mueller, hiring longtime Bill and Hillary Clinton lawyer Lanny Davis to plead his case. 'NO, I did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don jr.,' Trump said Friday in a series of tweets. 'Sounds to me like someone is trying to make up stories in order to get himself out of an unrelated jam (Taxi cabs maybe?). He even retained Bill and Crooked Hillary's lawyer. Gee, I wonder if they helped him make the choice!' President Donald Trump suggested Friday that he never knew in advance about a 2016 meeting between his son, his son-in-law, his campaign chairman and a Kremlin-tied lawyer Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal attorney seen here leaving his NYC hotel and getting into a taxi today, is reportedly prepared to tell Special Counsel Robert Mueller that he was in the room when the future president approved of the meeting which was offered with the promise of opposition dirt on Hillary Clinton An epic Twitter rant from the president on Friday included claims that Cohen is 'trying to make up stories' to save his own skin, and complaints about Mueller using his tweets as the basis for a claim of obstruction of justice Sources close to Cohen, according to CNN, now say he is prepared to tell Mueller that he was in the room when Trump was told that a Russian lawyer wanted a meeting with Don Jr. The lawyer, the Kremlin-connected Natalia Veselnitskaya, promised to bring helpful dirt on Hillary Clinton. Instead she used the meeting to argue for the relaxation of U.S. sanctions against Russia that drove President Vladimir Putin to retaliate in part by banning Americans from adopting Russian children. Jared Kushner, who is married to first daughter Ivanka Trump, and then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort, now awaiting trial on federal money-laundering and conspiracy charges, both attended the brief session at Trump Tower. The jab about taxis refers to former Cohen business partner Evgeny 'Gene' Freidman, known as New York's 'Taxi King,' who pleaded guilty to tax evasion in May and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Trump also mocked Mueller's team on Friday for sifting through his social media postings as part of a wide-ranging investigation into alleged ties between the Kremlin and the president's campaign organization. On Twitter, Trump called Mueller 'highly conflicted' and sniped that he was 'looking at my Tweets (along with 53 million other people).' Donald Trump Jr. (left) and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner (right) were both in attendance when Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya made a brief pitch Veselnitskaya was initially hawking damaging material on Hillary Clinton but produced nothing of use to the Trump campaign Cohen has hired Lanny Davis, a former ClintonWhite House official and longtime confidant of Bill and Hillary Clinton, to defend him and plead his case publicly Law enforcement investigators routinely examine 'open source' information publicly available material in addition to sifting through confidential documents and conducting private interviews. But Trump bristled at the idea of his own Justice Department's senior officials scrutinizing his use of the very platform he's used for more than a year to criticize them. The New York Times reported Thursday that Mueller is poring over Trump's tweets about Attorney General Jeff Sessions and fired FBI Director James Comey. He also wants to ask the president about those tweets in a formal setting. Any public statements that denounce or reprimand officials investigating him could be seen as obstruction of justice under some theories of prosecution. Rudy Giuliani, an attorney for Trump, dismissed the idea of intimidating witnesses via Twitter. 'If you're going to obstruct justice, you do it quietly and secretly, not in public,' he told the Times. Special Counsel Robert Mueller is examining President Trump's tweets for evidence ofwhether he obstructed the Russia investigation Rudy Giuliani, Trump's lawyer, said Thursday that 'if you're going to obstruct justice, you do it quietly and secretly, not in public' Trump cast the news as part of a broader, unfair attack against him. '[T]he rigged Witch Hunt continues! How stupid and unfair to our Country,' he tweeted Friday. Trump uses his Twitter account to blast his enemies, praise his supporters, slam the 'fake media' and tout his version of events. He frequently calls Mueller's probe of Russia's role in the 2016 election and whether the president obstructed it a 'witch hunt,' railing against the '13 angry Democrats' he claims lead it. He hasn't called out Cohen by name since his former attorney turned on him. Longtime Trump-watchers say that's a sign he's completely written off the man who was once just one step below him on his company's organizational chart. Giuliani on Thursday night called Cohen a 'pathological liar.' 'He's been lying all week, for two weeks, he's been lying for years,' the former New York Mayor said, defending his Oval Office client. Children as young as two are being groomed for academic success by private tuition companies which are seeing a surge in popularity. The tuition agencies, which have cropped up across Australia, centre their philosophy on the potential 'school readiness' of precocious toddlers. They also use a mix of play-based strategies to teach basic skills such as counting to 10, well before their future primary school peers. However, it's not all fun and games for the youngsters, with several experts speaking out against the demanding nature of lessons. Children as young as two are being groomed for academic success through private tuition companies which are seeing a surge in popularity According to Early Childhood Teachers' Association president Kim Walter, the service was in demand for parents already concerned about the prospect of standardised testing. Indeed ECTA is so alarmed about the heightening expectations but on primary school students, it released an updated policy statement last week. 'ECTA is concerned by reports from our members that there is increased pressure being placed on early childhood teachers to teach academic curriculum earlier and produce students who are performing at a high academic level earlier,' it said. 'This has resulted in curriculum and testing being pushed down to the early years of schooling. The tuition agencies, which have cropped up across Australia, centre their philosophy on the potential 'school readiness' of precocious toddlers However, for the companies fuelling demand, business is booming with their clients now aged as young as two. Begin Bright, which operates across the east coast, offers 'age-appropriate' classes for youngsters which they told The Courier Mail were 'steadily growing'. 'In these classes Begin Bright children benefit through games, arts, crafts, song and dance,' they said. City officials in Austin have recommended renaming the state capital of Texas as part of an effort to break with its pro-slavery past. A report by Austins Equity Office made a list of recommendations that included renaming streets and neighborhoods that honor Confederate leaders. The report also cited the citys namesake, Stephen F. Austin, the father of Texas. Austin is now considered a controversial figure because of his opposition to banning slavery when Texas was a part of Mexico 200 years ago. He was the leader of the American settler movement in the territory that was then known as Tejas, which was a state in the Mexican confederation. Austin and the settlers grew hostile to the Mexican government when it sought to ban slavery. City officials in Austin have recommended renaming the state capital of Texas as part of an effort to break with its Confederate past The escalating tension eventually led to the Texas Revolution, resulting in its breakaway from Mexico and its birth as an independent republic. News of the citys recommendations was reported by the Austin American-Statesman. The city report also recommends renaming other areas, including Pease Park, the neighborhood of Bouldin Creek, and streets and communities named after William Barton. Known as the 'Daniel Boone of Texas,' Barton was among the American settlers in Texas who owned slaves during the same period. Stephen F. Austin, the father of Texas' is now considered a controversial figure because of his opposition to banning slavery when Texas was a part of Mexico 200 years ago There are those who are not supportive of the campaign to rename streets and neighborhoods. They say that doing so would inconvenience them since it would require changing addresses and altering their business correspondences. In April, the Austin City Council voted to rename streets named after Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis. Lee was a general who commanded the forces of the Confederacy during the Civil War. Davis was the president of the Confederacy. The decision by the Austin City Council was opposed by a majority of the residents who lived on those streets. While renaming streets and neighborhoods requires just a simple vote by the council, changing the name of the city is a bit more complicated. Replacing the name Austin can only be done by an election since it would require altering the city charter. Last year, the University of Texas at Austin removed the statues of four Confederate-era figures from a main area on campus, saying they had become symbols of white supremacy. The city report also recommends renaming other areas, including Pease Park, the neighborhood of Bouldin Creek, and streets and communities named after a slave-owning colonizer, William Barton. The Austin neighborhood of Barton Springs is seen above The removal of the statues at the university comes after violence broke out in Charlottesville, Virginia, when white nationalists protesting against the planned removal of a statue of Lee clashed with anti-racism demonstrators on August 12. One woman was killed when a suspected white nationalist drove his car into a crowd leaving at least 19 others injured. A six-year-old girl who was separated from her mother under Donald Trump's zero-tolerance policy was allegedly sexually abused at a detention facility. The girl, who is only known by the initials DL, then had to sign a form stating she knew it was her 'responsibility' to stay away from her abuser. DL and her mother had been fleeing gang violence in Guatemala when they arrived in El Paso, Texas on May 24. They presented paperwork to the US Border Patrol showing they had 'credible fear' that returning to Guatemala would be dangerous. A six-year-old girl who was separated from her mother under Trump's zero-tolerance policy was allegedly sexually abused at a detention facility. Pictured is an underage detention facility in Texas Two days after they arrived, DL and her mother were separated and the young girl was sent to Casa Glendale, a detention facility outside of Phoenix, Arizona. It was there that the girl was sexually abused by another boy on June 4, according to The Nation. Southwest Key Programs, which operates the facility, informed DL's father of the abuse on June 11. The girl's father, who is an undocumented immigrant living in California, was told that a boy had fondled DL and other girls at the facility. He was then told that Southwest Key Programs was changing some of its protocols and that the abuse would not happen again. On June 22 DL's father was contacted again and told that the same boy had hit and sexually abused his daughter a second time. The girl was sexually abused by another boy at the facility twice. She was made to sign a form stating she knew it was her 'responsibility' to stay away from her abuser When he asked Southwest Key Programs how they could have let the abuse happen again, a woman on the phone said she didn't have permission to say anything else. DL was made to sign a a Prison Rape Elimination Act 'safety plan' stating that she had been instructed to 'maintain my distance from other youth involved'. The form states that she was also provided with 'psychoeducation', described as 'reporting abuse' and 'good touch bad touch'. At the bottom of the form, above DL's signature, is a statement saying 'I understand that it's my responsibility to follow the safety plan'. Southwest Key Programs has since issued a statement stating that the alleged abuser is a five-year-old boy. 'He routinely sexually acted out,' the statement reads. 'An older child said he touched her and the six-year-old referenced in the story'. It said the boy was then put on 'one-on-one constant adult supervision, 24 hours a day', according to the New York Daily News. DL's mother said she was devastated when she found out the news about her daughter. 'I felt really horrible,' she told The Nation. 'I couldn't do anything for her, because we were separated.' 'It was a nightmare. When my husband told me what happened, I felt helpless. She was so little, she was probably so scared, probably afraid to say anything to anyone.' 'It was a total nightmare for me.' DL has since been reunited with her parents, but her mother said the young girl has changed since her time in the detention facility. The girl and her mother entered the US to flee gang violence in Guatemala. Pictured are protesters outside an immigration facility in El Paso, Texas 'I hugged her, I was crying. She didn't recognize me. She didn't know I was her mom. She thought I was another social worker,' she recalled. 'She told me that she thought I was never going to be with her again and that she was going to have to live with another lady.' 'She behaved like she was still in detention. She wouldn't touch me, hug me, kiss me. She behaves like she is programmed.' DL's mother said her daughter is scared of being returned to the detention facility. 'She says, "Please don't return me to Guatemala, I don't want to go back to that place where I have to sleep alone with other kids"', DL's mother recalled. The girl's father said he is happy to be reunited with his family. 'When I had my wife and daughter with me, I felt so good,' he said. 'I knew that now that I had them at my side, they would be protected. I would be able to protect them again.' 'I don't know what to hope for. I don't know what will happen. But I think that whatever happens will be good, because we are all three together again.' The daughter of notorious slain gangland figure Carl Williams will this week reportedly file a motion to sue her mother over her lost inheritance. Dhakota Williams, 17, inherited her grandfather's $1 million Primrose Street townhouse in Essendon, Victoria, where Roberta Williams and her family have lived since 2008. Unfortunately George Williams also left Dhakota with a tax debt of more than $900,000, according to the Herald Sun, which mean that once it's sold, she'll be left with almost nothing because the Australian Tax Office will take the proceeds. Dhakota Williams, 17, (pictured) inherited her grandfather's Primrose Street townhouse in Essendon, Victoria The daughter of notorious, slain gangland figure Carl Williams (pictured together) is reportedly suing her mother over an inheritance dispute Roberta Williams lost a battle with the ATO less than a month ago after she appealed the payment of the tax debt on behalf of her daughter. She had been hoping courts would enforce a deal made between Dhakota's father and the Victoria Police before he died. Barrister John Selimi said: 'Carl Williams was promised his father's tax debt would be wiped off and the reason that was done was so George Williams would be capable of giving that house to Carl Williams' daughter.' The only biological grandchild of George Williams (pictured), Dhakota Williams grew up living with her grandparents whilst her parents served jail time, maintaining a close relationship with them Carl Williams was bashed to death in prison before he could testify in court, and Victoria Police cancelled the offer as a result But Carl Williams was bashed to death in prison before he could testify in court, and Victoria Police cancelled the offer as a result. Subsequently, Dhakota Williams will this week serve a writ on her mother and her grandfather's de-facto partner, Kathleen Bourke, to fight for a portion of the remainder of her George Williams' estate - specifically the Broadmeadows house George Williams left Bourke. The house, in which Carl Williams spent his childhood, is worth about $650,000. The entire ordeal may force Ms Bourke to sell the home. Roberta Williams (pictured) appealed the payment of the tax debt on behalf of her daughter, hoping courts would enforce a deal made between Dhakota's father and the Victoria Police before he died Dhakota Williams filed a motion in the Victorian Supreme Court in 2017 signalling her intention to sue the estate's co-executors, her mother, Roberta and Ms Bourke. The only biological grandchild of George Williams, Dhakota Williams grew up living with her grandparents whilst her parents served jail time, maintaining a close relationship with them. Her mother had previously disputed George Williams' final will on grounds of his mental state only months after the prison murder of his notorious son Carl in 2010. The year prior to the death, George Williams' will left his spouse with only $130,000. WHO WAS CARL WILLIAMS? Pictured: Williams leaving a Melbourne courthouse in 2003 after being granted bail Carl Williams has been described as Australia's most notorious gangster due to his central role in Melbourne's 'underbelly' gangland war which shook the city in the late 90s and early 2000s. Williams was serving a life sentence in Melbourne's notorious Barwon Prison for four murders and conspiracy to commit another when he was bashed to death by fellow inmate Matthew Charles Johnson with a exercise bike part on April 4 2010, making him the last victim of the underworld war. KEY EVENTS October 13 1970: Born Carl Anthony Williams in Melbourne, Victoria. 1990: Convicted of handling stolen goods, possession of stolen property and failing to answer bail. Fined $400. 1993: Convicted of criminal damage and throwing a missile. Sentenced to 150 hours of community service work. 1994: Convicted of attempting to traffic in a drug of dependence. Sentenced to 12 months' jail, six months suspended for two years. October 13 1999: Williams is shot in the stomach by Jason Moran over an $80,000 debt to the Moran crime family, and stumbles bleeding to his parents' home in Essendon. November 25 1999: Williams is arrested with his father George and another associate and charged with drug trafficking after $20million worth of amphetamine tablets were seized. June 15 2000: Mark Moran, Jason Moran's half-brother is shot dead outside his north-west Melbourne home. Williams was charged with murder over the shooting but charged were dropped when he pleaded guilty to three other killings. November 10 2010: Williams' home in Hillside and his Mercedes Benz are damaged by shotgun blasts. Williams later testified he believed the Morans were responsible. June 21 2003: Jason Moran and Pasquale Barbaro are gunned down while sitting in a van after watching Moran's children play football. August 18 2003: The badly-burnt body of Mark Mallia, a close associate of murdered mob enforcer and drug dealer Nik Radev, is found in a melted wheelie-bin. October 25 2003: Drug dealer Michael Marshall is gunned down in front of his son in South Yarra. March 31 2004: Moran family patriarch Lewis Moran, father of Jason Moran, is shot dead execution-style in the Brunswick Club in Melbourne. June 9 2004: Police arrest two gunmen near the home of notorious gangster Mario Condello. February 6 2006: Mario Condello is shot dead in his driveway. July 19 2006: Williams pleads not guilty to the murder of Michael Marshall but is sentenced to 27 years - 21 without parole - over the killing. The outcome of the trial is not revealed until 2007. May 7 2007: Williams pleads guilty to three counts of murder over the deaths of Jason Moran, Mark Mallia and Lewis Moran, and and one count of conspiracy to murder Mario Condello. He is sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment and given two 25-year jail sentences, all to be served concurrently with a minimum term of 35 years before eligible for parole. April 4 2010: Williams is bashed to death in Barwon Prison by inmate Matthew Charles Johnson, 38, who used an exercise bike seat stem in the murder. December 8 2011: Johnson is sentenced to 32 years jail without parole for the murder of Williams. Victorian Supreme Court Justice Lex Lasry found Johnson killed Williams because he was providing assistance to Victoria Police. Advertisement Dhakota Williams', 17, inheritance is set to be eaten up by historic tax debts A fit and healthy mother died while holidaying in Greece with her family after eating just one mouthful of uncooked chicken. Natalie Rawnsley, 37, was on holiday with husband Stewart and her two young sons when she was struck down with food poisoning, an inquest heard. Westminster Coroner's Court heard that Natalie, from Harpenden, Herts, rapidly deteriorated in just 36 hours after consuming the chicken at a hotel restaurant. The fit and healthy triathlete died after blood clots formed all over her body and blocked the vessels. Husband Stewart Rawnsley said that his wife lay bleeding from every orifice in a hospital bed in Corfu as his insurance company insisted she should not be moved to the mainland. The coroner heard the Rawnsley family left for the Greek island of Corfu on 13 August last year and were just beginning their second week when tragedy struck. The mum-of-two had been on holiday with her children and husband Stewart on the Greek island of Corfu (pictured) Mr Rawnsley said: 'The hotel had two or three restaurants. It was a buffet or restaurant and we had all four of us eating together. 'The set up Natalie and I had agreed was we took it in turns alternatively either to go up and get the kids food and our food while the other joined the longer queue for nicer food. 'I had both my boys with me, we had pasta, bread and sausages. Natalie had a completely different dinner which consisted of chicken, salad, prawns and vegetables. 'We were already at the table when Natalie came back with her food. Natalie started to eat hers and as she cut the chicken the chicken oozed red blood to which point I commented it looked bloody. 'She got up took it back replaced the chicken with a different piece and came back and ate it. 'She had had a few mouthfuls of the other piece of chicken.' Natalie's husband said his wife had complained that evening of feeling unwell, but had not said anything specific about how she felt ill. He was woken at 3am when Natalie started throwing up in the hotel bathroom. He told the inquest 'The doctor came at around 7am. After he diagnosed gastroenteritis at that point he told us to separate - to stop me and the kids catching it. I took the kids for breakfast, took them for a swim. 'At 11am I came back to check on her. She was still being sick and asked me to go back to the doctors and get more assistance. 'The second doctor said because she had been sick for so long she needed additional medical help so she was going to the medical centre a number of kilometres away from the hotel. 'An ambulance arrived at around 1pm. I was aware she had been moved from the medical centre to the Corfu hospital in the early evening by text message. 'At 11pm in the evening the first doctor - who saw her at 7am - he knocked on my door and explained that I needed to get dressed and I needed to come to the hospital quickly. 'I thought my wife was going to be home in the morning. 'The hospital was on the other side of the island about 70km away from my memory. The A&E department was empty. 'My wife was down the end of the room surrounded by about eight people. 'She was fully awake and aware, and happy to see me, but obviously distressed and concerned. 'There was pain in her legs and she had also had a number of red blotches all over her.' The inquest heard that a nurse, who said she was the head of international medicine, said they wanted to fly Natalie to a hospital on the mainland, which had better facilities. As Natalie's brother and niece arrived, her relatives gathered around her as she lay unconscious in the makeshift intensive care unit, the inquest heard. Stewart added: 'At around 1pm her brother and I notice her heart monitor was getting weaker and it continued. 'I screamed out and her brother screamed out. Medical assistance arrived and we were removed from the room. According to her husband she had eaten a small mouthful of uncooked chicken at dinner in their hotel Infections expert Dr Sebastien Lucas said Mrs Rawnsley had a particularly bad reaction to the chicken because she had 'bad genes' 'We were outside the door and they were in there five or ten minutes and then the same nurse came out and apologised as there wasn't anything more she could do, and Natalie died.' The inquest heard that although Natalie, a stay at home mum, was fit and healthy, the probability of contracting the more serious illness from food poisoning depends entirely on your genes. Infections expert Professor Sebastien Lucas said: 'It depends on what your genes are. It seems like Mrs Rawsley had the wrong genes - to put it crudely. 'Assuming it is an E-Coli infection - coming from uncooked chicken seems a very reasonable theory. 'The point I also made in my report is how it escalates. 'There's a tipping point when it starts producing DIC. By definition, once it starts doing that, you are doomed. 'It's a very rapid process and so the chronology I heard from Mr Rawnsley fits to a 't' with that view. 'If they start saying I feel very unwell, and this is anecdotal, but within a day they are dead.' Professor Lucas confirmed that not much can be done once infection sets in. He said Natalie was the third person he had seen die under these circumstances so far this year. Dr Athanasia Vargiamidou performed the post-mortem on Natalie when her body was repratriated from Greece. She said: 'The blood was not able to clot properly, it clotted a lot and at the same time.' Asked if the case presented as a 'classic case of serious food poisoning' Dr Vargiamido replied: 'Yes. I was kind of thinking something along those lines.' Assistant Coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe said: 'There isn't a magic cure for it. Uncooked chicken is a known to be a source of E-Coli.' The coroner recorded a verdict of death by the accidental consumption of E-Coli infected chicken. She concluded: 'I think it seems very clear-cut. The most common infection that causes this condition is E-Coli. 'It all fits together with her having contracted from uncooked chicken which is a source of this infection. 'The timeline fits very well with her having developed initially gastroenteritis but then this additional condition DIC that certain individuals can develop. 'We have to consider its very patient-specific, some patients will be susceptible to this and some will not. 'There's nothing anyone can do to reverse it.' President Donald Trump is threatening to shut down the government if he doesn't get funding for his border wall as members of his own party are mulling the delay in money for it ahead of the November election. 'I would be willing to 'shut down' government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall! Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country!,' he tweeted Sunday morning. But after a meeting with him at the White House last week, the congressional leaders of his party said money for the controversial wall could wait until after voters made their choices in November. Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell said on Friday that funding for the wall would 'probably' wait until after the midterm elections. Trump is threatening to shut down the government if he doesn't get his wall Trump threatened to shut down the government in March if he didn't get his wall funded but caved and signed a deal Members of a family reunite through the border wall between Mexico and United States, during the 'Keep our dream alive' event, in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state, Mexico on December 10, 2017 'Probably, and that's something we do have a disagreement on,' McConnell told a Kentucky radio station when asked if funding for the border wall would wait until after November, according toThe Hill newspaper. McConnell and Speaker Paul Ryan met with Trump at the White House on Wednesday to work on a plan to avoid a shutdown ahead of the November midterm elections. Trump made it clear in the meeting he wanted $5 billion to fund his border wall, according to a report in Politico, but he signaled to the congressional leaders he'd be willing to wait until after the midterms. 'The president's willing to be patient to make sure that we get what we need so we can that done,' Ryan said after the meeting, adding that funding the wall was 'not a question of if, it's a question of when.' But Sunday's tweet could change things and raises the odds the government will close in October. Funding Trump's controversial wall could paralyze budget talks. Estimates say it would take $25 billion to build it. Democrats don't want to give any kind of down payment without a guarantee for Dreamers, the illegal immigrants who came to the country as children. Funding for the government runs out at the end of September. The Senate is working to finish nine of its 12 annual spending bills by the end of next week while the House only passed six of its annual funding bills before it left on its August recess. The House version of the spending bill includes Trump's request but Senate Democrats are unlikely to agree to it meaning any attempt to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which is where the money would come from, could lead to a shutdown. Speaker Paul Ryan said funding the wall is a when not an if Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said funding the wall could wait until after November Relatives separated by the border wall between Mexico and the United States meet, during the 'Keep our dream alive' event, in Ciudad Juarez in December 2017 Trump is trying to kick blame for any shutdown to the Democrats but Republicans control both Congress and the White House, sparking fears a government closure could come back to bite the GOP at the ballot box. The president also tweeted he wanted to get rid of the immigration lottery - the Diversity Immigrant Visa program, also known as the green card lottery, makes available 50,000 visas annually to diversify the immigrant population in the United States, by selecting applicants from countries with low numbers of immigrants in the previous five years. As of 2017, around 20 million people apply for the lottery each year. Democrats are unlikely to want to end it. This is not the first time the president has made threats about a government shutdown. Trump made a similar threat in May during an interview with 'Fox & Friends.' He also threatened to shutdown the government in March if he didn't get his wall but eventually caved and signed a budget deal put together by a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders. But, after signing the budget deal, Trump showed his anger and regret. He vowed never again to sign a budget without the authority to do a line-item veto, which would let him go in and cross out individual items instead of the entire piece of legislation 'I say to Congress: I will never sign another bill like this again. I'm not going to do it,' he said. The government briefly shut down in January over immigration. Advertisement An elaborate naval display featuring dozens of frigates and fighter jets has been staged in Crimea, four years after the peninsula was controversially annexed by Russia. Several warships and submarines were on show in the port of Sevastapol as Vladimir Putin's navy carried out striking shows of force by firing missiles into the sea. Pictures from the annual Navy Day parade showed soldiers and seamen filing past in rank and file and dozens of vessels sailing in a line to mark the occasion. Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014 following the Ukranian Revolution which saw president Viktor Yanukovych deposed for his anti-EU sentiment. Elaborate fireworks celebrations mark Russian Navy Day in Sevastopol, part of the Crimean Peninsula annexed by Putin in 2014 In a further show of force Putin's ships also fired several missiles from inside the port to mark the heralded occasion Russian sailors and elite troops of the Russian navy were on show in their full uniforms as part of the parade in disputed Crimea Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (left) after visiting the Aurora cruiser, a historic ship preserved as a museum, during Russian Navy Day celebrations in St Petersburg Thousands of people from Sevastapol took to the hills to watch the enormous parade of ships pour in and out of the harbour A Russian ship launches a powerful missile barrage within a few meters of a nuclear class submarine which sits nearby Thousands of Russian troops flooded the peninsula with Putin claiming the territory as part of Russia soon after. Since then the President has started work on building a bridge from mainland Russia to the peninsula in a move many consider to be a diplomatic statement on Russia's ownership. Putin's elaborate parade in the harbour at Sevastapol will no-doubt anger pro-Ukrainian elements within Crimea and will be seen as another instance of the Russian premier marking his territory. Fireworks over Sevastopol Bay in central Sevastopol on Russian Navy Day. Putin's elaborate parade in the harbour at Sevastapol will no-doubt anger pro-Ukrainian elements within Crimea and will be seen as another instance of the Russian premier marking his territory Putin said during celebrations: 'For more than 300 years, the fleet has been defending the status of the Russian Federation as a naval power capable of protecting with determination its national interests' As part of the annual Navy Day parade there were also displays in the waters surrounding St Petersburg in the north-west of Russia which saw 40 hulking vessels performing maneuvers in front of President Putin. Putin had hoped to show off his brand new 4,500-ton warship, the Admiral Gorshkov, but a total of 11 vessels were simply too large to enter the Neva river where the parade took place. The Gorshkov is the first of Putin's brand new stealth frigates - with six more in production and expected to join the Russian fleet by 2025. Kamov Ka-27 naval helicopters hover above the water in the port of Sevastapol in a naval parade in the Black Sea marking Russian Navy Day Russian marines march during the Navy Day parade in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, Crimea on Sunday afternoon as part of the parade The Severomorsk anti-submarine destroyer takes part in the main naval parade marking Russian Navy Day with several other ships following in its tow The Nakhimovets anti-sabotage motor boats sail in a perfectly straight line in the Neva river just outside St Petersburg There were smaller parades all across Russia, with the port of Vladivostok in the country's far east also marking the occasion with a show Despite the conspicuous absence of his secret weapon, Putin seemed in high spirits as he was pictured meeting admirals and inspecting the enormous fleet. Putin also gave an impassioned speech to his soldiers and seamen in which he described the fleet as 'strong and beautiful'. 'The Russian fleet successfully resolves the tasks of the country's defense capability, makes a significant contribution to the fight against international terrorism, plays an important role in ensuring strategic parity,' Putin said at the parade. 'For more than 300 years, the fleet has been defending the status of the Russian Federation as a naval power capable of protecting with determination its national interests.' The Russian president said dozens of ships and submarine supported Russia's interests in the World Ocean every day. 'We are rightfully proud of our navy, our naval forces, their highest level of combat readiness, strategic, tactical and operational capabilities, the strength and beauty of our fleet,' he said. Sukhoi Su-25 jets leave a trail in the Russian national colours as they take part in a parade marking Russian Navy Day in St Petersburg The parade was nowhere near the size or scale of last year's spectacle but still proved impressive with dozens of craft taking part Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Vladimir Korolyov on dry land in St Petersburg Putin gave a rousing speech from one of the frigates in which he praised the navy for its 'strength' and 'beauty' among other attributes Several of Putin's largest war machines were on show in the river outside St Petersburg but there were a few absent pieces of weaponry Putin's famous brand new 4,500-ton warship, the Admiral Gorshkov was not present in the parade because it was too big to fit in the river Labour MP Luciana Berger has hit back at an anti-Semitic Facebook post saying Jewish people are 'welcome' to leave the UK if Jeremy Corbyn becomes prime minister. She branded the remark 'unpleasant and nasty' as allegations of hostility toward Jews continue to dog the Labour leader. The post was highlighted on Twitter by the @GnasherJew account, which focuses on anti-Semitism among Labour supporters. The post, on an account apparently operated by a man named Peter Arif, read: 'When JC wins next GE if Jewish people aren't happy they will be welcome to leave the UK.' MP Luciana Berger has been an outspoken critic of anti-Semitism and is pictured speaking at a rally in Parliament Square, London Campaigners shared the post sent by Peter Arid (above) which caused Luciana Berger to hit back with the below response After Ms Berger, who is Jewish, said the post would keep her 'awake' at night, backers of the left-wing Labour leader suggested it was posted by a troll using a fake profile or bot. But she and others have insisted the profile is genuine, citing mutual friends she has with him on Facebook. The account has a long history of anti-Jewish posts as well as support for the Labour Party. The banner image is of Corbyn while the profile picture reads: 'Let's go with Labour and we'll get things done.' Among the account's recent posts is a link to and praise for a video titled 'What Jews really think about YOU (ethnically non Jewish People)'. A picture from Peter Arif's Facebook page which the account claims is of Mr Arif himself. Among the account's recent posts is a link to and praise for a video titled 'What Jews really think about YOU (ethnically non Jewish People)' In another post - written after the post that upset Ms Berger - Arif asks: 'Why people here are scared of Jews? They might have more money but certainly not above the Law. They CAN NOT swear at our Leader, and get away with it!' In yet another post from today, he writes: 'To all the Jews, your mask slipped long ago. Your hatred of Muslims is not rational.' He even wrote in support of Turkish autocrat Tayyip Erdogan's recent comments about 'the spirit of Hitler' living on in Israel. It comes after Margaret Hodge - whose grandfather and uncle were murdered in the Holocaust - branded Corbyn a 'f******' anti-Semite. Allegations of hostility toward Jews in the party have dogged his leadership and Ms Berger was one of the MPs to report abuse they received to Parliament in April. Luciana Berger (left) and Margaret Hodge (right) have both been angered by anti-Semitism from Corbyn supporters She said she received abuse at the hands of people using the hashtag JC4PM (Jeremy Corbyn for prime minister) on social media. She said: 'It is anti-Semitism of the worst kind; suggesting that I'm a traitor to our country, they have called me 'Judas', a 'Zio-Nazi', an 'absolute parasite', telling me to 'get out of this country and to go back to Israel'. Fellow Jewish MP Ruth Smeeth said she had received thousands of abusive messages from people claiming to be supporters of the Labour leader. One read: 'The first job for Jeremy Corbyn tomorrow: expel the Zionist b**** Ruth Smeeth from the party.' Jeremy Corbyn's leadership has been dogged by the issue of anti-Semitism, largely directed at MPs online Another said: 'Hang yourself you vile treacherous Zionist Tory filth, you're a cancer of humanity.' Ms Berger was also targeted by a serial troll who made anti-Semitic death threats after the murder of Jo Cox. John Nimmo, 28, from South Shields, sent two emails to Ms Berger including threats that she would 'get it like Jo Cox' and warning her to 'watch your back Jewish scum'. The second message to the Liverpool Wavertree MP included a picture of a large knife and came just three weeks after MP Jo Cox was murdered. In a separate incident he has also admitted sending offensive emails to an anti-hate crime organisation including threats to blow up a mosque. Selma Blair quit Twitter over Disney's firing of Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn after a series of offensive tweets from a decade ago were unearthed by a right wing media outlet. Gunn was sacked when the tweets he posted about pedophilia and rape were uncovered by the Daily Caller. Blair, 46, took to the social media network tweeting: 'So long. You can find me on Instagram. #Istandwithjamesgunn,' before deleting her profile completely. Before deleting her account, the actress who is not part of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, shared a link on her Twitter to a petition that would see him reinstated with Disney. She came to the Guardians of the Galaxy director's defense saying 'If people are punished despite changing, then what does that teach people about owning mistakes and evolving? This man is one of the good ones.' 'So long. You can find me on Instagram. #Istandwithjamesgunn': Actress Selma Blair quit Twitter in defense of Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn (left) Blair tweeted she was quitting Twitter, before deleting her account completely She also tweeted about Gunn being 'a wonderful example of a man committed to owning up to past discretions.' The 51-year-old director apologized for his past behavior telling fans he was now 'very different than I was a few years ago'. The old tweets by Gunn from between 2008 and 2009 included: 'I like when little boys touch me in my silly place.' In another he said: 'The best thing about being raped is when you're done being raped and it's like 'whew this feels great, not being raped!'' Nearly two dozen other tweets were captured in screenshots before he deleted his account. Bautista is shown in character in the film He defended himself saying: 'Many people who have followed my career know when I started, I viewed myself as a provocateur, making movies and telling jokes that were outrageous and taboo. As I have discussed publicly many times, as I've developed as a person, so has my work and my humor,' he wrote. 'It's not to say I'm better, but I am very, very different than I was a few years ago; today I try to root my work in love and connection and less in anger. My days saying something just because it's shocking and trying to get a reaction are over. 'For the record, when I made these shocking jokes, I wasn't living them out. I know this is a weird statement to make, and seems obvious, but, still, here I am, saying it. 'Anyway, that's the completely honest truth: I used to make a lot of offensive jokes. I don't anymore. I don't blame my past self for this, but I like myself more and feel like a more full human being and creator today. Love you to you all.' OAN correspondent Jack Posobiec and right-wing commentator Mike Cernovich were reportedly among the conservative personalities who unearthed the tweets, according to Fox News. The Daily Caller's expose came after Gunn mocked conservative pundit Ben Shapiro while defending liberal actor Mark Duplass, who came under fire for encouraging his fans to follow Shapiro to hear views from the other side of the aisle. Fox News reports that Gunn's comments motivated the dig through the filmmaker's social media history. All of the tweets were posted before Gunn joined the Marvel Universe in 2014, but executives at Walt Disney Studios have decided to cut ties with him regardless. 'The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James' Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio's values, and we have severed our business relationship with him,' chairman Alan Horn in a statement. Gunn had been writing the script for Guardians 3 and was set to start filming in Atlanta this fall. The studio has not commented on who may take his place in the movie expected to be released in 2020. Despite all the research, warnings and campaigns reminding Australians of the woes of sunburn, an increasing amount of people are winding up in the emergency ward. Aussies have been heading to hospitals as a result of sunburn, with more than 350 Queenslanders requiring medical treatment for their skin in 2017. These statistics are the highest in years, particularly in adults under the age of 30, according to the Courier Mail. Despite all the research, warnings and campaigns reminding Australians of the woes of sunburn, an increasing amount of people are winding up in the emergency ward As a result, melanoma rose to the most common form of deadly cancer for those aged between 20 and 39 Queensland Health director Kaye Pulsford said the number of visits citizens of the Sunshine State were making to the emergency room for sunburn had doubled since 2014. As a result, melanoma rose to the most common form of deadly cancer for those aged between 20 and 39. 'These statistics are extremely concerning given the rates of melanoma are 40 per cent higher in Queensland compared with the national average,' Ms Pulsford said. Exposure to the sun contributes to nearly all of the 328,000 melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer diagnoses in Queensland each year Statistics show more than half of the state's adult population reported they had sunburn at least once last year, along with 60 per cent of children. Queensland Cancer Council CEO Chris McMillan reminded the public sunburn still occurs in winter, and complacency could be dangerous. 'There is no link between temperature and the UV index. In Queensland, UV levels can remain high, despite temperatures decreasing through winter,' Ms McMillan said. Exposure to the sun contributes to nearly all of the 328,000 melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer diagnoses in Queensland each year. While sunburn increases the risk, any exposure to the sun can develop cancer cells. President Donald Trump is claiming illegals who cross the border with their kids are 'just using children for their own sinister purposes.' 'Please understand, there are consequences when people cross our Border illegally, whether they have children or not - and many are just using children for their own sinister purposes. Congress must act on fixing the DUMBEST & WORST immigration laws anywhere in the world! Vote 'R',' he wrote on Twitter Sunday morning. The president has use controversial language around immigrants before, writing on Twitter in June they will 'infest' the country. The president touted his immigration record in a Twitter rant on Sunday His administration faces continual backlash to his 'zero tolerance' policy The Trump administration continues to face backlash over its 'zero tolerance' immigration policy, which resulted in migrant children being separated from their families. Some parents who bring their children with them across the border have the expectation that they would face shorter periods of detention while their cases were heard. There is a huge backlog of cases in immigration courts. "If people dont want to be separated from their children, they should not bring them with them. Weve got to get this message out. Youre not given immunity," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in June in his defense of the policy. But parents have different reasons for bringing their children to the Unites States - some want a better life but others, such as those from Central America, are fleeing gangs that try to recruit their kids. Immigrant courts hear the cases and the pleas for asylum. First time offenders are usually deported back to their country of origin. Trump signed an executive order to reunite families after his policy was heavily criticized but, as of Friday, 700 children were still in government custody, missing a court-ordered deadline to be returned to their families. The government has reunited 1,442 families with children aged 5 and older by late Thursday, according to court filings, and says an additional 378 children have already been released from their custody under 'appropriate circumstances.' But Trump is touting his record on immigration in a twitter rant on Sunday morning, quoting a former director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 'Tom Homan, fmr ICE Director: 'There is nobody that has done more for border security & public safety than President Trump. I've worked for six presidents, and I respect them all, but nobody has done more than this Administration & President Trump, that's just a stone cold fact!',' he wrote. The president also slammed Democratic lawmakers for failing to back the 'brave and heroic men and women of ICE' in a video posted to Twitter on Saturday. Trump was referring to 167 Democrats who either abstained or voted against a House resolution praising ICE on July 18. The motion was passed by Congress but blocked by Senate Democrats. 'Without the brave heroes of ICE we would have no enforcement, no laws, no borders, and therefore, no country,' he said. During the three-minute video, Trump defended the agency against critics who consider its methods of enforcement heavy-handed by calling its officers 'heroes' whose work was vital to stopping another terrorist attack like September 11 Trump defended the agency against critics who consider its methods of enforcement heavy-handed by calling its officers 'heroes' whose work was vital to stopping another terrorist attack like September 11. 'One of the critical lessons of 9/11 is that immigration enforcement saves lives. We must enforce the rules against visa laws illegal overstay, illegal entry, and other immigration violations and crimes,' he said. The President also quoted statistics that recorded 127,000 arrests of illegal immigrants charged or convicted of crimes within the United States as evidence that the agency was doing vital work. 'These are very serious crimes and too many of them. Yet, leading Democrat politicians have called to abolish ICE, no one even believes it,' he said. 'In other words, they want open borders, and more crime. That's what you are going to get.' A small number of Democrats have expressed their support for abolishing the agency and creating a new one from scratch, including Senators Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gilbrand and Kamala Harris. ICE has been criticized for what opponents see as heavy-handed tactics, including arresting undocumented migrants while they drop their children at school or deporting them for minor offences. Pictured: A protest against ICE in New York on July 26 Immigration and Customs Enforcement bore the brunt of criticism over its enforcement of the Trump administration's now-reversed policy of separating migrant children from their parents. It has also been attacked for what opponents consider heavy-handed tactics, including arresting undocumented migrants while they drop their children at school or deporting them for minor offences. Protests across the US have regularly featured banners calling for the agency to be abolished, and public anger over its actions was thought to have led to the appointment of a new director earlier this month. On Friday, Philadelphia decided to stop giving ICE access to a real-time arrest database, saying the agency is misusing the information to conduct sweeps in which otherwise law-abiding immigrants are also being caught up. Federal officials said the decision puts U.S. citizens in danger. ICE officers prepare for morning operations to arrest undocumented immigrants on April 11 in New York City 'We're not going to provide them with information so they can go out and round people up,' Democratic Mayor Jim Kenney said Friday as he announced his decision to let a decade-old contract with ICE expire at the end of next month. Kenney said immigration officers are wrongly using the database to go to homes and workplaces of people who list foreign countries of origin and arresting other people who are in the country illegally but are otherwise not accused of any crimes. U.S. Homeland Security spokeswoman Katie Waldman called the decision irresponsible and said the city will end up 'harboring criminal aliens.' 'Sanctuary-city policies make American communities like Philadelphia less safe by putting the rights of criminal aliens over the safety and security of American citizens,' Waldman said. 'Despite the misguided action taken by Philadelphia today, DHS will continue to work to remove illegal aliens and uphold public safety.' A British stag do paid a homeless man 100 euros (90) to get the groom's name tattooed on his head. The group ran into the man living on the streets in Benidorm, Spain, when they got the idea for him to get a tattoo that read: 'Jamie Blake, North Shields, NE28'. They intended for the tattoo to be on the man's forehead. A stag do in Spain paid a homeless man 90 to get the groom's name tattooed on his forehead However the man, who is Polish and named Tomek according to the Daily Star, was unable to complete the tattoo due to the pain. Images show the man lying flat on his back on a chair while a lamp shone light on his forehead. Tomek threw up a 'peace sign' while he stared straight at the ceiling. The image was shared to Facebook by the tattoo parlour. A photograph taken later showed that the tattooing was stopped two letters into 'North Shields', so it reads: 'Jamie Blake No'. Many were unhappy with what they saw. Local businesses are even discussing the possibility of paying to get the tattoo removed. The president of the Benidorm British Business Association slammed the actions of the men on the stag do. The stag party were on a trip to Benidorm (stock picture) when the tattoo was inked on Tomek Karen Malin Cowles, who knows Tomek, told the publication: 'What they have done to this man is utterly inhuman and akin to abuse. 'I'm appalled that a group of grown men would take advantage of someone in such a vulnerable position. They have left a human being scarred for the rest of his their life.' Getting a tattoo on your head or face is considered one of the most painful places to get inked as it can create an uncomfortable sensation in the skull. Other painful places that can be extremely painful to get tattoos include fingers, the rib cage and spine. The New York Times has hit back after President Donald Trump revealed that he met with the newspaper's publisher to discuss media coverage. On Sunday morning, the president took to Twitter to reveal the meeting and said they came to mutual agreement. 'Had a very good and interesting meeting at the White House with A.G. Sulzberger, Publisher of the New York Times,' he wrote. 'Spent much time talking about the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, "Enemy of the People." Sad!' However, Sulzberger said his point of attending was 'to raise concerns about the president's deeply troubling anti-press rhetoric'. The New York Times has hit back after President Donald Trump revealed that he met with the newspaper's publisher to talk about media coverage, which Trump said ended with them coming to a mutual agreement A Times spokeswoman said the meeting that was meant to be off-the-record took place on July 20 at the White House. Sulzberger said his point of attending was 'to raise concerns about the president's deeply troubling anti-press rhetoric'. Pictured: Trump, left, and Sulzberger, right 'I told the president directly that I thought that his language was not just divisive but increasingly dangerous,' he said in a statement. 'I told him that although the phrase "fake news" is untrue and harmful, I am far more concerned about his labeling journalists "the enemy of the people."' According to a Times' spokeswoman, the meeting was meant to be off-the-record but Sulzberger had decided to reply based on the 'detailed notes' he took with editorial page editor, James Bennet, who was also at the meeting. The meeting took place on July 20 at the White House's request, the spokeswoman added. Sulzberger said that he believed Trump's language would lead to violence against journalists and was threatening the concept of a free press. 'I made clear repeatedly that I was not asking for him to soften his attacks on The Times if he felt our coverage was unfair,' he continued. 'Instead, I implored him to reconsider his broader attacks on journalism, which I believe are dangerous and harmful to our country.' Trump has been known to refer to media coverage that portrays him negatively as 'fake news'. He has used this term, as well as the 'enemy of the American people' to describe journalists, numerous times on Twitter and in news conferences. The president has called the Times a slew of insults, and 'failing' at least a dozen times. The president has called the Times a slew of insults, and 'failing' at least a dozen times despite the paper reporting an increase in subscribers and total revenue However, the Times has 2.3 million paid digital subscriptions, up 63.4 percent from one year earlier, according to Fortune. It is also the second-most widely circulated paper in the country behind The Wall Street Journal. Additionally, the Times reported back in February that total revenue for 2017 increased by eight percent to $1.7 billion. Sulzberger became publisher in January, replacing his father, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr, who had been publisher since 1992. Terrifying footage shows the moment dozens of Greeks take refuge in the sea in a last ditch attempt to save themselves from blazing wildfires. Residents in Mati, east of Athens, were at the epicenter of the deadly fires with 83 people killed so far according to authorities. Video has emerged of dozens of people who fled into the sea to escape the flames of the fires. The footage, shot by a survivor on Monday July 23, showed people huddled together in the sea to save themselves from the flames. Dozens of scared people could be seen embracing one another in the water as the fires took hold Frightened people can be seen embracing one another in the water as smoke fills the air around them. The fires trapped people in cars and on the edge of cliffs, while others were forced to jump off to survive, or rush into the sea from the beach. At least 83 people were killed, a fire brigade spokeswoman said, and the death toll was expected to rise. Officials said more than 1,000 homes were destroyed or damaged and at least 300 vehicles were burned. Officials in Greece have said 30 of the 83 bodies recovered have been identified. Forensic experts who helped at major disasters, including the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, have flown to Athens to assist with the identification of the victims. The specialist team are from Germany's Federal Criminal Police People can be seen paddling around while the air above them is thick with smoke from the blaze Shocking aerial photos reveal the scale of the disaster. The fire ripped through the community in a matter of minutes They were involved in the 2004 Tsunami that claimed the lives of over 200,000 people and a 2002 mid-air collision of a Russian charter flight and a DHL cargo plane over southern Germany that killed 71 people. Relatives of the victims have been told to report to the city's mortuary until the weekend to give a DNA sample to help with the identification process. Formal identification of those who died is not expected until later next week. Athens Coroner Nikolaos Kalogrias said many of the bodies are burned beyond recognition. Members of the city's dental school have also been involved in the grim process of identification. Greek authorities are examining aerial photographs taken by US Naval planes and drones to see of the blaze in the forests above Mati, the worst affected area, were started deliberately. Workers carry bags with debris in the fire-ravaged town of Mati last night. There are fears the death toll from the disaster could yet climb higher Police are appealing for information over the unexplained death of a woman found in a playing field. Merseyside officers were called to the Brook Vale playing field in Waterloo, Sefton, at about 5.20am on Sunday following reports of concern for the safety of a woman. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Merseyside officers were called to Brook Vale playing field (pictured) in Waterloo, Sefton at around 5.20 on Sunday morning following reports of concern for the safety of a woman In a statement, Merseyside Police said: 'At this time the death is being treated as unexplained and a post-mortem will be conducted to establish the cause of death. 'Inquiries are ongoing to identify the woman and inform next of kin. 'Anyone with information is asked to contact @MerPolCC, 101 quoting ref. 224 of 29/7/18 or @CrimestoppersUK.' Sefton is a small village in the borough of Sefton in Merseyside. There are grave concerns for a woman who went missing from an island in south-east Queensland on Sunday. Police have appealed for public assistance to help locate Allison Costello, 36, who was last seen on July 29 at an address in Cathy Street at Macleay Island in Moreton Bay, off the coast of Brisbane. Police and Allison's family hold grave concerns for her welfare. Police and family have grave concerns for missing Queensland woman Allison Costello, 36 Allison is described as Caucasian, 180cm tall with a proportionate build, red hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a black T-shirt and pink/brown pants. Allison was last seen at a home in Cathy Street (pictured) on Macleay Island, off the coast of Brisbane 'Police are urging members of the public not to approach Allison, but to contact police immediately if they see her or know of her whereabouts,' a Queensland Police statement said. Anyone with information is urged to call Policelink on 131 444. Meanwhile, a woman, 27, who sparked a police helicopter search after she was reported missing in Brisbane on Sunday afternoon has been found safe and well. Bachelor and bachelorette parties may be a culprit in soaking up millennials funds that could be going towards home ownership, according to a study by Zillow. Lavish pre-wedding destination bashes are on trend- and if you attend nine in your lifetime the cost can set you back around $13,788, which is up to around 35 per cent of a down payment on a median-price home in some parts of the country. Zillow pooled information from The Knot's 2018 Wedding Guest Study, which found members of the wedding party spend, on average, $584 attending each bachelor or bachelorette party. 'This price includes their costs to travel, accommodations and gifts,' Kristen Maxwell Cooper, The Knot editor in chief, told TODAY Home. Pricey party: Destination bachelor and bachelorette parties are on trend- like avocado toast- but they can set you back financially if you ever want to own a home On average a guest spends about $584 per pre-wedding destination party- attend enough of them and you could be sinking your dream of home-ownership 'Additionally, our study found that members of the wedding party aren't the only ones attending bachelor and bachelorette parties, in fact, one in four guests who aren't part of the wedding party are also attending these pre-wedding parties.' 'Today's couples are all about experiences, so it's no surprise many brides and grooms-to-be (or their maids of honor and best men) are planning unforgettable trips for their pre-wedding getaways,' Maxwell Cooper said. 'As with their weddings, couples want their individual pre-wedding celebrations to be as unique as they are and a reflection of their interests and personalities, which can sometimes result in pricey bachelor and bachelorette parties.' Sign up for a pre-wedding destination party and you may be signing away your dream of buying a home While the costs of having a fabulous time with close friends might seem priceless, the cost of owning a home is climbing. 'Home values have risen significantly over the past year, up 8.3 percent from June 2017 to June 2018. Saving for a down payment may feel increasingly difficult for first-time buyers,' a Zillow spokesperson added. 'From gifts to travel to attire, being in a wedding party can be an expensive honor. Especially while in your 20s and 30s, the chances of you attending multiple weddings throughout the year is high, and the costs for each can add up quickly,' Maxwell Cooper said. As Rudy Giuliani continues his war of credibility against Michael Cohen, Fox News was quick to call out Donald Trump's lawyer on his sudden flip of opinion. Giuliani was appearing on Fox News Sunday when anchor Chris Wallace played a clip that showed him singing Cohen's praises just two months ago. 'He doesn't have any incriminating evidence about the president or himself, the man is an honest, honorable lawyer,' Giuliani said of Cohen after his office was raided by the FBI. 'Now you say Cohen is a pathological liar whose been lying for years,' Wallace told Giuliani on Sunday. 'So what happened?' Scroll down for video As Rudy Giuliani continues his war of credibility against Michael Cohen, Fox News was quick to call out Donald Trump's lawyer on his sudden flip of opinion Giuliani was appearing on Fox News Sunday when anchor Chris Wallace played a clip that showed him singing Cohen's praises just two months ago Giuliani claimed that his opinion of Cohen only shifted in the last couple of weeks, after he found out the lawyer had been 'surreptitiously recording his clients'. CNN aired a recording last week that featured Cohen and Trump talking about paying for the rights to the story of former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who claims she had an affair with the president in 2006. Giuliani, who has spoken warmly of Cohen in the past, said his opinion changed in the wake of the tape. 'Obviously if I knew that I never would have said he's a reputable lawyer. I'd have said he's a scoundrel,' he noted. 'The man is a pathological manipulator, liar. I didn't know that. I knew nothing bad about Michael Cohen until all of this started to happen in the last couple weeks.' Giuliani claimed that his opinion of Cohen only shifted in the last couple of weeks, after he found out the lawyer had been 'surreptitiously recording his clients' Giuliani also slammed Cohen's assertion that Trump knew about the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between his campaign officials and a Kremlin affiliated lawyer. 'If he taped everything else, why the heck didn't he tape this?' Giuliani said on Sunday. Trump denied on Friday that he had any advance knowledge of the now-infamous 2016 meeting attended by his son Donald Trump Jr., his son-in-law Jared Kushner, his campaign chairman Paul Manafort and the Russian attorney. Reports based on unnamed sources swirled Thursday night that Cohen is prepared to tell Mueller that the president knew about the meeting ahead of time and approved of it. Sources close to Cohen, according to CNN, say he is prepared to tell Mueller that he was in the room when Trump was told that a Russian lawyer wanted a meeting with Don Jr. The lawyer, the Kremlin-connected Natalia Veselnitskaya, promised to bring helpful dirt on Hillary Clinton. That June 9, 2016 meeting has become a major headache for the president. Both the meeting and its fallout have become a major part of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe. Giuliani, who has dangled out hope in the past that Trump could sit down with Mueller, said again a deal could happen soon. 'Maybe this week or maybe next week,' he said on CBS' 'Face the Nation.' Michael Avenatti, who represents porn star Stormy Daniels, defended Michael Cohen Avenatti tweeted there could be other payments out there Avenatti told Giuliani he looked desperate and that Cohen's tapes would surely hurt Trump He also said Trump is 'discussed at length' on 11 or 12 of those tapes that Cohen has. Mueller is investigating Russia's role in the 2016 election and whether Trump attempted to obstruct that investigation, particularly when he fired former FBI director James Comey. 'We don't see the legal basis for the president obstructing in merely taking action in firing someone he had every right to fire,' Giuliani said. He also laughed off any suggestion the president would stop tweeting. When asked if Trump would lay off his favorite social media network - at least writing about Attorney General Jeff Sessions - in light of a report Mueller is looking at the tweets as part of his probe, Giuliani responded: 'Good luck about tweeting.' He added: 'First of all, obstruction by tweet is not something that I think works real well. Generally obstruction is secret, it's clandestine, it's corrupt. You don't want the evidence out in the public to be used against you.' Cohen found a defender in attorney Michael Avenatti, who represents porn star Stormy Daniels, whose settlement with Trump over an alleged affair Cohen helped negotiate. 'Rudy - you look desperate, bc you are. What are you & Mr. Trump so afraid of if he did nothing wrong as you claim? Releasing the info in no way damages Cohen's credibility or usefulness as a witness. But it will severely damage Trump. And we are just getting started. #FightClub,' Avenatti wrote on Twitter Sunday morning. Giuliani said there could be a deal in the next few weeks on whether Trump will sit down with the special counsel Michael Cohen is said to have more tapes and Giuliani said Trump is probably on 11 or 12 He also hinted there are more payments out there. '.@RudyGiuliani - Are you denying that there were other hush payments made to as yet unnamed women in connection with the 2016 campaign? Asking for some friends... You better buckle up buttercup because Mr. Trump's stupidity and disloyalty is about to catch up to him (and you),' he wrote. The latest salvos follow an allegation from Giuliani on Saturday that he believes the audio recording released by Cohen may have been tampered with. Guiliani made the claim on Saturday evening in a phone interview with Fox News, saying two experts and retired FBI agents who have examined the secret recording believe it was 'played' with. The tape was recorded covertly by Cohen in 2016 prior to the election, and involves discussion of a payment to the National Enquirer to ensure former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal's claims of an affair with Trump did not get out. Giuliani said he believed that the tape released on Wednesday in a leak to CNN is a recording of a recording, which would mask any signs that Cohen had turned the recorder on and off during the conversation, or had later erased portions. Rudy Giuliani has said that he believes a tape released by Michael Cohen may have been tampered with Cohen (center) secretly recorded a meeting with Trump to discuss a payment to suppress an affair allegation from Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal 'Since we don't have the original, we asked for it,' Giuliani told Fox News. 'Our expert analysis [isn't] done until we get the raw copy, which we are seeking.' The president's lawyer confessed that his hopes for actually obtaining the original tapes were thin. The version released by CNN is of notably poor quality and seems to end after a brief and abrupt cut. 'Now that we've seen the full scope of [Michael] Cohen and Lanny Davis' deception, we don't trust anything,' Giuliani said, referring to Cohen's lawyer. Cohen is under a federal investigation probing allegations of bank fraud, wire fraud and violations of campaign finance law, and prosecutors are said to have seized many covert recordings in an April raid on his Manhattan office and hotel room. However, Giluliani said that the tape released on Wednesday is the only one that involves a substantive conversation with Trump. The others involve conversations with third parties regarding payments connected to claims from McDougal and porn star Stormy Daniels that they had prior sexual affairs with Trump. Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal is seen with Trump over a decade ago Cohen formed a shell company in September 2016 in order to pay the National Enquirer for the rights to McDougal's story, after the tabloid paid the Playmate $150,000 for exclusive rights to the tale. However, Trump and Cohen never ended up making the payment, when fears proved unfounded that Trump ally David Pecker, CEO of the Enquirer's parent company, would be stepping down. The most controversial part of the brief recording released on Wednesday was Trump's mention of 'cash' when Cohen raised the subject of 'financing'. Giuliani has said that cash merely refers to a one-time payment as opposed to ongoing 'financing' over time. In the event, no payment was made. Cohen's legal team did not respond to Fox's inquiries about the tape-tampering allegations on Saturday night. Earlier in the week, Cohen's attorney Davis tweeted: 'Just as Richard Nixon learned, tapes don't lie!' The grieving family of a teenager who died after getting into difficulty in water near a pier have paid tribute to the 'happy, loving and independent' boy. Two teenagers got into difficulty swimming in water around Clacton Pier on Thursday, prompting a search by emergency services. Although one boy was rescued on Thursday after a two-day search around the Pier, 15-year-old Ben Quartermaine's body was found shortly before 8am yesterday. The body of a teenager has been recovered following a two-day search launched after two boys got into difficulty in water near a pier in Essex. He has been provisionally identified as 15-year-old Ben Quartermaine (pictured) Rescuers search for a 17-year-old boy near Bishops Itchington in Warwickshire Essex Police said the cause of death is still being investigated but that it is not being treated as suspicious The family of Ben, who is from Clacton-on-Sea, said he died in what they describe as a terrible accident. 'He was a happy, loving and independent boy who would go out of his way to make others laugh and smile,' they said in a statement issued through Essex Police. 'Ben had a huge love for motorbikes and was often at bike events with family and friends. 'He was looking forward to his 16th birthday when he could do his CBT (compulsory basic training) and get out on his own moped, which we were in the process of doing up for him as a present. 'He was loved by everyone that had the pleasure to know him and will be missed by all. 'We ask that at this very difficult time that we are left alone to grieve and come to terms with our loss.' Police were called amid concerns for the welfare of the two teenagers and officers arrived at the scene just after 6.35pm. Two pier workers helped keep one of the boys above the surface until an RNLI lifeboat crew could reach him. Ben's family have since said the RNLI 'went above and beyond' in the search for the teenager, and have asked that anyone wishing to send flowers to donate to the RNLI instead. A Severn Area Rescue Association team arrive with a boat in Warwickshire yesterday Britain experienced its hottest day of the year so far yesterday with 95.2F (35.1C) temperatures - as railways, roads and the NHS struggled to cope. The Met Office said there is a 70 per cent chance the UK's highest record temperature for July 98.1F (36.7C), set in 2015 could be broken today. Motorists have been warned ahead of lightning, flash flooding and large hailstones that could hit eastern parts on this afternoon, with a thunderstorm warning in place for the afternoon until just before midnight. Temperatures are forecast to be in the 90Fs (mid-30Cs) for much of East and South East England, reaching 99F (37C) in London, and could rise higher still if there is a lot of sunshine. Advertisement Essex Police said the cause of Ben's death is still being investigated but that it is not being treated as suspicious. Two pier workers helped keep one of the boys above water until an RNLI lifeboat crew could reach him. A member of the public raised the alarm after spotting the boys in the water and pier worker Stuart Duff issued an emergency call, with two other staff members rushing to help with a lifebelt. Przemek Jakiela, 40, who works in the pier's amusement arcade, said he threw a lifebelt to one youngster but was unable to reach him due to the wind and currents. He threw the belt a number of times before the teenager was able to grab hold of it and Mr Jakiela kept a firm grip on the rope - along with pier bar worker Amy Bayliss - until an RNLI crew managed to pull the boy from the water and take him ashore. Rescuers had been out for days in Clacton looking for Ben after he got into trouble Seven deaths in a week as heatwave started As the heatwave began at the end of last month, there were seven deaths related to the heat in just a week. One man died after being pulled from the River Derwent in Derbyshire, while the body of another was taken out of Crown Lakes near Peterborough. There were also deaths at Audenshaw Reservoir in Greater Manchester, while the body of Ryan Evans, 13, was recovered from a Stoke-on-Trent lake. The body of a 17-year-old boy was also recovered from the River Aire in Leeds, a man died in a lake in Nutfield, Surrey, and a woman drowned while swimming in the sea off Eastbourne. Advertisement Two pier workers helped keep one of the boys above water until an RNLI lifeboat crew could reach him. A member of the public raised the alarm after spotting the boys in the water and pier worker Stuart Duff issued an emergency call, with two other staff members rushing to help with a lifebelt. Przemek Jakiela, 40, who works in the pier's amusement arcade, said he threw a lifebelt to one youngster but was unable to reach him due to the wind and currents. He threw the belt a number of times before the teenager was able to grab hold of it and Mr Jakiela kept a firm grip on the rope - along with pier bar worker Amy Bayliss - until an RNLI crew managed to pull the boy from the water and take him ashore. Divers recovered the body of a young man from Jubilee River in Slough, Berkshire, last night He tried to rescue the other boy but was unable to. 'As I got there I just saw his head go under and he disappeared and did not come back up again,' said Mr Jakiela. 'There was just nothing we could do for him.' Managing director Billy Ball said the pier had recently put in new lifebelts which are each in an enclosed plastic case to stop them from being vandalised. Friends of the Quartermaine family posted tributes on Facebook after the body was found. Nikki Marson wrote: 'I'm so sad that it's not the outcome everyone prayed for. Thinking of you all at this awful time. Please let me know if there is anything I can do.' Laura Wallington wrote: 'I am so sorry for your loss, from one mother to another I cannot comprehend the pain you must be feeling. Your boy has touched the hearts of many and my sincere condolences are with you and your family at this awful time.' And, members of the public from around the world paid their respects to the family. Emma Robertson, said: 'No mother or Father should have to endure this pain I am so heartbroken for you and your family. 'I have been following this news from Australia and I have been praying and praying for a good outcome! I am so sorry. Love strength and light sent to you and your family at this devastating time ' Sue Jerrold wrote: 'I am so sorry for this sad news. I don't know you but my thoughts and prayers have been with your family since Thursday. And I'm absolutely devastated for you Vicky. 'R.I.P Ben go fly with the Angels and shine bright like a Diamond xxx' Witness Ben Hughes-Day said: 'We watched helplessly as members of the RNLI, coastguard and others searched for two young lads reported missing at sea. 'A helicopter flying overhead, two boats and several courageous and heroic individuals who were on foot, neck deep in watcher searching the seabed. 'The absolutely heartache that the families must be going through right now is also unimaginable.' A statement from RNLI Clacton Lifeboat released on Friday said: 'Yesterday evening at 5.39pm Clacton's Atlantic class lifeboat was launched to a yacht aground near the entrance to the River Colne. 'While further crew members were awaiting their return, the pagers sounded again, this time to a person in the water at Clacton Pier. Due to crew being on station Clacton's D class was launched within two minutes with two crew members aboard. 'On arrival on scene there was a male holding on to a life ring that had been thrown down from the pier. Shouts from the pier indicated there was another male in the water. The D Class made a rapid search of the area indicated, but there were concerns the male that was holding on to the ring was loosing their grip. 'The crew pulled them aboard the lifeboat and landed them on the beach to an awaiting ambulance before returning to the search. 'The Atlantic lifeboat was called back leaving one crew member aboard the grounded vessel to await Mersea's lifeboat to complete the recovery. 'All available shore crew were also requested to help with the search around and under the pier alongside the coastguard mobile units and those of the ambulance service. UK Coastguard's rescue helicopter also joined in the search. 'The crews were stood down at 11pm to restart the search again at 5am this morning making best use of a low tide. Both lifeboats searched alongside shore crew and the coastguard mobile unit until 8am. The search for the missing male continues.' Rescuers had been out for days in Clacton looking for Ben after he got into trouble In Slough this week, Thames Valley Police were called after the man vanished underwater after swimming with friends, and divers found a body. His death in the man-made river, which is designed to relieve pressure on the River Thames at times of flooding, was not being treated as suspicious. It comes three weeks after rescue divers from the same team found the body of 17-year-old Dajarn Daly just over three weeks ago in the same stretch of river. Inspector Michelle Kneale said: 'I would like to remind everyone not to swim in the river - there is a weir in this part and the currents are extremely dangerous. 'As tempting as it may be in the warmer weather, rivers contain hazards below the water's surface which sometimes cannot be seen.' People enjoy the weather at Clacton-on-Sea in Essex yesterday before the boys went missing A file picture of an aerial view of Clacton Pier, where the search for the boy continues today Ben's father Mick Smith posted on Facebook, urging his 14-year-old son: 'Just call please' Rescue teams, including police, an air ambulance and firefighters, scrambled to the scene and were seen scouring the 90-acre former lime quarry. The roads leading into the village were shut as rescue teams tried to find the boy, whose parents were believed to be at the lake. But the emergency services found a body at 10.50am today after the alarm was first raised at 6.30pm yesterday. Speaking before the body was found, one local resident said: 'It really looks bad. There was a load of police and ambulance activity at around 7pm. 'Since then I've seen trailers loaded with canoes being taken up to the lakes which I would assume are being used by the rescuers to search for the lad. 'The lake is a known area for kids to swim in but it's dangerous. There are huge reeds under the surface which can easily drag you under.' Meanwhile in Warwickshire, the 17-year-old boy is believed to have got into difficulty while swimming at the Blue Lagoon, near Bishops Itchington. Novichok victim Dawn Sturgess Special health measures have been imposed on the funeral of Novichok victim Dawn Sturgess today to prevent mourners from being exposed to the nerve agent. Health bosses have insisted that no pallbearers be allowed to carry the coffin through Salisbury Crematorium. Instead, it will be put into position by officials before mourners arrive. The measures have been imposed amid concerns that Miss Sturgesss body still contains dangerous levels of the Russian nerve agent. The mother-of-threes family will have 15 minutes of quiet time when they will be able to sit near her coffin, according to the vicar who will conduct the service. Miss Sturgess, 44, died in hospital on July 8 after she sprayed the poison on herself thinking it was perfume. Her boyfriend Charlie Rowley told how he gave her the bottle in his flat in Amesbury, Wiltshire, after finding it on the ground in Salisbury. The bottle contained Novichok and had been thrown away by hitmen after the attempted assassination of former double agent Sergei Skripal, 67, and his daughter Yulia, 33, in Salisbury in March. The Rev Philip Bromiley said an awful lot of planning had gone into the funeral so nobody would be affected by the nerve agent. The funeral directors have been liaising with Public Health England and they have put various precautions in place, he said. One of those precautions is that the coffin will be in situ before everybody arrives. The funeral directors are liaising with the powers that be to make sure everything is as safe as possible. Special Precautions have been put in place on the advice of Public Health England to make sure mourners are safe when they attend the funeral today of Novichok victim Dawn Sturgess Mr Rowley, 45, also became sick after some of the poison spilt on to his hands. He regained consciousness almost two weeks after becoming ill. The Rev Bromiley said he did not know if Mr Rowley would be attending the funeral. We will be praying for Charlie at some stage, he said. [Miss Sturgesss] mum and dad are doing really well but they are obviously in a state of shock. They are being really positive and wanting the best for Dawn. I think there is a great sense of wanting to celebrate Dawns life. She was a really lovely, helpful, giving person. Mr Rowley, who blames himself for his girlfriends death, said he hoped saying goodbye will help his recovery. He is still on various medications as he recovers. The Rev Bromiley yesterday said he did not know if her partner Charlie Rowley (pictured)would be attending He said Miss Sturgess sprayed the liquid on to her wrists because she recognised the bottle as a well-known brand. But within 15 minutes she began to feel unwell and collapsed fully-clothed in the bath in a very ill state. Special health measures were also imposed at the funeral of KGB defector Alexander Litvinenko after he was poisoned by the radioactive substance polonium 210. The former Russian spy, who converted to Islam ten days before his death, was buried in a specially sealed coffin after a service at a London mosque in 2006. Under Islamic guidelines, Mr Litvinenkos body should have been specially bathed and prayers should have been read over his open coffin. But the risk of contamination was too great. Triple murderer Joanna Dennehy has made friends with the matriarch of the Adams crime family, it has been claimed today. Dennehy, 35, was given a whole life sentence after she murdered three men on a 10-day killing spree in 2013, before stabbing two others. Branded 'pure evil' by criminology experts, she said she committed the murders because it was 'moreish and fun', and is one of just two female prisoners serving a whole life term in the UK. She met Connie Adams, wife of London gangster Patsy, three years ago when they were behind bars together at HMP Bronzefield in Surrey, reports The Sun. Triple murderer Joanna Dennehy (pictured) met Connie Adams, wife of London gangster Patsy Adams, three years ago when they were behind bars together at HMP Bronzefield in Surrey Adams, 58, was locked up on remand after being accused of taking part in the shooting of Paul Tieran alongside her husband, 62. Images obtained by The Sun show Adams on a visit to HMP Bronzefield earlier this month, which the newspaper claims was one of many regular trips. Adams, 58 (pictured) was locked up on remand after being accused of taking part in the shooting of Paul Tieran alongside her husband, 62 The paper claims they also have weekly phone conversations and are both fans of Donald Trump and Nigel Farage. Adams was freed from jail in 2016 when victim Tiernan refused to cooperate with the police and the charges were dropped. Her husband Patsy, born Patrick, is the brother of crime boss Terry Adams, of the London crime syndicate the Adams Family, also known as the Clerkenwell gang or the A-team. Patsy was jailed for nine years in 2016 after admitting shooting victim Mr Tiernan, but being cleared of attempted murder. He was convicted of grievous bodily harm with intent. Dennehy went on her murder spree in March 2013, when she stabbed three men to death in three days in Peterborough before travelling to Hereford. There she knifed two more within minutes of each other. Her first victim was a Polish man, Lukasz Slaboszewski, 31, who had come to believe Dennehy was his girlfriend. Images obtained by The Sun show Adams on a visit to HMP Bronzefield (pictured) earlier this month, which the newspaper claims was one of many regular trips She lured him to a property with suggestive texts, then stabbed him through the heart. Dennehy then used a pocket knife to kill her housemate John Chapman, 56, stabbing him once in the neck. Dennehy, 35 (mugshot pictured) was given a whole life sentence after she murdered three men on a 10-day killing spree in 2013, before stabbing two others The third victim was her landlord, Kevin Lee, 48, who she lured with the promise of sexual favours. Excited by the police manhunt for her, she then stabbed Robin Bereza from behind in Hereford on April 2. Nine minutes later, she knifed John Rogers. Both men survived. She was caught after two days on the run. Dennehy, who was brought up in a stable family home in the Home Counties, carried out the attacks to gratify her 'sadistic love for blood'. The Old Bailey was told the killer had a 'sexual and sadistic motivation'. Later she told a psychiatrist: 'I killed to see how I would feel, to see if I was as cold as I thought I was. Then it got more -ish.' Within minutes of moving to HMP Bronzefield, Dennehy threatened to kill murderer Rose West - the only other woman serving a whole-life sentence after the death of Moors Murderer Myra Hindley in 2002. Did you change clothes while at the airport? Get to the boarding area late? Fall asleep during the flight? Use your phone? If you're on the Transportation Security Administration's new Quiet Skies list, then a federal air marshal knows the answer to all of those questions - and more. Quiet Skies is a TSA domestic surveillance program that specifically targets travelers who are not under any kind of investigation or on a terrorist watch list. The previously undisclosed program requires federal air marshals to follow ordinary US citizens through airports and on flights, documenting their every move. Quiet Skies is a TSA domestic surveillance program that specifically targets travelers who are not under any kind of investigation or on a terrorist watch list Federal air marshals must track everything about the person's behavior, referring to a lengthy checklist to make minute by minute observations. Now some marshals are speaking out, telling the Boston Globe that they believe the Quiet Skies program is a costly waste of time that may even be unethical. A TSA bulletin states that the purpose of Quiet Skies is to decrease threats by 'unknown or partially known terrorists and to identify and provide enhanced screening to higher risk travelers before they board aircraft'. All US citizens are automatically screened for inclusion in the Quiet Skies program. There are 15 rules to screening passengers for the program, with criteria including international travel patterns, behaviors that match those of known or suspected terrorists, or potential affiliations with someone on a watch list. Passengers on the list have included a businesswoman who traveled to Turkey, a Southwest Airlines flight attendant, and even a fellow federal law enforcement officer. The previously undisclosed TSA program requires federal air marshals to follow ordinary US citizens through airports and on flights, documenting their every move While specific countries are not on any TSA bulletins regarding the program, air marshals revealed they were advised in several instances to follow passengers solely because they had traveled to Turkey. When a passenger on the Quiet Skies list is selected for surveillance, a team of air marshals is placed on their next flight. The marshals are given a file that contains a photo of the target as well as their basic information, including when and where they were born. They then observe the target at length from the minute they get to the airport in one destination and leave it in another. Marshals must note whether they were 'abnormally aware' of their surroundings, which could include reversing or changing directions in the airport, 'attempting to change appearances' by changing clothes or shaving on the plane, and boarding late or 'observing the boarding gate from afar'. Behavior indicators that marshals must track are excessive fidgeting or perspiration, facial flushing, rapid eye blinking, strong body odor, sweaty palms, a 'cold penetrating stare', wide open staring eyes, face touching, and an 'Adam's apple jump'. They must also note if the target's appearance has changed, including whether they've gained or lost weight, whether their hair length or style has changed, and if they've changed their facial hair. General observations that are tracked include whether the target used a phone to talk or text, if they were in possession of a computer, did they check their baggage or take a carry-on, and if they used the bathroom. Federal air marshals must track everything about the person's behavior, referring to a lengthy checklist to make minute by minute observations Marshals must also know if the subject used public or private transportation to leave the airport after their flight. Passengers can remain on the Quiet Skies list 'for up to 90 days or three encounters, whichever comes first', TSA documents state. Thousands of Americans have already been tracked under the program and there are about 40 to 50 Quiet Skies passengers on domestic flights every day. Around 35 of them are always being observed by air marshals. Dozens of air marshals have expressed their concern with Quiet Skies since it launched in March. Some marshals have gone as far as to seek legal counsel, fearing that the domestic surveillance program could be illegal. Others believe the program is a waste of taxpayer dollars and only diverts time and resources away from legitimate threats. The Air Marshal Association has also spoken out against the program. 'The Air Marshal Association believes that missions based on recognized intelligence, or in support of ongoing federal investigations, is the proper criteria for flight scheduling. Currently the Quiet Skies program does not meet the criteria we find acceptable,' it said in a statement. 'The American public would be better served if these [air marshals] were instead assigned to airport screening and check in areas so that active shooter events can be swiftly ended, and violations of federal crimes can be properly and consistently addressed.' While TSA would not confirm that the program exists because releasing information would 'make passengers less safe', it did defend its use of federal air marshals on flights. 'FAMs may deploy on flights in furtherance of the TSA mission to ensure the safety and security of passengers, crewmembers, and aircraft throughout the aviation sector,' it said in a statement. 'As its assessment capabilities continue to enhance, FAMS leverages multiple internal and external intelligence sources in its deployment strategy.' BBC journalist Jon Sopel has spoken about a leaked recording of a conversation he had with John Humphrys in which the duo appeared to joke about gender earnings disputes. The broadcaster's North America editor has admitted he 'hated' being in the spotlight after the remarks about former China editor Carrie Gracie - who had resigned in protest at her 135,000 salary - were made public. Ms Gracie quit the role because she claimed men were earning more than women for the same job - and she called on her male colleagues to take pay cuts so females could earn more. BBC journalist Jon Sopel (left) has spoken about a leaked recording of a conversation he had with John Humphrys (right) where the duo appeared to joke about the gender earnings gap During the off-air exchange, Mr Humphrys said: 'The first question will be how much of your salary you are prepared to hand over to Carrie Gracie to keep her?' Mr Sopel replied: 'Obviously if we are talking about the scope for the greatest redistribution, I'll have to come back and say, "Well, yes, Mr Humphrys. But...".' Now, in an interview with The Guardian, the veteran hack - who earns between 230,000 and 239,000 - has said the results of the leak were 'obviously incredibly uncomfortable'. 'The conversation with John Humphrys was nuts,' he said. 'John is a big figure. Im quite a senior journalist, but [when youre with him], you are in the court of King John. Journalist Carrie Gracie gives evidence to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee in Portcullis House, London, on pay at the BBC, in January 'If you listen, you can hear that Im trying to shut it down. Im thinking: Stop it, stop it. I was in Washington at 11.30 at night, about to go to bed, and suddenly I was thrown a curve ball.' He said he found the aftermath 'ghastly on a personal level,' adding: 'I was quietly minding my own business I had no idea what other people earned and then suddenly I was in the spotlight. I hated it. 'So far as Carrie went, I thought: Her fight is with the BBC, not me; Ill leave her to fight it, which she did effectively.' New Brexit secretary Dominic Raab has been accused of 'outright abuse of power' by a former aide. Rebecca Tott, 21, was Raab's diary secretary until she was sacked after being caught using a sugar daddy website and telling a potential partner she knew 'everything' about the then-housing minister. A disciplinary hearing found her guilty of bringing the government into disrepute on July 9, the same day Raab was appointed Brexit secretary. Rebecca Tott (right), 21, was Raab's diary secretary until she was sacked after being caught using a sugar daddy website and telling a potential partner she knew 'everything' about the then-housing minister. Left: Raab Tott said he was 'aggressive' and would sometimes cut people off 'mid-sentence', accusing him of saying: 'Stop. I don't want to hear from you' She (pictured left with her sister) said Raab once treated her 'awfully' when another aide made an error in his diary and sent him to the wrong address Now, speaking to The Sun, Tott has claimed Raab would scare staff by going into sudden furies. She said he once treated her 'awfully' when another aide made an error in his diary and sent him to the wrong address. 'We tried to explain but he had no time to listen,' she said. 'He said, "I don't care. There is an issue with diary management in this office". 'I was made to feel small and undervalued. He seemed to be avoiding talking to me, which created an awkward dynamic.' She added: 'I felt bullied. I was distraught. I felt wrecked by the way he made me feel.' Tott also claimed Raab brought one of her colleagues to tears by shouting at her over the phone. He later apologised, she said, claiming he was stressed. The former civil servant, who is now planning a jaunt around the world, claimed Raab would also refuse to sacrifice his one hour and 15 minutes in the gym every day - even for important business. She said he was 'aggressive' and would sometimes cut people off 'mid-sentence', accusing him of saying: 'Stop. I don't want to hear from you'. Tott (pictured) also claimed Raab brought one of her colleagues to tears by shouting at her over the phone He would also insist on calling for his government car on journeys that take only seven minutes by foot, Tott claimed. In April, when Tott was exposed for using SeekingArrangement.com, MI5 investigated potential security threats to the country because of her apparent willingness to share details of Raab's whereabouts. Tott allegedly discussed her work with an undercover reporter posing as a sugar daddy. She met the reporter twice for which she was paid 750 each time including at a five-star hotel less than a mile from the House of Commons, according to the Daily Mirror. During each meeting she allegedly boasted about knowing Mr Raab's 'every move' and laughed about the idea of having sex with the reporter on his desk. She reportedly told the journalist: 'I know everything about him. I know his every move. I know where he is today.' Ms Tott allegedly told the reporter that she wanted to earn 5,000 a month through SeekingArrangement.com, but that he could have 'full undisputed access' to her for 750. Although the website insists it is not a front for prostitution, men are expected to pay their dates a monthly allowance a practice known as 'sugaring'. When the reporter asked what she was prepared to do for 750, she allegedly answered: 'Whatever you would like to be on offer. You may have full undisputed access to me, to do whatever you so choose.' Tott allegedly discussed her work with an undercover reporter posing as a sugar daddy. Pictured: Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab Before their first meeting, she messaged: 'You've got my undivided attention for a few hours on Saturday I'll let your imagination run wild as to what you wish to do with that. 'We'll sort out the transactional part at the beginning so we can relax into one another's company from there on out.' Ms Tott joined the civil service on a 12-month apprenticeship at 16, earning 18,000. She was held up as a 'success story' after being offered a full-time role, featuring in promotional blogs and videos in which she spoke of her 'passion' for the job and said her career highlights were her first trip to No 10 and meeting David Cameron when he was prime minister. She said applying for the apprenticeship instead of going to university was 'the best decision' she had ever made. A source close to Raab told The Sun that Tott was 'smearing' her former boss with 'false and malicious claims'. Separately, a Housing Ministry spokesman told the paper it does not recognise the claims. MailOnline has contacted Raab for comment. Advertisement It looks more like the aftermath of a bombing than a bank robbery. But this was all that was left of a branch of Barclays after raiders smashed their way in using a JCB digger. Police said significant damage had been done to the building in Olney, Milton Keynes, by the gang who fled with a cash machine in the early hours of today. The digger was abandoned at the scene. Thames Valley Police were called to the High Street at about 3.05am. The road was closed yesterday while the remains of the shattered building were being assessed for safety. It was not revealed how much money was stolen, but the average cash machine holds around 5,000 to 10,000. However, they can contain as much as 120,000. Police are appealing for anyone who witnessed the raid to get in touch by calling 101, or contacting Crimestoppers on 0800 500 111. Raiders have smashed their way into a high street bank using a JCB digger and fled with a cash machine Police said 'significant damage' had been done to the Barclays Bank in Olney, Milton Keynes, during the early-morning raid on Sunday Officers were called to the scene on High Street at about 3.05am following reports that a JCB had been used to force entry to the bank Thames Valley Police closed the road while the building was assessed for safety Investigating officer Inspector Kellie Smith said: 'This road closure is in place for the safety of the public' Pennsylvania father Donald Meyer Jr, 60, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter of his daughter on Friday A Pennsylvania man has been found guilty of killing his 12-year-old daughter after he aimed his gun at a constable, leading the officer to open fire, but the bullet hit his daughter. The horrific incident took place on January 11, 2016 when 60-year-old Donald Meyer Jr of Duncannon was being evicted from his home. Angry, Meyer pointed a loaded AR-15 rifle at the Constable Clark Steele who tried to kick him out, according to Perry County authorities. That incited the officer to fire a single shot that went through Meyer's arm and killed his daughter Ciara Meyer, 12, who was standing behind him. The bullet fatally struck her in the chest, according to Fox News. A jury deliberated for two and a half hours on Friday before finding Meyer guilty of involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault and other counts. Meyer (left) was being evicted from his home when he pointed gun at Constable Clark Steele and the officer opened fire and the bullet passed through Meyer's arm and fatally hit his 12-year-old daughter Ciara Meyer (right) On Friday Meyer was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for the killing of his daughter in the January 11, 2016 incident, Ciara pictured right District Attorney Andrew Bender told jurors in final arguments that Meyer didn't pull the trigger but was responsible. 'Parents are supposed to protect their children. Not put them in harm's way,' he said, according to PennLive.com. The confrontation was recorded by property manager Ashley Hill on her cellphone about 20ft away. She testified in court that the child stepped up behind her father. 'Ciara kept saying, "Dad, stop. Dad, stop,"' Hill recalled, dabbing tears from her eyes. She said Meyer had many anti-government views and 'thought everyone was against him.' Meyer appeared in court in a wheelchair, recovering from a stroke earlier this week Meyers pictured leaving Perry County Courthouse after his arraignment after his daughter was accidentally shot when a constable served him eviction papers Meyer's defense attorney said Meyer feared that his home was 'being invaded' and picked up a gun he was cleaning to protect the home, blaming the constable for his daughter's death. Meyer appeared in court in a wheelchair, recovering from a stroke. Family members said they were relieved by the outcome of the trial, which was held in Lycoming County. 'We still talk about her today, every day actually, and this is a good day for her,' said Jason Gehman, Ciara's uncle. Meyer, who still faces firearms-related charges, remains in custody without bail. He will be sentenced at a later date. Legal battle: Retired Army Major John Winskill, 47, is pictured with his wife Lisa, 44 A retired Army major who was involved in a fatal car crash in Peru is fighting extradition to face homicide charges. John Winskill who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after exhuming bodies in Bosnia with Nato is now battling the condition again because of the stress he is suffering. He is also faced with trying to raise enough money to defend himself if he faces court action in South America, which could result in a six-year jail term. To date, he and his wife have spent 75,000 on lawyers after using their savings and borrowing money from friends and family. The 47-year-old former Royal Scots officer had volunteered to help with a charity rally when disaster struck in 2013. The charity he was working for did not have legal insurance despite telling him it was in place which would have paid for his costly lawyers. He said: 'I am absolutely livid. First, I am not guilty and know I can prove it. Second, I am now losing our family savings which feels like death by a thousand cuts. In action: The 47-year-old former Royal Scots officer has launched an online funding appeal 'Finally, the men behind the charity for whom I was a volunteer had a duty of care and they have failed me.' Major Winskill has now had to launch an online funding appeal on Gofundme.com, which has raised around 20,000. Meanwhile the Peruvian authorities have painted a picture of him as a man fleeing justice and have refused to hear his defence arguments. Major Winskill was a volunteer when he travelled with the Race2Recovery charity which has been backed by Princes William and Harry to work in a support role at the Dakar Rally. The event saw both UK and US veterans taking part in the 5,500-mile race across South America, which was moved from its original route of Paris to Dakar for security reasons. But five days into his adventure on January 9 he was driving a Land Rover when he literally ran into trouble. An impatient driver tried to overtake the convoy he was in and then sharply cut in when he saw oncoming traffic. Major Winskill braked but a following vehicle hit the back of the former soldier's Land Rover and pushed it into oncoming traffic, causing a head-on crash with a taxi. The collision saw the taxi driver and one of his five passengers killed, while Major Winskill and two others in the Land Rover were badly injured. The collision saw a taxi driver and one of his five passengers killed, while Major Winskill and two others in the Land Rover were badly injured While they were being treated in hospital, an angry mob of around 300 Peruvians arrived looking for the 'English driver' and police and the army were called to hold back what was described as a potential lynching. In hospital Major Winskill found a woman from the interior ministry forcing his thumb onto an 'ink pad' and trying to place his thumb on a prepared statement that he had never given. It was later ruled inadmissible at a court hearing. After five days in hospital in Lima he was brought back to the UK. Ten months after the crash he was told that Peruvian authorities were 'still working' on the cause of the crash. But his nightmare returned in January this year when British police knocked on the door of his home near Salisbury to advise he was facing extradition to Peru. The visit was a complete shock for Major Winskill and his wife Lisa, 44, who have two young children. Major Winskill with the Land Rover Defender 130 - taken 30 hours prior to the accident 'I never fled from Peru I was signed out of hospital and flown out of the country,' he said. 'They had all my contact details but I assumed they realised I was not at fault. Now it seems they want a scapegoat.' The authorities in Peru have demanded he returns to face two counts of negligent homicide and four counts of negligent wounding relating to the four passengers in the taxi who survived the crash. An independent Peruvian crash investigator has found the former soldier was not at fault for the accident. The Daily Mail has learned that the Race2Recovery charity ceased existing in 2014 before re-inventing itself as R2R with at least one of the previous trustees. The Charity Commission has launched an investigation into Race2Recovery, which they believe could be in breach of rules having not informed them of the fatal accident. The Daily Mail contacted R2R and main trustee Charles Sincock, but neither were prepared to comment. The Foreign Office said it was offering Major Winskill consular assistance, 'but that cannot include representation in court, nor with the courts in Peru'. Prison gang leader Barry Byron Mills, 70, died on July 8 in his cell at ADX Florence Barry Byron Mills, the murderous leader of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang, has died in federal lockup. He was 70 and serving multiple life sentences. Mills, also known by the nickname 'Baron,' was found dead on July 8 in his single-person cell at the supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, according to a report on Sunday by the San Jose Mercury News. Authorities said Mills' death does not appear suspicious. The results of an autopsy could take weeks. A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Mills joined the Aryan Brotherhood during a stint at San Quentin prison in the 1970s. Mills first caught authorities' attention by planning and ordering a California bank robbery from his cell. Mills had been incarcerated at ADX Florence (above) since a 2006 murder conviction He later became the prison gang's leader, aggressively recruiting throughout the state. His grip on the gang stretched nationwide but was strongest in Northern California, where many of its highest-ranking members came from. 'There's no doubt of his influence in the Bay Area. It's fact, not debatable,' retired federal prison warden Robert Hood told the newspaper. 'I'm not trying to glorify him, but I can tell you this: He had the admiration of a lot of inmates, but he was also feared.' Mills was known for committing brazen, brutal killings - including a savage attempted decapitation while in federal custody in Georgia. Using couriers, Mills distributed orders from coast to coast, leading to a race war between the Aryan Brotherhood and rival prison gang the DC Blacks. Prosecutors said the gang boss used hidden messages written in urine or coded language to distribute the orders. A typical cell (left) and corridor (right) at ADX Florence are seen in file photos. Inmates at the supermax prison are confined to the seven-foot by 12-foot cells for 23 hours a day Mills also struck a notorious protection deal with New York mobster John Gotti, forcing the Gambino crime boss to pay large sums of money for the Aryan Brotherhood's protection services while in federal prison in Illinois. 'Wiseguys on the street like the Teflon Don and all that stuff - it doesn't equate in prison,' one Aryan Brotherhood snitch told investigators in the case. Mills had been incarcerated continuously since 1969. Following a 2006 federal murder conviction and life sentence, he was transferred to ADX Florence, where inmates spend 23 hours a day locked in a seven-foot by 12-foot concrete cell. After his death, Mills' top gang lieutenant Coby Phillips recalled him as 'the gold standard for gangsterism all over the USA'. 'His word was the law,' Phillips said. 'Whether he was crocheting blankets for the kids or chopping someone's head off, there wasn't nobody better.' Black cab rapist John Worboys has been performing the likes of 'Hey Jude' and 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' behind bars after joining a prisoners' choir. The 61-year-old, from Rotherhithe in London, was convicted of sex attacks on 12 women in 2009 but is suspected of having more than 100 victims. Now he is part of a singing group featuring over a dozen other inmates at HMP Wakefield. The 61-year-old, from Rotherhithe in London, was convicted of sex attacks on 12 women in 2009 but is suspected of having more than 100 victims The Sunday Mirror claimed Worboys wrote a letter in jail detailing his new hobby. 'There are about 15 of us in the choir and we sing songs such as Barbara Ann, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Hey Jude, I Got Rhythm, It's A Long Way To Tipperary,' he reportedly explained. 'We meet on a Monday afternoon and Friday morning.' In May it was reported that the sex attacker met with lawyers to discuss a renewed bid for freedom. It emerged he is hoping to win a new parole hearing later this year. Worboys is said to be part of a singing group featuring over a dozen other inmates at HMP Wakefield (pictured) Last year the parole board ruled Worboys could be freed after finding he had 'positive' treatment with psychologists. But the decision was reversed amid huge public outcry as two victims, DSD, and another, known as NBV, appealed against the ruling in court. The board's chairman Nick Hardwick was also forced to quit. Management at an apartment complex in Abderdeen, Maryland, called police around 10.36am on Friday after resident Tyler J Winkler, 23 (pictured), allegedly threatened to kill an employee A Maryland man is in critical condition after police shot him when the comb he was holding was mistaken for a knife. The suspect, since identified as 23-year-old Tyler J Winkler, is currently in critical condition at R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, reported WBAL. Management at the Affinity Old Post Apartments complex where Winkler lives in Aberdeen called authorities around 10.36am on Friday after he threatened to kill an employee, Lt Will Reiber told the station. Following this, Winkler entered a courtyard next to the property management office and made racially-offensive remarks to a resident, which caused the resident to go back inside their apartment. Police said they received several reports that Winkler was armed with a 'knife or edged weapon' before arriving at the complex. According to WBAL, the first responding officer radioed his colleagues to say that Winkler seemed to be under the influence and appeared to be holding a knife. He asked for backup officers to come with a Taser. When backup arrived, they allegedly tried verbally to get Winkler to surrender. He then entered a courtyard next to the property management office (pictured) and made racially-offensive remarks to a resident, which caused the resident to go back inside their apartment When this didn't work, an officer brought out the Taser - which caused Winkler, still clutching the object, to lunge at the officers. That's when an unnamed officer shot Winkler several times, although it is unclear how many bullets were fired. Police later revealed in a statement that Winkler was holding a pick comb and had been using as a makeshift 'shiv', pointing the sharp end at officers. The first responding officer said Winkler (left and right) appeared to be under the influence and armed, and asked for backup to arrive with a Taser. Backup tried to verbally convince Winkler to surrender. When this didn't work the Taser was brandished, which was when Winkler charged at officers with the object in his hands Winkler was shot several times by one officer and is currently in critical condition. Police later revealed that Winkler was not holding a knife but a pick comb (pictured) Reiber said Winkler immediately collapsed on the ground and he was given medical aid by the police officers until he could be airlifted to the Shock Trauma Center. 'I want to emphasize our officers exercised all options prior to firing,' Reiber said. He added that the officer who fired the gun was placed on administrative duty as is standard procedure while an investigation is carried out. Aberdeen police officers do not wear body cameras and are therefore asking if anyone has footage from cellphones or home security cameras, reported WXYZ. 'We want the public's help in filling in any details that we don't have at this time,' Reiber said. The Aberdeen Police Department is asking anyone with information to call them at 410-272-2121. A 57-year-old Brooklyn woman who relies on an electrical respirator died in her apartment during a power outage, her family says. Elizabeth Ramos had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a group of lung diseases that block airflow, and had been on a respirator since she was 13 years old. But Ramos' family said her respirator, which only runs on electrical power, stopped working Sunday during a blackout at Spring Creek Towers - which is partially owned by Donald Trump. Elizabeth Ramos, 57, died in her Brooklyn apartment on Sunday. Her family claims Ramos, who uses an electrical respirator, died due to a power outage in the building Ramos' daughter said she was sleeping next to her mother at their apartment when she heard a loud beep from the respirator around 5am. She immediately gave Ramos oxygen from backup tanks, but her mother passed out, according to NBC New York. Ramos' daughter called 911 and performed CPR but said it took a long time for emergency responders to arrive. But the FDNY claims that it is unlikely the power outage contributed to Ramos' death. FDNY Deputy Chief Edward Bobb said that Ramos' body showed 'obvious signs of death'. 'It seems the person had been deceased for awhile,' he told the New York Daily News. Ramos' family said her respirator, which only runs on electrical power, stopped working Sunday when the power went out at Spring Creek Towers (pictured) Ramos' daughter said she was sleeping next to her mother at their apartment when she heard a loud beep from the respirator around 5am The entire 5,881-unit apartment complex, which is also known by the name Starrett City, lost power on Sunday morning. Officials said at least six people had to be rescued from elevators and four residents were hospitalized with minor injuries. Power was restored to all the units by 10am. The apartment complex, which operates on its own power grid, suffered a similar power outage almost exactly a year ago, when 30 residents were stranded in elevators during the blackout. It also lost power four times in six months from 2014 to 2015. Brooksville Company, which owns the complex, is planning a $40million overhaul of the power plant. It will include permanent backup generators. More than 1,100 Syrian refugees were brought into Britain in the first three months of this year without a Christian among them. Despite the suffering of Christians during seven years of civil war including persecution by Islamic State all the arrivals were Muslims. And of 4,832 Syrians invited to settle here last year, only 11 were Christian. Turkish soldiers stand guard as Syrian refugees sit with their belongings in Akcakale in 2015 The Barnabas Fund charity, which obtained the figures under Freedom of Information laws, said: 'It is widely accepted that Christians constituted up to 10 per cent of Syria's pre-war population, have been specifically targeted by jihadists and continue to be at risk. 'Yet out of more than 1,000 Syrian refugees resettled in the UK this year there was not a single Christian. 'As last year's statistics more than amply demonstrate this is not a statistical blip. It is significant evidence of discrimination and the Government has a legal duty to take concrete steps to address this.' The 1,112 Syrian refugees admitted to the UK this year were among 1,358 recommended for resettlement by the UN refugee agency UNHCR. Of those picked by the UN agency, four were Christians but none made the final list. Barnabas said UN criteria for resettlement took account of disability and sexual orientation, but did not give priority to those who may be targeted for their religious faith. 'We don't want them to prioritise Christians we want to prioritise people on the basis of their vulnerability,' said Martin Parsons, head of research at Barnabas. Syrian refugees gather as they wait for food near a refugee camp in Bab Al-Salama in 2016 'If someone is gay, the penalty under Sharia law is death but if someone converts from Islam to Christianity, the penalty is also death.' Islamic State fanatics have attacked Christians and churches, as well as carrying out the genocide of Yazidis and other religious minorities. Last week its forces set off bombs in the Syrian city of Sweida, which killed 215 people in an area that blends elements of Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism. The Home Office said: 'The vulnerable persons resettlement scheme prioritises the most vulnerable refugees who have fled the Syrian conflict, regardless of race, religion or ethnicity. 'We are working with the UNHCR and other partners to reach groups that might be reluctant to register for the scheme for fear of discrimination and unaware of the options available to them. 'These groups include all religious minorities.' A century ago, Christians comprised 20 per cent of the population of the Middle East but that number has now been cut to just 4 per cent. Just hours after revealing he had a meeting with the New York Times, Donald Trump has gone on another anti-media tirade. The president claimed that the media was 'driven insane by their Trump Derangement Syndrome' and claimed it was journalists who put lives at risk. His tweets came after the Times' publisher, AG Sulzberger, revealed he met with Trump because he worried the president's anti-media rhetoric was putting journalists' lives in danger. 'When the media - driven insane by their Trump Derangement Syndrome - reveals internal deliberations of our government, it puts the lives of many, not just journalists, at risk!' Trump tweeted on Sunday afternoon. Just hours after revealing he had a meeting with the New York Times, Donald Trump has gone on another anti-media tirade His tirade came after New York Times publisher AG Sulzberger revealed he met with Trump because he worried the president's anti-media rhetoric was putting journalists' lives in danger 'Very unpatriotic! Freedom of the press also comes with a responsibility to report the news accurately.' Trump then went on to claim that '90 percent' of the media coverage surrounding his administration 'is negative despite the tremendously positive results we are achieving'. 'It's no surprise that confidence in the media is at an all time low!' Trump continued. 'I will not allow out great country to be sold out by anti-Trump haters in the dying newspaper industry.' 'No matter how much they try to distract and cover it up, our country is making great progress under my leadership and I will never stop fighting for the American people!' Trump then called out the New York Times by name as well as the Washington Post, which is owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. 'The failing New York Times and the Amazon Washington Post do nothing but write bad stories even on very positive achievements - and they will never change!' he wrote. Sulzberger said his point of attending was 'to raise concerns about the president's deeply troubling anti-press rhetoric' Trump's tirade took on a far different tone than he struck this morning after revealing he had a 'very good and interesting meeting' with Sulzberger at the White House Trump's tirade took on a far different tone than he struck Sunday morning after revealing he had a 'very good and interesting meeting' with Sulzberger at the White House. The president said he spent most of the time 'talking about the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media'. Trump then said it was 'sad' that Fake News, a term he coined, has 'morphed into the phrase "Enemy of the People"'. But the president himself has called the media the 'enemy of the people' on a number of occasions, saying it again just weeks after five Capital Gazette journalists were murdered in Annapolis, Maryland. Sulzberger said he told Trump directly that he 'thought that his language was not just divisive but increasingly dangerous'. 'I told him that although the phrase "fake news" is untrue and harmful, I am far more concerned about his labeling journalists "the enemy of the people,"' Sulzberg said in a statement. According to a Times' spokeswoman, the meeting was meant to be off-the-record but Sulzberger had decided to reply based on the 'detailed notes' he took with editorial page editor, James Bennet, who was also at the meeting. The meeting took place on July 20 at the White House's request, the spokeswoman added. Sulzberger said that he believed Trump's language would lead to violence against journalists and was threatening the concept of a free press. 'I made clear repeatedly that I was not asking for him to soften his attacks on The Times if he felt our coverage was unfair,' he continued. 'Instead, I implored him to reconsider his broader attacks on journalism, which I believe are dangerous and harmful to our country.' The president has called the Times a slew of insults, and 'failing' at least a dozen times despite the paper reporting an increase in subscribers and total revenue Trump has been known to refer to media coverage that portrays him negatively as 'fake news'. The president has also called the Times a slew of insults, and 'failing' at least a dozen times. However, the Times has 2.3 million paid digital subscriptions, up 63.4 percent from one year earlier, according to Fortune. It is also the second-most widely circulated paper in the country behind The Wall Street Journal. Additionally, the Times reported back in February that total revenue for 2017 increased by eight percent to $1.7billion. Following his media tirade, Trump once again began to complain about special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation Sulzberger became publisher in January, replacing his father, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr, who had been publisher since 1992. Following his media tirade, Trump once again began to complain about special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. 'There is No Collusion! The Robert Mueller Rigged Witch Hunt, headed now by 17 (increased from 13, including an Obama White House lawyer) Angry Democrats, was started by a fraudulent Dossier, paid for by Crooked Hillary and the DNC. Therefore, the Witch Hunt is an illegal Scam!' he tweeted. Mueller, it should be noted, is a Republican. He was appointed by US Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, a Republican who was nominated by Trump. Investigators probing the MH370 mystery today said they cannot rule out the possibility it was hijacked as they released a 400-page report into the disappearance of the doomed flight. Officials said the plane, which went missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014 with 239 on board had diverted from its flight path manually rather than due to a mechanical fault while 'interference by a third party' could not be excluded. But angry families of those on board remain without definitive answers to one of aviation's greatest mysteries after experts said they are still unable to say why exactly the Boeing 777 disappeared. Years of investigations have found no firm evidence as to what happened to the Malaysia Airlines plane. Despite the largest ever search of its kind across 46,000 square miles of the Indian Ocean only parts of the aircraft have been found, having washed up on islands off the eastern coast of Africa. This morning, families of missing passengers said the Malaysian government's final report on the aircraft had no new findings and officials said they were 'unable to determine the real reason for the disappearance'. But while finding the plane was airworthy and the pilots were in a fit state to fly, the report did highlight mistakes and protocols and guidelines that were not followed, the families told reporters after a briefing on the report. Investigators say they 'cannot exclude the possibility that there was unlawful interference by a third party' as they released a key report into the the mystery of doomed flight MH370. Sarah Nor (centre), the mother of Norliakmar Hamid, a passenger on missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, break down in tears at the Ministry of Transport headquarters in Putrajaya, Malaysia, today Lead investigator Kok Soo Chon (pictured today) said this morning that the probe had confirmed the plane had turned back under manual control and that 'we cannot exclude the possibility that there was unlawful interference by a third party' Pieces of debris have been found as far away as La Reunion (pictured), but the main body of the plane has still not been located Lead investigator Kok Soo Chon said this morning that the probe had confirmed the plane had turned back under manual control and that 'we cannot exclude the possibility that there was unlawful interference by a third party.' He said this morning: 'We can conclude that MH370 had turned back and the turn back was not because of anomalies in the mechanical system. The turn back was made not under autopilot but under manual control.' However, the team was unable to say why exactly the plane had strayed off its path and disappeared. Lithium battery and mangosteen theory 'highly improbable' The report revealed fresh details about a huge haul of batteries and fruit carried in the hold of flight MH370. A consignment of about 487 lbs of lithium ion batteries was being transported on the plane as part of a Motorola shipment, the report said. According to the Mirror, the report said the 7.4-volt batteries were too big to fit through airport x-ray machines in Kuala Lumpur on the day of the flight - but that the they met all necessary safety standards. It was only months after the plane's disappearance that bigger scanners were brought in, the report said. The plane was also carrying more than 10,000 lbs of mangosteens and there was speculation that extracts from the fruit may have reacted with the batteries and sparked a fire or produced dangerous fumes. But the report appeared to play down this theory. 'There were concerns that the mangosteen extracts could have got into contact with the batteries and produced hazardous fumes or in a worst case scenario caused a short circuit and/or fire,' the report said, according to The Mirror 'This was highly improbable on board MH370 with a comparatively short flight duration and under controlled conditions. 'After carrying out the tests, STRIDE (Science and Technology Research Institute for Defence) was convinced that the two items tested could not be the cause in the disappearance of MH370.' Advertisement Kok said: 'We cannot determine with any certainty the reason the plane diverted from its planned route. The team is unable to determine the real reason for the disappearance.' 'The answer can only be conclusive if the wreckage is found,' he said when asked of they would ever find out what happened on the plane. The report reiterated Malaysia's assertion that the plane was deliberately diverted and flown for more than seven hours after severing communications. Relatives who were briefed at the transport ministry before the report's public release expressed anger that there was nothing new in the document, with some storming out of the briefing as frustration boiled over. 'It is so disappointing,' said Intan Maizura Othman, whose husband was a steward on MH370. 'I am frustrated. There is nothing new in the report. 'Those who gave the briefing from the ministry of transport were not able to give answers as they were not (the ones) who wrote the report.' She said the meeting between relatives and officials descended into a 'shouting match' as family members' frustration boiled over. 'Many asked questions,' said G. Subramaniam, who lost a son on the flight, but added that 'unsatisfactory responses left many angry'. One area that came in for criticism in the report by the 19-member investigation team, which included foreign investigators, was air traffic control. It said both Malaysian air traffic control and their Vietnamese counterparts failed to act properly when the Boeing jet passed from Malaysian to Vietnamese airspace and disappeared from radars. Air traffic controllers did not initiate emergency procedures in a timely fashion, delaying the start of the search and rescue operation, it said. However it played down concerns about the pilot and first officer, saying neither appeared to have suffered difficulties in their personal lives that could have affected their ability to fly. It also said the plane was airworthy and did not have major technical issues. This however meant that the plane's change of course 'was likely made while the aircraft was under manual control and not the autopilot', the report said. Intervention by a third party could not be ruled out, it said, but also added there was no evidence to suggest the plane was flown by anyone other than the pilots. The report also dismissed one conspiracy theory about the plane's disappearance - that it was taken over remotely to foil a hijacking, saying there was no evidence to support this. The report reiterated Malaysia's assertion that the plane was deliberately diverted and flown for more than seven hours after severing communications This morning, families of passengers said the report (pictured) had no new findings on the reason for the plane's mysterious disappearance Grace Subathirai Nathan (centre), daughter of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 passenger Anne Daisy, speaks during a press conference after being presented with the final investigation report on the missing flight, in Putrajaya, outside Kuala Lumpur, today Experts believe someone may have deliberately switched off MH370's transponder before diverting it over the Indian Ocean. The last communication from the plane was from the Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah who signed off with 'Good night, Malaysian three seven zero', as the plane left the Malaysian airspace. A 440-page final report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) last year showed that Zaharie had flown a route on his home flight simulator six weeks earlier that was 'initially similar' to the one actually taken by MH370. A forensic report by the Malaysian police previously concluded that there were no unusual activities other than game-related flight simulations. Kok said the investigators examined the history of the pilot and the first officer, and they were satisfied with their background and training and mental health. 'We are not of the opinion it could have been an event committed by the pilots,' he said, but added they were not ruling out any possibility since the in-air turn back was done manually and the systems in the plane were also manually turned off. 'We cannot exclude that there was an unlawful interference by a third party,' Kok said. He added all the passengers of the 15 countries had their backgrounds checked by their respective countries and all came back with a clean bill of health. Voice 370, a group representing the relatives, has previously urged the Malaysian government for a review of the flight, including 'any possible falsification or elimination of records related to MH370 and its maintenance'. The report also dismissed one conspiracy theory about the plane's disappearance - that it was taken over remotely to foil a hijacking, saying there was no evidence to support this Only three confirmed fragments of MH370 have been found, all of them on western Indian Ocean shores, including a two-metre wing part known as a flaperon The families said the report pointed to mistakes by the Malaysian air traffic control (ATC) centre. It showed there were only two attempted phone calls made to the aircraft from the ground, four to five hours apart. The Malaysian Minister of Transport Anthony Loke had earlier said the report would be released on Monday after families of those on board were briefed. 'Every word recorded by the investigation team will be tabled in this report,' he said. 'It will be tabled fully, without any editing, additions or redactions.' More than four years after the aircraft vanished on March 8, 2014, investigators have had little luck in finding the wreckage of the plane that vanished with 227 passengers on-board, plus the captain, co-pilot and 10 crew. Only three confirmed fragments of MH370 have been found, all of them on western Indian Ocean shores, including a two-metre wing part known as a flaperon. Malaysia's new government, which took power in May, has said the hunt could be resumed but only if new evidence comes to light and officials have seemed keen to draw under a line the tragedy. Captain Shah, who was going through a marriage breakup, is believed to have downed the aircraft in an act of murder-suicide, by diverting from the flight path and plunging into the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Western Australia. The four-year search for MH370 ended in May after the US-based technology firm Ocean Infinity failed to locate the plane while canvassing 125,000sq/km of the Indian Ocean. Malaysia had signed a 'no find, no fee' deal with Ocean Infinity to resume the hunt for the plane after the official search led by Australia, Malaysia and China was called off in early 2017. Several theories have emerged about how the plane disappeared, with some suggesting the plane was hijacked and others believing someone on board may have deliberately turned off the plane's transponder before diverting it over the Indian Ocean. A six-year-old boy has miraculously survived being bitten by one of the world's most venomous snakes twice in just over a week. Joel Canning was playing outside his family home in Wongan Hills, 180km north of Perth, seven months ago when he was bitten by a deadly western brown snake. He survived after being flown to the state capital for treatment, but eight days later he was bitten again, by the same species of snake, on the same street. Scroll down for video A six-year-old boy (pictured) has miraculously survived being bitten by one of the world's most venomous snakes twice in just over a week Joel's mother Pippa said her son came calmly inside after being bitten the first time and told her he had a question, Seven News reported. 'If you get bitten by a venomous snake in Australia do you go to heaven?' Joel asked. The quick-thinking six-year-old knew not to panic, and said he walked slowly so as not to move the venom through his bloodstream. Joel then collapsed and started convulsing before his parents rushed him to hospital. 'His eyes were rolling back. He was hissing and I knew he wasn't getting enough oxygen,' Pippa said. Then just over a week later Joel survived being bitten again, possibly thanks to still having anti-venom in his system from the first bite. Joel Canning (pictured) was playing outside his family home in Wongan Hills, 180km north of Perth, seven months ago when he was bitten by a deadly western brown snake He survived after being flown to the state capital for treatment, but eight days later he was bitten again, by the same species of snake, on the same street (stock image) 'I thought I was going to survive again because I survived the first time, and I did,' Joel said. Joel was also lucky that the local hospital is located at the end of his street just minutes away, and stocks anti-venom for the western brown. Months later Joel still suffers anxiety due to fears he may be bitten again, and his family is calling for others to learn first aid. The ground-dwelling western brown snake is native to Australia and grows up to 1.8metres long. Extremely aggressive, especially when cornered, the western brown can be deliver a deadly bite, but is less venomous than its relative, the eastern brown. The rise of the driverless car could lead to city centre car parks being turned into houses, the Government has said. Transport minister Jesse Norman said the use of self-driving vehicles and shared travel could allow most high street parking spaces to be removed. This is because automated cars would be able to drive off to car parks outside city centres once they have dropped their owners off at work or the shops. Automated cars would be able to drive off to car parks outside city centres once they have dropped their owners off at work or the shops (file picture) This would free up space for potentially hundreds of thousands of new homes in urban areas solving the housing crisis. The idea is contained in a consultation document on the 'future of mobility'. It paints a picture of a futuristic world with 'aerial passenger vehicles' appearing in urban areas. Ministers have already said they expect to see fully self-driving cars on UK roads by 2021. The document said: 'The potential increased use of self-driving vehicles and shared travel could also allow the majority of parking spaces to be removed in city centres, opening areas up for redevelopment and potentially hundreds of thousands of new urban homes.' The rise of the driverless car could lead to city centre car parks being turned into houses Shared travel such as car pools would obviously mean fewer vehicles need to be parked. And as well as being capable of going elsewhere to be parked, driverless cars also require less parking space because they can pack more tightly together. This is because there is no need in the car park for people to be able to gain entry via a door. The cars can also signal to other vehicles to move out of the way when they need to get out of the car park. Mr Norman confirmed 12.1million of funding for six projects working on simulation and modelling to aid the development of 'connected and autonomous vehicles'. He said: 'This call for evidence marks just one stage in our push to make the most of these inviting opportunities.' Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said services on Northern Rail were still poor Theresa May is facing calls to end the chaos affecting thousands of rail passengers in the North. In a strongly-worded letter, the Mayor of Greater Manchester said services on Northern Rail continued to be poor despite repeated calls for action from Transport Secretary Chris Grayling. Labour's Andy Burnham pointed out there were almost 1,200 full or part cancellations of services in Lancashire and Cumbria in just three weeks following the introduction of an emergency timetable in June. He also said that Merseyside services into Manchester and Wigan had suffered 991 cancellations. Mr Burnham said he had no choice but to ask the Prime Minister to intervene. He said passengers were left in the lurch yesterday when Northern emailed customers to inform them it expected about 47 services to be withdrawn, including from Liverpool to Manchester Airport, to ensure trains were in the right depots this morning. He said passengers were left in the lurch yesterday when Northern emailed customers to inform them it expected about 47 services to be withdrawn 'It is frankly outrageous for emails to be dispatched at 9pm on a Saturday night telling people that there will be a much-reduced service the following day,' he said. 'People heading to Manchester Airport to go on holiday will have been left stranded as will others with work and family commitments. Passengers cannot be left in the lurch like this. 'This is no way to run a railway and we cannot continue to put up with a rail service provided when the operators can be bothered. 'People's lives are being badly affected by this chaos and the Government cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the plight of Northern commuters. Mr Burnham said he had no choice but to ask Prime Minister Theresa May (above) to intervene 'There are only so many times that I can call on Chris Grayling to do his job and help rail passengers in the North. 'He has failed to deliver on his promise to make sorting out rail chaos here his top priority and that is why I feel have no choice but to ask the Prime Minister to intervene.' Mr Burnham invited Mrs May to visit Greater Manchester to speak to commuters about the 'detrimental effect this chaos is having on their lives'. Last week the leaders of Trafford Council and Tameside Council said Mr Grayling should be sacked. Mike Pence says he is 'sickened and appalled' by those who covered an Indiana synagogue with Nazi graffiti over the weekend. The vice president took to Twitter Sunday to condemn the 'cowardly act' of anti-Semetism toward Congregation Shaarey Tefilla, where many of his 'good friends' attend. 'Those responsible must be held accountable. These vile acts of anti-Semitism must end,' he wrote, as other politicians have spoken out against the vandalism. Police are now searching for whoever is responsible for defacing two of the synagogue's walls with large Nazi flags and iron crosses. The Congregation Shaarey Tefilla was vandalized Saturday with Nazi graffiti Vice President Mike Pence took to Twitter to condemn the 'vile' acts Congregation Shaarey Tefilla in Carmel says the vandalism was done early Saturday to the bricks making up a shed for the synagogue's garbage container. The synagogue said its Saturday services weren't affected. Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard on Sunday condemned the vandalism and said the city's police department was seeking to apprehend those responsible. Brainard said in a statement: 'There is no place for this kind of hatred in Carmel and it does not reflect the respectful and welcoming nature of the vast majority of our residents who come from many different cultural and faith backgrounds. 'As we are reminded each year during our city's Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony, we must never forget and never stop fighting against the hatred that led to the murder of 6 million Jews. These images that represent the ideas that led to those crimes are not reflective of what our City stands for.' The Indianapolis Jewish Community Relations Council says it has been in contact with police agencies and area synagogues to ensure necessary steps were being taken to further secure their facilities. The Congregation Shaarey Tefilla released a statement after the incident saying they are workign with the Carmel Police and other Jewish communities 'to ensure that they are aware of the event and can take appropriate measures.' US Rep Susan Brooks joined the vice president in condemning the vandalism US Senator Joe Donnelly said there is 'no place for anti-Semitism, bigotry, or hatred US Senator Joe Donnelly, US Rep Susan Brooks also took to Twitter to condemn the anti-Semetic act. 'I condemn the vandalism at Congregation Shaarey Tefilla. There is no place for anti-Semitism, bigotry, or hatred in our communities, state, and country,' Donnely wrote. Brookes said she is 'disgusted by this despicable and hatefule act of antisemitism.' 'I stand firmly with our Jewish community,' she wrote. Meanwhile the American Jewish Committee is stands 'in solidarity with Congregation Shaarey Tefilla and the Jewish community of Carmel, Indiana.' The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a national Muslim civil rights organization, released a statementon Sunday. 'We condemn this act of hate targeting a house of worship and express the solidarity of American Muslims with the Jewish community in Indiana at a time of growing anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry nationwide,' spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said. Terrifying 'zombie' knives can be bought online in Australia for as little as $12.99 without any background checks. The knives, which are banned in the UK, can be bought on several websites without shoppers being asked any questions. The deadly weapons influenced by horror movies have no minimum age checks at the time of purchasing. Terrifying zombie knives can be bought online in Australia with no questions asked or alarms raised including a three piece 'zombie head throwers' (pictured) The deadly weapons influenced by horror movies, including this machete (pictured), have no minimum age checks at the time of purchasing, leading to a national 'zombie' crisis Many of the knives feature blood splatter graphics up the blade of the knife and have a green handle, serrated edges and are inspired by machetes and hunting daggers. Some of the weapons include 'neck knives', 'brute zombie slayer fixed blade knives', 'zombie tanto bowie machetes', 'zombie apocalypse combat fighter military knives', 'throwing axes', and 'killer machetes' which are sold for $12.99. A 24-inch Renegade Zombie Killer Machete is sold online for $39 and has a 'very sharp' blade. Z-Hunter Zombie Tactical Knives, which are 12 inches long, can also be purchased as a set of three blades for as little as $35. Another website is selling the dangerous weapons including the Z-Hunter three piece Zombie Head Throwers with postage within one business day - excluding Victoria or South Australia. New South Wales Police Minister Troy Grant said they had concerns about the 'zombie knives' which have quickly become a 'status symbol' in gangs. New South Wales Police Minister Troy Grant said they had concerns about the 'zombie knives' which have quickly become a 'status symbol' in gangs and are banned in the UK (pictured) 'NSW is aware of developments in the UK and will be reviewing our already strong laws to determine whether any changes are required,' he told the Daily Telegraph. 'Nobody wants to see any of these shocking incidents happen in our community. The NSW government is determined to ensure that community safety is maintain and the behaviour of juveniles does not escalate.' A number of people have been stabbed or killed from knife attacks across the country this month alone. On Thursday, pregnant woman Pei-Jiun Cheah, was allegedly stabbed by a 14-year-old boy during a violent attack at her home at Mt Colah, in Sydney's north. The Pilates instructor suffered wounds to her stomach - just missing the unborn child. The boy has been charged with attempted murder. Police are encouraging shop workers to detain thieves themselves with a 'citizen's arrest', sparking an angry backlash from critics who accuse them of asking civilians to do their job for them. Several forces have outlined how employees can take the law into their own hands, saying shoplifters can be detained if they are 'reasonably suspected' of committing a crime. There is a suspicion that a spike in offences is being fuelled by hardcore shoplifters who have little fear of being caught. Bournemouth sweet shop owner John Keppie, 31, was warned he could be breaking the law after putting up 'wanted' posters of thieves in his windows Shocking figures have revealed thefts from shops have risen by almost a third over the past decade. Businesses across England and Wales recorded more than 382,100 last year more than 1,000 every day. Yet the majority of police forces refuse to attend incidents if the goods stolen are worth less than 200. Victims are instead told to report the crime online or via the non-emergency number 101 for 'intelligence' only, meaning it is unlikely to be investigated. The row comes after a Bournemouth sweet shop owner was warned he could be breaking the law after putting up 'wanted' posters of thieves in his windows. John Keppie, 31, took the drastic action after officers failed to investigate a string of thefts caught on his CCTV cameras. Now it has emerged that forces are pointing out to business owners that they can arrest suspects themselves a departure from years of police advice which said victims of crime should always dial 999. Guidelines published in Devon and Cornwall, Essex and Northamptonshire highlight the power of a citizen's arrest. Emphasising that 'personal safety is your first concern', the guidelines add: 'You can (make an) arrest if you know that an offence has taken place and reasonably suspect the person has committed it. 'You can only exercise your citizen's power of arrest when it is not reasonably practical for a police officer to make that arrest for you. In all cases you can use reasonable force to make the suspect comply with your instructions.' The guidelines are in contrast to other forces, including Thames Valley and the Metropolitan Police, which urge shoplifting victims to dial 999 if 'politely' asking the suspect to replace the goods does not work. James Lowman, chief executive of the Association of Convenience Stores, said: 'Many retailers have to deal with shop theft on a regular basis, and in far too many cases challenging thieves leads to abuse and violence. 'The police need to respond to theft rather than putting shop owners and staff at further risk when making citizen's arrests. Any indication that retailers are being left on their own to deal with potentially dangerous criminals is irresponsible.' The British Retail Consortium said it was 'plainly unacceptable' that more than 50 workers were injured every day. It wants the Government to create a new offence of assaulting or threatening a retail worker as part of the Offensive Weapons Bill. The National Police Chiefs' Council said forces continued to 'work closely' with retailers to 'deter shoplifters and prevent thefts'. The law states that anyone can make a citizen's arrest if they suspect someone of committing a serious offence but it is not a decision to be taken lightly. In doing so, they will be protected by law if they use 'reasonable force' to detain an individual until police arrive. Examples of when a citizen's arrest could be appropriate include 'preventing injury' or stopping 'loss or damage to property'. Unlike a police arrest, there is no specific wording that should be used but the person should be told why they are being held. In general, the courts have been sympathetic to citizens trying to stop others from breaking the law, but the number of citizen's arrests has fallen dramatically. In 2002, more than 14,000 were recorded in London. In 2011, the last year for which figures are available, there were fewer than 2,000. The United Nations has been accused of failing victims of sexual abuse carried out by its peacekeepers. More than 1,700 allegations have been made against its personnel both military and civilian over the past 15 years. Yet despite promises of action only 53 uniformed peacekeepers and one civilian peacekeeper have ever been sent to prison for sexual offences. And a Channel 4 documentary will claim this week that 32 fresh allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse have been levelled against its forces this year. More than 1,700 allegations have been made against United Nations personnel both military and civilian over the past 15 years. Pictured: A file image of a UN camp Tony Banbury, who resigned from the UN in 2016 after spending more than 20 years overseeing its relief and peacekeeping missions, painted a bleak picture of the organisation. He said: 'The reality is there is no guarantee of criminal accountability for someone who commits rape inside the UN peacekeeping mission, despite a lot of effort by a lot of people and a strong commitment by the top reaches of the UN. The systems in place now are full of holes.' One victim, Daniella from the Central African Republic, told the documentary that a French peacekeeper took her off the street. 'They grabbed me, took me inside the house. After they took me inside, they took my clothes off, threw me down, had sex with me, then took me outside and told me to go.' Her family said they did not know how to make a complaint to UN officials, so her rape went unrecorded. Another victim, Manda, who was 11 at the time she was attacked, said that she was 'grabbed by force' when she was on her way to the market to get flour. 'I don't know why he chose me', she said. 'After he had sex with me he gave me money and told me not to talk about it. It was in the second month I got pregnant.' The United Nations, which has its headquarter in New York (pictured), has been accused of failing victims of sexual abuse carried out by its peacekeepers The UN commander in the Central African Republic, Lieutenant General Balla Keita, admitted: 'We have very good people, we have people that are so-so, we've got bad people and we've got very bad people.' Didier Bourguet was jailed for two rapes but admitted having sex with 20 or 25 children when he was working for the UN in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2004. Valerie, who was 14 when Bourguet raped her at a hotel, said: 'The first time he gave me $2, the second time $5, another time $15. 'I was still young. I felt very bad because he was my father's age. My heart is not content. This person has ruined my life.' Another girl, Mauricette, was 17 when she was drugged and gang raped by Mauritian UN peacekeepers. She told the programme: 'I fell to the ground and lost consciousness. I woke up in the Samaritan hospital. That was when I was told what had happened to me. 'After that I stopped doing many of the things I used to do. I can't walk outside like I used to. I am condemned to stay at home.' A UN spokesman told Channel 4 it would 'work to ensure sexual harassment is never tolerated and abusers are held to account'. Allegations have been made over peacekeeping missions from Cambodia to Bosnia and from DR Congo to Haiti. The UN Sex Abuse Scandal is on Channel 4 on Wednesday at 10.30pm. The foreign aid budget should be used to help persuade illegal migrants to return to their countries of origin, a report says today. Small grants could help them set up in business back home, offering them an incentive to leave the UK voluntarily rather than fight deportation. A report by the centre-Right think-tank Policy Exchange urges ministers to adopt a 'carrot and stick' approach to removing tens of thousands of illegal migrants. Small grants could help illegal migrants set up in business back home, offering them an incentive to leave the UK voluntarily rather than fight deportation (file picture) A system of 'voluntary returns' already offers payments of up to 2,000 to help them 're-integrate' in their home country. But today's report suggests cash from the 14billion overseas aid budget could also be used to provide a greater incentive. The study notes that voluntary returns are far cheaper than the 11,000 average cost of removing someone against their will. It says ministers 'should be doing everything possible to encourage people to leave voluntarily, including offering more money'. It adds: 'The Home Office should consider a joint scheme with the Department for International Development to help returnees set up businesses in their countries of origin.' The report calls on ministers to use Britain's departure from the EU to reset the immigration system and get to grips with illegal arrivals. It suggests the new ID registration system for EU citizens after Brexit should also be rolled out to British citizens to avoid another Windrush scandal. The idea of a national ID system for UK citizens is controversial, with many opposing it on civil liberties grounds. The Home Office said they are 'pursuing an ambitious programme of reform at the border' A 5billion national identity card scheme was introduced by the last Labour government in 2006 but a Bill to scrap it was the first legislation introduced by Theresa May when she became home secretary in 2010. EU citizens already in the UK will have to pay 65 and join a registration scheme if they wish to stay in the country after the end of the transition period on December 31, 2020. In the report, Policy Exchange's David Goodhart suggests that the scheme should be widened to Britons, initially on a voluntary basis. He said: 'We strongly recommend reopening the debate about ID management to reassure people that we know who is in the country, for how long and what their entitlements are. A proper national ID system would have prevented the harassment of the Windrush victims.' In a controversial recommendation, the report also suggests a form of amnesty for thousands of migrants who have been in the country illegally for more than a decade. Mr Goodhart said: 'While a general amnesty for the estimated 500,000 illegal residents here would send the wrong signal, some form of regularisation should also be considered for those who have been here for more than ten years, who are now parts of their communities with ties to the UK and often become the focus of grassroots campaigns.' A Home Office spokesman said: 'We are pursuing an ambitious programme of reform at the border.' Environment Secretary Michael Gove wants chief executives to explain why they have not met targets on cutting leakages A 'furious' Michael Gove has summoned water bosses to a meeting to explain why they have failed to tackle leaky pipes. As Britain struggles to cope with the dry summer, the Environment Secretary wants chief executives to explain why they have not met targets on cutting leakages. Total leakage went up by 2 per cent last year, from 3,123 million litres per day in 2016/17 to 3,183 million litres per day in 2017/18. Eight of the 18 English water companies - including Thames and Yorkshire - missed their targets last year, and will be invited to the meeting. Mr Gove said customers expect a 'reliable and resilient water supply' amid low levels in some reservoirs and the introduction by North West supplier United Utilities of a hosepipe ban from August 5. It comes as farmers were also due to meet with government officials for a 'drought summit' to discuss the effect on the country's food supplies of the extensive heatwave that has scorched the UK. The first half of the summer in the UK has been the driest since 1961 with Thursday and Friday's wet weather and storms the first rainfall in weeks. Total leakage went up by 2 per cent last year, from 3,123 million litres per day in 2016/17 to 3,183 million litres per day in 2017/18 (file picture) Mr Gove said that firms 'have much more to do to tackle leakage', adding: 'That is why I have repeatedly made clear that companies must improve and recently wrote to them to outline my expectations during this period of dry weather. 'Next week I will ask the chief executives of the water companies that have failed to meet their leakage targets to a meeting at Defra to discuss how they are going to address this serious issue and improve their performance.' Thames have already received a 55million leakage performance penalty, in addition to agreeing a 65 million fine for poor leakage performance. The average loss of supply - minutes lost due to interruptions - increased from 10 minutes in 2016/17 to 22 minutes in 2017/18. The eight companies which missed their targets were Bristol, Cambridge, Essex & Suffolk, Portsmouth, Severn Trent, South Staffs, Thames, and Yorkshire. United Utilities has previously been accused of 'wasting' 430 million litres of water every day from leakages. The GMB union said earlier this month that its research showed that United Utilities was allowing 175 Olympic-sized swimming pools' worth of water to go 'down the plughole' every day. The company said at the time that 'reducing leaks is a top priority'. Irrigation water shortages, a lack of fresh forage for animals and growing conditions for cereal crops are among issues that will be discussed at separate talks chaired by National Farmers' Union president Minette Batters. She will sit down on Wednesday with officials from Defra and a wide array of rural agencies, plus figures from farming charities after a July that has seen England receive just 15% of its long-term average rainfall. Ms Batters described the situation as 'hugely challenging' for all sectors of farming, warning that the thunderstorms and showers some areas are receiving 'won't mitigate the many issues farmers are experiencing'. She said: 'There could be serious concerns for many farmers if this extended spell of warmer, drier weather continues as the long-range forecast suggests.' A woman has been charged with manslaughter and high-range drink-driving after allegedly mowing down and killing her de facto partner. The 56-year-old man was found dead at Wamuran, north of Brisbane, at about 7pm on Saturday after he was hit by a car in his driveway. The 52-year-old woman has been charged with manslaughter and high-range drink-driving after allegedly recording a blood alcohol level of 0.241 per cent. Scroll down for video A woman has been charged with manslaughter and high-range drink-driving after allegedly mowing down and killing her de facto partner Jeremy Sherlock, a Wamuran local, told Nine News the victim had previously threatened him with violence. 'He come over here with a steel bar once - at 4.30pm on Saturday afternoon, you know - going off, saying turn the music down and that,' he said. 'I've heard him in the past abusing and yelling at his missus a lot - a lot of confrontation there.' The woman will appear in Caboolture Magistrates Court on Monday. More to come. Jeremy Corbyn has made his party a home for 'overt anti-Semites', the Board of Deputies of British Jews said last night in its strongest statement yet. Marie van der Zyl, the board's president, accused him of leading Labour into a 'dark place of ugly conspiracy theories'. She said Labour could no longer be called an anti-racist party because it was actively blocking measures to tackle hatred and punishing those who speak out against anti-Semitism. Jeremy Corbyn faced mounting anger over Labour's anti-Semitism row last night as it emerged the dispute has led to a bizarre call to throw him off his allotment Marie van der Zyl, the board's president, accused him of leading Labour into a 'dark place of ugly conspiracy theories' As the Labour crisis deepened, one MP accused Mr Corbyn of not being fit to be leader after the party started disciplinary action against him. Ian Austin, the adopted child of Jewish refugees, was sent a disciplinary letter after rowing with Labour chairman Ian Lavery over its failure to properly tackle anti-Semitism in the party. Mr Austin hit back yesterday, saying Mr Corbyn had spent his whole career on the 'extreme fringes' defending anti-Semites. It came as a video emerged of the Labour leader blaming an Islamist terror attack in Egypt on the 'hand of Israel' in 2012. The Campaign Against Anti-Semitism put in a complaint to the Labour Party about the comment. The MP, Ian Austin (pictured) a former No 10 aide to Gordon Brown, has been warned he could be kicked out of the party after a slanging match with Labour chairman Ian Lavery And Labour MP Luciana Berger, who is Jewish, attacked an anti-Semitic tweet saying Jewish people can leave the UK if Mr Corbyn becomes Prime Minister. A Twitter user called Peter Arif wrote: 'When JC wins next GE if Jewish people aren't happy they will be welcome to leave the UK.' Ms Berger said the remark was 'unpleasant and nasty' and it would 'keep me awake at night'. The threat against Mr Austin comes a week after the party launched a disciplinary inquiry into Labour veteran Margaret Hodge for rowing with Mr Corbyn and calling him an anti-Semite. The two MPs were angry with Labour refusing to adopt the full definition of anti-Semitism as laid down by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. Last week the UK's three main Jewish newspapers united to publish the same front page, warning that a Corbyn-led government would pose an 'existential threat to Jewish life'. In a statement, Mrs van der Zyl said: 'Even by Labour's low standards, the last few days since the unprecedented joint banner headline by our community's leading newspapers have been utterly shameful. 'One Labour councillor has been suspended for saying that Jews drink blood; another has blamed Mossad for Jeremy Corbyn's self-inflicted poll woes. 'A video has emerged of Jeremy Corbyn himself indulging in conspiracy theories about Israel being behind terrorism in Egypt on the Iranian regime's propaganda station Press TV. 'Disciplinary action has been taken against two MPs who have expressed frustration about the party's approach to anti-Semitism, while the party machine cannot seem to stir itself to take any action on egregious longstanding complaints of racism.' ...and he faces call to lose his beloved allotment By Mario Ledwith for the Daily Mail The storm over anti-Semitism in Labour has turned even dirtier with a call for Jeremy Corbyn to be thrown off his beloved allotment. It has emerged that the leader of Barnet Council in north London, where Mr Corbyn has cultivated fruit and vegetables for many years, has suggested the punishment is doled out for the Labour leader's failure to tackle the crisis. Although Mr Corbyn lives in neighbouring Islington, which he also represents in Parliament, his thriving and well-tended allotment is located within the Conservative-controlled borough of Barnet, which also has one of the largest Jewish populations in the country. Council leader Richard Cornelius raised question marks about the allotment following Mr Corbyn's clash with veteran Labour MP Margaret Hodge, who called him a 'racist and anti-Semite'. The borough found itself at the centre of the anti-Semitism row earlier this year when senior Labour figures blamed it for their failure to topple the Tories at the local council elections, and Mr Corbyn cancelled a planned visit. The threat to his allotment came after Barnet councillor John Marshall, a former Tory MP, said that Mr Corbyn should be invited to Barnet to discuss 'the scourge of anti-Semitism, in the interests of community cohesion and wellbeing'. According to council minutes seen by The Mail on Sunday, Mr Cornelius added: 'This would be helpful. Margaret Hodge MP has labelled Jeremy Corbyn an anti-Semite. I wonder whether he should still have a Barnet allotment.' Barnet's deputy leader, Daniel Thomas, told the paper: 'The council leader is right to question whether Mr Corbyn should have an allotment in Barnet. 'He doesn't even live here and his inaction on anti-Semitism offends many Barnet residents.' Barnet Council, however, does not run the 45 allotments in the borough, with the land instead leased to a collection of allotment societies for a peppercorn rent. Each allotment society is responsible for issues relating to its individual holders, including any complaints and the allocation of its plots. East Finchley Allotments, which administers Mr Corbyn's. Advertisement She added: 'Jeremy Corbyn is leading the Labour Party into a dark place of ugly conspiracy theories and it has become a home for overt anti-Semites and anti-Semitism. In 2018, Labour is not only a party with extravagant levels of tolerance for anti-Semitism but one which deliberately obstructs measures to counter hatred and punishes those who speak out against it. 'Jeremy Corbyn needs to lead Labour out of this deep abyss and urgently demonstrate to the world Labour can return to being an anti-racist party.' Mr Austin is facing possible suspension after a public row with the party's chairman Mr Lavery. The MP for Dudley North said it was a 'heated discussion' about how the party tackles anti-Semitism. But he denied he had been 'screaming' abuse. Mr Austin told Radio 4 that he could not support Mr Corbyn as leader because he had spent his political career in the 'extreme fringes' of the party, 'supporting and defending all sorts of extremists and in some cases, frankly, anti-Semites.' 'That's why I think now that somebody with views and history like his isn't really suited to the leadership of a mainstream political party,' he said. 'Am I upset about anti-Semitism? Yes I am. And I'm upset as well about the leadership's failure, I think refusal really, to deal with this properly. I grew up listening to my dad tell me how he'd escaped from the Holocaust and how his mum and sisters were murdered. 'That led to me joining the Labour Party as a teenager determined to fight racism.' In the 2012 interview with Press TV, an Iranian channel banned from operating in the UK, Mr Corbyn was asked about an Islamist terrorist attack in which 16 Egyptian police officers were killed. He said: 'In whose interests is it to destabilise the new government in Egypt? In whose interest is it to kill Egyptians, other than Israel, concerned at the growing closeness of relationship between Palestine and the new Egyptian government?' Mr Corbyn then added: 'I suspect the hand of Israel in this whole process of destabilisation.' The Campaign Against Anti-Semitism said it was making a disciplinary complaint about the matter to the Labour Party. Last night a Labour spokesman said: 'Jeremy Corbyn has made clear he is a militant opponent of anti-Semitism and is absolutely committed to tackling it.' On Mr Austin, he said the MP had been sent a warning letter in response to a complaint about his conduct towards Mr Lavery. He said: 'The Labour Party takes all complaints extremely seriously. These are fully investigated in line with party rules and procedures.' On the comments on Egypt, he said: 'Jeremy's speculation about the perpetrators of attacks on Egyptian border guards was based on previous well documented incidents of killings of Egyptian forces by the Israeli military.' The Hollywood Walk of Fame star dedicated to Trump at the height of his Apprentice fame in 2007 has become a hotbed for political unrest since he declared his candidacy for president in 2015. January 2016 - Swastika Someone spray painted a reverse swastika - the symbol of the Nazi party -on the star. The Anti-Defamation League, whose mission is to stop the defamation of Jewish people, explains the distinction between forward and reverse-facing swastikas, as follows: 'The swastika as adopted by the Nazis has "arms" that hook to the right; later white supremacists maintained this tradition. 'Though sometimes more ignorant white supremacists accidentally render swastikas "backwards," the backwards or left-pointing swastika is typically the hallmark of someone not actually that familiar with white supremacist iconography.' May 2016 - Golden toilet A gold-colored toilet featuring the words: 'Take A Trump' spray painted on the tank was placed by the star in May of 2016 as part of a larger art installation. It was created in reference to the Guggenheim offering to loan the president a golden toilet after turning down a request for a specific piece of Van Gogh art June 2016 - Mute symbol The star was spray painted with the symbol for 'mute', which has a speaker with an X over it. Speculation around the spray painting of the 'mute' sign included the possibility that it was meant to protest Trump's antagonistic language used during his campaign. That incident was video taped and posted on YouTube with the title, 'Trump muted in Hollywood blvd.' July 2016 - Miniature wall In response to Trump's campaign promise to build a wall at the Mexico border, LA-based street artist Plastic Jesus erected a small wall around his star in July 2016. The 6-in-high concrete wall is topped with razor wire, miniature American flags and is decorated with 'Keep Out' signs written in both Spanish and English. October 2016 - Pick ax incident #1 Right before Trump was elected president, a man named James Otis dressed as a construction worker and took a pick ax and a sledge hammer to the star. Otis said his goal was to remove the star, auction it, and donate any money raised to the women who accused Trump of sexual assault leading up to the presidential election. Otis pleaded no contest to a felony vandalism charge related to the incident in February 2017, was placed on probation, sentenced to 20 days of community service and ordered to pay $4,400 in damages and lawyers fees. June 2017 - Permanent marker While getting scribbled on with permanent marker definitely is tame compared to the other vandalism to the star, an incident went viral in 2017 after a woman tweeted photos of herself cleaning the star with the caption: 'Nothing but respect for my president.' The caption was quickly turned into a meme with people tweeting photos of themselves with other stars on the Walk of Fame. July 2018 - George Lopez 'peeing' The was caught on video crouching next to the brass plaque on Hollywood Boulevard as a stream of water flowed from between his legs. However, on closer inspection Lopez - whose face was scrunched up in a mock grimace - was carrying a small bottle of water which he was using to mimic the act. Several Trump supporter's called for his arrest for public indecency, but police confirmed he had not actually done anything illegal July 2018 - Pick ax incident #2 Police received a call about vandalism to the star at around 3.30am on July 25, Los Angeles Police Officer Ray Brown told DailyMail.com. Austin Clay, 24, turned himself in to the Beverly Hills Police Department an hour later at 4.30am. Clay was booked on suspicion of felony vandalism and was being held on $20,000 bail before his predecessor Otis came to spring him free. Clay's girlfriend has said she didn't know of his plans to destroy the star but that he had been vocal about his dislike of the president. Texas is seen above when it was part of Mexico before it became an independent republic in 1836 Historical records of human settlement of the area known today as Texas begin in the year 1519, when Spanish conquistadors arrived. At the time, the region was inhabited by Native Americans, whose presence there stretched back thousands of years. The area was claimed by explorer Alonso Alvarez de Pineda for Spain, but it was ignored for over 160 years. In the 1680s, a French nobleman, Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle established a colony in Texas. When the Spanish king learned about the French colonization of the area, he ordered his troops to retake Texas, which they did in 1689. Spanish colonizers managed to fend off French attempts to remove them from the area. In 1762, France relinquished claims to Texas and ceded all of Louisiana west of the Mississippi River to Spain. The Spaniards called the area New Spain which encompassed present-day Texas and other parts of the Southwest United States; all of present-day Mexico and Central America; and a slice of South America. Three decades later, Spain gave Louisiana back to France, which held on to it for just a short time. In 1803, Napoleon sold Louisiana to the United States, which insisted that the entire area also consisted of West Florida and Texas. When Mexico became independent in 1821, it ended the rule of New Spain in North America and incorporated Texas into its territory. Texas at the time was merged with the state Coahuila to form the entity known as Coahuila y Tejas. Because the newly formed government of Mexico needed money, it allowed immigrants from the United States to resettle in its territory. One of the leading American settlers allowed into Mexico was Stephen F. Austin. Many of the American settlers owned slaves, and the Mexican government was initially willing to tolerate slave-owning for a limited period of time. But in 1830, Mexicos president, Anastasio Bustamente, ordered all slaves in the territory be set free. He also banned new immigrants from the United States and instituted strict new laws against American settlers. The settlers, in turn, revolted, and Texans declared their independence. In 1836, the settlers managed to evict the Mexican army and the Republic of Texas was born. Nine years later, the U.S. Congress passed a bill authorizing the annexation of the Republic of Texas, if it chose to join the Union. The residents of Texas approved a new constitution making the republic a state. Billionaire playboy Diego Novella was found guilty of the horrific murder and desecration of his American girlfriend Gabriella Alban on June 28. The 44-year-old had strangled and smashed in the marketing executive's skull after downing a massive cocktail of drugs at their $1,300-a-night hotel villa in Cape Town on July 28, 2015. The Guatemalan claimed the mind-blowing concoction made Gabriela, the daughter of a Beverley Hills entrepreneur, appear as a 'demon' and he admitted launching a ferocious attack to 'kill it.' Novella told the Western Cape High Court in Cape Town, South Africa, that he accepted that he had killed Gabriela, but denied murder, blaming the drugs for his actions. The court heard an expert pathologist estimated that after Gabriela was choked to death, her lover spent up to two hours desecrating her body in a horrific manner. He smashed in her skull in on the bathroom floor, then jammed her throat full of food before he defecated on her face and sprinkled it with chocolates, sweets, and chips. The court heard there was clear evidence that he had sex with her and may have sodomized her, but Novella claimed it was consensual and took place before he killed her. He violated her with curling tongs and laid out her hair extensions between her legs. He also left a note on her breasts reading 'cerote' which means 'piece of s***' in Spanish. Hardened detectives admitted what they found 'shocked them to the core.' Defense lawyer William Booth claimed Novella was not guilty of murdering Gabriela, but had diminished responsibility due to the psychotic effects of the drugs. He said his client had taken cannabis, cannabis oil as well as an over-the-counter drug called sceletium, which in intoxicating doses it can cause euphoria, initially with stimulation and later with sedation. Novella claimed that together, the drugs 'blew his mind.' Scientific tests on Gabriela's body showed no trace of any illegal drugs in her system. State prosecutor Mornay Julius argued that Novella was motivated by a deep anger influenced by the drugs adding. He said top forensic psychiatrist Professor Sean Kaliski believed the accused had been acting with criminal capacity at the time. Judge Saldanha delivered a damning judgement, ruling that Novella had effectively made up the story of 'demons and devils' in a bid to blame what had happened on drugs. 'In my view you knew exactly what you were doing at that time and there was a clear intent on your part to murder the deceased and I find you are guilty of murder as charged,' he said. Novella's sentencing was adjourned until August 7 for the preparation of reports. The scion of the billionaire Dougherty Novella family in Guatemala will forfeit a luxurious life of jet-setting and fast cars that lay for a life sentence in one of the most horrific jails in the world. Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town was built for 4,336 men but has more than 7,500 locked inside. It is run by brutal rival gangs and violent attacks and gang rape is what greets most new arrivals. With his wealthy background, he is likely to be targeted from the moment he arrives. Following his conviction, he will shortly be released from the safety of the hospital into the main prison where he will face a daily battle for survival unless he can buy protection. Cells built to take 30 men are often filled with up to 80 violent prisoners who have to share one filthy communal toilet. Most have to sleep on the floor and many are without any blankets. If he is forced to join a Numbers Gang inside - either the 26s, 27s or 28s - he will be expected to be a member's 'wife' and if he does not obey their rules, can face murder, mutilation or gang rape. If however, he doesn't join a gang he will not have their protection and will be forced to fend for himself unless he can secure protection. There is only one warder per 100 inmates and at night, the warders leave. As well as the fear of murder, there is a huge suicide risk and inmates in such cramped conditions often contract tuberculosis or Weil's Disease from the rats as well as the huge risk of HIV infection. 'It is a human zoo. I am frightened. Not even the warders inside here are safe,' actor Ross Kemp said after visiting Pollsmoor for his documentary Ross Kemp on Gangs. His only hope to survive his life sentence is a transfer to a safer prison. Advertisement Regular visitors know what to expect from most New York hotels: gloomy, thick-pillared lobbies, chintzy decor past its best, bell-boys in tired uniforms craving a little sunshine. In the bedrooms, vast desks youll never sit at, carpet scarred by misdeeds youd rather not imagine. Fancy something a bit different? Enter Made, a striking new prospect, slap-bang in the heart of Manhattan on West 29th Street. In years past, it was a part of town youd march through head down on your way to Macys or the Empire State Building a couple of blocks away. Lately, swish architects and hoteliers have given it a fresh lease of life and as befits all upcoming neighbourhoods a trendy nickname: NoMad, meaning simply north of Madison (Square). Made hotel is a striking new prospect slap-bang in the heart of Manhattan on West 29th Street. 'Its one of the few New York lobbies [pictured] where youre actually tempted to linger,' writes James Made in Manhattan: Pictured is the hotel's charming coffee shop Paper with its large communal table and earthenware tiles Now, amid the shabby stores hawking fake shades, fake watches and fake jewellery, something refreshingly real has awoken. Its something youll notice in the artisan coffee shops, minimal restaurants, and most distinctly at the 18-storey Made. Theres much that sets Made apart from everyday New York hotels. For a start its set back from the street and, given theres no great glowing sign just a modest brass plaque on the sidewalk it has a discreet quality, not needing to brag about itself the way so much does in this city. Step inside, and the first thing that strikes you is how light it is, thanks to vast windows across its front (open wide on my visit in June) and an outdoor staircase at the back taking guests up to a private patio. The ceiling is big chunks of burnished cherry wood, like a giant gravity-defying game of Jenga. Its one of the few New York lobbies where youre actually tempted to linger, not least owing to the charming coffee shop Paper with its large, communal table, its earthenware tiles, and its plump pastries glistening with caramelised sugar. Thats breakfast sorted, then. James writes: 'Theres much that sets Made apart from everyday New York hotels.' This image shows the lobby bar The hotel contains something you rarely see in New York - greenery. Oodles of pot plants and hanging baskets everywhere. Pictured is the rooftop bar, Good Behavior On lintels around the reception desk are hand-carved wooden figures and ceramics: not a speck of chintz in sight. Theres also a spacious bar with low-slung leather couches. It has the look of a very stylish living room: which of course is the point. They want you to feel right at home. And theres something else you rarely see in New York: greenery. Oodles of pot plants and hanging baskets everywhere. Up in the bedrooms, theres no trace of tattered old carpets, with bright wood panelling instead. If the unadorned concrete ceilings may seem a touch too hipster, its a reminder of the overall endeavour to keep things honest and neutral. Gone too is the heavy furniture that cramps many such bedrooms: instead of cupboards and desks, theres a nifty racking system from which everything you need smartly unfolds. Instead of the imperiously hefty beds you find in most Manhattan hotels, here your substantial mattress sits atop a low wooden pedestal, saving lots of space. Indeed, these are some of the only New York bedrooms where youd have room to swing a cat, if thats the kind of thing you like to do on holidays. 'Up in the bedrooms, theres no trace of tattered old carpets, with bright wood panelling instead,' writes James. 'If the unadorned concrete ceilings may seem a touch too hipster, its a reminder of the overall endeavour to keep things honest and neutral' Enticing: A Made bathroom, which features a boulder-style sink and the obligatory rain shower Made's Ferris restaurant (pictured), is in the basement. James sadly didn't get a chance to pay it a visit My brief trip didnt give me chance to visit the acclaimed restaurant Ferris in the hotels basement, but I did enjoy its other treasure: up on the roof is Good Behavior, a bar seemingly designed for quite the opposite. Boasting two balconies, a 22ft curved glass wall and a cute little tiki bar, this is the place I want to gather friends for my next milestone birthday. The DJ plays Cyndi Lauper and Rick Astley, and the bartender mixes a punchy, peppery tequila/mescal cocktail called a Dirty Finery. On its website, the hotel declares itself a community of connected, consciously moving influencers. I never regarded myself as one of them till now, but as the setting sun turns the neighbouring Empire State Building to gold I order a second cocktail, happy to consider myself a Made man. Advertisement It's lunchtime on the Cote D'Azur and I'm sitting on a rooftop terrace overlooking the sun-drenched Promenade des Anglais in Nice sipping on rose wine. Just two hours earlier I had been in cloudy London waiting to board my flight to France - and later this evening I'll be back in England following a bite to eat. Popping over to the French Riviera for lunch from the UK might sound like a preposterous hassle but its a cinch if you take a private jet, like I have. Scroll down for videos The Cessna Citation Latitude private jet that took Jennifer to Nice from London so she could enjoy lunch on the Cote D'Azur The interior of the aircraft, which had been prepped and ready to take Jennifer and her fellow passengers to Nice for lunch Jennifer boards the private jet, left, and enjoys champagne for breakfast once seated, right Im a guest of PrivateFly, a private jet booking company, which is giving me the chance to visit France celeb-style. And its something I could get used to. My day begins very early indeed at Luton Airport, but rather than going to the standard passenger terminal when I arrive at 8am, I head to a special private jet building - the Signature Aviation Service terminal - where celebrities and the super-rich hang out before taking off. My flight to the glittering south of France will be on a 16million Cessna Citation Latitude jet, one of 7,000 that PrivateFly has access to around the world. I turn up just 30 minutes before departure in this world, there are no pesky queues or bag check-ins to blight the day. I just walk into the building and after a swift security check the captain comes out to greet me and my fellow passengers - then offers to carry my hold bags to the plane. Inside the jet there is space for eight passengers. PrivateFly has access to around 7,000 private jets worldwide One of eight cream leather seats on board the Cessna Citation Latitude, left. It can fully recline and swivel 180 degrees, right Within minutes I am walking up the steps of the aircraft and settling into my very comfortable cream leather seat. Mere moments later, a glass of champagne is in my hand as the captain taxies towards the runway and before long the aircraft is preparing to soar among the clouds. Not that the aircraft had to take off then, because in the world of private jets passengers and not the crew request the exact departure time. But I have lunch planned in Nice so I want to leave promptly. The jet has space for eight passengers with each luxurious seat able to turn 180 degrees and even fully recline if you want to kick your heels back. Want to freshen up? No problem. Theres a bathroom that actually has space for you to turn around in - and the sink and mirror is set in a wood-effect interior complete with luxurious Jo Malone soap and hand lotion. Twenty minutes into the flight and I can already see why this is the preferred way to travel for those with sizeable bank accounts. The Citation Latitude also has enough space so that you can fully stand up, move about and even pop down to the flight deck for a chat with the pilots mid-flight. My glass is topped up with champagne again and wood-effect tables are folded out from under the windows - its breakfast time. My experiences of being served breakfast at 38,000 feet usually consist of a stale croissant and a tiny yoghurt - but not this time. Breakfast on board the jet consisted of meat, cheese, bread and fruit. It came on real China plates and passengers used silver cutlery to eat it The jet's interior is finished with a wood effect and comes with drink holders and adjustable lights A whole box is placed in front of me containing three real china plates filled with meat, cheese, fruit and a bread roll. And plastic cutlery is nowhere to be seen. Instead silver knives and forks are handed out and of course the food is washed down with yet more champagne. Over breakfast, Adam Twidell, the CEO of PrivateFly tells me that for its private jet customers, the route from London to Nice is one of the most popular. A trip to the south of France on a private jet can cost between 8,000 and 80,000 - depending upon timings and the type of aircraft used, while the quickest turnaround its ever had from enquiry to having a customer airborne is just 30 minutes. The bathroom actually has space for you to turn around in and the sink and mirror is set in a wood-effect interior complete with luxurious Jo Malone soap and hand lotion A little over an hour after taking off the private jet started to make its descent into Nice Airport. On approach passengers are treated to stunning views Just 20 minutes after landing in Nice, Jennifer found herself enjoying the view from the rooftop restaurant Le Terrasse at the Le Meridien Hotel on the Promenade des Anglais The Citation Latitude has enough space so that you can fully stand up, move about and even pop down to the flight deck for a chat with the pilots mid-flight Once breakfast is over the plane starts its descent into the scenic Cote D'Azur and on landing, there's no hanging around - a fleet of black people carriers are waiting to take me and the other passengers for a quick passport check before we enter France. Just 20 minutes later I am enjoying lunch at the Le Terrasse roof-top restaurant at Le Meridien hotel on the Promenade des Anglais. Lunch over and following an afternoon of wandering Nice's old town and relaxing on the beach, it's time to head back to London. A quick phone call from the captain of the private jet tells me that the flight is ready to leave at 7.30pm as planned - but he informs us that if we fancy pushing back the departure time we can. But we press ahead as planned and after another quick security and passport check, I'm back in a people carrier being ferried out to the jet on the apron. Settling into my seat, the champagne flows again as the jet rolls down the runway bound for Britain. A so-called 'light snack' of a platter of hand-crafted sandwiches are served alongside mouth-watering French pastries. After a day of enjoying the sun in Nice, Jennifer headed back to London on the private jet, with the passengers treated to a 'light' dinner To round off dinner on the journey back to Luton, passengers were treated to miniature French pastries and macarons The private jet terminal run by Signature Aviation Services at Luton Airport, which welcomes private jet passengers and crew As the jet hurtles across the Channel, I rack my brains to think of any negative of taking a private jet (apart from the cost). The only one I can come up with is that if you're not a fan of confined spaces, this may not be an ideal mode of transport. Its not exactly roomy. But the luxury and the sub-two-hour flight time to Nice make up for this as far as Im concerned. Just 12 hours after leaving, the jet touches back down in Luton and within minutes of hitting the tarmac, I'm back in the private terminal - again with no queues to endure. What a life. Now, where else in the Med can I pop to for lunch? 'Heartbroken' Love Island Australia star Grant Crapp recently issued an grovelling plea for ex-Taylor Damir to take him back following their split. And almost two weeks after he was brutally dumped over his 'secret girlfriend,' it appears the hopeful hunk is still pining for the Lebanese beauty queen, 21. Speaking with The Daily Telegraph on Sunday the electrician said he is desperate to return to the Mallorca villa with his ex-girlfriend. Scroll down for video 'I want to go back to Spain with her!' Love Island Australia's Grant Crapp (left) reveals he is desperate to get back together with Tayla Damir (right) after split During the interview Grant was quizzed about who he would like to hypothetically jet off with overseas. 'Back to the Love Island with Tayla! Spain is such a wonderful country and I would get on a plane right now if I could,' Grant revealed. Elsewhere, the Canberra star listed the celebrities he'd ideally love to hang out with on a Sunday. 'Conor McGregor - sometimes you just need a laugh. Also my new BFFs Kyle and Jackie O,' he said. 'Conor McGregor - sometimes you just need a laugh. Also my new BFFs Kyle and Jackie O': The Canberra star listed the celebrities he'd ideally love to hang out with on a Sunday The brunette hunk's answer is somewhat unsurprising considering he appeared on KIIS FM's breakfast radio show every day last week alongside hosts, Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson. Grant's comments comes after he begged the brunette bombshell to forgive him in a series of Instagram videos, declaring that he wants to 'fight' for their relationship. He claimed that he had finished things with his secret girlfriend (Lucy Cartwright) before going on Love Island and 'totally regretted' lying to Tayla about it. Begging for forgiveness: Grant's comments comes after he begged the brunette bombshell to forgive him in a series of Instagram videos, declaring that he wants to 'fight' for their relationship 'Going into Love Island that girl totally knew I was going in there so I did break up with her before Love Island, so it was finished,' he said earlier this month. 'I lied about that to Tayla and I totally regret that, it's something I'm not proud of. Tayla doesn't deserve that at all and I 100 per cent regret it.' Last week, Tayla made an appearance on KIIS FM Kyle and Jackie O show and listened to a pre-recorded grovelling voice message from Grant. 'It breaks my heart': Love Island's Tayla Damir was forced to listen to her ex Grant Crapp's grovelling recorded apology during an interview on the Kyle and Jackie O show last week Listening to Grant's mournful speech, Tayla appeared calm despite being left heartbroken after parting ways with the hunk almost two weeks ago. 'I want Tayla to realise...I'm so sorry and I just wanna be mates with her. If I could just be mates with her, that would mean the world to me,' a sorrow-filed Grant said in the message. The choked-up electrician confessed that although their relationship is over, he valued his friendship with Tayla. Taken for granted: During his speech, Grant confessed that although their relationship is over, he valued his friendship with Tayla. Pictured: Tayla (R) and Grant (L) on the set of Love Island Australia The Love Island Australia winners ended their five week romance after Tayla discovered that Grant kept a 'secret girlfriend' outside of the hit reality show. 'We're finished because of something that happened in the past...it breaks my heart hearing it, like I could always cry over it,' he added in the message. 'He's had numerous opportunities where he could've contacted me, and he just keeps choosing to do almost publicity stunts to try and get in contact with me,' she told Kyle and Jackie O. She's used her body as a canvas for numerous tattoos. And Lena Dunham took to social media to display new ink work to her millions of fans on Saturday. The 32-year-old writer and actress unveiled bright red tattoos across her fingers which read Hollywood Forever, in addition to baring her chest while detailing additional artwork. Hollywood Forever: Lena Dunham showcased her latest inkings, on social media on Saturday The Girls star appeared to have two new designs on her skin - and remarked on social media that they are healing well. As well as the Hollywood Forever etching, she also sported a drawing of a diamond on the inside of her middle finger, which appeared to be new. She captioned 'Jemima', likely in reference to Girls Co-Star Jemima Kirke. Got the girls out: The Girls star appeared to have two new designs on her skin - and remarked on social media that they are healing well The actress, who played Jessa Johansson on the hit HBO show, previously told Vanity Fair she had been responsible for one of Lena's tattoos. 'I have a handful of tattoos that I really want to put on people that I cant find anyone to let me give them to. Lena let me do one of them, which is like a Yorkshire terrier on her ribcage,' she explained. Never backwards on exposing some flesh, Lena flashed her bare chest as she showed off her inkings on her Instagram stories. She tagged a tattoo parlor in Brooklyn, New York in her caption. Girls best friend: As well as the Hollywood Forever etching, she also sported a drawing of a diamond on the inside of her middle finger, which appeared to be new Can't stop! She tagged a tattoo parlor in Brooklyn, New York, in her caption Lena called it quits with her working partner Jenni Konner on Tuesday. The longtime producing partners and friends have decided to end their working relationship ahead of their joint deal with HBO coming to a close in December. The Girls creators are going their separate ways as they ready to debut their series Camping starring Jennifer Garner for the premium cable network. Lena also ended her five-year relationship with musician Jack Antonoff earlier this year. The pair split but said that they will still remain the best of friends. Denise Richards is reportedly making her way back to television screens. The 47-year-old actress will appear on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills during its upcoming ninth season, which is likely to premiere in late 2018. Jerry O'Connell, 44, confirmed the news while promoting his upcoming talk show, Real Men Watch Bravo, 'The eve before Denise is starting a new endeavor that we are very excited for her to be starting,' the Stand By Me actor told E!. It's official! Denise Richards has officially joined the cast of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills; seen in May 2017 Can't wait! The 47-year-old actress will appear on the show during its upcoming ninth season; the ladies of season; the cast of season eight pictured The Jerry Maguire star showed a photo to the outlet that showed himself with his wife Rebecca Romijn, Denise and her boyfriend Aaron Phypers. Romijn shared the same image to Instagram, with the caption, 'Such an exciting day having lunch with @deniserichards and her hot bf Aaron on the day before her new endeavor (wink wink) Congrats girl! Break legs and have fun!' There is still no official announcement from Bravo, nor an official premiere date for the show's forthcoming season. Exciting news: Jerry O'Connell, 44, confirmed the news while promoting his upcoming talk show, Real Men Watch Bravo, 'The eve before Denise is starting a new endeavor that we are very excited for her to be starting,' the Stand By Me Actor told E! Just over a week ago, insiders told People, 'Denise has been wanting to join the show for a long time,' but 'the timing was never right.' The source said that 'everyone is really excited about the possibility of having' the mom-of-three - to daughters Sam Sheen, 14, Lola Rose Sheen, 13, and Eloise Joni Richards, seven - join the cast of the show. The insider added: 'Its not final yet, its very close.' 'She's a huge Housewives fan and watches all of the shows,' explained the insider. 'And she has close relationships with many of the women in real life, including Kyle Richards and Lisa Rinna.' In the works for a bit: Just over a week ago, Insiders told People , 'Denise has been wanting to join the show for a long time,' but 'the timing was never right'; the cast of season five pictured The high-profile casting move comes as 'producers needed to shake the dynamic of the show up after a season without much conflict,' according to the source. 'She's going to be a great fit. She's not afraid of the drama. And she lives a glamorous, Hollywood life - which the show looks for.' Like many others on the Southern California-based series - inclduing Kyle and Lisa - Denise has longtime ties to show business. No surprise: 'She's a huge Housewives fan and watches all of the shows,' explained the insider. 'And she has close relationships with many of the women in real life, including Kyle Richards and Lisa Rinna'; seen in 2011 The move has seemed liked a certainty basically since it was announced, with Denise offloading her Hidden Hills, California mansion for about $5million a few days ago. She slashed one million dollars from the asking price of her reclusive six-bedroom Californian mansion a week ahead of its sale, in a final bid to sell the property she originally put on the market in June 2016. The Starship Troopers actress ended up accepting close to $4.995 million for the 8,200 square foot home, located a stone's throw from Calabasas in the west San Fernando Valley. Making moves: The move has seemed liked a certainty basically since it was announced, with Denise offloading her Hidden Hills, California mansion for about $5million a few days ago Once a tabloid queen, Lara Worthington (nee Bingle) is these days notoriously private about her relationship with husband Sam. But in this week's Sunday Life magazine, the model and businesswoman gave a peek under the veil of their marriage. In an interview with the publication, the 31-year-old revealed the trait she finds most attractive in her husband and it has nothing to do with his good looks. 'That, for me, is the most attractive thing about him': Lara Bingle (left) revealed to Sunday Life this week the trait she loves most about husband Sam Worthington (right) The couple, who share two sons Rocket, three, and Racer, one, are very family-minded, and Lara admitted Sam's parenting style has her impressed. 'Parenting is challenging. You need a lot of patience and I'd say Sam is definitely more patient than me,' Lara gushed. 'He's just a really good dad and absolutely obsessed with the boys, so nothing comes between them not work or anything else. And that, for me, is the most attractive thing about him.' Doting dad: Lara, who shares sons Rocket, three, and Racer, one, with the actor, gushed about Sam's parenting skills and described him as 'absolutely obsessed with the boys' Lara, who married Sam in 2014, also opened up about the romantic surprise Sam planned for her 30th birthday last year. The Avatar actor planned for the kids to be looked after while he took Lara away on a mysterious romantic getaway. With Lara in the dark as to where they were headed, the couple travelled to Iceland's Blue Lagoon, then ticked off music gigs in Dublin, Brussels, London and Toronto. 'Each night I'd go to bed in one country then wake up and open a new present which would be a T-shirt of the band I was going to see that night,' Lara explained to Sunday Life. Romantic! For her 30th birthday last year, Sam surprised Lara with a international mystery getaway, which included a stop at Iceland's Blue Lagoon (pictured) Lara also added that these days, she loves nothing more than just being at home with her family - a far cry from her days as Sydney socialite when her personal life regularly hit headlines. It's a remark that echoes many of the blonde bombshell's recent media interviews, in which she mentions she's increasingly craving privacy. Earlier this month, Lara told Harper's BAZAAR Australia: 'I feel that as I get older, the less people know about me, the better.' She continued: 'I still use Instagram, but I've stopped posting too much about my life just work stuff. To be honest, I don't know if it bores me maybe I'm over Instagram, or is it because I have my family and it feels like I'm wasting time?' She is known for her many pets and jet-setting lifestyle. And Paris Hilton stayed true to form on Saturday as she was spotted boarding a private jet in Los Angeles. The 37-year-old hotel heiress was headed to Las Vegas with her fiance Chris Zylka, 33, and carried one of her many dogs as she boarded the plane. Best accessory: Paris Hilton stayed true to form on Saturday as she was spotted boarding a private jet in Los Angeles Dressed in a pink and white ensemble that featured wide legged pants and a matching sweatshirt, the the Simply Life star looked in her element. A white watch with an over-sized face twinkled on her wrist and she paired it with a thin white tank top. She shaded her eyes with white sunglasses, painted her lips a glossy pink, and wore a gold pendant necklace around her neck. The DJ pulled a beige schoolboy hat over her long blonde tresses which fell straight over shoulders and down her spine. Carry on: The 37-year-old hotel heiress was headed to Las Vegas with her fiance Chris Zylka, 33, and carried one of her many dogs as she boarded the plane Pilot pooch: Dressed in a pink and white ensemble that featured wide legged pants and a matching sweatshirt, the the Simply Life star looked in her element Matching: A white watch with an oversized face twinkled on her wrist and she paired it with a thin white tank top The always on brand socialite made sure to share her posh travel experience with her social media followers, posting several images to Snapchat. Chris, meanwhile, juxtaposed his fiancee's light sartorial choices with an an all black ensemble. The actor donned ripped black jeans, a matching t-shirt and pulled an AVICII hat low over his forehead. He completed his look by shading his yes with dark sunglasses and opted to go with clean white kicks. Jaunt: It wasn't only the couple boarding the large jet, as a group of friends also joined them for the short jaunt to Sin City Mask on: The DJ pulled a beige schoolboy hat over her long blonde tresses which fell straight over shoulders and down her spine Sharing is caring: The always on brand socialite made sure to share her posh travel experience with her social media followers, posting several images to Snapchat It wasn't only the couple boarding the large jet, as a group of friends also joined them for the short jaunt to Sin City. Paris just returned from Ibiza where she was named honorary ambassador by Ibiza Luxury Destination on the night and was no doubt pleased with the accolade. Despite her upcoming nuptials, the House of Wax actress has been been spending plenty of time on the party-fueled Balearic Island. For the past several summers she has had a steady wave of gigs in the party town, and has already played a few this year, with a recent event at the beginning of July. With the white glasses: She shaded her eyes with white sunglasses. painted her lips a glossy pink, and a gold pendant necklace hung from her neck Party hopping: Paris just returned from Ibiza where she was named honorary ambassador by Ibiza Luxury Destination on the night and was no doubt pleased with the accolade Chris popped the question to Paris in January during a romantic ski trip and the couple are currently planning their nuptials. She recently hinted that her wedding may be televised, telling E! News: 'We've been getting a lot of calls and a lot of offers from different networks, pitching that show so maybe.' Hilton then coyly answered 'yes' when asked if she would ever take up one of their offers. Millionaire pub baron Justin Hemmes is putting on a united front with his ex-partner Kate Fowler in the wake of their shock split. Just 24 hours after announcing the end of their four-year relationship, the pair were seen taking their two young daughters on a picnic on Saturday afternoon. Hiding any heartbreak, Justin, 45, and Kate, 28, even managed to smile as they boarded a seaplane at the back of their $60 million mansion on Sydney Harbour. What break-up? Millionaire pub baron Justin Hemmes, 45, and his ex-partner Kate Fowler, 28, put on a united front on Saturday as took their young daughters on a picnic just 24 hours after announcing their split Hardly your average family picnic! Kate doted on her two daughters, Alexa and Saachi, before boarding a seaplane at their $60 million mansion on Sydney Harbour Making their way toward the aircraft, the former couple were seen carrying their daughters, Alexa, two and Saachi, one. Hardly an average family picnic, the brood was accompanied by a blonde woman believed to be a nanny. A pilot was also seen lending a helping hand before the famous family flew off for their afternoon outing. Family outing! Justin, Kate and their children were accompanied by a blonde woman thought to be the family nanny Modern family! Despite their split, Justin and Kate still live together in their $60 million mansion - albeit in separate wings of the home Stylish: Kate looked chic in white linen pants and a black tank-top, with a beige jumper draped over her shoulders Not scrimping on supplies, Justin and Kate brought along a crate full of food, an esky and several cooler bags. Justin, who is the CEO of Merivale and boasts a net worth of $951 million, was dressed down in a stone-coloured chinos and a pale blue sweater. Kate, meanwhile, looked chic in white linen pants and a black tank-top, complete with a beige jumper draped over her shoulders. Barefoot beauty! Kate eschewed shoes and shielded her eyes from the winter sun with a pair of designer sunglasses Stocking up! Not scrimping on supplies, Justin and Kate brought along a crate full of food, an esky and several cooler bags Famous family: Justin was recently added to BRW's Rich List with a reported fortune of $951 million The brunette beauty shielded her eyes from the winter sun with a pair of designer sunglasses. Just a day earlier, Justin announced his surprising split from Kate in a statement given to the Sydney Morning Herald. It stated: 'Kate and I have the utmost love and respect for each other. Getting away from it all! It looked as if the pair were keen to escape the city in the wake of their separation announcement All aboard! A pilot was also seen lending a helping hand before the famous family flew off for their afternoon outing Single: A newly-single Justin brought his beloved German Shepherd, Thunder, along for the outing 'At the beginning of 2018, Kate and I decided our friendship and respect for family life would become the focus of our relationship. We love our children dearly and for now continue to live together happily in our family home.' The 'family home' he was referring to is The Hermitage, a heritage-listed Vaucluse mansion on Sydney Harbour, from which the couple were pictured departing on Saturday afternoon. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to both Justin and Kate for comment. Still living together: Kate and Justin are on amicable terms and are devoted to their young daughters Ready for take off! The clan jetted off from Sydney Harbour on Saturday afternoon The pair first met on a boat in Europe back in 2014, before Kate gave birth to their first daughter, Alexa, the following year. Despite his reputation as a 'playboy', Justin settled into fatherhood, telling Fairfax at the time: 'You can't explain to anyone the love that you have for your child. You can't actually explain it. She's (Alexa) the most beautiful thing'. 'I'm experiencing a joy I have never experienced before and I'm just a lot calmer. 'My sister [Bettina] thinks it's a very good thing I had a girl first, girls are a lot softer. They are calm for someone like myself.' On the move: Kate looked decidedly more downcast in Bondi on Saturday morning, where she was seen in public for the first time since her break-up with Justin was revealed Fowler's appearance comes less than 24 hours after her split from Merivale CEO Hemmes, 45, was announced (the pair are pictured together in 2016) Hemmes and Fowler remain living at The Hermitage - their heritage-listed eight-bedroom harbourfront home, which is worth more than '$60 million dollars' Hemmes was equally thrilled when baby number two, Saachi, came along in June 2017. His most recent Instagram post is a birthday tribute to Saachi, shared on June 23 this year. Both Kate and Saachi are featured in the image, captioned: 'My little darling pudding turned 1 today. HAPPY BDAY Saachi xxxx' 'We love our children dearly and for now continue to live together happily in our family home,' he said (Kate is pictured here with Alexa, 2, and Saachi, 1) She hit headlines after her whirlwind engagement to Andrew Brady came to an end earlier this month. And Caroline Flack has confessed she doesn't fear being single as she moves on from the shock split. In an interview with The Sun's Fabulous magazine, the Love Island host, 38, branded the break-up 'too raw', before stating 'Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesnt. Thats life.' Embracing her life: Caroline Flack has confessed she doesn't fear being single as she moves on from the shock split from ex Andrew Brady Despite admitting that her split from the 26-year-old reality star was difficult to talk about, the ITV star shared that she's not afraid of the single life. She said: 'I dont fear being single at all. When I was younger I did because people tell you that you have to have done this and that by a certain time you should have kids by this time and you should be married and were kind of taught that by books and fairy tales.' The former X Factor host went on to say love comes all in shapes and forms and added: 'Ive got older Ive definitely learned that some of my happiest times have been when Ive been on my own.' Candid: In an interview with The Sun's Fabulous magazine, the Love Island host, 38, branded the break-up 'too raw', before stating 'Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesnt. Thats life' Insisting that she is taking life by the horns, she added: 'I have no idea whats going to happen in the next year or whatever. Its the way Ive always lived and Ive done all right so far.' Caroline's interview comes after her reality star ex posted a lengthy statement on Twitter regarding his split from the blonde beauty, in which he addressed issues surrounding the break-up. Their on/off whirlwind romance saw them engaged within three months of dating but it has come to an end amid claims of cheating, finances and taking advantage. Moving on: Despite admitting that her split from the 26-year-old reality star was difficult to talk about, the ITV star shared that she's not afraid of the single life The Celebrity Big Brother star, 26, admitted he was 'far from perfect' in his lengthy statement while the Love Island host, 38, shared a cryptic 'hate' post on Instagram. Andrew penned: 'I would like to issue a statement as I believe stories, half truths and lies have been circulated in the media by various parties and are to a large extent inaccurate. This was at times before and during my relationship with Caroline. 'But I do not believe Caroline was party to this. One ex-girlfriend and another girl have chosen to go to the press to divulge stories that were embellished. For the record I saw one for a few dates and one for a number of weeks. 'Lack of trust was a major factor in my decision to end these short relationships. We were deeply in love, as proven by the level of commitment from the early stage of our relationship.' Happier times: Their on/off whirlwind romance saw them engaged within three months of dating but it has come to an end amid claims of cheating, finances and taking advantage While he freely admitted his 'imperfections', the hunk made further claims they had ended their romance because of their personalities not their actions. He explained: 'For reasons personal to us, we mutually decided it was going to be very difficult to sustain a long term relationship, but was more about our personalities than our actions. 'I am far from perfect. But I have learned a great lesson in how those human imperfections can be blown out of all proportion.' As he shared his statement on social media, Caroline posted a cryptic 'hate' post on Instagram. The post read: 'Hate is heavy. Let it go.' While she prepares for Monday's Love Island finale in Mallorca, Caroline also shared a smouldering snap beneath which she responded to a message from funnyman pal Russell Kane. Russell, who is a frequent guest on the dating show's sister programme Love Island: After Sun, told the star that he was 'landing on the island soon', to which she responded: 'Ace I need a massive hug'. A friend in need: Caroline asked for a 'massive hug' when her funnyman pal Russell Kane wrote he was 'on his way' She's a catwalk queen but a country girl at heart. And Victoria Lee, 27, bordered a mixture of both on Sunday as she arrived at Sydney international Airport wearing a Parisian-inspired ensemble. Opting for a makeup-free look, the young ambassador revealed her flawless complexion, adding a natural flush of colour to her cheeks. Off-duty chic! Makeup-free model Victoria Lee reveals her flawless complexion as she arrives at Sydney airport in boyfriend jeans and a blazer Victoria kept her nails natural and polish-free, instead drawing attention to a stack of dainty gold rings that adorned her fingers. The Victoria's Secret star also kept her luscious blonde tresses natural as she swept the loose-styled waves to one side of her face. Known for her classic fashion choices, Victoria kept her outfit both sophisticated and unique. Classy: Known for her classic fashion choices, Victoria kept her outfit both sophisticated and unique Simply natural: Victoria kept her nails polish-free, instead drawing attention to a stack of dainty gold rings that adorned her fingers Lovely: The Victoria's Secret star kept her luscious blonde tresses natural, as she swept the loose-styled waves to one side of her face Naturally beautiful: Victoria opted for a make-up free look that revealed her flawless complexion, adding a natural flush of colour to her cheeks The blonde bombshell wore a beige checkered blazer which she paired with loose-fitting boyfriend jeans in a mid wash. Adding an edge to her look, Victoria dazzled in a black scarf that was laced with a quirky oriental-inspired design. A burgundy tote with gold-trim detailing was swung over the left shoulder. Stepping out in style! The blonde bombshell wore a beige checkered blazer, which she paired with loose-fitting girlfriend jeans in a mid wash Wow factor: Adding an edge to her look, Victoria dazzled in a black scarf that was laced with a quirky oriental-inspired design Touch of burgundy: A tote with gold-trim detailing was swung over the left shoulder To finish off the look, Victoria wore a pair of black leather loafers by Gucci that retail at approximately $930 Australian dollars. Originally from Narrandera in the Riverina region of rural NSW, the supermodel credits being a country girl for her rise to fashion super-stardom. Speaking to BW magazine earlier this year, Victoria stated: 'You have a sense of community around you and you've got a relaxed, laid-back upbringing.' Striking: To finish off the look, Victoria wore a pair of black leather loafers by Gucci, retailing at approximately $930 Australian dollars Country girl at heart! Victoria is originally from Narrandera in the Riverina region of rural NSW, and credits being a country girl for her rise to fashion super-stardom 'You have a sense of community around you and you've got a relaxed, laid-back upbringing': Victoria revealed to BW magazine earlier this year about growing up in the country 'You're removed from the high fashion world and the craziness of the big city and fashion,' she added. Victoria started modelling when she was just 19 years old. And late last year, she was named as David Jones ambassador after she walked the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show for the very first time in 2017. Big things! Last year, she was named as David Jones ambassador after she walked the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show for the very first time in 2017 Ben Fordham, 41, has recalled falling in love with his wife Jodie Speers before they even met. The Today show presenter, who now shares two children with the Channel 7 news reader, was impressed when he first heard her on the radio while she was working as a police reporter. 'I remember thinking to myself, 'She's really good, this Jodie Speers.' So much so that I called my mate, Greg Burns, who was the boss of the radio station, and I went, 'Mate, that Jodie Speers is bloody amazing,' he told 9Honey on Sunday. 'I knew she was 'the one'': Today's Ben Fordham reveals he fell in love with wife Jodie Speers (left) before they even met and proposed the same day his brother popped the question to her friend. Also pictured, their kids Freddie, three, and 21-month-old Pearl He first saw her in person at Greg's 40th and later called him for her phone number and after a few months of dating, he knew she was 'the one.' 'I'd had girlfriends before, I'd had relationships before, but with Jodie I was like, 'Okay,' and I know it's cliche 'this is the one. Don't stuff it up.'' he said. He proposed over a year later, the same day that his little brother Nick, who is CEO of The Fordham Company, popped the question to Jodie's friend Liz - and the engagement rings were designed together. Wedded bliss! Ben said they have been married 'about eight years' however Jodie shared this wedding snap in honour of their one year anniversary in 2012 'Of course when the girls compared rings they were like, 'This might have been pre-meditated.' But it was was a nice thing to be able to share,' Ben said adding that they have now been married for 'about eight years.' It comes after the father-of-two revealed why staying at home with his two children Freddie, three, and 21-month-old daughter Pearl is far more rewarding than hosting a TV breakfast show full time. 'My mornings changed from grabbing a coffee on the way to the studio, to having breakfast at home with the kids,' the Australian Ninja Warrior host recently said in an interview with TV Week. Close bond: He proposed over a year later, the same day that his little brother Nick (pictured left) popped the question to Jodie's friend Liz - and the engagement rings were designed together Ben previously reported on the Today show, alongside Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkinson before quitting in 2014. He is still a familiar face on the Nine Network, as he often fills in for Karl Stefanovic and is the host of Australian Ninja Warrior. He said he and wife Jodie Speers have mastered the art of juggling their busy television schedules. Throwback: He ended his breakfast TV stint in 2014 but is still a familiar face on the Nine Network Today show family: He often fills in for Karl Stefanovic (left) on the Today show and is the host of Australian Ninja Warrior Much happier: 'My mornings changed from grabbing a coffee on the way to the studio, to having breakfast at home with the kids,' the Australian Ninja Warrior host said in an interview with TV Week this week Ben said Jodie wakes up at 3:15am to read the early-morning news bulletin, before returning home at 6am to look after the kids. The devoted dad gushed over his two children, saying he's 'so proud of them' and described it as an 'unstoppable force.' 'They're the biggest thing in my life. At the end of the day, I'm just a parent who thinks his children are little sensations,' he said. Ben said Jodie helps keep their family together. 'I'm clearly punching above my weight,' he joked. She is one of social media's most popular people who is known for her jet-setting lifestyle and gym-honed physique. And Kourtney Kardashian was true to form on Saturday as she flew across the country to host the grand opening of Sugar Factory at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The 39-year-old television personality showed off her slender stems underneath a vibrant pink blazer. Pretty in Pink: Kourtney Kardashian was true to form on Saturday as she flew across the country to host the grand opening of Sugar Factory at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey The Keeping Up with the Kardashians star looked like she was wearing nothing at all beneath the double-breasted jacket that fell to the middle of her thighs. She opted for a fresh-out-the-shower look for her dark tresses, allowing them to seem wet and playful as they tumbled onto her shoulders. Black and clear heels aded a couple inches to the pint-sized socialite who stands at just 5ft flat. Candy: The 39-year-old television personality showed off her slender stems underneath a vibrant pink blazer Packed: Black and clear heels aded a couple inches to the pint-sized socialite who stands at just 5ft flat Kourtney sizzled as she sipped smoking drinks and cupped giant jawbreakers among a host of sweet treats. She posed for various photos beneath the colorful candy delight at the brand new confectionery, and seemed especially fond of all the rubber ducky related items. She painted her lips a nude-rose color and added a touch of blush to highlight her cheekbones. Breaking jaws: The Keeping Up with the Kardashians star looked like she was wearing nothing at all beneath the double-breasted jacket that fell to the middle of her thighs Fun: She opted for a fresh-out-the-shower look for her dark tresses, allowing them to seem wet and playful as it tumbled onto her shoulders Smokin': Kourtney sizzled as she sipped smoking drinks and cupped giant jawbreakers among a host of sweet treats The mother-of three was wide-eyed with delight upon seeing the harlequin confections and couldn't contain herself as she shared her fun on social media. From sinful drinks to ice cream to giant bowls of good old fashioned candy, Kourtney was clearly on a sugar high. She enjoyed the treats so much that it seemed like she might be bringing some home with her as she asked her friend holding her phone, 'Do you want candy for the plane?' Kourtney was seen in Los Angeles on Thursday night, before she hopped on a privat jet Saturday to host the sugary opening. Wide-eyed delight: The mother-of three was wide-eyed with delight upon seeing the harlequin confections and couldn't contain herself as she shared her fun on social media Sip it up: From sinful drinks to ice cream to giant bowls of good old fashioned candy, Kourtney was clearly on a sugar high I scream: She enjoyed the treats so much that it seemed like she might be bringing some home with her as she asked her friend holding her phone, 'Do you want candy for the plane?' She is a highly in-demand actress who spends much of her time working on her fitness. But Halle Berry took some time out of her busy schedule on Saturday to head to IKEA with her 10-year-old daughter Nahla. The 51-year-old star flashed a hint of cleavage as she walked through the parking lot donning a long grey summer dress. Shopping spree: Halle Berry took some time out of her busy schedule on Saturday to head to IKEA with her 10-year-old daughter Nahla The mother-of-two showed off her toned arms in the shapeless garment as she toted one of the stores trademark giant blue bags over her shoulder. Halle had a brown purse with long strands of cloth hanging off it draped around her shoulder. She shaded her eyes with dark aviator sunglasses and had several bracelets wrapped around her wrists. The Swordfish actress opted for comfort when it came to footwear, donning furry, open-toed Dear Frances slides, while her gold and brown tresses were tied into a relaxed bun. Mother-daughter day: The 51-year-old star flashed a hint of cleavage as she walked through the parking lot donning a long grey dress and a pair of fluffy Dear Frances slides Nahla matched her mother in a grey dress of her own that featured a graphic with a zebra dressed up as a unicorn. She also went with relaxed footwear, donning white sandals and wore pink glasses. Gabriel Aubry's daughter once again followed in her mother's footsteps as she pulled her hair into a bun as well. Halle met Gabriel, 41, during a Versace photo shoot in 2005. Errands: The mother-of-two showed off her toned arms in the shapeless garment as she toted one of the stores trademark giant blue bags over her shoulder The Bond star and Canadian model began dating in November that same year. After welcoming Nahla into the world in March 2008, they announced their separation two years later in 2010. The pair went on to have a highly publicized custody battle when Halle revealed she wanted to move from Los Angeles to France to be with her new partner Olivier Martinez, 52. Halle also has a son Maceo, 4, with her third husband, Olivier Martinez, who she divorced after three years of marriage in December 2016. Amanda Holden has paid tribute to her grandmother Ethel, who passed away aged 97 on Friday. The Britian's Got Talent judge, 47, shared a heartwarming image of her posing next to her cherished nan on her Instagram page, and captioned that she would 'miss her forever'. In the jubilant snap, Amanda flashed a beaming smile with the beloved matriarch, who looked equally elated as they posed for the camera. Heartbreak: Amanda Holden, 47, paid tribute to her beloved grandmother Ethel who passed away age 97 on Friday Amanda captioned the loving snap: 'Well miss her #forever #mylove #nanny #bignana' Before sharing the selfie, Amanda confirmed the news of Ethel's passing on her Instagram stories, with a snap of the blood moon in the night sky. The TV personality captioned on the heartbreaking post: 'All the stars we steal from the night sky will never be enough My darling Nanny has left us. She will live in our hearts forever.' Cherished: Amanda and her grandmother were seemingly very close, with the star calling her 'the ultimate role model' in The Sun last year 'In our hearts forever': Before sharing the selfie, Amanda confirmed the news of Ethel's passing on her Instagram stories, with a snap of the blood moon in the night sky Amanda and her grandmother were seemingly very close, with the star calling her 'the ultimate role model' in The Sun last year. In her 2017 column dedicated to the inspiring women in her life, Amanda detailed how her 'feisty and fabulous' nan still had a handle on modern technology and used it to 'give her opinion on everything'. 'She just FaceTimed me and has an opinion on everything' Amanda said. 'From my hair (she prefers me with a fringe) to what Im planning to wear on this years Britains Got Talent. Role model: In her 2017 column dedicated, Amanda detailed how her 'feisty and fabulous' nan still had a handle on modern technology and used it to 'give her opinion on everything' Speaking about her independence and strength through the years, the presenter explained: 'Nan worked full-time in administration in an ice cream factory while raising a family. 'I can only hope Im as good a role model to my girls as she has been to me.' Amanda shares daughters, Lexi, 12, and Hollie, six, with record producer husband Chris Hughes, and the showbiz family have recently been enjoying a sun-soaked trip to Corsica. Her multi-million pound wardrobe is so extensive it was once Kim Kardashian's job to clean it. And Paris Hilton couldn't resist doing an outfit change on Saturday night as she party-hopped across Las Vegas. The Hilton heiress, 37, put on a leggy display in a gold sequin mini dress as she launched her skincare line at Hakkasan Nightclub, before slipping into a stunning bejewelled gown for the City Of Hope gala. Stunning: Paris Hilton couldn't resist doing an outfit change on Saturday night as she party-hopped across Las Vegas Celebrating her latest business venture, Paris turned heads in the thigh-skimming minidress which showed off her lithe limbs as she strutted down the red carpet. Featuring thousands of gold and silver beads, the dress hugged the socialite's slender frame, while her diamante heels complemented the show-stopping ensemble. Styling her long blonde locks in a sleek straight do, she finished off the look with gold finger-less gloves and a pair of black oversized sunglasses. Glam: The Hilton heiress, 37, later slipped into a stunning bejewelled gown for the City Of Hope gala Toned pins: Paris put on a leggy display in a gold sequin mini dress as she launched her skincare line at Hakkasan Nightclub Dazzling: Featuring thousands of gold and silver beads, the dress hugged the socialite's slender frame, while her diamante heels complemented the show-stopping ensemble Later in the evening, Paris made a quick change into a plunging silver and purple sequin gown. The heiress ensured all eyes were on her in the dazzling full-length dress, teasing a hint of her toned stomach with its cut-out design. She complemented the glittering formal wear with a metallic silver clutch bag and accentuated her bronzed tan with fluttery eyelashes and a glossy pink lip. Wow factor: Later in the evening, Paris made a quick change into a plunging silver and purple sequin gown Ahead of the bash, Paris took to Snapchat to share photos of her boarding a large jet with fiance Chris Zylka and a group of friends for the short jaunt to Sin City. Paris just returned from Ibiza where she was named honorary ambassador by Ibiza Luxury Destination on the night and was no doubt pleased with the accolade. Despite her upcoming nuptials, the House of Wax actress has been been spending plenty of time on the party-fueled Balearic Island. Snap-happy: The heiress ensured all eyes were on her, teasing a hint of her toned stomach with the gown's cut-out design and appeared in high spirits as she posed with fans Party hopping: Paris just returned from Ibiza before heading to Las Vegas with fiance Chris Zylka and a group of friends For the past several summers she has had a steady wave of gigs in the party town, and has already played a few this year, with a recent event at the beginning of July. And despite her busy schedule, the Simple Life star is busy planning her wedding after Chris popped the question to Paris in January during a romantic ski trip and the couple are currently planning their nuptials. She recently hinted that her wedding may be televised, telling E! News: 'We've been getting a lot of calls and a lot of offers from different networks, pitching that show so maybe.' Hilton then coyly answered 'yes' when asked if she would ever take up one of their offers. Earlier this month, the Australian Ninja Warrior was slammed for the course being too hard for competitors to complete. But on Sunday night's semi-finals, hunky gymnast Jordan Papandrea traversed the show's treacherous obstacles without a hitch. Attracting plenty of attention with his gym-honed physique, Jordan Papandrea, 22, carved up the tough course with plenty of skill and confidence. Scroll down to video 'It looks like he's been chiselled out of granite!' Hunky gymnast Jordan Papandrea, 22, flaunted his muscle-bound physique as he blitzed the Ninja Warrior Australia semi-finals course on Sunday night The pharmacy student also sent the show's hosts Freddie Flintoff and Ben Fordham into a spin with his Adonis-like looks. 'Have a look at this bloke. It looks like he's been chiselled out of granite,' Ben exclaimed. 'To be fair, not the worst looking either, is he, Jordan?' Freddy concurred. Midway through the course, Jordan showed fine form when he scaled the Salmon Ladder and the Paper Clip obstacles. When he tackled the The Chimney, Jordan appeared to defy gravity as he edged his way into the air before shooting the cameras a smile. 'He is so tough. He's tougher than woodpecker teeth, this bloke,' Ben Fordham said as he reached the top of the rope and pressed the buzzer. 'It looks like he's been chiselled out of granite': The pharmacy student also sent the show's hosts Freddie Flintoff and Ben Fordham into a spin with his Adonis-like looks Speaking to Freddie Flintoff after he completed the course, Jordan said it was his confidence that helped him make the record time. 'Confidence is half the competition but, honestly, just come out here, have the best time, have some fun. I knew that, if I did all those things right, that I'd be up there,' he said. Four of the ninjas managed to climb the chimney and hit the buzzer on the Cockatoo Island course on Sunday night's episode. She's known for her deadpan humour and artistic fashion sense. And on her last ever broadcast on SBS, Lee Lin Chin did not disappoint in the frock stakes, donning a bizarre plastic dress. The veteran news presenter abruptly left SBS after nearly four decades at the network, signing off on Sunday, and viewers were bemused by her outfit. Eye-catching: In her last ever broadcast on SBS, Lee Lin Chin did not disappoint in the frock stakes, donning a bizarre plastic dress Constructed of black plastic squares, the structured dress looked very futuristic. 'Bold indeed. Definitely strikes a Darth Vader tone,' Tweeted one viewer. Another joked: 'When you're trying to open that heat-sealed plastic wrapping but don't have scissors'. Others saw the practical side, with one person Tweeting: 'I need this outfit for when I eat soup.' SBS had teased the outfit prior to it's airing, taking to Instagram to show the box containing the garment. They wrote: 'Whats in the box? @LeeLinChinSBS is keeping her outfit for her final @SBSNews bulletin a secret. Tune in at 6.30pm tonight to see it'. The Jakarta-born journalist announced the shock news of her departure on Thursday afternoon, claiming that there are 'many small to medium-sized reasons' for her sudden departure. Good look! The veteran news presenter abruptly left SBS after nearly four decades at the network, signing off on Sunday, and viewers were bemused by her outfit Wind up: SBS had teased the outfit prior to it's airing, taking to Instagram to show the box containing the garment Fashion forward exit: The Jakarta-born journalist announced the shock news of her departure on Thursday afternoon, claiming that there are 'many small to medium-sized reasons' for her sudden departure Always looking good: The journalist has always had a knack for unusual fashion choices Ms Chin has now fueled speculation that she may move to Channel Ten, telling Ten Daily she'd be 'very happy to read the news (at the network) on a casual basis'. In an SBS statement provided to Daily Mail Australia, Ms Chin said: 'Having spent the bulk of my professional life at SBS, this isn't by any means an easy decision. 'I shall be leaving a happy and satisfying role as a newsreader. My friends and colleagues for whom I have fervent respect will be deeply missed.' Sam Cochrane has been enjoying his newfound single status and has been partying around the globe over the past week. The 31-year-old is currently in Bali with former Bachelor In Paradise co-star Luke McLeod and appears to have some eyebrow-raising female company. On Sunday night, the voice-over artist shared a video to Instagram Stories in which he was seen partying alongside upcoming The Bachelor contestant Cass Wood. What would Nick 'The Honey Badger' Cummins say? Sam Cochrane shared a video to Instagram Stories on Sunday in which he was seen partying with upcoming Bachelor contestant Cass Wood The video was simply captioned: 'Oh yeah', and features another female companion giggling along next to Cass. Cass is about to appear on the latest season of the dating show, beginning August 15, in which she will compete for the affections of Nick 'Honey Badger' Cummins. As her appearance has not yet begun airing, it is unclear how far she gets in the competition. However it was recently revealed that the footy player and the Miss World Australia NSW Finalist 2017 knew one another before Cass appeared on the program. On with the show: Miss World Australia NSW Finalist Cass is about to appear on the latest season of the dating show, beginning August 9 On his radar: Cass will compete for the affections of Nick 'Honey Badger' Cummins (pictured) Buddies? However it was recently revealed that the footy player and the Miss World Australia NSW Finalist 2017 knew one another before Cass appeared on the program Mates: Sam is in Bali with former Bachelor in Paradise co-star Luke McLeod. Also shown in video is the Hannah Fitzpatrick, who waves the camera away Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Sam Cochrane and Cass Wood for comment. On Saturday, Sam revealed he is in Toraja Bambu, Bali, writing on Instagram: Another day in absolute paradise! The most beautiful people ever. Thank you @thebalibible for letting @luke.mcleod and I have the best adventure. Another day another bath'. Last weekend, the former Bachelorette star was revelling in female attention while attending Byron Bay's Splendour in the Grass festival on Saturday and Sunday. Bachelor lifestyle! Sam Cochrane shared a kiss with two blondes as he embraced the single life at Byron Bay's Splendour in the Grass festival following his split with fiancee Tara Pavlovic Party time! Sam was a hit at Splendour In The Grass last weekend. Pictured: Sam with a group of young female fans His wild weekend came a month after his heartbreaking split with ex-fiancee Tara Pavlovic, 28, was announced. Sam was pictured cosying up to two mystery blondes on Instagram after the festival came to an end. In the photo, the women each planted a kiss on Sam's cheeks as he smiled for the camera. Sam proposed to Tara during the Bachelor in Paradise finale, which was filmed in Fiji last year and aired in late April. Advertisement The pair met while playing lovers in the forthcoming fantasy film, The Man Who Killed Hitler And Then The Bigfoot. And Aidan Turner couldn't take his hands off his girlfriend Caitlin FitzGerald as they walked her beloved dog, Charlie in London. The Poldark star, 35, packed on the PDA with the American actress, also 35, planting a kiss on her lips as they strolled through a park on their romantic day date. Smitten: Aidan Turner couldn't take his hands off his girlfriend Caitlin FitzGerald as they walked her beloved dog Charlie in London The couple, who have been dating since February, looked in the throes of love on their walk, with Aidan later scooping up Caitlin's tired Norfolk Terrier in his arms as they headed to a fish and chip shop. The hunky actor looked worlds away from his Poldark attire as he sported a simple white t-shirt and stripy shorts for their sunny outing. Aidan could hardly wipe the smile from his face as they strolled through the streets of the capital, with him regularly showering Caitlin in displays of affection while little Charlie walked alongside them. Loved-up: The Poldark actor, 35, packed on the PDA with the American actress, 35, planting a kiss on her lips as they strolled through a park on their romantic day date Beaming: Aidan could hardly wipe the smile from his face as they walked through the streets of the capital, with him regularly showering Caitlin in displays of affection Chatting away: The couple, who have been dating since February, looked in the throes of love on their walk before heading for fish and chips Soaking up the sun: Aidan looked delighted with his fish and chips lunch as they sat outside to make the most of the sunny weather Ravenous: Working up an appetite, Aidan devoured a cup of mushy peas as they sat outside the seafood eatery Tucking in! The actor looked ravenous as he indulged in his meal while Caitlin petted Charlie Mwah! The pair then headed to a convenience store, with Aidan packing on the PDA as he leant in for kiss Locking lips: Aidan looked absolutely besotted as Caitlin reciprocated the smooch Meanwhile, Gossip Girl star Caitlin, who cancelled a series of acting masterclasses back home in Maine before heading to see Aidan, cut a casual figure in a pin-striped shirt and ripped denim shorts, which made the most of her leggy frame. Styling her blonde locks in a messy bun, she teamed the look with black sandals, tortoise shell sunglasses and a calico bag. The pair met while playing lovers in the forthcoming fantasy film The Man Who Killed Hitler And Then The Bigfoot, which opens in the US this month. Sweet: Aidan later scooped up Caitlin's tired Norfolk Terrier in his arms after their lunch at the fish and chip shop Casually-clad: The hunky actor looked worlds away from his Poldark attire as he sported a simple white t-shirt and stripy shorts for their outing Larking around: The Poldark star seemed to be a little lax about his dog duties as he emulated a scene from the Lion King while Caitlin looked on Vision in blue: Caitlin cut a casual figure in a pin-striped shirt and ripped denim shorts, which made the most of her leggy frame Natural beauty: She teamed the look with black sandals, tortoise shell sunglasses and a calico bag and styled her blonde locks in a messy bun Blossoming romance: The pair met while playing lovers in the forthcoming fantasy film The Man Who Killed Hitler And Then The Bigfoot, which opens in the US this month Sparks flying: It is thought they became close while filming scenes in Massachusetts. Sources say they rarely mingled with other cast members while staying at the historic Deerfield Inn, near Boston Challenging role: In the film, Turner plays an American soldier in the Second World War who leaves Caitlin's character behind to embark on a dangerous mission to assassinate Adolf Hitler Bonding time: Aidan played a game of catch as he threw a stick for the Norfolk Terrier It is thought they became close while filming scenes in Massachusetts. Sources say they rarely mingled with other cast members while staying at the historic Deerfield Inn, near Boston. In the film, Turner plays an American soldier in the Second World War who leaves Caitlin's character behind to embark on a dangerous mission to assassinate Adolf Hitler and he is later called upon to kill a mythical sasquatch in the Canadian Rockies. Turner split with artist Nettie Wakefield, 30, last June. Before that he was in five-year relationship with fellow actress Sarah Greene, 32. They separated in 2015. Caitlin meanwhile has dated Welsh actor Michael Sheen. Star-crossed lovers: Gossip Girl star Caitlin cancelled a series of acting masterclasses back home in Maine before heading to see Aidan In an interview last month, Turner, currently appearing in the fourth series of Poldark, coyly hinted at finding new love, saying: 'I do have a girlfriend, yeah.' Last month Glamour magazine published an essay by Caitlin entitled 'No one can tell you what good sex looks like', in which she admitted having 'had some really bad sex in my life'. She said she had initially 'crafted my bedroom behaviour around what I had seen women do on television lots of excessive moaning and hair tossing but very little personal satisfaction'. Revelation: In an interview last month, Turner, currently appearing in the fourth series of Poldark, coyly hinted at finding new love, saying: 'I do have a girlfriend, yeah' Romance: Last month, Caitlin wrote an essay entitled 'No one can tell you what good sex looks like', in which she admitted having 'had some really bad sex in my life' Hectic schedule: Asides from his Poldark and filming duties, Aidan has been busy treading the boards in the West End show, The Lieutenant Mad with rage: The hunky actor plays Padraic, a young, unhinged terrorist who returns home and goes on a murderous rampage when he discovers his cat, who he refers to as his 'best friend in the whole world', has been killed Asides from his Poldark and filming duties, Aidan has been busy treading the boards in the West End show, The Lieutenant. The hunky actor plays Padraic, a young, unhinged terrorist who returns home and goes on a murderous rampage when he discovers his cat, who he refers to as his 'best friend in the whole world', has been killed. In true Martin McDonagh style, everything descends into chaos as Padraic storms back into his father Donny's (Denis Conway) home, and tries to exact his revenge but is then interrupted when fellow terrorists turn up on his doorstep. Action-packed: In true Martin McDonagh style, everything descends into chaos as Padraic storms back into his father Donny's (Denis Conway) home, and tries to exact his revenge but is then interrupted when fellow terrorists turn up on his doorstep The piece, set in 1993 on the island of Inishmore, County Galway, was first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2001 and was created by Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri director Martin McDonagh. 'I think people will be surprised,' the actor told the Daily Mail last year, while on a short break from filming the fourth and penultimate series of the top-rated BBC television Sunday night drama Poldark. 'It's the furthest I can get from Ross Poldark that I can possibly imagine.' Speaking about how much he hates his four-legged on screen co-star Barley, which plays Garrick, he told Heat magazine: 'I hate that dog. I've never disliked an animal in my life, but I just don't like that dog. You can't pet him he just bites you. He's looking for a treat the whole time. Zero love from me.' The fourth series of Poldark ended last night with Ross heartbroken by the death of his childhood sweetheart Elizabeth Warleggan (Heida Reed). She died after the birth of her second child having taken an elixir to induce an early birth. She produced a healthy baby daughter but was found collapsed and in pain the next day and died holding the hand of her husband George (Jack Farthing). In an emotional scene, a distraught Poldark was then shown kissing Elizabeth on her bed soon after she had passed away. But the tragedy brought Poldark and his wife Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson) closer together, with her saying: 'Elizabeth was your first love', and him replying: 'But not my last. I made that choice long ago' before they shared a kiss. Karlie Kloss and Josh Kushner just announced their engagement. But it looks like the supermodel was ready to join the Kushner family far before that, with a family insider revealing that the St. Louis native converted to Judaism in 'early June,' according to Page Six. The former Victoria's Secret Angel is making a similar spiritual shift as future sister-in-law Ivanka Trump, who is married to Jared Kushner and converted to Orthodox Judaism before their 2009 marriage. Spiritual shift: Karlie Kloss converted to Judaism before her engagement to Josh Kushner (above March 2016), making things official back in June according to a Page Six insider Rabbi Shmuley Boteach explained that the Kushner family, whose patriarch is disgraced real estate developer Charlie Kushner, are a 'deeply observant' family. 'The Kushners are deeply observant. Charlie Kushner has an afternoon prayer service in his office every day.' While it's not known where Karlie studied for her conversion the First Daughter undertook her religious education at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun on East 85th Street. Also: The former Victoria's Secret Angel's future sister-in-law Ivanka Trump, who is married to Jared Kushner, converted to Orthodox Judaism before their 2009 marriage. Above 2018 Religious traditions: Jared and Ivanka, who have three children, keep kosher and also observe the Sabbath from sundown Friday to sunset Saturday every week Jared and Ivanka, who have three children, keep kosher and also observe the Sabbath from sundown Friday to sunset Saturday every week. Karlie and Josh, who began dating in 2012, used Instagram to reveal their betrothal back on June 24. Sharing a picture of Joshua smiling with the sun setting behind him as she kissed him on the cheek, Karlie said that she 'can't wait for forever together.' She was then congratulated by a number of fans, including sister-in-law-to-be Ivanka. Instagram official: Karlie and Josh, who began dating in 2012, used Instagram to reveal their betrothal back on June 24 'So, so happy for you and Josh! I feel blessed to have you as a sister (!!!) Karlie and look forward to the decades of happy memories we will create together as a family!' Ivanka wrote. A source close to the couple told People: 'Theyre both overjoyed and happily celebrating. Their hearts are full and theyre excited to build their future together.' A wedding date is yet to be set. Advertisement He's been enjoying some time off from work with his family during their picturesque getaway in the Caribbean. And Jeremy Kyle appeared in great spirits as he delighted in another day in the sun with his fiancee Vicky Burton and his three kids Henry, nine, Ava, 13, and 14-year old Alice, in Barbados on Sunday. The TV host, 53, indulged in a spot of relaxation as he embarked on a romantic stroll with his partner, shortly before heading to the sea for a cosy boat ride. Having fun: Jeremy Kyle appeared in great spirits as he delighted in another day in the sun with his fiancee Vicky Burton and his three kids Henry, nine, Ava, 13, and 14-year old Alice, in Barbados on Sunday Opting for a casual appearance, the outspoken star sported an off-white T-shirt, tied in with a pair of vibrant pink shorts. Meanwhile, former nanny Vicky showcased her slender frame in a floral halterneck bikini - flashing a glimpse of her perky cleavage. The brunette beauty teamed her scanty swimwear with a perilously low-cut kaftan, embellished with detailed flower patterns. Time off: The TV host, 53, indulged in a spot of relaxation as he embarked on a romantic stroll with his partner, shortly before heading to the sea for a cosy boat ride Low-key: Opting for a casual appearance, the outspoken star sported an off-white T-shirt, tied in with a pair of vibrant pink shorts Simply stunning: Meanwhile, former nanny Vicky showcased her slender frame in a floral halterneck bikini - flashing a glimpse of her perky cleavage Displaying her naturally radiant complexion, Vicky - who accessorised with a pair of trendy aviator sunglasses - went make-up free and wore her tresses in a straight fashion. Following the couple's stroll on the sandy shores of the island, the pair joined Jeremy's children for a trip to the sea as the family enjoyed a boat ride. The group went on to exhibit their daring sides as they went on the Great Big Mable for a fun-filled tubing session. Leggy: The brunette beauty teamed her scanty swimwear with a perilously low-cut kaftan, embellished with detailed flower patterns Looking good: Displaying her naturally radiant complexion, Vicky - who accessorised with a pair of trendy aviator sunglasses - went make-up free and wore her tresses in a straight fashion All at sea: Following the couple's stroll on the sandy shores of the island, the pair joined Jeremy's children for a trip to the sea as the family enjoyed a boat ride The Reading native popped the question to Vicky in February, just two years after divorcing his ex-wife Carla Germaine. A source at the time told The Sun: 'Jeremy is completely loved up with Vicky - she's put a smile back on his face. 'He chose the Grenadines because it's a very romantic place and they're ecstatically happy. Both sets of families are absolutely chuffed for them.' Action-packed: The group went on to exhibit their daring sides as they went on the Great Big Mable for a fun-filled tubing session Smitten: Vicky used to accompany Jeremy to Barbados every year for his annual family festive trip over the festive period as a nanny to his kids with ex-wife Carla Germaine Beaming: Vicky was in great spirits as she chatted to a male pal during the family day out Relaxation mode: The newly-engaged stunner was later spotted with her locks in a loosely tousled bun Loved-up: The Reading native popped the question to Vicky in February, just two years after divorcing his ex-wife Carla Germaine Jeremy began dating Vicky, who originally worked as the nanny to his three children, more than a year after he split with Carla, however their relationship was only made public in January last year. A month later, the presenter was forced to comment on his developing romance with the blonde for the first time during an appearance on Loose Women. Addressing the panel, he said: 'It's a new relationship, a new chapter. I'm very happy thank you very much, let's move on with our lives. Whirlwind: Jeremy began dating Vicky, who originally worked as the nanny to his three children, more than a year after he split with Carla, however their relationship was only made public in January last year Speaking out: The presenter was forced to comment on his developing romance with the blonde for the first time during an appearance on Loose Women earlier this year Jeremy shares his children with his ex-wife of 13 years Carla; their marriage came to an end in 2015 after reports emerged of her affair with England polo player James Carr, 25. In June, the father-of-four became a grandfather after his grown-up daughter Harriet, whom he shares with first ex-wife Kristy Rowley, gave birth. A source told The Sun at the time: 'Jeremy is over the moon at becoming a grandfather for the first time. 'Hes going to spoil little Isla rotten and is proud as punch. He hasnt stopped smiling since.' Moving on: Jeremy shares his children with his ex-wife of 13 years Carla; their marriage came to an end in 2015 after reports emerged of her affair with England polo player James Carr, 25 All aboard: The couple's casual jaunt came after the host was pictured puckering up a smooch with his ladylove when she touched down the airport last week Happy family: The group smiled from ear to ear as they enjoyed the trip to the sea The couple's casual jaunt came after the host was pictured puckering up a smooch with his ladylove when she touched down the airport last week. Jeremy was spotting pulling his children's former nanny into his arms, with the pair sealing their delight at having been reunited with an intimate kiss. Vicky used to accompany Jeremy to Barbados every year for his annual family festive trip over the festive period as a nanny to his kids with ex-wife Carla. They've been basking in newlywed bliss after tying the knot in a picturesque Bromley ceremony last October. And Elliott Wright and wife Sadie have announced they are expecting their first child together in an exclusive interview withOK! magazine. The 37-year-old TOWIE star - who shares Elliott Jr, 11, and Olivia, nine, with his ex-wife - beamed with delight as he cradled the model's growing baby bump in a radiant photoshoot. Pregnant: Elliott Wright and wife Sadie have announced their expecting their first child together in an exclusive interview with OK! magazine Speaking on their surprise pregnancy, the brunette beauty, 26, shared: Were so excited! I dont think you can ever plan anything because if you plan it, then it doesnt always work out. So I think its always a surprise but we hoped it was coming. Restaurant owner Elliott added: We both started crying when we found out. The reality star - who runs Olivia's La Cala in Malaga - gushed over his wife's caring nature as he branded her a 'great mum' for embracing his children: For her to embrace my kids the way she did and how my kids took to her, I just knew then that she was going to be a great mum.' He continued: 'They even call Sadies mum and dad Nan and Granddad and they did from after the first summer holidays together. Sadies very family-orientated and I couldnt ask for more. I know shes going to be a super mum. Exciting times ahead: The 37-year-old TOWIE star revealed they cried when they found out the news (pictured Thursday) When asked about whether they're going to find out the gender of their child, Sadie - who is four months pregnant - said: 'No, were going to keep it a surprise. He was looking on the scan trying to see if he could see a willy. In the stunning shoot, the Essex bombshell looked ethereal as she accentuated her blossoming bump in an elegant white dress, embroidered with delicate lace details throughout. Complementing her tanned complexion, Sadie wore a sultry smokey eye look with heavy strokes of bronzer and nude lipgloss. Blended family: The TV personality - who shares Elliott Jr, 11, and Olivia, nine, with his ex-wife - gushed over Sadie's caring nature as he branded her a 'great mum' for embracing his children Smitten: They've been basking in newlywed bliss after tying the knot in a picturesque Bromley ceremony last October The pregnant star framed her gorgeous visage with voluminous which skimmed her her chest. Meanwhile, the entrepreneur cut a typically suave figure as he donned a sharp checked suit with a ribbed white jumper. Out now: The latest edition of OK! Magazine is available now The couple have even more to celebrate about as Elliott has reportedly signed the freehold of his glamorous eatery where they initially laid eyes on each other, giving him complete control over the business. Elliott - the cousin of TOWIE originals Mark and Jessica Wright - popped the question to Sadie after just 10 months of dating. The TV personality , who quit TOWIE in 2015 to move back to Spain, previously explained he knew Sadie was 'the one' because of how much his children loved her. He told MailOnline: 'I knew she was "the one" because my kids love her! Sadie is stunning, she's incredible. My children love her. That's important for any parent.' 'If it was the case my children didn't like her, or she wasn't interested, then it would be a no go area.' Bill Shorten says success in a Super Saturday of by-elections is a signpost to a change in federal government. The Labor leader was under pressure from a range of sources, from the prime minister to disgruntled caucus colleagues, to ensure the party performed well at five by-elections held on Saturday. There was also speculation he could be dumped as leader and replaced by Anthony Albanese. Two weeks ago Malcolm Turnbull declared it as a contest of leaders. "The head-up, the contest is between me and Bill Shorten as the prime minister and the opposition leader," Mr Turnbull said at the time. It appeared on Saturday night Labor was likely to win four of the by-elections with the Centre Alliance's Rebekha Sharkie holding on to her former seat of Mayo. "Four from four," Mr Shorten declared at a Labor function in Longman, standing next to winning candidate Susan Lamb. Mr Shorten said the party's rank and file members had put their shoulder to the wheel. "Tonight is another signpost into the destination that matters for Australians - a Labor government after the next general election," he said. "We understand unlike our critics and opponents it is never about us - it is always about you, the people of Australia." Veteran Labor strategist Bruce Hawker said it would bolster Mr Shorten's leadership. "Labor has done very well tonight The person who would be really disappointed will be the prime minister - he thought he could kill Bill tonight and he didn't." Labor frontbencher and Shorten ally Richard Marles put it simply: "Bill won tonight." Despite five by-elections that could have changed the look of Australia's parliament there'll be just one new face when MPs return after the winter break. Patrick Gorman won the West Australian seat of Perth in the Super Saturday by-elections, his the only one not forced by the ongoing dual citizenship saga. The incoming Labor MP succeeds his party colleague Tim Hammond, who resigned just two years into his first term to spend more time with his family. Mr Gorman will now make the regular commute across the country to Canberra for parliamentary sitting weeks, beginning August 13. He won 39 per cent of the primary vote in a field dominated by independents, but took an overwhelming 62.9 per cent in the two-party preferred stakes against Greens candidate Caroline Perks. The Liberals did not run in the seat, a move Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has defended. "We have much less financial resources available to us than Labor, and so the WA party decided not to run in two seats which they believed they had no prospect of winning," he said. The party is looking ahead to the general election, which Mr Turnbull says will be in the first half of next year, when the party will field a candidate. In his victory speech Mr Gorman also said he had his eyes on the next election battle. "Our mission is nowhere near complete. Our mission has just started," the former Kevin Rudd staffer told supporters. Turnout in the electorate was low. With 28 of 46 booths counted, turnout sits at just 57.9 per cent. Health groups are calling on the Tasmanian government to back away from proposed changes to gun laws. The Liberals in March revealed plans to double the duration of some gun licences and make weapons such as pump-action shotguns more readily available. On Sunday, groups including the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners called on Premier Will Hodgman not to push ahead with the changes. "I'm not only concerned about patients but I'm also concerned about health professionals ... who need to look after people who have been affected by gunshot wounds, who have been killed," the college's president Bastian Seidel said in Hobart. One of the first responders to the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, Pru Peschar, said it was in nobody's interests to change the laws. "I saw firsthand the devastation that was wrecked by one person with one gun. It was horrific, we never want that again," the Health and Community Services Union delegate said. After being returned to government in Tasmania's March poll, the Liberals agreed to an upper house inquiry into the proposed changes. The Victorian Labor Party has referred 18 Liberal and National MPs names to police to be investigated for allegedly using electorate staff for political campaigning during business hours. Deputy Leader James Merlino put the names forward to police on Sunday which includes Member for Brighton Louise Asher, Member for Western Metropolitan Region to Member for South Eastern Metropolitan Region Inga Peulich to Nationals MP Tim McCurdy. He has also asked Victoria Police to "investigate the leave status of ministerial staff employed by the former Napthine government during the 2014 Victorian election campaign". Schools alone can't prepare young people for life after education, a new report says. The Mitchell Institute at Victoria University claims that while some students get the benefit of industry mentoring and entrepreneurship programs, it's not the case for all students. A report released on Monday found young people are spending longer in formal education, the current generation of school leavers are likely to have multiple careers, and the new work reality is education alone isn't enough to secure full-time work. Institute director Megan O'Connell says some young people aren't connecting with the world of work until their twenties. She believes something has to be done to ensure they have meaningful experiences and connections with people outside school and family networks. The report suggests school and industry partnerships would smooth the transition from training to careers and help increase national productivity. While vocational training courses offer industry training, participation rates are falling in favour of more academic-based university courses. Ms O'Connell says barriers are preventing schools and industry partnerships. "Currently there are complex administrative requirements getting in the way of the partnerships working - we need to do more to simplify these across the country," she said. As well as real world learning programs embedded in school curriculums the report also recommends activities ranging from coding clubs to industry-run professional development workshops for teachers. All eyes will be on Sydney's train network as it attempts to handle the first commute since scheduled upgrades triggered massive delays and a customer backlash over the weekend. Sydney Trains, on Friday, warned "pretty significant trackwork", including an upgrade to an ageing signalling system, would affect the City Circle line during Saturday and Sunday. But assurances from the NSW government agency that staff and buses would ease the pain fell on deaf ears as angry commuters began reporting multiple cancelled trains and long delays. Some reported being late to work by two or three hours while others said they were "breaking up" with trains and felt forced to add more cars to the congested roads. Sydney Trains chief executive Howard Collins said he'd be on deck on Monday morning to monitor any knock on effects from the weekend's chaos. He called on travellers to check information about Sydney's trains on Monday and asked them to understand delays were not the fault of rail staff and station employees. A 21-year-old Melbourne woman is in hospital with head injuries after being hit by a car as she got out of another vehicle. The woman stepped out of the vehicle at the intersection of St Georges Road and Westbourne Grove in Northcote about 11pm on Saturday before a dark coloured sedan travelling south struck her. The vehicle initially pulled up a short distance ahead, but drove off a few minutes later and police are appealing for anyone who witnessed the accident to come forward. Queensland's peak legal body says state government moves to sack the entire Ipswich City Council breach the principle of natural justice. Local Government Minister Stirling Hinchliffe is pursuing new laws to dismiss the entire council amid a corruption scandal, even though many have not been accused of doing anything wrong. In a submission to a government committee, the Queensland Law Society says sacking the council en masse would have "the effect of breaching the principle of the presumption of innocence" with no recourse for judicial review or appeal. Facial recognition technology that's used to target problem drinkers in northern Western Australia may be expanded to Perth. Alcohol-fuelled domestic violence offenders and repeat drunk-drivers would be among the people added to the Banned Drinkers Register, which would stop them from buying alcohol and direct them to rehabilitation services, the state government said on Sunday. Racing and Gaming Minister Paul Papalia told The West Australian on Monday he would consider what the existing technology already provides "and look towards in the future having something like facial recognition technology". With the result a foregone conclusion, Cambodia's election has turned into a test of premier Hun Sen's popularity Cambodia's ruling party said it had won a landslide in Sunday's one-horse election, an expected outcome after the main opposition was banned, paving the way for leader Hun Sen to prolong his 33 years in power. Hun Sen, who came to power in 1985 in a country still plagued by civil war, has cracked down on dissent in the run-up to this year's poll, pressuring civil society, independent media and political opponents. That left him with little competition and no serious challengers. Cambodian People's Party (CPP) spokesman Sok Eysan told AFP late Sunday they expected to win "over 100 seats" in the 125-seat parliament, citing preliminary figures from the National Election Committee. "The CPP will get more than 80 percent of the popular vote," he said. "This is a huge victory for us." While turnout appeared high, many opposition supporters refused to vote or spoilt their ballot papers Hun Sen, 65, a one-time defector from the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, has pointed to stability and growth as the fruits of his rule -- a message that resonates with his base. "Compatriots have chosen the democratic path and used your rights," he said on his Facebook page after polls closed in an apparent swipe at the opposition, which called for a boycott. Voter turnout was 82 percent, according to the election committee, surpassing the final figure in 2013 of roughly 69 percent when the opposition took part. - Spoiled ballots - But there were also signs of despondency and indifference, and an expert on elections in Southeast Asia said the high turnout was misleading. "With one-party rule election turnout is generally higher, not lower, because the party, in this case the Cambodian People's Party, relies on voter intimidation more, relies on vote buying more, and turnout should be inflated that way," said Lee Morgenbesser from the school of government and international relations at Griffith University. Pictures of spoiled ballots circulated on social media though they could not be independently verified. AFP correspondents saw dozens of blank ballots set aside during counting. Cambodian National Election Committee workers carry election material in Phnom Penh in the run-up to polling day "I did not go to vote. I slept at home," said Khem Chan Vannak, a former commune chief elected with the now-banned opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). "A lot of my friends did not go to vote." Western governments withdrew their assistance from the election, citing its lack of credibility. Canada's Foreign Ministry said in a statement after the vote that "the election campaign was widely recognized to have been marred by voter intimidation and manipulation of the polls". Canada "strongly supports their (Cambodians') right to freely choose their leaders," it added. Nineteen small -- or hitherto unknown -- parties competed against the ruling CPP in the absence of the CNRP. But analysts say they are too obscure or new to make a meaningful difference. The CPP has won every election since 1998. The opposition, whose leaders are in jail, underground or in self-exile, urged a "clean-finger" boycott as the only safe form of protest, a reference to the ink applied to people's hands after they vote. Official results are expected on August 15. - 'Fist of a dictator' - More than eight million voters registered for the sixth general election since polls were organised by the United Nations in 1993. At the time the country was emerging from decades of war, including the Khmer Rouge years from 1975-79 which killed a quarter of the population. An elephant transports materials for an election set to extend Hun Sen's rule Hun Sen was installed aged just 32 as national leader during the Vietnamese occupation of 1979-89. But a youthful population angered by corruption and with little memory of the Khmer Rouge era put the ruling party's longevity in doubt. Their votes helped the CNRP to secure more than 44 percent of the vote in 2013 and a similar share in local elections last year. But Hun Sen snuffed out the looming electoral threat, accusing the rescue party of being involved in a plot to topple the government and arresting leader Kem Sokha. The Supreme Court dissolved the party in November 2017. "This is a story of how democratic dreams die under the fist of a dictator," Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch, said. - Power and patronage - A climate of fear driven by local-level ruling party members has made many reluctant to openly criticise the vote. The election committee, which has been accused of being biased towards the ruling party, said there was no voter intimidation. Hun Sen has maintained his grip on the country through political and family alliances in the police, military and media. He has placed his sons in key positions in what analysts see as an attempt to create a dynasty. The United States and the European Union declined to send monitors for Sunday's election but Cambodia's ally China provided support. Sam Rainsy, an opposition figure who lives in self-exile in France, said the foregone election victory was a "hollow one". The CNRP appealed to Cambodians not to vote in the "sham election that has no support and is not recognised by the international community". Authorities have vowed to take action against anyone who urges a poll boycott even though they insist voting is not compulsory. American pork producers have been hit hard by the US trade war with China and other allies, but could be big beneficiaries of the aid program announced for farmers For US farmers affected by the trade war unleashed by President Donald Trump, the $12 billion in emergency aid from his administration's is a temporary remedy, and it comes with several potential negative side effects. The Agriculture Department announced the aid on Tuesday to help farm producers hurt by retaliation by major trading partners against US tariffs on steel, aluminum and tens of billions of dollars in Chinese products. USDA said it would use a Depression-era farm support fund to make direct payments to producers of soybeans, sorghum, corn, wheat, cotton, dairy and hogs. It also intends to purchase excess production of commodities such as fruits, nuts, rice, legumes, beef, pork and milk for distribution to food banks and other nutrition programs. The size of the aid program is "unprecedented," said Joseph Glauber, a former USDA economist now at the International Food Policy Research Institute. But its effectiveness will be limited, he said, and it creates a "moral hazard." And ironically, depending on the criteria used, some of the benefits could go to Chinese-owned companies. "The pork industry is dominated by very large corporations," said Chris Hurt, agricultural economist at Purdue University, in Indiana. "The largest hog producer in the US, Smithfield, is owned by a Chinese company." Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said the new aid will not need congressional approval, but the program drew sharp criticism from many legislators, including Republicans. National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson said crop prices are falling and farmers' "livelihoods are on the line with every tweet, threat or tariff action that comes from the White House." Republican Senator Ben Sasse, a frequent Trump critic, said in a statement: "This administration's tariffs and bailouts aren't going to make America great again, they're just going to make it 1929 again." But after the US economy grew 4.1 percent in the second quarter, and the European Union agreed to a ceasefire in the trade confrontation with the US, Trump declared it a victory for his tough policies. - Moral hazard? - In announcing the aid for farmers, Perdue acknowledged that US farms were being hurt by what he called "illegal retaliation" to the tune of $11 billion so far. And EU officials downplayed Trump's claim they had made a commitment to buy more US soybeans. China buys about a third of American soybeans, but likely will turn to Brazil while the trade dispute with the Trump administration continues Meanwhile, analysts say that other industries caught up in the trade war may now expect relief from the government. "Knowing this administration, they'll design a bailout to help only massive agro-businesses who will use the money for stock buybacks," said senior Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer said. "And where does the bailout stop? What about people who use steel and aluminum? What about other goods that have been targeted by our foreign competitors? Are they going to get bailouts too? US farmers already receive about $20 billion a year from the government through various programs. But the new aid "creates a bit of a moral hazard," Glauber told AFP. "If you compensate producers right now, there is no real urgency to resolve trade disputes for the farmers." And the longer-term loss of markets for American crops is far worse that the short-term financial hit, he said. Farmers want trade not "a Band-Aid on a broken leg." China currently buys a third of US soybeans, and while importers stockpiled them in the two months before punitive tariffs hit in July, they likely will turn to Brazil to buy what they need, and it may be hard to win back market share. And even if the EU starts buying more from US farmers, China is the destination for two-thirds of the world's soy shipments. USDA said part of the aid funding will go to help fine new markets for farm products. Another question remains how the program will impact falling crop prices and even the cost of farmland, once the payments begin, which the USDA said should be in early September. "The land market could get distorted. Crop farmers are often willing to invest the extra money in land, that would hike the prices," Purdue University's Hurt said. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), which was synonymous with fraud, secrecy and bias under Mugabe, has again been engulfed by allegations of malpractice Nothing would demonstrate that Zimbabwe has entered a new era since Robert Mugabe's ousting more than a clean election. But the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), which was synonymous with fraud, secrecy and bias under Mugabe, has again been engulfed by allegations of malpractice that threaten the credibility of Monday's vote. In the last elections in 2013, it was accused of allowing the ruling ZANU-PF party to oversee voter registration and of delaying the release of an electoral roll full of ghost names, dead people and duplicates. It also allegedly allowed ZANU-PF to assist many supposedly illiterate people to vote, rejected many legitimate votes and printed millions more ballot papers than needed. This year, it has struggled to present an image of the open, fair election that President Emmerson Mnangagwa has repeatedly promised to deliver since he succeeded long-time leader Mugabe in November. Zimbabwe's incumbent President and candidate Emmerson Mnangagwa (centre) at a rally in Harare "The key tenets for a credible election are transparency and accountability -- and ZEC is averse to both," Tawanda Chimhini, head of Zimbabwe's Election Resource Centre monitoring body, told AFP. "Zimbabwe could have seen a departure from the old way, and ZEC could have been much more transparent -- that would have built public confidence. "But the commission is making the same mistakes. The credibility of the election will be in dispute regardless of who wins." - Chequered history - Back in 2008, ZEC also attracted international ridicule for declaring that year's election free and fair after then opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of the presidential run-off when more than 200 of his MDC supporters were killed. This time around, ZEC has dismissed criticism that its new biometric voters' roll is riddled with errors, that the ballot paper illegally puts Mnangagwa's name at the top of a column, and that it is running the election opaquely. Two weeks ago ZEC announced that the printing of ballot papers had been completed, and the following day furiously denied postal voting was already underway -- only to backtrack and admit that it had started. A supporter of MDC-Alliance (Movement for Democratic Change-Alliance) leader and opposition presidential candidate at a closing campaign rally in Harare "From the voters' roll to ballot papers and postal voting, ZEC has been found wanting," said UK-based political analyst Alex Magaisa. "Regrettably, ZEC has so far failed to handle its enormous obligation as an impartial referee. "There is a broad perception of bias which owes much to history but is also cemented by current indiscretions." ZEC's failure to ensure balanced state media coverage has also been clear, with the state-run Herald newspaper and Zimbabwe television running fawning coverage of Mnangagwa and either ignoring or attacking Chamisa. - On 'Team ZANU-PF'? - The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has kept up a barrage of complaints about ZEC throughout the campaign, describing it as playing on ZANU-PF's "team". Zimbabwe is to hold its first post-Mugabe presidential election on Monday, July 30 "ZEC has failed us in fundamental ways," party spokesman Douglas Mwonzora told AFP, alleging ZEC has been staffed with former military personnel close to the generals who ousted Mugabe in favour of Mnangagwa last year. "They have not released the exact copy of the voters' roll to us. They have not allowed us to observe the transportation, storage and safekeeping of the ballot papers," he added. Many Zimbabweans are looking to international monitors from the European Union, African Union and others to keep the election on track, but the observer missions stress that the process is entirely run by ZEC. ZEC commissioner Qhubani Moyo strongly defended its conduct to AFP, saying it has been following "the letter of the law". "Our job is cut out for us in the constitution and the electoral act and any deviation is unacceptable," he said. "We are an independent body and we are not going to lose sleep over some of the criticism we get." The ruling ZANU-PF party vouched its support for the commission. "We have confidence in ZEC and we have no doubt they will carry out their mandate as expected," party spokesman Paul Mangwana told AFP. The head of the ZEC Priscilla Chigumba is a respected high court judge but, with both parties promising certain victory, she may face tough days ahead with the election results due by August 4. The train drew out of Johannesburg's central Park station in the early evening for a 15-hour journey through a cold winter night On the slow overnight train from Johannesburg to the Zimbabwe border, the talk is all about whether the country's election on Monday could spring a surprise and topple the ZANU-PF government. Regular travellers carrying maize, blankets and washing powder sat beside voters heading home for Zimbabwe's first election since autocratic long-time leader Robert Mugabe was ousted eight months ago. The six-carriage train drew out of Johannesburg's central Park station in the early evening on Friday for a 15-hour, 600-kilometre (370-mile) journey through a cold winter night. "The people of Zimbabwe need a new life so they can forget about the hard times we had under that old man Mugabe," said passenger Emile Manyikunike, 36, wearing a black leather jacket and green Bob Marley t-shirt. "People were being beaten up by police for disagreeing with the government, and we could not even trust our neighbours because every other person was a spy for ZANU-PF," he told AFP. The recently refurbished train came back into service in February after being shut for three years Manyikunike said he supports Nelson Chamisa, the young leader of the opposition MDC party who hopes to defeat Mugabe's former ally and successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa of the ZANU-PF party. Under Mugabe, Zimbabwe's economy collapsed and millions fled abroad -- often to neighbouring South Africa -- to seek work and escape the repressive regime. "Chamisa needs to ensure that all Zimbabweans have jobs so that even the ones that escaped can come back and we can rebuild the country," Manyikunike told AFP. "This train is taking me home so that I can vote and bring change." - 'We want a new country' - Fellow passenger Gertrude Tshabalala, 58, a domestic worker in South Africa, was heading back to visit her four grandchildren, carrying cooking pots, canned food and meat to supplement scarce supplies in Zimbabwe. ZANU-PF has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980 She doubted whether Mnangagwa and ZANU-PF, which has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980, could be beaten in a country with a history of fraud-riddled elections. "ZANU-PF always wins -- no matter what," she said. "But my two grandkids are old enough to vote this year and I just hope their votes count unlike ours in the past." For one mother-of-two on board, who declined to give her name, the election is a chance to register her anger at the Mugabe years and try to throw out his ZANU-PF party. "We are going back home because we want a new country. It was 37 years with that old man ruling -- he was greedy and wanted everything for himself," said the nurse, who has worked in Johannesburg for six years. Chronology of Zimbabwe since independence "I am going to vote for the young Chamisa. The old guys want the old days. Their brains are old too, they can't think straight." The recently-refurbished train, which came back into service in February after being shut for three years, only had about 100 passengers and was hit by regular power cuts inside the carriages. - Pap and a beer - A small dining car sold pap -- maize porridge -- steak and chicken, along with beer and cider to passengers who paid 190 rand ($14) for a seat or 310 rand for a bed in a cabin, plus 60 rand for a pillow, sheets and thin blanket. Some women sitting on the floor sang hymns before lying down to sleep in the dark after guards had checked their tickets. Many Zimbabweans who fled to South Africa under Robert Mugabe's rule take the overnight train back home to vote in Monday's national elections The train terminates at Musina, about 10 km short of the border, with travellers heading into Zimbabwe taking mini-bus taxis to the crossing point into Beitbridge. On the South African side of the border, Zimbabwean truck driver Andrew Kumalo, 45, disagreed with most voters on the train. "The country needs experience not an experiment," he said. "A new broom sweeps better, but an old blanket comforts better. We must keep our revolutionary party." Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita is bidding for a second five-year term More than eight million Malians will go to the polls on Sunday in a key electoral test for the fragile Sahel state, battling a wave of ethnic violence and jihadism. President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, 71, leads a crowded field of 24 candidates -- just one of them a woman -- bidding for the five-year presidency. His record on security has been a dominant theme, with opponents, including several former ministers, accusing him of incompetence. "He was elected with 77.6 percent of the vote, but he's been unable to resolve the country's main problems -- the restoration of peace and the issue of insecurity," said Abdoulaye Cisse, a supporter of candidate Modibo Sidibe, a former prime minister. On the campaign trail, Keita -- commonly known by his initials of IBK -- has highlighted the achievement of a 2015 peace agreement between the government, government-allied groups and former Tuareg rebels to fight jihadism in the country's north. Winding up his campaign Friday, having earlier accused jihadists of injecting "poison" by stirring up ethnic tensions, Keita told some 2,000 chanting supporters at his final rally that "my only crime is the love you bear me". One supporter attending, Cheickna Traore, a young entrepreneur, insisted as Keita spoke of the "unbreakable bond" between him and his camp that there was no real alternative. "Nobody can sort Mali out in five years. Nobody. If IBK goes then the next president will have to start again from square one. We don't want that, we want continuity." But violence continues to flare, even with the presence of 15,000 UN peacekeepers and 4,500 French troops and a heralded five-nation anti-terror force, the G5 Sahel. A state of emergency is set to enter its fourth year in November. A Malian soldier gestures next to a campaign billboard as Keita supporters attended a final campaign rally in Bamako at which the incumbent spoke of an "unbreakable bond" between him and his followers More than 300 civilians have died in ethnic clashes this year, according to UN figures and an AFP toll. Many deaths have occurred in the central region of Mopti, involving the Fulani nomadic herder community and Bambara and Dogon farmers. Four days before polling day, armed men -- described as Dogon hunters -- killed 17 Fulani civilians in the village of Somena, Fulani representatives said Friday. Jihadist violence, meanwhile, has spread from northern Mali to the centre and south and spilled over into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, often inflaming communal conflicts. - Security and observers - Amid concerns that the vote could not be held in some restive areas, more than 30,000 personnel have been drafted to ensure security. On the stump: Opposition candidate Soumaila Cisse at a pre-election rally in Koulikoro The European Union, the African Union (AU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) are fielding election observers. Keita's challengers are headed by Soumaila Cisse, 68, a former finance and economy minister, who lost by a large margin in the second round of the 2013 election. His team have warned of possible fraud, claiming that there are two electoral lists and hundreds of fake polling stations. For Cisse, Mali "is dying". In the centre of the country, "there is no administration, more than 500 schools have closed, no more health centres, investment in water", he told AFP in an interview Friday. Cisse blamed recent bouts of inter-communal violence on "poverty, first of all, which has risen these past few years. That creates tension, difficulties, competition for resources". He also slammed "a real lack of state authority", meaning "some citizens end up meting out their own justice and that is very dangerous". Cisse urged all sectors of society to engage in dialogue and to prioritise better healthcare and education as motors of development, while rejecting all-pervasive corruption. He termed the continuing problem of jihadist violence as a global, rather than African problem and urged the next government to apply the 2015 peace accord. The government needed, he said, to show it had "the sincere desire" to do so. Mali Jihadist leader Iyad Ag Ghaly, a Tuareg and leader of Mali's main Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist alliance, insisted in a message Friday that whatever the outcome the people would reap "nothing but illusions". Voting, starting at 0800 GMT, is scheduled to close at 1800 GMT. Turnout is typically below 50 percent in Mali during the first round of voting. The first results are expected within 48 hours, with official results following on Friday at the latest. If any candidate fails to secure more than half of the ballots, a second round will take place on August 12. Hun Sen is part of a small coterie of world leaders to hold power for three decades, adapting to the shifting political landscape in the poor Southeast Asian country since the Cold War Cambodian leader Hun Sen has outlasted the murderous Khmer Rouge, sidelined the monarchy and crushed his opponents in a 33-year rule defined by patronage, political agility and repression and set to be prolonged by Sunday's election. The 65-year-old strongman smiled as he held up an inked finger at a polling booth on Sunday morning in an election devoid of his only serious opposition. Hun Sen is part of a small coterie of world leaders to hold power for three decades, adapting to the shifting political landscape in the poor Southeast Asian country since the Cold War. His ruling Cambodian People's Party is set to win big on Sunday after the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was dissolved by the Supreme Court in November 2017. In his final campaign speech days before the poll, Hun Sen was in typically bombastic form, bragging about the legal action to "eliminate traitors who attempted to topple the government". Critics say victory will be the culmination of years of state-sponsored violence, intimidation and deft legal footwork by Hun Sen to head off an opposition which emerged as a serious threat at the last election in 2013. Hun Sen seized control in a bloody 1997 coup, a year before the death of Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot It will also mark a nadir for Cambodian democracy. "Few of Hun Sen's opponents have had the combination of ruthlessness, guile, and political acuity that have carried him through repeated cycles of Cambodian history," said Sebastian Strangio, author of "Hun Sen's Cambodia". He was a cadre in the Khmer Rouge, an ultra-Maoist organisation that overthrew the US-backed government of Lon Nol and killed one quarter of the population from 1975 to 1979. But to escape ever-deeper purges he defected to Vietnam, returning as their army toppled the Khmer Rouge and taking credit as Cambodia's saviour from a group he once belonged to. The ambitious former fighter was installed as prime minister in 1985, aged just 32. - 'Uncle' wants your vote - Hun Sen lost the first election he ever ran for in 1993, the UN-sponsored vote meant to be the dawn of a new democratic era. But he seized control in a bloody 1997 coup, a year before the death of Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot. He's been accused of stacking the military with fiercely loyal allies, while handing key security roles to relatives and his sons in an attempt to build a dynasty. China has in recent years turned Cambodia's patron ladling out cash and soft loans for infrastructure that left Hun Sen less reliant on a critical West. A visible presence across the country, he travels frequently to the provinces, giving straight-talking speeches riddled with warnings that without him Cambodia will crumble. Critics say Hun Sen political endurance is based on years of state-sponsored violence, intimidation and deft legal footwork to head off an opposition, which emerged as a serious threat at the last election in 2013 As times change he has remodelled his approach, spreading his message via a Facebook page with 10 million "likes" -- on a platform that could have served the opposition. He has even co-opted garment workers who once marched with the opposition, raising wages for the near three quarters of a million people employed in the key sector. "I love him the same as my parents," said garment worker Phoeung La during a recent visit by the premier to nearly 25,000 labourers in Kampong Chhnang province. Ever-attuned to populist opportunities, Hun Sen handed out $5 in envelopes, while pregnant employees were given $200 by a premier who called himself "uncle" to the crowd. "You ask for schools from uncle, you ask for roads from uncle, so uncle asks for votes back," he said. - Genius of survival - The ruling Cambodian People's Party has won every election from 1998 onwards. But frustration with corruption among a young population with little memory of the horrors of the Khmer Rouge era gave an opening to new challengers. Formed in 2012, the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) won more than 44 percent of the vote in 2013 and almost the same in local 2017 polls. But their emerging threat was snuffed out. Sam Rainsy, who co-founded the CNRP but now lives in self-exile in Paris, said Hun Sen's years in the Khmer Rouge were formative in creating a culture of violence and impunity which defines Cambodian power. A nemesis through endless thwarted years of opposition, Rainsy strikes a reluctant note of admiration for Cambodia's enduring strongman. "Hun Sen's strength, I would even say his genius, is to survive," he said. Authorities in New Zealand have stripped the ivory keys from an antique piano after a British professor brought it with him when he emigrated with his wife and children. Julian Paton, 50, moved from Bristol to Auckland with his wife Julia, 50, and their children Sebastian, 13, and Eva, 11 in November last year. They took with them a 120-year-old piano that Professor Paton bought as a gift for his wife 30 years ago, which their children had been learning to play. But Professor Paton wasn't aware that he needed an export permit to take the piano out of the country under international trade rules that are designed to protect elephants. The piano was confiscated when the family arrived in Auckland and they have since fought to have it returned. The antique piano was built in 1895 but still breaches ivory importation laws. It was seized by New Zealand's Department of Conservation last year and had its keys stripped on Tuesday It was supposed to be returned on Wednesday with the keys removed. Professor Paton, who teaches at the University of Auckland, said the Department of Conservation had offered him a number of options including paying to have the instrument destroyed, donating it to charity with the ivory keys or having the keys removed before the piano was returned to him, The Times reports. Professor Paton agreed to the final option after the department rejecting his proposal of having the piano (complete with ivory keys) in his home but accessible to the community under the charity option, according to the newspaper. He paid 100 to have the keys removed and is planning to dispute the department's expected bill for administration costs. He expects to pay about 200 to install synthetic keys on the piano. It is believed the ivory keys will now be buried which Professor Paton says is 'rubbing salt in the wound.' Professor Paton has blasted this as 'unfair and highly disrespectful' to the elephant slain for its ivory. Julian Paton (pictured) has been ordered to cover the full cost of the removal of the keys Professor Paton says that although he is supportive of laws to protect elephants, the ivory from the antique piano was built before 1914 when there were no laws to prevent the slaughter of elephants. 'Ivory on a piano in a sense is a monument which reminds us of the atrocities that have occurred. It's a bit like removing the names off a war memorial you have lost the reason for it,' he told The Times. He also accused authorities of vandalising his family heirloom, adding his family had 'followed all the rules we were told to follow.' Professor Paton says his shipping company didn't inform him of a need for a special permit which she claims would have been easy to obtain under an exemption for antiques. 'We are disappointed and horrified as a family at the bureaucracy,' Professor Paton told stuff.co.nz. He claimed that New Zealand should 'actually be very appreciative of pieces of furniture or instruments that have come into the country like this,' as it is a relatively new country with few antiques. The Department of Conservation refused to use its allowed discretion to make an exemption in his case, he said, despite a plea from Professor Paton's local MP. 'I'm embarrassed as a New Zealander and as a local MP that this is how we welcome people, by confiscating their family heirlooms so their kids can't play piano,' MP David Seymour said. THE LAW PREVENTING THE IMPORTATION OF IVORY New Zealand is part of an international agreement called the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The agreement aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the species in the wild. Under the Trade in Endangered Species Act 1989, it is the responsibility of the person importing the goods to ensure they have the correct documentation for import and export of items that include endangered species. If documentation can't be produced, the items being imported will be seized by authorities, in this case, the New Zealand Department of Conservation. 'In this case, the item, a piano, was imported without the required CITES documentation. The item was therefore imported illegally,' DoC director-general Lou Sanson said. Advertisement Mr Seymour added the removal of the keys was vandalism. The piano was claimed by authorities under the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), an international treaty designed to protect endangered plants and animals. The treaty says that owners of antique ivory can apply for an exemption under certain conditions. But the Department of Conservation said it had asked authorities in the UK to allow the piano back in order to Professor Paton to obtain the necessary permit, but they said it would be illegal to do so. A spokesman for the department said she sympathised with the Paton family, but using its discretion in this case would have risked the department's ability to 'make fair and consistent decisions in similar situations in the future,' according to The Times. John Isner avenged his only loss to Matthew Ebden in five career ATP Tour meetings to book his spot in his eighth Atlanta Open final Top seed John Isner booked his spot in his eighth Atlanta Open final, defeating Aussie Matthew Ebden 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 6-1 in the semi-finals on Saturday. The hard-serving Isner avenged his only loss to Ebden in five career ATP Tour meetings when the Aussie beat him earlier this year at the Australian Open. "It was tough," Isner said. "Just like yesterday, I was able to get out early in the third set and that definitely took some pressure off. "I'm very happy to be back in the final here." In the final the 33-year-old Isner will face fellow American Ryan Harrison, who beat Britain's Cameron Norrie 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. Isner has won eight of his nine semi-finals in Atlanta, and will look to improve his record of 13-12 in finals. Isner appeared to be cruising to victory, leading by a set and up by a break, when the wheels almost fell off. The fourth-seeded Ebden broke back in the second and then saved one match point in the ensuing tie-break when Isner flubbed a backhand return. Isner rebounded by breaking Ebden twice in the deciding set. He smashed 26 aces, using the confidence from his victory at the Miami Open and run to the Wimbledon semi-finals to win in exactly two hours. That helped set up the second straight Isner-Harrison Atlanta final with Isner triumphing last year. "I know a lot about Ryan," Isner said. "There are no secrets there. We are good friends and itll be a rematch of last year, so itll be cool." Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi left prison Sunday after an eight-month sentence for slapping two Israeli soldiers, an episode captured on video that made her a symbol of resistance for Palestinians, a prison service spokesman said. Assaf Librati told AFP Tamimi, 17, and her mother, who was also jailed over the incident, were being driven by Israeli authorities from a prison inside Israel to a checkpoint leading to the occupied West Bank, where they live. 'They just left the prison,' Librati said. Israeli authorities provided conflicting information on which checkpoint they were being taken to. Scroll down for video Ahed Tamimi, seen here in a file picture, was arrested in the early hours of December 19 They were first expected to arrive at a checkpoint near the Palestinian city of Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank, but there were later indications they would be taken to a crossing at Rantis. Both Tamimi and her mother were sentenced to eight months in an Israeli military court following a plea deal over the December incident which the family said took place in their yard in Nabi Saleh in the West Bank. Video of it went viral, leading Palestinians to view her as a hero standing up to Israel's occupation. Her now-familiar image has been painted on Israel's separation wall cutting off the West Bank. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has praised her and social media has been flooded with support. But for Israelis, Tamimi is being used by her activist family as a pawn in staged provocations. They point to a series of previous such incidents involving her, with older pictures of her confronting soldiers widely shared online. Many Israelis also praised the restraint of the soldiers, who remained calm throughout, though others said her actions merited a tougher response. Tamimi was arrested in the early hours of December 19, four days after the incident. She was 16 at the time. The video shows the cousins approaching two soldiers and telling them to leave before shoving, kicking and slapping them She agreed to plead guilty to four of the 12 charges against her under the deal, including assault, incitement and two counts of obstructing soldiers. Pictured: The girl at an earlier stage of her trial Her mother Nariman was also arrested, as was her cousin Nour, who was freed in March. Israel's military said the soldiers were in the area on the day of the incident to prevent Palestinians from throwing stones at Israeli motorists. The video shows the cousins approaching two soldiers and telling them to leave before shoving, kicking and slapping them. Ahed Tamimi is the most aggressive of the two in the video. The heavily armed soldiers do not respond in the face of what appears to be an attempt to provoke rather than seriously harm them. They then move backwards after Nariman Tamimi becomes involved. The scuffle took place amid clashes and protests against US President Donald Trump's controversial recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Relatives say that a member of the Tamimi family was wounded in the head by a rubber bullet fired during those protests. Tamimi's trial began on February 13 behind closed doors at the Israeli military court in the West Bank Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has battled disquiet from right-wingers in the coalition after he ousted former PM Tony Abbott in a party-room vote in September 2015 Embattled Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's grip on power ahead of upcoming national polls was under renewed scrutiny Sunday after disappointing by-election results. Five seats were up for grabs after four opposition politicians and one from a minor party fell foul of a constitutional rule barring dual citizens from serving in parliament. Saturday's by-elections were billed as a key test for Turnbull and Labor opposition leader Bill Shorten, with the governing Liberal-National coalition hoping to win a seat to double its wafer-thin parliamentary majority of one. With Labor tipped to retain all four of its seats, including two that had been seen as too close to call -- Longman in Queensland state and Braddon in Tasmania state -- Shorten emerged as the clear winner. "These by-elections were a very simple question -- did people want more of the same or did they want better from their government," Shorten told reporters in Queensland on Sunday. "I think, in large numbers, they said we want better from the government... We had the better candidates (and) the better policies." Turnbull spent Sunday downplaying suggestions the results, particularly in Longman where there was a 10 percent swing against the coalition's candidate, placed his leadership in peril ahead of national polls. Turnbull, a moderate Liberal, has battled disquiet from right-wingers in the coalition after he ousted former PM Tony Abbott in a party-room vote in September 2015. "This was a conventional swing in one electorate," Turnbull told reporters in Sydney. "I assure you, when we come to the federal campaign, Australians will see there is a very clear choice then... We will look very seriously and thoughtfully and humbly at the way in which the voters have responded." National upper-house elections have to be called by mid-May and lower-house polls by early November next year, though they are usually held on the same day. Turnbull has said he would call an election in the first half of 2019. Following the by-elections, analysts said the government could lose power and its hold on marginal seats in the critical state of Queensland at the next national election. The results also raised questions over whether key coalition policy proposals, including tax cuts for large companies, should be changed or shelved. The tax cuts were heavily criticised by Labor during their by-election campaigns as handouts for big business at the expense of the average worker. File pictures show Mehdi Karroubi (L) in 2008 and former prime minister and opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi in 2009 Iran's top security body has approved the release of opposition figures Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, under house arrest for seven years for leading mass protests in 2009, a family member told local media. "I have heard that the decision to lift the house arrest was approved by the Supreme National Security Council," said Hossein Karroubi, son of the jailed reformist, according to the Kalameh news website which is close to the family. "This decision will be presented to the (supreme) leader so that this case can be concluded," he said, adding that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would have 10 days to veto the decision. There was no official confirmation of the decision, but the reports come at a time when Iran's leaders are keen to unite conservative and reformist factions to face down increasing pressure from the United States and a worsening economic crisis. Mousavi, 76, and Karroubi, 80, were reformist candidates in the controversial election of 2009, which was won by hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. They claimed the vote was rigged, triggering months of mass protests, particularly in Tehran. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets in the biggest challenge to the system since the Islamic revolution of 1979. The pair were placed under house arrest without trial in February 2011, along with Mousavi's high-profile wife, 66-year-old Zahra Rahnavard. Hossein Karroubi said the security council had also agreed to lift restrictions on reformist figurehead Mohammad Khatami, who was Iran's president from 1997 to 2005. The media had been banned from showing Khatami's face and strict limits were placed on his movements. President Hassan Rouhani repeatedly vowed to seek the release of Mousavi and Karroubi -- a major plank of his election in 2013 and re-election last year, with their names frequently chanted at his rallies. But despite Rouhani chairing the Supreme National Security Council, which is made up of government and military figures appointed by the president and supreme leader, there had been no sign of progress on their release. Brunson ran a Protestant church in the Aegean city of Izmir President Recep Tayyip Erdoganwarned the US in comments published Sunday that sanctions would not force Ankara to "step back" after Donald Trump threatened to punish Turkey if a US pastor was not freed. "You cannot make Turkey take a step back with sanctions," Erdogan said in his first comments since relations soured after Trump threatened the measures on Thursday if Pastor Andrew Brunson was not released. "The US should not forget that it could lose a strong and sincere partner like Turkey if it does not change its attitude," he was quoted as saying by Hurriyet daily. "The change of attitude is Trump's problem, not mine," he told journalists during a visit to South Africa, calling the US threats "psychological warfare". Relations between the NATO allies have worsened over the jailing of Brunson, who ran a Protestant church in the Aegean city of Izmir. He was held in a Turkish jail for almost two years on terror charges but was placed under house arrest on Wednesday. Trump on Thursday hit back at the move, calling for his immediate release and warning that the US would impose "large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment" of Brunson. Ties had already been strained over multiple issues including Washington's support of a Syrian Kurdish militia which Turkey views as a terrorist group and the failure to extradite the Pennsylvania-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen. Erdogan in September suggested Turkey could free Brunson if the US handed over Gulen -- an offer brushed off by Washington. - No 'bargaining chip' - Ankara accuses Gulen of ordering the 2016 failed overthrow of Erdogan, a claim he strongly denies. The Washington Post on Friday reported a deal between Ankara and Washington was made to secure the release of a Turkish woman imprisoned in Israel in exchange for the freedom of Brunson. Ebru Ozkan, 27, had been held for over a month by Israel on charges of passing hundreds of dollars to a "terrorist" group, but she returned to Turkey on July 16. The newspaper said the agreement was "personally sealed" by Trump but fell apart when Brunson was transferred to house arrest. Erdogan addressed the claims, stressing that Turkey had "never made Pastor Brunson a bargaining chip." However, he said Ankara had asked for Washington's help in securing Ozkan's return home. "But we didn't say: 'In return for this, we will give you Brunson'. Nothing like this was discussed," Erdogan insisted. Brunson risks up to 35 years in jail if found guilty of charges of carrying out activities on behalf of two groups deemed by Turkey to be terror organisations -- the Gulen movement and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Brunson rejects the accusations while US officials have repeatedly insisted the pastor is innocent. - International arbitration - Temperatures were further raised when the US threatened in June to block the delivery of F-35 stealth jets to Turkey if Ankara buys Russia's S-400 air defence system. But Erdogan suggested Turkey would not sit idly by if this happened. "We told (the US): 'If you don't give them, there is something called international arbitration. We will seek international arbitration'," he said. Another source of tension is the prison sentence of 32 months for deputy director general of Turkish lender Halkbank Mehmet Hakan Atilla convicted of plotting to help Iran evade US sanctions on billions of dollars of Iranian oil proceeds. Turkish officials insist Atilla is innocent but Halkbank still faces a penalty from the US Treasury. Palestinian activist and campaigner Ahed Tamimi (C) in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh on July 29, 2018, after her release from prison Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi left prison Sunday and was greeted by crowds of supporters after serving eight months for slapping Israeli soldiers, an episode that made her a symbol of resistance for Palestinians. Tamimi, 17, and her mother Nariman, who was also jailed over the incident, arrived in their village of Nabi Saleh in the occupied West Bank, where they were mobbed by journalists. Easily recognisable by her shock of reddish hair, Tamimi wore a Palestinian-style keffiyeh around her neck, at times appearing relaxed but at other moments overwhelmed as television cameras followed her. "The resistance continues until the fall of the occupation, and of course the (female) prisoners in jail are all strong," Ahed Tamimi said, her voice barely audible above the crowd. "I thank everyone who supported me in this sentence and supports all the prisoners." Palestinian activist and campaigner Ahed Tamimi (C) speaks, as she sits between her father (C-L) and mother (C-R), during a press conference in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh on July 29, 2018 Her father Bassem put his arms around Ahed and her mother as they walked together along a road, while a crowd of around 100 chanted "we want to live in freedom". At a press conference later at a square in the village, Tamimi sat at a table behind a forest of microphones, a translator providing an English version of her remarks. She declined to take questions from journalists from the Israeli media because of what she said was unfair coverage of her and her family's cause. She said she planned to study law to hold Israel's occupation accountable. "Of course I am very happy that I came back to my family, but that happiness is partial because of the prisoners who are still in prison," she said. Tamimi also visited the tomb of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Ramallah and laid flowers there, before meeting Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. - 'Jailing of a child' - Israeli authorities appeared keen to avoid media coverage of the release as much as possible, and conflicting information had meant supporters and journalists scrambled to arrive on time at the correct location. Ahed Tamimi kisses the tombstone of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, on July 29, 2018 Tamimi and her mother had been driven early on Sunday from Israel's Sharon prison into the West Bank, authorities said. But the location of the checkpoint where they were to cross into the territory was changed three times before it was finally announced they were being taken to a crossing at Rantis, about an hour's drive from the initial location. In a sign of the sensitivity of the case, Israeli authorities on Saturday arrested two Italians and a Palestinian for painting Tamimi's image on the Israeli separation wall cutting off the West Bank. The trio were released by Sunday evening, Italian and Israeli officials said. Both Tamimi and her mother were sentenced to eight months by an Israeli military court following a plea deal over the December incident, which the family said took place in their garden in Nabi Saleh. They were released some three weeks early, a common practice by Israeli authorities due to overcrowded prisons, Tamimi's lawyer Gaby Lasky said. Video filmed by Tamimi's mother of the December incident went viral, leading Palestinians to view the teenager as a hero standing up to Israel's occupation. But for Israelis, Tamimi is being used by her activist family as a pawn in staged provocations. They point to a series of previous incidents, with older pictures of her confronting soldiers shared widely online. Palestinian activist and campaigner Ahed Tamimi (C) is welcomed in her West Bank village of Nabi Saleh on July 29, 2018 after being released from prison following an eight-month sentence for slapping two Israeli soldiers Many Israelis also praised the restraint of the soldiers, who remained calm throughout, though others said her actions merited a tougher response. Rights activists condemned Tamimi's jailing. Omar Shakir of Human Rights Watch tweeted on Sunday that "Israel's jailing of a child for 8 months -- for calling for protests and slapping a soldier -- reflects endemic discrimination, absence of due process and ill-treatment of kids." "Ahed Tamimi is free, but 100s of Palestinian children remain locked up with little attention on their cases," he said. - Embassy protests - Tamimi was arrested in the early hours of December 19, four days after the incident in the video. She was 16 at the time. Her mother Nariman was also arrested, as was her cousin Nour, who was freed in March. Israel's military said the two soldiers had been in the area on the day of the incident to prevent Palestinians from throwing stones at Israeli motorists. The video shows the cousins approaching them and telling them to leave, before shoving, kicking and slapping them. Ahed Tamimi is the most aggressive of the two in the video. The heavily armed soldiers do not respond in the face of what appears to be an attempt to provoke rather than seriously harm them. They then move backwards after Nariman Tamimi becomes involved. The scuffle took place amid clashes and protests against US President Donald Trump's controversial recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Relatives say that a member of the Tamimi family was wounded in the head by a rubber bullet fired during those protests. sh-he-jod-mjs/dwo/del Italian artist Jorit Agoch paints a mural depicting jailed Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi on Israel's controversial separation barrier in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on July 25,2018 Israeli police on Sunday freed two Italians arrested for painting a giant mural of a Palestinian teenager seen as a symbol of resistance on the separation wall in the occupied West Bank, Italian and Israeli authorities said. "The two Italians suspected of vandalising the security fence in the Bethlehem area" have been released, Israeli police said in a statement. "But their visas have been cancelled and they must leave Israel within 72 hours... if they fail to comply they will be expelled", the police added. A Palestinian who had been arrested with the Italians on Saturday was also freed, since he was not strongly involved in their activities, the statement said. Italy's foreign minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi said in a statement Sunday night he had "learned with relief... (that) the two Italian citizens arrested in Israel will quickly be able to return to Italy". The roughly four-metre (13 foot) image near Bethlehem in the West Bank depicts 17-year-old Ahed Tamimi. Tamimi herself was released from prison Sunday after an eight-month sentence for slapping two Israeli soldiers, an episode captured on video. Israeli border police said they had arrested the two Italians and a Palestinian -- all masked -- on Saturday after they "illegally drew on the wall". "When border policemen took action to arrest them, they tried to escape in their car, which was stopped by the forces," the police said in a statement. On Wednesday, a man drawing the mural had identified himself as Italian street artist Jorit Agoch. A message was posted to a Facebook page under his name saying he had been arrested and pleading for help. On Sunday, Tamimi and her mother Nariman - who had also been sentenced to eight months in custody - were taken from the Sharon prison inside Israel to their home village of Nabi Saleh in the occupied West Bank. Palestinians see Tamimi as a symbol of resistance to Israeli occupation of the West Bank and she was greeted by a crowd of supporters. For Israelis, Tamimi is being used by her activist family as a pawn in staged provocations. The separation wall cutting the West Bank off from Israel is filled with graffiti in support of the Palestinian cause. Secretive British street artist Banksy is among those who have painted on the wall. Evacuation orders had been issued in several areas, while some 163 camps have been set up for displaced people in southern, eastern and central parts country Rising floodwaters have killed at least five people and forced tens of thousands from their homes across swathes of Myanmar, a government official told AFP on Sunday, as heavy monsoon rains continue to batter the Mekong region. Dramatic images showed vast areas of farmland completely submerged in muddy waters stretching to the horizon, with only the rooftops of some houses visible. Some stranded people were plucked from the churning inundations by rescuers in boats, while others waded through waist-deep water to escape, carrying children on their shoulders while trying to keep precious belongings out of the water. "There are more than 54,000 displaced people affected by the flooding around the country," a Ministry of Social Welfare official told AFP. Dramatic images showed vast areas of farmland completely submerged in muddy waters stretching to the horizon, with only the rooftops of some houses visible The official confirmed that five people had been killed but said this figure was expected to rise. Evacuation orders had been issued in several areas, while some 163 camps have been set up for displaced people in southern, eastern and central parts country. The floods in Myanmar come as a particularly heavy monsoon continues to pummel the region, bringing downpours that contributed to the collapse of a dam last week in Laos, which left scores dead or missing. Some stranded people were plucked from the churning inundations by rescuers in boats, while others waded through waist-deep water to escape, carrying children on their shoulders while trying to keep precious belongings out of the water Myanmar is hit by severe flooding every year and climate scientists in 2015 ranked it top of a global list of nations hardest hit by extreme weather. That year more than 100 people died in floods that also displaced hundreds of thousands across the country. Myanmar's worst natural disaster of recent times was Cyclone Nargis, which lashed huges stretches of the country's coast, leaving at least 138,000 dead or missing in May 2008. Iraqi protesters waving national flags are sprayed with water cannon by security forces during a demonstration against unemployment and a lack of basic services in Baghdad's Tahrir Square on July 20, 2018 Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Sunday sacked his minister of electricity, his office said, following weeks of protests against corruption and chronic power outages. A statement from Abadi's office said the premier sacked Qassem al-Fahdawi -- whose departure was demanded by protesters -- "because of the deterioration in the electricity sector". Iraq has been gripped by three weeks of protests during which demonstrators have railed against power shortages, unemployment, a lack of clean water and state mismanagement. The protests first erupted in the oil-rich but neglected southern province of Basra, home to Iraq's only sea port, before spreading to neighbouring regions and north to Baghdad. Power shortages have become chronic in Iraq, a country wracked by a series of conflicts that have devastated its infrastructure. Since the ouster of dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003, Iraq has allocated in state budgets a total of $40 billion to rebuild its power network, according to official figures. But households continue to get only a few hours of electricity a day as some of the funds appear to have been embezzled. The country has also been gripped by political tensions as its awaits the results of a partial recount of May 12 elections, while political factions jostle to cobble together a coalition. The ministry of electricity has been a key one in previous governments. At least two previous electricity ministers have been accused of corruption, including over fake contracts worth millions of dollars. In 2010, one of Fahdawi's predecessors, Karim Wahid, resigned after a wave of protests across central and southern Iraq against draconian power rationing. These shortages have forced Iraqis to buy electricity from private entrepreneurs who run power generators that can be seen on most street corners. Electricity consumption has gone up in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam, as Iraqis make more use of household electronic equipment, including computers and mobile phones. Iraqi officials say that a drop in oil revenues means less money in state coffers to rebuild the country's infrastructure. They also criticise Iraqis who they say are not paying their utility bills. The East Texas Historical Association provides this column. Scott Sosebee is an associate professor of history at SFA and executive director of the association. Contact him at sosebeem@sfasu.edu; www.easttexashistorical.org. Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members secure Camp Darapanan in Sultan Kudarat before the consultation Members or supporters of the Philippines' largest Muslim rebel group gathered in their tens of thousands on Sunday to discuss a landmark law granting them autonomy, with one expressing hope it would make their "dream of peace" a reality. President Rodrigo Duterte last week signed the law, a key step to ending a Muslim rebellion in the south of the mainly Catholic Philippines that had claimed about 150,000 lives since the 1970s. Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members, supporters and local residents from various parts of the southern island of Mindanao, including women in headscarves and fighters carrying arms, trooped to the main MILF camp there for a consultation. Their leaders are seeking support for the law ahead of a referendum on the measure, which creates an expanded autonomous region and is aimed at ending one of Asia's longest and deadliest conflicts. "This is our dream. If we end this (fighting), hopefully we can live in peace," Nasser Samama, a 61-year-old veteran rebel fighter, told AFP inside MILF headquarters at Camp Darapanan. "Most people want peace and so do we in the MILF forces. What the MILF has achieved is not just for our group but for the whole of Mindanao." Muslim rebels have long been battling for independence or autonomy in Mindanao, which they regard as their ancestral homeland. The law aims to enforce a historic but fragile 2014 peace deal under which the MILF vowed to give up its quest for independence and lay down the weapons of its 30,000 fighters in return for self-rule. Under the law, a new political entity known as the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region would replace the current autonomous region created following a 1996 deal with another rebel group, the Moro National Liberation Front. The Bangsamoro is set to have more powers and cover a bigger area. MILF leaders approve of the measure but say its communities would need to back the law for it to pass a plebiscite. On Sunday many of the group's members, who have endured decades of conflict, said they supported the law. Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members secure Camp Darapanan "This is the beginning of peace in Mindanao. This is the start of unity between Muslims and Christians," housewife Babaidi Budain told AFP. Some expressed fear the law would not bring development to the resource-rich but poverty-stricken south. "Everyone in Mindanao should avail themselves of the opportunity the region offers. If not, it would be the same, the Bangsamoro would not prosper," said community worker Nasser Sulaiman. Ethiopia has staged the funeral of chief engineer Simegnew Bekele from a giant project to dam the Blue Nile who was shot dead this week Ethiopia staged the funeral on Sunday of the chief engineer of a controversial project to dam the Blue Nile who was shot dead this week, state media reported. There were tearful tributes to Simegnew Bekele, whose coffin was draped in an Ethiopian flag, at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in the capital Addis Ababa where hundreds of mourners gathered to pay their respects. "Residents of Addis Ababa, his relatives and families, as well as senior government officials, including President Mulatu Teshome and Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen (attended) the funeral ceremony," state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate reported. Simegnew's body was found on Thursday in his car in Meskel Square in downtown Addis Ababa where police say he was shot in the right side of his head and a gun was found nearby. Police are investigating the shooting but have not given any details, suggested a motive or announced any arrests. On Sunday, thousands of people gathered in the square to pay their respects to the fallen engineer. Images posted on social media showed police firing tear gas after the crowd attempted to push past them to reach the funeral. The $4-billion (3.2-billion-euros) Grand Renaissance Dam, being built near the country's western border with Sudan, will be Africa's largest when completed, producing 6,000 megawatts -- roughly equivalent to six large nuclear reactors. But the scheme faces opposition from Egypt, which is heavily dependent on the Nile and worries that downstream flows could be affected. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defends the controversial Jewish nation law at the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on July 29, 2018 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday defended a new law declaring Israel the Jewish people's nation state, saying it did not harm minority rights despite it lacking references to equality and democracy. The new legislation speaks of Israel as the historic homeland of the Jews and says they have a "unique" right to self-determination there. Netanyahu said other laws are already on the books guaranteeing equality for non-Jews and defining Israel as democratic. "However, we have never determined the national rights of the Jewish people in its land in a basic law -- until now, when we passed the nation state law," Netanyahu said at a weekly cabinet meeting. The law was passed in the middle of the night on July 19 and is part of Israel's so-called basic laws, a de facto constitution. It has been subject to harsh criticism in parliament and elsewhere. Arab lawmaker Zouheir Bahloul of the opposition Zionist Union party resigned on Saturday over it. Hundreds of Israeli writers and artists have signed a petition calling on Netanyahu to "stop your government and coalition members from scourging minorities" and repeal the law. Arab citizens make up some 17.5 percent of Israel's more than eight million population. Members of Israel's 130,000-strong Druze community -- who serve in the police and military -- have also been among those strongly denouncing the legislation. On Friday, Netanyahu met with Israeli Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Muafak Tarif and a retired Druze general. He also met with Druze lawmakers on Thursday. "There is nothing in this law that infringes on your rights as equal citizens of the state of Israel, and there is nothing in it that harms the special status of the Druze community in Israel," Netanyahu said on Sunday. Ognjanovic was gunned down outside the apartment block where he lived A leading lawyer who defended former Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic on charges of war crimes has been shot dead in Belgrade, police said Sunday. Dragoslav Ognjanovic, who was gunned down Saturday night outside the apartment block where he lived, also represented a senior underworld figure, Serbian media reported. "The police are searching for the person who killed... lawyer Dragoslav Ognjanovic and wounded his 26-year-old son in the arm," said Serbian police official Dejan Kovacevic. The authorities did not link the murder of the 56-year-old to his work for Milosevic or Luka Bojovic, who is reportedly serving 18 years in a Spanish prison for possessing weapons. The daily newspaper Vecernje Novosti said Bojovic is one of the main players in a battle between two gangs from Kotor in Montenegro that has left several dead. The war reportedly erupted after 300 kilogrammes (660 pounds) of cocaine disappeared from a Spanish port. Another Serbian lawyer, Vladimir Zrelec, who represented a top member of the rival gang, was murdered in December 2015 in Belgrade. Serbian Pesident Aleksandar Vucic said police had several leads for the murder. "The security situation is good," he told reporters. "But there is something which concerns me greatly: it's this war between two gangs over the drugs market which is becoming ... something the state must confront in a much more brutal manner." Viktor Gostiljac, who heads the Serbian bar association said the entire profession" was "in shock after this murder". Lawyers would go on strike for a week, he said, calling for a meeting with the ministers of the interior and justice to protect the profession. "The shot fired at Dragoslav Ognjanovic is a shot fired at all lawyers," said a statement from the association which demanded that the killers be caught quickly. Ognjanovic served in Milosevic's team of legal advisers but the Serbian leader represented himself before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, a UN court that dealt with war crimes in the Balkans during the 1990s. Milosevic died on March 14, 2006, in his cell at the tribunal in The Hague facing charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the conflicts over the breakup of Yugoslavia that left 130,000 dead. President Donald Trump, seen here taking questions from reporters outside the White House, has met with the publisher of the New York Times The publisher of the New York Times has warned Donald Trump in a White House meeting that the president's escalating attacks on the news media are "inflammatory" and "dangerous and harmful to our country." Trump's meeting with A.G. Sulzberger, who took the reins of the prestigious newspaper on Jan. 1, took place July 20, following a request from the White House for what appeared to be a routine get-to-know-you session. The session, which also included Times editorial page editor James Bennet, had remained secret under mutual agreement until Trump tweeted about it early Sunday. "Had a very good and interesting meeting at the White House with A.G. Sulzberger, Publisher of the New York Times," Trump said on Twitter. "Spent much time talking about the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, 'Enemy of the People.' Sad!" Sulzberger, in a statement released by the Times, said the president's tweet effectively "put the meeting on the record," and he described what appeared to be an unusually tough and blunt session with the president. New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger, seen here at an awards ceremony April 23, 2018, has warned US President Donald Trump that his attacks on the press are "dangerous and harmful" "I told the president directly that I thought that his language was not just divisive but increasingly dangerous," Sulzberger said. "I told him that although the phrase 'fake news' is untrue and harmful, I am far more concerned about his labeling journalists 'the enemy of the people.' I warned that this inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence." With some foreign leaders using Trump's language "to justify sweeping crackdowns on journalists, I warned that it was putting lives at risk." Sulzberger concluded: "I implored him to reconsider his broader attacks on journalism, which I believe are dangerous and harmful to our country." But the exchange comes at a time of high tension between Trump and the US news media, with Trump regularly denouncing critical news reports as "fake news." The 37-year-old Sulzberger is the latest in a long line of Sulzbergers to lead the Times. When he took over leadership of the "Gray Lady" after several years as a reporter or editor, Trump tweeted that the young man's rise gave the paper a "last chance" to prove itself impartial and to report the news "without fear or FAVOR." But since then, as the Times and other news sources have chronicled Trump's personal and political problems and logged his frequent misstatements, the president has repeatedly lashed back. He has tweeted scores of times that the Times is "very dishonest," "failing and corrupt," and that it uses "phony and nonexistent sources." The Times has defended its reporters' work and pointed out that, far from "failing," it has enjoyed healthy growth. Last year's revenue hit $1.7 billion, 8 percent above the previous year. - Love/hate relationship - Reporter Kaitlan Collins asking a question at the White House, which barred her from a different event at a time of high tensions between the press and President Donald Trump Observers say the president has a love/hate relationship with what was his hometown newspaper as he grew up in New York and became one of the city's best-known figures, craving space in its columns but furious when it appeared critical of him. Whether the Trump-Sulzberger meeting will lead to any easing of White House tensions with the press remained unclear, though Trump's tweet did not seem to suggest so. As one former Times editor said Sunday on social media about the chances of any reconciliation, "Don't hold your breath." If anything, Trump's relations with the press seem recently to have hit a new low. The White House on Wednesday barred CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins from a press event after her persistent questioning at an earlier event was deemed "inappropriate." Olivier Knox, president of the White House Correspondents Association, deplored the action as a "wrong-headed and weak" response to a reporter who, he said, was simply doing her job. US President Donald Trump hosted EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker amid a trade standoff The US treasury secretary insisted Sunday that agricultural issues were discussed in President Donald Trump's talks last week with Jean-Claude Juncker, contradicting the EU Commission president's account of the negotiations. "I was in the room and we had specific conversations about agriculture and the need to break down the barriers on agriculture and have more opportunities for our farmers," Mnuchin said on Fox News Sunday. Trump had boasted on Thursday before an audience of farmers that "We just opened up Europe for you farmers." US farmers have been hard hit by China's retaliatory tariffs on US imports, particularly soybeans, so it was important to Trump to shore up support in Republican-leaning farm states. On Wednesday he moved to ease tensions with the European Union, declaring a truce on that front after meeting with Juncker. Washington hopes that agreement will open another market for US agricultural exports. But on Friday, Juncker responded through his spokeswoman that agriculture was "not part of it." "When you read the joint statement ... you will see no mention of agriculture as such, you will see a mention of farmers and a mention of soybeans, which are part of the discussions and we will follow up that," EU Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said. Asked about the discrepancy, Mnuchin insisted: "We specifically talked about soybeans, but we specifically agreed we would look at these other markets and it was very clear that our objective as part of this whole agreement is the Europeans have to open up more opportunities for our farmers and our agriculture." Under the agreement, the US is lifting its threat to impose tariffs on European autos as long as negotiations are underway in return for Juncker's promise that Europe would import more US soybeans and natural gas. MOSCOW (AP) - Vladimir Putin says the adoption of Christianity more than 1,000 years ago in territory that later became Russia marked the starting point for forming the Russian nation itself. Putin's comments came Saturday in a ceremony marking the 1,030th anniversary of the adoption by Christianity by Prince Vladimir, the leader of Kievan Rus, a loose federation of Slavic tribes that preceded the Russian state. Speaking to thousands of clergy and believers at a huge statue of the prince outside the Kremlin, Putin said adopting Christianity was "the starting point for the formation and development of Russian statehood, the true spiritual birth of our ancestors, the determination of their identity. Identity, the flowering of national culture and education." Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, attends a ceremony marking the 1,030th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity by Prince Vladimir, the leader of Kievan Rus, a loose federation of Slavic tribes that preceded the Russian state in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, July 28, 2018. Speaking to a crowd of thousands of clergy and believers at a huge statue of the prince outside the Kremlin, Putin said adopting Christianity was "the starting point for the formation and development of Russian statehood, the true spiritual birth of our ancestors, the determination of their identity. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool) The comments underline the strong ties between Putin's government and the Russian Orthodox Church. Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, left, leads a religion service as Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, attends a ceremony marking the 1,030th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity by Prince Vladimir, the leader of Kievan Rus, a loose federation of Slavic tribes that preceded the Russian state in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, July 28, 2018. Speaking to a crowd of thousands of clergy and believers at a huge statue of the prince outside the Kremlin, Putin said adopting Christianity was "the starting point for the formation and development of Russian statehood, the true spiritual birth of our ancestors, the determination of their identity. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, right, Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, and Theodoros II, the current Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa, second left, attend a ceremony marking the 1,030th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity by Prince Vladimir, the leader of Kievan Rus, a loose federation of Slavic tribes that preceded the Russian state in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, July 28, 2018. Speaking to a crowd of thousands of clergy and believers at a huge statue of the prince outside the Kremlin, Putin said adopting Christianity was "the starting point for the formation and development of Russian statehood, the true spiritual birth of our ancestors, the determination of their identity. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, right, Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, and Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa Theodoros II, left, walk to attend a ceremony marking the 1,030th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity by Prince Vladimir, the leader of Kievan Rus, a loose federation of Slavic tribes that preceded the Russian state in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, July 28, 2018. Speaking to a crowd of thousands of clergy and believers at a huge statue of the prince outside the Kremlin, Putin said adopting Christianity was "the starting point for the formation and development of Russian statehood, the true spiritual birth of our ancestors, the determination of their identity. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) Orthodox nuns wait to attend a ceremony marking the 1,030th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity by Prince Vladimir, the leader of Kievan Rus, a loose federation of Slavic tribes that preceded the Russian state in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, July 28, 2018. Speaking to a crowd of thousands of clergy and believers at a huge statue of the prince outside the Kremlin, Putin said adopting Christianity was "the starting point for the formation and development of Russian statehood, the true spiritual birth of our ancestors, the determination of their identity. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool) Two Orthodox nuns hold an umbrella as they attend a ceremony marking the 1,030th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity by Prince Vladimir, the leader of Kievan Rus, a loose federation of Slavic tribes that preceded the Russian state in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, July 28, 2018. Speaking to a crowd of thousands of clergy and believers at a huge statue of the prince outside the Kremlin, Putin said adopting Christianity was "the starting point for the formation and development of Russian statehood, the true spiritual birth of our ancestors, the determination of their identity. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool) Russian Orthodox believers attend a ceremony marking the 1,030th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity by Prince Vladimir, the leader of Kievan Rus, a loose federation of Slavic tribes that preceded the Russian state in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, July 28, 2018. Speaking to a crowd of thousands of clergy and believers at a huge statue of the prince outside the Kremlin, Putin said adopting Christianity was "the starting point for the formation and development of Russian statehood, the true spiritual birth of our ancestors, the determination of their identity. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool) Orthodox priest attend a ceremony marking the 1,030th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity by Prince Vladimir, the leader of Kievan Rus, a loose federation of Slavic tribes that preceded the Russian state in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, July 28, 2018. Speaking to a crowd of thousands of clergy and believers at a huge statue of the prince outside the Kremlin, Putin said adopting Christianity was "the starting point for the formation and development of Russian statehood, the true spiritual birth of our ancestors, the determination of their identity. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool) Orthodox nuns walk in front of the monument of the Prince Vladimir after a ceremony marking the 1,030th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity by Prince Vladimir, the leader of Kievan Rus, a loose federation of Slavic tribes that preceded the Russian state in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, July 28, 2018. Speaking to a crowd of thousands of clergy and believers at a huge statue of the prince outside the Kremlin, Putin said adopting Christianity was "the starting point for the formation and development of Russian statehood, the true spiritual birth of our ancestors, the determination of their identity. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool) A Russian Orthodox priest prior to a ceremony marking the 1,030th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity by Prince Vladimir, the leader of Kievan Rus, a loose federation of Slavic tribes that preceded the Russian state in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, July 28, 2018. Speaking to a crowd of thousands of clergy and believers at a huge statue of the prince outside the Kremlin, Putin said adopting Christianity was "the starting point for the formation and development of Russian statehood, the true spiritual birth of our ancestors, the determination of their identity. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool) Orthodox believers and priests attend a ceremony marking the 1,030th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity by Prince Vladimir, the leader of Kievan Rus, a loose federation of Slavic tribes that preceded the Russian state in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, July 28, 2018. Speaking to a crowd of thousands of clergy and believers at a huge statue of the prince outside the Kremlin, Putin said adopting Christianity was "the starting point for the formation and development of Russian statehood, the true spiritual birth of our ancestors, the determination of their identity. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool) Russian President Vladimir Putin, center left, and Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, center right, attend a ceremony marking the 1,030th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity by Prince Vladimir, the leader of Kievan Rus, a loose federation of Slavic tribes that preceded the Russian state in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, July 28, 2018. Speaking to a crowd of thousands of clergy and believers at a huge statue of the prince outside the Kremlin, Putin said adopting Christianity was "the starting point for the formation and development of Russian statehood, the true spiritual birth of our ancestors, the determination of their identity. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool) Russian President Vladimir Putin, center left, and Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, center right, attend a ceremony marking the 1,030th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity by Prince Vladimir, the leader of Kievan Rus, a loose federation of Slavic tribes that preceded the Russian state in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, July 28, 2018. Speaking to a crowd of thousands of clergy and believers at a huge statue of the prince outside the Kremlin, Putin said adopting Christianity was "the starting point for the formation and development of Russian statehood, the true spiritual birth of our ancestors, the determination of their identity. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool) Russian President Vladimir Putin, third right, attends a ceremony marking the 1,030th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity by Prince Vladimir, the leader of Kievan Rus, a loose federation of Slavic tribes that preceded the Russian state in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, July 28, 2018. Speaking to a crowd of thousands of clergy and believers at a huge statue of the prince outside the Kremlin, Putin said adopting Christianity was "the starting point for the formation and development of Russian statehood, the true spiritual birth of our ancestors, the determination of their identity. The world on the monument are reading "Vladimir". (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool) WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House has updated its transcript of President Donald Trump's news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin to include a key question an American journalist asked the Russian leader. This question to Putin - "Did you want President Trump to win the election?" - was left out of the initial version of the White House transcript of the July 16 news conference after Trump and Putin held a summit in Finland. The White House had said the omission was "by no means malicious," blaming an audio glitch. Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and U.S. President Donald Trump give a joint news conference at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland, on Monday, July 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) A subsequent search of the transcript showed Saturday that it had been updated to include the question. Putin had answered, "Yes, I did. Yes, I did," but it was difficult to follow without the question. ___ Online: White House transcript: https://bit.ly/2NjJW9s CHICAGO (AP) - The body of a missing Chicago sailor has been recovered in Lake Michigan one week after falling off a yacht during a race. Chicago police and the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed 53-year-old Jon Santarelli's body was spotted mid-day Saturday, about six miles from Chicago's Belmont Harbor. Santarelli went missing July 21 approximately five miles east of Navy Pier. His crew's boat had just begun competing in the 110th edition of the Chicago Yacht Club's annual Race to Mackinac. In a statement Saturday night, the yacht club expressed condolences to Santarelli's family, friends and the sailing community. A club official, Nick Berberian, said the club would investigate the death - including Santarelli's flotation device. All competitors in the vicinity suspended racing the day he went missing to help search. Advertisement The deadly Northern California wildfire that has forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes and burned virtually unchecked since Thursday has claimed its sixth victim. Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said Sunday a body was found within the boundary of the Carr Fire near Redding, California, about 230 miles north of San Francisco. He said the victim, who was not identified, had been in an area which had been covered by an evacuation warning, but had not evacuate as instructed. Bosenko said the sheriff's department has seven outstanding missing persons reports. The fire had previously claimed the lives of two firefighters, as well as two children and their great-grandmother. With the death toll climbing to six, authorities worried that another forecast for high winds could fan the flames even further. 'Right now, it's going everywhere. We still have a lot of open line,' said Anthony Romero, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. 'Any event could bring this back up again.' Capt. Scott Fisher, with the San Bernardino County Fire Department, surveys a wildfire-damaged neighborhood in Keswick, California on Sunday. The mountain town of about 450 people that almost completely wiped out by the wildfire Fisher was among the firefighters tamping down smoking piles of debris that were scattered amid downed electricity lines A burned bowling ball was among the fire wreckage found in Keswick on Sunday. The flames laid waste to about 25 blocks Burned vehicles are seen in front of a wildfire-ravaged home Sunday in Redding, California. Authorities revealed a sixth victim of the wildfires was found near the town, which is about 230 miles north of San Francisco The National Weather Service predicted more hot and dry conditions, with wind gusts expected late in the afternoon. Triple-digit temperatures and dry vegetation are making it difficult for crews to corral the blaze, which is said to be only five per cent contained. Wildfires around the state have forced roughly 50,000 people from their homes, said Lynne Tolmachoff, a Cal Fire spokeswoman. About 12,000 firefighters were battling 17 significant fires Sunday in California, she said. 'We are well ahead of the fire activity we saw last year,' she said. 'This is just July, so we're not even into the worst part of fire season.' However, late Sunday afternoon, fire officials said that crews have been able to stop some of the growth of the blaze, finally gaining ground as opposed to being strictly in a defensive posture. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Incident Commander Bret Gouvea said the fire was not moving nearly as fast as it did earlier and that he was optimistic and expected containment numbers to increase. So far, the fire has burned 139 square miles (360 square kilometers) and destroyed more than 500 buildings, threatening thousands of other buildings. Keswick, California, a mountain town of about 450 people, was almost completely wiped out. The San Bernardino County Fire Department was called in to tamp down smoking piles of debris that were scattered amid downed electricity lines. The so-called Carr Fire has stripped hillsides bare in the area near Igo, Calfornia (pictured Sunday). So far, the fire has burned 139 square miles and destroyed more than 500 buildings Burned trees and the remains of abandoned vehicles and homes were all that were left in this Redding neighborhood Sunday On Saturday, the wildfire traveled from Redding towards Igo, California. Underbrush was seen burning in Igo on Sunday Near Igo, a wooden structure can be seen, left to burn itself out, alongside twisted remains of metal debris on Sunday 'What we're seeing here is an incomplete burn situation,' Capt. Doug Miles said as his crew used picks, shovels and rakes to open up piles that just days ago were family homes. The flames laid waste to about 25 blocks, and the 'mop up' work was likely to take days. He said his crew would be looking for anything salvageable, but there was little left standing. Anna Noland, 49, was evacuated twice in three days before learning through video footage that her house had burned. She planned to stay at a shelter at Simpson College in Redding, while searching for another place to live. 'I think I'm still in shock,' Noland said. 'It's just unbelievable knowing you don't have a house to go back to.' Noland was among the 38,000 people who evacuated after the so-called Carr Fire roared into the outskirts of Redding in Shasta County. The fatalities included two firefighters and a woman and her two great-grandchildren. 'My babies are dead,' Sherry Bledsoe said through tears after she and family members met Saturday with sheriff's deputies. Her two children, five-year-old James Roberts and four-year-old Emily Roberts, were stranded with their great-grandmother, Melody Bledsoe, 70, when flames swept through the family's rural property Thursday on the outskirts of Redding. On Saturday, smoke filled the air along Highway 299 in unincorporated Shasta County, California. Thousands of residents remain evacuated as the wildfire continues burning, largely uncontrolled A hand crew of firefighters from various San Diego County fire departments scratch out a fire line after a brushfire burned in De Luz, California on Saturday A firefighter walks along a containment line while battling a wildfire Saturday in Redding. About 12,000 firefighters were said to be battling 17 significant fires on Sunday A burned out vehicle sits in front of a wildfire-ravaged home Saturday in Redding, California Rich Newell tries to get his horse 'Ike' into a trailer while evacuating from Lewiston, California as the Carr Fire approached Eight-one-year-old Don Ray Smith was a bulldozer operator who was helping clear vegetation in the path of the wildfire when he died. Redding Fire Inspector Jeremy Stoke was also killed, though no details were provided. A vehicle problem ignited the fire July 23, but it wasn't until Thursday that the blaze exploded in size and raced into populated areas west of Redding before entering city limits. On Saturday, it pushed southwest of Redding, the largest city in the region, toward the tiny communities of Ono, Igo and Gas Point. The fire grew slightly Sunday to 139 square miles (360 square kilometers). It is the largest fire burning in California, threatening more than 5,000 structures. The flames were just 5 percent contained. The latest tally showed at least 517 structures destroyed and another 135 damaged, Romero said. A count by The Associated Press found at least 300 of those structures were homes. The firefighters killed in the blaze included Don Ray Smith, 81, of Pollock Pines, a bulldozer operator who was helping clear vegetation in the path of the wildfire. Redding Fire Inspector Jeremy Stoke was also killed, but details of his death were not released. Bledsoe's relatives were among more than a dozen people reported missing after the furious wind-driven blaze took residents by surprise and leveled several neighborhoods. The sheriff said he expects to find several of those people alive and just out of touch with loved ones. Officers have gone to homes of several people reported missing and found cars gone - a strong indication they fled. About 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Redding, two blazes that prompted mandatory evacuations in Mendocino County destroyed four homes and threatened more than 4,500 buildings, officials said. They had blackened 39 square miles (101 square kilometers) and were each 5 percent contained. Authorities also issued evacuation orders in Napa County, famous for its wine, when a fire destroyed eight structures. The blaze had blackened 150 acres, but was 50 percent contained on Sunday. Big fires continued to burn outside Yosemite National Park and in the San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles near Palm Springs. Those blazes had burned nearly 100 square miles (260 square kilometers). Yosemite Valley remained closed to visitors and will not reopen until Friday. A Chicago-area man who made a last-minute plea to Immigration and Customs Enforcement so he could remain in the U.S. to care for a young daughter with severe spina bifida has left the country, his lawyer said Saturday. Alejandro Medina Franco, 49, a native of Mexico who had been living in suburban Naperville, asked ICE for a stay of removal for humanitarian reasons so he could remain with daughter Joyce Medina, a U.S. citizen who turns 3 in October. Medina Franco checked in with ICE Saturday morning and boarded an afternoon flight to Mexico, said his immigration lawyer, Margaret ODonoghue. Medina Franco was made to board a flight after his final pleas with ICE and an immigration judge were exhausted Friday. If he had not appeared at OHare International Airport as agreed, he would have been subject to arrest and a removal while in ICE custody, ODonoghue said. It was devastating to watch Joyces father be taken away from her today. She will undoubtedly suffer trauma and irreparable hardship as a result, ODonoghue said. I just hope that by telling Alejandros story, we can begin to see immigrants in our communities as the fathers and mothers they are and not merely statistics. We need more compassion in our immigration system for people like Alejandro. Medina Franco, who is from the Mexican state of Michoacan, acknowledged in an interview with the Tribune this month that he had sneaked into the country three times and has a criminal record, but he had asked for forgiveness for his childs sake. He had been convicted of attempting to sell a fraudulent identification card in 2003 and with simple battery involving an argument with his wife, who stands by him. His problematic history had left him with few options except the plea for leniency, his lawyer said. A previous request to ICE was granted under the administration of President Barack Obama, but its renewal in October was rejected under the tougher policies of President Donald Trump. BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraq's prime minister on Sunday suspended the country's electricity minister over a power crisis amid mushrooming protests in the country's Shiite heartland demanding better services and jobs. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi made the announcement on his Twitter account, saying the suspension of Qassim al-Fahdawi, the electricity minister, would last until an investigation is concluded. He did not elaborate. Despite billions of dollars spent since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, many Iraqi cities and towns are still experiencing severe power cuts and rolling blackouts. Iraqi riot police close a bridge leading to the heavily guarded Green Zone during protests demanding services and jobs in central Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, July 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban) The issue has also partly fueled this month's protests in Iraq's southern Shiite heartland, mainly in the energy-rich province of Basra, where demonstrators have demanded more jobs and better services. The protests turned violent earlier this month when security forces opened fire on the angry mobs attacking and burning government offices and the offices of political parties. Several protesters were killed and wounded, while others were arrested. The suspension came a day after the country's elections commission, run by judges appointed after widespread allegations of fraud and irregularities in the May 12 general elections, endorsed al-Abadi's recommendations to sack five election officials. In a statement issued on Saturday, the spokesman for the Independent High Elections Commission, Judge Laith Jabr Hamza, said the five were sacked over charges of "irregularities, manipulation and financial corruption." They are the directors of the commission's offices in the provinces of Salahuddin, Anbar and Kirkuk, as well as offices for the Iraqi diaspora in neighboring Jordan and Turkey. Judge Hamza did not elaborate. The commission is in the process of conducting a partial recount of the ballots, both from inside and outside Iraq. The process has delayed the ratification of the final election results, and has prolonged the process of forming the new government. The initial election results gave a bloc organized by populist Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr the largest share, with 54 seats in the 329-seat parliament. It was followed by an Iran-backed bloc - made up of Shiite militias - which won 47 seats, and al-Abadi's alliance, with 42 seats. MILAN (AP) - Fiat Chrysler's late founding CEO Sergio Marchionne was a notorious workaholic who regularly slept on a corporate jet while landing in the headlines for his shrewd deal-making. Despite his very public profile, he kept a secret even from his board: he'd been seriously ill for more than a year. Following his sudden death last week at 66, the revelation that Marchionne had kept his illness from his company and closest executives for so long has rekindled a debate over what information top executives should share about their personal life with their companies and shareholders. Most experts believe CEOs have a right to privacy, especially where their health is concerned. But some say that coming forward would help break taboos on workplace illness for other executives and workers. Top executives also need to take into account their role as a corporate officer when weighing what personal information they divulge - first to their boards, then to their workers and the wider investing community. FILE - In this June 1, 2018, file photo, journalists watch a giant screen as Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne speaks during the 'Capital market day' at the FCA headquarters in Balocco, Italy. Fiat Chrysler's late founding CEO Sergio Marchionne was a notorious workaholic who regularly slept on a corporate jet all the while landing in headlines for his shrewd deal-making. Despite his public profile, he kept a secret even from his board: he'd been seriously ill for more than a year. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) "I think it is classic stuff really. When you are a senior person, to be ill, there is a stigma to it," said Cary Cooper, an expert in organizational psychology and health at the Manchester Business School in Britain. "In this case, he might have thought it would adversely affect the company, or that he wouldn't be allowed to carry on." Cooper noted that the CEO of Lloyd's Bank, Antonio Horta-Osorio, had disclosed his struggle with depression, helping to open up a discussion about mental health. At the same time, many captains of industry are not willing to show their physical limits and see illness as just another obstacle to overcome. "The kind of people who get to the top are pretty resilient people, and they think they are going to overcome it anyway," Cooper said. Marchionne's case was unique because he was singularly identified with the automaker he created from two failing companies. Financial analysts, considering his plans to step down in the spring of 2019, had already expressed concern about whether any successor would be able to demonstrate his level of creativity and flexibility, most recently when Marchionne last month laid out the carmaker's five-year plan. Jason Schloetzer, a business administration professor at Georgetown University, said he does not believe CEOs are under any legal obligation to disclose their health issues. But he added: "It would be nice for there to be an internal process through which not just the CEO, but any key member of the operating team can feel comfortable sharing personal issues that may be a risk factor to company performance." While the FCA board acted swiftly to replace Marchionne as CEO on July 21 after being told by his family that he could not return to work due to complications after shoulder surgery, the Swiss hospital where he died Wednesday later disclosed that he had been receiving cutting-edge treatment there for a serious illness for more than a year. Fiat Chrysler reacted to the disclosure with a statement saying the company had been unaware of the longer-standing state of Marchionne's health, having only been informed of the shoulder surgery last month. In the week from news of Marchionne's illness to his death, Fiat Chrysler shed nearly 11 percent on the Milan Stock Exchange amid volatile trading. The stock lost 9 percent in the same period the New York Stock Exchange. As far as Italy's market regulator, Consob, is concerned, the FCA board acted properly by replacing Marchionne as soon as it had word. He was also replaced that day as CEO of Ferrari and as chairman of CNH Industrial. Peter Henning, a former lawyer for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, said SEC action is unlikely, as there's no clear rule about what a company is supposed to disclose about a CEO's health. "It's an interesting question, about where do you draw the line between public disclosure and an individual's privacy? And the SEC has not weighed in on this, unless there is a misleading disclosure. Otherwise, the SEC is going to defer to the company," Henning said. At the same time, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, senior associate dean for leadership studies at Yale School of Management, said CEOs have "a moral, ethical and legal responsibility ... as an officer of the company to consider the material adverse consequences of this very important information. As an officer, you surrender some degree of privacy." Sonnenfeld said that includes not only disclosing who you do business and meet with but also health issues. He said it's up to corporate boards to have rules in place about health disclosures. He cited JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon and Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein - both of whom informed their boards and employees of their cancer diagnosis, continuing full duties after treatment - as two good models. Apple, on the other hand, knew about Steve Jobs' illness "but put out misinformation" when the founding CEO failed to show up at MacWorld in 2008, Sonnenfeld said. "That was worse than spins. It was falsehoods," he said. Doug Chia, executive director of the governance center at the Confidence Board think tank, said the lesson from the Marchionne case is that boards need to think about having "some kind of procedure where there is some periodic checkup on the CEO's health, or some kind of advanced agreement that the CEO will let them know about medical information." Giuseppe Berta, who has written books about Fiat and Fiat Chrysler and who knew Marchionne, expressed surprise that heir to the Fiat-founding Agnelli family, FCA Chairman John Elkann, had not known about Marchionne's illness. "Evidently, the ties between Marchionne the manager and John Elkann the shareholder were by now very deteriorated," Berta said. "Under normal circumstances, something of this sort would emerge." While Marchionne had put Fiat Chrysler on a strong financial footing, having eliminated debt as long promised, Berta said hewing to that goal also meant that the carmaker did not make the investments in new products that competitors did, including for electric cars and looking ahead to greater automotive connectivity and autonomous driving. Berta speculated it was Marchionne's desire to put the company on firmer ground to meet the goals in the 5-year-plan he laid out on June 1 that led him to hide his illness. Such gestures, however, are useless hubris, experts say. "Nobody - and I mean nobody - is indispensable," Cooper said. "Everyone said 'What is going to happen to Apple after Steve Jobs?' Has it done badly?" ____ AP Automotive Writer Tom Krisher contributed from Detroit. FILE - In this Monday, Jan. 12, 2015, file photo, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne speaks at media previews for the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Fiat Chrysler's late founding CEO Sergio Marchionne was a notorious workaholic who regularly slept on a corporate jet all the while landing in headlines for his shrewd deal-making. Despite his public profile, he kept a secret even from his board: he'd been seriously ill for more than a year. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File) FILE - In this June 1, 2018, file photo, John Elkann, president of the FCA Italy group, right, removes his necktie to give it to Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne prior to a press conference at the FCA headquarter, in Balocco, Italy. Giuseppe Berta, an industrial historian who has written books about Fiat and Fiat Chrysler and who personally knew Marchionne, expressed surprise that heir to the Fiat-founding Agnelli family, FCA Chairman John Elkann, had remained unaware of Marchionne's illness. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, file) ISTANBUL (AP) - Turkey's president said his government would not back down and was willing to "go its own way" if the United States imposes sanctions over an American pastor who is being tried on espionage and terror-related charges. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ended his silence late Saturday on the escalating diplomatic dispute involving Andrew Craig Brunson, 50. The evangelical pastor was arrested in December 2016 and jailed until he was released to home detention last week. "They cannot make Turkey back down with sanctions," Turkish media quoted Erdogan saying during an official visit to southern Africa. Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan attends the last day of the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, Friday, July 27, 2018. (Mike Hutchings/Pool Photo via AP) "The U.S. should not forget that unless it changes its attitude, it will lose a strong and sincere partner like Turkey," he warned. On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced possible sanctions against Turkey, a crucial NATO ally, for its treatment of Brunson. The pastor, who is originally from Black Mountain, North Carolina, has lived in Turkey for 23 years and led Izmir Resurrection Church. Brunson was detained in the aftermath of a failed 2016 coup on charges of "committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member" and espionage. His He faces a prison sentence of up to 35 years if he is convicted on both counts at the end of his ongoing trial. In an interview that aired Sunday, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence reiterated that there would be consequences if Erdogan's government did not free Brunson and drop the charges. "Transferring Pastor Andrew Brunson to home arrest is just not good enough, and the United States of America is prepared to bring sanctions against Turkey until Pastor Andrew Brunson is free," Pence said in the interview on Fox's "Sunday Morning Futures." Erdogan denied speculation that there had been an agreement to swap Brunson for Turkish citizens being held abroad, particularly 27-year-old Ebru Ozkan. Ozkan had been detained by Israel on terror-related charges, but was deported this month. The Turkish leader previously linked Brunson's return to the U.S. to the extradition of Fethullah Gulen. Ankara blames Gulen for the coup attempt, while the cleric denies involvement. Erdogan also warned that Turkey would seek international arbitration if the United States refused to deliver F-35 fighter jets in retaliation. American Pastor Andrew Craig Brunson, a 50-year-old evangelical pastor from Black Mountain, North Carolina, center, waves as he leaves a prison outside Izmir, Turkey, Wednesday, July 25, 2018. Brunson who had been jailed in Turkey for more than 1 years on terror and espionage charges was released Wednesday and will be put under house arrest as his trial continues. Pastor Brunson was let out of jail to serve home detention because of "health problems," Turkey's official Anadolu news agency said.(DHA via AP) Andrew Craig Brunson, an evangelical pastor from Black Mountain, North Carolina, arrives at his house in Izmir, Turkey, Wednesday, July 25, 2018 An American pastor who had been jailed in Turkey for more than one and a half years on terror and espionage charges was released Wednesday and will be put under house arrest as his trial continues. Andrew Craig Brunson, 50, an evangelical pastor originally from Black Mountain, North Carolina, was let out of jail to serve home detention because of "health problems," Turkey's official Anadolu news agency said. (AP Photo/Emre Tazegul) VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Francis is urging everyone to combat the "shameful crime" of human trafficking, noting that it's often linked to migrant smuggling. In remarks Sunday to the public in St. Peter's Square, Francis decried that many adults and children are trafficked into slavery for forced labor, sex businesses, organ trafficking, begging rackets and other criminal activities. Francis noted that the United Nations will dedicate Monday to encouraging anti-trafficking efforts. In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, migrants rest at the port of Tarifa, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Tarifa, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) The pope added that "even migratory routes are often used by traffickers and exploiters to recruit new victims." He encouraged people to realize that trafficking victims are often among them by saying "even here in Rome" the phenomenon is present, an apparent reference to the city's prostitutes, many of them trafficked from Africa or Eastern Europe. MADRID (AP) - Spain's maritime rescue service says it has saved 123 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa. The service says it pulled the migrants from 12 different boats intercepted by rescue craft Sunday morning in the Strait of Gibraltar. The latest arrivals come after Spain rescued nearly 1,000 people attempting the perilous journey from African to European shores on Friday and Saturday. In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, a migrant rests with others as the sun rises at the port of Algeciras, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Algeciras, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) Spain has received over 20,000 migrants by sea in 2018. A crackdown by Libyan authorities and Italy's refusal to let rescue boats dock has made it more difficult for migrants to reach Italy. Human trafficking mafias pack the migrants into small craft unfit for open waters. Over 1,500 people have died so far this year trying to cross the Mediterranean. EDS NOTE: SPANISH LAW REQUIRES THAT THE FACES OF MINORS ARE MASKED IN PUBLICATIONS WITHIN SPAIN. In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, a young migrant rests with others onboard Spain's Concepcion Arenal Maritime Rescue Service boat at the port of Barbate, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Barbate, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) EDS NOTE: SPANISH LAW REQUIRES THAT THE FACES OF MINORS ARE MASKED IN PUBLICATIONS WITHIN SPAIN. In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, a migrant and a Spanish Civil Guard policeman play with an inflated glove at the port of Barbate, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Barbate, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, migrants rest at the port of Tarifa, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Tarifa, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) EDS NOTE: SPANISH LAW REQUIRES THAT THE FACES OF MINORS ARE MASKED IN PUBLICATIONS WITHIN SPAIN. In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, migrants look at the camera as they play onboard Spain's Concepcion Arenal Maritime Rescue Service boat at the port of Barbate, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Barbate, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, migrants rest at the port of Tarifa, southern Spain, as they wait to be moved after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Tarifa, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, migrants rest at the port of Barbate, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Barbate, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, migrants rest onboard Spain's Arcturus Maritime Rescue Service boat at the port of Tarifa, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Tarifa, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, migrants rest onboard Spain's Arcturus Maritime Rescue Service boat at the port of Tarifa, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Tarifa, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, a migrant rests with others onboard Spain's Maria Zambrano Maritime Rescue Service boat as the sun rises at the port of Algeciras, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Algeciras, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) EDS NOTE: SPANISH LAW REQUIRES THAT THE FACES OF MINORS ARE MASKED IN PUBLICATIONS WITHIN SPAIN. In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, a migrant plays with an inflated glove at the port of Barbate, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Barbate, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) EDS NOTE: SPANISH LAW REQUIRES THAT THE FACES OF MINORS ARE MASKED IN PUBLICATIONS WITHIN SPAIN. In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, migrants rest onboard Spain's Concepcion Arenal Maritime Rescue Service boat at the port of Barbate, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Barbate, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, migrants wait at the port of Tarifa, southern Spain, to be moved to another location after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Tarifa, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) EDS NOTE: SPANISH LAW REQUIRES THAT THE FACES OF MINORS ARE MASKED IN PUBLICATIONS WITHIN SPAIN. In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, migrant children look at the camera as they travel with others onboard Spain's Concepcion Arenal Maritime Rescue Service boat at the port of Barbate, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Barbate, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. companies seeking to be exempted from President Donald Trump's tariff on imported steel are accusing American steel manufacturers of spreading inaccurate and misleading information, and they fear it may torpedo their requests. Robert Miller, president and CEO of NLMK USA, said objections raised by U.S. Steel and Nucor to his bid for a waiver are "literal untruths." He said his company, which imports huge slabs of steel from Russia, has already paid $80 million in duties and will be forced out of business if it isn't excused from the 25 percent tariff. U.S. Steel and Nucor are two of the country's largest steel producers. "They ought to be ashamed of themselves," said Miller, who employs more than 1,100 people at mills in Pennsylvania and Indiana. FILE - In this Feb. 25, 2016 file photo, a truck carries a load at the Nucor Steel plant in Seattle. U.S. companies pursuing exemptions from President Donald Trump's tariff on imported steel are accusing American steel manufacturers of spreading inaccurate and misleading information, and they fear it may torpedo their requests. The president of one company calls objections raised by U.S. Steel and Nucor to his waiver request "literal untruths."(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File) Miller's resentment, echoed by several other executives, is evidence of the backlash over how the Commerce Department is evaluating their requests to avoid the duty on steel imports. They fear the agency will be swayed by opposition from U.S. Steel, Nucor and other domestic steel suppliers that say they've been unfairly hurt by a glut of imports and back Trump's tariff. U.S. Steel said its objections are based on detailed information about the dimensions and chemistry of the steel included in the requests. "We read what is publicly posted and respond," said spokeswoman Meghan Cox. Nucor did not reply to requests for comment. The 20,000-plus waiver applications that the Commerce Department has received illustrate the chaos and uncertainty ignited by Trump's trade war against America's allies and adversaries. It's a battle that critics of his trade policy, including a number of Republican lawmakers, have warned is misguided and will end up harming U.S. businesses. Trump and European leaders agreed this past Wednesday not to escalate their dispute over trade, but the tariff on steel and a separate duty on aluminum imports remains in place as the U.S. and Europe aim for a broader trade agreement. The metal taxes would continue to hit U.S. trading partners such as Canada, Mexico and Japan even if the U.S. and the EU forge a deal. Miller bristled over insistence by Nucor and U.S. Steel that steel slab is readily available in the United States. "That's just not true," he said. His company isn't the only one looking overseas for a product described as being consistently in short supply. California Steel Industries, a mill east of Los Angeles in Fontana, described the slab shortage as "acute" on the West Coast and declared that its waiver request is critical to its survival. Aiming to rebuild the U.S. steel industry, Trump relied on a rarely used 1962 law that empowers him to impose tariffs on particular imports if the Commerce Department determines those goods threaten national security. He added a twist: Companies could be excused from the tariff if they could show, for example, that U.S. manufacturers don't make the metal they need in sufficient quantities. But there are hurdles to clear on the path to securing an exemption. A single company may have to file dozens of separate requests to account for even slight variations in the metal it's buying. That means a mountain of paperwork to be filled out precisely. If not, the request is at risk of being rejected as incomplete. All this can be time-consuming and expensive, especially for smaller businesses. The requests are open to objections. The Commerce Department posts the exemption requests online to allow third parties to offer comments - even from competitors who have an interest in seeing a rival's request denied. But objections are frequently being submitted just as the comment period closes, undercutting the requester's ability to fire back. Willie Chiang, executive vice president of Plains All American Pipeline, told the House Ways and Means subcommittee on trade last week that his company had no opportunity to respond to objections that contained "incorrect information" before the Commerce Department denied its exclusion request. Chiang didn't say who submitted the inaccurate information. "The intent here is to restrict imports on a broad scale," said Richard Chriss, executive director of the American Institute for International Steel, a free trade group opposed to tariffs. "It wouldn't make sense from the administration's perspective to design a process that readily granted exclusions." The Commerce Department declined to comment for this story. Department officials have so far made public only a small number of their rulings. An analysis of the numbers by the office of Rep. Jackie Walorski, an Indiana Republican and one of the most vocal opponents of the steel tariff on Capitol Hill, shows that 760 requests have been approved while 552 have been denied. The department hasn't yet approved a waiver request that triggered objections, according to Walorski's review. The congresswoman's office also examined the more than 5,600 publicly available comments and found they were submitted on average about four days before the end of the 30-day comment period. More than 50 percent of the comments weren't delivered until 48 hours or less before the comment window closed. It took department an average of nine days to post comments online after receiving them, according to the analysis. The most prolific commenters were Nucor and U.S. Steel with 1,064 and 1,009, respectively. A waiver request Seneca Foods Corporation submitted for tinplated steel it had already agreed to purchase from China was among the denials. U.S. Steel had objected, calling the tinplate a "standard product" that's readily available in the United States. In fact, U.S. Steel said it currently supplies the material to Seneca Foods, the nation's largest vegetable canner. The New York-based Seneca Foods declined to comment. But in its waiver application, the company said domestically-made tinplate "is of inferior quality to imported material." Seneca Foods also said it's unclear, at best, if U.S. suppliers have the ability or willingness to expand their production in the long term to meet the company's annual demand for the material. Philadelphia-based Crown Cork & Seal, a manufacturer of metal packaging for food and beverages, submitted a sharply worded attachment to its waiver application that anticipated pushback from domestic manufacturers. American steel mills, the document said, cannot meet aggregate demand for tinplate and have no plans to increase their capacity. "We anticipate the U.S. mills will attempt to rebut this statement when they object to this exclusion request, but we encourage the Department of Commerce to see through their manipulative attempt to exploit the rules of the exclusion request process," the application said. Daniel Shackell, Crown Cork & Seal's vice president for steel sourcing, said he's not optimistic about the company's chances of getting all 70 of its waiver requests approved. Eight have been granted so far primarily because the metal specified in those requests is not made in the United States. Twelve others have been denied, leaving 50 still to be decided. "It's hard not to interpret that the Commerce Department wants domestic suppliers to have an edge," Shackell said. Jay Zidell, president of Tube Forgings of America, a small company in Portland, Oregon, said he's filed 54 exclusion requests and U.S. Steel has objected to 38 of them. U.S. Steel declared it is "willing and ready to satisfy" Tube Forgings' demands for carbon steel tubing. But Zidell said the comments ignored past problems with metal quality and workmanship that led his company to sever a prior relationship with U.S. Steel. Still, he's worried the Commerce Department won't approve all of the requests. Tube Forgings already has spent $600,000 on tariffs, he said, and may be on the hook for much more than that. "The entire system is just screwed up," Zidell said. Authorities say a fire that killed five children and their mother at a Michigan motel appears to have been an accident. The Berrien County sheriff's office says experts found no evidence of an accelerant that would have started the deadly blaze early Saturday at the Cosmo Extended Stay Motel in Sodus Township. The precise cause still is under investigation, although early signs indicate the source of the fire was an electrical appliance. The fire began in a first-floor room of the two-story motel, about 100 miles from Chicago. Kiarre Curtis, 26, and five of her children died in a room on the second floor of a motel in Berrien County, Michigan early Saturday morning Curtis was remembered fondly by friends as a 'happy' and 'amazing' person The children have been identified as Marquise Thompson, 10; Gerome Randolph, 7; Samuel Curtis, 5; 4-year-old Savod Curtis; and 2-year-old Avery Curtis. Four of the children are pictured above Curtis' husband, Samuel Curtis, and a 1-year-old child survived. Kiarre Curtis is seen above with two of her children Kiarre Curtis, 26, and five of her children died in a room on the second floor, likely from smoke inhalation. The children have been identified as Marquise Thompson, 10; Gerome Randolph, 7; Samuel Curtis, 5; 4-year-old Savod Curtis; and 2-year-old Avery Curtis, according to WPBN. Autopsies are planned Sunday. Curtis' husband, Samuel Curtis, and a 1-year-old child survived. The sheriff's office says investigators are also examining the motel's fire alarms and smoke detectors. The precise cause still is under investigation, although early signs indicate the source of the fire was a faulty electrical appliance The sheriff's office says investigators are also examining the motel's fire alarms and smoke detectors 'She was amazing,' a family friend, Stephanie Martensen, said of Kiarre Curtis. 'For growing up in foster care and having some hard trials in her life, she made the best of a bad situation. She worked hard and she did everything she could to make a better life for herself and her kids.' Fire officials said they were shaken at the sight of the dead bodies of five young children. 'I was devastated,' said Chief Deputy Robert Boyce. 'I was heartbroken.' Robert Payne, who has lived at the motel for 10 years, recalled his experience seeing his home destroyed. 'So I'm in the room, down from the fire,' he told WNDU. 'And it destroyed everything I own. But the fire just got too hot, too fast.' MADRID (AP) - The Latest on Europe's response to mass migration (all times local): 9:45 p.m. Thirty migrants rescued from the Mediterranean Sea have left Malta for Portugal, part of a deal that ended a standoff over a private aid boat. In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, a migrant rests with others as the sun rises at the port of Algeciras, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Algeciras, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) Their departure on Sunday means half of the 234 people who were rescued at sea on June 27 have left the tiny island nation for other European countries. The Netherlands, France and Luxembourg already took in some of the asylum-seekers. Portugal, Belgium, Ireland, Norway and other countries also pledged to welcome some. Malta had demanded that fellow European nations take a share of the migrants rescued by the crew of a German aid group's rescue boat. The nine-nation deal to distribute the migrants resolved a dispute that kept the boat off Malta's coast for six days. The boat's German captain is charged in Malta with captaining a ship that wasn't properly registered. ___ 2:45 p.m. Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed is allowing 40 migrants who have been kept at sea for two weeks to enter the country "for humanitarian reasons." Chahed authorized a Tunisian-flagged commercial boat that has been carrying the migrants since July 16 to dock at the southern Tunisian port of Zarzis late Saturday. The migrants reportedly were stranded in the Mediterranean Sea for five days before a Maltese ship picked them up and then transferred them to the commercial boat. Italy, Malta and France all refused to let the vessel disembark. Ali Hajji, the captain of the Sarost 5, told The Associated Press on Sunday that "everyone... is still waiting for the order to be given for the boat to enter the port." The Tunisian Red Crescent says it has been providing the migrants, who include two pregnant women, with food and medical assistance. ___ 1:35 p.m. Spain's maritime rescue service says it has saved 123 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa. The service says it pulled the migrants from 12 different boats intercepted by rescue craft Sunday morning in the Strait of Gibraltar. The latest arrivals come after Spain rescued nearly 1,000 people attempting the perilous journey from African to European shores on Friday and Saturday. Spain has received over 20,000 migrants by sea in 2018. A crackdown by Libyan authorities and Italy's refusal to let rescue boats dock has made it more difficult for migrants to reach Italy. Human trafficking mafias pack the migrants into small craft unfit for open waters. Over 1,500 people have died so far this year trying to cross the Mediterranean. EDS NOTE: SPANISH LAW REQUIRES THAT THE FACES OF MINORS ARE MASKED IN PUBLICATIONS WITHIN SPAIN. In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, migrant children look at the camera as they travel with others onboard Spain's Concepcion Arenal Maritime Rescue Service boat at the port of Barbate, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Barbate, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) EDS NOTE: SPANISH LAW REQUIRES THAT THE FACES OF MINORS ARE MASKED IN PUBLICATIONS WITHIN SPAIN. In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, a young migrant rests with others onboard Spain's Concepcion Arenal Maritime Rescue Service boat at the port of Barbate, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Barbate, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) EDS NOTE: SPANISH LAW REQUIRES THAT THE FACES OF MINORS ARE MASKED IN PUBLICATIONS WITHIN SPAIN. In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, a migrant and a Spanish Civil Guard policeman play with an inflated glove at the port of Barbate, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Barbate, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, migrants rest at the port of Tarifa, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Tarifa, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) EDS NOTE: SPANISH LAW REQUIRES THAT THE FACES OF MINORS ARE MASKED IN PUBLICATIONS WITHIN SPAIN. In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, migrants look at the camera as they play onboard Spain's Concepcion Arenal Maritime Rescue Service boat at the port of Barbate, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Barbate, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, migrants rest at the port of Tarifa, southern Spain, as they wait to be moved after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Tarifa, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, migrants rest at the port of Barbate, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Barbate, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, migrants rest onboard Spain's Arcturus Maritime Rescue Service boat at the port of Tarifa, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Tarifa, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, migrants rest onboard Spain's Arcturus Maritime Rescue Service boat at the port of Tarifa, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Tarifa, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, a migrant rests with others onboard Spain's Maria Zambrano Maritime Rescue Service boat as the sun rises at the port of Algeciras, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Algeciras, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) EDS NOTE: SPANISH LAW REQUIRES THAT THE FACES OF MINORS ARE MASKED IN PUBLICATIONS WITHIN SPAIN. In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, a migrant plays with an inflated glove at the port of Barbate, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Barbate, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) EDS NOTE: SPANISH LAW REQUIRES THAT THE FACES OF MINORS ARE MASKED IN PUBLICATIONS WITHIN SPAIN. In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, migrants rest onboard Spain's Concepcion Arenal Maritime Rescue Service boat at the port of Barbate, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Barbate, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) In this photo taken on Friday, July 27, 2018, migrants wait at the port of Tarifa, southern Spain, to be moved to another location after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, in Tarifa, Spain. Maritime rescue authorities say 751 migrants have been plucked Friday from 52 dinghies trying to reach Spanish shores from northern Africa, this year's most popular route into Europe. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno) PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - The Latest on Cambodia's national election (all times local): 7:45 a.m. The U.S. government says it regrets that Cambodia's election was flawed and will consider its responses to the outcome and other setbacks to democracy and human rights in the Southeast Asian country. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Se looks his ballot at a polling station in Takhmua, Kandal province, southeast of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sunday, July 29, 2018. With the main opposition silenced, Cambodians were voting in an election Sunday virtually certain to return to office Prime Minister Hun Sen and his party who have been in power for more than three decades. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith) The long-ruling party of Prime Minister Hun Sen won Sunday's vote in a widely expected result after the only credible opposition party was dissolved last year by a court ruling. The statement from the White House press secretary's office cited the exclusion of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, restrictions on activists, and threats against non-voters as setbacks to democracy and a disenfranchisement of voters. It said the U.S. would consider measures including expanding on visa restrictions that were announced in December. Cambodian exiles have argued for travel bans on top Cambodian officials, a move intended to punish the leaders without hurting the Cambodian people. 7 a.m. Australia's foreign minister says her government had told the Cambodian government of its serious concerns about Sunday's election. Cambodia's ruling party won in a widely expected result after the only credible opposition was silenced. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says in a statement: "The election process, which has included the dissolution of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), the detention of CNRP leader Kem Sokha, and the banning of CNRP parliamentarians and officials from engaging in politics for five years, has reversed more than 25 years of progress towards democracy in Cambodia." She adds: "Australia is concerned the election took place in an environment where not all political parties, civil society organizations and media could operate freely." She says Australia will continue to urge the Cambodian government to take steps to allow free and open political debate without violence and intimidation. ___ 10:50 p.m. Cambodia's exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy has called for peaceful protests against the country's general election, calling it "a sham election with a foregone conclusion." Cambodia's information minister says the ruling party won Sunday's election, ensuring that Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has led the country for 33 years, will serve another five year-term. Sam Rainsy, speaking roughly 180 kilometers (112 miles) south of Paris in Freteval, where he lives, told The Associated Press that "it is a meaningless victory because he won without any real challenger ... prior to the election he dissolved the only credible opposition party." Although 20 parties contested the election, the only one with the popularity and organization to mount a credible challenge, Sam Rainsy's Cambodian National Rescue Party, was dissolved last year by the Supreme Court. ___ This item has been corrected to show Rainsy was speaking in Freteval, not Paris. ___ 10:20 p.m. Cambodia's chief government spokesman says the country's ruling party has won the general election, ensuring that Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has led the country for 33 years, will serve another five year-term. Khieu Kanharith, who is also information minister, did not say how many of the 125 seats in the National Assembly the Cambodia People's Party had captured in Sunday's election, but preliminary totals broadcast on state television showed that it had won at least 70 percent of the vote in each of the country's 25 provinces. Although 20 parties contested the election, the only one with the popularity and organization to mount a credible challenge, the Cambodian National Rescue Party, was dissolved last year by the Supreme Court. ___ 9:40 p.m. Preliminary partial vote counts from Cambodia's national election show Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling party well on its way to victory as expected for almost all of the 125 National Assembly seats, with the longtime leader on the verge of returning for another five-year term. Although 20 parties contested the election, the only one with the popularity and organization to mount a credible challenge, the Cambodian National Rescue Party, was dissolved last year by the Supreme Court. Local and foreign rights groups, along with several Western governments, had agreed that the polls would not be credible. Sunday night's initial tallies, which were broadcast live on state television, showed Hun Sen's Cambodia People's Party with at least 70 percent of the vote in all 25 provinces, with the 19 challenger parties far behind. ___ 7:20 a.m. Cambodians have begun voting in an election virtually certain to return to office Prime Minister Hun Sen and his ruling Cambodian People's Party. Although 20 parties are contesting the polls, the only one with the popularity and organization to mount a credible challenge, the Cambodian National Rescue Party, was dissolved last year by the Supreme Court. Its former leaders have called on supporters to boycott the polls. Voting ends at 3 p.m. and preliminary results are expected on Sunday night. LANSING, Mich. (AP) - As both parties continue pumping funds into the 2018 race, Michigan Democrats hope to cash in on another kind of green. A proposal to legalize marijuana will be on Michigan's November ballot, putting the state on the cusp of allowing recreational use of the drug for those 21 and older. If approved, Michigan would become the 10th state and the first in the Midwest to allow its recreational use. The ballot measure could also entice more younger voters to show up to the polls, which likely would help the Democrats. And in Michigan's first general election in two years, the lure of legal weed could be a surprise tool for the minority party to redeem itself in a battleground state that narrowly swung to President Donald Trump in 2016. FILE - In this Nov. 20, 2017, file photo, Josh Hovey, spokesman for the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, speaks at a news conference in Lansing, Mich., where group submitted more than 360,000 signatures for a 2018 ballot drive to legalize the use of marijuana for recreational purposes. A proposal to legalize marijuana has sprouted on Michigan's November ballot, putting the state on the cusp of allowing recreational use of the drug for those 21 and older. It could also entice younger voters to show up to the polls, which could help the Democrats. (AP Photo/David Eggert, File) One of the ballot's committee leaders, Jeff Hank, said the initiative is nonpartisan but that Michigan politicians running on anti-marijuana messaging - all of whom are Republicans - should beware. "It's the most sensible thing to do," Hank said. "Politicians who don't support this proposal are on the wrong side of history, and that's too bad." Having a cannabis-injected voter bump is an easy gift for Michigan Democrats, who by and large support legalizing marijuana as a civil liberty, a criminal justice reform and a fertile source of tax revenue. It also helps that legalizing marijuana, a once-fringe issue associated with the anti-war counterculture movement, has quickly solidified into a lasting political cause. Two years ago, the share of Americans living in a state with recreational marijuana laws swelled to almost a quarter of the country, thanks to successful 2016 election ballot initiatives in four states that raised the total to nine states plus the District of Columbia. Thirty-one states have legalized medical marijuana, including Michigan, which has allowed it for a decade. Legalizing recreational marijuana boasts a 61 percent approval rating among Michiganders, according to EPIC-MRA polling. The partisan breakdown showed three-fourths of both Democrats and independents favor legalization, while just under half of Republican respondents approve. "It's likely to increase participation among young voters, who are very Democratic," EPIC-MRA president Bernie Porn said. It's difficult to draw on successful marijuana ballot initiatives elsewhere because most succeeded in western states during extraordinary election years. A Brookings Institute study found that 2012 proposals increased liberal and young voter turnout in Colorado and Washington. Recent events in Lansing suggest that Republicans are worried. Last month, the GOP-controlled Legislature found itself in an unenviable bind when it received the certified ballot proposal and had to either vote yes and risk appearing marijuana-cozy or send it to a popular vote this November and potentially boost Democratic turnout. Ultimately, the lower chamber resisted adopting the legislation, with House Speaker Tom Leonard saying there wasn't enough support. But that won't be the last that Leonard, a DeWitt Republican running to be Michigan's next attorney general, hears of the weed question. Should he get the GOP nomination, his opponent in November will be one of the loudest marijuana proponents on the state ballot. Dana Nessel, the Democratic attorney general nominee and a civil rights lawyer who won the case overturning Michigan's same-sex marriage ban, said she has favored legalizing marijuana for decades and believes that unwavering support makes her the most-trusted candidate to defend Michigan's marijuana policy. "I didn't believe legalization was important back then just because I put my finger in the air and decided it to be politically popular," she said. "I ran on it because this was important in Michigan." Leonard has said he does not personally support legalizing recreational marijuana but that he'd uphold whatever law is in place if he's elected. That's a message Michigan Republicans running for other offices are giving and the reason state GOP spokeswoman Sarah Anderson said the party isn't worried. Pro-marijuana Republican voters will still show up for GOP candidates who promise to champion the will of the people in this ballot initiative, she said. "There could be a small net increase for Democrats, but it's not insurmountable," Anderson said. "(Marijuana) is a personal issue that won't necessarily favor one side or another." If voters are satisfied with that, perhaps those praying for a weed vote to bolster a Democratic reckoning against GOP control in Lansing and Washington are simply blowing smoke. But whether or not there's a liberal "blue wave," many contend there surely will be a green one. "Even the most ardent opponents of marijuana legalization say this is coming," said Porn, the pollster. "There's no way this isn't going to take place." ___ Follow Alice Yin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/byaliceyin THE PARAGRAPHS OF THE LAW ON THE NATION1.The Law on the Nation ( ) has caused numerous controversies both inside Israel and beyond its borders.Many of us say that there is almost nothing new in it, that was not the case in the previously adopted Israeli laws. Simply, lawmakers have put together provisions scattered in different separate laws. The only significant change is the abolition of the state status of the Arabic language.2.The Declaration of Independence of Israel, published on May 14, 1948, proclaimed Hebrew and Arabic as equal state languages, and this rule is practically implemented. For example, in all settlements, including those where there are no Arabs at all, the authorities announcements, warning inscriptions and street names are given in Hebrew and Arabic (the inscription in English is often added).The negative side of this status is that schoolchildren of Arab schools until a certain age are poorly acquainted with Hebrew. I had to talk with 10-year-old Arab schoolchildren in English, because they did not know Hebrew (or pretended not to know). The ignorance of Hebrew reduces opportunities for employment and prevents Arabs from joining Israeli society. It also facilitates the task of Islamist propaganda and Arab sectoral politicians.On the other hand, the non-recognition of the equal status of Arabic language humiliates the pride of the Arabs, and allegedly puts them in an unequal position. This also applies to our allies among the Druze and Bedouins who serve in the army and shed blood for the Jewish state. They protest against this innovation.Some Jewish politicians, like Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, also do not agree with such a cancellation. On this occasion, let us recall that the parents of Kahlon arrived in Israel from Libya, and Arabic was their mother language. About half of Israels Jews are descendants of refugees from Arab countries like Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon Based on the population, Israel has every reason to be a member of the Arab League. If we want to establish our relations with neighbors (and we want), then abolishing the state status of the Arabic language does not help the cause.3.Now, one more remark about the language. Prior to Nakba, the Arabs accounted for almost half of the population in the territory destined for Israel by the UN decision, because the Palestinians won a demographic war in Palestine / the Land of Israel. Thanks to the efforts of the Ottoman Empire, of the British Empire and of local Arabs (Palestinians), Jews were not allowed to Palestine, and even were partially expelled, for example during the Intifada 1936-1939, and then completely destroyed in the Holocaust.Beginning in February 1948, the Arabs fled (as a rule, on their own initiative) from this territory, where battles for the creation of a Jewish state were already started. In drawing up the Declaration of Independence, the founding fathers of Israel, headed by Ben Gurion, proceeded from the assumption that almost half of the population of the new state speaks Arabic.This means, inter alia, that Ben Gurion did not plan the Nakba, and on the day of the promulgation of the Declaration of Independence he expected the return of refugees. The hired historian Ilan Pappe lies, accusing Ben Gurion of the planned ethnic cleansing of Palestine from the Arabs.In fact, just Arab states and a Nazi criminal, and then a British agent, the leader of the Palestinians, Amin al Husseini, planned ethnic cleansing from the Jews. They urged the Palestinians to withdraw from the territory of Israel in order to exclude the possibility of peace and to create a pretext for the genocide of Jews.This British-Arab-Palestinian plan did not work, because the commander of the British forces in Palestine refused to carry out the dirty work of cleansing Palestine from the Jews, while the Arabs together with the Palestinians could not overcome the resistance of Jewish self-defense.But a similar plan just worked in Kosovo. This time, the Islamists were not left to their fate: after the bombing of Serbia and Kosovo, NATO forces returned Kosovo Muslims to their habitats, where they settled about 150 years before the events of the 1990s. The experience of Israel and Palestine was taken into account.4.The Arab refugees were created and preserved by the Arabs, with the obvious goal: to have a pretext for the destruction of the Jewish state. The last eructation of this policy was the UNRWA, an organization with an apparatus of 30,000 officials who seek to provide themselves with a job for decades by perpetuating the problem of Arab refugees. By the way, currently remained alive about 20,000 real Arab refugees, the rest were born after the flight, in the places of their current residence.But lets return to the Law of the (titular) nation.5.Three paragraphs (5,6-7) are directly linked the Zionist character of the State of Israel, although the word Zionism is absent:In fact, these three points are the main points in the Law on the Nation. It was worth to accept this law just because of Zionism.But If the state of Israel is bi-national, then the second nation, the Arabs, have the right to oppose the immigration of Jews, that is, Zionism. However, we cannot agree with neglecting Zionism, for two reasons.6.First, because Israel is a state of refuge for persecuted Jews around the world. The State of Israel was created precisely for this purpose, therefore Zionism is the basis of Israels legitimacy. And it was not accidental that our state was recognized just after the Holocaust. The need for a state of asylum for Jews was then evident.Today, the Jewish post-Zionists in the West and Israel declared that Jews no longer need a state of refuge. Allegedly, anti-Semitism has disappeared, Jews have joined the society of hospitable countries, and in general our common home has become a world village, or there arose a united European empire. If so, Israel does not need territory, there was no need to offend the unfortunate Palestinians, depriving them of their land and their homeland. Let eliminate the settlements and leave East Jerusalem, because we are not religious fanatics, why do we need the Temple Mount and some Mount of Olives with its huge cemetery?According to the post-Zionists, Jews never lived in Palestine, because they (the Jews of dispersion) are descendants of noble Aryans, or Khazars (or French, or Spaniards, or Poles, let choose), who accepted Moses faith, and now are clever and practical atheists. Therefore they became rich in the USA and in Europe. Let do not prevent them from living a fighting cock and making money.By your endless struggle for survival, you (Israel) put us (Jews of the Diaspora) under the blow of anti-Semites. We declare our love for Palestine and condemn Israel for its cruelty in the struggle for survival. Do not be indignant, we betray you to save ourselves. Youre finished, Obama and Europe have surrendered you to Iran, and Trump is a clown, he will be replaced by Democrats, for whom we vote and give them money. So drain the fuel and give up the state while you still can go alive.Such is the reasoning of these Jewish fighters against anti-Semitism, whom I met at the World Forum against anti-Semitism. It turns out that the reason of modern anti-Semitism is Zionism and Israel. To save themselves and their money, our rich relatives betrayed us. Anti-Zionism is excluded from the struggle against anti-Semitism, Israelis are given away to be murdered by Palestinian terror or by Iranian nuclear bomb, let pour mud on them, let make blood libel. Settlers must be ethnically cleansed from Palestine. We were made scapegoats of the struggle against anti-Semitism.Strangely enough, Jewish and non-Jewish liberals and globalists demand to introduce multi-culturalism, to eliminate nationalism, especially in its Zionist hypostasis, while at the same time encourage Palestinian racism and chauvinism, demand the creation of an ethnically pure state of Palestine. Jewish settlers do not have right to multiculturalism, globalism and human rights.In addition, we were asked to create privileges (compensating discrimination) for Israeli Arabs. In fact, this demand has already been fulfilled. And at the same time, the liberals deny human rights to Jews who settled lawfully in Judea and Samaria. This part of the Jews is subjected to collective punishment (sanctions) and ethnic cleansing. Such is the official position of the liberal European empire, and such was the position of the democratic administration of Obama. They worked together to prevent the housing for Jewish settlers, and this was a way of ethnic cleansing. If young people have nowhere to dwell, they are forced to leave the land in which they were born and grew up.7.The actuality, however, is not at all what the post-Zionists counted for. In response to the deadly gestures, both Israeli and the Diaspora Jews received new attacks by Islamists, united with the leftist liberal anti-Semites of Europe and of the United States. The Jews of Europe were caught between two fires: while they were campaigning against the European right and against Netanyahu, their leftist friends sniffed with Islamists and contribute to the complete Islamization of Europe. One of the consequences of this is the orgy of Islamist anti-Semitism, which does not disguise as enmity toward Israel alone, but beats directly on the Jews of Europe. Wished? Got!There is no reason to expect that the US development will go differently. BDS, which involves young advanced Jews of the US, who hope to make their career on this horse, will inevitably turn against them, the Jews who beat themselves in the chest, how they love the Palestinian people. Lenin dubbed such prudent scoundrels useful idiots. The radical left (which the liberal Jew Bernie Sanders is trying to lead), the BDS and the Nation of Islam, led by the leader Farrakhan, will show the Jewish liberals what the World Village is. Sooner or later, the American Jews will be forced to make their choice: where to run? So let not spit in Israel, it may come in handy8.The second reason that pushes Israel toward Zionism is the typical demographic aggression of Islam. During the years of independence of Israel, the Muslim population has grown 10 times. Today in Israel, the number of Muslims is twice as large as before the Nakba. Immigration of Jews is far from compensating the natural growth of the Muslim population. Note that the Christian Arabs and Druze grow at the same speed as the Jews, and this is natural, not all Arabs are aggressors.Zionism is necessary in order to preserve the Jewish majority in Israel, and not in words, but in deeds. The attitude that the Russians met in Israel in the 1990s was a bomb thrown into Zionism. The bomb was thrown by the Israeli post-Zionists, headed by Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres. Their behavior saw the whole world, and concluded: Israel as a Jewish state came to an end. The weak fools are beaten.Those who cry about the discrimination of the unfortunate Arabs in Israel, try to hide the fact of severe discrimination of Jews in our Jewish state. While young Jews give up three years of life (and sometimes life itself) to protecting of the Jewish state from its numerous enemies, their Muslim peers are educated, get a job, marry and build one more floor in a family house that began as a one-store, and now has reached five floors or more. They can calmly bear and raise children.Their Jewish peers, leaving the army, are just beginning to solve the problems that Muslim young people at their age have solved. In principle, young Jews cannot solve the problem of housing, parents must help them. The same story occurs with the education, and even during military service, parents must support their soldiers directly, not the army. Only after age 30, they have opportunity to create a family and to give birth to children, and even after that, it is necessary to limit the number of children.Apartments, instead of serving as farms for breeding people, devour the means for these children. As a result, children are not born. Expensive apartments devour primarily Jewish children. Netanyahu called this phenomenon social Auschwitz. Does he think that the Law on the Nation will replace cheap housing for young families? I believe, that our state is obliged to take care and lower the prices for housing. Only then the state can be called Jewish. The law on the nation has nothing to do with the solution of the problem.It is necessary to change not laws but the consciousness of the whole society, and especially the behavior of corrupt elites. However, the law is also a means of education, or rather its initial stage. It is also the boundary that a democratic society has set for a too active non-democratic Supreme Court.9.I repeatedly suggested recognizing the fact that Israel is a bi-national state. But how can be such a recognition reconciled with Zionism? Its very simple: lets recognize Israel as a Zionist state, in which there is a non-Jewish minority. Non-Jews, citizens of Israel, are obliged to recognize the right of the Jewish majority to self-defense, including Zionism. And take part in the development and protection of this state. That is, serve in the army or perform an alternative national service.OK, those who do not want to fight at all, or to fight against their Muslim brethren, must pass a free course of citizenship (ezrahut), which is taught in school, and then pass the exam and take an oath of allegiance to the State of Israel. Those who refuse to swear will be transferred from the status of citizens to the status of residents of Israel, regardless of nationality and religion.As we know, the status of a resident gives its holders all the rights that a citizen has, with two exceptions: residents do not serve in the army and do not participate in elections. This is the proper status for those citizens who are hostile to their state. I call on our Arab citizens, who demonstrate solidarity with Gaza, to voluntarily renounce Israeli citizenship. But hardly there will be volunteersOur religious brothers should re-think their position: if they are so lazy to serve in the army and work, let them voluntarily go inhabitants. However, those who gave birth to children may not serve in army, but raise children, this can be equated to military service. Everyone who has children knows that homestic demographic war is more difficult and even more honorable than a conventional military service. In this case, the oath is not needed, they have fulfilled their duty.10.The idea of citizenship and the oath of allegiance to the state of Israel should also be extended to all immigrants: illegal immigrants who will be allowed to stay in the country, Palestinians who married Arab citizens of Israel, zarobitchans from Ukraine and other countries, Filipinos, athletes etc.Those who fail to pass the exam or take the oath will be given the status of residents. This is quite a good status, it gives all the rights of citizens, but exempts from the obligation to perform military service, to elect or be elected.11.And now the conclusion: so far we can live with the new law, it is not perfect, but useful.The law promises to define the special status of the Arabic language. It is quite simple: lets return to Arabic the status of the state language, as the Declaration of Independence stated. But with citizenship, immigration and military service we will have to deal separately. I made my suggestions on this issue.In the future, Israel should be explicitly proclaimed a Zionist state in which two people live, and all citizens must agree with Zionism and with the role of Israel as a state of refuge for Jews. This is not only the right of the Jews, but also the duty of all citizens, regardless of their nationality and religion. Those who do not agree have the right to change their status from citizen to resident. ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Rep. Keith Ellison asked himself the question that lingers over his political career before any of the 1,000-plus supporters at his recent rally could: Why was he leaving the safe congressional district he's represented for more than a decade to run for state attorney general? "Attorneys general all over this country led the fight against this Muslim ban," he said to raucous applause. "It is attorneys general that are fighting and suing to protect an open internet." A year after falling short in his bid to chair the Democratic National Committee and with his party stuck in the minority, Ellison is angling for a change. FILE - In this July 18, 2018, file photo, Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., asks a question at a House Committee on Financial Services hearing in Washington. Ellison's decision to back away from Congress and run for Minnesota attorney general is the latest reminder of the newfound national spotlight on states' top attorneys nationwide. Ellison was first elected to a deeply liberal Minnesota seat in 2006, becoming the first Muslim in Congress. He's built a national profile as an energetic campaigner firmly behind liberal causes like expanding Medicare for all. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File) Democrats nationwide have increasingly looked to attorneys general in their states as a counter to President Donald Trump's administration and its policies. State attorneys general pushed back against the administration's ban on travel from several mostly Muslim countries, winning early court battles before a more limited version was upheld by the Supreme Court. More recently, they sued the Trump administration to stop the separation of children and parents who were in the country without permission. Ellison, who, in 2006, became the first Muslim elected to Congress, said his quest isn't personal. He has a lengthy priority list, including protecting President Barack Obama's health care law and restoring so-called "net neutrality" provisions scrapped by the Federal Communications Commission under Trump. "For me, it is a dramatic oversimplification to say that this is about Trump. It's not," he said. "But it is about policies that he's pursuing that I think hurt consumers, hurt people's rights." A 54-year-old with the campaign vigor of someone 30 years younger, Ellison has carved out a reputation as an energizing force in state and national politics while making frequent appearances on cable news shows. He was an early supporter of Bernie Sanders' presidential bid and co-chaired the House Progressive Caucus until last year, recently taking charge of the push to expand Medicare for all. Even before Ellison entered the race, there were signs of the new thirst among Minnesota Democrats for a more activist attorney general. Lori Swanson, the three-term Democratic incumbent, was humbled at a June endorsing convention by a little-known challenger who criticized her as too careful. When she abruptly decided to run for governor, Ellison joined a stampede of five Democrats who filed to run for a seat that Republicans haven't won in more than half a century. Though Ellison hasn't won a statewide race, he has a higher public profile than any of his Democratic challengers and will likely benefit from an expected heavy turnout at the Democratic primary, where a fierce competition for the nomination to run for his congressional seat will be settled. Though Ellison has significant rivals - his opponents include state Rep. Debra Hilstrom and Matt Pelikan, the party-backed candidate - his heavyweight status was underscored by Sanders' endorsement, which came with appearances at a pair of July rallies. "Bernie understands how important state attorneys general are to the economic livelihood and prosperity for working people," Ellison said. "He knows attorneys general are on the forefront." If Ellison wins in August and again in November, he wouldn't be the first congressman to make such a shift since Trump's election. That distinction belongs to California's attorney general, Xavier Becerra, who accepted an appointment to the job in December 2016. Becerra has been among the most visible Democratic attorneys general in the country, filing and joining dozens of lawsuits challenging the Trump administration. He said the role of an attorney general hasn't changed - only its visibility. "Now we have an adversary that's a lot more formidable than most that we would encounter, because it's the federal government," said Becerra, who considers Ellison a close friend from their six terms in Congress together. "He's going to be taking on issues as attorney general that he worked on as a member of Congress ... That's what's helped me." But Ellison is sure to face scrutiny in his first statewide bid, including renewed questions about his connections to Minister Louis Farrakhan, the head of Nation of Islam who has a history of making anti-Semitic comments. Ellison has sought to distance himself from Farrakhan since his involvement in the 1995 "Million Man March" and disavowed the Nation of Islam in his first congressional bid in 2006. Republicans have warned that Ellison would focus too much on countering Trump at the expense of the office's other responsibilities - and even fellow Democrats haven't made Trump such a visible foil in their own campaigns. Minnesota's attorney general represents hundreds of state agencies and boards, helps safeguard senior citizens against scams and fields thousands of consumer complaints each week. "He has specifically stated that he wants to use the office of attorney general to obstruct the President's agenda. He wants to go into court and use the politicized judiciary to achieve legislative-type ends that Democrats can't achieve through the actual Legislative process," said Doug Wardlow, the leading Republican candidate. Ellison said his attorney general ambitions weren't based around a platform to fight back against Trump, nor was it triggered solely by frustration with Congress. "Maybe the legislative branch will one day reclaim its role as the first among equal branches of government," he said. "I just think that if I really want to serve people, I need to be in another part of the government apparatus." ___ Follow Kyle Potter on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ kpottermn REDDING, Calif. (AP) - The Latest on fires in California (all times local): 8:45 p.m. Authorities say a massive blaze in Northern California has destroyed more than 650 homes since it broke out July 23. Burned vehicles sit in front of a wildfire-ravaged home, Sunday, July 29, 2018, in Redding, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) Cal Fire officials said the so-called Carr Fire currently threatens more than 5,000 structures. The fire exploded on Thursday and took out neighborhoods in Redding, a city about 230 miles north of San Francisco. However, officials say the blaze has slowed down and they expect containment numbers to grow. The deadly wildfire has forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes. It has also killed two firefighters and two children and their great-grandmother. A sixth victim was found Sunday but authorities didn't immediately release that person's identity. ___ 6 p.m. Authorities say a firefighter battling a massive blaze near California's Yosemite National Park died after he was struck by a falling tree. National parks officials say 33-year-old Brian Hughes died Sunday near the fire line. A statement says Hughes was part of a crew removing brush and other fuel in an area with many dead trees. Hughes, originally from Hawaii, had been with California's Arrowhead Interagency Hotshots for four years and reached the rank of captain. He's the second firefighter killed battling the flames near Yosemite. Earlier this month, Braden Varney was killed when the bulldozer he was operating overturned. At least seven other firefighters have been injured since the blaze broke out July 13. Some evacuations have been lifted but officials say Yosemite Valley will remain closed until August 3. ___ 5:45 p.m. Evacuation orders have been lifted for several Southern California mountain communities as crews slowly get a handle on a destructive wildfire. Zach Behrens, spokesman for the San Bernardino National Forest, said Sunday that "substantial progress" has been made on the so-called Cranston Fire east of Los Angeles near Palm Springs. The fire is about 30 percent contained. A 32-year-old man has been charged with intentionally starting the blaze that destroyed at least five homes. Officials warn that risks remain in and around the town of Idyllwild in the San Jacinto Mountains. Residents returning home are warned that many roads in the area remain closed. ___ 4:45 p.m. Authorities say a second firefighter has died fighting a huge blaze near California's Yosemite National Park. Mike Theune, a spokesman for the so-called Ferguson Fire, says the firefighter was treated for injuries at the scene Sunday but died before he could be hospitalized. Theune says the firefighter was part of a crew removing brush and other fuel near the fire's front lines. He didn't have additional details. Earlier this month, firefighter Braden Varney was killed when the bulldozer he was operating overturned. At least seven other firefighters have been injured since the blaze broke out July 13. Some evacuations have been lifted but officials say Yosemite Valley, the heart of tourism in the park will remain closed until August 3. ___ 4:30 p.m. Officials have ordered the town of Lakeport in Northern California to evacuate as a wildfire moves toward the Lake County recreation area. Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Corey Paulich says the order Sunday brings the number of evacuations in Lake County to about 7,500, up from the previous 2,500. Paulich says the warm afternoon temperatures have sparked up fire activity and the so-called Mendocino Complex fires continue to move toward the Lakeport area. Lakeport is about 120 miles north of San Francisco. Meanwhile, fire officials say crews made good progress on the Carr Fire near Redding, which has killed six people and destroyed more than 500 buildings. ___ 3:10 p.m. Fire officials say crews have stopped some of the growth of a Northern California blaze that has killed six people and destroyed more than 500 buildings. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Incident Commander Bret Gouvea said Sunday firefighters were gaining some ground on the blaze, as opposed to being strictly in a defensive posture. The fire exploded on Thursday and took out neighborhoods in Redding, a city about 230 miles (370 kilometers) north of San Francisco. Gouvea said the fire is not moving nearly as fast as it did earlier. He said he is optimistic and expected containment numbers to increase. The fire has burned 139 square miles (360 square kilometers). Sheriff's officials, meanwhile, said Sunday they found the remains of a sixth fire victim. ___ 2:25 p.m. A Northern California sheriff says a sixth person has died in a raging wildfire that has destroyed more than 500 buildings. Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said Sunday that the remains were found within the boundary of the Carr Fire near Redding, about 230 miles (370 kilometers) north of San Francisco. He said the victim, who was not identified, didn't evacuate despite receiving an evacuation warning. Bosenko says the sheriff's department has seven outstanding missing persons reports. The fire has also claimed the lives of two firefighters and two children and their great-grandmother. Eight-one-year-old Don Ray Smith was a bulldozer operator who was helping clear vegetation in the path of the wildfire when he died. Redding Fire Inspector Jeremy Stoke was also killed, though no details were provided. The other three victims - 70-year-old Melody Bledsoe and her two great-grandchildren, 5-year-old James Roberts and 4-year-old Emily Roberts - died when walls of flames swept through the family's rural property on the outskirts of Redding. ___ 12:50 p.m. A police chief whose home was destroyed when fire tore through his Northern California city says he will continue to stay on duty. Redding Police Chief Roger Moore told CNN on Sunday his father's home also burned in the blaze, but his family has good support. Moore said property can be replaced, noting that the fire had also taken lives. Five people have died in the blaze, including a woman and her two great-grandchildren. The fire has destroyed more than 500 buildings and is threatening thousands more. Triple-digit temperatures and dry vegetation are making it difficult for crews to corral the blaze. It is only 5 percent contained. ___ 12:05 p.m. Some evacuees from a deadly Northern California wildfire say they are frustrated because they don't know whether their homes are standing or were destroyed. Authorities on Sunday had not reopened neighborhoods in Redding that were devastated by the flames. Fed up, Tim Bollman, hiked 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) up steep terrain to check on the home he built for his wife and two sons 13 years ago. He found rubble. Bollman took hundreds of photos, recorded video, texted his wife and hiked out. ___ 9:35 a.m. California fire officials say wildfires around the state have forced roughly 50,000 people from their homes. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokeswoman Lynne Tolmachoff said Sunday that 12,000 firefighters were battling 17 significant fires in California. She said the state has experienced considerably more fire activity so far this year than it did over the same period of time last year, and the worst part of the fire season was still to come. A fire in the Redding area about 230 miles (370 kilometers) north of San Francisco has claimed five lives and destroyed more than 500 buildings while charring 139 square miles (360 square kilometers). ___ 9 a.m. Crews are getting control of a small wildfire in California's wine country county of Napa, but two blazes farther north are raging mostly unchecked. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said the blaze around Lake Berryessa in Napa County that destroyed seven structures was 50 percent contained as of Sunday morning. The fire broke out a day earlier and forced evacuations. It has burned 150 acres (61 hectares). Two fires about 100 miles (161 kilometers) northwest in Mendocino County have consumed 39 square miles (101 square kilometers) and destroyed four homes. Cal Fire spokeswoman Tricia Austin said Sunday the blazes were each 5 percent contained. The fires have forced evacuations and are threatening more than 4,500 structures. ___ 8:10 a.m. Fire officials say a deadly Northern California wildfire that has destroyed more than 500 buildings and is threatening thousands more did not grow as dramatically overnight, though crews are still struggling to corral it. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Anthony Romero said Sunday the fire in the Redding area grew by roughly 9 square miles (23 square kilometers) to 139 square miles (360 square kilometers). It remains 5 percent contained. Romero said there are still many uncertainties that could cause the fire to explode. Crews have been dealing with gusty winds and hot temperatures. A vehicle problem ignited the fire Monday, but it wasn't until Thursday that the fire exploded and raced into communities west of Redding before entering city limits. The fire has left five people dead, including a 70-year-old woman and her two young great-grandchildren. It has destroyed 517 buildings and damaged another 135. More than 5,000 structures are threatened and tens of thousands of people are under evacuation orders. ___ 10 p.m. A deadly Northern California wildfire has destroyed more than 500 buildings and is threatening thousands more as it rages into its fourth day. The fire in the Redding area has left five people dead, including a 70-year-old woman and her two young great-grandchildren. About 38,000 people remained under evacuation orders Saturday and are staying with relatives or in hotels or shelters. Anna Noland, who was evacuated twice in three days, learned Friday that she had lost her home. She says it's hard to believe. A vehicle problem ignited the fire Monday, but it wasn't until Thursday that the fire exploded and raced into communities west of Redding before entering city limits. It was pushing southwest of Redding on Saturday, toward the tiny communities of Ono, Igo and Gas Point. The fire grew slightly to 131 square miles (340 square kilometers) Saturday. San Bernardino County Fire Department firefighter James Lippen hoses down hot spots left behind by a wildfire, Sunday, July 29, 2018, in Keswick, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) Carol Bershers, 75, of the city of Shasta Lake, sorts her clothes at the Shasta College evacuation center, in Redding, Calif., Sunday, July 29, 2018, where she and her husband, Otis, and cat Smokey have been sleeping since Thursday after they were evacuated because of wildfires. (Hector Amezcua/The Sacramento Bee via AP) Boats sit at California's Whiskeytown Lake, Sunday, July 29, 2018, near where the Carr Fire originated. The so-called Carr Fire that affected Redding, a city of about 92,000 people, was ignited by a vehicle problem on Monday about 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of the city. (Hector Amezcua/The Sacramento Bee via AP) A burned bowling ball lies in the mountain community of Keswick, Calif., Sunday, July 29, 2018. On Sunday, the San Bernardino County Fire department pulled in to tamp down smoking rubble. Piles of wreckage were still smoking amid downed electricity lines. (AP Photo/Martha Mendoza) A California FIRESCOPE card is seen burned in the mountain community of Keswick, Calif., Sunday, July 29, 2018. On Sunday, the San Bernardino County Fire department pulled in to tamp down smoking rubble. Piles of wreckage were still smoking amid downed electricity lines. (AP Photo/Martha Mendoza) COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - Billionaire industrialist Charles Koch warned Sunday that Trump administration trade policies could trigger a recession. The conservative activist lashed out at the Republican president's brewing international trade war as hundreds of donors gathered for a private retreat in the Colorado mountains. Koch told reporters during a rare question-and-answer session that "protectionism at any level" is "detrimental." Trump's approach could lead to a recession "if it's severe enough," he said. The administration has imposed billions of dollars of tariffs on Chinese and Canadian goods and threatened billions more on America's allies in Europe. The White House last week announced plans to send $12 billion in taxpayer dollars to U.S. farmers to help ease the economic fallout. The conservative Koch network, which has broken with Trump on immigration, government spending and trade, is promising to punish politicians in either party who support the tariffs. Asked to respond to Koch's remarks, White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters cast Trump as "a free trader." "He believes that the best way forward is for all countries to get rid of unfair practices and move toward zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsidies," Walters said. "However, until other countries move in that direction, stop engaging in unfair practices, and start playing by the rules, the President is going to take tough action." ATLANTA (AP) - U.S. Rep. John Lewis, the 78-year-old civil rights icon and veteran congressman from Georgia, was released from the hospital Sunday evening after his weekend admission for an undisclosed reason. Lewis' spokeswoman, Brenda Jones, said in an emailed statement that Lewis left the hospital a day after he was admitted for "routine observation." "All tests have been completed, and doctors have given him a 'clean bill of health," Jones said in the statement. "He thanks everyone who shared their thoughts, prayers and concerns during his stay." FILE - In this May 24, 2018 file photo, U.S. Rep. John Lewis walks in a procession during Harvard University commencement exercises in Cambridge, Mass. The Civil rights icon has been hospitalized for undisclosed reasons. Citing a statement from Lewis' office, WSB-TV reports that the 78-year-old Georgia congressman was "resting comfortably" in a hospital Saturday night, July 28 for "routine observation." The statement says Lewis expects to be released Sunday. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File) Jones had told The Associated Press earlier that Lewis, after being admitted to the hospital Saturday night, was "resting very comfortably" during the day Sunday. She did not release Lewis' condition or elaborate on what exactly brought him to the hospital. Lewis, a Democrat, played a key role in the civil rights movement and marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1965 in Selma, Alabama. He was the youngest and last survivor of the Big Six civil rights activists, led by King Jr., who engineered one of the greatest moral protests in history. Lewis was best known for leading some 600 protesters in the 1965 Bloody Sunday march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. At the head of the march, Lewis was knocked to the ground and beaten by Alabama state troopers. His skull was fractured. Televised images forced the country's attention on racial oppression in the South. A veteran Democratic congressman from Atlanta, he won his first U.S. House term in 1986. ___ Information from: WSB-TV, http://www.wsbtv.com/index.html BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) - Jonah Hill and Emma Stone are starring in a new TV series that tackles sensitive issues of mental illness and the pharmaceutical industry. The Netflix series, a black comedy titled "Maniac," follows two participants of a murky late-stage pharmaceutical drug trial. Hill plays a man diagnosed with schizophrenia, while Stone plays a woman fixated on broken relationships. FILE - In this March 4, 2018, file photo, Emma Stone arrives at the Oscars in Los Angeles. Emma Stone plays Annie Landsberg and Jonah Hill plays Owen Milgrim in "Maniac," about a radical kind of pharmaceutical treatment with no complications or side-effects whatsoever. Things do not go as planned. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File) Both sign up to test a mysterious pill believed to cure anything about the mind, but things do not go as planned. Cindy Holland, vice president of Netflix original series, announced its debut date, Sept. 21, during a panel at the Television Critics Association's summer meeting. Holland called "Maniac" a "thought-provoking, fever dream of a show." The actors starred opposite each other in the 2007 teen comedy "Superbad." American Airlines flights were grounded across the country for 40 minutes by a technical glitch and other airlines were also delayed. Thousands of irate passengers were left waiting at departure gates while at least four carriers scrambled to fix the problem. American's flights were shut down between 2.05pm and 2.45pm on Sunday, according to the Federal Aviation Authority. American Airlines flights were grounded across the country for 40 minutes by a technical glitch The airline blamed the issue on 'a connectivity issue with one of our data centers' and said no flights were cancelled as a result. Delta, Alaska, and United also had thousands of flights delayed by a system outage at SkyWest, which flies regional routes for them. Some 1,106 SkyWest flights were delayed along with 686 American Airlines ones due to their respective malfunctions. American's issue was the second in two months after more than 3,000 flights were cancelled in the week starting June 14, costing it $35 million. The persistent computer glitch plagued the airline's subsidiary PSA Airlines and forced staff to 'do heroic things' to get any flights to take off. The company said the two glitches were not related. LOS ANGELES (AP) - A store worker struck and killed by an officer's bullet during a police gunbattle with a suspect outside a Trader Joe's supermarket has been memorialized in Los Angeles. Family, friends and hundreds of community members turned out Sunday for the funeral of Melyda Corado. Mourners remembered the 27-year-old for her strong work ethic and sharp sense of humor. FILE - In this July 23, 2018, file photo, a note with the likeness of Trader Joe's employee Melyda Corado is surrounded by flowers, candles and notes of support on a sidewalk outside the Silver Lake Trader Joe's store in Los Angeles. Trader Joe's worker Corado who was shot and killed in an exchange of gunfire between a suspect and the police at the store has been memorialized in Los Angeles. Family, friends and hundreds of community members turned out Sunday, July 29, for the funeral of Corado. Mourners remembered the 27-year-old for her strong work ethic and sharp sense of humor. Corado's brother, Albert, said on Twitter that the family is heartbroken but grateful for the public's support. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File) Corado's brother, Albert, said on Twitter the family is heartbroken but grateful for the public's support. Corado was killed July 21 as police traded gunfire with a suspect who then took hostages inside the store. Police say Gene Atkins previously shot his grandmother and kidnapped his girlfriend. Atkins is charged with murder and attempted murder. Trader Joe's workers around the country wore red shirts and ribbons Saturday in remembrance of Corado. ATLANTA (AP) - The Latest on hospital stay of U.S. Rep. John Lewis (all times local): 6:55 p.m. A spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. John Lewis says the civil rights icon has been released from the hospital. FILE - In this May 24, 2018 file photo, U.S. Rep. John Lewis walks in a procession during Harvard University commencement exercises in Cambridge, Mass. The Civil rights icon has been hospitalized for undisclosed reasons. Citing a statement from Lewis' office, WSB-TV reports that the 78-year-old Georgia congressman was "resting comfortably" in a hospital Saturday night, July 28 for "routine observation." The statement says Lewis expects to be released Sunday. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File) Spokeswoman Brenda Jones said in an emailed statement that Lewis left the hospital Sunday evening, a day after he was admitted for undisclosed reasons. She says medical tests have all been completed and that doctors have given Lewis a "clean bill of health." Jones told The Associated Press earlier that the 78-year-old Georgia congressman was admitted Saturday night for "routine observation" had was "resting very comfortably." She did not release Lewis' condition but said the congressman thanks everyone for their prayers and concerns during his hospital stay. Lewis, a Democrat, played a key role in the civil rights movement and marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1965 in Selma, Alabama. He was the youngest and last survivor of the Big Six civil rights activists, led by King Jr., who engineered one of the greatest moral protests in history. ___ 4 p.m. Civil rights icon and U.S. Rep. John Lewis remains hospitalized for undisclosed reasons. Lewis' spokeswoman Brenda Jones told The Associated Press on Sunday that the 78-year-old Georgia congressman will stay in the hospital until doctor's observations are complete. She says Lewis is "resting very comfortably" after he was admitted into the hospital Saturday night for a "routine observation." Jones said she expects he will be released "very soon." She did not release Lewis' condition or elaborate on when exactly he might leave the hospital. Lewis had been expected at an Atlanta event Saturday evening, but did not attend. Lewis, a Democrat, played a key role in the civil rights movement and marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1965 in Selma, Alabama. He was the youngest and last survivor of the Big Six civil rights activists, led by King Jr., who engineered one of the greatest moral protests in history. ___ Information from: WSB-TV, http://www.wsbtv.com/index.html CHANDLER, Ariz. (AP) - Authorities in a Phoenix suburb say a man fatally stabbed his 81-year-old grandmother because he was tired of caring for her. Chandler police say 30-year-old Brandon Smith is being held on suspicion of first-degree premeditated murder. It was unclear Sunday if he had a lawyer. According to charging documents, Smith punched Helen Smith in the face first and she fell unconscious before he "decided to end her life." Police say Smith cut his grandmother's neck with a kitchen knife when she was in the bathtub. He says she was suffering from dementia. Officers called to an apartment complex about 3:30 a.m. Sunday found Helen Smith already dead. Chandler is about 22 miles (35 kilometers) east of Phoenix. A sixth man has been remanded in custody charged in connection with a suspected acid attack on a three-year-old boy. Afghan national Saied Hussini, from London, was arrested on Thursday by officers investigating burn injuries caused to the child at a Home Bargains store in Worcester on Saturday July 21. Hussini, 41, of Wrottesley Road, Harlesden, has been charged with conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm between July 12 and July 22. Worcester acid attack Justices sitting at Kidderminster Magistrates Court remanded Hussini to appear alongside five other defendants, including the injured youngsters father, at Worcester Crown Court on August 28. A sixth man has been charged after suspected acid attack in Worcester. https://t.co/2rG1LsCzRt West Mercia Police (@WMerciaPolice) July 27, 2018 Hussini, wearing a grey sweatshirt, spoke only to confirm his name, address, date of birth and nationality during Saturdays nine-minute hearing. There was no application for bail on his behalf. The five other men were remanded in custody last Wednesday. Adam Cech, 27, and Jan Dudi, 25, both from Handsworth, Birmingham, Norbert Pulko, 22, from Walthamstow, London, and Jabar Paktia, 41, from Wolverhampton, and the childs father who cannot be named to protect his sons identity are also charged with conspiring to cause grievous bodily harm. The boy suffered serious burns to his face and arm but was discharged from hospital the following day. justoneman said: The intent was to talk about adoption. Click to expand... If there was any there there with Cohen then Mueller would not have turned this matter over to the SDNY. So it appears as if Cohen has told multiple stories about the Trump Tower meeting, meaning he [Cohen] has lied at least once to investigators, either Mueller's or the SDNY's. Too late for Lanny Davis to stop it.Regarding the tape about alleged payments, there is also no there there. Why? Judge Kimba Wood appointed a former federal judge to decide what is and is not covered by lawyer-client privilege and she said this tape was covered. And as we know that privilege does not cover criminal activities. Raiders have smashed their way into a high street bank using a JCB digger and fled with a cash machine. Police said significant damage had been done to the Barclays Bank in Olney, Milton Keynes, during the early-morning raid on Sunday. Officers were called to the scene on High Street at about 3.05am following reports that a JCB had been used to force entry to the bank. ATM stolen Firefighters assisted @tvp_mk in Olney High Street this morning following reports that a construction vehicle had been used to force entry in to Barclays Bankhttps://t.co/q268AHzB0M pic.twitter.com/GES1Q0Vaez Bucks and MK Fire (@Bucksfire) July 29, 2018 Thames Valley Police closed the road while the building was assessed for safety. Investigating officer Inspector Kellie Smith said: This road closure is in place for the safety of the public. We are aware this will cause disruption this morning as it is a main route in Olney and we will work with our partners to partially re-open the road as soon as it is deemed safe to do so. Police are appealing for any witnesses to the incident to get in touch by calling 101 quoting reference 43180231409, or contacting Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 500 111. Two people have been arrested on suspicion of causing the death of a six-year-old girl by dangerous driving. Police said a man aged 27 and a 26-year-old woman were being questioned about the death of the girl, who was hit by a car in Smethwick, West Midlands, late on Saturday. Witnesses said the girl was with a man who appeared to be her father when she was knocked down at a pedestrian crossing on the Oldbury Road dual carriageway at about 10.50pm. Smethwick We continue to appeal for witnesses as two people are arrested on suspicion of death by dangerous driving following the death of a 6-yr-old girl in Oldbury Road last night (28 July). Read full story here: https://t.co/XE72GAFwCB pic.twitter.com/nxdyC1Yw9T Sandwell Police (@SandwellPolice) July 29, 2018 Detective Constable Damian Gibson said: We are investigating the circumstances leading to this tragic event. Although we have two in custody, were appealing for anyone who witnessed the collision or who may have CCTV which can help with our inquiries. There may be motorists whove captured the incident on dash-cams and if so Id ask them to also get in touch as they could have important information. The family are receiving support from family liaison officers and our thoughts are with them at this very sad time. Local traders and residents said a group of youths went to the aid of the girl after she was injured. A worshipper at a nearby Islamic community centre said the incident happened shortly after prayers had ended at about 10.40pm. The man, who asked not be named, said. I know the father. The girl was just a lovely, happy, smiling child. This is a terrible tragedy, its just so sad. Theresa May swapped kitten heels for comfortable Converse trainers as she took an Italian lakeside stroll with husband Philip at the start of their summer holiday. The Prime Minister, well known for her stylish footwear, stepped out in the 50 white canvas flats for the walk on the shore of fashionable Lake Garda. The photograph taken in Desenzano del Garda continued the less posed style she has adopted since being in Number 10, in contrast to images released by her predecessor David Cameron when he went away. Theresa May holiday She paired her trainers with beige three-quarter length trousers, a white short-sleeved shirt and large square sunglasses for a low-key look as they took in the small resort town that the couple visited last year. Philip walked beside her wearing dark blue trousers and loafers, with a short-sleeved blue checked shirt and smaller sunglasses. The couple will spend around a week in Italy before she returns to work in her constituency and Downing Street. Theresa May holiday Mrs May is also due to attend a First World War memorial event to mark the battle of Amiens, which began on August 8 1918 and helped to secure victory. They will then jet off for two weeks in Switzerland. The holiday plans are a repeat of last years getaway for the couple. Although the PM remains in charge, a number of Cabinet ministers are expected to deputise for her while she is away. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is not expected to reveal his holiday plans. A Labour MP has accused party leader Jeremy Corbyn of supporting and defending extremists and anti-Semites. Ian Austin lashed out at the opposition leader after it was revealed he is facing possible disciplinary action for clashing with the party chairman over the National Executive Committees failure to fully adopt a widely-backed definition of anti-Semitism. Dudley North MP Mr Austin, the son of adoptive Jewish parents who lost relatives in the Holocaust, said the row that has seen Labour castigated by a string of Jewish groups had left him deeply ashamed of the party. Ian Austin He accused Mr Corbyn of introducing to Labour a more extreme brand of politics, telling BBC Radio 4s The World This Weekend: Somebody with views and history like his isnt really suited to the leadership of a mainstream political party. Asked whether he was speaking out just because he did not want Corbyn to lead the party, Mr Austin said: He was never my choice to lead the Labour party thats true, but what do people think? That Im so worried about his plans to nationalise the railways or something that I would invent all this stuff? Its actually the other way around. Its because he has spent his entire time in politics on the extreme fringes of the Labour Party, supporting and defending all sorts of extremists and in some cases frankly, anti-Semites. Labours governing body, the National Executive Committee (NEC), did not include within its new code of conduct the full definition of anti-Semitism including illustrative examples set out by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). Labours code explicitly endorses the IHRAs working definition of anti-Semitism and includes a list of behaviours likely to be regarded as anti-Semitic copied word-for-word from the international organisations own document. But it omits four examples from the IHRA list: Accusing Jewish people of being more loyal to Israel than their home country; Claiming that Israels existence as a state is a racist endeavour; Requiring higher standards of behaviour from Israel than other nations; and Comparing contemporary Israeli policies to those of the Nazis. Labour insisted that while the examples are not reproduced word for word, they are covered in the new code. As a bare minimum, just as a first step, we must adopt the standard IHRA definition of antisemitism in full, including all the examples, then we have to respond properly to the Jewish community's reasonable requests and then we must boot the racists out. Boot them out. Ian Austin (@LordIanAustin) July 25, 2018 Mr Austin, who has represented the West Midlands seat since 2005, said allegations he had screamed abuse at chairman Ian Lavery, sparking the disciplinary proceedings, were false, but admitted there had been a heated discussion. Mr Austin said: I said that I thought the NECs decision was a disgrace. Am I upset about anti-Semitism? Yes I am. I am upset about that and Im upset as well about the leaderships failure, I think refusal really, to deal with this properly. I grew up listening to my dad tell me how hed escaped from the Holocaust and how his mum and sisters were murdered in Treblinka (concentration camp) and that led to me joining the Labour Party as a teenager determined to fight racism. Last week Jewish Labour MP Margaret Hodge called in lawyers after being told she faced disciplinary action for confronting Mr Corbyn in person over the issue of the IHRA definition. Many other leading Labour MPs, including shadow cabinet members, have called on the party to adopt the full definition. The UKs three leading Jewish newspapers also took the unprecedented step of publishing a joint front page message warning that a Corbyn-led government would pose an existential threat to Jewish life in this country. Under the headline United We Stand, the Jewish Chronicle, Jewish Telegraph and Jewish News described Labours refusal to adopt in full the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism as sinister. Marie van der Zyl, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said the last few days had been utterly shameful for the party. Jeremy Corbyn is leading the Labour Party into a dark place of ugly conspiracy theories and it has become a home for overt anti-Semites and anti-Semitism, she said. In 2018, Labour is not only a party with extravagant levels of tolerance for anti-Semitism but one which deliberately obstructs measures to counter hatred and punishes those who speak out against it. A Labour spokesman said that Mr Corbyn had made clear he is a militant opponent of anti-Semitism and is absolutely committed to tackling it. The party is fully committed to the support, defence and celebration of the Jewish community and its organisation, he added. He went on: The NEC has concerns about one half of one of the IHRAs 11 examples, which could be used to deny Palestinians, including Palestinian citizens of Israel and their supporters, their rights and freedoms to describe the discrimination and injustices they face in the language they deem appropriate. We understand the strong concerns raised in the Jewish community and are seeking to engage with communal organisations to build trust and confidence in our party. Tunisia is to allow 40 migrants who have been kept at sea for two weeks to enter the country for humanitarian reasons. Prime minister Youssef Chahed said he will authorise a Tunisian-flagged commercial boat that has been carrying the migrants since July 16 to dock at the southern port of Zarzis. The migrants were reportedly stranded in the Mediterranean Sea for five days before a Maltese ship picked them up and then transferred them to the commercial boat. Migrant at sea Italy, Malta and France all refused to let the vessel into their ports. The Maltese government refuted claims it violated international maritime laws by directing the migrants to Tunisia, the nearest port. Ali Hajji, the captain of the Sarost 5, said on Sunday that everyone, port authorities and navy, is still waiting for the order to be given to them so that the boat can enter the port and disembark the migrants. The Tunisian Red Crescent said it has been providing the migrants with food and medical assistance after warning of the dire sanitary conditions of the boat and the poor psychological state of the passengers, who include two pregnant women. The groups president, Mongi Slim, said the Red Crescent will continue to assist the migrants once they reach dry land. We have already prepared a whole floor in the home for migrants that we manage in (the local town of) Medenine, he said. The shelter currently houses more than 200 African migrants and 46 Syrian refugees, he added. Humanitarian groups have said the boats passengers include citizens of Bangladesh, Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal and Egypt. The Sarost 5 has remained in waters a few miles from the port of Zarzis for two weeks while awaiting permission from Tunisian authorities to dock there. Mr Chahed acknowledged fears that European officials would interpret his countrys acceptance of the 40 migrants as a green light to open migrant screening centres in Tunisia, an initiative supported by the European Union to reduce the number of people setting out across the Mediterranean Sea from northern Africa. He reiterated that Tunisia opposes hosting a migrant reception centre. A Palestinian teenager who became an international symbol of resistance to Israeli occupation after slapping two soldiers has walked out of prison to declare she wants to study law to defend her people. In a news conference in the courtyard of her family home, 17-year-old Ahed Tamimi briefly raised her fist and said the occupation must leave. However, the once feisty youngster appeared to be subdued, stopping short of committing to continued acts of protest and saying her eight-month prison stint had taught her to appreciate life. Underlying her case are clashing narratives about Israels half-century rule over the Palestinians, the extent of permissible Palestinian resistance to it and the battle for global public opinion. Aheds supporters see a brave girl who struck two armed soldiers in frustration after having just learned that Israeli troops seriously injured a 15-year-old cousin, shooting him in the head from close range with a rubber bullet during nearby stone-throwing clashes. Bassem Tamimi with his daughter Ahed and wife Nariman In Israel, she is seen by many either as a provocateur, an irritation or a threat to the militarys deterrence policy even as a terrorist. Israel has treated her actions as a criminal offence, indicting her on charges of assault and incitement. In liberal circles, the hard-charging prosecution of Ahed was criticised as a public relations disaster because it turned her into an international icon. Her release comes at a time when Palestinian hopes for an independent state appear dimmer than ever. Many Palestinians are disillusioned by their and feel exhausted after years of conflict with Israel. Alternatives have arisen, including calling for a single state for both peoples between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, but they have not gained a mass following. In this context, the idea of so-called popular resistance regular demonstrations, including stone-throwing by unarmed protesters has only caught on in a few West Bank villages, including Nabi Saleh, home to the extended Tamimi clan. Since 2009, residents of Nabi Salah have staged regular anti-occupation protests that often ended with stone-throwing clashes. Ahed has participated in such marches from a young age and has had several highly publicised run-ins with soldiers. One photo shows the then 12-year-old raising a clenched fist towards a soldier towering over her. In a sign of her popularity, a pair of Italian artists painted a large mural of her on Israels West Bank separation barrier ahead of her release. Israeli police say they were caught in the act along with another Palestinian and arrested for vandalism. Ahed and her mother Nariman also arrested in December in connection with the same incident were released on Sunday morning from a prison in northern Israel. They were driven by bus to the West Bank and given a heros welcome in Nabi Saleh. An artist paints a giant mural of Ahed Tamimi The resistance continues until the occupation is removed, Ahed said upon her return. In the news conference at her home, Ahed said she completed her school exams in prison. I will study law to defend my people and defend my Palestinian cause in international forums, she said. Her scuffle with the two soldiers took place on December 15 in Nabi Saleh. At the time, protests had erupted in several parts of the West Bank over US President Donald Trumps recognition 10 days earlier of the contested city of Jerusalem as Israels capital. She was arrested at her home four days later. Israeli cabinet minister Uri Ariel said the Tamimi case highlighted what could happen if Israel lets its guard down. I think Israel acts too mercifully with these types of terrorists. Israel should treat harshly those who hit its soldiers, he said. We cant have a situation where there is no deterrence. Lack of deterrence leads to the reality we see now we must change that. Fire crews are facing several weather uncertainties as they struggle to contain a deadly blaze in Northern California that has led to the evacuation of thousands of people. Firefighters are enduring hot temperatures and remain wary of the possibility of gusty winds, Anthony Romero, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said. Right now its going everywhere, he said. We still have a lot of open line. Any event could bring this back up again. The National Weather Service on Sunday forecast hot and dry conditions in the area, with wind gusts expected late in the afternoon. California wildfires Anna Noland, 49, was evacuated twice in three days before learning through video footage on Saturday that the house she last saw under dark and windy skies had burned. She plans to stay at a shelter at Simpson College in Redding while she searches for another place to live. I think Im still in shock, she said. Its just unbelievable knowing you dont have a house to go back to. Ms Noland is among 38,000 people evacuated after the so-called Carr Fire roared into the outskirts of Redding in Shasta County, leaving five people dead including two firefighters, a woman and her two great-grandchildren. My babies are dead, Sherry Bledsoe said through tears after she and family members met with police on Saturday. A vehicle problem ignited the fire on Monday, but it wasnt until Thursday that the fire exploded and raced into communities west of Redding before entering city limits. Sherry Bledsoe On Saturday, it pushed south-west of Redding, the largest city in the region, towards the tiny communities of Ono, Igo and Gas Point, where scorching heat, winds and bone-dry conditions complicated firefighting efforts. The blaze has grown to 139 square miles and now threatens more than 5,000 structures and is said to be just 5% contained. The latest tally showed 517 destroyed structures and another 135 damaged, Mr Romero said, with the vast majority believed to be homes. Ms Bledsoes two children, James Roberts, five, and Emily Roberts, four, were stranded with their great-grandmother Melody Bledsoe, 70, when walls of flames swept through the familys rural property on Thursday in the outskirts of Redding. The three were among more than a dozen people reported missing after the furious wind-driven blaze took residents by surprise and levelled several neighbourhoods. Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said he expects to find several of those people alive and just out of touch with loved ones. Officers have gone to the homes of several people reported missing and found their cars are not there a strong indication they fled. California wildfires Wildfires around the state have forced roughly 50,000 people from their homes, officials said, and 12,000 firefighters are currently tackling 17 significant fires in California. About 100 miles south-west of Redding, two blazes that prompted mandatory evacuations in Mendocino County burn largely unchecked. Those fires are threatening more than 4,500 buildings, and have consumed 39 square miles. Authorities have also issued evacuation orders in Napa County, famous for its wine, after a fire destroyed eight structures. In addition, major fires continue to burn outside Yosemite National Park and in the San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles near Palm Springs. Those fires have burned nearly 100 square miles. Thousands of Malians have voted in the presidential election in the capital Bamako, but others in the central region struggled to do so amid threats by extremist groups. Polls closed on Sunday and officials began counting the votes, with results expected within the week. If no candidate won more than 50% of the vote in the first round, Malians will vote in a second round on August 12. Voters have expressed concern about being targeted after al Qaidas Mali branch warned against going to the polls. Deadly communal clashes between ethnic groups and accusations of heavy-handed counter-terror operations have complicated what President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita hopes will be an election victory leading him to a second term. The 73-year-old, who was elected in 2013, faces 23 candidates in the first round. Mali voters queue As he voted in Bamako, Mr Keita commended Malians on a successful and peaceful day of voting. It is a real pleasure for me to perform this citizen act, and it is the start of victory for the people of Mali, who have voted in calm and serenity, he said. This vote will have demonstrated our democratic maturity and our status as a great people. His main challenger is 68-year-old Soumaila Cisse, his rival in 2013, who has criticised the president for not addressing Malis rising insecurity. No polling stations opened in some central Mali Fulani villages under the control of jihadists, including Yamassadiou and Onde. And despite the presence of Malis army in Boulikessi, stations did not open there. Only a few stations were closed in Douentza district in Malis central Mopti region, where armed men kidnapped the head of a polling station in Gandamia village, an official said. Though that particular station reopened, people feared going to the polls. Opposition leader Mr Cisse, who voted in his village Niafounke in the Timbuktu region, said that in some villages, ballot boxes were removed. Mali election Despite the difficulties of insecurity and transport, it was a duty for me to come and vote here with the people who trust me, Mr Cisse said. Malians must vote, it is very important. Each Malian must also be vigilant against attempts of electoral fraud. There must be transparency. Several political parties have expressed doubts about a valid election after duplicate and fictitious polling stations were listed on the electoral commissions website. And many in Mali remain worried about post-election violence should Mr Keita win in the first round. I voted, but all that people are saying is worrying me. I do hope there wont be an election crisis, said 67-year-old Ibrahim Traore. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Malians to maintain a peaceful course and said in a statement on Saturday he was encouraged by a peaceful campaigning period, despite security challenges in the north and center. The Secretary-General urges all political actors in Mali to commit to making this poll a peaceful, free and transparent process, and to resolve any possible dispute through the appropriate institutions in accordance with the law, his statement said. The publisher of The New York Times has said he implored Donald Trump at a private meeting to reconsider his attacks on journalists, calling the presidents anti-press rhetoric not just divisive but increasingly dangerous. In a statement, AG Sulzberger said he decided to comment publicly after Mr Trump revealed their off-the-record White House meeting to his 53 million Twitter followers on Sunday. The presidents aides had requested that the July 20 meeting not be made public, Mr Sulzberger said. Mr Trump tweeted: Had a very good and interesting meeting at the White House with A.G. Sulzberger, Publisher of the New York Times. Spent much time talking about the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, Enemy of the People. Sad! Hours after that exchange, Mr Trump resumed his broadside against the media in a series of tweets that included a pledge not to let the country be sold out by anti-Trump haters in the dying newspaper industry. Mr Sulzberger said his main purpose for accepting the meeting was to raise concerns about the presidents deeply troubling anti-press rhetoric. He added: I told the president directly that I thought that his language was not just divisive but increasingly dangerous. He said he told Mr Trump that while the phrase fake news is untrue and harmful, I am far more concerned about his labelling journalists the enemy of the people. I warned that this inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence. Mr Sulzberger, who attended the meeting with James Bennet, the Times editorial page editor, said he stressed that leaders outside the US are already using Mr Trumps rhetoric to justify cracking down on journalists. I warned that it was putting lives at risk, that it was undermining the democratic ideals of our nation, and that it was eroding one of our countrys greatest exports: a commitment to free speech and a free press, the publisher said. He added that he made clear he was not asking Mr Trump to soften his attacks against the Times if he thinks the newspapers coverage is unfair. Instead, I implored him to reconsider his broader attacks on journalism, which I believe are dangerous and harmful to our country, he said. AG Sulzberger Mr Trump reads the Times and gives interviews to its reporters. But the president who, like all politicians, is concerned about his image also regularly derides the newspaper as the failing New York Times. However, the Times ownership company in May reported a 3.8% increase in first-quarter revenue compared to the same period in 2017. The president, who lashes out over media coverage of himself and the administration that he deems unfair, has broadly labelled the news media the enemy of the people and regularly accuses reporters of spreading fake news the term he often uses for stories he dislikes. Hours after his tweet about the Sulzberger meeting, Mr Trump renewed his criticism of the media in a series of posts in which he accused reporters of disclosing internal deliberations of government and said that can endanger the lives of many. He did not cite examples but wrote Very unpatriotic! and said freedom of the press comes with a responsibility to report the news accurately, a sentiment that journalists share. Mr Trump also claimed that 90% of the coverage of his administration is negative, leading to an all-time low in public confidence in the media. He cited the Times and The Washington Post, two favourite targets, and claimed: They will never change! A sixth person has died in a raging wildfire that has destroyed more than 500 buildings in Northern California. Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said a body was found within the boundary of the Carr Fire near Redding, about 230 miles north of San Francisco. He said the victim, who was not identified, had been in an area which had been covered by an evacuation warning. The fire has also claimed the lives of two firefighters and two children and their great-grandmother. Eighty-one-year-old Don Ray Smith was a bulldozer operator who was helping clear vegetation in the path of the wildfire when he died. Redding fire inspector Jeremy Stoke was also killed amid the devastating blaze. The other three victims 70-year-old Melody Bledsoe and her two great-grandchildren James Roberts, five, and four-year-old Emily Roberts died when walls of flames swept through the familys rural property on the outskirts of Redding. California wildfires Meanwhile, fire crews attempting to contain the blaze are facing several weather uncertainties. The blaze has grown to 139 square miles and now threatens more than 5,000 structures and is said to be just 5% contained. Firefighters are enduring hot temperatures and remain wary of the possibility of gusty winds, Anthony Romero, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said. Right now its going everywhere, he said. We still have a lot of open line. Any event could bring this back up again. Anna Noland, 49, was evacuated twice in three days before learning through video footage on Saturday that the house she last saw under dark and windy skies had burned. She plans to stay at a shelter at Simpson College in Redding while she searches for another place to live. Sherry Bledsoe I think Im still in shock, she said. Its just unbelievable knowing you dont have a house to go back to. Ms Noland is among 38,000 people evacuated after the so-called Carr Fire roared into the outskirts of Redding in Shasta County. The latest tally showed 517 destroyed structures and another 135 damaged, Mr Romero said, with the vast majority believed to be homes. Wildfires around the state have forced roughly 50,000 people from their homes, officials said, and 12,000 firefighters are currently tackling 17 significant fires in California. About 100 miles south-west of Redding, two blazes that prompted mandatory evacuations in Mendocino County burn largely unchecked. Those fires are threatening more than 4,500 buildings, and have consumed 39 square miles. California wildfires Authorities have also issued evacuation orders in Napa County, famous for its wine, after a fire destroyed eight structures. In addition, major fires continue to burn outside Yosemite National Park and in the San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles near Palm Springs. Those fires have burned nearly 100 square miles. 4. Matt Apuzzo is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter based in Washington. He has covered law enforcement and security matters for more than a decade. A graduate of Colby College, he joined The New York Times in 2014 after 11 years with The Associated Press. He teaches journalism at Georgetown University and once successfully argued a motion from the audience in federal court.Maggie Haberman is a White House correspondent who joined The Times in 2015 and was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for reporting on Donald Trumps advisers and their connections to Russia. Before joining The Times as a campaign correspondent, Ms. Haberman worked as a political reporter at Politico, from 2010 to 2015. She previously worked at other publications, including The New York Post and The New York Daily News.The following are excerpts from an article, by Matt Apuzzo and Maggie Haberman on July 25, 2018, under the headline "".(Begin excerpts)WASHINGTON Just before Election Day, when, his campaign issued a flat denial.We have no knowledge of any of this, Mr. Trumps spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, told the newspaper. She said the claim of an affair was totally untrue.Then last week, when The New York Times revealed the existence of a recorded conversation about the very payment Mr. Trump denied knowing about, Mr. Trumps lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, described the recording as exculpatory suggesting it would actually help Mr. Trump if it became public.Finally, the tape has become public. And it revealed the statements by Ms. Hicks and Mr. Giuliani to be false. The recording, which was broadcast by CNN late Tuesday night, shows....The tape that surfaced Tuesday concerned. Shortly before the 2016 presidential election, she sold her story for $150,000 to The Enquirer. But the tabloid, which was supportive of Mr. Trump, sat on the story, a practice known as catch and kill. It effectively silenced Ms. McDougal for the remainder of the campaign.The legal implications of the taped conversation for Mr. Trump are unclear. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are investigating whether Mr. Trumps longtime personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, committed bank fraud or violated campaign finance laws by arranging payments to silence women critical of Mr. Trump. They are also eyeing the role of the Enquirers parent company, American Media Inc., as they discern whether the payment to Ms. McDougal represented an illegal, coordinated campaign expenditure.The recording is potentially significant because it places Ms. McDougal in the context of the presidential campaign. Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen talk polling, surrogates, fending off journalists, and, finally, whether to buy Ms. McDougals rights from A.M.I.The recording was among 12 handed over to prosecutors from a trove of Mr. Cohens material that F.B.I. agents seized in April.It is the only recording of substance between Mr. Cohen and Mr. Trump, according to people familiar with the material. Others include Mr. Cohen speaking to figures in broadcast news, the people said. One captures a lengthy conversation Mr. Cohen had with the CNN host Chris Cuomo, The Journal reported on Wednesday. The conversation involved the usual discussion of politics and media, said a lawyer for Mr. Cohen, Lanny J. Davis, adding that Mr. Cohen had a habit of recording conversations in lieu of taking notes, and had not intended to ever make it public.In the recording about American Media and the McDougal deal, Mr. Trump does not appear surprised to hear about the arrangement. Mr. Cohen describes the agreement with our friend David, a reference to the companys chief executive, David J. Pecker.The tape surfaced as part of a widening rift between Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen, his once-trusted adviser. Mr. Cohen has all but advertised his willingness to cooperate with federal prosecutors, an arrangement that could unearth many of the secrets that he helped bury in a decade of work as Mr. Trumps fixer. No such cooperation deal has been reached, and prosecutors typically do not make such arrangements until they have finished reviewing the evidence they have collected.Wait a sec, what financing? Mr. Trump is heard saying.Well, Ill have to pay him something, Mr. Cohen then says.Mr. Weisselberg was also involved in structuring Mr. Cohens reimbursements of more than $400,000 after he parted ways with the Trump Organization.Like the deal involving Ms. McDougal, statements from Mr. Trump and his representatives about Ms. Clifford fell apart under legal scrutiny, in that case as part of the suit Ms. Clifford filed to have her agreement drafted by Mr. Cohen directly nullified.Around the time that Ms. Clifford filed her lawsuit in early March, Ms. Sanders said there was no knowledge of any payments from the president when reporters pressed her about it. Asked a month later whether he knew about it, Mr. Trump offered a flat no, adding, Youll have to ask Michael Cohen.Mr. Giuliani directly contradicted the president a few weeks later, telling the Fox News host Sean Hannity that sometime after the campaign is over, Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen set up a reimbursement, $35,000 a month, out of his personal family account. He said at the time that he believed Mr. Trump only learned about Mr. Cohens payment to Ms. Clifford after Mr. Cohen initially made it.When the recording of Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen discussing the A.M.I. deal with Ms. McDougal surfaced last week, Mr. Trumps lawyers drafted a transcript and circulated it to reporters. In their version,The transcript, however, is based on widely circulated audio easily accessible with the click of a mouse, as Mr. Cohens legal team noted on Wednesday. Mr. Trumps team manufactured a dialogue to make it more favorable for their client.Repeated screenings of the tape do not clearly reveal Mr. Trump saying the words dont pay with, an omission that would entirely change the meaning of his comment. That creates a chasm between what is heard on the tape, and what Mr. Trumps aides say is heard on the tape. (End excerpts)Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/25/us/politics/trump-michael-cohen-recording.html Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has come under fresh attack for his handling of the partys internal row over anti-Semitism, with one of his own MPs accusing him of supporting and defending extremists. Ian Austin questioned Mr Corbyns suitability to lead the party, days after Dame Margaret Hodge admitted confronting him over the controversy over its rules on racism targeted at Jews. Dudley North MP Mr Austin, the son of adoptive Jewish parents, said he was deeply ashamed of Labour for not fully adopting a widely-backed definition of anti-Semitism set out by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). It comes as Marie van der Zyl, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said Mr Corbyn was leading the Labour Party into a dark place of ugly conspiracy theories which had become a home for overt anti-Semites and anti-Semitism. Meanwhile former front Labour front bencher Chris Leslie said he was absolutely mortified by the way the issue was being handled by the higher command of the party. A party spokesman insisted Mr Corbyn, a veteran Palestinian rights activist, was a militant opponent of anti-Semitism and determined to tackle it. Mr Austin spoke out after being told that like Dame Margaret, he is facing possible disciplinary action. He admitted clashing with party chairman Ian Lavery over the IHRA definition but said it was just a heated discussion, and claims he screamed abuse were false. Ian Austin He accused Mr Corbyn of introducing to Labour a more extreme brand of politics, telling BBC Radio 4s The World This Weekend: Somebody with views and history like his isnt really suited to the leadership of a mainstream political party. Asked whether he was speaking out just because he did not want Mr Corbyn to lead the party, Mr Austin said: He was never my choice to lead the Labour Party, thats true, but what do people think? That Im so worried about his plans to nationalise the railways or something that I would invent all this stuff? Its actually the other way around. Its because he has spent his entire time in politics on the extreme fringes of the Labour Party, supporting and defending all sorts of extremists and in some cases frankly, anti-Semites. He added that he had joined Labour to fight racism after he grew up listening to my dad tell me how hed escaped from the Holocaust and how his mum and sisters were murdered in Treblinka (concentration camp). In an op-ed for Mondays Guardian, Mr Austin, who has represented his West Midlands seat since 2005, added that a minority of people under Mr Corbyns leadership go way beyond legitimate and passionately held views about the plight of the Palestinians and tip over into anti-Semitism. This is unprecedented. Every member of @UKLabour from @jeremycorbyn down should be ashamed. Antisemitism in our party has caused huge offence & distress to the Jewish community and we must listen to them and take it much more seriously. https://t.co/iPU5tjc21N Ian Austin (@LordIanAustin) July 25, 2018 He added: But for others it is much more fundamental, whether it is Ken Livingstones nonsense about Adolf Hitler, legitimising the myth that Jews were the chief financiers of the slave trade, or outrageous comparisons between the actions of Israel and the crimes of the Nazis. Jewish MPs particularly women have been subjected to the most horrendous abuse. Labours governing National Executive Committee (NEC) did not include within its new code of conduct the full definition of anti-Semitism including illustrative examples set out by the IHRA. While the code explicitly endorses the IHRAs working definition of anti-Semitism and lists of behaviours likely to be regarded as anti-Semitic word-for-word from the international organisations own document, it omits four examples: Accusing Jewish people of being more loyal to Israel than their home country; Claiming that Israels existence as a state is a racist endeavour; Requiring higher standards of behaviour from Israel than other nations; and Comparing contemporary Israeli policies to those of the Nazis. Labour insisted the examples are they are covered in the new code. Ms van der Zyl said the last few days had been utterly shameful for the party. She added: In 2018, Labour is not only a party with extravagant levels of tolerance for anti-Semitism but one which deliberately obstructs measures to counter hatred and punishes those who speak out against it. Speaking on Radio 4s Westminster Hour, Mr Leslie said Mr Austin was absolutely right to voice his concerns. Its to our collective shame that this is still dragging on month after month, he said. Its certainly not in my name and its clearly not in Ian Austins name either. A Labour spokesman said Mr Corbyn and the party were fully committed to the support, defence and celebration of the Jewish community and its organisation. He added: The NEC has concerns about one half of one of the IHRAs 11 examples, which could be used to deny Palestinians, including Palestinian citizens of Israel and their supporters, their rights and freedoms to describe the discrimination and injustices they face in the language they deem appropriate. We understand the strong concerns raised in the Jewish community and are seeking to engage with communal organisations to build trust and confidence in our party. The leader of the Green Party in Northern Ireland is to quit, part blaming the powersharing impasse at Stormont for sapping his drive for the job. Steven Agnew said he was frustrated, despondent and angry that he had been unable to perform his role as a legislator for 18 months, accusing Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionists of betraying the needs of local people. Mr Agnew, who will remain as an Assembly member for North Down, said he had considered leaving politics completely but decided against it, believing he still has a lot to contribute. The 38-year-old father-of-two said a desire to spend more time with his son, nine, and daughter, six, was another major factor in his decision to stand down as leader. He also suggested that after almost eight years in post, during which time he led the Green Party into eight elections, it was time for someone with fresh energy and vision to take the party into next years local council elections. In an interview with the Press Association, where he acknowledged that his motivation for the role has dimmed since Stormont collapsed, Mr Agnew said he believed he was strongest when on the floor of the Assembly and, as he was no longer able to legislate in the chamber, it was right he handed the baton on. My skills and strengths are as a parliamentarian and obviously in the context of no sitting Assembly I feel I am now the wrong person in this role, he said. Asked whether frustration characterised his view of the Stormont deadlock, Mr Agnew aimed a scathing broadside at the DUP and Sinn Fein, claiming the parties were intent only on shoring up their own support base, rather than working together for the needs of the wider community. Stormont powersharing crashed in January 2017 amid a bitter row between the DUP and Sinn Fein over a botched green energy scheme. The impasse later widened to include more traditional issues of contention, such as the Irish language, LGBT rights and how to handle the legacy of the Troubles. Frustration is one word, despondency at times but I think really I am angry, said Mr Agnew. I am angry that we have two parties that are putting their needs as parties ahead of the needs of the people of Northern Ireland. I dont think anyone could say this period of suspension, or call it what you will, is good for Northern Ireland. The decisions that need to be made are stacking up and the impact particularly on the community and voluntary sector has been huge and services arent being delivered in the way they should the challenges in terms of the health service and education are not being met. Steven Agnew He added: I tend to be moderate in how I present these things, but I am angry I do think its a betrayal of the people of Northern Ireland. And regardless of how it impacts on me or my party, we are here to provide good governance, thats what we get elected for. Ultimately you get elected to be in power, to make decisions, to make change and they have stepped back from that, they have relinquished power and, in the meantime, they have left Northern Ireland in a state of limbo and with each passing day more and more problems arrive that are not being solved. Mr Agnew will remain as leader until his successor is selected in the autumn. He said he found the demands of the role increasingly incompatible with being the father of two young children. On a personal level I used to go to bed thinking about the Green Party, I used to wake up thinking about the Green Party and now maybe its about more that I wake up thinking about my kids and my energy and focus is on that, he said. Mr Agnew said he used to be obsessed about his leadership role. I have to be honest with myself and my party that same energy, that same obsession isnt there, he added. So I hope the new leader will be as obsessive as I was and give that drive going into the council elections because if they do the party is in the right space to make another breakthrough in May 2019. He said he had no regrets about his time at the helm of the party, listing his lobbying and legislative initiatives on childrens issues, fracking and same sex marriage among his proudest moments in the role. Steven Agnew Mr Agnew said he understood the public anger that he and colleagues were still getting paid their full salaries, despite an announcement from Secretary of State Karen Bradley in March that she was minded to cut their pay. I do resent the position I find myself in now, and the country finds itself in now, in that we dont have a functioning Assembly and the role of MLA has been devalued, he said. Fealtys in Bangor would be my local pub where I would most often go if Im having a drink. It used to be you would walk in and somebody you may or may not know offering to buy you a pint and now the first thing youll get asked is not what are you having Steven? but are you still getting paid? Its usually said in good humour but underneath is a genuine frustration at the situation. Whilst I dont take it personally and often people will say look, we know its not your fault and thats nice, I feel like they do I want to be in the Assembly, I want to be delivering on what I worked really hard to achieve in getting elected. Its not easy being Green, its certainly not easy getting elected as a Green.< I didnt do it for this, I didnt do it to collect a pay cheque without feeling that Ive done everything I can and should be doing. I want the Assembly back up and running. I want decisions being made. BEIRUT, July 28 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Syrian refugees returned to their country from Lebanon on Saturday in a bus convoy arranged by both governments, advancing an effort by Beirut to accelerate returns to areas where fighting has ended. Syrian state television reported that about 1,200 refugees were expected to cross back into the country from Lebanon on Saturday before returning to their homes. Lebanon's security chief Abbas Ibrahim said "the coming period will witness the return of hundreds of thousands of refugees from Lebanon" in comments reported by Hezbollah's al-Manar television channel. State television in Syria and the private al-Jadeed channel in Lebanon showed buses full of refugees at the crossing point on the frontier. It is the latest in a series of recent returns arranged by the two countries. Lebanon hosts more than a million Syrian refugees, more than a quarter of its population, and leading Lebanese politicians have said many of them should go home as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has restored his rule across much of the country. This week a senior official from Assad's ally Russia was in Beirut to discuss a plan for mass returns of refugees and its defence ministry said over 1.7 million would be able to return to Syria from abroad in the near future. The United Nations says that conditions for returns to Syria are not yet fulfilled, more than seven years into a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and driven more than half the pre-war population from their homes. (Reporting By Angus McDowall, Editing by William Maclean) By MacDonald Dzirutwe HARARE, July 28 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his rival Nelson Chamisa held final election rallies on Saturday and both vowed to rebuild an economy shattered by Robert Mugabe's long rule. Monday's vote is the first since Mugabe was forced to step down in November after a de facto coup and, as such, is a major national test. Mnangagwa is favourite although the latest opinion poll said the race was too close to call. The run-up to the presidential and parliamentary election has been peaceful compared to previous polls but there are reports of intimidation and coercion in rural constituencies, and state media is biased towards the ruling ZANU-PF party. A run-off will be held in September if neither candidate wins outright. Tens of thousands of MDC supporters in the party's red colours converged in downtown Harare in a carnival atmosphere, dancing to music denouncing ZANU-PF. "Today we are celebrating. Change is inevitable, victory is certain. If we miss our chance on Monday we are doomed for life," Chamisa told supporters and urged them to stay at polling stations to prevent vote fraud. A few miles away, ZANU-PF supporters met at the national stadium in green, yellow and red party regalia as the party tries to win in the capital for the first time since 2000. Little separates the two men's policies but Mnangagwa is 75 and represents the war generation that has ruled since independence in 1980, while Chamisa, a 40-year-old lawyer, embodies the hopes of many young people. The election could confirm the country's rehabilitation after years as a pariah under Mugabe and help unlock foreign investment, especially if Western observers, monitoring for the first time since 2002, declare it fair. Mnangagwa held senior positions in Mugabe's governments as head of internal security and vice president but since coming to power has cast himself as a reformer with his Zimbabwe is "open for business" mantra. "This coming Monday we will win the election. We are voting for the future. We are voting for generations to come. Together we will unlock the potential for our beloved homeland," Mnangagwa told his party supporters. Mnangagwa has outspent Chamisa on the campaign trail, buying all-terrain double cab vehicles for more than 300 ZANU-PF parliamentary candidates. He has occupied most billboards in major towns and dominated the airwaves with adverts. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg) RAMALLAH, West Bank July 28 (Reuters) - Israeli border police on Saturday arrested two Italian graffiti artists who were painting a mural of a jailed Palestinian teenager, Ahed Tamimi, on the Israeli separation barrier in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian officials. Tamimi, now 17, was sent to prison for assault after being filmed kicking and slapping an Israeli soldier late last year, when she was 16. She is due to be released on Sunday. Tamimi became a heroine to Palestinians after the Dec. 15 incident outside her home in the village of Nabi Saleh was streamed live on Facebook by her mother and went viral. An Israeli police spokesman did not return a call for comment. The Palestine Liberation Organisation said on Twitter that Israeli forces had arrested the two Italian artists and a Palestinian who was with them. Israel maintains control over most of the West Bank, where the Palestinians have limited self-rule. Most countries consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal, something Israel disputes. (Reporting by Ali Sawafta; Editing by Andrew Bolton) ialogues, conferences, conventions around broader themes of maritime security is shaping Sri Lanka security discourse in a grand way. Geographic location and its strategic connotation coming to an intense geo political competition has elevated Sri Lankas own engagement to respond and comprehend the securitization of the Indo-Pacific ocean systems. This article will focus on the spectrum of submarine warfare and related security discussion that needs detailed attention by the administration and the security establishment. It needs further research by both academic and think tank communities in Sri Lanka. As submarine platforms are hailed as decisive in the emerging strategic competition in the Indian Ocean. Indian Ocean and Sri Lankan Strategy Sri Lanka as a hub in the Indian Ocean has been the mantra of the previous administration and the current administration has supercharged this position. Prime Minister Wickramasinghe is heading a serious effort for Sri Lanka to be a pivot state in creating a code of conduct in the Indian Ocean. One major challenge for this initiative will be handling the ever increasing militarization of the Indian Ocean and especially what happens not on the surface but beneath. "PM Wickramasinghe is heading a serious effort for Sri Lanka to be a pivot state in creating a code of conduct in the Indian Ocean. One major challenge for this initiative will be handling the ever increasing militarization of the Indian Ocean" The ministry of foreign affairs recently set up a division on Ocean Affairs, Strategic Security, Climate Change and Policy Planning, which is commendable. While such moves are imperative for Sri Lankas strategic posture and security readiness our focus has largely been on narratives of Indian Ocean security that is linked with development of trade, safe guarding ocean resources and confronting maritime crime. From surface to underwater militarization Submarines have been part of the conversation about the emerging maritime competition among rising Asian powers and the important role of submarines and anti-submarine warfare has become security priorities in many Asian nations. This article attempts to create a preliminary interest to push our policy makers, analysts, security establishment, and media to understand the rapid transformation of the undersea militarization and technological advancement and their strategic implications on a country that is totally reliant on the ocean eco system for its very existence. Amidst escalating geo political tensions in the Indo-Pacific region, it is vital to understand the role of the submarines or undersea battle theatre. The Strategic advantage of transiting undetected and carrying significant weapons payloads that can both strike sea surface targets and land targets adds significant strategic value to these naval platforms . Apart from strike capabilities undersea vessels are used for surveillance, mapping of the sea bed thus increasing power projection capabilities of navies that possess them. Asias submarine competition Asia Pacific is littered with literals, choke points, island chains, islets, thus 21st century security challenges of the Indian ocean demands that navies deploy vessels that could navigate, fight and win in such spaces, thus submarines of various dimensions, and various configurations have become the most preferred asset to be used in such conditions by the United States and many other Asian nations. Asia Pacific has become not just the zone of intense naval build ups it is also the zone where massive investments are made by large to small powers in submarine fleets and acquiring anti-submarine capabilities. The largest spenders are India, China, Australia, Singapore, Japan and Vietnam. Even countries such as Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia are having ambitious plans to develop under sea capabilities. Indonesia and South Korea are two mid-level powers in the region that intensified their bi lateral ocean defence partnerships and are actively engaged in expanding submarine capabilities. There are two ancillary strategic developments apart from submarines in the region, the first is the development and research of Unmanned Undersea Vessels (UUVs), while the world attention was very much taken by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) such as the predators and reapers the CIA operated in its targeted killing of terror suspects. Thus development and investment into Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) have accelerated not just in the United States. China has initiated a massive investment into such platforms. The second is the increasing competition to create deep sea detection systems as a way of sea denial, China has invested millions of dollars to create an integrated undersea warning system that could detect enemy submarine or surface vessel movement. Western military analysts call this the Underwater Great Wall that is lined with networked seabed sensors, that functions as an integrated undersea monitoring system. China intends to integrate the warning system with unmanned underwater vehicles as a vanguard defence to counter enemy movements. When the Dutch born inventor William Bourne designed the underwater rowing boat in the late 16th century he would not have imagined how his designs and concepts have become paramount in a new era of sea warfare. While China is expected to reach 70 plus mostly new submarines which are diesel powered attack craft, they also are expanding on their nuclear attack submarine capabilities. India and Australia have accelerated their own submarine development programs. India is expanding its submarine presence between both its coasts, Vishakapatnam was the only submarine base till recently and India has set up the new Varsha naval base for submarines in Rambilli , Andhra Pradesh. India has an ambition to reach 25 submarines within the next five years, it commissioned Frenchbuilder Naval Group, formerly known as DCNS, to build six scorpene class diesel powered, attack submarines, two are already completed. The same company won a deal worth Australian $50 million to build half a dozen attack submarines for Australia. With countries like Pakistan increasing its interests on submarine technologies and Iran developing its on indigenous submarine platforms that will have major bearing on the strategic calculus of the Asia Pacific. Currently it is estimated nearly dozen countries operate over 200 submarines in the region and they are estimated to double over the next decade. Whether Sri Lanka is ready for such a surge needs to be addressed. The next stage of Submarine Warfare United States the primary developer of autonomous weapons systems is showing clear signs of deviating from their primary interests of UAVs and land Robotic systems to concentrate more on under water and surface robotic systems. It parallels American strategic realignment of interests from Middle East to greater oceanic spaces of Asia. It is estimated that 60% of AmericanSubmarine strength is now diverted to the Indo-Pacific region. Large defence contractors and American special innovation agency for the defence department are working together in advancing robotic submarine technologies. They are primarily looking at incorporating longer range, increasing payload capabilities of these machine systems. They are developing both undersea and surface platforms. Another significant development is the introduction of XLUUV class of UUV technology. The XL stands for extra-large robotic under sea vessels. Already American defence manufacturer is working on the Boeing Echo Voyager an advanced XLUUV which is nearing full operation, and China is responding in kind. China has established a vast research and development facility purely for UUVs in Zhuhai, Guangdong province. They are already experimenting on XLUUV such as D3000 an unmanned oceanic combat vessel with a large range and a three month operational capability without need to refuel or reach land. Implications for Sri Lanka While robotic submarines and surface vessels and their application for actual operations may take more time, the rapid speed in which artificial intelligence (AI) is incorporated into weapons technologies are changing the global security landscape. AI is a driving force behind UUVs and weapons such as smart Torpedoes and missiles when it comes to the Indian Ocean. Sri Lanka may not be able to acquire the costly technology but to be ready and at least have a strategy that entails collaboration to create under sea detection and monitoring technologies may help us face the challenges emanating from submarine and undersea vessels in the future. If we remain unprepared and disinterested our very location advantage will be taken over by foreign navies and our seas will be infested with foreign vessels with great risk to our national security. The writer is the Director, Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies (BCIS) A driver and a security guard of a private company had been arrested over a robbery, in which more than Rs. 10 mn cash was stolen when it was being transported in Bulathsinhala, the Police said. According to Police a gang was reported to have robbed the cash from the van after throwing chili powder to the private security company employees last evening at Pahala Naragala in Bulathsinhala and robbed the money. They said the security guard of the van was believed to have put down his weapon and allowed the robbers to rob the money. The Police said they were investigating the incident to determine whether the management of the security company was involved with the robbery.(Darshana Sanjeewa) Justice and Prisons Reforms Minister Thalatha Atukorale said the Government was still to make a final decision on implementing death penalty and said more information needed to arrive at a final decision. Speaking to media after participating at an event in Ratnapura, the Minister said that they need to make an examination of death row criminals case through the Attorney General's Department before deciding. Commenting on disbanding of the Welikada Prison Intelligence Unit, the Minister said, she would have to take a decision whether the intelligence unit would continue. There is no need for an intelligence unit, if there are drugs inside, if there are telephone facilities, she said. I have received a lot of complaints. I still have not taken a decision about what I would do, she said. Minister Atukorale said that if there was an intelligence unit, it should work according to intelligence information. Meanwhile, commenting on recruitment of hangman to Prisons Department, she said that several individuals had come forward for the job even without asking a payment. Its good and no burden to the Government. But we have not take a final decision, she said.(Darshana Sanjeewa) The Court of Appeal fixed for argument on November 13 the Writ petition filed by more than 300 retired Air Force officers complaining of the reduction of their entitlement to the total Retirement Benefit under a purported amendment. The Bench comprised Justices P. Pathman Surasena (President/CA) and Arjuna Obeysekera. Petitioners cited Commander of the Air Force Air Marshal Kapila V.B.Jayampathi, Chief of Staff Air Vice Marshal D.L.S.Dias, Defence Secretary Kapila Waidyarthne and 13 others as Respondents. Sanjeeva Jayawardena PC instructed by Saranee Gunathilakaa appeared for the Petitioners. Petitioners state the Command Benevolent Fund was established for the purpose of providing welfare benefits to all ranks of regular and volunteer Air Force which provides Retirement Benefit soon after the retirement for any other reasons. With the introduction of the Retirement Benefit Scheme, the monthly salary deduction of the members of the Command Benevolent Fund was increased to grant greater retirement benefits and the monthly contribution was increased up to Rs 1750, they state. Under the scheme, once a member completes the deduction of the 36 instalments, he or she would be entitled to the total retirement benefits based on their category and the period of service, they state. Accordingly, an Airman who has completed 22 years service and the 36 instalments is entitled to a total retirement benefit of Rs 1,000,000 whereas Air woman who completes 15 years of service and completes the 36 instalments is entitled to a total retirement benefit of Rs 750,000, they state. Thereafter the Retirement Benefits Scheme under the Command Benevolent Fund has been amended and the retirement benefit has been reduced, they lament. They complain that if the Fund fails, there has to be a serious negligence on the part of the then Board of Management of the Fund, they contend and that there must have been serious misuse, misappropriation or mismanagement of the Fund. (S.S.Selvanayagam) Sri Lanka remains committed to advance and uphold the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion including the freedom to change ones religion or belief, Foreign Affairs Ministry Secretary Prasad Kariyawasam said. He made these remarks at the first Conference to Advance Religious Freedom which was hosted by the US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo from July 24-26 in Washington DC, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said. Mr. Kariyawasam has said that Sri Lanka upholds the right to change ones religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest ones religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. He acknowledged challenges to inter-religious understanding and harmony in Sri Lanka, and outlined steps being taken to overcome challenges and advance religious freedom. Sri Lanka will join the international community to foster what the world needs most today to progress peace, compassion, mindfulness, and justice, and recognition of our common humanity, he said. Inaugurating the Conference, US Secretary of State Pompeo remarked that the US advances religious freedom in its foreign policy, as it is a universal right of all mankind. The Ministry said Sri Lanka was among a number of countries that endorsed thematic statements issued at the Conference focusing on Blasphemy/Apostasy Laws, Religious Freedom Repression by Non-State Actors, including Terrorist Groups, and on Counterterrorism as a False Pretext for Religious Freedom Repression. (1a) Blaming His Own CountryAfter putting Donald Trump under the microscope, its time to assess his character. One of the many negative sides to his character is that he is "the master of playing blame games". Since his election campaigns in 2016, he has shown himself to be a raving egomaniac keen to deflect from his own failings and shortcomings by opening up ever new avenues of distraction.Just imagine this. As the head of state, he even blamed his own country for its poor relations with Russia!The following is his tweet on July 16, 2018:"Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!" The driver of State Minister of Education V. S. Radhakrishnan, who was arrested for trespassing into MP Arundika Fernandos official residence at Madiwela has been remanded till August 10 by Nugegoda Magistrate, police said. The suspect was arrested by the Mirihana Police this morning following an after information received to the 119 Police hot-line. According to the police, the driver was under the influence of liquor when the arrest was made. (TK) Three Police Officers including a Sub Inspector attached to the Ingiriya Police Station had been arrested for allegedly assaulting two individuals at Poruwadanda Junction in Ingiriya, Saturday night. Police Spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekera said IGP Pujith Jayasundera had instructed to suspend the three Officers pending investigation. He said the IGP had also instructed Panadura Division Superintendent of Police (SP) to conduct an investigation into the incident and also to take disciplinarily action against the Officer In-Charge of the Ingiriya Police. He said the SI, a Sergeant and a Constable were arrested after a complaint was lodged against them. According to the complaint, the two individuals, an Army personnel and a disabled person were assaulted as they failed to establish their identity to the Police Officers, who were on road duty. It was also reported that the SI was drunk at the time of the incident. One of the injured was admitted to the Ingiriya Hospital. The three suspects were arrested after recording a statement from the injured. The suspects would be produced in the Horana Magistrates Court(Darshana Sanjeewa) STF personnel are seen having seized one of the largest hauls of heroin in the country in during a routine raid in the Colombo city suburbs. Some may think that the death penalty is too harsh a penalty. I do not think so. Many countries have come to the stage where they accept the death penalty (Ranil Wickremesinghe, 1984). Prime Minister Ranil Wickermesinghe stated the above during the parliamentary debate on the Poisons Opium and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance of 1929 Amendment Bill on March 22, 1984. At the time, he was the Minister of Education who endorsed President JR Jayewardenes proposal to introduce the death sentence for drug related offences. Despite its inefficacy, the death sentence for drug-related offences is back on the policy agenda and political limelight. The evidence of the steady rise in drug seizures, arrests, drug-related prison admissions, drug use, drug related harm and relatively stable drug prices suggests that the nations policy on drugs that existed for over three decades needs re-thinking. There had been a number of articles written on the subject matter although none looked at the origins of the death sentence for drug related offences in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, there is little information on the socio-economic and political factors associated in adopting and implementing this policy choice. This article will focus on the above information gap, identifying and discussing some of the drivers for the war on drugs. I will apply a policy science approach to understand drug policy development that is situated in the history of Sri Lanka. The heroin epidemic in the 1980s By the late 1970s there existed a growing cohort of aging opium and cannabis users. The novelty of a heroin epidemic, introduced by tourists in the late 1970s was largely confined to Colombo and some parts of southern Sri Lanka. Young people started using heroin, which concerned the politicians, clergy and the general public due to the uncertainties created on how to manage a novel drug problem. There also existed a belief among policy-makers and politicians that a drug-free society is absolutely required for the socio-economic development of the country, particularly as young people were considered as the wealth of the nation. Politicians, prominent Buddhist monks and Christian priests were questioning the meaning of moral values and good citizenship in society. The use of intoxicants was seen as immoral, and those who used drugs were seen as social outcasts. Consequently there was a moral underpinning to the policy-making and political concerns at the time. Their moral ideology regarded drugs as dangerous, threatening to cultural values and as evil substances that compromised the values in Sri Lankan culture. State intervention and tough law enforcement were seen as legitimate responses to foster moral and upright behaviour. By 1982, Interpol confirmed Sri Lankas status as a transit country for the movement of heroin from countries in the Golden Triangle into Europe, with organised international drug trafficking syndicates operating within Sri Lanka. During this period, evidence also emerged of a link between heroin trafficking carried out by the LTTE and financial proceeds being used to fund terrorism. With the escalation of violence between Sinhalese and Tamils, and the demand for a separate Tamil state in the North and East of Sri Lanka, drug trafficking was perceived as a major problem and a direct threat to national security and stability of government. Politicians and law enforcement personnel viewed the existing legislation at the time as being outdated to manage the emerging new trends of drug use and trafficking. The Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance of 1929 was amended within this national context. The amendments ensured the introduction of the death sentence for drug-related offences, stringent law enforcement on drug users and traffickers, and the creation of the National Dangerous Drug Control Board to coordinate all efforts related to drug control. Policies adopted since 1984 ensured that the response to the drug problem was firmly located within the criminal justice system leading to a large number of drug users being imprisoned. Out of the total prison population in the country, nearly 45% of men and women were admitted for narcotic-related offences in 2000, the largest single category according to the Handbook of Drug Abuse Information published by the National Dangerous Drug Control Board in 2002. The majority of drug-related prison admissions were for heroin related offences (88%) with the remaining (12%) for cannabis. These figures remain stable 17 years later and indicate that a large proportion of people who are in the prison system are drug users as opposed to large scale traffickers. The international environment had a significant influence in regard to the introduction of the death sentence and in shaping drug policy in Sri Lanka. I will now discuss this in some detail. International context and national political landscape During the 1980s, within the Asia Pacific region, countries such as Malaysia, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia introduced the death penalty for drug related offences. The rapid spread of this populist policy option across the Asia Pacific region may be the result of a process whereby government elites copied the social commitments made by other governments, considering them to be advanced, progressive and morally praiseworthy. It is learned that Sri Lanka copied the death sentence from Singapore and Malaysia at the time without any scientific knowledge about its efficacy as a policy option. These were both similar economically, capitalist countries with legislation to use the death sentence for people convicted of drug-related offences. Sri Lankan elite decision-makers at the time were inspired by these countries economic growth, indicating a desire to follow their path to development. Although there was limited consensus on the introduction of the death penalty between police officers and politicians, President JR Jayawardena who held executive power was able to obtain unilateral agreement from not only Cabinet colleagues to back the Amendment Bill, but also the support for the death sentence from Members of Parliament. However, its application has been symbolic as there have been no executions of drug users or traffickers.When a death sentence is issued, the presiding judge states that the person should be imprisoned and executed at a time nominated by the President. Over the last three decades, none of the Presidents in office has implemented the order, which in effect suspends the death sentence effectively to one of life imprisonment. So, why is it not implemented or abolished? Seen to be tough on crime? Initially, policy-makers have been of the opinion that the death sentence would be a deterrent against drug use and trafficking. The introduction of the death sentence signalled a tough law enforcement and zero tolerance approach. However, research conducted worldwide on its efficacy states that it is a costly failure. A failure simply because it has not been able to reduce crime, drug use, drug related arrests and prison admissions. Some also argue that the death penalty violates international conventions on human rights as it denies the most basic and fundamental human right, the right to life. However, its existence has been of interest to Presidents, politicians and some senior civil servants who advised Presidents in Sri Lanka. All Presidents in Sri Lanka have been keen supporters of the death sentence and the prevailing policy on drug control that existed for over three decades. However, some Presidents may have appeared tough on crime, particularly in regard to stringent law enforcement against drug users and traffickers for time to time. The fact that the President, the most powerful politician in the country, had a keen interest in, and control over drug policy, is indicative of its importance to the core of economic, political and social decision-making. There had been unanimous support in Parliament for President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga to pass a resolution in 1995 to implement capital punishment. In 1999, President Kumaratunga did implement it by issuing a Presidential Proclamation, so it would become a deterrent to organised and serious criminals in the country. However, in the face of strong opposition from national and international human rights groups, the death sentences have been automatically commuted to life imprisonment. In January 2001, the government revoked this decision to automatically commute the capital punishment sentence to one of life imprisonment. Implementing the death penalty was raised again following the assassination of a prominent High Court Judge Sarath Ambepitiya and his bodyguard on November 19, 2004. The deaths were suspected of being an order given to the assassins from a major drug trafficker. Justice Ambepitiya had given a life sentence to a woman who had trafficked drugs on the day of his assassination. A Judge being assassinated for the first time in Sri Lanka and the link to a drug trafficker was a major political concern due to the implications for state security and the independence of the judiciary. Afterwards President Kumaratunga seized the opportunity to again try to implement the death penalty for the crimes of murder, rape and drug trafficking. Capital punishment for convicted drug traffickers had been a politically charged issue and appears to have been associated with politicians perceptions of the will of the electorate. From time to time, Buddhist monks, Christian priests and the public have lobbied for the implementation of the death sentence. Public attitudes towards the drug problem had been utilized by elected officials to legitimize government action on prohibition and tough law enforcement. While the legitimization of prohibition was inextricably linked to the need to maintain a more moral and secure society, prohibition also served the agenda of politically active groups and the electorate. Seen to be tough on crime during periods of increased crime reports in the media appears common and popular among Presidents. It can be considered as populist policy, merely political rhetoric to attract votes and support. Some ministers in the present government do not personally believe that implementation of the death sentence is the magic bullet for problems concerning drugs in contemporary Sri Lanka. Recently, Dr. Rajitha Senaratna, Mangala Samaraweera and some other Ministers publicly stated that they did not personally support the idea of capital punishment. Some sections of the Buddhist community and Christian priests also shared these views as they believed in abstaining from taking life. Although these dissenting views exist, collectively, President Maithripala Sirisena and his cabinet supports this populist policy, which seems to be their response to rising crime reports in Sri Lanka. Future directions Existing legislation on drugs muddles drug users and traffickers. It makes provision to either sentence a person to death or to life imprisonment, for a person who is in possession of three grams of morphine, or two grams of cocaine or two grams of heroin (for personal use). There is little demarcation among drug users, street-level dealers and large-scale traffickers when sentencing for drug related offences. Although this was raised by some law enforcement professionals for over a decade, it has received little attention and political support. Implementing the death penalty was raised again following the assassination of a prominent High Court Judge Sarath Ambepitiya and his bodyguard on November 19, 2004. The deaths were suspected of being an order given to the assassins from a major drug trafficker Majority of those who are addicted to drugs are unfortunate individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. Similarly, majority of drug users admitted to prison are from lower socio-economic backgrounds who may require treatment and rehabilitation. International evidence and the UNODC suggest that voluntary community-based treatment programmes produce better outcome when compared to coerced or compulsory treatment in prison. At present programmes are implemented in some prisons to rehabilitate drug users. A comprehensive evaluation on the outcomes of the Drug Dependent Persons Treatment and Rehabilitation Act No 54 of 2007 is also overdue. The National Dangerous Drug Control Board has conducted a significant amount of work in regards to the drug prevention, treatment and rehabilitation agenda. Building on these achievements, the drug problem needs to be seen and framed as a public health issue.At present, the countrys drug problem has been framed as a matter for the criminal justice system. International evidence clearly demonstrates that drug use disorders are best managed within a public health system. One of the primary reasons for maintaining a penal approach to managing drug problems is due to its increasing use as a political tool. While there exists consensus on a tough law enforcement approach to manage drug problems, a debate needs to begin to ensure a public health agenda is incorporated into policy-making. Stakeholders with divergent views, including the knowledge experts whose views on the drug problem had not been heard should be included in this debate so that consensual knowledge on the drug problem expands. Attention should be paid to successive shifts in drug policies of other countries, from which Sri Lanka has previously learned and from which the death sentence was copied. For example, Malaysia has moved from solely having harsh punitive measures to include a public health approach. The cessation of compulsory treatment and the establishment of voluntary drug treatment facilities indicate that Malaysias response is beginning to include a health-oriented approach as part of its overall drug policies. There are other policy lessons that can be learned from countries such as Switzerland, Portugal, U.K, Australia and the Netherlands. Finally, there is no scientific evidence to support the war on drugs.The war on drugs is primarily founded in moralized policy making arenas where political interests have overshadowed the real needs of drug users and their loved ones. The author has extensive experience working with the British National Health Service in clinical, managerial and commissioning roles. He is a subject matter expert on international drug control policies. He is also an associate member of the Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at the University of Middlesex, England in the UK. by Reese Erlich When I first reported from China in 1980, bicycles outnumbered cars on Beijing's major streets, and the tallest building in town was a 25-story hotel. I visited a small village that had one black and white TV, which everyone watched at night. Today China's major cities are jammed with modern factories, skyscrapers, and large public transportation networks. The Chinese government's " socialist market economy " led to unprecedented prosperity, as well as massive corruption and intensified class divisions. China now has the second largest economy in the world after the United States. The Trump administration, and many high-ranking Democrats as well, see China as a vicious competitor. They claim the Chinese government unfairly subsidizes its domestic industries and steals U.S. intellectual property. So Trump launched a massive trade war... I think he's going to lose. The administration imposed $34 billion in tariffs on Chinese products, and threatened to order a total of $500 billion . China responded tit for tat, imposing its own tariffs aimed at regions full of Trump supporters. Agribusiness corporations from Trump country in the Midwest are taking big hits, with a 15% drop in soybean futures and another 14 percent in pork. Trump has now proposed to pay $12 billion in government subsidies to farmers and ranchers negatively impacted by the trade war. But soy bean losses this year alone are nearly $12 billion, according to Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE). Many farm-state Republicans criticized the subsidies. Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) said , "You have a terrible policy that sends farmers to the poorhouse, and then you put them on welfare... It's hard to believe that there isn't an outright revolt right now in Congress." A Trump supporter But Trump supporters say they are willing to wait out the trade war if ultimately the United States can export more. Jim Weston is co-owner of a small Los Angeles company buying and selling poultry, which was founded by my father in 1942. We've remained friends over the years, and I was surprised to learn that Jim supports Trump's policies. "I thought we needed a businessman who will disrupt things," Jim told me. US chicken imports were banned in China after the Obama administration slapped tariffs on Chinese steel pipe imports. The Trump administration is now pressing China to allow poultry imports once again. Jim noted that China's stock market and currency have gone down since the trade war began. "We're all hoping China will back down. If it doesnt back down, it doesn't matter. We've done without them for 100 years." There's a distinct possibility, however, that China won't back down and the trade wars with China, Mexico, Canada and Europe will contribute to a major recession. Trump has introduced uncertainty and instability into the US economy, according to David Kotz, an old friend, a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the author of The Rise and Fall of Neoliberal Capitalism "US businesses are having a hard time figuring out the effect of the trade wars on them," he told me. "Uncertainty can lead to postponing investments, which could plunge the economy into recession." Who controls economic development? During my first visit in 1980, China was an isolated country with few outside visitors and almost no foreign investment. Dozens of people would stop on the street to stare at me and the other westerners. Even in a big city like Beijing, people hadn't seen foreigners before. Chinese officials realized the country would need outside help to modernize. US, European and Japanese companies tried to impose the traditional third world model on China. They wanted to bring in machinery and technology, and have Chinese workers assemble the parts. Then the foreign corporations would sell the products and rake in the profits. US administrations demanded "free trade." But that meant freedom for US corporations to sell to the Chinese market. In a rare admission of guilt, a New York Times analysis article explained, "The system of global free trade... was set up as a kind of permanent win for the United States. Openness exploits the sheer size and development of the American economy so that its goods and services can dominate internationally." But China didn't play by the old rules and took steps to protect its sovereignty. Foreign investors had to partner with Chinese companies and share their technology. Until a few months ago, foreigners could own no more than 49 percent of a company, making sure China controlled important economic decisions. Foreign corporations were never happy with the arrangement, but they acceded in order to have access to the vast Chinese market. "Unlike in most developing countries, the US government cannot exert its will over the Chinese government to allow US business to do whatever it wants," noted Kotz Initially, China focused on low cost, low-tech industries. It manufactured shirts and plastic toys. Over time, however, it created vibrant automobile, computer, electronics, cell phone, and many other modern industries. In 2008 I visited a huge wind farm located in a vast desert of western China. Low mountains loomed in the distance and wind picked up considerable speed. A Chinese company had manufactured and installed 280 modern wind turbines. China has developed a green power industry at a time when the US government denies the existence of manmade climate change. Chinas critics say it has succeeded because the government subsidized selected industries. So what? U.S. agribusiness receives billions in government subsidies. Many modern U.S. high-tech industries-- from satellites to the Internet-- were originally developed by the U.S. government and then handed over to private enterprise for free. U.S. manufacturers regularly receive massive tax breaks to locate to a particular state. I don't care whether a government subsidizes certain industries. I want to know who benefits from the subsidies: corporate fat cats or ordinary people. Stealing jobs? In recent decades many US corporations have moved production to China, Indonesia and other third world countries. They seek greater profits by paying lower wages and having access to local markets. Kotz said US jobs in garment and textiles, for example, aren't moving back to the United States because "US wages won't go down to third world levels." But the US government can promote policies that will provide good paying blue and white collar jobs. Kotz proposes four components: government jobs programs to hire workers at a living wage promotion of a green economy using renewable energy, efficient mass transit and energy efficient buildings. well-funded worker retraining and education for those displaced by jobs moving overseas. increase the minimum wage to the level of a living wage. Such policies have little chance of adoption anytime soon. It will take a lot of grassroots pressure, not to mention the defeat of Republicans in November. But one thing is certain: waging trade wars with China, the EU, Canada, and Mexico will only make conditions worse for everybody. Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category . , , , , . . - . . , , . , . / / 6 000 000 MWht - 850 000 MWhel. 3 4 , . - 2 000 , . , , - - . , , . - 20% 15% 2006 . , , .. , , , , 1998. . , , , , . - , , 1/3 . . 100 . , . ? , , , , , , .. 2 600 , 24 365 , , , - . , , . . , , . . - , - - , . , 12 2006. . . , . . , , , . , . , . , , , , . A-listers Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds were swift to celebrate a special moment over the weekend in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The couple took time Saturday to attend a Taylor Swift gig -- which featured audio of their firstborn child James, People reports. The young girl says the word gorgeous on the Swift track of the same name - and her parents quickly responded to the familiar sound at Gillette Stadium. Videos of the moment have been posted on Twitter, where they have racked up thousands of views. 'MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: FALLOUT' STAR VING RHAMES SAYS POLICE HELD HIM AT GUNPOINT IN HIS OWN HOME THIS IS THE CUTEST THING EVER. THEIR REACTION AFTER HEARING THEIR DAUGHTER VOICE. IM DYING. #blakelively #ryanreynolds #TaylorSwift #GigiHadid, one Twitter user wrote. Swift reportedly credited the youngster for her appearance on the track in a booklet for her 2017 album Reputation. Baby intro voice by James Reynolds, it says, per Us Weekly. WILL SMITH TO CELEBRATE 50TH BIRTHDAY WITH DEATH-DEFYING LIVE BUNGEE JUMP OVER THE GRAND CANYON Other clips posted on social media show the couple next to Gigi Hadid at the gig. People reports the supermodel joined them in the VIP area. Swift is due to next perform on August 4 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada. Fans of the hit Netflix original series "House of Cards" have known the show is coming to an end ever since its former star, Kevin Spacey, came under fire for sexual misconduct allegations. However, while Netflix Vice President of Original Series Cindy Holland was tight-lipped about the return of the political drama, she admitted that the series always had an endgame set in stone. I dont have a date to announce for you today. Were really proud of the show, and its a fitting end, she told reporters Sunday at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour at The Beverly Hilton. We had always planned for Season 6 to be the final season, and we are very proud of the work Robin, Michael and the entire cast and crew have done. As previously reported, it was Robin Wright who lobbied to save House of Cards after rumors swirled the series was doomed. We have beautiful showrunners, Frank [Pugliese] and Melissa [Gibson], and they killed themselves to rethink the whole show, Patricia Clarkson told The Talk in July. Its only eight episodes. I think its going to be a stunning, stunning new season and Im thankful for it. Clarkson debuted on the series midway through Season 5 as Jane Davis, Deputy Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade and a veteran of the D.C. wars. Her character became a valuable source of information and support for the second President Underwood and returns for the sixth and final season. Netflix has yet to set a premiere date. Netflix is on board with another season of Master of None. We certainly have given some thought to it, Vice President of Original Series, Cindy Holland, told reporters at the 2018 Television Critics Associations Summer Press Tour in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Sunday. We would be happy to make another season of Master of None whenever Aziz [Ansari] is ready, she said of the Emmy-award winning comedy series, which Ansari, 35, created and stars in. When asked if shes spoken to the comedian since news broke earlier this year that Ansari was accused of sexual assault, the Netflix exec said she hasnt. In January, Ansari responded after a young woman claimed anonymously that a date in New York City last year turned into a very uncomfortable situation for her. The woman said, according to babe.net, that Ansari would not take no for an answer when he took her back to his luxury Tribeca apartment and aggressively tried to have sex with her, ignoring her verbal and non-verbal cues to indicate her discomfort. The 23-year-old Brooklyn photographer said she escaped the apartment in an Uber in tears and expressed her displeasure to him in a text message the following day. In a written statement to Fox News, at the time, Ansari said: In September of last year, I met a woman at a party. We exchanged numbers. We texted back and forth and eventually went on a date. We went out to dinner, and afterwards we ended up engaging in sexual activity, which by all indications was completely consensual." The next day, I got a text from her saying that although 'it may have seemed okay,' upon further reflection, she felt uncomfortable, the statement continued. It was true that everything did seem okay to me, so when I heard that it was not the case for her, I was surprised and concerned. I took her words to heart and responded privately after taking the time to process what she had said. I continue to support the movement that is happening in our culture. It is necessary and long overdue. After the star wore a Times Up pin at the 2018 Golden Globes ceremony, where he also won Best Actor in a TV comedy or musical, the accuser said she wanted to speak up. Zara Tindall has revealed she had a second miscarriage before falling pregnant with her daughter Lena, who was born in June. Queen Elizabeth IIs oldest granddaughter had her first miscarriage in December 2016 but told The Sunday Times Magazine that her second had happened really early on in her pregnancy. She added, I think you need to go through a time where you don't talk about it because its too raw. But as with everything, times a great healer. Tindall, who is married to former rugby player Mike Tindall, said the worst part about her first miscarriage had been telling people what had happened. That pregnancy had been announced publicly just a month earlier, as is generally the rule for descendants of the Queen. MEGHAN MARKLE AND PRINCE HARRY DOUBLE DATE WITH NICK JONAS AND PRIYANKA CHOPRA IN LONDON, REPORTS SAY She said, We had to tell everyone and its like, everyone knows - thats the hardest bit. Thats why I think a lot of people dont talk about it because [a miscarriage] can happen early enough or its only your group of friends and your family that know. She said the first miscarriage had been a case of nature not working, adding: In our case, it was something that was really rare; it was nature saying, this ones not right, which your body does a lot, I think. But she gained some comfort in letters written to her by people who said they had been through the same thing. Tindall, whose mother is Princess Anne, mourned privately after the second miscarriage, saying, I think a lot of the time youre lucky if it happens a lot earlier. Its something a lot of families are affected by but then, hopefully, a lot of the stories Ive heard, theyve gone on and had more children and theyre very lucky." HERES THE LINE OF SUCCESSION TO THE BRITISH THRONE She added, Because its so personal to each family and every case is different, you can never compare whats happened or the feelings that people have gone through or the trauma. Every case is different so I think its something that people dont think you want to talk about. The Tindalls have two daughters, Mia, four, and Lena, who was born in June. Zara Tindall, 37, is the daughter of Princess Anne. She is also an accomplished equestrian who won a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics. This article was originally published by Sky News. Last week, little Aaliyah Casola celebrated her 3rd birthday at a park in Key Biscayne, Fla. Less than a week later, she was hospitalized with two bacterial infections. Aaliyah's mom, Anais Monteagudo, said her daughter caught impetigo and cellulitis, the Miami Herald reported. Aaliyah was at the beach for not even 2 hours, Monteagudo wrote in a Facebook post. "(T)he redness turned into blisters, and they kept growing on her body. Thats when I took her to the hospital. Anais Monteagudo, mother Shes now in pain and most likely getting scars all over her little hands and her chin because of this, the mother wrote. Everything seemed fine on the day of the beach visit, the mother said. But things weren't fine a day later. The next day I noticed she had redness under her lip but I didnt think anything of it, Monteagudo told the Herald about her daughter. It got considerably worse as the days passed; the redness turned into blisters, and they kept growing on her body. Thats when I took her to the hospital. "Shes now in pain and most likely getting scars all over her little hands and her chin because of this." Anais Monteagudo, mother Monteagudo said a doctor told her many people have come in from Key Biscayne with the same issues. The beach had been closed for high feces levels before reopening a fews days before the toddlers birthday celebration, the Herald reported, citing Miami-Dade County records. Health officials had also issued a no-swim advisory the week before the girl's beach visit, when unsafe levels of bacteria were detected, Fox affiliate WSVN-TV of Miami reported. Key Biscayne is about 7 miles southeast of Miami, just south of Miami Beach. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! During Memorial Day weekend last year, my younger brother and two of his friends were sitting in a car on the south side of Chicago when two men walked up to the window and fired 25 times. With his bloodied best friend dead in his arms, it was only through God's grace and mercy that my younger brother made it out alive. My heart aches for the many families, including the family of my brothers best friend, who have experienced the unbearable pain of Chicagos homicide epidemic. Gun violence in Chicago has reached such horrific proportions and city officials have proven so unable to deal with this crisis that drastic action is called for. Its my fervent hope that President Trump who has frequently commented about the terrible violence plaguing the city will intervene soon and provide federal law enforcement officers and funding to save lives of innocent men, women and children being gunned down every day in my hometown of Chicago. Federal policing and security supports, in collaboration with local law enforcement, would be a good starting point for the president to take action. On top of this, President Trump should fully fund programs aimed at positive alternatives to at-risk individuals before they fall into patterns of violence, using interventions shown to have long-term impacts on violent behavior Im sure there are other effective programs that could be launched as well. President Trump should direct Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director Chris Wray to come up with a comprehensive action plan to end Chicagos status as a war zone. Im not naive. I realize its impossible to completely end killings in Chicago. But cutting the deadly toll substantially is an achievable goal. How bad is the problem of gun violence in Chicago? Far worse than most Americans realize. Right now, Chicago is going through another bloody summer of gun violence. In fact, at the beginning of this month more than 23 people were shot in one weekend including three who were killed. The wounded included girls ages 5, 14 and 15. The next weekend things were even worse, as the local CBS affiliate headlined on its website: 4 Killed, 24 Wounded in Weekend Shootings Across Chicago. And just last Monday, reporting on the shootings of the weekend, the local ABC affiliate headlined: Chicago weekend violence: 7 killed, 38 shot. Most of the shooting victims are black, like me. And week in and week out, they keep getting shot. As of Tuesday, the Chicago Tribune reports that 1,607 people have been shot in the city so far this year. In 2015 Yale University completed a study on Chicago shootings. It showed for every 100,000 people, an average of one white person, 28 Hispanics, and 113 blacks became victims of shootings every year in Chicago. In a city of about 2.7 million people, this means hundreds of people primarily black people are being shot and many killed on a regular basis. This is frightening, disgusting and heartbreaking news. The gun and gang violence rampant in Chicago isn't an isolated burst of mass slaughter. It is a daily, piercing threat. Bullets are indiscriminate, and the death toll has a crippling grip on Chicagos black community that continually seeks help from state and local leaders only to be met with more disappointment and yet another funeral. In 2011 Kanye West released a song titled Murder to Excellence, where he detailed the sad state of affairs involving black-on-black murders in Chicago and asked: Is it genocide? West sings: And Im from the murder capital where they murder for capital. Its a war going on outside we aint safe from, I feel the pain in my city wherever I go, three hundred and fourteen soldiers died in Iraq, Five hundred and nine died in Chicago. The horrible epidemic of gun violence led me to criticize Mayor Rahm Emanuel last December in a Fox News interview with Shannon Bream, when I said: Black lives dont matter to Rahm Emanuel, black votes matter to Rahm Emanuel. In Chicago, shootings all too often occur not just at night but during daylight providing more evidence that for black kids in Chicago, going out to play in their own neighborhoods or even their own backyards may be a life and death decision. I was hopeful when President Trump took notice of the tragedy in Chicago. I thought that finally, we had a leader who would prioritize the crisis there a crisis that has taken the lives of far too many. In January 2017 President Trump said in a tweet: If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible "carnage" going on I will send in the Feds! In February last year the president tweeted: Seven people shot and killed yesterday in Chicago. What is going on there - totally out of control. Chicago needs help! Last December the president said at a graduation ceremony at the FBI Academy: "When you look at what's going on in Chicago. What the hell is going on in Chicago? What the hell is happening there? For the second year in a row, a person was shot in Chicago every three hours. These tweets were hopeful signs for me. When considering the city leaderships failure to rid Chicago of constant shootings, violence, and murders, I believed and still do that President Trump is a leader who can truly change the dynamic in my hometown. In Chicago, crossing any street could be a death sentence. Anything could happen from one block to the next. Parents are forced to train their children for survival as if they live in a war-torn country. Yet Mayor Emanuel has no strategy that could save the people of Chicago from the architects of violence. There simply is no excuse for children to have to exit schools through back doors due to gang violence at the front entryways. Emanuel and Democratic leaders across the state of Illinois sought to decrease gun violence with stronger gun laws, catapulting Illinois' gun regulations to be placed among the strictest in the nation. However, these laws have proven largely ineffective in reducing or deterring gun violence. Im guessing that Emanuel doesnt realize that criminals don't obey the law. Chicago is the third-largest city in the country, but in 2016 it ended the year with more murders than the two largest cities combined with 762 New York City had 334, and Los Angeles has 294. While Emanuel points to a reduction in homicides in the past two years, the city still reels from gun and gang violence particularly, on the city's South and West sides. As Chicago continues to fall prey to gun violence and residents lose hope, it's time for deliberate and effective action. Lives depend on it. President Trump needs to intervene. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Donald Trump hates breastfeeding! How can he possibly get any worse? If youre a young mother on social media, youre likely to have seen this sentiment earlier this month when reports circulated about the administrations decision to oppose an Ecuadorian resolution at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, a meeting of the World Health Organization. But as usual, especially when the Trump administration is concerned, there was more to the story. And, as usual, especially when the Trump administration is concerned, the more wasnt reported by the mainstream media. In its reporting on the meeting, the New York Times cited the reasoning behind the Trump administrations opposition as follows: Then the United States delegation, embracing the interests of infant formula manufacturers, upended the deliberations. In their caption to a photo of a baby drinking formula the Times explained A Brooklyn mother unable to nurse fed her child donated breast milk. The $70 billion infant formula industry has seen sales flatten in wealthy countries in recent years. At no point in their reporting was proof, in the form of on- or off-the-record statements, provided that the Trump administration had taken into account the position of formula companies, or evidence that formula companies had lobbied the Trump administration due to lagging American sales. What actually happened? The Times rightly reported on the what, but not why: American officials sought to water down the resolution by removing language that called on governments to protect, promote and support breastfeeding and another passage that called on policymakers to restrict the promotion of food products that many experts say can have deleterious effects on young children. While breast is best sounds great in theory, in practice restricting access to baby formula has dangerous consequences. In an op-ed in the New York Post, officials with the Department of Health and Human Services and the United States Agency for International Development explained, In particular, the guidance recommends that countries impose stringent new regulations on the marketing of any commercially produced foods suggested for children between 6 months and 3 years old. Such restrictions, in our view, prevent parents from having access to all the factual information they might need. The guidance even advocates for the prohibition of free samples of formula including in countries and conflict zones where supplies of formula could help save babies lives. While fully acknowledging that breast is best these officials also realize that even under the most optimal conditions, breastfeeding can be difficult. When you factor in malnutrition and stress in the developing world and in conflict areas, access to formula can mean the difference between life and death. Two sources familiar with the negotiations in Geneva explained further why the United States was reticent to agree to the language surrounding breastfeeding as presented by Ecuador. In diplomatic terms, the phrase protect would have the connotation that breastfeeding is the policy to the exclusion of everything else. Further, these sources said that the end goal for the representative from Ecuador was to make formula by prescription only; even in areas ravaged by famine and war. Sadly, the Ecuadorian ministers pipedream of the WHO restricting formula in order to protect breastfeeding has already been reality in Iraq. And while breast is best sounds great in theory, in practice restricting access to baby formula has dangerous consequences. Writing for CNN two years ago Gayle Lemmon explained, The malnutrition we see here is primarily due to the scarcity of infant formula," [Doctors Without Borders' Iraq country director Manuel] Lannaud wrote. International organizations like UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) promote breastfeeding ... and provide infant formula, but only by prescription. We believe that distributing infant formula in a conflict situation like Iraq is the only way to avoid children having to be hospitalized for malnutrition." There is a tragic history of formula companies manipulating women in the third world in order to get them hooked on formula, thereby disrupting their milk supply; but the pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction. While we know the science indicates that breastmilk is best, there are any number of extenuating circumstances for women in the developed and developing world that makes feeding babies formula more desirable. Mothers are responsible with raising their children, and thus, should be trusted to decide how to best feed them without requiring a prescription to do so. Why did officials like this Ecuadorian health minister try to make access to formula so difficult in the first place? It turns out, it wasnt based on the science behind breastfeeding, but instead, the Western infatuation with the breast is best mantra. According to those familiar with the negotiations, the Ecuadorian minister wanted to force women to breastfeed because their babies were less likely to start a war, because they feel their mothers love through their breast milk. Thankfully, American officials in Geneva prioritized promoting actual science behind nutrition instead of this bohemian perspective on world peace. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! If Ronald Reagan was the Teflon president, Donald Trump must be the Incredible Hulk president. The more the left and the media attack him, the stronger he gets. This past week was a great example. It began with CNN worrying that fears of Russian collusion had seeped into the bloodstream of American politics after President Trumps Helsinki press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin. CNNs Reliable Sources newsletter described the situation ominously: When historians look back on the Trump presidency, they'll say that last week was the moment something changed when uncomfortable Q's about Russia moved into the mainstream in a whole new way. (The boldface type was CNNs.) By weeks end, President Trump was crowing about how the U.S. gross domestic product grew at an annualized rate of 4.1 percent in the second quarter of this year the highest growth rate in four years. President Trump also made progress in averting a trade war with the European Union, watched as the Trump-hating New York Daily News laid off half its staff, and joined with the families of American servicemen honoring the return of what North Korea said were the remains of 55 of our Korean War dead. And that Helsinki Finish the media had in mind? Let shocked MSNBC reporter Kasie Hunt explain: The presidents approval rating is ticking up, not down. A brand-new poll from NBC News and The Wall Street Journal conducted before and after the Helsinki summit shows the president approval rating at 45 percent. That is up 1 point from June. Among Republicans, that number is 88 percent, the highest ever his entire presidency. Instead of President Trump being beaten, the desperate press flailed as it found itself once more pushing stories that didnt resonate with the American public. One Los Angeles-based anchor called President Trump the worst ruler in history, skipping supervillains from Hitler and Stalin to Mao and Mussolini. (Theyre ones the media ordinarily compare to Trump. Team Morning Joe linked him to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. CNN and MSNBC joined in the dictator fiction.) The New York Times even ran an article critical of American Media Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer, tied to its dealings with President Trumps former lawyer Michael Cohen. The Times alleged the company at times acted more as a political supporter than as a news organization, according to people briefed on the investigation. So, pretty much every day at The Times. There was more bad news for the media with the announcement of layoffs at The New York Daily News. The newspaper was a constant critic of the president, known for anti-Trump illustrations on its cover that pleased the hardcore left. It once even called the head of the National Rifle Association a terrorist. That business model failed. Staff learned that their team was cut in half and that its editor in chief was out of a job. In addition, liberal Salon mocked liberal MSNBC, noting MSNBC had produced 455 segments about porn star Stormy Daniels in a year. Its a rough week for the left when Salon and MSNBC are at war over media integrity. 2. Defending Journalism Sometimes: Reporters have every right to ask questions of the president. The White House press corps has taken that to extremes, with several CNN staffers having confrontations. (See: Amendment, First.) This past week, CNNs Kaitlan Collins ran afoul of the Trump administration for her questions. Collins was upset that I was blocked from attending an open press event here at the White House, because the White House did not like the questions I posed to President Trump. The news media lined up behind her and that gave many in the chance to air their grievances against the president. Daily Beast Politics Editor Sam Stein complained how he had been at Huffington Post during the presidential campaign and that his outlet had been banned by the Trump campaign. And at that point in time, the press should have taken upon itself to form some sort of collective pact to say, If you do this, you will be punished in this way, this way, or this way. Of course journalists arent always consistent on what upsets them about press freedom. President Obamas 2008 team kicked reporters off the campaign plane, simply because their news outlets had endorsed his GOP rival Sen. John McCain. There was no outcry. Even Collins, who used to work for The Daily Caller, received different treatment when the press thought she was part of their conservative competition. CNNs White House Correspondent Jim Acosta whined specifically about the Caller when Collins was its representative. "Should we get Sinclair and the Daily Caller to move up to the front? If they're gonna go first anyway, it might make things easier," he said. The media put up quite a regular stink about who Trump called on. The only thing that has changed is the outlet Collins represents. Gosh, I wonder why. 3. Actual Good News: The media have pressed President Trump hard on the economy, which has always been his ace in the hole. This past week, he and the nation got good news on that front. Even The New York Times headlined the good news: Economy Hits a High Note, and Trump Takes a Bow. Youd almost never know the paper hated Trump so much. Tax cuts and federal spending are adding fuel to the already strong economy, putting the United States on a pace for its best year of growth in well over a decade, the Times continued. Then came the naysayers. NBC Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd was worried about President Trumps reaction and that it felt over-hyped in how he was talking about the economy. There was more upbeat financial news as President Trump and the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker agreed to work toward zero tariffs, which is what Trump wanted all along. The broadcast networks depicted the president as caving in to prevent a trade war. The press then found a new way to the president in response flash cards. Heres The Wall Street Journal report: Mr. Juncker flipped through more than a dozen colorful cue cards with simplified explainers. That metastasized into something ugly. Other outlets used the nugget to treat Trump like an infant: Junckers secret weapon in trade talks with Trump: color-coded flash cards, headlined MarketWatch. The Independent went with: Juncker used brightly coloured, simple flashcards to explain trade to Trump during meeting. 4. #CBSToo: Reporter Ronan Farrow continues to target major media figures accused of sexual misconduct. This time its the head of CBS Les Moonves. Heres the New Yorker headline: Six women accuse the C.E.O. of harassment and intimidation, and dozens more describe abuse at his company. Farrow explained that Moonves has become a prominent voice in Hollywoods #MeToo movement. Then he elaborated on the alleged misconduct experienced by the women, adding, All said that he (Moonves) became cold or hostile after they rejected his advances, and that they believed their careers suffered as a result. Farrow went on to detail how the alleged sexual misconduct invaded the news division, even 60 Minutes. He wrote: Thirty current and former employees of CBS told me that such behavior extended from Moonves to important parts of the corporation, including CBS News and 60 Minutes, one of the networks most esteemed programs. The allegations are disturbing, but this is a must-read. Philadelphia has announced it will end a major information-sharing contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), bowing to intense pressure from activist groups and drawing immediate condemnation from federal officials. The move means that the city will not renew a decade-long arrangement to share real-time arrest information with ICE when it expires at the end of August. The information, contained in Philadelphias Preliminary Arraignment Reporting System (PARS), alerts authorities when new arrests are made, and includes arrestee's full names, countries of origin, and Social Security numbers. While PARS does not indicate immigration status, Democrats charged that ICE nevertheless abused the database to investigate potential immigration violations. Anyone who interacts with law enforcement is entered into the database, including those who are arrested, victims and witnesses, with some limits on what ICE officers can view. I cannot in good conscience allow the agreement to continue, Democratic Mayor Jim Kenney told the Philadelphia Inquirer about Friday's announcement. "We're not going to provide them with information so they can go out and round people up." He added: "If I could abolish ICE, I would. But we can abolish this contract, and we are." The city's decision comes after "Occupy ICE" protesters established a tent-filled encampment outside city hall and staged weeks of raucous demonstrations. PORTLAND VOWS TO CLEAN UP 'DISGUSTING' OCCUPY ICE CAMP, CALLING IT A BIOHAZARD On Wednesday, more than a dozen activists stormed city hall and blockaded an internal stairwell for more than an hour after police rebuffed their attempt to rally directly outside the mayor's office. U.S. Homeland Security spokeswoman Katie Waldman called the decision irresponsible and said the city will end up "harboring criminal aliens." "Sanctuary-city policies make American communities like Philadelphia less safe by putting the rights of criminal aliens over the safety and security of American citizens," Waldman said. "Despite the misguided action taken by Philadelphia today, DHS will continue to work to remove illegal aliens and uphold public safety." "Sanctuary-city policies make American communities like Philadelphia less safe." DHS spokeswoman Katie Waldman Kenney claimed immigration officers are wrongly using the database to go to homes and workplaces of people who list foreign countries of origin and arresting other people who are in the country illegally but are otherwise not accused of any other crimes. But in a statement to Fox News, ICE officials reiterated that the agency had not breached its agreement with Philadelphia in any way, including by engaging in racial profiling or accessing information without the city's approval. They added that they were "deeply disappointed" in the city's decision, saying the city had not pointed to any specific instances of alleged misconduct by ICE. Two of three stakeholders in the contract the city, the district attorney and the city courts had to vote to end it. District Attorney Larry Krasner had said this month he would oppose the contract's renewal, saying it promotes oppressive practices. Kenney said the federal agency's actions have created fear and distrust in the city's immigrant community. FEDERAL JUDGE DEALS SETBACK TO TRUMP'S CRACKDOWN ON SANCTUARY CITIES The Trump administration has long railed against sanctuary cities like Philadelphia, but its efforts to put words into practice have run into legal trouble. On Friday, a federal district court judge ruled that the administration cannot withhold public safety grants from Chicago to pressure the city to stop providing sanctuary to immigrants, saying the policy amounted to unconstitutional coercion by the federal government. And last year, a federal judge issued an injunction against Trump's executive order denying federal funding to sanctuary cities on Tenth Amendment grounds. In Philadelphia, Kenney was videotaped last month dancing and singing, "We're a sanctuary city!" after a similar court win there. ICE has previously said it would focus on immediate deportation for people in the country illegally who had felony convictions or who were suspected of felonies. Calls to abolish the agency -- including some from top Democrats and presidential hopefuls Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Sen. Elizabeth Warren -- grew into a frenzy after the Trump administration's "zero-tolerance" illegal immigration policy resulted in more separations of adults from accompanying minors at the border. Though Trump signed an executive order to end the separations, reuniting some families remains a work in progress. Still, efforts to get rid of ICE have fizzled since earlier this month, when the GOP-controlled House called a vote on a resolution expressing support for the agency. The vote effectively dared Democrats to go on the record with opposition to the agency. The measure passed, with a total of 133 Democratic representatives voting "present" -- amounting to a procedural refusal to take a position despite weeks of heated anti-ICE rhetoric from party leaders. WATCH: PHILLY MAYOR DANCES, CELEBRATES CITY'S SANCTUARY CITY STATUS As a sanctuary city, Philadelphia had already limited cooperation with immigration enforcement. It won't release inmates to ICE without a judicial warrant. Philadelphia entered into the contract in 2008, city solicitor Marcel Pratt said, and revised it in 2009 to shield witness and victim information from the agency, as well as to eliminate immigration status. In a termination letter sent to ICE on Thursday, Pratt said the contract "has created the false perception that the city is willing to be an extension of ICE." Several colleges with ties to ICE are also being pressured to split with the agency. Earlier this month, students and community activists marched at Northeastern University in Boston, demanding the school cancel a multimillion-dollar research contract with ICE. The school was hired by ICE to research U.S. technology exports. The Associated Press contributed to this report. President Trump ripped what he called "haters in the dying newspaper industry" Sunday after the publisher of The New York Times criticized Trump's rhetoric as "not just divisive but increasingly dangerous." In a rant that took up four separate tweets, the president complained that the media had been "driven insane by their Trump Derangement Syndrome." "[Ninety percent] of media coverage of my Administration is negative, despite the tremendously positive results we are achieving, it's no surprise that confidence in the media is at an all time low!" wrote Trump, later adding: "The failing New York Times and the Amazon Washington Post do nothing but write bad stories even on very positive achievements - and they will never change!" Trump posted the tweets a few hours after New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger detailed a July 20 meeting between himself and Trump. Sulzberger said Trump's aides had initially requested the meeting not be made public, but added he decided to comment after Trump discussed it in another Tweet earlier Sunday. "Had a very good and interesting meeting at the White House with A.G. Sulzberger, Publisher of the New York Times. Spent much time talking about the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, "Enemy of the People." Sad!" Trump wrote. Sulzberger, who succeeded his father as publisher on Jan. 1, said his main purpose for accepting the meeting was to "raise concerns about the president's deeply troubling anti-press rhetoric." "I told the president directly that I thought that his language was not just divisive but increasingly dangerous," he said. Sulzberger said he told Trump that while the phrase "fake news" is untrue and harmful, "I am far more concerned about his labeling journalists 'the enemy of the people.' I warned that this inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence." Sulzberger, who attended the meeting with James Bennet, the Times' editorial page editor, said he stressed that leaders outside the U.S. are already using Trump's rhetoric to justify cracking down on journalists. "I warned that it was putting lives at risk, that it was undermining the democratic ideals of our nation, and that it was eroding one of our country's greatest exports: a commitment to free speech and a free press," the publisher said. Sulzberger added that he made clear that he was not asking Trump to soften his attacks against the Times if he thinks the newspaper's coverage is unfair. "Instead, I implored him to reconsider his broader attacks on journalism, which I believe are dangerous and harmful to our country," he said. Despite Trump's characterization of the paper as "failing," the Times' ownership company in May reported a 3.8 percent increase in first-quarter revenue compared to the same period in 2017. The president, who lashes out over media coverage of him and the administration that he deems unfair, has broadly labeled the news media the "enemy of the people" and regularly accuses reporters of spreading "fake news" the term he often uses for stories he dislikes. Last week, Trump told hundreds of people attending the annual Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Kansas City. "Don't believe the crap you see from these people, the fake news," as he gestured toward journalists at the back of the room and the crowd erupted. He also told them to remember "what you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening." Sulzberger said he accepted the meeting because Times publishers have a history of meeting with presidential administrations and other public figures who have concerns with the publication's coverage of them. After Sulzberger took charge, Trump tweeted that his ascension gave the paper a "last chance" to fulfill its founder's vision of impartiality. In the tweet, Trump urged the new publisher to "Get impartial journalists of a much higher standard, lose all of your phony and non-existent 'sources,' and treat the President of the United States FAIRLY, so that the next time I (and the people) win, you won't have to write an apology to your readers for a job poorly done!" The Associated Press contributed to this report. As recently as last summer, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen wanted the world to know that Donald Trump Jr. is an "open, honest, and transparent" person. On Sunday morning, President Trump reminded his Twitter followers of Cohen's erstwhile praise, amid Cohen's bitter public feud with the president and his eldest son. "So proud of @DonaldJTrumpJr for being open, honest and transparent to the American people," Cohen wrote on July 11, 2017, on Twitter. "This nonsense needs to stop!" On Sunday, Trump re-tweeted Cohen's post, with the note: "Do you think the Fake News Media will ever report on this tweet from Michael?" On July 11, the date of Cohen's original tweet, Donald Trump Jr. released what he said was the entire email chain of his conversations setting up a disputed meeting with a Russian attorney, showing what appeared to be an offer to provide information that would incriminate Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as part of Russia and its governments support for Mr. Trump. Cohen has since reportedly claimed that President Trump knew in advance of that meeting, which took place in June 2016 at Trump Tower. Trump Jr., his brother-in-law Jared Kushner, and then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort were known to have attended the meeting with Kremlin-linked attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya. RUSSIAN LAWYER AT TRUMP TOWER MEETING HAD CLOSER TIES TO KREMLIN THAN PREVIOUSLY REVEALED But Trump has repeatedly denied Cohen's claim, and Donald Trump Jr. has rejected that his father knew of the meeting in advance during testimony under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee. "He wasn't aware of it," Trump Jr. said in his sworn testimony last year. "And, frankly, by the time anyone was aware of it, which was summer of this year, as I stated earlier, I wouldn't have wanted to get him involved in it because it had nothing to do with him." On Friday, Trump reiterated that he had no advance knowledge of the meeting. "I did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don jr. Sounds to me like someone is trying to make up stories in order to get himself out of an unrelated jam (Taxi cabs maybe?)," Trump wrote on Twitter, referring to the ongoing federal criminal probe of taxi companies that Cohen managed. "He even retained Bill and Crooked Hillarys lawyer [Lanny Davis]. Gee, I wonder if they helped him make the choice!" Trump's lawyers have acknowledged in a letter to Special Counsel Robert Mueller that the president dictated a short but accurate response to initial reports of the meeting, appearing to contradict the White House's previous claims that the president had nothing to do with the June 8, 2017, explanation for the meeting. TRUMP ATTORNEY: EXPERTS SAY COHEN TAPES MAY HAVE BEEN 'MESSED' WITH In that initial statement, Trump Jr. referred to the Trump Tower sit-down as a short introductory meeting about a program that once allowed Americans to adopt Russian children. The public disintegration of Cohen's relationship with Trump -- Cohen once said he would take a bullet for the president -- escalated after Cohen last week released a recorded conversation between himself and Trump about a possible payment to Playboy model Karen McDougal to buy the rights of her story that claimed an affair with Trump. Trumps personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who once suggested Cohen could be trusted, has since gone on the offensive, telling Fox News two experts and retired FBI agents have analyzed the secretly recorded Trump-Cohen tape and believe it was played with. Now that weve seen the full scope of [Michael] Cohen and Lanny Davis deception, we dont trust anything, Giuliani said. President Trump said on Sunday that he would be willing to shut down the federal government if the Democrats do not agree to Republican demands about funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump wrote on Twitter that border security "includes the Wall! Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country!" The White House has been embroiled in controversy over the ongoing efforts to reunite families separated at the border who were attempting to enter the United States illegally. During his most recent weekly address, Trump cited the 9/11 terrorist attacks to justify strong enforcement of immigration laws and the continued necessity of Immigration Customs & Enforcement, the agency which has come under fire from Democrats in recent months. One of the critical lessons of 9/11 is that immigration enforcement saves lives, he said in the address. We must enforce the rules against visa fraud, illegal overstay, illegal entry and other immigration violations and crimes, and crimes they are. Believe me, crimes they are. A recent House bill would devote $5 billion to a southern border wall, but its passage in the Senate, where it would need the support of Democrats to reach the required 60-vote threshold, remains a longshot. PORTLAND TO CLEAN UP 'DISGUSTING' OCCUPY ICE CAMP Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who is the majority whip, told the Washington Examiner that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., was once ready to offer $25 billion in border security funding in exchange for a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. However, Schumer has since withdrawn that offer, which at the time was rejected by Republicans and President Trump, who wanted additional immigration reforms. Democratic lawmakers and candidates, including New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon, have called for the abolishment of ICE. In April, Trump threatened to shut down the government during a rally in Michigan, stating that more money was needed to fund the border wall. We come up again on September 28th and if we dont get border security we will have no choice, we will close down the country because we need border security, he said, according to Reuters. During an interview on iHeart Radio Friday, Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said border wall funding will probably have to wait until after the midterms. The federal government shut down briefly for three days in January after lawmakers could not agree on funding for immigration reform, border security and disaster relief. Trump, who made security and building a border wall a centerpiece of his 2016 presidential campaign, also said that Mexico would pay for the new wall. The Trump administration is quietly meeting with top tech company representatives to craft a proposal to protect web users privacy amid the ongoing fallout globally of scandals that have rocked Facebook and other companies. Over the past month, the Commerce Department has met with representatives from Facebook and Google, along with Internet providers like AT&T and Comcast, and consumer advocates, sources told the Washington Post. The goal of these meetings, which were first reported by Axios, is to come up with a data privacy proposal at the federal level that could serve as a blueprint for Congress to pass sweeping legislation in the mode of the European Union. There are currently no laws that govern how tech companies harness and monetize users' data. A total of 22 meetings with more than 80 companies have been held on this topic over the last month, according to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. AMAZON FACE RECOGNITION WRONGLY TAGGED LAWMAKERS AS POLICE SUSPECTS, FUELING RACIAL BIAS CONCERNS Through the White House National Economic Council, the Trump Administration aims to craft a consumer privacy protection policy that is the appropriate balance between privacy and prosperity, Lindsay Walters, the president's deputy press secretary, told the Washington Post. We look forward to working with Congress on a legislative solution consistent with our overarching policy. The news comes as Facebook, which on Thursday lost $119 billion in market value after reporting higher costs and a decline in European users, continues to wither under the weight of multiple probes into its behavior regarding fake news and how it responded to the Cambridge Analytica data misuse scandal. In addition, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his colleagues have had to apologize for a range of mishaps over the last year involving censorship, algorithmic snafus and more. One official at the White House told the Post this week that recent developments have been seismic in the privacy policy world, prompting the government to discuss what a modern U.S. approach to privacy protection might look like. The European Union began mandating in May that tech platforms obtain users consent before collecting their data, and giving consumers a host of new rights to take control of their information. However, Facebook and Google may already be in violation of the General Data Protection Regulation. FACEBOOK IS SORRY: TEN TIMES MARK ZUCKERBERG'S SOCIAL NETWORK APOLOGIZED A draft proposal from the Chamber of Commerce seen by the Washington Post calls on Congress to adopt a law that preempts states so that local legislatures dont try to pass their own, more restrictive privacy laws. California, which recently passed an expansive law to protect consumers privacy online, seems like a target of the Chambers proposal. If [the Trump administration] did their version of the privacy bill of rights, and did the necessary legwork to make sure there was a constituency to support it, I think it would be a meaningful step forward motivating Congress to act, Dean Garfield, the president of the Information Technology Industry Council, which represents tech giants including Apple, Facebook and Google, told the Post. British Airways booted 20 passengers off one flights from London City Airport - because the hot weather made the plane too heavy. The airline said the blistering 95 degree heat affected the air pressure, meaning aircraft could not take off unless they shed weight. City airports short runway means jets have to take off at a steeper angle than at most other airports. Passengers told of their fury as they were told they wouldnt be going off on their holidays on the busiest day of the year for air travel. Travelers were asked to leave 14 flights - but one plane bound for Ibiza saw 20 travelers bumped off shortly before boarding on Friday. The Hopkins family were on their way to visit relatives when they were told that they wouldnt be allowed on the plane. Mom of three Mhairi told The Sun Online her daughter Chloe, who suffers from Downs syndrome, had been counting down the days to seeing her granny and was heartbroken when they were booted off their flight. Mhairi, her husband Tom, and their kids, Sebastian, 14, Chloe, 12, and ten-year-old Dominic, were jetting out to scatter her fathers ashes on the Balearic island. The 43-year-old fashion buyer from West London said, We were [lining up] having been told to get to the gate when they asked if anybody wanted to be bumped off the flight. Nobody came forward and then they said were going to have to pick 14 people because its so hot we need to carry more petrol in order to take off. Then they read out the names of some people and said family Hopkins. Theres five of us, one with special needs, and they didnt seem to care at all. I had to explain to my daughter, who has been counting down the days till going on holiday, that we werent going to be going out to see her granny in Ibiza but we were going to have to go to a hotel. Then they said well book you on the 11:15am flight from Heathrow tomorrow morning, which we later found out was not guaranteed and that we had to join another queue to get ourselves onto another flight. At that point I was so furious because my daughter was getting incredibly upset. I mean its not a surprise its hot today, it was hot yesterday, and that is what I think everyone was so furious about. And to bump off a family with a daughter with special needs and not to care was extraordinary. They were completely unable to cope with the situation. I think we got out just before it properly kicked off because more and more flights were being canceled. The airport said, London City Airport was affected by the extreme heat which meant, to operate safely, unfortunately passengers needed to be offloaded from 14 British Airways flights. Were working with the airline to ensure passengers get to their destination as quickly as possible and we apologise for the inconvenience caused. A BA spokeswoman said, Like other airlines operating from London City today, British Airways flights were affected by the extreme heat. Because of the unique nature of the airfield, with a short runway and steep take-off, extreme temperatures affect air pressure so aircraft weight has to be reduced. This meant regrettably we were forced to offload 20 customers from our Ibiza service. We are working with them to provide hotel accommodation and re-book them on flights tomorrow. This article originally appeared on The Sun. Click to read the full version. Two Iraqi Airways pilots have been suspended after an argument turned physical in the cockpit at 37,000 feet in the air, The Independent reported. The Wednesday flight was heading from Mashhad, Iran, to Baghdad, Iraq, carrying 157 passenger when the two pilots allegedly got into a heated argument over a food tray, the publication reported. PARTS OF AIRPORT SHUT DOWN AFTER WOMAN SLIPS THROUGH SECURITY ZONE In a letter to Iraqi Airways management, reported by The Independent, the co-pilot said, Conversation with the pilot became heated because he forbade an air hostess from bringing me a meal tray, under the pretext that I hadnt asked him for authorization. According to the letter, the pilot hit and insulted [the co-pilot], prompting the arrival of a security agent, who came to break up the fight. Once the plane landed, the two continued to argue and the pilot again hit and insulted the co-pilot, the letter claims. The co-pilot said he also hit the pilot, claiming he had to defend [him]self. The plane safely landed in Baghdad and none of the passengers reported injury. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS Iraqi Airways confirmed to The Independent last week that both men are being investigated by the airline and face a possible lifetime flying ban if found guilty. The transport ministry has opened an investigation with the two pilots who argued with each other in-flight, the airline said in a statement. Conditions on a Missouri lake quickly went from calm to dangerous July 19, resulting in the capsizing of a duck boat and the deaths of 17 people, the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday in preliminary findings. The NTSB gathered evidence from a video recorder system that divers recovered after the tourist boat sank in Table Rock Lake near Branson. Of the 31 passengers on board, 17 died. While no conclusions have been reached as to what caused the accident, preliminary findings show that lake conditions changed within minutes, the board said. According to the NTSB, the captain and driver boarded the vessel at 6:27 p.m. The video seems to show someone, only a minute later, stepping onto the rear of the vessel and advising the crew to take the water portion of the tour first. (Duck boats operate on both water and land.) A minute later, with passengers boarding, the captain made a reference to looking at the weather radar prior to the trip. The vessel entered the water around 6:55 p.m. at a time when the water appeared calm, the NTSB said. In fact, over the next five minutes the captain allowed four different children to sit in the driver's seat. But suddenly just after 7 p.m., whitecaps rapidly appeared on the water and winds increased, the NTSB said. The captain returned to the driver's seat. The driver lowered plastic side curtains and at 7:01 p.m. the captain made a comment about the storm. At 7:03 p.m. the captain made a call on a handheld radio, but the content was unintelligible. A minute later, an electronic tone associated with the bilge alarm activated, until about a minute later when the captain reached down and the alarm stopped. The captain made another call on a handheld radio at 7:05 but the content was again unintelligible. Over the next couple of minutes, water splashed inside the passenger compartment. At 7:07 p.m. an electronic tone associated with the bilge alarm activated again. At 7:08 p.m. the inward-facing video recording ended as the vessel was still on the surface of the water. The NTSB's investigation, proceeding on multiple tracks, will produce a "preliminary factual report" in the next few weeks, but a complete report is likely a year away. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A New Jersey school superintendent who was accused of defecating daily on another high schools track resigned Thursday and plans to sue police for $1 million. In an email and voicemail sent to staff, the Kenilworth school board accepted the resignation of Thomas Tramaglini, 42, saying it became clear his continued service became too much of a distraction, NJ.com reported. Tramaglini is charged with public defecation, lewdness and littering. A court hearing is pending. Authorities said surveillance video caught Tramaglini in late April following an early morning run at the Holmdel High School field. Holmdel police said they monitored the track to see who had been leaving human feces on the property daily, according to the report. 'DEFECATING' SCHOOL SUPERINTEDENT REQUESTS FULL SURVEILLANCE VIDEO OF ALLEGED DEED His lawyer, Matthew Adams, issued a statement saying that Tramaglini will continue to fight the allegations and that his resignation should not "be construed as an acknowledgement of guilt." "Leaks, half-truths and outright falsehoods about a good man with an exceptional record of public service are not a substitute for admissible evidence," Adams wrote, according to the Asbury Park Press, which called Tramaglini "super pooper." Adams also said Tramaglini plans to sue Holmdel police over the mugshot taken after his arrest, claiming they should not have photographed him at police headquarters because the public defecation, lewdness and litter charges were low-level municipal offenses. "It's like getting photographed and fingerprinted for a speeding ticket," Adams previously told NJ.com. DEFECATING SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT WANTS TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON FALSEHOODS, LAWYER SAYS He has filed a tort claim notice that lists potential damages of more than $1 million due to loss of income, harm to his reputation, emotional distress and invasion of privacy. "It is our position that the photograph that has been widely disseminated was unlawfully taken and maliciously distributed," Adams said. "It is our position that the photograph that has been widely disseminated was unlawfully taken and maliciously distributed." Matthew Adams, lawyer of Thomas Tramaglini Neither Adams nor authorities have said why Tramaglini allegedly did what police claim. Holmdel officials did not immediately respond for comment. Holmdel is around 40 miles east of Trenton. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Authorities in Texas are working to determine what led to a shooting spree on Friday that left two people dead in a private residence and two others dead at a nursing home before the gunman killed himself. Robstown Police Chief Erasmo Flores said at a news conference on Saturday that the victims and gunman were all part of the same family. Police believe that Richard Starry, 60, shot and killed his father, 85-year-old Ernest Starry, and his stepmother, Thelma Montalvo, at the Retama Manor nursing home in Robstown. Richard Starry then fatally shot himself inside the nursing home, located roughly 20 miles from Corpus Christi and two hours south of San Antonio. A family member later called officers to the couple's home, where the bodies of their 13-year-old adopted son and a 41-year-old son of Montalvo were also found shot to death. The names of the other two sons and Montalvo's age were not released. "Evidence leads us to believe that the two that were killed at that home were the first victims of this shooting," Flores said. The body of the elder Starr was found next to Montalvo, KIII-TV reported. Flores said during the news conference that investigators are working "diligently" on the case and that the results will be presented to the district attorney for review. Enrique Paredez, a police lieutenant in the Corpus Christi suburb of Robstown, told reporters that the reason behind the shooting remains unclear. "As far as a motive, the investigation is too premature at this time to determine," Paredez said. TEXAS NURSING HOME SHOOTING LEAVES 3 DEAD, 2 MORE BODIES FOUND AT NEARBY HOME: POLICE The shooting at the nursing home drew a massive response by law enforcement, as police placed the facility in lockdown after the initial shooting at 7 p.m. on Friday. Retama Manor Nursing Center is a medium-sized for-profit nursing home with 94 beds, according to the police department. Reuben Garcia, whose father lives in the nursing home, was inside the home at the time of the shooting. "I thought it was just a ladder that had fallen down, that's what it sounded like to me. Then I heard somebody say 'run, run,'" Garcia told the Associated Press. "So we ran," getting his father out of the building. Residents and family were asked to go to a nearby high school, where they waited for the lockdown to be lifted. You never think its going to happen to your family, Doris Salazar, whose mother stays at the nursing home, told The Caller Times. You think theyre safe. Fox News' Madeline Farber and The Associated Press contributed to this report. A shooting in New Orleans on Saturday evening left three people dead and seven others injured, authorities said. The gunfire broke out around 8:30 p.m. local time outside Chicken & Watermelon, a restaurant on South Claiborne Avenue about 3 miles from the French Quarter, the Times-Picayune reported. Two individuals wearing "hooded-style" clothing, one with a handgun and the other with a shotgun, opened fire on a crowd of people, FOX 8 New Orleans reported. Afterward, the suspects fled on foot, the report said. Three injured people were transferred to a local hospital by ambulance, while four others arrived by private means, an EMS spokesman said. Their conditions were not immediately known. New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said in a statement that she would dedicate every resource necessary to ending this horror and seeing justice done. There is no place in New Orleans for this kind of violence," the mayor's statement said. "I speak for everyone in our City when I say we are disgusted, we are infuriated, and we have had more than enough. Three more lives gone. It has to end. This happened near my neighborhood, on the edge of Broadmoor. Its unacceptable anywhere." There is no place in New Orleans for this kind of violence. I speak for everyone in our City when I say we are disgusted, we are infuriated, and we have had more than enough. Three more lives gone. It has to end. ... Its unacceptable anywhere." New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell Police Chief Michael Harrison called on witnesses to cooperate with investigators. "A lot of people were out here tonight," the chief told FOX 8. "A lot of people we know saw what happened, heard what happened. We need more than anything for people to come forward to help the NOPD solve this case by helping us find more evidence, find out whos responsible for this so we can hold them accountable for the three people who have died out here tonight and for the other seven people who were injured." "A lot of people we know saw what happened, heard what happened. We need more than anything for people to come forward to help the NOPD solve this case by helping us find more evidence, find out whos responsible for this so we can hold them accountable." Chief Michael Harrison, New Orleans police Harrison later said that he believed the shooting resulted from a personel dispute. "This has to be personal," Harrison told FOX 8. "Firing indiscriminately into a crowd, shooting 10 people, killing three -- thats personal. It doesnt get more personal and we take it personal. So whoever did this, you should know that the law enforcement community takes it personal, so were coming for you." No further information was immediately available. An investigation is ongoing. The Associated Press contributed to this report. An Arkansas woman was arrested Saturday after telling police she shot and killed her husband because he bought pornography, officials said. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said in a news release it received a call around 2:30 p.m. from 69-year-old Patricia Hill, who told dispatchers she just shot her 65-year-old husband, Frank. When police arrived at the home, located about 36 miles south of Little Rock, they found Frank Hill dead in a shed on the property. Hill sustained two gunshot wounds to the upper and lower body, according to police. The sheriff's office said that during an interview with Hill, she told investigators she arrived home and went to the shed on her property to confront her husband, but there had never been any physical altercations between the couple. "However, Mrs. Hill stated that she disagreed with her husbands purchase of video pornography via the television guide, which she canceled upon discovering the purchase, but Mr. Hill managed to place a subsequent order," Maj. Lafayette Woods, Jr. said. "Mrs. Hill stated that she entered the shed and asked her husband to leave but he refused." 5 MEMBERS OF SAME FAMILY DEAD IN TEXAS SHOOTINGS AT HOME, NURSING HOME IN MURDER-SUICIDE, POLICE SAY When her husband didnt leave the shed, Hill told investigators she went back to their home and got a .22 caliber pistol. "She went back to the shed a short time later, where she entered and shot her husband twice, striking him once in the leg and once in the head," Woods said. "Immediately following the shooting, Mrs. Hill stated that she returned inside the residence, where she returned the weapon and called 911 to report the shooting. At this point, investigators do not believe the incident had anything to do with self-defense, FOX16 reported. Hill is currently in Jefferson County's detention center on felony probable cause for capital murder in the shooting death of her husband without bond, and will stay there until her court date next week. Husband and father Samuel Curtis lost all but one of his family members in a massive Saturday fire that ripped through a Michigan motel, killing his wife and five of their children. Curtis was the father of some of the children who died, Berrien County Chief Deputy Robert Boyce said, adding that the father and a 1-year-old child were the only survivors in the family. "His whole world's been turned upside down," Boyce said. Killed in the fire were Kiarre Curtis, 26; Marquise Thompson, 10; Gerome Randolph, 7; Samuel Curtis, 5; Savod Curtis, 4; and Avery Curtis, 2, authorities said. All eight family members had been staying in the same room at the Cosmo Extended Stay motel near Benton Harbor, in the southwestern portion of the state, along Lake Michigan. Cassundra Clements told WSBT-TV of South Bend, Ind., that she tried helping Samuel Curtis. I tried to get the (surviving) baby from the man in case he fell down, but he wouldnt give up the baby," Clements said. "He said 'This is all I have left.'" Robert Payne, a motel resident, knew the five children who died. "They never talked back; perfect," Payne said. "It breaks my heart that I ain't going to see them no more. That's a shame." The 67-year-old said he sometimes gave them money for candy. "It's tragic. It tears at your heart," Chief Deputy Boyce said. "Any time you have children, it's worse. When it's multiple children, it's even worse." The victims are believed to have died from smoke inhalation, pending autopsies that were scheduled for Saturday, the South Bend Tribune reported. The fire destroyed about 90 percent of motel, officials said. At the time, 27 rooms were occupied. Four other people and four first responders also were transported to the hospital but have been released, WSBT reported. "By the time we get outside, the end of the building exploded. The glass shattered out and there was big whoof of flame." Sarah Sanders, motel resident Another motel resident, Sarah Sanders, said she fled after a friend shouted at her to get out. "By the time we get outside, the end of the building exploded," Sanders told the Tribune. "The glass shattered out and there was big whoof of flame." The 911 call for the fire, in Berrien County, Mich., came in at 1:45 a.m. local time. Other guests of the motel, about a two-hour drive southwest of Lansing, safely evacuated, officials said. Boyce described the two-story motel as a place for people with low incomes to "get back on their feet." Payne said the fire started just a few doors from his room. "It breaks my heart that I ain't going to see them no more. That's a shame." Robert Payne, motel resident Im next to a fire and Im alive and these people are dead, Payne said, according to the Tribune. Im twisted up something pitiful. The cause of the fire was not immediately clear, but authorities were investigating. Leroy Johnson, who lives in the motel, told WSBT that the fire might have ignited inside his room. As I woke up my bed was on fire. I said Oh my God. I got my sheets and wet them and I tried to throw them on the bed and as I throw it on the bed it didn't work. So I asked the person above me for some salt, Johnson said. As I throw salt on there I hurry and jump out, and once I jump out the whole room exploded. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Exhausted and hungry, some 12,000 firefighters are working 24-hour shifts battling deadly California wildfires and becoming resigned to fire seasons that start earlier, burn longer and unleash increasingly unpredictable blazes. "There's a lot going on up here, endless fires, and they're all characteristically pretty much the same windy, hot and dry," firefighter James Sweeney said before heading out for a meal and a nap. Sweeney, from St. Petersburg, Florida, is a "hotshot," part of an elite team of highly trained wildland firefighters who spend fire season battling the fiercest blazes in the country. Weary after more than a day on the fire lines, the 43-year-old said when his Gila, New Mexico-based crew does leave California, he expects to go north into Oregon, where new fires are kicking up. "These days it's crazy," he said. "We give up our whole life all summer." Crews made progress this weekend on the Carr Fire near Redding, about 230 miles (370 kilometers) north of San Francisco. But it was still threatening thousands of homes and was not expected to be fully contained until mid-August at the earliest. For many of the firefighters slamming down 9,000-calorie meals between shifts, the nonstop effort has become routine. Last year, a fast-moving series of fires in Santa Rosa, just north of San Francisco, and elsewhere in Northern California killed 44 people and destroyed more than 8,000 structures. Last December's Thomas Fire near Santa Barbara burned almost 282,000 acres (440 square miles), becoming the largest wildfire in California history. In his 19 years on the job, Cal Fire Capt. Chris Anthony said the most significant change is that hotter, drier conditions now mean that firefighters are trained to take a "tactical pause" to reconsider before charging in against the flames. "Fire has become a lot more unpredictable," he said. "In the past we could plan, but these days a fire can take a sudden and deadly turn." That's what happened Thursday, when the fire near Redding pivoted and exploded in size, taking down hundreds of homes and killing five people, two of them firefighters. Another firefighter was killed earlier in the month battling a giant fire near Yosemite National Park. Firefighter Jason Campbell was on the front lines Thursday near Yosemite when the Carr Fire destroyed his home, an RV and a boat near Redding. Redding Police Chief Roger Moore also lost his home. Capt. Jarrett Grassl, a 19-year veteran who works for the Higgins Fire District in Northern California, said his crew ran into homeowners trying to save their own properties. The threat to homes reflects the shrinking divide between wilderness and urban areas. "Every year it seems to be a bigger problem," Grassl said Saturday, in 110-degree weather with zero precipitation. Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said he can see the fatigue on the faces of the firefighters when they come in to refuel. "What really helps to encourage them is a thank you," Bosenko said Sunday. "Maybe something posted near the fence that gives them encouragement ... that is a big plus for the firefighters that are coming in to recover." Fighting wildfires is almost always dangerous and grueling, but experienced firefighters said the Carr Fire has been even hotter, drier and more erratic than they are accustomed to. Crews used shovels, hoses and chain saws to corral giant walls of flame that burned through canyons and up steep gulches. The air was thick with smoke and dust as they hauled heavy gear up and down unstable hillsides, grabbing gulps of water whenever they could. They largely worked in silence, with the sound of crashing tree limbs and roaring flames drowning out radios. Nevada County Fire Capt. Nathan Menth calls California's weather system "the prolonged summer." Replenishing fire hose gear after spending the night protecting a Redding neighborhood, he said he was surprised by how quickly the fire spread. "The winds came in," he said. "It was out of control." But 13 years into his career, that chaos is something he's come to expect. There was one small bright spot in his last shift. As flames leaped from one pine to the next, creating a canopy of fire, his team stopped its truck in a driveway near scattered oak trees, expecting the wildfire to continue unchecked. "But this one oak, it slowed it down," he said. "I don't know why, but it just didn't torch off. And that allowed us to turn the fire from those homes, to be proactive instead of reactive." The last of the nine members of the Coleman family of Indiana, who perished in the Missouri duck boat tragedy last weekend, were laid to rest in Indianapolis on Saturday. Tia Coleman and her nephew, Donovan, 13, were the sole survivors of the 11 members of the family who rode on the ill-fated vessel that capized on Table Rock Lake near Branson on July 19. Her husband, Glenn Coleman and their three children, were buried Friday at Grace Apostolic Church the day that one of those children, son Max Coleman-Ly, would have turned 3 years old. The other five family members were buried Saturday, FOX 59 reported. Nearly 1,000 family members, dignitaries and strangers attended the service at Eastern Star Church. The nine Coleman family fatalities represented three generations, the Indianapolis Star reported. In all, 17 people drowned when the duck boat capsized and sank. The others included tourists from Missouri and Arkansas and the boat's operator. On Friday, the National Transportation Safety Board issued a preliminary report, saying the boat capsized amid rapidly changing conditions on the lake. I know it hurts, I couldnt begin to fathom the pain youre facing, the Rev. Stanley Hubbard said at Saturday's service. But I do want you to know he saw you before you got here. This moment is a surprise to us, its not a surprise to God. I know it hurts, I couldnt begin to fathom the pain youre facing. But I do want you to know he saw you before you got here. This moment is a surprise to us, its not a surprise to God. The Rev. Stanley Hubbard Doug Carter, superintendent of the Indiana State Police, who attended both services for Coleman family members, said he didnt know the Colemans personally, but was moved by the strength of the surviving members. Unimaginable pain for these families and this community, he said. I told the family members that they are inspiring a nation. They truly are. Its incredibly humbling to witness. The five Coleman members were buried in a private ceremony after the service. Fox News' Paulina Dedaj contributed to this story. Turkey's president says country will not back down if the United States imposes sanctions in a diplomatic dispute involving an arrested American pastor. Speaking privately to journalists late Saturday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan broke his silence on the crisis: "They cannot make Turkey back down with sanctions." On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced possible sanctions against Turkey, a crucial NATO ally, in retaliation for the treatment of Andrew Craig Brunson, who was detained in the aftermath of a failed 2016 coup against Turkey's government. Brunson denies the charges. Erdogan claimed that he "never used Brunson as a bargaining chip" but he had previously linked Brunson's return to the U.S. extradition of cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara holds responsible for the failed coup. Gulen denies involvement in the coup attempt. Two young children and their great-grandmother died in a wildfire that swept across a Northern California city with devastating speed, their family said Saturday, bringing the death toll to five people. A tearful Sherry Bledsoe confirmed the deaths of her grandmother, Melody Bledsoe, 70, and her children, James Roberts, 5, and Emily Roberts, 4, in the fire that raged into Redding, Calif. "My babies are dead," Sherry said after she and family members met with Shasta County sheriff's deputies, according to KTVU Fox 2 of Northern California. Amanda Woodley, Melodys granddaughter, shared her grief in a public Facebook post. The family that lives in town are all together mourning 3 amazing souls, Woodley wrote. My heart is crushed(.) I can't believe this is real(.) I just keep seeing all of their beautiful faces. Woodley wrote the post also after leaving the sheriffs office, describing her grandmothers heroism. Grandma did everything she could to save them (James and Emily), Woodley wrote. She was hovered over them both with a wet blanket. The Bledsoes lived near the Keswick Estates neighborhood, and their home, like many around it, was reduced to ashes. The tragedy leaves Ed Bledsoe without his wife and the great-grandchildren he doted on. That woman was the best woman I ever seen and them two kids was absolutely angels, Ed said in sheriffs office with three generations of his family around him, according to the Sacramento Bee. They done everything for Grandma and Grandpa -- everything. That woman was the best woman I ever seen and them two kids was absolutely angels. They done everything for Grandma and Grandpa -- everything. Ed Bledsoe, who lost his wife and two great-grandchildren in California's Carr Fire The Bledsoe familys fatalities brought the death toll to five since the so-called Carr Fire started burning Monday into Redding, about 100 miles south of the Oregon border. It exploded Thursday, jumped the Sacramento River and entered the city limits. A bulldozer operator who died working to contain the fire was identified as Don Ray Smith of Pollock Pines, a small community east of Sacramento, according to the Shasta County Sheriff's Department. He was overtaken by flames while on the job and his body was found Thursday. Redding Fire Department Inspector Jeremy Stoke was killed on the job Thursday night. The three victims of the Bledsoe family were among more than a dozen people reported missing, Fox 2 reported. Ed Bledsoe had headed out for supplies Thursday thinking the flames were far away, but while shopping he received a desperate call from his great-grandson. The boy said he had to come back to the home. "We need your help," the boy said as flames were closing in, according to Jason Decker, who is the boyfriend of another Bledsoe granddaughter. Ed rushed home, but was turned back by police. The fire was raging and there were walls of flames. Id give my life for them, he said, according to the Bee. I just dont know what Ive done wrong, I get two little angels like that and I leave them in the damn fire. Decker drove his motorcycle to the home Friday to look for members of the family to no avail. A day later, the smoldering remains of the Bledsoe property was surrounded with crime scene tape. "I don't even have any more tears to cry," Decker said. "But I keep finding them." Decker said his own children played with James and Emily and they had trick-or-treated together. Don Kewley, whose girlfriend is one of the Bledsoes' granddaughters, sympathized with Ed. "He lost everything. Everything. You can't lose more than family. And then you lose everything on top of that?" Kewley said. "The man's got the shirt on his back and the pants on his waist. Like that's it." The Associated Press contributed to this report. Police in Carmel, Indiana launched an investigation after anti-Semitic graffiti was discovered spray-painted on a synagogue Sunday morning. A Nazi flag and other anti-Semitic symbols were painted on the Congregation Shaarey Tefilla, Vice President Mike Pence wrote on Twitter. "Sickened and appalled by the cowardly act of vandalism at Congregation Shaarey Tefilla," Pence tweeted, referring to the synagogue as "beautiful" and a place where he has "many good friends." The vice president added that, "Those responsible must be held accountable. These vile acts of anti-Semitism must end." MILLIONS OF TWEETS SPREAD ANTI-SEMITIC MESSAGES, REPORT SAYS Police confirmed on Facebook that they're investigating the incident, and that such acts "will not be tolerated in our community." Authorities, according to Fox 59, believe the culprits acted on Saturday. Mayor Jim Brainard said in a statement that the graffiti "does not reflect the respectful and welcoming nature of the vast majority of our residents who come from many different cultural and faith backgrounds." The synagogue, in a statement, said that they're "deeply disappointed in the horrific vandalism that occurred at our Congregation," and noted, "Intolerance, hatred, and violent acts against Jews are significant realities today." "The response to this heinous act affirms that American is collectively outraged at these hateful acts in our neighborhoods," the Congregation added. Anyone who has information on the incident is asked to call the Carmel Police Department at 317-571-2500. A sixth person was found dead on Sunday in the North California Carr fire that authorities say has grown to just under 90,000 acres. The wildfire, which exploded Thursday, has taken six lives, including two firefighters, a woman and her two great-grandchildren, ages 4 and 5. The sixth victim was not identified by officials during a news conference Sunday afternoon. Officials, however, said the victim whose remains were found within the boundary of the Carr fire near Redding, about 230 miles north of San Francisco didn't evacuate the area, despite warnings. Seven missing persons reports remain outstanding, according to the Shasta County Sheriff's Office. The National Weather Service alerted of a red flag warning in the vicinity of the Carr fire and remains in effect until Monday at 8 a.m. PT. The fire's spreading "is not driven by the wind, but rather the fire itself," the warning stated. The highest threat remains near the city of Redding, the largest city in the region. The fire moved southwest of the town on Saturday, toward the small communities of Ono, Igo and Gas Point. Keswick, a mountain town of just over 400 people, was almost completely wiped out, officials said. The Carr fire remains the largest fire burning in the state, threatening more than 5,000 structures. The flames were just 5 percent contained as of Sunday. NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FIRE RAGES AS GRANDMOTHER, 2 GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN AMONG DEAD; LOOTERS TARGET EVACUEES The latest tally showed at least 517 structures destroyed and another 135 damaged, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Anthony Romero said at the press conference. "Right now, it's going everywhere," Romero said. "We still have a lot of open line. Any event could bring this back up again." Anna Noland, one of nearly 38,000 people who were forced to evacuate the Redding area, learned through video footage that her house had burned in the fire. She planned to stay at a shelter while trying to find a place to live. "I think I'm still in shock," Nolan told The Associated Press. "It's just unbelievable knowing you don't have a house to go back to." 'MY BABIES ARE DEAD': MOM, FAMILY MOURN FOR 2 KIDS, GREAT-GRANDMOTHER KILLED BY CARR FIRE IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA Wildfires around the state have forced roughly 50,000 people from their homes, said Lynne Tolmachoff, a Cal Fire spokeswoman. About 12,000 firefighters were battling 17 significant fires Sunday in California, she said. "We are well ahead of the fire activity we saw last year," she said. "This is just July, so we're not even into the worst part of fire season." About 100 miles southwest of Redding, two blazes that prompted mandatory evacuations in Mendocino County destroyed four homes and threatened more than 4,500 buildings, officials said. They had blackened 39 square miles and were each 5 percent contained. Authorities also issued evacuation orders in Napa County, famous for its wine, when a fire destroyed eight structures. The blaze had blackened 150 acres, but was 50 percent contained on Sunday. Big fires continued to burn outside Yosemite National Park and in the San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles near Palm Springs. Those blazes had burned nearly 100 square miles. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The explosive wildfire in Northern California continues to rage Sunday as officials in a city threatened by the flames are also having to deal with an outbreak of looting in areas where residents evacuated. The Carr Fire has left five people dead so far since it exploded on Thursday: two firefighters, a woman and her two great-grandchildren, ages 4 and 5. On Saturday, the blaze pushed southwest of Redding, the largest city in the region, toward the tiny communities of Ono, Igo and Gas Point, where scorching heat, winds and bone-dry conditions complicated firefighting efforts. The fire developed so rapidly due the weather conditions, that it just was a huge fireball coming into the west Redding area, extremely quickly, enveloping everything in its path, Cal Fire Deputy Chief Scott McLean told Americas News HQ on Sunday. There was no stopping it. The fire, only 5 percent contained, grew slightly Saturday to 131 square miles and is the largest fire burning in California, threatening 5,000 structures. At least 500 homes have been destroyed in the blaze so far, FOX40 reported. This fire is a disaster, Sacramento firefighter Chris Harvey told a group of residents, according to the Sacramento Bee. Its a very large event with very high speed and very high temperatures that are going to last a couple of days." The fire has forced more than 38,000 people to evacuate after the blaze entered the outskirts of Redding, which has a population of nearly 91,000. Since so many people are out of their homes, officials disclosed on Saturday that police patrols are being increased and National Guard troops are being brought in to deal with looting. Were experiencing a lot of looting and are beefing up our security, Redding Police Chief Roger Moore told a group of residents on Saturday, according to the Sacramento Bee. 'MY BABIES ARE DEAD': MOM, FAMILY MOURN FOR 2 KIDS, GREAT-GRANDMOTHER KILLED BY CARR FIRE IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko told the group that authorities had made their first arrest of a suspected looter and received a round of applause, according to the paper. Weve just made an arrest and that person is going off to jail and we caught him, he said. He was a parolee. The threat of looting comes as dazed evacuees are struggling to take care of themselves after abruptly leaving on Thursday. Bonnie and Jerry Kieffaber told the Associated Press they grabbed most of their medications when they left their home but left behind Jerry's insulin. Bonnie told the AP being away from home the entire time is expensive. "All of our food was there, and now we're draining our checking account trying to keep gas in the car and buy food, too," she said. "It's exhausting," Bonnie Kieffaber told the AP. "The heat and the stress of it all, and praying for everybody and all of our friends." The firefighters killed in the blaze included Don Ray Smith, 81, of Pollock Pines, a bulldozer operator who was helping clear vegetation in the path of the wildfire. Redding Fire Inspector Jeremy Stoke was also killed, but details of his death were not released. Sherry Bledsoe's two children, James Roberts, 5, and Emily Roberts, 4, were stranded with their great grandmother Melody Bledsoe, 70, when walls of flames swept through the family's rural property Thursday on the outskirts of Redding. "My babies are dead," Sherry Bledsoe said through tears after she and family members met with Shasta County sheriff's deputies. CARR FIRE IN CALIFORNIA DESTROYS MORE THAN 80,000 ACRES: OFFICIALS The children and their great-grandmother were among more than a dozen people reported missing after the furious wind-driven blaze took residents by surprise and leveled several neighborhoods. Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said he expects to find several of those people alive and just out of touch with loved ones. Officers have gone to homes of several people reported missing and found cars gone a strong indication they fled. The Carr Fire was sparked by a vehicle problem on Monday, but it wasn't until Thursday that the blaze exploded and raced into communities west of Redding before entering city limits. McLean said Sunday that the blaze is one of 17 significant fires throughout the state that over 12,000 firefighters are fighting. Additional personnel are arriving from other states, including 150 additional fire engines. "We're getting a lot of resources from a lot of different directions," he said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. U.S. Presidents Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Obama andPutin? On Thursday, an unidentified prankster placed a portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin on an easel below a blank space on a wall in the Colorado Capitol where presidential portraits are hung. The Russian leaders likeness was removed by a tour guide, but not before state Sen. Steve Fenberg, a Democrat, tweeted a photograph of the portrait. The presidential photographs cost around $10,000 and are paid for with donations. Jay Seller, the head of the group that collects the funds, told local media that it took about four months to collect the money for the portraits of former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush. Trump and Putin held a historic summit almost two weeks ago in Helsinki in which they reportedly discussed a range of issues, including nuclear proliferation, the war in Syria and Russias meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Trump has been shadowed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into alleged collusion between members of the Trump campaign and Russian officials a probe that the president has repeatedly deemed a witch hunt. Although Trump expressed a willingness to meet with Putin at the White House this fall, he later said any summit with the Russian president in the U.S. would not happen until 2019. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A red-tailed hawk was rescued in upstate New York last week after it was struck by a vehicle on Route 39, authorities said. The Livingston County Sheriffs Office shared several photos of the rescued bird including one of the bird laying on the grass. We rescued this red-tailed hawk today after it was struck on Avon Geneseo Road (Route 39) in Geneseo, deputies wrote. WOMAN GIVES BIRTH AT SIX FLAGS OVER GEORGIA, SCORES LIFETIME FREE PASSES They added that the male bird was transported to be rehabilitated and we hope he can make a recovery. Deputy Scott Patterson and Department of Environmental Conservation Officer Josh Crain were praised for rescuing the bird. ROOKIE NEW JERSEY COP SAVES MAN FROM ONCOMING COMMUTER TRAIN, DRAMATIC VIDEO SHOWS Livingston County Sheriff Thomas J. Dougherty posted a similar message on his Twitter account. The bird had been hit by a vehicle, he said. A Livingston County Sheriffs Office spokeswoman told Fox News that the sheriff's office assisted the DEC with the call. The DEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News outside of regular business hours on Sunday. The U.S. Justice Department may no longer withhold grants from Chicago as leverage against its policies of providing sanctuary to immigrants, a federal judge ruled Friday. The city filed a lawsuit against Attorney General Jeff Sessions in August 2017 after the DOJ required Chicago and other sanctuary cities to provide 48 hours notice before releasing from custody immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The Justice Department also sought access to jails by federal agents and the sharing of citizenship information. U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber granted a permanent injunction against the three conditions and denied a Justice Department motion to dismiss the lawsuit. Sessions warned Chicago that it would be ineligible for federal public safety grants if it didnt comply a move the city maintained was overreach of legal authority and unconstitutional. "Todays opinion in favor of Chicago and against the Trump Justice Department marks a major win for all Chicagoans and a significant victory for public safety." Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Todays opinion in favor of Chicago and against the Trump Justice Department marks a major win for all Chicagoans and a significant victory for public safety," Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Friday. According to the courts order, the limitation will remain in place until an appeals process will determine whether the injunction applies nationwide, the Sun-Times reported. Arguments are scheduled for Sept. 6. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Two American cyclists were among four killed and three injured in the Danghara district of the Central Asian nation of Tajikistan on Sunday, when a car hit them before fleeing the scene, U.S. authorities said. The seven cyclists included, as well, two Dutch nationals and three other foreigners, News.com.au reported. Three foreigners were killed at the scene and another died in hospital, the Tajikistan interior ministry told the news agency. The three others suffered minor injuries. A 21-year-old male was detained in connection with the incident, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. In a statement, the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe confirmed that two of the dead were U.S. citizens. Due to privacy concerns, we are unable to share further details. Our condolences go out to the victims' families, and we will continue to work with Tajik authorities in the ongoing investigation, the statement said. Additional information was not immediately released. The incident took place about 93 miles south of Dushanbe, the capital of the former Soviet country surrounded by Afghanistan, China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Fox News Thomas Ferraro contributed to this report. Cambodia's ruling party coasted to victory in Sunday's general election - a result rights groups slammed as illegitimate and that the Trump administration described as "flawed." A government spokesman told The Associated Press that Prime Minister Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP) had topped the polls. He did not say how many of the of the 125 seats in the National Assembly the CPP had captured, but preliminary totals broadcast on state television showed that the party had won at least 70 percent of the vote in each of the country's 25 provinces. Under the election's system of proportional representation, the party would likely grab more than 100 seats. Although 20 parties contested the election, the only one with the popularity and organization to mount a real challenge, the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), was dissolved last year by the Supreme Court in a ruling generally seen as political in nature. Local and foreign rights groups, along with several Western governments, had agreed that the election would not be credible. In a statement, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the vote was "neither free nor fair and failed to represent the will of the Cambodian people. The flawed elections ... represent the most significant setback yet to the democratic system enshrined Cambodia's constitution, and substantially erode Cambodia's achievements in promoting political reconciliation and economic growth." Sanders added that the Trump administration would consider its response to the election "and other recent setbacks to democracy," including an expansion of visa restrictions announced by the White House in December. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., tweeted: "[Hun Sen] and his thugs threatening the voters of #Cambodia does not make a free and fair election." Charging that the polls were neither free nor fair, the disbanded CNRP's former leaders had urged people not to vote in what was dubbed a "Clean Finger" campaign because those who did cast ballots had to dip a finger in indelible ink, a practice meant to thwart multiple voting. According to detailed totals released by the state National Election Committee, more than 6.8 million registered voters, or 82.2 percent, cast ballots. The figure, if correct, would suggest that the promotion by opposition forces of a poll boycott was ineffective. In the last general election in 2013, voter turnout was 6.6 million, or 68.5 percent of 9.7 million registered voters. Hun Sen said on his Facebook page before the results were announced that he welcomed the big turnout, and congratulated his countrymen for exercising their right to vote. Opposition forces, who had already judged the polls not to be free or fair because of the exclusion of the only credible challenger, can point to two reasons for the alleged failure of the boycott movement. In rural areas where the majority live, the failure to vote signified by having no fingers dipped in indelible ink made voters subject to retaliation by local officials who carry out civic functions, such as land registration. There had been reports during the campaign of threats against anyone who planned to boycott the vote. Voters in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital and an opposition stronghold, were less susceptible to such threats because of their higher visibility and safety in numbers. However, according to the election committee, even there the turnout was about 80 percent. Doubts are also likely to be raised about the actual turnout figures because several established poll-watching groups as well as contingents from the United States and the European Union declined to take part because they felt the polls were not legitimate. One of the bigger Cambodian groups participating in poll-watching was led by one of Hun Sen's sons. Following the election, exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who had earlier urged Cambodians not to vote, called for peaceful protests, calling it "a sham election with a foregone conclusion." Speaking from south of Paris in Freteval where he lives, Sam Rainsy told The Associated Press that "it is a meaningless victory because [Hun Sen] won without any real challenger ... prior to the election he dissolved the only credible opposition party." The CPP was alarmed by the results of the 2013 election, when the race was close enough for the opposition to claim that it would have won had it not been for manipulation of the voter registration process. Along with fracturing the political opposition including pressuring Sam Rainsy into exile and jailing his successor, Kem Sokha Hun Sen's government also silenced critical voices in the media. Over the past year, about 30 radio stations shut down, and two English-language newspapers that provided serious reporting were gutted, one forced to close and the other put under ownership friendly to the government. Just ahead of the polls, the government ordered the temporary blocking of 17 websites, citing regulations prohibiting media from disseminating information that might affect security. The blocked websites included those of the U.S. government-funded Voice of America as well as local media. Hun Sen, whose 33 years in power make him among the world's longest-serving national leaders, promised peace and prosperity at a rally on the last day of campaigning on Friday, but attacked the opposition's boycott call and called those who heed it "destroyers of democracy." Hun Sen, 65, has said he intends to stay in power for at least two more five-year terms. He was a member of the radical communist Khmer Rouge during its successful five-year war to topple a pro-American government, then defected to Vietnam during Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot's 1975-79 genocidal regime that left nearly 2 million Cambodians dead. He became prime minister in 1985 in a Vietnamese-backed single-party communist government and led Cambodia through a civil war against the Khmer Rouge, which eased off with the 1991 Paris Peace Accords that also installed a democratic political framework. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Extreme heat and record-low rainfall have turned German farmland into a scorched wasteland, causing massive losses, according to farmers. Combine harvesters in the typically fertile breadbasket of Saxony-Anhalt in eastern Germany have been kicking up giant clouds of dust as they roll over cracked earth, reports Agence France Press. It hasn't really rained since April and that's the main growth period for our grains and the other crops we've never seen anything like it," Juliane Stein of Agro Bordegrun, a farming conglomerate formed after German reunification in 1990, told AFP. Stein continued: We've reached the point here in Germany where we're talking about a natural disaster that's a threat to our livelihood. German authorities declare a natural disaster during a drought when at least 30 percent of the average annual harvest is destroyed. The German Farmers Association (DBV) has called for crisis talks on Tuesday to discuss emergency aid. We expect billions in losses, DBV President Joachim Rukwied told German media last week. The French press agency reports that Germanys grain crop alone has shrunk by up to 18 million tons or around 18 percent this year, cutting 1.4 billion euros from revenues thus far. The government needs to declare a state of emergency so that farmers in areas hit hardest by the drought can be helped directly with cash aid, Rukwied said. AFP reports that sugar beets, rapeseed, potato and corn crops have been decimated in the drought with cornstalks that should be 6 feet high at only about 2 feet tall. Thomas Endrulat of the German Weather Service said it had been at least 15 years since the country had experienced a similarly hot, dry summer. "Wheat when it's dry is as flammable as straw," Stein said. Meanwhile, officials say that the grain shortage has also deprived farmers of animal feed and sent prices soaring. At least 14 people were killed and more than 160 injured after a large earthquake struck an island in Indonesia near the popular tourist destination of Bali on Sunday, officials said. The U.S. Geological Survey said the 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck at a depth of only 4.4 miles. Shallow earthquakes tend to do more damage than deeper ones. The powerful temblor, which was followed by two smaller earthquakes and 60 aftershocks, hit the Lombok island, with the eastern part of the island sustaining more damage. "People in East Lombok and Mataram felt the strong quake for 10 seconds; residents were panicking and running outside of their homes," said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for Indonesia's Disaster Mitigation Agency, according to Sky News. The quake killed a 30-year-old Malaysian woman in East Lombok, and the number of casualties could rise as officials search the island, Nugroho said. Of the 162 people reported injured, 67 are hospitalized with serious injuries, Nugroho added The quake caused blackouts in East Lombok and North Lombok districts and triggered a large landslide from Mount Rinjani, where rescuers were evacuating more than 800 tourists from the mountain. 'BIG ONE' COMING? EARTHQUAKES OFF THE WEST COAST COULD EVENTUALLY TRIGGER A GLOBAL EVENT In East Lombok and the provincial capital of Mataram, Nugroho said most of the fatalities and injuries were caused by falling slabs of concrete. Photos released by the disaster agency showed damaged houses and the entrance to the popular Mount Rinjani National Park, which was immediately closed for fear of landslides. Television footage showed residents remaining outside, fearing aftershocks, as the injured were being treated on mattresses taken out of their partially damaged houses and patients were wheeled out of a hospital. Eka Fathurrahman, the police chief in East Lombok, told the Associated Press that a Malaysian woman who died was part of a group of 18 Malaysian tourists who had just visited Mount Rinjani when the quake jolted their guesthouse and toppled a concrete wall. Six other people were injured at the guesthouse. Fathurrahman said many injured people who were treated outside a damaged clinic were evacuated to the main hospital farther away after more ambulances reached the devastated location in East Lombok's Sembalun Village. "Residents refused to enter their houses as prolonged aftershocks are still being felt," he said. Indonesia is prone to earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin. In December 2004, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries. The Associated Press contributed to this report. next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 The Latest on Cambodia's national election (all times local): 10:50 p.m. Cambodia's exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy has called for peaceful protests against the country's general election, calling it "a sham election with a foregone conclusion." Cambodia's information minister says the ruling party won Sunday's election, ensuring that Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has led the country for 33 years, will serve another five year-term. Sam Rainsy, speaking roughly 180 kilometers (112 miles) south of Paris in Freteval, where he lives, told The Associated Press that "it is a meaningless victory because he won without any real challenger ... prior to the election he dissolved the only credible opposition party." Although 20 parties contested the election, the only one with the popularity and organization to mount a credible challenge, Sam Rainsy's Cambodian National Rescue Party, was dissolved last year by the Supreme Court. ___ This item has been corrected to show Rainsy was speaking in Freteval, not Paris. ___ 10:20 p.m. Cambodia's chief government spokesman says the country's ruling party has won the general election, ensuring that Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has led the country for 33 years, will serve another five year-term. Khieu Kanharith, who is also information minister, did not say how many of the 125 seats in the National Assembly the Cambodia People's Party had captured in Sunday's election, but preliminary totals broadcast on state television showed that it had won at least 70 percent of the vote in each of the country's 25 provinces. Although 20 parties contested the election, the only one with the popularity and organization to mount a credible challenge, the Cambodian National Rescue Party, was dissolved last year by the Supreme Court. ___ 9:40 p.m. Preliminary partial vote counts from Cambodia's national election show Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling party well on its way to victory as expected for almost all of the 125 National Assembly seats, with the longtime leader on the verge of returning for another five-year term. Although 20 parties contested the election, the only one with the popularity and organization to mount a credible challenge, the Cambodian National Rescue Party, was dissolved last year by the Supreme Court. Local and foreign rights groups, along with several Western governments, had agreed that the polls would not be credible. Sunday night's initial tallies, which were broadcast live on state television, showed Hun Sen's Cambodia People's Party with at least 70 percent of the vote in all 25 provinces, with the 19 challenger parties far behind. ___ 7:20 a.m. Cambodians have begun voting in an election virtually certain to return to office Prime Minister Hun Sen and his ruling Cambodian People's Party. Although 20 parties are contesting the polls, the only one with the popularity and organization to mount a credible challenge, the Cambodian National Rescue Party, was dissolved last year by the Supreme Court. Its former leaders have called on supporters to boycott the polls. Voting ends at 3 p.m. and preliminary results are expected on Sunday night. The Latest on the release of Palestinian protest icon Ahed Tamimi from an Israeli prison (all times local): 6:10 p.m. The father of Palestinian protest icon Ahed Tamimi says Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called her to congratulate her on her release from an Israeli prison. Ahed's father, Bassem, says his daughter received the call Sunday, hours after returning home from an eight-month prison stint for slapping two Israeli soldiers. Tamimi has become an international symbol of resistance to Israel's half century-old military rule over Palestinians In Israel, where she is seen as a troublemaker or threat to the military's deterrence. Bassem Tamimi says he does not know what Erdogan said to his daughter. Erdogan received Ahed Tamimi in Turkey in 2012, after she scuffled with an Israeli soldier trying to arrest her brother. ___ 5:20 p.m. Palestinian protest icon Ahed Tamimi, who spent eight months in Israeli detention for slapping two soldiers, says she plans to study law to "defend my people and the Palestinian cause." The 17-year-old spoke outside her family's West Bank home, thronged by journalists. The teen, who became a symbol of resistance to Israeli occupation for Palestinians and their supporters, received a hero's welcome after her release from prison Sunday. Tamimi spoke cautiously. At one point, she raised her fist in the air and said that "the occupation must leave," but did not commit to political activism. The teen says prison taught her to be patient, to love life and to work with others. She says she completed her high school exams in detention with the help of other prisoners. ___ 8:35 a.m. Israel's prison service says it has released Palestinian protest icon Ahed Tamimi. Spokesman Assaf Librati says Tamimi and her mother Nariman were released early on Sunday. They are being transferred by the army to the Palestinians territories. The 17-year-old served an eight-month prison term for slapping and kicking Israeli soldiers. Easily recognizable by her unruly mop of curly red hair, she has become for many a symbol of resistance to Israel's half-century-old military occupation. In Israel, she is seen by many as either as a provocateur, an irritation or a threat to the military's deterrence policy. Supporters are preparing a festive homecoming for Tamimi in her West Bank village of Nabi Saleh later this morning. Her family's home has been decorated with Palestinian flags and hundreds of chairs await well-wishers. Palestinian teen Ahed Tamimi, who became an international symbol of resistance to Israeli occupation after slapping two soldiers, walked out of an Israeli prison Sunday and told throngs of journalists and well-wishers that she now wants to study law to defend her people. In an outdoor news conference near her family home, the curly haired 17-year-old briefly raised her fist and said the "occupation must leave." She spoke against the backdrop of a large model of a slingshot that was "loaded" with a pencil rather than a stone, apparently to highlight education as one of the possible Palestinian tactics. PALESTINIAN GIRL PRAISED AS HERO AFTER CONFRONTING SOLDIERS The once feisty teen appeared to be subdued, stopping short of committing to continued acts of protests and saying her eight-month prison stint had taught her to appreciate life. Underlying her case are clashing narratives about Israel's half-century rule over the Palestinians, the extent of permissible Palestinian resistance to it and the battle for global public opinion. Tamimi's supporters see a brave girl who struck two armed soldiers in frustration after having just learned that Israeli troops seriously wounded a 15-year-old cousin, shooting him in the head from close range with a rubber bullet during nearby stone-throwing clashes. In Israel, she is seen by many either as a provocateur, an irritation or a threat to the military's deterrence policy even as a "terrorist." Israel has treated her actions as a criminal offense, indicting her on charges of assault and incitement. In liberal circles, the hard-charging prosecution of Tamimi was criticized as a public relations disaster because it turned her into an international icon. Her release comes at a time when Palestinian hopes for an independent state appear dimmer than ever. Israeli-Palestinian talks on setting up a state in lands captured by Israel in 1967 the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem have been deadlocked since hard-line Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to power in 2009. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas suspended contacts with the U.S. after President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December in what Palestinians denounced as a display of blatant pro-Israel bias. Abbas, meanwhile, has stepped up financial pressure on Gaza, controlled since 2007 by his bitter domestic rival, the Islamic militant Hamas. Many Palestinians are disillusioned by their leaders in both political camps and feel exhausted after years of conflict with Israel. Alternatives have arisen, including calling for a single state for both peoples between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, but haven't gained a mass following. In this context, the idea of so-called popular resistance regular demonstrations, including stone-throwing by unarmed protesters has only caught on in a few West Bank villages, including Nabi Saleh, home to the extended Tamimi clan. VIRAL VIDEO SHOWS SKIRMISH BETWEEN PALESTINIAN WOMEN, YOUTH AND ISRAELI SOLDER Since 2009, residents of Nabi Salah have staged regular anti-occupation protests that often ended with stone-throwing clashes. Ahed has participated in such marches from a young age and has had several highly publicized run-ins with soldiers. One photo shows the then 12-year-old raising a clenched fist toward a soldier towering over her. In a sign of her popularity, a pair of Italian artists painted a large mural of her on Israel's West Bank separation barrier ahead of her release. Israeli police said they were caught in the act along with another Palestinian and arrested for vandalism. On Sunday, Israel canceled the visas of the two Italians and ordered them to leave the country within three days, police said. Ahed and her mother Nariman also arrested in December in connection with the same incident were released Sunday morning from a prison in northern Israel. They were driven by bus to the West Bank and were given a hero's welcome in Nabi Saleh. "The resistance continues until the occupation is removed," Ahed said upon her return. "All the female prisoners are steadfast. I salute everyone who supported me and my case." ISRAEL INCIDCTS TEENAGE PALESTINIAN GIRL WHO SLAPPED SOLDIERS From her home, Ahed headed to a visit to the grave of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. She laid a wreath, kissed the headstone twice at the request of photographers and recited a prayer from the Quran, the Muslim holy book. She was then taken with her family to a meeting with Abbas at his headquarters in Ramallah. The 83-year-old Abbas praised her as a symbol of resistance to occupation even as he faces growing domestic criticism for not walking away from continued security coordination between his forces and Israeli troops against Hamas, a shared foe. In an afternoon news conference, Ahed said that she completed her high school exams in prison, with the help of other prisoners. Palestinian inmates typically organize study courses to complete high school and even university degrees. "I will study law to defend my people and defend my Palestinian cause in international forums," she said. She said her prison experience was tough, and that she missed her old life in the village and her friends. She said she underwent three lengthy interrogations without a female officer present, in violation of Israel's own rules. At one point Sunday, Ahed received a call from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who congratulated her on her release, said her father. Tamimi's scuffle with the two soldiers took place Dec. 15 in Nabi Saleh. PALESTINIAN GIRL, 17, STANDS TRIAL ACCUSED OF SLAPPING, PUNCHING 2 ISRAELI SOLDIERS At the time, protests had erupted in several parts of the West Bank over Trump's recognition 10 days earlier of the contested city of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. She was arrested at her home four days later, in the middle of the night. Ahed was 16 when she was arrested and turned 17 while in custody. Her case has trained a spotlight on the detention of Palestinian minors by Israel, a practice that has been criticized by international rights groups. Some 300 minors are currently being held, according to Palestinian figures. Israeli Cabinet minister Uri Ariel said the Tamimi case highlighted what could happen if Israel lets its guard down. "I think Israel acts too mercifully with these types of terrorists. Israel should treat harshly those who hit its soldiers," he told The Associated Press. "We can't have a situation where there is no deterrence. Lack of deterrence leads to the reality we see now ... we must change that." A suburb of Paris has 300,000 illegal immigrants crammed into it, according to a parliamentary report. Politicians have warned Seine-Saint-Denis, northeast of Paris, could be turned into a huge ethnic ghetto within two decades due to the surging numbers. The report said the suburb just 6 miles from the Eiffel Tower is putting a huge strain on public services and creating social tensions. There are an estimated 135 different nationalities in Saint-Denis, most extremely poor, including an estimated 600,000 Muslims from North African or sub-Saharan African backgrounds, the Daily Mail reported. The official legal population in Saint-Denis is estimated at 1.5 million. TUNISIA GIVES BOAT WITH 40 MIGRANTS GREENLIGHT AFTER 2 WEEKS But the numbers continue to rise, as an estimated 80 migrants arrive in Paris every 24 hours 550 a week. After the break-up of the refugee camp in Calais, thousands of migrants moved to suburbs in the capital where charities say hundreds of children are sleeping rough. Seine-Saint-Denis is popular with immigrants because of its location and efficient transport links, including the railway lines heading toward the North coast, and Britain. Its also only a few hours from the Channel ports of Calais and Dunkirk. In May French riot police cleared more than 1,000 migrants and refugees from a makeshift canal in Saint-Denis, where they had been sleeping under bridges. Rodrigue Koukouendo, from President Emmanuel Macrons centrist party, and Francois Cornut-Gentille from the center-Right Republicans, who authored the report, want the government to review Frances ban on gathering data on the ethnic make-up of the population. MIGRANT FAMILIES REMAIN ANXIOUS FOLLOWING REUNIFICATION They want illegal immigrants entering France to be better monitored and regulated. They wrote, To identify urban phenomena of ghettoisation, to explain educational difficulties, to combat discrimination and to adapt the resources of the police and the judiciary to a specific population, the question of establishing so-called ethnic statistics is raised. French law currently prohibits the collection of data based on race, ethnicity or religion. Between 8 and 20 percent of the suburbs population are not registered with the authorities and many turn to crime or the black economy to earn money. The report says plans must be put in place to tackle poverty, high unemployment and trafficking of people and drugs which is rife in some districts. This article originally appeared in The Sun. A polar bear was shot and killed after attacking a cruise ship employee who was leading tourists off a ship on an Arctic archipelago on Saturday, officials said. The attack took place after the MS Bremen cruise ship landed on the most northern island of the Svalbard archipelago, a region located between mainland Norway and the North Pole, the Joint Rescue Coordination for Northern Norway said on Twitter. The German Hapag Lloyd Cruises company, which operates the MS Bremen, told The Associated Press that two polar bear guards from their ship went on the island and one of them "was attacked by a polar bear and injured on his head." The polar bear was then shot dead "in an act of self-defense" by the second guard, spokeswoman Negar Etminan told the AP. WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGE BELOW The worker, a designated polar bear guard, suffered a head injury as he led tourists off the ship and was unresponsive when he was airlifted for medical treatment, Sky News reported. Etminan said the victim did not appear to suffer life-threatening injuries. According to Hapag Lloyd Cruises, all of its cruise ships traveling in the region are obliged to have polar bear guards aboard. Arctic tourism to the region has risen sharply in the past few years and is now in high season, as people travel to visit the remote terrain, glaciers, reindeer and polar bears. A Longyearbyen port schedule reviewed by the AP showed that 18 cruise ships will be docking at the Arctic port in the next week. This was not the first time a polar bear attack took place in Norway. In 2011, a British student died on a school expedition to Svalbard after an animal dragged him away by the head, according to Sky News. PHOTOGRAPHER BEHIND VIRAL IMAGE OF STARVING POLAR BEAR RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE NARRATIVE The animals typically prey on seals, and are known to be "masters of their environment" due to having no natural enemies, according to National Geographic. "These powerful predators typically prey on seals. In search of this quarry they frequent areas of shifting, cracking ice where seals may surface to breathe air," National Geographic notes. "They also stalk ice edges and breathing holes. If the opportunity presents itself, polar bears will also consume carcasses, such as those of dead whales. " Last month, a 31-year-old Canadian man was killed while protecting his children from a polar bear in a popular Canadian fishing and hunting spot. Aaron Gibbons was on Sentry Island, located on the west coast of Hudson Bay in northeastern Canada, when he and his children encountered a polar bear Gibbons, who was unarmed at the time, stood in front of his children to protect them from the animal. "Definitely Aaron died a hero; he protected his children," Gibbons' cousin, Eric Anoee, told CBC News . "It's [the] right word to say right now." Fox News' Katherine Lam and the Associated Press contributed to this report. Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the U.S. not to impose sanctions against his government over the ongoing imprisonment of an American pastor accused of espionage and terror-related charges. Andrew Craig Brunson, 50, was arrested in December 2016 and held in a Turkish prison until he was released to home detention last week. The pastor, who is originally from Black Mountain, N.C., has lived in Turkey for 23 years and led Izmir Resurrection Church. Late Saturday, Turkish media quoted Erdogan as saying that Washington "cannot make Turkey back down with sanctions." "The U.S. should not forget that unless it changes its attitude, it will lose a strong and sincere partner like Turkey," warned Erdogan, who is on an official visit to southern Africa this week. Brunson was detained in the aftermath of a failed 2016 coup on charges of "committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member" and espionage. His He faces a prison sentence of up to 35 years if he is convicted on both counts at the end of his ongoing trial. On Thursday, President Trump announced possible sanctions against Turkey -- a member of NATO -- over its treatment of Brunson. On Sunday, Vice President Mike Pence told Fox Business Network's "Sunday Morning Futures" that Brunson's release to house arrest "is just not good enough." "Pastor Andrew Brunson is an innocent man. Hes a man of profound Christian faith, who has ministered in Turkey for more than 20 years ... There's no credible evidence of any wrongdoing against him," Pence said. "The United States of America is prepared to bring sanctions against Turkey until Pastor Andrew Brunson is free." Erdogan denied speculation that there had been an agreement to swap Brunson for Turkish citizens being held abroad, particularly 27-year-old Ebru Ozkan. Ozkan had been detained by Israel on terror-related charges, but was deported this month. The Turkish leader previously linked Brunson's return to the U.S. to the extradition of Fethullah Gulen. Ankara blames Gulen for the coup attempt, while the cleric denies involvement. Erdogan also warned that Turkey would seek international arbitration if the United States refused to deliver F-35 fighter jets in retaliation. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Heavy fighting along Yemen's west coast between pro-government forces and Shiite rebels in recent days has left dozens dead from both sides, Yemeni officials and witnesses said Sunday. Government forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, have been advancing in the area in recent weeks as they battle Iran-allied rebels known as Houthis. The fighting has escalated as government forces try to retake the port city of Hodeida, the main entry point for food in a country teetering on the brink of famine. The government has been waging an offensive to seize the rebel-held district of Zabid south of Hodeida, the officials said. The offensive is being waged by ground troops carrying sophisticated weapons, including shoulder-fired missiles, with air cover from the Saudi-led coalition, they said. The fighting to capture Zabid, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, killed dozens from both sides of Yemen's conflict, now in its fourth year. The coalition on Sunday targeted rebels in the district of ad-Durayhimi south of Hodeida with airstrikes, killing at least 18 people, the officials said. The rebels, known as the Houthis, were trying to break into ad-Durayhimi, about 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) south of Hodeida International Airport, they said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media, while the witnesses did so for fear of reprisals. Also on Sunday, the coalition said it destroyed missile launch sites in the rebels' northern home base of Saada province, according to a statement carried by the Saudi state-run al-Ekhbariya TV channel. The Saudi-led coalition launched the campaign to retake Hodeida in June, with Emirati troops leading the force of government soldiers and irregular militia fighters backing Yemen's exiled government. Saudi Arabia has provided air support, with targeting guidance and refueling from the United States. Hodeida, home to 600,000 people, is some 150 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of the capital Sanaa. The campaign to take Hodeida threatens to worsen Yemen's humanitarian situation as it is the main entry point for food, humanitarian aid and fuel supplies to the country. Aid groups fear a protracted fight could force a shutdown of the port and potentially tip millions into starvation. Some 70 percent of Yemen's food enters via the port, as well as the bulk of humanitarian aid and fuel supplies. Around two-thirds of the country's population of 27 million relies on aid and 8.4 million are at risk of starving. The Houthis seized control of Sanaa in September 2014, and later pushed south toward the port city of Aden. The Saudi-led coalition entered the conflict in March 2015 and has faced criticism for a campaign of airstrikes that has killed civilians and destroyed hospitals and markets. The Houthis, meanwhile, have laid land mines, killing and wounding civilians. They have also targeted religious minorities and imprisoned opponents. The stalemate war has killed more than 10,000 people. Impoverished Yemen has been devastated by the stalemated three-year civil war that has left around two-thirds of Yemen's population of 27 million relying on aid, and over 8 million at risk of starving. next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 Zimbabwe is voting in a historic election that is the first without Robert Mugabe, who led the southern African nation since independence from white minority rule in 1980 but stepped down last year under military pressure amid a ruling party feud. Here's a look at milestones in the country's troubled history. ___ March 4, 1980: Mugabe wins the post of prime minister in the independent Zimbabwe's first elections. 1982: A deadly, years-long military offensive begins in Matabeleland against supporters of Mugabe's former ally Joshua Nkomo, with thousands of civilians killed. 1987: Mugabe becomes president after changes to the constitution. 1998: Zimbabwe's once-prosperous economy spirals into a crisis from which it has never recovered. 2000: Mugabe launches deeply unpopular campaign to seize land from white farmers, leading to international condemnation. The opposition MDC party gains momentum. 2002: Mugabe re-elected as foreign observers call the vote badly flawed. The European Union imposes sanctions. 2003: The United States imposes sanctions for "undermining democratic institutions or processes." 2005: U.S. secretary of state nominee Condoleezza Rice calls Zimbabwe one of the world's six "outposts of tyranny." 2008: MDC opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai claims first-round election win but boycotts the runoff vote as violence against his supporters increases. Mugabe is declared the winner. The two enter a fragile power-sharing deal under which Tsvangirai will become prime minister. 2013: A new constitution that strengthens human rights is approved in a referendum amid skepticism that Mugabe will loosen his grip on the country. He wins another term a few months later as the MDC claims the election was fraudulent. 2016: The influential liberation war veterans turn on Mugabe after years of acting as his enforcers. Social media fuels large anti-government protests. First lady Grace Mugabe's profile continues to rise with a younger-generation following in the ruling party called the G40, while some say she has no experience to succeed her husband, who is now in his 90s. August 2017: Grace Mugabe is accused of assaulting a young woman at an upscale hotel in neighboring South Africa but is granted diplomatic immunity. November 2017: Robert Mugabe fires deputy and longtime ally Emmerson Mnangagwa after a growing campaign against him by the first lady. Mnangagwa flees the country. The military moves into the capital and puts Mugabe under house arrest. Tens of thousands rally in the capital for Mugabe to step down. Ruling party support crumbles. Nov. 21, 2017: Lawmakers begin impeachment proceedings and Mugabe resigns after 37 years in power. Nov. 24, 2017: The 75-year-old Mnangagwa is inaugurated, urging Zimbabwe to let "bygones be bygones." Feb. 14: Opposition leader Tsvangirai dies, leading many MDC supporters to rally around 40-year-old lawyer and pastor Nelson Chamisa as their presidential candidate. June 23: The European Union deploys its first election observers in Zimbabwe in 16 years as Mnangagwa pledges a free and fair election while seeking the lifting of international sanctions including U.S. sanctions on himself. [This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Gamasutra and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource Games Press.] An ominous aetherstorm is churning near Ramsgate. An Ostian ironclad has been sighted sailing on the horizon. And a terrifying new Behemoth is making its lethal presence known, strangling and bleeding the life out of everything in its path. Brave Slayers prepare with Ostian weaponry, including grenades and a new ranged weapon. A new expert artisan, versed in the crafting and manipulation of cells, is making their way toward Ramsgate to help stand against the onslaught. And the Orrery are gathering intel on the ways this new Behemoths arrival is influencing the frontier. This is The Coming Storm, Slayers. This is how you can expect Dauntless to grow and change in the coming months. HAIL TO THE SOVEREIGN Every Behemoth has the potential to devastate settlements, spread chaos across the frontier, and kill the Slayers pursuing it. Any Slayer worth their archonite knows that taking a hunt for granted is a recipe for a painful demise. But few Slayers have faced a foe who takes control of the battlefield like Koshai, the Sovereign of Thorns. This new Behemoth emerges from beyond the frontier, riding a churning aetherstorm that pummels and tosses even the most stalwart airships. Ostia, a society renowned for its industrial accomplishments, resolved to take this beast down after it laid waste to their territory. But instead of coming back with glory, their hunting parties found only defeat and death. Reports from Slayers who have escaped Koshais clutches tell of a beast alive with vines strong enough to crack the keel of a ship and thorns that rend and tear the strongest armour with aether-forged talons. Slayers who can harness its power will forge weapons of equally devastating strength. New Behemoths and deadly challenges are nothing new to the city of Ramsgate. But veteran Slayers and the scholars of the Orrery believe Koshai is more than just a new manifestation of aethers destructive powers. If youre going to get to the bottom of whats going on, youll have to defeat the Sovereign itself. Slayers who will face these coming challenges must stand against Koshai before the mighty Behemoth does to the Ram formation what it did to Ostia. NEW WEAPONS New challenges call for new tools. Slayers looking to down Behemoths at range will have access to Ostian Repeaters. Striking from range doesnt equal safety though, and Slayers who pick up the repeaters will still need to get their hands dirty. As Koshais threat has grown more prominent, the usefulness of attacking from a distance especially if youre held in place by brambles and thorns has become clear. These handheld mechanical marvels come straight from the forges of Ostia and have benefited from their artisans love of tinkering. The result is a paired weapon with interchangeable parts, allowing Slayers to customize different aspects of their repeaters to suit their needs. The materials needed to create these weapons and the training required to wield them will challenge even devoted Slayers. But for those who give their time, passion, and archonite, theres something truly lethal in store. The forges of Ramsgate are aglow with new patterns, melding Slayer savvy with Ostian ingenuity. Ostian repeaters are complex weapons that require specific materials to properly craft materials that are currently difficult to find in Ramsgates immediate vicinity. Admiral Zai of the Ostian navy has requisitioned a steady supply of these key components, but it may be several weeks before help arrives from those quarters. If youre looking to make an impression more immediately, Slayers will now also have access to an assortment of grenades that offer ranged attacks, but dont require complex machinery to work. These craftable items feature different effects, giving aggressive Slayers the opportunity to capitalize on their tactical insights with a bang. Swing by Admiral Zai and see what you can craft. SIGNS AND PORTENTS Dauntless is a living, breathing world where youll discover new points of interest, characters that grow over time, and events which respond to the actions and interests of Dauntless players. Thats why sharp-eyed Slayers have noticed gigantic javelins, misplaced supplies, and banners left behind by Ostian hunting parties. The Coming Storm is our first foray into exploring the wider world of Dauntless, and Koshai is its herald. SCHEDULE OF THE STORM When it comes to releasing new content and updates to Dauntless, were committed to listening to community feedback. Slayers want more frequent updates and were striving to meet those expectations. Instead of compiling content into one huge update and then waiting weeks to make adjustments, were going to start rolling out pieces of The Coming Storm as they become ready. This will give us the flexibility to work with your feedback in a truly collaborative way and improve your experience week to week. Players looking for details can get the absolute latest information on the Dauntless roadmap. Koshai, the Ostian repeaters, and other aspects of The Coming Storm will all be rolling out in the near future, starting on August 8th. This is a way of developing that is new for many of us. Its a huge opportunity for Dauntless and its community to grow together. From all of us at Phoenix Labs, thank you for joining us on this journey! GA summer series : Charlemagnes beloved palace Foto: Jana Bauch Rhineland Swim like the people of Aachen in the Carolus-Therme or at the Schwertbad. Sip sulphurous water at the Elisenbrunnen fountain and can eat the traditional Printen cakes to help take away the taste of rotten eggs. Visit the cathedral for a taste of the arts. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken Aachen is known to most people from history books or the news. The image of the most western German city with almost 250,000 inhabitants is shaped by the cathedral, the Karlspreis (Charle-magne Prize), a famous carnival order, the equestrian tournament, the RWTH university and the former Bundesliga club Alemannia. Emperor Charlemagne can still be seen at every turn. Stop and look at a brass plate with his signum (K-R-L-S) which is embedded in the pavement in the Altstadt (old town), referring to the heritage of the mighty emperor. Aachen was his favourite palace because he liked to hunt in the Ardennes and Eifel forests. Certainly also because of the hot springs, which are unique in Central Europe. After a bloody battle, Charlemagne took off his heavy armour, bathed in the Aachen water and shaped his policies. The best thing to do is visit the Stadtchen (little town) with a native. This is what the people of Aachen or the Oecher call the most beautiful metropolis in the heart of Europe. The Oecher like to make things smaller and in local dialect they mullt drauf los (mouth off). "Mens agitat molem" was once written down by Vergil as a bon mot. This "the mind moves the matter" is translated by the Aachener as der Mensch agiert met de Mull (man acts with his mouth). Our tour guide, who knows this, is one of the educated; particularly attached to the cathedral and committed to maintaining the local dialect. Manfred Birmans had something in common with Char-lemagne: as a child he bathed in the thermal water because during the poverty of the post-war peri-od, the people of Aachen had nothing else. Bathing like Emperor Charlemagne is a must in Bad Aachen. Even if there are only two places left: the Carolus Thermen (http://www.carolus-thermen.de) and the Burtscheider Schwertbad (http://www.salvea.de). The Carolus Thermen (three pools, two of which are open air) are usually overcrowded, so you must try and be among the first to arrive at 9 o'clock. It is possible to taste the water that smells of rotten eggs - although it is no longer classified as drinking water - in the rotunda of the Elisenbrunnen fountain and at the Burtscheider Markt. A day in Aachen should begin at Charlemagnes Marienkirche, located on the small Munsterplatz. The stone patterns around the octagon in the centre show that the coronation church was extended in different epochs. The cathedral is flanked by an alley, Spitzgasschen, also known as Zuckergass-chen (sugar alley). Such alleys are typical of the city centre. Birmans explains that they are a replica of the Middle Ages, where everything was laid out crooked. Only the Katschhof stretches in a rec-tangular shape between the cathedral and the town hall. In the Spitzgasschen, children have been buying their Klupchen (sweets) since 1896. On this square you can see Aachen's narrowest fa-cade, house no. 20, called "Blijstef" (pencil). These buildings with a view of the cathedral have generous balconies. The residents of the 800-year-old pilgrimage site even used to put a roof over the balconies in order to house more pilgrims. At the famous church Birmans points to something which is little-known: on the Munsterplatz side, a Gothic sundial hangs high above. To the left of it is a tomb slab, but Emperor Charlemagne's tomb has never been found. The inner courtyard of the cathedral is called paradise. This term could be derived from many things - from the architectural atrium to the ideal canopy. In any case, paradise is an area of peace and offers asylum to everyone. Around the corner, at the fish market, stands the Fischpuddelchen statue. The naked boy's face was modelled on an elderly politician, who some-times comes to Aachen to see it for himself. That's what my guide says, but he can't remember the name. At the gateway to paradise, grooves can be seen in the masonry: the fishmongers are said to have sharpened their knives here. Truth collides with poetry at the entry portal of the cathedral. The devil made a pact with the people of Aachen to finance the construction costs and in the end, he lost. The legend of the cathedral building embellishes this. A trapped devil's thumb can be found on the right doorknob, and at the bottom of the door you can see the crack that Lucifer caused by furi-ously slamming the portal (Themed tours are offered by the cathedral chapter). The greatest experi-ence is to attend High Mass and see the church in its full force, flooding the senses. Anyone who now needs refreshment is drawn to the next attraction, which has not yet been awarded world heritage status, the Aachener Printe. It is almost 200 years old, a flat shaped gingerbread, hard or soft, with nuts, chocolate or plain. The Aachener have a special way of enjoying the Printe. According to Birmans, this is how it works: place a piece of broken Printe with dark chocolate and hazelnuts on your tongue, add a sip of espresso and keep the mixture in your mouth for a moment. This combination triggers a feeling of happiness that Birmans likes to share with the baker on Munsterplatz. Michael Nobis says that the quality of the Printe depends on the quality of the ingredients. He enjoys eating herb-flavoured Printe and bakes the Poschweck (sweet bread), which has been registered since the 15th century, and two kinds of Reisfladen (pastries with creamed rice) - the original and the Belgian variety. At every corner of the student city, pretty pubs tempt you to take a break. You have to be careful not to end up in the Strasschen (little street) that begins behind the Bahkauv (Bachkalb sculpture) at the foot of the Buchel. The Pontstrae leads from the market to the Ponttor, the remaining gates of the medieval wall. The International Newspaper Museum is located on this busy throughway - and definitely worth a visit (www.izm.de). You will find one pub after another, crossing over only a small trickle of water, as Aachen has banished the proper streams underground. Only the fountain culture lives on. The tourists think it's beautiful. Those who want to trace the water more intensively should make a trip to the little town of Seffent, only five kilometres from the centre of Aachen, near the Dreilandereck, the triangle where the borders of the three countries meet. The architecturally coolest university hospital in Germany (Pauwelsstrae) is a real landmark. For some years now, the gigantic Melaten campus has been growing up alongside the Karlsgarten (Gut Melaten), with which Aachen has made its name as a region for technology and science. (Discovery tours at www.rwth.de). Anyone who walks or rides a bike in this hilly terrain will quickly find themselves in Holland and not long afterwards in Belgium. Here you will find unadulterated coun-tryside with far-reaching views. A popular place called Sieben Quelle (seven springs) is hidden here (at Schurzelter Strae 213) and bubbles behind the restaurant of the same name. A happy place to be. It is so quiet, all you can hear is the birdsong. And the water is so clear that watercress thrives. Away from the hustle and bustle of the city, Seffent is an area which combines everything that makes Aachen what it is: history with science and nature. Past with future. An embrace in rich green. nametalkam at 29-07-2018 09:25 AM (3 years ago) (m) President Muhammadu Buhari will Sunday depart Abuja for Lome, Republic of Togo, to participate in two high-level meetings. President Muhammadu Buhari will Sunday depart Abuja for Lome, Republic of Togo, to participate in two high-level meetings. Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, made the announcement in a statement on Saturday. He said on arrival, the President will have an interactive session at the Nigerian embassy with the Nigerian community based in Togo. On Monday, President Buhari will attend the Joint ECOWAS/ECCAS Summit which will deliberate on common security threats to countries in West Africa and members of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) with a view to forging concerted strategies in tackling the menace of terrorism, trans-border crimes and other forms of violent extremism. It would be recalled that President Buhari had expressed support for the proposed ECOWAS/ECCAS Summit when he received the current Chair of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, President Faure Gnassingbe of Togo on June 29, 2018 in Katsina. According to him, terrorism now transcends international boundaries, and no country can combat the scourge alone. While in Lome, the Nigerian delegation will also participate in a meeting on a Single Currency for ECOWAS with the deadline of 2020. Being the largest economy not only in West Africa but also on the continent, Nigerias leadership role in this sub-regional aspiration cannot be over-emphasised. On Tuesday, President Buhari will join other leaders of the sub-region for the 53rd Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government. This session will be dominated by the political and security situations in Guinea Bissau, Mali and Togo; institutional reforms of the ECOWAS Commission to enhance its effectiveness; illegal migration of Africans to Europe; and the worrisome violent clashes between herders and farmers, among other issues. At the end of the session, a new Chair of the ECOWAS Authority is expected to take over from the incumbent and host. President Buhari will be accompanied by Governors Ben Ayade and Abubakar Bello of Cross River and Niger states respectively. Others are Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali; Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun; Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Danbazau; and the Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah. The National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno; the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin; the Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Abubakar; and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, are also in the Presidents delegation. Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, made the announcement in a statement on Saturday.He said on arrival, the President will have an interactive session at the Nigerian embassy with the Nigerian community based in Togo.On Monday, President Buhari will attend the Joint ECOWAS/ECCAS Summit which will deliberate on common security threats to countries in West Africa and members of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) with a view to forging concerted strategies in tackling the menace of terrorism, trans-border crimes and other forms of violent extremism.It would be recalled that President Buhari had expressed support for the proposed ECOWAS/ECCAS Summit when he received the current Chair of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, President Faure Gnassingbe of Togo on June 29, 2018 in Katsina.According to him, terrorism now transcends international boundaries, and no country can combat the scourge alone.While in Lome, the Nigerian delegation will also participate in a meeting on a Single Currency for ECOWAS with the deadline of 2020. Being the largest economy not only in West Africa but also on the continent, Nigerias leadership role in this sub-regional aspiration cannot be over-emphasised.On Tuesday, President Buhari will join other leaders of the sub-region for the 53rd Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.This session will be dominated by the political and security situations in Guinea Bissau, Mali and Togo; institutional reforms of the ECOWAS Commission to enhance its effectiveness; illegal migration of Africans to Europe; and the worrisome violent clashes between herders and farmers, among other issues.At the end of the session, a new Chair of the ECOWAS Authority is expected to take over from the incumbent and host.President Buhari will be accompanied by Governors Ben Ayade and Abubakar Bello of Cross River and Niger states respectively. Others are Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali; Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun; Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Danbazau; and the Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah.The National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno; the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin; the Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Abubakar; and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, are also in the Presidents delegation. Post Reply I specialize in investigative reportage across several subject matter and sectors but mainly focus on metro events and investigation. Do leave your thoughts and opinion on my reports to let me know what you think about them. Thank you Posted: at 29-07-2018 09:25 AM (3 years ago) | Hero bohlah at 29-07-2018 04:58 PM (3 years ago) (m) A Nigerian has been left stranded in Kenya after travelling to the east African country to visit his girlfriend. The man identified as Abdbdulhakim who revealed that he is married, visited his Kenyan girlfriend in Mombasa before he was allegedly drugged and his belongings stolen. A Nigerian has been left stranded in Kenya after travelling to the east African country to visit his girlfriend. The man identified as Abdbdulhakim who revealed that he is married, visited his Kenyan girlfriend in Mombasa before he was allegedly drugged and his belongings stolen. Abdbdulhakim whose family is based in Dublin, Ireland, said he visited the country on Friday, July 13, and checked into Paroma Guest House in Bamburi where he stayed for nine days before the robbery incident. While narrating his ordeal to journalists, he claimed CCTV footage from the hotel revealed he was robbed by female guests who had also checked into the guest house after him. Abdbdulhakim whose family is based in Dublin, Ireland, said he visited the country on Friday, July 13, and checked into Paroma Guest House in Bamburi where he stayed for nine days before the robbery incident.While narrating his ordeal to journalists, he claimed CCTV footage from the hotel revealed he was robbed by female guests who had also checked into the guest house after him. Below is what he said during the interview with journalist:- I am in Kenya on tour to see my girlfriend Rose Aridi, I came to Mombasa on July 13, 2018, and checked into a hotel called Paroma Guest house around Bamburi, narrated the distraught tourist. After 9 days I was robed by another guest in that hotel, two ladies, to my surprise CCTV footage revealed that this lady actually robbed me and my friends. The woman was banging until another female guest came to open, and this female guest had been at the guest house even before the others checked in. Before the lady opened my door the manager had also arrived. They told me they could not compensate me, I have been stranded here I need to talk to my family, my wife and kids live in Dublin, I have no access to them, I can not call them this is national degrading by Kenya. Watch Below:- Post Reply I have been reporting on latest news from Nigeria for almost 10 years now. I report on every possible news area I come across, but always ensure my reports are compiled with dignity and fact to uphold my personal values and duty as a journalist Posted: at 29-07-2018 04:58 PM (3 years ago) | Addicted Hero 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 Sunday, in the morning, at St James Cathedral, Townsville, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC and Mrs Kaye de Jersey attended Sung Eucharist, and the Governor delivered a reading. Following, at the Charters Towers Show Grounds, His Excellency and Mrs de Jersey attended the Charters Towers Show, and the Governor officially opened the show and addressed guests. In the evening, His Excellency and Mrs de Jersey returned to Government House following official travel to Townsville. Force India is racing ahead in Hungary, even though it has been placed into financial administration. The news from a London court arrived in Hungary that action taken by Sergio Perez, Mercedes and sponsor BWT had meant the F1 team is now being run by FRP Advisory. "The team will continue to operate as normal, including racing in Hungary this weekend," joint administrator Geoff Rowley said in a statement. Force India owes millions to creditors, including a reported $4 million to Mexican driver Perez. Team owner Vijay Mallya is furious. "They've driven us to bankruptcy," the former Indian billionaire said. But Perez defended his actions, saying he and manager Julian Jakobi acted not for personal reasons but to "protect the 400 people working in the team". "Several team members asked me to take action to protect 400 jobs," he said in Hungary. "It's such a difficult situation that I cannot concentrate on driving. But one of the creditors had already prepared a petition, and if it was filed, the team would simply be closed. "That's why I was asked to pull the trigger," Perez said. The administrators will now assess parties interested in buying Force India, including Lawrence Stroll, Dmitry Mazepin, a US consortium, sponsor BWT, Indycar team boss Michael Andretti, and Rich Energy. Perez hopes there is a good outcome. "If they are serious people, I'll stay with Force India. The guys in the team are still the same and still the best in the midfield. "Without financial worries, we'll get even stronger," he said. (GMM) Haiti - FLASH : Tap-tap against bus, 12 victims The Directorate of Civil Protection informs us that a traffic accident occurred Saturday afternoon on the National #1, at the exit of the commune of Arcahaie, in circumstances not elucidated officially. It is a collision between a tap-tap and a public transit bus that made 12 victims (9 dead and 3 wounded), all of whom were occupants of the tap-tap. The National Ambulance Center (CAN) and the National Police of Haiti (PNH) quickly went to the scene for first aid operations and the wounded were rushed to Arcahaie hospital. Some passengers on the bus had minor injuries. HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - News : Zapping... PM : The former Senator Anacacis does not believe in the opening of Moise The former Senator Jean Hector Anacacis, is convinced that the consultations of President Jovenel Moise are a false opening, but that in fact, the Head of State has already made his choice, because he is not ready to accept the proposals from individuals and groups consulted. The Town Hall of Cap Haitien frustrated by ISPAN The Town Hall of Cap-Haitien has just started at its expense, the rehabilitation works of the Barriere-Bouteilles. In a meeting at the city hall this week, the leaders of the Institute of National Heritage Safeguarding (ISPAN) could not explain to the Municipal Council what became the money allocated to this project that had been deposited on their account several months ago. Frustrated by this situation, the Municipal Council decided to take over the project with major revisions. Reconstruction of the National Palace The Working Group and Reflection for the Reconstruction of the National Palace met early this week the pre-qualified bidders to take part in the architectural competition for the reconstruction of the National Palace of Haiti. The purpose of this meeting was to give participants the contest file and discuss the next steps in the process. Loss of a faithful friend of Haiti The French Embassy learned with sadness and emotion the disappearance of Madame Veronique Rossillon, on July 24 in Paris. A faithful friend of the country of Haiti and Haitians, she created in 1976 the Center Alcibiade Pommayrac in Jacmel and since then contributed to its operation. Promoting the ambition of quality education accessible to the poorest and most eager to learn, the Center has enabled many young Haitians to make brilliant studies, sometimes to continue in prestigious foreign institutions and come back to serve their country. The entire Embassy expresses its saddened sympathy to the family and loved ones of Mrs. Veronique Rossillon and joins the grief of the staff and students she has been watching over the years. Reforestation in Camp-Perrin The Ministry of the Environment, supports the initiative of the Private University of Notre-Dame of Haiti (UNDH) of Les Cayes in conjunction with the Departmental Directorate South Environment, Students of the University of Notre Dame of Les Cayes who proceeded to the planting of more than 4,000 forest seedlings in the slopes of the lake Lachaux de Camp-Perrin Biotechnology in Haiti Friday, at a press conference, Dr Michel Louis, Coordinator of the Commission on the reform of the health system said he was convinced that biotechnology can bring a lot to Haiti saying "We must popularize information on biotechnology in schools, because thay are the young people who must participate in the development of the country. Recall that biotechnology is the result of an alliance between the science of life (biology) and technologies from various other sciences (physics, chemistry, computer science, etc...) Their impact is important in the health industry sector, but it also extends to other areas such as the environment, agriculture and even industry. HL/ HaitiLibre Vietnamese Trade Counsellor Pham Quoc Anh speaking at the event. (Photo: VNA) The event, themed Promising investment spotlight: Why Vietnam now, focused on Vietnams advantages and potential, as well as the countrys business climate improvements and tax incentives. In his speech at the opening, Vietnamese Trade Counsellor Pham Quoc Anh emphasized Vietnams efforts in improving its investment climate, thus attracting many foreign investors worldwide, including those from Malaysia. Senior expert from Savills, John Campell. said that Vietnam has advantages which foreign investors should pay attention to, such as competitive land rent prices and maritime transport charges, big population and geographic location. Notably, Vietnam has signed many free trade agreements with the EU and Republic of Korea, especially the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Currently, Malaysia is Vietnams eighth biggest investor. As of June, the country invested over USD12 billion in 577 projects in Vietnam. In addition, Malaysia is also Vietnams second biggest trade partner among ASEAN, after Thailand. In the first half of the year, bilateral trade turnover hit more than USD5.8 billion, a-year-on-year rise of more than 21%. These are foundations for the two countries to continue to enhance relations in all fields, especially investment./. A HISTORIC powerboat which set three water speed records in the Thirties roared back into life at the Thames Traditional Boat Festival in Henley. Blue Bird K3 was the star attraction at the 40th annual event, which took place on the banks of the river at Fawley Meadow, off Marlow Road, from Friday until Sunday last week. Its owner Karl Foulkes Halbard piloted the craft along the royal regatta course at speeds of up to 60mph from Temple Island to the festival site, where he came to a stop and moored up again. He performed the display, which was sponsored by Henley watchmaker Bremont, on the Saturday. Many of the thousands of people who attended the festival crowded on to the banks and jetties to watch through binoculars or take photos and videos. An enforcement team from the Environment Agency, which gave permission for the display to take place, drove downstream about 10 minutes beforehand to ensure the main channel was clear. The boat, which was built by British racing pioneer Sir Malcolm Campbell in 1937, was towed to the start by another vessel as it has no neutral or reverse gear and will begin cruising forward as soon as its 27-litre Rolls-Royce V12 engine is switched on. Berylla II, a smaller hydroplane vessel from the same era was first to appear followed by Blue Bird, which created a large amount of wash and rocked the jetties as it passed. People cheered loudly and clapped as it came to a stop followed by an escort from the Royal Marines and another from the ERT Search and Rescue team, whose headquarters are in Henley. Mr Foulkes Halbard attempted a second run on the Sunday but the engine failed as it was kept idling for too long. Blue Bird first attended the festival in 2015 and was due to take to the river but could not due to a last-minute engine failure. She was expected to attend the following year but pulled out, again citing mechanical problems. Mr Foulkes Halbard, of Filching in Sussex, whose late father Paul purchased her in the Eighties, has spent decades restoring it and recently took it back to Lake Hallwil in Switzerland, where it set its third and final record of 130.91mph. He said: Its always an incredible buzz to drive it and it certainly isnt for the faint-hearted because it gets pretty lively once its up on its plane. Im used to piloting it on big, open lakes so the Henley reach is actually pretty claustrophobic by comparison but I just planned to come down as safely and sensibly as I could. You can do about 60mph without too much of a problem but we would never try to emulate its record-setting speeds. It may have been restored but its still an 80-year-old machine! Ive really enjoyed coming here today. Theres such an incredible variety of boats and cars on display and its got to be one of the best events of its kind in the world. More than 15,000 people attended this years festival, which is believed to be a record, where almost 150 boats were on display including a number of Dunkirk Little Ships which took part in the evacuation of 1940. They paraded up and down the river on all three days. Participants included John Calvert and Sally Bridgeman, of Goring, and their dog Monty, who attended with their 29ft motor yacht LOrage, from 1938. It was originally known as Surrey and until 2009 was owned by late fighter pilot and BBC television presenter Raymond Baxter. Mr Calvert, who helped to launch the event as the Thames Traditional Boat Rally in 1978, said: Its been a fantastic weekend you can tell from looking at the wonderful weather and all the people enjoying themselves. You wont see so much enthusiasm for restored historic boats in many other places and Im really pleased to see that its still successful after all these years. Everything about it has improved. The Royal row barge Gloriana was present for the fourth year running and performed rowpasts powered by members of Henley Rowing Club and Leander Club, who stood up on the deck and raised their oars in salute to the Queen while giving three cheers. The Henley crew, who rowed on Saturday, also performed the salute as they passed a couple who were getting married on Temple Island. The clubs Victoria Molloy, 62, who lives in York Road, Henley, said: I was sitting near the bow and it was quite an amazing experience. I first saw Gloriana when I moved hear two years ago and had always wanted to go aboard. I felt privileged to be rowing such a beautiful boat, although it was difficult as shes a heavy old thing and the blades dont have gates so youre having to watch that they dont slip while striking in time with the rest of the crew. The Henley rowers finished in about 33 minutes whereas the Leander crew, which included president Jeremy Rass Randall and rowing commentator Robert Treharne Jones, finished in about 26 minutes. Afterwards, Gloriana moored up and the winners of an earlier raffle could climb aboard while others looked on and took photographs from the jetty. Attendants maintained a queue to prevent the platform from becoming overloaded. There was also a number of amphibious craft including Schwimmwagens, which were built by Volkswagen for the German forces during the Second World War, as well as American and Russian models and more modern examples. On Saturday and Sunday, three aircraft from the First World War performed a flypast. The German Fokker triplane and two RAF biplanes were preceded on the Sunday by a Second World War Hurricane bomber from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. Another popular event was a fun dog show judged by Lady McAlpine, of the Fawley Hill estate, who took charge of the rally when it looked set to fold in 2014 and relaunched it under a new name the following summer. She was accompanied by royal biographer Ingrid Seward, the editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, Mark Griffiths, owner of Happy Dog pet food, and Henley artist Clive Hemsley, who specialises in dog portraits. The winners included Gabriela Stone, of Peppard, whose one-year-old dachshund Diabolo came first in the puppy class and third for waggiest tail. Best in show on the Saturday was JD, a four-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier belonging to Charvil residents Barry and Tracey Allen, who provided toilets and showers for the event through their firm ASP Toilet Hire. Mr Hemsley, of Hart Street, will paint JD as a prize. Mrs Allen said: Were pleased as weve taken him to a few shows and hes won awards at the ones in Binfield Heath and Harpsden but this is the first time hes been first-placed. We didnt know the dog show was happening until the last minute so were glad we entered and I think the judges loved the colour of his coat. Mr Allen said: Lady McAlpine has really done an incredible job and this year seems to be going very well. We always enjoy coming as everyones friendly and weve got to know a few faces. There were also dozens of classic cars and motorcycles as well as trade stands and market stalls. Among those taking part were Henley Sales and Charter and its sister venture E-Boatique, Henley boatbuilder Henwood and Dean and the towns River and Rowing Museum and Phyllis Court Club. Gillian Nahum, of Henley Sales and Charter, said: This is my favourite event because its convenient to get to and a chance to catch up with lots of customers past, present and future. Its incredibly well-run and I love the fact that it runs into the evenings. Theres so much River Thames history and heritage on display and its really important to preserve that and keep it alive. The event was compered by Jan Stanton, a boat owner and former Henley resident who organised a floral flotilla on the Thames in 2013 to mark the 60th anniversary of the Queens coronation, and her husband Mike. The couple moved to the West Country in 2016 because Henleys growing air pollution problem was worsening Mr Stantons asthma. He said: We love it here and come with our boat Kyrenia every year. Its a superb festival that always enjoys tremendous attendance and its been especially good this year because of the weather. Mrs Stanton said: Were very thankful to the Environment Agency for allowing Blue Bird to run. It really was such incredible fun and Ive never seen so many smiling faces. Catering was provided by the Crooked Billet at Stoke Row, which had a pop-up restaurant on the site and hosted live performances by Henley bands The Covered on the Friday evening and Highly Strung the following night. There was also a vintage-themed tea shop run by Time for Tea, also of Henley, while Francas Ice Cream, which runs the Henley Piazza cafe on Mill Meadows, had several vans which attracted lengthy queues and had almost sold out at the end of each day. Visitors John and Sarah Miles, of Deanfield Avenue in Henley, who attended with their one-year-old granddaughter Ivy, said: The weather is beautiful today and it seems to have brought people out in their thousands. Weve come every year for the past six or seven years because its a good opportunity to enjoy some stunning views on the riverside. The festival was struggling a few years ago but its really been rejuvenated. Henley resident Caroline Chisholm said: I come every year because I love the boats and know this stretch of the river well as I often go canoeing along it. It seems very well-attended this year, probably the best Ive ever seen in fact. Theres so much to see and so much history on the site, which I think is the main appeal. Henley town councillor Sam Evans, of Reading Road, who attended with her Labrador Hector and friends Pam and Mark Hayes, of St Andrews Road, said: Its a shining example of Henley at its best. Its something a little less formal after the regatta and festival and there are so many people and boats here this year whats not to like? Weve very lucky to have it. Mr Hayes said: Were regulars as I bought a boat here 12 years ago and Im not sure my wife has ever forgiven me! It looks like its bigger and more popular than even this time. I can remember when youd have seen everything after a short while but now you can easily make a whole day of it. Fellow councillor Will Hamilton, who attended with Henley Rugby Clubs director of rugby Rob Heginbotham, said: Its very well laid-out with lots to do and a great addition to the towns summer season. The weather has helped and I cant wait to see whether Blue Bird will finally make it this time. Once the sun had set on the Saturday, there was an illuminated parade of boats from all entry classes and people could sit enjoying food and drink until the site closed at midnight. Awards for the best entries were presented at the Crooked Billet stand on the Sunday and the Fred and Sheila Bourne Trophy for best boat in show went to Sweet Myrrh, a 27ft fast open launch owned for more than 20 years by Richard Hicks, of Wargrave. It was built in about 1912 by celebrated marine engineer Samuel Saunders, of Goring, using his Consuta method of stitching wood together using copper wire, and has been maintained by Henwood and Dean since Mr Hicks bought it. Most recently Tony Knights and Dan Wood, who took over the firm in 2016, upgraded its steering to a hydraulic system and replaced its engine. The pair and Mr Hicks were also presented with the festivals Thames Heritage Cup. Mr Hicks said: I was delighted because Sweet Myrrh is very much a boatbuilders boat. There were lots of larger and more glamorous boats on display and you wouldnt know there was anything special about it unless you knew the history and the significance of Samuel Saunders. There are very few Saunders boats left and I believe three of the other four that remain are umpire launches. They didnt suffer the near-disaster Sweet Myrrh did 30 years ago when she was being put to work at a yard in Norfolk and had a tow post attached. Henwood and Dean have done an amazing job and shes very usable now. Mr Wood said: Everything thats visible is still entirely in keeping with its original appearance but weve made a lot of improvements under the surface. Weve never shown at the rally before so were pleased to have won something on our first time and proud to have done such a wonderful boat justice. Lady McAlpine, of Fawley Hill, helped organise the festival and was delighted it has grown into one of the biggest river and rivderside events in the world. She said: It was the ruby anniversary of the festival, which started 40 years ago at Fawley Meadows, and has grown into one of the biggest river and riverside events in the world. Festival chairman Lady Judy McAlpine said: A years hard work; but so well worth it when you see so many happy people: Now I just hope we can keep the event going and grow it: but not too much! Everyone thinks regatta and Henley Festival are so important yet this is the only big event actually held in Henley and it offers a great weekend for everyone. The wonderful heatwave weather set the scene for three days of packed activities and the rivercraft ranged from little canoes to the big 'Little Ships' used during the evacuation of Dunkirk in the war who now treat this event as their annual gathering. Lady McAlpine said the real star was the late Sir Malcolm Campbells Bluebird K3 world water-speed record breaker She added: The thousands lining the Thames banks waited in silent anticipation on Saturday afternoon for Bluebird to run the Henley Regatta Course - not, of course, at record-breaking speed but a more leisurely 12 knots to comply with EA regulations. Bluebird was preceded by Berylla, a much smaller but similar craft built in 1935. Having languished for years without an engine she was back on the water for the first time for decades. A roar of applause went up as Berylla raced by, then the silence until the gurgling roar of Bluebirds engines was heard seconds before she flew past, up on her plane, no wash, gone in a flash. The noise from the banks was phenomenal - and there were tears, too - it was an emotional moment in the festival's 40 year history, being her first public run in this country since restoration. Sadly, the following day, due to Environment Agency restrictions, she was kept idling too long and as she began her run her engine died. She was towed past as 'Land of Hope and Glory' was sung - somewhat ironically - over the PA system. Other attractions included Gloriana, the Queens rowbarge, and a large boat from the Thirties - Magyar that had just been rebuilt from a bare hull, displayed on a trailer for the public to visit and admire. "That is, of course, what the show is all about," said Lady McAlpine Preserving the skills needed to conserve these rare beauties and to create new versions for those not fortunate enough to be able to buy an old one. That said, it is also a great family weekend with something for everyone to enjoy." A wreath was laid on the monument in memory. PreviousNext Pittsfield Honors Armistice Day Mayor Linda Tyer was the keynote speaker. PITTSFIELD, Mass. - Sandwiched between World War 2 and the Vietnam War, the Korean War has earned the nickname the "forgotten war" because it is often overlooked. But 36,516 United States soldiers died fending off communist North Korea from its invasion of capitalist South Korea. In monsoon season in 1950, North Korea had stormed the 38th parallel and set off a three-year conflict. In July of 1953, 65 years ago, an armistice agreement was signed ending the conflict. There was no peace treaty. On Saturday, local veterans held a 30-minute ceremony to honor all who served in the war including the 20 from Pittsfield who died while fighting it. VFW Post 448 Commander Arnold Perras served as the master of ceremonies and detailed the history of the war. He said 36,516 were killed in action, 1,243 died post-war, and 7,700 went missing in action - 5,300 of which are believed to be in North Korea. Mayor Linda Tyer served as the keynote speaker and reflected on her trip to Washington D.C. where she visited the Korean War monument. "I was struck silent, absolutely in awe and overcome by the experience, being able to walk alongside a squadron of 19 stainless steel figures representing each branch of the United States forces," Tyer said. "I could feel the weight of their burden, hear their rain gear flapping and the sound of their determined footsteps, looking into their eyes and faces, it was there in that space where I could feel just an inkling of their courage - because their courage is beyond my own measure - and the danger of every single one of their footsteps." The mayor praised the work of the United States military and mourned the loss of the 20 individuals from Pittsfield who died. "We stand with them today, remembering them and their families. And we stand tall to carry in our hearts the mightiest military force in the world, that protects us night and day in places all over the globe," Tyer said. Tony Pastore led the ceremony off with the singing of the national anthem. Lee Kie laid a wreath at the city's Korean War memorial and he then tolled a bell after Perras read the names of each of the local soldier who died. The Vietnam Veterans Rifle Square did a salute; Joseph DiFilippo played Taps, and Steven Williams provided the invocation and benediction. Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, has implored Nigerians to not give up their hopes on the plans of President Buhari to build a new Nigeria and that the pains that are being experienced at the moment are just the price to pay for a better tomorrow. Aregbesola, who stated this during the weekend, while hosting the Committee on South-West Youth and Women Sensitisation Programme, led by wife of the Deputy Governor of Katsina State, Hajia Mariya Buhari Munir, appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the Buhari-led administration. In a report by The Guardian, he told the group that was on a courtesy visit to him that despite the challenges Nigerians are faced with, there is still light at the end of the tunnel because they have a president who can be trusted. Aregbesola said, For whoever that has grievances with the present Federal Government, I want you to know that it is not always easy to correct an already damaged situation. It is obvious that there are challenges and pains, but I want us to see it as the challenge of building a new Nigeria. We should accept the hardships we are facing now as the price to pay for building a new Nigeria of our dreams; that country where everything will work the way it ought to is what our president is working hard to achieve. We shall get there and we shall all be better for it. We cannot give up on Nigeria at this time, we are almost there, lets have faith in our president; we can do it and I know it is possible. Nigeria is redeemable and the process has already started with the present administration. The governor said the rot inherited from the past administration could not be hurriedly fixed in one or two years, explaining that the nation would have experienced serious doom if the present administration had not berthed when it did. He described Buhari as a partner in progress and a pillar of strength and support to many states that could not finance themselves, citing the various forms of assistance given to them in the form of bailouts, the Paris Club refund and others, which helped them to find their feet. Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, has implored Nigerians to not give up their hopes on the plans of President Buhari to build a new Nigeria and that the pains that are being experienced at the moment are just the price to pay for a better tomorrow. Aregbesola, who stated this during the weekend, while hosting the Committee on South-West Youth and Women Sensitisation Programme, led by wife of the Deputy Governor of Katsina State, Hajia Mariya Buhari Munir, appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the Buhari-led administration. In a report by The Guardian, he told the group that was on a courtesy visit to him that despite the challenges Nigerians are faced with, there is still light at the end of the tunnel because they have a president who can be trusted. Aregbesola said, For whoever that has grievances with the present Federal Government, I want you to know that it is not always easy to correct an already damaged situation. It is obvious that there are challenges and pains, but I want us to see it as the challenge of building a new Nigeria. We should accept the hardships we are facing now as the price to pay for building a new Nigeria of our dreams; that country where everything will work the way it ought to is what our president is working hard to achieve. We shall get there and we shall all be better for it. We cannot give up on Nigeria at this time, we are almost there, lets have faith in our president; we can do it and I know it is possible. Nigeria is redeemable and the process has already started with the present administration. The governor said the rot inherited from the past administration could not be hurriedly fixed in one or two years, explaining that the nation would have experienced serious doom if the present administration had not berthed when it did. He described Buhari as a partner in progress and a pillar of strength and support to many states that could not finance themselves, citing the various forms of assistance given to them in the form of bailouts, the Paris Club refund and others, which helped them to find their feet. Leave a Comment comments Nigerias Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohamed said the defection of some National Assembly members from the ruling All Progressives Congress had exposed the faces of traitors. Mr Mohammed described their exit as the removal of stones from (APCs) rice and sieving of sand from [its] garri. Mr Mohammed said this while he visited his hometown of Oro, Kwara State, on Sunday as members and supporters of the party welcomed him at the playground of Muslim Community Primary School, Oro, the News Agency of Nigeria reports. The minister who spoke in Yoruba said; Today is a special day. God has answered our prayers by exposing our political traitors. God has removed stones from our rice and sands in our garri, We are here today to assure that it is a new dispensation in Kwara APC politics. We are at home today to assure you that the party will be re-organised and re-positioned. By exposing the enemies and traitors in our fold, God has given us the opportunities that we have been looking for to re-position our party. These are people who had never given us peace and progress. Today, by the grace of God and with your support, APC will wax stronger in Kwara. What is in the offing is a mega party. The party belongs to you all. We therefore reassure you that God is with us and the people of Kwara are with us. Since the day they decamped, you can see those who have come to our camp are more than those who left, he said. The minister appealed to the members and party supporters to give new entrants a chance. He assured that the new dispensation would allow level playing ground devoid of candidate imposition or godfather syndrome. Officials of the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has destroyed expired and fake pharmaceutical products worth N650 million in Kaduna State. The agency says it is committed to ridding Nigeria of counterfeit and unwholesome drugs towards in order to ensure the protection of lives of the citizens. The Director-General of NAFDAC, Professor Christiana Adeyeye said there would be no sacred cows in the fight against counterfeit drugs and substandard food products. Speaking after setting the contraband products ablaze on Friday, the Acting North West zonal director of the agency, Dauda Gimba, who represented Adeyeye described the production of fake drugs as an act of terrorism and economic sabotage against public health. The destruction of these items will eliminate the risk of their recirculation into the Nigerian market. Drug counterfeiting is an act of terrorism and economic sabotage against public health. The products being destroyed today are made up of substandard and falsely labelled medicines, unwholesome food products, cosmetics and other counterfeit products seized by the agency from manufacturers, importers and distributors. The estimated street value of the products is N650 million Also, expired drugs voluntarily handed over by agencies such as the Nigeria Customs Service, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), non-governmental organizations, trade unions, pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria and the National Association of Proprietary and Patent Medicine Dealers are included in this exercise. Gimba added that the ban on codeine was still in force and the agency is prepared to restore sanity in the health sector in the country. The agency also urged Nigerians to remain alert, and stop patronising street hawkers, whom they call merchants of death, as well as to always check the labels of all consumables. The Sun Samuel Ortom, has fired back at the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, advising him to learn the difference between a party chairman and a union leader Punch A former member of the Lagos State House of Assembly and advertising professional, Mr. Ipoola Omisore, shares his fatherhood journey with GBENGA ADENIJI. Vanguard Delta State House of Assembly aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Sapele Constituency, Tuedor Akpevwe Jackson, has promised to improve the living standard of his constituents should he be elected to represent them in 2019. Thisday Former Kano State Governor, Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso Saturday said President Muhammadu Buhari would never win in the state contrary to the claim of the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi. Daily Times The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has called Nigerians and the members of All Progressive Congress, APC over the defection of the Sokoto state governor, Aminu Tambuwal as he was bound to leave the party because of his political ambition. Daily Trust The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Alhaji Muhammed Musa Bello has commissioned the Dei-Dei Ultra-Modern Market and praised the leadership of Bwari Area Council for imbibing the spirit of continuity in completing a project started by a previous administration. Tribune Ganduje, in an interview with newsmen in Kano, on Friday, said: We are not scared by their exit. Their defection does not constitute any havoc to our great party, the APC, at all levels. People should watch what will happen during the 2019 election. The Nation One person was shot on Friday night as the celebration of Odun Oba and Olosunta traditional festivals in Ikere-Ekiti turned violent. When news broke that Senator Dino Melaye, representing Kogi West Senatorial District, had been kidnapped, a lot of conspiracy theories quickly took shape. Both Senator Ben Murray-Bruce, who made the announcement, Thursday morning and the abducted senator were hot topic for the day. Many argued that Melaye faked his own kidnap, either to cause unnecessary drama or avoid going to court. The senator was reportedly kidnapped morning, along the Abuja-Lokoja Highway and his brother, Moses Melaye had informed Mr Ben Bruce. However, in an interview with Premium Times today, the senator recounted of how he spent 11 hours in the wilderness after escaping from his assailants. He noted that he wasnt kidnapped but escaped in order to save his life. On how it began Mr Melaye said he was on his way to Lokoja from Abuja for a court appearance on Thursday morning and just a little away from Gwagwalada, a convoy of three vehicles drove recklessly by his vehicle, intercepting him on the highway and forcing him to stop. Firstly, they tried to open fire to force themselves into the vehicle, but soon realized it wouldnt work as his vehicle was well-fortified with bullet-proof. As a second resort, he said they tried to set him ablaze. They started shouting that they wanted to burn me, they said burn him, burn him down, and crossed the road to look for tyres to set the vehicle on fire. He said as his assailants were in a frantic search for tyres with which to burn him, he got out of the vehicle and quickly jumped into the bush. I jumped into the bush, and I started running. They pursued me and I was able to outmanoeuvre them and climb a tree. I was on top of the three when I saw them run past looking frantically for me. When they didnt find me, they also ran back. On his brother I was going in a totally different vehicle, but I asked my brother to drive behind me in an SUV as a back-up, he said. But I was shocked to see the attackers run into the middle, creating wall between my brother and I before attacking me. BEIJING, July 28 (Xinhua) -- A report on the quality of China's compulsory education, which covers primary and junior middle schools, said the students' abilities in music and art appreciation need to be improved. While praising the sound academic performances among the students, the report, released by the National Assessment Center for Education Quality under the Ministry of Education, found that the students were weaker in basic music and aesthetic understanding and appreciation. The report was based on monitoring conducted by the center between 2015 and 2017, which assessed 572,314 fourth-grade and eighth-grade students in 973 county-level regions across China. It also surveyed 19,346 primary and secondary school headmasters and 147,610 teachers. Most of the students -- 82.6 percent in fourth grade and 86.1 percent in eighth grade -- were able to sing songs in full fluently, it said. However, when it came to the discerning of the rhythm, tempo, and timbre of music, only about half of the students gave the right answers. Only 60 percent of the students could correctly recognize the genres, forms, and emotional elements of the music. Those who can accurately identify the colors, lines, symmetries and spatial elements of artworks only accounted for about 60 percent of the students assessed. [ Editor: Liu Jiaming ] Bahria Town Karachi Jobs 2018 for Consultants & Surgeons Latest Bahria Town Pvt Limited Medical Posts Karachi 2021 Bahria Town Karachi, Pakistan required candidates for the posts of Consultants (Nephrologist, Ophthalmology), Cardiologist, Cardiac Surgeon, Dentist, Radiologist, Senior Medical Officers, Medical Officer, Dialysis Technicians, Executive Chef, Cook and Driver Ambulance. How to Apply on Bahria Town Pvt Limited Job Advertisement Apply as per details in job advertisement. In some cases, you may apply online at vacancies after registering at https://www.jobz.pk online. Note: Beware of Fraudulent Recruiting Activities. If the employer asks you to pay money for any purpose including processing to shortlisting, do not pay at all and report us using our contact us form. Apply as per instuctions & dates mentioned in official job ad. Govt jobs cannot be applied online here. Error & omissions excepted. Cancer Foundation Hospital CFH Karachi Surgeon & Nurse Jobs Latest Cancer Foundation Hospital Medical Posts Karachi 2021 Cancer Foundation Hospital CFH Karachi, Pakistan is required candidates for the posts of Head & Neck Surgeon, Registered Nurse, Nurse Aid and House Keeping Staff. How to Apply on Cancer Foundation Hospital Job Advertisement Apply as per details in job advertisement. In some cases, you may apply online at vacancies after registering at https://www.jobz.pk online. Note: Beware of Fraudulent Recruiting Activities. If the employer asks you to pay money for any purpose including processing to shortlisting, do not pay at all and report us using our contact us form. Apply as per instuctions & dates mentioned in official job ad. Govt jobs cannot be applied online here. Error & omissions excepted. Human Resource Officers Job in Islamic Relief Latest Islamic Relief Pakistan Human Resource Posts Peshawar 2021 Islamic Relief Pakistan is a UK based International relief and Development Organization require the service of Human Resource Officers in Peshawar and AJK. How to Apply on Islamic Relief Pakistan Job Advertisement Apply as per details in job advertisement. In some cases, you may apply online at vacancies after registering at https://www.jobz.pk online. Note: Beware of Fraudulent Recruiting Activities. If the employer asks you to pay money for any purpose including processing to shortlisting, do not pay at all and report us using our contact us form. Apply as per instuctions & dates mentioned in official job ad. Govt jobs cannot be applied online here. Error & omissions excepted. Join Pakistan Air Force as Officer Through Service Commissio Latest Pakistan Air Force PAF Air Force Posts Lahore 2021 Join Pakistan Air Force PAF as Officer Through Service Commission in Pakistan. Registration Open from 30 July to 05 August 2018. For more detail joinpaf.gov.pk How to Apply on Pakistan Air Force PAF Job Advertisement Apply as per details in job advertisement. In some cases, you may apply online at vacancies after registering at https://www.jobz.pk online. Telephone: 051-5701143 Official Website: www.paf.gov.pk Note: Beware of Fraudulent Recruiting Activities. If the employer asks you to pay money for any purpose including processing to shortlisting, do not pay at all and report us using our contact us form. Apply as per instuctions & dates mentioned in official job ad. Govt jobs cannot be applied online here. Error & omissions excepted. Join Pakistan Navy through Short Service Commission Course Latest Pakistan Navy Navy Posts Karachi 2021 Join Pakistan Navy through Short Service Commission Course 2018-B in Special Branch (Research Design & Technical Analysis, Cardiac Perfusionist, Bio Medical Engineer, Religious Motivation Officers, Medical Branch Specialist, Psychologists). How to Apply on Pakistan Navy Job Advertisement Apply as per details in job advertisement. In some cases, you may apply online at vacancies after registering at https://www.jobz.pk online. Telephone: 0515953060 Official Website: www.joinpaknavy.gov.pk Note: Beware of Fraudulent Recruiting Activities. If the employer asks you to pay money for any purpose including processing to shortlisting, do not pay at all and report us using our contact us form. Apply as per instuctions & dates mentioned in official job ad. Govt jobs cannot be applied online here. Error & omissions excepted. NUMS Rawalpindi Jobs 2018 for Asst Professor & Director IT Latest National University of Medical Sciences NUMS Education Posts Rawalpindi 2021 National University of Medical Sciences NUMS Rawalpindi, Pakistan required experienced and dynamic candidates for the posts of Assistant Professor and Director IT. How to Apply on National University of Medical Sciences NUMS Job Advertisement Apply as per details in job advertisement. In some cases, you may apply online at vacancies after registering at https://www.jobz.pk online. Telephone: 051-9271878 Official Website: www.numspak.edu.pk Note: Beware of Fraudulent Recruiting Activities. If the employer asks you to pay money for any purpose including processing to shortlisting, do not pay at all and report us using our contact us form. Apply as per instuctions & dates mentioned in official job ad. Govt jobs cannot be applied online here. Error & omissions excepted. The Star Deck at Robin Pope Safaris Mkulumadzi Lodge is the only one of its kind in Malawi. The raised square deck sits on a structure built from found branches and logs and looks out over the surrounding treetops of Majete Wildlife Reserve, giving guests the distinct feeling of sleeping in a wall-less, roof-less treehouse. The intimate set-up includes a double bed with cotton linen, bedside tables, a canopy mosquito net, lanterns and seating for enjoying a bottle of wine while gazing up at the stars or out over the reserve. One of Malawis only Big Five Parks, Majete is made up of woodlands, hills, valleys and forest, and is home to lions, buffalo, kudu, and black rhino, to name a few. Majete is now home again to over 400 elephants thanks to the conservation efforts of African Parks #500Elephants initiative. Mkulumadzi Lodge is the only luxury accommodation in the park complete with first-class bush chalets, outdoor rain showers, and of course, the sleep-out star deck perfect for falling asleep under the Milky Way. GRA/GTA/GA Health Insurance The Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR) in cooperation with the Regents Institutions of the State of Kansas is pleased to offer to Graduate Research Assistants (GRA), Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTA), Graduate Assistants (GA), and their dependents, a Blanket Injury and Sickness Insurance Plan underwritten by UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company and administered by UnitedHealthcare Student Resources. To be eligible for the GRA/GTA/GA student health insurance plan, including an employer contribution, an eligible student employee must first meet both of the following conditions: the student employee is enrolled in the student health care benefits component of the state health care benefits program, and the student is appointed for the current semester to a GRA, GTA, or GA position or some combination of the three, that is at least a .5 FTE appointment. By design, this is a prepaid health insurance plan which means the semester premiums are paid in advance at the time of applying for coverage. For more information please visit Human Capital Services. Semester open enrollment period Fall August 1 - 31 Spring January 1 - 31 Summer June 1 - 30 Entitled Love for Hanoi, the programme attracted the participation of Youth Union members from 30 districts, suburban districts and towns across Hanoi, featuring the love for the capital, love for the country and renewal achievements of Hanoi. The event was also an opportunity for the youth to express their desire to devote themselves to the city, while disseminating information on the outstanding achievements gained by the city over the past few years. The free of charge programme provided local residents with impressive performances by both amateur and professional Youth Union members, reflecting the national pride and strength of the Vietnamese youth. The organising board of the programme also presented one first prize, two second prizes, and two third prizes to the best performances at the event. Medford, Ore. -- Today Britt Music & Arts Festival announced it will move the Friday, August 3 and Saturday, August 4 Orchestra concerts to the North Medford High School Auditorium. The festival says the unpredictable air quality is a concern. All rehearsals are scheduled to continue to be held at North Medford High School, located at 1900 N. Keene Way Dr. in Medford, Oregon. The Britt staff says it is monitoring conditions regularly. This decision may change if air quality conditions improve and stabilize. A decision on the final weekend concerts, August 10 and 11, will be made at a later date. #FeedTheNeed2018CarrFire is a group created on Facebook. Many local restaurants have teamed together to help everyone that has been displaced by the Carr Fire. Every one of the businesses below will be a donation point where locals can donate anything and everything. See their Facebook link here. A family from Eureke, California, is raising money specifically for children victims of the Carr Fire. Check out their story and Facebook page here. Vineyard Church in Red Bluff is opening its doors to evacuees of the Carr Fire and are looking for donations. To provide monetary donations, click here. Here is a list of all of the donation items Vineyard Church is collecting: - Toiletries - Diapers and baby wipes - Food and water - Gift cards (gas, food and groceries) - Cots, pillows and bedding Willows Volunteer Fire Fighter, Danielle Avila, is collecting donations that she can pick up in either Orland or Willows by 12 p.m. on July 29. To reach Danielle you can call (530) 566-7389. Cal Fire suggests visiting the Cal Volunteer website here. It gives links to donate directly to service providers. Haven Humane Society is housing many of the animals displaced by the Carr Fire. They need several items including dog and cat crates, food, water bowls, hay and animal feed. to see more information on how to donate items on their website, click here. For monetary donations, click here. To donate to the Shasta County Relief Fund, click here. You can also text CARRFIRE to 91999. To donate to the Tri Counties Bank Carr Fire 2018 account, click here. To donate to the Shasta Regional Foundation Community Disaster Relief Fund, click here. Shasta College in Redding is accepting donations of water bottles and new blankets. If you are able to donate these items, please enter the south entrance on Old Oregon Trail and follow the signs to the drop-off site. KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. -- The Klamath Falls Police Department says on Saturday, July 28, 2018, at approximately 7:58pm, officers from responded to a call of a reported assault in progress in the 3700 block of Diamond Street. Upon arrival, officers located two victims, one male and one female, both had been struck in the head with a hammer. Investigating officers identified William Bernard Aune Jr. as the suspect in this incident. They say Aune unlawfully entered his estranged girlfriends residence and struck both his ex-girlfriend and her brother in the head with a hammer causing serious physical injury. They say he also stole a vehicle belonging to one of the victims and tried to run over someone else standing in the street. Officers say Aune then drove that stolen car to a house in the 800 block of North 2nd Street and attempted to assault another person with the same hammer. Klamath Falls Police Officers found Aune in the 800 block of North 2nd Street. He was taken into custody without incident. He faces these charges: -Attempted Murder x 3 Class A Felony -Assault I x 2 Class A Felony -Attempted Assault I Class B Felony -Burglary I Class A Felony -Aggravated Harassment Class C Felony -Unauthorized Use of Motor Vehicle Class C Felony -Criminal Mischief III Class C Misdemeanor -Failure to Perform Duties of a Driver Class A Misdemeanor -Interfering with Making a Report Class A Misdemeanor -Violation of a Restraining Order -Reckless Driving Class A Misdemeanor Both victims were transported to Sky Lakes Medical Center with serious injuries. The female victim was later flown to Bend, Oregon for additional medical treatment. The motive for the crimes is still under investigation. The Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal, through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, has activated its Agency Operations Center and one strike team and one task force with equipment and personnel who are enroute to assist with the Mendocino Complex Fire in California. California fire officials submitted a request asking for assistance yesterday evening from Oregon. The OSFM activated its emergency mobilization plan, sending out the request for assistance to all Oregon fire agencies. California made the request through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact a national state-to-state mutual aid system. The EMAC request is sent directly to Oregon Emergency Management who contact and coordinate with the appropriate Oregon agency to fulfill the requests. Vehicles are seen in a parking lot at the General Motors Oshawa Assembly Plant in Oshawa, Ont., on June 20, 2018. Canada will join Mexico and other European and Asian auto-producing countries this week to plot strategy ahead of the potential imposition of tariffs on vehicles and auto parts exported to the United States. Japan and the European Union organized the meeting for Tuesday in Geneva, where vice and deputy ministers from Canada, the EU, Japan and South Korea will gather to talk about the punishing levies threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump. A Canadian government official told The Canadian Press on Sunday that deputy international trade minister Timothy Sargent would attend the meeting on Canada's behalf. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tijana Martin PLEASANT HILL, Ore. -- Firefighters said a car crashed into a power pole in Pleasant Hill Saturday night, causing an extensive power outage. Crews with Pleasant Hill Goshen Fire & Rescue responded to the crash off of Parkway Road. They said the car hit a power pole, starting a small fire. Firefighters put the fire out, and said the driver was transported. Emerald People's Utility District said the outage is impacting residents in Jasper, Fall Creek and Natron areas. EPUD crews are onsite, working to restore power. To report outages, call EPUD at (541) 746-1583. Minh made the statement at the associations meeting which took place in the northern province of Lang Son on July 28. The associations portal was launched in February, promptly proving information and updates on significant events and foreign activities of Vietnam and Russia. The Vietnam-Russia Friendship Associations activities have also enhanced people-to-people exchanges, contributing to the Vietnam-Russia traditional friendship. In the coming time, the association is set to arrange visits of Russian delegations to Vietnam while stepping up communication work. On the occasion, the association presented awards to 38 winners of a writing contest on memories in Russia and the Vietnam-Russia friendship, which was held to celebrate 100 years of the Russian October Revolution. CRESCO, Iowa A helicopter crash in Howard County Friday sent the pilot to the hospital. The Sheriffs Office says it happened a little after 6 pm when a crop dusting helicopter apparently hit an electrical wire and went down at the intersection of 125th Street and Maple Leaf Road. The pilot, 43-year-old Scott Anthony Townes of Texarkana, TX, was able to get out of the chopper on his own and was taken by ambulance to Regional Health Services in Cresco for treatment of minor injuries. The Howard County Sheriffs Office says the helicopter was spraying crops for Innovative Ag Services out of Elma. The Riceville and Elma fire department and Howard County and Riceville ambulances also responded to the scene. The Federal Aviation Administration inspected the crash site on Saturday. Photos courtesy of the Howard County Sheriff's Office. OSAGE, Iowa Breaking into a rural Mitchell County home is sending a man to jail. Dustin William Hall, 37 of Osage, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted 3rd degree burglary. A county sheriffs deputy arrested him on April 19 after a report of suspicious activity in the 3000 block of Hickory Avenue. The deputy says Hall was on the roof of the house with an open window on the second floor and a window screen on the ground. The deputy says cash and gift cards were found in Halls pockets and there were muddy footprints throughout the home. Hall has been sentenced to 30 days in jail, with credit for time served, and must pay $630 in legal fees. U.S. singer Bob Dylan performs during the 37th AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Michael Douglas at Sony Pictures in Culver City California in this file photo taken on June 11, 2009. No photos or video were allowed at the concert held in Seoul, Friday. Korea Times file By Kwak Yeon-soo Bob Dylan is one of the greatest musicians on Earth. He has sold millions of records, won numerous awards even the Nobel Prize in Literature for his brilliant, poetic lyrics. But the music legend didn't stand out in his concert held in Seoul on Friday at the Gymnastics Arena of Olympic Park in southern Seoul. He was rather hard to understand due to his rough and raspy voice. "It's a shame that I couldn't hear a word Dylan said when he is highly acclaimed for his unparalleled lyrics and songwriting," said a middle-aged woman who only gave her surname Song. "But I highly respect his strength and passion for music. How could a 77-year-old perform nonstop for two hours? He must be about the same age as Na Hoon-a, am I right?" Na Hoon-a is a legendary Korean trot singer who is nicknamed the "emperor of trot" due to his powerful voice and charisma. The Nobel laureate is known for his unique vocal style, mumbling in his singing, but most of the songs he played during the concert were hardly recognizable if not for the band playing with him. "There were new arrangements in the rendition, which were different from what I had heard on the album. I also wish he'd sung Knockin' on Heaven's Door during the concert," said a 20-something office worker, who brought Dylan's vinyl album to the concert. Dylan sang 21 songs at his first concert in Seoul in eight years, including "All Along the Watchtower," "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right," "Gotta Serve Somebody," "Make You Feel My Love" and "Soon After Midnight." Dylan didn't say a single word all night and didn't thank the crowd who came to see their favorite singer. When the singer left the stage immediately after finishing his set, the respectable audience gave a big round of applause and echoed his name to return to the stage. In response to the extended applause, the folk music legend reappeared on stage few minutes later to play two more, "Blowin' In The Wind" and "Ballad Of A Thin Man." After the two-hour concert, the singer moved in front of the stage and stood motionlessly with a faint smile. All the seated audience stood up in awe with the hope that the singer might say something. Nonetheless, Dylan unhurriedly disappeared from the stage. There were people in the crowd that apparently loved everything about the concert. Intermittent cheering and clapping came and went throughout the show, and when Dylan started singing "Autumn Leaves" to the standing microphone near the end of the concert, it seemed to energize a mostly seated audience. A few from the side seats even danced to his music, genuinely enjoying the concert. "The stage with red curtains and sparse lighting seemed fairly small for Dylan. I felt like I was listening to his music in the open fields in Chicago," said Lee Chang-ho, a university student. On the sidelines, Dylan reportedly turned down the organizer's request to install big screens for the audience, saying he wants the fans to focus on his music. Thus, the audience had to merely appreciate his vocals. But because his vocals were so rough and the singer sat down at the piano for most of the time, fans were a bit disappointed. Following the Seoul concert, Dylan performed at the annual Fuji Rock Festival in Japan on July 29. He will later go on an arena tour of Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia. Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi opened on Sunday the second day of the 6th National Youth Conference, which is taking place at Cairo University. The second day will feature a special session on developing the health insurance system, and will be attended by Minister of Health Hala Zayed and a number of medical school deans and young doctors. A session called the 'National Project for the Information Structure of the Egyptian State' is also scheduled for the second day. There will also be a question and answer session where the Egyptian president will answer queries from students as part of the 'Ask the President' online initiative. The first day of the conference featured a roundtable discussion led by Education Minister Tarek Shawky on the development of the country's education system. More than 3,000 university students, officials, ministers and MPs attended Saturday's sessions. The event is also attended by top-scoring 2017/18 thanaweya amma graduates. After members of Egypt's cabinet described their plan to develop Egypt's health insurance, Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi stressed that the "system will not succeed without achieving stability and security." Sisi opened the second day of the sixth National Youth Conference on Sunday, which is taking place at Cairo University. "We have great fears of instability which threatens all the pillars of stability," said Sisi, adding that the revolutionary period which the country has been through since 2009 has taken its toll on strategic projects. He went on to say that "we have to bear the burdens of the economic reform; I am putting you all under pressure because I don't have any other option." The second day features a special session on developing the health insurance system, attended by Egypt's Health Minister Hala Zayed, Finance Minister Mohamed Maaet and a number of medical school deans and young doctors. A session called the 'National Project for the Information Structure of the Egyptian State' is also scheduled for the second day. The Egyptian President is also set to attend a question and answer session, where he will answer queries from students as part of the "Ask the President" online initiative. Hepatitis C, Population Growth, Waiting lists Egypt's Health Minister Zayed presented seven health points which are part of the government's "strategic development plan 2030" which comprises a number of developmental aims set to take place over the next 12 years. Zayed explained that the first issue to be tackled by her ministry is that of ending patient waiting lists in all public health sector hospitals in Egypt. The minister added that there are currently 12,127 patients on public health sector waiting lists. The health ministry is aiming to end this list during the coming six months, according to Zayed. Zayed showed a documentary film of current patients who have undergone operations as part of the plan to end the waiting lists. Egyptian President Sisi interjected after watching the documentary to say "if I you gave me the option to choose between eating or treating those people, no, I would treat those patients." He continued, saying that if Egyptians were only to stand in support of the government, all the challenges facing Egypt would be solved. Zayed resumed her presentation, saying that the second point of the health ministry's development plan concerns medical checks to detect hepatitis C, which are to be conducted on 45 million Egyptian citizens. "Screening patients will start from October 2018 we have 3,800 medical units all over Egypt and 352 evaluation units for the virus," says Zayed. Zayed explained that controlling population growth is a crucial challenge which is just as important as combating terrorism. First Health coverage law Egypt's Finance Minister Mohamed Maaet said that for the first time, Egypt will enact a comprehensive health coverage law in December 2018. He added that the introduction of 100 million people into the health insurance system will take time, structure, and a qualified human resources and information system. "Health care will help to reduce poverty rates, despite its cost," says Maeet. He pointed out that the health insurance initiative will cost the state EGP 18 billion (approx. US$ 1 billion). He repeated that the completion of surgical procedures waiting lists will be completed as a priority. He pointed out that 540 hospitals will be rehabilitated, upgraded and then transferred to a public body in a single system, adding that the implementation is set to start in Port Said at the end of the year at a cost of EGP 1.8 to 2 billion (around $ 100-112 million). He stressed that economic reform will enable society to spend on health, education, social housing and citizens' services. Search Keywords: Short link: A military aircraft carrying the remains of soldiers killed in the Korean War arrived Osan air base on Friday (July 27) in South Korea. The repatriation of remains of U.S. soldiers missing in the 1950-53 conflict is seen as a modest diplomatic coup for U.S. President Donald Trump because it was one of the agreements reached during his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12. Soldiers in dress uniforms with white gloves were seen slowly carrying 55 small cases covered with the blue-and-white United Nations insignia, placing them one by one into silver vans waiting on the tarmac in Osan. The transfer of the remains coincided with the 65th anniversary of the 1953 armistice agreement that ended fighting, although the two Koreas are technically still at war because a peace treaty was never signed. (Reuters) United Nations Command Chaplain U.S. Army Col. Sam Lee performs a blessing of sacrifice and remembrance on the 55 boxes of remains thought to be of U.S. soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War, returned by North Korea to the U.S., at the Osan Air Base in South Korea, July 27, 2018. U.S. Army/ Sgt. Quince Lanford/Handout via Reuters Eunhee Park with Thae Yong-ho. / Courtesy of TNKR On July 22, Teach North Korean Refugees (TNKR) held a special forum with Thae Yong-ho, the former North Korean diplomat who escaped to South Korea in 2016. In attendance were four students studying at TNKR. Two of them gave the following responses to meeting Thae. Eunhee Park, female, escaped from North Korea in 2012 I was so honored to meet Thae Yong-ho. Such a meeting would not have happened in North Korea. His position was so high in North Korea, my position was so low. I was so happy when I was listening because even though his speech was 99.9 percent in English, he used the word "ba kku," a North Korean way of saying "back" when giving directions during his PowerPoint presentation. I already knew who he was, but I was still so surprised by his incredible lecture. His English is fluent so I thought that I would be able to understand everything, but sadly, I could only understand about 50 percent. Despite that, I was able to follow his speech because he explained things so logically, and he used his experience to help someone like me to catch up to what he was saying. It was a reminder how important education is, and it encouraged me to continue studying and challenging myself to reach my goals. Because of my own experience at TNKR, I was so happy to hear him praise TNKR. He really has a good understanding of how TNKR is helping North Korean refugees like me even to understand his speech in English and to have the chance to meet him. Ken Eom with Thae Achieving reconciliation between Palestinian factions and restoring political legitimacy in the Gaza Strip would help advance efforts to revive the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks and reach a just solution to the Palestinian issue, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi told President of the World Jewish Congress Ronald Lauder during a meeting in Cairo, according to a statement by presidential spokesman Bassam Radi on Sunday. The meeting, which was also attended by General Intelligence Service Chief Abbas Kamel, tackled the Mideast peace process and the ongoing efforts to resume talks between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, with the aim of reaching a fair solution in accordance with international terms. Last week Egypt announced that it rejects a newly passed Israeli law that defines Israel as "the nation-state of the Jewish people" and rules that only Jews have the right to self-determination in the country, saying the law solidifies the concept of occupation and apartheid. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said that the new law undermines the chances of achieving peace in the Middle East or reaching a fair solution in the Palestinian issue. Egypt has repeatedly voiced its support for a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state. Search Keywords: Short link: A search for family propels Annie, the 1977 Broadway musical inspired by the Depression-era comic strip Little Orphan Annie. In a weekend staging at the Hollywood Bowl, that came to mean several things. By the end of this inquisitive if ultimately conventional presentation, the audience at Fridays first performance found itself in the lap of a large and loving nuclear family while more broadly connecting with a sense of America as one big household. Diverse and inclusive, the cast reflected the nation at large, peopled with such recognizable names as David Alan Grier, Lea Salonga, Ana Gasteyer, Amir Talai, Megan Hilty and Roger Bart, as well as wheelchair-using actress Ali Stroker. The range of orphans the title character and six other girls was equally sweeping. Presented through Sunday as the Bowls annual musical, the show was directed by Michael Arden, who has brought similarly all-embracing approaches to the most recent Tony winner for musical revival, Once on This Island, as well as a Deaf-and-hearing rendition of Spring Awakening in L.A. and New York and an age- and race-diverse presentation of Merrily We Roll Along in L.A. Advertisement Casting a wide net in his search for child actors, Arden posted a YouTube video in April inviting submissions from 6- to 13-year-olds, who were asked to upload performance videos for evaluation. He got close to 650 responses. The Annie chosen was 10-year-old Kaylin Hedges of suburban New York, who has been acting since age 6 and performed the role last year with a professional company in New Yorks Westchester County. Her voice was like the sunshine promised in Tomorrow, the shows most famous song. Pure and powerful, it rang across the hillside, pinging especially nicely on long-held high notes. The storys backdrop at the Bowl was Annies name spelled out in gigantic, three-dimensional letters, rendered in the comics distinctive font. The orchestra was placed in a metal musicians balcony behind this alphabet land. As the show progressed, the letters were turned on their sides to form doorways and alcoves or flipped around to reveal settings in their hollow insides. (The shows design is by Dane Laffrey.) The score by composer Charles Strouse and lyricist Martin Charnin evokes such Depression-era sounds as jazz and vaudeville, as well as novelty songs and patriotic tunes. Todd Ellison conducted 19 musicians, as in the original Broadway production. 1 / 8 Kaylin Hedges as Annie and Macy as her dog Sandy on stage in Annie at the Hollywood Bowl on July 27, 2018. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 8 Kaylin Hedges as Annie escapes the orphanage in a laundry basket on stage in Annie. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 8 Ana Gasteyer, right, as Miss Hannigan jumps in fright as the orphans pull out a dead mouse in Annie. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 8 Ana Gasteyer as Miss Hannigan and Kaylin Hedges as Annie. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 8 David Alan Grier as Daddy Warbucks and Kaylin Hedges as Annie. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 8 David Alan Grier as Daddy Warbucks and Kaylin Hedges as Annie. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 8 David Alan Grier as Daddy Warbucks and Kaylin Hedges as Annie. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 8 Kaylin Hedges, center, stars as Annie with Marlow Barkley, left, as Kate and Amadi Chapata, right, as Pepper. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) When music was playing, the presentation sparkled. Voices were energized, and choreographer Eamon Foley had the orphans percussively slapping the floor with cleaning rags in Its the Hard-Knock Life and delivering flapperish kicks, a bit of folk dancing and a mini-Rockettes line in Youre Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile. Dialogue scenes, on the other hand, seemed flat and characterizations superficial. The book by Thomas Meehan and his collaborators is a lot like a cartoon. Plot motivation is sketchy; messaging is kept simple and endlessly repeated. Strong, inventive performances are needed to lend dimension and pizzazz to the material. But, hey, who am I to argue with success? The show ran nearly six years in its initial Broadway run and has become a national staple. Kids love it, and Fridays audience included a fair number of children, especially girls in tulle princess skirts or party dresses. Inspired by the Harold Gray comic strip, Annie is set in Depression-strapped 1933 and follows its title character through New York as she shares a message of hope, bringing out the best in people. Well, maybe not in foul-tempered, child-hating orphanage manager Miss Hannigan, but certainly in billionaire businessman Oliver Warbucks, whose mansion Annie is invited to visit during the Christmas holiday. The youngest cast members stole hearts right and left on Friday, notably 7-year-old Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja, a comic spitfire, as Molly. As Miss Hannigan, Gasteyer sang in a rich, characterful mezzo soprano with a streetwise New York accent layered on top. The audience enjoyed her boozy disdain and her youngster-induced screams of frustration. Grier lent the stuffy, business-focused Warbucks an animated, resonant baritone with a touch of jazz in it, helping us to understand how Annie so instinctively sees the fun in him. Salonga, portraying Warbucks trusty secretary, sounded radiant. Kids in the audience wouldnt have noticed, but adults might have been struck by the different ways parts of the 41-year-old show resonate nowadays. The sight of children corralled together, crying in the night for absent parents, brought to mind our current news cycle. So did a Hooverville of stressed, angry Americans. And then there were contrasts: Eager to get his factories reopened, billionaire Republican Warbucks is willing to work with Democratic New Dealers to give the populace a path to reemployment. Later, this opinionated deal-maker cozies up to the FBI, in which he has unwavering trust. As Annie likes to say: Leapin lizards! This is our family, all right plenty messy, but varied, tenacious and full of hope. SIGN UP for the free Essential Arts & Culture newsletter Ana Gasteyers Miss Hannigan, left, gives Kaylin Hedges Annie a warning. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Annie Where: Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave. When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday; ends Sunday Tickets: $14-$144; subject to inventory Info: (323) 850-2000, www.hollywoodbowl.com Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes daryl.miller@latimes.com Twitter: @darylhmiller The story of La Llorona is one that has been passed down from generation to generation in Latinx households to keep children from misbehaving. Because the story is based on actual folklore, the upcoming movie The Curse of La Llorona is just that much more frightening, actor Raymond Cruz said when he and costars Patricia Velasquez and Linda Cardellini, along with director Michael Chaves, stopped by the L.A. Times studio at Comic-Con International: San Diego earlier this month. The legend of La Llorona has been handed down from generation to generation, especially in the Latin community, where youre warned that if you dont behave, La Llorona will get you, said Cruz. Not might get you. Will get you. The folk legend of La Llorona, which is Spanish for the weeping woman, is about a mother who drowned her two young sons in a fit of jealous madness after finding her husband in the arms of a younger woman. She is cursed to roam the Earth looking for other children to snatch away and call her own. Advertisement The fear caused by this story is very much real, but even more terrifying? Theres a chance La Llorona was a visitor on the set during the production of The Curse of La Llorona. We did have some creepy supernatural occurrences. Half the crew actually does believe the house that we shot in was haunted, and there might have been something to that, said Chaves. The director added that hes generally a skeptic about such things, but by the end of the production, just enough strange stuff happened to give him some doubts. And the films stars definitely believe she was a presence during filming. I think she was there just making sure we were doing right by her, said Velasquez. The Curse of La Llorona is scheduled to hit theaters April 19, 2019. Watch the interview above. FULL COVERAGE: San Diego Comic-Con 2018 Third times a charm for the on-screen romance between Julia Roberts and Dermot Mulroney. The two actors, who costarred in My Best Friends Wedding and August: Osage County, are reuniting in the upcoming psychological thriller, Homecoming, on Amazon. And though theyve shared lots of screen time and have had complicated ties throughout, this will be their first boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. That only took 30 years! Roberts said at the Television Critics Assn. summer tour Saturday. Advertisement Mulroney called it a more modest-sized role than his previous jobs with Roberts, but no less impactful to him. It would be a privilege for any actor to work on material like this, he said. But I get to do these incredible scenes with this incredible actor, who happens to be one of my best friends. Homecoming, which marks Roberts first TV series lead role, is a great old-fashioned yarn, she said, adding that it provided her with a great mental challenge every day. Though shes been a movie star for many years, Roberts said she made no platform distinction about Homecoming. I didnt think of it as small screen-big screen, she said. My TV is very big. The half-hour show premieres Nov. 2 on Amazon Prime Video (there will be a Season 2, but creators wouldnt give any details on its future direction). Homecoming is part of Amazons attempt to take big swings in its programming, with Chief Executive Jeff Bezos having said the streaming service needs to find breakout global hits on the scale of Game of Thrones to compete in the Peak TV era. Though its not a period piece and there are no dragons or White Walkers, Homecoming truly defines addictive, Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, said at the press gathering. Showrunner Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot), who directed all 10 episodes, said it harkens back to Hitchcock and De Palma and has an old-school thriller vibe. Roberts plays Heidi Bergman, a caseworker at a facility that helps military veterans ease back into civilian life. Stephan James (as Walter Cruz) is one of those soldiers, and Bobby Cannavale (as Colin Belfast) is her boss at the Homecoming Initiative. The story follows Roberts character four years after shes left Homecoming (shes a waitress in a small town, living with her mother, played by Sissy Spacek), and the Department of Defense has launched an investigation into the support center. The series is based on a popular podcast of the same name from Gimlet Media thats been described as experimental fiction. Its creators, Eli Horowitz and Micah Bloomberg, are writers on the TV adaptation and co-showrunners with Esmail. And if the striking visual style looks familiar to cable fans (the trailer dropped recently at Comic-Con International: San Diego), thats because Esmail gathered his Mr. Robot crew to shoot Homecoming. At a time when many immigrants and refugees are trying to get into the United States, Claudia Calderon is too poor to leave. Earlier this year, she and her husband left their native Guatemala separately and crossed the border, each with one of their sons. Their journeys to America ended differently, but in many ways, both proved disastrous. Traveling with her 2-month-old and no money, Calderon turned herself in to border authorities in Texas in March and made a claim for asylum. She was briefly detained, then went to live at her in-laws cramped Los Angeles apartment. Advertisement When she got there, she learned that her husband, Kristian Francisco Ovalle Hernandez, who was with their 3-year-old son, was arrested for trying to illegally cross the border in El Paso. The boy watched his fathers arrest and was separated from him and placed in foster care in California. Ovalle Hernandez was deported. Now back with his mother, the boy still suffers nightmares from the trauma. Many parents who were separated from their children at the border under the Trump administrations zero tolerance policy the majority of whom, like Calderon, are from Central America hope to make their case in court for why they should be allowed to stay in the U.S. Calderon has found herself pleading with lawyers to help her leave. The 21-year-old mother wants to renounce her asylum case and scrape together enough money to buy plane tickets, even as she acknowledges her sons would have more opportunities if they stayed here. Theyd have a better future, Calderon said. But without their father, theyd never have the happiness they had over there. Claudia Calderon turned herself in to border authorities in Texas in March and made a claim for asylum. She was briefly detained, then went to live at her in-laws cramped Los Angeles apartment. (Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times) Even as more Mexican immigrants have returned to Mexico than have migrated to the U.S., the number of immigrants from Central American countries has risen sharply. About 115,000 new immigrants arrived from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras in 2014 double the amount who entered the U.S. three years earlier, according to U.S. Census Bureau data analyzed by Pew Research Center, for reasons that include gang activity and widespread violence. Though there has been a large flow of migrants into the country, it is unclear how many have left or are trying to leave voluntarily. There have been families, young people, wives who are fed up and want to go back, but cant because of money, fear of what awaits them back home, or because they have children and cant seem to decide what to do, take them or leave them here, said Jorge-Mario Cabrera, spokesman for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights L.A. Calderon never wanted the American dream. She and Ovalle Hernandez were content in Guatemala, where she stayed at home to care for Andriy and Adrian, and Ovalle Hernandez worked whatever odd jobs he could find. Andriy and his father were especially close. When Ovalle Hernandez got home, the boy squealed with joy as he ran to greet him. They would play together until Andriy fell asleep in his fathers arms. But their lives were upended after someone tried to break into their home twice. Masked men with guns showed up at the tobacco fields where Ovalle Hernandez worked. Ovalle Hernandez decided to sell their house and leave Guatemala first with Andriy. He hadnt seen his mother since she left for the U.S. as a teenager, but he knew she would take them in. Calderon didnt hear from her husband for weeks after he left. Terrified for their well-being, she and her infant son headed to Texas in early March. As they traveled to California, she assumed Ovalle Hernandez and Andriy would be waiting for them. When she learned what had happened to them, she said, it felt as if her heart had been ripped out of her chest. I almost fainted, Calderon said. Andriy spent more than a month with a foster family before she was able to get him back. Now, Calderon has settled into an uneasy wait. She spends nearly every day inside her mother-in-laws one-bedroom apartment. She is not allowed to work as her case winds its way through the court, leaving her to financially rely on her husbands family for every necessity. When she tried to visit a San Fernando attorney, she left after learning the office charged just for a consult. In Guatemala, Ovalle Hernandez is living with an aunt and found a job building houses. He makes about $200 every two weeks, but the work is sporadic. And it dries up when it rains. Calderon is resolved to leave, but for now the travel expenses make it difficult. Shes afraid to take a bus with the two young boys for the more than 2,000-mile trip home. A recent advisory issued by the U.S. State Department instructed travelers to exercise increased caution in Mexico due to crime. Violent crime, such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking and robbery, is widespread. Its too expensive for Ovalle Hernandez to transfer money from Guatemala. Because he was caught crossing illegally, Ovalle Hernandez was deported at no cost to himself. Calderon crossed legally, and that has made all the difference. At her in-laws apartment, Calderon sleeps on a bottom bunk bed in the living room with her sons, just a few feet from the kitchen. On a recent night, as she lay with Andriy on the bed, Calderon recorded a conversation with the boy to send to his father. No quieres estar aqui, she said, asking if he wanted to live there. He told her no. Donde quieres estar, she said, asking where he wanted to be. Con mi papa, he said, through tears. Calderon cried too. The only privacy Calderon has is when she walks with her children to a park a few blocks from the apartment. She went there on a recent morning and kicked a ball around with Andriy, her waist-length black hair swinging in a ponytail behind her back. She misses her husband, but also her mother who also urges her to come home. Everyone here, it seems, tells her to stay. Her husbands family tells her that the children will have a brighter future in the U.S. Think of them first, they say. Her sons lawyer worried about what renouncing the case could mean for their chances to come back someday. The times Ovalle Hernandez can connect to the internet and Calderon is able to speak with him, she begins sobbing. He is suffering, he tells her, and so is she. Mejor vengase, he tells her. Come back. Claudia Calderon, playing with her two sons at a park, wants to return to Guatemala, but for now the travel expenses make it out of the question. (Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times) During a recent visit with her son Andriys attorney, Calderon broke down as she cradled Adrian in her lap and talked of going home. The attorney listened quietly, searching for the words to comfort her. She could only urge patience. Later that afternoon, when Calderon went for her check-in with her case manager as part of a monitoring program, he told her that if she wanted to leave, there was no reason to stay. He could help her with the order to leave. After all, he joked, President Trump, of all people, would want people like her to leave. On a recent Tuesday morning, with her sons still rubbing sleep from their eyes, Calderon stood outside the Guatemalan Consulate in L.A. She explained to a man seated outside that she needed passports to go home. He told her she would need to buy plane tickets first. When he learned of her situation, he referred her to an immigration attorney visiting that morning. As she sat outside waiting, Andriy sick from spending nearly an hour in traffic threw up on the concrete. He never experienced car sickness in Guatemala, able to ride in the bed of his fathers truck in the open air, she said. The young mother breast-fed Adrian as she tried to comfort Andriy, exhaustion etched into her face. Her sons need their father. I want to leave voluntarily. I just dont have the means to go, she told the attorney when he finally called her in. Maybe theres some way someone can help me go back. She had heard that if she left, she probably wouldnt be able to return for 10 years because of the mark on her record. But I dont want to come back, Calderon said. I just want to be in Guatemala. The United States is nothing like they said. brittny.mejia@latimes.com For more California news, follow @brittny_mejia Lawrence and Carla McCue listened from the last row as the mayor spoke to veterans at the Los Angeles National Cemetery on Memorial Day. Lawrence, 75, proudly wore his Marine Corps outfit and sat in his motorized wheelchair, with his dog Oreo at his feet. Carla, 62, snapped photos. Veterans and their families had come from across Southern California for this event. The McCues traveled from across the street in a Jeep Grand Cherokee that, like the couple, had seen much better days. For months, they had been living on the Department of Veterans Affairs' West Los Angeles campus in their car with Oreo. Like many senior citizens and veterans, their journey into homelessness was filled with health emergencies, financial upheaval and a persistent struggle to find a place they could truly call home. In January they came to the campus. Their car was their home. It was filled with the essentials of their life clothes, Oreos chew toys and Lawrences oxygen machine. At night, they drove the Jeep from the parking lot near the main hospital to a small alcove nearby. They were granted refuge there through a program called Safe Parking LA that allows homeless people to sleep in their cars without worrying about being arrested. One winter day, they filled out an application to live in a development called the El Segundo Boulevard Apartments that is under construction. If they qualified, they could get a housing subsidy through a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs program. Lawrences disabilities seemed to make them perfect candidates for one of the buildings units, which state records said would serve special needs tenants. As the couple sat on the VA campus, reading the Bible and speaking with their children over the phone, they began to imagine a brighter future. The clock began to tick on their application for the residence. Homelessness and poverty is like being held captive, you know, like you're a prisoner, and you're waiting for someone to find you, Carla said. Hopefully you live long enough for someone to find you in time and to get you out of captivity. Carla McCue helps her husband, Lawrence, get settled in his motorized wheelchair at the Westchester Recreation Center in Los Angeles. Carla hopes to jump-start the dead battery in the couple's Jeep, which they park at the Veterans Affairs' Westside campus at night through a safe-parking program. Left: Carla McCue helps her husband, Lawrence, get settled in his motorized wheelchair at the Westchester Recreation Center in Los Angeles. Right: Carla hopes to jump-start the dead battery in the couple's Jeep, which they park at the Veterans Affairs' Westside campus at night through a safe-parking program. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) The recent annual homeless count in Los Angeles had some good news for veterans. The number living on the streets was down 18% year-over-year. But for senior citizens a very vulnerable group the numbers were more worrying. There was a 22% surge in the number of elderly homeless people like Lawrence McCue. Thats nearly 5,000 people who are 62 or older and an additional 8,000 people who are in their mid-50s to early 60s. Sometimes McCues memories of hard times arent so clear, and dates dont always line up. But one thing is clear: The couple didnt always live like this. They met in 1986, when Carla worked in recreation services at Ladera Park. Lawrence was there with his son, and she noticed he carried a Bible. God bless you, my brother, she said she told him. And he said, Nice to meet you, charming young lady or something like that. And, well, he said that fireworks went off in his head. Later Lawrence had his young son ask for her number. They went to church on their first date. In the fall of 1987, they were married in Las Vegas. For years, they worked as dorm parents at American Intercontinental University in Los Angeles. Eventually, Carla began working for different properties owned by Marriott Hotels, spending 25 years with the chain. Carla McCue washes up after spending the night parked on the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs campus. Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times Lawrence had received his honorable discharge from the Marine Corps in June 1964, shortly before the Gulf of Tonkin incident and the escalation of the Vietnam War. From there, he made a career for himself, playing guitar in a band and working alongside musicians like famed producer Bobby Day. That was a gift that I had, and it brought me a lot of work, he said. As they got older, the hardships began to pile up. Their jobs could not keep up with rising rents. And well-paying jobs were hard to come by. Lawrences health increasingly worsened. Recently, a doctor told Lawrence that his kidneys were functioning at 19% of their capacity. Before that though, there was tendon damage in his hand. Then there was rheumatoid arthritis, Type 2 diabetes, congestive heart failure and a herniated disc pressed against his sciatic nerve. It got so bad that about a decade ago, for a spell, Lawrence could not move without excruciating pain. At the time, the couple was living in a motor home, which they parked for about five years by the Hertz rental car lot near the Los Angeles International Airport. That allowed Carla to easily come home to Lawrence after working at the Renaissance Los Angeles Airport Hotel. Soon, they lost the motor home. About three years ago, the McCues werent able to afford the parts that wouldve made the RV compliant after a smog check. Eventually, the vehicle was towed away. Dr. Jay Grossman, founder and chief executive of Homeless Not Toothless, gives Lawrence McCue a dental exam in Brentwood while his wife, Carla, observes. Grossman told the homeless veteran in June that it would cost $26,000 to fix his teeth and infected gums. Carla is the first person in line before the Social Security's West L.A. office opens. Carla lines up morning medication for her husband. Top: Dr. Jay Grossman, founder and chief executive of Homeless Not Toothless, gives Lawrence McCue a dental exam in Brentwood while his wife, Carla, observes. Grossman told the homeless veteran in June that it would cost $26,000 to fix his teeth and infected gums. Left: Carla McCue is the first person in line before the Social Security's West L.A. office opens. Right: Carla lines up morning medication for her husband. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) After a brief stay at a senior citizens home in the Inland Empire, the couple began living in their Jeep near the airport. Every day, Carla would get her husband situated with his Bible before heading to work. When the day ended, shed come back, walk the dog and settle in. To guests at the Renaissance hotel, Carla was a bubbly front-desk employee with a wide, toothy smile and a polite demeanor. They likely had no idea how her days ended. Fortunately [the hotel has] a locker room where I could shower and change and you know, I had a uniform, she said. Then I would go in and put on my smile and be ready to be a blessing to the guests. On New Years Eve of last year, Carla retired to spend her time caring for Oreo and her husband. After months of living in the parking lot, their lives had been injected with a dose of optimism. They met Sergio Aguilar, a social worker who specializes in helping veterans with the nonprofit People Assisting the Homeless. He helped them fill out applications for the El Segundo Boulevard Apartments, being constructed near the 105 and 110 freeways. Marine Corps veteran Lawrence McCue and his wife, Carla, participate in the Memorial Day ceremony at the Los Angeles National Cemetery. Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times We were hoping to be in there by Oreos birthday, which is May the 31st, Carla said this spring. We were expecting to be able to start June 1st in our new home. As the date got pushed back, Aguilar helped them get set up with a 45-day motel voucher at the Holloway Motel in West Hollywood. Their move was delayed several days, because the LA Pride Parade had filled up the motel. The move out of their car was a great relief particularly for Lawrence, whose legs had become badly swollen because of the cramped conditions. After checking into the motel, he was admitted to the hospital when his lungs began to fill with fluids. Another hospital visit meant more bills. A dentist told Lawrence it would cost $26,000 to fix his teeth and infected gums. Still they remained hopeful that they would eventually move into the apartment complex. The motel was an improvement, but the room smelled of cigarettes, the sheets were soiled and cocaine was being sold out of a neighboring room. Carla purchased disinfectant wipes and a special seat so Lawrence didnt have to stand in the shower. Lawrence McCue plays bass while attending Sunday service at Grace Fellowship Church in Culver City. Carla McCue prepares to put a sock on Lawrence's swollen foot while resting at picnic tables on the VA campus in West Los Angeles. Sergio Aguilar, a case manager with People Assisting the Homeless, left, works with the McCues on an application for an apartment in El Segundo, where they hope to qualify for a housing subsidy through a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs program. Carla hugs her dog Oreo as Lawrence follows. Clockwise from top: Lawrence McCue plays bass while attending Sunday service at Grace Fellowship Church in Culver City. Carla McCue prepares to put a sock on Lawrence's swollen foot while resting at picnic tables on the VA campus in West Los Angeles. Carla hugs her dog Oreo as Lawrence follows. Sergio Aguilar, a case manager with People Assisting the Homeless, left, works with the McCues on an application for an apartment in El Segundo, where they hope to qualify for a housing subsidy through a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs program.(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) In late June, the couple struggled to figure out how to stretch out $20. Between the two of them, they say they receive a little more than $1,700 a month in Social Security benefits. But that money was all but gone, and the end of the month was still more than a week away. Happy to not think about these problems for a couple of hours, they piled into the car and headed to Bible study in Culver City. Seated around the table, they laughed with friends and read from Genesis in the Old Testament. It was also an opportunity for them to get a free meal. Carla made sure to have several helpings of the chicken along with four slices of watermelon and bunch of cherries. Lawrence, wearing a camouflage jacket and using a cane rather than his electric wheelchair, didnt have much of an appetite. But he followed along closely on his phone, using an app to read relevant biblical passages. Before the Bible study, Carla checked the engine of their Jeep. Their car was a constant source of stress and expense, its balkiness always threatening to complicate their life further. After the study, the Jeep finally gave out. Carla McCue calls for a copy of her bank statement while her husband, Lawrence, on oxygen, stretches out on the bed at the Holloway Motel in West Hollywood, where they have a 45-day voucher. Carla packs up after the homeless couple's motel voucher expired. The McCues and their dog Oreo leave the hotel, forcing them to move back into their Jeep. Top: Carla McCue calls for a copy of her bank statement while her husband, Lawrence, on oxygen, stretches out on the bed at the Holloway Motel in West Hollywood, where they have a 45-day voucher. Left: Carla packs up after the homeless couple's motel voucher expired. Right: The McCues and their dog Oreo leave the hotel, forcing them to move back into their Jeep. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) With the help of their Bible study friends, they jumped the car and made it back to the Holloway Motel. Still, the Jeep would require close to $1,000 in repairs to work consistently. Its our little mobile house, Carla said with a smile. Several days later, the McCues got more bad news. Aguilar told them their application to live in the El Segundo Boulevard Apartments had been rejected. Aguilar explained the couples shared income from Social Security, just enough to cling to a tenuous life, meant they made too much money to be eligible for the unit. Some of the apartments had been set aside for people making more money, and if they had applied for one of those units they might have been accepted though that was far from guaranteed. Theyre in poverty but theyre considered over-income, said Aguilar, who tried and failed to appeal directly to the property manager and described this situation as rare. After months of waiting, the McCues are back to the beginning. Their motel voucher ran out. Their car, which had been in the shop getting repaired, is working again. Aguilar continues to help them search for a home but left without a permanent solution, theyre heading back to the VA parking lot. As she stood in the dog park watching Oreo play, Carla remained upbeat. Im hoping that by fall that we will be spending the holidays Thanksgiving and Christmas and our anniversary in our permanent place, she said. Her husband of almost 31 years, on the other hand, couldnt help but feel down. Ill just stay in that car until it breaks down again, Lawrence said. Carla McCue walks her dog Oreo. The McCues continue to search for a home. Im hoping that by fall that we will be spending the holidays ... in our permanent place, she says. Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times Without a Home Theyre part of the Los Angeles streetscape, as familiar as the swaying palm trees and idling traffic, living under freeways, alongside riverbeds and on canyon hillsides. The mentally ill, the drug addicts, the economically disadvantaged, many with their life belongings in a backpack or shopping cart. Here, The Times launches Without a Home, a special endeavor to examine a crisis of homelessness in our region. It is a challenge for each and every one of us. Citizens voted twice to open their wallets to fund a solution. Now, city leaders and others must act to improve the plight of some 58,000 of the countys most vulnerable residents. Full coverage benjamin.oreskes@latimes.com Twitter: @boreskes A Redding woman tried to save her two great-grandchildren by covering them with a wet blanket as the Carr fire swept through her home, her family said Saturday. Authorities confirmed Saturday that Melody Bledsoe, 70, and her great-grandchildren Emily and James Roberts, ages 4 and 5, respectively, died in the blaze. Bledsoes granddaughter Amanda Woodley provided more details in a public Facebook post written just after she left the Shasta County Sheriffs Office. Woodley said Bledsoe did everything she could to save the children. She was hovered over them both with a wet blanket, she wrote. My heart is crushed, she said. I cant believe this is real. I just keep seeing all of their beautiful faces. Advertisement Bledsoes husband, Ed, wasnt home when the fire struck, according to an online fundraiser created by another family member. The family did not believe the home was under evacuation when Ed Bledsoe went out to get supplies. The family was renting and did not have insurance. Ed has lost everything important to him, Cyn Hoskison wrote on the GoFundMe page, which had raised nearly $700 as of 4 p.m. Saturday. His whole world has been ripped away from him. The children called their great-grandfather while he was at the store, saying the fire was approaching. Speaking to the Sacramento Bee, Ed Bledsoe wept as he recounted trying to get back to the house. God Almighty, I dont know what I done wrong, he said. I talked to them until the fire got them. Authorities said they were also struggling with the loss. My sympathy goes out to the family, Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said. He said the fire consumed the house, the walls collapsed and the roof is covering the footprint of the home, making it difficult to access. A total of five people have been confirmed dead in the Carr fire. A Redding firefighter and a bulldozer operator died Thursday. Don Ray Smith, 81, of Pollock Pines was identified by the Shasta County Sheriffs Office as the man who died while operating a bulldozer. Smith was overtaken by the fire and his body was found in the area of Benson Drive and Rock Creek Road. Smith was found dead by emergency personnel. UPDATES: 5:30 p.m.: This article was updated with comments by the Shasta County sheriff. This article was originally published at 5:15 p.m. It was supposed to be a routine training exercise: firefighters climbing a ladder to the roof of a six-story building in downtown Los Angeles, as though the structure were on fire. On that June morning in 2017, firefighter Kelly Wong made it more than halfway up the ladder, leaning against the Barclay Hotel at a 73-degree angle. But then the 29-year-old lost his footing, falling from the ladder onto the fire truck below. He died from his injuries two days later. Now, lawyers for the Los Angeles Fire Department are at odds with workplace safety regulators over their investigation into the incident, the first fatality during a department training exercise since 1985. Officials with the states Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA, sent the Fire Department a special order in December instructing it to establish and implement procedures for using aerial ladders safely. The department must ensure that workers maintain three points of contact with a ladder at all times either two hands and one foot, or two feet and one hand, Cal/OSHA said in its order. Advertisement After visiting the accident site, safety regulators concluded that Wong had been holding a Fire Department roof kit, or two metal hooks strapped together, while he was on the ladder. The incident was caused by [Wong] carrying the roof kit in his hand, rather than secured to his back, thereby not allowing him to maintain three points of contact while ascending the ladder, state officials wrote in their two-page narrative on the incident. Cal/OSHA officials said their order will require the city to take corrective steps to prevent serious and fatal falls in the future. But the Fire Department has filed an appeal, calling the order vague and ambiguous and arguing that it provided little guidance on how to comply. In the appeal filing, Deputy City Atty. Jorge M. Otano said some of the orders instructions would hamper the departments work in saving lives. As worded, many rescues would be a violation of the order and cause unnecessary delay or hazard, he wrote. Cal/OSHA officials say they issue special orders to correct an unsafe condition, device, or place of employment which poses a threat to the health or safety of employees and which is not covered by existing state regulations. In the Wong case, the agency said the Fire Department cannot allow workers to transport tools in ways that put them at risk of falling from ladders. An LAFD fire truck carries the coffin of fallen firefighter Kelly Wong up Temple Street, enroute to his memorial service in June 2017. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) Peter Sanders, a spokesman for the Fire Department, said Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas would have no comment on the incident until the city resolved its issues with Cal/OSHA. But he confirmed the department currently has no written policy or procedure for carrying a roof kit while ascending a ladder. Sanders said department officials are updating their policies on the safe use of ladders, which will clarify how tools should be carried. The language is expected to say that firefighters have to have both of their hands free to climb ladders, Sanders said. And that when they take tools up ladders, they do so in a way where they dont need to use their hands to hold the equipment. Sanders said the wording changes, expected later this summer, are a result of the departments ongoing evaluation of safety procedures and not a response to Wongs death. Meanwhile, the Fire Department is also contesting $2,060 in fines issued by Cal/OSHA in the wake of the incident. After reviewing the scene of the fatal training session, state regulators cited the Fire Department over its handling of ladders, its procedures for identifying workplace safety hazards and its strategies for keeping workers from experiencing heat-related illnesses, according to records provided by Cal/OSHA. Rob Wilcox, a spokesman for City Atty. Mike Feuer, had no comment on those citations. But in the citys appeal documents, the Fire Department maintained that it has procedures to ensure workers obtain water and shade and that training on workplace hazards is provided regularly. City firefighters are constantly exposed to new substances, processes or equipment as the nature of the occupation, i.e. fire rescue and suppression, is a constantly changing environment with unpredictable variable, the citys lawyer wrote in its appeal. The Times asked two members of the Board of Fire Commissioners, a panel appointed by Mayor Eric Garcetti, about the citys decision to contest Cal/OSHAs order and citations. Both commissioners Andrew Glazier and Rebecca Ninburg said they were not aware that Cal/OSHA had sent the order and proposed fines. Glazier said he was troubled that department officials had not informed him of the states involvement. I dont know why nobody told me, he said. It should be a matter of course that we would be kept informed. Danielle Wong holds her son, Colton, as she arrives for funeral services on June 16, 2017, at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels for her husband, firefighter Kelly Wong. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) Wong had been with the Fire Department about two years on June 3, 2017, the day he took part in the training exercise at 4th and Main streets. The exercise called for Wong to climb a ladder extended 86 feet, according to a preliminary report from the Fire Department. Wong was the assigned top member, or the first person to reach the roof. During the training session, Wong was wearing a breathing apparatus and carrying the roof kit, whose hooks are used to pry away roofing materials after a hole is cut in a roof. Those hooks are typically carried with a strap on a firefighters back or shoulder, said Sanders, the Fire Department spokesman. The departments preliminary report does not explain why, as Cal/OSHA noted, Wong had the roof kit in his hand. By the time he lost his balance, two other firefighters were on the same ladder, the departments report said. Wong fell between 55 and 65 feet and was transported to Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center with critical traumatic injuries. He died June 5. Shortly after Wongs death, the Fire Department conducted a three-day safety stand down, with personnel going over an array of procedures, including use of aerial ladders. The department launched its own review of the incident. Sanders said there is no timeline for the completion of the report, which is not expected until after the Cal/OSHA appeals process is over. The next hearing on the Cal/OSHA order and citations is in October. Cal/OSHA officials said the three citations focus on conditions that were identified by regulators on the scene but not related to Wongs death. One citation said the Fire Department had been using its aerial ladder in a manner contrary to manufacturers recommendations, by failing to extend it above the roof line of the Barclay Hotel. Otano, the deputy city attorney, disputed those conclusions, saying in the citys written appeal that extending the ladder above the roof can be contrary to the safety of the employee. He warned the practice could also prevent the department from carrying out its core mission saving lives and rescuing members of the public. david.zahniser@latimes.com Twitter: @DavidZahniser Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi urged Administrative Control Authority officials on Sunday, during the second day of the youth conference, to transform Egypt into a digital country within four years. He said that parties working on the issue would be granted "all support." El-Sisi spoke about the potential of the changes, stating that success could be transformative for Egypt. The president's comments came during the last panel concerning a national project to develop the IT and information infrastructure of the state. This panel witnessed developmental presentations by officials from the Administrative Control Authority. El-Sisi highlighted that improvements in IT and information infrastructure would help the state to reach to lower income citizens. "Procedures carried out by the [administrative control] authority as per [their] presentations helped us to reach 58 families," said the president, adding that without these procedures the families "couldn't reach us for pensions from Takaful and Karama (Solidarity and Dignity)," referring to the state's financial aid programmes. Meanwhile, head of the Administrative Control Authority Mohamed Erfan spoke during the session, to add that the authority has renewed all citizens' information in cooperation with the interior ministry. During his presentation, Erfan highlighted that improved IT and information infrastructure also aims at to reclaim taxes and to control fraud and corruption. According to Erfan, state lands reclaimed over the recent period generated EGP 5.4 billion in fines. The final part of the two-day conference is expected to comprise of a question and answer session, where the president is set to field questions asked in advance through the online "Ask the President" initiative. Search Keywords: Short link: Helsinki Helsinki what happened there, again? Less than two weeks ago, President Trump standing beside a Russian dictator who had meddled in the 2016 American election, annexed the Crimean peninsula and waged a brutal war in Syria took the side of said Russian dictator over that of his own intelligence officials. Trumps deference to President Vladimir Putin on the matter of election interference was, according to Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), the low point of an incoherent and appallingly self-serving circus. His Republican colleague Bob Corker called Trump a pushover and the Horror in Helsinki a sad day in American history. Former CIA director John Brennan, displaying the calm rationality and discretion we ought to value in those holding our nations secrets, tweeted that Trumps behavior at the podium was nothing short of treasonous. Listening to the presidents numerous detractors these last two weeks, one might have received the impression that his days in the White House were reaching their inevitable, ignominious end. Advertisement Except weve been here before. Not since Trump insisted that there were very fine people among the neo-Nazis who provoked a riot in Charlottesville, Va., last summer has there been such intense outrage among the media, the resistance, former Obama administration officials and even Republicans. But we moved on from those shameful events last year. And well move on from the presidents appalling performance in Helsinki too. Helsinki is already shaping up to be the international analogue to Charlottesville. In both cases, the president behaved in decidedly unpresidential fashion, righteous objection was voiced not only by his usual critics but also supporters, and confident predictions were made as to the premature expiration of his presidency. And in both cases, contrary to these near-unanimous assertions, the presidents approval ratings either held or increased, and the prophets of his political demise were proven wrong. We moved on from those shameful events last year. And well move on from the presidents appalling performance in Helsinki too. What explains the presidents ability to withstand massive backlash to behavior that even many of his supporters find objectionable? I suspect it lies in the tendency of Trumps critics to ascribe dark and evil motives to rhetoric and conduct that is more likely motivated by vanity. Trump divides the world into two groups of people: those who like him and those who dont. It is this, and only this, calculation that determines how he treats a private citizen, foreign leader, corporation or country. When Trump insisted that some very fine people were among the far-right demonstrators, he wasnt endorsing the virtues of a white ethno-state, as his more vituperative critics maintain. Rather, he was motivated by something more prosaic and, frankly, pathetic: a desperate hunger for approval and consequent reluctance to condemn anyone no matter how objectively despicable who supports him. The president isnt a Nazi. Hes a narcissist. Trumps obsequiousness toward Putin, particularly on the issue of election interference, stems from the same colossal self-absorption that led him to praise American fascists. Asked about Putins flattery of him in the summer of 2016, Trump replied, He says Donald Trump is going to win and Donald Trump is a genius, and then I have people saying you should disavow. I said, Im going to disavow that? Maybe Trump is compromised by the Russians. Maybe hes covering up some grand conspiracy. (Though if he is a Russian asset, as former director of national intelligence James R Clapper avers, he is the worst Russian asset in the history of Russian assets, because so many people think he is one.) Equally possible, if not more likely, is that Trump relishes Putins adulation and sees a kindred spirit in the Russian strongman. Moreover, Trump realizes how the issue of election interference is being used to delegitimize his great, fabulous, terrific election victory over Crooked Hillary Clinton, credit for which he jealously guards all to himself. I suspect that many Americans not just Trumps most loyal followers, but also those who voted for him reluctantly or are on the fence understand Trumps behavior on an intuitive level, and are turned off by the speculation that the president is working on behalf of a foreign adversary. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion There is a lesson for Trumps critics here: move outside the self-reinforcing bubble created by Twitter and cable news. To understand the effect the former has on shaping elite opinion, imagine a flying flock of Twitters logo: a bird. At the front of this flock are the most influential opinion-shapers the major network and newspaper correspondents, the social-media-savvy #resistance activists and fanning out behind them are the rest of the mediums users, in descending number of followers. When, in response to the latest bit of Trump-induced mania, the users at the head of the flock declare that now Trump has done the impeachable or is definitively guilty of collusion with Russia, the rest of Twitter moves in turn. Continuing with the analogy, when someone on Twitter dissents from the prevalent line on any momentary outrage, the rest of the flock will descend on him or her like the birds from the eponymous Hitchcock thriller. All this has the effect of enforcing a stultifying conformity among the influencers who spend their lives on Twitter, visible in the herd-like way they cover events. But the people whom Democrats need to win in 2020 do not spend all day on Twitter, if they even use it all. Nor do they see the president as a Nazi or Russian asset. James Kirchick, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, is author of The End of Europe: Dictators, Demagogues and the Coming Dark Age. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook In 1976, a young, first-time mother entered the hospital in spontaneous labor. She had not missed any prenatal visits, those visits had revealed no abnormalities, her pregnancy was full-term, and she carried one fetus positioned headfirst. In other words, hers was a prototypical low-risk pregnancy. She felt great. Then a physician ruptured her amniotic sac, hastening labor. I went, she told me years later, from feeling nothing to being totally in excruciating pain. A nurse attached her to what was then a relatively new device an electronic fetal monitor. Physicians reviewed the monitor strip and told the mother she had to make a decision, and fast. They said either that I would die, or my baby would die, or both of us would die, if I didnt have a caesarean. They said her heart was in distress. At about 10.5% of births, caesareans were far less common in the United States in 1976 than they are today, when almost one in three births is by caesarean section. The steepest increase in the surgery occurred between 1965 and 1987, when caesareans rose 455% from 4.5% to 25% of births. Doctors have long debated which factors contributed to that precipitous rise. Was it the malpractice climate? Changes in the training of obstetricians? An epidemic of maternal obesity? Women delaying childbearing? Or perhaps the culture of scheduled, hurry-up births? Almost always missing from the list is the effect of the electronic fetal monitor on obstetricians decision-making. As the mother learned in 1976, the monitor increased the likelihood that a physician would tell a laboring woman that she needed a caesarean section. Advertisement Under the perpetual gaze of the machine, fetal distress, once an infrequent diagnosis, had become commonplace. Although used routinely by American hospitals today, the electronic fetal monitor has a fraught history. The device first appeared in select hospitals in 1969. The value of the technology seemed so obvious that no one tested it for efficacy before its release. Most obstetricians were certain that continually monitoring the fetal heartbeat during labor would help ensure good outcomes by immediately alerting doctors to fetal distress. A timely caesarean could follow. Physicians predicted that the monitor would reduce by half fetal deaths during labor, mental retardation and cerebral palsy. In fact, perinatal mortality did decrease. However, public health officials pointed out that hospitals not employing monitors were seeing the same effect thanks to a revolution in pediatrics that paralleled the use of the fetal monitor. New subspecialties of neonatology and perinatology had improved prenatal care, maternal nutrition and newborn care. Most obstetricians nevertheless continued to believe that the electronic fetal monitor deserved the lions share of credit for the improvement in infant health. By 1976, American doctors were so bullish on the monitor that they employed it in half of all hospital births. An even greater tip-off that the monitor would become a linchpin of maternity care was a 1976 survey indicating that all but one of the countrys obstetric residency programs employed the technology. In 1976, researchers also performed the first randomized, controlled trial of the device. Before the advent of the monitor, physicians checked the fetal heart rate with a special stethoscope every 30 minutes or so during labor. The 1976 trial assigned the use of the monitor to one group of laboring women and the fetoscope to the other group. According to the study, the monitor didnt change outcomes. Apgar scores, rates of neurological disability, admissions to neonatal intensive care units, stillbirths, and neonatal and perinatal deaths were effectively identical in both groups. The sole difference was that 16.5% of the electronically monitored women gave birth by caesarean, and only 6.8% of the intermittently fetoscoped mothers did. Subsequent studies saw similar results. Under the perpetual gaze of the machine, fetal distress, once an infrequent diagnosis, had become commonplace. Edward Hon, the Yale University obstetrician who invented the monitor, complained that colleagues across the country were dropping the knife with each drop in the fetal heart rate. Before electronic monitoring, no one had continually observed the fetal heartbeat throughout labor, and its accelerations and decelerations in response to contractions were perplexing. Misinterpretations were common. Hospitals were seeing false positive rates for fetal hypoxia (lack of oxygen) of 40%. And doctors responded by erring on the side of caution, performing emergency caesareans. Physicians, mothers and health insurers have good reason to be concerned about this phenomenon. A caesarean section is major abdominal surgery and comes with its attendant risks: infection, hemorrhage and potentially fatal placental anomalies in subsequent pregnancies caused by a scarred uterus. Surgical birth comes with risks for newborns too. The lungs of all fetuses are filled with amniotic fluid in utero, the trip through the birth canal squeezes out that fluid. Babies delivered by caesarean section, on the other hand, are born with wet lungs, making them more likely than their vaginally born counterparts to spend time in the neonatal intensive care unit and to suffer from asthma. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion Although a caesarean section can be necessary and even life-saving, the World Health Organization advises that the optimal caesarean rate is between 10% and 15% of births. A rate higher than 10% is not associated with improved maternal or neonatal outcomes, and a rate over 15% does more harm than good. In other words, most caesareans performed in the United States today are unnecessary and therefore unjustifiably risky. Obstetricians trained since the 1980s have no memory of maternity floors before the fetal monitor. Although their professional organization, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, has issued periodic bulletins since 1979 advising that the fetal monitor does not appear to be useful in low-risk pregnancies, that interpreting monitor strips correctly is not an easy matter, and that universal reliance on the monitor has led to an unnecessary increase in caesareans, the monitor remains in near-universal use in American hospitals, even for low-risk births. Covered California has set a caesarean-rate target of 23.9% of low-risk births for the hospitals in its networks. One way to achieve that target is to bring back the fetal stethoscope and limit electronic fetal monitoring to high-risk pregnancies. Jacqueline H. Wolf, professor of the history of medicine at Ohio University, is the author of Cesarean Section: An American History of Risk, Technology, and Consequence. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook To the editor: I was not aware that the United States had completely abandoned all humanity, not to mention the Geneva Conventions. It is possible that Ahmed Rabbani a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay whose op-ed article lays out the grim details of his 14-year detention by the U.S. is not telling the truth. But if he is, what a travesty he has suffered. Imagine for a moment that your (corrupt) government in Rabbanis case, Pakistan captures you, portrays you as a radical, sells you to the CIA for money, and then abandons you. Imagine further that you have no recourse. Gitmo should be closed, the remaining prisoners there relocated, and hearings held to determine, if possible, whether or not the detainees are a continuing threat. Those who pose no threat my guess is many do not ought to be released. I am aware of the horrors of Sept. 11, 2001. My daughter saw the twin towers at New Yorks World Trade Center fall, and we were worried about her safety until we heard from her. Many people had their lives destroyed. None of that excuses our continuing inhumanity at Gitmo. Advertisement Paul Cooley, Culver City .. To the editor: I was appalled and horrified reading Rabbanis letter regarding his imprisonment for 14 years without trial at Gitmo. What have we become as a nation? How can we say to the rest of the world that we are a nation of laws when our government and military are still allowing this to happen? This place should be shut down immediately and anyone still being held there should either receive a fair trial or be released and sent home. Audrey Michaels, Mission Viejo Gitmo is the graveyard of the Geneva Conventions and the worlds good opinion of what our country stands for. Kennedy Gammage, San Diego .. To the editor: Rabbanis piece is painfully reminiscent of Franz Kafkas The Trial. The absurdity of Rabbanis 14-year imprisonment resembles the situation of Joseph K. in Kafkas novel, except that Joseph does have a kind of trial on unknown charges, whereas Rabbani cannot get a trial. He is simply rotting slowly to death somewhat, whereas Joseph let himself be executed a year after his trial. Gitmo and its treatment of prisoners such as Rabbani are a moral outrage and a profound stain on Americas character. How long will we let this disgraceful injustice continue? Benjamin J. Hubbard, Costa Mesa .. To the editor: Gitmo is the graveyard of the Geneva Conventions and the worlds good opinion of what our country stands for. President Obama said he was going to shutter it, but he was unable to do so. Vote in November, and maybe the new Congress will finally act to end this tragedy. Kennedy Gammage, San Diego Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook To the editor: Theres a discussion on, and much disagreement over, the democratic nature of the state of Israel. This is understandable and unavoidable. The creation of this state in 1948 came as a solution to centuries of persecution of the Jewish people. About half of the worlds Jewish population was killed in the Holocaust, and no similar ethnic and religious disaster is known. Afterward, Jews from all corners of the world returned to their ancient land. This is essential in our understanding the situation where a democratic state cannot fulfill all the norms of a democracy. Israeli Arabs have all the legal rights including representation in the Knesset, but the state of Israel is a country of the Jews, for the Jews. It is a place in the world where Jews no longer fear annihilation. This is the true reality of the Jewish gathering in Israel and the making of laws that suit this reality. Advertisement Edgar Moran, Long Beach Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook To the editor: Having just returned from my second trip to Rwanda for a one-month stay, I have a suggestion to add to Charles Flemings do-it-yourself strategy for cleaning up the streets of Los Angeles. On the last Saturday of every month, citizens of the country are mandated to participate in Umuganda, which means coming together in common purpose to achieve an outcome. Police, politicians, doctors, potato growers, men, women and children everyone is required to do something for the community, and they enjoy doing it together. When I was there at the end of June, the day started with no driving, no taxis and few shops open anywhere nothing except sweeping, planting, repairing, painting, washing and other work for the common good. Around noon that Saturday, all returned to normal. There is a pride Rwandans take in caring for their communities, especially with the memory of their genocide 24 short years ago. The citizens know what was almost completely lost. I can tell you this: You will never see a cleaner city than Kigali, the capital. Advertisement Lise F. Spiegel, Encino .. To the editor: Finally, someone has put a voice to my neighborhood trash frustration. Together with a small group of like-minded persons who are obsessive by nature about keeping our sidewalks, gutters and common spaces clear of trash, I head out weekly to pick up trash in my community. One friend blames it on birds who pick out food containers from open trash cans then drop them along the way. But I say its people who produce the trash by tossing everything and anything out their car windows. The problem is not only litter, but also the litterers. We need to hear from them too, as to why they do it. Peter Yates, Culver City Sometimes its just a matter of not having a trash can nearby, so a simple solution that has worked is to get one and zip-tie it to a pole in an area where you keep finding litter. You just have to remember to take it upon yourself to empty it on a regular basis because no one else will. Cindy Simon, Pacific Palisades .. To the editor: I applaud Flemings condemnation of littering. We live in a dump. Like him, I can be seen around the neighborhood, stooping to snap up dropped items. Though the task never stays done, in minutes, it makes a profound impact. It is one of the most instantly productive acts one can perform. I disagree that police have more important things to do than enforcing litter laws. Trash abatement is a realm where government can make an important difference, and the problem is not only litter, but also the litterers. We need to hear from them too, as to why they do it. Volunteerism is essential. Also, hire homeless people to help beautify the streets. Deputize citizens to catch offenders on camera. Educate. We are the trash we toss. Peter Yates, Culver City Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook To the editor: President Trumps bailout to farmers for a problem he created was not an act of benevolence, but a campaign contribution to himself. His independent decision was to insulate himself from his core supporters angst, a result of the trade war. Trump seems to make his decisions first based on whats best for him and his supporters. This is in contrast to President George H.W. Bush, who infamously promised, Read my lips, no new taxes, then broke his pledge when he saw the need to do so to reduce the governments deficit. He lost a second term because of it. Trump, frightfully, does not have that capacity. Paul Shubunka, Santa Clarita Advertisement .. To the editor: Like the man or not, Trumps new trade truce with the European Union is a stroke of strategic brilliance. He threatens tariffs on our European trading partners, giving them back their own medicine that theyve been doling out for years, and theyre the first to cry uncle. Now both sides are working toward zero tariffs, and were leveling the playing field. The same plan is in play for China. Sure, Trump is difficult to like on a personal level, but this isnt a popularity contest. America is telling the world that we will no longer be played for suckers by those trying to take advantage of our wealth. Richard Schultz, Sherman Oaks Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Allies balk at Trump administration bid to block Chinese firm from cutting-edge telecom markets By David S. Cloud Britain and Germany are balking at the Trump administrations call for a ban on equipment from Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, threatening a global U.S. campaign to thwart Chinas involvement in future mobile networks. Both countries are expected to limit Huawei and other Chinese companies from providing core components including routers. But other types of Chinese equipment for next-generation, high-speed communications could still be installed on British and German networks, officials and analysts say. The U.S. push to ban Huawei has provoked a global dispute in recent weeks, with senior U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, publicly urging NATO allies in Europe to exclude the company and warning that the United States might limit its military presence in countries that did not do so. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Confucius Institutes: Do they improve U.S.-China ties or harbor spies? By Don Lee Hanging red lanterns welcome visitors to the University of Marylands Confucius Institute, the oldest of about 100 Chinese language and cultural centers that have popped up over the last 15 years on American campuses, subsidized by millions of dollars from Chinas central government. But last fall, when four U.S. Senate investigators walked into the Confucius offices in Maryland and spent hours questioning staff, they werent looking for an educational exchange. The committee has been seeking detailed information from the university about the program, including contracts, email exchanges and financial arrangements that school administrators have kept under wraps since it started in 2004. American colleges once viewed these jointly funded institutes as an economical way to expand their language offerings one that could also bring warmer ties with China and, importantly, an influx of Chinese international students paying full tuition. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Watch Live: White House holds surprise news briefing amid government shutdown Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement U.S. policy toward China shifts from engagement to confrontation By David S. Cloud For decades, China had no closer American friend than Dianne Feinstein. As San Francisco mayor in the 1970s, she forged a sister-city relationship with Shanghai, the first between American and Chinese communities. As U.S. senator, she dined with Chinese leaders at Mao Tse-tungs old Beijing residence. And in the 1990s, she championed a trade policy change that opened a floodgate of Western investment into China. Today the Democratic senator sees China as a growing threat, joining a broad array of Trump administration officials, national security strategists and business executives who once favored engagement with Beijing and now advocate a confrontational approach instead. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Mnuchins attempt to calm markets backfires as Trump takes another shot at the Federal Reserve By Jim Puzzanghera An attempt by Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin to calm plunging financial markets backfired Monday, further rattling investors with new fears about whether major U.S. banks have enough cash on top of worries about interest rates, political instability in Washington and a slowing global economy. Adding to the volatile mix was a fresh attack on the Federal Reserve by President Trump, who declared that the central bank was the U.S. economys only problem and that it didnt have a feel for the market. The Fed is like a powerful golfer who cant score because he has no touch -- he cant putt! Trump said on Twitter. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print He speaks to Democratic hearts. But is Beto ORourke a serious White House contender? By Mark Z. Barabak Hes a failed U.S. Senate candidate with an undistinguished congressional record who, for the moment, is a blazing-hot 2020 presidential prospect despite the fact that he may not run and faces long odds if he does. Beto ORourke suggests the will-he-or-wont-he speculation is something he himself cant quite fathom. I think thats a great question, he responded in a Dallas Morning News interview when asked whether his unsuccessful November Senate bid merited a promotion to the White House. I ask that question myself. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Russian disinformation teams targeted Robert S. Mueller III, says report prepared for Senate By Craig Timberg, Tony Romm, Elizabeth Dwoskin Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. (Associated Press) Months after President Trump took office, Russias disinformation teams trained their sites on a new target: special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. Having worked to help get Trump into the White House, they now worked to neutralize the biggest threat to his staying there. The Russian operatives unloaded on Mueller through fake accounts on Facebook, Twitter and beyond, falsely claiming that the former FBI director was corrupt and that the allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election were crackpot conspiracies. One post on Instagram which emerged as an especially potent weapon in the Russian social media arsenal claimed that Mueller had worked in the past with radical Islamic groups. Such tactics exemplified how Russian teams ranged nimbly across social media platforms in a shrewd online influence operation aimed squarely at American voters. The effort started earlier than commonly understood and lasted longer while relying on the strengths of different sites to manipulate distinct slices of the electorate, according to a pair of comprehensive new reports prepared for the Senate Intelligence Committee and released Monday. Read more Timberg, Romm and Dwoskin report for the Washington Post. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement President Trump announces Mick Mulvaney as acting White House chief of staff By Associated Press President Trump says budget director Mick Mulvaney will serve as acting chief of staff, replacing John F. Kelly in the new year. I am pleased to announce that Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management & Budget, will be named Acting White House Chief of Staff, replacing General John Kelly, who has served our Country with distinction. Mick has done an outstanding job while in the Administration.... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2018 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print It aint over when its over: In Michigan, Wisconsin and elsewhere, losers seek to undermine election results By Mark Z. Barabak Democrat Gavin Newsom has yet to become California governor, but already a candidate for state Republican Party chairman is promoting a recall effort. In Michigan and Wisconsin, GOP lawmakers have rushed through legislation to thwart their incoming Democratic governors and hamper others in the opposing party from doing the jobs voters chose them to do. In Congress, GOP leaders have echoed President Trump and sought to undermine the legitimacy of Democrats strong midterm performance, raising unsubstantiated allegations of fraud and political malfeasance. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print New CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger says she wont be a puppet of Mick Mulvaney By Jim Puzzanghera On her first full day leading the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Kathy Kraninger said she wont be a puppet of Mick Mulvaney, the controversial acting director whom she replaced in the powerful regulatory position. To underscore that point, the former White House aide said she would even reconsider a Mulvaney action that critics saw as a gratuitous jab at Democrats who championed the agencys creation: changing its name to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. Kraningers declaration during a meeting with reporters Tuesday addressed one of the main criticisms of her selection. She is considered a protege of Mulvaney, her boss at the White House Office of Management and Budget who has executed a dramatic, industry-friendly shift at the watchdog agency. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trumps pick for chief of staff, Nick Ayers, out of running By Associated Press Nick Ayers, right, with Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, at the funeral service for George H.W. Bush on Dec. 3. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Associated Press) President Trumps top pick to replace John F. Kelly as chief of staff, Nick Ayers, is no longer expected to fill that role. Thats according to a White House official who is not authorized to discuss the personnel issue by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. Ayers is Vice President Mike Pences chief of staff. The official says that Trump and Ayers could not agree on Ayers length of service. The father of young children, Ayers had agreed to serve in an interim capacity though the spring, but Trump wanted a two-year commitment. The official says that Ayers will instead assist the president from outside the administration. Trump announced Saturday that Kelly would be departing the White House around the end of the year. Thank you @realDonaldTrump, @VP, and my great colleagues for the honor to serve our Nation at The White House. I will be departing at the end of the year but will work with the #MAGA team to advance the cause. #Georgia Nick Ayers (@nick_ayers) December 9, 2018 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement U.S. hiring slows to 155,000 jobs, unemployment rate holds at 3.7% By Jim Puzzanghera Job growth slowed significantly in November but still was solid, indicating the economy remains in good shape but not expanding so quickly that it will lead to sharply higher interest rates. U.S. employers added 155,000 jobs last month, well below analyst expectations and a steep decline from Octobers strong 237,000 figure, the Labor Department reported Friday. Still, monthly job gains are averaging 206,000 this year, the best since 2015. Even the slower pace of 170,000 over the last three months is close to last years average of 182,000 and well above the amount needed to keep up with population growth. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump is expected to pick State Department spokeswoman for U.N. ambassador By Associated Press Heather Nauert at a briefing at the State Department on Aug. 9, 2017. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) President Trump is expected to nominate State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Two administration officials confirmed Trumps plans. A Republican congressional aide said the president was expected to announce his decision by tweet on Friday morning. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly before Trumps announcement. Trump has previously said Nauert was under serious consideration to replace Nikki Haley, who announced in October that she would step down at the end of this year. Trump has been known to change course on staffing decisions in the past. Nauert was a reporter for Fox News Channel before she became State Department spokeswoman under former Secretary Rex Tillerson. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Senate confirms new consumer financial protection chief: Kathy Kraninger, protege of industry-friendly Mick Mulvaney By Jim Puzzanghera The Senate, in a party-line vote Thursday, confirmed White House aide Kathy Kraninger to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and experts predicted a continuation of the industry-friendly shift it has taken since President Trump installed an acting director last year. Kraninger is a protege of acting director and White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney, an outspoken critic of the agency that was created in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis to prevent predatory lending and other abuses that led to it. Democrats and consumer advocates have denounced him for sharply departing from the aggressive watchdog role the bureau had pursued under its first director, Obama-appointee Richard Cordray, including scaling back enforcement and moving to reassess tough new rules on payday loans and narrow the definition of abusive practices by banks and other firms. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Shutdown postponed by two weeks under plan approved by Congress By Erik Wasson Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), shown at the Capitol on Tuesday, says President Trumps border wall is a waste of money. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) Congress passed a two-week stopgap spending bill that will delay the chance of a partial government shutdown until Dec. 22 as lawmakers and President Donald Trump negotiate over his demands to pay for a wall on the southern border. The House and Senate passed the measure Thursday without dissent, and Trump has indicated hell sign the bill before the current shutdown deadline of midnight Friday. Negotiations were delayed by memorial services this week for former President George H.W. Bush. The temporary measure gives Democrats and Republicans more time to find a resolution to their biggest hurdle: funding a wall on the U.S. Mexico border wall. Trump says he wants $5 billion for parts of a concrete wall on the southern border and is willing to shut down the government if he doesnt get it. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York has said Democrats will provide no more than $1.6 billion for border security, because the wall is a waste of money. The presidents demands for wall funding from Congress come after he said during the campaign that Mexico would pay for it. This week he said on Twitter that a $25 billion border wall would pay for itself in two months, without providing evidence. Most of the U.S. governments $1.2 trillion discretionary budget has been appropriated already by Congress for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1. Departments at a risk of a partial shutdown late this month include the departments of State, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Treasury and Homeland Security. Talks to resolve the differences have been on hold since a meeting among Trump, Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California originally slated for Dec. 4 was postponed due to Bush memorial events. The three are scheduled to meet on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter. Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby of Alabama told reporters the rest of the seven-bill spending package being negotiated is basically done. Shelby in recent weeks had tried to broker a compromise in which Trumps $5 billion request would be split over two years, but Schumer has rejected that. Some Democrats have been willing to trade border wall funding for deportation protections for young undocumented immigrants. Pelosi ruled out such a deal in remarks to reporters Thursday. The stopgap government funding measure also would extend the National Flood Insurance Program, which provides subsidized coverage for homes in flood-prone areas, to Dec. 21. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Bipartisan Senate group wants to formally blame Saudi crown prince for journalists killing By Karoun Demirjian Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires. (Associated Press) A bipartisan group of senators filed a resolution Wednesday condemning Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as responsible for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, directly challenging President Trump to do the same. This resolution -- without equivocation -- definitively states that the crown prince of Saudi Arabia was complicit in the murder of Mr. [Jamal] Khashoggi and has been a wrecking ball to the region jeopardizing our national security interests on multiple fronts, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said in a statement accompanying the release of the resolution. It will be up to Saudi Arabia as to how to deal with this matter. But it is up to the United States to firmly stand for who we are and what we believe. The resolution put forward by Graham and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who are expected to lead the Judiciary Committee together next year, comes just one day after CIA Director Gina Haspel briefed leading senators about the details of the agencys assessment that Mohammed ordered and monitored the killing and dismemberment of Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Senators emerged from that closed-door briefing furious not only with Saudi Arabia, but Trump as well for dismissing the heft of the CIAs findings. You have to be willfully blind not to come to the conclusion that this was orchestrated and organized by people under the command of MBS and that he was intricately involved in the demise of Mr. Khashoggi, Graham said following the briefing, referring to Mohammed by his initials. He added that Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Defense Secretary James N. Mattis, who briefed senators last week, were at best being good soldiers and at worst were in the pocket of Saudi Arabia for presenting the evidence of Mohammeds involvement as inconclusive. The release of the resolution condemning Mohammed also comes as the Senate is preparing to move ahead with debate on a resolution to curtail U.S. support for the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen. Though the Yemen resolution does not directly address Khashoggis murder, its popularity is a sign of how strained the United States patience with Saudi Arabia is on multiple fronts, including its role in worsening the civilian cost of the war in Yemen, cited by the United Nations as the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. Last week, the Senate voted 63 to 37 to advance the Yemen resolution past an opening procedural hurdle. But Graham and Feinsteins resolution on the crown prince has the potential of drawing broader support, especially from Republicans, who are deeply divided about how fiercely to punish Saudi Arabia over Khashoggis killing. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who has been an outspoken advocate for human rights and is seen as one of the more influential foreign policy voices in the GOP, did not vote for the Yemen resolution last week or sign on to a bipartisan measure last month to sanction Saudi officials and cease weapons transfers to the kingdom. But he is an original co-sponsor of the resolution condemning Mohammed over Khashoggis death. So is Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), who represents the other end of the GOP spectrum in terms of recent Saudi-related votes and endorsements. Young was an initial co-sponsor of the bill Graham wrote with Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) to sanction Saudi officials deemed responsible for Khashoggis killing and stop the sale of anything but exclusively defensive weapons to the kingdom until it ceased hostilities in Yemen. Young also voted to advance the Yemen resolution something Graham did as well, though Graham has signaled he will not be lending any similar support to the measure, fearing it may establish a precedent of invoking the War Powers Act too broadly. Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) are listed as original co-sponsors of the resolution condemning Mohammed, which also urges Saudi Arabia to negotiate with Houthi rebels to end the Yemen war, work out a political solution to its standoff with Qatar and release political prisoners. But how much sway the resolution has probably comes down to how forcefully the administration decides to heed it -- and thus far, Trump has not shown any interest in condemning the crown prince the way the senators hope he will. Demirjian reports for the Washington Post. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Los Angeles County offices and U.S. Postal Service closed Wednesday in honor of George H.W. Bush By Brian Park The Honor Guard carries the casket of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush following his funeral on Dec. 5 in Washington, DC. (Doug Mills - Pool/Getty Images) The U.S. Postal Service will suspend regular mail delivery Wednesday, which President Trump has declared a national day of mourning in honor of former President George H.W. Bush. All retail postal outlets will be closed, and package delivery will be limited. In Los Angeles, all nonessential county departments, offices and libraries will be closed for the day, L.A. County officials said. The Los Angeles County Library said no overdue fines will be assessed for books, and due dates will be moved forward one week. Los Angeles County Department of Public Health offices also are closed Wednesday. The Sheriffs Department, Fire Department, clinics and hospitals will continue to operate, the county said. The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health clinics are being operated with reduced staffing, and the department asked patients to confirm or reschedule any appointments. All county courts and the disaster recovery centers for the Woolsey fire in Malibu and Agoura Hills will remain open. Larger federal government operations will be closed Wednesday. To honor the life and legacy of President Bush, the Postal Service will observe the National Day of Mourning. Learn how Postal operations will be affected. https://t.co/Mffch7bPCh pic.twitter.com/vG46BsIOpm U.S. Postal Service (@USPS) December 4, 2018 L.A. County offices and libraries will be closed tomorrow (Dec 5) in observance of the #NationalDayOfMourning for President George H. W. Bush. The Countys Disaster Recovery Centers in Malibu & Agoura Hills will remain open from 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. pic.twitter.com/Sv1J7GoJ7T Los Angeles County (@CountyofLA) December 4, 2018 @LAPublicHealth offices will be closed tomorrow December 5 in observance of the national Day of Mourning for President George H. W. Bush. Essential Services including clinics and other services will remain open: https://t.co/tZGoGGHRlg pic.twitter.com/ypXsV6vlYY LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) December 4, 2018 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to skip 2020 White House race, sources say By Associated Press Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick speaks during an interview in Boston on Dec. 15, 2014. (Elise Amendola / Associated Press) Former Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts will soon announce he wont launch a 2020 presidential campaign, according to three sources familiar with his plans. They did not say why the Democrat decided against a run. A formal announcement was delayed as the country observed a day of mourning for President George H.W. Bush, one source said. News of Patricks plans was first reported by Politico. Patrick, 62, served two terms as governor, from 2007 to 2015, was assistant attorney general for civil rights in the Clinton administration and since leaving the governors office has been a managing director for Bain Capital. Patrick traveled the country in support of Democratic candidates in the recent midterm election. Earlier this year, some of Patricks supporters and close advisors started the Reason to Believe political action committee, a grassroots organization dedicated to advancing a positive, progressive vision for our nation in 2018 and 2020. Reason to Believe PAC had been holding meetups across the country, including in early presidential primary states. While Patrick is opting against a 2020 run, dozens of Democrats are considering jumping in, including nearly a half-dozen members of the Senate, several House members, and other Massachusetts politicians. On Tuesday, Michael Avenatti, the attorney for adult film star Stormy Daniels and a vocal critic of President Trump, said in a statement that he would run. Patrick had previously expressed some concerns about breaking through if he sought the nomination, telling David Axelrod, a former advisor to President Obama, that he wasnt sure he could stand out in such a large field. Its hard to see how you even get noticed in such a big, broad field without being shrill, sensational or a celebrity, and Im none of those things and Im never going to be any of those things, Patrick said in a September interview with Axelrod. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Former Trump adviser Roger Stone invokes 5th Amendment right and wont testify before Senate Judiciary Committee By Associated Press Roger Stone in 2017. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) Roger Stone, an associate of President Trump, says he wont provide testimony or documents to the Senate Judiciary Committee. An attorney for Stone said in a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the committees top Democrat, that Stone was invoking his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination in refusing to produce documents or appear for an interview. Stone has been entangled in investigations by Congress and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III about whether Trump aides had advance knowledge of Democratic emails published by WikiLeaks during the 2016 election. Stone has not been charged and has said he had no knowledge of the timing or specifics of WikiLeaks plans. In the letter to Feinstein, Stone said the committees requests were far too overbroad, far too overreaching and far too wide-ranging. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Watch live: Vice President Pence and lawmakers honor George H.W. Bush at the U.S. Capitol before he lies in state Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Rebuilding crumbling infrastructure has bipartisan support. But who gets to pay for it? By Jim Puzzanghera The grades for major U.S. infrastructure would give any parent indigestion if they were on a childs report card. Roads: D; bridges: C+; dams: D; ports: C+: railways: B; airports: D; schools: D+; public transit: D-. The nations overall grade: D+, which translates to being in fair to poor condition and mostly below standards with significant deterioration and a strong risk of failure, according to an evaluation last year by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump calls former lawyer Michael Cohen a weak person who is lying By Associated Press President Trump says his former lawyer Michael Cohen is lying to get a reduced sentence. The president is reacting to Cohens guilty plea Thursday to lying to Congress about work he did on a Trump real estate project in Russia. During a surprise court hearing, Cohen admitted to lying in testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee about a plan to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen in his guilty plea said he made the false statements to be consistent with Trumps political message. Cohens lawyer says he continues to cooperate with special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs investigation into Russian election interference and possible coordination with Trump associates. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print As California Republicans confront a congressional wipeout, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy faces a reckoning By Mark Z. Barabak When the House voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Kevin McCarthy trooped with other Republican lawmakers to a splashy Rose Garden celebration, smiling alongside President Trump as they celebrated the moment. As majority leader, McCarthy had helped round up the votes to narrowly pass the hard-fought legislation, convincing 13 other California Republicans to go along, even though several faced tough reelection fights. Fewer than half will be returning in January. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print As California Republicans confront a congressional wipeout, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy faces a reckoning By Sarah D. Wire When the House voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Kevin McCarthy trooped with other Republican lawmakers to a splashy Rose Garden celebration, smiling alongside President Trump as they celebrated the moment. As majority leader, McCarthy had helped round up the votes to narrowly pass the hard-fought legislation, convincing 13 other California Republicans to go along, even though several faced tough reelection fights. Fewer than half will be returning in January. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Michael Cohen, President Trumps ex-lawyer, pleads guilty to lying to Congress about Trump real estate project in Russia By Associated Press Michael Cohen, President Trumps former personal lawyer, pursued a Russian real estate project on candidate Trumps behalf well into the 2016 campaign, he said Thursday while pleading guilty to lying to Congress. Cohen had previously said that the project was abandoned in January 2016, but he now admits he continued to pursue a deal and says he updated Trump and members of his family about the negotiations, according to a new court document. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement James Comey says acting Atty. Gen. Whitaker may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer By John Wagner Acting Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitaker speaks at the Justice Department in Washington on Nov. 14. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press) Former FBI Director James B. Comey apparently isnt too impressed with the mental prowess of President Trumps acting attorney general. Matthew Whitaker may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer, Comey said during a radio interview on Monday night in which he sized up the man Trump installed this month to replace ousted Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions. Comey was asked by WGBH News in Boston if he thinks Whitaker could derail the investigation of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Whitaker has spoken critically of the probe, and Trump as recently as Tuesday continues to call it a witch hunt. I think its a worry, but to my mind not a serious worry, Comey said. The institution is too strong, and [Whitaker], frankly, is not strong enough to have that kind of impact. He may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer, but he can see his future and knows that if he acted in an extralegal way, he would go down in history for the wrong reasons, and Im sure he doesnt want that, added Comey, who was fired by Trump last year and later wrote a book that portrays the president as an ego-driven congenital liar. Whitaker, a former U.S. attorney in Iowa, was Sessions chief of staff before being picked by Trump to lead the Justice Department. Trump has called Whitaker a very smart man. Earlier this year, Trump called Comey an untruthful slime ball. Wagner writes for the Washington Post. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Interior Department watchdog clears Zinke in investigation of Utah national monument By Juliet Eilperin Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, third from the left, and Gov. Jerry Brown tour fire damage in Paradise, Calif., on Nov. 14. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) The Interior Departments Office of Inspector General has cleared Secretary Ryan Zinke in a probe of whether he redrew boundaries of a national monument in Utah to aid the financial interests of a Republican state lawmaker and stalwart supporter of President Trump. In a Nov. 21 letter to Zinkes deputy, David Bernhardt, Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall wrote that her office found no evidence that the secretary or his aides changed the boundaries of Utahs Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in an effort to help former Utah state representative Mike Noel, who serves as executive director of the Kane County Water Conservancy District. Last December, Trump shrank the monument, first established by President Clinton in 1996, by 46% based on Zinkes recommendation. Noel owns 40 acres that had been surrounded by the monument, but now lies outside its boundaries. The new boundaries also would make it easier to construct the proposed Lake Powell Pipeline, which would deliver water to sites in Kane County that include Noels property. Earlier this year, the Interior Department had proposed selling off 120 acres of federal land from the former monument that lay adjacent to some of Noels land holdings, but later reversed the plan. We found no evidence that Noel influenced the DOIs proposed revisions to the [monuments] boundaries, that Zinke or other DOI staff involved in the project were aware of Noels financial interest in the revised boundaries, or that they gave Noel any preferential treatment in the resulting proposed boundaries, Kendall wrote. Neither the Interior Department nor the inspector generals office would release the actual investigative report. In the letter, Kendall writes that her office will provide the report to Congress no sooner than 31 days from Nov. 21, when it is provided it to Zinkes office. The Associated Press first reported the inspector generals conclusions Monday night, but did not provide details from the report itself. Noel emailed Zinke about the effort to alter Grand Staircase-Escalante, according to emails released by Interior under the Freedom of Informational Act. But those emails do not make references to Noels land holdings. Noel also pushed to rename a Utah highway in honor of Trump, but abandoned that effort in March after some of his fellow Republicans objected to the idea. Noel did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday. The inspector generals office still has at least two ongoing probes of the secretary, including one focused on his real estate dealings in Whitefish, Mont., and another regarding his decision to deny a permit to two Connecticut tribes who were hoping to jointly run a casino after MGM Resorts International lobbied against it. Interior Department spokeswoman Heather Swift welcomed the watchdogs conclusions. The report shows exactly what the secretarys office has known all along that the monument boundaries were adjusted in accordance with all rules, regulations and laws, she said in an email. This report is also the latest example of opponents and special interest groups ginning up fake and misleading stories, only to be proven false after expensive and time consuming inquiries by the IGs office. But Kendalls spokeswoman, Nancy DiPaolo, defended the inquiry, even though she said the report has not been publicly released and we will not be speaking specifically about the matter at this time. The OIG opens investigations based on credible allegations and reports our findings objectively and independently, DiPaolo added. Any time or resources spent investigating conduct or activity that may be a violation of law, regulation or policy is a service to the public, Congress and the Department. Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement that he still intended to investigate the way Zinke and his colleague redrew the boundaries for Grand Staircase-Escalante and another Utah national monument, Bears Ears, next year. I have great respect for the inspector general, and I accept these findings, but Secretary Zinke should have known the people he listened to while destroying our national monuments had disqualifying conflicts of interest, he said. Should I chair the Natural Resources Committee in the next Congress, the process he and President Trump used to destroy Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante will be front and center in our oversight and investigations efforts. We need to know why they ignored overwhelming public expressions of support for both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, why they ignored Native American tribes throughout their decision-making, and why they removed protections on parcels of land with known mineral deposits. Eilperin and Rein report for the Washington Post. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump advisor Larry Kudlow says China must do more to end trade war By Jim Puzzanghera Larry Kudlow, President Trumps top economic advisor, said Tuesday that Chinas response to U.S. efforts to rework the two economic superpowers trade relationship has been extremely disappointing but the planned meeting this weekend between the nations leaders is an opportunity for a breakthrough. They have to do more. They must do more, Larry Kudlow, director of the White House National Economic Council, told reporters ahead of a Saturday dinner between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Group of 20 Summit in Argentina. I think the president is exactly right to show strong backbone when prior administrations did not, to break through these Chinese walls, Kudlow said. Theyre so resistant to change. We have to protect the country. We have to protect our technology, our inventiveness, our innovation. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Watch live: White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders holds a media briefing amid tensions at the border By Los Angeles Times Staff Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Democrat TJ Cox grabs lead over Republican David Valadao in nations last remaining undecided House race By Maya Sweedler Democrat TJ Cox slipped past Republican incumbent David Valadao on Monday to take the lead in the countrys sole remaining undecided congressional race, positioning Democrats to pick up their seventh House seat in California and 40th nationwide. Cox, who trailed by nearly 4,400 votes on election night, has steadily gained as ballot counting continues nearly three weeks after the Nov. 6 election, a pattern consistent with the states recent voting history. On Monday, he pulled ahead by 438 votes after Kern County updated its results. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Former CIA director Michael Hayden hospitalized after suffering a stroke By Deanna Paul Then-CIA Director Michael Hayden testifies before a Senate committee in 2008. (Saul Loeb / Getty Images) Former CIA Director and retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden has been hospitalized after suffering a stroke, his family said Friday. He is receiving expert medical care for which the family is grateful, according to a statement issued by his namesake organization. The General and his family greatly appreciate the warm wishes and prayers of his friends, colleagues, and supporters. Hayden, 73, served as director of the CIA and National Security Agency during the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. He retired from the CIA in 2009. Hayden has been a vocal critic of Donald Trumps campaign and presidency. Earlier this year, after Trump decided to revoke the security clearance of former CIA director John Brennan, Hayden was one of several former intelligence leaders who signed a statement in opposition. Criticizing the president for crossing a line, he quickly became one of the individuals whose security clearance Trump threatened to review. Deanna Paul writes for the Washington Post. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump tells troops hes thankful for what hes done for the U.S. and rails against courts and migrants By Associated Press President Trump talks with troops via teleconference from his estate in Palm Beach, Fla., on Thanksgiving. (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Trump used his Thanksgiving Day call to troops deployed overseas to pat himself on the back and air grievances about the courts, trade and migrants heading to the U.S.-Mexico border. Trumps call, made from his opulent private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., struck an unusually political tone as he spoke with members of all five branches of the military to wish them happy holidays. Its a disgrace, Trump said of judges who have blocked his attempts to overhaul U.S. immigration law, as he linked his efforts to secure the border with military missions overseas. Trump later threatened to close the U.S. border with Mexico for an undisclosed period of time if his administration determines Mexico has lost control on its side. The call was a uniquely Trump blend of boasting, peppered questions and off-the-cuff observations as his comments veered from venting about slights to praising troops You really are our heroes, he said as club waiters worked to set Thanksgiving dinner tables on the outdoor terrace behind him. It was yet another show of how Trump has dramatically transformed the presidency, erasing the traditional divisions between domestic policy and military matters and efforts to keep the troops clear of politics. You probably see over the news whats happening on our southern border, Trump told one Air Force brigadier general stationed at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, adding: I dont have to even ask you. I know what you want to do, you want to make sure that you know who were letting in. Later, Trump asked a U.S. Coast Guard commander about trade, which he noted was a very big subject for him personally. Weve been taken advantage of for many, many years by bad trade deals, Trump told the commander, who sheepishly replied, Mr. President, from our perspective on the water we dont see any issues in terms of trade right now. And throughout, Trump congratulated himself, telling the officers that the country is doing exceptionally well on his watch. I hope that youll take solace in knowing that all of the American families you hold so close to your heart are all doing well, he said. The nations doing well economically, better than anybody in the world. He later told reporters, Nobodys done more for the military than me. Indeed, asked what he was thankful for this Thanksgiving, Trump cited his great family as well as himself. I made a tremendous difference in this country, he said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump contradicts CIA assessment that Saudi crown prince ordered Jamal Khashoggi killing By Josh Dawsey | Washington Post (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Trump on Thursday contradicted the CIAs assessment that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, insisting that the agency had feelings but did not firmly place blame for the death. Trump, in defiant remarks to reporters from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, defended his continued support for Mohammed in the face of a CIA assessment that the crown prince had ordered the killing. He denies it vehemently, Trump said. He said his own conclusion was that maybe he did, maybe he didnt. I hate the crime .... I hate the cover-up. I will tell you this: The crown prince hates it more than I do, Trump said. Asked who should be held accountable for the death of Khashoggi, who was killed at the Saudi Consulate in Turkey, Trump refused to place blame. Maybe the world should be held accountable because the world is a very, very vicious place, the president said. He also seemed to suggest that all U.S. allies were guilty of the same behavior, declaring that if the others were held to the standard that critics have held Saudi Arabia to in recent days, we wouldnt be able to have anyone for an ally. Trumps remarks came after he held a conference call with U.S. military officers overseas, during which he repeatedly praised his administration and sought to draw the officers into discussions of domestic policy. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Former FBI Director James Comey gets subpoena from House Republicans By Bloomberg Former FBI Director James B. Comey said he has received a subpoena from House Republicans, according to a Twitter post on Thursday. Bloomberg News reported last week that Comey would be receiving a subpoena alongside former Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch as part of continuing probes into their handling of investigations into Hillary Clinton and Russian election meddling, according to a top House Democrat. Happy Thanksgiving. Got a subpoena from House Republicans. Im still happy to sit in the light and answer all questions. But I will resist a closed door thing because Ive seen enough of their selective leaking and distortion. Lets have a hearing and invite everyone to see. James Comey (@Comey) November 22, 2018 Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Republican David Valadaos lead slips to 447 votes over Democrat TJ Cox in still-undecided Central Valley House race By Mark Z. Barabak Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford), right, finds himself in an increasingly harrowing cliffhanger against Democrat TJ Cox. (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) On election night, it looked like Rep. David Valadao had survived a close shave and was destined to return to Washington for his fourth term. But on Wednesday, when Fresno County announced its latest vote totals, the Hanford Republican found himself in an increasingly harrowing cliffhanger against Democrat TJ Cox, with his lead in the Central Valley district shrunken to 447 votes. Thousands remain to be counted. Valadao, a repeated Democratic target, finished election night with a lead of nearly 4,440 votes. Cox, an engineer and a business owner who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2006, has steadily gained ground in the 21st Congressional District ever since. The trend is consistent with historic patterns showing Republicans in California tend to vote early and Democrats later, meaning their mail ballots continue to stream in past election day. Under California law, ballots postmarked up to midnight on Nov. 6 will be counted. Democrats have already picked up six House seats in California. They ousted Reps. Dana Rohrabacher, Mimi Walters, Steve Knight and Jeff Denham and won the seats of retiring Reps. Ed Royce and Darrell Issa. All six represented districts that backed Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in 2016. Valadao was the seventh California Republican in a district Clinton won, though his previous successes he last won reelection by a 14-point margin suggested his ouster was a longer shot for Democrats. If Cox prevails, it would give Democrats a 40-seat gain nationwide, far more than the 23 seats needed to take control when Congress reconvenes in January. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump says no new punishments against Saudi Arabia in Jamal Khashoggi murder By Eli Stokols In this Oct. 25 photo, candles are lit in front of a photo of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. (Lefteris Pitarakis) President Trump made it clear on Tuesday that he does not intend to punish Saudi Arabia or Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, an American resident killed by Saudi officials in Turkey in October. In a remarkable statement replete with exclamation points, Trump cast doubt on the CIAs reported conclusions that it has a high degree of confidence that the crown prince ordered Khashoggis murder and sent his closest allies to Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul to carry it out. Read MoreThis article has been updated with staff. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Sixteen House Democrats vow to oppose Nancy Pelosi as next speaker By Mike DeBonis | Washington Post House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) Sixteen House Democrats said Monday that they will vote to deny Rep. Nancy Pelosi another stint as House speaker, a show of defiance that puts her opponents on the cusp of forcing a seismic leadership shake-up as their party prepares to take the majority. Their pledge to oppose Pelosi (D-San Francisco), both in an internal caucus election and a Jan. 3 floor vote, delivered in a letter sent to Democratic colleagues, comes as Pelosi has marshaled a legion of supporters on and off Capitol Hill to make her case. But her opponents said Monday they are convinced it is time to select a new leader. We are thankful to Leader Pelosi for her years of service to our Country and to our Caucus, they wrote. However, we also recognize that in this recent election, Democrats ran on and won on a message of change. Pelosi has expressed complete confidence that she will retake the speakers gavel in January eight years after she lost it following massive Republican gains in the 2010 midterms and 16 years after she was first elevated to the top Democratic leadership post in the House. Come on in, the waters fine, she said Friday about a potential leadership challenge. The signers might not be able to force Pelosi out themselves. The size of the Democratic majority remains in flux, but Democrats have already won 232 seats, according to the Associated Press, with five races still undecided. All those races have Republican incumbents, but the Democratic challenger is ahead in only one of them. If the leads hold in the uncalled races, Democrats would have won 233 seats, a 16-seat majority. That means Pelosi could lose as many as 15 Democratic votes when she stands for election as speaker on Jan. 3. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Democratic senators sue over Whitakers appointment as acting attorney general By Associated Press Acting U.S. Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitaker (Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images) Three Senate Democrats filed a lawsuit Monday arguing that Acting Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitakers appointment is unconstitutional and asking a federal judge to remove him. The suit, filed by Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, argues that Whitakers appointment violates the Constitution because he has not been confirmed by the Senate. Whitaker was chief of staff to Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions and was elevated to the top job after Sessions was ousted by President Trump on Nov. 7. The Constitutions Appointments Clause requires that the Senate confirm all principal officials before they can serve in their office. The Justice Department released a legal opinion last week that said Whitakers appointment would not violate the clause because he is serving in an acting capacity. The opinion concluded that Whitaker, even without Senate confirmation, may serve in an acting capacity because he has been at the department for more than a year at a sufficiently senior pay level. President Trump is denying senators our constitutional obligation and opportunity to do our job: scrutinizing the nomination of our nations top law enforcement official, Blumenthal said in a statement. The reason is simple: Whitaker would never pass the advice and consent test. In selecting a so-called constitutional nobody and thwarting every senators constitutional duty, Trump leaves us no choice but to seek recourse through the courts. The lawsuit comes days after a Washington lawyer challenged Whitakers appointment in a pending Supreme Court case dealing with gun rights. The attorney, Thomas Goldstein, asked the high court to find that Whitakers appointment is unconstitutional and replace him with Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein. Rosenstein, the second-ranking Justice Department official, has been confirmed by the Senate and had been overseeing special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation. Whitaker is now overseeing the investigation. The Justice Department issued a statement Monday defending Whitakers appointment as lawful and said it comports with the Appointments Clause, the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and legal precedent. There are over 160 instances in American history in which non-Senate confirmed persons performed, on a temporary basis, the duties of a Senate-confirmed position, Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said. To suggest otherwise is to ignore centuries of practice and precedent. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Gov. Rick Scott says Sen. Bill Nelson concedes Florida Senate race By Associated Press Republican Senate candidate Rick Scott speaks with his wife, Ann, by his side at an election watch party in Naples, Fla., on Nov. 7. (Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press) Floridas Republican Gov. Rick Scott says incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson called him to concede defeat in their extremely tight race. Scott issued a statement Sunday saying Nelson graciously conceded their Senate race shortly after the states recount ended. The final results show Scott defeated Nelson by just over 10,000 votes out of 8 million cast. Nelson is scheduled to release a videotaped statement later Sunday. The defeat ends Nelsons lengthy political career. The three-term incumbent was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000. Before that he served six terms in the U.S. House and as state treasurer and insurance commissioner for six years. Scott spent more than $60 million of his own money on ads that portrayed Nelson as out-of-touch and ineffective. Nelson responded by questioning Scotts ethics and saying he would be under the sway of President Trump. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Orange County goes blue, as Democrats complete historic sweep of its seven congressional seats By Michael Finnegan Gil Cisneros defeated Republican Young Kim on Saturday in the last of Orange Countys undecided House races, giving Democrats a clean sweep of the states six most fiercely fought congressional contests and marking an epochal shift in a region long synonymous with political conservatism. With Cisneros victory, Democrats will constitute the entirety of Orange Countys seven-member congressional delegation, the first time since the 1930s that the birthplace of Richard Nixon, home of John Wayne and spiritual center of the Republican Party will have no GOP representative in the House. Sitting back in the 1960s, I would never have believed this would happen, said Stuart K. Spencer, a party strategist who spent more than half a century ushering Republicans, including President Reagan, into office. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Going, going ... with midterm wipeout, California Republican Party drifts closer to irrelevance By Michael Finnegan For a party in freefall the last two decades, California Republicans learned that its possible to plunge even further. The GOP not only lost every statewide office in the midterm election again, in blowout fashion but Democrats reestablished their supermajority in Sacramento, allowing them to legislate however they see fit After major defeats in Orange County and the Central Valley, two longtime strongholds, Republicans will have a significantly smaller footprint on Capitol Hill. (Democrats hold both Senate seats.) When the vote-counting is finished, the GOP may not even have enough lawmakers in Californias 53-member House delegation to field a nine-person softball team. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Congresswoman-elect Katie Porter says she will support Rep. Nancy Pelosi for speaker By Maya Sweedler Democratic Rep.-elect Katie Porter is congratulated by volunteers at her campaign headquarters in Irvine. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Congresswoman-elect Katie Porter said she plans to support Rep. Nancy Pelosis bid for speaker of the House and will make campaign finance reform her top priority when she enters the chamber in January. Im going to continue to have conversations, but so far I feel like Leader Pelosi is definitely making the things that were a priority to the families that elected me her priorities, including announcing her support for campaign finance reform and anti-corruption as HR1, Porter said in her first public appearance since being declared the winner in Californias 45th Congressional District on Thursday evening. It means a lot to me that she is a Californian. She understands our state, Porter added. When we talk about environmental protections, this is a person who understands as a Californian how fragile our environment is and whats at risk in things like drilling off our coasts. Porter, a law professor at UC Irvine, defeated two-term Republican Rep. Mimi Walters. The 45th District, covering inland Orange County, has never been represented by a Democrat. Porter became the third Democrat to claim a Republican-held seat in Orange County, following the victories of Harley Rouda in the 48th District and Mike Levin in the 49th. A fourth, Gil Cisneros, is running slightly ahead of his Republican opponent in the race for the open seat in the 39th District, which extends into Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. Porter attributed the massive political shift in the county, for decades a conservative stronghold, to increased levels of political engagement. Folks here care about education, they care about the environment, they believe climate change is real, they want healthcare that protects preexisting conditions, they want a tax system that doesnt punish California, they want our schools and places of worship to be safe from gun violence, she said. Those are the issues we campaigned on, and to the extent that Donald Trump and Mimi Walters were on the wrong side of those issues, the voters have made clear what direction they want us to go. Porter was flying back from the East Coast when her race was called, she said. She turned on her phone to find 167 text messages from friends and supporters. Among them was Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who was one of Porters teachers in law school and with whom she has remained close. The pair spoke via FaceTime this morning, she said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Bitter battle for Senate seat in Florida goes to hand recount By Associated Press Employees look through damaged ballots during a recount Thursday in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press) Floridas acrimonious battle for the U.S. Senate headed Thursday to a legally required hand recount after an initial review by ballot-counting machines showed Republican Gov. Rick Scott and Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson separated by less than 13,000 votes. But the highly watched contest for governor between Republican Ron DeSantis and Democrat Andrew Gillum appeared to be over, with a machine recount showing DeSantis with a large enough advantage over Gillum to avoid a hand recount in that race. Gillum, who conceded the contest on election night only to retract his concession later, said in a statement that it is not over until every legally casted vote is counted. The recount so far has been fraught with problems. One large Democratic stronghold in South Florida was unable to finish its machine recount by the Thursday deadline due to machines breaking down. A federal judge rejected a request to extend the recount deadline. We gave a heroic effort, said Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher. If the county had three or four more hours, it would have made the deadline to recount ballots in the Senate race, she said. Meanwhile, election officials in another urban county in the Tampa Bay area decided against turning in the results of their machine recount, which came up with 846 fewer votes than originally counted. Media in South Florida reported that Broward County finished its machine recount but missed the deadline by a few minutes. Counties were ordered last weekend to do a machine recount of three statewide races because the margins were so tight. The next stage is a manual review of ballots that were not counted by machines to see whether there is a way to figure out voter intent. Scott called on Nelson to end the recount battle. Its time for Nelson to respect the will of the voters and graciously bring this process to an end rather than proceed with yet another count of the votes which will yield the same result and bring more embarrassment to the state that we both love and have served, the governor said in a statement. The recount has triggered multiple lawsuits, many of them filed by Nelson and Democrats. The legal battles drew the ire of U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker, who slammed the state for repeatedly failing to anticipate election problems. He also said the state law on recounts appears to violate the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that decided the presidency in 2000. We have been the laughingstock of the world, election after election, and we chose not to fix this, Walker said during a morning hearing. Walker vented his anger at state lawmakers and Palm Beach County officials, saying they should have made sure they had enough equipment in place to handle this kind of a recount. But he said he could not extend the recount deadline because he did not know when Palm Beach County would finish its work. This court must be able to craft a remedy with knowledge that it will not prove futile, Walker wrote in his ruling turning down the request from Democrats. It cannot do so on this record. This court does not and will not fashion a remedy in the dark. The overarching problem was created by the Florida Legislature, which Walker said passed a recount law that appears to run afoul of the 2000 Bush vs. Gore decision by locking in procedures that do not allow for potential problems. A total of six election-related lawsuits are pending in federal court in Tallahassee as well at least one lawsuit filed in state court. Walker also ordered that voters be given until 5 p.m. Saturday to show a valid identification and fix their ballots if they have not been counted due to mismatched signatures. Republicans appealed the ruling, but an appeals court turned down the request. State officials testified that nearly 4,000 mailed-in ballots were set aside because local officials decided the signatures on the envelopes did not match the signatures on file. If those voters can prove their identity, their votes will be counted and included in final official returns due from each county by noon Sunday. Walker was asked by Democrats to require local officials to provide a list of people whose ballots were rejected. But the judge appointed by President Obama refused the request, calling it inappropriate. Under state law, a hand review is required with races that have a margin of 0.25 percentage points or less. A state website put the unofficial results showing Scott ahead of Nelson by 0.15 percentage points. The margin between DeSantis and Gillum was at 0.41 points. The margin between Scott and Nelson had not changed much in the last few days, conceded Marc Elias, an attorney working for Nelsons campaign. But he said that he expected the vote tally to shrink due to the hand recount and the ruling on signatures. The developments fueled frustrations among Democrats and Republicans alike. Democrats want state officials to do whatever it takes to make sure every eligible vote is counted. Republicans, including President Trump, have argued without evidence that voter fraud threatens to steal races from the GOP. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Democrat Gil Cisneros pulls ahead of Republican Young Kim as more votes are tallied in Orange and San Bernardino counties By Michael Finnegan Congressional candidate Gil Cisneros (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Democrat Gil Cisneros pulled ahead of Republican Young Kim in one of Californias undecided congressional races Thursday, an ominous sign for a GOP already reeling from its loss of four House seats in the state. In updated vote counts released by the registrars for Orange and San Bernardino counties, Kim fell 941 votes behind Cisneros in the contest to succeed Republican Rep. Ed Royce in Californias 39th Congressional District. The 39th straddles Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Orange counties. In another unresolved House race, Democrat Katie Porter pulled further ahead of Republican incumbent Mimi Walters in the 45th District, which includes Mission Viejo, Tustin, Irvine, Rancho Santa Margarita and Laguna Hills. Porter, a consumer attorney and UC Irvine law professor, is now 6,203 votes ahead. The Nov. 6 midterm election has been devastating to Republicans in California. If Cisneros and Porter win, the party will have lost six of its 14 House seats in the state, essentially a wipeout in every contest that both parties spent heavily to win. The three Republicans already bounced from Congress are Reps. Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa, Steve Knight of Palmdale and Jeff Denham of Turlock in the San Joaquin Valley. Democrat Mike Levin won the seat of retiring GOP Rep. Darrell Issa of Vista in the fourth district flipped so far. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Florida Senate race likely headed to second recount By Associated Press A Palm Beach County Sheriffs deputy walks past boxes of ballots before a recount on Nov. 15 in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Wilfredo Lee) Unofficial Florida election results show that the governors race seems to be settled after a machine recount but the U.S. Senate race is likely headed to a hand recount. Republican Ron DeSantis is virtually assured of winning the nationally watched governors race over Democrat Andrew Gillum. Florida finished a machine recount Thursday that showed Gillum without enough votes to force a manual recount. Unofficial results posted on a state website show the margin between U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and Gov. Rick Scott is still thin enough to trigger a second review. State law requires a hand recount of races with a margin of 0.25 percentage point or less. Counties have until Sunday to inspect the ballots that did not record a vote when put through the machines. Those ballots are re-examined to see whether the voter skipped the race or marked the ballot in a way that the machines cannot read but can be deciphered. The election will be certified Tuesday. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Pelosi says she has the votes to become the next House speaker By John Wagner Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi speaks during a news conference in Washington on Nov. 14. (Susan Walsh) House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi insisted Thursday that she has the votes to become the chambers speaker despite solid opposition from more than a dozen Democrats who want fresh leadership when the party takes control next year. I have overwhelming support in my caucus to be speaker of the House, the San Francisco lawmaker told reporters. I happen to think at this point, Im the best person for that. A vote within the Democratic caucus is scheduled for Nov. 28. The full House votes on Jan. 3 to elect a new speaker. During her remarks, Pelosi touted the size of the Democratic victory in the midterms, which she called almost a tsunami. With a few races still to be decided, Democrats are poised to pick up close to 40 seats in the chamber. Pelosi called that the biggest victory for the Democrats since 1974, when the Watergate babies came in. Pelosis comments come as she faces solid opposition from at least 17 Democrats, setting the stage for a battle over who will ascend to one of the most powerful positions in Washington. After a campaign in which some Democrats prevailed in competitive districts by promising to oppose her, a coalition of incumbents and newly elected members has denied her a smooth path to the speakership. The defections, if they stand, would leave Pelosi, who has led the Democrats for more than 15 years, several votes short of the 218 she would need when the full House votes for speaker Jan. 3. However, no Democrat has stepped forward to run against her for a job she held from 2007 through 2010. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) told reporters Wednesday that shes being encouraged to stand for speaker if Pelosi doesnt have the votes. In an interview with the Washington Post on Thursday, she said she has been overwhelmed by the support from many of her colleagues for her possible entry into the race for House speaker. Over the last 12 hours, Ive been overwhelmed by the amount of support Ive received, Fudge said, adding that there are probably closer to 30" Democrats who have privately signaled that they are willing to oppose Pelosi. Things could change rapidly, Fudge said. Fudge, 66, a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said she is building a diverse coalition as she mulls a speaker run, talking with allies in the caucus, moderate Democrats and newly elected members. To this point, Pelosi has enjoyed the strong backing of the Congressional Black Caucus. On Thursday, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), one of its members, wrote a letter to colleagues praising her insight, fortitude and strategic thinking and urging support for her speakership bid. Former Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., an African American who is contemplating a 2020 presidential bid, also voiced support for Pelosi, praising her in a tweet as an architect of the recent midterm success. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), a leader of the resistance to Pelosi, said during an interview on CNN on Thursday that Fudge is the kind of new leader that we need in this party. Shes in touch with middle America. She understands what the American people want. Shes a next-generation leader that people will look to and say, Thats the future of our party, thats the future of our country, and thats exactly the kind of leader that I want to see as our next speaker. Wagner reports for the Washington Post. The Posts Robert Costa, Erica Werner, Mike DeBonis, Paul Kane and Elise Viebeck contributed to this report. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement GOP Rep. Jeff Denham concedes to Democrat Josh Harder in Central Valley race By Maya Sweedler Rep. Jeff Denham (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) Republican Rep. Jeff Denham has conceded to Democrat Josh Harder in the race to represent Californias 10th Congressional District in the San Joaquin Valley. It has been an absolute honor to serve our community and represent the Central Valley in Congress over the past eight years, the 51-year-old congressman said. The enormity of the responsibility was never lost on me. My wife Sonia and I look forward to starting the next chapter of our lives. Harder said he had spoken with Denham and the two were committed to a productive transition. Denham, an Air Force veteran, previously represented the region in the state Senate for eight years and founded a company specializing in plastic packaging used in agriculture. While a member of Congress, he sat on the Transportation and Infrastructure, Veterans Affairs and Agriculture committees. First-time candidate Harder was born and raised in the district. After graduating from Stanford University, he served as vice president of a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Since moving back, he has been teaching at Modesto Junior College. Denhams House seat is one of four in California that Republicans lost in the Nov. 6 election, with two contests in Orange County still undecided as of Thursday morning. Jeff Denham called me this morning and we had a very productive conversation. I'm honored that I've been chosen to serve our community in Congress, and we're both looking forward to a productive transition that best serves the people of District 10. Josh Harder (@JoshHarder) November 14, 2018 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Democrat Katie Porter now nearly 3,800 votes ahead of GOP Rep. Mimi Walters By Maya Sweedler Rep. Mimi Walters thanks all of her supporters as she watches election results in Irvine on Nov. 7, 2018. (Alex Gallardo / Associated Press) Democrat Katie Porter opened a 3,797-vote lead Wednesday over Republican Rep. Mimi Walters in Orange Countys 45th Congressional District. In the neighboring 39th, Democrat Gil Cisneros has nearly tied the race against Republican Young Kim. Cisneros now trails Kim by a razor-thin margin of 122 votes. The 39th District straddles Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties; Wednesdays updated ballot counts came from the latter two. There are more than 202,000 ballots left to count in Orange County, which includes parts of seven congressional districts. The 45th is entirely in inland Orange County. In California, the ballots counted first tend to lean Republican and those tallied later skew Democratic. In the Central Valleys 21st Congressional District, Democratic challenger TJ Cox has pulled within 2 percentage points of Rep. David Valadao, who is serving his third term. The Associated Press had projected a win for Valadao on election night, but his 4,839-vote advantage has shrunk to 2,090. Back in CA-21, Valadao (R) wins a batch of ballots from his stronghold in Kings Co., but by a considerably smaller margin (14 points) than his previous ~30-point margin in the county. We're moving to Lean R from Likely R; today a bit scary for Valadao.https://t.co/WqJVUVkqGW Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 15, 2018 A spokesman for Valadao told the Fresno Bee that the changes were expected and that [s]tatistically, David Valadao has won this race. Democrats in California have already flipped four House seats, defeating three Republican incumbents and claiming an open seat previously held by the GOP. Reps. Steve Knight of Palmdale, Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa and Jeff Denham of Turlock have already lost their races, and retiring Rep. Darrell Issas San Diego County seat was claimed by Democrat Mike Levin. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump aide departs West Wing after rebuke from Melania Trump By Associated Press First Lady Melania Trump. (Alain Jocard / AFP-Getty Images) Deputy national security advisor Mira Ricardel is leaving the White House, one day after First Lady Melania Trumps office issued an extraordinary statement calling for her dismissal. No replacement was named. Aides said Ricardel clashed with the first ladys staff over her visit to Africa last month. Yet it is highly unusual for a first lady or her office to weigh in on personnel matters, especially the presidents national security staff. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Ricardel would have a new role in the administration. On Tuesday, Stephanie Grisham, the first ladys spokeswoman, released a statement saying, It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House. President Trumps White House has set records for administration turnover. Ricardel was the third person to hold the post under Trump. An ally of national security advisor John Bolton, Ricardel began her service in the Trump administration as associate director in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, then moved to the Commerce Department last year. Bolton brought her into the West Wing shortly after taking the job in April. He is traveling in Asia this week alongside Vice President Mike Pence. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Race for House Minority Leader is Kevin McCarthys to lose By Associated Press (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is running to take over next years shrunken caucus in closed-door elections that will set the tone for the new Congress. The race for minority leader is McCarthys to lose Wednesday. But the California Republican, who is an ally of President Trump, must fend off a challenge from conservative Jim Jordan of Ohio. Jordan is a leader of the House Freedom Caucus. The two encountered questions and finger-pointing during a private meeting with lawmakers Tuesday night as the GOP sorted through the midterm defeat that put Democrats in the majority next year. Elections Wednesday will also determine party leadership in the Senate. Voting for the biggest race, Nancy Pelosis bid to return as the Democrats nominee for speaker, is later this month. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Melania Trump calls for the firing of deputy national security advisor By Justin Sink First Lady Melania Trump arrives at the Chateau de Versailles outside Paris on Nov. 11. (Alain Jocard / AFP/Getty Images ) First Lady Melania Trumps office said she wants Mira Ricardel, the deputy national security advisor, ousted from the White House. It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House, Trumps spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, said in a statement in response to a question about reports the first lady had sought Ricardels removal. Ricardel is the top deputy to national security advisor John Bolton. She drew the first ladys wrath after threatening to withhold National Security Council resources during Melania Trumps trip to Africa last month unless Ricardel was included in her entourage, one person familiar with the matter said. Grishams statement comes as several media outlets have reported that President Trump is considering a broader shakeup of his administration, including ousting Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. Sink and Jacobs report for Bloomberg. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print CNN sues Trump over the suspension of Jim Acostas White House press credentials By Jim Puzzanghera CNN said Tuesday that it is suing President Trump and other administration officials over the decision to suspend the White House press credentials of correspondent Jim Acosta after a conflict at a news conference last week. The suit, to be filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, escalates an ongoing battle between Trump and the cable news outlet that he frequently accuses of disseminating fake news for its aggressive coverage of him and his administration. The wrongful revocation of these credentials violates CNN and Acostas 1st Amendment rights of freedom of the press, and their 5th Amendment rights to due process, CNN said in a written statement. If left unchallenged, the actions of the White House would create a dangerous chilling effect for any journalist who covers our elected officials. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Maxine Waters to take aim at Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank as new head of House Financial Services Committee By Jim Puzzanghera Rep. Maxine Waters plans to zero in on two big banks Wells Fargo & Co. and Deutsche Bank when she becomes head of the powerful House Financial Services Committee. The Los Angeles congresswoman, now the committees top Democrat, is widely expected to gain the gavel after her party won control of the House in last weeks elections. While Waters has outlined a wide-ranging agenda, she said her focus on bank oversight will target two large institutions she has been tangling with for a while including one, Deutsche Bank, that spills into her bitter feud with President Trump. With Trump in the White House, I know that our fight for Americas consumers and investors will continue to be challenging. But I am more than up to that fight, Waters wrote in a letter last week to her Democratic colleagues on the committee that was obtained by The Times. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Heres how a controversial voting system will decide a congressional race in Maine By Kurtis Lee For the first time in U.S. history, a controversial voting system known as ranked choice is being used to decide a federal election. Its happening in Maine, which adopted the system in 2016. Rather than marking a single candidate, each voter ranks them all, assigning a first-place vote, a second-place vote and so on down the ballot. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print ACLU files suit to stop Trumps new asylum limits By Associated Press A group of Central American migrants march to the office of the U.N.'s humans rights body in Mexico City on Nov. 8. (Rebecca Blackwell / Associated Press) The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a legal challenge to President Trumps order denying asylum to migrants if they cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. The lawsuit was filed Friday in federal court in San Francisco and argues the new rules are against the law. Attorney Lee Gelernt said the regulations will put families in danger. The suit seeks to declare the regulations invalid and wants a judge to stop the rules from going into effect while the litigation is pending. The new rules were spurred in part by caravans of Central American migrants slowly moving north on foot, but officials say they will apply to anyone caught crossing illegally. Officials say about 70,000 people who enter the country illegally claim asylum. The order invoked the same national security powers Trump used to push through his travel ban. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump on new acting AG: I dont know Matt Whitaker By Associated Press President Trump talks with reporters before departing for France on the South Lawn of the White House on Nov. 9. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) President Trump is moving to distance himself from Matthew Whitaker as he faces criticism over his choice for acting attorney general. Trump told reporters Friday that I dont know Matt Whitaker and said he didnt speak with Whitaker about special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation. Whitaker has made public comments critical of Muellers investigation, and critics have called on Whitaker to recuse himself from oversight of the inquiry. Under former Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, the investigation was overseen by Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein. Of the scrutiny Whitaker is facing, Trump said: Its a shame that no matter who I put in they go after. He also called Whitaker a very highly respected man. Whitaker was Sessions chief of staff before Trump made him Sessions interim replacement. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg out of hospital after fall By Associated Press The Supreme Court says 85-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is home after being released from the hospital. She had been admitted for treatment and observation after fracturing three ribs in a fall. The court said Ginsburg was released Friday. Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg says she is doing well and working from home. The court had previously said the justice fell in her office at the court on Wednesday evening and went to George Washington University Hospital in Washington early Thursday after experiencing discomfort overnight. Ginsburg broke two ribs in a fall in 2012. She had two prior bouts with cancer and had a stent implanted to open a blocked artery in 2014. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gun-control activist Lucy McBath defeats GOP Rep. Karen Handel in Georgia By Associated Press Lucy McBath speaks during a rally for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams on Nov. 2 at Morehouse College in Atlanta. (Alyssa Pointer / Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP) Democratic gun-control activist Lucy McBath has defeated Republican Rep. Karen Handel of Georgia in a suburban congressional district long considered safe for the GOP. Handel had to seek reelection after winning her seat last year in a close special election race against Democrat Jon Ossoff. McBath became an advocate for stricter gun laws after her son, Jordan Davis, was fatally shot at a Florida gas station in 2012 by a man angry over loud music the teenager and his friends were playing in a car. McBaths margin of victory was narrow enough for Handel to have requested a recount. The Associated Press declared McBath the winner Thursday after Handel conceded. Handel conceded in a statement Thursday morning, stating that after reviewing all of the election data, its clear she came up a bit short in Tuesdays vote. Handel congratulated McBath, offering good thoughts and much prayer for the journey that lies ahead for her. McBath, who is African American, declared victory Wednesday. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg hospitalized after fracturing 3 ribs in fall By Associated Press Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press) The Supreme Court says 85-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg fractured three ribs in a fall in her office at the court and is in the hospital. The court says the justice went to George Washington University Hospital in Washington early Thursday after experiencing discomfort overnight. The court says the fall occurred Wednesday evening. Ginsburg was admitted to the hospital for treatment and observation after tests showed she fractured three ribs. Ginsburg broke two ribs in a fall in 2012. She has had two prior bouts with cancer and had a stent implanted to open a blocked artery in 2014. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print White House suspends press pass of CNNs Jim Acosta after heated exchange with Trump By Associated Press The White House on Wednesday suspended the press pass of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after he and President Trump had a heated confrontation during a news conference. They began sparring after Acosta asked Trump about the caravan of migrants heading from Latin America to the southern U.S. border. When Acosta tried to follow up with another question, Trump said, Thats enough! and a female White House aide unsuccessfully tried to grab the microphone from Acosta. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement accusing Acosta of placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern, calling it absolutely unacceptable. The interaction between Acosta and the intern was brief, and Acosta appeared to brush her arm as she reached for the microphone and he tried to hold onto it. Pardon me, maam, he told her. Acosta tweeted that Sanders statement that he put his hands on the aide was a lie. CNN said in a statement that the White House revoked Acostas press pass in retaliation for his challenging questions Wednesday, and the network accused Sanders of lying about Acostas actions. This conduct is absolutely unacceptable. It is also completely disrespectful to the reporters colleagues not to allow them an opportunity to ask a question. President Trump has given the press more access than any President in history. Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 Contrary to CNNs assertions there is no greater demonstration of the Presidents support for a free press than the event he held today. Only they would attack the President for not supporting a free press in the midst of him taking 68 questions from 35 different reporters... Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 As a result of todays incident, the White House is suspending the hard pass of the reporter involved until further notice. Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 Sanders provided fraudulent accusations and cited an incident that never happened. This unprecedented decision is a threat to our democracy and the country deserves better, CNN said. Jim Acosta has our full support. Journalists assigned to cover the White House apply for passes that allow them daily access to press areas in the West Wing. White House staffers decide whether journalists are eligible, though the Secret Service determines whether their applications are approved. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump spars with reporters at post-election news briefing, ordering several to sit down By Associated Press President Trump assails CNNs Jim Acosta at a White House news conference. President Trump sparred with reporters at his post-election news conference, ordering several to sit down and telling another hes a rude, terrible person. He told another reporter hes not a fan of yours, either. The presidents mood turned sour Wednesday after reporters pressed him on why he referred to a migrant caravan making its way to the U.S. on foot through Mexico as an invasion. Trump ramped up his anti-immigrant rhetoric against the caravan in the final days of the midterm elections. Trump was also pressed on why his campaign aired an ad featuring a Mexican immigrant convicted of killing American police officers and linking the mans actions to the caravan. Several television networks pulled the ad after airing it or declined to air it at all. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Im living one hour at a time at this point By Christine Mai-Duc Republican congressional candidate Young Kim and gubernatorial candidate John Cox campaign in Rowland Heights. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Republican congressional candidate Young Kim greeted gubernatorial candidate John Coxs giant campaign bus, the words HELP IS ON THE WAY emblazoned across it, as it rolled into the parking lot outside her Rowland Heights field office. Standing beside Cox on Saturday, Kim predicted that a string of GOP victories Tuesday would start with voters repealing the gas tax hike. Can you imagine Gavin Newsom being our governor? Can you imagine Gil Cisneros being your representative? Kim asked the crowd, to loud boos and cries of Nooo! The former state assemblywoman who worked for retiring Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) is vying for his seat with Democrat Gil Cisneros. She led the crowd in chants of Enough is enough! and, though short-lived, Drain the swamp! Ive served you in Sacramento and Ive seen dysfunction personally, Kim continued. We cannot continue that route. She urged her supporters to stay and help make phone calls or walk neighborhoods. Lets get out there the 72 hours is really critical. Its all going to come down to a few votes, it could be your vote, she said pointing to her left, then pivoting right, it could be your vote. So dont sit back and do nothing. Every night I go to sleep thinking, OK, how many more votes can I get or how many more people can I call tomorrow? Kim said. It can be physically exhausting but Im mentally, emotionally very energized. She listed off her events so far that day and the next one she was heading to. Thats just what I can remember, she said. Im living one hour at a time at this point. Kims campaign invited press to two of her events on Saturday. After she was whisked away to her next event a high tea fundraiser in Walnut, a couple dozen volunteers remained. John Freeman, a statewide field manager for the state Republican Party, tried to pump them up. This is the Super Bowl. Were not in an NFL stadium, were not getting paid millions of dollars, but you know what? Freeman said. Were walking on the field right now. This is that high-stakes-level game. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Its going to be tough out there Democratic candidate Katie Porter speaks to volunteers in Mission Viejo. Jon Bauman, Bowzer from the band Sha Na Na, is in the background. (Victoria Kim / Los Angeles Times ) Judging from the cheers in the crowd, about half those assembled at Katie Porters campaign headquarters in Mission Viejo Sunday morning were old enough to remember 70s rock n roll star Bowzer from the band Sha Na Na. Jon Bauman, as Bowzer is known off stage, said it was her position on senior issues including retirement and social security that has him out supporting Porter over her opponent, incumbent Rep. Mimi Walters. I want you to make sure every phone is called and every door is knocked, he told the crowd of about 80 volunteers. There has never been a more important election. Both Bauman and his nephew, California Democratic Party Chairman Eric Bauman, were interrupted by yells from Trump supporters coming from an adjoining hillside. We love Trump, the voice cried out. We love him too, he makes great fodder, the younger Bauman retorted, before introducing Porter. Porter, a UC Irvine law professor and first-time candidate, acknowledged the uphill battle some of her canvassers might face in this more conservative end of the long-red Orange County district. I know its going to be tough out there, she said, motioning to the hillside. But she said the attacks meant the other side viewed her campaign as a significant threat. This election is going to be close, she said. If we dont fight all the way to the finish line, until 8 oclock on Tuesday, this could slip away. Bowzer then took to a keyboard piano to lead the crowd in a reworded rendition of the song Good Night Sweetheart: Good night, Mimi Walters, he crooned. A woman in a black tank top, jeans and flip flops holding a cup of coffee later joined the crowd with her two sons, 17 and 14, the younger one wearing a Trump 2016 T-shirt. She declined to give her name, saying she was concerned about being attacked, but said she lived up the hill and said she had been the one yelling. She said she was encouraging her sons to talk to people on both sides and make up their own minds. We need to have a government that runs the way government teachers are telling kids its supposed to be run, said the woman, a retired registered dental assistant who voted early for Mimi Walters. Referring to Democrats, she said: Theyve had control over all these years and Californias gone to crap. Among those canvassing was Stacie Campbell, 37, who was at the launch with her husband Jerome and three children, the youngest of whom was 2 months old. Campbell, a Mission Viejo resident who runs a business, had never canvassed or volunteered for campaigns before, and her husband is a French citizen and unable to vote. She said they had been talking to their children the older ones are 5 and 2 about the presidency and the government since Trumps election. Together, they worked on homemade Katie Porter lawn signs and put them up around town. This is the first time its felt like a big deal and there isnt a president up for election, she said. Because her city is a mix of conservatives and liberals her next-door neighbor is an NRA-supporting Republican she the race felt m Surfers always seem to be searching for the next wave, the next opportunity. Tyler Gunter of Newport Beach was obviously disappointed after he was eliminated Saturday afternoon in the second round of the Mens Junior Pro event at the Vans U.S. Open of Surfing. Gunter ran quickly through the sand on the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier and out of the competition area. The result was not what Gunter, an 18-year-old in his last year of junior competitions, was seeking. But he will get a second chance of sorts Sunday. Gunter is surfing Sunday morning in the trials for the mens event, beginning at 8 a.m. The winner of the 32-surfer trials field receives a wildcard into the World Surf League Mens Qualifying Series 10,000 event, which is slated to begin Monday morning. Im really looking forward to that, Gunter said. Im definitely going to learn from the mistakes I just made in that last heat, and Im going to put everything in it to win those trials tomorrow. It should be really cool. Ive done the trials when I was younger, and I wasnt as big or strong then. Im really looking forward to giving it all Ive got this year. The Junior Mens Pro event, the only event to be contested on the U.S. Opens first day, was pared down to the quarterfinals after two rounds Saturday. No locals remain in the field, which is down to 16 surfers and is dominated by young surfers from San Clemente. Gunter won his first heat of the day Saturday with a two-wave score of 12.50. But in the second round, he finished fourth with a score of 9.83. Gunter was unable to find big waves late in the 20-minute heat, which was won by Blake Speir of Florida with a score of 11.93. Malakai Martinez of Costa Rica also advanced, posting a 10.40. I had two opportunities, said Gunter, who came into the U.S. Open ranked No. 3 among North American surfers on the Junior Tour. Theres a wave that Taro [Watanabe] went on where I had priority, and I just was in the wrong spot. Then there was another wave that Blake went on where I had priority and I just thought it wasnt going to be a good wave. I probably should have gone on those waves and had a little bit better wave choice, and maybe things would have worked out differently. But its really hard with these conditions out here. There are hardly any waves, and the low tide definitely makes it harder with the wave power. Of the 16 quarterfinalists, 10 are from the United States, and five of those hail from San Clemente. They include Crosby Colapinto and Kade Matson. Matson bested his best friend as they competed in a second-round heat Saturday, though both moved on. They shared a good laugh as they walked off the beach. Were all pretty much best friends, Matson said. We hang out every day. Its really cool to have a heat with your best friend, and both of you make it [to the next round]. Its just extra special. Matson finished third in this event last year at the U.S. Open, and so he is extra motivated to make it back to the finals and win it this time. It was really kind of stressful, he said. If you make it, you get to skip a few days and kind of rest up for the [quarterfinals]. Its always good to get the first couple of heats out of the way. The waves arent too good, but it just felt good to get a couple of good ones. Its probably the biggest event of the year for juniors. Its my favorite event, for sure. To be able to come here and compete with the crowd, everyone cheering you on, its really cool We have an event here every weekend pretty much, so I feel right out home at here. We have little NSSA [National Scholastic Surfing Assn.] comps here, so I feel at home. The other Orange County surfers to advance included Cole Houshmand, Jett Schilling and Hagan Johnson, also all from San Clemente. San Clemente also was featured as natives Dane, Pat and Tanner Gudauskas ran their annual Stoke-O-Rama youth surfing program further down the beach. The Stoke-O-Rama raises money for local community water safety programs. Keanu Igarashi, Griffin Foy and Dylan Hord of Huntington Beach, along with Jojo Whelan of Newport Beach, were other locals who were eliminated in the first round of the Mens Junior Pro event. Igarashi is the younger brother of defending U.S. Open mens champion Kanoa Igarashi. matthew.szabo@latimes.com Twitter: @mjszabo Second baseman Jose Altuve was put on the 10-day disabled list by the Houston Astros on Saturday because of right knee soreness. It will be the first time on the DL for the reigning American League most valuable player and three-time batting champion, including the last two in a row. If they think it is better to go on the disabled list for the team and for me in order for me to come back healthy and strong, Altuve said. So, we got to do it. Altuve is batting .329 with nine home runs and 46 runs batted in. Advertisement Etc. Shortstop Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had two hits to extend his multihit streak to a Toronto Blue Jays-record 10 games. ... In his last 11 starts, Astros right-hander Justin Verlander has given up 13 home runs. He gave up five in his first 12 starts. ... Third baseman Eugenio Suarezs streak of consecutive games with a home run ended at five, tied with seven other players for the Cincinnati Reds record. MPs nonetheless insist that US economic and military assistance to Egypt should not be used as a means of leverage to meddle in the country's internal affairs In Egypt, political circles view the US decision to release $195 million in military aid to Cairo as mainly resulting from progress in cooperation between the two sides in the area of fighting terrorism and security cooperation, rather than from reaching common ground on the two thorny issues of democracy and human rights. The US State Department's announcement 25 July that the administration of US President Donald Trump had approved to release the military aid to Egypt was greeted with a warm welcome in Cairo's political and parliamentary circles. In a brief statement, the State Department indicated that the "release decision" came after a number of steps Egypt took, and that now there are stronger relations between Egypt and US in the areas of security and counter-terrorism. The US decision came while a high-level Egyptian security and military delegation was holding talks on Egyptian-American ties with senior US officials in Washington last week. Al-Ahram newspaper said Friday that Egypt's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry intends to visit the US next month to hold talks with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Al-Ahram cited foreign ministry sources as saying that Pompeo telephoned Shoukry to stress that Washington is committed to providing military and economic support to Cairo, mainly through its aid programme, and pledged to "remove obstacles in this regard." Soliman Wahdan, Egypt's deputy parliament speaker, said in a statement 27 July that "it is very important that the US decision came without Egypt offering any political concessions in return." "It is also significant that the decision reflects some change in the mentality of the White House," said Wahdan, adding that "While former US President Barack Obama was trying in every way to impose political conditions on Egypt in return for economic and military assistance, it seems that the current US president, Donald Trump, decided to abandon this direction." "I think that all will agree that the US under Donald Trump is not interested in pursuing Obama's policies, and that all know that Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi was able to neutralise America's political agenda to a large extent," said Wahdan, adding that "Washington should know that the policy of cooperation is the best for achieving the mutual interests of both countries." Mohamed Maher Hamed, an MP from Cairo's Al-Khalifa district, said: "The old impact of America's military assistance on Egypt's political decisions has no effect anymore." "So to release or to withhold this assistance does not mean anything," said Maher. "But the decision to release the suspended aid is very significant in itself as it shows that the pressure the Obama administration was exerting on Egypt to allow the ousted Muslim Brotherhood be reintegrated in the country's political process has gone forever." Montasser Riad, MP from Giza governorate, also said in a statement that, "The US release decision is very important because it came despite repeated hostile media campaigns that tried their best to tarnish the image of the country in the area of human rights in Washington circles. But it seems that the Donald Trump administration choose to ignore them." "These campaigns, funded by the banned Muslim Brotherhood, used many US media outlets like The New York Times and CNN, in a bid to compel the Donald Trump administration to go the Obama way in dealing with Egypt," said Riad, adding that "but the release decision came as a direct slap in the face of all of these campaigns." Riad also said that the fact that some Congress circles have lately opened a debate on the Muslim Brotherhood and whether it should be designated a terrorist organisation in the US also sends positive signals from Washington. Riad said all MPs are in support of reinforcing Egyptian-American military relations. "But we all reject that American military assistance is used to meddle in Egypt's internal affairs or impose a certain political agenda on the country," said Riad. Amr El-Shoubaki, an Ahram political analyst, told Al-Ahram Online that, "There is no doubt that the release decision was warmly welcomed in Egyptian political circles and they took it as a change in US direction." However, Khaled Okasha, director of the Cairo-Based National Centre for Security Studies, said that "it is too early to say that the decision reflects a complete change in the mentality of the White House towards Egypt." "There are a lot of Congress members and hostile media which have a lot of influence in Washington's political circles and these always insist on using military and economic aid to impact Egypt's politics," Okasha added. Search Keywords: Short link: I read the Fly Guy column on Sunday about the man who threw a fit when he couldnt get the chicken entree [The Last Jerk Wasnt Chicken, by Elliott Hester, July 22]. He prefaced his remarks by stating that he was not proud of his response and that he should have taken the high road. I would suggest that his response was the high road and that he handled it professionally and appropriately. I believe that the phrase The customer is always right is poisonous, because people believe it gives them the right to act rudely. The man was given multiple opportunities to handle the situation like an adult. Hesters telling the man to grow up, while uttered in frustration, was factual and was what he needed to hear, because from then on he behaved himself. I think people act rudely because they know that most people will not stand up to them. Because Hester stood up to the man, I hope he will think twice before he tries that stunt on his next flight. I wish more employees were empowered by their employers to stand up to customers who act like this man. Instead, most of the time these rude people are rewarded for their misdeeds by being given what they want, which only reinforces the behavior. I think what Hester said was what every other passenger sitting around him secretly wanted to say. Advertisement So again, kudos to Hester. Jonathan Peske Redlands :: Official airline policy did not condone Hesters action and were I to find myself in the same situation and taking the same action, I too would have felt ashamed of myself for losing my cool. Yet this passenger was disruptive, uncooperative and perhaps even willing to cause the sort of trouble that would have required Hester to take dramatic action. It seems to me he did just that. I dont fly often; I did enough of that when I traveled for business. There were a few times when I was tired, frustrated, angry, annoyed, whatever, that I was not polite to the flight attendants. In my rare travels today, I try to make it a point to be pleasant, courteous and to ask for or require as little of the flight crews attention as possible. They have better things to do than be my waiter or waitress. I know that if I ever need their emergency expertise, I will appreciate that they have it. Walt Craig Kingman, Ariz. :: This message is for Hester: You may not be proud of yourself for putting that man in his place, but I am. Its about time. Your response to him was restrained and accurate. He earned it. Sue Guilford Orange Red Rocks? It rocks Thank you for the excellent article on Red Rocks Amphitheatre [A Rocking Good Time in Thin Air, by Christopher Reynolds, July 15]. It brought back fond memories for me. As a former resident of Denver and Golden, Colo., I attended many shows there, beginning with the Smothers Brothers in the early 60s and including the infamous Jethro Tull tear gas show in June 1971. (As many as 2,000 fans showed up without tickets; some tried to break through the gates, and tear gas was used, spreading over the audience.) The next year, the band entered the stage for its show at the Denver Coliseum wearing gas masks. Chuck Butto Ontario Film memories I loved Andrew Benders story about the Sound of Music tours [Sounds Like an Austrian Idyll, July 8]. It brought back memories of studying at the University of Vienna summer school at Strobl am Wolfgangsee in 1964. I was on the same lake where they were filming parts on this movie. I have always felt a great connection to this picture because of having experienced that landscape, along with trips to Salzburg at the time of its filming. I loved the writers use of all the lyrics from the show in his article. Of course, like many, I know them all. Thanks for the memory. Bill Bowersock Los Angeles travel@latimes.com @latimestravel When my architect friend Westley visits Paris, he doesnt dawdle at the Louvre or climb the Eiffel Tower. Instead, he goes for a stroll. I want to experience the city like the locals do, he said. The idea of crowding around the Mona Lisa with a scrum of tourists just doesnt interest me. In other words, Westley is a boulevardier, a flaneur, that great French word derived from the Old Norse verb flana, or to wander with no purpose. Advertisement But Westley and his ilk do have a purpose: They participate in a city by observing the quotidian flow of street life. Sometimes you can learn more about a place by watching daily interactions along its thoroughfares than by visiting its monuments and museums not that theres anything wrong with museums and monuments. I tried to argue. What? I said. Youve been to Paris five times and youve never visited the Louvre? But as I grew older and visited the same cities over and over, I came to appreciate the value of wandering, my eyes and ears open to the pulse of urban life. Westley sees it this way: Why spend a whole day in the British Museum? Theres nothing British in it anyway. Britain happens outside it. Besides, he insisted, exploring a city on foot costs nothing. What better place to observe a citys denizens, to reflect, discover and wander, than along some of the worlds most beautiful boulevards, those wide, tree-lined streets humming with city life? Here are some favorites. Champs-Elysees, Paris Boutique Guerlain of perfume is on Avenue des Champs Elysees in Paris. (Bruno De Hogues / Getty Images) On the instructions of Napoleon III, Baron Georges-Eugene Haussmann (1809-1891) evicted 350,000 Parisians to lay down 50 miles of new boulevards, strictly regulating the height, color, materials and general design of adjacent buildings. Those edicts give Parisian boulevards their pleasingly uniform appearance. But the Champs-Elysees, dating to the 17th century, is not part of Haussmanns legacy. It runs 1.2 miles from the Arc de Triomphe (definitely worth a climb for the views) to the Place de la Concorde, where the Obelisk of Luxor towers majestically despite being more than three millennia old. Look back from the obelisk to the Arc to see the boulevard at its best. Commonwealth Avenue Mall, Boston The tree-lined central mall of Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. (Amanda Hall / Getty Images/Robert Harding World Images) Im a Bostonian by birth so, of course, Im prejudiced, but even Winston Churchill called Commonwealth Avenue (Comm Ave to the locals) the grandest boulevard in North America. The 200-foot-wide Comm Ave Mall, designed by architect Arthur Gilman in 1856 and inspired by Haussmanns boulevards, covers 32 acres and runs eight architecturally homogenous blocks from Arlington Street to Massachusetts Avenue in the Back Bay, then west to Newton. Gilman insisted that houses sit back 20 feet from the pavement, adding to the avenues grandeur and spaciousness. In spring, magnolia trees grace the mall with their pink petals; in winter, its entire length glows with artfully illuminated trees. Passeig de Gracia, Barcelona, Spain Antoni Gaudis iconic building, La Pedrera, in Passeig de Gracia, Barcelona. (Marcel Germain Gonzfllez / Flickr Vision) This artery, designed by Ildefons Cerda, an urban planner who also conceived the citys other boulevards, is embellished with four rows of closely spaced plane trees, tiled benches designed by Antoni Gaudi, elegant street lighting and the citys most upscale retail outlets. All of which makes this lively, mile-long boulevard the most beautiful street in a beautiful city. The 36-foot-wide sidewalks provide plenty of room for ambling. Stop at No. 43 where one of Gaudis most famous creations, Casa Batllo, welcomes visitors 365 days a year. Tip: Buy an early bird admission for 37 euros (about $43), and youll have the place almost to yourself. Eastern Parkway, New York City This 2-mile-long, historic landmark in Brooklyn, created by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux (who together also designed Central Park), runs from Highland Park to Grand Army Plaza and Prospect Park. Six rows of trees spaced 25 to 30 feet apart and handsome brownstones set back from the street add to its appeal. A subway line runs underneath, so its easy to reach by public transit. Performers at the West Indian Day Parade along Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, N.Y. (NBC NewsWire via Getty Images) The Brooklyn Museum, which anchors the western limit of the parkway, organizes blockbuster exhibits that rival those offered by New Yorks more famous museums. If you visit during Labor Day weekend, youll witness the West Indian Carnival Parade. Via dei Fori Imperiali, Rome Built on the orders of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini as Via dellImpero, this impressive four-lane, tree-lined road was inaugurated in October 1932 with a military parade led by Il Duce himself. The construction destroyed most of Julius Caesars and several emperors forums, memorialized in the avenues post-World War II name, Via dei Fori Imperiali, which means road of the imperial forums. Rays of the sun create a play of light through the Colosseum during sunrise on Christmas Day. (Pacific Press / LightRocket via Getty Images) It is now pedestrianized, over the protests of local residents but to the delight of boulevardiers. It takes you on a stroll through ancient Roman history, stretching from the Piazza Venezia to the Colosseum. Avenida da Liberdade, Lisbon The avenida, constructed between 1879 and 1886, is variously described as the Champs-Elysees of Lisbon and Lisbons answer to Fifth Avenue. The 27-foot-wide pedestrian paths, decorated with black-and-white pavers and intricate mosaics, provide ample room to stroll. (Walk carefully in wet weather because these walkways are slippery.) Detail of the Portuguese pavement at the Liberdade Avenue in Lisbon. (Tiago Lopes Fernandez / Getty) Two rows of trees on both sides provide shade. Nearly every international luxury brand has stores on this beautiful street. Plus, youll find three Lisbon Metro stations along it. Although I still think museums are worthwhile, the worlds most beautiful boulevards are museums of a kind themselves, tableaux vivants, steeped in history, free for all. travel@latimes.com @latimestravel There was a rare piece of good news Saturday for an Egyptian photojournalist who learned he will be spared a death sentence, nearly five years to the day he was arrested while covering a political protest in Cairo that turned violent. Photographer Mahmoud Abou Zeid, 31, was not listed among 75 defendants a Cairo court on Saturday said it would refer to Egypts top Islamic law official, grand mufti Shawki Allam, over whether they should be hanged to death. Under Egyptian law, the mufti must be consulted before executions are carried out. He must sign off on death sentences, but its ultimately up to a judge whether to apply capital punishment. Those being referred for death include top figures from the banned Muslim Brotherhood. Moustafa Kassem, a 53-year-old American auto-parts dealer from New York, was also spared a death sentence, although he still faces a verdict on Sept. 8 for his alleged role in the protest. He denies any involvement. Advertisement With Saturdays trial and the possibility of a death sentence behind them, Kassem and Abou Zeid must await a verdict. The worst outcome the pair now face is a life sentence. Abou Zeids brother, Mohamed, heard the news as he waited outside the court with members of the press trying to get through security. Thanks be to God, he said after calling his parents to let them know the news. Its a good sign. Abou Zeid and Kassem were in court expecting to hear a final verdict in a mass trial of 739 defendants, largely suspected members of the Muslim Brotherhood. They all faced the same generic charges including membership in the outlawed Brotherhood, illegal assembly, possession of a weapon and murder in connection with a political protest that turned violent in 2013. Instead, they learned that the verdict was to be postponed a second time, to Sept. 8. I hope they release him, said Abou Zeids brother Mohamed. The lawyer for Abou Zeid, Karim Abdelrady, expressed his surprise at the very, very big number of people referred to the grand mufti for execution, but was less surprised that his client was spared. Award-winning photojournalist Abou Zeid popularly known as Shawkan has long maintained his innocence. His plight has gained international attention and he has become a global symbol of the Egyptian states repression of the press. The country is ranked the third-worst jailer of journalists in the world by the Committee to Protect Journalists. Both Abou Zeid and Kassem were arrested Aug. 14, 2013, during the violent dispersal by Egyptian security forces of a sit-in in Rabaa al Adawiya square in the eastern Cairo district of Nasr City. The demonstration was held in support of former President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood after he was ousted by the military. Human rights groups estimate that at least 900 people were killed during the dispersal by security forces. Abou Zeid, an Egyptian freelance photographer, was on assignment covering the clashes for the now-defunct British photo agency Demotix when he was arrested along with two foreign journalists. The two foreign journalists were quickly released that day. One of them, American Mike Giglio, has said being a Westerner helped secure his release. For Kassem, however, American citizenship didnt help. He was on holiday in Egypt visiting family, and maintains he was arrested after he went to exchange money in Nasr City, about two miles from the clashes. When he tried to return to his car less than two hours later, the chaos had spread and army officers and tanks were on the street where it was parked, preventing him from getting to it. According to his brother-in-law Mustafa Ahmed who was present at the time, army officers beat and arrested him after he he pulled out his U.S. passport. His family expressed frustration that Kassem didnt get a verdict Saturday, even if the death penalty has been dropped for him. I feel terrible since he has to wait 1 months more in jail, said his sister Eman Kassem via WhatsApp from New York. The decision not to apply capital punishment comes just days after the U.S. government released $195 million in military aid to Egypt. The aid had been suspended last year citing Egypts human rights record. Observers say Egypts violation of human rights has actually worsened. Kassems American lawyer, Praveen Madhiraju, initially feared the U.S. government was ceding leverage, especially after both Vice President Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had raised his case with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi. Still, hes disappointed Kassems prison ordeal is not over. We had hoped they would try and get the case done before the five-year mark, he said. Probably wishful thinking. For many rights groups and observers, the trial reflects the state of the countrys justice system, with at least 60,000 political prisoners, many awaiting trial. This is just another example of frankly a system that is broken, said Timothy Kaldas, nonresident fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, a Washington-based think tank. The fact that Shawkan and some of the others can spend years in prison without a conviction reflects a total disregard for due process. Islam is a special correspondent. The Taliban held its first direct contact with a U.S. official in a preliminary discussion about future peace talks on Afghanistan, a senior official with the insurgent group said Saturday. It marked one of the most significant developments amid efforts to find a negotiated end to the countrys protracted war. The official described as useful a meeting with Alice Wells, the U.S. top diplomat for South Asia, earlier this week. He said the meeting was held in the Middle Eastern country of Qatar, where the Taliban has maintained a political office since 2013. The environment was positive and the discussion was useful, the Taliban official told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. U.S. officials neither confirmed nor denied a meeting took place. However, Wells was in Doha, the Qatar capital, this week. In a statement following her return, the State Department said only that Wells had been in Doha, had met with the ruling family and the United States is exploring all avenues to advance a peace process in close consultation with the Afghan government. Advertisement Any talks about a future political setup would be between the Taliban and the Afghan government, the statement said. The Taliban has long demanded direct talks with Washington, saying the group does not want to talk politics with the U.S. but instead meet face to face to discuss Washingtons concerns particularly security concerns about the Taliban and Taliban involvement in Afghanistans future. They also say they want a time frame for the withdrawal of the roughly 15,000 U.S. and NATO troops still in Afghanistan. It wasnt clear when the next meeting would be held or with whom, but the Taliban official who spoke to the AP was certain one would be held. A former Taliban minister and ex-head of its political committee, Aga Jan Mohtism, who has maintained close contacts with the insurgent group, also confirmed a meeting in Doha between U.S. officials and the Taliban took place earlier this week. The Taliban want to solve their problems with the Americans to end the invasion, he said. The Taliban have argued that the Afghan government cannot act independent of Washington. During the Talibans five-year rule that ended with the 2001 U.S.-led invasion, leader Mullah Mohammed Omar said regardless of whatever concessions it agreed to, including allowing girls to attend school, it would not gain the group international recognition as long as the U.S. refused to accept it. The current leadership, most of whom are Omars contemporaries, still believe their future in Afghanistan can be guaranteed only if the United States concerns are addressed. A previous attempt at direct talks between Washington and the Taliban in 2013, also in Doha, was scuttled when then-Afghan President Hamid Karzai objected to the Taliban calling its office the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan the name of its government and flying the flag the movement flew when it ruled Afghanistan. Cambodias authoritarian prime minister, Hun Sen, secured an easy victory in the countrys election Sunday, with preliminary results indicating his ruling party won an overwhelming majority in a contest that has been condemned as a sham. With the countrys main opposition party banned from competing and only insignificant political parties to contend with, it was estimated that Hun Sens Cambodian Peoples Party, or CPP, won more than 75% of votes across the country, based on figures published by national broadcaster TVK. By the result of each polling station, we can say that the CPP is the winner, National Election Committee spokesman Hang Puthea said. Official results are not expected to be released until next month. According to the National Election Committee, about 6.8 million people cast a ballot down from about 7.1 million in last Julys local election or 82% of registered voters. Advertisement A marked ballot in Phnom Penh on July 29, 2018. There were widespread reports of voters ruining their ballot papers to show displeasure with Cambodias authoritarian leader. (Paula Bronstein / Getty Images) A spokesman for the Cambodian Peoples Party, Sok Eysan, said he was very optimistic that the party had won gloriously, extraordinarily. Based on early vote tallies, he said that the voice of more than 80% of the voters are [for the] CPP, which would give the party more than 100 of the 125 seats in the National Assembly. In a statement released Sunday, the Peoples Party said that the high voter turnout clearly illustrates the enthusiasm and political rights of the Cambodian people in strengthening a multi-party democracy. However, there were widespread reports of Cambodians demonstrating their displeasure for the strongman by ruining their ballot papers, though the count of invalid votes was not immediately released. Astrid Noren-Nilsson, a lecturer on Southeast Asian affairs at Swedens Lund University who wrote a book about Cambodia, said Hun Sen was likely to use the result to contend that Cambodians supported the oppositions dissolution. In this new chapter of Cambodias history, she said, freedom of expression looks likely to be severely curtailed, citizens will be encouraged to engage in business over politics, and friendship with China and Russia will be accompanied by anti-Western sentiment. Hun Sen has ruled Cambodia since 1985, making him the worlds longest-serving prime minister. He has methodically quashed every challenge to his power since the countrys first democratic elections in 1993. A government crackdown on dissent began in September last year with the closure of independent media outlets and arrest of opposition leader Kem Sokha on treason charges. Sokhas Cambodia National Rescue Party, or CNRP, was dissolved in November by a court stacked with loyalists to Hun Sens party. By barring the CNRP from competing, the government guaranteed this election could neither be genuine, nor free and fair, said Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch. Allegations of voter intimidation dogged the lead-up to the polls, with some opposition members arrested and fined for pushing a clean finger campaign to boycott the vote. People who voted were asked to dip their fingers in ink to indicate they had cast a ballot. Exiled former opposition leader Sam Rainsy called the election results a betrayal of the popular will. This senseless victory does nothing to resolve the political crisis that Cambodia faces as a result of the regimes totalitarian drift over the last 12 months, he said in a statement posted on Twitter. Many voters were reluctant to speak openly on election day, with one Peoples Party supporter in Phnom Penh saying it would be dangerous to point out opposition supporters in his community. At another polling station in the capital, an opposition supporter who spoke to The Times was quickly surrounded by at least half a dozen police officers. He compared the dissolution of the Cambodia National Rescue Party metaphorically to the breakup of a family. They have arrested my mother, they sent my father away, and they treat my siblings badly, said the man, Seng Choub, who was boycotting the vote but had gone to observe his local polling station. If I show I am afraid, the more pressure I will get. Robertson is a special correspondent. UPDATES: 6:25 p.m.: This article has been updated with a statement from a ruling party spokesman. This article was originally published at 12:10 p.m. Palestinian teen Ahed Tamimi, who became an international symbol of resistance to Israeli occupation after slapping two soldiers, walked out of an Israeli prison Sunday and told throngs of journalists and well-wishers that she now wants to study law to defend her people. The curly haired 17-year-old said that resistance continues until the occupation is removed, but refrained from saying she would slap soldiers again. The teen, who is on probation, said her eight months in prison were tough and helped her appreciate life. At an outdoor news conference near her family home, she spoke against the backdrop of a large model of a slingshot that was loaded with a pencil rather than a stone, apparently to highlight education as one of the possible Palestinian tactics. Underlying her case are clashing narratives about Israels half-century rule over the Palestinians, the extent of permissible Palestinian resistance to it and the battle for global public opinion. Advertisement Tamimis supporters see a brave girl who struck two armed soldiers in frustration after having just learned that Israeli troops seriously wounded a 15-year-old cousin, shooting him in the head from close range with a rubber bullet during nearby stone-throwing clashes. Ahed Tamimi is welcomed home in her village near the West Bank city of Ramallah. (Alaa Badarneh / EPA/Shutterstock) In Israel, she is seen by many either as a provocateur, an irritation or a threat to the militarys deterrence policy even as a terrorist. Israel has treated her actions as a criminal offense, indicting her on charges of assault and incitement. In liberal circles, the hard-charging prosecution of Tamimi was criticized as a public relations disaster because it turned her into an international icon. Her release comes at a time when Palestinian hopes for an independent state appear dimmer than ever. Israeli-Palestinian talks on setting up a state in lands captured by Israel in 1967 the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem have been deadlocked since hard-line Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to power in 2009. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas suspended contacts with the U.S. after President Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israels capital in December in what Palestinians denounced as a display of blatant pro-Israel bias. Abbas, meanwhile, has stepped up financial pressure on Gaza, controlled since 2007 by his bitter domestic rival, the militant Islamist group Hamas. Many Palestinians are disillusioned by their leaders in both political camps and feel exhausted after years of conflict with Israel. Alternatives have arisen, including calling for a single state for both peoples between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, but havent gained a mass following. In this context, the idea of so-called popular resistance regular demonstrations, including stone-throwing by otherwise unarmed protesters has only caught on in a few West Bank villages, including Nabi Saleh, home to the extended Tamimi clan. Since 2009, residents of Nabi Salah have staged regular anti-occupation protests that often ended with stone-throwing clashes. Ahed has participated in such marches from a young age and has had several highly publicized run-ins with soldiers. One photo shows the then 12-year-old raising a clenched fist toward a soldier towering over her. In a sign of her popularity, a pair of Italian artists painted a large mural of her on Israels West Bank separation barrier ahead of her release. Israeli police said they were caught in the act along with another Palestinian and arrested for vandalism. On Sunday, Israel canceled the visas of the two Italians and ordered them to leave the country within three days, police said. Ahed and her mother, Nariman also arrested in December in connection with the same incident were released Sunday morning from a prison in northern Israel. They were driven by bus to the West Bank and were given a heros welcome in Nabi Saleh. The resistance continues until the occupation is removed, Ahed said upon her return. All the female prisoners are steadfast. I salute everyone who supported me and my case. From her home, Ahed headed to a visit to the grave of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. She laid a wreath, kissed the headstone twice at the request of photographers and recited a prayer from the Koran, Quran, the Muslim holy book. She was then taken with her family to a meeting with Abbas at his headquarters in Ramallah. The 83-year-old Abbas praised her as a symbol of resistance to occupation even as he faces growing domestic criticism for not walking away from continued security coordination between his forces and Israeli troops against Hamas, a shared foe. In an afternoon news conference, Ahed said that she completed her high school exams in prison, with the help of other prisoners. Palestinian inmates typically organize study courses to complete high school and even university degrees. I will study law to defend my people and defend my Palestinian cause in international forums, she said. She said her prison experience was tough, and that she missed her old life in the village and her friends. She said she underwent three lengthy interrogations without a female officer present, in violation of Israels own rules. At one point Sunday, Ahed received a call from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who congratulated her on her release, said her father. Tamimis scuffle with the two soldiers took place Dec. 15 in Nabi Saleh. At the time, protests had erupted in several parts of the West Bank over Trumps recognition 10 days earlier of the contested city of Jerusalem as Israels capital. She was arrested at her home four days later, in the middle of the night. Ahed was 16 when she was arrested and turned 17 while in custody. Her case has trained a spotlight on the detention of Palestinian minors by Israel, a practice that has been criticized by international rights groups. Some 300 minors are currently being held, according to Palestinian figures. Israeli Cabinet minister Uri Ariel said the Tamimi case highlighted what could happen if Israel lets its guard down. I think Israel acts too mercifully with these types of terrorists. Israel should treat harshly those who hit its soldiers, he told The Associated Press. We cant have a situation where there is no deterrence. Lack of deterrence leads to the reality we see now ... we must change that. Hours before millions of Zimbabweans headed to the polls, former President Robert Mugabe slammed the ruling party he headed for nearly 40 years, saying opposition leader Nelson Chamisa was the only viable presidential candidate in Mondays vote. Mugabe, who was forced by the military to resign in November to make way for his former ally and current President Emmerson Mnangagwa, told reporters on Sunday that Zimbabwes new government was unconstitutional and undemocratic. I cannot vote for those who have tormented me, Mugabe said, speaking beneath a pagoda on his sprawling private estate in a lush suburb of the capital, Harare. Zimbabweans have not been free since that day when tanks rolled through and across the country, he said. 1 / 9 Zimbabweans line up to vote at the Fitchela primary school in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe, on July 30. The vote will be a first for the southern African nation following a military takeover and the ousting of former long-term leader Robert Mugabe. (Jerome Delay / Associated Press) 2 / 9 Former Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe, center, arrives to cast his vote at a polling station in Harare, Zimbabwe, on July 30. (Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi / Associated Press) 3 / 9 People wait in a queue to cast their vote at a polling station in Harare, Zimbabwe. (Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi / Associated Press) 4 / 9 Zimbabweans queue to vote in Harare, Zimbabwe, at the start of the countrys elections on July 30. (Shepherd Tozvireva / Associated Press) 5 / 9 Zimbabweans queue as they wait to vote at the Sherwood Primary School in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe. (Jerome Delay / Associated Press) 6 / 9 Zimbabwes main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, left, greets supporters after casting his vote at a polling station in Harare, Zimbabwe. (Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi / Associated Press) 7 / 9 Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa leaves the polling station after casting his vote for the presidential elections at the Sherwood Primary School in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe. (Jerome Delay / Associated Press) 8 / 9 Zimbabweans line up to vote at the Fitchela primary school in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe. (Jerome Delay / Associated Press) 9 / 9 Zimbabweans vote at the Sherwood Primary School in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe. (Jerome Delay / Associated Press) Advertisement The irony of Mugabe complaining about a lack of democracy was not lost on many Zimbabweans, who endured years of political intimidation and violence on his watch. Supporters of both main political parties agree that this election the first in which Mugabe is not on the ballot -- has felt freer than any they can remember. Mnangagwa, 75, and Chamisa, 40, are set for what appears to be a tight race Monday to lead Zimbabwe out of its international isolation and years-long economic slump. While the run-up to the vote has been largely peaceful, rights groups have warned about reports of voter intimidation outside of the cities, and Chamisa has accused the governing ZANU-PF party of trying to rig the polls. Looking frail, the 94-year-old Mugabe spoke slowly but lucidly for nearly two hours on Sunday afternoon, intermittently being adjusted in a green leather chair by an assistant or told by his wife, Grace Mugabe, to speak up. The rise and fall of Zimbabwes longtime leader Robert Mugabe Mugabe, who was expelled from the party he founded as well as from office, complained that ZANU-PF had treated him badly since his ouster, leaving him isolated inside his walled compound and harassing his supporters and relatives. He said his house, a vast structure known as Blue Roof for its Chinese-style blue tile roof, was falling apart, and bemoaned that the government had promised him a pension totaling only $467,000. Though Mugabes resignation was celebrated widely in November, the former president still has a strong support base in parts of the country, particularly rural areas. Chamisas response to Mugabes support on Sunday was guarded. Who am I to deny that extra vote that will make the fundamental win that we want? the young lawyer said at a press conference. It is not my duty as a candidate to go and choose voters. Mnangagwa released a video statement Sunday evening denouncing what he characterized as a deal between Mugabe and Chamisa. Now that it is clear to all that Chamisa has forged a deal with Mugabe, we can no longer believe that his intentions are to transform Zimbabwe and rebuild our nation, he said. The choice is clear: You either vote for Mugabe under the guise of Chamisa, or you vote for a new Zimbabwe under my leadership and ZANU-PF. Mahr is a special correspondent. UPDATES: 3:20 p.m.: This article has been updated with a statement from Mnangagwa. This article was originally posted at 12:20 p.m. The delegation will work in preparation for a presidential committee in October aiming at enhancing bilateral relations between Egypt and Sudan Egypt is expecting an official Sudanese delegation on 7 August to start preparing for a presidential committee that will take place in October, Egyptian Ambassador in Sudan Osama Shaltout said in a press statement Saturday. Shaltout added that both Egyptian and Sudanese officials are keen on achieving greater cooperation between the two governments. He also pointed out that the Egyptian foreign minister and his Sudanese counterpart are tasked with reviewing the development and implementation of agreements signed during the last committee meeting in 2016. President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi had visited Khartoum 19 July where he met with Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir. He also received Sudanese Foreign Minister El-Darderi Mohammed Ahmed after assuming his post in May. The meetings in October will aim at enhancing bilateral relations between Egypt and Sudan after a phase of tension given Sudan's stance of supporting the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Shaltout said. The Higher Egyptian-Sudanese Committee takes place every two years. This year it will be held in Cairo, while in 2016 it was held in Khartoum. This year marks the second time for the committee to be convened on a presidential level as opposed to on a prime ministerial level before 2016. Search Keywords: Short link: Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2018 > Activists and Academics draw Attention to Disturbing Trends in (...) It is a measure of the maturity of any democracy that it is able to identify any signs of increasing distress and the resulting discontent among people, particularly vulnerable sections of people, in time and take remedial steps to reduce distress and discontent before it is too late. Such a challenge exists before the State Government of Jharkhand today as there have been clear signs of increasing frustration and denial of legitimate aspirations among the vulnerable sections of people, particularly adivasis. Our country can take legitimate pride in enacting some good legislations, some of a general nature and some aimed more specifically at the welfare of Scheduled Tribes. There is the law for food security, for right to employment guarantee in rural areas, the special law for extension of panchayati raj in Scheduled Areas and the Forest Rights Act (FRA).These laws are very relevant in the prevailing conditions of Jharkhand. Their proper implementation would have definitely improved the overall conditions of people, particularly the more vulnerable sections in remote villages. But what is the reality? Unfortunately the actual implementation of these laws has been poor and not in the right spirit. There have been several disturbing reports from Jharkhand in recent times relating to reduced access of people to food security and social security, even hunger deaths and unjust acquisition of land. On the one hand some of the welfare and protective laws are not being implemented properly and on the other hand changes are being made in protective laws which are likely to have an adverse impact on vulnerable sections. In these conditions over 50 activists from important social organisations like the National Alliance for Peoples Movements, Campaign for Food Rights etc. have come together to issue a recent statement titled Continuing Attacks on Right to Life in Jharkhand. Some of these organisations have gone to the Supreme Court to take up cases of lack of proper implementation and violations of welfare laws. This statement is also supported by some senior members of the academic community and some lawyers. This statement has pointed out that the government has been trying to acquire land of the Adivasis against their wishes while at the same time implementation and policy failures in welfare programmes such as the Public Distribution System and social security pensions have led to such increasing problems for the vulnerable people as to result in a spate of starvation deaths in the State in the recent past. This statement points out that at least 12 persons have succumbed to starvation since September 2017. The immediate causes of these deaths include denial of subsidised rice due to absence of a ration card, cancellation of ration card not linked with Aadhaar and failure of Aadhaar-based biometric authentication at the ration shop. Denial of social security pensions and absence of work under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) further contributed to the destitution of the starvation victims and their families. For every person who has died, hundreds other languish with hunger, undernutrition and illness. This statement adds that despite widespread protests against amendments in the Land Acquisition Act, the government kept pressing for the amendments which substantially increase the possibilities of acquisition of land including fertile farmland. According to this statement, the State Government has also marked common lands of Adivasis (such as rivers/rivulets, village roads, ponds, places of worship, burial grounds and so on) as part of land bank without the consent of the respective Gram Sabhas. The bank consists of 20.56 lakh acres of land across the State. Of this, 10.56 lakh acres are already earmarked for the corporates with whom the government signed MoUs during Momentum Jharkhand. and 81 per cent of this area falls in the Fifth Scheduled Area. The statement has expressed concern that the government is also repressing voices of dissent. There are further growing incidents of communal violence in the State. At least nine persons were lynched in the name of religion or cow protection in the last four years. Recently, two Muslim youths, accused of stealing buffaloes, were killed by a mob in Godda. In June, Nagri and Bero blocks of Ranchi also witnessed communal violence. This statement calls upon the Opposition parties of Jharkhand to stand with the people against the continuing attacks on their right to life. At the same time the statement has placed several demands before the government: Universalise coverage of the Public Distribution System and social security pensions and ensure adequate work under NREGA in all the villages Remove mandatory linkage of welfare programmes with Aadhaar Withdraw amendments made in the Land Acquisition Act Stop creating land bank Notify rules of Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act (PESA) and implement the Act in its true spirit. Release Damodar Turi and others implicated falsely along with him Ensure communal harmony in the State and ensure equality and justice for minorities Ensure criminal action in all the cases of lynching and mob violence in the State. One hopes that the State Government will respond positively to these demands. The writer is a freelance journalist who has been involved with several social movements and initiatives. Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church announced on Sunday that authorities would carry out an official investigation into the death of Bishop Epiphanius, the head of Abu Maqar monastery. In a statement issued about the death of Bishop Epiphanius, the Coptic Orthodox Church said that he passed away at the monastery on Sunday morning in "strange circumstances." "The Coptic Orthodox Church is awaiting the results of the official investigations" said the church in its statement, adding that it would later announce the preparation of the late bishop's funeral. Father Basil, another of the monks at the monastery, told Ahram Arabic website on Sunday morning that Bishop Epiphanius was found in a pool of blood in his room, and that from fractures to his skull he seemed to have been struck with a sharp instrument. Egypt's prosecution began an official investigation into the late bishop's death on Sunday. Search Keywords: Short link: Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2018 > Corporate-Government Nexus Grows The Union Governments proposal of lateral entry of persons from private sector companies, consultancy firms and international or multinational organisations, as Joint Secretary (JS) is to bring[ing] in fresh ideas and new approaches to governance and also to augment manpower. [Private sector employees can now apply for top government posts; ;Economic Times, June 10, 2018] This would be unexceptionable except that such lateral entrants from the private sector will surely be subject to the charge of conflict of interest, since they would be employed in a Ministry which is connected with their particular field of expertise, to which they will return at the termination of contract. During their tenure as JS in the Ministry, a lateral entrant from the private sector etc. can be expected to prepare policy drafts and recommend policy decisions or prepare plans and projects for implementation, such that they will not impact adversely on their particular corporate sector, even if they do not do so for direct or indirect benefit of the corporate sector. It must be remembered that after the contract period is over, they will revert to their corporate sector. Further, such lateral entrants will have no knowledge of the detailed workings of government, or of the effects that government policies, plans and projects have on the common citizen. This is something that career bureaucrats are well aware of, since they have risen from posts at the ground level when they joined the service. Our bureaucrats, for all their individual, institutional and cadre faults and shortcomings, have a solid grounding in governance, something which even the most talented corporate honcho would not know. The Comptroller General of USA, David M. Walker, is reported to have stated: Theres something civil servants have that the private sector doesnt. And that is the duty of loyalty to the greater good the duty of loyalty to the collective best interest of all rather than the interest of a few. Companies have duty of loyalty to their shareholders, not to the country. [Scott Shane and Ron Nixon, In Washington, Contractors Take on Biggest Role Ever, New York Times, February 4, 2007] Creating Revolving Doors between Government and Corporate Sector Experience from the USA model of appointing corporate executives in government posts needs to be understood, since something similar is likely to happen in India. Two examples [Monsanto employees in the Halls of Government; ] will suffice to show how corporate executives, scientists, et al. are inducted into key government appointments and then revert to their parent company, as shown in the diagram. There is at least one big name in the individual beneficiaries of the revolving door. Quoting from Monsanto employees in the Halls of Government, When Monsanto got approval for use of its artificial bovine growth hormone in milk, the person in charge of preparing the report at Monsanto was Margaret Miller. Later, the person in charge of receiving the report and evaluating it was [the same]Margaret Miller, by then Deputy Director of Human Safety and Consultative Services in the office overseeing the process. Michael R Taylor, started off as a partner at the law firm that represented Monsanto on GBH issues. Then, as the FDAs deputy commissioner for policy, he wrote the FDAs rBGH labelling guidelines the ones that insisted there was no difference between rGBH and regular milk. He also deleted references to problems with GMO foods, over the objection of staff scientists. Then he spent a few years working directly for Monsanto. And now [2011] ? Barak Obama brought him back to the FDA to oversee Monsanto again, as his food safety issues czar! There are no grounds to presume that similar USA-like to-and-fro exchanges of vested interests beginning at JS-level, between the government and corporate sector will not happen in India. The Union Government may be inadvertently or deliberately installing revolving doors, which can only be to the detriment of good governance, with sovereignty and democracy as the losers. The entry of Mr Nandan Nilekani (NaNi) into governance was when he was appointed Chairman of the UIDAI by the erstwhile UPA Government which the people dismissed in 2014. Aggressive promotion of Aadhaar by a government which had bitterly opposed Aadhaar earlier, reveals the influence which a corporate honcho like NaNi wields in the corridors of power. This of course is besides the corporate honchos, best not named, who influence governance. The Government of India would be well advised to desist from lateral entry as JS from private sector companies, consultancy firms and international or multinational organisations, and restrict itself to appointing individuals working at comparable levels in public sector undertakings and statutory organisations only. It should omit individuals from autonomous bodies, universities and recognised research institutes, for reasons similar to corporate entrants. This writer, coming from a military service background may be permitted an aside. For decades, the Defence Services have been agitating for lateral entry of soldiers (here meaning all ranks of the army, navy and air force) into the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), since over 80 per cent of our soldiers retire at the age of 38-41 years. This young-age, trained, disciplined and physically fit source of manpower in the CAPF will bring in their experience and expertise to pep-up the aging CAPFs, the personnel of which retire at 60-years age. The government would do well to resurrect the matter to the benefit of our country and of the young military Veterans. Major General S.G. Vombatkere, VSM, retired as the Additional DG Discipline and Vigilance in the Army HQ AGs Branch. His area of interest is strategic and development-related issues. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2018 > Judicial Activism, Right or Wrong From N.C.s Writings When politicians as a community are in a state of siege in the eyes of the public, it is extremely short-sighted on the part of any government to make any move that may appear to the public as a means to cover up or to close the channels of the politicians exposure. While in the public mind, corruption among politicians has become a live issue since the Bofors bribery scandal, it was during Narasimha Raos Prime Ministership that the enormity of corruption in public life could become a matter of revulsion in a wide section of the public. There came the magnum size scam in the stock market which shook public confidence as it brought out the studied, calculated moves by the concerned Ministers to belittle this blatant pilfering of public money, not to speak of promising the public that the Augeans stables would be cleaned up. More shocking has been the endless disclosures of politicians being involved in major cases of bribery and criminal conduct of politicians in power having been accused of huge financial scandals which, since January last year, have come out one after the other, reading like the Roll of Dishonour of our political life. Cabinet Ministers making crores with the connivance of corrupt officials has almost become a feature of our public life. First came the breath-taking Jain Hawala scandals in which well-known leaders from the three major partiesthe Congress, the Janata Dal and the BJPwere implicated. At first, at least for a few days, the speculation was that perhaps Narasimha Rao had managed through the CBI to discredit the leaders of rival parties and to malign his critics within his own party. In other words, it was thought to be an election-eve cheap stunt by a political leader in a jam utilising the CBI which was under his charge as the Prime Minister. But the Jain Hawala diaries turned out in a few weeks to be a boomerang for Narasimha Rao, as other scandals of bigger magnitude began to come to light and the CBI itself was directed by the Supreme Court to report to it about the progress of every ongoing political case, while Rao found himself hauled up in a number of serious cases in which he was implicated on such charges as falsely attesting in a trumped-up case and be a party to the bribing of a bunch of MPs to change sides in a crucial no-trust move against his govenment in Parliament. It is against the background of such an ominous situation that the government has started taking measures to curb the independence of the judiciary. In the last one years record of the judiciary taking a closer view of corruption in public life, the politicians now in the dock can hardly take refuge behind the traditional judicial delay and procrastination to save themselves from the mounting public anger against those who have betrayed their trust as they were put on the seat of power. It is also to be noted that when this feeling of helplessness mixed with anger was coming over the country, sections of the public sought redress through democratic means. The volume of public anger could have burst out into violent outbursts, but the sense of democratic temper has been so ingrained in the populacewhich has to be credited to the orderly functioning of our democratic republicthat they sought redress in some form of constitutional process. And out of this search arose the remarkable phenomenon of the institution of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in our country thanks to the wisdom of some of our outstanding luminaries on the Bench who by this revolutionary process sought to cut through the inordinate red tape in the judicial process and enabled the common people to intervene in defence of a fair-minded judiciary. It will be well to remember that the Public Interest Litigation is not just an ad hoc contraption to catch politicians. It already had a shining record in bringing justice in such cases as Bhagalpur blindings, violation of Labour Laws and in the move for speedy justice for undertrials held in incarceration for years. PIL is one of the finest examples of Indias contribution towards the enrichment of world jurisprudence. It is strange that the Law Minister, in a recent discussion on television, did not hesitate to underplay the single contribution made by the process of PIL for strengthening the judicial system in the country. It is understandable that he is overburdened with the liability of pleading for his political peers, who have gone down in public esteem because of their indulging in corruption and thereby flouting the law of the land, but yet it is sad to find a Law Minister so blind to the importance of the expansion of justice through extension of the legal process as ensured by the IPL. No less disturbing is the spectacle of the Prime Minister lending a helping hand to the Chief Minister of Bihar who is trying to save himself from the corruption scandals being unearthed against him by holding a rabble-rousing rally which the Prime Minister did not hesitate to attend and pay tribute to the assailed Chief Minister. This is but natural for the entire tribe of guilty politicians hauled up with the disclosures of a whole lot of scandals from the Bofors to the great loot involved in the Petrolem and Telecom Ministries. It is revealing how some of the star characters now being called for questioning by the CBI are reported to be contradicting each other, presumably to save their own skins. And as the investigating agencies have become alert and the courts are responding with alacrity, the cry is being raised by interested quarters about the terrible danger of judicial activism. Frankly there should be no fear from judicial activism, rather the common people, very often denied of the protection of the law because of the delayed functioning of the courts, have long been fed up with what may be called judicial inertia or judicial tardiness. Some of the pronouncements of the judges have no doubt hurt the politicians. But any citizen of our republic has the right to ask the politicians if with their hand on their heart they can claim that they deserve to be treated with kid gloves. No doubt the judiciary, at least its leaders, are aware of the extent to which the prevailing corruption in society has entered the precincts of those entrusted with the distribution of justice. The politicians have to realise that their grudges against the judiciary would get no hearing from the alert public opinion of this country so long as their own record stands blackened with the exposure of every mega corruption in public life. Any move of the present government to tighten its hold on the appointment of judges in higher courts going further away from the Goswami Committees unanimous report will further discredit the government in the eyes of the public. It will be a betrayal out of the promises made by the ruling establishment. A pliant judiciary only adds to the discredit of the executive. A good citizen will certainly demand a cleaner and alert judiciary. This can actually be furthered by honest and forthright judicial activism and not by running down the judiciary in the eyes of the public. The public which feels betrayed by the politicians corruption is bound to demand that the judiciary must not hesitate to deal with corruption in higher places. The critical situation in our country today calls for an active judiciary commanding the respect of the public for its integrity and energetic response to the prevailing misdemeanour of the politicians. The judiciary has also to realise that like Caesars wife the august members of the Bench have to command the unflinching confidence of the public that enhance the value of the democratic principles. Demagogic attack on the judiciary will by no means enhance the prestige of the politicain. He has to earn his lost place by helping in the due process of law to catch the guilty in his own ranks. Unless this is done, the politician will have to stand all the anger of public opinion for the way he has sought to undermine our democracy. (Mainstream, March 29, 1997) Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2018 > Judiciary: At the Crossroads by Shachi Chawla The third pillar of the government, judiciary, was envisaged to play an important role in the growth and development of the young democracy of India. It was regarded by the framers of the Constitution as central to a social revolution. Granville Austin points out that the Constituent Assembly brought to the framing of the judicial provisions of the Constitution an idealism equalled only by that shown towards Funda-mental Rights. It saw judiciary as critical to upholding equality that Indians had longed for during colonial days, but had not gained.1 It was to uphold the rule of law; safeguard the supremacy of the Constitution, act as a watchdog over the other organs of government; a guardian of citizens rights, upholding social justice, a custodian of democracy. The significance attached to the functions of the judiciary led to incorporation of provisions relating to the independence of the judiciary in the Constitution. As Pandit Nehru said, Rule of law seems to be synonymous with the maintenance of civilised existence. And if there is to be rule of law, there should be independent judges to administer the law.2 Debates in the Constituent Assembly The various amendments moved with respect to the appointment of judges of the Supreme Court in the Constituent Assembly can be categorised into three different proposals. The first proposal was that the judges of the Supreme Court should be appointed with the concurrence of the Chief Justice. The other suggestion was that the appointments made by the President should be subject to the confirmation of two-thirds vote by Parliament. The third proposal (mooted by K.T. Shah) was that they should be appointed in consultation with the Council of States. The draft Constitution took a middle course between the system in the UK (where appointments are made by the Crown, without any kind of limitation) and the system in the USA (where appointments are made by the President only with the concurrence of the Senate). While discussing the draft Article 163, Dr B.R. Ambedkar strongly defended it. The draft Article does not make the President the supreme and absolute authority in the matter of making appointments. The provision in the Article is that there should be consultation of persons who are ex-hypothesis, well qualified to give proper advice in matters of this sort.3 He strongly advocated that consultation must be used in place of concurrence. He saw the proposal of the concurrence of the Chief Justice as a dangerous proposition. He pointed out: I personally feel no doubt that the Chief justice is a very eminent person. But after all the chief justice is a man with all the failings, all the sentiments and all the prejudices which we as common people have; and I think, to allow the Chief justice practically a veto upon the appointment of judges is really to transfer the authority to the Chief justice which we are not prepared to vest in the President or the government of the day.4 Constitutional Provisions The appointment of judges of the Supreme Court and High Court is governed by Articles 124(2) and 217(1) of the Constitution respectively. The President appoints the judges of the Supreme Court after consultation with the Chief Justice of India and other Supreme Court and High Court judges as he may wish. It became a convention that the President would consult the outgoing Chief Justice of India about his successor, though this was a formality so long as the seniormost judge routinely became Chief Justice. Appointment of Judges: Executive Vs Judiciary Over a period, the appointment of judges has emerged as a contentious issue, with constant friction between the executive and the judiciary. During the Nehruvian period, the Chief Justice of India had a final say over the appointment decisions, a result of the conventions and practices of the time and the Chief Justices strength of character.5 Pandit Nehru himself rejected the idea of a packed court of individuals of the governments own liking for getting decisions in its own favour. He wanted first-rate judges, not subservient courts.6 The appointments of the Chief Justice of a High Court or the Chief Justice of India were rarely controversial as long as the principle of promotion by seniority was adhered to by the government. Though the seniority principle was followed by the government, however, there were rumoured instances of the supersession or intended supersession of a senior judge by a junior judge to be the Chief Justice of India.7 The Law Commission, chaired by N.C. Setalvad, had concluded that some High Court appointments had been made on considerations of political expediency or regional or communal sentiment.8 The Law Commissions recommen-dation that the Chief Justice of India, should be chosen not merely on the basis of seniority, but should be the most suitable person, whether taken from the court, the bar or the High Courts9 was applied in an incorrect way in 1973, to defend A.N. Rays appointment as the Chief Justice of India, superseding three seniormost judgesJustice Shelat, Justice K.S. Hedge, Justice A.N. Grover. In the Lok Sabha, Mohan Kumarmangalam, who was the driving force behind the supersession, justified A.N. Rays appointment by reasoning: We will take the forward looking judge and not the backward looking judge.10 The governments goal of social revolution could be achieved by having an accommodating Supreme Court. The concept of committed judiciary, with the judiciary toeing the lines of the executive was a serious blow to the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, aimed to unbalance the equation between the three arms of the government. On January 28, 1977, another blow to judicial independence came when the Janata Party Government headed by Morarji Desai appointed M.H. Beg as the Chief Justice of India superseding H.R. Khanna. However in 1978, the government adhered to the Constitution by appointing Y.V. Chandrachud as the Chief Justice of India, on the basis of the seniority principle. Interpreting Consultation and Birth of Collegium System The tussle between the executive and the judiciary for control over the process of judicial appointments resulted in the birth of the collegium system in the Three Judges case. First Judge Case: In S.P. Gupta Vs Union of India 1981, P.N. Bhagwati came down in favour of the executive by pointing out: Chief Justice of India, the Chief Justice of the High Court and such other judges of the High Court and of the Supreme Court as the Central Government may deem it necessary to consult, are merely constitutional functionaries having a consultative role and the power of appointment resides solely and exclusively in the Central Government.11 A similar judgment was given by the Court in Sankalchand Seths case (1977). While interpreting the word consultation, the Supreme Court ruled that the term can never mean concurrence. Second Judges Case: In the Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association Vs Union of India, 1993, the Supreme Court led by J.S. Verma overruled the judgement of the First Judges case. It was held that consultation really meant concurrence and that the Chief Justice of Indias views enjoy primacy since he is best equipped to know and assess the worth of candidates. The judgment gave birth to the collegium system for appointing judges in the higher judiciary. The working and transferring of the collegium system was clarified in the Third Judges Case (1998) led by CJI S.P. Bharucha in the light of President K.R. Narayanans reference to the Supreme Court over the meaning of the term consultation under Article 143 of the Constitution. In the appointments and transfer to the Supreme Court, the collegium will comprise of the Chief Justice of India and his four senior-most colleagues. In the case of appointments to the High Court, the collegium will be Chief Justice of India and his two seniormost colleagues. It said the collegium must take into account the opinion of the Chief Justice India which would be entitled to the greatest weight in relation to the views of other judges of the High Court who may have been consulted and the views of the colleagues on the Supreme Court Bench who are conversant with the affairs of the concerned High Court.12 This judgment completely excluded the role of executive in the process of judicial appointments. Collegium System Judges appoint Judges The Collegium System, as it has evolved through the judgement of the Supreme Court, has been a non-transparent process of appointment and transfer of judges; a closed door mechanism whose deliberations are not open to the public. Justice J. Chelamesar, critical of the collegium system, pointed out that the proceedings of the collegium were absolutely opaque and inaccessible both to public and history, barring occasional leaks.13 There have been allegations of bias, favouritism and nepotism in the appointment and transfer of judges. The collegium system of the Indian judiciary has not been accommodative in giving representation to the diversities of Indian society. Concerns have been raised with respect to low representation of SC, ST, and OBCs in the higher judiciary. In the past eight years, no judge from SC community has been elevated to the Supreme Court, after K.G. Balakrishnans retirement as Chief Justice of India in 2010. Even in 24 High Courts across the country, there is not a single Dalit judge serving as the Chief Justice.14 Gender disparity is also witnessed in the higher judiciary. Of the 676 judges serving in the Indian judiciary. Only 70 are women, that is, 10.4 per cent representation of women.15 The Supreme Court has only two women judges. The composition of the judiciary inadequately represents the different sections of society, which in turn, has an effect on the judgements given by the Court. To correct the flaws of the collegium system, Parliament passed the 99th Constitutional Amendment to establish the National Judicial Appointment Commission (NJAC), a constitutional body aimed to bring transparency in the appointment of judges. The Commission would consist of six personsChief Justice of India, the two seniormost judges of the Supreme Court, Law Minister and two eminent persons. These eminent persons are to be nominated for a three year term by a committee consisting of the CJI, Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and must have at least one woman/SC/ST/Minority/OBC representation. However, the Supreme Court rejected the NJAC Act and the 99th Constitutional Amendment as it infringed on the independence of the judiciary which is a basic structure of the Constitution. To overcome the pitfalls of the collegium system, the Court has asked the government to prepare a memorandum of procedure (MoP) in consultation with the Chief Justice of India to enable transparency in the appointment of judges. While the MoP is still to be drafted by the government, the collegium recommendation has been sent back by the government for reconsideration for elevation of Justice K.M. Jospehs elevation to the Supreme Court. This has further accentuated the tension between the executive and judiciary in the appointment of judges. An attempt to bring about transparency in the appointment of judges was taken up by the Supreme Court, whereby the decisions taken by the collegium indicating the reasons shall be put on the website of the Supreme Court.16 This is a significant step to bring openness in the process of appointment of judges. The convention of the Chief Justice of India recommending his successor, by following the seniority principle should be abided by the appointment of the Chief Justice of India, after Chief Justice of India Deepak Mishras retirement on October 2, 2018. The credibility of the judiciary and the peoples trust and faith in the judiciary can only be maintained with reforms in the process of appointment of judges to ensure that the judiciary is accountable to the public. The cardinal principlesseniority, merit and attempts to bring about diversity in appointment in terms of gender, religion, caste and ethnicityshould be the guiding principles in the appointment and transfer of judges so as to ensure the independence of the judiciary. Notes 1. Graville Austin, Indian Constitution: Cornerstone of Nation, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2006, p. 12. 2. Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, Speeches (1964), p. 426. 3. The Chief Justice is ...: Members of the Constituent Assembly Discuss Judges Selection; Caravan, August 21, 2017. 4. Ibid. 5. Granville Austin, Indian Constitution: Cornerstone of Nation, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2006, p. 125. 6. Sorabjee, Soli, J., In Nehrus Judgment, Times of India, April 30, 1989. 7. For example, Mr. B.P. Sinha was told that when Chief Justice Harilal Jekisondas Kania died suddenly and prematurely, the government had been inclined to pass over Justice M. Patanjali Sastri, Justice Mahajan and Justice B.K. Mukherjeein order of their seniorityin favour of S.R Das as the Chief Justice of India. But an unwritten law prevented this, Sinha recalled (Granville Austin, p. 134). 8. Granville Austin, Indian Constitution: Cornerstone of Nation, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2006, p. 131. 9. Fourteenth Report: Reform of the Judicial Administration: Classified Recommendation; p. 2. 10. Kumaramangalam, S., Mohan, Judicial Appointments, Oxford and IBH Publishing Co., New Delhi, 1973, May, p.72 11. Abhishek Sudhir, Restoring the Judiciarys Creditbility, The Hindu, July 24, 2014. 12. Ibid. 13. Utkarsh Anand, How judges appoint judges, the debate around it, The Indian Express, November 15, 2016. 16. Anantha Krishnan G., Supreme Court Opens a Window to Itself, starts to disclose appointment decisions, The Indian Express, October 7, 2017. 14. Sanya Dhingra, No Dalit judge in the countrys top court that passed order on SC/ST Act, The Print, April 2, 2018. 15. Srujana Bej, Skewed Scales: Indian Judiciary is 90% Male and Mostly Upper Castes, The Quint, January 12, 2017. Dr Shachi Chawla is an Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Daulat Ram College, University of Delhi. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2018 > Mob Lynching: Let Us Act Now by Irfan Engineer Mob lynching has drastically increased in recent years, particularly since the election of the BJP Government. There has been a fourfold increase in cow-related violent incidents from less than five per cent of incidents of communal violence in 2010 to 20 per cent in 2017. (Subramanya, 2017) IndiaSpend web portal claimed that 25 persons were killed in 60 incidents of cow-related mob violence between 2010 and June 25, 2017 and 97 per cent of the incidents occurred after the BJP took over the reigns of the Central Government in 2014. (Abraham and Rao, 2017) 84 per cent of those killed in cow-related mob lynching incidents were Muslims. The remaining 16 per cent lynched on accusation of cow slaughter are Dalits and other marginalised sections. While most cases of mob violence are related to cow vigilantism, the other triggers have been rumours of child lifting and allegation of being a witch. In the latter case, the victims are women. The Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS) has observed in its monitoring of communal violence in India that after the BJP Government came to power, there has been no incidence of major communal violence as witnessed in Ahmedabad (1969, 1984-85, 2002), Bhiwandi (1970 and 1984), Nellie, Assam (1983), Delhi anti-Sikh riots (1984), Bhagalpur (1989), Kandhamal anti-Christian riots (2007 and 2008), Muzaffarnagar (2013). In the year 2014 the incidents of communal violence were lesser compared to previous year. However, the communal attitudes were more heightened on account of hate speeches by the ruling party leaders. (Engineer, 2015) The incidence of communal violence increased marginally in the year 2015. However, the number of people killed in communal violence in 2015 decreased from 90 to 84. After the present government came in power, there has been a change of pattern in communal violence. Rather than increase in the number of incidents of communal violence, there has been increase in communal incidents which are of low intensity with no or lesser number of deaths. (Dabhade, 2016) According to Paul Brass (The Production Of Hindu-Mulsim Riot In Contemporary India, 2004), communal riots are produced by what he calls the Institutionalised Riot System (IRS) whenever political conditions are conducive. Production of communal riots entails conversion of an ordinary everyday minor conflict into a major riot. The political advantage of communal riots until the first decade of the 21st century has always been accrued to the party that claims to represent the majority community, namely, the Jan Sangh earlier and the BJP now. The Jan Sangh earlier and now the BJP has used communal polarisation which results after communal violence to its advantage to expand its political influence and political organisation. Several Commissions of Inquiry appointed to look into the circumstances that caused communal violence have pointed the needle of suspicion towards Hindu supremacist organisations and communal ideologies. (Engineer I. , 2013) Of course, the Congress too is responsible as it failed to take stern steps to prevent the communal riots and failed to punish those who indulged in producing communal riots. The Hindu Supremacists now having to come to power do not need spectacular or major communal riots to expand their influence. The same objective can be achieved by hate speeches and broadcasting outrageous anti-minority communal attitudes. Hate speeches stigmatise minorities as compulsive religious converters, terrorists, Pakistan loyalists, separatists, anti-nationals, tukde tukde gang out to break the country into pieces, stealing Hindu women through love-jihad, cow slaughterers, oppressors of Hindus in history, demolishers of Hindu temples, etc. That keeps the communal pot boiling without attracting much adverse media attention or attention of international human rights organisations as it does when major riots and pogroms are orchestrated. While hate speeches are broadcast by the highest officials serving in the government and ruling political party, minorities feel powerless and incapable of countering the slander against them because they get lesser space and time in the media, and duty-bearers ignore the slander which is a punishable offence. The low-intensity communal violence and hate speeches demonstrate two thingsone, superior and unchallengeable mightof the Hindu supremacists who are above the law; and two, inferior political statussecond-class citizenshipof the minorities. The latter undermines democracy and the rule of law. The IRS now does not have to belabour to produce communal riots. To produce a major communal riot, one has to first mount propaganda war and stigmatise minorities as stated above. Dr Asghar Ali Engineer called this macro-level factor. (On Developing Theory of Communal Riots, 1984) Communal riot can be produced when macro-level factor exists, namely, prejudices against the minority community to be targeted. When political conditions are conducive, the IRS works to instil fear in the minority community, deepen communal prejudices and consolidate unity of the majority community across castes. Continuous propaganda builds up feelings against the minority like pus in an infested wound. This is a necessary but not sufficient condition. Production of communal violence then requires a micro-level factor or a triggering issue, for example, Hindu procession taken through a street on which a mosque is located and throwing of vermilion on a mosque or a Muslim individual, an interreligious marriage, Muslim hawker beating a cow to shoo it away, any small petty fight between two individuals belonging to different religions, burning of Sabarmati Express in Godhra, etc. The trigger may then set off a riot. For the riot to be a major conflagration, other preparations like collection of weapons and ammunitions for inflicting serious damage to the other community, planning, surveying and marking enemy residences and businesses to be targeted, spreading rumours that raise the anxiety of ordinary people and mobilise them on streets to defend themselves. The mobilised crowd can then be misused to attack innocents from the enemy community when the anxiety levels are too high.1 Mob lynching seems to be continuation of that pattern of low-intensity communal violence. The innocuous-looking isolated incidents of mob lynching are in fact a new pattern of low-intensity communal violence. The objectives of sustained communal polarisation can now be achieved by this method. Mob Lynching and Communal Riots Mob lynching and communal riots both rely on rumours to mobilise crowds on streets to carry out and perpetrate violence. Rumours are calculated to make people anxious and convert ordinary human beings into a member of lynch mobs. The common rumours during communal riots arepeople of the other community have assembled with weapons; a cache of weapons will be landing on Dadar beach, exported by Dawood Ibrahim; weapons are stored in the mosque; milk has been poisoned; drinking water has been poisoned; women of our community have been raped, their breasts cut and bodies thrown on streets; etc. The CSSS in its fact finding has stumbled upon these common rumours. Poisoned milk rumour makes people anxious and mothers do not feed their infants; gullible believers stop drinking water but for how long can they remain thirsty? The rumours of large crowd assembled and marching towards the area with weapons; weapons stored in a mosque or to be landed; women raped; etc. draw crowds out of their homes and once on street, these can be made to target properties and persons from other communities to vent their anxieties. Rumours of child lifters on prowl and cow slaughterers are also calculated to make people anxious and bring them out of their homes as in communal riots. People who lynch may be few but the large number of spectators intimidate the victim into submission and begging for life. The rumours have been carefully designed to mobilise the lynch mob as wellpertaining to innocent child and cow which is worshipped. The other similarity between communal riot and mob lynching is that both are based on distrust of the state in delivering justice to the victims of crime. The rioters and lynch mob want instant justice without investigating into the guilt of the victim and the punishment meted out is as inhuman as possible for the mob, and with the motive of revenge. Qasim in the Hapur incident died requesting for water after being lynched. Qasims body was then dragged by his hands on his stomach behind a policeman. The Dhule mob wanted to ensure that their victims loaded in police vehicle were dead. (Rajput, 2018) Might is right is the rule. Both pit one marginalised and oppressed community against the other. In communal riots, usually Dalits are instigated to attack Muslims and Muslims end up attacking Dalits. In the Kandhamal riots, the adivasi community was made to attack Dalit Christians. Both further strengthen the powerful elements and increase the asymmetry of power. Both are therefore popular with the mighty and powerful and deepen insecurity within the marginalised communities. Both normalise violence in social life. Both normalise disrespect and contempt for the law of the land, putting their beliefs and faith above the law. Lynching and riots, both target outsiders riot targets outsider to the nation, lynch mobs target outsider to their village or locality. However, the distinctions between communal riots and lynch mobs are interesting. Communal riots are with the leitmotif of war with the entire enemy communityall members and their properties. Mob lynching targets particular individuals who are proclaimed by the mob to be guilty of a specific crime or wrong-doing. Communal riots mete out collective punishment. All members of the enemy community are targeted and they include even those innocent and believed to be innocent of any wrong-doing other than membership of their community. For example, Muslims in Ahmedabad and other parts of Gujarat can be brutally targeted for wrong-doing of burning the Sabarmati Express in Godhra. For communal riots, much more elaborate preparations and planning are necessary, whereas mob lynching is spontaneous. Targets are not known, even place, region and State where the lynching will be executed is not planned. Broadcasting of rumours using social media platforms and images calculated to arouse anxiety can result in lynching far and wideAssam, Tripura, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, MP, UP, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Nagaland, etc. The theatre of violence in a communal riot is in a defined region where the triggering issue, or as Dr. Asghar Ali Enginer terms, micro-factor has influence. While rumours of cow slaughter and gangs of cow vigilantes ensured that by and large the targets were Muslims for example, Mohammed Akhlaq, Pehlu Khan, Junaid, Alimuddin Ansari etc. IndiaSpend report says 84 per cent targets of cow-related mob lynching were Muslims. However, only a few Muslims can be targeted through rumours of cow slaughterthose transporting animals or those in possession of beef/meat in public space. To target other Muslims, another rumour was devisedthat of child lifter. Carefully chosen rumour. Poison milk and child lifterboth rely on the anxiety of parents for their innocent children. It was further rumoured that the child lifters are extracting organs from the body of kidnapped children. The video images of a child lifter on prowl were that of a burqa-clad individual must have hoped that members of Muslim community will be targeted as child lifters as in case of cow slaughter-related mob lynching. The results in the case of rumours pertaining to child lifters on prowl seem to have gone horribly wrongeven non-Muslim strangers from marginalised sections were easily believed to be child lifters and lynched. The community-wise break up of survivors of child lifter lynching incidents show most of them are nomadic tribesstreet performers, beggars, etc. While communal riots and rumours of cow slaughter ensure that victims are by and large Muslims, rumours of child lifters do not do so. The state is therefore now taking decisive actioncompensation for the survivors of the lynch mobs, booking those involved in lynching after examining video clips and countering rumours in Assam, Tripura and Maharashtra. Role of the State In cow slaughter accusation-related mob lynchings, the state has played a role of selective enforcer of the lawbook the survivors of the violence under stringent provision of the anti-cow slaughter legislation and a reluctant prosecutor of those involved in serious crime of lynching that has even resulted in murder of the victim. This appears to be so as the targets are primarily Muslims. In the Pehlu Khan lynching case in Rajasthan, the state not only did not file any charge-sheet against the accused, it actually filed cases against the survivors of the lynching. A Hindu supremacist Kamal Didi encouraged the accused of Pehlu Khans murderVipin Yadav by comparing him and his act with the great freedom fighter Bhagat Singh! (PTI, 2017) In Mohammed Akhlaqs case (Dadri, UP), the state sent the meat found in his fridge for forensic tests to find out whether it was beef or not, although it is not a crime to possess beef in UP. In spite of repeated calls, police normally arrive after the lynching is over. In some cases, more as an exception rather than the norm, the police have done exemplary deeds in preventing/rescuing the survivor of lynching. In case of the lynching in Hapur, the police not only reached after the lynching had resulted in death of Qasim in spite of repeated pleas from his loved ones, a policeman was seen walking ahead of the mob that was dragging the body of Qasim! Later for a strange reason the police claimed that the lynching was in fact road rage when the video clearly shows the intent of the mob that is charging Qasim and his friend Samiuddin with cow slaughter. The BJP leaders and Ministers defend those accused of lynching. The 11 who were convicted for murder by the trial court in the case of lynching of Alimuddin Ansari, the Jharkhand State President of the BJP was competing with the Union Minister Jayant Sinha for the credit of obtaining bail for the accused from the Jharkhand High Court. Jayant Sinha felicitated the convicts who were enlarged on bail pending their appeal in the High Court. With BJP leaders and Ministers backing the accused of murder by lynching the police sends a signal to the law-enforcing agencies as to how seriously they must investigate and prosecute such crimes. People, particularly those sections with some political connection and drawn from dominant sections, trust the environment of impunity. They are so fearless that they video-graph their act and make it viral and hope to achieve fame. Overall the state seems to be twiddling its thumbs and looking the other side giving the impression that it is alright to indulge in lynching Muslims to death. It is only now when the lynching is acquiring a threatening level wherein non-Muslims are also being lynched that the state has in some cases related to child lifting been appearing to tighten its act. Two months before the five men from a nomadic tribe were lynched to death in Dhule, the Gosavi community had approached the police to issue them letters. The rumours were doing the rounds for over two months and the adminis-tration completely ignored those. A stern warning from the police of booking all violators of law would have sent the message and deterred the mob from lynching the five innocent men. But then who knew that the victims are going to be non-Muslims. Conclusion Mob lynching is unacceptable in any civilised society. It is the rule of might, not right and not the rule of law. Lynching of blacks in US from 1877 through 1950 had similar objectivesto assert the hegemony of white people and to terrorise and control black people into submission. (Lartey and Morris, 2018) All those lynched were black people on the flimsiest of accusations which were false in most cases. To the white people, blacks did not deserve any trial, as they were slaves of yesteryears. They deserved only lynch mob justice. By and large no one was punished for lynching in the US for the 4084 known lynchings in southern states and 300 in other states. The lynchings came to an end with the civil rights movement. Savarkar and Golwalkar, the ideologues of the Hindutva political ideology, portrayed Muslims and Christians as outsiders of the Hindu nation. The Hindu nation was supposed to be at war with the outsiders. Golwalkar in his treatise We or Our Nationhood Defined canvassed for treating the Muslims and Christians the same way as Jews were by Hitler. Earlier communal riots and now lynching seems to be another war of the followers of Hindutva political ideology targeting Muslims. It is not only death and injuries that should worry us about the mob lynching incidents. Survival of democracy, rule of law and justice is at stake. The Prime Ministers silence in spite of drastic increase in the incidents of mob lynching tells us about the priorities and the direction of his government. Hindu supremacists always ridiculed secularism and openly proclaimmed that for them, their faith was above law and that the state should be reshaped to uphold not truth and justice, but primacy of their beliefs. The frequency of hate speeches by the Ministers and authorities in government targeting the Muslim community has built an ecosystem in which the lynching and might-is-right doctrine is thriving. Lynching is encouraged by leaders of the ruling party and even Ministers indirectly by garlanding and felicitating those convicted for the crime of lynching and publicly defending them. Lynching results in increasing asymmetry of power and social capital. It enables the targeted community to be controlled even more by the dominant community. If lynching continues unabated, it would ultimately reduce the Muslim community to accept the status of non-citizens residing at the mercy and sufferance of the majority community, using them as slave labour without any rights. To some this warning may appear to be farfetched. It is for us to arrest the frequency and brutality of lynchings by compelling the state to act against the lynch mobs in accordance with the law. Lynching not only dehumanises the targeted community, but also the entire society. Let us act now before it is too late to uphold human rights, rule of law and democracy. Bibliography Abraham, D., and Rao, O. (2017, June 28), 84 per cent Dead In Cow-Related Violence Since 2010 Are Muslim; 97 per cent Attacks After 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2018, from IndiaSpend: http://www.indiaspend.com/cover-story/86-dead-in-cow-related-violence-since-2010-are-muslim-97-attacks-after-2014-2014 Brass, P. R. (2004), Development of an Institutionalsied Riot System in Meerut City, 1961 to 1982, Economic and Political Weekly Vol.XXXIX No. 44, October 30-November 5, 2004, 4839-4848. Brass, P. R. (2004), The Production Of Hindu-Mulsim Riot In Contemporary India, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Dabhade, N. (2016, January 1), Communal Violence in 2015Rise in Hatred and Polarisation. Retrieved January 10, 2018, from Centre for Study of Society and Secularism: http://www.csss-isla.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Jan-1-15-2016.pdf Engineer, A.A. (1984), On Developing Theory of Communal Riots, Mumbai: Institute of Islamic Studies. Engineer, I. A. (2013), Issues of Communal Violence: Causes and Responses, Mumbai: Institute for Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution. Engineer, I. (2015, January 1), Communal incidents less compared to previous year, however, communalisation of attitudes more intense. Retrieved July 10, 2018, from Centre for Study of Society and Secularism: http://www.csss-isla.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Jan-1-15-2015.pdf Engineer, I. (2013, October 16), Sangh Parivar and Communal Riots. Retrieved July 10, 2018, from Centre for Study of Society and Secularism: http://www.csss-isla.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/October-16-to-November-15-2013.pdf Express News Service (2018, June 23), Hapur attack victims brother: FIR not lodged as per our choice...we are scared, The Indian Express. Hafeez, M. (2018, July 3), Now, group of 5 saved from being lynched in Malegaon, Retrieved July 3, 2018, from The Times of India:https://timesofindia.indiatimes. com/city/mumbai/now-group-of-5-saved-from-being-lynched-in-malegaon/articleshow/64833875.cms Karmakar, R. (2018, June 26), Eight arrested in Assam for moral policing, assault, The Hindu. Lartey, J. and Morris, S. (2018, April 26), How white Americans used lynchings to terrorise and control black people, Retrieved July 11, 2018, from The Guardian:https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/26/lynchings-memorial-us-south-montgomery-alabama Naveen, P. (2018, June 19), WhatsApp rumour drives MP mob to nearly kill 2, The Times of India. Pandey, P. (2018, June 16), Easy for them, nothing to invest, everything to gain, The Indian Express. PTI (2017, April 20), Sadhvi equates Alwar lynching case accused with Bhagat Singh, Retrieved July 11, 2018, from The Hindu: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/sadhvi-equates-alwar-lynching-case-accused-with-bhagat-singh/article18152682.ece Rajput, R. (2018, July 3), Dhule mob thumbed nose at police: They are dead, take them away, Retrieved July 3, 2018, from The Indian Express: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/maharashtra-dhule-lynching-mob-thumbed-nose-at-police-they-are-dead-take-them-away-5243288/ Saha, A. (2018, June 29), 30-year-old lynched in Tripura over suspicin of child-lifting, The Indian Express. Subramanya, R. (2017, July 1), Has India become Lynchistan? Retrieved July 3, 2018, from Observer Research Foundation: https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/has-india-become-lynchistan/ Syed, R. (2018, June 19), Aurangabad man suspected to be thief thrashed, 15 booked, The Times of India. Syed, R. (2018, June 16), Mob attacks two street performers in Aurangabad over talk of child-lifting, The Times of India. The Hindu (2018, May 12), Loss of innocents: on the wave of lynchings in Tamil Nadu, Retrieved July 3, 2018, from The Hindu: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/loss-of-innocents/article23857175.ece TNN (2018, June 28), Rumours trigger fresh mob attacks in MP, The Times of India. For more elaborate account of communal riot and its production, read (Engineer I. A., 2013) The author is the Director, Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai. He can be contacted at any of the following three e-mails: forirf[at]gmail.com; irfanengi[at]gmail.com; csss.mumbai[at]gmail.com Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2018 > Why does RSS-BJP Not Like these Hindu Monks? Eightysix-year-old Swami Gyan Swaroop Sanand sat on an indefinite fast in Haridwar on June 22, 2018 to demand making a law on conservation of river Ganga. Nobody came to see him from the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. He was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Haridwar but continued his fast there even after a month. He has fasted earlier in 2008 for letting Bhagirathi flow uninterrupted between Gangotri and Uttarkashi in a stretch of 175 kms. Because of this fast the government cancelled the 380 MW Bhairon Ghati and the 480 MW Pala-Maneri hydel power projects. In 2009 when he got the feeling that the government was not serious about its commitment, he started a fast again and this time got the Loharinag-Pala hydel power project cancelled. Before becoming a saint in 2011, Swami Sanand was known as Professor Guru Das Agarwal, who has earlier taught and done research at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and served as the Member-Secretary of the Central Pollution Control Board. He believes that similar to hundreds of crores of rupees having gone down the drain in the Ganga Action Plan now thousands of crores will be splurged in the name of Ganga River Basin Authority and Clean Ganga Mission by 2020. After Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister the Namami Gange project was launched with huge fanfare only to yield no results on the ground. In 2011, 35-year-old Swami Nigmanand died in the Himalayan hospital of Dehradun on the 115th day of his fast to demand halt to illegal mining in Ganga when the Bharatiya Janata Party Government was in power in Uttarakhand. It is suspected that a mining mafia considered close to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh connived with the administration and poison was injected into Swami Nigmanands body while he was still in the district hospital in Haridwar. Otherwise, it doesnt explain why nobody on behalf of the government went to dialogue with him during the course of his long fast. Now 79-year-old Swami Agnivesh has been thrashed and abused in Jharkhand by members of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. Swami Agnivesh is a follower of the Arya Samaj sect which was founded by Swami Dayanand Saraswati based on the teachings of the four Vedas. The ten principles laid down by him as the philosophical basis of the Arya Samaj ideology include accepting the truth and rejecting the untruth, taking decision about every action based on Dharma after giving due thought to right and wrong, our objective being the physical, spiritual and social well-being of all, our conduct being based on love, righteousness and justice and encouraging knowledge and dispelling ignorance. Swami Agnivesh has fought against injustice all his life. From liberating bonded labourers, taking out an 18-day padyatra from Delhi to Deorala against the sati tradition, movement for the entry of Dalits in Nathdwara temple near Udaipur, campaign against female foeticide, movement for ban on liquor to contructive programmes like multi-faith harmony and world parliament, he has been an activist all his life. He has not only lived according to the principles of the Hindu reformist movement of the Arya Samaj but also served the higher goals of humanity. Swami Agnivesh is an ideal example of what a Hindu monk should be like. He is well respected within the country as well as abroad. He has been recognised by the United Nations as well when he was made the chairperson of the UN Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery. Through him Hinduism has been projected in a good light, which is also because he has practised Gandhian principles all his life. He has authored a book called Vedic Samajvad. Swami Sanand and Agnivesh both put on saffron robes, are willing to take any risk for truth but are committed to the path of non-violence, are celibates, vegetarians and scholarly. Both have given up comfortable lives. While Professor G.D. Agarwal quit his government job, Swami Agnivesh relinquished his Haryana Assembly membership and Ministership. Both have complete faith in Hinduism which guides their lives and actions. Swami Nigmanand sacrificed his life at a very young age. His faith in Hinduism was above question too. The question then is: why do the Hindutva organisations RSS and BJP dont like monks such as these? Why is it that Hindutva organisations either completely ignore such monks or feel threatened by them to the extent that they have to engineer attacks on them? Swami Nigmanand lost his life because the Hindutva forces were dominated by commercial interests with criminal intention. This is because people like Swami Nigmanand, Sanand and Agnivesh are truly dedicated Hindus. They dont put up a show merely to use religion for political or commercial purposes. Is it not an irony that the RSS and Hindutva organisations consider people living the ideals of Hinduism most truthfully as opposed to them? Swami Agnivesh and Sanand dont hate Muslims, neither are they afraid of them. They dont make provocative speeches which can trigger communal violence. They want to promote communal harmony and peace in society, not hatred, discrimination and violence. They dont identify human beings according to their caste, religion or class. For them humanity is supreme. They behave courteously even with their adversaries. If we think about it, what have the Hindutva organisations, which project themselves as sole torch-bearers of Hinduism, have got to do with either the principles or spirit of Hindu religion? In some ways, for example, by giving a free hand to the lumpen elements, they are actually tarnishing the image of the Hindu religion. Now the wider Hindu society has to decide whether people like Swami Nigmanand, Sanand and Agnivesh are the real representatives of Hinduism or people who take law into their hands and are involved in mob lynching of Muslims, Hindtuva organisations like the RSS, BJP giving patronage to them and their top leaders? Noted social activist and Magsaysay awardee Dr Sandeep Pandey is the Vice-President of the Socialist Party (India). He was elected to this post at the founding conference of the party at Hyderabad on May 28-29, 2011. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2018 > Much Ado about Hindu Pakistan IMPRESSIONS The furore over Shashi Tharoors remarks over the possibilities of India becoming a Hindu Pakistan must have surprised his enemies and his friends in equal measure. It also reminds us, yet again, that we live in a politically surcharged atmosphere where battles can suddenly break out over a gesture, a phrase, a nudge or a wink. Communal emotions have become the suste-nance of public life. They are the stuff of headlines and headlines are today the sum total of existence. Shashi Tharoor has an unusual problem to begin with. Those who hate him are more articulate than those who dont. His quotable English creates more adversaries since angrez is quintessentially anti-national. He also ploughs a lonely furrow although he wears the badge of the Congress Party proudly on his kurta. He went out of his way to write a whole book explaining why he was a Hindu. But the Hindus who matter in our polity dont believe a word of it. That must be the reason why his Hindu Pakistan jibe kicked up so much dust so suddenly. On the face of it, the gist of what he said would be seen as unimpeachable in non-BJP circles. If the BJP were voted back to power, he said, it would re-write the Constitution and that will enshrine the principle of Hindu Rashtra that will remove equality for the minorities and that will create a Hindu Pakistan. That kind of speculation has been aired by others before. The idea of re-writing the Constitution has been publicly promoted by the RSS chief, Mohan Bhagwat, himself. Addressing a lawyers conclave last year, he called for changes in the Constitution in line with our value system. He specifically demanded a legal system reflecting the Bharatiya ethos. This is a fully accepted viewpoint from the RSS angle. If Bhagwat put it gently and in respectable phrases, the Hindu Janajagrati Samiti expanded on it in a different tone when it talked of making India a Hindu Rashtra by 2023. The choice of that year could not have been accidental. It actually said that Yogi Adityanaths rise to power in UP had indeed started the process of creating a Hindu Rashtra. Paradoxically, there is no consensus on what exactly is the definition of Hindu Rashtra. The term has liberal interpretations as well as communal ones. The RSSs communications chief Aniruddha Deshpande saw Hindu Rashtra as a concept based on inclusiveness, which emphasises ones duties to the nation rather than to the Hindu religion. Asserting that religion is a Western concept, he said: Someone who is born a Hindu but is working against the countrys interests is not a Hindu for us. On the contrary, a non-Hindu dedicated to the countrys progress is a Hindu to us. This is as broad-minded a viewpoint as possible, considering that Hindu is a term derived from the Sindhu river and therefore geographical in nature. The spiritual side was covered by Sanatana Dharma, a non-religious term denoting, simply, a concept of Eternal Values. Unfortunately, Deshpandes generous definition of Hindu Rashtra is not supported by many of his ideological colleagues. An RSS-backed Think Tank in Mumbai recently organised a talk session with a group of authors, columnists and thinkers known for their anti-RSS stance. Many RSS stalwarts objected to this, calling it appeasement of enemies. One said: In todays time, those who see the Sangh as enemy should feel isolated, not honoured. What did he mean by in todays time?. Clearly hardline Hindutva groups feel that this is their time with a government that promotes their objectives. If these groups get another five years of power, it would be dumb to expect them to waste it. In a country where public debate is not only possible but is the norm, it is legitimate to raise such issues for people to think about. Shashi Tharoors point therefore was valid, but perhaps he made a phraseological mistake linking Hinduism with Pakistan, which helped attackers to open fire from multiple angles. Most of the shots were farcicalthat the phrase showed denigration of Indian democracy, that India was being equated with Pakistan, that Islam was being promoted. All that happened was another reminder that we are a democracy where an extremist ideology using religion as a tool is finding it hard to gain control. That is because the majority of Hindus in this Hindu-majority country vote not as Hindus, but as Indians. In their hands our country and our Constitution and our Sanatana Dharma are safe and will remain safe. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2018 > The Era of Teaching Lessons by Prem Singh Although the recent attack on social activist Swami Agnivesh is being widely and strongly condemned, there are many people who, citing some earlier incidents involving Swamiji, perceive the attack as an inevitable and normal culmination. This is definitely most unfortunate. Those who do not agree with his earlier or present views and actions were, and are, absolutely free and within their rights to disagree. They are also not wrong in trying to oppose him in a democratic manner. However, before doing so they could possibly take a moment to look at the background of Swami Agnivesh. On the other hand, some people distressed by the continuous violent attacks by the Sangh Brigades lumpen Hindutva elements, call for organising a united body of the Dalits, other backward classes (OBCs), adivasis and the minorities, in order to teach the Hindutva group a fitting lesson. Such sentiment is also present in their response to the recent incident of the attack on Swami Agnivesh. Some friends are confident that if the Dalits, OBCs, adivasis and minorities will unite and come together, the Hindutva brigade will have to look for escape routes. One such friend on social media has gone to the extent of claiming that the only lesson that can be taught to the lynchers would be to lynch them in the same manner. The Hindutva of the RSS and the pride associated with it is born out of the frustration of an insecure and defeated mindset. That is why it is forever cursed to remain a negative voice. The new challenge of teaching a lesson to the Hindutva lumpen elements through unity of the Dalits, OBCs, adivasis and minorities cannot be perceived to be a positive option. This is nothing better than a short-lived, temporary and immature indignation. My first submission in this context is that the Dalits, OBCs and adivasis have already been not too far placed from the RSS/BJP and this solidarity is continuing as well. The RSS/BJP integration with neo-liberalism/neo-imperialism has become full-fledged and complete. Needless to say, that the Dalits, OBCs and adivasis too have been quite in league with the RSS/BJP in support of the neo-liberal/neo-imperial policies. As far as the minority Muslims are concerned, how long will they stand in isolation and oppose the RSS/BJP? After all, they are all Indians like the rest of the citizens. They too need some kind of support in terms of political power apart from their religious identity. The RSS is working deeply to influence the Shia Muslim community in the country. This fact cannot be denied that the RSS work is consistent and delivers results even if it comes late. If that was not true, we would not have reached this juncture at which all streams of scientific, progressive and revolutionary thought processes are being bashed and beaten up by the RSS with its sole media organ Panchjanya! A Muslim, anyway, knows well that he cannot as much as think of thrashing the lumpen Hindutva elements. For that even the Dalits, OBCs and adivasis will teach him a lesson! The second submission is that if the intellectuals of this country are planning to unite the Dalits, OBCs, adivasis and minorities to teach a lesson to the lumpen Hindutva elements, then we have to remember Lohias more democratic suggestionLive communities do not wait for five years. With the understanding that the identity discourse and politics do not become a subsidiary of Right-wing forces, Lohia gave a formula of unity among the Dalits, OBCs, adivasis, women and minorities. Behind this it was his dream of building a new Indian civilisation which would create its special place in the modern world. In his plan, this largest part of Indias population has been, more or less, non-conformist, that is, freed from the clutches of the pre-colonial Brahminical order and the colonial capitalist ideology. With the solidarity of these groups getting political power through democracy, a new system of equality, different from Brahminism and capitalism can be established as an example before the world. Lohia had a great dream to integrate this marginalised yet non-conformist mind-bank of India for the building of socialism vis-a-vis capitalism and communism. In order to proceed in this direction, he presented the principle of special opportunity (reservation). However, this formula of Lohia is being used by the champions of social justice only for the politics of vote. The RSS/BJP too has used the same tactics, imitating the other leaders and parties. If intellectuals in this country are suggesting that the solidarity of these marginalised groups should be directed towards teaching a lesson to the lumpen Hindutva elements, then it can only be called a backward step, even in the politics of vote. The forces of corporate capitalism are not only making the countrys leaders dance to their tunes but also the intellectuals. Let me remind ourselves here that the intellectuals, who call for the unity of the Dalits, OBCs, adivasis and minorities to teach a lesson to the lumpen Hindutva elements, had also joined the crowd in support of the thoroughly anti-reservationist group of Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal! Dr Prem Singh belongs to the Department of Hindi, University of Delhi. He is a Former Fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2018 > Dangers to Secularism I recall after independence, politician and diplomat Syed Shahabuddin articulated the Muslim point of view. He did not ask for separation but suggested a self-rule for Muslims within the country. Nobody took him seriously, not even the Muslims because the partition had brought misery to both the communities. Now Assauddin Owaisi, the President of the All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, has demanded that there should be reservation for Muslims in the armed forces. Owaisi is quite right that the Muslims have come down in numbers in the Indian Army. But that was inevitable because the division was on the basis of religion and the Muslim armed forces went to the Pakistani side. The thinking is faulty. I recollect that when the Constituent Assembly was discussing the subject of reservationthe then Home Minister Sardar Patel had proposed 10 per cent of reservations for Muslims. The Muslim leaders in the Constituent Assembly stood up and said that they did not want any reservation because it had led to the formation of Pakistan. Owaisis grievance is that despite the Prime Ministers 15-point programme expressly stating that all efforts would be made to increase the share of the minorities in Central Government jobs, little was done about it. Owaisi pointed to the same thing at a public meeting recently and was rightly questioned by some groups on his linking of recruitment into paramilitary forces with religion. However, Owaisi defended his statement, saying that those people are totally ignorant, arrogant, and they do not read. I want to ask them: isnt this issue related to the Prime Ministers 15-point programme? Point number 10 of the 15-point programme clearly states about the recruitment to State and Central services for Muslim communities. Owaisi said As per the rules even if 10 people were to be recruited, the selection committee must necessarily have members from the Dalit, ST and minority communities. This was as per the memorandum issued by the Department of Personnel, he added. Owaisi also pointed out that the Minister for Minority Affairs, Muqtar Abbas Naqvi, had wrongly claimed that the percentage of minorities in government jobs had increased. I had exposed the wrong claims of the govern-ment, he said. According to the leader, Muslim recruits in the CISF are mere 3.7 per cent. In CRPF, they are just 5.5 per cent and in Rapid Action Force are just 6.9 per cent. He even challenged the Narendra Modi Government to release the data of recruitment in all Central Government organisations. The parliamentarian from Hyderabad also said the the government should release data of recruitment to banks, the railways and other PSUs to reveal how many minorities have been recruited. The BJP is not doing justice to minorities. I have all the right to question the government, Owaisi said. The Congress is the only party which is supporting the Muslim point of view. Prime Minister Modi recently accused publicly that the Congress was a party for Muslims over the alleged remarks by Congress President Rahul Gandhi who supported the continuance of practices like triple talaaq during his speech in Azamgarh. For the last two days, I am hearing that a naamdar leadera sarcastic reference to Rahul Gandhirecently said that the Congress is a party of Muslims. Im not surprised. Even former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh once said that Muslims have the first right over nations natural resources," Modi recalled. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the meeting of the National Development Council in 2006 had said: We will have to devise innovative plans to ensure that minorities, particularly the Muslims, are empowered to share equitably in the fruits of development. They must have the first claim on resources. Modi, during his speech, also wondered whether the Congress was interested only in the welfare of Muslim men and not women. I want to ask the naamdar of the Congress, please tell that is the party only for Muslim men? Because they dont stand with Muslim women on issues of triple talaaq and nikah halala, he added. Whatever the case, Muslims do not feel involved in the affairs of government. Owaisi has rightly said that if the Muslims were to participate in the countrys development, Indias example would be followed in the rest of the world. He did not himself jettison the parochial point of view he espouses. I have seen that most Muslims leaders are talking in terms of co-existence as if they were two nations. They should realise that there is only one nation, India, and religions come second. Not long ago, I went to address the Aligarh Muslims University and I was surprised to find the students talking in terms of ummat, their community. The then Vice-Chancellor calmed the students down with the explanation that there was no contradiction in being a staunch Indian and a staunch Muslim. My feeling is that we are all Indians first and Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians later. Even the Constitutions Preamble has the word secular to describe the nations ethos. Mrs Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, is the one who include the word during the Emergency. The Janata Party changed all other additions that Mrs Gandhi had made, but left the pareamble as it is, without any amendment. It is unfortunate that political parties are furrowing their lonely plough while keeping the shield of secularism. I have heard some voices demanding a separate country. Parliament should suo moto take notice of such demands and warn the nation that the people with such thinking are misusing the Constitution which gives one person, one vote even though Hindus are 80 per cent in the country. Owaisi may be doing all these to garner vote in the forthcoming elections. But he is sowing the seeds of hatred which should be nipped in the bud. I also find the RSS active when the government is conniving at their activities to support Hindutva. Leaders who would take a stand on secularism are silent. Silence and the voice of Owaisi seems very loud. The author is a veteran journalist renowned not only in this country but also in our neighbouring states of Pakistan and Bangladesh where his columns are widely read. His website is www.kuldipnayar.com A Palestinian teenager released by Israel on Sunday after completing a prison term for kicking and slapping an Israeli soldier said she wanted to become a lawyer so she could continue her struggle against the occupation of the West Bank. Ahed Tamimi, 17, became a hero to Palestinians after the incident last December outside her home in Nabi Saleh, a village that has for years campaigned against land seizures by Israel, leading to confrontations with the Israeli military and Jewish settlers. Israelis regarded the incident, which Tamimi's mother relayed live on Facebook, as a staged provocation. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas described Tamimi as "a model of peaceful civil resistance ..., proving to the world that our Palestinian people will stand firm and constant on their land, no matter what the sacrifice". He made the statement published by the official news agency Wafa after he met Tamimi and her mother. Wearing her trademark black-and-white chequered Arab scarf when she returned home, Tamimi greeted dozens of well-wishers. Outside the home of a villager killed by Israeli forces, she urged continued struggle against Israel's occupation. At a news conference later, she spoke in front of a bare two-pronged tree that had been shaped like a giant slingshot, with the trunk covered in a Palestinian flag and with a tyre at its base. "I will continue my university tuition and I will study law so that I can address the cause of my country in all of the international forums and to be able to represent the prisoners' cause," Tamimi said. "Prison taught me a lot of things, I was able to figure out the right way to deliver the message of my homeland." Tamimi, who was 16 at the time of her detention, faced 12 charges but in March pleaded guilty to a reduced charge sheet that included assault. She was sentenced to eight months, dating back to her arrest in December. Palestinians want the West Bank for a future state, along with East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Most countries consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal, something Israel disputes. U.S.-sponsored negotiations on founding a Palestinian state alongside Israel have been stalled since 2014. Tamimi's case drew global attention and Amnesty International said her sentence was at odds with international law. Separately on Sunday, an Israeli naval vessel intercepted a civilian boat bound for the Gaza Strip that had set off from Europe. Israel maintains a maritime blockade of the Strip and said the boat was being towed to the port of Ashdod. Search Keywords: Short link: Letter to editor: Congress can get this right July 29, 2018 The MoA Week In Review - Open Thread 2018-37 Last week's posts on Moon of Alabama: Bloomberg fell for Netanyahoo's trick: To limit Irans role, Russia had proposed a 100-km (60-mile) buffer zone on the Syrian side of the border that would be off limits to Iranian forces and their allies. But Israel is demanding further protections, including the removal of long-range Iranian missiles from Syria and limits on weapons supplies, according to media reports in Israel and Russia. The MoA piece provides that it was Israel that claimed Russia had set the 100 km range, something it had not done, and it is Israel that demands even more. This was, for several reasons, an unproductive week for your host. Next week the blog will, hopefully, be back to (nearly) daily posts. Use as open thread ... Posted by b on July 29, 2018 at 17:41 UTC | Permalink Comments next page By PTI MUMBAI: Nearly half of Indian parents sacrifice their holidays to take up extra work and borrow to fund their children's university education, says a report. As much as 49 per cent Indian parents work extra hours and took a second job to pay for their children's university education, claims an HSBC global survey on education carried out among 10,000 parents and 1,500 students across 15 countries, including India. The survey reveals that 84 per cent rely on their income to support their child's university education, with 41 per cent having no specific education savings fund at all. In the face of financial pressure and lack of long-term planning, many parents are forced to make personal sacrifices to support their children during their studies, it says. Around 60 per cent Indian parents (compared to 53 per cent globally) say their childrens university education has forced them to reduce leisure activities like eating out or watching movies, while 59 per cent of them (against 41 per cent globally) have taken fewer holidays and 49 per cent (against 35 per cent globally) have taken on extra hours at work or a second job, it adds. Indian parents spend an average of USD 5,560 on their child's education over a typical university course, the report says. Over one third (35 per cent) globally and just under two-thirds (64 per cent) of Indian parents have taken on debt to put their kids through university. Akram Mohammed By Express News Service BENGALURU: Even though the Data Protection Bill has been tipped as a key legislation to ensure the privacy of citizens of the country, several privacy advocates and activists have criticised the Bill, arguing that the legislation was inadequate. Terming it as Save Aadhaar Bill, activists have pointed out that the Bill was only to regulate the data collected by private parties, and did not regulate the government. Speaking to Express, Maj Gen (retd) Sudheer Vombatkere, one of the petitioners against Aadhaar in Supreme Court, said that though such legislation was essential, it was not sufficient. It only attempts to address issues pertaining to personal data and does not talk about national security. It is not merely personal data that is at stake here. National security is at stake if such data sources are hacked, he said. V Anand, a data security expert, said that the primary problem with the Bill was the idea that data was property. However, the Commission appears to have missed the fact that ownership, possession and control of data are entirely different things while coming out with regulations and recommendations, he said. The basic question the Commission should have addressed must have been about who controls the data. It should have recommended that the person who provides the data is in control of it. However, no such provisions have been made, he said. The Bill allows government to collect the data of the citizens with or without peoples consent and empowers only UIDAI to take action for data leaks. But, data leak is always denied and there is no answer to who the arbitrator would be or under which court the cases will be tried, he said. There are technological checks in the Bill but just legal steps, he said. A group of cyber-security experts have also written an open letter condemning the Bill. The letter also has pointed out three main issues including exceptions for processing data by government, provisions regarding data localisation and control on surveillance laws. A strong privacy and data protection law must come into force before our next general election - this is a critical step to protect our increasingly digital democracy, the open letter added.However, there were also firms that welcomed the Bill. With the regulation taking form, citizens of the country can now be assured of the safety of their sensitive data. Similar to EUs GDPR, the Data Protection Law in India is a much needed regulation which will institutionalize processes for organizations across all sectors to better manage both primary and secondary data, a release by Ramesh Mamgain, Area Vice President, India and SAARC Region, Commvault - a data protection company said. By Express News Service CHENNAI: A car outside R K Nagar MLA TTV Dhinakaran's house went on flames in Chennai on Sunday afternoon allegedly after petrol bombs were hurled on it, reportedly injuring two workers. The car owner, one 'Bullet' Parimalam claimed that it was Dhinakaran's men who hurled the petrol bombs on his car and he managed to escape in the nick of the moment. However, police said, their enquiries found that it was Parimalam who himself hurled the petrol bomb on his car to put the blame on Dhinakaran. "Parimalam was a town secretary in Dhinakaran's party and was recently expelled from the party. Angered by this, he tried to play a drama," said a police officer. Police also suspect that Parimalam was carrying a sharp weapon and are further investigating. By Express News Service CHENNAI: Despite public backlash and a Madurai Bench of Madras High Court order stopping the construction of a new copper smelter, Vedanta Limited has drawn grand plans to expand its copper smelter operations in Thoothukudi. In its Annual Report for financial year 2017-18, which will be filed with the Bombay Stock Exchange after it is adopted by the shareholders in the upcoming Annual General Meeting on August 24, GR Arun Kumar, who is the Whole Time Director and Chief Financial Officer, Vedanta Limited, said, We are continuing our Tuticorin II expansion by four lakh tonnes per annum (TPA). When complete (target: FY2020), we will be one of the worlds largest single-location copper smelters. This comes a week after Sterlite Copper CEO P Ramnath, writing a letter to Union Environment Ministry seeking its support to renew the Consent to Operate (CTO) of the existing plant at Thoothukudi and environment clearance for second unit. Interestingly, at the same time, in Lok Sabha, Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan revealed that Sterlite had made an application on February 14 this year seeking fresh Terms of Reference for preparation of Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report for expansion proposal, which is under consideration. The annual report says Vedanta, with its four lakh TPA custom smelter in Southern India, is the market leader in the country with a market share of refined copper of approximately 33 per cent. Copper Indias exports accounted for 49 per cent of overall sales in FY2018 and were mainly to China and South East Asia. We expect to see continued demand in growth in India and China in the coming years, driven by population growth, urbanisation, the rise of the middle class and support from government measures and initiatives. Additionally, demand for copper products feeding the electronics and automotive industries will support solid growth in the short to medium-term in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan... Our smelter capacity expansion projects in Tuticorin will enable us to take advantage of these opportunities, it says, making no bones about the expansion plans. Vedanta has also made an appeal to communities living around the Sterlite plant in Thoothukudi not to get driven by misinformation. The report notes that Sterlite Copper-Tuticorin received the British Safety Councils Five Star Rating and also secured its Sword of Honour recognition. In the directors report, Vedanta once again reiterated that the company was taking all necessary steps to restart the construction of second unit. V Nilesh By Express News Service HYDERABAD: If the government violates High Court orders and public representatives celebrate it then who is supposed to protect lakes from encroachment in Hyderabad? This is the question that looms large in the minds of some residents of Jaya Nagar colony in Kukatpally since the last two days after heaps of soil brought in tippers was dumped near the Yellamma cheruvu. This illegal activity was not carried out by any private party, but by the government itself. For, GHMC has proposed to develop an embankment on the lake over which a concrete road would be constructed. Heaps of mud is being dumped to fill one side of the lakes full tank level, giving some members of Jayanagar Colony Welfare Association(JCWA) sleepless nights. The JCWA has been fighting for over a decade now to protect the lake. It was after the JCWA approached High Court in 2011, that an order was passed stating that no portion of the Yellamma cheruvu should be filled either by private individuals or government agencies. Moreover, any kind of construction inside full tank level area of any lake in Hyderabad is prohibited by law. When asked about road being laid through FTL of the lake, GHMC executive engineer for Kukatpally zone G Sridhar said: About two months ago, sanction was accorded for laying of a cement road. We have consulted the Town Planning Department, which will look into the matter. We will not go ahead with the construction of the road until Town Planning department gives us their approval. Meanwhile, elected representatives are trying their bit to legitimise the illegal activity. Recently, Serilingampally MLA Arekapudi Gandhi posted a picture on Facebook, in which he was seen with Allwyn colony corporator Dodla Venkatesh Goud standing atop the illegal mud embankment. His post along with the picture said that `1.5 crore worth works of laying a VDCC road connecting Jaya Nagar to Usha Mullapudi road had been initiated. Dhinesh Kallungal By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As the world is celebrating the International Tiger Day on Sunday, Kerala has reasons to cheer as tiger population has increased scientifically than ever in the forests of Kerala thanks to the tiger conservation measures and joint forest participatory management. The 2014 wildcat census has put the number of tigers in the forests of Kerala at 136, a significant up from 71 recorded in 2010. However, experts say that the big cat population has seen a significant rise of 30-40 per cent in the present enumeration, which is underway, and the population is around 12 tigers in 100 sq-km forest area, a little higher than the national average, a senior Forest officer associated with the tiger conservation in Kerala told Express. Stating that the tiger population in the forests of Kerala is optimal, he said the stable feline population paints a rosy picture of the wildlife management in the state and its economy as conserving tiger is equal to saving the ecosystem which is crucial for mans own survival. The tiger conservation has a big role in the economy of the state which heavily depends on tourism. Being the dominant predators of the ecosystem, the feline population ensures that the numbers of herbivores like deer are kept balanced; otherwise the oversize of herbivore population will take a toll on the wildlife by grazing and consuming the trees and plants, he said. The healthy ecosystem not only attracts tourists but also sustains the livelihood of people in terms of saving the forests from decimation and a healthy wildlife plays a major role in flood control, apart from hydrological services and securing watersheds. That is why Tiger is placed at the apex of the food chain. For instance, the Mullaperiyar dam irrigates around 90k hectares of agriculture land and Rs 30,000 is required to irrigate one hectare of land. It simply shows how the aesthetic, ethical and cultural value of tigers supports the livelihood of a human being, he added. WWF Kerala state director Ranjan Mathew Varghese told Express that the WWF has shifted its focus on the tiger habitats in North India as the tiger conservation in Kerala praiseworthy. The baseline survey conducted by the WWF recently recorded the movements of a total of 104 tigers in Paramabikulam, Wayanad, and Eravikulam. It means the number is very healthy in the state and there is no need worry over the feline population in Kerala, as the baseline can spot around 104, the actual number would be much higher than this, he added. Arul Badusha, a conservationist from the Wildlife Conservation Society, said that though the feline population is stable in the forests of Kerala, the state has to give equal importance to create awareness about the need to save the tiger in areas such as Wayanad, home to the highest number of tigers in Kerala. We have two tiger reserves: Paramabikulam and Periyar. Declaring Wayanad as another tiger reserve will ensure more funds for the conservation of wildlife which will eventually contribute to the local economy, he said. ...burning bright - Fall in number of large-bodied vertebrates like tigers leads to increase of herbivore population, which in turn results in forests getting decimated - Tigers feed on herbivores such as spotted and sambar deer, bison in forests, keeping their population in check and helping to preserve the forests. - Tiger habitats also provide critical ecosystem services such as flood control and hydrological management and securing watersheds By Express News Service VIJAYAWADA: Thousands of patients were left in the lurch on Saturday, due to the medical bandh at the out patients departments (OPDs) in most of the private hospitals across the State. The OPDs remained shut for 12 hours on Saturday, as doctors were off duty in response to a call given by the Action Committee of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), to observe a black day, in protest against the National Medical Commission (NMC) bill, which allows Ayush doctors to practise modern medicine, albeit after completing a bridge course. This is completely a ridiculous decision, which will make peoples lives fall in danger for this cross-pathy treatments. With just a simple bridge course, we dont think they can pull it off in modern medicine and treat people, said Dr Rasik Sanghvi, secretary of IMA Vijayawada. The IMA, has been strongly opposing the NMC bill saying it will cripple the functioning of medical professionals by making them subject to the control of non-medical and political bodies. Private hospitals doctors called for the bandh and ensured a near-total stoppage in OPD services. Sources said that soon the doctors were likely to begin an indefinite strike and create a medical emergency across the country. However, some of the doctors were not as rigid as Dr Sanghvi. Even the MBBS doctors are not allowed to work as specialists or super specialists and have a limit to what they can do. Therefore, after doing this bridge course these Ayush doctors can also practise modern medicine, but their role should be limited (may be to that of a GP), said Dr Samaram, a former IMA president. Medical problem city faced on Saturday OPDs of the major hospitals in the city, such as the Andhra Hospitals, remained closed on Saturday, as the doctors took part in a bandh It was called by the Action Committee of the Indian Medical Association (IMA). They observed a black day on Saturday, in protest against the National Medical Commission (NMC) bill Patients, both new and those who came for periodic check ups, were turned away by the hospitals, without any treatment or checkup being conducted khursheed dinshaw By Express News Service Hilot massage is an intrinsic part of the holistic culture of the Philippines, and the Filipinos know this quite well. They would rather visit a manghihilota hilot massage healerbefore they think of visiting a doctor. A hilot massage helps treat sprains and torn ligaments, fever and cold, realign bones and relieve bodyaches and pains, including stomach, neck, shoulder, back and hip. Post-childbirth, it is administered to new mothers to heal their pelvic and stomach muscles. In Metro Manila, wellness centres such as the Nurture Wellness Village offers it. Before the massage, an evaluation form is filled in by the guest informing of any medical conditions, the type of pressure to be applied by the manghihilot and which areas of the body to focus on. After changing into a disposable undergarment and wrapping the body with a sarong, the guest is requested to lie face down and close her eyes. The treatment starts with the playing of a rain makera musical instrument from Palawan, a scenic province of the Philippines. Also known as a rain stick, this instrument is made from bamboo and is cylindrically shaped. When it is shaken by the therapist, a sound similar to that of rain drops falling on a roof is heard. This relaxing music is followed by the application of virgin coconut oil. Steamed saba banana leaves are placed on the back to ease frozen muscles. Saba is used since it has long leaves which have anti-bacterial and medicinal properties, explains Gessie, a manghihilot. For the soles of the feet, two dagdagay sticks are used. Smooth to touch and made of bamboo, these sticks resemble a dumb-bell. The ends of the sticks are used to activate the pressure points while they are also rolled over the soles to relieve blocked energy flow. For the thighs, I use my knuckles to ease muscle pain. To relieve lower back pain, it is circular strokes that are performed. By applying my thumbs along the spine of the patient, stress is reduced, adds Gessie. With each successive repetition along the spine, the pressure is increased. For the arms, long strokes are administered. Shoulder and neck knots are removed followed by a dry head and face massage. The long, circular and sliding strokes used in hilot massage trace along the nerves and harmonise the body. Hot tarragon tea is served after the completion of the massage. This tea is prepared by slow-boiling tarragon leaves in water for 15 minutes. Served hot, the tea needs to be drunk within six hours of its preparation. Tarragon aids digestion, balances hormones and fluids of the body and provides magnesium and calcium. It also contains iron, potassium, zinc, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin B6 and omega-3 fatty acids. In Philippines, we manghihilots are required to train for atleast a year before we can get our licence which is valid for three years. For renewal of the licence, we have to undergo and pass an exam, Gessie says. Equipment used Rain maker, a musical instrument Virgin coconut oil Steamed saba banana leaves Dagdagay sticks Hot tarragon tea By Online Desk CHENNAI: DMK president M Karunanidhi continued to wage a grim battle for life tonight, with the five-time Tamil Nadu chief minister facing a "transient set back" while undergoing treatment at a hospital here where delirious supporters cried and prayed for the leader. "It is true that there was a transient set back. But it has been set right due to intensive medical care. Do not believe in rumours. He continues to be treated at the ICU," DMK leader and former Union Minister A Raja told reporters at the hospital premises. The announcement was greeted with loud cheers by the ardent admirers of Karunanidhi who have gathered in large numbers at the hospital. Hundreds of policemen are deployed in and around the hospital in upscale Alwarpet. A steady stream of DMK supporters visited the hospital since morning, but the crowd began swelling since 7:30 p.m. as news spread about the deterioration in his condition. "There was a transient setback in the clinical condition of DMK president M Karunanidhi. With active medical support his vital signs are normalising. He continues to be closely monitored and treated by the panel of expert doctors," a medical bulletin issued by Kauvery Hospital said at 9:50 p.m. Karunanidhi was hospitalised in the wee hours yesterday after his blood pressure dropped. He had undergone a procedure at the Kauvery Hospital for replacement of a tracheostomy tube to help him breathe normally. Abhilash Chandran and Ajay Kanth By Rape by priests. Blackmailing canons. Lying Cardinals. Nuns selling babies. The rot within the Indian church has spilt out, provoking intense introspection and call for reform from within the clergy and the laity. The faithful are shaken and sin has been outed. The halo of the Church is losing its sheen following a series of sex scandals and baby trafficking accusations that have erupted over the past month. Fingers are being pointed at the men of god in Kerala for allegedly raping a nun and a married woman. They violated the sanctity of the confessional and blackmailed an innocent woman for sex. The shady involvement of a bishop supposed to act as a spiritual guide to the diocese makes their crimes even more serious. Subsequently, the hagiography of Indias Christianity was tainted by none other than nuns of the order founded by Indias venerated famous Catholic saint, Mother Teresa. Sr Concelia and Anima Indwar of Nirmal Hriday in Ranchi, Jharkhand, were arrested early this month for allegedly selling infants for adoption; one baby was reportedly sold to a couple for `50,000. The Jharkhand Police released Sr Concelias video confession. Of the Seven Deadly Sins, Lust and Greed have captured the ecumenical spotlight. Last month, Pope Francis divested Cardinal George Mar Alencherry, head of the Syro-Malabar Church, of his administrative powers following allegations of corruption in a land scam. The domino effect of the scandals has exposed the powerful Churchs dark side, where political parties and politicians use Christian congregations as vote-banks. And the Church draws immunity from the electoral advantage it provides and the funds it raises. Nirmal Hriday in Ranchi, which is in the centre of a baby sale controversy. One of the cardinal tenets of the Church is that what passes between a priest and his flock in a confessional booth are secrets the priest will take to the grave. It is also how absolution is sought and received, and penance prescribed. This belief was shaken when a 36-year-old married woman from Thiruvalla, Kerala, revealed to her husband that she was being sexually blackmailed by Father Job Mathew, the vicar of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, with threats of disclosure of her confession detailsa sexual relationship with Fr Abraham Varghese when she was 17 years old, before and after he was ordained. The curate had also shared the details with two other canonical colleagues, Fr Johnson V Mathew and Fr Jaise K George who also reportedly raped her. She said a total of five priests had raped her over many years. Unusual bank transactions from her bank account had alerted her husband, especially a deduction of `9,600 from her savings account towards settling a bill from a five-star hotel in Kochi. When confronted, she broke down, confessing that one of the holy blackmailers had taken her to the hotel for a tryst. She presented call details, chat history, social media accounts and bank statements. The husband pardoned her but petitioned Church authorities seeking action against the curates in vain. Disgusted, he went public. Fr Johnson V Mathew was arrested on July 13 but is on bail. He had surrendered to the police after the High Court first dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of three priests, observing they acted as predators and took undue advantage of the woman. Fr Abraham Varghese and Fr Jaise K George successfully moved the Supreme Court to get a stay order on their arrest until such time their petition is disposed. Fr Job Mathew too got bail from Kerala High Court last week. In Jharkhand, it was greed not lust that possessed the sisters of Mother Teresas order. At the behest of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) in Ranchi, police filed an FIR on July 3 against Sister Concelia and Anima Indwar for child trafficking. Our inquiry showed that four children from Nirmal Hriday were sold between 2017 and 18. The Chief Minister has ordered the Chairman of the Child Rights Commission to inspect all homes running in the state. Inspection of the shelter register showed details of 58 other children have not been placed before CWC yet. The organisation hasnt produced the record register prior to year 2016 either, says District Social Welfare Officer Kanchan Singh. Meanwhile, the Crime Investigation Department is on the job. Investigation is on to further verify the records seized from Nirmal Hriday, says Anish Gupta, SSP, Ranchi. To keep the flock, the Church in Kerala went into damage control mode. Moran Mor Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II, Catholicos and the supreme head of the Indian Orthodox Church, issued a pastoral note to its clergy and laity on July 5, warning that priests found to have committed a sin will not be protected by the Church. The Catholicos said, The Church should move ahead with the holiness of piety. And never let the sacraments like holy confession be taken frivolously. The holy sacraments, being handed over by the fathers, should be followed with holiness. The inevitable political factor entered the sordid picture. The ruling Left had just won a by-election held in Chengannur Assembly constituency, with the support of the Orthodox Church. The government insisted on a written complaint before taking action. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayans bete noire and former Communist CM V S Achuthanandan promptly lodged a complaint with the Director General of Police (Law and Order) putting the government in a spot. The State Crime Branch was forced to register a case and the two priests surrendered. Fathers who have been accused of rape by a woman in Kerala. Then another sex scandal surfaced; this time involving a Bishop of the Catholic Church. A 44-year-old nun accused Franco Mullakkal of the Latin Catholic Church of Jalandhar of raping her 13 times during 2014-16 at the Mission House in Kottayam run by the Missionaries of Jesus. She had approached church authorities at first, including Cardinal George Alencherry, the head of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. After being given the run around, she contacted the police, who registered the case and started an investigation. It was also around a year ago that Fr Robin Vadakkumchery of the diocese of Mananthavady was arrested for molesting and impregnating a minor girl in Kottiyoor in Kannur district. Regrettably, that the Church continues to support these criminals even after their crimes are proved beyond any doubt. This sends a strong message encouraging others in the fraternity to follow in the footsteps of the wrongdoers, says Sister Jesme, who wrote Amen: The Autobiography of a Nun, on her humiliation, sexual abuse and mental torture by men of the cloth. Former Kerala State Police Chief T P Senkumar agrees. Many unfit persons join the Church as priests since the Church has a problem of getting more recruits, he adds. When indifference didnt succeed in silencing the Thiruvalla woman, intimidation followed. Her husband claims he was approached by the accused priests, their representatives and some high profile personalities to withdraw the case or face ostracism. When the ultimatum failed, he was promised money and other benefits to withdraw the case. Similarly, representatives from Jalandhar diocese and Missionaries of Jesus arrived in Kottayam to influence the nun who had complained about the bishop. When she refused to meet them, she was accused of immorality. The Church strategy in Fr Robins case was also character assassination of the victim. However, sexual harassment allegations against priests are exceptional cases in the Syro-Malabar Church, which insists on celibacy for priests. Meanwhile, canonical robes are splashed with mud. Faced with rape accusations, Fr Abraham Varghese played dirty. He uploaded a video on YouTube shaming his accuser and questioned the authenticity of her complaint. A leaked phone conversation between Cardinal George Alencherry and the nun who raised rape allegations against Bishop Franco has put the Cardinal in a tight spot. He had been all along maintaining his ignorance of the rape complaint against the bishop and had told the media that the nun had only spoken to him about some issues in her diocese. The wiretap confirmed he was being untruthful. Faith becomes the victim when the shepherd becomes the hunter. The morale of both the Malankara Orthodox Church laity and clergymen has hit an all-time low, following back-to-back allegations of fund misappropriation, land scams and rape by some priests. I don't trust them anymore and do not consider them representatives of God. They have lost their credibility. I wont be attending mass anymore, says Giby Kurien from Kochi. According to a Jacobite priest, believers used to treat curates with great respect before the scandals. Everyone looks at us suspiciously today. I even find it difficult to say mass. It has become a trial, he laments. He normally refrains from settling marital disputes now. Where only my presence is absolutely required, I ensure that at least five to six members of the church committee are present, he adds. Some parishioners believe they have become the laughing stock of the community. According to Remani Varghese of the Orthodox Church, if a woman is seen talking to a priest today, it is assumed something shady is happening. However, she believes the scandals are not the right scale to measure the sanctity of spiritual belief. There is a saying that it takes two hands to clap. Sony Koithara, a Kottayam-based follower of the Orthodox Church, wants the maximum punishment for rape to be meted out to the culprits; a sentiment shared by a majority of the laity. The Church has been forced to act tough. The accused priests have been relieved of all pastoral responsibilities and sent on compulsory leave. The Church is also conducting an inquiry at their respective dioceses. The Church wont give legal assistance to the priests and wont intervene in the Crime Branch inquiry, says Fr M O John, priest trustee. According to Kerala Police data, 63 Christian priests in the state faced criminal charges, which included rape, murder, molestation, assault and abduction between 2000 and 2007.Fr Paul Thelakkatt, a senior priest and former spokesperson of the Syro-Malabar Church, has only ecclesiastical explanations to offer. The Bible speaks about a man who commits sin and seeks Gods forgiveness. Even the great King David confessed to rape before God. Judas betrayed Jesus. Once man forsakes holiness he ends up in tragedy. This is the situation in the Church now, he says. The lure of money and power draws many young men to a canonical career. A vast majority of priests and nuns have taken their vows to earn money and respect. They pollute the system, which should be cleansed sooner than later, says Sr Jesme. Even an orphanage is a source of revenue for the Church, which has become a corporate institution now, she adds. A senior church member complains that the Church does not punish errant clergy, which only encourages them to commit more crimes. Says KC Varghese, a church reform campaigner, Its time to reform the selection process for the priesthood. The priesthood has become a well-paid job with perks and is no longer a spiritual vocation. Kerala Catholics Bishop's Council (KCBC) has issued strict guidelines for priests while dealing with minors and women. If any priest deviates and breaks the ethical code of behaviour, we will take action. It is up to them to decide. We cannot look into the minds of each priest and check whether they are pious or not, says Fr Varghese Vallikkatt, Deputy Secretary-General, KCBC. It is not everyone who starts their priestly training becomes clerics. Weve been dismissing many people who were found to be untruthful to their spiritual calling. Innocence defines the spiritual calling in Christianity, with Baby Jesus in the manger and in the arms of the Madonna as the faiths cardinal symbols of purity. However, it was not so for the members of Nirmal Hriday in Jharkhand. The Missionaries of Charity, Kolkata, however, blames the CWC for harassing nuns. For reasons unknown, our Shishu Bhawan Home at Hinoo was raided by CWC with a police force on July 06, 2018. It is distressing that CWC has meted out such treatment to a Home, which its officials themselves have described as providing an excellent environment for the care of children only about two weeks before. Sister M Prema MC, Superior General, Mother House, Kolkata, confesses the organisation is deeply saddened by the developments at Nirmal Hriday. Even while we place our full trust in the judicial process that is underway, we express regret and sorrow for what happened and unequivocally condemn individual actions that have nothing to do with the Congregation of the Missionaries of Charity. When Jesus came to Temple at Jerusalem, he drove out the corrupt and the corrupters, calling it a den of thieves. The Church is not a den of vice, but house cleaning is certainly in order. Crime and the Mission 1985 Fr George Cherian is charged for the murder of a teenage girl when she resisted an alleged rape attempt 1988 Roman Catholic priest Antony Lazar, 49, and his aide Nelson alias Sasi, 30, are awarded a death sentence by a local court in Kollam for the murder of Marykutty, a 27-year-old nurse Sister Abhaya 1992 The sensational murder of Sister Abhaya in Kottayam in which the CBI chargesheets two priests and two nuns 2014 A young priest of Thrissur diocese is arrested for raping a nine-year-old girl 2015 A case is registered against Catholic priest Edwin Figarez for raping a minor girl from the community. The Catholic Church in Kerala pays `12 lakh to Sister Anita, a nun who had alleged that a priest tried to sexually abuse her in 2011 when she was working as a high school teacher in Panchore in Madhya Pradesh. According to Sr Anita, when she complained to the Mother Superior, she was reprimanded, isolated and shipped to Italy. Robin Vadakkumchery 2016 A Catholic priest from Kerala is sentenced to a rare double life imprisonment under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act for the rape of a minor girl. 2017 A 48-year-old priest, Robin Vadakkumchery of Mananthavady diocese, is arrested on charges of raping a minor girl Holy Disgrace Worldwide Cardinal George Pell Australia Cardinal George Pell, the third highest member of the Vatican hierarchy, has been ordered to stand trial on multiple historical sex charges, which he denies. His case coincided with a public enquiry that found that seven percent of priests were presumed to have committed paedophilic acts in Australia between 1950 and 2010. Austria Two scandals forced the Vatican to revoke two high-ranking ultra-conservative clerics, Viennese Archbishop Hans Hermann Groer in 1995 and the bishop of Sankt-Poelten, Kurt Krenn in 2004. Belgium In 2010, the bishop of Bruges, Roger Vangheluwe, resigned after acknowledging sex abuse of two nephews. Since 2012, the Catholic Church in Belgium has received hundreds of complaints and paid almost 4.13 million in compensation. Canada In the late 1980s, a huge scandal broke out regarding the mistreatment of children at an orphanage in Newfoundland in the 1950s-1960s. Chile Some 80 members of the Chilean clergy have been implicated in a series of sex abuse affairs over the past few years. Controversy over bishop Juan Barros, accused of covering for a paedophile priest, marred Pope Francis trip to the country in January 2018 when he hugged and defended the bishop. France In 2016, the case of priest Bernard Preynat, accused of abusing scouts in his Lyon parish, tainted the image of Cardinal Philippe Barbarin for allegedly covering up for him. Barbarin will be tried along with six co-defendants in January 2019. Germany Since 2010, hundreds of cases of sex abuse against children or adolescents in religious institutions have emerged. The most high-profile ones involve Jesuit-run Canisius College in Berlin. Ireland Accusations against Catholic institutions began to emerge early in the millennium, and covered several decades prior to that. The number of underaged victims was estimated at around 14,500. Several bishops and priests accused of committing or covering up the abuse have been punished. Mexico Mexican bishop Gonzalo Galvan Castillo was forced to resign in 2015 after being accused of protecting a paedophile priest. The late founder of the ultraconservative Legion of Christ congregation, Marcial Maciel, was forced to resign in 2006, was accused of committing sexual abuses of minors. The Netherlands In late 2011, a study found that several tens of thousands of minors had been sexually abused within the Dutch Catholic Church institutions between 1945 and 2010. Some 800 suspects have been identified. Jozef Wesolowski Poland In 2013, Pope Francis sacked the Vatican nuncio, or ambassador, to the Dominican Republic, Polands Jozef Wesolowski who was charged with sexually abusing minors. He died in 2015 on the eve of his trial. United States Between 1950 and 2013, the Catholic Church in the US received 17,000 complaints from people who said they had suffered sexual abuse from 6,400 clerics between 1950 and 1980. In 2012, specialists in contact with the Vatican mooted the figure of 100,000 cases of child sex abuse in the US. Among the senior church members forced to resign for protecting paedophile priests were Cardinal Bernard Law in Boston and Roger Mahony in Los Angeles. Church Factions in Kerala Orthodox Church Apostle St Thomas is believed to have established Christianity in Malankara (Kerala) in AD 52, and it got organised and prospered with the arrival of Knai Thoma (Bishop of Cana) from Syria in AD 345. Result: the Christians of Malankara came to be known as Syrian Christians, as they received the Apostolic benediction from the Syrian Patriarchate and thus started to use the liturgy of the Holy Syrian Church of Antioch. A vertical split in 1911 divided the Malankara Church into two groupsone led by the Mor Dionysius Geevarghese (Vattasseril) came to be called as Metran Kakshi (Bishops Party) and those who continued with the Holy throne of Antioch were mentioned as Bava Kakshi (Patriarchs Party). While the Bava Kakshi continued to be known as Malankara Jacobite Syrian Church, the Methran Kakshi by the middle of the 1920s adopted the name first as Orthodox Syrian Church of Malabar and then Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in 1934. Syro-Malabar Church and Latin Church Syro-Malabar Catholic Church is the major denomination in Kerala. The Latin Catholic Church is the second largest Christian denomination in the state. The Latin Church was formed with the arrival of Portuguese in the 15th century and differences within the church later led to the formation of Syro-Malabar Church in 1923. However, both denominations follow Roman rites and are in full communion with the Pope. While Bishop Franco Mulakkal and the nun, who lodged a complaint against him, belonged to Syro-Malabar Church by birth, they now serve for Jalandhar diocese of the Latin Church. With inputs from Anu Kuruvilla and Niraj Sahai J S Rajput By The level of professional competence acquired by most of the products of higher education institutions is a matter of serious concern. One often wonders why and how even the most sought-after universities of the 50s and the 60s have suffered erosion in credibility? They had earned a great reputation for high-quality research and innovations. And this was achieved in conditions that may appear unimaginable to the young persons of today. One instance would illustrate the professional environment that prevailed in every classroom, laboratory and library. Just before the beginning of the final examination, the senior professor found that students of elective paper on electronics were not taught Detectors that was assigned to a junior faculty member. Quietly, he taught the group for four hours each on two consecutive days. Some three years later, when a young researcher recalled how every student was disappointed when no question appeared on Detectors in the final examination, the professor listened affectionately and said: Yes, I was the paper setter; I knew no question was being asked on this topic. But tell me, how I could allow a full batch of young people take a final degree from this university, with specialisation in electronics, without acquiring adequate comprehension about Detectors? It was a question of professional competence and professional readiness that could not be compromised. There was a hushed silence. It was a lesson in what makes an institution great. After a couple of moments, the professor pulled out a few sheets from his pocket and said: See, these are my notes for todays class. I never enter a classroom without preparation. I had several pressing engagements today before the class but I squeezed time out to prepare my notes. Known for his researches nationally and internationally, he was highly respected by his students, colleagues and researchers. He spent most of his time in his laboratory, not on airports. Practically all of those who studied in universities during that period could narrate similar experience in their respective areas of knowledge quest. Great Indian universities have suffered the loss of credibility mainly on account of dilution of leadership qualities and loss of autonomy in practical terms. Their rejuvenation would, no doubt, require adequate resources, infrastructure support, modified rules and regulations. But this alone would not be sufficient. It needs real autonomy and an academic leadership that values traditional roles that present examples of a life dedicated to the creation and utilisation of new knowledge. This is the right time to ponder over such aspects as India is to receive a new National Policy on Education shortly. Rules, regulations and regulatory institutions are necessary, but these alone are not sufficient. Institutions need leaders who are intellectually inclined, capable of fostering the freedom of mind, the humanity of the heart, and the integrity of the individual. Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan elaborated it in his writings: A famous Church Father in the Middle Ages, Bernard of Clairvaux, in a Latin hymn, asks. Who will achieve universal peace? and answers, The disciplined, the dedicated, the pure in heart and the gentle in spirit. No machinery which the art of man can devise will work unless there is behind it the proper temper of mind. To create and maintain that temper should be the aim of education in a civilised society. Let the New National Policy on Education acknowledge the primacy of the academic, and give him all the autonomy to flourish it further. J S Rajput Former director of the NCERT rajput_js@yahoo.co.in Anirban Ganguly By The result of the No Confidence Motion in Parliament on July 20 has shattered the hopes of forming an anti-Modi front for 2019. The voting pattern clearly indicated that Rahul Gandhis ambition of being the knight exemplar of an oust Modi charge and Mamata Banerjees pipe-dream of leading a federal front as an alternative to Narendra Modi have been seriously compromised. The revamped Congress Working Committeeliving in a time warp even after having shed some of its old baggage however, continues with its insistence that Rahul is the natural leader of a grand alliance aimed at unseating Modi. Such an attitude reflects the brazenness and arrogance that has been the hallmark of the Congresss first family and stems from its belief that it alone has the sole right to rule India. Steeped in this arrogance, Rahul has, in the last five years, debased the partys level of political discourse, misdirected its actions and has led it astray by extending its umbrella of patronage to anarchists and to those who have time and again called for Indias dismemberment. Incapable of evolving a credible narrative that can take on Modi, lacking a cohesive action plan that can emerge as an alternative to Modis vision of New India, unable to bog him down in the marshes of shallow tokenism, Rahul is becoming increasingly belligerent. The Congresss support of the preposterous demand that Sharia courts become the norm for the Muslim community, the Congresss refusal to support the abolition of the feudal Triple Talaq practice, its constant effort to generate tensions among caste and communities by supporting groups and elements who operate at the fringe, increasingly shows that it is taking recourse to reactionism and communalism to buttress its political chances. Some of its leaders continue with their insult of Hindus by blaming them for trying to create a Hindu Pakistan, while Rahul himself continues with his efforts at compromising Indias national security and her relations with friendly foreign countries who have stood by India during challenging times. Let us recall that it was France in 1998, among the few nations, which had supported Indias nuclear tests and opposed the clamping of sanctions on her. Rahuls utterances in Parliament, describing an imaginary conversation with the President of the French Republic, and then resorting to untruth in the name of the French leader, has left the thinking members of the diplomatic and strategic community in a state of deep shock. Not that they expected anything better from him, but the fact that he could, in such a blase manner, lies in the name of the leader of a foreign government and that too on the hallowed floor of Parliament raises serious doubts on his leadership abilities. Let us leave aside for a while the hyper theatrics that he indulged in during and immediately after delivering his speech in Parliamenta speech which was devoid of everything except elements of drama sprinkled with a false cock-surety. Let us leave aside his insulting wink, these are perhaps the result of a stunted mind, but the manner in which he resorted to untruth on the sensitive Rafael issue is cause for grave concern, especially for those who have Indias national interest in mind and possess a healthy optimism regarding the future of her polity. Even if we were to accept his deep filial bonds with arms dealers such as the late Ottavio Quattrocchi, such behaviour remains unexplained and bodes ill for the future of our political climate. It is time for right thinking citizens to take a stand. Anirban Ganguly Director, Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation Follow him on Twitter @anirbanganguly Amar Bhushan By Debating mob lynching is the new national obsession. Surely there is a need to feel concerned but kicking up hysteria over the issue only heightens tension among communities. The media tells you that mobs are currently on a killing spree against Muslims, Dalits, Adivasis, Africans and Afro-Asians. And, opposition political parties are quick to blame Hindu vigilantes for these extra-judicial murders, claiming that they want victims to accept their religious practices. Liberal commentators and social activists cry hoarse that it has put Indias diversity under severe stress and thrown its secular ethos in flames. The Supreme Court is worried that if mob-vigilantism is not nipped in the bud, anarchy and lawlessness will plague and corrode the nation like an epidemic. The impact of the fear-mongering has been staggering. A Muslim cleric threatens that if lynching is Muslims fate, then they must work for partitioning India. The MIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi has sought 33 percent reservation in the armed and security forces for Muslims so that the fresh recruits can secure Muslims against the majority Hindus. Mob lynching is not a new phenomenon in our country. It has conspicuously featured in all 29 major communal riots since independence. The difference is that we witness it more often now. As peoples aspirations have increased disproportionately high, social and religious conflicts have deepened and governance and timely judicial relief has taken a back seat. As many as 2,724 mob-lynching cases were reported during 2000-14 from 19 states. An unverified report claims that over 5,600 incidents went unreported during this period in the absence of a vigilant media and a strong Opposition. After NDA formed the government, 657 lynching cases came to notice. Of these, 89 were cow and beef-related and the victims were Muslims (22), Dalits (57) and Adivasis (10). In the remaining 568 incidents, mobs killed those who were allegedly involved in theft, cattle smuggling, child-lifting, communal clashes, inter-caste and inter-faith marriages, honour disruptions, witchcraft, rape, sexual violence and road accidents. Child-lifting alone accounted for 139 cases. These numbers are miniscule when you compare them to 39,000 cases of heinous crime, committed during the same period, unless one ignores them as unavoidable. Evidently, the distress expressed over mob lynching is exaggerated and selective. The attempts to label killers as Hindu, Muslim, Dalit and Jaat is also mischievous. They are simply murderers and have to be punished as such. The question is how to combat this evil. The Supreme Court has suggested that the Parliament make a special law and provide for stringent punishment. But if laws were panacea, we wouldnt have murders, rapes and brutalisation of children nor Naxalites and terrorists would kill innocent civilians. We have laws for punishing the entire community if it incites communal and sectarian violence, but only in four instances, community members have been punished in the last 71 years. The Supreme Court also wants to make the superintendent of police (SP) accountable and create a task force to provide prior and effective intelligence. This may not help because crowds turn into lynching mobs in a split second. They are like a flash flood which gives no warning but devastates. In such situations, an SP can react only after the event is over and intelligence can help identify suspects, only later. The morale of the police is in boots. No one stands for a policemanpoliticians, bureaucrats, judges, social activists and peopleunless he is corrupt and spineless. Shacked with doubts, distrust, lack of financial resources and threats of judicial scrutiny, he is unsure, vulnerable and reluctant. How do you expect a mob to be afraid of such a policeman? If the US is not worse than India in racial and religious crimes, it is because enforcement agencies there are dreaded by everyone and no one can dare influence their actions. Why only police? Even a passport officer gets summarily removed because he asks questions. Can the same applicants dare repeat their theatrics before the US immigration? The fear of law is actually non-existent in India. We consider entitlements as our divine right. We shout for unbridled freedom, only as an insurance to commit more offences. We prefer remaining onlookers to restraining attackers. We want to get rid of criminals but resent encounters. We like terrorism to end but refuse to accept collateral damages. We seek curb on rumours and fake news but wont tolerate police to infringe on our right to privacy. This hypocrisy has to end if we want to live peacefully in a civilised society. Amar Bhushan Former special secretary, Research and Analysis Wing amarbhushan@hotmail.com By IANS KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court has ordered a petitioner to pay Rs 10,000 to the West Bengal Criminal Investigation Department as compensation for making a false complaint of forgery, a CID release said. The court passed the order earlier this week after it was established that the complainant's allegation that his step grandmother had forged the signature of his maternal grandfather after the latter's death to get hold of a property, was not true. Panchanan Mondal, a resident of Babua village in East Midnapore district, had filed a complaint at Kolaghat police station that after the death of his maternal grandfather Kalipada Ponra, his (Panchanan's) step grandmother Chandana Panra had made a "false and duplicate register deed of entire landed property" of the deceased in her name though a afalse signature on the said registered deed'. Chandana claimed that she and her son Kartick Ch. Alu are the owners of the land, according to the complainant, who alleged that she has committed fraud and cheated him and his mother Parul Bala Mondal - the last named being the "legal heir of the entire landed property". During investigation, the CID seized the original deeds and sent the documents for an expert opinion. Both the finger prints and questioned signatures were said to be of the same person."Thus during investigation, it was established that contrary to the allegation by the complainant, the signatures and the finger prints on the gift deed of Kalipada Ponra were not forged," the CID release said. The CID submitted its report before the high court, which passed order on Wednesday that the writ petitioner should pay Rs 10,000 to the CID as it has been established that forgery had not been committed by the accused. The judge also said the CID would be entitled to execute and enforce the order on default of payment by the petitioner. By PTI DAHOD: A man was beaten to death and another injured when a mob attacked them on suspicion of robbery in Gujarat's Dahod district, police said today. Ajmal Mohaniya became the latest casualty in the recent spate of mob violence across the country. A group of over a dozen people went to Kali Mahudi village in Jhalod administrative division -- 35 km from here -- with an aim to "commit robbery" late last night, said Limdi police station inspector P M Judal. "When the villagers came to know about their movements, they gathered at a place. As soon as they saw the 'robbers', the mob chased them and caught hold of two of them, while the others managed to flee," the inspector said. The agitated villagers allegedly thrashed the two men, injuring both of them seriously by the time the police arrived, Judal said. The police then took both the men to Dahod government hospital, where Mohaniya was declared "brought dead". The injured person, Bharu Mathur Palas, was undergoing treatment, the official said. Both the men were recently released from the Dahod sub-jail after serving sentences in different criminal cases, he said. In a statement to the police, Palas said he had met Mohaniya in the jail where they were earlier lodged, an police official said. Both of them had decided to meet at the village when they were attacked by a mob of around 100 villagers wielding sharp weapons, the official said quoting Palas. Police have lodged an FIR against around 100 villagers, he said. Earlier this month, 28-year-old Rakbar Khan was lynched in Rajasthan's Alwar district on suspicion of cow smuggling. A few weeks back, five nomads were beaten to death in Maharashtra's Dhule village on suspicion of child-lifting. A fortnight ago, a woman was lynched by a mob in Madhya Pradesh on suspicion that she was a child-lifter. The Supreme Court had recently took a strong view of such incidents, asking the Centre to frame a separate law to tackle this menace. Express News Service By Express News Service MUMBAI: The umbrella bodies leading the Maratha stir on Sunday gave a call for a statewide shutdown on August 9, and said that the agitation would be revived after August 1. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis held discussions with a Maratha delegation under the leadership of former chief minister Narayan Rane and repeatedly appealed to the agitators to come forward for talks. He reiterated his statement regarding withdrawing cases related to small offences registered against Maratha agitators and added that the government was taking all possible steps to ensure speedy resolution of the issue. Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, meanwhile, has called a meeting of all legislators of the party on Monday to discuss the party's stand on the Maratha quota issue. 'Sakal Maratha Samaj' and the 'Maratha Kranti Morcha coordination committee' the two bodies spearheading the quota stir, held a meeting at Latur on Sunday. During the meeting they warned community leaders against holding talks with the government. "Discussions with various groups being held by the government are not binding on the community and there won't be any talks with the government henceforth," they said. They announced that all schools, colleges, commercial establishments and government offices across the state would be forced to close on August 9. The agitation, which has been suspended at several places for the past couple of days, would be revived post August 1, they added. Former Chief Minister Narayan Rane along with his MLA son Nitesh and some other Maratha leaders held talks with CM Fadnavis at the state guest house Sahyadri here. He too appealed the Maratha community leaders to come forward for talks with government. Meanwhile, all legislators of the Shiv Sena would meet together in Mumbai to decide party's stand on Maratha quota. Two years back, when the Maratha stir was on the peak the Shiv Sena had criticised it in the party mouthpiece Saamana and had to face the wrath of the agitators. Also, Shiv Sena had always condemned any kind of reservations. On this backdrop what stand does the party take in tomorrow's meeting is being keenly watched. Prasanta Mazumdar By Express News Service GUWAHATI: The stage is set for the release of the second and final draft of the Assam's National Register of Citizens (NRC) on Monday amid tight security. The NRC will be released online and in all the NRC Sewa Kendras across the state at 10 am (and not at noon as announced earlier). Anticipating a breakdown of law and order, the authorities enforced prohibitory orders for an indefinite period in Barpeta, Darrang, Sonitpur, Dima Hasao, Bongaigaon, Dhubri, Karimganj and Golaghat districts. As many as 22 localities in Guwahati are sensitive, said Police Commissioner Hiren Nath. The updation of NRC has been in deference to the Assam Accord of 1985 which the then Rajiv Gandhi government had signed with the All Assam Students' Union at the end of six-year bloody Assam Agitation. As per the exercise, which is being directly monitored by the Supreme Court, people, who entered Assam after March 24, 1971, will be viewed as illegal immigrants. However, they will get a window of 30 days to file claims and objections. Eventually, the final NRC will be published. So far, there has not been any untoward incident but police are on high alert and 220 additional companies of central paramilitary forces have been deployed. They are fanned out across the "vulnerable" districts. Assam's Director General of Police, Kuladhar Saikia, said, We have taken all steps. The sectoral deployment of the forces is already in order. If anyone is found trying to break the law, we will go very hard on him. We are ready to face any eventualities. Defence sources said the Army had been asked to be on a standby. A senior Army official told TNIE, We are anticipating agitations against civil administration. There is a possibility that NSKs will be targeted. The situation in Assam is tense as nearly 1.5 crore people are waiting for their citizenship status as the government prepares to release the final list of Indian citizens living in the state tomorrow. The National Registry of Citizens was created in view of illegal migration into the state from neighbouring Bangladesh. But many complained that they were left out of the list despite submitting sufficient proof. The registry update is seen by critics as a move to target Assam's Muslim population on the pretext of weeding out Bangladeshi migrants. (With inputs from online desk) By PTI CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has assured External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj of action against the travel agent responsible for trafficking 39 Indians to Iraq, where they were abducted and killed. "Will personally look into the matter @SushmaSwaraj ji and ensure the most stringent action against the agents responsible for the heinous crime. Reg the case of Simranjeet Kaur, I had asked top @PunjabPolice officers to meet her on arrival in Amritsar @SushmaSwaraj ji. They have taken all details from her and a case has been registered against Gurjeet Kaur, who has been arrested, & Ibrahim Palam Yusuf, currently in Dubai. https://t.co/SdVXXpBEob Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) July 29, 2018 Will keep you updated," Amarinder said in a tweet today. On July 27, Swaraj had said the agent responsible for trafficking 39 Indians to Iraq was still operating his business in Punjab and sending people abroad. She had requested Amarinder to take stringent action against such illegal travel agents operating in the state. Swaraj had told Parliament in March that the 39 Indians, who were abducted by the ISIS terror outfit in Mosul in Iraq three years ago, were dead. Addressing a national conference on state women commissions in Delhi two days ago, the Union minister had urged them to launch a crackdown on the illegal network of agents operating across the country. Swaraj had said the commissions need to identify these illegal agents and give their names to the chief minister of their respective states for action. By PTI CHANDIGARH: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar held an emergency meeting with senior officials today to review the situation in Yamunanagar district following the rise in water level in Yamuna river after heavy rains. Khattar also conducted an aerial survey of the Hathnikund barrage located on Yamuna river in the district. The chief minister was informed by the officials of Panipat, Sonepat and Palwal district administration that though the river in these districts was flowing close to the danger mark, the situation, however, was under control and there were no reports of loss to life or damage to property. After holding a meeting with officials here, Khattar said that 'special girdawari' (revenue survey) would be conducted to assess the damage caused to crops by floods and rains. He said due compensation would be given to the affected farmers. Such affected farmers who have got their crops insured would be given compensation through the 'Fasal Bima Yojana' while those who had not opted for it, would be paid compensation by the government, an official statement quoting Khattar said. Others present at the meeting included Chief Secretary D S Dhesi, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Rajesh Khullar, Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue and Disaster Management Department) Keshni Anand Arora, Principal Secretary (Irrigation and Water Resources Department) Anurag Rastogi and other senior officers. The district administration of Yamunanagar in Haryana had sounded a high alert yesterday following the water level in Yamuna river crossing the five lakh cusecs mark. It also cautioned the Delhi administration about the rise in water level. Insisting that the situation was under control, the Yamunanagar administration, however, has said all the necessary arrangements have been made to tackle the flood-like situation. The water level rose in the wake of continuous rains in catchment areas in Himachal Pradesh. The administration has also issued warning to people living near Yamuna river. A team of state disaster management force has already been put on alert. A flood control room has already been set up at the district level for fast response to deal with any flood-like situation. By PTI RALEGAN SIDDHI: Social activist Anna Hazare said today he will launch a hunger strike from October 2 against the Union government for the delay in appointment of a Lokpal at the Centre. He also appealed people to join him in his campaign for a corruption-free country. "I will go on a hunger strike from October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, at my native Ralegan Siddhi village in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra," the anti-corruption crusader told PTI. He criticised the NDA government, saying it had earlier assured it will appoint the Lokpal and implement the Lokpal Bill, passed by Parliament and signed by the then President in January 2014. "But there is a lack of will in this government to curb corruption and hence, it is giving a lot of reasons and delaying the appointment of the Lokpal," Hazare said. Hazare, who has been the face of the Lokpal movement, went on a 12-day hunger strike in 2011. He later launched a fast, which enjoyed a huge popular support across the country. The UPA government later passed the Lokpal bill. The Supreme Court had earlier this week expressed dissatisfaction over the Centre's response on the appointment of search committee members for a Lokpal. The Centre had earlier told the apex court that the Lokpal selection committee, headed by the prime minister, was scheduled to meet to set up a search panel for recommending a panel of names for the appointment of the anti-graft ombudsman and its members. The government had said the search panel would lay down its procedures, following which the selection committee would fix the time frame within which the names for selecting the chairman and members of the Lokpal would be recommended. The committee comprises the prime minister, the chief justice of India, Lok Sabha speaker, the leader of the largest opposition party and an eminent jurist. The apex court, in its last year's verdict, had said there was no justification to keep the enforcement of Lokpal Act suspended till the proposed amendments, including on the issue of the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, were cleared by Parliament. By Express News Service PATNA: The seven women employees of the government-funded shelter home in Bihars Muzaffarpur who were arrested last month had been instrumental in causing the sexual assaults on the minor girls residing there, according to the victims statements. The women employees not only allowed the sexual assaults of the girls by both male staffers and male visitors inside the shelter home, they also often took the girls out in the night, said a police official involved in the investigations, which were on Sunday taken over by CBI after the state governments recommendation. The frequency with which the inmates, aged between seven and 18, were taken outside the shelter home in the night has led to investigators believe that the NGO running it was part of a well-oiled sex racket for at least three years. Indu Kumari, the de facto head of the shelter home on Sahu Road in Muzaffarpur, had been the closest to Brajesh Thakur, head of the NGO Seva Sankalp evam Vikas Samiti (SSVS). Citing the police supervision report of the scandal, police sources said Kumari, a resident of Brahmapura Road of the town, had been frequently bringing male visitors to the shelter home in the night and letting them rape the inmates. Kiran aunty and Chanda aunty are the two names the inmates have taken several times in their statements before police and a magistrate. These two women Kiran Kumari and Chanda Devi worked at the shelter home as helper and caretaker respectively. We were forced by Kiran aunty to go a separate room in the night where some unknown men were already present. Kiran aunty and Chanda aunty would often ask us to lie in our beds without any clothes on, one of the victims was quoted to have said. Other inmates also corroborated this version, said police officials. Neha Kumari, who worked as a nurse at the shelter home, used to inject the girls with sedatives before they were taken outside in the nights, said the victims in their statements. At least seven inmates have accused NGO head Brajesh Thakur and child protection officer (CPO) Roshan Kumar of raping them, said sources. Both men also used to threaten the girls with dire consequences if they ever protested or revealed the incidents to anyone, the victims reportedly said in their statements. The Bihar government on Sunday said it would urge Patna High Court to monitor the CBI probe. The Opposition parties had been demanding for a HC-monitored probe by CBI. We want everyone involved in this horrific incident to be punished. We will soon ask Patna High Court to monitor the probe by CBI, said Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi. By PTI NEW DELHI: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi today targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the alleged abuse of girls at a shelter home in Muzaffarpur. "The story of ashwasan babu (the man of assurances) and susashan babu (the man of good governance). We have heard that the one who was elected (Modi), has merely given the slogan 'beti bachao' (save the girl child)," Rahul said in a tweet. Nitish Kumar is often referred to as 'sushasan babu' for his good governance plank. Congress has often accused Modi of making false promises and assurances which are never kept. In his tweet, the Congress president also posted a news report that claimed 34 minors were abused at a shelter home in Muzaffarpur. Meanwhile, the CBI has taken over the probe into the alleged abuse of minor girls at the shelter home in Muzaffarpur district, an official said today. The case relates to mental, physical and sexual exploitation of the girls residing at the shelter home, according to an official. The CBI has booked officers and employees of the shelter home. The matter came to light earlier this year when the Bihar Social Welfare Department filed an FIR based on a social audit of the shelter home conducted by a Mumbai-based institute. The audit report stated that many girls at the shelter home had complained of sexual abuse. A special investigation team was formed to probe the complaints. The NGO running the shelter home in Muzaffarpur was blacklisted and the girls were shifted to shelter homes in Patna and Madhubani. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: In order to safeguard major cities across the country, government is procuring a variety of air defence systems, including missiles, launchers in order to cast a certain shield over the airspace in the cities. The units which are being procured from the US, Russia and Israel, besides deploying indigenously developed missiles as part of the project, Defence officials said. "As part of our initiative missile shield over the national capital and many other cities are being strengthened considering the evolving security scenario. Procurement of missile systems, radars and weaponry is part of it," a senior military official said. In the last few years, China has significantly ramped up its air power and the sources said that the government was determined to equip the Indian Air Force with capabilities on par with its adversaries. India is engaged in talks with the US for procuring components of air defence systems, including missiles, radars and drones, and attack helicopters. The US has already approved sale of 22 Sea Guardian drones to India at an estimated cost of USD 2 billion. According to sources, India is also looking at the US' National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System-II to bolster its own missile shield. It would be for the first time, the US is selling the drones to a country which is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). India is also procuring the S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems from Russia at a cost of nearly Rs 40,000 crore to boost its air defence mechanism. The deal is likely to be signed by the two countries later this year. "The aim of the project is to make our skyline impregnable," added the official. As part of efforts to strengthen the country's aerial defence, government is in the process of inducting the first batch of its intercontinental ballistic missile system Agni V which is expected to significantly bolster the country's air defence system. The missile, with a strike range of 5,000 km, is capable of carrying nuclear warhead which a very few countries, including the US, China, Russia, France and North Korea have. In its missile armoury, India currently has Agni-1 with a 700 km range, Agni-2 with a 2,000-km range, Agni-3 and Agni-4 with 2,500 km to more than 3,500-km range. In November last, India successfully test fired air-launched variant of the Brahmos, the world's fastest supersonic cruise missile, from a Sukhoi-30 combat jet. By PTI MUMBAI: The proposed "Mahagathbandhan" (grand alliance) against the BJP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls looks like a "band, baja, barat" without a groom, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said here today. There would be no vacancy for the prime minister's post in 2019, the senior BJP leader told PTI in an interview. "The 'Mahagathbandhan' is like the 'band, baja, barat' are ready but the groom is absent. There are nearly two dozen candidates who are staking claim for the post of prime minister," he said. Several parties such as the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), along with other outfits, are planning to form a front to counter the BJP in the 2019 general election. Naqvi took a dig at the Congress for projecting Rahul Gandhi as its prime ministerial candidate after the recent extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting and later withdrawing his name, apparently due to reservations expressed by other parties. "The Congress first announced that its prime ministerial candidate was Rahul Gandhi. However, within 12 hours, they withdrew it. This could be the first such incident, wherein the Congress withdrew it (Gandhi's name) within 12 hours. It was withdrawal even before nomination. This is how the 'Mahagathbandhan' looks like," the minority affairs minister said. Naqvi also sought to blame the Congress over Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's recent emotional outburst, when the JD(S) leader said he was swallowing the pains of running a coalition government like Lord Shiva, who had drunk poison. The JD(S) shares power with the Congress in the southern state. "The country has seen Kumaraswamy's statement and the people know that he is sharing power with the Congress," Naqvi said. He dubbed Rahul Gandhi's speech in Parliament during the no-confidence motion against the BJP-led government as one full of "confusion, contradiction and comedy". "He (Gandhi) has become a mixture of these three aspects. He himself has dented his own image, instead of projecting himself as a serious politician or public figure. Our wishes are with the Congress under his leadership," Naqvi said. In an unprecedented gesture, the Congress chief had hugged Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha after the speech. Gandhi was later seen winking at a party colleague after coming back to his seat. Responding to a query, the minister said there was no permanent friendship or disappointment in politics. "The BJP has not put up a no-entry board," he said, responding to criticism of the party by the TDP, a former NDA constituent, and the Shiv Sena. Naqvi said incidents of lynching should not be given a communal colour. "Lynching is a heinous crime. Unfortunately, when such things get politicised, a criminal incident is made to look like a communal incident, then criminals involved in such acts get a social shield," he added. "We believe that a crime is a crime. Do not mix crime with communalism and do not project such heinous crimes as a communal thing. There is a criminal mindset behind it. Crimes do not have a religion or caste," Naqvi said, deprecating the efforts of certain sections to project such incidents as a crime against a minority community. Asked why lynching over cows would not qualify as an organised crime as most of the victims belonged to a particular community, while the attackers were from the majority community, the minister said he did not think it was an organised crime. "These people (perpetrators of such incidents) have a criminal mindset. When such incidents take place, it is not that only one particular community is involved. It is not that only Hindus are behind it. Whatever it is, a crime is a crime. I cannot see it linked to a community," he said. Advocating a tough law to curb such incidents if needed, Naqvi said things that divided the society should not happen. "Even the Muslim community has understood that Modi is the name of development," he said. Dubbing "triple talaq" as a "bad tradition", Naqvi said at least 1,000 such cases were reported to various agencies in the country, even after a Supreme Court verdict held the practice unconstitutional. The apex court had last year ruled that the practice of triple talaq followed by Muslim men was unconstitutional and void. "We will mostly pass the legislations concerning triple talaq in this (Monsoon) session (of Parliament)," Naqvi said. The "triple talaq" bill, which proposes to criminalise the practice, has been passed in the Lok Sabha, where the BJP enjoys a majority, but is pending in the Rajya Sabha. Ravi Shankar By The image of a democracy is ironically determined by regional stereotypes. Non-conformist Berlin, conservative Munich, and cosmopolitan Frankfurt sum up Germany; Provence for food, Paris for the arts and fashion, and Marseilles for crime are defining faces of France. The rule applies to New York, Silicon Valley, London, and Manchester, too. India, for time immemorial, has been romanticised as the land of the maharajas. Rajasthan was the jewel in its crown. The states Tourism Department is now running a slick campaign showing various visitors stunned by its natural beautyJanesthan, Aryasthan, Huansthan, et al. A more fitting label now would be Lynchistan. Until Yogi Adityanath took over Uttar Pradesh, it was UP which had the dubious title of Indias Heart of Darknessa region deeply divided along sectarian, economic and gender lines. Yogi has used the Uttar Pradesh Police, reputedly infamously insensitive to powerless victims and opponents of the ruling party of the time, to curb the mafia, morality vigilantes and lynch mobs. His unambiguous message: No crime will be tolerated in my state. The UP Police is trying hard to enforce Yogis fiat. On the other hand, Rajasthan is ruled by Vasundhara Rajemedia darling and a royal from the historic Scindia clan; erudite, Anglicised and at ease in Delhis social circlesan antithesis of her UP counterpart who sleeps on the floor, leads a frugal life and doesnt use air conditioners. The contradiction is stunningly stark, going by the spate of lynchings in Rajasthan by cow vigilantes who beat to death innocent men. The state police and CID is complicit or biased towards the murderers, confident of the governments protection. It has gained notoriety for blatant partisanship. According to news reports, the cops, who did not take mob victim Rakbar Khan to the hospital on time to prevent his death, said they couldnt care less because the local MLA was on their side. In another case, six men named as murderers in the dying declaration of mob victim Pehlu Khan have been exonerated. The legal notion is that a dying man will not go to God with lies on his lips (nemo moriturus praesumitur mentire), and Indian Law believes a dying man can never lie. Raje and her government dont. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, reacting to Opposition outrage to mob murder, said states are responsible for law and order. The people of India do not trust the highly politicised police. UPAs Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had asked the police to go easy on Muslim youth. A Union Minister, more loyal than the king, has said lynchings are a plot to ruin the Prime Ministers image. Politicians and cops are Friends with Benefits. Some senior officers pander to their political masters for plum postings and hush money. Cops, too, are drawn from the ranks of society. Today the Indian police system is largely casteist, communal and corrupt. A law against mob violence is in the making. It is shameful that in 21st century India, a law needs to be passed at all against lynchings. As the high-level committee deliberates the new penal provision, what does it say about Indias image as an emerging world power and economic powerhouse? The time has come for Indians to police themselves. A new hashtag is needed. #SayNoToOurselves. Ravi Shankar ravi@newindianexpress.com T J S George By The big question is finally being addressed: Who will be the Oppositions prime minister candidate? It will be unrealistic, of course, to expect an answer at this stage. But the unexpected flexibility in the Congresss position tells its own tale. Two days after taking a stand firmly in favour of Rahul Gandhi, it said the party would be accommodative, that it saw itself as a facilitator of alliances, that it was ready to accept any non-RSS candidate as prime minister. In a more sensational policy shift, Mamata Banerjee said that she would organise an Opposition rally in Kolkata in January to which she would invite the CPM, a sworn enemy against which she had fought a bitter war and won. She called for an inclusive Opposition. At the other end of the country, Mehbooba Muftis Peoples Democratic Party rushed to compliment its long-time adversary, the National Conference, when NC leader Farooq Abdullah called for talks with Pakistan over Kashmir. Chandrababu Naidu emphasised a critical factor when he said: Strengthen the regional parties, whether it is the party of Mamata, Mayawati, Akhilesh or Kumaraswamy, then India will have a better future. This is common sense endorsed by history. The Congress was strongest when it functioned more or less as a syndicate of regional leaders such as Kamaraj, S K Patil, Atulya Ghosh, S Nijalingappa and C B Gupta. Men of that calibre are hard to come by these days and regional leaders are finding it difficult to achieve national stature. Mayawati has spent massively to field candidates in many states many a time, scoring zero most of the time. Akhilesh Yadav is similarly unable to make any impact outside his home turf. Kumaraswamy has a party with an all-India sound, but is crippled by a father who is over ambitious for an 85-year-old and a brother in the cabinet whose authoritarianism is aggravated by his eccentricity; it was unbearable family politics that reduced the Karnataka chief minister to a pitiable weeping angel. Mamata Banerjee is the only person in Naidus list whose mass popularity at home has some echoes elsewhere as well. She certainly had a larger audience in mind than the one she faced in Kolkata last week when she said that there is a crisis in India because the ruling group had unleashed Taliban Hindutva. She referred to hundreds of people being killed in UP in fake encounters, and 13,000 farmers committing suicide. She asked people to unite under the slogan BJP hatao, desh bachao. Chandrababu Naidu said, intriguingly, that his TDP would play a national role. Does it mean one-upmanship with other regional leaders or helping a chosen one? Earlier, Telanganas K Chandrasekhar Rao had said, a bit too blatantly, I am ready to enter national politics.... I will take the leadership at the national level, why not? To mention just one reason: What credibility can he have when he is unable to work collaboratively even with the other Telugu state next door? The TDP member who introduced the no-confidence motion in Parliament faced the loudest interruptions from the Telangana members. Actually that debate unveiled talent that could be of use to both Telugu states and beyond. Jayadeva Gulla, eloquent in polished English, was a forceful speaker, deserving the one hour he managed against the allotted 13 minutes. Eloquent in his own native style was Kesineni Srinivas, who regaled the House with quotable quotes. Referring to the Prime Ministers speech, he said: Wandraful oratory speech, madam. Wandraful. I felt I was watching blockbuster Bollywood movie. The best actor in the world, madam. No doubt, madam. Madam Speaker didnt want such things said and cut him short. Telangana MPs were happy. Telugu is the only language, other than Hindi, that has more than one state in its name. That does not seem to be helping either the language or the states. Such inherent contradictions can stand in the way of Opposition unity. How many leaders will have the maturity and the good sense to set aside personal ambitions for the common good? The shift to pragmatism announced by Trinamool and the Congress must set an example to others. A warning implied in Rahul Gandhis speech in Parliament suggests that unity may be a matter of life and death for Opposition parties. He said: The Prime Minister and the BJP president cannot afford to lose power. Because the moment they lose power, the other processes will start against them. Think that over. One thing is sure. It is not going to be a general election next year. It is going to be war. By Express News Service KAKINADA: YSRC president Jagan Mohan Reddy on Saturday said he could not assure reservations for Kapus if he came to power, a demand vociferously opposed by BCs. He, however, said he would compensate by doubling funds given to Kapu Corporation to take up welfare activities for the community. I wont make promises that cannot be fulfilled, he announced at a public meeting held as part of his Praja Sankalpa Yatra at Jaggampeta in the Kapu heartland of East Godavari district when a few youngsters holding placards demanding reservation for the community joined the crowd that had gathered. I wont make any false promise. I will promise only what I can fulfil, he asserted and added that according reservations to communities was not in the purview of the State government. The issue is in the hands of the Centre. There have been instances in which reservation given by States was struck down, he said before alleging that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was notorious for reneging upon promises. He had also promised that he would allocate `5,000 crore for the Kapu Corporation in five years, but he went back on both promises, Jagan claimed. The Kapu Corporation will be allocated `10,000 crore (if I come to power) as it is in the purview of the State government, but I cant assure you that I will extend reservation to Kapus, the YSRC chief said. Interestingly, Jagans announcement came just a few minutes after Naidu said his party was committed to extending reservations to the community. We have passed a Bill providing reservations to Kapus as BCs and the same was sent to the Centre. Now, people should confront the BJP over the issue, Naidu said. Naidu had promised a quota for the community as a poll plank before coming to power in 2014. His failure to walk the talk has created several after agitations by the community under the leadership of former minister Mudragada Padmanabham. Manjunatha Commission, which was set up by the Sate government to study the situation, submitted recommendations on reservations for Kapus after studying Smart Pulse Survey data, following which the government passed a resolution in the Assembly last year to extend five per cent reservation to the community in education and employment. Jagan said Jaggampet happens to be the 100th constituency he has visited during his yatra. This constituency voted a party candidate to the Assembly, but the person defected to the TDP claiming to have done so for the development of the constituency, he jeered. The Yeleru waters are being moved to Vizag for industrial needs. It could have been used for the irrigation needs of this constituency. Dr YS Rajsekahar Reddy initiated many developmental works here, but Naidu did not take them forward, he claimed, alleging that the Chief Minister who had until recently said special package was better than special category status had done a U-turn to earn brownie points from voters. By Express News Service BENGALURU: To strengthen the party at the booth level by connecting with its workers, the Congress on Saturday launched project Shakti in Bengaluru. According to the party, the initiative launched ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections will help leaders connect with workers and get their feedback on any issue. To enrol, they have to send an SMS to 7045006100 with their voter identity card number and the party will establish two-way communication with them. Speaking to mediapersons after launching the initiative, former Union minister P Chidambaram said the BJP is talking about making Congress-mutka Bharat, but it will not succeed. Congress aim is to make BJP-mukta Bharat, he said. The Congress is growing steadily and the party is strong in Karnataka. The party had got 38 per cent votes, which is 2 per cent more than the BJPs vote share. It is important for us to focus on strengthening the party at booth level and Shakti project will help to do that, he said, admitting that the party is weak in Coastal Karnataka region. KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao said the project will revolutionise the way Congress reached out to its grassroot level workers. All party workers have been asked to enrol for the project.Rao said preparations for Lok Sabha polls will be taken up on war-footing and the new initiative will help strengthen the party at the booth level. It will also help us in appointment of district and taluk presidents of the party by directly getting feedback from our workers, he said. Praveen Chakravarthi, Chairman AICC Data Analysis Department, said weakness at booth level organisation resulted in the party not winning more seats in the recent assembly polls in Karnataka and Gujarat. He added that all enrolled members will directly get details about party activities and a recorded call from Congress President Rahul Gandhi. AICC will directly be in contact with the workers and details will be given to state units. This will help us analyse the partys strengths and weaknesses, he said. Shakti is a nationwide initiative that was launched in Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan and other states. Ashwini M Sripad By Express News Service BENGALURU: The next time you choose to step out with a plastic bag in your hands, chances are you could be facing a Rs 500 fine. Three years after the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) enforced a plastic ban in the city, the civic agency is now gearing up to enforce it with the help of technology. According to officials, the agency is procuring hand-held devices which will be able to capture details of the persons using plastic bags, including their picture and the location where they were spotted. The machine will also generate a spot penalty receipt automatically, instead of the manual receipts being issued currently. Speaking to Express, BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad said the agency was readying to become stricter about enforcing the ban. In all, 110 junior health inspectors have been hired on a contract basis to supplement the in-house health inspectors. The devices will be similar to the ticket-vending machines used by the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and will have additional features such as a camera and a screen enabled with a Global Positioning System (GPS) interface. The machines will be procured locally and can be modified to meet our requirements, he said. Explaining further, the Commissioner said that the BBMP official would use the device to take a picture of the offender or the shop where plastic was being sold. This would include the sale of plastic covers, cups and plates. The GPS-enabled machine will record the exact location along with the time and date where the health inspector captures the offence. There will be a centralised dash board for monitoring and every time the penalty is levied, the dash board will show the amount collected along with the ward details. These can be monitored by senior officials in the central office, he said. This system will use an integrated portal developed by the BBMP. Poor plastic ban enforcement hits waste management Karnataka government had banned plastic below 40 microns in 2015 and, a year later, banned the use and manufacturing of plastic bags of any thickness. Since then, authorities have been conducting raids and seizing plastic materials, mostly targeting bulk producers and vendors.The new system with these hi-tech gadgets will be in place in the next two months. Penalty can be paid either by cash or even card, Prasad said. According to sources from the BBMP, the agency is struggling to enforce the ban. The use of plastic bags is rampant from the vendor level to the end user. Poor enforcement of the ban has also led to many problems for the BBMP. It is unable to improve the process of garbage disposal since trash consists of plastic. If we stop using plastic, we will have a better solution for garbage as well as flooding of roads. As authorities, we will insist on the ban but the people also have to change their mindset. The collusion of officials as well as the garbage mafia, which makes the issue complex, must also be dealt with, a source pointed out. By Express News Service ALAPPUZHA: The emergence of Alappuzha MP K C Venugopal as a strong South Indian Congress leader was underscored during the recent Karnataka Assembly election where his political maneuvering helped keep the BJP away from power and installed the Congress-backed government. The special bond he shares with Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, the direct beneficiary of Venugopals move which saw the Congress offering CMs post to JD(S), was evident when the latter attended the Ponthooval merit award distribution ceremony here on Saturday. We have been keeping a good relationship for the past many years and the bond amplified following the state election. He (Kumaraswamy) joined hands with the Congress to form a secular government in the country, Venugopal said about his friendship. Venugopal is also a member of the five-member coordination committee of Karnataka and this has strengthened their bond. Venugopal was the AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka when the Congress struck up a post-election alliance to keep the BJP away from power. Kumaraswamy inaugurated the merit award distribution function, while Venugopal presided over. MPs Shatrughan Sinha, Sasi Tharoor music director M Jayachandran, director Fazil, poet Murukan Kattakkada, lyricist Rajiv Alunkal and additional chief secretary Rajeev Sadanandan attend the function. The awards were distributed to 1,452 students who secured high scores in SSLC and Plus 2 examinations and to 124 schools which scored 100 per cent pass percentage. Attending a party meet in Kochi on Saturday, Kumaraswamy urged its party leaders to get at least two seats in Kerala. Kumaraswamy was in Kochi to attend a function organised by JD(S) to felicitate him. You have to fight hard and get at least two seats in future Parliament seats. I want your help for the success in the Lok Sabha polls, he said. Kumaraswamy said Kerala is an important state for JD(S). When our party divided at the national level, only Kerala and Karnataka units stood together and worked to strengthen the party. After every election we are strengthening the party presence in Kerala, he said. Kumaraswamy promised to help sort out any issues pertaining to Kerala. According to him, more than 10,000 families from Kerala live in Karnataka. Kumaraswamy said he became the Chief Minister of Karnataka due to the blessing of Lord Ayyappa. In 2005 after visiting Sabarimala, I become Chief Minister. Now the second time it has happened. With blessings of Swamy Ayyappa, I have become the Chief Minister, even without sufficient numbers, he said. CMs to discuss Bandipur Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said a solution would be found related to traffic through Bandipur. Kumaraswamy said Pinarayi Vijayan had discussed the Bandipur road issue with him. Within a week or 10 days, we will sit together and try to solve the issue, he said. Traffic between 9 pm and 6 am through the Bandipur road has been banned for the past several years to prevent wildlife deaths. The traffic ban, imposed following a directive by Chamarajanagar district administration, was upheld by the Karnataka High Court. The matter is now pending before the Supreme Court. The apex court has constituted a panel to study the matter and file report. By PTI KOCHI: Union Minister Alphons Kannanthanam has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reject the National Commission for Women's recommendation that confessions in churches be banned over fears they could lead to blackmailing of women. Observing that confession is the fundamental belief of Christian churches, the Minister of State for Tourism, in a letter to Modi, termed the NCW's recommendation to the government, seeking a ban on confession in churches, "immature". "I have written to the prime minister and also to the home minister. I met the home minister and had a discussion with him. I told him this must be rejected", Alphons said here yesterday. He said Home Minister Rajnath Singh has assured him that he would look into the matter. Alphons said NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma's remarks, while submitting a recommendation to ban confession, was her personal view and she has no mandate to give it. READ | Union Minister Alphons Kannanthanam backs Kerala Bishop Council's stand on Church confession Sharma, while referring to incidents of rape and sexual assault in churches in Kerala, had alleged that priests pressure women into revealing their secrets and exploit them. The NCW's recommendation came following an allegation by the husband of a homemaker that four priests of an Orthodox Syrian Church in Kerala used her confession to blackmail and sexually exploit her. The case is being investigated by the local police. The minister said confession is the fundamental belief of Christian churches and it has been there for 2,000 years. "Now we have an allegation which is being investigated by the Kerala Police and I am sure that they will investigate that seriously. The Kerala Police is very very efficient. I am sure they will arrive at the truth," Alphons said. He said police should take action if there is a violation of secrecy. "And therefore to take up one allegation and then submit a report saying that confession, which is a fundamental belief of the Christian churches, should be abolished, it should be banned, I think that is absolutely unacceptable. READ | National Commission for Minorities rejects NCW's recommendation to ban confessions in churches "This is beyond the mandate of the National Womens Commission. Its immature", he said. Alphons, a Christian, said interfering in religious beliefs is not the policy of the Modi government. "Prime Minister Modi has made it very clear in Parliament and outside... You believe in whatever religion you want to believe in and we will ensure that you are allowed to lead that life. We will protect you. And he has stood by that word. Therefore, there is no question of anybody ever accepting this recommendation", he said. The Kerala Catholic Bishop's Council (KCBC) had termed as "shocking" the NCW's recommendation to the Union Home Ministry to ban the "Sacrament of Confession" among Christians. "The chairperson has ventured into something which is totally out of her prerogative, and without any consultation with Christian churches, and communities and without considering the moral, theological or psychological aspects of confession among Christians," KCBC had said in a statement in Kochi. The church in Kerala is facing a string of sleaze allegations. In a complaint to the Kottayam district police chief last month, a nun had alleged that Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal raped her and had unnatural sex with her multiple times at a small town near Kottayam between 2014 and 2016. Arun Lakshman By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Shashi Tharoor MP is emerging big in the state Congress over his controversial remark on Hindu- Pakistan. A few days ago, Tharoor had made a scathing attack on the BJP, saying if the NDA comes back to power in 2019, the country will be converted into a theocratic state a Hindu Pakistan. Also Read: BJP workers vandalise Congress leader Shashi Tharoor's office over his 'Hindu Pakistan' remark A controversy erupted with the BJP and its affiliates coming out against Tharoor. But he stood his ground stating the BJPs ideals are poised for converting the country into a theocratic state. AICC spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala decried Tharoors statement and since then no national leader has commented on it. However, the state Congress lent support to Tharoor with leaders from V M Sudheeran to Ramesh Chennithala voicing their opinion in his favour. Matters turned worse after members of BJP affiliate Janata Yuva Morcha barged into Tharoors local office and blackened the premises with engine oil. The flex board depicting Tharoors face was also blackened and this catapulted the support to Tharoor. The Congress leader lashed out against the BJP and said the party was afraid of open debates and is physically trying to assault him. He promptly lodged a complaint to the police stating that he needs protection and that his life is in danger. Tharoor made a mountain out of a molehill and the BJP walked into the trap. However, politically this move had upped the stakes of Shashi Tharoor to the big league of Congress politics in Kerala. Tharoors statement has also resulted in several minority groups supporting him and this is exactly what he wanted. Tharoor also wanted to set aside the general feeling in the state Congress that he is a pushover given his lack of grassroot support and has carefully tried to reinvent himself. He wanted to make sure he has a constituency and wanted to take the BJP head on as he knows that would endear him to both the minority communities of the state. A senior leader of the Congress party said Tharoor is a mediocre politician but this was a masterstroke and has got a solid vote bank for himself. By Express News Service BHUBANESWAR: Hepatitis-B, one of the five variants of the viral infection affecting the liver, is a dreaded killer but ignorance about the availability of a preventive vaccine that ensures life-long protection against the virus is the biggest worrying factor, said health experts. Speaking at an event organised to mark the World Hepatitis Day here on Saturday, Head of Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatobiliary Diseases at the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital Dr Manoj Kumar Sahu said though Hepatitis-B is a killer, it can be prevented. With an outstanding record of safety and effectiveness, a vaccine is available since 1982 and a single shot of it can ensure life-long protection against the infection, he added. Hepatitis-B kills more people in a day than the HIV does in a year, but the HIV has got into the public psyche as a much bigger threat, Dr Sahu said, adding that an estimated 300 million people have been infected by Hepatitis-B worldwide. The biggest concern is that 95 per cent of the affected population dont know that they were carrying a deadly virus which can cause permanent liver damage. Hepatitis types B and C cause serious liver damage leading to liver cirrhosis, failure, and cancer, he pointed out. The Hepatitis-B vaccine can prevent 3,00,000 cancer deaths every year and early diagnosis provided the best opportunity for effective medical support and prevention of further spread. The theme this year was Eliminate Hepatitis - Find the Missing Millions, which aimed at identifying the infected people who were not aware of their condition. The need is to take action, find these people, treat and cure them and prevent infection in other healthy people. Taking action now will save seven million lives by 2030, Dr Sahu said. Minister for Tourism and Culture Ashok Chandra Panda underlined the need for creating public awareness against the dreaded virus and said the State Government will support any such drive that aimed at improving the healthcare of people. The SOA University has launched a programme - SOA Adivasi Hepatitis Mission for Hepatitis-B screening and immunization among tribal children in the State. Among others, Chairman of Odisha Khadi and Gramodyog Board Tejeswar Parida, IMS and SUM Hospital Dean Prof Gangadhar Sahu and Secretary of Bharat Scouts and Guides Ram Murti Dora also spoke. By Express News Service CHENNAI: In a desperate attempt to stay awake, people in and around the hospital started singing on one side, while in another, a person was seen sharing stories. Close to the pavement of the hospital, there was a solitary man narrating stories. There was pin-drop-silence as this die-hard fan of Thalaivar from Tiruvarur boasted of Karunanidhis wit and political acumen. Dressed in a threadbare lungi and checked shirt with a DMK thundu on his left shoulder, this storyteller described every encounter with Karunanidhi in detail. I saw him here in 1975 He wore a different type of sunglasses then the mans voice melted in the street-lamp-lit road. We have always known him as an old man. It is nice to hear stories about his younger days, said a 22-year-old, who camped outside the hospital with his friends. In another part, people also broke into song every now and then to ward off sleep. While there was anticipation and anxiety in the afternoon, the late evening bulletin from the hospital saying Karunanidhi responding to treatment has given hope to the crowd. They are a little relaxed as they await for dawn. Earlier in Salem, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami told reporters that the Tamil Nadu government was ready to provide all possible medical assistance to Karunanidhi, who was a five-time CM, if it was approached. Speaking to reporters, Gurumurthy said though he had ideological differences with Karunanidhi, he had immense respect for him. Karunanidhi is a leader not restricted to Tamil Nadu, but to the entire nation. Meanwhile, tweets from celebrities were doing the rounds as Hashtag #KarunanidhiHealth is trending on Twitter. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, My prayers for Sh Karunanidhis fast recovery. Will provide all help: CM CM Edappadi K Palaniswami said that the government was ready to provide all possible medical assistance to Karunanidhi, who was a five-time CM, if it was approached By ANI CHENNAI: Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu will meet Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief M. Karunanidhi at Kauvery hospital in Chennai today. Karunanidhi was admitted to hospital on Saturday following a drop in his blood pressure. The former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister is currently stable with ongoing medical support. In a statement, Executive Director of Kauvery Hospital, Dr Aravindaran Selvaraj said that the 94-year-old leader is "being continuously monitored and treated by the panel of expert doctors in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU)." Earlier on Saturday, Karunanidhi's daughter and Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) Kanimozhi informed that her father's health condition is now better. #TamilNadu: DMK supporters gathered outside Chennai's Kauvery hospital, where DMK Chief M Karunanidhi was admitted following drop in blood pressure, yesterday. pic.twitter.com/2yXmxCf4an ANI (@ANI) July 29, 2018 Addressing the media outside Kauvery Hospital, Kanimozhi said, "Karunanidhi's health condition is now better and his blood pressure is also stable." Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit and Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu visited Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief M. Karunanidhi at Kauvery hospital in Chennai on Sunday. ( Photo | EPS) Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad also visited the DMK chief at the hospital. The DMK stalwart, who is suffering from fever due to urinary tract infection, was earlier undergoing treatment at his Gopalapuram residence in Chennai. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: Industries minister KT Rama Rao urged industrialists and businesses to contribute more towards Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), expressing displeasure that companies are spending paltry sums in Telangana towards CSR activities. KT Rama Rao attended the CIIs Southern Region Council Meeting in Hyderabad on Saturday. After explaining how governments schemes like Mission Bhagiratha, Rythu Bandhu, TS-iPASS and others are creating a favourable atmosphere for industries to start and flourish in the state, he expressed dissatisfaction over meagre CSR contribution from companies here. CSR is one area where I have been extremely unhappy with the industry. This whole mandated thing, someone pushing you to do something, that itself is a wrong notion. As part of our being, as part of our existential responsibility, even as individuals and not because it is mandated, we have a certain responsibility towards our society. Having said that...Im not accusing anyone specifically over this. But I know many organisations which use their CSR money merely to train their own employees, do something in their own vicinity and then call it CSR activity, said KT Rama Rao. The point is.. .a state like Maharashtra...from the numbers I have off hand, Im subject to correction of course...got nearly `700 crore last year as part of CSR while a state like Telangana got `10 crore, pointed out KT Rama Rao, highlighting how meager funds have been flowing through CSR activity in Telangana. Saying that government does not want to go after industries for CSR funds and activity, he urged CII to focus on increasing CSR activity in the state. The minister suggested revival and rejuvenation of urban lakes, improving standards in schools, digitisation of health records as some of the key areas which industries can work on. According to Industries Department officials, CSR funds spent in Telangana in FY 18 was `65 Cr, clearly a paltry amount, keeping in view the booming industrial activity in the state.